If you read this blog or follow me on Twitter, you probably know what I’m going to say but if you’re new to the blog, here are three things I am sick of hearing people talk about.

1) “I hate Nick Swisher!! He’s a douche!”

As everyone who watches baseball knows, Nick Swisher is a happy guy. Is he a little too happy sometimes? Maybe, but really? Who cares? It’s actually refreshing to see someone love playing the game of baseball as much as he does. And I get that fans of other teams aren’t going to like him because he’s a Yankee but the amount of hate thrown Swisher’s way is a little crazy. Especially this past weekend during the Subway Series. With the way Mets fans were carrying on, you’d have thought Swisher had kicked their dogs, pissed in their corn flakes and spit in their faces at the same time.

But Swisher did have the last laugh on Sunday night when he hit a three-run homer off Mets starter R.A. Dickey. So there. *Stacey blows a raspberry at Mets fans*

2) “The Yankees hit too many home runs and it’s going to come back to bite them in October!!!”

I know I’m not the only one who is sick of this argument. Countless articles have been written, it’s been analyzed for hours on both TV and radio sports shows and the conclusion seems to be that the Yankees are going to be doomed when the playoffs roll around – you know, if they even make the playoffs in the first place.

People are citing last year’s ALDS ouster as the main example of what will happen this coming October.

My advice is to calm yourselves. I know the Yankees have had issues with runners in scoring position, it’s been talked about so much that if you were to have a “RISP” drinking game during Yankee game broadcasts, you’d be dead from alcohol poisoning before the first pitch.

Things have become so crazy that during last night’s win over the Cleveland Indians, Robinson Cano hit a double with runners on first and third and the YES Network’s Michael Kay called it like it was the game winning, World Series winning, walk-off home run. It was quite hilarious.

For all of his carrying on, he might as well have yelled out, “OH MY GOD THE DROUGHT IS OVER!! THE YANKEES GOT A HIT WITH RUNNERS IN SCORING POSITION!!!!”

Hitting home runs is not a bad thing. It’s the way the offense has been built. They have a lot of home run hitters in the lineup. Now, would it be nice to see some timely hitting? Of course it would. And who knows? We’ve watched enough playoff series to know that sometimes problems and even assets that are present in the regular season don’t carry over into the postseason. (See 2002′s pitching staff.)

3) “If George Steinbrenner were still alive [insert something that annoys people about a specific player].”

I’ve seen so many examples of this one on Twitter that it makes me want to pull my own hair out and I finally got my hair to a length I really like, so please stop this nonsense. Think about the hair, people.

If George Steinbrenner were still alive, he would be thrilled that the Yankees have the best record in the Majors, that they beat the Mets five out of six times and that guys are mashing home runs everywhere they go. He really wouldn’t care that Rafael Soriano untucks his jersey when he picks up a save. He also wouldn’t fire Joe Girardi after a three-game losing streak that followed a ten-game winning streak.

Enough already.

The Yankees are a good team. Stop acting like they’re bad, stop acting like they’re classless and for the love of God stop saying stuff like “If George Steinbrenner were alive…”

*This post is a rant and filled with my opinions. You don’t have to agree and you have been warned.*

Let’s get this out of the way right now Yankee fans. Yesterday’s game sucked. It sucked up one side and down the other. It was frustrating from the start and just got worse as the hot, steamy, dank day went on. With that said, can everyone please stop trashing the Yankees?

My goodness, the team is 20-6 in their last 26 games and people are acting as if a two-game losing streak is the worst thing ever. I’ll give you a hint, it’s not.

At yesterday’s game, I was surrounded by people who did nothing but complain all day. Granted there was a lot to complain about but you’d have thought the Yankees had lost 10 games coming into yesterday and that they were in last place. It was like Twitter on steroids.

And speaking of steroids, the Alex Rodriguez bashing got to be too much for me. I’m one of the most staunch Rodriguez defenders you’ll ever meet. I can’t help it. I like to defend the people who get the most lip from people. Though, I’ll admit, right now he does deserve some of the criticism. But yesterday, I had a guy near me in Section 234 who was talking about how he’s not clutch and then was bringing up guys like Tino Martinez, Scott Brosius and their clutch-ness (His made up word, not mine).

Lesson time kids…

» Continue reading “Off Day Blathering About The Yanks, Their Fans, RISP Failure And Terry Collins”

Courtesy of Benjamin Kabak of River Avenue Blues:

They still managed to finish .500 for the month and are only a game and a half out of first place. Crazy.

The Yankees may have won last night’s game and avoided a sweep at the hands of the Angels but I am sure they are probably very happy to be turning the page on this past month. They ended up going 14-14. When I wrote my April month in review post, I predicted the Yankees would go 17-11 in May. I wasn’t off by much but no, I’m not predicting anything for this next month. Maybe they’ll do better without my prognosticating.

The same problems that seemed to plague the Yankees last May, reared their ugly heads again this May. The main culprit? RISP. They didn’t lack runners in scoring position – they had plenty of them. The problem was, they didn’t score. If Yankee fans had invented an “RISP” drinking game in which shots would be downed whenever a broadcaster mentioned how bad the Yankees were/are with runners in scoring position in May, well, most of those fans would be dead and buried by now. Hell, I wouldn’t be alive to write this post.

» Continue reading “Yankees: .500 Shades of May”

You can all exhale. The Yankees are above .500 again.

Was it pretty? Not particularly. Are their offensive problems solved? Not by a long shot. But right now, a win is a win is a win. Who cares how they got it as long as they got it.

Phil Hughes improved to 4-5 on the season after a six inning, two run performance that included seven strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 4.94 from 5.23.

One issue Hughes has been struggling with this season is giving up home runs. Tonight was no exception as Jeff Francoeur took him deep with a solo in the fourth inning. He has served up 11 home runs in 47 1-3 innings this year and he’s allowed at least one in all nine of his starts. The last time a Yankee pitcher had a streak like this was Jack MacDowell in 1995.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Yankees had the bases loaded with no outs and actually managed to score two runs. Considering how the last few games have gone, this is a big deal. Derek Jeter singled, scoring Mark Teixeira and then Curtis Granderson grounded out with the bases loaded, allowing Russell Martin to score. After Hochevar walked Robinson Cano to load the bases again, both Alex Rodriguez and Raul Ibanez struck out ending the Yankees’ scoring threat.

A combination of Cory Wade, Boone Logan, Cody Eppley, Clay Rapada and Rafael Soriano kept the Royals scoreless after Hughes exited the game. Soriano picked up his third save of the season.

Tomorrow night Luis Mendoza (2-2, 5.03 ERA) faces off against Andy Pettitte (1-1, 2.51 ERA) in the rubber game of the three-game series.

With the way they played tonight, it seems like yes, the Yankees did actually think they had off tonight.

Here’s a really terrible stat from Joe Auriemma of YES: The Yankees were 0-16 tonight, 6 for their last 72 and are now 23-151 in May with runners in scoring position.

I think it’s safe to say that we all want the month of May to end. It’s been atrocious and embarrassing, especially the past week and a half or so. This team is lifeless right now.

I predicted it last night after the Yankees scored 17 runs. I joked that they would probably only score two today.

Well, I was off by a run. They only scored three. Unfortunately, AJ Burnett gave up three and Boone Logan one and they lost to the A’s, 4-3.

Burnett is now winless in July – hey this seems familiar, wasn’t he winless in June of last year? – and the A’s snapped an eleven game losing streak to the Yankees.

Burnett struggled to get the third out in nearly every inning and when he was taken out in the sixth – following his 100th pitch – he had walked the bases loaded.

The Yankees hitters were 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and had chances in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings to pull ahead. They came close in the ninth, scoring a run to pull within 4-3 but that would be all they’d get. Robinson Cano grounded out to end the game.

What do I always say after losses? Come back tomorrow and try again.