Whither Moose? Jays-Yanks Gamer II

By almost every measure, 2007 was the worst season in the career of Mike Mussina. The question at hand is where will Moose head this season? Will it be towards another demotion to the pen (and likely retirement), or towards some older version of his former self as one of the finer control pitchers in the game? Our first peek into that journey comes tonight at The Stadium as he takes the mound to face the Jays, who send A.J. Burnett to the bump. Last year Burnett dominated the Yankees in his two starts, one home and one away, spreading 8 hits over 15 innings while allowing one run.

Last night's dramatic season opener was a tightly-contested battle throughout. It was a pleasure to watch both starters at work, and a potential inning-ending double play blown by Aaron Hill that allowed ARod to score the deciding run served to show how tightly both teams needed to execute in order to secure victory. It's a theme that I think we may see repeated many times over in the battle for division supremacy between the projected big three of the Beast.

Lineups in the extended, comment away.

Toronto
D. Eckstein ss	.000
S. Stewart lf	.250
A. Rios rf	.500
V. Wells cf	.000
F. Thomas dh	.250
L. Overbay 1b	.250
A. Hill 2b	.250
M. Scutaro 3b	.000
R. Barajas c	.000
A.J. Burnett	0.0
New York Yankees
J. Damon lf	.250
D. Jeter ss	.250
B. Abreu rf	.500
A. Rodriguez 3b	.667
J. Giambi 1b	.000
R. Cano 2b	.333
H. Matsui dh	.000
J. Molina c	.000
M. Cabrera cf	.333
M. Mussina	0.0

edit: Lineup altered to reflect Posada scratch

Comments

[mp]

What's the over/under on how many minutes into the game before Melky Cabrera or Robinson Cano get a curtain call for working a walk? I say 22

[yankeemonkey]

Ugh, not again with this CC stuff! It'll be *at least* 30 minutes.

[Brad]

agreed. It won't happen until at least the third.

[YF]

Cano walking is worth a curtain call.

[attackgerbil]

> Cano walking is worth a curtain call.

And a rousing ovation at ball 3

[Atheose]

Posada is out apparently, stiff shoulder.

[Dionysus]

*finishes listenign to Dirty Water, now listens to Tessie*

[Dionysus]

My apologies. Wrogn thread. Mods please delete that.

[Atheose]

By the way, is anyone else sick to death of all the ARod tabloid BS? I'm sick to death of hearing about whether or not ARod slept with his wife. Damn New York and its drama!

[attackgerbil]

> Posada is out

The three Most Terrifying Words in the English language to this Yankees fan.

[attackgerbil]

No worries, Dio

Yes, I am sick and tired of hearing about who slept/tried to with whom. I only want pictures.

[Atheose]

Remember what happened to the Red Sox when Varitek went out in 2006? Worst months of my life. Luckily (for you YF's) it's only a stiff shoulder, and nothing serious.

[attackgerbil]

Pete sez:
UPDATE, 6:09 p.m.: Posada has been scratched with a stiff right shoulder. He tweaked it making a throw yesterday and with the cold weather today he had trouble getting loose. Matsui will move up in the order and Molina will hit eighth.

[Atheose]

BREAKING NEWS: Pedro is on the DL.

[Dionysus]

As for who sleeps with who, I'd liek to sleep with the A's sideline reporter Jaymee Sire.

Please?

[YF]

Posada out? Who needs 'm. Guy's hitting .000.

[Dionysus]

*is goign to keep As games on in one of the little windows all year via Mosiac. Just so he can keep an eye out for Sire.*

Sure Mosiac gives us player tracking and alerts. But how about Hot Reporter alerts? Erin Andrews would be on the list too!

[Dionysus]

HA HA HA David Eckstein on the top of Jays lineup again.

Oh man... so much hilarity

[rootbeerfloat]

AJ Burnett is wearing a fake fingernail...

[attackgerbil]

The grittiest gritter that ever gritted a grit hits a hot shot at Giambi who knocks it down, but the Gritter beats out Giambi in a foot race. Where was Moose? He should have been at the bag!

[attackgerbil]

Man, this got ugly fast.

[Dionysus]

I just realized something.

I hate Eckstein more than I hate the Yankees. I actually WANTED the Yanks to get The Gritster out.

[attackgerbil]

Watching it on ESPN.. is it Miller for play-by-play and Morgan on color?

[Dionysus]

Its on ESPN? *runs to check* If it IS Morgan.. oh man.. Morgan + McGrit = FJM material

[attackgerbil]

I mean watching it with the sound off on ESPN...

[Dionysus]

I forgot, my TV's not working. Sorry gerb.

[Dionysus]

Ugh. Stephen Drew continues to show up his elder by homering. Meanwhile, AJ manages to get back from 3-0 to get the out on Demon

[attackgerbil]

Regretfully, my break is over. Back to the grind. Hope to check in later... GO YANKEES!

[Dionysus]

O's getting beat up again. It's gonna be a tough year on their fans.. but at least it'll be a tough year with PURPOSE.

[Dionysus]

Does that leave me the only one here? Really? A Sox fan the lone commentator in the Yankees thread?

[yankeemonkey]

That putout of Damon was the grittiest 6-3 ever.

Man, this will be a gift that keeps on giving all season, isn't it?..

[yankeemonkey]

Dio, I'm here...kind of...

[Dionysus]

Yes it will YM. When I saw the Jays sign The Gritasaurus, I was sooo happy because I knew it would lead to fun for all of us.

[Dionysus]

David "True Grit" Eckstein - Bringing YFs and SFs together since 1955.

And btw, Abreu was safe I beleive.

[yankeemonkey]

Yes, he was. *&^$$!!

[Dionysus]

Or was that A-Rod? I dunno, I'm watching four games at once.

[yankeemonkey]

No, that was Abreu. Oh well, a fresh count for Alex next inning.

I love watching Moose pitch...even when I fully expect him to suck. I'll miss him when he's gone.

[Dionysus]

Oh no. Ryan Church just hti a two-run homer for the Mets. Now we'll get articles abotu how he is a gamer and that the Mets robbed the Nats.

[Dionysus]

Moose gettign squeezed jsut a bit maybe?

[Dionysus]

Hm. Exact same location, but this time strike 3.

[Dionysus]

Stupid Barajas.

[A YF]

Not for nothing Dionysus, but I'd rather not hang out here than hang out here with SFs during games. I mean, I wouldn't go to a bar with SFs unless we were really good friends and the teams were playing each other.

It seems I'm not alone.

[Dionysus]

I was paying too much attention to the indians.. what was the debate there with the Yanks and the Jays?

[Dionysus]

Wow. Lotsa hatred there A YF. I'm not even that better. Hell one of my best friends is a YF. We hang out all the time, baseball or no.

I jsut want to talk baseball! Im jsut glad its back and this is one of the better communities out there. However, if I'm reall posioning this thread, I'll stop posting.

[yankeemonkey]

Noooooo, don't go! That's just silliness.

[rootbeerfloat]

Really A YF? I guess I've been out west too long - my buddies and I are IM'ing during all the games and they are all yanks fans. In fact, one of them was making fun of Youk's record just as Giambi made his error.

[A YF]

Oh, there's no hatred. It's just not fun watching a game for my team when someone's cheering for the other team. You have every right to post. It just seems like you won't have folks to talk to.

[yankeemonkey]

Michael Cole Mussina, groundball pitcher. Who knew?

[yankeemonkey]

Or not. Meh.

[Dionysus]

Wow. Crazyness all over the majors. Hanley Rameriz as the cutoff man makes a GREAT throw to nails Wright on the plate.

Also, Haren is UNBELEIVABLY scruffy. Seriously.. he's like 2004 Sox scruffy, if not more.

Thats odd, A YF, I enjoy both watchign baseball with peopel rootign for my team and against them. Isnt that the whole purpose of this site? yanksfans AND soxfans discussing/watching baseball? Otherwise itd just be two seperate sites

[Dionysus]

Whoa.. look at all the hats and coats in NY. How could is it up there you guys? It was pretty nice last time I stepped out here in PA

[rootbeerfloat]

Dio -
I went to the Oakland game last night and everyone there was in coats and hats - my son wore mittens

[Dionysus]

Nice piece of hitting by Molina.

[yankeemonkey]

It's really chilly here, especially because of the wind. Not very pleasant at all.

[Micah-SF]

Checking in on Gameday, it's nice to see Vernon Wells killing someone not the Red Sox for a change - I absolutely hate seeing him come up against us, even when he's slumping.

Weird to see Molina get one of the only two Yankees hits, given the way Burnett is apparently dealing.

[Dionysus]

I have a feeling this is gonna be a Yankee rally game - the Jays pen does not inspire confidence.

[Dionysus]

*offers A YF a hug* Come on! lets bond over our mutual hatred of Eckstein and the hotness of Erin Andrews

[Micah-SF]

Dionysus - can I get in on that? I hate Eckstein and Erin Andrews is really hot. I feel this is a platform Red Sox fans can support, surely Yankees fans will join us!

And yes, much as I'd like to see the Yankees lose, they're going to need more than a three run lead before it feels like Toronto will win the game to me.

[yankeemonkey]

Erin Andrews' hotness is undeniable.

[YF]

Wow. Just walked in the door to find a 3-0 game and Jeter dumped at 2nd by Rios. Running on Rios? That was dumb. What happened to Jeter the baserunning genius we knew through 2006? Hope this was a blip.

[yankeemonkey]

Jeter=dumbass *glares*

[yankeemonkey]

Where is Ken Singleton? Kay + O'Neill = much annoyance.

[YF]

Burnett. Killer.

[attackgerbil]

> Hope this was a blip.

That's two blips in two games.

[yankeemonkey]

How is it that Moose has given up 5 hits, 2 BBs, and 3 runs, yet he and Burnett have identical pitch counts?

[Micah-SF]

I think the Yanks' best hope in this one is to work the pitch counts and get Burnett out of there as soon as they can - much like Harden earlier today, it just seems unlikely they're going to break through and score off him. The pen is much less intimidating.

[Dionysus]

Because the Yankees are incredibly good at workign counts, yankeemonkey

[Dionysus]

*prays for Eckstein to strike out*

[yankeemonkey]

I know, Dio. It was a rhetorical question...

[attackgerbil]

> I'd rather not hang out here than hang out here with SFs during games

A YF, you are entitled to share your opinion, which happens to be a perspective I do not share. These threads are not invite only.

[attackgerbil]

Eckstein's family's kidneys are wearing out Mike Mussina.

[Dionysus]

"a pesky little hitter whos gonna play hard for you everyday"

SHUT

UP

[yankeemonkey]

Gritty AB by Eck...

[Dionysus]

OH my god. STOP BALL WASHING ECK! "he plays on winnign teams" and "he doesnt look like a player, he doesnt have the tools" I'd like to add HE CANT HIT.

Oh god.. .make them stop.. MAKE THEM STOP

[Dionysus]

Oh thank god. thank god. Never have I been so happy to see a Yankee pitcher induce a DP

[attackgerbil]

Pesky Eckstein? Why don't they just call him Peskstein. <<< Okay, that one is mine.

[attackgerbil]

Good play by Jeter, better play by Giambi. Nice grab, Jason!

[Micah-SF]

That was a GRITTY double play.

Seriously, usually I hate watching Yankee pitchers induce DPs, but my initial reaction to that one was "awesome!"

[yankeemonkey]

That was the pluckiest, grittiest, peskiest, most courageous GIDP I've ever seen.

[Micah-SF]

Is it just me, or is Jason Giambi's Gameday picture abjectly terrifying?

[attackgerbil]

Shift happens. Giambi down.

[yankeemonkey]

Speaking of gritty, Moose has hung in there. Hasn't been good by any stretch of imagination, but he's keeping them in the game (so far)...

[yankeemonkey]

Burnett is pitching a CG at this rate. Bleh.

[YF]

As the Gerb notes, these are equal opportunity threads. Everyone welcome. Taunting is verbotten. On an opposing thread, we expect commenters to be respectful to te "jome" fans.

Matsui hit!

Giambi sure made a difficult play look SUPER difficult, didn't he. Decent 1b makes that every time.

[attackgerbil]

> Jason Giambi's Gameday picture abjectly terrifying

If by abjectly you mean "just missed being cast in a lead role in The Devil's Rejects", yeah, terrifying.

[YF]

Molina'd.

[yankeemonkey]

F***

[attackgerbil]

> Giambi sure made a difficult play look SUPER difficult, didn't he

Yeah, but it sure is nice to see him actually make that play, instead of being a marble statue. I like this new semi-agile Jason.

[Dionysus]

"That was the pluckiest, grittiest, peskiest, most courageous GIDP I've ever seen.

Posted by: yankeemonkey | Wednesday, April 02, 2008 at 08:37 PM"

Stop the blog. Yankeemonkey has won the internets

[Micah-SF]

> If by abjectly you mean "just missed being cast in a lead role in The Devil's Rejects", yeah, terrifying.

Pretty much. He looks like he's going to eat a small child.

Looks like Burnett's going to go seven, at this rate.

[attackgerbil]

Wow... something held that fly in the park. Where's the wind? Checking... yahoo says out to right. It got knocked down.. Whew.

[yankeemonkey]

lol

[attackgerbil]

Wells has Mooseseses numbah.

[Micah-SF]

I was going to say, was that as close to out of there as it looked on Gameday?

[attackgerbil]

> He looks like he's going to eat a small child.

as an app.

"Send me two. I'll order off the entree menu later"

[attackgerbil]

Micah, it was high, high, high.. came down on top of the wall. Damon gloved it (rather craftily). I thought it was going out.

[Dionysus]

Wow. Lucky for Thomas. He coulda been hurt.

[attackgerbil]

That 0-1 pitch was beautiful.. more, mike, please.

[YF]

whoa! sllooooooow change up from Moose.

[attackgerbil]

Good night folks, I'm out for good. Thanks for the fun!