twilightdawning

A writer's thoughts – mainly about music, sport and theatre. Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, live shows, New York Yankees

Talkin’ Baseball

Posted on June 2, 2008 by twilightdawning

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – May

Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG OBP
Matsui, Hideki 100 21 35 13 7 0 2 10 12 0 0 0 .350 .480 .409
Betemit, Wilson 21 3 7 2 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 .333 .571 .333
Abreu, Bobby 100 17 33 20 8 2 4 13 21 0 0 4 .330 .570 .407
Giambi, Jason 73 12 23 14 6 0 6 13 14 0 1 0 .315 .644 .446
Damon, Johnny 98 15 30 13 6 0 3 5 11 0 0 4 .306 .459 .340
Cano, Robinson 95 13 28 12 7 0 2 5 6 0 1 1 .295 .432 .333
Rodriguez, Alex 41 7 12 10 4 0 3 7 8 0 0 5 .293 .610 .408
Jeter, Derek 103 18 27 11 4 1 2 9 17 0 1 4 .262 .379 .336
Cabrera, Melky 94 4 22 12 5 0 1 4 10 1 1 0 .234 .319 .270
Molina, Jose 58 5 12 4 4 0 0 2 12 3 1 0 .207 .276 .230
Moeller, Chad 32 2 6 5 0 0 0 3 8 0 0 0 .188 .188 .278
Duncan, Shelley 43 4 7 6 1 0 1 3 11 0 1 0 .163 .256 .213
Ensberg, Morgan 31 2 5 1 0 0 0 4 10 0 0 1 .161 .161 .257
Gonzalez, Alberto 20 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 .150 .150 .190

New York Yankees - Batting - Season to date

Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SB BA SLG OBP
Matsui, Hideki 190 31 64 26 12 0 6 23 22 0 .337 .495 .417
Posada, Jorge 63 8 19 11 6 1 1 3 11 0 .302 .476 .333
Abreu, Bobby 208 29 62 36 12 3 7 21 45 5 .298 .486 .362
Damon, Johnny 196 34 57 25 16 1 6 23 29 8 .291 .474 .364
Rodriguez, Alex 132 21 38 21 11 0 7 13 27 6 .288 .530 .365
Jeter, Derek 197 27 53 25 7 3 2 11 24 4 .269 .365 .321
Cabrera, Melky 181 19 48 24 7 0 6 15 24 3 .265 .403 .320
Betemit, Wilson 34 3 9 3 2 0 1 0 9 1 .265 .412 .286
Moeller, Chad 52 7 13 7 2 0 1 6 12 0 .250 .346 .339
Giambi, Jason 146 25 35 27 9 0 11 28 25 1 .240 .527 .380
Cano, Robinson 201 19 44 19 10 0 4 12 20 1 .219 .328 .269
Molina, Jose 110 9 24 6 11 0 0 2 17 0 .218 .318 .230
Gonzalez, Alberto 42 4 9 1 2 0 0 4 7 0 .214 .262 .283
Ensberg, Morgan 74 6 15 4 0 0 1 6 22 1 .203 .243 .263
Duncan, Shelley 56 7 9 6 2 0 1 7 13 0 .161 .250 .250
Stewart, Chris 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .000 .000

So as May comes to an end, time for another look at how the New York

Yankees are doing so far.

Pluses

Hideki Matsui. Hugely consistent season for Matsui so far. The whisper

before the season was that perhaps he was a year too old. He's

disproved that point of view. He could do with hitting for a little

more power but that aside it's hard to fault him.

Bobby Abreu. .330 for the month has raised his season average to .298.

4 home runs on the month and .570 slugging percentage and he's been

there in the clutch, picking up some vital hits

Jason Giambi. .315 in May and 6 home runs to bring him to 11 so far.

I'm surprised but he seems to finally pulling his weight. Performance

in the field has also been more than you'd expect.

Minuses

Jose Molina. Filling in for the injured Posada, Molina who had previously

been solid has been only .207 on the month and there has been little to

choose between him and Moeller defensively, leading him to be used only

2 days out of 3. It will good to see Jorge back and lift the weight off

Molina because he's not handling it.

Melky Cabrera. .270 OBP in May and a poor batting performance and

little power has undone the great April he had. Time for him to bounce

back and show his mettle.

Morgan Ensberg. Morgan reverted to type in May with little at the plate

and even losing his previous patience which used to guarantee him

plenty of walks. He was released on the 1st of June but we have little

infield depth with or without him.

Surprises

Wilson Betemit. Preferred to Alberto Gonzalez when he recovered from

injury. Gonzalez caught the bus back to Scranton. Betemit has been

useful at 1b as well at 3rd and has a good average on the month. Maybe

more players should go to the opticians.

Derek Jeter. Hasn't recovered from being hit by pitch earlier in the

month. Yankees need him to improve if they are to close the gap on

Tampa and Boston

Shelley Duncan. Just surprising that he's still around. Last season's

power promise has disappeared and there doesn't seem to be anything

else to offer.

Designated for assignment

Posted on June 1, 2008 by twilightdawning

In April, I said:

“Morgan Ensberg (11). Another surprise name. And another journeyman who is unlikely to be in the post-season in 2008 whether the Yankees make it there or not. Recently with the Astros and Padres, he is patient at the plate and will draw walks but it’s hard when that’s the best thing you can think to say about him.

Scott Patterson (no number allocated). A surprising exclusion. His time will come.”

Today, the Yankees released Ensberg and called up Patterson who is actually pitching against Minnesota at this moment, as I write. I am therefore officially clever and I should be transported to Yankee Stadium, by means of jaunting, as a reward.

Baseball update

Posted on May 23, 2008 by twilightdawning

The season so far has not been kind to the New York Yankees:

Team	W	L	PCT	GB
Boston	31	19	.620	–
Tampa Bay	27	20	.574	2.5
Baltimore	24	22	.522	5.0
Toronto	24	25	.490	6.5
NY Yankees	22	25	.468	7.5

It hasn’t been a case that other teams have performed better than expected. Tampa Bay aside, it has been a fairly predictable season so far. The Yankees are just simply not punching their weight. A lot has been said about their lack-lustre starting pitching and I will say more about that later in the week.
However, it needs also to be noted that their batting isn’t living upto its vaunted reputation. We noted before the season began that injuries to seasoned pros like Jorge Posada would have to be expected. Leaving those injuries also to one-side, we note that six of the fourteen offensive players that they have used in May are batting below .200.

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – May (Below .200 BA)

Name AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG
Duncan, Shelley 31 2 6 3 1 0 0 1 8 0 1 0 .194 .226
Cabrera, Melky 66 1 12 7 3 0 1 4 7 0 0 0 .182 .273
Moeller, Chad 22 1 4 2 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 .182 .182
Ensberg, Morgan 29 2 5 1 0 0 0 4 9 0 0 1 .172 .172
Molina, Jose 36 3 6 1 2 0 0 2 9 2 1 0 .167 .222
Gonzalez, Alberto 19 1 3 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 0 .158 .158

Of these only Cabrera would normally be considered a regular but two or three of these guys are having 
to be used in some combination every day of the week and it is quite simple to see that elevated from 
the bench they are not hitting well. Ensberg and Moeller have settled into the kind of form, with the bat, 
that has been the hallmark of their careers. Alberto Gonzalez was doing well until hastily sent back to 
Scranton and then recalled and then thrust into an uncertain role with the A-Rod injury. Duncan was a 
useful bat last season whilst he had power but this season he has no power, no nothing.

As Alex Rodriguez returns, it is obviously time to shake up the bench. Injuries are going to occur through
out the year with the battery and infield looking most vulnerable. There is not enough to rely upon here on 
current form.

Baseball – the story so far……

Posted on April 14, 2008 by twilightdawning

Well, the baseball season has begun and after thirteen games the New York Yankees lie bottom of their division. This is not as bad as it sounds. Just two days ago, we were pushing for the top slot but two consecutive defeats against Boston leaves us with a 6-7 record so far. So good points and bad points……?

Pluses

Chien-Ming Wang (p). 22 innings pitched. 3 wins – no losses. 1.23 ERA. 1 complete game. Wang continues to be our strongest starter which we have needed since the bats have been quiet. He’s worked his way out of a couple of difficult situations but it’s been smooth sailing the rest of the way.

Joba Chamberlain (rp). 4 appearances, 5.1 innings. No runs. It’s like last post-season never happened. He’s near untouchable once more.

Brian Bruney (rp). You’re always left wondering which Mr. Bruney will turn-up. So far, it is the guy who gets people out. He also gave us a surprise start. 7 innings. 2 hits. no runs.

Melky Cabrera (cf). Despite a two-day suspension, Cabrera continues to be wonderfully consistent when available. 2 home runs and a .290 BA

Minuses

Ian Kennedy (p). Was supposed to be better than this. 13.50 ERA gained in a game when we were very glad to still have Albaladejo around (see below).

Phil Hughes (p). Was supposed to be better than this. 9.00 ERA and still looking for his first win after 3 starts. The young pitchers are wobbling.

Kyle Farnsworth (rp) As predicted. At the moment, he’s eating up a few innings in games we were on the way to losing but he’s not delivered for too long and the change of manager hasn’t seen a change of performance.

LaTroy Hawkins (rp). Difficult start for Mr Hawkins but it is early days yet. 9.00 ERA in 6 appearances.

Jose Molina (c). Jose Molina became the surprise starting catcher when Posada continued to struggle with health difficulties but his strong performance was no surprise. Now he looks as though he is headed for the disabled list with ligament damage which leaves the catching spot looking barren unless Posada improves physically.

Derek Jeter (ss). Noticeable only by his absence through injury after a quiet first few days. We need him back and quickly.

Jason Giambi (dh / 1b) No surprises here. His first noticeable contribution was a fielding error. His .107 BA says it all.

Surprises

Billy Traber (rp). Also 4 appearances. 3.1 innings and no runs. I don’t how long this can last but our wouldbe left-hand specialist has already delivered more than I expected if he starts to lose it tomorrow.

Andy Pettitte (p). Came back from DL earlier than I’d expected. And settled into his normal role without much hesitation despite all the off-season problems. 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA isn’t world-beating but it is more than expected at this stage.

Jonathan Albaladejo (rp). One of the few on the opening day roster I wouldn’t have guessed. Made a strong early debut when Kennedy’s first start fell apart. And then he was gone….. back to Scranton (AAA).

Robinson Cano (2b). Cano had a strong spring but so far his bat hasn’t shown up since the start of the regular season. He’s usually so consistent too.

Alberto Gonzalez (ss). Shortstop looked set with Jeter installed and Betemit as occasional backup. Jeter’s injury meant we had to consider the options and Gonzalez was brought up from Scranton (AAA) as being defensively stronger than Betemit. His .385 average since arriving makes this all the better and all the more surprising. Makes Betemit’s future a little questionable.

Shelley Duncan (1b). I said there were question marks in the long term for this guy but nobody expected him to be off the 25-man roster within a week. Ensberg is delivering (surprise!) and Giambi is paid too much. It may mean that Duncan is the odd man out and not just in the short term.

Bob Dylan – The Curse of Celebrity and the Cross of Christ

Posted on December 26, 2003 by twilightdawning

(This was the original title. When it was published elsewhere, my editor chose to retitle the piece “Bob Dylan: The Spiritual Journey of a 20th Century Icon” which was not what I wanted AND rather seemed to miss my point)

When Leon Patillo was converted in the late seventies, the Christian music industry and its press was full of the news of the conversion of “Santana’s lead singer”. Those who are familiar with the music of Santana will know that the band revolves around and is named for its guitarist and has used a mammoth amount of vocalists over the last 30 years. But the facts don’t always get in the way of Christian reporting and a good story when it sees one.

Patillo may now only merit a footnote in the history of Contemporary Christian music but his launch into the Christian marketplace and its subculture was indicative of something that was going to happen time and time again in the late 70s and early 80s. The church had come to believe that celebrity converts in some ways added to the validity of the gospel. Perhaps if it waved the flag hard enough and high enough and showed that someone famous believed then those who didn’t would be persuaded by celebrity testimony.

Perhaps it was symptomatic of the times. It was the opening of an era in church life which was heavily influenced by the Vineyard fellowship, John Wimber and his teachings. The argument went something like this – if people see marvellous works of God then they would be persuaded of the validity of the gospel and accept Christ. Leaving aside troubling comments of Christ that suggested it was an adulterous generation that looked for a sign and that people would not be persuaded even if someone was raised from the dead, whatever the weaknesses of the theology and the theory of the church, the Vineyard movement would make a lasting impression on the church for the next two decades, until the passing of Wimber, its most persuasive advocate.

Which brings us to Bob Dylan. Not only was Dylan the height of the cult of the celebrity convert, his conversion occurred whilst he was under the auspices of the Vineyard movement. After his conversion, Dylan immediately began to record exclusively gospel songs and began to perform in concert in a way that was out of keeping with the first twenty years of his career. Someone who previously had needed to be encouraged to say “Thank You” between songs and who evaded questions presented by the press, now began to preach sermons about Armageddon and give interviews about his new found faith. Sometimes he was booed and heckled whilst on stage whilst others talked about it all being “a phase”. In 1982, he reverted to type refusing to talk about much of anything once more. He left Vineyard, began to study Scripture, occasionally with the Jewish Lubavitch sect, and declined to host a gospel music awards show. The church that had a use for Dylan’s celebrity now had no use for him. His 1983 album “Infidels” was searched by the Christian press for the expected disowning of the Christian faith and when none came the religious press paid less and less attention to each subsequent Dylan album. The Dylan Christian era was over, it seemed.

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