The All-Star Game Amid all of the controversy surrounding the selection of the All-Star team, I meant to get around to putting together my own version of the squads. But I’ve been to two ballgames in the past three days and thus unable to set this down for posterity’s sake. Better late than never, here …
Archive of entries posted by Jay Jaffe
The Fragile Equilibrium of Unhappiness It’s not one of humanity’s more noble traits, but schadenfreude certainly has its place in a pennant race. And when it comes to rooting against a team, clubhouse dissension is almost as much fun to watch as a prolonged slump on the field. So it is with the Red Sox, …
First Caller Wins! Tonight I will be headed to Coney Island to see the Brooklyn Cyclones with a bunch of friends (the Official Futility Infielder Focus Group, more or less). As it stands, we have an extra ticket. Anyone in the New York City area who feels like checking out this brand-new stadium and can …
Mo Battered Blues Ladies and gentlemen, here are the cumulative lines of two pitchers: G IP H R ER BB SO HR W L S BS ERA WHIP 35 39.2 19 5 3 6 41 1 1 2 26 2 0.69 0.64 5 6.2 13 12 11 2 8 3 1 2 2 1 14.85 …
Torre’s Magnificent Seven The news that Joe Torre selected seven of his own players to the All-Star Game roster had even this Yankees fan cringing. Taken on their own merits, each of the selections is defensible to some degree: • Roger Clemens leads the league in wins and is second in Ks • Andy Pettite …
Alive and Kicking in the Minor Leagues Along with the video of Pirates manager Lloyd McClendenon stealing first base over a disputed play, this is one of the funniest clips of the year. Red Sox farmhand Izzy Alcantara, believing he was being thrown at, kicked the opposing catcher in the mask and then charged the …
Dodger Green Gives Me The Blues With the exception of the Mike Piazza trade, no move the Dodgers have made in the Fox era was dumber than signing Darren Dreifort to a five-year $55 million contract. Dreifort, a 29-year old righthander, has always been long on potential but short on accomplishment. He’s got good stuff, …
Loss of Control The Yanks’ recent acquisition of Mark Wohlers has had me thinking a lot about the handful of players who have suffered similar throwing problems. Both Steve Sax and Chuck Knoblauch were second basemen on my favorite teams during their miseries, and as a fan I suffered right along with them. I never …
Rule #1: Monkeys Are Always Funny The Rally Monkey is a strange phenomenon. On the one hand, monkeys are always funny (that’s my number 1 rule of comedy). On the other hand, when a team’s mascot becomes more important than the product on the field, something is amiss. Oh, wait–you said the team was owned …
A Different Mark Wohlers Continuing to bolster their bullpen, the Yankees acquired Mark Wohlers from the Cincinnati Reds. Isn’t this: • the same Mark Wohlers who was at the wrong end of the biggest hit of the Joe Torre era, a three-run shot by Jim Leyritz in Game 5 of the 1996 World Series? • …