My Three Biggest "Times Square Momements" with Joe Girardi: Sacrifice Bunting

I like Joe Girardi as a manager. For the most part he seems to have a good handle on his team, doesn't misuse any one player, and does not try to do anything too extreme as a manager. He understands the game and he understands the perspective of an entire season over sacrificing one game--no matter who they are playing. But he certainly has his "Times Square" moments. I have given it this name after my evening commute which takes me through Times Square, an annoying, confusing, illogical and all-together frustrating experience that leaves me throwing my hands up. (Yes, please, family from out-of-town, let's all fan out, hold hands, and then decided to stop and turn around without any warning to take a picture. That sounds like a wonderful idea that's not going to bother anyone else on the street.) I'm going to start on a series of my three biggest Times Square moments with Joe Girardi with today's entry: Sacrifice Bunting

Joe Girardi needs to add a note to his binder: DON'T BUNT (NYT)

If you are warm and have a fireplace in your place of dwelling, you have two options, you can either take your cash to store and buy some firewood or you can burn that money. Sure, burning that money will keep you warm since it is flamable and it's really easy since you don't have to go outside in the cold to get it but it's a really inefficient and it's a lazy way about going about things.

Truthfully, no one would actually burn money instead of going to the store for the firewood, but in many senses, the amount of sacrifice bunting that some American League teams do is on that level. It's inefficient and it's frankly lazy managing. Basketball, Hockey, Soccer, Football, and many other sports have a clock; baseball has no finite time-frame, only a finite number of outs. They need to be protected like unobtanium in Avatar and yet they really are sometimes given away. I'm not saying that one should never bunt (more on this later), but some of the great hitters who are given the sign to lay down the sacrifice make me scratch my head.

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The Price Of Yankees Tickets in the Early 1980s (and Other Yankee Notes)

A few random thoughts on the Yankees and baseball:

• One of my co-workers, Adam, a die-hard Red Sox fan, had two Yankee season ticket stubs at his desk today from the 80s (a picture of them posted to the right from 1980 and 1982 for Field Box seats). Check out the price for a season plan on those tickets. The Sports Illustrated Photo Vault had posted the ticket prices from 1987 a few weeks back but these make you saw "wow" even more.

• While it doesn't look like the Yankees will be raising ticket prices to pay for Cliff Lee, the Yankees will be raising the parking prices. If people are still paying to park at Yankee Stadium, I'm very sorry. Meanwhile, the Red Sox will be raising ticket prices next year so they can retroactively have had enough money to sign Mark Teixeira.

• A report by Big League Stew at the end of October stated that the Florida Marlins were considering dealing their top prospect, Mike Stanton, for...wait for it...Ozzie Guillen. That amazing story had River Ave Blues and Tango trying to figure out what the Yankees could get for an actually good manager like Joe Girardi.

• When Joe Girardi was a Yankee, he went from the starting catcher to being slowly replaced by the young stud, Jorge Posada. Now Posada is the veteran who may be giving way this spring to super-stud prospect, Jesus Montero. With Posada only signed for one more season and Montero having nothing left to prove offensively in the minors, this makes all the sense in the world to me. I know he may not be great defensively but, really, is Posada or Francisco Cervelli being mistaken for Bench back there? Meanwhile, as Steven Goldman writes for Pinstriped Bible, Jorge is bowling for controversy with his comments. I think the Yankees should just tell the moody Posada he'll be lucky to catch more than 90 games in 2011 (though Joel Sherman thinks it will be a lot more). Make it simple

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"Mad Season" for the Yankees Comes to an End

Joe Girardi's Binder was part of this Mad Season (NYT)

"I feel stupid - but I know it won't last for long
I've been guessing - and I coulda been guessin' wrong
You don't know me now
I kinda thought that you should somehow
Does that whole mad season got ya down?"
-"Mad Season" by Matchbox 20

Whenever a season ends without a championship, it sucks. As a fan, we feel betrayed, angry, and confused and want to second-guess every decision. Should they have taken A.J. Burnett out earlier in Game 4? Should they have resisted walking Josh Hamilton all those times? Should they have used CC Sabathia instead of David Robertson in Game 6? Should they have gone to Mariano in more games? We look back and we try to figure "when did this go wrong?" We look to blame someone: The Captain, the manager, the general manager, even the idiotic play-by-play guy who declared the series over and done with after the Yankees had won exactly one game. In the end, though, after digesting a tough ALCS loss, I feel that maybe we were fooled by this Yankees team, thinking they were better than they were and that we ran into a better team in the Texas Rangers.

But while I'm ready to tip my cap to the Texas Rangers and wish them luck representing the American League in the World Series, I'm not ready to put this Mad-dening Season to rest. The Yankees came into the season as World Series champs, looked like the favorite to repeat at the All-Star Break, faltered down the stretch, swept a very good Twins team in the first round, and then ran into Cliff Lee and the Rangers in the ALCS. The turning point of the season may have been the Yankees' failure to acquire Lee. I opined at the time that not acquiring Lee may be the move that cost the Yankees the pennant. I thought the lack of Lee on the Yankees was the trouble--I had no clue that Lee would actually be one of the guys to knock the Yankees out of the playoffs.

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When Teixeira's Hamstring Went, So Did the Yankees

When Mark Teixeira walked to the plate in the bottom 5th inning, the Yankees had a 3-2 lead, runners on 1st and 2nd, nobody out, and had a 78.4% chance of wining the game according to FanGraphs. What could have been a disaster of a night with A.J. Burnett starting seemed like it was moving towards being a huge, series-tying victory. And with a groundball to third and Tex hustling down the line (as he always does) Texeira's hamstring, the Yankees game, and possibly the Yankees season all popped.

It was a bad pitch, but A.J. shouldn't have been out there (LoHud)

The Yankees had their way with the Rangers all game, knocking out Tommy Hunter early, but had failed to capitalize with runs on the scoreboard. After Teixeira was helped off the field with his season-ending injury, the air seemed to deflate from the Yankees. To make things worse, the next batter, Alex Rodriguez, grounded into a killer double play to end the rally.

But The Yankees still had the lead and a 65% chance to win the game. So would Joe Girardi tempt fate by leaving Burnett--who had allowed 3 baserunners and a stolen base the previous inning but somehow escaped unscathed--in to start the 6th? He did. Base hit by Vlad Guerrero and Joba Chamberlain up and warm in the bullpen. So would Girardi bring in Joba to face Nelson Cruz? No, and that moved worked out for Joe as Cruz grounded into a fielder's choice. Still no Joba, though as Burnett faced Ian Kinsler who drove the ball to the deepest part of the park for an out (Cruz advanced to second on a heads-up play).

Anyone watching this game could see that Burnett was finished. Guerrero and Kinsler (both righties) had each hit the ball hard against Burnett. Joba was ready and although Joba isn't Mariano Rivera, he is slightly more effective against righties. If Girardi was a poker player, this would be the equivalent position of him being in the big blind with a 10, deuce, but staying in the hand because no one raised him out. He had the chance to bet again and the common sense would be to fold at this point.

Instead, Girardi went all in.

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Say it ain't so, Joe! Please Do Not Start A.J. Burnett in Game 4

Fact: A.J. Burnett hasn't pitched in 17 days.

Fact: A.J. Burnett hit two of his own teammates during a recent simulated game.

Fact: A.J. Burnett's stats in August and September = 12 starts, 2-10, 6.61 ERA, 76 hits in 65.1 IP, 28 walks, 7 HBP, 53 K, opponents are hitting .300/.380/.494.

Fact: The Yankees, who must win Games 4, 5, 6 if they want any chance of avoiding Cliff Lee in Game 7 and winning this series, insist on pitching A.J. Burnett in a practically must-win Game 4.

Knowing what we know about A.J. Burnett, is anyone else reminded of this Family Guy clip?



Look, we all know what's coming.  If C.C. Sabathia and Andy Pettitte were rusty from the ALDS, Burnett is going to be two-to-three times rustier.  His confidence is shot because he hasn't pitched effectively in months.  And the Yankees, who are down 2-1 but have been outplayed badly enough (aside from two innings in game 1) that it feels like 3-0, have their backs against the wall.  So why is Burnett pitching this game?  Why does the season practically rest in Burnett's shaky hands??  Don't push the AJ button, Joe, resist the temptation!  Don't even look at the button -- there's still time to change your mind!!!

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The Yankee Clipper: Back-and-Forth Game 1 Goes to the Yanks

Deep breath. After two dominant pitching performances to start out the playoff day by Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, the Yankees and Twins played a see-saw, back-and-forth affair last night under the stars at Target Field. But while Francisco Liriano looked early like he'd join Halladay and Lee as number 1 starters who dominated, the Yankees late rally toppled the Twinkies once again. A few notes:

Maybe not "ever" but last night's Tex Message was exciting

1. The Grandy Man Can. Sometimes, you need to throw out the book and Joe Girardi (the man who keeps the book with him at all times) did just that last night starting Curtis Granderson against Liriano. Granderson--who couldn't hit lefties in general for most of the season--came into the game 4 for 22 against the lefty Liriano with 12 strikeouts. And in the second inning, with two on and two out, those struggles reared their ugly heads again when Granderson left the runners stranded. That was the first of 10 consecutive batters that Liriano retired including a Granderson strikeout in the fifth. So with two on and two out and the same Liriano on the mound, some wondered whether Joe Girardi may go to the bench and pinch hit Austin Kearns who has had success in limited time against Liriano. But Girardi stuck with Granderson who hit the ball about as far as you can without hitting it out and his triple was the biggest hit of the game. Granderson deserves a lot of credit for going to Kevin Long and making sure he worked on his swing and the dividends have paid off immensely. Ben Shpigel of the New York Times calls Long the Yankees "Most Valuable Repairman", Brien@IIATMS breaks down the 6th inning, and the New York Post's Joel Sherman said that Granderson went from being a "bad idea" in mid-August to an October hero.
2. Tex Message Received. As LoHud's Chad Jennings wrote, the other place that Girardi went against most people's instinct was when he stuck with Mark Teixeira struggled through the first two months. Every day he wrote his name into the lineup in the number three hole. And last night's majestic shot into the October sky again showed us that despite his slow starts, Teixeira will eventually come around and contribute. An earlier double, though, was just as big as it snapped Liriano's streak of 10-in-a-row retired and set the table for that big 6th inning. Last season, Tex hit a line drive in Game 2 of the ALDS that everyone at Yankee Stadium was yelling "get up, get up" so it would be a home run--and it was. Last night, Tex hit a high fly ball that everyone yelling "stay fair, stay fair" (including Joe Girardi who the cameras caught saying it with the rest of the fans)--and it did. Tex's second game-winning home run against the Twins in two years and off the Jesse Crain which TBS replays right before the home run showed Teixeira hitting a blast earlier this year against at Yankee Stadium. According to ESPN New York's Wallace Matthews, Tex did this all with a cortisone shot in his ailing wrist. Teixeira has played through pain much of the second half of the season and his Tex MSG got the Yankees Game 1 of the series.
3. The Great Mariano.

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Adding Another to the Team (and a few links)

We're not waiting until September 1st to expand our rosters here at NYaT. I'm happy to announce our newest permanent blogger (and our new Official Mets Blogger), Elissa Glucksman. E recently guest blogged about 5 reasons the Mets could make the playoffs in 2011 and before that had previewed Citi Field 2.0 for NYaT. Elissa even participated in a triathlon with former Mets manager, Bobby Valentine, as a partner. We're excited to see what else she has in store for us (there is some talk of Sarah and Elissa doing a blog series of sports from the feminine point of view). Please join me in welcoming Elissa to the NYaT team.

Omar Minaya will feel the wrath of new blogger, Elissa (NYDN)

Now for a few links:

• Someone else is keeping track of that whole CC Sabathia opt-out (as well as Joe Girardi's contract situation): Ben Kabak of River Ave Blues. Moshe Mandel of TYU tells us why Girardi isn't going anyplace.
• SI's Joe Posnanski nails arm injuries and pitching prospects in this great blog post. Then The Common Man at The Platoon Advantage takes down Rob Dibble.
• NoMass scores another great interview (this time with Yankees' SVP, Mark Newman) and talks about the Yankees farm system. Then Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus writes "just add [Brett Marshall] to the long list of Yankee pitching prospects who have taken a step in the right direction." I like the sound of that.
• Last week Christina Kahrl of Baseball Prospectus handicapped the AL MVP race and the NL MVP race. It will be a close one.
• Rebecca of This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes on Kerry Wood. Sam Borden of LoHud on Tiger Woods and Derek Jeter. Aaron Gleeman of HardballTalk on the Yankees' "phantom disabled list". FanGraphs' Dave Cameron on the Minnesota Twins. Flip Flop Fly Ball on the many Yankees logos. Ben Kabak of River Ave Blues on HOPE week.
• The Big Lead on why Tony LaRussa is an idiot. Wall Street Journal's Brian Costa on why Ivan (Nova) is anything but terrible. ESPN's Jayson Stark with everything you would want to know about Roy Oswalt's night in left field.
• Eastbound and Down Season 2 (I can't wait)

Javier Vazquez is officially below replacement level according to FanGraphs (H/T Jay). More later.

The Yankee Clipper: Burnett, Gardner, Jeter, Granderson and Cashman

That's the list of subjects for today. After a 4-game split with the Red Sox, the Yankees head to Texas to face the 1st place Texas Rangers. Let's set up the situation:

Curtis Granderson has had a rough go of it against LHP (NYDN)

1. Curtis Granderson needs to platoon. It's pretty simple. Granderson has been awful against lefties and since this is a trend that has followed him from Detroit, it's time to stop the experiment. I agree with Joe from River Ave Blues: platoon Granderson. Although the Yankees were oh-for-9 with runners in scoring position yesterday, the most frustrating of them was when Granderson faced Lester with the bases loaded and struck out. It wasn't necessarily him striking out (Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher would do the same thing in the following ABs against Daniel Bard), but the fact he was batting at all. Granderson sucks big time against lefties and while there was no perfect replacement on the bench  with both Austin Kearns and Marcus Thames starting, Brett Gardner (as Jay Jaffe of Baseball Prospectus pointed out, Gardner, while a lefty himself, has a .375 OBP of better vs.. LHP the past two seasons) or Lance Berkman would have been better options. But Girardi has stuck with Granderson through thick and thin against lefties and while I understand it at times (the Yankees have a long-term investment in Granderson and need to see if he can be more than a platoon player), going forward the Yankees need to worry about winnings games and not The Grandy Man's feelings. The New York Post's Joel Sherman says that Granderson should be glad that The Big Stein is not around because the pressure could be a lot higher.
2. Brett Gardner needs to run more. Gardner has been in a horrendous slump recently, but even worse than his slump has been his hesitancy on the basepaths. Yesterday was a prime example. As Jaffe writes: "Girardi pulled [A-Rod] for the pinch-running Gardner, who drew four pickoff attempts from Bard but didn't attempt to steal against Martinez despite the Boston backstop's 19 percent success rate in throwing out would-be thieves. Gardner finally lit for second on a hit-and-run as Cano grounded to second, something of a wasted opportunity for the speedster." As Ben from River Ave Blues writes "In an ideal world, Gardner would be the Jacoby Ellsbury of the Yankees. The speed is there, but Gardner doesn’t have the instincts or daring of Ellsbury." I usually don't try to get into the psyche of a player, but that seems to be an extremely true statement. Gardner is one of the fastest white men around yet he seems too scared about getting caught. While stealing efficiency is important, he needs to go in those type of situations. Yesterday, Brett the Jet was grounded.

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The "Nitty Gritty" Yankee Teams of the Late 90s

Last night I got into a discussion with a few friends about baseball. The discussion moved at one point to the Joe Torre teams of the late 90s. I had mentioned how on base percentage was, in my opinion, the most important statistic to measure a team's offensive efficiency--though I mentioned a hollow OBP without power was worthless. I was trying to explain weighted on base average (or wOBA, a category that Dave Cameron of FanGraphs does much better and Alex Remington of Big League Stew adds to) when one of my friends piped up and said that the the offense of those 90s Torre teams were built less on OBP and more on taking pitches and their nitty, gritty mentality. Although I think that pitches per plate appearance has a good deal to do with OBP (more pitches seen usually means patience, more pitches wears out the pitcher and causes them to throw more balls, etc.), I thought that this idea that these Yankee teams didn't win because of OBP and wOBA was false. It turns out I was right.

I think most of this misconception lies in the fact that OBP wasn't exactly a mainstream topic before 2003 when Michael Lewis' Moneyball hit the scene. The truth is that teams were thinking about this before that time, but like good organizations do, they decided not to share that trade secret with others. If you take a look at those Yankee teams, you remember Paul O'Neill's warrior-like ABs, but you forget how they ended many times: with him jogging to first base. Using FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference (and a 50 PA minimum), here was what those Yankee teams looked like:

"The Warror" did more than just foul off pitches (Yankee Yapping)

1995
I add this one in just to show when the change occurred. Obviously, this was not a Torre team (Buck Showalter ran the show), but some of the seeds of Torre teams were planted. The 1995 Yankee team put up a .357 OBP which was good for 2nd in the American League. But the OBP was pretty empty of power. Although they had 280 doubles (2nd in the AL), they had only 122 HR (12th out of 14). Paul O'Neill had 22, Bernie Williams 18, Mike Stanley 18...and no one else had more than 7. The starting infield of Don Mattingly, Pat Kelly, Tony Fernandez, and Wade Boggs accumulated 21 combined. While Paul O'Neill (.387 OBP, .388 wOBA), Bernie Williams (.392 OBP, .385 wOBA), and Wade Boggs (.412 OBP, .373 wOBA) carried the offense, Dion James (.317 wOBA), Luis Polonia (.304), Tony Fernandez (.296), and Pat Kelly (.293) all were black holes. The team made the playoffs as the first American League Wild Card but they were disposed of in a tough 5-game loss in the American League Division Series to the Seattle Mariners.

1996
In 1996, the Yankees got rid of most of the dead weight from the 1995 lineup. They replaced Dion James with Tim Raines (.383 OBP/.377 wOBA), Luis Polonia with Ruben Rivera (.381/.368), Tony Fernandez with Derek Jeter (.370/.353), and Pat Kelly with Mariano Duncan (.352/.364). The team OBP ticked up to .360 and the hitting improved even further when they swapped Ruben Sierra for Cecil Fielder mid-season. Paul O'Neill continued to be a force in the Yankees lineup, walking 15.5% of the time and putting up a .411 OBP. The team gave way too many PAs (219) to Andy Fox (probably the worst Yankee hitter of the past 20 years that they've given that many PAs to) and Gerald Williams was never the answer in left, but this team was able to win the World Series because of those improvements it made.

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What They're Saying: Umpires, The Overmanager, and ALCS Recaps

If you were out of the country since the playoff started and just read the media coverage of the playoffs, you'd probably think the umpires were the reason we are about to watch the Yankees and Phillies in the World Series, while the Yankees are here despite Joe Girardi. While that has been overblown quite a bit, the umpiring has been quite awful this postseason and Joe Girardi has been a little, um, anxious. And other people played in a part in the ALCS besides Girardi and the umpires. Let's see what the media has been saying about it:

• Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN says yes to increased instant replay...for the World Series. Buster Olney agrees.
  

• ESPN.com looks at the men who will be calling the games in the World Series and Baseball Prospectus rates them.

• Joe Girardi was not treated kindly at times. Jon Heyman says that Girardi "seemed to suffer from temporary insanity or incompetence at times in the ALCS". Slate seems to agree and calls him The Overmanager. Keith Law says his #1 key for the Yankees is to "hog-tie Joe Girardi and leave him in a clubhouse locker". Almost makes you yearn for the days of this overrated guy.

• Rob Neyer takes them all to task and says that most teams would loved to be overmanaged to within 4 wins of a World Series title.

• The ALCS: Ken Davidoff recaps the clinching Game 6 and so does Shysterball. Baseball Musings looks at what went wrong for the Angels, while David Pinto congratulates the Yankees. Steven Goldman congratulates the Yankees as well with some great analysis with one very true fact: "at least there were no umpiring controversies in the last game".

• The biggest controversy at the end of the ALCS? That CC won the MVP over A-Rod. Please, people. There are more important things to worry about. I think that A-Rod and CC were both great. CC won two games for them; Alex, maybe one. That's why I give it to CC, though I would have been fine with Alex winning or them splitting. Who cares? It's a meaningless award! And A-Rod not winning gives him extra motivation in the World Series (you know he must have some sort of bonus if he wins the World Series MVP).  

• Big League Stew votes for the split of the MVP. Mark Feinsand says that A-Rod was great but not as great as CC. Dugout Central gets their panties in a bunch over A-Rod not winning.

A few other articles that I couldn't fit elsewhere: Rob Neyer breaks down Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu and asks if either or both are Hall of Fame worthy. Joe Posnanski breaks down his Top 10 Hitters Ever (A-Rod is not in the top-10 if you're curious, but Albert Pujols is). MLBTradeRumors is reviewing the trades of the past decade (there's surprisingly not really any Yankees ones on there, yet). Jonathan Papelbon is a weird motherfucker according to Deadspin. Lastly, a former Yankees prospect, Ross Ohlendorf, is headed for an internship in Washington. I know that the trade looked good at the time, but the Yankees could have sure used Ohlendorf in 2009.

What They're Saying: Joe Girardi

Joe Girardi has been praised at times this postseason, but has been criticized more often. Has he really been doing a bad job or are people overreacting to a few losses? Let's see what everyone has to say:

•  AOL Fanhouse goes over Girardi's decisions in Game 3 to try to figure out exactly what he was thinking
  

• Steve Politi says that "jumpy" Joe Girardi made at least one too many pitching changes in Game 3.

• Rob Neyer didn't really think Girardi's moves in Game 3 were all that bad, but it just didn't work out in the end 
  

• Howard Bryant says that as we move on to Game 6, the focus is on the decisions the managers have made

• Rob Neyer says that Girardi's biggest mistake in Game 5 was pinch running for A-Rod 

• GQ writes that while the action on the field was compelling, the managing decisions of Game 5 were puzzling 

• RealClearSports says that Girardi is making mistakes by not relying on instincts

• Jon Heyman lists Joe Girardi among his disasters of October
  

• Jesse Spector says that if the Yankees somehow lose the ALCS, Joe Girardi should be fired 

• SNY.tv says it's time to lay off of Girardi (picture courtesy of this article)
  

Joe Girardi makes managing harder than it has to be at times. He's too quick to makes changes at times and some times is too slow to make them. This has cost his team a few times this postseason. Girardi may be best off just letting the Yankees who are on the field do what they do and then use his bullpen--without the aid of that big binder.

Breaking the MT Curse

It seems that Red Sox owner John Henry created a bit of controversy when he blamed the Yankees' losses against the Red Sox on the "MT Curse" meaning the curse of Mark Teixeira. Well Tex took exception to it before the game, proved during the game that he's not the reason this team is losing games, and then actually won it for the Yankees.

Let's for a second throw out the fact that Castillo should have caught that ball (did it get caught in the famed "wind tunnel"?). Throw out the fact that Girardi made a horrible decision bringing in Mariano Rivera in the 8th inning (Coke had gotten two easy outs and not only is Rivera bad getting 4 outs, he's even worse in tie games).

Let's throw out the fact that Joba allowed one hit but only lasted 4 innings (I'm still a huge supporter of him in the rotation, but I'll make no excuses for him. He refused to go after batters and he paid for it. Bad job by him), that the bullpen is tired, and that they're going to need a complete game from Pettitte tomorrow because the entire pitching staff is now gassed.

Let's forget that the Yankees were again bad with RISP (2-9) and that Robinson Cano, who inexplicably is still batting 5th, is now 0 for his last 13 ABs and 0 for his last 9 games with runners in scoring position (let me repeat that: the #5 batter in the Yankees lineup has not gotten one hit his last 9 games or 13 times up with runners in scoring position).

Let's also, for a second, forget that A-Rod should have lost the Yankees that game (will get back to that).

Let's give Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter credit. They ran their asses off with two outs. They didn't stop running. And that's why the Yankees won. He scored from first base on a pop up. The Yankees aren't losing games because of Tex. He works hard, he plays great defense, he hits homeruns and he always, always runs the ball out. That cannot be understated.

It also cannot be understated that the Mets walked Tex to get to A-Rod and that A-Rod should have failed. Michael Kay idiotically called A-Rod a hero but he was anything but. He struck out in a horrible at-bat against Sean Green, striking out, and he got ahead against K-Rod and then popped up a very hittable ball. A-Rod should have been the goat. He was anything but a hero. The Mets walked Tex to get to him. So he decides to show his pride by popping out.

And for some reason A-Rod also decided it was a good idea to run to second (watch it again...it made no sense...the Yankee first base coach was going beserk). Imagine if he had been tagged out and the run hadn't scored. I have no clue why Castillo threw it to second (I think he was just panicing) but even stupider was A-Rod RUNNING towards second. What a dumbass.

Amazingly, I was about to storm out of the room and the station was about to be changed when I saw the ball pop out. If we were playing at Citi Field, I could see the exact same thing happening to Robinson Cano with how the Yankees have been playing. But the Mets are having just as bad luck and it came back to bite them in the worst way in this one.

Gotta give the rest of the Mets credit, especially David Wright who should have had the game winning hit in a big spot. I still have no clue why Wright and his league-leading OBP is hitting BEHIND Carlos Beltran (you can't make this stupidity up), but he came up huge in that situation for the Mets--a situation that he had failed in the past.

I feel for Mets fans there. Ari wrote to me: "And the Mets announce Luis Castillo has been traded to the Yankees whom it was determined he was playing for all along". While I laughed at that, I have to feel bad. I know what it's like to be there. These are two teams who don't want to seem to want to make it easy for themselves or their fans.

But I also feel good for Mark Teixeira who showed John Henry that the Yankees aren't doomed to fail under the "MT Curse".

Update: forgot to post Dave Pinto of Baseball Musing's recap, but well worth reading. A lot more clear a concise just in case you aren't by a TV

Stat of the Day and Hall Of Fame IBBs

Much was made of Joe Girardi's decision to intentionally walk Evan Longoria on Saturday. Many called an intentional walk too large of an honor to give someone like Longoria in that spot in his second season (and injured no less). So I decided to see how much of an honor it really was. Here are the lowest totals of intentional walks to Hall of Famers (min 3000 PAs). I started the count with players who debuted in 1955 or later since that seems to be the first year that Baseball-Reference has IBB data for (it may be the first year it exists for as well) and here are the top 10 via Play Index (click on the link to see the rest of the bottom of the list)

 Cnt Player            **IBB** DbYr   PA  From  To   Ages   G    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB   SO  HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions Teams
+----+-----------------+-------+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+
   1 Luis Aparicio        22   1956 11230 1956 1973 22-39 2601 10230 1335 2677 394  92  83  791  736  742  27 161  76 184  506 136  .262  .311  .343  .654 *6        CHW-BAL-BOS
    2 Ryne Sandberg        59   1981  9282 1981 1997 21-37 2164  8385 1318 2386 403  76 282 1061  761 1260  34  31  71 139  344 107  .285  .344  .452  .796 *45/6D    PHI-CHC  
    3 Joe Morgan           76   1963 11329 1963 1984 19-40 2649  9277 1650 2517 449  96 268 1133 1865 1015  40  51  96 105  689 162  .271  .392  .427  .819 *4/758D   HOU-CIN-SFG-PHI-OAK
    4 Ozzie Smith          79   1978 10778 1978 1996 23-41 2573  9396 1257 2460 402  69  28  793 1072  589  33 214  63 167  580 148  .262  .337  .328  .665 *6        SDP-STL  
    5 Kirby Puckett        85   1984  7831 1984 1995 24-35 1783  7244 1071 2304 414  57 207 1085  450  965  56  23  58 188  134  76  .318  .360  .477  .837 *89/D7456 MIN      
    6 Robin Yount          95   1974 12249 1974 1993 18-37 2856 11008 1632 3142 583 126 251 1406  966 1350  48 104 123 217  271 105  .285  .342  .430  .772 *68D/73   MIL      
    7 Paul Molitor        100   1978 12160 1978 1998 21-41 2683 10835 1782 3319 605 114 234 1307 1094 1244  47  75 109 209  504 131  .306  .369  .448  .817 D543/6879 MIL-TOR-MIN
    8 Carlton Fisk        105   1969  9853 1969 1993 21-45 2499  8756 1276 2356 421  47 376 1330  849 1386 143  26  79 204  128  58  .269  .341  .457  .798 *2D/735   BOS-CHW  
    9 Gary Carter         106   1974  9019 1974 1992 20-38 2295  7971 1025 2092 371  31 324 1225  848  997  68  33  99 180   39  42  .262  .335  .439  .774 *29/375   MON-NYM-SFG-LAD-MON
   10 Cal Ripken          107   1981 12883 1981 2001 20-40 3001 11551 1647 3184 603  44 431 1695 1129 1305  66  10 127 350   36  39  .276  .340  .447  .787 *65/D     BAL      

A surprise name in the bottom 10: Robin Yount. He was a very good hitter who I can't remember having a lot of protection in those orders. At least not enough protection to warrant so few IBBs (though maybe Cecil Cooper was a better hitter than I give him credit for). And now for the top 10:

  Cnt Player            **IBB** DbYr   PA  From  To   Ages   G    AB    R    H   2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB   SO  HBP  SH  SF GDP  SB   CS   BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  Positions Teams
+----+-----------------+-------+----+-----+----+----+-----+----+-----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+----+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+---------+-----------+
   1 Willie McCovey      260   1959  9686 1959 1980 21-42 2588  8197 1229 2211 353  46 521 1555 1345 1550  69   5  70 176   26  22  .270  .374  .515  .889 *37/9D    SFG-SDP-TOT-SFG
    2 George Brett        229   1973 11624 1973 1993 20-40 2707 10349 1583 3154 665 137 317 1595 1096  908  33  26 120 235  201  97  .305  .369  .487  .856 *5D3/796  KCR      
    3 Willie Stargell     227   1962  9026 1962 1982 22-42 2360  7927 1195 2232 423  55 475 1540  937 1936  78   9  75 143   17  16  .282  .360  .529  .889 *73/98    PIT      
    4 Eddie Murray        222   1977 12817 1977 1997 21-41 3026 11336 1627 3255 560  35 504 1917 1333 1516  18   2 128 316  110  43  .287  .359  .476  .835 *3D/57    BAL-LAD-NYM-CLE-TOT
    5 Frank Robinson      218   1956 11743 1956 1976 20-40 2808 10006 1829 2943 528  72 586 1812 1420 1532 198  17 102 269  204  77  .294  .389  .537  .926 97D38/5   CIN-BAL-LAD-CAL-TOT-CLE
    6 Tony Gwynn          203   1982 10232 1982 2001 22-41 2440  9288 1383 3141 543  85 135 1138  790  434  24  45  85 260  319 125  .338  .388  .459  .847 *98/7D    SDP      
    7 Mike Schmidt        201   1972 10062 1972 1989 22-39 2404  8352 1506 2234 408  59 548 1595 1507 1883  79  16 108 156  174  92  .267  .380  .527  .907 *53/64    PHI      
    8 Carl Yastrzemski    190   1961 13991 1961 1983 21-43 3308 11988 1816 3419 646  59 452 1844 1845 1393  40  13 105 323  168 116  .285  .379  .462  .841 *73D8/59  BOS      
    9 Billy Williams      182   1959 10519 1959 1976 21-38 2488  9350 1410 2711 434  88 426 1475 1045 1046  43   8  73 200   90  49  .290  .361  .492  .853 *79D/38   CHC-OAK  
   10 Wade Boggs          180   1982 10740 1982 1999 24-41 2440  9180 1513 3010 578  61 118 1014 1412  745  23  29  96 236   24  35  .328  .415  .443  .858 *5D/317   BOS-NYY-TBD

Again, this only covers a small amount of Hall of Famers, but I was surprised by these stats, especially with guys like Boggs and Gwynn beating out guys like Dave Winfield, Roberto Clemente, or, most surprising of all, Reggie Jackson (!).

And here is the data for the pitchers:

  Cnt Player            **IBB** DbYr   G  From  To   Ages  GS  CG SHO  GF  W   L   W-L%  SV   IP     H    R   ER   BB   SO    ERA  ERA+  HR   BF  HBP  BK  WP Teams         BA   OBP   SLG   OPS  OPS+  SH  SF  2B  3B GDP  SB   CS  Pk
+----+-----------------+-------+----+----+----+----+-----+---+---+---+---+---+---+-----+---+------+----+----+----+----+----+------+----+---+-----+---+---+---+-----------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+---+---+---+---+---+----+---+---+
   1 Jim Palmer           37   1965  558 1965 1984 19-38 521 211  53  15 268 152  .638   4 3948   3349 1395 1253 1311 2212   2.86  126 303 16112  38  11  85 BAL          .230  .294  .340  .634   82 133  84 512  88 273  265 164  15
    2 Sandy Koufax         48   1955  397 1955 1966 19-30 314 137  40  44 165  87  .655   9 2324.1 1754  806  713  817 2396   2.76  131 204  9497  18   7  87 BRO-LAD      .205  .275  .319  .594   69  83  32 270  47 104   73  38   5
    3 Catfish Hunter       57   1965  500 1965 1979 19-33 476 181  42   6 224 166  .574   1 3449.1 2958 1380 1248  954 2012   3.26  104 374 14032  49   7  49 KCA-OAK-NYY  .231  .285  .371  .656   92 132  93 525  70 183  202 132   8
    4 Nolan Ryan           78   1966  807 1966 1993 19-46 773 222  61  13 324 292  .526   3 5386   3923 2178 1911 2795 5714   3.19  111 321 22575 158  33 277 NYM-CAL-HOU-TEX  .204  .307  .298  .605   77 205 146 649 106 314  757 252  47
    5 Juan Marichal        82   1960  471 1960 1975 22-37 457 244  52  11 243 142  .631   2 3507.1 3153 1329 1126  709 2303   2.89  123 320 14236  40  20  51 SFG-BOS-LAD  .237  .277  .350  .627   80 125  65 396  70 207  176  82  43
    6 Bruce Sutter         83   1976  661 1976 1988 23-35   0   0   0 512  68  71  .489 300 1042.1  879  370  328  309  861   2.83  136  77  4251  13   8  37 CHC-STL-ATL  .230  .288  .340  .628   75  75  25 138  27  85   97  36   0
    7 Phil Niekro          86   1964  864 1964 1987 25-48 716 245  45  83 318 274  .537  29 5404.1 5044 2337 2012 1809 3342   3.35  115 482 22677 123  42 226 MLN-ATL-NYY-CLE-TOT  .247  .311  .366  .677   88 219 102 732 123 430  445 215  51
    8 Rich Gossage         90   1972 1002 1972 1994 20-42  37  16   0 681 124 107  .537 310 1809.1 1497  670  605  732 1502   3.01  126 119  7506  47   5  63 CHW-PIT-NYY-SDP-CHC-TOT-TEX-OAK-SEA  .228  .308  .330  .638   80 106  67 237  37 129  148  79   6
    9 Dennis Eckersley     91   1975 1071 1975 1998 20-43 361 100  20 577 197 171  .535 390 3285.2 3076 1382 1278  738 2401   3.50  116 347 13534  75  16  28 CLE-BOS-TOT-CHC-OAK-STL  .246  .290  .386  .676   84 109  93 571  71 146  380  78  15
   10 Jim Bunning          98   1955  591 1955 1971 23-39 519 151  40  39 224 184  .549  16 3760.1 3433 1527 1366 1000 2855   3.27  114 372 15618 160   8  47 DET-PHI-PIT-TOT  .242  .298  .373  .671   89 176  79 553  95 210  208 119   4
   11 Don Sutton          102   1966  774 1966 1988 21-43 756 178  58  12 324 256  .559   5 5282.1 4692 2104 1914 1343 3574   3.26  108 472 21631  82  21 112 LAD-HOU-TOT-MIL-CAL-LAD  .236  .286  .355  .641   85 208 127 728 107 292  432 143  14
   12 Rollie Fingers      109   1968  944 1968 1985 21-38  37   4   2 709 114 118  .491 341 1701.1 1474  615  549  492 1299   2.90  119 123  6942  39   7  40 OAK-SDP-MIL  .235  .292  .340  .632   84  82  66 219  33 136  117  47  14
   13 Tom Seaver          116   1967  656 1967 1986 22-41 647 231  61   6 311 205  .603   1 4782.2 3971 1674 1521 1390 3640   2.86  127 380 19369  76   8 126 NYM-TOT-CIN-NYM-CHW  .226  .283  .342  .625   79 187 111 675 120 315  409 164  14
   14 Fergie Jenkins      116   1965  664 1965 1983 22-40 594 267  49  37 284 226  .557   7 4500.2 4142 1853 1669  997 3192   3.34  115 484 18400  84  18  62 PHI-TOT-CHC-TEX-BOS-CHC  .243  .287  .383  .670   86 176 124 731  98 274  284 170   9
   15 Bob Gibson          118   1959  528 1959 1975 23-39 482 255  56  21 251 174  .591   6 3884.1 3279 1420 1258 1336 3117   2.91  127 257 16068 102  13 108 STL          .228  .297  .325  .622   77 171  94 457  83 292  196  88   0
   16 Don Drysdale        123   1956  518 1956 1969 19-32 465 167  49  34 209 166  .557   6 3432   3084 1292 1124  855 2486   2.95  121 280 14097 154  10  82 BRO-LAD      .239  .293  .352  .645   85 116  66 471  74 270   95  84  51
   17 Steve Carlton       150   1965  741 1965 1988 20-43 709 254  55  13 329 244  .574   2 5217.1 4672 2130 1864 1833 4136   3.22  115 414 21683  53  90 183 STL-PHI-TOT-MIN  .240  .306  .360  .666   89 235 122 807 137 405  314 225 144
   18 Gaylord Perry       164   1962  777 1962 1983 23-44 690 303  53  33 314 265  .542  11 5350.1 4938 2128 1846 1379 3534   3.11  117 399 21953 108   6 160 SFG-CLE-TOT-TEX-SDP-TOT-ATL-SEA  .245  .296  .354  .650   86 217 111 708 142 451  236 213  17

I wonder if there was much uproar when Bob Gibson or Steve Carlton was asked to throw four balls. Did the newspapers ask if the manager dissed them? Mariano Rivera has now issued 31 intentional passes so unless he greatly exceeds his pace of 2 every 162 games, I don't think he'll pass Palmer on this list. I think it's OK to ask him to throw four balls every once in a while...even if the move doesn't work out--and I also think it's OK for Mo to say no as well. I just think people need to stop making such a big deal out of it.

Thhhhhheeee Yankees Win!

1 full game up heading to Boston. Another big win from them leads to another series win. 11 games over .500 and the homers continue with Teixeira (who has been ridiculously hot since A-Rod came back), Swisher (who is getting hot), Jeter (breaking him out of a slump), and Damon (who has hit 9 at home so far this season) going deep for the Yankees. New Yankee Stadium may be a homerun haven, but the Yankees have found a way to limit the runs and win there.

And how about this for the bullpen tonight: Phil Hughes for one, Phil Coke for one, and Mariano Rivera for a perfect one (his second after his hiccup on Saturday night).

Did not agree with Joe Girardi's decision to take out Phil Hughes after one inning, but it worked and it probably keeps Hughes available if they need him in Boston for a long relief appearance.

Does this start the "Hughes should be a reliever" debate? Hopefully not. Though guys do jack it up when they are out there. Hughes, who is usually in the low 90s was at 95-96 with his fastball.

Bring on the Red Sox!