PRESSURE BUILDING ON THE ASTROS... EVEN IN A SHORT SEASON WITH NO FANS

Ballplayers may be loyal to each other, but when it comes to cheating, I mean REALLY cheating like the Astros did... stealing signs and stealing a championship, I am relieved to see that the players don't forget.  

I think it's also refreshing because there are no fans in the ballparks.  So, it's essentially man to man. Peers settling the score on the field, be it with pitchers head hunting or just snide comments to the dopey Astros in the press.  It's the way it should be. Hell, they didn't get punished, and so the punishment really needs to be a good razzing and an uncomfortable career moving forward, orchestrated by their peers. Fellow teams settling the score. That's Manfred's fault. F them.

Joe Kelly did it knowing good and well he'd be suspended, a ridiculous rule Manfred put in place when Dusty Baker became the Astros new manager.  Here's the problem with that.... Rob Manfred is NOT a leader.  You can't sit there and not punish a team for cheating the league out of the biggest trophy and then nit-pick about punishment for players who throw at the Astros. 

He's a terrible leader... P.S., that asshole still owes me a phone call after I called his office about it. Still waiting. 

Joe Kelly threw at Bregman and Correa the other night and should have. Again,  F them.  

Orel Hershiser, the Dodgers pride and joy made a comment about Jose Altuve the other night as well.   I guess Preston Wilson didn't like it and attempted to take a shot on Twitter.

I faced Orel when he pitched for the Mets and everyone knew the way his pitches moved was not normal. Our whole team knew it so does he. The worst part was he had the audacity to send bibles over to clubhouse (autographed if I remember correctly). Maybe not the best messenger. https://t.co/iynNQKVnzF

— Preston Wilson (@PrestonWilson44) July 30, 2020

Look, autographed bibles are a little weird, but let's get back to the story at hand, tiny Altuve sucks without his garbage can.  And let me be more specific about this. Most of the Astros are solid hitters. They are in the major leagues, that's pretty much a solid overview. They are good players. The problem? 

They fell into the trap of depending on a garbage can to determine how they hit. Couple that with them afraid they're gonna lose their head in the batter's box, and suddenly they need to reinvent themselves and they can't do it fast enough. That's why you see more strikeouts, more uncomfortable dancing in the box. In other words, they did this to themselves, and now they have to live with it.   Well too bad.

Dusty Baker followed up with more from Joe Kelly the other night when he got into a spat with bitch Carlos Correa. Bleacher Report says:

" Houston manager Dusty Baker said Kelly, the L.A. reliever, shouted at shortstop Carlos Correa after a strikeout, causing both teams to come running onto the field.

After throwing near Correa's head earlier in the sixth-inning at-bat, Kelly came back with a knuckle-curve that sent him flailing for strike three to end the frame. Baker said Kelly shouted, "Nice swing, b---h," at the shortstop while walking off the mound, clearing out the benches."

So? Hey Dusty, do you think these ballplayers are happy about how the Astros presented themselves? You think they like the arrogance of them? After all, they cheated their way to a championship and got caught AND DIDN'T GET PUNISHED. If anything they need to be apologetic, not arrogant.  No once cares. Correa is a piece of garbage anyway.

We're starting to see cracks in the porcelain. These Astros players cannot sustain the pressure of fan hate and opponents coming down on them. George Springer may have hit a homer the other day, but that was his only hit all season. And now, suddenly he's "a little sore" after making a catch in the outfield, so he's getting a day off... IN A 60 GAME SEASON. Really Loser? No, the truth is the dude was in a slump because he's waiting for a garbage can to bang to determine what pitch to swing at. A 1-21 slump. Dummy.

MLB writes: "Mired in a 1-for-21 slump to start the season -- and nursing a sore knee -- Astros leadoff hitter George Springer was out of the starting lineup for Wednesday’s series finale against the Dodgers. Springer banged up one of his knees when he ran into the wall making a catch to rob José Marmolejos of a hit in the first inning Sunday against the Mariners."

Oh... poor baby. Bitch.

What's the point of this post? Pressure. Uncertainty. Keep it on them and they will eventually go away.

The Astros did this to themselves, and they and some of their ridiculous fans better get used to the new normal of feeling really uncomfortable in the batter's box moving forward. Because when it comes to baseball and getting something legitimately... players and true fans take that seriously.   These Asstros players are gonna have a hard time moving forward and it's a good thing, because maybe, just maybe it will clean up the game for the better.

I leave you with this idiot.

@NYYCarrie33 You need to fuck off dude. Seriously. Does that mask go over your entire face? You should be grateful the Asstros aren’t banned for life. Keep clinging to those losers. Real Great for your image. Align yourself with failure. Nice work.

— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) July 30, 2020

Sorry.... I couldn't sit quietly.

 

THE DODGERS & WHY

I really enjoy the BYB posts introducing the staff writers who contribute to the site each week.  It’s yet another great way Casey has illustrated how Bleeding Yankee Blue is really a team in every sense of the word.  From the Skipper on down to this reformed Irish hoodlum, BYB has baseball, heart and a real sense of community and family.

Recently you were introduced to staff writer Alexis Garcia, read MEET THE BYB FAMILY: INTERVIEW WITH ALEXIS GARCIA for that.  One of the questions posed to the Los Angeles native and University of Texas alum (By the way a couple trips to the Series during her time there.  Impressive to say the least.) was how could she convince me to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a chance.

Here's that exchange:

BYB: Mike O'Hara, a fellow BYB writer hates the Dodgers.  Can you convince him to give them a shot?

Alexis Garcia: Mike, I would say hating the Dodgers is about 95% of being a Dodgers fan!  Some of my best memories of going to games was jeering that bum Kevin Brown while stuffing Dodger dogs in my face. We have the money, we have the talent, we have the best weather in the country, and yet we still manage to choke in the off-season. We develop some of the best talent in the league only to trade it away for players past their prime.  It is this frustration of constant under-performance that unites all of us Dodgers fans! Also, we have Vin Scully.

It’s been fairly well documented that I am in no way, shape or form a Dodger fan.  I have said, and will go on saying, that I’d rather hear the cheers on Yawkey Way and all over Bean Town than to see them happy at Chavez Ravine.  Crazy?  Not to me.  It’s a long story, but I will explain so that you can understand why I “dislike” the Dodgers so much…I swear it’s not just an East Coast vs. West Coast thing.

First of all, the Dodgers hurt my feelings.  That sounds childish, doesn’t it?  Well, that stands to reason.  I was merely a small child when the club that left Brooklyn beat my Yankees in the World Series.  I sat on the floor of my folks’ bedroom and cried.

The Yankees weren’t a baseball team to me, they were superheroes.  They couldn’t lose…could they?  How did Reggie let me down?  Who was this Penguin guy?

And could someone please get Lasorda off my TV screen ASAP! I carried that anger with me for years.  It kind of subsided during time in grade school.  I started to resent the Mets more…actually I resented my friends who jumped ship and started wearing Strawberry jerseys because the Yanks weren’t exactly the toast of the town any longer.  I also NEVER allowed them to live it down when they wanted to come back to the Bronx in the mid 1990s.

Now, you’d think that I’d forget why I disliked LA so much over time, but as my Grandfather would say, “Only 2 creatures walking this planet that never forget.  An elephant and an Irishman.” He was 100% correct.  My feelings for the Dodgers were just hibernating.  They would wake with vigor after I graduated college.

I’m an actor.  I moved to Los Angeles, as so many in “The Biz” do, with my game face on.  LA does have great weather.  It is a trip to go to the market and notice that you are in the checkout line behind Jennifer Aniston, and it’s as if she is just any other person…though incredibly beautiful and pretty nice to boot.

She was very friendly when I placed the rubber divider on the conveyor belt so that her rice cakes and humus didn’t get mixed in with my Guinness, cold cuts, Guldens Mustard and Beefsteak Rye bread.  Los Angeles is pretty much as you’d expect to be honest.  The people are sort of different.  They march to the beat of their own drum.  I met a lot of great folks out there.  When I got work it was a great time, but it also is a lonely town.  Now that shouldn’t reflect on the Dodgers…but I allowed it to.  That is not fair and I know it now.

I went to see my first Dodger game the weekend I moved out West.  The Boys in Blue hosted the Pirates.  I got to see that the Ravine is a great ballpark.  It was before so of the recent renovations.  The bullpens are still the worst in the league, but there aren’t any bad seats.  You can get a great look at the game no matter where you sit.

Dodger Dogs?  That is an ENTIRELY separate chapter in this story.  My conclusion is LA fans KNOW that the Farmer John product is awful, but refuse to give in to that knowledge.  LA does have a “little brother” complex about New York’s hot dog and Pizza Empire.  FACT.  Here’s a hint Dodger Concession Director.  Have Pink’s supply the dogs.  They ain’t Nathan’s, but it’d be a step in the right direction.

The pebble that began the avalanche of the return of my DODGER DISLIKE was the fans…there were so few 'actual' fans.  I won’t say that there aren’t true blue Dodger fans.  There are.  They are knowledgeable, invested and all and all pretty friendly.  The problem is they are outnumbered in a big way in their own ballpark.  Fact. Often it’s by fans of the visiting club.  The Mets, Cubs, Sox, Yanks, Phils and Giants all have transplants in the City of Angels and they show up.  There is also the “To Be Seen” crowd.  They don’t care who is playing; they just want to be at the party.  You know the type.  Every club has them, but LA REALLY has them.  They show up in the 4th and leave in the 7th.  They play with the beach balls.

They are on their cellphones.  They have dinner reservations at Beso.  They think Mike Piazza is still behind the plate.  They quote “Naked Gun”…a lot! “Enrico Palazzo! He saved the queen!”  Yep, that’s a good one. It’s almost as if MLB should talk to the NFL and ask, “Hey, why don’t you guys have a franchise here?” Fair? I don’t know.  But it is what it is.

The last factor in my less than favorable feelings toward all things Dodgers is the “Tough Guy” factor.  I saw it every time I went to the stadium and I went a good deal.  There are those at the game who are just looking for a problem.  It’s not about baseball, although they will be decked out in Dodger Blue.  It’s about starting trouble in the stands or in the parking lot.  The Dodgers have been absolutely horrendous addressing this issue.

The Bryan Stow incident just shed a bit of light on what happens more often than not at Chavez Ravine.  I got to see it first hand at an inter-league match up years ago.  I was at the game with some friends from back East.  We saw the Yanks take it on the chin and made our way to the car.  Almost instantly we hear the jeers.  Hey, that’s what you get.  I completely understand that.  We do it in the Bronx.  But these jeers got personal fast.  Them they got increasingly angry.  My one buddy is a bit of a hothead and I could tell he wasn’t going to stay quiet too long.  We found ourselves in outside and noticed that a handful of these Dodger fans had followed us spewing their over the top jabs the whole way.  Now two of my friends were US Marines at the time, and in this particular staring contest the other side blinked first.  We were lucky.  The situation didn’t become a problem…but it could have.

Who needs that garbage?  If you want to find a fight go to a roadhouse bar and knock yourself out.  It’s a baseball game.  We go to have a good time and watch the American Pastime.  Period.  Yeah, there is some good-natured ribbing and no one wants to see his or her teams lose, but it’s not a turf war.  It’s not and should never be personal.  The sad fact is that in almost every trip I made to Dodger Stadium, I saw all of the above.  It has made me close the book on the Los Angeles club.  I don’t like them.  I won’t ever like them.

I want Donnie back.  I love Vin Scully and respect the actual Dodger fan that suffers through the nonsense I saw.  They can’t be happy with that stuff.  I don’t like “I Love LA”.  I don’t consider LA a sports town.  The Lakers stink now…where is everybody?  And again, this is not an East Coast, West Coast thing.  I’ve been to the Bay Area.  I’ve seen games in the Great Northwest.  I’ve loved every single trip to San Diego.

The Anaheim Angeles of Los Angeles, near the 5, close to Disney, South of Knott’s Berry, down the street from that strip mall…no, the other strip mall. They are not my favorite either... I don't care for the Rally Monkeys and Thunder Sticks... trust me. But it wasn’t nearly as bad at LA.

The truth is I’ve liked some Dodger players in my lifetime.  Gibby, Butler, The Bulldog and Piazza were guys I enjoyed seeing play.  No, it’s more about that first team to hurt my feelings.  It’s about the Hollywood fans and the tough guys.  They aren’t what baseball is about and any chance that I’d give the Dodgers a chance rolled away with the credits.  Sorry, Alexis. It’s just one guy’s opinion.

Go Yankees!

** One of my Favorite Bands – Please note I do NOT want anything bad to happen to anyone in Los Angeles.  I love my friends there.   This song just has Los Angeles in the title I like Bad Religion a lot. **




  

 
--Mike O'Hara
Senior "Features" Writer
Twitter: @mikeyoh21







 
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WHY THE DROB-MARIANO COMBO IS THE BEST IN BASEBALL

It’s been well documented here at BYB that the David Robertson-Mariano Rivera 8th inning-9th inning combo is the best in baseball. It’s a joy to watch both of these guys slam the door in the final two innings, and as Yankee fans we’re very lucky to have these guys on our team.

David Robertson has been dynamite out of the ‘pen in 2012, as well as 2011 following two solid seasons in 2009 and 2010. He’s yet to allow an earned run so far this year and he’s struck out 18 while walking just three. In fact, Robertson hasn’t allowed a run since August 29, 2011 at Baltimore when he allowed a solo homerun to JJ Hardy, his only homer allowed that year.

As of now, Robertson has pitched 24.2 consecutive scoreless innings, and TBS’ John Smoltz went as far as saying last Sunday that Robertson could break Orel Hershiser’s consecutive scoreless innings streak of 59 set back in 1988. I’m not sure if that’ll happen, but it’s nice to see the outside media, and someone who knows a great deal about the game, praising someone like DRob.

Now onto the second part of this dynamic duo: Mariano Rivera. Rivera is once again beating father time. We all know what he’s accomplished; most saves in big-league history, the only pitcher to ever appear in 1,000 games with one team, lowest ERA and most saves in postseason history, etc., etc. But in what seems to be his final year in his big league career, Mo is off to another great start.

Rivera has appeared in nine games and has pitched to a 2.16 ERA. He also has five saves, and he hasn’t allowed a run since Opening Day when he blew the save and eventually lost the game to the Tampa Bay Rays. Mo is one of those guys that I have zero worries about even if he blows a save or two in a row. He’s just been so good for so long that I feel very confident about him no matter what happens on the field.

It’s that simple; the Yankees have the best 8th inning- 9th inning combo in the sport and there really isn’t much of a debate. I know there are some other impressive 8th inning-9th inning combos around Major League Baseball. Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde in Detroit, or Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel in Atlanta come to mind, but those guys don’t have quite the track record these guys have. They don’t have to play under the bright lights in the Bronx, which always isn’t the easiest thing to do. I know the Yankees have their share of problems right now, but just realize that this team has the 8th and 9th inning covered with these two guys. There aren’t many teams with that luxury, and we should remember that.

--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse


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.