Skipped this one. We took the kids to go watch Sparky Lyle’s Somerset Patriots host Gary Carter’s Long Island Ducks. Great day for a ballgame in Somerset today. Here’s a snapshot about 15 minutes into the game:
[Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the picture.]
We had fun. It was “Bat Day” – so the kids got free bats. They had an on-the-field pre-game autograph session with the players – so the kids got some autographs from the players and had their pictures taken with some too. And, at the end of the game, the kids got to go on the field and run the bases. Now…that’s a day at the ballpark. (I got to see former Yankee Dan Miceli come into the game and throw a bit for the Ducks. And, since our seats were right behind the Pats’ on-deck circle, I got to see Somerset’s Matt Hagen – who played second today, up close. He’s built like Travis Hafner and can rake. Hey, it’s the little things that make me happy…)
Got home and found out that the Yankees wasted a fine effort from CC Sabathia today. Saw that Brian Cashman’s boy genius find Brett Tomko took the loss.
So, this is what we know about the 2009 Yankees so far this season:
Ability to beat the Boston Red Sox: None.
Ability to beat the Baltimore Orioles: Plenty.
Ability to narrowly beat the Minnesota Twins: Sure.
Ability to beat the Philadelphia Phillies without the assistance of a Brad Lidge meltdown: Very little.
If you ask me, the Yankees are starting to look like a team who is more than capable of beating up on the weak teams, and keep up with the good teams, but not able to beat the very good teams.
Now, I know that some say: That’s good. Your wins against the weak teams offset the losses against the very good ones…and then you make your season if you can beat the good ones. Sure, maybe that’s a way to win more than you lose, overall…however, when you get to October, and then only play very good teams, you get bounced in the ALDS – as the Yankees have been doing since 2005. Same ol’, same ol’…no?
Actually, I’m still willing to give it three more weeks. Let’s see where the Yankees are on June 15th – and how they do between now and then…should be interesting watching how they do in their next 20 games.
15 Responses to “May 24th vs. The Phillies”
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May 24th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
IMHO, the Yanks record at the end of the season against top teams will probably be equal to or close enough to how the Red Sox, Rays, and other top teams do against top competition. I could be wrong, but I doubt the Yanks will be much worse in this category.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Lol. Steve, sometimes this stuff just makes me chuckle. I could have written this post for you, complete with the word narrowly ahead of the Twins, that is how predictable you have become. Let me ask you, how should the Phils look at this series? They cant beat the Yankees without facing Brett Tomko and a meltdown from AJ Burnett. Brad Lidge is the closer for the Phillies. You cant take him out of the equation. If they had scored in the 10th today, you would have been impressed, but since they lost an extra inning game on May 24th, they cant win against good teams and you are graciously giving them three weeks. It is really ridiculous. They lost the series 2-1 to a team that I would call their equal. It was a pretty evenly matched series.
May 24th, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Today’s loss was on Girardi. Not having Alex protect the line, not having Gardner or Pena bunt, managing the roster to where Kevin Cash is your last hope…
May 24th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Sure, maybe that’s a way to win more than you lose, overall…however, when you get to October, and then only play very good teams, you get bounced in the ALDS – as the Yankees have been doing since 2005. Same ol’, same ol’…no?
I think you should double check their regular season records against the teams they’ve lost to in the first round.
May 24th, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Just curious… how are the Blue Jays, Rays, and Red Sox’s records against the very good teams so far this year?
May 24th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Raf wrote:
In regard to your first and third points, I disagree. They were protecting the line when Utley was at first. After he stole second, they moved to a standard defense, because you dont play no doubles when a single can beat you. Managing the roster to where Cash needs to bat, I really dont see any way around that- all of his substitutions to that point made sense. Swisher was their last bullet, and they used him to hit for Cervelli, the right move in my book. In regard to squeeze bunting, your middle point, I am not so sure about with Pena, but I would have liked to see them try with Gardner. I’m sure he has done it on plenty of occasions in the minors, and he had Melky at third, if I remember correctly.
May 24th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Also, is Pena that much more faster than Cano?
May 24th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Raf wrote:
If he is faster at all, you make that move. You need to tie the game there.
May 25th, 2009 at 12:53 am
First, I also have to knock Girardi on the Pena for Cano move, to me it makes no sense.
Second, I agree with Steve losing to good teams is not a good sign. There is a long way to go but work needs to be done.
May 25th, 2009 at 1:14 am
I would just like to point out that the Yanks are still missing key players with injuries, while the Phils were basically all there. Both teams have key players underperforming, not just Lidge.
No matter what the players say, it makes a difference.
May 25th, 2009 at 9:00 am
The Yankees will be there at the end. It is a good team that held its own while dealing with many injuries and seems to be getting progressively better. If/when everyone gets healthy, watch out.
May 25th, 2009 at 9:03 am
Teix’s GIDP didn’t help matters much either
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
Yeah, but still; the difference is negligible, I would think…
Anyway, I’m not worried. IIRC the team held their own against the “good” teams last year, and they still missed the playoffs.
May 25th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Steve: You sound like the Red Sox fans on the Boston Globe message boards who can always find 20 reasons why the Sox suck even when they are the best team in baseball.
You take your wins as they come.
From spring training, I have felt better about this team than I have in quite of few years.
May 25th, 2009 at 11:41 am
loss was on Girardi. Not having Alex protect the line
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Arod hasn’t protected the line in late innings since he returned. Sloppy baseball.
May 25th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Another thing I didn’t understand was having Swisher bat for Cervelli. Swisher is not hitting at the stadium. Cervelli’s been doing a great job w/ the bat.