by Paul Semendinger
June 21, 2021
***
The Yankees, who now just seem to want to toy with our emotions have now won five of six.
Do I have confidence that this team is on its way to the playoffs now?
No, no way.
Fool me once…
BUT, in the process of making me begin to think about possibly of once again having hope, they have made baseball fun again.
These last few games have been fun to watch.
I jumped out of my seat at the conclusion of yesterday’s game.
“A triple play, here is comes, One, Two, THREE!! Yankees Win! THEEEEEE YANKEES WIN!!!”
That wasn’t John Sterling, that was me.
***
It seems to be a good strategy, allow Aroldis Chapman to get into a big jam, then turn a triple play.
Makes all the sense in the world to me.
***
Why don’t I believe in the team just yet?
The 1966 Yankees finished in last place. They won only 70 games the entire season. Yet, in July of that year, they won six games in a row. “They’re back!” (No, they weren’t.)
The second-best team in the American League in 1966 was the Minnesota Twins. The 1966 Yankees had a winning record against them (10-8).
That year the Yankees also played evenly (9-9) against the fourth place Chicago White Sox.
The fact of the matter is that bad teams win games.
And the Yankees aren’t bad.
They’ve just been mediocre.
My worry is they’ll win a few, get the fans’ hopes up, and then revert to form.
I want them to make me believe.
I’m not yet ready to.
***
Gary Sanchez is doing the same as the team… he’s starting to make people believe.
Andy Singer of SSTN never stopped believing in Gary.
A few weeks ago, Ethan Semendinger of SSTN said that Sanchez might be an All-Star this year.
They both might be right.
***
I am disappointed in Aron Judge saying that he won’t commit to the Home Run Derby. To be honest, I don’t even care about the thing, but the big stars, the faces of baseball, need to participate in the sport’s events. It creates interest. It creates fun. The event isn’t the same without the stars there.
Judge should be there.
This is one of the problems with the game today.
***
I know nothing about sticky stuff. I am a pitcher on two men’s over-35 baseball leagues (still pitching at 52-years-old). I don’t doctor the ball. (Maybe I should, my success is middling at best.)
I am not in favor of cheating.
Ever.
But a sport can’t go changing the rules or the ways rules are enforced in the middle of the season as the MLB did.
The most important thing for a sport is for people to believe in the product. People believe in products that are reliable and consistent. Baseball is the exact opposite in recent years.
The rules seem arbitrary. They make it up as they go.
This approach will do long-term damage to the sport’s reputation and its legitimacy.
The caretakers of the game are not taking care of the game.
That’s a big problem.
That cannot be overstated.
It’s a HUGE problem.
***
The Yankees now get to play against Kansas City.
This hot streak should continue.
If it doesn’t, that’s a problem. If it doesn’t it will make me believe less in the team.
Let’s Go Yankees!
