Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 6/13/14

I can't explain why, but I'm feeling very good about the Rangers' chances tonight.  I'm almost irrationally confident in them and it's a little scary.  Most people felt that if they played a whole 60 minutes like the played the opening periods of Games 1 and 2, they would have won.  It's now Game 5 and they've still yet to accomplish that feat.  The 3rd period the other night was hide-your-eyes scary to watch, so maybe tonight is the night that they put 3 whole periods together and bring the series back to The Garden for a final time in the 2013-2014 season.  Win tonight and they have a real chance again.  1 shift at a time, 1 period at a time, 1 game at a game.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, Mike Axisa offered up some simple lineup change suggestions to help ignite the unproductive lineup.  So far, the Yankees haven't implemented any of them.

- SJK of NoMaas had a few roster shakeup ideas of his own.

- On Tuesday, William Juliano of The Captain's showed how the Yankees' good luck has been hiding the truth of their weak performance over the first 62 games.

- On Wednesday, Katie Sharp of IIATMS/TYA identified all the unseen value coming from Brian McCann this season thanks to his elite-level defensive metrics.  Guy has been an absolute stud behind the plate.

- El duque of It Is High... noticed a somewhat unsettling trend in the Yankee organization.  W-L record isn't a huge deal in the Minors, but that top-to-bottom breakdown can't make you feel good, can it?

- On Thursday, Michael Brown of Pinstripe Alley examined the Yankees' offensive performance in the clutch.  Whether you believe in the idea or not, we can all agree that ranking in the lower half of MLB in that category is not good.

- Delia Enriquez of Bronx Basebally Daily commented on Masahiro Tanaka's competitiveness and desire for perfection and how it makes him a better pitcher.

- On Friday, Chad Jennings of LoHud got some collective thoughts on Chase Whitley's start to his Major League starting career, from guys like Joe, Jeter, and Whitley himself.

- Chris Mitchell of Pinstripe Pundits used the newest scouting report on Ian Clarkin to search for accurate pitcher comparisons.

It's been all rock so far this year, so let's change it up with a little hip-hop this week and an underrated classic from Blackstar, "Redefinition".  Most people know and prefer "Definition", but this song is just as tight and deserves some recognition.  Too bad Mos Def went all religious psycho and got on the outs with the US government.  A Blackstar reunion would be sweet.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.