Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

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shaggydog2000

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I'm just shocked Mary Worth got a new artist. I had to google it, and the old one didn't even die, but he is 90. I am glad to see the pure essence of Wilbur made it through the transition.
 

joe dokes

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John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Why is this "important"? Especially since the last weekend is going to be a moot point anyway (we hope). Yeah, I'm sure the Yankees are going to be scared of the Sox after Tzu-Wei Lin and Brandon Phillips rip a few balls of the wall.

Let me tell you what I do know. Every day I log on and read this thread. And we all go out we have a few drinks and a few laughs, and it's great. But you know what the best part of my day is? It's for about ten seconds from when this page is loading and I read the first post. Because I think maybe I'll get up there and I'll read on the page that Nick won't be there. No goodbye, no see you later, no nothin'. Just left. I don't know much, but I know that.
 
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Humphrey

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Watch for a plethora of "the Yankees are getting all their guys back, watch out for them" stories coming out. Meanwhile Nick's hero Gary Sanchez uncorks a long long dinger now and then, but is hitting a buck eighty six in addition to his always-inept catching.
 

Bowhemian

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Why is this "important"? Especially since the last weekend is going to be a moot point anyway (we hope). Yeah, I'm sure the Yankees are going to be scared of the Sox after Tsu-Wei Lin and Brandon Phillips rip a few balls of the wall.

Let me tell you what I do know. Every day I log on and read this thread. And we all go out we have a few drinks and a few laughs, and it's great. But you know what the best part of my day is? It's for about ten seconds from when this page is loading and I read the first post. Because I think maybe I'll get up there and I'll read on the page that Nick won't be there. No goodbye, no see you later, no nothin'. Just left. I don't know much, but I know that.
It's not your fault.
 

joe dokes

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The Red Sox also want to make sure the Yankees don’t get too comfortable playing them. We all know that the teams who are hot at the end likely will stay hot in the playoffs.
We do?
All of us?
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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I know what he means. I hate when the Yankees are comfortable playing the Red Sox. I mean who can forget that game where Jorge Posada pushed a bed behind home plate and caught the game while lying down? And remember when Graig Nettles used to play third base with one of those old school sleep caps instead of his Yankee hat. And how about Worcester's own Tanyon Sturtz pitching with fuzzy bunny slippers on?

God, I hate losing to the Yankees. But losing to the Yankees when they're comfortable? That is insult to injury!
 

Dotrat

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If they clinch tonight--and I'll be there so, yeah, fingers crossed--will Nick pen a paean to the scrappy team from the Bronx that, with little more than moxie and a $200 million payroll, heroically kept the pressure on the entitled Red Sox through most of the season, making it possible for them to win 100+ games and clinch the AL East?
 

Humphrey

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Was there anything about the 9th inning that if you were a Yankee fan would make you comfortable about playing anyone good? 2 bad errors and they lucked out when the obligatory Gary Sanchez passed ball on strike three bounced right back to him off the backstop (he also made a bad toss to first to boot which the first baseman made a nice play on).

Also, if the Sox end up in a key late inning spot in the playoffs, does he think that whoever's on the mound for the opponent will be facing Vasquez and Travis?
 

joe dokes

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Don’t look now, but the Yankees seem to be peaking at the right time
The Yankees are 5-5 in their last 10, 8-8 in September, and 10-10 in their last 20.
The last time anyone peaked like that, Art Linkletter's daughter jumped out a window.
 

Couperin47

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The Yankees are 5-5 in their last 10, 8-8 in September, and 10-10 in their last 20.
The last time anyone peaked like that, Art Linkletter's daughter jumped out a window.
Realize you're reaching back here for a metaphor almost no one will recognize, but you still picked an early TV personality, you need to get firmly back into the radio media era: you wanted Arthur Godfrey.
 

joe dokes

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After the Red Sox avoided what would have been a psychologically damning sweep to the Yankees by winning a 10-2 game
psychologically damning?
Nick is the second coming of Sigmund Einstein.
 
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Humphrey

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Do die hard Bruins fans lament the seasons they won the Stanley Cup but didn't face the Canadiens? Or at least the Rangers?
 

Humphrey

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Showalter and Scioscia out. As we all know, these type of things happen in threes....who's the next Nick favorite to be sent packing?
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Gibbons is gone in Toronto too. Cafardo loved himself some Gibby.

But I'm sure there's going to be some sort of baseball lifer that Cafardo will glom onto real soon and make him his number one in the February Manager Rankings. "I love that Tim Laudner is making fielders wear gloves from the 1950s and also instructing his pitchers to only use the windmill windup. That sort of thing really brings a team together. Too bad the brain trust in Boston won't follow suit."
 

joe dokes

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So even though Brock Holt and Rafael Devers had horrific numbers against Luis Severino, he put them in the lineup anyway.
This was one of those nonanalytic moments. Cora simply had a feeling, a Joe Morgan hunch, that the two lefthanded hitters would do something significant.
Once again. A kernal of a good idea swept away by another old-school priapism.
The small sample of pitcher-batter matchup is probably near the bottom of the analytics department to-do list

Holt has been a better hitter than kinsler for much of the season. But in the long haul he had added value for his versatility. In the short haul of a few games, not so much.

If the globe had an analytics department Nick would be playing pinochle with Pomeranz.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Whoa. Pos too? I knew the guy was a Bill James acolyte, but I also thought that he had the utmost respect for veteran baseball scribes.

I wonder if Wilbur is going to Twitterblock these two as well?
 

shaggydog2000

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If the globe had an analytics department Nick would be playing pinochle with Pomeranz.
The Globe can't afford an analytics department. They (like every other paper) can barely afford reporters and columnists. Which is why Wilbur still has a job. I think they mostly pay him in 2 for 1 coupons for the 99.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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The Globe can't afford an analytics department. They (like every other paper) can barely afford reporters and columnists. Which is why Wilbur still has a job. I think they mostly pay him in 2 for 1 coupons for the 99.
Yes and no. Wilbur has a job because the newspaper union is incredibly strong. Firing Cafardo because he lost his fastball would take an act of God and I don't think that the Globe really wants to put the time and effort into showing Cafardo the door. I mean, if you're the Globe you look at Cafardo and you see a guy who can fill column inches, speaks pretty directly to their consumer and won't make any waves. When was the last time Cafardo wrote something that was marginally thought provoking or offensive.

I mean he tries his best, but the hills that he chooses to fight for (scouts vs. analytics for example) are battles that are long over. No one gives a shit any more because they've moved on. He writes for the 70-year-old guy who remembers baseball when it was a one or two division league and batting average, RBIs and wins were the best stats. Yes, it's important to have a guy like Shaughnessy on the staff; a professional troll, someone who can get people talking. But I think that the Globe wants the personification of soggy cereal like Cafardo.

And the Globe can afford people who write with an analytics bent, they have Speier Finn and to a degree, Peter Abraham. And they could completely wipe out the sports department (except for the columnists) and hire young, hungry, stats people right out of college. I guarantee that they could hire two to three journalism majors from BU or Northeastern or any Boston school every year and within five years, have a completely different and vibrant newspaper. But they don't want to do that/can't do that because of the union and because older people still read the paper. Older people (this is a generalization, I know) and people that normally read the paper don't want to read about new stats. They want the same mush handed to them every day.

Wilbur sucks. Especially for people like us who want a little bit of subtly or sophistication with our baseball reporting.
 

joe dokes

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I should step in. By "Globe analytics department", I was not saying "sportswriters who do analytics."
I was mocking Cafardo by suggesting that if the Globe had people who analyzed the Globe, Cafardo would get dropped from the post-season roster.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Yes and no. Wilbur has a job because the newspaper union is incredibly strong. Firing Cafardo because he lost his fastball would take an act of God and I don't think that the Globe really wants to put the time and effort into showing Cafardo the door. I mean, if you're the Globe you look at Cafardo and you see a guy who can fill column inches, speaks pretty directly to their consumer and won't make any waves. When was the last time Cafardo wrote something that was marginally thought provoking or offensive.

I mean he tries his best, but the hills that he chooses to fight for (scouts vs. analytics for example) are battles that are long over. No one gives a shit any more because they've moved on. He writes for the 70-year-old guy who remembers baseball when it was a one or two division league and batting average, RBIs and wins were the best stats. Yes, it's important to have a guy like Shaughnessy on the staff; a professional troll, someone who can get people talking. But I think that the Globe wants the personification of soggy cereal like Cafardo.

And the Globe can afford people who write with an analytics bent, they have Speier Finn and to a degree, Peter Abraham. And they could completely wipe out the sports department (except for the columnists) and hire young, hungry, stats people right out of college. I guarantee that they could hire two to three journalism majors from BU or Northeastern or any Boston school every year and within five years, have a completely different and vibrant newspaper. But they don't want to do that/can't do that because of the union and because older people still read the paper. Older people (this is a generalization, I know) and people that normally read the paper don't want to read about new stats. They want the same mush handed to them every day.

Wilbur sucks. Especially for people like us who want a little bit of subtly or sophistication with our baseball reporting.

Are there people who aren't old that still read the newspaper?

edit: Online edition, I suppose.
 

Van Everyman

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While we are all dunking on Nick, it's worth noting that this aged well:
Nick has the sentiments of a 12-year old:

The Red Sox could also be playing the Yankees in the divisional round if the Yankees beat the A’s in the wild-card game, so it’s important for the Red Sox to show they can continue to dominate the Yankees in the majority of the final six games between the two teams.
No, it isn't.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/redsox/2018/09/12/red-sox-wins-only-prelude-greatness/zXMxMVfNHUyYbAD37QcPhP/story.html
Also, is Bill James crapping all over him and Joe Pos joining in a sign of the apocalypse? Or perhaps a sign from above that without the protective aura of Joe Sullivan maybe Nick might be headed for the exits?
 

joe dokes

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While we are all dunking on Nick, it's worth noting that this aged well:


Also, is Bill James crapping all over him and Joe Pos joining in a sign of the apocalypse? Or perhaps a sign from above that without the protective aura of Joe Sullivan maybe Nick might be headed for the exits?
Nick is nothing if not predictably wrong.

That James would take notice of something like that surprised me. Then again, I bet alarms go off in James's house whenever his array of computers picks up on the word "analytics" in an American daily newspaper.

I think Nick's exit will be voluntary. He started at the Globe late 80s. So maybe there's some round number anniversary that boosts his pension right around the corner. Or a significant birthday (he has to be within shouting distance of 65 or 67).
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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Are there people who aren't old that still read the newspaper?

edit: Online edition, I suppose.
IDK. I would guess probably not, but if you're a circulation manager and want to admit that the war is over (ie: you won't ever be able to land younger readers) then keep rolling Nick Cafardo and his ilk out. But if you want to try something new and load the sports page with information that they can only get at the Globe or Herald or which ever paper is their choosing, you may as well try it. The Herald will probably be dead within five years, it's a shitty newspaper that even Steve Buckley has given up on.

If I was the sports editor there, I'd find young, eager journalists who want to make a name for themselves, get clips, etc. before they get poached by the Athletic and other pay sports sites. Just keep digging these people up and give them a shot when the next person leaves for a bigger job. Look at it like the minor leagues almost. You might catch lightening in a bottle, revitalize your very stale sports coverage all for a fraction of what you pay these bigger guys. I can see why a paper wouldn't want to be publicly seen as the proving ground for bigger and better things, but that's the perception of papers now anyway. Might as well go all in.
 

The Gray Eagle

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This week the Red Sox advanced to the ALCS, and now the World Champion Astros are coming to town with the pennant on the line. So naturally, Cafardo's Sunday Baseball piece is all about... the Yankees and their offseason plans.

What a clown. Who wants to read this crap about the fucking Yankees right now? And I don't think he is actually trying to troll people, I think he is so dumb and so obsessed with trying to predict trades that he actually thinks that is the best use of his Sunday column right now. No need to talk about the Red Sox, or talk about the Astros, or even look at the NLCS. Nope, Yankees offseason plans, that's what we should be thinking of right now.

He is the biggest waste of space in sports media, and that is hard to accomplish.

At least this week we FINALLY got an update on the contract status of JP Ricciardi! Everyone's been wondering how many more years his contract will run.
 

joyofsox

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From the 108 Sitches Newsletter:

THEY’LL START SPREADING THE CASH: Nick Cafardo, in his Sunday Notes, looks at a fascinating offseason that awaits the Yankees.

Of course he does.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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This week the Red Sox advanced to the ALCS, and now the World Champion Astros are coming to town with the pennant on the line. So naturally, Cafardo's Sunday Baseball piece is all about... the Yankees and their offseason plans.

What a clown. Who wants to read this crap about the fucking Yankees right now? And I don't think he is actually trying to troll people, I think he is so dumb and so obsessed with trying to predict trades that he actually thinks that is the best use of his Sunday column right now. No need to talk about the Red Sox, or talk about the Astros, or even look at the NLCS. Nope, Yankees offseason plans, that's what we should be thinking of right now.

He is the biggest waste of space in sports media, and that is hard to accomplish.

At least this week we FINALLY got an update on the contract status of JP Ricciardi! Everyone's been wondering how many more years his contract will run.
The funniest part is when he spends15 paragraphs talking about what New York will do and his quote from Cashman is, “we haven’t had our off season meetings yet, so I’m not sure what we’re going to do.”

He chews space, that’s all Cafardo does.
 

joe dokes

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He was part of a Sox offense that went silent against Justin Verlander in Game 1. You don’t expect Bradley to be the offensive star after the rough season he had offensively, but when the playoffs begin much of that stuff is tossed out the window. Bradley decided he was going to make his mark in at least one of these games. He sure did.
Rough season apparently means hitting .000 forever.
"Bradley decided....."
 

Humphrey

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From the 108 Sitches Newsletter:

THEY’LL START SPREADING THE CASH: Nick Cafardo, in his Sunday Notes, looks at a fascinating offseason that awaits the Yankees.

Of course he does.
Which is actually good for the rest of the teams...draft picks and solid prospects (like the Yankees have) are worth more, IMHO. Go ahead and weigh yourself down with long-term committments, NYY..just like George used to do.
 

joe dokes

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Either Eovaldi or Price has a chromosome problem:

Now the trick is for Eovaldi to repeat that against the Astros. You see, Eovaldi’s DNA is opposite that of David Price’s. Eovaldi loves pitching against the Yankees and now he must love pitching against the Astros, his hometown team.
 

shaggydog2000

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Either Eovaldi or Price has a chromosome problem:
Biologists help us out here, if the DNA is opposite the normal pairing, but everything was mirrored, wouldn't it express in the.............

Holy shit I just thought way, way too much about one of the stupidest statements a sportswriter has ever made.
 

John Marzano Olympic Hero

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I know that most everyone is waiting for Tuesday and the World Series; talking about match-ups, who's going to slot where in the rotation, lots of good stuff like that. But I'm really pumped for Nick's column on Sunday. I am dying to find out what the Yankees are thinking about doing this winter.

That's the real World Series.
 

ifmanis5

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I know that most everyone is waiting for Tuesday and the World Series; talking about match-ups, who's going to slot where in the rotation, lots of good stuff like that. But I'm really pumped for Nick's column on Sunday. I am dying to find out what the Yankees are thinking about doing this winter.

That's the real World Series.
There are some big names on the table. The Winter Meetings should be fascinating.

But first, the slog through yet another World Series with some other, more fringe media market teams from around what's left of the league.
 

joe dokes

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There are some big names on the table. The Winter Meetings should be fascinating.

But first, the slog through yet another World Series with some other, more fringe media market teams from around what's left of the league.
Manny Machado could be Nick's Yankee/World Series Venn Diagram.
 

The Gray Eagle

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I'm sure Nick is working overtime getting the story on David Price's DNA transplant that had to have occurred right before his start last night.

But I suppose that may have to wait until he's done talking to Scott Boras and JP Ricciardi to get the latest on who the Yankees are targeting this offseason. And then ranking the managers, and talking to scouts about how analytics are ruining the game and how the shift needs to be banned.
 

JohntheBaptist

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I know that most everyone is waiting for Tuesday and the World Series; talking about match-ups, who's going to slot where in the rotation, lots of good stuff like that. But I'm really pumped for Nick's column on Sunday. I am dying to find out what the Yankees are thinking about doing this winter.

That's the real World Series.
You gotta think the Yankees' have the momentum going into 2019.

In all honesty I expect indignation at Counsell for his eggheaded gimmickry and its assault on the game somewhere.
 

Humphrey

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...and Nick sort of came through. The focus wasn't directly on the Yankees but on free agent pitchers most of whom, of course, MIGHT sign with the Yanks.
 

E5 Yaz

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Have to admit, though, I liked the tidbit about Price yelling at Bregman
 
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