Friday, June 16, 2006

Hypocrites Get To Steppin'

Hey COH fans. I've been a bit busy the last few days, so I wasn't able to stay on top of the last two Yankees contests. A few things to address. Buckle up.

Randy Johnson was dominant in shutting down the Indians. He had everything working, and while he has a lot of work to put in to salvage a bitterly disappoiting open to the 2006 season, he looks like he's got his fire back. After Posada was hit by Indians starter Jason Johnson and took offense, the Big Unit threw way inside to nemesis Eddie Perez prompting tempers to flare and ejections were issued. In my opinion, that should have been the end of it. That kind of business is part of the game, and while ejections for such encounters are a relatively new addition to the game, suspensions for pitches that didn't even hit a player are virtually unheard of. That's exactly what Torre and Johnson are dealing with now, pending appeal.

That makes me want to punch someone. The Yankees among the top 5 teams in baseball for "being hit by pitch", while they rank DEAD LAST in the pitching statistic "hit batsmen". Giambi (9), Posada(6), and Jeter(4) rank among the games most hit players in 2006. In 2005, Giambi was 4th in the Majors with 19 HBP, and A-Rod was tied for 7th at 16. In 2004, both Jeter and Miguel Cairo were tied for 6th in baseball with 14 apiece. Giambi led the AL with 21 HBP in 2003 and was 3rd in all of the Majors. How many times over the last few years have we watched guys get drilled in the hands and back by opposing pitchers, and nothing has been done to settle the score? I'm not talking about settling the score in terms of macho posturing, but rather as a way to keep other pitchers honest. If they know they have to face the powerful Yankee lineup and feel the need to intimidate our players by keeping their feet "light" in the batter's box, we're going to get beaned a bunch. It's either the result of nervous pitchers with control issues, or veteran guys trying to "alpha male" their way to a looser strikezone. If we can't buzz a couple of chins in response to the latter, we're going to keep seeing our star players wearing casts on their hands and icing bruises on their backs.

The other thing I want to say today is, "Any Yankee fan who boos Alex Rodriguez in our home park can piss off." All you're doing is showing your abject lack of knowledge about the game, your team, and civil human etiquette. Just to set things straight, I booed the hell out of Hideki Irabu after he signed his $13 million contract and proceeded to bloat his way to mediocrity. That's a guy you can boo. A guy who just helped you win the division in a tight battle with the Red Sox, broke the Yankees single-season record for homers by a righty, took home the American League's Most Valuable Player award for 2005, won the Player of the Month award for May 2006, sports a 1.117 OPS with runners in scoring position and 2 outs, and who you desperately need to play well to win the division again DOESN'T NEED TO HEAR YOUR SIMIAN VOCALIZATIONS AFTER EVERY AT BAT!

There. That feels much better. Let's go get 'em Yanks. See you tomorrow.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry, A Rod's just not getting it done. Don't know why he deserves a pass. Situation last night was classic. Down by five, solo HR. Next inning, with two on and a chance to tie the game, K. Nuff said.

More importantly, why do the boos bother so many A Rod supporters? You do well, you get cheered. You slump badly, you get booed. Not sure why so many people get so upset.

Fred Vincy said...

Re: A-Rod, couldn't have said it better myself. He's basically had a bad (yes, very bad) two weeks.

Mike Plugh said...

The point is....

You don't just boo because someone is slumping. That's where jaded and impatient fans take the joy out of the game completely.

A-Rod has been booed since opening day after winning the MVP. People just hate him, and almost wish he fails so they can take out their personal frustrations on him. It's pathological.

Look at all the things I wrote about his accomplishments and consider that we are in sole possession of 1st place. Why the F&%* would you boo him?

Anonymous said...

Hi Mike, I found this blog article at a sports forum I frequent. Check out the replies when you have a chance. http://www.121s.com/viewtopic.php?t=8969 I am in complete agreement with you about A-Rod. It must be damn hard being a pro-athlete in New York. The crowd is one big borderline personality disorder. One day you're adored, the next day they want you dead. *sigh* Cheers, and keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

May I attempt to explain why the boos bother so many ARod supporters? Because it ruins the Yankee Stadium experience. Part of the joy is 50k people all pulling for the same thing. Now it's Yankee Fan vs. Yankee Fan.

When you boo A-Rod, you make Yankee fans seem spoiled and ignorant. You're booing the reigning AL MVP. If you don't want him, every other team in baseball would take him. Then you could boo Joe Crede instead.