Hey, the shark never came! Cool.
For me, watching this game was somewhat like watching the movie Jaws. There were so many points in the contest where, in my head, I started to hear that music from Jaws that let’s you know the shark is coming.
When guys would reach base on Wang, I would hear it – but, then came some key double-plays and it was over. When A-Rod botched that pop-up in the 8th, I heard it – but, then Wang got the batter to fly to left. When Wang was removed from the game, I heard it – but, Veras danced his way out of the inning. And, yes, I even heard it when Mariano came into the game.
But, like I said, the shark never came. Awesome.
Big play in this game that will probably be overlooked: Giambi driving in A-Rod in the first with a groundball hit right where the shortstop should have been playing. It is so beautiful to watch Jason finally start to take advantage of that on a somewhat more regular basis. Better late than never!
18 Responses to “June 10th @ The A’s”
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June 11th, 2008 at 9:39 am
For the time that I watched I had the same sense that you did, Steve (except that I was rooting for the shark
).
Undoubtedly an improvement from Wang, but hardly his best work of the year. For the A’s to be legit wild card contenders they have to hit better. Kinda amazing though that on June 10, the AL East has no team at or below .500 and the Central has only one team that isn’t below .500. It sure looks like the Yanks (and maybe the Red Sox, I’m not sold on the team’s pitching like last year) will only have to worry about their eastern division rivals for a playoff berth.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Love him or hate him, Melky’s arm continues to save runs in CF.
And can someone explain to me why Wilson Betemit is still on this team?
June 11th, 2008 at 10:43 am
~~And can someone explain to me why Wilson Betemit is still on this team?~~
Two words..first one starts with “B” and the last one starts with “C”…
June 11th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Love him or hate him, Melky’s arm continues to save runs in CF.
~~~ And his bat continues to cost runs @ the plate.
June 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Raf we know you don’t like Melky but he is 9 hitter…I can’t see how he is costing them runs when you compare him to other 9 hitters in the AL..I’m sure he is the top half of that group…
Steve – I know you might not have time, but I would be curious to see how Melky compares to other 9 hitters in the AL.
June 11th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Okay, I did a little bit on my own but all 9 hitters in the AL this season have an OPS of .652
Melky has an OPS of .718 this season overall, so he is way better than the average 9 hitter.
…and when he is batting 9th, which is the majority of his PA (107 out of 243) he is even better with a .774 OPS.
I fail to see how he is hurting the team with his bat relative to what you can replace him with from other teams. I don’t think you can use his position as a reason he should be hitting more. Every team is constructed different…most teams don’t have a catcher that hits as good as Posada…the Yankees can afford to keep Melky in the lineup aslong as he is hitting 8th or 9th because they have other guys who fit into the other slots in the lineup just fine.
June 11th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
I’d be more interested to see how he compares to other CF, but even that isn’t what really matters. Either he’s helping or hurting with the bat and it does matter where he plays or hits or who you can or can’t replace him with. Comparing him to bad hitters doesn’t generate any more runs.
June 11th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
ech..make that “dosen’t matter …”
June 11th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Raf we know you don’t like Melky but he is 9 hitter
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Actually, I’m fairly indifferent…
But the idea that “the Yankees can afford to keep Melky in the lineup aslong as he is hitting 8th or 9th because they have other guys who fit into the other slots in the lineup just fine” is a dangerous idea to take, because you’re making the assumption that the offense will always be firing on all cylidners. For example, no one expected that Cano & Jeter would be doing as bad as they have. No one expected Rodriguez & Posada to miss as much time as they have. That considerably shortens the lineup.
June 11th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
The point is you can’t expect to have someone who has .900 OPS or more at every position…obviously he’s not the best OF in the world but if you replace him with someone better it’s going to cost you something either money or talent…and you most certainly can compare him to other 9 hitters because that is the competition…if your 9 hitter is better than most other teams 9 hitters than that is an advantage for you team no?
June 11th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Raf- then why not replace Jeter or Cano? They are actually hitting worse than Melky OPS+ wise.
Obviously I know that isn’t going to happen though but it’s not Melky’s fault that there are guys on the team who are underperforming. I don’t see why he should be the one who takes the fall because others aren’t playing as well as they should or because someone like ARod or Posada gets hurt. He doesn’t back them up, that’s on the bench to step it up.
It’s not like the Yankees offense has been that bad this season, they are actually third in OPS+ and 6th in runs. The problem is their pitching is not consistent enough.
June 11th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Does he cost less runs than the average 9 hitter? I guess so. But that doesn’t mean he’s not costing runs.
Personally, I like Melky and I think he’ll snap out of it eventually. With his arm, he only needs to be around league average with the bat to be help the team. He’s not there right now. If he hit this way for another three seasons, I’d be worried, but quite frankly, I couldn’t care less this season. I look at it as rebuilding and they’re doing OK in that respect. They could do better if the focus wasn’t on winning every game at the same time.
June 11th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
They could do better if the focus wasn’t on winning every game at the same time.
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Many of the games that they lost were quite winnable. This team can make the playoffs.
June 11th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
The point is you can’t expect to have someone who has .900 OPS or more at every position…
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I don’t think I said that, nor do I expect that. This is the point; as a player, does _____ hurt or help the team? Everything else, order in the lineup, position played, salary, is irrelevant.
You read far too much into my post, which was highlighting the fact that the game is played offensively and defensively. He may save runs with his glove, but he may cost runs with his bat.
June 11th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Many of the games that they lost were quite winnable. This team can make the playoffs.
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I don’t disagree with that, but I’d rather have a stronger team a couple seasons down the line than one that makes the playoffs this year in much the same manner as they have in the past few years.
June 11th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I’d rather have a stronger team a couple seasons down the line than one that makes the playoffs this year in much the same manner as they have in the past few years.
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They’re in a position where they can not only make the playoffs, but be a stronger ballclub.
What I don’t want to happen is that they miss the playoffs (or make the playoffs and not go far), then Hank does something stupid because he thinks he’s smarter than his baseball people.
June 11th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
then Hank does something stupid because he thinks he’s smarter than his baseball people.
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Somehow I think that’s going to happen no matter what the scenario.
June 11th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
At 23, if Melky hit 15 HR 70 RBI as a number 9 hitter that would not be too bad. He will never be a star, but I suspect his power and OBP will improve as he matures.
FWIW, Melky also strikes me as a guy with intangibles. The kind of player who could come up big in a short playoff series with good defense, a strong arm and an ugly but well placed bloop hit against an ace pitcher.