Things I Learned Today While Listening To John and Suzyn

I'm not much for Old Timer's Day anymore. It was a nice tradition and I like it as a child, but as I've gotten older, seeing some of these guys play isn't the thrill it used to be.

I am a big fan of the beach. Always have and always will be. So instead of heading to the Stadium today to see the game, I decided to head out to the beach. But I decided to listen in on an old Sony Walkman after Old Timer's Day to hear the Yankees take on the Tigers.

Although there are many haters out there for WCBS 880 AM's team of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman, I fall into the indifferent category with them. Sometimes it's impossible to figure out what is going on in the game, they drone on, they are Yankee homers, and sometimes John screws up...but I like to hear them talk about the Yankees. Sterling has a sort of grandfather-ish charm: you know the thought process ain't what it used to be but he has a familiar voice, brings you good news, and makes you laugh once in a while (even if you are laughing at him).

Although there are a lot of games where I'll be on long car rides and listen to John and Suzyn, I don't think there has been many, if any, I've listened to the Yankees radio broadcast from start to finish for in a long time.

Until today. Some things I learned from John and Suzyn (with the amount of mentions that I can guesstimate in parentheses):

• (35 times) That Edwin Jackson-for-Matt Joyce deal was really bad for the Rays and really good for the Tigers. The Rays were idiots because Matt Joyce wasn't even a good minor league hitter. Matt Joyce is "just an outfielder" so why would you trade a pitcher for him? Edwin Jackson is still really young despite being a prospect for the Dodgers and then the Devil Rays/Rays. Edwin Jackson has a 2.50 ERA which is really good...and a lot better than anything Matt Joyce has done. The Rays made out like bandits in the Garza-Young swap two years ago and they allowed themselves to get hoodwinked this past off-season so now it's even.
  
• (27 times) Edwin Jackson now has amazing control and doesn't get riled up after things don't go OK. Side Note: This was classic John Sterling/Suzyn Waldman reverse jinxing. Nice work John and Suzyn! 5 walks and a hit batter for Jackson. After Jackson gave up a home run in the 4th to A-Rod, Jackson walked the next two hitters. After Jackson gave up a home run to Mark Teixeira in the 6th, he gave up two hits. This was some of John and Suzyn's best work to date
• (24 times) You cannot walk the leadoff batter and expect to win. Side Note: While this is usually very true, today it wasn't all. Joba and Jackson both walked the leadoff batter in the 2nd and 3rd innings and no runs came around. Jackson also hit a batter to lead off an inning and he was stranded
• (22 times) Swisharoo Side Note: Huh?
• (18 times) Placido Polanco is a great contact hitter. Side Note: This is where "contact" is overrated. This guy is making contact too much. His OPS is the second worst among qualifying Major League second basemen. Who is worse? David Eckstein (who actually beats Polanco on average and OBP. So at a position that is not an offensive position, Polanco is the worst the AL and the second-worst in the Majors. That's a "great contact hitter"?
• (15 times) It's amazing this team may only be one game out of first place after having lost 8 games to Boston. Even the players think so.
• (10 times) Phil Hughes ERA is 0.89. And any ERA that starts with a "zero" is amazing.
  
• (8 times) Even though Joe Girardi got booed for coming to take out Joba Chamberlain after striking out two guys in the 7th, he was right because Joe has to manage to win the game, not please the fans and bringing in Coke is the right move. Girardi wanted to get Coke into the game because it's his birthday. Side Note: I could go either way if it was the right move. I think that it has burned Girardi a lot this season, but Coke got it done on one pitch today. But the fact that John was explaining that the fans don't know what they're talking about was laughable. We've all watched this team in 2009 and saw this move come back to bite them. Joba had dialed it up to get his two Ks; taking him out wasn't so cut and dry. The funniest suggestion was that maybe Girardi brought in Coke because it was his birthday.
  
• (2 times) An A-Bomb, from A-Rod. A Tex message to right field; you're on the Mark Teixeira. Side Note: I love Sterling's home run calls. I wish he would come up with calls for other situations. "He got the Job-a done". "CC gets a GIDP which is A-OK by M-E". "Coke is the choice of the people once again". These two may be his most famous this year. The A-Bomb one was offensive to Japanese people before he tried to substitute in Matsui's name by accident. And Tex message was his newest invention which has gotten mixed reviews. I love it.
• (1 time) And it's caught down the right field line. Nope, I think it was a foul ball. We can't see that corner from our vantage point. The umpire signaled it was foul but I thought that just meant that it was caught in foul territory. We cannot see that part of the field from our booth. I wonder if a fan got in the way. Side Note: Classic Sterling call right there. No clue what was going on. I thought the ball was going fair down the line and was going to be a double for the Yankees. Then I thought it was caught. Nope...it was foul.
• (1 time) That is one of the greatest double plays that you will ever see Side Note: It's the radio, John. So I can't say it was one of the greatest double plays that I'll ever see, because, well, I'm not watching the game.
  
• (1 time) Thhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees win! Side Note: Just awesome. Very high warble level to boot.
  

There were some thing never mentioned. Roy Halladay to the Yankees (though Tyler Kepner scored a nice interview with Brian Cashman). Robinson Cano had his typically bad Robinson Cano game: 3 ABs, 8 pitches, 1 inning-ending GIDP, 0-2 with runners in scoring position, 5 men left on base, left 3 runners in scoring position with 2 outs, ended 3 different innings and swung at the first pitch after Jackson had walked the previous two men. Melky Cabrera must have had dinner plans with Robbie: 3 ABs, 6 pitches.

Overall, I give the broadcast an A. Nice job. Kept me interested on a beautiful beach day. And the Yankees swept the first-place Tigers behind Joba, The Phils, and Mo and are now within one game of the Red Sox with the Orioles coming into town. Hopefully they can continue the magic. I'll make sure to be listening to John and Suzyn to find out more.