Let's be honest, AJ Burnett's tenyer in pinstripes have been less than a romance. Through the highs and the lows he has left Yankee fans hoping there is an express exit off of this ride. And tonight he will start game 4 of the ALDS, an elimination game for the Yankees...
(Oh boy...)
I want him to go out there and pitch a gem, I really do. I want the bats to come alive, I really do. I want the Yankees to win, I really do. But I don't want public opinion on AJ to change if he pitches well tonight, I really don't.
All too often in sports the perception of an athlete can change from one week to the next based on performance in big spots. (i.e. Tony Romo) This really bothers me. And to be honest, frightens me. If AJ Burnett throws a great game tonight and saves the Yankees season there is a legitimate chance he will become the darling of Yankee fans. If this happens, although I will be happy for both him and the Yankees, it will make me sick. He has done nothing but prove to the team and fans that he doesn't have what it takes to be an effective, consistent MLB starter.
So let me make this short and sweet.
Fellow Yankee fans, let us come together in hope that Burnett can save the season for the bombers tonight. BUT! I implore you to not become prisoners of the moment! Don't fall for his flirtations with success. No matter what the result tonight may be, keep your current opinions of AJ and don't fall for the same crush we've been battling with for years now. Yankee fans, join me in hoping AJ is a solid contributor in the immediate future but is NOT part of the not so immediate future. Yankee fans, join me in avoiding the AJ 180. Yankee fans, join me in rational thought!
Class Dismissed,
Student of Sports
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Showing posts with label AJ Burnett. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AJ Burnett. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
AJ and the Goldfish
I wasn't anticipating writing this post today because I intend on doing an NFL preview tomorrow but something has been nagging at me that I just have to let out...
AJ BURNETT DOES NOT HAVE THE TOOLS TO BE A SUCCESSFUL MLB PITCHER!!!!!!!!
Ohhhhhhhhhhh yeah.. that felt good. The proverbial rock has been lifted off of my shoulders. I feel like I could run a marathon, climb a mountain, I'M AS FREE AS A BIRD!
Geez, these last couple posts have certainly brought ouy my sarcastically enthusiastic side..
But seriously, I am so sick and tired listening to and reading what people say about AJ Burnett. We all now that in terms of stuff, he is very talented. But since when in sports has physical ability alone been all you need? If somebody born with all the physical tools to be a great player was automatically supposed to be the best player, why isn't Vince Carter one of the best players in basketball? Why was Jamarcus Russell such a ginormous failure? Do you want to know why? They only have half the tools. Because they lack what makes guys like Tom Brady and Derek Jeter great. Mental toughness.
Do you know who knew this better than anyone? Earl Woods. He made sure that there would be nobody mentally tougher than his son, Eldrick. (aka Tiger for those of you who haven't figured this out yet.) Unfortunately for Tiger, he discovered that just like physical ability, you can injure your mental toughness. But, like him or not, in his prime Tiger Woods was the perfect example of mental toughness.
And that brings us to AJ.. Who, by my guess, has about as much mental toughness of a goldfish (I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to the goldfish community), only has half of the tools. Not all the tools, half the tools. And with only half the tools you need to be a successful Major League Baseball pitcher, how good is his potential really? It seems to me like his potential is about a 13-11 season with an era around 4. (His average season according to Baseball-Reference) And if that's what his true potential is than there is no point in us, as fans, to expect anything more out of him.
Mental toughness doesn't seem to be something you just pick up like a new pitch one off-season, this is something you're born with or develop shortly after birth. You either got it or you don't, and for our poor AJ.. He don't. When I look at AJ Burnett I don't see an insanely gifted pitcher who is just not putting all the pieces together, I see a pitcher with good physical ability but will just never be good enough mentally to be a front end starter. I see a run of the mill, 4th or 5th starter.
Do you know why I'm confident that I'm correct? Confident AJ has hit his peak as a starter? The guy has been a .500 starter his entire career with an era under 4 only 5 times in a 13 year career! He's only had one good season.. Only one year where you can say he was definitely better than that 13-11 4.00 stat line I threw at you before. Plain and simple, AJ Burnett is just not that good. He doesn't have all the tools and the worst part is that, due to age, he's beginning to lose the only tools he used to have.
It's sad actually that such enormous expectation have been put on somebody with no chance of fulfilling them. He was set up to fail.
So as a Yankee fan I have a bit of advice for my fellow members of Yankee Universe. Next time AJ Burnett makes a start put the aspirin, stress ball, bottle of scotch, and pistol away and just accept him for what it is. Stop setting yourself up for disappointment and stop setting him up to disappoint. Face the facts, he's just not that good and never will be.
Class Dismissed,
Student of Sports
SoS
AJ BURNETT DOES NOT HAVE THE TOOLS TO BE A SUCCESSFUL MLB PITCHER!!!!!!!!
Ohhhhhhhhhhh yeah.. that felt good. The proverbial rock has been lifted off of my shoulders. I feel like I could run a marathon, climb a mountain, I'M AS FREE AS A BIRD!
Geez, these last couple posts have certainly brought ouy my sarcastically enthusiastic side..
But seriously, I am so sick and tired listening to and reading what people say about AJ Burnett. We all now that in terms of stuff, he is very talented. But since when in sports has physical ability alone been all you need? If somebody born with all the physical tools to be a great player was automatically supposed to be the best player, why isn't Vince Carter one of the best players in basketball? Why was Jamarcus Russell such a ginormous failure? Do you want to know why? They only have half the tools. Because they lack what makes guys like Tom Brady and Derek Jeter great. Mental toughness.
Do you know who knew this better than anyone? Earl Woods. He made sure that there would be nobody mentally tougher than his son, Eldrick. (aka Tiger for those of you who haven't figured this out yet.) Unfortunately for Tiger, he discovered that just like physical ability, you can injure your mental toughness. But, like him or not, in his prime Tiger Woods was the perfect example of mental toughness.
And that brings us to AJ.. Who, by my guess, has about as much mental toughness of a goldfish (I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to the goldfish community), only has half of the tools. Not all the tools, half the tools. And with only half the tools you need to be a successful Major League Baseball pitcher, how good is his potential really? It seems to me like his potential is about a 13-11 season with an era around 4. (His average season according to Baseball-Reference) And if that's what his true potential is than there is no point in us, as fans, to expect anything more out of him.
Mental toughness doesn't seem to be something you just pick up like a new pitch one off-season, this is something you're born with or develop shortly after birth. You either got it or you don't, and for our poor AJ.. He don't. When I look at AJ Burnett I don't see an insanely gifted pitcher who is just not putting all the pieces together, I see a pitcher with good physical ability but will just never be good enough mentally to be a front end starter. I see a run of the mill, 4th or 5th starter.
Do you know why I'm confident that I'm correct? Confident AJ has hit his peak as a starter? The guy has been a .500 starter his entire career with an era under 4 only 5 times in a 13 year career! He's only had one good season.. Only one year where you can say he was definitely better than that 13-11 4.00 stat line I threw at you before. Plain and simple, AJ Burnett is just not that good. He doesn't have all the tools and the worst part is that, due to age, he's beginning to lose the only tools he used to have.
It's sad actually that such enormous expectation have been put on somebody with no chance of fulfilling them. He was set up to fail.
So as a Yankee fan I have a bit of advice for my fellow members of Yankee Universe. Next time AJ Burnett makes a start put the aspirin, stress ball, bottle of scotch, and pistol away and just accept him for what it is. Stop setting yourself up for disappointment and stop setting him up to disappoint. Face the facts, he's just not that good and never will be.
Class Dismissed,
Student of Sports
SoS
Monday, August 1, 2011
An Inconvenient Truth About the 2011 New York Yankees
And I promise, there will be no Al Gore..
Well I hope you all have been enjoying your summers because one aspect of mine is pretty sucky. One of the things I looked forward to about this summer would be watching the Yankees as they marched their way into the playoffs, and hopefully World Series. Half of that does indeed look inevitable, they WILL make the playoffs. Albeit it might be from the wild card, but I actually kinda anticipated that...
This is the link to my MLB preview blog before the season where I predict the Yankees falling short to the BoSox in the division but eventually winning the World Series. SoS MLB Preview
Now if you read that over you'll see a lot of what I predicted seems to be in play. (Still waiting on the Twins to make that come back..) But unfortunately I'm beginning to feel less and less confident in my Yanks World Series pick. I was certain, I mean CERTAIN, that they would make some kind of move at the deadline, and they didn't. I couldn't fathom when last Sunday came and went and the Bombers remained dormant. Every second that passed made it more and more clear that I would need to come to terms with the fact that after CC the Yankees looked poised to through out AJ Burnett, Phil Hughes, and pick your poison with Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon. Don't get me wrong, Garcia and Colon have been sensational this year, 1,000% more than what the Yanks could have asked them for. But if you expect me to sit here and tell you that they are going to hold up through the entire season, you're sadly mistaken. Freddy Garcia gets by on what might just be the worst 'stuff' in all of baseball and would get clobbered against team like Boston or Texas. And then we have our good buddy Bartolo, not exactly a body type built for a marathon if you know what I mean.. And because of severe hazards to my health as a Yankee fan I'm going to refrain from talking about Burnett or Hughes. Oh gosh... the headache is starting already.. And let me say I actually like Ivan Nova, but I like him as that guy who people debate as to whether he should get a post season start or not, not the guy who will probably need to pitch significant innings in October.
One thing I need to point out is that Cashman didn't have many options in terms of picking up an arm. I wasn't huge on Ubaldo so I wouldn't break the bank for him, but I'd be willing to take a chance with a guy like Wandy or Bedard. And I don't want to hear anybody complain about taking chances on guys like that who might not pan out because there's one thing everyone needs to remember, WE ARE THE YANKEES. We can make moves that might not work out and it won't hurt us. After all, we still have Kei Igawa. Long story short, I was expecting the Yanks to make some kind of move, take some sort of risk. Anything to give me hope, and they didn't.
So do I wish the Yankees win it all? Of course. Am I confident they will? Not too much.. Am I hoping this is just a 600 word long reverse jinx? Hell freaking yes.
Well, all I can do now is hope I'm dead wrong. So that's what I'll do, and I hope it's what the rest of you guys do.
Class Dismissed,
The Sports Undergrad
SoS
Well I hope you all have been enjoying your summers because one aspect of mine is pretty sucky. One of the things I looked forward to about this summer would be watching the Yankees as they marched their way into the playoffs, and hopefully World Series. Half of that does indeed look inevitable, they WILL make the playoffs. Albeit it might be from the wild card, but I actually kinda anticipated that...
This is the link to my MLB preview blog before the season where I predict the Yankees falling short to the BoSox in the division but eventually winning the World Series. SoS MLB Preview
Now if you read that over you'll see a lot of what I predicted seems to be in play. (Still waiting on the Twins to make that come back..) But unfortunately I'm beginning to feel less and less confident in my Yanks World Series pick. I was certain, I mean CERTAIN, that they would make some kind of move at the deadline, and they didn't. I couldn't fathom when last Sunday came and went and the Bombers remained dormant. Every second that passed made it more and more clear that I would need to come to terms with the fact that after CC the Yankees looked poised to through out AJ Burnett, Phil Hughes, and pick your poison with Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon. Don't get me wrong, Garcia and Colon have been sensational this year, 1,000% more than what the Yanks could have asked them for. But if you expect me to sit here and tell you that they are going to hold up through the entire season, you're sadly mistaken. Freddy Garcia gets by on what might just be the worst 'stuff' in all of baseball and would get clobbered against team like Boston or Texas. And then we have our good buddy Bartolo, not exactly a body type built for a marathon if you know what I mean.. And because of severe hazards to my health as a Yankee fan I'm going to refrain from talking about Burnett or Hughes. Oh gosh... the headache is starting already.. And let me say I actually like Ivan Nova, but I like him as that guy who people debate as to whether he should get a post season start or not, not the guy who will probably need to pitch significant innings in October.
One thing I need to point out is that Cashman didn't have many options in terms of picking up an arm. I wasn't huge on Ubaldo so I wouldn't break the bank for him, but I'd be willing to take a chance with a guy like Wandy or Bedard. And I don't want to hear anybody complain about taking chances on guys like that who might not pan out because there's one thing everyone needs to remember, WE ARE THE YANKEES. We can make moves that might not work out and it won't hurt us. After all, we still have Kei Igawa. Long story short, I was expecting the Yanks to make some kind of move, take some sort of risk. Anything to give me hope, and they didn't.
So do I wish the Yankees win it all? Of course. Am I confident they will? Not too much.. Am I hoping this is just a 600 word long reverse jinx? Hell freaking yes.
Well, all I can do now is hope I'm dead wrong. So that's what I'll do, and I hope it's what the rest of you guys do.
Class Dismissed,
The Sports Undergrad
SoS
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