WPCNR VIEW FROM THE UPPER DECK. By Bull Allen. July 17, 2008: The New York Mets after dogging it for two months, petulant under the professionalism of Willie Randolph put together a 9 game winning streak by surprise, playing hard (what a concept) for new Manager Jerry Manuel, and now are being anointed contenders for first place. Suddenly Met pitchers have found the plate and are making good pitches – against kind of lousy ball clubs I might add.
The Big Ball Park, 1956
The New York Yankees are pretender contenders and can only hope the Tampa Bay Rays collective hitting slump against the Tribe (looking like the Sioux at the Little Big Horn last weekend and leaving the Rays reeling) shatters that team’s confidence enough so New York can acquire the Wild Card.
But what the first half of the season said about the New York professional baseball teams on both sides of Long Island Sound is that like the NFL, baseball has indeed achieved parity. Every team is flawed or mediocre (or pretty good and exciting, depending on your optimism). The myth that half the teams have a chance to win the Super Bowl, so naively accepted by the pro football public has been fiendishly, slowly moved into major league baseball by the Dr. Frankenstein of baseball, This Bud’s for You Selig.
How has this been done? By shrinking the strike zone, making even the best of pitchers vulnerable. Pitchers are being forced to pipe the ball for a strike. The Koufaxes, Spahnies, Seavers and Carltons of thirty years ago would have trouble today because their big sweeping curves and sinkers and high fastballs would be balls today. This is killing young pitchers who come to the leagues without enough stuff and control. The walks get them in trouble and when they come in with it the hitters just take them downtown.
The masters of the cut fastball like the Yankees Riviera and Boston’s Papalbon survive on their one and two innings of work, but the starters – thanks to the pitch count philosophy today—without a six-pitch repertoire like Ray Holliday of the Jays, the hitters will be getting you inside of six innings. If you have a lot pitches you survive…Ray Halliday, Greg Maddox, Sabathia, and the Boston horse are examples.
He juiced up the baseball. (But you’ve heard this all before from me.)
He allowed steroids under his watch.
And now he’s bringing us instant replay (just on long flies and possible homers, mind you), in the playoffs. Please. (This is a subject of a whole column.)
So settle back and have a brew, fill out your scorecard and let’s bite some reality dogs.
Now how did the Mets put together that 9-game win streak? They beat Philadelphia three times (quality wins), then blew out San Francisco and Colorado, the previous two teams the worst in the league.
Well after 4 games against Cincinnati – starting tonight they have to take all 4 – because reality then sets in for the Metropolitans, 3 with Philadelphia, 3 with St. Louis, 3 with Florida. The suddenly invincible pitching staff will be tested. I want them to go 9-4 on that 13-game stretch, that is taking each series. Five hundred doesn’t do it. But everybody is playing .500 – like the NFL.
The Yankees who after getting back in contention with a two-sweep of Tampa Bay – feasted only to lose three out of four to Toronto, a pesky club – now face nothing but quality ball clubs for the next 26 games. To go say 16-10 would be nice. Can the young starters who the Yankees have once again yanked up out of the farm system hang together? Will the bullpen which has done better of late hang together?
The Bombers play Oakland for 3, Minnesota for 3, and then 3 against Boston (which could have buried the Yankees two weeks ago, but did not and will be looking to moider them in the Fens), then 3 with schizophrenic Baltimore, then they play the Angels whom they never beat for 4 games. They go to LA at 500, they could be done by the end of the month. Then they get Texas, which is a much better club this year for 4, and finish up with the Angels and Minnesota. Brutal. Kansas City comes up a little too late.
And, has anyone noticed that there are 18 major league teams, more than half the 31 big league clubs that have a shot at the playoffs? The fiendish plan of turning MLB into the NFL is working. It is making huge money for baseball. However, will anyone feel good if Arizona wins the NL West and gets into the World Series and wins? How does that galvanize a World Series? This Wild Card really creates a lot of mailed in series on the part of the better teams through the year.
The two ballclubs in New York have made some really poor personnel decisions, while being afflicted with predictable injuries. Posada has broken down and cannot throw anyone out as a catcher. The Yankees have Molina as a defensive catcher, but Molina cannot hit. Big out at the end of the lineup. Matsui is out. Jeter is not hitting his usual self and Cano is having the sophomore jinx. The Melkman just ain’t hittin (sophomore jinx again).
Consistency you say. Usually bad ball clubs are inconsistent. That’s why they’re bad. And the more inconsistent they are, the worse they are. Consistency also has a lot to do with the next day’s opposing pitcher, and your starting pitcher.
The rookies in the outfield are trying to fill in but cannot hit on a par with Matsui and Damon, who is injured. Sure the Yanks have injuries, but you might have figured that would happen they are old and getting older next year. (See my column of last fall.) But thanks to the watered down world of wild card baseball, and the ever cheerleading press box flacks, the wobbly Yankees have a chance. But, that is the myth, the seduction of the wild card. The fans are buying the dream.
The clubs are like subprime mortgages, they’re nice but blowup big time at the end.
The Metropolitans should be ashamed of themselves for playing badly enough to get rid of Willie Randolph (who should have had the Yankee job, Girardi hardly deserved it), as should the sports press for not pointing out that this winning streak has been fashioned against the worst clubs in baseball.
More to the point, Delgado and Beltran performing better for Manuel than they did for Randolph, just because they did not like Willie is horrible. A lot of immaturity on that ball club. Do you think Manuel is more professional than Mr. Randolph? No. What was the nasty dynamic that caused everybody to lay down for Willie — especially last September.
Over in the Bronx, as the Stadium resounded with All-Star Glory Monday and Tuesday nights, you got a feeling the Yankees will never be the Yankees again when they move to the new Yankee Stadium. It is going to be sad when 50,000 come out to watch a ballclub that is too old to win, has aging stars, and no pitching next year.
And, how can the Yankees allow Milwaukee to get Sabathia? One solid starter could get the Yankees a shot at it this year. Where were the Steinbrenners on that one? There are still pitchers out there…but they need hitters, too. A trade for the Texas slugger who hit 28 out in a single night might be in order. Putting him in left behind A-Rod would be very nice, and then you could sign him and get A-Rod out of here for some quality young starters, a catcher and a centerfielder. (Damon is through.)
If the Yankees are to pull off another run the second half Cashman and the front office will have to do it, because the roster right now doesn’t have the firepower nor the defensive ability. You also wonder if the Joba Chamberlain thing was overblown. Had he started from the get-go they might have won 5 more games. Which would have them in first place. And Girardi would be being hailed as the second coming of Joe Torre. Bad call on Chamberlain by front office and the Manager.
The Metropolitans well – Wagner has to stop blowing saves. They have to show they can go a lot better than .500 against the good teams in this stretch coming up. Hopefully Mr. Met will give us his take on the great Metropolitan Mystery: Are they too old? Too young at certain positions? Has the pitching coach suddenly turned into Johnny Sain?
Come in Mr. Met, where are you?
For Yankee fans, it is up to the front office. And also, Girardi has to stop platooning with a roster that is not all major league hitters. Hitting all lefties when you have lefties who cannot hit is not going to work. Hitting all righties same thing.
You have to play your best hitters and best defense all the time now.
Well there’s always Yankeeography next year. Back to those days of yesteryear the mediocre early 70s when the Yankees on Channel 11 “Here come the Yankees, they’re really going to learn to fear the Yankees…” showed promotion spots about Yankee tradition inbetween innings showing the Mantles, Berras, Fords and Dimaggios and Ruths and on the radio (WABC, I think) Frank Messer (“Good evening ladies and gentleman wherever you might be listening to Yankee baseball, it’s a pleasure to bring you Yankee baseball,”) Phil Rizzuto (“You Huckleberry, Messer” “Holy Cow!”) and Bill White described Ron Blomberg, Horace Clark, Gene Michael, Greg Nettles, Bobby Murcer, Mel Stottlemyre, Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich on the radio. A good team, but which always finished about 7 games out. And the Peterson-Kekich trade is still the best Yankee trade of all time, I might add.
Well, time to let the glorious summer heat simmer the pennant race and separate the contendas from the pretendas.
