Yankee Opponents: Hot or Not?

Jeter's explanation for his team's struggles doesn't add up

By Matthew Taylor

It appears that Derek Jeter doesn't read Roar from 34. I know, I'm just as surprised as you are. If Jeter did read RF34 he would know better than to make the following statement after Sunday's loss to the A's.

"It seems like every team that's playing us is playing pretty good. You try to stay positive but, yeah, it gets frustrating."

We already debunked the myth(s) surrounding New York's June winning streak, but now we're going to have to re-visit the topic.

The truth is exactly the opposite of Jeter's claim that "every team that's playing us is playing pretty good."

Consider that the A's had lost six of seven games headed into their series this past weekend against the Yankees. Or what about the Colorado Rockies? After sweeping the Yankees the Rockies went on an eight-game losing streak. San Francisco won two of three against New York and then promptly lost two of three to the Padres. And any O's fan can tell you that times have been, shall we say, a bit tough in Baltimore of late. The list goes on.

It's not just individual anecdotes that undermine Jeter's theory. Consider the combined June record of the Yankees' opponents last month: 105-136, a .435 winning percentage. Only three of the teams New York played in June had a winning record in the month: Arizona (15-13), Colorado (14-13), and Oakland (14-13). Clearly, the Yankees were losing to teams in June that were not playing very good baseball.

It all adds up to more myth making in the Bronx.

June records of Yankee opponents

Arizona: 14 – 13

Baltimore: 8 -17

Boston: 13 – 14

Chicago: 10 – 18

Colorado: 14 – 13

New York: 12 – 15

Oakland: 15-13

Pittsburgh: 10 – 15

San Francisco: 9 – 18

Combined record of Yankee opponents: 105 – 136

There's No "I" in Team

And there's only one "t" in Jeter, a fact that obviously was lost on a fan behind home plate at last night's O's game.

In other news from last night:

-The O's and Yankees are responsible for the rule change that cost the Birds a rain-shortened win. Or are they?

The AP and The Washington Post tell somewhat different stories about rule changes.

From the AP:

"Before 1980, the score would have reverted to the start of the inning, giving the Orioles a 6-4 win. But the rule was changed after a game on Aug. 13, 1978, when Baltimore led 3-0 after six innings and the Yankees scored five runs in the top of the seventh. "

From The Post:

"The game fell under a new rule enacted this offseason, which states that if weather halts a game mid-inning it becomes suspended and resumes from that point. If the game was official (with five innings in the books) and was called after a completed inning, it would have been over.

Had the game unfolded last season, the Orioles would have won. Under the old rule, the game is taken back to the last completed inning, and the result stands."

-Some player reactions to the umpires' decision to keep playing in the downpour:

Melvin Mora

"He just tried to make Jeter hit so they can score one run and they can get out of here. That's what I think," said Mora, making a comment that could draw attention from the commissioner's office.

Mora said that he couldn't even see the ball cross home plate, and told Tschida that before Jeter's at-bat.

"I just asked [Tschida], 'You don't think it's too wet?' And he just started yelling at me and cursing. I said, 'You don't have to curse at me for asking a question.' And he was upset. I said, 'This is worse than when you stopped the game when we were winning. Why aren't you going to stop it now? I can't even see the ball.' And he was just cursing and cursing and cursing, and I was like, 'OK, this is not good.'"

Chris Ray

"I've never pitched in rain like that before," Ray said. "I was just trying not to throw the ball to the backstop. When they called it in the seventh inning and we had something going and it wasn't raining nearly as hard, and then it's pouring down rain and we're just out there in terrible conditions."


Compiled by Matthew Taylor