Venting Machine
http://www.atomicsportsmedia.com/articles/920/1/Venting-Machine/Venting-Machine.html
Josh Binstock
A sports junkie since birth, Josh Binstock takes pleasure in contributing to Atomic Sports Media. His favorite pastimes, other than his beloved Giants, Yanks, Knicks and Rangers, include Family Guy, 24, NFL Films, and Rutgers Football. If Josh was a food, he'd be delicious.
By Josh Binstock
Published on 10/9/2007
Once again, the Yankees season is done a bit too early. And while The Boss appears to be venting in his own unique fashion, Atomic Sports columnist Josh Binstock has a few choice words of his own.
Once again, the Yankees season is done a bit too early. And while The Boss appears to be venting in his own unique fashion, Atomic Sports columnist Josh Binstock has a few choice words of his own.
Venting Machine
Well, at least the Rangers season started, the Giants are looking good, and the Knicks are fun to laugh at. And thank God I won’t have to see anymore commercials for Frank TV.
The thinnest of silver linings are what’s keeping me going in the wake of this latest Yankees debacle. I’m really not in the mood to present a formalized article right now, so please indulge me as I do a little venting, bullet-point style.
- I hope George Steinbrenner is happy that he is getting his wish by throwing a legend out the door. If someone thinks that Chien Ming Wang pitches better if Don Mattingly is managing, or Derek Jeter doesn’t ground into three double plays in two games for Joe Girardi, he’s an idiot.
- Oh Jeter. Captain Clutch. Mr. November. If you’re a Yankee fan there is no way you can hate him, but for God’s sake is there a more overrated player in baseball? There, I said it. If you take away a five-hit performance in Game 1 against Detroit, most of them well after the game was decided, Jeter has been just as bad as anyone on this team in the past three postseasons. He is a Gold Glove shortstop, yet his range is ranked among the worst in the league. And he receives none of the blame. Go figure.
- The same goes for Hideki Matsui. He got a couple clutch hits in 2003. Mazel Tov. You know it’s October baseball when Matsui’s front foot is striding out of the batter’s box and he’s rolling a ground ball to second base. Don’t laugh, Bobby Abreu, the same could be said for you.
- I won’t spend too much time thinking about A-Rod’s performance. Wasn’t terrible, wasn’t great, wish he had done more, but can’t fault him for the loss.
- The TBS coverage was much, much better than FOX. So score one for the good guys. It’s nice to see cameras actually focused on the field of play as opposed to elongated shot of fans crossing their fingers. And I can listen to Tony Gwynn talk about hitting all day long. Of course I would do so while laughing at his voice. And I’m glad they got the HD channel up and running in time so we could enjoy Craig Sager’s outfits.
- Now for the bad TBS news: Chip Caray. Good voice. Decent action calls. Horrendous to listen to between pitches. If I heard another pun using the word “bug” on Friday night, I was going to throw something through the TV. And Dane Cook is a tool. I would love to see him try to name three players on the Diamondbacks.
- One more thing about TBS. What is Frank TV going to be? The way I picture it, Frank Caliendo as John Madden walks into a bar, hilarity ensues. Al Pacino walks into the bathroom, hilarity ensues. Robin Williams is backstage at an awards show, hilarity ensues. How many weeks can this last? And is it possible for him to impersonate somebody under the age of sixty?
- Speaking of those bugs, I wish I didn’t have HD for the last few innings of Game 2. How many shots did we need of Joba Chamberlain’s neck infested with these things? Few things make me squirm, but that for sure did the trick.
- Shelly Duncan is one ugly individual. Yikes.
- Roger Clemens. Oy. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. I know they ended up winning Game 3, but what a colossal waste of money and a rotation spot. I’m pretty confident that Ian Kennedy could have given them 6-6, 4.18 for the season.
- As bad as this series was, Andy Pettitte is still so money. So is Mariano Rivera.
- Chien Ming Wang is not an ace, plain and simple. An ace doesn’t get absolutely hammered twice in the same series like Wang did. He’s a very good pitcher, and he’ll win a lot of games, but he deserves to get the highest percentage of the blame for this. He also wins the award for “The name I most want to hear Tony Gwynn say over and over again.”
- I have to get back to Joe Torre, because nothing has gotten me more riled up than this BS. What else do you want from the guy? Who cares if he doesn’t routinely get thrown out of games like Bobby Cox? Who cares if he doesn’t micro-manage like Tony LaRussa (who by the way would be a terrible fit in New York)? Twelve years, twelve trips to the playoffs, ten division championships, six AL pennants, four World Series championships. His players love him, the fans love him, opponents respect him, and he has always been one of the classiest guys in all of sports. He is a native New Yorker who is involved in many local charities and causes. If anyone is ever deserving of being able to walk away on his own terms, shouldn’t it be him?
- I don’t know what to expect this offseason, but everyone seems so sure that A-Rod is gone. Why would he want to leave this lineup and this media market so quickly? It just doesn’t make sense to me. In other potential moves, I hope they don’t go too nuts over Andruw Jones or Torii Hunter. Melky Cabrera looks like a keeper. My hope is that they don’t do too much. Let the young pitching develop and the rest will take care of itself.
That felt good. I think I got it all out of my system. For all of you anti-Yankee baseball fans that are so happy they lost, enjoy the Indians-Rockies World Series. I hope it makes you happy.
The thinnest of silver linings are what’s keeping me going in the wake of this latest Yankees debacle. I’m really not in the mood to present a formalized article right now, so please indulge me as I do a little venting, bullet-point style.
- I hope George Steinbrenner is happy that he is getting his wish by throwing a legend out the door. If someone thinks that Chien Ming Wang pitches better if Don Mattingly is managing, or Derek Jeter doesn’t ground into three double plays in two games for Joe Girardi, he’s an idiot.
- Oh Jeter. Captain Clutch. Mr. November. If you’re a Yankee fan there is no way you can hate him, but for God’s sake is there a more overrated player in baseball? There, I said it. If you take away a five-hit performance in Game 1 against Detroit, most of them well after the game was decided, Jeter has been just as bad as anyone on this team in the past three postseasons. He is a Gold Glove shortstop, yet his range is ranked among the worst in the league. And he receives none of the blame. Go figure.
- The same goes for Hideki Matsui. He got a couple clutch hits in 2003. Mazel Tov. You know it’s October baseball when Matsui’s front foot is striding out of the batter’s box and he’s rolling a ground ball to second base. Don’t laugh, Bobby Abreu, the same could be said for you.
- I won’t spend too much time thinking about A-Rod’s performance. Wasn’t terrible, wasn’t great, wish he had done more, but can’t fault him for the loss.
- The TBS coverage was much, much better than FOX. So score one for the good guys. It’s nice to see cameras actually focused on the field of play as opposed to elongated shot of fans crossing their fingers. And I can listen to Tony Gwynn talk about hitting all day long. Of course I would do so while laughing at his voice. And I’m glad they got the HD channel up and running in time so we could enjoy Craig Sager’s outfits.
- Now for the bad TBS news: Chip Caray. Good voice. Decent action calls. Horrendous to listen to between pitches. If I heard another pun using the word “bug” on Friday night, I was going to throw something through the TV. And Dane Cook is a tool. I would love to see him try to name three players on the Diamondbacks.
- One more thing about TBS. What is Frank TV going to be? The way I picture it, Frank Caliendo as John Madden walks into a bar, hilarity ensues. Al Pacino walks into the bathroom, hilarity ensues. Robin Williams is backstage at an awards show, hilarity ensues. How many weeks can this last? And is it possible for him to impersonate somebody under the age of sixty?
- Speaking of those bugs, I wish I didn’t have HD for the last few innings of Game 2. How many shots did we need of Joba Chamberlain’s neck infested with these things? Few things make me squirm, but that for sure did the trick.
- Shelly Duncan is one ugly individual. Yikes.
- Roger Clemens. Oy. I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so. I know they ended up winning Game 3, but what a colossal waste of money and a rotation spot. I’m pretty confident that Ian Kennedy could have given them 6-6, 4.18 for the season.
- As bad as this series was, Andy Pettitte is still so money. So is Mariano Rivera.
- Chien Ming Wang is not an ace, plain and simple. An ace doesn’t get absolutely hammered twice in the same series like Wang did. He’s a very good pitcher, and he’ll win a lot of games, but he deserves to get the highest percentage of the blame for this. He also wins the award for “The name I most want to hear Tony Gwynn say over and over again.”
- I have to get back to Joe Torre, because nothing has gotten me more riled up than this BS. What else do you want from the guy? Who cares if he doesn’t routinely get thrown out of games like Bobby Cox? Who cares if he doesn’t micro-manage like Tony LaRussa (who by the way would be a terrible fit in New York)? Twelve years, twelve trips to the playoffs, ten division championships, six AL pennants, four World Series championships. His players love him, the fans love him, opponents respect him, and he has always been one of the classiest guys in all of sports. He is a native New Yorker who is involved in many local charities and causes. If anyone is ever deserving of being able to walk away on his own terms, shouldn’t it be him?
- I don’t know what to expect this offseason, but everyone seems so sure that A-Rod is gone. Why would he want to leave this lineup and this media market so quickly? It just doesn’t make sense to me. In other potential moves, I hope they don’t go too nuts over Andruw Jones or Torii Hunter. Melky Cabrera looks like a keeper. My hope is that they don’t do too much. Let the young pitching develop and the rest will take care of itself.
That felt good. I think I got it all out of my system. For all of you anti-Yankee baseball fans that are so happy they lost, enjoy the Indians-Rockies World Series. I hope it makes you happy.