The Press on Steroids

A Rod  suspended for a season, a $25 million fine for trying to cheat at baseball, except that it probably is not possible to cheat at baseball and he was not trying to cheat.   Cheating at baseball is when the hitter says  put the ball right down the middle, and the pitcher does it, and watches the ball sail over the fence.  I once saw that happen in a major league game.

ARod and the lying phoney at the BioGenesis Clinic was not trying to cheat, the clinic guy was a cheat, liar and a cheat, but ARod was trying to heal his body.  His hips were degenerating and apparently he was in a lot of pain besides  being a terrible performance.

The intent-- the essence of the offense- was not there, the intent was to heal.  This is the fallacy of the press on steroids, no facts and lots of bullshit.

I don't think there is a pill or needle that gives one the ability to make square contact with a round bat and round ball. By its conduct, the press says there is and that too is bullshit. Unfortunately, our children read the stuff the press puts out, they believe a pill can make the great, so the go out and find illegal drugs to enhance performance.  There is no such thing, the drugs ultimately destroy bodies and minds, not enhancing them in any meaningful way-- I mean a high protein diet builds muscle about as fast as it can be built- we should be promoting that and putting people like Anthony Bosch behind bars.  Instead, we make millions wring stories that seduce innocent children into a sometimes fatal fantasy- performance enhancement is a myth.

People in South America used to chew coca leaves so they could walk all day in the high altitudes of the Andes, or make war with greater more mindless fury. So that would enhance something, but after a while it would only make you not feel sick, you become addicted and the thrills are long gone. Steroids are worse, you become addicted and your body begins to fail, organs, tendons, many parts become poisoned- this is what we are telling our young people, these poisons can make you hit a ball farther-- the real message, these poisons can kill you.
The real tragedy is the press on steroids and the poisoning of our youth...

Yankees Off Season and 2014 early view

The Yankees are in the AL East which has two of the top teams in the league in Boston and Tampa Bay. Both have excellent pitching talent and enough offense to match their ability to avoid opponent's scoring. Playing either team, when innings are set up for scoring, i.e. 1st and 3rd with no one out, and one base hit would set the evolving door in motion, one can watch how seldom that happens.  Between sound defense, strikeouts, pop-fly outs, double play grounders that freeze the runner at 3rd, the expected becomes a wasted opportunity.
Detroit has the same capacity in the Central, and last season KC and Cleveland joined the party as opportunistic teams on offense and defense.  Chicago notably was a poor defender. The West lacks some of that with LA Angels, Seattle and Houston, while Oakland excelled at it, scoring in the opportunity zones and shutting down opponent opportunities.

Cash in on the Chances
The Yankees will try to be more like that in 2014.  They will probably not have the excess of offense they have enjoyed in some recent seasons with hitters like Chavez and Ibanez off the bench. They have lost the best left handed hitter on the team in Cano.  They Yankees have added hitters who seem to thrive in clutch situations, in other words, hitters that hit in opportunity situations: Beltran, Roberts and McCann each fit that model

Relentless.
The heart of the order will be  in 1-6- Ellsbury, Jeter, Beltran, Teixera, Soriano, and McCann.  This group will not have the sheer talent to hit the great players on their great days ( Guys like David Price, Max Scherzer, King Felix will dominate this lineup) but they can wear down any starter by running up a pitch count to find a softer target out of the bullpen.
The key for the Yanks will be middle relief. They need 5-6 quality innings from the starters to stay in the game and then in the 7th-8th  they have to hold better than the opponent, this is the key to the season given the offense potential. The Yankees have some great arms in the system Jose Campos and Preston Claiborne, Cesar Cabral wil be viewed as contributors for the upcoming season, along with Phelps- the Long reliever.. Shawn Kelly and the newly acquired Thornton wil be the late inning mix and match combo- in Girardi's style they will get two outs each as the bridge to the closer which for a contender will not be the 8th inning excellent of Robertson- but someone else- maybe a Grant Balfour .

Tanaka is a key- 
Another dominant starter goes a long way to making a series favorable- no matter the opponent. If the Yankees can go into a big series with Tanaka, CC, and Kuroda they will have a chance to succeed against any team in the league. This year the Yankees can reap a harvest from the ashes of last season where so many young untried pitchers got a chance to perform for the team.  Vidal Nunno and Dellin Betances are two high potential arms.