WasWatching.com

Why do you seem to be enjoying this so much? Is it one of those "it's easier to write a negative review than a positive review" things?

You can thank those three teams all you want. But the truth is the Yankees have lost what seems like tons of winnable games. Peter Abraham had this stat today: the Yankees are 6-21 in games decided by two or less runs.

It's not like they're getting their brains beat in. Their bullpen and Torre's decision-making have a lot to do with that record, and lately the offense has made things even worse.

~~~Why do you seem to be enjoying this so much? Is it one of those "it's easier to write a negative review than a positive review" things?~~~

Trust me, I'd be having a lot more fun this season if the Yankees would give me something to write positive about....the ball is in their court. I can't make up stories that are positive at this point...because they would be fiction.

~~~the Yankees are 6-21 in games decided by two or less runs.~~~

Big deal, by the way. Close counts in horse shoes and, well, you know.... the losses don't count any less in the standings if their close games.

This is an actual question, and not for the sake of sparking an arguement. I'm genuinely curious.

Is there any team, aside from the Mets with their freakishly strong Castro, who has a back-up catcher who is at the same level as their every day catcher? Is Wil Nieves really THAT bad? I feel like his bat should not matter. When he got that first hit, back whenever that was, everyone was laughing and having a good time about him getting thrown out at 2nd. If that happened today, everyone would be throwing up their hands. I mean, having him play every 5th day is absurd, and the only person with his own personal catcher that makes any sense at all is Wakefield/Mirabelli. Maybe there are others and I just don't remember them, which is entirely possible. But--if he were just your run of the mill BUC catching to give Posada days off, would his weak bat really matter? It really shouldn't, with this line-up, should it?

Problem is, Nieves' weak bat is compounded with having other weak bats in the lineup. It's one thing to have Nieves batting 9th, but if you have Cairo batting 8th, a struggling Cano batting 7th, and Melky batting 7th (for the purposes of this exercise)... That's not a good thing.

~~~It really shouldn't, with this line-up, should it?~~~

What Raf said. With the LF, RF, DH, and 1B not hitting - and the CF struggling, at times, adding another non-bat at C (Willy Boy) means that you're playing just three hitters against the other team's 6 or 7.

Yeah...that's pretty much what my point was, I think, though sometimes I start rambling and don't actually get that across.

So if it weren't for the slumping line-up (minus A-Rod, Jeter, Posada, sometimes Matsui), would Nieves really even be a problem? Being the Baby to Moose's Johnny notwithstanding, he DOE get along well with the pitchers.

does...not doe. Sometimes I suck at typing.

Even if he got along with all the pitchers, it doesn't make up for all his shortcomings on offense and defense.

6 and 21 is a big deal. the yanks middle relief has been abominable over the year so far. I wonder who is going to be available for 7th and 8th inning relief. I heard gagne and he has been effective of late.

The hitting will come back. I find it hard to believe that Abreu will finish the year at .250 and Matsui while having an up or down here or there was up to .300 at one point, to which I'm sure he will return again. Melky is out of the dumps and should continue to the end of the year. Damon I'm not so sure of, because of his injuries but sometime in July we should be able to get someone to plug the loss of him and Giambi. And while Giambi is going to be out for a while, I don't think it will be for the whole year.

Tonight's game has been wierd. Wang, strong through 7, gets into trouble, bears down (his pitches are more effective at 92-93) and gets tagged when he throws an elevated pitch at 94-95. Then Jorge, who surprised Jim Palmer by being in the lineup in the third sweltering temps game in a row, chucks one into left when a runner tries to advance.

Swept in colorado, lose two out of three in San Francisco and now lose 3 in row to the birds. Helluva road trip.

And here comes Oakland and the Angels, the easy part of the sked is over. It's amazing we're not 15 games behind now. Praise the Sawks, swept in seattle, have been keeping the pressure up but that all changes -- they have a rangers series coming up at Fenway. They need the batting practice.

If this is going to be a miracle season stay tooned for the next 10 games. If we go 2 and 8 I might be adjusting the intensity level on my hope lamp.

Can I get Arod in the ninth inning tonight? Plea-yez...

Big deal, by the way. Close counts in horse shoes and, well, you know.... the losses don't count any less in the standings if their close games.
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Whuuuuuuuut? You mean to tell me coming close DOESN'T matter in baseball? Well, goddamnit! No wonder all them folks was lookin' at me all cross-eyed and such.

I thought at the very least the Yankees got a little gold star in the standings because the games were close. Hell, you learn something every day.

I personally see a difference in a team that is losing its games close than one getting blown out. There are different types of losses, and how a team loses tells you a lot about it and its season.

excellent post baileywalk because close games can be turned around with just the addition of a key player or a return to expectations like vizcaino has been showing us lately.

what a difference johnny d makes. I can't believe he does what he does that nicked up. an inning away from a W. we actually may see mariano tonight. we need another 14 and 3 stretch here. particularly against the A's and the haloes. I was hoping for a 5 game spread by the all star break, will settle for 7 or 8.

saw a stat that said Cano was hitting about 270 or 280 over the first half and he put together the 342 mostly in the second half. Is that true? Wouldn't that be sweet?

checked the cano thing: he's had shitty months of may (.250 or so) but last year started to snap out of it in June. He's also capable of sucking in the month of august (2005) but over the last two years has been a very hot june/july (and last year august/sept)hitter. Let's hope he hits over .400 for the next couple of months.