04/19/24
June 20, 2004
Dodgers-Yanks Renew Rivalry: For all the talk (& opinions) about interleague play, I must say I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Dodgers visit Fenway and the Yankees visit Chavez Ravine. I'm also extremely impressed that LA fans have put the Lakers series behind them and shown up to root for their team. Is anyone else watching this game? My reason for posting is simple. One of my good friends (he's a Yankee fan and I'm a Sox fan) is at this game right now and he just called me to tell me that it feels like a playoff game.
Agreed, very impressive outing by young Brad Halsey. It doesn't even look like he needs to shave yet.
posted by usfbull at 10:03 PM on June 20, 2004
I happened to turn on the game (while watching the delayed Euro games on TSN) when it was Gagne vs ARod: the reigning Cy Young winner vs the reigning MVP. It doesn't get much better than that.
posted by grum@work at 11:08 PM on June 20, 2004
It doesn't get much better than that. only way it could've been better was if the outcome was different. :-)
posted by goddam at 11:20 PM on June 20, 2004
What a great series! Halsey looked pretty good for a Yankee ... except for that homer he gave up to Nomo.
posted by jasonspaceman at 05:50 AM on June 21, 2004
unfortunately I only got to watch a few innings of this series - was out in bars friday and sunday and I don't get the WB on satellite so I missed Halsey. I did see, from across the bar, the K-zone graphic on ESPN during ARod's at bat, which revealed that strikes 1 and 2 were a foot outside, but he would have K'd anyway, since it was all he did all weekend... But yeah, I don't like interleague but that was a series that I looked forward to. Nice games for the Dodgers... glad to know that Jack's got the right team in baseball, since his taste in hoops teams is so poor :)
posted by Bernreuther at 08:31 AM on June 21, 2004
wow, apparently the game ending strike was Ball 4 too... I hadn't noticed that. No wonder this guy's got 81 in a row... 
posted by Bernreuther at 08:40 AM on June 21, 2004
Refs were terrible this weekend. Terrible!
posted by jerseygirl at 09:15 AM on June 21, 2004
Like the young ump said, "I call 'em as I see 'em." Like the middle-aged ump said, "I call 'em as they are." Like the veteran ump said, "They aren't what they are until I call 'em." Like George Steinbrenner said, "They shouldn't be what they are 'til ESPN calls 'em, dammit!"
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:45 AM on June 21, 2004
heh, the umps aren't why they lost 2 of three though. The defense really looked bad this weekend. At least Giambi looks to have found his stroke.
posted by Bernreuther at 11:34 AM on June 21, 2004
because i haven't been paying attention to them lately... whats the Yankee pitching rotation been like? What do you think of them, Bern?
posted by jerseygirl at 11:49 AM on June 21, 2004
well, Moose is back to his old self, his ERA is still bloated from early on. Brown stopped dominating several months ago but was still dependable, and then it turned out his back was hurt, which was slowing him down. The DL move was more of a precaution and confidence builder than anything else, so hopefully he can be dominant again. Even if he's not, I'm not really worried about anything under a 4.5 ERA with this team. Vazquez is the ace, by far, but gets no run support. He's one of the top 3 pitchers in the league, but noone really notices this. Everyone's ready to give up on Contreras, but as a #5 he's as good as they get - we don't need him in the playoffs where his head isn't strong enough, and lately he's shown that he can bear down and keep his head in the game after rough innings (last night for instance - also, his first game without a walk). If he hits a stretch where he's got his head on straight, he'll dominate for weeks at a time. Lieber is good but not great, doing about what I expected. I missed Halsey but by all reports he was excellent. Sturtze has been better than expected and filled in well last week. Basically, if Brown's back is OK, I have no worries, though most of NYYFans seems to be scared. Adding one reliable lefty in the pen is the only thing I'd change about this entire team. I mean, I'd get a 2B star if I could, but there's noone out there that's available that's worth going after. Same with SP too - Garcia is good but not worth the price he'll command, and others like Bensono are also horribly overrated. In Boston, Lowe seems to be fixing things, Pedro and Schilling are themselves (but what's this about DL time for Curt?), but how's the back end? Wake can still beat the Yankees, but apparently not most other teams?
posted by Bernreuther at 12:14 PM on June 21, 2004
In Boston, Lowe seems to be fixing things, Pedro and Schilling are themselves (but what's this about DL time for Curt?), but how's the back end? Wake can still beat the Yankees, but apparently not most other teams? Well here are my thoughts on the matter and what I discern as true. Lowe saw a sports shrink and got his head back together. He strung together a few really good outings and I think he's going to be fine now. As long as Schilling's MRIs aren't showing any changes from one to the other after his starts, he's going to be pitching. That's the case with his latest MRI - No change after he made his last start. He tweaked his ankle and they are treating it with Marcaine, which is similar to Novacaine apparently. Wake has had a few rough outings. The June schedule works out so they have every Monday off, so there were a few instances in the last few weeks where Wake's start was skewed a few days or skipped altogether. They also rigged it so he wouldn't have to throw the knuckler at Coors Field. I am sure Wake is fine.
posted by jerseygirl at 12:44 PM on June 21, 2004
the columnists at all-baseball.com got together for The Rashomon Project. it's a take on last night's games from different perspectives.
posted by goddam at 01:46 PM on June 21, 2004
If wake faced the rockies again at coors field he would get hit around badly the the rockies have been playing
posted by dustinihrig at 10:50 AM on March 29, 2005
They have been playin' a ton, all right. How 'bout that kid pitching for los yanquis last night? (just watched Giambi put one in the cheap seats...hot bats for the Bums this series!)