Stumblin' Along 6/14 '26
New York State of Mind
New York State of Mind
- Yanks Week 12
- YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
Today’s tune has gotta be Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind.
Buying more Nike stock as we speak. So back. Don’t even know where to begin, but I guess you gotta say thank you the New York Knicks for giving The City a championship. Still feels pretty surreal to even type that. What a remarkable run by an unselfish group of underdogs.
Jalen Brunson: 2nd Round pick. If you watched him at Villanova, you knew he was a great college player and a winner, but the caveat was there was no way he’d be more than a good backup PG in the NBA. I specifically remember what my dumbass wrote when the Knicks first acquired Brunson because it was one of my first posts on Week to Week Notes…
I liked the move, but how could anybody envision what he’d become. No point in talking about his legacy at the moment, he’s not even 30 years old, but he could very easily go down as the greatest Knick of all-time.
KAT: #1 pick that was casted off as a soft stats guy who comes up small in the playoffs. With this championship, not only is he a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame, but screw it, put him in the same class of bigs as Kevin Garnett. Everybody loves KG’s game, but that man one spent a decade in Minnesota and won his first ring with Celtics at 31 years old. Kat gets his championship a year younger while more points and rebounds.
OG: Sure, he was a part of a championship on Toronto when he was 21 years old, but he didn’t even play during that run. Labeled a 3&D guy, but his game is some much more. The tip in Game 4 is already being discussed as one of the Top 10 important shots in NBA history. Total gentleman too, great Brit.
Mikal Bridges: In a league where everybody is loud and takes rest days, he quietly shows up work every day. The modern day Iron man of the NBA, f them picks.
Josh Hart: Pretty decent at everything overall game but truly elite at one of the most overlooked skill, which is hustle. Heart of the team.
Mitch: One of the few Knicks that was drafted by the team. Maybe not the same defender, but Dennis Rodman-like in that’s he’s just an absolute unit on the boards and total wild card. Guy won an NBA Championship at the press conference afterwards couldn’t wait to tell the reporters he caught a snake yesterday.
Jose Alvarado: Only NYC born and raised kid on the team. An absolute pest of a player and looks like a guy you’d see playing street ball on a NYC court. Maybe not today because everybody is hungover, but at any given time of the day there are 25 Jose Alvarado-like guys playing pickup hoops in the 5 boroughs.
Landry Shamet: Played this season a vet-minimum contract. Otherwise, could’ve very well likely been playing basketball overseas. Didn’t have as much of an impact in the NBA Finals, but there was stretch during this playoff run that he looked like prime Klay Thompson off the bench.
Deuce: Fan favorite off the bench. Has a 6’8” forward’s game in 6’2” guard’s body, but an energizer bunny that’s improved every year since being selected as a 2nd Round pick in ‘21.
Mike Brown: Last but not least, very happy for Mike Brown. An NBA assistant coach for four championships, but just seemed like too nice of a guy to ever win a ring as the head coach. Thibs deserve some credit for taking this team out of the gutter, but Brown’s final touches are what got them over the 53-year hump. Shades of the transition of Buck Showalter to Joe Torre, but different sport and set of circumstances.
As for the 8-foot flagrant flailing Frenchman, go eat a baguette.
Game 64
- After a Saturday rainout, the Yankees vs. Sox on Sunday has a quick rain delay, but turns into a nice sunny day. After four scoreless frames, Paul Goldschmidt dunks an RBI single into RF to score Jose Caballero. Cam Schlittler would give up a run the very next half-inning, but was otherwise very good for 5.2 innings of 1-run ball and 5 Ks. Tied 1-1 in the 8th, Cody Bellinger hits a massive solo home run, followed by Amed Rosario singling, stealing, and scoring on a Trent Grisham single. Jazz Chisholm would cap the game off with a 3-run home run for safe measure. Yanks beat Boston 6-1.
Game 65
- Yanks travel to Cleveland and immediately make their presence felt in the 1st inning when Paul Goldschmidt goes yard. The Yankees score their 3rd run of the game on Cleveland’s failed attempt at turning a double play on Bellinger. Will Warren gives up 3 runs in the 3rd to tie things up. Ryan McMahon hits yet another opposite-field home run in the 5th, only for Paul Blackburn to give up the lead by allowing a 2-run home run in the 6th. Goldschmidt once again gets in on the action in the 8th, plating Trent Grisham to tie the game when he beats a throw on a double-play ball. In extras with the bases loaded, Bellinger plates Ben Rice and Ali Sanchez by finding an infield hole with a single to LF. Yanks win 7-5.
Game 66
- Spencer Jones hits his first career home run in the MLB on a 443-foot shot to dead center field. The blast plates Jazz, giving Gerrit Cole a 2-run lead. Cole can’t keep the lead in part because Anthony Volpe is afraid to stay in front of a line drive one-hopper. The older Yankees’ ace manages to go 4 innings on 83 pitches before handing the ball off to the bullpen. In a combined effort, Paul Blackburn, Tim Hill, Camilo Doval, Jake Bird, and Fernando Cruz pitch 5 innings of scoreless ball, including a 5-out save from Cruz. The Yanks took the lead in the 8th on a clutch Jazz home run to win 3-2.
Game 67
- Carlos Rodon allows a Cleveland lead-off home run, but the Yankees answer right back in the Top of the 2nd when Jazz triples home Grisham and Caballero. Tied at 3- 3 in the 6th, Trent Grisham hits a rare triple of his own and scores on a great slide on a sac fly off the bat of Caballero. Rodon goes 6 innings of 3-run ball with 7 Ks. Yanks win 8-4 to sweep Cleveland.
Game 68
- After a travel day to Toronto, the Yanks face the Blue Jays. Ryan Weathers immediately gives up 3 runs in the 1st inning, including a towering home run that Kazuma Okamoto hit into the 5th deck. George Spring makes it 5-0 in the 2nd inning. Yanks answer back in the 5th, when Cody Bellinger scrapes one over the RF wall. Trent Grisham makes things interesting by hitting a 2-run single in the 6th and taking 2nd base on the throw to the plate, but re-injures his hamstring in the process. Jays beat the Yankees 8-5.
Game 69
- As Trent Grisham lands on the IL, Jasson Dominguez takes his spot in the lineup, shifting Spencer Jones into CF. The Martian goes yard in his first game back from the shelf after Okamoto had hit a solo shot off Cam Schlittler. The younger Yankees’ ace shoves 7 innings of 1-run ball, striking out 7 Jays batters. He doesn’t earn the win because the Yanks don’t score until the Top of the 9th when Paul Goldschmidt crushes a 2-run bomb. Yanks win 3-1.
Next
- Mike Stanton had a setback on his calf strain rehab, which’ll force the Yankees into keeping the position players the same for at least the next few weeks. Yankee beat writers are already laying the groundwork for rumors that Kyle Higashioka could be back via a trade with the Rangers. While he is well-liked by his former teammates and that would make some sense as a catching option vs lefties, the Rangers are still very much in a playoff race. Perhaps a move for a catcher for the time being would be calling around to see the asking price for older Triple-A catchers such as Eduardo Valencia (Tigers) and Luca Tresh (Royals). Both guys are 26 years of age with no MLB experience, but have each collected over 50 hits this season in the minor leagues, while Wells and Escarra have combined for just 38 hits in nearly 70 games in the bigs.
Around the MLB
- Brewers star pitcher Jacob Misiorowski had one of the most dominant starts this century. He recorded 27 outs facing 28 batters with 15 strikeouts in 95 pitches. Of those 95 pitches, 74 of them were for strikes, and 51 were thrown over 100mph.
