I wondered if picking up a game in the standings -- to be only 13.5 GB in the East and behind seven teams in the wild card hunt -- would cause any of the New York mediots to start muttering about the beginning of a comeback.In this case, though, the headline bears little resemblance to the article.
Mike Lupica, Daily News:
We keep setting these arbitrary deadlines for the Yankees, sure they will show up for one of them. We just went through those dozen games against the White Sox, Mets, Red Sox, Angels. The Yankees managed to win four. They better show up at Fenway Park this weekend. Show they are something more than their name, their embarrassing payroll, and a fading reputation as the baddest team on the planet.P.S. I can't criticize Slappy for whatever he yelled as he ran past the Toronto infielders. I know I (and probably most of you) would be thrilled if a Sock did that against the Yankees, especially if the Yankees started whining about it.
Sweep the Red Sox. Then you start to look alive, and not like the biggest underachievers, with the biggest payroll, in their sport. ...
They won back-to-back games against the Mets and Red Sox, won two of three against the Red Sox, and of course people got giddy again. Then they lost three straight to the Angels and two straight to the Blue Jays. ...
They need to show up now. They go into Boston with their three best pitchers: Wang, Mussina, Pettitte. Clemens pitches in Chicago. If they don't at least make some kind of stand now, then when?
42 comments:
a-rod said he said 'hah!' but on dale and holly they were just saying he said 'mine!' i mean, thats just a dirty, childish thing to do. i don't know how i would react if it were one of our guys (doing it against the yankees) it would prolly be different i guess. but i would still be like 'that was kinda lame' and feel a little embarrassed for us. but i dunno..it prolly goes on all the time, but since it's a-rod its high drama.
it's "high drama" because it was with two outs in the ninth, keeping the inning alive, and allowing them to put the game out of reach. If it was the first inning, I'd still call it, you know, B.L., but it wouldn't be as big a deal.
i have no idea if it happens a lot, but i do know there is no rule against it, so ... yell away.
some will say it's part of the game's "unwritten" rules. bullshit. the rules are written down. anything else is not a rule. especially not when your team sucks and you are trying to win a game.
bunt to break up a no-hitter (or to test a now-blogging pitcher who just had radical surgery to his ankle in order to pitch), steal second when you're up 9-1, run on a catcher who just got his throwing hand bashed by a foul ball, ... all good.
slapping the ballout of a opponent's glove, grabbing a runner's belt to prevent him from advancing to the next base (a favorite back in the 19th century when there was only one umpire and he couldn't possibly watch everybody), etc. -- those are against the rules.
is what slappy did that much different from a middle infielder faking an incoming throw to deke a runner and get him to stop at second, or from a guy dancing off third to distract a pitcher. those things are praised as heads-up.
Nothing like the floating standards of the unwritten rule. I agree, had a 'Sock pulled it off, most of us would be chortling (and if we didn't like the victim--how stupid he is--but you can't do that to Howie Clark). As far as 'play of the game' type stuff, the Yanks were already up by 3 and Mo had bailed them out of the 8th. The play smacked of desperation. If I were an intrepid, shit-disturbing NY Post beat guy, I'd be asking ARod if he didn't think 3 runs were enough for Mo anymore.
Is that any different than Lowell sometimes pretending to drop a liner or something to force a DP? It's kind of silly gamemanship, but still...
The Yanks were up 2 at the time. They were up 1 going to the ninth, with Mo in the game. Not '98 Mo, today Mo. I was fully expecting a Jays comeback.
They scored a run on the play, which made it a 3-run lead, after A-Rod's single had made it a 2-run lead.
Let me put it this way: I'm fine with a hidden-ball trick. I'm not fine if you do it while talking to the runner, asking him about his kids to lull him into a false sense of security and then slapping the tag on him. A-Rod has proven that he DOES break regular rules, and now that he's gotten caught, he's resorting to breaking the unwritten ones. There's also no law against cheating on your spouse, but did that, too. This week! If he's gonna do that crap on the field, let him get beaned next time he's in Toronto, and let's remember as fans which guys break the unwritten rules, regardless of how we feel about those rules.
is what slappy did that much different from a middle infielder faking an incoming throw to deke a runner and get him to stop at second, or from a guy dancing off third to distract a pitcher. those things are praised as heads-up.
yes. because i retract what i said earlier about it maybe going on all the time. if it did go on all the time, i think we'd see more stinks put up about it like the jays did last night. anyway, its clearly different cause everyone is talking about it ;p
Let me put it this way: I'm fine with a hidden-ball trick. I'm not fine if you do it while talking to the runner, asking him about his kids to lull him into a false sense of security and then slapping the tag on him.
What??!?!? Lulling the runner into thinking you don't have the ball and are just shooting the shit is the only way the play will WORK. It's the whole point.
There's also no law against cheating on your spouse, but did that, too. This week!
We have no real evidence of this. If his wife is aware of it and it's fine with her, then it's not cheating. Short of a full disclosure from more than one party, we'll never know enough to say anything with certainty.
Reading a few stories in the tabs (like the fact that Alex and Cynthia often go to strip clubs together in New York), I'll make an educated guess and say that Mrs. Slappy leaving their house with a few suitcases is more to get away from the media than any kind of statement against her husband's behaviour.
I did laugh at this bit from the Daily News: "A petite stripper at the Hustler Club said A-Rod "likes the she-male, muscular type. They brought me up to the champagne room one time. I spun around once and that was it. I'm not his type."
Listen to the chants at Fenway. We'll see how many Sox fans read this.
Yeah, the she-male chants could come out...
Me and Mike Leporati did the hidden ball trick on Carlos Fincham at age 13. I stood on the mound and pretended I had the ball. Mike was at short, and when Fincham took his lead, he tagged him out. My point is that A-Rod is the type who'd probably say "Hey, runner, the play's over. Yeah, time is out right now. Go back to first." And then tag him out. And yes, it would be the runner's fault if he falls for it, but you better expect to pay the consequences when you try crap like that.
Unwritten rule or not, it can only serve to make A-Rod less well liked and a bigger distraction in the Yankee clubhouse, so for those reasons ALONE, I gotta take the Blue Jays' side on this.
That's what's so gold about this. It's A-Rod becoming even less-liked, and, yes, more Bronx Zoo action.
Awesome.
SF from YFSF dug up the rule:
Official Rules: 2.00 Definition of Terms
INTERFERENCE
(a) Offensive interference is an act by the team at bat which interferes with, obstructs, impedes, hinders or confuses any fielder attempting to make a play. If the umpire declares the batter, batter- runner, or a runner out for interference, all other runners shall return to the last base that was in the judgment of the umpire, legally touched at the time of the interference, unless otherwise provided by these rules.
A bit of a debate going on over there in terms of interpretation, but I think it's clear that the rule was broken. However, I would guess that the umpire probably didn't hear A-Rod himself.
I haven't looked at multiple replays of the play, but if the infielder's pull-back happened right after Slappy ran by and yelled, then yes, the rule was violated.
Thanks for posting that.
RS, it looks like he did pull back just afterwards. I do think McDonald should probably have called for that ball anyway.
I don't care what rules are written or not -- that's an embarrassing way to play, and I would NOT feel good about it if a Red Sox player did it. By the same token, when an umpire blows a call in the Sox' favor (e.g. Lowell's awesome but not-quite-safe slide into second a couple days ago), I have to root for that runner not to score. I want the team to win, but fairly.
Thanks Allen, I've filed it under 'learn something new every day'. So it's a written rule, part of the 'can't interfere with the fielder' rule. Makes perfect sense, in context. Fuck you, ARod.
Thanks woti, though it was the title SF at YFSF who did the research. I just "stole" it. :)
Jeffrey, I have no doubt you're being honest, but I think there's a world of difference between the Lowell and A-Rod plays you're talking about. I root for Lowell to score, because he wasn't actively trying to make Barfield screw up the tag - he was just sliding in an attempt to be safe, after what was probably not the smartest decision (trying for 2B in the first place).
Here's the video:
http://www.mushygushy.com/S0JVNB
I wish Sox fans were above caring about things like this.
I think it's just chatting on an off day. I could be wrong.
But L-girl, we are! We could be focused on his adventures at the Brass Rail.
Yankees cheating to win is one of the main things I care about in my life!
I made the video to show I (we?) can at least laugh about it, though...
Jere: Great video, though I think for accuracy (and even more laughs), he should've let A-Rod fall.
Thanks--Just workin' with the template they gave me:) But I was so psyched there was one involving a pop-up, I had to make something out of it...
Pretty handy that a pop-up situation was available. Any chance the people in charge of the site are Sox Fans or Jays Fans? :)
Redsock, from two posts above:
"New York has to overtake about half of the American League to get atop the wild card standings. So every game is a big game for them at this point."
This is why I was so pissed when A-Rod did this. If it was some meaningless thing, like if they were up 10 runs, it would be more like "look at that pathetic A-Rod," and that would be that. But this was two outs in the ninth.
Should that matter? If it's wrong, it's wrong. (It makes more sense he would do it in a close game than a blow-out.)
Just saw A-Rod on the Boston news, walking, all happy-like, with his wife in Boston.
re your above comment: I agree, if it's wrong, it's wrong, but the more it leads to a Yankee win, the worse I feel about it. (Words to live by, ha)
Just saw A-Rod on the Boston news, walking, all happy-like, with his wife in Boston.
On the lookout for kids about to run into traffic?
Right, pre-planted robot kids.
If it was any other yankee or mlb player no one would care...
The hard-on for A-rod has grown large.......
The media hates him, fans hate him, Yankee fans even hate him...
Thats whats odd Giant fans still like Barry Bonds even though he only has gone to one world series w/ the giants, and all the other baggage to boot.
Wheter it was bush or not the major leaguer has to catch that ball.
I actually think if there was a poll taken A-rod would be the most hated man in sports.
The ironic thing is he is the one who is going to break Bonds' record.
He is just another baseball player..
Fuck it the sox are 36-16
"If it was any other yankee or mlb player no one would care..."
Well you can say that, but you'd be wrong. I, like I said a bunch of times, was totally pissed at the time because it extended the ninth inning, and basically put the game out of reach. I've rooted, with passion, against the Yanks in all of their games since I was conceived (roughly January '75), and that play made me mad... The fact that it's A-rod is a bonus, because I love to see him trashed by the media because he deserves it.
Jere said.
because I love to see him trashed by the media because he deserves it.
Does He
Why does Giambi , get a pass. He admitted to cheating. And now is on the DL indefinetly. A known cheater. But hardly ends up on the back page of NY tabloids.....
And he killed us in 2003
If A-rod came out tommorow and said yeah it was bush league , would people respect him?
Do I think he is one of the best ballplayers of this generation , stat whys yes, but I am not really a stat guy,
I have seen him fail in some very big spots.....But I have seen great ballplayers fail in big spots my whole life.
People, including you , have a dislike for this guy that is unmatched.
Would you have rooted for him if he was RedSock?
Listen I hate all yankees as a whole, but I also respect what alot of them have done as ballplayers.
Jere, A-rod has never done anything to beat us , He is not even a threat.... So why hate him so much?
Because hes a despicable guy, who keeps proving it over and over. There have been plenty of Red Sox I haven't liked...but this guy, sometimes the stars just align perfectly--he's the perfect guy to hate, and yes, he continues to fail, and I love it. But he is a threat when he does something by cheating that improves the Yanks' standing against the Sox.
You think I don't want to see Giambi villified for his repeated cheating? Of course I do. I hate how Bonds is hated more because he happens to be closer to a record, when Giambi's done way more bad to stuff I care about, specifically the '03 ALCS.
I hate how Bonds is hated more because he happens to be closer to a record
Plus he's black.
That goes without saying... and you won't see him getting "Comeback Player of the Year."
L-girl did you delete your comments from this morning?????
redsock said...
I hate how Bonds is hated more because he happens to be closer to a record
Plus he's black.
...............................
A-rod is hispanic I don't get it?
Derek Jeter is black and white.
Shrek Is green........
If you haven't noticed one of the men who is boycotting Bonds is also Black............
Hey 9Casey, yeah, I deleted my comment. I wrote it when I was exhausted and hungover. I later thought it was a little too much.
The part I'll keep:
I agree with 9Casey re Alex Rodriguez.
****
Bonds is black in a way Derek Jeter is not. That's pretty obvious. Besides having very dark skin, Bonds is not the humble, do-gooder, mediagenic athlete that most of America thinks Jeter is.
If you haven't noticed one of the men who is boycotting Bonds is also Black............
A, that doesn't matter. And B, who are you talking about, Aaron? Aaron is not boycotting Bonds. I'm not following this, though, so maybe I don't know who you mean.
L-girl said...
Hey 9Casey, yeah, I deleted my comment. I wrote it when I was exhausted and hungover.
Good for you
The hangover or the delete? :)
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