THE MARK TEIXEIRA PUZZLE

I'm not sure what to make of this.  So yeah, before the Yankees lost to the Red Sox last night (Read HERE), the game was 6-4 Sox in the bottom of the 8th inning.  Of course, like clockwork, Vicente Padilla was pitching and Mark Teixeira walks to the plate.  Soon enough, Tex cranked a home run and did something unusual.  In fact, for Mark Teixeira it was totally out of character...he stood there and watched the ball sail out of the ball park and just like that, the Yankees tied the game.

Now, I'm on the record as saying I hate the show boat at home plate.  I also am not a fan of the Red Sox and based on all the information I've read about Vicente Padilla and Mark Teixeira (Read HERE), I'd suggest they have their own rivalry.  In this case, when Mark Teixeria hit that home run and stood there, I'm giving him a pass.  I know what he was doing.  He wasn't aiming that gesture toward the Red Sox as much as he was toward Padilla.  It was big "F OFF"! Clearly they don't like each other. Over time, Padilla will probably come in high and tight on Tex and Tex knows this, but for the moment, Teixeira got his payback.

But what happened later was weird. Over Twitter Teixeira wrote this and asked this question:

I was puzzled to say the least, his home run was clearly in the seats with enough power behind it that there was no hook what so ever. Here's the video:

 
 So the next Tweet I saw was equally mind boggling.  I came from David Robertson:

So, I thought, "What's going on here?" I started to realize something and this is just me as an outsider.  It's my own speculation that maybe Mark Teixeira felt alittle strange standing at home plate after that home run.  Maybe he was doing his best job trying to re-write history on Twitter, and DRob, being a friend and loyal teammate was just trying to help him out.  No harm no foul...literally. Plus, who knows, maybe it was an inside joke because lord knows, if you look at where that home run was falling last night, and the screen grab is below, there is no way in hell that ball was going foul. Look:

Am I over thinking? Should I care? Am I just way too obsessed and maybe I should take a vacation? Sure, all those questions apply here.  Mark Teixeira was out of character last night.  He let his emotions with Vicente Padilla get the best of him, so he stood home plate for a moment.  The world wrote about it because it "wasn't him."  So yeah, maybe he was trying to ease the blow and maybe he doesn't want a bad reputation or something. Lord knows he's no showboat and just a hard worker on the field, but who knows?  Whatever the case, I just thought the whole chain of events was interesting. nothing more.

Enjoy your Sunday guys...

 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.

NASTY CANASTA!

Nasty Canasta was once a cartoon character created by animator Chuck Jones.  It's also a term a buddy and I used years ago to describe something really disgusting or an unfortunate incident.  "Damn, that was Nasty Canasta with a capital C!" Tonight was Nasty Canasta...and the "C" was for Curtis.  What was once a thrill to watch, meaning, the Yankees creeping all the way back to tie the Red Sox 6 to 6, and then losing the way they did... it's was unfortunate, it sucked... it was Nasty Canasta.  If Curtis Granderson doesn't misplay that Pedro Ciriaco ball in the 9th inning, the Yankees momentum probably leads them to victory tonight... or at least that's how I pictured it.

The best and biggest shot of the night was by Mark Teixeira who ended up tying the ball game off of enemy Vicente Padilla.  Now, you know me, one thing I hate is showboating and it was unusual to see Tex watching that ball launch into the seats. He never does that. But because of everything we know between he and Padilla and the bad blood between the 2, (Read WHO'S THE TOUGH GUY? MARK TEIXEIRA OR VICENTE PADILLA?), I get why Teixeira did it, but historically on BYB, I don't like the "stand and stare" when you crank out a home run.  Tying the game 6-6 was glorious though.  I'll take that all day long. Tex was 2-4 tonight with 2 RBIs.

CC Sabathia was not vintage CC and now the questions will start... "Is everything OK with CC?" or  "What's going on with our ace?" Look, it think it's safe to say CC isn't having a great year, although I predict by August 5th, we will see a strong run by CC to give that push to the playoffs.  That's him and with injury this year, I think he's just alittle out of whack.  Tonight he pitched 6 innings, allowed 8 hits and 6 runs.  He also struck out 6.  That's more like a Hughes performance than a Sabathia performance, but, don't fret, we'll get the CC we want very shortly...promise.

Other highlights:

• Jayson Nix had 2 RBIs and was 1-2 with a home run.
• Ichiro Suzuki made an outstanding catch in the 7th robbing Adrian Gonzalez.  Loved to see that!
• Chris Stewart cranked out a home run early on.

So, the final score tonight...it was a heart breaker on a silly fielding mistake by Granderson, but... Life goes on.
 
Red Sox 8 - Yankees 6.

I'm going to bed...good night.

 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.

WHO'S THE TOUGH GUY? MARK TEIXEIRA OR VICENTE PADILLA?

Vicente Padilla has been hitting batters for years.  That’s his “thing”…everyone knows it, including Major League Baseball, yet, he doesn’t get punished for it as much as he should. But yeah, the pattern is simple;  If Padilla is tagged for a homer run or a big base hit, there is no question the next time that batter comes to the plate, that hitter’s taking one on the chin.  Now, while I have stated numerous times my thoughts on what "real" baseball is. I have no problem with hitting a batter or at least brushing them back. It's part of the game. But if your a predictable pitcher who intentionally throws at guys for hitting well against you...that's NOT baseball.  That my friends is bad sportsmanship. 

Look, Mark Teixeira did something manly the other day. He called out Vicente Padilla because he had enough.  Good for him.  Tex is no woman, he’s a man for what he did.  He knew calling out Padilla would mean he’d have a bulls eye on his back, and guess what?  He doesn’t care, he did it for his team and he did it to send a message…"You’re on the radar Vicente, we're watching you closely."

Now let’s break it down.  Padilla and Teixeira have a feud going back several years.  They clearly don’t like each other and Tex has stated that Padilla doesn’t have any friends in the game because he hits guys. Read HERE.  Tex went further and believed that he and Michael Young (all were teammates in Texas) got the brunt of Padilla’s headhunting because opposing pitchers would come after them.

Padilla then went on NESN and not only accused Teixeira of picking the wrong profession and suggested he should compete in a "women’s sport", but he also accused Tex of violence toward him and the biggest charge, prejudice against Latin players. Read HERE. Here's the quote:

 “The problem is he talks about all the wrong things that others have done, but the things he’s done — against the Latinos [on the Rangers] — he doesn’t open his mouth about... He once threatened me and said he was going to hit me with a bat, and that’s when we were playing on the same team. And then, he also had problems with Frank Francisco. ... But he doesn’t talk about that, does he? Then, of course, he goes on and makes those comments about me.”

Tex called it comedy.  I tell you what, I do too.

Let’s call this what it is…silly.  Vicente Padilla is not Nolan Ryan, nor will he ever be.  He’s a middle of the road pitcher with an OK career and he utilized the “high and tight” to intimidate and payback batters because he’s overcompensating for his inconsistency and lack of talent. He’s been doing it forever.  Do I sound harsh? Does it sound like I’m protecting our guy? Sure I am. Padilla is now making charges of racism…that’s a pretty serious offense. 

Look as far as Vicente goes, let’s call it what it is; his career is pretty much over.  The best season he's ever had was 2002 with the Phillies when you had a 14-11 record and a 3.28 ERA. In fact, AJ Burnett has a better career record (131-113) and ERA (4.09) than Padilla (106-90, 4.30) and the Yankees shipped him off to Pittsburgh.  The point is Padilla is lucky that even the Red Sox took a chance on him. I’ve watched Mark Teixeira’s career since Texas.  He’s a hard worker, a fierce competitor and a team player, not to mention a great hitter and amazing defender.  I’ve never heard the guy speak out of turn, nor have I ever heard a bad word spoken about the guy in all the years he’s been there.  So you know what I think about Padilla's charge of racism? It’s bullshit…because this is the first time I’ve ever heard anything like it when it comes to Mark Teixeira.  Face it, Padilla is just pissed that he's getting called out so publicly.

So message to Padilla, we play him and the Sox in 3 weeks. If he makes a stupid move and tries to headhunt Mark Teixeira or any of the other Yankees, the writing will be on the wall and the Yankees will and must retaliate.  Because one thing that’s true about my Yankees... our guys actually back each other up, not themselves. 

Damn, reading that NESN interview it seemed like Padilla was upset...almost like he was going to breakdown like a "woman" and cry about it.  Ironic... isn’t it?

 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.

WHY BOBBY VALENTINE ANNOYS ME

When Bobby Valentine was asked about the Yankees recent upgrade with the signings of Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda, he designed this answer to annoy the hell out of every Yankee fan out there. He did it because he knew it would annoy us. Sure, I fell into the trap, I’m now writing about it:

“They’re probably an upgrade from Colon and Garcia. Probably, I don’t know. It seems it…Pineda, when I saw him the first half, he looked unhittable. Second half, he was OK.” (The Mariners) saw a lot of him and they traded him....Kuroda is a good pitcher –a year older than he was last year, pitching in the American League and not the National League, pitching in not a great pitcher’s ballpark from a great pitcher’s ballpark.”

Come on Bobby, would you be saying that if the Sox signed Kuroda, because they were in the same type discussions as the Yankees were of Kuroda. This report is from January 10th, Read HERE. The difference is, we got Kuroda, the Sox didn’t. Now, in full disclosure, you know my personal feelings about Kuroda. I don’t love the guy and I would have never have signed him if the Yankees didn’t also snag Pineda. Kuroda helps, but doesn’t dominate and everything Bobby V is saying about Kuroda is true, but don’t say it if the Sox were trying to snag the same guy, you look like a fool.

As far as Pineda, sure, Bobby is right, he hits a wall, but he's 22 and that’s going to happen. No doubt Pineda is an upgrade though and has he develops, he’ll go longer into the season with a better success rate. (By the way, read WHY PINEDA HAS ACE POTENTIAL...A SABERMETRIC VIEW.) There is also the possibility that an increase in innings could hurt Pineda next season, something a lot of people aren’t talking about but it’s true. You just never know.

And finally, is the Red Sox recently minor league signing of Vicente Padilla a better signing than Michael Pineda or Hiroki Kuroda? I think not. In fact, just replace Kuroda’s name with Padilla in Valentine's comment, you have the same result:

“Padilla is a good pitcher—a year older than he was last year , pitching in the American League and not the National League, pitching in not a great pitcher’s ballpark from a great pitcher’s ballpark.” It works both ways Bobby and the fact that not 1 reporter pressed him that is ridiculous.

Bobby V is going to annoy me all season, I can tell already. Any chance we can get Francona back in the fold? Oh… too late? OK… Damn.

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.