Results tagged ‘ Nick Swisher ’
Dream Job / Fantasy Teams
Ok, so, MLBs got the perfect job opening for a guy like me…and it so happens Im in a position that I could use a job like that. Match made in heaven, right? Well, maybe not since the only voice Ive ever aired on this blog is that of “Angry Yankee fan arguing against angry Yankee Haters” hence my name…
Ive attempted to branch out my skill on this blog to that of my fantasy rosters. Ive got 2 teams drafted, 1 to draft this sunday and maybe one more depending on how I feel about it. Thus, it would cause me to not only watch other games besides those played by the Yankees and their rivals, but to really invest myself in them as well…example: Twins vs White Sox games wouldnt exactly thrill me, but my teams contain Young and Cuddyer vs Danks and Alexi Ramirez-all of a sudden Ive got reason to sit through that series.
So…in the hope of getting the dream job that just last month came into existence, but sure enough has been a job Ive secretly wanted for years…I feel I need to show that Im more than an opinionated Yankee fan. Again, here are my fantasy rosters, and the reasons I drafted that way…
The Pretenders:
C-Buster Posey
1B-Aubrey Huff
2B-Dan Uggla
3B-Alex Rodriguez
SS-Alexi Ramirez
OF-Alex Rios
Shane Victorino
Delmon Young
U-Brett Gardner
Vladimir Guerrero
Bench-Colby Rasmus
Neil Walker
Michael Cuddyer
SP-Tim Lincecum
David Price
Josh Johnson
Roy Oswalt
Ryan Dempster
Ricky Romero
RP-Brian Wilson
John Axford
Leo Nunez
I’ve actually been trade requested twice by another owner looking to get Price, Posey and ARod in exchange for Sabathia, Mauer and Zimmerman. Thats a pretty good trade, but the reason I keep turning my friends request down is because Rodriguez is always a lock for 30 home runs and 100 rbis. Price and Sabathia were interchangable last year, so as long as you have one, youre ok for a Cy Young hopeful. Getting Mauer was tempting since he puts up great numbers for a catcher, but for keeping ARod, Im willing to risk Posey in his 1st full season. Its not a very big risk. Maybe if Mauer had another big year last year, but he seems to not hit the same in Target Field like he did in the Metrodome. Be it Mauer isnt the same at home or ARods guarenteed numbers, Ive had 0 regrets in denying the trades.
I tend to be bad at drafting a middle infield, but in this draft I had the #2 pick and Hanley is by and far the best option at short and Dan Uggla kinda fell into my lap. Im not arguing, since hes still one of the best second basemen in the NL.
My outfields tend to be more speed oriented and this year proved to be no different. Any given day I have Brett Gardner, Shane Victorino and Alex Rios in the lineup. In addition to Hanley, Ill have nothing to worry about in the SB department. Im also rolling the dice on Vladimir Guerrero that he still has another quality season in the tank. Hitting in the heart of a Baltimore lineup poised to send shockwaves through the AL east? I like those odds…
My starting pitchers are strait up nasty! Lincecum, Price, Oswalt and Josh Johnson need no justification. Dempster is a 200 inning/200K machine, and Brian Wilson has quietly been one of the most automatic closers in baseball.
The Lozers:
C-Brian McCann
1B-Derrek Lee
2B-Robinson Cano
3B-Miguel Tejada
SS-Alexi Ramirez
OF-Ryan Braun
Nick Swisher
Matt Holliday
U-Michael Bourn
John Buck
Bench-Pablo Sanvoval
Mike Aviles
Magglio Ordonez
SP-Justin Verlander
Yovani Gallardo
Dan Haren
John Danks
Brett Myers
Madison Bumgarner
Bronson Arroyo
Anibal Sanchez
RP-Mariano Rivera
Ryan Franklain
McCann in the best catcher in the NL, Cano is the best 2B in the AL. I could argue that they might be better than Mauer/Utley but thats all speculative. Derrek Lee has the same this going for him the Guerrero does. Bourn is the sole base stealer on this team, but with a track record of stealing 52, 61 and 41 over the last three years, I doubt he needs much help. Braun and Holliday provide some solid hitting each with over a .300 average, 25 homers and 100 rbi campaigns last season.
In the past Ive always used Aviles as a replacment for an injured player and hes always produced nicely as a result. I figured Id just draft him and avoid the rush this year. Good bench middle infielders are impossible to come by these days. Im risking that Pablos dropped weight equals better play…and anyone else remember Ordonez? He dropped mad low in this draft. Hes at a certain age, really wants to win a wolrd series and plays in the AL central. Im banking that hes gonna have a solid year…
My pitchers my not be as high profile as my other team, but they can still put up numbers. Verlander and Gallardo always seem to be int he Cy Young talk. Rivera now has a number to strive for in his quest for the all time saves record, and it so happens to be 42…as in: The last player to ever wear 42 in baseball needs only 42 saves to catch the all time saves record.
Right…better wrap this up…like I said, I got another team to draft on sunday. My aim to to draft a team that has 0 players Ive already drafted. It limits my options, but it does force me to consider what those other players are capable of. Its an interesting experiment and Im hoping it leads to a couple league titles.
Fantasy 2011…pt 2
Its all part of a plan…and I’ll let you all know what that plan is when I think of it. ‘nother fantasy draft tonight.
#2 of what Im expecting to be 4 fantasy teams….dont give me that look…I dont have a problem…right?
Last nights draft was for a strait faced team, this time around I’m avoid all those picks and see how well this team can do. Aight, heres the results…..I drafted last, giving me all back-to-back picks, but a loooooooooong wait in between…
Team: “The Lozers”
1-Robinson Cano (The shouldve-been MVP was a no brainer choice)
2-Ryan Braun
3-Matt Holliday
4-Justin Verlander
5-Brian McCann
6-Mariano Rivera
7-Yovani Gallardo
8-Alexi Ramirez
9-Pablo Sandoval
10-Dan Haren
11-Michael Bourn
12-Nick Swisher
13-Ryan Franklin
14-Miguel Tejada
15-Madison Bumgarner
16-John Danks
17-Brett Myers
18-Derrek Lee
19-John Buck
20-Bronson Arroyo
21-Anibal Sanchez
22-Mike Aviles
23-Magglio Ordonez
Lets NOT be the Mets
A win tonight and we all but bury Boston for good…though if we lose, the Red Sox could control their own destiny-with 3 more games against us to end the year…in Fenway.
…so…lets try to avoid being the Mets of 07 and 08 where they collapsed to miss the playoffs.
Its not all bleak, a win tonight and the Yankees would stand .5 games behind 1st, though the schedule isnt in our favor.
On the mound for NY tonight is Phil Hughes, because Girardi has decided SCREW THE INNINGS LIMIT-WE NEED A WIN!!!!!!! So Hughes will square off against Matsuzaka and his 4.86 ERA.
Both teams need this, though Boston for more dire reasons.
Middle 1 in New York
Hughes looks decent thus far…
End of 1 in New York
…Our hitters, however, do not.
Top 3 in New York
Nick Swisher reminds everyone that he isnt here for his glove…
Middle 6 in New York
Damn pitching duel…
Bottom 7 in New York
An A-BOMB! From A-ROD! Yankees lead!!!
Top 8 in New York
Enter Sandman…
Soooooo close! 3 more outs!
Bottom 9 in New York
M-V-P Cano with the game tying hit!
2 outs…tie game…c’mon Berkman! Prove to us you were worth the trade!
Bottom 10 in New York
Bases loaded-NOBODY OUT! C’MON!
Walk off walk!
ILL TAKE IT
Yankees win!
Theeeeeeeeeeeeeee Yankees, WIN!
Week 23 in review: Not as advertised
Yeah yeah yeah…Yankees and Rangers was billed as a playoff preview, but the Yankees didnt treat it as such. If this were the playoffs, the Yanks wouldntve sent out that trio of poor pitchers and nobodies. That series featured no Sabathia, no Pettitte and only a bullpen appearence (0 runs allowed) of Hughes.
So let the Rangers celebrate, the Yankees will be a wet towel on their parade come October.
Playoff Board:
AL bEAST
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays (0.5 out / E:20)
Boston Red Sox (8 out / E:12)
Toronto Blue Jays (14 out / E:6)
AL CENTRAL
Minnesota Twins
Chicago White Sox (6 out / E:14)
Detroit Tigers (13.5 out / E:6)
AL WEST
Texas Rangers
Oakland Athletics (8.5 out / E:12)
California Los Angeles Anaheim Angels of Anaheim (10 out / E:10)
AL WILD CARD
Tampa Bay Rays
Chicago White Sox/Boston Red Sox (7.5 out / E:13)
Toronto Blue Jays (13.5 out / E:7)
Detroit Tigers (15 out / E:5)
Oakland Athletics (15 out E:6)
California Los Angeles Anaheim Angels of Anaheim (16.5 out / E:4)
NL EAST
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves (1 out / E:18)
Florida Marlins (9 out / E:11)
New York Mets (12.5 out / E:7)
NL CENTRAL
Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals (6 out / E:15)
Houston Astros (13 out / E:7)
Milwaukee Brewers (14.5 out / E:6)
Chicago Cubs (19 out / E:1)
NL WEST
San Diego Padres/San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies (1.5 out / E:18)
Los Angeles Dodgers (10 out / E:9)
NL WILD CARD
Atlanta Braves
San Diego Padres (1 out / E:19)
San Francisco Giants (1 out / E:18)
Colorado Rockies (2.5 out / E:17)
St. Louis Cardinals (6.5 out / E:14)
Florida Marlins (8 out / E:12)
Los Angeles Dodgers (11 out / E:8)
New York Mets (11.5 out / E:8)
Hoston Astros (13.5 out / E:6)
Milwaukee Brewers (15 out / E:5)
Biggest Yankee Game:
9/8/10: Yankees-3, Orioles-2
Not much to say as it was the lone Yankee win last week. Much thanks to Swisher for winning this for us in walk off fashion.
Favorite Picture:
Yeah. This was handed out in Milwaukee. Brewers suck. Cubs suck. Its all fun.
Fantasy:
The F*cking Lozers f*cking lost. I guess it was their destiny or something. Didnt help that the other guy had Joey Votto or that Juan Pierre and Brett Gardner decided to stop stealing bases.
Anyway…
F*cking Lozers: Final week. 3rd place battle.
Showdown: (8-15) 5th in division.
-Eliminated from playoffs.
Pretenders: (68 pts) 6th in division. 31pts back of 1st, 1.5pts back of 5th, 10.5pts up on 7th.
cpDOOM! 2.0: (15-8) 2nd in division. 2 games back of 1st, 2 games up on 3rd.
-Eliminated for division, Currently holding the 3 seed for playoffs in final week of regular season
Roid Sox: (13-10) 1st in division. 1 game up on 2nd.
This Week:
Rays and Orioles…and Andy Pettittes comming back.
-a win gets me in the playoffs. A loss wont kill me, but then Id need a lot of help.
Tonight as told by numbers…
As I come down from the heart attack tonights game gave me (in no small part from Elvis Andrus’ leadoff triple), let me take a moment to break down some interesting numbers from the win.
17: the number of Yankees who struck out tonight. 17?!?! How the hell did we win when that many outs were made by the K? 11 of them came via Cliff Lee, then 1 by every last Ranger reliever afterwards. Seriously-when your team strikes out 17 of the other guys, winning should not even be in doubt…and yet…
4: the number of strikeouts the Yankee pitchers got against the Rangers tonight. Big. Fukk. Difference. 4 is also the amount of times the slumping Nick Swisher struck out tonight.
1: only 1 Yankee who hit managed to avoid striking out tonight-Lance Berkman.
6-1: the score after the fifth inning with the Rangers leading and Cliff Lee still pitching.
4: also happens to be the exact amount of wins the Yankees have this month…and we’re almost halfway through the month. Just a point of reference, last month on this day, the Yankees had racked up 9 wins already.
5: the amount of games that the Yankees still lead the Red Sox by
1.5: the current Yankee lead over the Tampa Bay Rays
3: the number of bases that Elvis Andrus ran for to lead off the bottom of the ninth with, putting the tying run 90 feet away with 0 outs.
0: the number of runs that scored after that triple in the bottom of the ninth because Mariano Rivera is cluuuuuuuutch.
4-1: the record the Yankees currently have vs Texas this season.
32: the number of stolen bases Brett Gardner currently has. Good for fifth in the AL.
1: the amount of wins Kerry Wood now has as a Yankee.
24: Rivera now has that many saves.
70: the number of wins the Yankees now have this season to lead the majors.
Week 15 in review: AJ Burnett leaves game early because his pants are on fire
So yeah, short week, not much to recap on. Only 3 games, but a loaded 3 games. Fridays win for the boss and voice, Saturdays AJ lying loss and Sundays bittersweet thrashing of David Price, in which we lose Pettitte for about a month.
The paramount issue is Burnett, whos Jeckle/Hyde routine is currently set on Hyde and flashes of his wild thang persona seem to be attributed to his being lazy, which is one hell of a warning sign that his Yankee days might be numbered, especially if we need to pick up an arm or two by the deadline…
Biggest Yankee Game:
7/16/10: Yankees-5, Rays-4
The Yankees honor not 1, but 2 legends of the game before the game. The entire game is played without any PA announcments (even the recording for Jeter) to honor Sheppard. A see-saw emotional rollercoaster that involved back-to-back home runs from Cano and Posada to tie the game, and another home run by Swisher to tie it up in the 8th…and then a walk off hit by Swish to clinch it.
I dont care how many no hitters are being pitched this year, this here was game of the year.
Favorite Picture:
RIP Boss…
Fantasy:
I hate All Star week games, because theyre so short it always feels like cheating when you win, or you got cheated when you lose. I tend to win mostly thsi time of year, but I still think the stats should just carry over to the next full week.
This Week:
Our homestand continues against the Angels and Royals.
Man, remember when Steinbrenner started in New York and the Royals were actually good? Me neither, most of us werent even born yet.
……….BTW, Tim McCarver is STILL a f*cking idiot
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/McCarver-might-want-to-stick-to-Star-Wars-Yankee?urn=mlb,256793#remaining-content
Week 14 in review: Half 1 in review
Like I said when I closed out yesterdays post. Yankees are in 1st and Boston isnt exactly breathing down our necks, all is well in the world. The Yankees have a ******** 8 players nemed to the All Star game and Nick Swishers gearing up to win the home run derby.
Unlike the last few years, the Yankees decided to forgo their usual slump in the early months and are now sitting on the majors best record (56-32) which included a season high 7 game winning streak last week, and are well on their way to yet another 100 win season. And whats also the best is: no more west coast trips this year. Texas is as far west as we’re gonna get this year from here on out, unless we face a west coast team in October.
All in all, the Yankees are well on their way to yet another division title this year, but what about my other predictions?
I said: Yankees, White Sox, Mariners, Phillies, Cardinals, Giants (in each respective division)
So yeah, I may want to change up a couple of those, which Ill do when I go into detail about all that in a later post.
Biggest Yankee Game
7/10/10: Mariners-4, Yankees-1
Our lone loss last week? Why point that out? Because I think it shows that our true need is in the bullpen. We never needed Cliff Lee, even Vazquez is pitching great so why fix what aint broken? Joba isnt right, he really never was this year. That grand slam he surrendered was just the exclemation point to the issue. Joba is 1-4 with a 5.79era….we need a somewhat more reliable reliever, at least until Aceves returns.
Favorite Picture
…RIP Voice of God
Fantasy
Lets see how all my teams are doing, and how much a*s they are (*not) kicking…
The Pretenders: 7th place (Point value of 73.5) Currently 2.5 points out of 3rd place, 15.5 points out of 1st.
The F*cking Lozers: 2nd place (91-77-14) Currently 5 games out of 1st.
The Roid Sox: 2nd place (8-6) Currently 2 games out of 1st.
The Showdown: 5th place* (6-8) Currently 2 games out of 2nd, 4 games out of 1st.
*-Woo-hoo! No longer dead last!
cpDOOM2.0: 2nd place (8-6) Currently 4 games out of 1st.
This Week
All star break. Half the Yankees head to Anaheim to help continue the ALs dominating run. Afterwards, they all head home to deal with the Rays and kick off the 2nd half.
Closin out the 1st half
Bob Sheppard is gone. The greatest voice in the history of sports…ever…died today. He will live on however, with every Derek Jeter at bat.
In other news, apparently the Yankees wanted Cliff Lee. Though by the time I realized they seriously wanted him, the Mariners threw their cards on the table and showed it was only a ploy to get the Rangers to hand over 4 prospects.
Ya see, the Ms wanted more than what the Rangers were offering, so they pretended to deal with the Yankees in order to force Texas’ hand and get the deal they wanted. I can see why Texas took the bait. Every damn time they make the playoffs, they get the Yankees in round 1, and every time the Yankees knock em out en route to a world championship, so why not bring in Lee to tip the odds?
The Yankees, meanwhile, were prepared to offer Jesus Montero, which made no god damm sense, why would we be parting with our best prospect when we already have 3 bona fide all star pitchers? I think our deadline attention would be better spent looking to shore up our bullpen, because Im sick of getting sick whenever Joba or Robertson come in and blow a close game.
…and how awesome is it that Lee losses his 1st game as a Ranger.
Elsewhere, Robinson Cano was yanked out of the home run derby by the Yankees, but fear not, they replaced him with Nick Swisher, so its all good.
Speaking of Nick…
Nick Swisher won the final vote!
Id like to think that “narrow margin” was made possible by the 463435654 votes I made the night before voting closed.
So Yankee Haters, you have me to thank for Swisher making the cut over those lesser hitters. Be sure to thank me when he goes deep in the game.
Anyway, Yankees close out the 1st half with a win against the Lee-less Mariners. I need to adjust my predictions now that Seattle is clearly out.
Best record in baseball? 1st place in the division? Boston a mile behind? Awesome!
Just a friendly reminder to VOTE SWISHER
Right off the bat…
Mo Rivera is yanking himself out of the All Star game. Instead he will take the time to rest some nagging injuries and come back fresh and ready for the 2nd half.
…Good for him. When youre 4324832563 years old, a little free rest can do you good for the long haul. Though the AL will now have to find another way to win it in the 9th. Ol reliable is no longer an option.
Robinson Cano in the Home Run Derby? ……ok, hell yeah!
Mustve been a slow year for the long ball, but Im not complaining. Cano just doesnt seem to jump out as a power hitter.
…and finally…
Nick Swisher is no longer leading the Final Vote.
People, get out there and vote vote vote for Swish Swish Swish!
…or at least vote for someone besides Kevin Youkilis. Trust me, nobody wants to see another Red Sox player at the game. They have a habit of sucking at this game.
Yankee Hater Hater
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