You’re right – this is what you said:

“In all seriousness, if T.J. Beam can get over his rookie jitters, he’s Proctor+. He has a rubber arm and can give you 100 innings out of the ‘pen (which he did this year) and has impeccable control (with better strikeout numbers than Proctor).”

http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2006/12/the_melk_man_fo.html

and, you also said:

“The stars aligned or something, because my boy T.J. Beam got called up to the club. Boy, I nearly had an orgasm when I read that this morning. (It’ll be pretty embarrassing after all this if he comes up and bombs, huh?) I know it’s only for a few days, and I know that Joe Torre doesn’t “trust” him and won’t use him unless the score is, oh, 22-1, but I just hope he can show Torre a little something like Smithy showed him a little something and stick with the team.”

http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2006/06/june_16th_the_n.html

By the way, baileywalk, didn’t you once call T.J. Beam the future closer of the Yankees, more than once?
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Never once. (And seriously, you know I never said he was a future closer, but whatever…)

I said I really liked him as a relief pitching prospect, he had great numbers in the minors, and that I thought he would help the team. He got bombed in his short stint with the club, but I still think he has talent.

~~~But I think it’s maybe a little unfair to begrudge Yankee fans who are sitting there wondering what all the hype was about. ~~~

Thank you. That’s fair, and I appreciate it.

FWIW, I realize that everything positive that Hughes is doing now is special – you don’t see that in Yankeeland, as I’ve said, moons ago:

http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2006/12/since_so_many_f.html

Hey, what I’ve written here about Hughes was just an opinion. Kill me if you want for having it. I’ll be more than thrilled to admit that I was wrong, if it turns out that way, because it will be great news for the Yankees.

Will you be willing to do the same if you’re wrong?

By the way, baileywalk, didn’t you once call T.J. Beam the future closer of the Yankees, more than once?

Oh, and as Bucholz was having his moment and being mobbed by adoring teammates, loud mouth Beckett shouted into the NESN mic something to the effect of: “CURT SCHILLING COULDN’T DO THAT! CURT SCHILLING COULDN’T DO THAT! HUAH HA HA HA!” I know Josh was probably ribbing his pal, Curt, but jeez, go easy on the screaming into the mic while one of your teammates is having his career moment.

Bailey, I really am rooting for the kid; but I, like many others, bought into the unrealistic expectations and blogomania before ever even watching him pitch. My bad on that one.

And it can be argued that pitching his near no-no so early on could’ve really been a detriment. Had he popped his hamstring in the bottom of the first, the bar wouldn’t be nearly as high as it is right now.

Lastly, I watched the last inning of Bucholz’s no-hitter tonight and I’ll be damned – I was actually rooting for the kid. He seems like a decent, humble guy; and the game was way out of reach anyway. O’s couldn’t be bothered to summon the same intensity that they seem to reserve for the Yanks.

Ummm, a big section of what I wrote was deleted out of that last post… The points were: Hughes does have the perfect frame and poise; he has two plus pitches and one potential plus pitch (he didn’t really start throwing the change till this year); and he does have good control, but he’s human, and when he’s not mechanically sound he can be wild like every other pitcher in the world.

Red Sox prospect Clay Buchholz pitched a no-hitter in his second major-league start, which is exactly what Hughes was about to do before he popped his hamstring. What the f–k, for real? It seems in recent years, the baseball gods sure like the Sox more than the Yanks.

He only had three walks. That’s my cutoff amount for whether or not the no-hitter is impressive or not. But regardless, a no-hitter in your second big-league start is extraordinary.

And just briefly on brock’s points:

>>-The perfect pitcher>-Three plus pitches>-Impeccable control>-A power arm<<

Again, true. Hughes throws 91-93. That’s not 100, and Hughes isn’t Schilling in his prime. But he has good life through the zone and can muscle up and strike people out with his fastball.

But like I said sixteen million times, he’s 21 and still learning. When people talked glowingly about Hughes, it was about his potential. Not what he was going to do this year. The results have been disappointing, but he’s shown signs of being the pitcher we thought he was. But he’s making mistakes — and if people don’t expect mistakes from a rookie, then their expectations were unrealistic to begin with.

Garcia -

First off, great post. I completely agree with all of your points, except for this one:

“I don’t think people have come out and stomped their feet saying he’s definitely going to win 20 games, or that he’s even going to be the future ace. All that people are saying is that they believe in his potential and they feel he will help out this ball club, despite his record this year.”

I think the disconnect here is that many, many people have in fact made those exact predictions. I mean, what’s the guy’s moniker, for God’s sake? Phil Phranchise! That’s right, he was expected to come in and become the franchise pitcher this team has lacked since Clemens’ departure, which I think, quite frankly, is patently absurd to bestow upon any 21-year-old whom still had yet to throw a pitch at the ML level. Here are some other characteristics I had heard before ever watching him pitch:

-The perfect pitcher
-Three plus pitches
-Impeccable control
-A power arm

Now, all of these attributes might in fact come to fruition at some point in Hughes’ career (and I hope they do). But I think it’s maybe a little unfair to begrudge Yankee fans who are sitting there wondering what all the hype was about.

Steve, you have been down on Hughes from day one, you don’t have to be explicit with your statements for all of us to know what you mean. If anything, you have been consistent with your opinions on Hughes: the hype doesn’t match up with my (Steve’s) expectations.

When Johan first came to the majors he wasn’t that impressive between years 2000 – 2002. However, at some point in 2002 he started to get better and he started dominating in ’03.

Sometimes patience and time are what we need before we start to judge. And that’s what probably bothers people most (myself included), that you have already come to a judgment and determination on Hughes.

This post is basically your conclusion on Hughes and this is all based off of 8 major league starts. Would you have judged Cano on his first 10 at-bats? How about after Melky’s miserable Boston series in 2005, what was your opinion then?

I don’t think people are claiming he’s going to become a first ballot hall of famer, I don’t think people have come out and stomped their feet saying he’s definitely going to win 20 games, or that he’s even going to be the future ace. All that people are saying is that they believe in his potential and they feel he will help out this ball club, despite his record this year.

A good example of hype is Mike Pelfrey for the Mets, he’s pitching a good game today against Atlanta. He was awful earlier in the year and he had to be sent down. Did he fix himself? Time will tell but Met fans have to be happy to see a young pitcher of there’s shutting down Atlanta’s offense. I’d call that a big improvement and part of Pelfrey’s growing pains.

The other thing I found interesting that Singleton and Murcer were talking about is that he absolutely dominated at the minor league level, he dominated so much that he hardly allowed runners on base and he NEVER EVER got the bases loaded against him in the minors. It’s a different league altogether at the majors and what we may be witnessing is only going to make him a better pitcher, hopefully.

I like Hughes’ make-up, I like his answers after yesterday’s awful start, and sometimes you need to see a player reach rock-bottom and see how they get themselves out to see if they are worthy of your praise. He’s trying to pull himself out of the rut he’s in. Remember he can only get in a rut at the major league level because he dominated the minors.

I’d rather sit back and watch and see what happens before I come to a conclusion, I need to see a lot more before I say I no longer believe in him.

OMG. Show me where I said that, please.
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It’s not just what you said here in this post. It’s based on the totality of what you’ve written about Hughes. Now you say you don’t have a “feeling” about Hughes (which is a meaningless statement). You didn’t think much of him before you even saw him pitch. So you doubted him/didn’t believe in him from the beginning. And Zack said the same thing, so I guess I’m not totally insane for having this opinion.