Thursday, July 13, 2017

Garrett (don't call me Gary) Cooper in a Webb of Intrigue...


Mini Cooper he is not...

The Yankees have made their first trade of July 2017 with the acquisition of Garrett Cooper, a first baseman for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the Triple A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.  When I first heard that the Yankees had traded lefty reliever Tyler Webb to Milwaukee to acquire Cooper, I admit that I was skeptical.  I have not been following the Brewers farm system nor did I watch this week's Triple A All-Star Game.  If I had, I would have realized that the Yankees have acquired a promising first baseman which happens to be a great need.  

Cooper was named the Pacific Coast League Player of the Week for the week ending July 9th.  He was also the starting first baseman for the PCL in the Triple A All-Star Game yesterday.  He has steadily progressed through the ranks.  He was taken in the 6th round of the 2013 MLB Draft by the Brewers, and is considered a "late bloomer" in the midst of a breakout year.  Cooper is currently hitting .366 with 17 HR and 82 RBI in 75 games for the Sky Sox.  There's not much doubt he'll soon be the latest Baby Bomber in Pinstripes even if he has never played a game for the organization.  He's 26 and is a "big boy" (6'6", 230 lbs).  He has benefited from the altitude of Colorado Springs and playing in a hitters' league but why not roll the dice.  

After watching the Chicago Cubs send their top prospect, outfielder Eloy Jimenez, the #5 prospect in the MLB according to Baseball America's midseason update, and other prospects to the Chicago White Sox for starting pitcher Jose Quintana, it's clear that the cost of pitching is astronomical (as if we didn't know that already).  There's no way I would have signed off on a deal to send Gleyber Torres or even Clint Frazier to the White Sox for Quintana.  Let the Cubs fork over the farm.  This reinforces that the Yankees should stay the course and continue to build for the next few years and avoid the "quick fix" for the Wild Card.  So, I am okay with the under-the-radar moves that do not cost high-ranking prospects.  

I hated to see Webb go as I've liked the pitcher and I was excited that he finally had his opportunity at the big league level.  I felt that he performed well in his few appearances for the Yankees.  He obviously was not one of Joe Girardi's "go to" guys in the pen but he played a valuable support role.  I guess all things considered, this was a modest cost for a guy who has torn apart Triple A pitching.  How that translates to the Major Leagues only time will tell.  But if my name was Ji-Man Choi, I'd probably be packing my bags.  Yanks will want to see how Cooper performs in the International League before making his MLB debut but the guy with the similar name to the actor who played Lou Gehrig in The Pride of the Yankees is on his way.  If he fields his position, knocks in a few runs, and doesn't kill rallies by hitting into double plays, he'll be better than anything we've seen yet at first base.  

Cooper has been assigned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  

Welcome to the Yankees, Garrett!

Ranking the Best Baseball Movies of All Time


Because why not? It’s not like we have much else to do. Maybe catch up on some television, read a book, watch a movie, catch a Pokemon. Whatever. With this first official off day of the All-Star break I wanted to take the opportunity to rank the best baseball movies of all time, in my opinion. If your opinion differs leave it down below in the comments section of the site.

1. Pride of the Yankees

2. Bull Durham

3. Major League

4. The Sandlot

5. Field of Dreams

6. The Natural

7. Moneyball

8. Bad News Bears

9. 42

10. League of Their Own (Women hate me now all around the world)

An honorable mention goes to Eight Men Out which covered the Black Sox scandal and Shoeless Joe Jackson. If memory served it had Charlie Sheen playing Shoeless Joe (talk about some foreshadowing) so you can’t really go wrong with that now can you?

This Day in New York Yankees History 7/13: Retired Numbers

*Kramer's moviefone voice* "well why don't you just tell me what number isn't retired"

Brandon McCarthy, a player that the team acquired before the July 31st trading deadline in 2014, made the joke that the Yankees should just issue him a number rather than him trying to pick one since so many numbers are retired. Well on this day in 1984 the Yankees retired two more numbers as Roger Maris's #9 jersey and Elston Howard's #32 were enshrined in Yankee history forever. Plaques were also put up in their honor to pay tribute to the two Yankees players.


Also on this day in 1960 Yankee Stadium held the second All Star Game in three days as the game marked the return of Willie Mays to New York. The San Francisco Giants superstar would go 3-4 with a home run and single off the Yankees Whitey Ford to lead the National League to a 6-0 victory.


Also on this day in 1973 Bobby Murcer hits three home runs off Gene Garber to account for all five of the Yankees runs in a 5-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals. This game was played on Friday the 13th at Yankee Stadium as it took only one hour and 51 minutes to play.

The other Yankee to hit three home runs on this day was Joe DiMaggio in 1940 in a double header against the St. Louis Browns. DiMaggio drove in nine runs as the Yankees sweep the Browns by the scores of 10-4 and 12-6.