Protecting the Shields -- The Nick Cafardo Thread

[mt8thsw9th]

So "On Baseball" really means "Covering the Yankees when not writing stories about the Sox""?
 
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/02/19/former-red-sox-jacoby-ellsbury-arrives-yankees-camp/92ulwVXgTQQNvkYKUzyXGM/story.html
 
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/02/18/michael-pineda-and-mark-teixeira-are-keys-yankees-chances/BMyqU7lNkC9vlwiyGSK8DL/story.html
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/02/13/yankees-great-derek-jeter-will-retire-after-season/hh2jh7c1Mw2s0z984HvmNI/story.html

 
This forum has a Yankees subforum. Most Red Sox fans care tremendously about the Yankees (some more so than the Red Sox), so it makes sense to have coverage on that team. I doubt he just accidentally ended up in Tampa and figured, "when in Tampa..." It keeps him away from Red Sox coverage, and fills the niche that is Bostonians' obsession with the Yankees, so I suppose it's good business all around.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Most Red Sox fans care tremendously about the Yankees (some more so than the Red Sox), so it makes sense to have coverage on that team.
 

 
You think so? This isn't 2003/04 any more. I think that Sox fans "care" about NY more than they do say, Baltimore, but they've kind of become another team. There isn't a need for Cafardo to be trolling around Tampa digging up sunshine and lollipop stories about the Yankees. Because that's all he does; everything is always sunny in New York. Even last year when they were a dogshit festival, Cafardo was still talking about what an amazing job Joe Girardi (which is true) and Brian Cashman (which is untrue) have done and how the Yankees have pride to not fold up shop and to watch out because they can make noise in September and don't count them out of a serious World Series run.
 
This boogeyman reporting may have worked a decade ago (Holy cow, the Yankees got Javier Vazquez, we only got Schilling and Foulke!) but it's all a bunch of crap now.

 

[soxfan121]

 
Is this some inside joke?

 
IDK, is using a twenty year old movie reference in a bit about Scott Boras "negotiating" with JWH on Cafardo's contract an inside joke?

 

[Corsi]

I am in love with Cafardo's new Twitter avatar
 

 

[pedro1918]

He looks like that annoying father of the son backpacking in Europe.
 
Close an app, Nick!

 

[mt8thsw9th]

 
You think so? This isn't 2003/04 any more. I think that Sox fans "care" about NY more than they do say, Baltimore, but they've kind of become another team.

 
Yes, I think so. The inferiority complex Bostonians have toward New York will likely never go away. It is lessened a bit in the short term with the winning, but I don't think that fundamentally changed anyone who was born prior to, say, 1990. Even post 2004 and 2007 a good portion of SoSH prefered seeing the Yankees get eliminated from the playoffs rather than the Red Sox making them ("I'd nevah root for the Yankees to win!").  There was even a thread here asking if people cared more for a Red Sox win and a Yankees loss, and again, a good portion chose the latter. I would imagine the general population is even more skewed toward completely moronic views like that.
 

 
IDK, is using a twenty year old movie reference in a bit about Scott Boras "negotiating" with JWH on Cafardo's contract an inside joke?

 
I'm sorry, I wasn't sure what the movie reference was, hence the question. So what's the movie in which they say "quid quo pro"?

 

[Corsi]

I'm with JMOH on this one.  When I saw Cafardo was tweeting about the Yankees yesterday, I figured he got lost on his way to Ft. Myers.  I could give less than a shit about what sort of crap Ellsbury is doing at Yankee camp.  I don't think I'm alone, either.

 

[Reverend]

 
I'm sorry, I wasn't sure what the movie reference was, hence the question. So what's the movie in which they say "quid quo pro"?

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlRLfbONYgM
 
One of the Austin Powers movies references it as well.

 

[Bleedred]

2004 washed away almost all of my NY angst. 2007 was sweet because it removed from dullard MFY fan lexicon the "wait another 86 years" mantra. 2013 makes the Red Sox the most winning franchise of the 21st Century. The fan inferiority complex I sufferred at the hands of the MFY in my first 38 years of life is long gone. I honestly do not give a shit what is happening in the Bronx. They do their thing, we do ours.

 

[LeoCarrillo]

There's no inferiority complex of Red Sox fans toward the Yankees anymore.

Im not sure there's even any respect for the way they run the team even, failing to try any approach beyond throwing money at free agents.

There's a curiosity factor and deep well of schadenfreude, though. Like passing a totaled Lamborghini.

 

[glennhoffmania]

There's no inferiority complex of Red Sox fans toward the Yankees anymore.

Im not sure there's even any respect for the way they run the team even, failing to try any approach beyond throwing money at free agents.

There's a curiosity factor and deep well of schadenfreude, though. Like passing a totaled Lamborghini.

 
I prefer to think of it as passing a totaled Gulfstream.

 

[ifmanis5]

It's not just Red Sox/Yankees, it's media markets and power. Kissing New York (and by extension) Yankee butt makes Nick feel more important. 'Oh look at me, I'm plugged into the New York Yankees scene, hence I, Nick Cafardo, am just a little more superior to the rest of you local yocal Boston folk.' It's pathetic and just reeks of desperation.

 

[Doctor G]

It's not just Red Sox/Yankees, it's media markets and power. Kissing New York (an by extension) Yankee butt makes Nick feel more important. 'Oh look at me, I'm plugged into the New York Yankees scene, hence I, Nick Cafardo, am just a little more superior to the rest of you local yocal Boston folk.' It's pathetic and just reeks of desperation.

Got to keep the appearances on MLB network coming. 

 

[joe dokes]

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/?p1=SportsNav_Index_ExtraBases
 

FORT MYERS, Fla. – We can all agree that David Ortiz needs to turn the volume down a bit about his contract.
In this day and age when people are rubbing nickels together to pay bills, nobody wants to hear it on a weekly basis. But if Ortiz should be mad at anyone, it should be his agent, Fernando Cuza. How does a hitter with Ortiz' credentials – and I don't care how old he is – settle for a two-year, $30 million deal?
 

 
It gets worse from there.
 
Its like Nick is pissed that Ortiz won't call *him* names like he does Shaughnessy.

 

[JayMags71]

How does rubbing nickels together facilitate paying one's bills?

 

[joe dokes]

How does rubbing nickels together facilitate paying one's bills?

 
 
Ha. I was so mesmerized by the overall incoherence of the piece that I completely missed the leadoff non-sequitur (I don't think it even qualifies as a mixed metaphor).  

 

[RedOctober3829]

You have to understand that Ellsbury is from Oregon, grew up on an Indian reservation, and never really fully got the Red Sox-Yankees thing.
 

Yes Nick, he doesn't understand a rivalry he's been a part of since 2007. Give me a break.

 

He looks forward to the Derek Jeter farewell tour because, “Derek was always so good to me. Every time I was at second base, he had something good to say.”
 
 

So, Derek didn't tell Ellsbury to go fuck himself.  Thanks for that information.  The next time it's reported that somebody had something bad to say to another player will be the first.
 

Now that the afterglow is fading and the emphasis is on next season, guess what? Ellsbury is a Yankee.
 

Thanks Nick. 

 

[joyofsox]

Shit, Nick. At least Ortiz works his ass off and earns his pay. What the hell do you do to justify your paycheck?

 

[Average Reds]

Shit, Nick. At least Ortiz works his ass off and earns his pay. What the hell do you do to justify your paycheck?

 
Rubs nickels together.
 
Pay attention.

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

Just a guess, but someone else probably assigned him that Ellsbury story.

 

[timlinin8th]

 
Rubs nickels together.
 
Pay attention.

Bravo. I lol'd.

 

[joe dokes]

Just a guess, but someone else probably assigned him that Ellsbury story.

 
probably not. He's on the Globe's dime down there. He has a car. If he says, "headed to Tampa for a few days to write some yankee stories," no one is saying no. but they arent telling him what to write about. if he suddenly starting writing about titty bars, they might find an editor to get him back to baseball, but one of the perks of being the National Baseball Guy is the freedom to enterprise. That Nick doesn;t know what to do wth that freedom doesn;t mean he doesnt have it. His Yankee-centric ness is no different than his ASunday stuff. He could do what he wants. He does grit.
Like the people who dont have a pot to piss in, Nick just throws shit at the wall.

 

[PBDWake]

 
probably not. He's on the Globe's dime down there. He has a car. If he says, "headed to Tampa for a few days to write some yankee stories," no one is saying no. but they arent telling him what to write about. if he suddenly starting writing about titty bars, they might find an editor to get him back to baseball, but one of the perks of being the National Baseball Guy is the freedom to enterprise. That Nick doesn;t know what to do wth that freedom doesn;t mean he doesnt have it. His Yankee-centric ness is so different than his ASunday stuff. He could do what he wants. He does grit. Like the people who dont have a pot to piss in, Nick just throws shit at the wall.

Pretty sure he meant Boras, not a globe editor. At least, its more clever if that's what he meant.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Pretty sure he meant Boras, not a globe editor. At least, its more clever if that's what he meant.

 
 
That is terrific right there.

 

[TheoShmeo]

Old Man Nicky with some stern advice giving for the Red Sox front office and the masses this morning:

 

2. The Red Sox don’t issue jersey Nos. 21, 45, and 24, out of respect for Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, and Dwight Evans (though Manny Ramirez wore it), but they have no problem issuing No. 26. Wade Boggs is a Hall of Famer wearing a Red Sox cap in Cooperstown, and Brock Holt is wearing his number. There seems no movement afoot to honor Boggs, the player with the best batting average ever (.369) at Fenway Park. On the Legendary banner near the Red Sox clubhouse at JetBlue Park, all of the franchise greats are depicted. Boggs does not appear. Because he was a Yankee? Is it really that petty?
 
5. Why don’t we reserve judgment on whether Scott Boras did right or wrong by declining qualifying offers of $14.1 million on behalf of Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales? Last year there was the same blistering commentary on Boras concerning Michael Bourn and Kyle Lohse. Bourn agreed to a four-year, $48 million deal on Feb. 11, and Lohse agreed to a three-year, $33 million deal March 25.
 

 
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/02/23/price-balfour-give-rays-shot-east/ZWxMbi9pGkDBwYRY3W0JrO/story.html
 
I'm not exactly sure why this amuses me as much as it does.

 

[JGray38]

 
"Unless I'm missing something or there's more to come, the Yankees have left themselves short in the bullpen."

 
In December, he had the Yankees as "gaining" ground on the Red Sox in the offseason. Now? They have no bullpen.

 

[ifmanis5]

Nick is a real piece of shit. When Ellsbury was a Red Sox he was a malingering symbol of Pink Hatted wimpiness. How many times did Nick call him out in 2010/2011 for not coming back soon enough after his rib injury? Of course, now that he is a Yankee, he's the whole key to their lineup. And yet Nick couldn't resist getting in one more anonymous cheap shot quote at him for his injury history.
 

“I don’t think it’s a huge loss because he spent so much time injured."

 
All class, Nick.

 

[geoflin]

While the Yankees had a player with Ellsbury’s speed in Brett Gardner, he’s never been able to hit as well and thus get on base as much.

 
Ellsbury's career OBP - .350
Gardner's career OBP - .352

 

[Harry Hooper]

 
Ellsbury's career OBP - .350
Gardner's career OBP - .352

 
 
Way to carry that banner of Globe National Baseball Writer high, Nick.

 

[Granite Sox]

 
In December, he had the Yankees as "gaining" ground on the Red Sox in the offseason. Now? They have no bullpen.

 
And a defensive infield including Kelly Johnson and the ossifying starting duo of Cap'n Jetes and Brian Roberts.  The only ground they're gaining is the dirt being thrown on their career graves.
 

Nick is a real piece of shit. When Ellsbury was a Red Sox he was a malingering symbol of Pink Hatted wimpiness. How many times did Nick call him out in 2010/2011 for not coming back soon enough after his rib injury? Of course, now that he is a Yankee, he's the whole key to their lineup. And yet Nick couldn't resist getting in one more anonymous cheap shot quote at him for his injury history.
 
 
All class, Nick.

 
From an anonymous "uniformed member of the organization"... wtf?  
 
What a losah.

 

[E5 Yaz]

 
And a defensive infield including Kelly Johnson and the ossifying starting duo of Cap'n Jetes and Brian Roberts.  The only ground they're gaining is the dirt being thrown on their career graves.
 
 
From an anonymous "uniformed member of the organization"... wtf?  
 
What a losah.

 
Maybe he meant uninformed and forgot the second n
 
Meanwhile, his note on Morales possibly signing with Baltimore obviously was written before the Cruz signing 

 

[CoffeeNerdness]

It must have been the bullpen cop who has a history of rubbing it in when an OF injures himself.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

 
And a defensive infield including Kelly Johnson and the ossifying starting duo of Cap'n Jetes and Brian Roberts.  The only ground they're gaining is the dirt being thrown on their career graves.
 
 
From an anonymous "uniformed member of the organization"... wtf?  
 
What a losah.

 
The funniest part is that the next paragraph he said that dude was full of shit and found Mark Teixeira to agree with him that Jacoby Ellsbury is going to be the awesome. 
 

Ellsbury's career OBP - .350
Gardner's career OBP - .352
 

 
This is tremendous, BTW. 
 

On the Legendary banner near the Red Sox clubhouse at JetBlue Park, all of the franchise greats are depicted. Boggs does not appear. Because he was a Yankee? Is it really that petty?
 

 
If only Cafardo knew someone that he could ask about this. Damn it. How does a member of the BBWA, the Boston Globe baseball columnist and all 20+-year baseball writer get this information? I feel for him, I really do. 

 

[glennhoffmania]

Is Nick not aware of who Clemens played for after he left Boston?

 

[Granite Sox]

Is Nick not aware of who Clemens played for after he left Boston?

The Ground Gainers!!!

 

[terrisus]

From an anonymous "uniformed member of the organization"... wtf?  

 
 

 
Maybe he meant uninformed and forgot the second n

 
The first time reading that post, I read it as "uninformed"
 
Sadly, it didn't set off any alarms, as it wouldn't have surprised me to see him writing something with his source being an "uninformed" person.
The blind leading the stupid, as it were (and not talking about the subforum here).

 

[MoGator71]

Nick has really been beating the drum about the home plate collision rule every night on NESN. Paraphrasing, he says lowering the shoulder and blowing up the catcher is instinctive, that guys grew up doing it, and that it's unfair to ask them to change or to expect them to adapt quickly. He's wrong.
 

 
 
If only Cafardo knew someone that he could ask about this. Damn it. How does a member of the BBWA, the Boston Globe baseball columnist and all 20+-year baseball writer get this information? I feel for him, I really do. 

 
Yea, I mean it's not that hard. And I'm frankly curious why Clemens is still held in high esteem (apparently) where Boggs is not. 

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

Felger and Mazz were talking about Sunday's Baseball Notes page and were going on and on about how great Cafardo is and he works on this really great level of subtlety that most people don't get. And I couldn't tell whether they were being really serious or sarcastic; I think it was the former though. They loved the Ellsbury stuff though, loved it.
 
I think that Cafardo has a pretty good reputation around the league as a smart guy who's really plugged in. Are we collectively missing something here? Because honestly, I see a spark of it in all of his columns, I really do, but like I've said a million times, he never follows up on it and expects the readers to do so.
 
Also, F&M says that Cafardo has become "a master" at sidling up to the most unpopular or unhappy guy in the locker room, befriending him and then using him as his unnamed source. I'm not sure what to think about that, BTW. I'm still processing whether this is a masterful stroke on his part or a deficiency.

 

[Granite Sox]

Also, F&M says that Cafardo has become "a master" at sidling up to the most unpopular or unhappy guy in the locker room, befriending him and then using him as his unnamed source. I'm not sure what to think about that, BTW. I'm still processing whether this is a masterful stroke on his part or a deficiency.

 
Might it be the "uniformed" pusbag that flamed Ellsbury?; I'm sure Cafardo relished in putting that chickensh!t anonymous item in his column... of course, it also could have been a security guard, the Cintas rep, or a Girl Scout selling Samoas to the starting pitchers...

 

[glennhoffmania]

 
Also, F&M says that Cafardo has become "a master" at sidling up to the most unpopular or unhappy guy in the locker room, befriending him and then using him as his unnamed source. I'm not sure what to think about that, BTW. I'm still processing whether this is a masterful stroke on his part or a deficiency.

 
Maybe it's because the popular and happy players refuse to talk to him.

 

[Reverend]

 
Maybe it's because the popular and happy players refuse to talk to him.

 
The interview with Pedroia doesn't get as many hits online:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx5n21zHPm8

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

He's so subtle and plugged in he doesn't need things like "stats" to prove that one player gets on base more than another. 
 
Maybe it was a small mistake, but it's the sort of thing that frustrates me the most about Cafardo: The methods for proving or disproving his "theories" are readily available to him, but he refuses to employ them. 
 
Think one player's lack of hits means he gets on base less? Well, look it up! Wondering why one player isn't on the banner? Ask someone! 
 
He's the Globe baseball columnist and his basic tactic is to throw shit at the wall and see what sticks. What's the point of that?

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

He's not a smart man. That's really what it boils down to. He has zero capacity for insightful analysis because his brain can barely generate enough power to keep his heart pumping.
 
I'm sure he's a very nice man and perfectly pleasant, but his intellectual process seems very, very limited.

 

[Quiddity]

Felger and Mazz were talking about Sunday's Baseball Notes page and were going on and on about how great Cafardo is and he works on this really great level of subtlety that most people don't get. And I couldn't tell whether they were being really serious or sarcastic; I think it was the former though. They loved the Ellsbury stuff though, loved it.
 
I think that Cafardo has a pretty good reputation around the league as a smart guy who's really plugged in. Are we collectively missing something here? Because honestly, I see a spark of it in all of his columns, I really do, but like I've said a million times, he never follows up on it and expects the readers to do so.
 
Also, F&M says that Cafardo has become "a master" at sidling up to the most unpopular or unhappy guy in the locker room, befriending him and then using him as his unnamed source. I'm not sure what to think about that, BTW. I'm still processing whether this is a masterful stroke on his part or a deficiency.

 
My impression was that they were criticizing/mocking him, although I'll admit there may have been some segments I didn't hear. Around the same time they ranted about the media and fans who weren't bashing Ellsbury excessively like they were while he was here and now dare to say that the Sox are not doomed without him (or that the departure of Cano in NY will more than offset his addition there).

 

[Van Everyman]

Mr. Awesome Sources seems disingenuously vague here:

Cabrera left the team as a free agent after the ’04 season when the sides couldn’t work out a contract, and there seemed to be some personal issue between Cabrera and then-general manager Theo Epstein.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

 
My impression was that they were criticizing/mocking him, although I'll admit there may have been some segments I didn't hear. Around the same time they ranted about the media and fans who weren't bashing Ellsbury excessively like they were while he was here and now dare to say that the Sox are not doomed without him (or that the departure of Cano in NY will more than offset his addition there).

 
You think so? It sounds like we listened to the same segment (in the 5:00 hour). I wasn't 100% sure because it sounded like they were being a sarcastic, or at the very least disingenuous, at the beginning of their talk but as they went along it seemed as if they were sincere in their praises of Cafardo.
 
BTW, I think Mazz' pick of the Yankees is all schtick designed to get listeners to call in and tell him he's a moron. I am 100% convinced of this. 

 

[PedroKsBambino]

Cafardo's sidling up to the 'unpopular guy' as a source may be pathetic and sad, but at least it is social.  Mazz, let's remember, was reduced to stealing things from us basement-dwelling internet nerds for his column because he didn't even have pathetic and said sources to use!

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

Also, F&M says that Cafardo has become "a master" at sidling up to the most unpopular or unhappy guy in the locker room, befriending him and then using him as his unnamed source. I'm not sure what to think about that, BTW. I'm still processing whether this is a masterful stroke on his part or a deficiency.

 
I wonder if this is why he misses Ellsbury so much

 

[Harry Hooper]

 
 
 
BTW, I think Mazz' pick of the Yankees is all schtick designed to get listeners to call in and tell him he's a moron. I am 100% convinced of this. 

 
 
You're probably right. Yesterday, after briefly mentioning he thought the win projections for the Rays, Red Sox, and Yankees were all too low, he went ON AND ON about taking the over on the Yanks win total. It happened to be only one win less than the Red Sox one, but he made it sound like it was down at 82 wins.

 

[Pilgrim]

From todays notes
 

 
 
• It's not that the Red Sox have given up on Jackie Bradley Jr., but the realization is he's not a burner on the basepaths, but above average. They're working on improving Bradley's confidence and aggressiveness in trying to steal bases. They feel any speed he has is seen best in the outfield.

 
I like the phrasing here, like the Red Sox are the ones who were unaware of his skillset, and not Nick.