Game 142, Yankees at Mariners

DMZ · September 7, 2008 at 12:10 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

Mussina v Silva

Silva pitch type, 2008
Fastball 69%
Slider 10%
Change 21%

Mussina pitch type, 2008
Fastball 51%
Slider 19%
Curveball 25%
Changeup 6%

I’m a long-time fan of Mussina: you may remember not that long ago I was wildly advocating the Mariners trying to pick him up when the Yankees were unhappy with him. And I have to admit that as much as I rail against the stupidity of the arbitrary standards for Hall of Fame admission, if there is going to be a “twenty-game winner” check box that counts for five points, well, I wish him luck getting it.

Not tonight, of course. But Mussina’s going to need to pick up three wins in these four likely starts:
Tonight, against the M’s.
Saturday, against the Rays.
Thursday the 18th against the White Sox.
Wednesday the 24th against the Blue Jays.

Now there are two rest days in there, and the Yankees suck, so say they skip forward in the rotation where possible. Then there are five:
Tonight.
Friday the 12th against the Rays
Wednesday the 17th against the White Sox.
Tuesday the 23rd against the Blue Jays.
Sunday the 28th against the Red Sox.

He gets the extra start, and probably against a Red Sox team, but one looking ahead to the playoffs and possibly resting some regulars.

What makes me sad, though, is the thought of the Yankees potentially stooping to get him some vulture wins to get him to twenty. But stupid standards often drive stupid decisions, and if it’s the difference between getting him into the Hall or not, well, good luck with that.

Comments

38 Responses to “Game 142, Yankees at Mariners”

  1. msb on September 7th, 2008 12:41 pm

    he keeps repeating his “got to get to 19 first” mantra … entertaining “will he/won’t he” column in the Baltimore Sun this week

    btw, I recommend John Feinstein’s “Living on the Black”, following Mussina and Glavine through the 2007 season– particularly as Mussina has been a pretty enigmatic guy through the years

  2. Slurve on September 7th, 2008 12:53 pm

    Silva was scratched from his start its Mr. Happy Hour AKA Feierabend pitching.

  3. joser on September 7th, 2008 12:58 pm

    So apparently Silva’s suckus maxiumus muscle is acting up again? I sure wish medical science would develop a surgery to remove that.

  4. scott19 on September 7th, 2008 1:14 pm

    Hmmm…The Burger Chef must’ve been having brunch somewhere and called Riggles to let him know he wouldn’t be able to make his start today.

  5. msb on September 7th, 2008 1:14 pm

    so, it won’t quite be “Mussina seems slated for a near gimme Sunday, when he’ll face the putrid Seattle Mariners and 4-14 junkballer Carlos Silva.” but I think the odds are still in Moose’s favor

  6. msb on September 7th, 2008 1:22 pm

    Hmmm…The Burger Chef must’ve been having brunch somewhere and called Riggles to let him know he wouldn’t be able to make his start today.

    you’d think he could make it back from Salty’s in time …

    whoosh! for somebody with a divot in his forehead from a previous comebacker, Mussina is pretty calm out there

  7. JerBear on September 7th, 2008 1:24 pm

    Raul @ DH, Reed in CF, Wlad in LF…I’m kinda liking this lineup…

    Go Beltre!

  8. msb on September 7th, 2008 1:29 pm

    what was that antiperspirant that Giambi used to tout?

  9. msb on September 7th, 2008 1:31 pm

    well, at least that one wasn’t on a tee like the first one. I guess.

  10. msb on September 7th, 2008 1:49 pm

    wish the earlier Phils/Mets game had been on Fox — thus far, Jamie 7IP, 2H vs Pedro 4IP, 6R

  11. scott19 on September 7th, 2008 1:58 pm

    That Phils-Mets matchup would’ve been better than seeing the ‘Hawks get dragged out to the woodshed by the Bills.

  12. MattThompson on September 7th, 2008 2:04 pm

    Woot Adrian!

  13. scott19 on September 7th, 2008 2:05 pm

    BELTRE’D!!!

  14. msb on September 7th, 2008 2:09 pm

    just like Jim Riggleman, I too have a crush on Adrian Beltre.

    That Phils-Mets matchup would’ve been better than seeing the ‘Hawks get dragged out to the woodshed by the Bills.

    now I am only an occasional football viewer, but even I could tell that was not good. Of course, unlike the talking heads at halftime, I also remembered that the QB hadn’t played the most of the pre-season and had no receivers to throw to.

  15. scott19 on September 7th, 2008 2:19 pm

    J-LO’D!!!

  16. scott19 on September 7th, 2008 2:30 pm

    — Of course, unlike the talking heads at halftime, I also remembered that the QB hadn’t played the most of the pre-season and had no receivers to throw to. —

    1) It seems like it’s generally the case that the network talking heads care very little about NW teams — even those which ARE in contention.

    2) And then the one guy who did connect for a TD (Burleson) ended up hurt and having to leave the game — which is never a good start to a season.

  17. joser on September 7th, 2008 2:43 pm

    Dave N on the radio “Beltre gets safely to 3rd…. Damon has no arm at all.”

  18. scott19 on September 7th, 2008 2:43 pm

    RAUUUUUUUL!!!

  19. scott19 on September 7th, 2008 3:02 pm

    Good work today, RF!

  20. MattThompson on September 7th, 2008 3:25 pm

    Nice work, Jose.

  21. Breadbaker on September 7th, 2008 3:43 pm

    Imagine asking Bavasi in April who the three starters would be we would throw against the Yankees in September. Well-pitched, Messrs. Morrow, Rowland-Smith and Feierabend.

  22. scott19 on September 7th, 2008 4:14 pm

    And those guys ended up taking two out of three against the Yanks, too — which, as life-long Yankee fan Meat Loaf once put it, “ain’t bad”! 🙂

  23. Evan on September 7th, 2008 5:14 pm

    And the Yankees fall to fourth in their division (Toronto has won 8 in a row, and now leads NY by half a game).

  24. msb on September 7th, 2008 5:24 pm

    heh heh heh.

  25. cdowley on September 7th, 2008 6:07 pm

    Was at this one, got free tickets at the last minute from a friend who couldn’t make it up there. Was a great game from my standpoint. I was ecstatic to see Feierabend take the hill instead of Silva, and even happier to see him work through that rough start. Once he seemed to realize that his command wasn’t what he wanted it to be, he bore down worked around it. I was also thrilled to see him just shrug off both of those homers, unlike what we’ve seen him do in the past.

    Not sure what the commentary was on TV/Radio in the 5th during Jeter’s at-bat, but there is no doubt in my mind that that 1-2 pitch skipped off his bat. You could hear two clear “crack”s from my seat just down the third base line.

    I’m curious on the defensive replacement of Cairo for LaHair in the seventh… was any reason given for that? Kid had been having a decent game in the field (the pickoff that turned into a rundown was brilliant), and while he hadn’t gotten a hit, it looked like he was getting OK AB’s.

    Also, who is this #5 guy and what did he do with the Yunieski Betancourt we’ve seen all year? He looked MUCH better than we’ve seen recently, both at the plate and in the field. Glad to see a measure of improvement there.

  26. joser on September 7th, 2008 6:13 pm

    The best 4th place team money can buy. I mean, hey, the M’s paid only half as much payroll to be 4th in their division.

    I love this (from the AP recap):
    [see comment guidelines]
    I don’t have my copy handy, but David Halberstam relates a similar story in his “October, 1964” where a 2nd baseman chatted up Mantle on the base paths while edging in towards the base, and then made a signal to the pitcher and got him picked off. Mantle was nowhere near as gracious.
    “You showed me up, you son of a bitch!” was the quote, I believe.

  27. joser on September 7th, 2008 6:17 pm

    I thought it was interesting in the after-game interview, Feierabend said he was only throwing fastballs “for effect” and was relying on his breaking stuff. And be seemed totally comfortable with the notion that solo HRs aren’t a big deal. He seems to be on his way to a Moyer-esque understanding of working within limitations while maximizing his abilities. In fact somebody (I’m looking at you, Mel) should try to put the two of them together for a day or two in the offseason.

  28. mln on September 7th, 2008 8:00 pm

    The Yankees are now in 4th place?!

    Order has not been restored in the universe.

    There is a profound disturbance in the force.

  29. Paul B on September 7th, 2008 8:02 pm

    Not sure what the commentary was on TV/Radio in the 5th during Jeter’s at-bat, but there is no doubt in my mind that that 1-2 pitch skipped off his bat. You could hear two clear “crack”s from my seat just down the third base line.

    On the TV replay, the announcers couldn’t hear the scond crack, and I couldn’t either.

    It wasn’t clear that the ball hit the bat, watching the replay, but Kenji immediately reacted like it did and he was pretty close to it. 🙂

  30. Milo on September 7th, 2008 8:27 pm

    Now this is fun, the long slog of the season is done and we’re getting a look at the future, the future can PITCH.

    I’m enjoying Mariner games again. Taking a series from the Yankees in September is a nice feeling.

  31. Breadbaker on September 7th, 2008 9:22 pm

    Personally, I think the profound disturbance in the force was the last fifteen years. The normal state of affairs is the Yankees are dysfunctional. Notice what place Joe Torre’s team is in?

  32. fivespot on September 7th, 2008 10:59 pm

    Breadbaker, the Dodgers should be leading their division by eleventeen games. Torre’s early insistence in playing proven veterans, Andruw Jones and Juan Pierre, over Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp almost buried them for good. Hey wait, that sounds just like the Mariners!

  33. Breadbaker on September 7th, 2008 11:16 pm

    Well, apart from the eliminated from contention part.

  34. scott19 on September 7th, 2008 11:54 pm

    Not to mention the fact that some of Torre’s “proven vets” still had at least A BIT more upside left in them (not that I’m a fan of his, but at this point, Pierre > Vidro)…and also, that he still had some kids like Ethier, Kemp, and Loney to work with — as opposed to having the FO trade five of their best prospects away for an “ace” pitcher who’s started only 15 games and averaged 5.1 innings per start.

  35. Steve T on September 8th, 2008 9:55 am

    Yeah, the Dodgers are in first — and one game over .500, only after an eight-game winning streak. And I wouldn’t expect them to finish over .500, either. They’re the very definition of mediocre. And, in a weaker league, they’re definitely worse than the Yanks.

    But the Yanks in fourth place is, indeed, a joyful thing to behold. Now, if only the Rays can hold on….

  36. avideo on September 8th, 2008 12:14 pm

    We were at the saturday night and sunday games against the Yankees; and although it’s been a dismal season for Mariners fans, this series restored my faith a bit in the future of this team.

  37. Axtell on September 8th, 2008 4:39 pm

    He shouldn’t be a hall of famer, 20 win season or not.

    He’s never been a dominant pitcher, just the beneficiary of being on some great teams. He’s above average, yes, but hall of famer? Definitely not.

  38. msb on September 8th, 2008 5:40 pm

    this is one wacky schedule.

    6 game homestand.
    1 day off.
    2 day homestand.
    to LA for 3 games.
    to KC for 3 games.
    to Oakland for 3 games.
    back home for 6.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.