Tuesday, April 03, 2007
The Yankees versus Devil Rays matchup shows just how different the two teams are.
Chances are if you didn't get to see the game you'd still know one of three things: the Yankees beat the Devil Rays, Pavano left the game without having a hang nail injury and A-Rod proved why Yankees fans are bipolar and myopic -- first they cheer him, then they boo after an error, boo him again after a strikeout, then finally cheer him after the home run -- leading people to say the jack was the first of many useless homeruns that didn't change the game, which is absolutely false.
Not that I've gotten the longest sentence of my life out of the way, there is something behind the two teams.
You don't need to be too hardcore of a fan to know the Yankees spend mucho millions for a rockstar lineup, but there is a developed mindset behind their team's assembly. Something is different about their lineup than in the past, though, their speed. If you look at the lineup, only three jump out as being below average speedwise (Posada, Giambi and Matsui-- and he's not that bad). The rest are fully capable of getting from first to home on a double, which is something every guy on the team is capable of hitting 30+ of. Combine that with the possible 180 homies in the middle of the lineup and pitchers in the American League are going to have to have good psychiatrists.
The pitching staff has gotten old, no doubt, even if shipping Randy "hasn't been the same since the mullet" Johnson out of town lowered their pitching staff's average age down to 53. But there is a strategy to what they're doing. Overpay for the best hitting and score a lot of runs. If you get ahead, mediocre starting pitching with the possibility to be very good (at times) can get them into the sixth or seventh with a lead even if they surrender 5-6 runs.
Their bullpen is fantastic. They have one of the better bullies in the game with young, hard-throwers that can learn from the best in the game Mariano Rivera. Farnsworth, Proctor and Bruney all throw in the high 90's and have nasty movement.
If you look at the Ray's there's a big discrepency in power, but the speed is incomperable. The giant difference, though, showed where power changes games. While Pavano was tiring and leaving pitches over the plate, the Rays were only slapping them around for singles (save for the Elijah Dukes bomb over center). When the Yankees got to the Tampa Bay bullpen, mistakes were made and the victory was sealed in a matter of seconds. Speed can win games, look at the Angels. The major difference is that the Angels can hit some jacks too, oh, and their bullpen can hold a lead.
But besides the power and the money and the bullpen, the Rays won't get away with mediocre pitching. Besides Kazmir, their prospects (J.P. Howell, Edwin Jackson) are not ready for lineups like the Red Sox and Yankees. Nor is the bullpen.
Tomorrow I'll talk more about this team comparison, but I'll go more league-wide.
Chances are if you didn't get to see the game you'd still know one of three things: the Yankees beat the Devil Rays, Pavano left the game without having a hang nail injury and A-Rod proved why Yankees fans are bipolar and myopic -- first they cheer him, then they boo after an error, boo him again after a strikeout, then finally cheer him after the home run -- leading people to say the jack was the first of many useless homeruns that didn't change the game, which is absolutely false.
Not that I've gotten the longest sentence of my life out of the way, there is something behind the two teams.
You don't need to be too hardcore of a fan to know the Yankees spend mucho millions for a rockstar lineup, but there is a developed mindset behind their team's assembly. Something is different about their lineup than in the past, though, their speed. If you look at the lineup, only three jump out as being below average speedwise (Posada, Giambi and Matsui-- and he's not that bad). The rest are fully capable of getting from first to home on a double, which is something every guy on the team is capable of hitting 30+ of. Combine that with the possible 180 homies in the middle of the lineup and pitchers in the American League are going to have to have good psychiatrists.
The pitching staff has gotten old, no doubt, even if shipping Randy "hasn't been the same since the mullet" Johnson out of town lowered their pitching staff's average age down to 53. But there is a strategy to what they're doing. Overpay for the best hitting and score a lot of runs. If you get ahead, mediocre starting pitching with the possibility to be very good (at times) can get them into the sixth or seventh with a lead even if they surrender 5-6 runs.
Their bullpen is fantastic. They have one of the better bullies in the game with young, hard-throwers that can learn from the best in the game Mariano Rivera. Farnsworth, Proctor and Bruney all throw in the high 90's and have nasty movement.
If you look at the Ray's there's a big discrepency in power, but the speed is incomperable. The giant difference, though, showed where power changes games. While Pavano was tiring and leaving pitches over the plate, the Rays were only slapping them around for singles (save for the Elijah Dukes bomb over center). When the Yankees got to the Tampa Bay bullpen, mistakes were made and the victory was sealed in a matter of seconds. Speed can win games, look at the Angels. The major difference is that the Angels can hit some jacks too, oh, and their bullpen can hold a lead.
But besides the power and the money and the bullpen, the Rays won't get away with mediocre pitching. Besides Kazmir, their prospects (J.P. Howell, Edwin Jackson) are not ready for lineups like the Red Sox and Yankees. Nor is the bullpen.
Tomorrow I'll talk more about this team comparison, but I'll go more league-wide.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
There's Christmas and then New Years Day. Then there's my fantasy baseball draft followed by Opening Day. Synonomous, really.
One calender tells me whether I should buy a jacket or get a tan for the ladies, which way to turn my clock and when I should see my extended family.
The other calender tells me when pitchers and catchers go back to work (Thanksgiving?), what sleeper picks I should look to grab in the later rounds of my fantasy draft, etc.
I look forward the latter calender more.
Getting up the morning of my draft is like being six years old all over again. Back when Santa Clause was cool to believe in, I'd stay up, snuggled on my friggid third-floor bedroom and try to predict what presents the chubby old guy would leave under my tree. Now that fantasy sports is cool I wait all day wondering what position in the draft I'll have and what types of presents unprepared owners will leave my under the tree.
Then a week later there's New Year's, a time to get tanked and throw previous bad habits behind, like getting tanked too often. In baseball land this is known as Opening Day, a time to enjoy a good matchup on ESPN and throw away bad habits like dropping that year's Cy Young Award winner (see: my 2004 when I dropped Johan Santana after 8 starts... he was about 1-6 with roughly a 2,200.29 ERA. See also: traumatic episodes that distort memory).
The baseball calender doesn't make me change the time on my clock or to go to church, although it stops momentarily for the all-star break and at times of importance (Dice-K's first start, pennant chases, etc.) I'll try to get tickets to go to the only cathedral I've gotten beer spilled on me at, Fenway Park.
It feels a lot like Chinese New Year, in that people recognize there's another calender millions across the globe follow and relate to besides their own.
Millions relate to this same calender too. And finally it's a New Year and dear say Joe Morgan is our Dick Clark.
Mets versus Cards tonight. 8 p.m. Get your televisions set, the ball is about to drop.
One calender tells me whether I should buy a jacket or get a tan for the ladies, which way to turn my clock and when I should see my extended family.
The other calender tells me when pitchers and catchers go back to work (Thanksgiving?), what sleeper picks I should look to grab in the later rounds of my fantasy draft, etc.
I look forward the latter calender more.
Getting up the morning of my draft is like being six years old all over again. Back when Santa Clause was cool to believe in, I'd stay up, snuggled on my friggid third-floor bedroom and try to predict what presents the chubby old guy would leave under my tree. Now that fantasy sports is cool I wait all day wondering what position in the draft I'll have and what types of presents unprepared owners will leave my under the tree.
Then a week later there's New Year's, a time to get tanked and throw previous bad habits behind, like getting tanked too often. In baseball land this is known as Opening Day, a time to enjoy a good matchup on ESPN and throw away bad habits like dropping that year's Cy Young Award winner (see: my 2004 when I dropped Johan Santana after 8 starts... he was about 1-6 with roughly a 2,200.29 ERA. See also: traumatic episodes that distort memory).
The baseball calender doesn't make me change the time on my clock or to go to church, although it stops momentarily for the all-star break and at times of importance (Dice-K's first start, pennant chases, etc.) I'll try to get tickets to go to the only cathedral I've gotten beer spilled on me at, Fenway Park.
It feels a lot like Chinese New Year, in that people recognize there's another calender millions across the globe follow and relate to besides their own.
Millions relate to this same calender too. And finally it's a New Year and dear say Joe Morgan is our Dick Clark.
Mets versus Cards tonight. 8 p.m. Get your televisions set, the ball is about to drop.
