FORMER MLB PLAYERS HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO

Crime doesn't pay. Just ask Luis Castillo and Octavio Dotel. Amazing story about these two. They are in trouble with the law... and it's big time.

2 tweets are coming out about this:

Formers MLB players Octavio Dotel and Luis Castillo linked to a drug trafficking and money laundering’s case in Dominican Republic, attorney @JeanARodriguezS says. #ListínDiario

— Listín Diario (@ListinDiario) August 20, 2019

Former MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel was arrested in the Dominican Republic as part of what the Office of the Attorney General called the “largest operation against organized crime” in the country. There are no details yet as to why Dotel himself was arrested. https://t.co/DWlu0xlI2f

— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) August 20, 2019

And just to be clear, this is the Luis Castillo that played back in the day, a journeyman for many teams.  The Big Lead writes:

"Castillo batted .290 over 14 years for the Marlins, Twins, Blue Jays, and Mets. Castillo has been retired since 2010..."

Too bad.  Terrible.

"I WANT 25 PAUL O'NEILL'S OUT THERE!"

Every player is different.  But one thing is clear about my New York Yankees…they all are talented and they all want to win.  I was hammered a bit by some of the Yankee fans out there for being too harsh with analysis of the Yankees losing more than they're winning lately, but that’s because I’m a fan who wants my team to win all the time.  That’s a fan, what can I say?
 

I’m not sure what it is, but lately, while I hang on ever pitch and every inning, I've been thinking about the 2001 World Series.  It was after 9/11 and it was clear to me and many New Yorkers that it was destiny that the Yankees won that World Series, for America and for the city of New York. When we lost, it was devastating…more than most, probably because of the way everything unfolded that year. 

But I remember the games going late into the night and me sitting by myself in a dark room literally hanging on every pitch and when we were up at bat, gripping my bat until I could feel the heat in my hands.  It was right then that I realized just how obsessed I was about my team. I rooted very hard that year and have ever since.

I don’t like when my Yankees run into a rut because it bothers me the next day, worse than if I was to lose my house keys or get lost or something. In the end, there are ways of fixing those problems, I can control those things. I can’t control the Yankees however. Instead, it’s a lot of hope and a lot of worry and a lot of appreciation when they win one for us fans. They won last night, that's good, but I want a streak, a winning streak to prove to me that they're back.

I wrote THERE'S NO SMILING IN BASEBALL WHEN YOU LOSE the other night because I was pretty ticked off at Robinson Cano smiling during a game that was within their reach, but didn’t win.  Was I too harsh?  Maybe.  I apologize for that, but I felt that way because of Paul O’Neill, one of the toughest competitors I’ve ever seen play the game.  I loved his approach and I loved it before the Yankees too, when Paulie was in Cincinnati. If Paulie succeeded he was pumped and showed it.  If he didn't he let everyone on the field know.  The passion dripped from him. He was hard on himself and the fans embraced it.

The guy was an animal on the field and wanted to hit the ball every time.  He told us here on BYB (Read HERE) he was a perfectionist of sorts, saying: “I tend to be a perfectionist, hating failure. That may have started long ago as the youngest of six. There were so many of us, you sort of had to vie for dad’s praise and attention. But baseball is a game where great hitters get beat 7 out of 10 times. Where a guy could play fifteen years and feel accomplished because he has two World Series rings. Over 95% of roster players go home losing every year in baseball. I probably needed a thicker skin. I spent too many sleepless nights going over strikeouts or popups."

Sure, he’s mellowed out these days while in the booth, but there is no denying that right now the Yankees need to have alittle Paul O’Neill injected into this club.  We don’t need to be sluggish, we need to be aggressive.  Look, I’m saying this in the kindest of terms. Of course I know my Yankees play hard, but I've noticed something that I said would happen...and it's creeping in.  A team that relies on the long ball forgets how to play baseball.  Remember that.  There are too many games lately where there are huge opportunities and no runs score.  Some nights it's almost like we’ve forgotten how to play. Can we change it? Yes.  Will we change it? Damn, I hope so. Last night in the Yankees 12-8 win against the Tigers could be the beginning of something special...let's hope so.

So yeah, I wrote this on Twitter last night:

I meant it, but I meant it because I believe in my club and I know they are capable of playing better than they are.  I know Cano’s talented, but look, my take on his "tender moment" smile with Octavio Dotel the other night is simple;

These athletes get paid millions to play a boy's game.  We pay their salary and we pay to see them play hard and win. We want results… we want our guys to bust ass down the first base line.  We want them to knock the runner in from second base. We want sacrifice flies and we sure as hell want the long ball, but when there are men on base so we can do damage.

We want them to be pissed if they strikeout and we want to know their hearts in the game... like Paul O'Neill.   Plus... we sure as hell don’t want smiling when we’re losing a game we need to win.

At the end of the day, they are the New York Yankees and we are their fans.  Am I being too harsh?  Really? OK…then think about this…what would George say right about now? Exactly…  That’s what I thought.

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THERE'S NO SMILING IN BASEBALL WHEN YOU LOSE

I like hard play.  That's just me.  When the Yankees win on big plays and hard hitting and they're scoring runs, I'm on top of the world.  But lately there is some strange stuff going on. Stuff I don't like to see...I see smiling dammit, yet the Yankees are losing. What's the deal?

I found it incredibly odd that in last night's 6-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers, a winnable game by the way, Robinson Cano launched one into the outfield only to be caught in the 7th. Then, Octavio Dotel and Robinson Cano shared a tender moment... they laughed about it.

I'm sorry, I love ya Cano, but I have a question...What the hell's going on with my Yankees?  Are you kidding me? Look, I don't care that maybe Cano and Dotel are buddies, or maybe they had a bet and Dotel was collecting right then.  But if I'm Robinson Cano and I'm on a Yankee team that is losing pretty regularly right now, I'm not smiling, I'm aggravated.  And you know what? If you're really NOT aggravated, like Cano clearly wasn't... then fake it.  Fake it for the fans.  Fool the fans then and make us believe you're pissed, because what I saw last night freaking annoyed me.

Which now brings me to my next point and this one is minor, but important.  Nick Swisher is the man, there's no denying it, but the first thing you learn as an outfielder in Little League is to fire the baseball into the infield like a rope. Hard and right to your man, even on a bounce if needed, but you laser it in.

2 times last night Nick Swisher threw the ball in high, like he was throwing over a hill.  I don't know why, and I have no idea what possessed him to do it. I hate to point out fundamentals when it comes to professionals, but that was alittle ridiculous.

Now in fairness, Swisher played a Delmon Young shot off the wall beautifully and threw it into second later on so Young couldn't advance. But the screen shots of the 2 throws earlier in the game (both above) puzzled me. Is he tired? Did he just trust his throw and didn't worry about it? Is it a new habit? I don't get it. The top screen grab is a throw to second. the bottom one is a throw to first to try and pick off the runner. Either way, there is no way you're making a play throwing this high. I remember the "Hawk", Andre Dawson back in the day and he'd throw a laser to first sometimes picking off the runner if they went too far out on a pop fly out.  That's what I want to see...not lobs.

Look, my Yankees are losing right now. Clearly everything I see is amplified 10 times because I'm starting to get frustrated, but I don't know, these types of things are annoying and shouldn't be happening.  Sure, if the Yankees were winning, it wouldn't bother me as much, but they're not... so when they lose, I lose it and look for flaws.  Bottom line, I found some.

The Yanks are slowly letting their lead in the American League East diminish and I don't like it. Anyone with me?

ORDER A BYB SHIRT NOW, DROB WEARS ONE! Also, Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.