Wussina

"According to Moose, dryness in the air caused his antlers to become brittle and he had too much rest, or too little, not sure."

The Leader

We're a Yankees blog, but something as dope as this going on in New York will always get coverage by us.

For at least one night, we were reminded that there is still life and talent left in hip-hop. It’s been 20 years since the release of Paid in Full and the current state of rap is a reminder of how much changes over two decades. Synthesizers are replacing samples, lyrics have lost any depth or substance they once had and wardrobes have gone from Coogi and Adidas to Louis Vuitton and BAPE.

Billed only as The 18th Letter and The Leader, Southpaw in Brooklyn subtly advertised the show with a ‘know the deal or don’t show’ attitude. After an hour and half wait, Rakim graced the stage at 2:00AM to a packed house. The material was what you expected, tracks from his extensive catalogue ranging from ageless Eric B. classics like “Paid in Full” and “Don’t Sweat the Technique” and solo singles “When I B On the Mic” and “It’s Been a Long Time.” More impressive than Rakim’s setlist however was his incredible stage presence, unmatched by anyone else and a fine example of how you earn the title The Master.

Rakim’s breath control is simply remarkable. So many great artists on record are a disappointing live act because of their lack of breath control. While many rely on a hypeman to finish a verse or pickup during a loss of stamina, Rakim went on stage with just a mic in hand. Each rhyme came off seamlessly and made everything seem easy. Although the entire show was full of energy and the crowd was live, the place nearly exploded when he brought out KRS-One. Everyone in attendance knew that they were going to be catching one of the greatest of all time but its unlikely anyone anticipated being presented with two of your favorite rappers on one stage.

The Good, The Bad and The Clippard (In three parts)

"Is there really any question whether or not we're resigning Georgy?"

The Good

1. King Jorge the First and Derek Jeter both continue to smoke the ball.

2. Bobby “Remember when I came here late last season and hit .400” Abreu actually showed signs of life. Abreu did a considerably better job of resembling an actual baseball player and not an atrophying one.

3. Andy Pettitte pitched well and deserved to win.

4. Scott Proctor showed that when he is not asked to pitch everyday he can be an effective reliever.

5. Josh Phelps smoked the ball on Saturday, proving that there is an actual viable alternative to Doogie on the Yankees’ bench. Now, I admit this may be due to the fact that Phelps is only hitting lefties, but still, can he really be that bad against righties? (Nice job by Tim McCarver on Saturday pointing out that Phelps approached the at-bat against Wagner convinced he was going to see nothing but fastballs. As McCarver put it “he’s taking fastball swings at sliders.”)

6. A-Rod looked like he might be heating up again. (Even though every loss this season has been entirely and solely his fault.)

7. Tyler Clippard – but more on him later

The Bad

1. Kyle Farnsworth – I just don’t get him. He’s got the body of a Ferrari, but the engine of Pinto. He’s got plus stuff, a great fastball and a killer slider, yet he can never seem to get out of an inning without giving up a run or two. It is hard to put Saturday’s loss on him. But given the way the Yanks were starting to hit and the fact that they have had success in the past against Wagner, you have to wonder how the inning would have played out if they were only down 2 runs instead of 4. The man simply can’t get the big outs with runners on base.

2. Robinson Cano – Look, I understand guys make errors. I’ll even go so far as to concede that the third error was not entirely his fault, as the 2 runs score regardless. But I’m not buying Joe Torre’s reasoning that Cano is so smooth he just looks lackadaisical. The 3 errors Cano made on Saturday (I’m replacing the throw that went off his foot at the end of the game, with the double play he blew by dropping the ball) were all inexcusable. Cano just looked like he couldn’t be bothered. Cano’s play in the field coupled with a complete unwillingness to adapt at the plate, tends to show a guy with an attitude problem. I remember at the beginning of the season, Cano approached the plate and tapped the opposing catcher on the shin guards (not sure if he still does this, will have to watch), the Yankee announcers pointed out that Cano’s actions were pushing the envelope of what is acceptable. Cano’s actions did display nothing but pure arrogance to me. I like Cano, but he’s got to make some changes, at least for appearances sake.

3. Yankee clutch hitting – other than Saturday’s 8th and 9th innings, and Jeter and Damon’s two-out hits yesterday, the team continually fails to drive in runs.

4. Yankee fielding – its awful.

5. Yankee pitchers inability to hold runners on. Again, a nice call by McCarver on Saturday pointing out how the Mets double steal in the 8th changed the situation from bases loaded, two outs, to 2 runs scoring on Julio Franco’s single.

6. Roger Clemens – seriously, he might be the new A-Rod. I’ve already heard one fan explain that since the Yankees have signed Clemens the team has gone into a tailspin. The fan further opined it is because the team is upset about Clemens’ contract. Actually, its probably A-Rods’ fault the Yanks gave Clemens the contract, so maybe Rocket is off the hook.

The Clippard

One of the benefits of having so many rookies pitch for the Yankees this year, is that it gives the team a chance to evaluate which prospects are for real and which aren’t. Phil Hughes has proven that he has a bright future and deserves a spot in the rotation this year. On the other hand pitchers like Matt DeSalvo, Chase Wright, and Jeff Karstens have shown that while they may be serviceable 4th or 5th guys or maybe long relievers, they are not going to lead the Yankee staff after Moose, Clemens and Andy are gone.

It appears that Clippard belongs in the Hughes category (if not quite that good). Clippard faced a tough line up last night, the best in the National League and one of the best in the majors – and he threw 6 innings of one run ball, including 6 strikeouts. The most important aspect of Clippard’s start are the Ks. The problem with pitchers like DeSalvo, Wright and Karstens is that they don’t strike people out. You are putting a lot of pressure on the defense when the ball is constantly being put in play. All three of those pitchers compound the situation by being fly ball guys, because fly balls tend to go over the wall from time to time.

Last night, the second inning was a perfect example of why Clippard and his ability to strike people out is distinguished from DeSalvo, Wright and Karstens. In the second, Clippard got the first out and then gave up a home run to David Wright and a double to Shawn Green. (On a side note, it looks like Wright has gotten over the curse of the home run derby. Side note number two, the pitch Clippard threw to Wright was not a bad pitch, it was a fastball tailing away from Wright, just an example of a great hitter hitting a good pitch.) Now Clippard had just had two of his pitches scorched and he was facing Paul Lo Duca, an overrated but competent hitter. Clippard struck him out. Given, Clippard then walked Damian Easley and John Maine before getting out of the inning. But the point is, that the strike out was huge because it got the second out and kept Green from advancing or scoring. That ability to get the strikeout, is a huge improvement over, say Matt DeSalvo, who probably gives up a fly ball that maybe goes in the gap or over the wall. My point is this, prospects who strike guys out tend to have better futures than guys who don’t. Tyler Clippard, like Phil Hughes, has proven he has that ability. If nothing else, the future is bright for 2/5 of the Yankees rotation.

Of Mice And Men (Part 3 of 3)

"The new look of the Stadium"

Then there’s the Phelps/Giambi/Mientkiedlkja;ldj;lajkfd;lk mess. There is simply no excuse for carrying three first baseman/DH types. Here’s a typical Yankee problem: Mientkiewicz starts at 1B, Giambi DHs, Giambi gets up in the 7th and gets on base, Torre pinch runs with Cairo, Cairo doesn’t score, Torre pinch hits for Cairo with Phelps. Now, Mientkiewicz comes up with runners on-base and because Torre has no one to pinch hit for Dougie-M, Dougie-M does what he does best: ground into a double play, strike out or pop out. You see the problem. Sure some of this could be avoided if Torre would simply stop pinch running for Giambi, then again some of this could be avoided if we actually had a decent bat off the bench who could pinch hit for Doug or Cairo. Actually, this could be avoid if we got rid of Doug and went with Phelps, as Phelps can at least hit the ball with some authority. Unfortunately, Lord Voldemort has placed a spell on the Yankees that forces them to view Doug as a valuable player who saves their pitchers by snagging line drive after line drive that would wind up as a double down the line, but dies in Doogie’s glove. Hopefully, this will be resolved in the next Harry Potter book due this summer.

Finally, there’s the Posada situation. Jorge Posada is this season’s MVP and one of the most underrated players of the past 6 years – end of story. He’s been one of the best hitting catchers in all of baseball for the past 6 years and his defense has grown stronger each year. Even though he is in his thirties, the only catchers who are more dangerous with the bat than Jorge are Victor Martinez, Brian McCann and Joe Mauer. He’s a much more dangerous hitter than Jason Varitek has ever been, and he’s much, much, much, much, much, much, much more dangerous than Paul Lo Duca (unless the danger is in relation to underage Long Island Girls and not pitched baseballs). If Posada were to miss a significant amount of playing time, the Yanks are screwed, done, finished. Imagine replacing a guy whose slugging .548, has an OBP of .422, and is batting .365 with Mr. Zero himself Will Nieves. Now, given Jorge has never been on the DL, but anything is possible and once again it is absolutely inexcusable to have no backup in case Jorge gets hurt. Now, I’d love to see the Yanks get creative and use Phelps as the backup. Michael Kay thinks that’s a terrible idea, because Phelps is not great defensively and it would annoy the pitchers. I wonder how annoyed the pitchers get when there are runners on base and an automatic out at the plate.

The ultimate result of a bad bench is that it exacerbates the bad luck. With Giambi and Damon nursing injuries, there’s no one to ease the pressure on them. Same goes for Abreu and Cano’s slumps. With a payroll approaching $200 million, there’s absolutely no excuse for neglecting the bench. Now, if I were GM, here’s how I would improve the bench:
1. Cut Cairo, Nieves, and Doug
2. Call Kansas and see what it would take to get Jason LaRue, even if it means taking Scott Elarton off their hands. (YES, I stole this idea from www.baseballprospectus.com – Transaction Analysis by Christina Kahrl) But a great idea, is a great idea.
3. Tell Phelps he’s the starting 1b, until Richie Sexson can be pried from Seattle
4. Bring up Kevin Thompson and send down Melky Cabrera (Got Melky, sure, but witty slogan aside, he’s lost at the plate and doing more harm than good).
5. Now that Oakland is awash in outfielders, see if they will trade us Shannon Stewart on the cheap – just to add to the bench.