"Let's Move On"

Yesterday, I dropped the sentence above at the very end of the Manny and Ortiz post. It was met with some friendly disagreement in the comments so I just wanted to take a moment to clarify the point.

The overriding sentiment from the commenters was that the Sox fans had their fun with all the steroid controversy surrounding the Yankees and now it's time to give it back to them.

Sox fans were merciless with Jason Giambi until the day he left, no doubt. They got various steroids chants going for Andy Pettitte on the heels of the Mitchell Report, but those have largely subsided. They were anxious to point out that they had the "clean" years of Roger Clemens' career. But let's see how aggressive with the "You-Took-Ster-Oids" chants they are next time A-Rod comes to Fenway. Like any other fanbase Red Sox Nation has it's fair share of dickheads, but most people with a reasonable amount of frontal lobe activity are going to realize they are now the pot calling the kettle black. If any of the fackin' Sullies and Murphs do start to get mouthy, Yanks fans can counter with "So-Did-Pa-Pi". What are we going to do beyond that?

I'd be lying if I said there wasn't an element of personal satisfaction and Soxenfreude involved in all of this. There more certainly is. Aside from the Yankees, it's the most central theme of this blog, for fuck's sake. But any of the idiots who were foolish enough to point the finger at the rest of the league, and really thought they were going to skate away with no stars on the Red Sox being implicated in PED use, and thought that 2004 was a gift from God, pure as the driven snow, just took a shot to the solar plexus. And that's good enough for me.

This news doesn't change what happened in 2004 from our eyes, though. The '04 roster of the Yankees included A-Rod, Gary Sheffield, Kevin Brown, Jason Giambi and almost certainly some other guys who haven't been outed yet. Their cheaters were a microscopic amount better (or just luckier) than our cheaters.

What we are heading towards is a realization that almost nothing is free from the stain of PEDs, one player and subsequently one fanbase at a time. Very few individual accomplishments and absolutely no Championships in say, the last 15-20 years or so are going to above reproach.

Like always, the Yankees are at the forefront of this, like they are in almost every aspect of baseball. We as Yankee fans are again ahead of the curve. Whether you like dragging people into the mud with you is a matter of personal preference, but it don't get a whole lot out of it.

Game 61: Comin' Home

It might be an elitist, corporate bandbox, but the Yankees come home to it tonight after a short but wildly unsuccessful trip to Beantown.

Trying to get the Yanks back on track tonight will be Joba Chamberlain. His ERA has been hovering in the upper 3's since the beginning of May and he enters tonight at 3.79 with a 3-1 record. He's made 11 starts this year, meaning that in 7 of them, he's earned a no decision. Much of that can be attributed to the fact that he doesn't go very deep into games, but he's put up three quality starts in which either the Yanks bullpen has let him down or the offense has picked him up. The momentum from his 8 inning effort in Cleveland was slightly dissipated by his six inning, three run outing against the Rays, but he allowed one baserunner or fewer in each of those outings.

On the offensive side of things, Johnny Damon is out of the line up for assorted reasons, one of which being, wait for it... his eyesight. We just might be back tomorrow with another eye chart. This means that Nick Swisher is starting in RF again, and hopefully he won't be making ridiculous and unnecessary dives into the stands, getting doubled off of second or just straight up missing catchable balls.

The Mets are sporting a somewhat diminished line-up tonight with Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes on the DL, but the DH slot allows them to put Gary Sheffield in the batting order while starting Fernando Martinez in LF.

The Metropolitans send Livan Hernandez to the hill tonight, who has been surprisingly, scratch that, "Amazin'ly" good so far this season. After a rocky first four starts left him with a 6.75ERA, that number has been steadily declining to where it sits now, 3.88. He's given up only 5 runs in his last four outings, averaging over 7 innings per. Never one to shy away from contact, Livan strikes out only 5.3/9IP and is giving up over a hit per inning with a WHIP of 1.369. He doesn't give up a whole lot of long balls either, only 7 in 67 1/3 innings. For a guy who had an ERA of 6.05 in 31 starts last year, he's doing pretty well for himself. That said, if I was a Mets fan, I'd be a little nervous about him pitching in the New Yankee Stadium.

As a quick illustration of the differences between the two teams this year, the Mets have hit only 37 homers this year compared to 95 by the Bombers, but they lead the ERA battle 3.94 to 4.85. This could be the accumulation of park effects, the difference between the leagues, but mostly it boils down to roster construction. The Yanks have gotten more out of their sluggers while the Mets have leaned more on their arms.

It should be interesting to see what wins out tonight, the pitching or the bats. Will the Mets' offense awaken at the New Stadium? Can the Yankees bust out of their terrible RISP slump? Will El Duque's brother be able to borrow some of his brother's Bronx magic? Can Joba take it deep without being taken deep? Tune in to find out, as Robinson Cano might say, "Honly on JES".

Hitchhiking on the turnpike all day long.
Nobody seemed to notice, they just pass me over.
To keep from going crazy, I got to sing my song.
Got a whole lot of loving and baby, thats why
Im comin home to your love.

Backhanded Complient Of The Day

"When he comes up he is still Gary Sheffield, he is still a presence,"

~ A Mets Official, obviously talking about Gary Sheffield

-----

Yes, he is a "presence". And by presence, I assume he or she means "a ghostly apparition of the hitter he once was". This is pretty much the worst way to evaluate a guy who is 40 years old. "He's still Gary Sheffield!!!"

Riiiight... except that he isn't (the darkest numbers are the highest):

(I took out 2006 because he only appeared in 39 games)

That, my friends, is what you call a trend. Omar, do you need some help with Excel? I am available.

What would give you any indication that he is going to be better this year? Yes, he is going to the National League, but the dimensions of Citi Field do not project to favor right handed hitters. Especially 40 year old ones with rapidly declining bat speed.

For more reasons this is a terrible idea, please see here.

Have Fun With This, Mets Fans...

Joel Sherman says the Mets are close to signing Gary Sheffield:

"Unless something drastic happens, he is a Met," one of the sources said. "Someone would have to offer him a second year, and I just don't see that happening."

One person who has talked directly to Sheffield said the slugger prefers the Mets over the Phillies because he sees a greater potential for playing time, and wants the heavier workload as a way to showcase for the 2010 season. Sheffield is a free agent at the conclusion of this season.

I see no way this could become an issue. He thinks he should be playing over Daniel Murphy who had an .871 OPS in 151 PAs last year and Ryan Church who was at .887 when he went down on June 5th to a concussion. Sheff's OPS in 443 PAs last year? .725

Omar, do you really want to waste valuable plate appearances on this guy over two younger, better players? The Tigers just paid him $14M NOT to play this year. He is 40 years old. He's played 28 games in the outfield over the last two seasons (with negative defensive value). Church and Murphy both have considerable upside and it's not like you have the option of DH'ing the guy. He's already making assumptions about the amount of playing time he is going to get.

It's not too late...