Yay Alfredo Aceves my favorite townie since Jimmy Piersall.

This was a fun game to listen to.  But it would have been funner without John Sterling.  I really have to start listening to the away broadcasts.

I did like it when Serling called a Mutts homer and then not so quickly amended to “it is caught. ”

I think that’s the first time I’ve seen Granderson look bad on a ball hit to dead center.

So Teixeira has nerve damage in his vocal cords from a bronchial infection earlier this year.  It only took some of the (presumably) best doctors in the world two months to figure out his constant gag reflex.

I think that’s the first time I’ve seen Granderson look bad on a ball hit to dead center.

The YES announcers claim that that is the hardest ball for a fielder to judge (a ball hit directly at him). That sounded kind of dubious, but they seemed to act like it was an accepted thing. Then again, they also think it makes perfect sense for Soriano to be the closer while Mo is out (and not for the reasons we all think he should be the closer).

[6] The normal algorithm reportedly has something to do with moving in such a way that the ball’s arc has some property which I guess doesn’t show up in this case.

they also think it makes perfect sense for Soriano to be the closer while Mo is out

Sending games into extra innings helps sell more beer and hence is good for the business side of things.

6) I’ve heard that for years. Sort of backing it up is a boxing video i saw where Michael Jai White was teaching some Ultimate Fighting guy that if you take the arc out of your punches and throw them straight on, it’s harder for your opponent to see them and react.

Without arc, it’s hard to judge speed and path of the ball because you don’t have as many visual reference points to compare the path to.

I buy that a ball hit dead at you on a line is pretty tough to judge compared to a ball with height or visible arc.

am i crazy for not hating soriano as much as the rest of you guys.

[10]  Not crazy, you’re just suffering from Robertson withdrawl symptoms, it’s a perfectly normal thing.  You’ll get better soon (when Robertson comes back, hopefully soon….).

[5]  These are the Yankee doctors, so you presume wrong.

This is an old story that I’ve probably told before, but I knew a guy who needed shoulder surgery.  He was a keen amateur tennis player and wanted to make sure he could play hard again.  He researched the Mets and Yankees doctors and found that the Mets guys had better results and faster recoveries for the same surgery.

Then again, Generation K.

Listening on the radio Serling never gave an inkling that Granderson misplayed it. 
You go to the 9th inning with the closer you have not the closer you want.  That said not worth hating someone you need to succeed and it was Binder’s fault Logan didn’t start the 9th with 3 lefties comjng up.

Another thing no one mentions is that the Yanks had plenty of chances to tack on insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th and did not deliver.  In any case, all’s well that ends well.

The YES announcers claim that that is the hardest ball for a fielder to judge (a ball hit directly at him).

That’s not a YES thing, it’s generally accepted conventional wisdom.  I do think it makes sense because of reaction time.

am i crazy for not hating soriano as much as the rest of you guys.

I don’t hate Soriano.  I hated the signing of him.

I don’t expect him to be Mo, because no one is.  But he hasn’t really pitched all that well as a Yankee so far, even though his ERAs have been decent.  Hopefully he stops allowing two runners per inning and I can warm up to him a bit more.

I don’t think any manager in baseball with an anointed closer who would not have had Soriano start the ninth.  Frankly, I’m not sure any other manager would have had the stones to pull Soriano for Logan the way Girardi did.

It’s my opinion that there is not a manager in baseball who manages his bullpen better than Girardi.  We’ll see that more clearly now with Mo out.

Another thing no one mentions is that the Yanks had plenty of chances to tack on insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th and did not deliver.

I think we’ve gotten so used to it that we just accept it now.

[16]  That is an excellent point, I was surprised at the time G didn’t stick with the “closer”.  Maybe Logan should have started the inning, but G sure didn’t give Soriano too much rope.

“I’m not sure any other manager would have had the stones to pull Soriano”

QFT.  Actually I have no idea - what about Joe Maddon? - but I was quite surprised to see Soriano walking off with outs remaining.

[19] Maddon would have gone all unpredictable on us and brought in whatever starter was due for his throw day to get one batter. Second batter ? Backup DH to the mound. Third batter ? He’d have gone with the 6 man infield and had the pitcher throw from the second base bag.

1-2-3 strikeouts, of course.

But Soriano is the understudy.  Seems to me I’ve seen lefties brought in to face one batter why not three after all he’s Joe Effing Binder.  “The rules and such never bothered him/he calls the shots and they follow.”

[6] it’s much harder to judge a ball directly at you

[9] Same is true in fencing. A perfectly executed lunge is much harder to pick up than a sloppy one. When the point extends straight out it’s way more difficult to gauge and parry in time than if it’s coming at you with a little herky, funky angle to it.

Other than Martin, the real story of the game was Pettitte. Even in the 2nd inning, only the leadoff double was hit hard. If Cano/Nix/Teixeira had made playable plays, the damage would’ve been minimal. And the way he got Bay and Wright with the bases loaded was vintage.

It’s unbelievable the way he’s made it look so easy.

Another thing - When Pettitte first came up, he had a reputation for being much more effective against righties. I’m pretty sure this was true the first couple of years. But over time, he got better against lefties. Right now, he kills them!

[24] Yes, Battlecat was good.  He should’ve been out of 2nd with only 1 run scored, but Cano screwed up.

Logan should have satrted the 9th inning with Duda, Davis and Quintanilla (all lefties) due up. Then put Soriano in when a RHB comes up.

Pettitte was very good. He did not have his best command still allowed only 3 runs with a shaky defense.

But this game was about Martin, who suddenly is the 3rd best position player on the team.

When Pettitte first came up, he had a reputation for being much more effective against righties. I’m pretty sure this was true the first couple of years. But over time, he got better against lefties. Right now, he kills them!

Yeah, it was similar to Mo being better against opposite-handed hitters because he was so cutter-reliant.  Now that’s throwing more two-seamers, curves and sliders he’s better able to work lefties and it’s been great to see.  I’ve really been surprised by how effective he’s been.  I was hoping for a 4.50 ERA type performance in the back of the rotation, but right now he’s looking like the Yankees’ ace.

This sounds weird but maybe he’s actually gotten better with age because he’s not as strong as he used to be. Wasn’t he one of those guys who used to say that he didn’t get enough of a break on his stuff if he was too strong/fresh? Maybe now, all of his pitches have a naturally sharper break.

[27] By FG, he’s 2nd best with a 1.5 WAR. Rodriguez at 1.4. Although it FG does have a huge defensive hit on Granderson which most of us probably agree doesn’t make sense.

Maybe now, all of his pitches have a naturally sharper break.

Could be, although I think he’s gotten smarter about mixing his pitches and his command has improved too.  So far this year he’s striking out almost one-fourth of all the batters he’s faced (24.6%) and is tied for his lowest career percentage of batters walked (5.6%) as a Yankee.  I won’t count his 4.7% in 2005 in AAAA.

He doesn’t throw as hard as he did coming up, but he actually hasn’t lost that much since 2002.  He averaged 89.1 mph on his fastball in 2002 and is averaging 87.5 this year.

Although it FG does have a huge defensive hit on Granderson which most of us probably agree doesn’t make sense.

Granderson was rated pretty poorly in zone rating as well, but it was all in April.  He didn’t look that bad to me, but who knows?  Since then he’s been about average, which I think seems right.  He may be a shade below average these days, but I don’t think his numbers will get any worse than they are right now which means the impact from his defense should get smaller relative to his overall value as the season moves on.

He had one ugly play yesterday though where he looked pretty bad.

[32] I agree - average is probably ok. FG has it at something insane like -10. Fix that and he’s probably the second most valuable position player.

[33] FG has Cano as a very good defender. I just don’t see it that way. I think both Cano and Grandey are average defenders.

Average defenders can have good or bad years.  Cano hasn’t looked any different to me, but it’s not unreasonable to think he’s been reasonably good defensively.  +5 over 1/3 of the season doesn’t seem out of line with his tools.

Per FG, Cano hasn’t been an above average defender since 2007, his only year that was above avg, so I don’t think there’s a reason to think he can be a +15 defender at the end of the year.

There’s no reason to think that because he’s been +5 over 1/3 of the season he’ll continue at the same pace all year.  Just like there’s no reason to think Curtis Granderson is a -30 defender.

An average defender having a +5 third of a season is no different than a .270 hitter hitting .300 for a third of the season.  You wouldn’t bat an eye if the first situation happened, and you shouldn’t bat an eye in the second situation.

[37] I agree.

I don’t think Granderson is that bad at CF, but the more I watch the more I think he is below average there. When TSBG comes back I think Granderson should move to LF