About the Off-Day: Meanderings of My Mind

About the Off-Day: Meanderings of My Mind\

By Tim Kabel

August 16, 2024

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The Yankees were off yesterday after winning a series against the White Sox. They had to win the series against the White Sox. prior to beating the Yankees on Monday night, the White Sox had lost 24 out of 25 games. The White Sox could quite possibly lose more games than any other team in Major League Baseball history. Yet, losing one game to them as the Yankees did on Monday is tolerable. As bad as the White Sox are, they are not going to lose every game. However, losing a series to the White Sox, especially for a team that has World Series aspirations as the Yankees do, would have been inexcusable. The Yankees sit at 72-50, 1/2 game ahead of the Orioles in first place in the American League East with 40 games to play. They have fallen off the pace they set earlier in the season but, they are still in good shape right now. Since there is no game to recap, I will now move from topic to topic like a woodchuck laying siege to a backyard garden.

·      The Yankees have no more games against American League East opponents in August. In fact, for the rest of the season, they only have a four-game series against the Red Sox and a three-game series against the Orioles In September. Both those series are at home. The Yankees need to win as many games as possible before playing those two series, so they do not become crucial to the Yankees’ playoff aspirations.

·      My Enyel De Los Santos jersey should be arriving any day now.

·      Thinking about the statement I wrote above, it's interesting that there has never been a professional team, as far as I know, named the Woodchucks. Also missing are Squirrels, Moose, Elk, Chipmunks, and Otters. By the way, when doing research for one of my novels, I was surprised to find that there is a type of Otter, the Amazonian Otter, that can grow to six feet in length. They operate in packs and have been known to hunt and kill crocodiles. Anyway, I could just imagine hearing Suzyn Waldman say, “Welcome to today's game. The Yankees will be playing the Secaucus Squirrels. After this series, they will head down South to play the Raleigh River Otters.

·      As we all know, Aaron Judge has reached the plateau of 300 home runs faster than anybody in baseball history. It was not just by a few games either. He did it in 135 fewer games than Ralph Kiner. There has been a lot of speculation about how many home runs Judge will hit in his career. I really don't know. I just hope he remains healthy throughout the remainder of his contract and hits as many as possible. Let's enjoy the journey rather than worrying about the destination.

·      I decided to be fair. I listened to the three games that Craig Carton called with Suzyn Waldman. I was not impressed. I did not expect to be. However, I was not infuriated to the point of throwing my radio out the window which I suspected might happen. He was ill-prepared, uninformed, and somewhat cloying like too much sugar going down the back of your throat. At one point, he accused Jazz Chisholm, Jr. of being “disinterested”. Susan upbraided him quickly. That was a rather damning statement to make about a player who has shown nothing but enthusiasm and interest since joining the Yankees. At one point, Carton asked Suzyn if she had any thoughts. She chuckled sardonically and said something to the effect of “boy, do I.” I think that comment is all that needs to be said about Carton’s experiment at being a play-by-play announcer. I think it's best to lump it in the category with the garlic ice cream I tried one time. Once is enough.

·      I only have a handful of days left to be able to say that I'm in my 50’s. The spectre of 60 looms ahead ominously, like the Headless Horseman chasing down Ichabod Crane. By the way, Ichabod is a rather uncommon name these days.

·      Oswaldo Cabrera scored from second base on a sacrifice fly on Wednesday night. That has not been done by a Yankee in 24 years. Oddly, the last player to do it was that legendary speedster, Jorge Posada. In his case, the outfielder forgot how many outs there were and did not throw the ball back in. I think the best way to describe Oswaldo Cabrera is to say he is the anti-Gleyber Torres. He plays hard, he hustles, he is enthusiastic. He will do anything he is asked to do. He is not prone to defensive lapses, daydreaming, or sulking. I am tired of reading and hearing about what Gleyber Torres might do.  We have already seen what he has done, which is not much. He leads the league in errors by a second baseman. He has been benched twice for failing to hustle. He has had defensive and base running lapses regularly and has sulked. There are forty games left. He has cost the Yankees more games than he has won, and he could quite easily make a crucial mistake of some kind in a playoff game due to lack of concentration or effort. At this point, I would sit him on the bench and play Cabrera at second or third every day. Cabrera is hitting for a higher average than Torres and has only two fewer home runs and ten fewer RBI in significantly fewer at bats. More importantly, playing Cabrera over Torres would emphasize effort and desire over potential that has never been realized.

·      Since the Yankees are auditioning people to team up with Suzyn Waldman on the radio broadcast, I have a suggestion. I think Meredith Marakovits would be an excellent choice. She has done a wonderful job on the YES network for years and has a very good relationship with Suzyn. One of my friends, who will remain nameless to protect him from a tarring and feathering, scoffed at my idea and said that the Yankees would never put two women in the broadcast booth. He then went off to prepare his horse and buggy for a visit to town to protest the 19th Amendment. The same fellow thinks that any type of bagel other than plain is heresy. Old fashioned and out-of-date thinking notwithstanding, I think Meredith Marakovits would be a great choice. She is definitely more worthy of consideration than Craig Carton. Besides, Suzyn Waldman was the first female full-time color commentator for a Major League Baseball team and the Yankees hired the first female to be a minor league manager. Why not try Meredith Marakovits in the booth with Suzyn?

·      I have heard for quite a while about how Trent Grisham is really coming on offensively. He has been playing a lot more often and many folks have talked about how he would flourish with such an opportunity. I just looked at his statistics. He is still batting .192 for the season. I doubt he will ever get above .200. He has seven home runs and 24 RBI. He is supposed to be a speedster, but he only has one stolen base. Austin Wells has one stolen base. And unlike Grisham, he has not been caught stealing this season. Grisham is a backup and nothing more. He should not play a significant role in the lineup down the stretch.

·      Some people collect things. It might be stamps, baseball cards, coins, or many other things. I collect hats, especially the flat cap or newsboy style. I have quite a few of them. I also collect knives, in particular, pocketknives with various types of decorative handles. I have not acquired one of those in quite some time but, I do like them. You do know who the most famous knife collector in history was? Julius Caesar. He had 23 at the time of his passing.

·      Now that Oswald Peraza is up on the team, he should play. As I suggested above, Oswaldo Cabrera could play either third base or second base and Peraza could play the other one. For all the hullabaloo about the rejuvenation of DJ LeMahieu, he is still batting .198 with two home runs. He is no longer the two-time batting champion. Well, he is, but he's not about to become the three-time batting champion.

·      I recently watched House of the Dragon on Max. Prior to that; I watched Game of Thrones. I enjoyed both of those shows very much but preferred Game of Thrones. I came to the realization that if I were a character on either of those shows, I would have to be the king. Due to my severe arthritis, I could never bend the knee.

·      As soon as Jasson Dominguez finishes knocking the rust off, he should be brought up to the Major Leagues. At this point, he would be an upgrade over Alex Verdugo and could play centerfield regularly. It is interesting that in Wednesday night's game, Caleb Durbin, who is back from his injury, played leftfield for Scranton Wilkes Barre. He could come up as a utility player before the end of the season.

·      Today is my son Jack’s birthday.   My younger son, Oliver, had his birthday two weeks ago, but I did not write an article that day. I'm a very lucky man to have two such wonderful young men as my sons. They make me proud every day in multiple ways. I wanted to take a moment to wish them both a happy birthday.