52 thoughts on “October 11, 2012: Worst Case”

    1. I believe that RAÚL IBAÑEZ has transcended mere lower-case script letters without accent marks.
      Therefore, the shirt is an affront to the clutchiest clutcherson to ever clutch-hit for a future HOF player.

  2. ESPN summed up in one sentence: This morning, they're talking to football coaches about the Yankees pinch-hitting for A-Rod.

    2. HAHAHAHAHAhahahaha...umm. [sob]

      Last night was a great night for baseball. As much as I would rather that the O's had won, Ibanez's two jacked dongers made for great theater. And the A's, wow.

      1. Yeah, you knew as soon as it happened that you were watching an individual performance for the ages, Yankee or no. Ryne Sandberg had a similar performance in a regular-season game and it became known as the Ryne Sandberg Game. I imagine this may become known as the Raul Ibanez game. That it came as he was pinch hitting for the highest-paid Yankee was even better. Also, this is Ibanez's ninth postseason series and he's never hit more than 1 HR in any series he's played previously.

      2. I just don't understand how guys from the scrap heap alawys seem to do so well for the Yanks. Great theater for sure, but I really want the O's to win.

        1. I think the old-school guys would tell you that if a lineup has a couple of good hitters, you can pitch around them, but you can only pitch around so many hitters. So you don't have to pitch to Ibanez if he's in a terrible lineup, but when the other guys in the lineup are even better than Ibanez, you have to take your chances with him.

          I have mixed feelings about these sorts of lineup effects. No one has shown that they exist, but I don't find any of the evidence against lineup effects to be particularly compelling. And pitchers will absolutely attest that they think about pitching this way--approaching an at-bat differently depending on where they are at in the lineup. The extreme case of this is in the National League when the pitcher hits--we know that the 8th hitter isn't going to get intentionally walked that much if he had a position player hitting behind him. That the effect can't be measured probably just means that it's usually not a big deal, but the Yankees are an extreme case, so I could see it making a bigger difference for them.

          That said, I think that the Yankees have shown that they are pretty astute at filling out the non-star portion of their lineup, and I've maintained for a while that Brian Cashman is to some degree underrated. Yes, he has a big payroll, but it's not like the Yankees are the only team with a huge payroll, and they play in a tough division.

            1. It really bugs me that not only does he have the payroll he does, he's smart enough to use it wisely.
              Only Pavano seems to have really stolen from him. (From my shoddy memory.)

        2. Because they can just keep signing scrap heap players until one works. How did Pedro Feliciano work out for them? He's not exactly a scrap heap player (though may be now!), but Butera threw more innings than Feliciano did for the Yankees.

        3. The Yankees are paying 1.1 million to a guy who has hit at least 16 homers every year for the past 11 years and has a lifetime OPS+ of 112 to come off the bench. 1.1 million is not that much for a bench guy, but it's hard to reserve such a spot for a corner outfielder. They have the luxury, but it's still quality picking from the general manager.

        4. The "Yankee Mystique" often helps players used to playing everyday buy in to being a platoon or bench player when they wouldn't with other teams. Of course, the Yankees can afford to pay these players they salaries they are used to while still being bench guys. Also, a guy like Ibanez would tend to get used more against righties, which helps his overall numbers. Not that he looked bad against the lefty he faced in his last AB.

  3. MLB.com headline, "Carp, Cards blank Nats, move within win of NLCS"
    So not only do they have to deal with the Curse of Teddy's Gold, they've got to play an MLB and an NPB team at the same time?

  4. Caribbean leagues open play tonight with the Venezuelan League season opener. The Mexican Pacific League starts Saturday and the Mexican Pacific League starts Sunday. The Puerto Rican League doesn't begin until November 8. I haven't seen any rosters yet, but rosters are pretty meaningless in the Caribbean leagues anyway. Also, the Australian League will start play November 1. According to this article, Fox Sports is going to show a condensed version of an ABL game of the week this season.

  5. I shared that fangraphs article Buffalo linked to last night with my Yankees fan co-worker. It did not have the effect I would have preferred. In fact, I don't think he did more than skim it.

  6. Happy 10/11/12 day! Count yourself privileged. The Europeans can't celebrate until Nov. 10.

  7. I've got a commercial for something called the "Shaquille O'Neal All-Star Comedy Jam" playing on an endless loop on my computer. It's not actually showing up on any of my open browser pages. It's just a phantom ad. As a result, I already hate it, so this is the least effective advertising of all time.

      1. I can see that happening because it's on, I can't find the remote for a moment and a non-terrible comic is up, but it sure won't be a result of the "jokes" featured in the spot. They weren't even funny the first time. Oy. "Blacks and whites are different" is so, so over, comedians.

        Turns out the gremlin was in Facebook. I figured it was the most evil site I had running at the time, so I closed it despite seeing no evidence that the ad was coming from there. It was, though.

              1. Spooky killed Facebook with a cricket bat but it came back to unlife as a zombie advertising website. Directed by M. Knight Romero Fincher.

  8. I didn't see any of the game, but the fact that they're now playing games against other teams has me unreasonably excited for the Wolves season to start.

    I might faint if Roy's knees don't explode by the end of the pre-season.

    1. From what I hear, Roy looked good.

      I very much wanted to go to this game, but it would have been another 150 miles of driving yesterday and I was just too tired to do it.

      1. I believe I heard the terms "cutting" and "driving the lane" used over at CH regarding Mr. Roy. If that is true, I'm thinking this team can really make some noise in the playoffs. A

        Oh, also, Buddinger for SMOTY!

  9. Hollinger has the Nets fourth in the East, behind the Heat, Pacers, and Celtics. Lakers are projected to be fourth in the West. So, the East is one team deep and the fourth team in the West will start four HOFers.

    1. Oh, and this:

      What makes this so interesting is that the Lakers can go in a number of directions very quickly. They have a $100 million payroll this season, yes, but they also have a $9 million payroll in 2013-14, when Nash is the only player on their books.

  10. interesting nugget from Doogie

    • Ex-Twins catcher Mike Redmond has interest in the vacancies on Gardenhire's staff, but so far, there's been no contact. Redmond is managing the Blue Jays' Single-A affiliate in Dunedin, Florida.

    you would think Gardy would be all over that, unless Nick Punto retired and decided to coach.

    1. I always had an inkling Redmond would make a great coach after he retired. First Molitor, now Redmond are the Twins consciously going outside the family?

  11. Great first start for Gibson in the AFL. 5 IP, 8 Ks, 0 BBs, 4 singles allowed, 0 R, 4-1 GB-FB, 72 pitches, 53 strikes. A thoroughly dominating performance.

      1. Not a problem. Everyone's welcome to join in the fun. Besides, tomorrow we'll have Venezuelan League games to report on, too!

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