Monthly Archives: July 2005

The Yankees finsihed the first half in style, taking three-of-four from an impressive, and likable Indians team. Though Randy Johnson was far from imposing yesterday, he pitched well enough to guide the Yanks to a 9-4 win. The Yankee offense was led once again by Jason Giambi (who hit a long home run–probably right over Cliff Corcoran’s head in the right field bleachers), and Hideki Matsui. Gary Sheffield added a three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth to put the game away, and Mariano Rivera pitched two scoreless innings–retiring all six men that he faced–to earn the save. The Yanks trail the first place Red Sox by two-and-a-half games, and second place Baltimore by just a half game. After the All-Star festivities this week, the Bombers play four up in Fenway, so we know the second half will start with a bang.

It was a beautiful day for baseball yesterday as fifty former Yankee players (including seven current Yankee coaches and two YES broadcasters) suited up for the team’s 59th Old-Timers Day. As usual, Don Mattingly and the Hall of Fame quartet of Reggie Jackson, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra and Phil Rizzuto got the biggest response from the crowd, which on this day was 54,000 strong.

As the Old-Timers’ game itself got underway, however, some charcoal-gray clouds rolled in, forcing the Bomber alumni off the field as a down-poor began after a mere an inning and a half. What little action there was saw deep hits by Oscar Gamble, Kevin Maas and Venezuelan League Batting Champ Luis Sojo boost the “scrub team” Pinstripers to a 4-0 lead against a Yankee pitching rotation of Ron Guidry, Goose Gossage and Mel Stottlemyre. Pinstriper Stan Bahnsen retired Mickey Rivers, Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly in order in the bottom of the first, stranding Reggie Jackson in the on-deck circle. When the rain forced the players off the field after the top of the second, Reggie took a few pantomime swings in right field and threw his palms to the sky in exasperation.

The rain blew over in time for the regular game to start on time and the real Yankees got out to an early 2-0 lead on Cleveland starter Scott Elarton on back-to-back solo homers by Gary Sheffield (taking a “half-day off” at DH) and Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the first. Rodriguez’s tater was an opposite field job that just cleared the right field wall, while Sheffield’s was an absolute moon shot that cleared the visiting bullpen in left field.

The Indians then proceeded to score seven unanswered runs against spot starter Darrell May. Jose Hernandez and Jhonny Peralta countered Sheffield and Rodriguez in the top of the second with back-to-back homers of their own, Hernandez’s a two-run job following a Casey Blake single. Hernandez, who started at first against the lefty May in place of the left-handed Ben Broussard, then drove Blake home again with another dinger in the third. Cleveland then rallied for two more in the fifth, with Travis Hafner–who was 0 for 5 with three walks in the first two games of the series–delivering an RBI double to drive May from the game. Hafner then scored on a single off reliever Scott Proctor that gave Jose Hernandez five RBIs on the day.

The Yankees finally got one back in the bottom of the fifth when Robinson Cano cashed in a lead-off Ruben Sierra double with a two-out RBI single to run the score to 7-3. The Yanks and Tribe then exchanged 1-2-3 innings and, after both teams stranded men in the seventh, many Yankee fans, including my companion for the day, Jay Jaffe, headed for the exits.

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I think it’s great that Dan Pasqua is going to be at old Timer’s Day this afternoon. And equally great to think that Cliff and Jay Jaffe are there in the Big House to see it all live. So, here’s the obvious question: who is your favorite Yankee old timer? And, which guy would you most like to see who wasn’t invited this year.

After Thursday night’s 7-2 Yankee win I wrote:

If the Yankees and Red Sox both win tonight, the Yankees will move into second place in the East and will tie the Indians for second in the Wild Card race, leapfrogging the nose-diving O’s (3-11 in their last 14 games with last night’s win) in both cases.

And that is exactly what happened. The Yankees rolled to a tidy 5-4 victory over the Inidians behind yet another quality start from their ace, Chien Ming-Wang. Wang didn’t have his best stuff, though some of that–such as a solo home run by Grady Sizemore on the very first pitch of the game–could be blamed on the soggy conditions as it had rained all day and was actually coming down pretty hard when the game was started some twenty minutes after the scheduled first pitch.

The weather soon cleared up, as did the Yankees’ fortunes, with Melky Cabrera going 2 for 3 and scoring his first big league run amidst a four-run ralley in the bottom of the third. Jason Giambi capped that rally with yet another key hit, this one a two-out RBI single. Unfortunately, Giambi slipped on the wet dirt coming out of the box on that single, straining his left hip flexor. He was later replaced by Tino Martinez, but is not expected to miss more than one game, if that many.

If there was anything surprising about last night’s game it was the important role played by Wayne Franklin. When Aaron Boone, a pesky 4 for 4 on the night, hit Wang’s 110th pitch into center field for a two-out single in the seventh, Joe Torre called on the left-handed Franklin to pitch to lefty Grady Sizemore (he of the lead-off homer against Wang). That wasn’t terribly shocking (though I would have expected Buddy Groom to be his first choice lefty in a two-run game). What was shocking was that, after Franklin got Sizemore to fly out to end the seventh, Torre left him in to pitch the eighth.

Now, Tom Gordon was unavailable due to the shoulder injury that knocked him out of Thursday night’s game (his MRI was negative, the diagnosis is mild tendonitis, he’s day-to-day), but Tanyon Sturtze was both available and warming up. The logic for sticking with Franklin was likely the fact that lefty Travis Hafner was due up second, but Torre could have used Groom to face Hafner had Sturtze allowed lead-off batter Coco Crisp to reach base. Perhaps looking to give Sturtze another day of rest coming off his Monday spot start in which he pushed himself to exhaustion, Torre stuck with Franklin, who pitched a perfect eighth, striking out Hafner and Victor Martinez to get the ball to Mariano for the ninth.

Oddly, it was Rivera who nearly blew the game. After striking out Ben Broussard to start the ninth, Mo gave up a double to Ronnie Belliard and a single to Jhonny Peralta (Belliard held at third knowing he could score on an out and perhaps respecting Carbrera’s arm in center). Casey Blake then hit for lefty Jody Gerut and lifted a sac fly to left, driving home Belliard, the first run Rivera’s allowed since May 6 (a span of 23 innings). After catching Blake’s fly, Hideki Matsui threw to second to hold Peralta at first. As it turns out, that saved the game as Boone followed with his fourth hit to push Peralta to third before Mo got Sizemore to ground out to Tino to end the game.

It will be interesting to see if Franklin’s perfect inning and a third will inspire Joe Torre to use him in more important spots over the next two games. I had previously argued that today’s starter, Darrell May, would be a better option in Franklin’s role as the second lefty and long man in the pen. Assuming one of them will be sent back to Columbus after the break when Brown and Pavano are (hopefully) activated, they could both be pitching for a job over these last two games prior to the break.

That’s about the best I can do for a subplot to today’s Old-Timers’ Day match-up between May and Scott Elarton. I’ll be at the game with the Futility Infielder‘s Jay Jaffe, mourning the absence of Dave Winfield while telling tales of the halcyon days of Steve Sax, Kevin Maas, Steve Balboni, Mike Pagliarulo and Dan Pasqua (all of whom will be in uniform).

The rain has finally stopped out here in New Jersey and it appears the Yankees and Indians will indeed play ball tonight. The pitching match-up is a compelling duel of 26-year-old lefty Cliff Lee (3.68, 9-3) and the Yankees 25-year-old ace Chien-Ming Wang (who leads the Yankee starters with a 3.87 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP). Meanwhile, despite the presence of the lefty Lee on the mound, Joe Torre has returned to what appears to be his now regular line-up:

Jeter
Cano
Sheffield
Rodriguez
Matsui
Giambi
Posada
Williams
Cabrera

I can hardly believe my eyes. Go Yankees!

A two-run Alex Rodriguez homer in the first inning of last night’s gave the Yankees an early lead they would never relinquish as they rolled to a 7-2 victory behind a solid outing from Mike Mussina (7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 BB, 5 K), running their current winning streak to five games.

The one homer Mussina gave up came off the bat of Jhonny Peralta in the top of the second, but Jason Giambi got the run right back on Kevin Millwood’s second pitch of the bottom of the inning with a solo shot of his own. Actually, Giambi’s shot would have hit off the top of the wall in right, but Cleveland right fielder Casey Blake managed to catch it, only to have it pop out of his glove and over the wall for a home run.

Amazingly, both Giambi’s deflected home run in the second and Rodriguez’s opposite field shot in the first were touched by the same fan in the right field stands. A sturdy fellow in his late 30s/early 40s with black gelled hair and a blue-gray t-shirt bobbled Rodriguez’s shot eventually knocking it back onto the field, then had Giambi’s ball scoot right through his hands altogether. He didn’t wind up with either ball.

The Yankees fifth run also came on a bizarre play. Following a Cano infield single, a Sheffield fly out and a Rodriguez walk, Hideki Matusi singled to score Cano for the fourth run and put runners at the corners. Then, with a 1-0 count on Giambi, Millwood caught his front spike on the mound while attempting to pitch from the stretch. Rolling his ankle slightly, Millwood had to kick his foot toward first to avoid injury, eliminating the momentum of his delivery completely. However, with a runner on third, Millwood didn’t want to stop his motion and get called for a balk, so he sort of flipped the ball home with a flick of his wrist. Unfortunately for the Indians, the throw went wide of Victor Martinez behind the plate and both runners advanced anyway.

Giambi then singled home Matsui from second to make it 6-2 Yankees (the Indians scored their second run on a pair of singles and a groundout in the fifth). Derek Jeter added a solo homer leading off the seventh against Fernando Cabrera to cap the scoring.

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As Steven Goldman pointed out in a recent Pinstriped Blog entry, tonight the Yankees begin, in Steve’s words, a “punishingly difficult” stretch of schedule that extends through late August. Between now and August 21 the Yankees will face the following:

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According to Steve Lombardi, Melky Cabrera is being called up to the Bronx and will start tonight against the Indians. Here is what Bryan Smith had to say about Cabrera yesterday over at The Baseball Analysts:

Normally, when one of my favorite prospects receives word of a promotion, I’m ecstatic. But instead the recent Yankees decision to move Melky Cabrera to AAA leaves me confused and worried. This was not someone that dominated AA by any stretch of the imagination, hitting just .267/.310/.413 with the Trenton Thunder. Granted this was a player hitting just .214 on April 26, I don’t believe Melky was showing AAA-caliber play. But, it appears this may be a situation of him proving me wrong and the Yankees right. Since being moved up to Columbus eight games ago, Cabrera is 11/32 with four walks and five extra-base hits, three of them via the home run. The Yankees plan with their young outfielder is anyone’s guess at this point, but with a player as talented as Melky, New York is proving that it’s hard to look wrong.

Melky, meet Coco; Coco, Melky.

A week ago I took a look that the American and National League All-Star ballots, posting my picks for the 17 starting slots. This past Sunday the 62 players selected by the fans (17 starting position players), players (33 hitters and pitchers), and team managers Terry Francona and Tony LaRussa (12 hitters and pitchers) were announced. Today the winners of the Final Man fan vote were revealed to complete the rosters.

With the rosters set, I thought it would be fun to go back and try to assemble the 32-man rosters the “old” way (prior to the inclusion of the player and final man votes) as a way to figure out exactly whose invitation got sent to the wrong address. My only limitations here are the fan vote, the requirement that every team be represented, and the 32-man roster size.

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After the Yankees pounded the Orioles 12-3 yesterday at the stadium, Randy Johnson told reporters:

“The only thing that separates me and the best pitcher – whoever that may be considered in the game right now – is that he’s been consistent all year long and I haven’t been,” said Johnson (8-6), who allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out eight. “That’s the frustrating thing … is you don’t know what you’re going to get. That’s never been the case.”
(N.Y. Daily News)

It is still hard to figure what the second half will bring for the Bombers. Will they be good enough to hang around and get our hopes up, only to falter in the end, or are they going to make a push and actually make the playoffs?

It was a stunningly gorgeous day in New York yesterday. Today, some of the humidity has returned, and the breeze has been muted. The sky looks milky and hazy. Randy Johnson will pitch on three-days rest this afternoon at the Stadium. Let’s hope the Bombers can build on yesterday’s win.

July 4th brought plenty of fireworks to the Bronx as the Yankees enjoyed one of their most satisfying wins of the season, out-lasting the O’s, 13-8.

I had a really good feeling at the start of the game. Watching the Yankee hitters walk to the plate, they looked like they were fresh out of a video game. Recall how incredulous I was earlier in the season when junk-ballin’ Bruce Chen shut them down. Well, I was not expecting a repeat performance. Derek Jeter led off and tomahawked pitch out-of-the-zone into left for a single. Then dancing around first, he distracted Chen plenty, who proceeded to walk Robinson Cano on five pitches. Cano was very calm, which I found impressive. Then Chen laid an egg, or a what you’d call a room service fastball (?) to Gary Sheffield. Sheff almost jumped out of his uniform, he was so excited, waiting just enough, and with a long, phat, juicy swing, slammed a three run dinger into the left field bleachers.

Alex Rodriguez was next and he hit a wicked line drive down the third base line. Melvin Mora bent his right knee and stuck his left arm across his body. Miraculously, it caught the ball in the webbing of the glove. But the speed was so great, that it could well have knocked Mora’s mitt clean off. Instead, he twirled around, propelled by his left leg, like a dradle, and threw Rodriguez out easily. The play happened in the blink of an eye, and was some kind of Major League moment. Rodriguez can’t seem to buy a hit (a problem that would continue in his next at bat when Jay Gibbons robbed him of an extra-base hit). But Hideki Mastui launched a breaking ball off the facade in right field, and Jason Gaimbi did the same in the next inning. It was a short day for Chen.

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Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui are two of the finalists for the last slot on the American League All Star team. According to the Daily News:

Asked if he were disappointed that he wasn’t already on the team, Jeter said, “Every year, there are people on other teams who are pretty deserving. I’ve been on when others have deserved it. It makes you appreciate the opportunities you do have to go.”

… Said Gary Sheffield: “I don’t know if the Japanese fans count (they do), but if they do, I think (Jeter) is done. He’s got vacation.”

It is an absolutely gorgeous morning here in New York. It might be a bit overcast, but the sun will be out, the humidity is low and there is a nice breeze. Yanks host the O’s at 1:00. Tanyon Sturtze gets the emergency start versus Bruce Chen, who has had the Yankees’ number early this year. (Randy Johnson, pitching on three days rest will go tomorrow.) Enough. Time for some fireworks! I’m ready for the Bomber bats to smack Chen around this afternoon.

Here’s hoping the Bombers make George’s 75th birthday and happy one. And by the way, Happy Birthday Mr. Steinbrenner.

Let’s Go Yan-kees.

Chien-Ming Wang and Nate Robertson both pitched brisk, efficient games today. Wang, starting in place of Carl Pavano, lasted seven innings, while Robertson went the distance; both were helped out by some key double plays. The difference was an RBI single by Gary Sheffield in the fourth inning. The Yankees won 1-0, taking the weekend series and gaining a game on the Red Sox, who lost to the Jays (the Orioles lost too).

Mariano Rivera allowed a double to Ivan Rodriguez to start the ninth, but retired the next three men to earn his 18th save of the year. Rivera’s earned run average is now down to 0.85. Rivera is one of three Yankees who are going to the All-Star Game. Alex Rodriguez will be the starting third baseman while Gary Sheffield made it as a reserve outfielder. Notably, Derek Jeter did not make the team. Fans do have the opportunity to vote in one more player from each league, so perhaps Jeter (or Godzilla Matsui) will make it after all.

The Yankees had six hits through the first four innings last night, but just one run to show for it. Mike Mussina was handling the Tigers well, but in the bottom of the inning, the Tigers struck for four runs, including a three-run shot by Dimitri Young (off a breaking ball).

However, the Yanks managed to slowly come back. In the sixth, with two men out (and Alex Rodriguez, the lead runner having reached on a strikeout/passed ball), Bernie Williams ripped a single to right, scoring two runs and the Yanks were back in it. They tied it in the following inning when Derek Jeter scored on a tomahawk double to left by Gary Sheffield. Both teams had rallys that fizzled in the eighth (Tom Gordon pitched the seventh and eighth for New York). Then the Yanks met their old nemesis Troy Percival, just a grizzly-looking as ever, in the ninth. He might still look mean, but Perival is not nearly as imposing as he was years ago with the Angels.

With one out, Alex Rodriguez slapped a high fastball into right. Magglio Ordonez had to go pretty far to his right to field it, so Rodriguez took a gamble and headed for second, sliding in safely for a double. Hideki Matsui weakly popped out and then Jorge Posada was walked intentionally so that the Tigers could face the pinch-hitter, Tony Womack. Actually, my reaction was that Womack was going to do something good. Percival promptly blazed two fastballs past him, but he couldn’t put him away, as Womack lined a single over the second baseman’s head. Rodriguez scored and the Yanks had the lead. Bernie Williams then stroked a three-run homer deep into the right field bleachers. It was a no-doubt-about-it shot, which got my fat ass off of the couch, yelling and whooping. Final score: Yanks 8, Tigers 4.

It’s always nice to see Percival get tagged, but it is even sweeter to see ol’ man Bernie come through. He had four hits in all for the game. Good for him. We’ve got to cherish these last couple of great Bernie moments while we can, right? Mo went through the Tigers without incident, one-two-three in the ninth, as the Yanks keep pace with the Red Sox and Orioles, who both won as well.

The saga of Paul Quantrill and Mike Stanton continues today as is has been reported that the Yankees have actually convinced the Padres to offer up a pair of warm bodies and cash for the DFAed Quantrill. The two players acquired, former Royals lefty Darrell May and former Astros righty Tim Redding, are not much to write home about, but it’s always nice to get something in return for a player you were planning to release anyway.

Both pitchers will report to Columbus, but it seems to me that May would be a much better choice than Wayne Franklin to fill the roll of second lefty/long man/spot starter with the big club. May, who just turned 33, is almost two years older than Franklin and just as susceptible to the long ball (1.65 HR/9 in nearly 600 major league innings prior to this year to Franklin’s 1.61), but he has far better control (2.86 BB/9 through 2004 to Franklin’s 4.58), a league average career ERA (5.04, 97 ERA+ to Franklin’s 5.47/80) and superior splits.

Franklin has pitched well at Columbus this year (4.13 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 10.74 K/9, 3.03 BB/9, 0.83 HR/9, 3.54 K/BB), but when he was called up it was reported (forgive me, I can’t find where I read it) that he had held right handers to a very low batting average. As his opponents were hitting .242 against him overall, that would mean that lefty’s are getting to him pretty well. In his major league career, Franklin has a proper split, but not a very strong one:

vs. L: .261/.329/.468 (.265 GPA)
vs. R: .270/.369/.483 (.287)

May’s career splits are not available, but here are his splits since 2002, when he returned to the majors after four years pitching in Japan (two as Hideki Matsui’s teammate with the Yomiuri Giants):

vs. L: .263/.300/.447 (.247)
vs. R: .280/.332/.518 (.279)

May has a bigger split and lower GPAs against both lefties and righties. What’s more there’s this split from his time with the Padres thus far this year:

As Starter: 6.94, 1.69 WHIP, .318 BAA
As Reliever: 3.52, 1.39 WHIP, .278 BAA

In addition, while May has indeed been terrible as a starter this year, he did have a strong outing against the Twins less than two weeks ago in which he allowed just one run (a Matt LeCroy homer) in six innings while striking out four and allowing just two other baserunners (both on singles).

So, while the Yankees would still be better off giving that final bullpen slot to a younger player such as Alex Graman or Colter Bean, they’ve already given themselves the opportunity to improve upon their current roster with the acquisition of May (which is a pretty damning statement now that I think about).

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note: this post was to be posted before game time, but was held up due to a black out resulting from a sudden thunderstorm.

Normally at the start of a new series I post the roster of the team the Yankees are about to face, but after the last couple of days, I thought it might be helpful to post the Yankees current roster.

New York Yankees

2005 Record: 39-38 (.506)
2005 Pythagorean Record: 41-36 (.532)

Manager: Joe Torre
General Manager: Brian Cashman

Ballpark (2004 park factors): Yankee Stadium (96/97)

Current Roster

1B – Jason Giambi
2B – Robinson Cano
SS – Derek Jeter
3B – Alex Rodriguez
C – Jorge Posada
RF – Gary Sheffield
CF – Tony Womack
LF – Hideki Matsui
DH – Ruben Sierra

Bench:

S – Bernie Williams (OF)
L – Tino Martinez (1B)
R – Russ Johnson (IF)
L – Bubba Crosby (OF)
R – John Flaherty (C)

Rotation:

L – Randy Johnson
R – Mike Mussina
R – Carl Pavano
R – Chien-Ming Wang

Bullpen:

R – Mariano Rivera
R – Tom Gordon
R – Tanyon Sturtze
L – Buddy Groom
R – Jason Anderson
R – Scott Proctor
L – Wayne Franklin

DL:

R – Kevin Brown
R – Rey Sanchez (IF)
R – Felix Hernandez
R – Jaret Wright (60-day)

As for who’s replaced whom, by demoting Kevin Reese in favor of righty Jason Anderson on Wednesday, then designating Paul Quantrill and Mike Stanton for assignment yesterday in favor of Bubba Crosby and lefty Wayne Franklin, you get this:

Bubba Crosby replaces Kevin Reese
Jason Anderson replaces Paul Quantrill
Wayne Franklin replaces Mike Stanton

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Just a couple of tidbits as the Yankees get set for a weekend series with the Tigers in the Motor City:

1. Gary Sheffield received a two-game suspension for losing his cool last Sunday night against the Mets:

“I think the decision by Bob Watson was absolutely wrong,” Yankees president Randy Levine said. “The entire incident was precipitated by what we know today to be a completely incorrect call and an overreaction by the umpire in ejecting Sheff from the game prematurely.”
(N.Y. Daily News)

Sheffield will appeal the suspension.

2. Mike Stanton and Paul Quantrill are officially out. Wayne Franklin, a left-handed reliever who was released by the Giants in March, has been called up, as has Bubba Crosby.

3. George Steinbrenner turns 75 on Monday. Murray Chass and Mike Lupica both have articles today about why George just ain’t the same anymore.

4. Mike Mussina was scheduled to pitch Wednesday. Battling a stomach virus, he’ll give way to the Big Unit tonight, and pitch tomorrow instead.

5. Big shout out to our pal Steven Goldman and his wife Stephanie on the birth of their second child, a baby boy named Clemens (named after Samuel, not Roger).

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. Cliff and I will be in and around the tri-state area watcing the Yanks, so fall through if you like, we’ll be here.