Right off the bat, we’ve got to say this was an intense series that any baseball fan could appreciate. The games were tight and back and forth, and had a little bit of everything.
Second, there were some “WTF” moments:
–Brett Gardner’s attempted steal of third. I’ve covered this already but, seriously Brett…
–The same goes for the Granderson bunt on a 2-0 count with the platoon advantage with Colin Curtis on deck…
–Not yanking Ivan Nova sooner, as we’d seen.
–Carl Crawford running. Maddon and Crawford both say they’d do it again–I don’t believe that. To me, that just seems like they’re covering up for a boneheaded play.
–The Derek Jeter non-HBP. This play was just a disaster all over. How none of the umpires saw that Jeter didn’t get hit by the pitch is embarrassing. On a personal note, I’ve made a call like that as a plate umpire, but in reverse. I heard the ball hit the knob before hitting the player and called it a foul ball. His dad was piiiisd–but I made the right call and the hitter’s coach told me so. I should add this: I shit talk umpires. A lot. Perhaps it’s unfair. Their job is very hard, and I know from personal experience. Even umpiring for 10-15 year olds is hard, let alone when the game is so incredibly fast at the highest level possible. Still, with the technology available, the umpires need to lean on it more. Once again I’ll introduce my replay idea:
An extra umpire in the booth, or in a video room, who watches replays. He has a headset, a walkie talkie a buzzer, whatever, that is always communicating with the crew chief. When the extra ump sees a call is wrong, it is overturned. This should be used on EVERY play except for balls and strikes. Not only does this system cut back on time, but it also gives another umpire a job. Their union should like that.
–Generally, a good job done by the Yankee bullpen, save for one pitch by Boone Logan. Ditto for CC Sabathia and David Price who both pitched brilliantly.
–I like Joe Girardi as a manager, but this week has just been odd for him, no? Oh well, everything in baseball can slump.
–The amount of missed opportunities in this series–and the Texas series–were incredibly frustrating. Hopefully, the RISP bug is cured by a trip to Camden Yards and the Orioles suffer the wrath of the Yankees’ bats.
–Lastly, the Yankees are out of first place heading in to the Baltimore series, but I’m not concerned. The lead Tampa has is so small that it can be made up without even playing. There is plenty of time left; don’t fret, everyone.
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6 Responses to Thoughts from a Series Lost
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TIQ IQ
Tampa Bay is a good team and will be tough out for the Division and the ALCS (if both teams make it). The Yankees lost two games by one run and won one game by one run. The pitching wasn’t bad (except for Nova). Also if Monday Night’s game was a playoff game, you wouldn’t see Mitre or Gaudin in that game…
Nova had a 1 hitter through 5 IP so I would say he did pitch well he just hit a wall that he has yet to bust through at the major league level because of his inexperience going deep into games, that is the main reason against the people who want Nova to start a game in the playoffs.
The Gardner caught stealing was a balk
Either way he shouldn’t have been going, he has more than enough speed to score on any base hit from 2nd base and going to 3rd with 2 outs is always a bad baseball move… Like bunting lefty V right on a 2-0 count.
Normally I would agree but that was egregious. Even with the balk he almost made it. I don’t know how the umps missed it and no one complained.
The hitting with RISP is really reminding me of the 2004 Yankees, we had a decent offense and we could hit the long ball better than anyone in baseball but getting clutch hits and hitting with runners on base just wasn’t our forte ad I think that along with the bullpen miscues over the course of the year is what cause “the collapse”.