Yeah, he only made one mistake tonight. And it was a changeup that had too much movement... that thing sailed back over the plate. In some ways, that's a good thing. Sort of. But he can't afford to miss anymore. Gomes was on his front foot, totally fooled, and still put it out. Of course, that's the only ball that was hit remotely hard off of him (as far as I can recall). It also doesn't hurt that it was the Rays (young, relatively free-swinging team). Still... a good sign, and why I think that Moose can win more games than he loses for the Yanks. (Especially once the offense starts doing its thing.) That was an awful call by the ump, too.
Moose looked very good,im surprised to say. He did spot his pitches very well, and it did look like his changeup against Gomes danced a bit too much. Unfortunately it danced right over the plate. 2 hits, 1 run in 6 IP, I cant complain.
ARod was right to be pissed. That was an absolutely terrible call. I don't care how fast a ball is moving, you have to be blind to miss that one.
he has no confidence. He does suck right now, but hopefully we can see a glimpse of what he used to be back in Minnesota. Maybe he can build off performance. ( by that I mean the 1st time in 6 games he hasnt given up a run) It doesnt help that he gets his ass booed all day.
Yeah, that Paul O'Neill chant is the kind of thing that makes me ashamed to be a Yankee fan. Give me a break people. O'Neill was great for the Yanks, but even if you think his number should be retired (I don't), you root for the player wearing it until it is retired. Did fans boo Nettles for wearing Maris's number? Or Chris Chambliss for wearing Rizzuto's? Just give it up. I swear, if some Yankee fans had their way, every number from 1-51 would be retired. Sheesh.
The problem is that there are far too many people in those stands who weren't there 20 years ago. The kind of people who think Tino Martinez was the greatest first baseman who ever donned pinstripes. The people who have no idea that our third base coach once played on that same infield. The ones who wouldn't know a single bit of Yankees history beyond the names Ruth and Mantle if not for Yankeeography. It's like you said, if some (many) fans had their way, many, many more numbers would be unavailable forever. But ask those same fans to name each retired number with its corresponding player(s) it was retired for...
Nice start to the year for my man Bruney! Hopefully he can be out 7th inning guy when it comes to mid-season.
Seems you are making my point for me. The importance of a good bp goes without question. We don't have the injuries (yet) this year we had last year but we basically have the same starting rotation. If they are all pitching well and taking reasonable leads into the late innings more often than not then Chamberlain will definitely get his shot at the rotation. If they aren't and the bp is as bad as it was last year before he came up then his stay there will be short. As far as wasted innings. I would consider innings where he was pitching while the Yankees were up or down by a lot as wasted innings. If he is making 70 appearances and pitching 70 innings with the score tied or up by a run those are the important innings and it seems that's the only time he will be in there. This is no different than what Boston went through with Pappelbon or the Yankees went through with Rivera in '96. They claimed at the time he would always go back to being a starter too. Not sure that would have worked with Rivera but they thought it at the time.
I may have misinterpreted what you said but the question I asked and the one I THOUGHT you answered was how many games did they lose before Chamberlain came up. So I looked it up myself. 8 of those losses came after Chamberlain was called up. 1 by Rivera, 2 by Henn, 1 by Britton, 1 by Bruney, 1 by Karstans and 1 by Ramirez. I completely fail to see how I am off base here. The point I have been making is that if Chamberlain is more important in the BP than he is in the rotation then that is where he belongs. If the starting rotation ends up sucking as bad as it did last year then it's pretty obvious the bp is where he belongs. His 7 wins in the second half of the season pitching every 5 days will mean nothing if the bp is blowing leads once or twice a week. Fortunately the Yankees are smart enough to see this and that is why they have said he will definitely get a chance to start but where he ends up for good is still an open question.
Anyway, good win by Mussina last night. Back to back solid pitching efforts by him and Wang. They need all the pitching they can get right now with the lineup being what it is. 18 of 20 road games coming up. That will be a brutal stretch.
Well, what you thought was wrong. I clearly explained the data I was able to find. Anyway, your number actually hurts your point more. Your point was that the pen got better after Joba entered the pen late in the year. However, as you've stated, the pen lost more than a third of their total losses, after he joined them. The reason you are completely off base is because Joba Chamberlain is not more important in the bullpen, and therefore, it is not where he belongs. I can't even begin to comprehend how you could say it's "obvious" that if the rotation sucks that he belongs in the pen. How does that make any sense whatsoever? If the rotation sucks that would mean that more often than not, the pen would be called in to stop the bleeding. So Joba would be called in to protect a 5 run loss. That's asinine. You keep assuming that the bullpen will blow leads "once or twice a week". There are 26 weeks in the 2008 baseball season. Even if we assume the pen blows as many games as last year, which is highly doubtful since we won't have someone like Proctor being held together with rubber bands and Krazy Glue, that still doesn't average out to even one single loss per week attributed to the bullpen. Joba or no Joba, the starting rotation is going to lose more games than the pen. There is no open question where Joba will wind up. He will be a starter. Exactly where he belongs.
He will only be a starter if he is as effective in that role as he is in his current role. Bank on it.
heh..damn you guys are going to hate to read this. Another one pushing to keep Chamberlain in the pen. http://www.nypost.com/seven/04082008/sports/yankees/derek_deals_with_strain_105498.htm
What? This is backwards. In 1998, the rotation was responsible for the effectiveness of the bullpen. A good rotation is more important than a good bullpen. A good rotation can make your bullpen better (more rested). It doesn't work the other way around. This is why the more talented guys are in the rotation. You point to 1998 to show the importance of a good bullpen... I'm saying it's the rotation that made the Yankees great in 98. It's the rotation that made the bullpen as good as it was. What are wasted are the 130 innings you COULD have had. I guarantee you that Chamberlain as a starter would be in more than 70 innings where the score was close, too. In a full season of starts, every game that the Yanks don't score more than one run in the first inning, Chamberlain would be pitching in a close game for at least one inning (two at home). Not to mention the higher chance you have to prevent the score from becoming close in innings 3-7. Or the higher chance you have of resting the bullpen for a night, making Bruney/Ohlendorf/whomever more effective the next night. With Papelbon and Rivera, you had two different situations. With Rivera, you had a failed starter without the secondary pitches to make him effective in the rotation. With Papelbon, well, he didn't have the full repertoire of pitches, either... although he might have developed them. Still, it's more likely that you're maximizing Papelbon's ability in the closer role, because he would lack the stuff to be a front of the line starter. You can't say that about Chamberlain. I hate to keep bringing up the examples, but it's why you don't see Verlander or Beckett being used in the pen. You think Detroit's happy with Todd Jones as the closer?
Not saying that you are, but I wouldn't hold the words of NY Post writers up to support your case. A bigger collection of hacks is harder to find.
