Regardless of him falling out with whoever, and his arbitration upcoming, I'd take Texiera in a heartbeat. Helton, no. We don't actually need either though. This actually turns out to be GOOD news to me: Damon's legs get some rest! Cabrera goes into center! We're already DOUBLY better defensively, without losing Damon's bat. Thompson may get another opportunity to shine on days Matsui gets a rest. Even better, Damon can get at least a full day off every week with Matsui moving into the DH slot, and Thompson in left. At this point, I don't care if I never see Giambi put on pinstripes ever again. And Selig might just assure that this afternoon anyway.
I haven't seen or heard a word all day about it. I have a sneaking suspicion this "injury" is along the same lines as I thought Sheffield's was last year. Initial reports were that Giambi was out for 3 weeks. Suddenly, there's an injury only Big Mac has managed to get in the past, and Jason's season is done? Sorry, sounds like someone doesn't want to be forced to pee in a cup. It doesn't really matter. Giambi's year is now done. Selig gets off without doing a thing, since he can't be expected to punish a guy who didn't actually admit anything, while he's just lost his season. Big surprise. Baseball really makes me sick sometimes.
DOH! I didn't realize you might not understand what I meant about Bud. If you read the article that was posted, Selig has been under pressure to punish Giambi. The announcement was originally to have occurred yesterday, but didn't for whatever reason. (Perhaps Bud put in a call to his good friend George and told him to wrap up Giambi tight.) That announcement was then to have happened this afternoon, but it looks like that didn't happen either. I DESPISE that an owner is the commissioner of Major League Baseball. You may as well put the Player's Union head in charge.
I like Tim Wakefield, but I never really rest easy before his starts. He seems to either be "on," and the knuckleball dancing; or, throwing flat, and only too easy to time. Someday, someone is going to figure out that the thing drops off the table with XX% humidity, or sails flat at XXX feet above sea level, and then I'll be more comfortable, because I'll know when he's going to get shelled.
It's nice and humid in Beantown right now so you should assume the knuckleball will be on tonight. If the Yanks are going to win a game, tonight will have to be it. I don't see them taking either of the other two. Go Sox
It's tough, because it's such an unpredictable pitch. Usually it's a good thing to have a wind blowing out and some humidity, though I find that when I throw with VERY low humidity it works well too. There are some days where it feels good coming out of your hand, and others where your thumb keeps getting in the way or something. Really what it comes down to is general location. If you can keep it low, even flat ones can be hard to hit, but if it's up, even a good one can be crushed.
You throw a knuckler? I have toyed with it in the past, but I can't throw a good one more than once out of 5 or 10 tries. I give a lot of credit to Wakefield, and guys like the Neikro brothers. That's an incredibly hard pitch to throw.
Yeah, I started throwing it when I was about 12. It was 1995, the year Wakefield was dominant, and I loved it. It took until high school before I could throw it in games, and now I throw it about 50% of the time, mixing in a slider and fastball. I throw it a bit differently though, as I use my actual knuckles. I guess that's why I'm so defensive about Wakefield...
Before tonight he was 5-5 with a 3.61 ERA. Not exactly what i would call grabage. But Alio posted some stats that show how the yankees have pwn3d him for a while.
He reminds me of Steve Trachsel. He's not really good at anything but not bad enough that they won't stop throwing him out there.
Yeah I can definitley see that comparison, and since i turned the mets off and watched him pitch for a little while, he does seem like someone who has better numbers than he pitches, similar to Trachsel. I dont see him pitch often enough though to make any judgment.
I hope everyone heard Kay allude how the Yanks have been getting the short end of the stick all year from the umps.
