Will Joe Girardi's Protest From Last Night Be Successful?

Via Marc Carig, in order for the Yankees to win their protest of last night's game, the commissioner's office would have to rule that the Manny Delcarmen getting unlimited time to warm up "adversely affected" the Yankees' chances to win the game:

In all protested games, the decision of the League President shall be final.
Even if it is held that the protested decision violated the rules, no replay of the game will be ordered unless in the opinion of the League President the violation adversely affected the protesting team’s chances of winning the game.

If the league does determine there was a detrimental effect, the game could be restarted from the point of the infraction. Considering that the Yankees were sitting on a five run lead at the time, there's a good chance that they could lock down the victory if given a second chance.

It's pretty clear that Sox pitching coach John Farrell signaled to the bullpen before telling the umpire that Beckett was hurt. Girardi isn't disputing whether the injury was valid, just that the call was made before the umpire was informed of the injury.

There is a ton of subjectivity involved here. How will the league interpret the word "adversely"? Delcarmen getting as much time as he needed to warm up obviously wasn't the reason that the Red Sox were able to come back, but it definitely helped them stop the bleeding to some extent. Getting to face a guy who was only allowed to throw eight warm up pitches would certainly have been an advantage for the Yankees, particularly if Francona chose to temporarily insert a position player instead. So by a strict definition, it did "adversely affect" their chances of winning the game, however infinitesimally.

Although it doesn't say it in the rule book, I'm guessing the commissioner will have the latitude to determine degrees of adversity. In other words, was the advantage the Yankees lost enough to warrant restarting the game from that point? Will Bud Selig take into account that the Yankees were winning by five runs at the time? Will he note that the Sox came all the way back and won by just one run? It's a logistical mess to restart the game and you'd have to assume that the league would lean towards avoiding it if the decision is close.

Bud Selig works in mysterious ways, but unfortunately, I'm pretty sure this one isn't going to get overturned.

Youk's Teammates Hate Him Too!

Well, some of them do, anyway:

So why, then, is this Everyman not unequivocally embraced and revered by his teammates? Why, when a reporter approaches another key Red Sox player to speak about Youkilis does he respond, “I’d rather refrain’’?

It should be Youk’s team, his clubhouse, and it might be some day, but some of his peers believe Youkilis still has some growing to do. They’d like to see him filter some of his strongly held opinions. They’d like him to respect the veteran protocol that has long been a part of baseball’s fabric. And they want him to control his temper.

>8

“At one point some of the veterans came up to me and said, ‘Can you talk to this guy?’ ’’ manager Terry Francona said. “What I tried to tell them was Youk just needs to get it out of his system. Watch him sometime. Thirty seconds after his outburst, he’s screaming for his teammates.

Isn't that fackin' chaaahming? The dood's like a fackin' fwah yeah old!

This quote from Jackie MacMullan was also pretty amusing:

He does not look like an MVP candidate; more a refrigerator repairman, a butcher, the man selling hammers behind the counter at the True Value hardware store.

To that I would add:

• Fishmonger
• Car stereo salesman
• Longshoreman
• Mason
• Ice road trucker
• HVAC technician
• Short order cook
• Plumber
• Dickhead bouncer at a college bar
• Elementary school janitor
• Harley Davidson mechanic
• Mover
• UPS guy
• Short bus driver
• Hot tar roofer
• Landscaper
• Electrician
• Garbage man
• Road paver
• Street sweeper
• Finish carpenter
• Carpet installer
• Park ranger
• Chicken farmer
• Sausage stuffer
• Coal miner
• Steel worker
• Forklift operator
• Mr. Clean stand-in
• The guy with the awful beard from the Sam Adams commercials.

I might even admit that the article is actually a good read if I wanted to jeopardize the stranglehold we've developed on Kevin Youkilis hatred over here, but you know I can't do that.

Beggars Can't Be Choosers

The Yankees would have taken a win anyway they could have got it last night and the Baseball Gods responded with a protracted, sloppy, lopsided affair that spanned nearly four hours, included 26 hits, 18 walks and 23 runners left on base.

It didn't appear to bode well for the Yanks when Jorge Posada trotted into home standing straight up in the 2nd inning and walked right into a chest high relay throw from Dustin Pedroia to Victor Martinez. At that point it seemed possible that Posada's baserunning gaffe would come back to haunt them later in the game. That notion vanished fairly quickly when Yanks sent 13 runners to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and scored 8 of them.

Joba Chamberlain, although he got the win, was not sharp at all, throwing 108 pitches in five innings, walking 7 and giving up two home runs. He continually failed to put away hitters but still managed to earn his 8th win of the season and 4th in a row.

Despite the fact that the Yanks were leading by eight runs when they made their first call to the bullpen, Joe Girardi still managed to use four more pitchers. (The Red Sox used only 3 to absorb 45 plate appearances). Girardi also pinch hit and pinch ran comfortably ahead and made defensive switches with a 9 run lead in the 9th inning. Anthony Claggett came on for the final three outs, but apparently couldn't have been trusted with a 7 run lead in the 8th inning or a 6 run cushion in the 7th.

I'm not sure if Mark Melancon purposely threw at Dustin Pedoia with a 13-4 advantage in the eighth, but this is just a fantastic photograph, you know, on an artistic level. (via AP/Yahoo)

It must have been a horrible baseball game to watch if you weren't a fan of the Yankees. Sorry about that. We take what we can get.

Maybe The Seventh Time Is A Charm?

[Pics from here since MLB.tv still doesn't have the archived game up yet]

The last time A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett squared off was the day of the NFL draft. That afternoon both of the former Marlin teammates were lit up with very similar lines, giving up 8 runs each, including 2HRs, in five innings of work.

Impossibly, Burnett's performance was actually worse tonight, the night of the MLB draft. He gave up 5 runs (3 earned) in 2 2/3IP, walked five batters, only struck out one and blew through 84 pitches (40(!) strikes) to get those 8 outs. He allowed his 12th home run this year in as as many starts, a deep blast to straightaway center to some chump with a .308 slugging percentage entering that at bat. In an amusing and unintentionally pathetic display, Sox fans called Papi out after this second inning two run jack for a curtain call. Congrats, Papi... You know you are a sad case when people are applauding things that you used to make look pretty routine not too long ago.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Josh Beckett subdued the Yankees offensively like they had been hit with a tranquilizer dart and stuffed in his trunk. In the process of being rung up on strikes eight times in six innings, only three men were able to reach base. No Yankee achieved that feat more than once in the game. Beckett carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning until he was unceremoniously jinxed by an anonymous commenter on the game post. When your team's lone offensive highlight is of someone breaking up the opposing pitcher's no-hitter, you know it wasn't a very fun contest to watch. After only 94 pitches through six innings, Terry Francona went to the bullpen, who kept the shut out in tact.

One of the pitchers he called on was highly touted prospect Daniel Bard. He worked a perfect ninth inning and came out throwing hard. So hard, in fact, that the YES guns repeatedly clocked his offspeed pitches in the high 90's and once at 100mph. Amazing.

The final pitch of the game was clearly a slider to Robinson Cano. 100MPH?

Although there were 11 walks issued in the game (7 by the Yankees), it wrapped up in a tidy 3:04. It was a damp affair, as mist swirled around Fenway throughout the entire contest. It was a horrible game to watch, but it least it didn't take all night like every Yanks vs. Sox game seems to. The six in a row the Sox have taken from the Yankees is the longest such streak since 1912.

That's enough masochism for tonight, I think. Hey, the Yanks are still tied for first with the Sox despite being 0-6 against them. Yaaay...

/downs more scotch.

Let's try it again tomorrow.