Get Your Week Off Right

Something pleasant for Monday morning:

-Joba Chamberlain: 7 ip, 2 h, 2 bb, 11 k, 0.00 era, whip .57
-NYY: 4 GB

Comments

[Woosta YF]

Joba is gooooooood. And Edwar's change is absurd.

We get another week without SF and Paul? Would it help if the Yanks got within two for next week's series?

[doug YF]

Those numbers are delicious.

It's almost unfair having such a stellar SP prospect like Joba mow everyone down in the bullpen.

[IronHorse (yf)]

I predict the upper deck shot starts a streak of strong hitting for Damon for the rest of the season. He is in "I-have-something-to-prove" mode - while I don't want him in center field ever again, I don't think there is any reason for him to keep underperforming at the plate.

Wang concerns me - he hasn't been right for weeks and I am starting to not buy the "my finger has nothing to do with it" routine.

My only beef with the team right now (and it is a small one, though would be a bigger concern if they're playing in October) is that we don't hold anyone on base unless Pettitte is pitching. Everyone runs at will on Clemens, Wang, and Mussina. Clemens held OK yesterday by throwing to first 50 times but that is the exception with him. Angels series is sure to feature plenty of aggressive running so we shall see.

With us playing in LA and Detroit and Boston playing TB and the putrid White Sox, I will be very happy to come into the RS series still back by 4. If it is any less than that, RS fans will be hyperventillating by the time the first pitch is thrown.

[Paul SF]

I tend to hyperventilate during Sox-Yanks series anyway. Even back in '95, when the lead was eight games during a series in August, IIRC... :-P

[YF]

Great point about the freedom granted runners, Iron Horse. That's something you'd like to see improve.

[Lar]

I agree. Same thing with the Mariners - they're playing the Twins and the Rangers, so hopefully we'll keep pace this week.

I remember when we were winning games from Seattle earlier in the season, and SF's were poking fun at "beating up an inferior team".. just to show, you never know!

(and I remember we lost 2 of 3 to kill most of the momentum of owning the Rangers.. ah well.)

[Jrprofess YF]

My beef with the team is with one starting pitcher in particular. A staff member who has always been solid enough in the regular season, but always hits the DL for a nice 15 game respite, and has yet to show he is a clutch performer aside from one brief moment in the ALCS in '03 (one solid game, one solid inning). The beloved Mussina. Is there any Yankee fan who would like to see him with the ball in a big game in the playoffs? I have zero confidence in him. I have oftened wondered why this is not discussed more. Knowing Clemens, Wang and Pettite are most likely shoe-ins for three of the postseason spots (presuming they are in the postseason) I would prefer to see Hughes with the ball rather than Moose. I know the kid is a rookie and might not end up better than Mike on paper at year's end, but Mussina has rarely showed he is a stopper to be relied on in the playoffs. Especially recently (1-2 with a 5.28 ERA during the 2005 and 2006 postseasons). I am not naive enough to think he will not get the ball, but my stomach will be churning from first pitch.

[IronHorse-YF]

I agree on the Mariners Lar. In fact, I don't like how taken for granted they still are. Most commentators act like it is a foregone conclusion that the WC will go to Detroit/Cleveland/NY. The Mariners are only 2 games behind the Angels (who they play 7 more against) and of course still leading the WC race. I know it is only by 1/2 a game, but I never like the 1/2-game deficits that are made up of multiple-loss-column games.

I am frankly not scared of Seattle - right now no team scares me the way the Yankees are playing - but I think they should be taken more seriously. Of course, just looked up their schedule and it is pretty brutal in September.

By the way, whoever it is on here who has been bashing Steve Phillips, thank you - I am sick of him. His anti-NYY bias is thinly veiled at best. "We won't know how good Joba is until he loses and we see how/whether he bounces back". That's right Steve...if he keeps pitching like this and doesn't take a hard loss this year all the way through the clinching game of the World Series, we just won't know if he is the real deal. Give me a break.

[SF]

Steve Phillips should be afforded the same amount of respect as Murray Chass and Dan Shaughnessy. Nobody on either side of the YF/SF fence should care a whit about what any of them say. It's not worth any expenditure of energy.

Phillips says that Joba won't be proven until he fails, just like Chass said the Sox hadn't proven anything with the World Series victory and winning the division would truly exorcise the Yankee demons. Just forget these guys, it's much healthier.

[IronHorse-YF]

Jrproff, I am among the biggest Mussina detractors and recently posted about it here, but his postseason numbers are not as terrible as people (including myself at times) often think.

In 15 postseason starts he is 7-8 with a 3.40 era (with the Yankees, 5-7). In the two WS games he has started, his era is 3.00 - the last one he pitched during the NYY-Florida WS was a 7-inning 1 ER performance.

Having said that, I feel he has no grit. He either has it, and will give up 1-3 runs in 6-7 innings, or doesn't have it and we are dead. He is not a guy, like Pettitte, Clemens, or Wang (and, I hope but don't know, Hughes), who can bear down when he doesn't have his best stuff, and grit out a win.

And he is a big whiner. If he pitched for the RS with that attitude I would hate him.

As to whether I'd rather see Hughes in a big game in Oct, I'd like to see how he does against the LAA this week and the RS in the coming series. He seems gritty too, but it is still very early to judge with him and eh hasn't pitched in any huge regular-season situations yet, let alone October ball. But yeah, I'm uncomfortable whenever Mussina takes the mound.

[YF]

Moose is what he is, and no longer what he was.

I have been stating from day 1 (go back and look the season prediction thread) that the M's are serious. Shut down pen, a couple of excellent starters, Ichiro and a few solid bats. I don't see them disappearing, but they do see quite a bit of the angels, oakland, and cleveland down the road, not to mention the yanks. actually, not hard to see the angels getting knocked out of the playoffs, if seattle handles them. not much talk about that possibility that i've heard, but it is very real.

[attackgerbil]

There is genuine energy in the region this season regarding the Mariners; the fan base out here is buzzing, probably moreso than any time since 2000/2001 or maybe 1995, but I didn't live out here then. The team is genuinely exciting to watch and the departure of manager Mike Hargrove did not lead to the extended tailspin that many feared. It is still my opinion that the Mariners are not much better than a .500 team and are going to fall significantly behind the race, but I have been holding that opinion since May. Perhaps it's time to rethink my opinion.

[IronHorse-YF]

SF: I agree with you on Chass/Shaugnessey, but I think it is different. Their primary jobs are with hometown papers...it is expected of them.

Phillips is a nationally-syndicated commentator for ESPN.

By comparison, Gammons likes and pulls for the Sox, but he is a class act and great commentator and I never feel like it sways his analysis.

On a less legendary-commentary level, if I watch PTI, I know Wilbon will pull for Chicago teams and Kornheiser for DC-area teams, but a least they are open about it and I don't think it sways their analysis even if they admit disdain for a team that is doing well.

Phillips pretends to be Gammons-like but is in fact Chass and Shaughnessy. That's why I dislike him more than any of them.

[Westboro - YF]

Gammons is a Red Sox Management Cohort.

I do believe that Gammons is swayed by being a fan.