This isn’t showing up on the front page!

SG, are you saying Tex just needs some “eyedrops”?

This isn’t showing up on the front page!

Probably just as well.

Since the Yankees are not likely to be going into the ninth with a lead anytime soon, this isn’t too horrible, right?

Jayson Nix hit the fly ball. Great call up.

This, meaning this apparently:

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was taken off the field in a cart after apparently injuring his right knee while shagging flies during batting practice before tonight’s game between the Yankees and Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Rivera ran into the center field wall while attempting to make a leaping catch of a ball that was hit over the fence. Rivera fell to the warning track, his face contorted in obvious pain, rubbing his right knee with his hand.

Fuckity fuck fuck fuck.

Just posted this from Hoch in the other thread. Reposting here JIC:

“Mariano Rivera preliminary diagnosis is twisted right knee - headed for MRI during game”

Well then.  Time for Robertson to do the closer thing I guess (I’d prefer Robertson = fireman, Soriano = “closer” actually).  Provided, of course, that WOE actually provides the nigh-mythical “lead” thing.

I love Mo as much as anyone, but what a dumb fucking inexcusable injury. If you’re a 40 year old relief pitcher, don’t do your best Gary fucking Matthews Jr impression just for kicks.

If he tore some cartilage, he could be out a while.  Fingers crossed everything is intact and he just twisted it.

http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/

This is worse than a losing season to me.  This is the worst news ever.

[9] My reaction too.  Seriously, Mo?

I am Jack’s inconsolable sadness.

This sucks.

He has done that before every game almost every day of his career. Come on! This is Mo we are talking about, can’t say anything about his work ethic or ANYTHING about him

Mo is my second favorite Yankees player ever. I guess you guys know who #1 was. This is far from the worst news ever. Perspective lads.

He always tries to GRAB A BALL GOING OVER THE FENCE in a way that has a very very good chance of doing something like, I don’t know, twisting your knee?

No one questioned his work ethic. Just his decision making.

The yin-yang thing swings wildly our way in the 2nd half, right?

Take it easy, [9].  Shagging flies has been part of the routine that’s made him such a great and durable closer.  Nobody keeps himself in better shape, and there’s nothing reckless in his personality.  Injuries happen.

Injuries happen. Avoidable ones shouldn’t. If you’re a 40 year old relief pitcher, you shouldn’t be trying to rob a home run for no reason at all. That is not controversial.

I’m amazed players don’t tag up like that much, much more often than they do.
Good for Rekky Jeterson.

yeah, it sucks that Mo didn’t see the ball going to the wall and decide to stop, but it’s such a split-second decision that I can’t blame him for choosing wrong.

Were people sticking up for Aaron Boone when he got that basketball injury? Because that was nowhere near as dumb as this.

I’m strangely sanguine. Or at least ambivalent. Sure it could be an ACL but he’s been defying the odds his entire career. Let’s pray to Mo that it’s just a twisted knee.

Hoping for a close call and lesson learned for Mo.

Mariano wasn’t playing a different sport, he was horsing around a bit on the baseball field, as far as I can tell.
Yankz, I think your point of view IS questionable.
You can’t expect ballplayers to be entirely sedate and not play around.  It’s ridiculous.  You can’t prevent all undesireable outcomes, even ones that might technically be preventable.  You just can’t control people’s lives to that extent.  And its unreasonable to expect that of them.
If Mariano Rivera isn’t not responsible enough for you, it might be time to reconsider your criteria.

Can we trade Montero for Duffy?
And what Pete said. The man has made about 10 thousand correct decisions up to this point.

Ho hum

How do we get GD to replay the pitch sequence for a prior AB?

[21]  He wasn’t trying to rob a home run.  He was chasing down a fly ball at the warning track, which I’m sure he’s done a thousand times before without hurting himself, as it’s part of his daily routine.  I know you’re deep in the second stage of grief, but you seriously want to question Mo’s judgment after 18 years of keeping himself in impeccable shape?

I think the prognosis scale in this case goes directly from “scary boo-boo” to “career”.

[30] Use Classic.

OK, what other relief pitchers shag fly balls? How many do it that close to the wall?

And how many of them are 42 (I was off earlier) years old?

I knew that Mo shagged fly balls, but I always assumed he was maybe 250 feet from the plate, jogging around a bit. I would never have guessed that he’d put himself in a position like this.

Phelps doing an early Hughes impression.

Legit hit.

If Mariano was playing basketball while on a trampoline with his arms filled with boxes I wouldn’t care.  Shit happens-Mo’s a phenomenal athlete who was been doing this for years.

“He wasn’t trying to rob a home run.”

vs.

“Rivera ran into the center field wall while attempting to make a leaping catch of a ball that was hit over the fence.”

I’m going to trust the guy that was there.

ABIOJ !!! Nice catch.

I hate Mark Teixeira

I hate Phelps already.

Throwing error and a wild pitch? Sounds like nerves.

Jarry Dysonsen causing havoc on the bases, as is his wont.

Hmm, yankees.com has the video. Doesn’t look like a HR but he looked awful going back for it. Crashed HARD into the wall.

That wouldn’t have happened if he was throwing off flat ground.

42- Sounds like AJ.

OK, what other relief pitchers shag fly balls?

Seriously?  You’d prefer Mo follow the routine of some other reliever?  His career hasn’t been good enough?  He needs to change his routine?

Looks like he was jogging to the wall and just stumbled a bit.
Trout happens.

Popup in 5….4….3….

Hmm, I would respond, but it seems like SAS won’t read all of it, so what’s the point?

“Looks like he was jogging to the wall and just stumbled a bit.”

I think we are each seeing what makes our case stronger. To me it looked like he was running hard after a ball he didn’t have a shot at. But I guess that is subjective.

Next run scored by the Yankees: unearned, in roughly 26 innings…

I’ll back you up Yankz. At some point, caution is the better part of valor.

[44] Looks like his knee buckled, THEN as he collapsed he hit the wall. It wasn’t the wall that done it. Coulda happened anywhere on the field if he’s shagging balls. “Over the wall” had nothing to do with it. As I see it.

If this is it for Mo, the only sensible thing to do is load him into a photon torpedo and launch him onto planet Genesis.

Yankz, I just watched the replay several times.
Mariano did not go HARD into the wall.
He was jogging back, nowhere near full speed, and stumbled.  He FELL into the wall.

Tex .629
Nunez .599

I guess Tex is winning (for now)

[54]
Given the way that ended up, it’s actually a great plan.

[56] What’s the $ per .100 of OPS ? kthxbye

This team is doomed.  Pitch 4 to Moustakas was a clear strike.

Phew, glad I shorted Phelpsmania.

Mike Moustakas…Moustakas sounds like Mistakes, and Moustakas just hit a big time Mistakas. /Tim McCarver.

What [54] and [55] said.

I’d like to congratulate Kansas City on their first home win of the season.

[59] Strike 1 to Quintero was Ball 4.  So that.

[61] I wonder if he knows he’s named after a mediteranean casserole.

[61]  I remember Baseball Prospectus explained how to pronounce his name by saying “Moose Tacos.”

66 - what’s Baseball Prospectus? /Tim McCarver

SAS, btw, yes, Mariano’s career has not nearly been good enough. That is exactly what I meant. Of course, I’m not sure how I went from “42 year old relief pitcher should not be going back on balls near the fence for no reason” to “His whole career has SUCKED,” but thank you for helping me out.

I think Jeter wants to get back up to .400.

Jeter is automatic vs lefties

[61]  I remember Baseball Prospectus explained how to pronounce his name by saying “Moose Tacos.”

Also known as Thursday nights at the Mussina household.

Jeter causes embogglement.

Pretty sure at this point Jeter can close games, too. Nothing to worry about.

[54] Beats the shit out of burning to death on a runway. Please… some perspective. Worst case scenario… we get to ride up to Cooperstown in 5 years and listen to Mo say nice things about Joe Torre. I can handle that.

Granderson at bat is the go-ahead runner in scoring position.

Edit: Shit.

Why is my TV showing highlights of Teixeira from 2009?

Teixeira is even annoying when he gets RBI doubles these days.

Holy shit! Tex with a timely hit. Back to hockey for me.

[77]
True, but I prefer that kind of annoying.

Dog Bites Man. Film at 11.

If I could sign on a dotted line for a healthy, OBP-heavy .800 OPS for Alex for the rest of the contract, I would.

I’d prefer something more as long as he’s not yet geriatric.

Mark Teixeira’s OBP vs. RHP -
2009: .376
2010: .344
2011: .323
2012: .296

If the line was solid? Forget it. Dotted lines only.

Why does Cano have to suck?

[68]  My problem with your statement is where you say “for no reason.”  There is a reason he was chasing that fly ball, namely that it’s part of the pre-game routine that he’s followed for his entire career, a routine that’s yielded unparalleled success.  I was trying to point out the absurdity of questioning Mo’s routine now, and wanting to compare his routine to other relievers, as if there is some pre-game routine out there that could yield better results than Mo has achieved.

It’s frustrating to watch basehits like this when the meat of the Yankees order can barely muster one past the pitcher’s mound with men on base.

Put Dyserson on base, he scores.
When will people learn this?
 
Also, good of Phelps not to create expectations that could come crashing down.

85- Please stop. The 2 a yiz. I don’t ask for much.

[85] I know you’re not really saying this, but you are sounding like the secret to Mo’s success is his pre-game routine, one involving shagging fly balls in the outfield, as though that’s the magic formula. Which would be silly. Like aspiring pitchers should adopt this formula and they’ll become Mo.

It would be equally silly for Yankz to suggest that this was some reckless thing he did without anyone realizing he was out there. Mo’s an athlete. Who plays baseball. Who was practicing baseball while warming up. Albeit at a position he doesn’t play. Is that the great sin ? That Mo was doing the warmup for a position not his own ? You can’t keep these guys in a bubble.

It isn’t a stupid household accident, like tripping on the stairs or catching a toe on the rug while carrying boxes, which is just normal life jumping up and biting you.

But it also wasn’t forseeable reckless risk taking, like climbing on a trampoline at 350 pounds and wondering why your ankle can’t take the stress of landing with all that blubber bearing down on an unstable surface, or a high impact sport like basketball, or a high risk pastime like motorcycles or driving fast cars while drunk etc.

WHY IS NUNEZ PLAYING IN THE MAJORS???? HE IS THE WORST PLAYER I EVER SEEN

Shitfuck.

OK, I’m gonna suggest the following two points:

1)  If the Yanks could make Mo’s warmup more conservative, and be certain this would not in any way affect his temperament, fitness, etc, they’d have done it….

2)  They can’t be certain. 

But if it’s at all serious, he’ll have to switch to the Jamie Moyer fitness plan.  That sucks.

oh, and what’s with Jayson Nix, is this some kind of ESPN computer error or is a .207 hitting ex Blue Jay second baseman really the best we can do for left field and the team is descending rapidly into some kind of 80s revival?

92: Lifetime OPS+ of 72 and almost exclusively an IF.  WTF?

See, that’s what Jones could do more often if he would just lay off the potatoe chips and adopt a sensible training regimen. Which, oddly enough, would involve warming up before games by shagging flyballs at the warning track.

{ducks, running}

[92, 93] Oh, if only he weren’t an upgrade over Iguana, Jones, and/or Nunez…Don’t blame Nix. Blame them.

STATS   W   L   ERA   SO   WHIP
Career   5   10   5.36   107   1.57

Who cares about Nix if Nunez is a lot worse.

[96]
Sometimes you just run into a buzzsaw… ?

98—our caps, we have no alternative but to incline them slightly….

Dyson?
There is no joy in Mudville.