By the way, am i missing something, or was Tim McCarver talking out his ass tonight?
At one stage, one of the Giants’ hitters (i think it was Andres Torres), tried to bunt, but it was called a foul ball after it hit him as he started to make his way out of the box. Replays showed that it was a near thing, but that he was (i think) still in the box when hit by the ball.
Anyway, McCarver started talking about how part of the box is in fair territory, and so we would need to know whether that came into play or not in order to determine whether he should be out.
Now, as far as i know (and as far as i can tell from looking at MLB’s official rules), you are either in the box or you’re out of the box. If the ball hits you when you’re out of the box, you’re out, and if it hits you when you’re in the box it’s a foul ball. It is completely meaningless to say that part of the box is in fair territory.
I’m looking at the runs scored, and the many pitchers that the rangers trounced through from the Yankee staff. I think they may split 1-1 in San Fran, the rest of the games go to the-- what’re they called again?? Ooop, Rangers.
(Apologies. Understand this is the first time in, well, EVER the WS and Rangers are in the same discussion. :D)
I actually used to BE a Yankee fan, way back in the Clete Boyer-Hector Lopez Era. I mostly attribute this personal failingl to the following mitigating factors:
I was seven and eight years old
there was no national league baseball in my city at the time
the Yankees won a lot, and
that was all I needed to know, or could absorb
After 1962, I became a Mets fan (oddly, not BEFORE the 1962 season, their first–it took me a year to come around).
After forty years of rooting for the Mets, though, I became convinced around 2002 or 2003 that the organization was effectively a braindead, clueless, doltish crew of screwups, and when I voiced these views on a Mets fansite that I founded, I found myself banned from that site (I had turned the technical capacity to ban over to one of my co-founders, and he just got fed up and banned me.) I had, coincidentally, discovered around that time that the Red Sox were being GMed by someone whose family I was close to (still am) and whom I had known since he was a small boy. SInce this allowed me to continue despising the Yankees, I became a Sox fan, just in time for their first World Series since 1918 (no credit for causality is claimed). Needless to say that 2004 pennant, as well as the 1969 pennant, are high water marks of my rooting.
But whoever I root for, I always will despise the Yankees, and their smug, self-satsified fans. Class of the American League, my ass.
Yes. I’m not saying he hasn’t been a great. HOF-caliber player for his career. Of course he has. I’m just saying that even though he has still been putting up good numbers the last few years, he has rarely carried the team. When he gets up in a crucial situation I never have the feeling that he’s probably going to come through. Just the opposite.
I also despise Yankee fans for their “true-Yankee” bullshit. A-Rod is so clearly a superior player (and with laughable obviousness, a superior defensive shortstop) to your precious Jeter, but small sample size and selectiveness makes Jeter appear to the truly deluded to be a better player than A-Rod (whom I also dislike but not as a player on the field). The fact that they will grossly overpay Jeter for the remaining years on his contract says all that needs to be said about Yankees, as compared to other teams with whom they supposedly compete: money is meaningless, and the playing field is far from level. Which knowledge helps me make sense of your non-stop boasting about winning so many championships.
A-Rod has carried this team since he came over. Without him they wouldn’t have had nearly the success that they’ve had. I’ve always faulted Yankee management for not attempting to convince Jeter to move to 3rd when A-Rod arrived. I think the Yankees may have won another WS or 2. But A-Rod is now just a shadow of himself. After the abolition of steroids, I don’t think that we’ll see players’ primes last into their 40’s any more. And I don’t think we’ll see huge bounceback seasons after mediocre ones.
The Yankees historically do pay up to keep their aging superstars. But I really hope that this stops. Last year, things changed when they wisely let Matsui and Damon go. I hope the young Steinbrenners make a strong statement by not giving Jeter more than 2 years and $20M. There is just way too much downside there, especially when you’re already locked into the A-Rod contract (which will haunt this team for years). Posada needs to sit. This team needs to get young fast. The team is too barbelled with high-priced stars that can never be worth their contracts and MLB-minimum players who provide much more value than their contracts (but not enough production on an absolute basis).
Show me where I compared him to Jeter? Saying that Rodriguez doesn’t inspire in me the confidence that a HOF-caliber player hitting 4th in the lineup should has nothing to do with being a “true Yankee” (your words, not mine.)
I have a great deal of difficulty believing that such a small change would have made such a huge difference, and I’m not convince A-Rod would be much of a shortstop now, anyway.
Back to the playoffs, of course it’s not possible to know who’s going to win for sure, but I’m inclined to think the Giants might have an edge thanks to better pitching.
However, what’s unquestionably cool is that one city or the other will have its first World Series champion.
If i were putting my own money down, i think i’d probably be betting on the Rangers.
That’s what makes the whole thing so interesting and exciting, for me.
I’m not even sure i care very much who wins, although my wife’s from San Francisco and i have a lot of friends who are Giants fans, so i probably lean in that direction, even though it was the Giants who knocked the Padres out of the playoffs. I’d be happy enough for the Rangers to win too, although the fact that George Bush is a fan counts against them.
Well, you couldn’t be bothered responding to any of the substantive comments i made in response to your post about A-Rod, so i figured there was no point making any more. Drop-jawed amazement is about the only other response i can muster to your posts.
