Who's Going to Crack First?

My buddy Jim and I had an interesting conversation today that I thought I would include you guys on.

"Who is going to crack in NY first: The Hamburglar or Mark Teixeira?"

My immediate reply was Sabathia. Jim's was Mark "Just call me Trump" Teixeira. We both had pretty good arguments, but I was just curious what everyone else thought...so, let me know if I'm crazy or not.

Here's some reasoning for both of them cracking first.

The Hamburglar -


- Read the previous post I had on Sabathia -

I basically state that his career is slightly comparable to Bartolo Colon. We all know what happened to him after he went to California. (He won a Cy Young and then buried himself in KFC)

- The Hamburglar grew up in California -

What does this have to do with anything? It has a lot to do with his personality.

You've heard of the "California Cool," well it's pretty much instilled in every person that grew up there. It's a kind of relaxed state of mind that is only explainable if you've been somewhere that's sunny 300 days out of the year. It's a state of mind that really clashes with un-necessary pressure.

C.C. has never had the kind of pressure he's going to have on him in NYC, I think everyone can agree to that. He's getting paid A LOT of money from New Yorkers to be their main guy out there and he's going to have to perform like it every day...or they are going to boo the living crap out of him. Take for instance, this clip:



(Those of you that didn't recognize that clip, it was Victorino hitting a GS off of Sabathia in this past seasons playoffs.)

There are only a few stadiums I know that, as a collective whole, would boo that pitcher off of the field (given the game was in their home stadium): Phillies, Yankees and the Mets. (I don't even know if the Phillies would do it anymore because they usually did it because of their 30 year drought...I'm going to error on the side that they would because of what just happened with the Eagles.)

All it takes is one "man screw you guys," while walking off the field for a whole town to turn on you and be the focus of a whole lot of negative, un-necessary, press; especially in New York.

- Sabathia's Arm -

Sabathia pitched an unprecedented 130 innings in the last third of the season last year; including back-to-back-to-back-to-back-back starts on four days rest...the more I look at that stat, the more amazed I get. (and one was a complete game) He pitched 253 inning last year, which puts him at the most in baseball for the SECOND YEAR IN A ROW. If it wasn't for an injury stint in 2006 he would have been up over 200 again.

People, if he isn't hurt for a significant amount of time next year I will shave my head, glue the hair to my back and walk down a runway.

Which leads to the real reason....

- The Blame Game -

Hey Yankees fans, good luck making the playoffs next year, you're going to need it. Yes, your team is stacked. Yes, you have the best corner players in the big leagues. Yes you have a revamped pitching staff. No, you're not going to win your division.

If you look at team who have won the title in the past five years, they all have something you guys never seem to have, chemistry.

Even the 2003 Yankees had chemistry that just isn't possible with all of the new players you guys have in your club house. The only change from the 2003 team from the 2002 team was losing Rondell White and replacing him with Hideki Matsui. There was a chemistry that took time to create and throwing in Burnett, Sabathia, Tex and Swisher is NOT going to work out.

That being said, the blame is going to fall on some one's shoulders...New York wouldn't have it any other way. It's not going to be Cashman, he's amassed, argue ably one of the most talented teams put on a baseball field in 10 years. I would argue that it's not going to be Tex after he puts up .300/30 HR's/120 RBI/100+runs/gold glove. It could be Burnett, but I think Sabathia.

After he says "I tried my hardest, the rest you just hope falls into place." the NYC media rips into him about if he thinks the large amount of innings is affecting him. Then he gets pissed, develops a hatred for (the un-necessary) NYC pressure, opts out of his contract after the third year and heads to Cali.

Mark Teixeira -

- "Earn Your Paycheck" -

Jim's main argument, is that Teixeira is not worth $180 million. Jim's right, he's not worth anywhere near that money. Youkilis (who hit for ten fewer RBI, four point higher average, four fewer home runs and is also a phenomenal first base glove) JUST signed a 4-yr $44 Million dollar contract with the Red Sox. He can also play third base and is only a year older.

WTF. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

The Yankees are so stupid. I'm going to have so much fun for the next five years making fun of their performance per dollar. Haha, what a bunch of morons...ok, sorry I got off topic.

Jim and I both met in the middle and said Mark is pretty safely projected to hit .295/32 HR's/115 RBI's...I don't think Yankees fans are going to think it's worth the money.

The question is...is he going to crack under the pressure to perform at a higher level? He said he has "his best baseball," still ahead of him...but how good is his best? Is it .320 good? Is it 40+ home runs? Is it 130+ RBI's? That's what A-Rod has averaged the past two seasons (plus 20 SB) and he still gets criticized for not doing enough.

Wow, after writing that, I think Jim might have a point...

HOWEVER...A-Rod hasn't cracked yet and this could possibly give him something in common with someone else on the team. I can completely see them meeting up for a coffee and then head over to Madonna's place for a tag-team and a high five. Just wait, it will happen.

What do you guys think? Comments would be appreciated on this one.