You’re paranoid about me killing your dog, but I’m the psychopath because I can read the screen name that you chose??? Ok. Another persuasive argument.

Chris, I find it very creep that you called me “J.J.” (I wasn’t aware that you could see a person’s sign-on name — mostly because I don’t care to know anything about any other poster.) So unless I do it accidentally, I won’t be responding to anything you post, fearing that you’ll boil my dog or cut up my girlfriend’s face with a razor.

Good luck to you, local psychopath. Have fun talking to the voices in your head.

Don’t give yourself that much credit. It doesn’t take a google search to find your gems.

Chris, I don’t have a “mental breakdown” when someone disagrees with me. I get angry when someone resorts to something this stupid.

What relevancy does a six-month-old quote have to an issue of today? When I wrote that, no one even knew Proctor was going to be on the team. When I wrote that, no one knew Proctor had improved so much.

Proctor was coming off a very mediocre year. AT THAT TIME (context is a beautiful thing) I didn’t want Proctor pitching in a close game. Now, having seen Proctor pitch all year, and knowing what he can do, and how he can help the team, NO, I DON’T WANT HIM PITCHING EVERY DAY.

Here’s what I find weird. Either two things happened there:

1) You actually remembered something I wrote SIX MONTHS ago, or –

2) You went back through every post — or did a Google search — to find it, which is just as bad.

But if you would rather Proctor pitch every day and lose miles an hour on his fastball, and prefer to use him while guys like Beam and Veras are around for mopup, hey, that’s fine with me.

That’s exactly my point. At the start of the year, you thought Torre was an idiot for using Proctor at all. Now he’s an idiot for using him too much. Maybe in your Playstation fantasy world you have the ability to win 100 games without using any relief pitchers, but that’s not how the real world works, JJ.

If you can’t take people disagreeing with you, maybe you should stop commenting. You have a mental breakdown everytime someone posts a comment that doesn’t align with your view. Instead of backing up any of your rants with facts, you resort to name calling. Sounds like you’re the one with a little Fox News in ya.

And going back over six months to get a quote from me is pretty sick. (A little context on the second quote, which is useless in this argument: I was obviously battling it out with some numbskull — you, Chris? — who couldn’t accept the fact that Cashman said he was starting in AAA that year.)
=============
Actually, the point in that argument was that if Proctor was going to help the big club, it was to be as a reliever.

Duuuude, you are a friggin’ tool. You must be a big Fox News fan. That quote is from the START OF THE YEAR, before Proctor had his turn-around. As you’ll NOTE, I said I wasn’t a Proctor fan at the start of the year because of last year’s pitiful performance. I was, however, impressed by the starts he made in spring training. What I say in that post was true — Proctor only made the team out of spring training as a reliever because of injury, and at the time Cashman said he was going to go to Columbus to start.

And going back over six months to get a quote from me is pretty sick. (A little context on the second quote, which is useless in this argument: I was obviously battling it out with some numbskull — you, Chris? — who couldn’t accept the fact that Cashman said he was starting in AAA that year.)

If you can find one Yankee fan who wanted Proctor to be the seventh-inning man after last year, I’ll give you a million dollars. After all, the harshest truth about his performance is the fact that they were going to have him start in AAA (in other words, they had no confidence in him).

I haven’t read one post on hear calling for Proctor to pitch every day. He’s going to pitch between 75-80 games this year, just like the good setup man on other contending teams.

I apologize for misquoting you Bailey — here are two comments that you did say:

“The guy I want least with the game on the line is Proctor. Hasn’t it been shown enough that the guy can’t pitch out of the ‘pen? HE NEEDS TO START.”

“Listen up: PROCTOR WILL BE A STARTER THIS YEAR. They have already said he will be a starter with the Clippers in AAA. That’s why he STARTED in the spring. Because he is now a starter. Because he couldn’t cut it as a reliever, but Cashman thinks he has a decent arm, and he had one good start in the bigs, they were turning him back into a starter. Again, this is why he STARTED in the spring and did not work out of the ‘pen. He only made the team because of injuries. When he gets sent back down in a week or two, he will go to AAA and START. Because he is now a starter. I can’t comprehend what you don’t understand about this.”

Maybe Torre gets a little credit for sticking with Proctor and putting him in a situation to be one of the Yankees’ MVPs?

Chris, Chris, Chris. You’re going to have to show me this quote where I said I “never, ever” wanted Proctor to pitch for us. Never happened. In fact, just the other day I called Proctor one of the team’s MVPs. Like most people, I didn’t want anything to do with Proctor before this season started, because to be blunt he sucked, but he’s been amazing for this team this year and I can’t imagine we would have a ten-game lead without him.

This idea that guys like to pitch and want to pitch — therefore it’s okay to pitch them every day — is empty macho bullshit. Having pitched in my life, I can say with absolute certainty that pitching takes a lot out of your arm, and warming up and pitching on consecutive days is even worse. If it doesn’t have an effect on Proctor when he pitches a lot, why does his velocity go from 96-97 down to 93-94? Mentally he may want to pitch every day, but he’s human, and his shoulder needs a break. When you pitch every day your fastball loses life and your breaking balls aren’t as sharp. It’s just a fact — not some anti-Torre conspiracy theory.

As for Villone: he’s only pitched those amounts of innings while spot-starting or starting. He is going to far exceed his pure-relief innings pitched this year (and he’s no kid).

I’m not sure I understand the idea that you shouldn’t care about your “fifth most important bullpen guy.” What’s the pecking order: Mo, Farns, Proctor, Bruney, Villone? What happens if you need innings in playoff games back to back? Will Proctor and Bruney throw five each? Everyone in the bullpen in the post-season is important. As yesterday’s game shows, you can dominate a team for six innings, then a walk, a bloop, and a home run takes you right out of the game.

This is for RICH (the king of hyperbole): you want an alternative bullpen plan? Here’s one: use everyone in the bullpen. With an established hierarchy, don’t use the “big guys” in “small guy” situations. If the lead is more than three, don’t use Proctor, Farnsworth or Mo. Dotel (especially), Beam, Veras, Henn, even Rasner can hold down the lead. The baseball season is a long one, these guys have thrown a lot of innings, so since you have a nice lead right now, let them rest up for the quickly-approaching playoffs.

During the regular season, here’s my advice for Torre: don’t panic. In the regular season, if he has a five-run lead and the other team scores a run in the sixth inning or so, he panics and rushes everyone up in the bullpen. If the lesser bullpen guy gives up another run, then he rushes up (in this case) Proctor and Farns. Just chill out. It seems like Torre’s panic gets into the pitcher’s mind — he knows he’s on such a short leash that his failure is almost predetermined. If Torre had just a little bit more trust for his second-tier relievers, guys like Proctor and Farnsworth wouldn’t have to have 100 appearances a year.

Bailey – aren’t you the same guy who said that Proctor should never, ever, ever pitch in the Yankees bullpen? You never wanted to see him in a close game. And now your worried about Torre wearing him out?

Is it a coincidence that Proctor’s worst performances have come after several games off? Take a look at his game log. Every single one of his bad performances happened after having two or more days off. Proctor is at his best when he’s pitching every other day. Also, is it just a coincidence that Proctor’s ERA in May was 5.50, June – 5.06, July – 3.86, August – 3.27, and September – 0.00? He’s gotten better every month. The more work he gets, the better his numbers are. He’s shown absolutely no sign of wear and tear, but there are still Yankee fans who will break into tears if they see him warming up in the bullpen. It’s ridiculous.

And what is the fascination everyone has with Villone? He is the 5th most important reliever on the team. If your number 10 pitcher can’t eat innings in a blowout, then he shouldn’t be there. Villone is a guy who’s pitched 80+ games through out his career and people are throwing a fit because he may break 70 games with the Yankees. He’s here to pitch.