I don't deny the streak, I deny its significance re: MVP voting. The Indians have been in first place for months. If this was the 1914 Braves and they went on that tear, sure I can see that making a guy an MVP. But it was a first place team.

I think the vote will be Altuve, Judge and Ramirez.

This thread needs more cards :) In the tradition of, "take your daughter to work day," I swung by the bank and took some cards to the office. Soon we will all be watching the game together.

+1, or Alteuve, Ramirez and Judge. Truly remarkable season for Judge--with his first half reminding me of Mantle in 1961 (check their first half stats on baseballreference.com)--and a really classy young man, but he all but vanished for a lengthy and potentially critical time.

Best wishes,

Larry

In my morning procrastinations and sports reading/viewing, I found this graphic really interesting. Did not know this:

Man yankees are really loaded with sluggers...people forget Greg Bird before he was injured....he now has 3 homers in 3 straight days...

Judge has 51 homers.. almost getting to a point of 1 homer per every 3 games... Plus hitting over .280....he not dave kingman...hes got 21 homers since the all star break in about 234 at bats....you expecting to have 30 homers to avoid any stigma?.

no way 10 years from now anyone is going to say he had a bad month or 2 etc...they will just see the 51+ homers and a solid 1h and 2h of the year.

Mcgwire hit .212 in 99 ab bats in 1987 with 3 home runs in the month of August..anyone ever care about that...he hit 49 home runs......in july august and september he hit a total of 21 home runs...

I don't know if Judge is the MVP, but I don't think the slump takes anything away from his season either. I mean, if he played well during the slump and ended the season with the same numbers, is he the MVP? He's still managed to hit 51 homers and nearly lead the league is most offensive categories.

aaaaaaand...judge's BA is creeping back up towards .300. To me...he could easily be mvp.

I actually hadn't looked at his complete stat line in some days. Wow. Let alone for a rookie.

another home run...and kept yankees with 2 games left a chance still to win the division..... I mean stanton's the MVP of national league if the marlins made the playoffs.......if Judge gets to 54 homers? plus its not like he is hitting .260...

no the red sox cinched the division today.

right they clinched with 1 game left..

I fear they will repeat last year and go quietly in the first series.

If you are referring to the Red Sox I sure hope so!🤑

Interesting, Pete. I fear they won't repeat and will not go quietly in the first round--go VERLANDER!

Highest regards,

Larry

He might well be, Pete. Was just my personal opinion, based on the anguish of watching every Yankee game that was telecast in my area while he was as helpless as a newborn babe, that sparked my comment. In addition, I don't think there is any question that but for his invisible streak, the Yanks could have beaten Boston out for the division lead and avoided the huge one and out risk they now face--any team can win a single game against any other team.

Best wishes,

Larry

The Yankees did a lot better than most people expected before the season started. Judge was instrumental to their success. I doubt anyone on the team feels he cost them the division title as they realize they wouldn't even have been in the race without him.

I agree it is going to be one nerve-wracking game. Yet as a Yankee fan, I hold the likes of Betances and Chapman much more responsible than Judge; those two conspired to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory a few times this year. And one is paid an enormous sum, supposed to be a premiere closer; the other was an All-Star with similarly high expectations. Both of them also have rather bad, pouty attitudes. In contrast Judge was an overachieving rookie, from whom I hoped in spring to see .250 with maybe 30HR.

* Sonny Gray/Sanchez/Holder/Girardi also teamed up the other day to really wet the bed, in what turned out to be a very important game. That one stung to watch!

I agree. Heck, Judge was either rookie and/or player of the month in April, May, June, and September. You can't be switched on all of the time. Posted a graphic earlier in this thread that shows even MVP-caliber seasons include slumps.

No one on that team is holding Judge responsible for them having to play in a wild card game. By all accounts he's loved by his teammates.

Any time a team falls short there is plenty of blame to go around. I like the Yankees at home with Severino.

I hope NY wins the WC game but I hope the Indians go all the way.

Dodgers will take it.

Well said, Pete.

The bullpen blew over 20 games. The Yankees not winning the division has very little to do with judge slumping after the break

Nice

I would also like to see how many games Sanchez lost for us by letting balls get by him. I can think of at least 2 games they lost because of a passed ball.

Mike

Saw Judge in an interview during Monday Night Football last night at halftime.

He was wearing a thumbs down shirt.

I haven't seen it mentioned on Net54, but isn't the Mets fan who inspired that for the Yankees, also a regular poster here on Net54?

:D

Gary Dunaier

That's great. Thank you Gary for that.

Mike

so Judge took care of business on the 'didnt win the division' argument....homering in the wildcard among other things in that game to get them to next round

what more can you ask from this guy with his 50+ homers etc......stop the haters ..and yet will still hear 'but he slumped'!!!'

What a game! I'm glad Severino will get another shot to make up for his effort. I was worried the Yankees would lose and he'd carry something like that into next season.

he will still carry it over unless makes up for it later.

Thats about the worst pitching performance you can have, especially for a 1 and done situation....Kershaw gets it bad when he gives up 3 runs in 6 innings in a game 4 situation... (1 or 2 of the runs unearned) ..imagine if that happened to him...he would never live it down even if won 9 cy youngs

That image of Judge rounding first after the homerun, nothing but sheer childlike joy. What fun to watch.

After the historic rookie season he put together, only one curiosity remained: could he step up to the ultimate proving grounds of Yankee Stadium in October? He answered that in his first playoff game, with a resounding yes.

Yanks are playing with house money this season, so if this enthusiastic young group can scrap out a couple wins and make it competitive versus the reigning AL champs, that would be cool.

I hope to see Severino rebound in the DS; if he settles his nerves and trusts his talent he will be ok. I can only imagine what it's like to be on a stage like the playoffs, let alone at Yankee stadium— which dovetails with a big round of applause for the likes of Chad Green and D-Rob, who performed under enormous pressure.

Bad inning. I wouldn't make too much of it really, certainly not yet.

Less than one inning

I have no doubt Sevy will rebound in the ALDS. Has Girardi announced the rotation? You have to believe Sonny Gray gets the ball for game one. After? I would think Tanaka and CC gets starts. I believe CC deserves a start in the ALDS after the season he had. Would love to see CC return next year on a Pettitte like one year contract, but there may not be a spot for him, especially if the Yankees are going to give Chance Adams a chance (no pun intended) to win a rotation spot out of spring training. You would think Tanaka doesn't opt out after the season he's had, so that would be Sevy, Tanaka, Gray & Montgomery for 4 spots, unless Monty, Cessa & Adams compete against each other.

Judge has the ROTY locked up, in my opinon. Will get some votes for MVP, but I think Altuve will get that award. There are a ton of Facebook haters who mock the strikeouts. Met fans believe Conforto is the better player to boot. Not sure about that one.

Mike

Count me out on CC. This was his last hurrah. It was the best he's capable of pitching and I didn't see anything this year that suggested he would be able to replicate it one more time. In my opinion it would be a mistake to sign him.

I had a great time watching that game. What a playoff debut for Judge. It doesn't get much better than that. The Indians will be tough but I'm looking forward to seeing how Judge and the rest of the Yankees do. I think they have a chance to pull off the upset.

That was a fantastic game. I was standing up the whole time. The bullpen was amazing.

When your leadoff hitter is hitting them out, you know it is a dangerous lineup.
I love CC, but I think his knee isn't going to give him any more than this season.

I cannot wait for the Cleveland series. I think it is going to be a dogfight.
I hope Judge crushes a few more.

The Yankees scare me. They looked really good/confident last night and that will carry over when they play the Indians.

I also believe it is going to be a battle.

Go Indians! :)

You certainly have to give the edge on paper to Cleveland with their pitching but it's a short baseball series so who knows.

I think any Yankees or Sox fans gotta root for a Yanks-Sox ALCS.

NO Yankees fan would ever root for anything else but a Red Sox loss. Great day to watch baseball 4 games all meaningful.. Go Yankees.. is Gary Sanchez going to spend his career in the shadow of Judge.?..hope not

The Encarnacion injury did not look good at all! :eek:

Huge loss for Cleveland, which is going to hurt! :(

That looked like it really hurt, especially the slow motion replays. Hope it is nothing serious.

GO Yankees, you need 3 in a row now.

It looked like a season ending injury to me, but we'll see?

Unbelievable comeback by the Indians. Girardi will forever be remembered for not calling a review of the hit batsman if they lose these series. GS from Lindor right after and it was definitely a game changer.

The Yankees are more than capable of coming back from 2 games down but they are definitely in tough.

Houston looks unstoppable. Boston is done, imo, barring any miracle.

I loved Girardi's answer to why he did not call for review. " AS a catcher I did not want to break the pitchers rhythm" bases loaded last guy from hit batter and he did not want to break that rhythm. And it hurt twice as bad when Hargrove won his challenge at second base later...
All baseball fans live with Heartbreak and Glory. 1960 Game 7 , 2001 game 7, 2004...well. But 27 World series Championships Bucky Dent, Aaron Boone. Balance that. And this new group I am sure will keep us on the edge of our seats for the next decade.

Someone (I forget who) once said, "It ain't over 'till it's over." :D

That jersey is AWESOME.

Thanks Sean got it from a Steiner Auction when he was on DL 80% discount from what Steiner sells it for now.

another big hit for judge.

was 0-11 before that for the series but hardly anyone ever on base for those at bats..

can we all agree that just a few hits make up for tons of bad at bats....its clear he wins a star amount of games for you

Trevor Baur already out of the game gives up 4 runs...not not 6 innings later when up 7......but in second inning when it was 0-0..theres a difference..

(yes no runs earned but whip of over 5.00)

Bad is Good and Good is Bad???
 

I'm just plain confused by your arguments Jake,

Post season Kershaw tosses four gopher balls in his start and you support him
and your big stick Judge strikes out 9 times in his first 15 hitless at bats, including 4 walks,
and you support him when he finally makes contact.

Pray tell, what argument would you use if
Kershaw struck out 9 of the first 15 batters he faced and
Judge hit 4 home runs in the first three games of the Cleveland series?

I can't imagine.:eek:

I know Judge has been getting caught looking but in my opinion the umpire crew for the Yankees / Indians series is one of the worst I've ever seen. They'll call anything a strike. The extra innings game was like watching a little league game where the ump just wants to go home.

Also Judge has rarely been at bat when runners have been on base. He also has made a big defensive play in the series. 4 walks are just as good as a hit with nobody on base. You can definitely make up several 0-fers with a good game. Being a huge part in winning one game in a 5 game playoff series as a position player is what a star does. Yea to win 2-3 games as position player is better but just winning one is huge.

As to Kershaw. again, 6.1 innings and 4 earned is still decent when your team is up 7... one better start on his next start, his 'stats' will be fine...... he hasnt lost any games for the dodgers

severino was horrid in a game which normally loses the game for the yankees and won a game....im sure his total stats are great but he has pitched no better than kershaw for example

Livan Hernandez won MVP with just two wins in a 7 game series and his stats were worse than Kershaw's one lone start this year....the dodgers again are into the next round so the narrative can easily change by season end...lets wait till the series is over before going on one start that wasnt bad considering the average starting pitcher start in this years playoffs has got to be under 4 innings..

Attended games 3 and 4. What an atmosphere.

Judge’s Game 3 catch was beyond clutch— saved the season.

And working an 0-2 count to 3-2 and then delivering the two-out knockout blow to Bauer was huge; if Bauer escapes that and goes on to settle down, who knows what happens. Getting Bauer out that early was key.

Nice, I was at game 3 too. It was the first time I'd been to a playoff game at the new stadium. The crowd went nuts when Bird hit that homer, but you really do notice the small things sometimes. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but that old stadium used to really move when people got excited. The entire stadium shook. The new one is just not the same.

Was at the game, last night, game 4. It was rocking last night!

Definitely an electric playoff atmosphere, great game!

Maybe a little less noise being a low scoring game possibly?

Also, it is true that the seats are further back in new stadium, and is more open to walk around, so different acoustics, probably doesn't get as loud in new stadium.

Last night was loud though!

Best part of that catch was keeping the ball out of Zack Hample's glove.

Mike

Not a great statistical series for Judge, but he came up big in a couple of important spots and they got the win. An impressive performance by the Yankees. Looking forward to seeing how they do against the Astros.

16 strikeouts in 20 ABs in the ALDS. That is amazing. In his last AB, he had 2 strikes and barely hit it 40 feet. And yet the Yanks still won the series. :eek:

And he was only instrumental in 2 victories in a best of 5 ...amazing his team won a best of 5!


Striking out with nobody on base with 2 out isnt such a big deal......better than hitting the first pitch and making an out.....

It will be quite interesting to see how he does next year.

Regards,

Larry

And he cost his team a game by not hitting the cut off man.

Get real. Gary could also just have caught that and put the tag on. If you’re trying to hang that loss on Judge you have an agenda.

Can't hang that loss on Judge. The whole team looked like it was going out of the way to lose both games. It has been really hard to watch.:(

correct. We will see what happens in game 3.

If New York doesn’t win a couple of more games, Alfonso Soriano’s record of 26 post-season strikeouts may not be in jeopardy after all.;):eek:

HaHa, I loved Soriano and was even a little upset when the Yankees traded him for A-Rod, but yeah, he was not a very good high leverage situation playoff hitter.

At least Judge makes the pitchers work the count. Soriano would just swing at 3 pitches in the dirt and walk back to the bench. If he even made contact it was because the pitcher made a mistake, or they hadn't quite figured out yet that they didn't actually have to pitch to him, to get him out.

..........and is it just me, or has Judge's strike zone been huuuuuuge, during the Playoffs..........I mean much bigger then normal?

Even if he's not hitting the ball, I feel like he should have at least a half dozen more walks then he does.

However, in 2003 in addition to 26 Ks, Alfonso had 16 hits (in 71 ABs) and had 9 RBIs.

You may have hit upon the answer to the following questions.

Why did Wilt Chamberlain not excel in baseball? :D

How long a bat would Manute Bol need to hit the curve ball? :eek:

It is the whole Yankee team. The Astro pitchers are getting a ton of low and outside pitches called as strikes. It is almost like Greg Maddox with his insanely huge strike zone is still pitching.

The officiating during the Cleveland series was some of the worst I've ever seen. They were calling anything close a strike, like it was a 4 hour little league game or something. It must all be extremely frustrating for Judge because he's worked so hard to lay off the outside pitch and then has to watch it get called for a strike day in, day out. A lot of his K's have been looking.

Absolutely, I hate to try an make excuses but they've been calling balls bellow his knees as strikes all postseason.

He's getting penalized for being a large human. His knees start higher up!

I dunno if I should grade these 2 cards that I have of his that are numbered to 50. Or just keep them?

Yea I noticed a pretty liberal strike zone in the games I saw. At least the umps were consistent calling anything within a few inches a strike for both teams. Nice to see Judge and the Yankees getting back on track tonight. Another comeback would be great to see.

Judge also coming through with men on base.... knocking in multiple RBIs in meaningful situations with 2 outs...really cancels out ks with nobody on base

zero left on base when Judge made outs in game 3... and another walk

He's the greatest - no doubt.

he is the worst....easy to hit 50+ homers... of course next 0-4, hes even lower than the worst..