Posts Tagged ‘Mark Teixeira’
Welcome back! Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission.
Random thoughts:
* Hitting a home run against the Yankees in their stadium to help pad the lead and ensure the team’s win has to be the best way to get your first Major League home run. As Kelly O’Connor pointed out on Twitter: It was such an amazing feat that the team didn’t even consider giving Ryan Kalish the rookie silent treatment. He was greeted at the top of the dugout stairs by the Large Father with a bear hug. It’s always great to see the Red Sox beat the Yankees but seeing the “kids” be a big part of the reason why they did makes it that much more fun.
* Jacoby Ellsbury went all out, bouncing his body, including his ribs, off the outfield ground in a successful effort to catch a ball Lance Berkman drilled in the 8th inning. He briefly grabbed his ribs and later said that it “didn’t help” them, but he did it and he helped keep the game in check by doing so. That anyone seriously thinks this guy is “soft” baffles me.
* Mark Teixeira made, what Don Orsillo pointed out as, an impressive catch in the stands last night. He reached about two rows in and snagged the foul ball. The reason he made such a good catch? The group of seats he leaned over had no one in them. Had the Yankees filled the park, that catch wouldn’t have been made. It occurs to me that we’re fortunate in Boston where they let you sit where you want at Fenway (short of the “special” areas above the park like the Pavilion or Monster seats) until someone comes to you and tells you that you’re in their seat. (I bought an $8 standing room ticket this year and spent most of the game sitting in the field box seats).
* It’s amazing how one win can give so many so much hope. I’m still digging the pitching matchups and thinking today’s game will be the iffy one but I predict today will be the day John Lackey finally has his “good” day game!
* Last night’s game was on the MLB Network. Today’s game is on Fox at 4pm. Tomorrow’s game is on ESPN at 8pm and Monday’s game is, again, on the MLB Network at 2pm. While some might think the rivalry has cooled down, apparently it still brings in the big ratings nationally. Thankfully, last night’s and Monday’s games can still be seen on NESN but for the weekend we’re stuck with the likes of McCarver, Buck and Morgan. Be strong, Nation!
Joe Mauer at Fenway in 2008 (Photo courtesy of Kelly O'Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission)
Over the weekend I uttered a phrase that many have spoken when they feel a player is overrated, especially if that player is being considered for the MVP award. “He isn’t even the MVP on his own team!”
Doesn’t take a psychic to guess that I was referring to Derek Jeter. I was thoroughly convinced that somehow the writers getting the AL Cy Young and Manager of the Year awards right meant that the MVP was absolutely going to Jeter. The idea of Mark Teixeira getting it had, honestly, never crossed my mind. So I was doubly surprised when not only did the writers get it right by giving the award to Joe Mauer, but that they got it even more right by voting for Mark Teixeira over Jeter.
According to Kelly Thesier at mlb.com:
Mauer finished with 327 points, well ahead of Teixeira, who had 225, and Jeter, who had 193. Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera, who received the only other first-place vote, was fourth with 171 points.
Special shout-out to Keizo Konishi, the writer from the Seattle chapter of the BBWAA who had the temerity to give Miguel Cabrera his one first-place vote. Every group needs their renegade, Keizo, and this year the BBWAA can look to you to keep the well-held belief that some members of the BBWAA barely follow the sport they cover. Well done.
Mind you, I’m not saying that Mauer HAD to get the vote unanimously, but voting for Cabrera over any of the top three vote-getters is absolutely baffling to me. Cabrera had a really good season, but not first-place MVP voting good (given his competition – yes, even I have to admit that Teixeira and Jeter were pretty damned impressive). Going 0-11 at the end of the season in the White Sox series when the division was on the line…well I’m not sure that’s MVP-worthy right there. You judge a player on his entire season but to be MVP of the league…well isn’t part of that coming up big when your team needs you?
 From Saturday’s New York Post. Tip of the hat to Surviving Grady for finding it first! |
As I listen to the “Let’s Go Red Sox” chant ringing through CBP and I realize I’ll probably still be watching this game at midnight (it’s about twenty past ten as I start this) I figured why not write something tonight? But what to write about since the game is still ongoing?
How about the tremendously large yaps of the New York Yankees lately?
Where to begin? How about with Brian Bruney? (How many of you just said “Who’s Brian Bruney?” Exactly.) Bruney, while rehabbing, decided to opine about Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez after Friday’s Yankee win:
“Unbelievable, I’ve never seen anything like that,” Bruney told Ashmore. “I have, but in high school. Couldn’t have happened to a better guy on the mound, either. He’s got a tired act. I think that’s bad, but two years ago, when he lost the game…I don’t know if anybody saw it, I did. He was in Oakland and he was pitching for Anaheim, didn’t get a call, and so he was like complaining. The catcher threw it back and he just kind of did one of these (Bruney half-heartedly holds his arm out) and hit off his glove and bounced behind and the guy from third scored and they won the game. He gets what he deserves, man. I just don’t like watching the guy pitch. I think it’s embarrassing.”
Did I mention that Bruney is rehabbing in Trenton? Hasn’t played much this season, let alone has he faced K-Rod. Oh yeah, and there’s a player on his team who does the same kind of histrionics as K-Rod in the middle of games. Glass houses and all, jackass.
K-Rod had his own words for Bruney when told of what he said after today’s Mets win:
“He better keep his mouth shut and do his job and not worry about somebody else,” Rodriguez said. “If it came out from somebody big, I might pay attention to it. But somebody like that, it doesn’t bother me.”
That, my friends, is called being put in your place. But there’s more from K-Rod!
“Instead of sending a message through the paper, next time when he sees me at Citi Field come up to me and say it to my face. Don’t be sending a message through the media. I don’t even know who that guy is. Somewhere in Double-A? I believe he hasn’t even pitched one full season. He’s always been on the DL. That’s all I know right now.”
Wondering what got to Bruney? How about his manager being a jackass as well? Apparently, a day after Brad Penny hit A*Rod with a pitch, Joe decided he wanted to tell the world that Penny plunked him on purpose and should be punished.
“Penny’s control was pretty good. We hit [Jason] Bay [Tuesday]. I always feel if it’s intentional, [the pitcher] should be suspended. I didn’t care for him hitting him in that situation. That’s my opinion, I am not 100 percent sure.”
He might not have been 100% sure but that didn’t stop the Yankees from calling MLB and asking that Penny be suspended. I’m beginning to think that Girardi is at the end of his rope when it comes to the Red Sox and he’s just throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks.
In all fairness, I should post what Penny’s response was to Girardi’s accusation. Thanks to Adam Kilgore, I can do that right here:
“I don’t give two f—- what Joe Girardi says,” Penny said. “I’m coming inside. I don’t care. Anybody can say that. We can say that about the time they hit our guys. I’m just trying to pitch inside. Maybe he should worry about managing and not trying to be the commissioner.
“Why wouldn’t he say that the night before? Don’t wait a day, then say it. He should worry about managing and let the umpire crew do their job.”
Here is where I propose my undying admiration to Mr. Penny. Nothing like cutting to the chase, Brad. Well done.
But my favorite of all these outburst to the media comes from Mark Teixeira. You all remember Mark. Jerked around the Red Sox to get the Yankees to up their price, knowing all along that he wouldn’t be signing with Boston. The guy who practically begged Red Sox fans to boo him when he first showed up at Fenway in pinstripes. That guy. When the Red Sox swept the Yankees this week, John Henry tweeted (how did I have no idea Henry used Twitter? As I told Rob Bradford, finding his tweets was like Christmas in June!) a simple line: “the MT curse?”. When I read it, I laughed out loud. It was a joke and, I thought, a funny one. I understand why Mark Teixeira wouldn’t think it was funny but his response to it not only told us that but it told us a little more about Mark. I guess I’m disappointed to find out that he’s a big a doofus as he looks.
“How old is Mr. Henry?” Teixeira asked of Henry, who is 59. “There is no reason for me to get into any war of words with some 70-something-year-old man. It doesn’t make sense.” The Teixeira-Red Sox discord dates back to 1998 when Teixeira declined to sign with Boston out of high school. It continued this off-season when the Red Sox appeared to be the favorites to sign him before the Yankees swooped in.
“Everybody knows the Yankees paid the most,” Teixeira said. “This is a business. It was a family decision and a business decision. They can have their opinions — that’s fine. I made the best decision for me, and it’s worked out great.”
“You guys make that decision,” Teixeira said when describing his actions compared to Henry’s. “Whose reputation looks better?
Mark, really, you can say all that and then ask whose reputation looks better? Without giving it more than a second of thought I’m fairly certain that most anyone who reads all of the above will say “Not yours, sunshine”.
I’m thoroughly enjoying this new Yankee era. Gone are mystique and aura. Say hello to bellyacher and bore.
 Only good vibes for the Crab Man tonight. (Photo taken by me in Baltimore – 2008.) |
So I “hate” the Yankees, right? Sure, I suppose in the realm of baseball fandom you can use the word “hate”. I took immense pleasure out of the 22-4 drubbing the Indians put down last weekend and I am quite pleased whenever they lose. Heck, even when they were playing the Rays this year I wanted them to lose. So I suppose you can label me as a Yankees-Hater.
With that in mind, why is it that I’m not more charged up about this weekend? I even went to a few different Yankees message boards to read the Yankees fans trash talking the Red Sox and their fans and I came away from it feeling quite…meh.
I didn’t get riled up reading Yankees fans insulting Kevin Youkilis or David Ortiz. I just kind of laughed at the idea that it’s stupid to be concerned about a pitcher who consistently throws at the head of specific players (or playeR). But there was no fire in me. I wasn’t compelled to log in and write a mean-spirited response.
This has been happening for a few years now. I still don’t like the Yankees or a good portion of their fans (I actually do know some Yankees fans you wouldn’t feel the urge to boil in oil) but I guess the intimidation factor is gone for me. Hell, I follow Nick Swisher on Twitter and laugh at a lot of his stuff. (I think the reason there, though, is I still don’t consider Swisher really a Yankee. I feel like he’s wearing a costume when he plays and he’ll rip it off soon enough. I have no idea why I feel like that.) So when the Yankees come to town, or the Sox go to the Bronx, I’m not thinking “Ooh, the Sox HAVE to win these games because it’s the Yankees!”, I’m thinking, “I want the Sox to win these games. As a bonus, we get Yankee losses if they do. It’s win-win!”.
Johnny Knoxville photo from EOnline.com
Let’s see. Mark Teixeira gets an enormous contract from the New York Yankees. Mark Teixeira is also, historically, a very slow starter.
Yankees fans are somewhat notorious for booing their high-paid players who don’t perform well on demand.
Yeah, April and May should be a blast for the Teixeiras. I think the missus should stay away from the park until maybe June.
But, honestly, what did you expect him to say? “We really wanted to play in Baltimore but what idiots would turn down what the Yankees offered?”? No player would ever be that honest.
I watched a little of his interview with Hazel Mae on the MLB Network last night. I lost count of how many times he mentioned that his sister lives in New Jersey. It was his passive way of saying “See, it wasn’t about the money! Jersey is close to New York!”.
So the Red Sox were never in it. Will this shut up everyone bitching about how Theo couldn’t get it done? Teixeira is where he wants to be. At the very least, he’s where his wife wants him to be. And even if he isn’t, it’s the store we’ll be beaten to death with in 2009.
Follow up to the last post. In this article about Teixeira, I found a line that made me laugh out loud:
They talked about family, routines, influential coaches and Teixeira’s assessment of the Yankees. The hours seemed to fly by, said Cashman, who marveled at the lessons Teixeira had absorbed from former teammates like Chipper Jones.
Mrs Teixeira should have told her husband to sign with a city that doesn’t have a Hooters in it.
I’d like to know why so many Boston sports writers (and Boston sports fans) are using the “If you say that the front office didn’t screw up you’re in denial” or “If you say you didn’t want Teixeira on your team you’re lying” arguments against any Red Sox fans who aren’t devastated that Mark Teixeira is in New York.
To me, this is akin to saying “If you don’t agree with my opinion, you’re stupid”. Way to connect with people. folks.
I could have taken or left Mark Teixeira. I know he’s a good player (although, I’d like to know when he became the best player in MLB? He’s not, folks. He really isn’t. So to the people who keep telling me I’m in denial or lying, I tell you to stop over-hyping this guy in the name of Sox bashing.) but I wasn’t champing at the bit to get him. Let’s see, we’ll move Youk back to third, find a team where we can ditch Lowell, carry the one…it just didn’t mean that much to me to get him. We were a healthy Josh Beckett away from the World Series this year – I don’t look at the Red Sox and think “Holy hell!!!! Theo hasn’t done ANYTHING this off-season, we’re DOOMED!!!!”. Good for you if you do but stop trying to drown me with your negativity.
Remember the off-season of 2003? Sure you do. Everyone and their brother had us signing Alex Rodriguez including, for a time, Alex Rodriguez, right? Back then, I was a regularly posting member of the Red Sox Fan Forum over at redsox.com. The place was abuzz for weeks with talk of getting ARod. I forget the specifics, but wasn’t the plan back then to trade ARod for Manny Ramirez and then trade Nomar Garciaparra for Magglio Ordonez? I HATED this idea, long before it all went south. And there were many, MANY people willing to voice the same opinion over at redsox.com. Then once everything fell through and Slappy ended up with the Yankees, from out of the woodwork came the people taunting those of us who didn’t care. “Oh you have to say that to make yourself feel better about your team screwing this up!” was a common refrain. No, I said it because I didn’t want to lose Manny and Nomar for ARod and Magglio. Don’t care now and didn’t care then if people thought I was choosing loyalty to players over improving the team (which, in a sense, I guess I was. I just never liked ARod – never – and there are some players I never want to have to root for – he’s one of them).
Mark Teixeira isn’t one of them, though. Never really had anything against him, but I like the way this team looks (for the most part. Have I mentioned that we need a catcher? I’d much prefer Theo sign a starting catcher right now. Seems kind of an important piece of the team that is currently, well, MISSING right now.) and I didn’t see the need of signing a Teixeira just for the sake of doing so. Wouldn’t have been too upset if they did (although the ultimate loss of Mike Lowell would have been greatly upsetting) but, again, really not devastated that they didn’t.
So the Sox didn’t get Teixeira and the Yankees did. I’m not giving up tickets to the Red Sox games in protest, that’s for sure. If anything, it’s nice to (once again) have a bit of a “bring it on” attitude in regard to the Yankees. Rivalries are fun and the Steinbrenners just kicked it up a notch again.
But, seriously Theo, a catcher. A catcher would be good.
