WHY AJ NEEDS TO SEND A MESSAGE...HIGH & TIGHT

If there is one thing that is driving me crazy, it's having my Yankees continually getting hit in the batters box and us not retaliating. Sure, it's the right thing to do, just grin and bear it and beat the Sox... and that's the Yankee Way. We wrote about it earlier this year in WHY WE RETALIATE THE YANKEE WAY. But, just like dealing with a bully on a walk home from school, sooner or later you just snap like Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Sooner or later, it's time to take care of business because after all, you can't take it anymore.

So what am I suggesting? Wait until AJ Burnett throws today... that my friends is when we should retaliate. That my friends is when the plunking war continues against the Sox in our favor. AJ Burnett is about to have every Yankee fan love him again, at least for the moment.

No, it won't be so much for his pitching, but it will be for his courageous stance tonight to protect Francisco Cervelli for getting plunked. AJ should take a stand for his team and for the fans. We hear all day long how pitching high and tight to batters is "baseball", but God forbid we suggest plunking a player, well then, everyone says how "wrong" it is.



Let me ask you something; Do you seriously think the Red Sox pitchers are just "accidentally" hitting our Yankee batters? They are intentionally doing it. Many and most are intentional. We've done nothing about it and I'm suggesting of all people, AJ Burnett could be a hero tonight if he went high and tight at the right time, not to hurt anyone, just to send a message: "I'm a team player, I'm protecting my guys and I want the fans back."If AJ Burnett can pitch halfway decent tonight and go high and tight when the time is right, you will see a rejuvenated fan base. That my friends will bring AJ Burnett back in our good graces...not forever, after all, he still needs to pitch and win, but for the moment.



The way I see it, AJ Burnett has nothing to lose right now and everything to gain by this assignment. He's lost his drive and his mental state is fragile. Mine would be too if I had to read about how awful I am in the New York papers every day. It's horrible and it's going to be damn hard to turn it around. So, in light of this recent shit storm between Lackey and Cervelli, why not retaliate? AJ will prove to many, that while he may be struggling, he is a team player. He would earn from temporary respect, maybe even jolt himself out of this funk he's in. Look, I'm no expert, this is my opinion. I didn't even feel it necessary to hammer AJ Burnett as bad as he was getting it. I wrote WHY CRUCIFYING BURNETT NEEDS TO STOP. But the bottom line is, when you can't pitch, you're going to get hammered. Eventually, I joined in. But I know this about AJ.: Psychologically he seems to be a mess and he probably feels like a failure.

This could shake him out of that failure and give him a moment of confidence.



The Yankees need this series tonight ladies and gentlemen, sure, we need to win, and we see these Red Sox again, so it's just not about going high and tight tonight, it's also about winning. Bats need to come out swinging and the pitching needs to be crisp and hold down the Sox. And hell, if we go up on the chin on David Ortiz... it's just baseball right?



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