Sunday, March 12, 2017

Is being Bozo fun? Can the Yankees be fun without Bozo?

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Bozo the Clown, not Clint Frazier

Bozo look-alike contest: Yanks Clint Frazier is a 2017 contender ... if he makes the team.
Monday, February 27, 2017


Clint Frazier is not likely to make the opening day roster for the Yankees. Heck, he's got to learn to hit AAA pitching first.

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Clint Frazier’s Haircut and the Yankees’ War on Fun
by Nicolas Stellini - March 10, 2017 fangraphs.com

One of the most celebrated episodes of The Simpsons involves ... Don Mattingly ... a parody of his real-life benching by Yankees manager Stump Merrill. The exchange pokes some well-earned fun at New York’s hatred of hair...

The Yankees, as you probably know, have a pretty stringent (most of the time) policy when it comes to hair. No facial hair below the lip, no sideburns, no hair that’s long enough to fall below your collar...

This brings us to young Clint Frazier, the fire-maned bat-speed-maven prospect the Yankees acquired in the Andrew Miller trade. Frazier is one of the better prospects in baseball, and he was known just as much for his long red locks as he was for destroying baseballs like they said something about his mother...

... clean-shaven and clean-cut, and was so declared by George Steinbrenner himself. The Boss’s word is law, even to this day, especially since his son owns the team ...

The thing is, it’s 2017. Today’s young people couldn’t care less about Frazier’s hair, beyond thinking that it’s pretty cool. The policy is a marketing tactic that’s still in place for the middle-aged fans who lap up the Pride and Pinstripes stuff ...

Frazier is an employee of a private company, and companies have the right to dictate how employees present themselves while they’re on the job. The Yankees are the only ones doing this right now, though...

The Yankees need only look across town to see how beloved Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom are, and how eagerly the Mets have embraced their flow.


This policy is an archaic one, and the Yankees are hardasses about it...

It truly is shocking to see the Yankees being caught up in the past and anti-fun to a fault, but we’re all surprised by things every now and then. All we can hope for is to have a camera in the room in two years when they tell Bryce Harper that he’ll need to shave if he wants to collect his humongous, earth-shattering paycheck and come to the Bronx. One can only wonder how that will go.
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I've had a beard since George Steinbrenner's group bought the Yankees in 1973. I was a Yankee fan before that and still am. I never had a problem with George's hair/beard policy and neither have any big name free agents, including 1973 AL MVP Reggie Jackson, who had a full beard that season while playing for the Oakland As, many of whom had long hair and facial hair. Nicolas Stellini, the fangraphs.com author quoted above, should put a little thought into his work and maybe even do a little research. Hair did not become an issue when Stellini and his friends became aware. George Steinbrenner instituted his policy in opposition to the trend, which has come and gone, more than forty years ago. FORTY YEARS. What, Stellini didn't know that? Is he a moron?

Oh, Reggie Jackson:
November 1, 1976: Granted Free Agency.
November 29, 1976: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.

Finally, Stellini jumps on the conventional wisdom bandwagon that the Yankees want and should want to acquire Bryce Harper. The Yankees should decide about Harper based on pretty much anything other than his hair. And Harper should base his view of the Yankees on pretty much anything other than his hair.

As a Yankee fan I want Mike Trout, not Bryce Harper. That's because Trout reminds me of Mickey Mantle. Trout is the best player on the planet. And hair aside, the choice is:

Captain America (Trout) v. Asshole (Harper).

That pretty much sums up Clint Frazier, who shows up in Yankee camp in obvious defiance of the team rule and without any real chance of making the opening day roster. This after being a pro for 3.5 years. Hey, do you think the Astros would trade Alex Bregman
for Clint Frazier? Do you think the Red Sox would trade Andrew Benintendi for Clint Frazier? Bregman and Benintendi each have only 1.5 years as a pro. Of course, each has also shown some success with their major league team, while Frazier has failed at AAA.

Why I'm skeptical about Yankee "prospects" Judge, Frazier, Torres. Friday, February 17, 2017

... Judge and Frazier seem like clowns, with more than twice the minor league PA of Benintendi or Bregman and still neither beats the much less experienced players.


So, what the heck?

Who wouldn't trade Judge or Frazier or Torres for either Benintendi or Bregman?

Some people might trade any two for either Benintendi or Bregman.
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So, Nicolas Stellini of fangraphs.com is making his case against the Yankees with Clint Frazier, who projects as a latter day Eric Byrnes, a manic egotistical player with marginal skills and lots of false hustle, who makes his mark as a clown commentator for MLB Network, you know, trying to appeal to those young fans.

Did Nicolas Stellini see the play a few days ago in a Yankee spring training game in which Frazier displayed his false hustle with his silly red hair sticking out from his Yankee cap? Frazier was in right and converged with the Yankee center fielder on a fly in right center. Frazier dove for the ball and nearly injured the leg of his teammate, causing the ball to not be caught be either. The ball hit the prone Frazier on the head. Frazier quickly recovered the ball and heaved it way over the head of the catcher. You'd expect better and more disciplined play from a ten year old. Some fun, huh?

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