No Pitching Plan

It took 3 games of Wang not being Wang for the Yankees to realize Wang was not ready. Chamberlain got yanked too early Friday night, resulting in Rivera being unavailable and the Yankees folding again to the Red Sox on Saturday evening.

Bruney and Wang are now in Tampa for medical tests, and no one has yet to fire Dave Eiland. I guess the new approach of the Yankees is not have a pitching plan and just let the cards fall where they may. Clearly there is no pitching plan; and whose fault is that….Dave Eiland.

It’s the responsibility of the pitching coach to calm his pitcher when they are stressed or in a jam. Eiland allowed Chamberlain to come out and pitch in fear of hitting a Red Sox after Ortiz’s mouth off in the New York Post. He should have told Chamberlain to pay no mind and just go out and do his job.

Again on Friday he allowed Rivera to come in relief of Ramirez and finish the out, even though Marte was available which had catastrophic effects. A pitching change that will always be questioned and never be understood.

On Saturday, after Burnett was done , pitchers were brought in for specialty out. No one was told to go long, and again, catastrophe.

Fast ball strike out pitchers are not pitching striker, specialists are not pitching to their specialty, and Dave Eiland still is part of the staff. Wake up Cashman, fire him before he continues to wreak the pitching staff.

There is no reason with the talent on the pitching staff that the Yankees have, they should be in this pitching mess. What is unforgivable is that the pitching coach can’t sense trouble in his pitchers, and nothing is being done about it.

All hopes of Yankee fans turn tonight to Andy Pettitte. Andy is his own man, he won't need bad advice from Eiland. Hopefully Andy can stop the Boston bloodbath, because clearly Eiland can't

Pushing the Rivalry Over the Edge

David Ortiz’s comments in the New York Post on Friday were uncalled for and unneeded. The one thing they did seem to do is intimated Joba Chamberlain. Who pitched poorly. I am not sure whether Joba was afraid of starting a brawl of hitting a Red Sox, but instead of pitching inside he tossed at the corners, resulting in Red Soxs on base and a Yankee loss.

It speaks poorly of Joba’s maturity, which has been questioned. Joba has exhibited bad judgment, speeding with an open container of alcohol in his car. His son remain in Nebraska with the boy’s mother’s while Joba Chamberlain, enjoys the single life with the Yankees.

Maturity often seems lacking among people under the age of 30. Many of that age , the “X” generation think life should be handed to them on a silver platter and they have a right to do what they want. Life is yours for the taking, but you have to earn what you get. Joba didn’t earn his pay Friday night when he backed off his pitching because Ortiz sais something in the press.

The Yankees have a plethora of injury issues, one of the more critical being what could be wrong with Chien-Ming Wang. Joba has no right to resign his pitching because he was afraid of David Ortiz. Fear does not make a great pitcher, unless the pitcher is inspiring the fear in the batter. Great pitcher are feared, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera are just a few. Fear does not mean you need to be a a standoffish person, it just means that you need to take command of your talent. Joba has too much talent to pitch like a sissy, especially with Wang’s status unknown.

The Great Joba Experiment No Fair to Mel Stottlemyre

Tomorrow many will second guess NYY decision to start the NYY decision to start Joba. They will start by saying he is 2 inning guy, he three 62 pitches in 2.1 innings, what were the Yankees thinking. their short memories will not recall a young Andy Pettitte or an even younger Mel Stottlemyre; although at pre-game they were all making the comparison.

In his rookie year, 1964, at age 22, Mel Stottlemyre tossed in 96 innings and finished with a 9-3, 2 no decisions. He struck out 49, walked 35, hit 2, and intentionally put on 3 in a total of 14 games, 5 of which were complete games. He finished the season with a 2.06 ERA. Oh by the way 14, (5 complete games) and 96 inning is ...................5.6 innings per game pitched in partially games (Mel's losses albeit his game 1 debut, 1 win and 2 no decisions)

On August 12, 1964, when he debuted he pitched 9, he lost in 9 inning; giving up 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk to the Chicago White Soxs. The White Soxs beat the Yankees. 7-3 that day. Mel faced 27 batters.

Gone are those good old days, the days of the complete game.

In tomorrow's dissection of the Joba starter premier, we will also forget about Mel and his losing debut. We will forget about pitchers being pitcher, not starters, relief or closers. What is wrong with baseball is specialty pitching. All pitchers should be whole games pitchers.

As far as I am concerned, Joba's role should be closer, heir to Mo. As far as starters are concerned, if 9 inning was good enough for Mel, in 1964 it is good enough for all in 2008. The game has not changed that much.

A Chip Off of George's Block

In what may become a continuing comparison of Hank Steinbrenner to his Dad, George, we have the latest element; demanding a say in the starting lineup.

Many have blogged about George's mouth today, oops did I say George, I meant Hank. It's beginning to be hard to tell them apart, well Hank doesn't wear turtlenecks in summer like Dad George; well so far.

Hank like George thinks that being an owner gives him a say in the starting rotation. This despite the $$$$$ the Yankees spend on expert baseball advice. Frankly I feel that there are many on this forum more qualified then Hank or George to rate the placement of key players in the daily lineup.

Here are some facts:

• Mo is not gone yet and right now pitching well.
  
• The starting rotation can barely get into the 7th inning.
  
• Mo pitching 2 innings a game won't help his arm in October.
  
• Mo will retire one day and there is no one I have seen so far who can be as great as Mo as closer, except Joba.

The real solution is for the Yankkes to have pitchers who can pitch 8 or 9 innings. Oh did I say that? I forgot its a sacrilegious thought to demand pitchers be able to toss complete games. Shame on me. :) :)

Lets fix the problem, the problem is is two fold, Kennedy and Hughes. Get them to be solid and give you 7-8 innings and we can think about where Joba belongs. But I'm sorry, in the sorry state of NYY starting pitching, Joba must be the bridge to Mo. Unless you want to see the team lose in the late innings.

An alternative is to let Joba start and get Moose to bridge. I'd rather use Joba as the bridge.