As I made my way out of my apartment building this morning I saw several brown leaves on the ground. The weather, which has been hot and muggy for the past few days, was clear and lovely and for the first time this year I thought, fall is near. For a decade that’s meant one thing for Yankee fans: the playoffs. Yet with 29 games left in the regular season, the Bombers are no lock to play October baseball. Funny, but I feel more confident in their chances should they reach the playoffs than in their ability to actually make it in the first place (damn those Devil Rays). From here on out, the wins will be that much sweeter and the losses more painful. Joel Pineiro is starting for the Mariners this afternoon and he’s not a bad pitcher, but the Yankees have to win this game and that is all there is to it. I feel if they can take two-of-three from the A’s, Rays, Sox and Rays again, they should be in good shape.
Time to step up, fellas.
1. Grind it!
2. Ditto.
I am off to my folks place down the Shore- 4 days of beers, sun, waves, and watching the Yankees dole out beatdowns in Hi-Def. I will miss the game threads here, but will have to make do.
Grind it.
3. Yup. This team has grit. I'm with Alex. I think if we make it to the post season, it's gonna be balls to the wall, baby.
BP
4. We're safe!
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-yankees-brown&prov=ap&type=lgns
While I'm very happy he can't possibly help wreck any more postseasons for us, I'm also sad. I had high hopes for Brown; oops. We got nothing from him. To have given up Ted Lilly, Jason Arnold, and John-Ford Griffin and received nothing in return is sad.
Sure, Lilly is hurt now, and Arnold and Griffin haven't lived up to their potential, but I can't help believing things might have been different in '03 and '04 (and this year!) if Lilly had been around instead of Weaver and Brown . . .
5. From the article Shaun P pointed us to:
"Brown's roster spot was given to Ramiro Mendoza ... He was a member of four World Series championship teams with the Yankees from 1996-00 and got a World Series ring with the 2004 Boston Red Sox."
That just cracks me up -- I can't believe Mendoza has five WS rings! (And something tells me he won't be wearing his latest one around the clubhouse...)
6. The Weaver trade seemed like a good one at the time. Weaver was actually younger than Lilly and had more big league experience and seemed to be a front of the rotation guy in the making. Turns out he had a ten-cent head. The Brown trade seemed like Cashman had made lemonade out of that lemon, but Brown turned out to have not only a ten-cent head, but a five-cent back, and we lost Yhency Brazoban in the process. Ooops.
Fastforward to today's game. Torre's got the good line-up there, but with Matsui at DH and Lawton, Bernie and Sheffield in the OF, some scary OF defense. Good thing Wright has a 1.45 GB/FB ratio thus far this year.
7. Oh yeah, and just for those who might not have caught it, with the expanded rosters, the Yanks have added Mendoza, Sierra, Wayne Franklin and catcher Wil Nieves, the last of whom makes John Flaherty look like Yogi Berra, but should free Torre from his fear of taking Posada out for a pinch runner in a key spot or, when Flaherty starts, from his fear of pinch hitting for Flaherty before it's too late.
8. A-Rod!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9. 1 out into the game, we have 1 run already. Nice!
10. Get the fuggin bat off yer shoulder Jason.
11. Cliff, I too was all for the Weaver-Brazoban for Brown trade at the time - lemonade from lemon should have been the result! (Though, IIRC, the way Brazoban has pitched most of this year, he's not much of a loss, as useful as he would have been in the 'pen last year.)
I was blah on the Weaver for Lilly deal, however. Just in 2002, ERA aside, IMO Lilly had pitched better. When you add in the traditional lefty-in-the-Stadium advantage, and his tendancy for lots of Ks, AND the lost prospects, I thought it might be a mistake - might be, because of Weaver's experience and "top of the rotation stuff", as you say. (BTW, Lilly is actually a few months younger than Weaver, unless Yahoo has their birthdays wrong, so age was probably a wash.)
Was it a worthwhile gamble? Sure, hindsight is 20-20 and the odds were on the Yanks' side both times. Those are the kinds of deals Cashman should make if he can - that they didn't work says more about the players than him.
12. And still no Phillips. Sigh, can't we just trade the poor guy to KC where he could play?
13. Bernie . . . argh. Good way to start the game, though I'd have preferred a couple more runs. C'mon Wright, try to be (like) Wang today and pitch well! (Sorry, couldn't resist)
14. Shaun, Yahoo must be messed up, Lilly is more than 7 months older than Weaver.
As for Andy, I think that ship has sailed folks, at least for this year. Activating Sierra gives us a good power bat on the bench, meanwhile Andy can help the Clippers into the playoffs. Maybe we'll see him when Columbus's season ends. If we do, I'm sure it will be in the dugout and not on the field.
Injury delay in the game with Wright pitching to Sexson. What is it?!
15. What's the delay?!
16. It appears Wright finished the inning (stranding Ibanez at first). So hopefully it was just a foul off the foot of Sexson or the like. I see "injury delay" in a Jaret Wright start and I see that shot from Star Wars of a bloody arm laying on the ground.
17. Mea culpa, Cliff - Yahoo! wasn't wrong, I was. The tiny little '6' in '1976' looked like a '5' when I quickly glanced there.
Speaking of Yahoo, they showed Wright getting Sexson to fly out to CF, without mention of an injury. What's up?
18. A little bit of adventure at the bag for Giambi in the first.
19. Cliff,
Me too. There was some pitcher earlier this season who destroyed his elbow on a pitch. It came out sideways and his career was over. I remember seeing it on Sportscenter but I can't remember who it was. That was my image....
20. Sexson fouled a ball off his foot - that's it.
21. KYK,
Thanks. Stupid mlb gamecenter. Cliff and I were in panic mode methinks.
22. Not that injuries are good, but as long as its not a Yankee . . . thanks, KYK.
rabid stan, help out those of us at work with no video - what was the "adventure"?
23. The Bellhorn acquisition has clearly lit a fire under Cano's butt.
24. I should say, Bellhorn and being dropped to ninth in the order.
25. MLB Gameday sucks - they have Cano on first.
He doubled down the left field line.
26. On Cano, anyone else notice his home/road splits (avg/obp/slg):
Home - .227/.248/.325
Road - .315/.346/.486 (!)
Since when does Yankee Stadium HURT a lefty batter?
27. With Brown now finally done, I was thinking of the contracts coming off the books this season:
Brown 15M), Bernie (12M), Stanton (Not sure how much we paid), Matsui (8 Mill),Karsay (saving of 5Mil or so b/c of buyout), Gordon (3.75 Mill), F. Rodriguez (3.15 Mill), May (1.2 Mill we paid), Lawton (no idea), Tino (2.75 Mill, has option), Small, Bellhorn, Embree, Leiter (400K), Sierra (1.5Mill), Franklin, Flaherty (800k), Sanchez(600k), Chacon (847k).
That is what I can figure, which seems like a lot. By my (terrible) calculations, that adds up to 55 Million coming off the books. Granted, Matsui MUST be resigned, and will be for more than 8 Mill, but most of that money can be replaced by really really cheap minor leaguers (Sierra, Gordon, F-Rod Embree, Tino, Flaherty etc...). Am I wrong here?
28. KYK, Yahoo says the same "Cano singled to left". ??
29. Shaun P - they probably get their info from the same source.
Sigh.
I knew I should have applied for the job at MLB to be the data entry person for Gameday.
30. I've noticed that Cano is a real road warrior. Beats me why.
31. KYK, I think somebody wrote about the data entry job recently, maybe at The Hardball Times? I can't remember where. I do remember that it sounded like a ton of fun, but hard work too.
Meanwhile, is Leiter giving Wright pitching tips? He seems to be throwing a lot of balls, especially on the first pitch. Good thing these Mariners can't hit . . .
32. Zack, I think you're largely correct there, especially as the free agent market this winter is the pits. That said, the Yanks just might wind up resigning Gordon as well as Matsui. Actually, I fear they might re-up Bernie too, but that would have to be a Tino-like contract. Speaking of which, I could see them picking up Tino's option.
This offseason will be very different from those of the past several years, that's for sure.
33. I saw Wright really shaky in the first inning, he has to throw strikes. What a change of pace, atmosphere, and of course talent from last night. I'm still playing a few of those plays in my head.
I totally agree with Alex I'm really confident that the Yanks are going to be really tough in the playoffs, but I'm not really sure if they can make it. They have to play 29 really tough must-win games, but then again so do their rivals.
34. From Gameday:
Gary Sheffield grounds out softly.
Is this even possible for Sheff? :)
35. I suppose I don't have a problem resigning Gordon, I just feel that his arm will literally fall off next year. If not Gordon, they will go after BJ Ryan, or some other high profile reliever, Torre needs his trio system
Its becoming more and more clear that we really want to play the White Sox if we make the playoffs, however that can work out.
36. easy on the really's.
37. Well we seem to have a plethora of pitchers for next year, right? Johnson, Mussina, Pavano, Wright, Wang, Chacon (?), Leiter (:-O). Small.
I can't think whose signed in the bullpen for next year. Sturze, Mendoza, Rivera. Anyone else?
38. I could see them signing both Ryan to replace Sturtze/Embree and re-upping Gordon to give Joe his Big Three (assuming Joe isn't "reassigned"). That said, Ryan may prefer to go where he can close and get closer's money.
39. KYK, don't forget Henn, who could be next year's Wang (ready to step up). Leiter, meanwhile, is on a one-year deal, so he's gone (probably retired) after this year.
40. Moose will be in his last year, at 17M, with an option for 2007 for 17M that I can't fathom them picking up. 17M seems like an awful lot for the Moose we have now, doesn't it?
41. "Good thing Wright has a 1.45 GB/FB ratio thus far this year. "
Is it just me or does Wright seem to be giving up more fly outs today?
And I just hear they called up Phillips!!
42. this game is just draging along... a bit boring.
43. better boring then losing...
44. amen
but Sheff, A-Rod and Giambi have to score this inning.
45. Crap - Wright just got nail by a line drive.
Either on the neck or collarbone.
Here's hoping he didn't swallow his chaw.
He's coming out
46. Man, that was scary. I hope he's all right.
Tanyon's coming in.
47. Wright sure has some bad luck, I really feel for the kid. While hoping he's OK before anything else, I'm afraid to ask what else can happen to this staff this year?
Ohhh, Tanyon just got ganked on that call!
48. THROW STRIKES!!
49. Since they let Wright walk off, I think he's probably not looking at a broken collarbone, but you never can tell. Even in their best years the Yanks had guys go down with injuries, but this is getting a bit ridiculous.
50. To look at it a different way, this is what happens when you sign guys with histories of injuries and who fail physicals. Not to say that this was b/c of that, which is silly, but Brown, Wright, Johnson, Pavano, and even Wang all have past injuries that caused them to miss major time. And Moose in the last two years has been injured more than ever (age?)
51. Dangit Sturtze.
52. Jeter's in a mini-slump.
53. What happened there????
54. I think Jeter just hits a lot better at home. Kind of the reverse of Cano.
55. Matsui -- talk about a slump. I'm hating this game already. I just hope the Yanks can pull some magic tricks. I have no more confidence on Sturtze anymore.
56. Goddam it....
57. That's what happens when you don't throw strikes....even to piece of shit role players.
Fucking Sturtze. Thanks a lot.
58. If they end up splitting this series... I mean, with the Mariners, ugh.
And here comes Alan Embree!
59. What a waste of time.
60. We couldn't use Aaron Small when Wright went down, because he has to start for Mussina. Sturtze is absolute toast at this point....actually he didn't get that strike 3 call to Sexson which cost us a run, but he spits the bit every time out these days.
61. That Safeco shadow won't make things easy in the 8th
62. Yes, that's Miguel Ojeda, the 9th batter on one of the worst offenses in the league, hitting his first home run. Off Sturtze. His average is now at .145.
Why does the Yankee offense either rips pitchers apart or makes them look like Walter Johnson?
63. rip*, make*, sorry
64. Post #1 said it all. We have to grind it here — no more losing or split series.
I'm flashin' back to the '77 and '78 teams, when the 7-8-9 innings were 'winnin' time' — you just knew somehow, someway something was going to happen. And more often than not it did. I need to feel that again!
65. big boppers coming up to flush away Sturze's mess. With two innings to hit we should still win. Now let me go drink my half full glass of water. Sterling just said x-rays negative on Wright
66. Blah. Why does our offense just go on vacation for random series? Thanks, Torre, for killing Sturtze and returning him to his true form...
x-rays on Wright negative
67. Ahh, but at least we can all enjoy the fact that there really is someone named Putz...If only we could get him, we would have a Johnson, a Wang, and a Putz
68. X-rays on Wright are negative.
69. Zack — then we could sign (Homer) Bush and we're good to go...
70. big boppers firing blanks, up to Jason to emasculate Putz this inning
71. Meat of the order down with nothing to show for it.
72. Dammit, They'd better not force me to root for the 'Rays tonight
73. Didn't leftys have something like a .176 BA against Stanton? Just asking...
74. I can't believe Sexson is still in this game
75. Ramiro! Always thought this guy was the most underrated player in the heat of the run from '96 to '00.
76. I guess nobody from MLB Gameday could be bothered to dig up a photo of Mendoza with a Yankees cap on. Gigantic red "B" and everything.
77. This is so lame, I can't believe we are going to drop two to the Mariners...But I suppose its fitting in with losing to the Tampa Bays and Royals of the league
78. %@#@!&!@*@(
79. Maybe he's still playing for the Sox.
80. Ugly.
Why did Sheff try to barehand it off the wall?
81. I love Sheffield, Matsui, and Bernie, but when was the last time a Yankee outfielder made a great play? Just once in a while I'd like to see a great play out there, just for novelty's sake.
82. I think vockins (#79) just might have it right. Good night everybody.
83. Definitely still pitching for the Sox
Go D-Rays!
84. Arrghhh. This is pathetic.
85. And now a HR to a guy who hasn't hit one in a year, leave it to us
86. Yikes.
87. Blanked by mediocre pitchers, lit up by mediocre lineups...
We're above .500, right?
88. 4 runs? No problem...
89. Hey guys, not to worry. The OBP machines of Williams, Lawton and Posada are coming up... for homerun hitting machines of Cano and Jeter...
90. Need that Jorge magic.
91. ... for Everyday Eddie, that is
92. Props to the bullpen for coughing this one up.
That last looked like the one that hit Wright
93. Here we go Deeee-Rays, here we go...
Sh*t.
There was no 'grind' in this game. Maybe Georgie needs to skip the t-shirts and TATTOO some of the guys. Maybe starting with himself. We just split with a Triple-A team. Nice.
94. Well, that sucked.
Go, Devil Rays. They're off to a good start.
95. The D Rays have been full of good starts against Boston this week. They just get trippd up by mediocre middles and horrible endings. Sox will win this one in the end...again.
Man, this was an utterly discouraging loss. I'm not rational enough to write about it just yet.
96. Cliff,
When I posted here a few days ago that the Sox lineup was singularly spectacular in scoring runs and were winning despite a mediocre pitching staff, you implied in your response that the Yankees were the same -- but this is not the case, especially at Fenway. Scoring seven or more runs a game seems to be the rule up here. Two, three, heck five run leads mean nothing to this Sox team. If they had half-way decent pitching they'd be leading the AL East by 15 games.
Courtesy Steve Lombardi, for Boston; runs scored, runs allowed, W-L record, not including the last two games:
April: 5.65/4.36/12-11
May: 5.29/4.99/16-12
June: 6.00/4.73/17-9
July: 5.04/4.71/14-13
August*: 7.04/5.44/16-9
Sigh. It's going to be very hard to catch them, especially when losing 2/4 to Seattle.
97. "Johnson, a Wang, and a Putz"
How to they stand up to the "First Team" of Dick, Bush and Colon?
98. As I have said, Torre has Quantrillized Tanyon. If the Yankees fail to make the playoffs, that will be the main reason why.
I don't understand how he can use Mendoza in a big spot for his fist time out. Last week, Cashman said that he wasn't ML ready.
Boston does have the edge in offense over the Yankees, while the Yankees' pitching is marginally better.