FinYank is like 60 years old or so (right buddy?) so he'd have a better memory than I would as I was around 9 when he was drafted and started his career but even I remember there was a ton of hype for the kid. Maybe I heard it more because I live in Yankee territory but he was talked about a lot on the radio and news papers and obviously this was before the internet. I remember my Yankee friends collecting his minor league baseball cards too. Best comparson would be Strasburg in terms of excitement and hype I'd say but again this was before the internet too. It's a shame that he got hurt off the field, although if my memory is correct I think there were a lot of different stories as to what exactly happened that night in terms of the bar fight whether he was directly involved in the start of it or if he was simply protecting his brother like the ESPN story says but I could be completely wrong, so we never could have seen how good he could have been.
yeah I remember it Fink, it was just sad....especially because he wasn't starting the fight but trying to protect his brother.... And no Fink I am not 60 hahahah...
So I feel pretty confident in saying the Yankees suck. The Red Sox suck. And the Rays suck. Time to start scheduling tee times in October yet?
Det has no closer yet again...Toronto it is still a long season for them....the Angels are lackluster, Texas too many injuries, are the A's really the cream of the AL? Mehhhh oh well at least the Yanks have 3-1st rounders again to use today......ohh wait......
Even if you all suck, if you can make it to the playoffs you all have a chance. Anything can happen in a MLB postseason series.
The Tigers and A's are the two best teams. Both have very good line ups, Detroit has good starting pitching, Oakland has good defense. As for the rest of the AL, the rest of the AL and majority of teams this year suck. So yeah things aren't over yet but all 5 of the AL East teams clearly have areas to upgrade. Very true but with the way things are going right now for the Yankees, Sox and Rays, I simply don't see how any of them are good enough to even make the playoffs. They all have way too many holes.
I thought these two articles are kind of funny in that they happened almost exactly a year ago between the Sox and Rays when John Lackey hit Matt Joyce with a pitch for "admiring a home run that turned out to be foul" after he already hit a home run off of him early in the game. I wonder if Maddon and Sean Rodriguez feel that way about David Price too: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/11/joe-maddon-says-john-lackey-is-a-bad-teammate/ http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/06/12/the-rays-are-still-mad-at-john-lackey/ The lesson as always is, whether you're a player or a fan, is that it's ok if your side does it but if the opponent does it's the worst thing in the world.
Well the Rays got slightly more likable today since they DFA'ed the rapist. Unfortunately it had nothing to do with him being an actual criminal, it was because he sucks as a pitcher. But baby steps I guess....
Not sure the Sox can send down Holt even if Victorino comes back....the guys has done nothing but positive things since he came up......minor league stats, pedigree, etc be damn you play those people.... FWIW it must be pretty reassuring to be a Yankee pitcher these days knowing if you give up more than 1 run you are going to lose.....Why Beltran didnt get this bone spur shaved weeks ago is beyond me, he gets a shot, thinks it will clear up? All he did was delay the surgery/recovery time...at the point now where he might miss the season.... ALL THAT AND MORE FOR A 1ST ROUND PICK GIVEN UP!!!!
Coached in a travel ball tournament this weekend. Our team made it to the championship. The opposing coach, Damien Rolls, ex-Devil Ray. Talked to him a while. Super cool guy. He is possibly going to send his kid to one of our summer camps this summer. His team won.
While I don't think Brock Holt can keep this up he's been fun to watch. And no the Sox won't be sending him down anytime soon, especially if he keeps hitting and shows he can play the OF decently. When Victorino comes back either Herrera will be sent down, since he has options, or the Sox will release Grady Sizemore as it seems like Farrell has finally decided to give Nava another shot and thankfully Nava got some hits and got on base.
Between Friday and yesterday, what the heck is going on with him? Completely and utterly out of line in both events. Flipping out because he got tagged and then throwing your bat at the other team, he should be suspended for at least 10 games, if not more. By the way, Bogaerts > Machado. Of course Bogaerts > everyone.
... The first Machado incident was def his fault, but yesterday I don't it was that bad....the pitcher throws at him intentionally and misses, THEN the next pitch throws at him again and his bat goes flying....I am sorry I would have a hard time sitting there knowing a pitcher is going to hurl at me and not do anything about it.....Baseball does have that ***** element to it where **** like this happens....what happened on Friday was between him and Donaldson ON THE BASEPATHS not in the box, the fact that a pitch is getting involved is bush-league IMO.... But I agree I would expect something to come down for him....
The two pitches thrown at Machado were knee high and then ankle high, no? Even so you still can't throw your bat like that. That's just completely dumb. And Donaldson got drilled by the Orioles after the tag out on Friday, completely insane to me. But you bring up a good point about how pitchers have all the power and batters are defenseless. Take away any of the Machado non sense how is it even remotely right or fair that a pitcher can seeming throw at a batter? Because that's what the old school tough guy pitchers used to go back in the day? I didn't see the game live but I wonder how the umps handed things from Friday's events into Sunday. I thought the umps did an awful job during the Rays/Red Sox game for example and let the game get out of control. I also think MLB does a poor job with penalties and pushiments too. Things are serve enough to try and stop it. I agree this "part of the game" is silly and pointless, way too much risk involved to try to be tough guys and send messages like that. Want revenge? Get the hitter out and get the win.
Right but Fink don't forget, the kid is coming off a surgery where he blew out ligaments, I mean would you want to deal with that? I didn't realize they pinged Donaldson.....ok that makes a little more sense now... All in all he is 21, I wont judge him just yet he is just a kid you know?
Doesn't make it right either way, I don't think the surgery even crossed his or the pitcher's mind at that time. Machado was looking for a fight since Friday. Yeah the O's pitcher, I think it was Chen, I believe threw behind Donaldson and then drilled him with the next pitch, don't know if he was thrown out of the game after that or not. But I don't understand why they would throw at Donaldson in the first place. The tag play doesn't dirty by any means. And no him being 21 is no excuse. He's an adult now. 10 year olds know better to not throw their bats at the other team. There is no excuse for the bat throw at all. I don't think there's even an excuse for the tag play either. I just don't understand what the hell he was thinking this weekend.
Yeah this actually happened: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/1...y-rays-turn-seminole-medicine-man-bobby-henry Wonder if Maddon's act will start to get old, in the eyes of the FO, players and/or fans, if the team continues to play poorly. That's not to say that I think he's the problem with the team but when the team is good and winning this stuff is viewed as cute and funny and a good way to bring the club together, when they're losing it just turns the franchise into a punch line. EDIT: Looks like the medicine man didn't help in today's game at least.
Eh it is harmless **** to me, I dont mind Maddon....he has been a good Coach for what they have to work with..... I would love to get Freidman in NY....although his past few drafts have been concerning to me, but the guy def does well in trades.....
While I too think Maddon is a good manager, but I think he has a lot of Bobby Valentine in him in regards to him loving the spotlight and it sure seems like he loves being different. I personally find him to be a bit much. It seems like his act would get old if he was in a bigger market and wasn't performing. Could you imagine what the NY or Boston media would say about that stuff? But I do think he's good at getting the most out of his players and their limits as players. I've always wondered what would happen if someone like Brian Cashman or Theo went to a small market club while someone like Billy Beane or Freidman moved to a big market club, whether that GM would still have the same success or not or whether their strengthens/weaknesses would get exposed/carried over etc.
Difference is, Bobby V has had an arrogant, I know more then everyone else, persona. Maddon may like the spotlight, but he is very gracious. Maddon is what he is, a great personality that is a great personality manager, and a very average in game manager. But like I have conveyed prior, managing the players, personalities, IMO is more important then in game managing.
Agreed that managing the players and their personalities are more important for the 162 plus game season then in game managing. And I do think Maddon is good fit for the Rays and the way the front office works. But I also think he wouldn't last long in a big/crazier market like New York, Philly or Boston because of his personality, especially if the team was underperforming. And while Maddon doesn't come off as arrogant as Bobby V, he definitely comes off as kind of a hipster due to his smuggness. And I do feel at times he comes off as fake or saying something on purpose just to be different or to get a sound bite. As a non-Rays' fan he just makes you roll your eyes a lot. My opinion of course. Somewhat known fact now but if the Sox didn't hire Terry Francona in 2004, Joe Maddon would have gotten the job. Certainly would have been interesting to see how Maddon would have handled the job.
That would have been awesome because the the 04 "idiots", Tito was perfect for them being a players coach but not a total players coach.....Maddon is more liberal than Tito is/was...I would have certainly liked to see that...
Machado also hit .283/.314/.432 last year and is also hitting .256/.289/.383 in the past calendar year so yeah there's probably things he needs to work out. The kid is talented and young but you can't survive in the MLB if you only plan on walking 48 times in 1066 plate appearances. Pitchers are clearly exposing him right now. Everyone jumps on Middlebrooks for being a hacker, and rightfully so, but he's walked 40 times in 742 at bats. And just for comparison purposes Bogaerts has already walked 31 times in 312 plate appearances.
Oh Machado is for sure a hacker. Anyone with a baseball brain could see the regression coming this year. Anyone have a video of his swing this season? Id like to take a look.
Machado got suspended for 5 games for his bat toss. Abad only gets fined, no suspension, for throwing at Machando twice. Meanwhile David Price just got fined for purposely throwing at Ortiz but no suspension while Brandon Workman got 6 games for throwing at Longoria but not hitting him. Something doesn't make sense to me. Seems like the MLB front office just picks penalties out of a hat. But good to know next time Workman or any other pitcher would be better off just throwing a bat instead of a ball. But then again Price and Abad didn't even get suspended for throwing a ball so.... I don't know. Throw the bat and ball?
Come on Fink. Workman did it after a warning. And can they really prove Machado threw the bat on purpose? Workmans was obvious.
I have no issue with Workman getting suspended, that's not my point at all. Workman was suspended for throwing at Longoria while Abad was only fined for throwing at Machado but no suspension though? Even Price getting fined but not suspended, why? Either he threw at Ortiz on purpose or he didn't. If no one thought that then he shouldn't be fined. If they believe that Price did throw at Ortiz on purpose he should be suspended. It was obvious Price threw at Ortiz but he didn't get suspended, why should a warning warrant a suspension? My point is there are no consistencies with these suspensions. They makes no sense. And come on about Machado there, not sure how anyone can make a case that the bat just happened to slip out of his hands in the field of play.
