Monthly Archives: August 2007

For those of us who grew up listening to Phil Rizzuto during the lean years (be it the days of Horace Clarke or Stump Merrill) it seemed oddly fitting that the Yankees got their clocks cleaned last night, allowing Michael Kay and Ken Singleton to reminisce about Scooter uninhibited by compelling game action. In the seventh inning, with the Yankees already trailing by the eventual final of 12-0, Kay shared the fact that the Yankee booth had received a memorial box of cannolis from one of Scooter’s favorites, Artuso Pastry in the Bronx. That set Kay and Singleton off on remembrances of Scooter during which they talked straight through a pitching change with hardly a mention of the on-field action until Kay caught himself as the reliever warmed up:

“. . . he was such a student of Yankee history and he knew exactly what was going on . . . and, by the way, this, I feel like Phil, the Orioles just changed pitchers, they brought in Paul Shuey . . . but, he was such a student of Yankee history . . .”

And so forth. In general, YES did a great job honoring Rizzuto, compiling several clip packages, including a hilarious collection of his famous on-air antics supplemented by additional clips scattered throughout the broadcast. They even replaced the commercial break in the middle of the first inning with an excellent montage of Rizzuto’s playing career. It’s one thing to pay lip service, but by skipping that break and the break that would have come during Shuey’s warmup pitches, YES showed that they were willing to put Rizzuto’s memory in front of the bottom line for a night, which, in this day and age, may be the classiest move of all.

As for the game, spot-starter Jeff Karstens got rocked and bounced after throwing 74 pitches and allowing five runs in just three innings, four of them scoring on a third-inning grand slam by Aubrey Huff. Jim Brower was just as bad in his two-plus innings of work. He let two runs in on his own, then left the bases loaded with no outs for Ron Villone, who finished the job by allowing all three of Browers’ bequeathed runners to score and adding a solo homer by Kevin Millar in the following frame. With the pen otherwise empty, Kyle Farnsworth and Luis Vizcaino turned in 1-2-3 frames to finish things off. The Yankee offense, which had scored seven or more runs in ten straight home games prior to last night, one short of the franchise record, managed just two hits off Daniel Cabrera and none off of his two relievers, Shuey and Rob Bell, but walked nine times only to strand all 11 runners without so much as a double play or caught stealing. Only one Yankee got as far as third base all night. If ever there was a night to leave early to beat the traffic.

It sounds like a curse word, or a sneeze. It’s tonight’s starting pitcher. This is what Rod’s “Ha!” hath wrought. The O’s counter with the untamable fastball of Daniel Cabrera. Three of the last four Oriole games have ended in the victor’s last at-bat, all to the Yankees’ favor. Could more late-inning heroics be in the works? That might be the only way the Yanks get out of this one with a win.

There’s a certain irony to the fact that the last game the Yankees played during Phil Rizzuto’s lifetime ended with a situation taylor-made for a Scooter squeeze bunt only to see the team decline the opporunity to put on the play. It’s also fitting that that game was won in that situation on a dink hit by the Yankee shortstop, a player who won the Rookie of the Year award in Rizzuto’s final season as a Yankee broadcaster much to the enduring delight of the Scooter himself, and a player who has come to replace Rizzuto as the greatest Yankee shortstop of all time.

Rizzuto was a tremendously important figure in my life given the importance that baseball and Yankee baseball specifically has taken in it. Rizzuto was the voice first, but more than that the spirit and the passion and the humor that lured me back to the game day after day during the lean years of the 1980s when my fandom coalesced. I put a few words together about Scooter over on SI.com. As you’ve done in the last thread, please continue to post your memories, anecdotes, and feelings about Scooter below. And feel free to repost things here that you’ve said elsewhere, it would be great to have all of them in one place.

“We’ve been on the balls of our feet lately,” Torre said. “We’re not waiting for something to happen.” Joe Torre
(Hartford Courant)

For most of the first half of the season it felt like the Yankees were always losing by three runs, even when the score was tied. Just one of those seasons, man. But now, as they are playing their best ball of the season, the Yankees are finding ways to win games, even when their ace pitcher does give up three runs in the first inning. And so it went last night in the Bronx as the Yanks won a nail-biter in the bottom of the ninth inning, 7-6. Mariano Rivera blew his first save since April 20th, but Derek Jeter’s infield single drove home the winning run as the Yanks remain tied with the Mariners for the wildcard and just four games behind the Red Sox in the AL East.

I expect the Yankees to win these days, but I’m not that brave. I kept thinking they were going to find a way to lose last night, especially since Chien-Ming Wang was far from sharp for a second straight outing. They tacked-on runs after taking a 4-3 lead on Wilson Betemit’s two-run homer in the second inning, but left runners on second and third twice with two out. They just could not seem to pull away, and the Orioles have been more than pesky against New York this year.

A two-out wild pitch with a runner on third and two men out by Ron Villone in the seventh inning shaved the Yankee lead to 6-5. Then came Joba Chamberlain in his Yankee Stadium debut. He fell behind Miguel Tejada 3-1 but came back to strike the slugger out on a wicked slider. Joba got ahead of Kevin Millar who grounded out sharply to Alex Rodriguez. Joba ended the inning by striking out Aubrey Huff with another nasty slider. Joba was pumped, the Stadium was rockin.

Onto the ninth, and here is where I really started to squirm, knowing that Rivera was not sharp on Sunday in Cleveland. Mo generally has a bad spell right around this time of year, so it’s not as if I’m alarmed. Still, there was a ballgame to win. Melvin Mora singled and moved to second when Ramon Hernandez grounded out weakly in front of the plate. With all three outfielders playing in, Tike Redman–what a name!—blooped a single to center. Melky Cabrera charged the ball and fired a strike home where Mora was nailed for the second out of the inning.

“They were playing very shallow and I think it was a really poor decision by me,” [O’s third base coach, Juan] Samuel said. “That was my decision that cost us the ballgame. Yes, we tied, but you can’t predict what’s going to happen next. You have to make your decision on that particular play, and that was a bad one by me.”
(The Baltimore Sun)

Redman moved to second on the throw, and Jorge Posada overthrew the bag trying to get him. Fortunately, Melky was there to back the play up. Unfortunately, that little gnat of a Yankee-Killer, Brian Roberts was up next. Right on cue, he fisted a little fly ball into shallow right. Abreu fielded the ball on a hop and fired home. The throw was in plenty of time but it was high. Posada had to jump to catch it and Redman slide in safely with the tying run.

But with one out in the ninth, Chad Bradford hit Melky in the back. Jason Giambi pinch-hit for Shelley Duncan (who had pinch-hit for Johnny Damon in the sixth) and singled between first and second. Cabrera took third, Jeter at the plate. Would the Yankees try a squeeze? Perhaps if Jeter could push a bunt towards second. Well, that is essentially what happened. Jeter swung and tapped a dinky ground ball past Bradford. Roberts charged and fielded the ball, but it was too late. Cabrera, who doubled earlier in the game to extend his career-high hitting streak to 18 games, crossed the plate and the Yankees had themselves another win.

We’ll take it.

The Orioles are the only team to take a series from the Yankees since the A’s won a rubber game in the Bronx on July 1. Now 25-22 under replacement manager Dave Trembley, the O’s have gone 5-7 since taking two of three from the Yankees in Baltimore three weekends ago. Included in that 5-7, however, is a six-game split with the Red Sox which the O’s just completed by taking two of three from the Sox at Camden Yards. On Friday night the O’s rallied four four runs in the eighth against Eric Gagne and Hideki Okajima, then pushed accross the winning run against Okajima in the ninth following a leadoff double by Brian Roberts. Yesterday, the O’s rallied for two in the eighth against Okajima and Gagne (in the opposite order) to tie, then won on a three-run Kevin Millar walk-off homer in the bottom of the tenth.

So the O’s are feeling good, but so are the Yanks, who should be extra determined to put Baltimore in their place as they visit the Stadium over the next three nights. The only problem is they’ll have to start things off against Jeremy Guthrie, who has already beaten New York twice this season (12 1/3 IP, 13 H, 4 R, 1 HR, 4 BB, 10 K — Johnny Damon hit the homer). The good news is that Guthrie’s last start, which came against those inexplicable Mariners, was one of his worst of the season and he’s allowed nine runs (eight earned) in 9 1/3 innings since last facing the Bombers, who are bombing a lot more now than they were back in Baltimore as they were suffering from a brief team slump that weekend. Of course the O’s could say similar things about Chien-Ming Wang, who is coming off the worst start of his major league career tonight.

Jorge Posada is finally back in the lineup. Wilson Betemit curiously draws the start at first behind the groundballing Wang. Damon starts at DH, perhaps because of that homer. As for the O’s, they have Melvin Mora, back, but have lost Jay Gibbons to the DL for the season following labrum surgery and Chris Gomez to the Indians via waivers (in case you didn’t notice who started at third base for the Tribe yesterday). Sorry for cutting this one so close, folks. Game on!

(more…)

By now you’ve probably read just about every thing you ever wanted to know about Barry Bonds. With all of the attention directed toward the new home run king, I found myself thinking a lot this week about his late father. To Barry’s credit, he talked about his father during the on-field celebration that accompanied his record-breaking 756^th home run on Tuesday night. Bobby Bonds was an extremely important man in his son’s life—and a noteworthy figure in baseball history who has become overshadowed by the exploits of his talented and controversial son. He was also a man that might provide us some insight into his son, both currently and in the future.

When the elder Bonds splashed onto the San Francisco scene in the late 1960s and early seventies, a few observers might have been excused for thinking that he would eventually become the game’s home run king, surpassing Babe Ruth, who held the mark at the time. Bobby Bonds displayed such a combination of athleticism, pure power, and baseball instincts that some fans were convinced they were watching the new Willie Mays, too. As it turned out, Bonds and the "old" Willie Mays were playing together in the same Giants outfield, Willie tracking down balls in center field while Bobby used his speed and arm to cover right field. Frankly, it was like having two center fielders on the field at the same time, even if Mays was starting to show the effects of age.

In spite of unfair expectations brought about by the comparisons to Mays, Bonds responded with a succession of marvelously productive seasons from 1970 to 1973. He put up three 30-30 campaigns, narrowly missing out on becoming the first 40-40 player in 1973. (He missed by one home run.) During that four-year span covering the early part of the 1970s, Bonds played like a superstar, with all the earmarks of a future Hall of Famer. At his peak, Bonds could do it all—he had enormous power, sprinter’s speed, athletic grace in the outfield, and a powerful arm that could play in either center or right field. It’s not a stretch to say that Bonds had more talent than his son, when considering his far superior throwing arm and his ability to play center field. That’s just how good Bobby was.

Unfortunately, the Giants saw red flags that may have affected his production in 1974. Bonds drank too much, smoked too much, and his general fast-lane lifestyle raised questions about his commitment to the game, leading the Giants to consider a change. After the ’74 season, a season that saw Bonds slump to 21 home runs and a .256 batting average, the Giants did what was once considered unthinkable, trading Bobby to the Yankees for Bobby Murcer.

Bonds played well in his one season for the Yankees, slugging .512 in 1975, despite having to play in the hitter’s Hades of Shea Stadium. In a way, it didn’t really matter what Bonds hit for the Yankees; he was doomed to unpopularity as the exchange rate for Murcer, who was simply beloved in the Bronx. Bonds could never make people forget the more popular Murcer and soon moved on to Southern California, in exchange for the uncelebrated but talented package of Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa.

While with the Angels, Bonds’ outfield play began to draw criticism. He was also disparaged—and rightly so—for his unwillingness to run out ground balls and pop-ups, a chronic problem throughout his career. His reputation tarnished, Bonds began to average about a team per season. After only 26 games with the White Sox, he was traded to the Rangers in mid-season, who then sent him to the Indians after the 1978 campaign. During his one season with the Indians, teammates railed at Bonds for his inability to hit the cutoff man on routine throws and for failing to hit in the clutch. By 1979, Bonds had made so many stops that he earned a reputation—fairly or unfairly—as a player who quickly wore out his welcome despite his overwhelming on-the-field talents of speed and power. Some said he was a good player, but not good enough for teams to make him untouchable. Others felt he was a talented underachiever who disappointed his teams, resulting in the inevitable trade.

Then there were the strikeouts. Bonds always piled up large numbers of K’s, even in his glory days in San Francisco. If he had played in the contemporary game, most fans and writers would have forgiven him. But in the 1970s, a tendency to strike out so often carried with it a nasty stigma—with both the media and the baseball establishment. Some managers felt they couldn’t employ such a blatant "swing-and-misser" in the leadoff spot. Other managers felt Bonds’ inability to make contact prevented him from being a true cleanup man. In the eyes of some, Bonds’ strikeouts made him the square peg in a round hole when it came to finding any suitable spot in the lineup.

Bonds also aged badly. Injuries to his hand, coupled with his off-the-field habits, rendered him over-the-hill by the age of 34. After short stints with the Cubs and Cardinals, Bonds’ career was over by the age of 35, quite a contrast to the ability of his son to play at a peak level while in his late thirties.

Just four years ago, we all learned that Bobby Bonds was very ill, stricken with both lung and brain cancer. He endured a taxing series of chemotherapy treatments that unfortunately could not prevent his passing at the age of 57 during the summer of 2003. At the time of Bonds’ death, I started thinking about the increasing number of players from his era (the late sixties and seventies) who had been hit with lung cancer, the probable result of a culture that too readily accepted cigarettes, in part because they didn’t have the volume of medical information that we have today. Longtime Orioles shortstop Mark Belanger, a persistent smoker, died from lung cancer. Former Mets slugger John Milner, also a heavy smoker, died from the same kind of cancer. And in the fall of 2003, former Orioles left-hander Dave McNally would succumb to lung cancer.

These tragic developments served as a reminder to us that previous eras in baseball history had their vices, too. As much consternation as the use of steroids has created in the new millennium, the cigarette smoking of the 1960s and seventies has begun to inflict its own toll. There is another similarity between the use of steroids in the current day and the heavy smoking (not to mention the drinking) of years past. We don’t completely know the full long-term effects of steroids today, just as many of the players of the sixties didn’t understand the havoc that cigarettes (and alcohol) would cause to their bodies in their later years.

Perhaps that’s just one more item we need to be thinking about this week, in the days after Barry Bonds passed the most significant milestone in the history of the game and stirred some memories of his once famous but somewhat forgotten father.

Bruce Markusen writes "Cooperstown Confidential" for MLB.com and has authored eight books on baseball, including The Team That Changed Baseball. He, his wife Sue, and their daughter Madeline reside in Cooperstown, NY.

Offense: The Yanks got to one of the league’s best pitchers (this year at least) in the opener, then dropped 11 runs on the Tribe in the second game. Another very strong offensive performance.

Studs:

Robinson Cano 6 for 12, 2B, RBI, R, BB
Alex Rodriguez 4 for 10, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, HBP
Derek Jeter 7 for 15, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
Hideki Matsui 5 for 12, RBI, 5 R, BB
Jose Molina 5 for 13, 2 2B, RBI, R
Jason Giambi 3 for 5, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R

Duds:

Andy Phillips 1 for 7, RBI, R, BB, CS

Wilson Betemit went 0 for 2 with a sac bunt in the opener. Shelley Duncan did not come to bat in the series. Don’t look now, but Andy Phillips has become Doug Mientkiewicz.

Rotation: The Yankee pitching was outstanding over the weekend. The only concern is that the scuffling Cleveland offense might have been part of the reason. Phil Hughes dominated for six innings in the opener. Mike Mussina turned in his best start of the season on Saturday night, and Andy Pettitte cruised through the first six innings of the finale allowing just one run before being removed with one out in the eighth.

Bullpen: The pen only had to pitch six innings and go figure that Mariano Rivera would give up the only run (though Luis Vizcaino did allow an inherited runner to score in the finale).

The Good:

Joba Chamberlain was incredible in the opener, pitching two perfect innings and striking out four.

Mo, Vizcaino, and Ron Villone were the only other relievers who appeared in the series. Mo dominated in his first outing, but was shaky in his second. Neither Vizcaino, nor Villone was especially impressive, but neither did much damage either.

Conclusion: The Yankees have been catching a lot of teams at the right time, missing their ace starters, catching them during slides, etc. The good news is that they’ve taken advantage of every single one of them. Sweeping the season series against Cleveland is huge. Everyone had this series circled on their calendars at the All-Star break, and the Yankees made it look like they were playing another cupcake. In doing so, they knocked Cleveland back out of the AL Central lead and now hold a 1.5-game lead over them in the Wild Card race (though they’re still trailing Seattle by that pesky game in the loss column, but they play the M’s at home in three weeks–circle that one too). Perhaps best of all, they seem to have taken the sweep in stride, like it’s no big deal. This team is dangerous.

“I feel like we’re the team, you know?” Pettitte said Sunday. “It doesn’t surprise me. I’d be extremely disappointed if this team didn’t get to the playoffs. That’s just kind of the way I feel.”
(Tyler Kepner, N.Y. Times)

I was flipping around the channels one night last week when I landed on a dicey situation. The Mets had a one-run lead against the Braves, who had loaded the bases in the top of the ninth inning against New York’s closer, Billy Wagner. There was nobody out and I thought, “Man, am I lucky this isn’t a Yankee game. I’d be so stressed, I would’t know what I’d do with myself.” As fate would have it, Wagner got two ground balls to get out of the inning, earn the save, and save Met fans everywhere from a sleepless night.

The Yanks held a 5-2 on Sunday afternoon when Mariano Rivera was called into the game with two runners on base and two men out in the eighth inning. First thing Mo does? He hits a guy on the elbow to load the bases. But Jhonny Peralta grounded into a 4-6 force to end the inning. The drama was not over, however, as Rivera allowed back-to-back singles and then a double to start the ninth. Cleveland’s offense had been D.O.A. all weekend long, but suddenly, they were back in the game, down 5-3, with the tying runs in scoring position and nobody out.

The number nine hitter, Asdurbal Cabrera, who, thanks to a misplay by Johnny Damon the night before, had his first career hit, struck out. Back to the top-of-the-order where Grady Sizemore got the Good Morning-Good Afternoon-and-Goodnight (called strike three on the outside corner) strikeout experience. Two out, and Rivera gets Casey Blake to loft an easy fly ball to right for Abreu to end the game.

Exhale. Yanks 5, Tribe 3.

It wasn’t easy, but it was an enormous win for the Yanks, who keep pace with the Mariners in the wildcard, and gain a game on Boston, who lost in extra innings to the Orioles. Bombers are now just four behind the Red Sox. (Shhhhhh.)

Jason Giambi hit a two-run, line drive home run off Cleveland starter Jake Westbrook, and once again it was most entertaining watching Shelley D wait his turn to bash forearms with Giambi in the dugout. Robby Cano had three more hits (his average is up to .315) and a RBI, DJ had a RBI single, and Melky Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 17-games with a solo homer.

Andy Pettitte pitched a good game. His only real trouble came late, when, in the seventh inning he allowed a couple of singles before walking Peralta to load the bases. The Yanks were leading 4-0 at this point. And before you knew it, Pettitte picked Peralta off first. My initial reaction was that the Indians were putting on that old Billy Martin play when the runner on first acts a decoy while the runner on third scoots home. No such luck, if you are an Indians fan. Peralta simply fell asleep. The Indians did score a run on a sacrifice fly, but that was it, just one run and Pettitte escaped his biggest jam of the afternoon.

Yanks come home and begin a three-game set vs. the Birds tonight, followed by four against the Tigers. Keep grinding boys, the next couple of weeks could make or break the season.

Each time Mike Mussina takes the mound I think, “Okay, he’s going to get ripped tonight.” That’s just the way it goes with aging control pitchers (just ask Paul Byrd). Much to my delight, Mussina delivered his best outing since beating the Diamondbacks in mid-June, holding the Indians to just two runs in 7.2 innings. It was his fourth good start in-a-row as the Yankees bombed the Tribe, 11-2. Hot fun in the summertime. For Mussina, it was victory #100 with the Yankees, who are now 22-8 since the All-Star break. Boston still has a five game lead in the AL East, and New York trail the Mariners by the slimmest of margins for first place in the wild card standings.

The Yanks drained any tension from the game in the second innings, scoring seven runs off Byrd. Cleveland’s offense was jumpy, swinging early in the count all night long, a dream for Mussina. Really, the most entertaining moments of the evening was watching Shelley Duncan’s eyes pop out of his head with excitement as he prepared to smash forearms with Alex Rodriguez and, later, Jason Giambi after they hit home runs. Giambi’s pinch-hit dinger in the ninth was a rainmaker, an absolute blast. As he returned to the dugout, Joe Torre looked up at his slugger, headcocked to the side, with a perfectly deadpan as if to say, “Are you kidding me?” Meanwhile, Duncan was in the background, shaking like Beavis on a sugar high, ready to pop his forearm into one of the big sluggers who might actually like that sort of thing.

Jose Molina had the first four-hit game of his career (they were all to right center field), Derek Jeter added three hits of his own, and Robby Cano and Bobby Abreu are still rolling. Oh yeah, Rodriguez hit two home runs, giving him 39 for the year, along with 114 RBI. The first one looked like a line drive double to straight-away center–the ball was in on his fists some. But dude is so strong he simply muscled it over the fence. In the YES booth, Paul O’Neill mentioned how envious he was of Rodriguez. The ball just comes off his bat in a way that it doesn’t for other players, even other star players.

Onions.

Yanks go for the sweep this afternoon then return home to face the Orioles and Tigers. Ian Kennedy could start in the BX on Tuesday.

Winning another series is a beautiful thing but a series sweep would make for a wunnerful Sunday, wouldn’t ya say?

The Indians got five men on base last night and only one of them scored. Place your bets as to when they’ll equal those totals tonight against Mike Mussina. Before you do, note that Moose has gone 3-0 in his last three starts with a 3.06 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Going back further, Moose has a 3.68 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over his last 11 games. Not so bad for a guy who might just be the Yankees’ fifth starter if Phil Hughes can put a few good starts together.

Paul Byrd is the same guy he’s always been: a shade better than league average, control/contact junkballer, and Kelsey Grammar look-alike with an odd crouching-dragon delivery straight out of the 1930s. Byrd faced the Yanks twice last year, his first with Cleveland. The first time he held them to one run over seven innings but lost 1-0 to Chien-Ming Wang. The second time he got rocked for nine runs (only four earned) in 3 2/3 innings as the Tribe lost 11-3. Byrd is 4-1 with a 3.34 ERA over his last nine starts and is coming off a shutout of the Twins in Minnesota. Key stat: Byrd has walked just 1.07 men per nine innings on the season. The Yanks will have to hit their way on tonight, not that they’ve had much trouble with that of late.

Jorge’s still out with that stiff neck. Jim Brower’s away to be with his wife and newborn baby. And Pete Abe reports that the “Joba Rules” stipulate one day off for each inning pitched, so no more Joba in this series.

Update: Joe Torre suggested that Posada is actually feeling better and will likely return to the lineup in tomorrow’s day game.

If this is a dream, don’t wake me:

Phil Hughes 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K
Joba Chamberlain 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K
Mariano Rivera 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Wow.

The turning point of the game came in the first inning. Hughes started each of his first four batters with balls, mostly fastballs that just missed outside. He got the first two to fly out, but Victor Martinez ripped a two-out double to right field and Ryan Garko battled to draw a seven-pitch walk on a questionable ball four on the inside corner. Jhonny Peralta then battled Hughes as well, taking to a 1-1 count, then fouling off three straight pitches. With two on and two out, the outcome of Peralta’s at-bat looked like it might set the tone for the night with the Yankees having gone down in order to Fausto Carmona in the top of the first. Hughes, who had stuck mostly to his fastball to that point, mixing in a pair of curve balls, broke off an absolutely nasty slider that appeared to head right toward Peralta’s belt before making a sharp right turn back over the plate for strike three. Alex Rodriguez led off the next inning with a second-pitch home run to dead center and that was that. The Yankees added one here and another there to run their tally to six, while the Indians lone score was a Josh Barfield solo homer off Hughes in the fifth.

I literally got chills watching Hughes carve up the Indians last night with well-located fastballs in the low-90s, off-the-table 12-to-6 curveballs in the low-70s, and the occasional low-80s slider or changeup. Hughes was throwing all four pitches for strikes and, much like in his aborted Mayday no-hitter in Texas, looked every bit like the ace he’s projected to be. Chamberlain, who threw easy heat in the high-90s and that nasty corkscrewing slider that dives at the feet of lefthanders, looked to be nearly Hughes equal in relief of his fellow 21-year-old.

Unfortunately, the Yankees will have to pick their spots with Chamberlain, who is a young starter pushing his innings limit for the season. Right now it looks like they might try to get a couple innings from him every other day, which would keep him on a start/throw day schedule. However, both Chamberlain and Hughes should be members of the Opening Day rotation next spring. The mere thought quickens my pulse.

Returning to the present, the Tigers and Mariners both lost last night, putting the Yankees in a virtual tie with Seattle for the Wild Card lead (a game behind in the loss column) a game ahead of Detroit.

In other news, Joe Torre served his one-game suspension last night and Roger Clemens declined to appeal his five-gamer, which thus began last night. The thinking behind Clemens decision was surely that the start he’ll miss now will come against the Orioles, the worst team the Yankees will face over the next 19 games. Chien-Ming Wang has been moved up a day to take Clemens’ spot on Monday (he’ll be on full rest due to Thursday’s off day). The Tuesday start against the O’s will then be taken by a spot starter, with Jeff Karstens and Ian Kennedy, who has dominated in three starts for triple-A Scranton, being the leading candidates.

Final note, the entire Indians team wore number 14 last night in honor of Larry Doby, who broke the American League’s color line in 60 years ago, less than three months after Jackie Robinson did the same in the National League. I’m not sure why they chose August 10 (Doby’s first game was July 5 in Chicago, his birthday was Dec. 13, and he died four years ago on June 18). Perhaps the date was chosen to use the high profile matchup with the Yankees to bring added attention to their recognition of a player whose been somewhat slighted by history.

Okay, now things get serious. Going 20-8 against the cupcakes was a lot of fun, but now the Yankees face a twenty-game stretch in which 17 games come against contenders (with the other three coming against the Orioles, the only cupcake team to win a series from them over that last 28 games). Of those 17 games against contenders, 14 of them come against teams the Yankees are chasing for a playoff spot including this weekend’s opponent the Cleveland Indians.

This weekend’s series, which will conclude the season set between the two teams, was supposed to be a battle for Wild Card supremacy, but a few things have gotten in the way in recent days. To begin with, the Indians aren’t technically in the Wild Card picture anymore as they slipped past the freefalling Tigers to reclaim the AL Central lead a week ago. What’s more, it’s those pesky Mariners, who I remain convinced are all smoke and mirrors, not the Tigers, that hold the Wild Card lead entering tonight’s action. In fact, the Yankees are in a perfect tie with the Tigers this afternoon, both one game behind the M’s and a game and a half behind Cleveland. That’s a four-team cluster that could be completely rearranged come Sunday evening as the M’s visit Chicago, the Tigers host the A’s, and the Yanks and Tribe to battle in Cleveland.

The Yankees and Indians last met in April, just nine games into the Tribe’s snow-shortened season. The Yankees won the first two games of that series by a combined score of 19-5 behind Chase Wright’s major league debut in the opener and what would prove to be Kei Igawa’s best start of the season. The Yankees sent Darrell Rasner to the hill in the finale to complete their rookie troika, but Rasner was inexplicably pulled in the fifth and Luis Vizcaino coughed up four runs in the seventh. The Yanks entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 6-2 and facing Indians closer Joe Borowski. Borowski retired the first two batters, but Josh Phelps cracked a solo home run to keep the Yankees alive and bring them within three. Jorge Posada singled. Johnny Damon walked. Jeter singled Posada home. Abreu singled Damon home. And Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run homer to win the game 8-6.

Curiously the Indians were a better team then than they are now, while the Yankees were far worse. For the Yankees, the changes are obvious from the players they’re putting on the field. Simply compare this weekend’s starters–Phil Hughes, Mike Mussina, and Andy Pettitte–to the trio of Wright, Igawa, and Rasner that started the April series. For the Indians it’s more about their level of play. After posting a .635 winning percentage in April and May combined, the Tribe has gone 32-31 (.508) since, including a 15-18 record over their last ten series.

One reason Cleveland has been scuffling has been a lack of offense. Over those last ten series they’ve averaged just 4.18 runs per game. Now they enter this weekend’s series with DH Travis Hafner nursing a knee he injured sliding into second on Tuesday night. Hafner was removed from the following night’s game, hasn’t played since and likely won’t play tonight. Then again, Hafner, who’s hit just .234/.335/.388 since June 1, was already part of the problem. The Indians will likely replace him in the lineup with one of their platoon outfielders (see roster below) or by shifting Victor Martinez to DH and having Kelly Shoppach catch.

Less of a problem has been the Indians’ pitching, particularly tonight’s starter Fausto Carmona, who has turned in a quality start in 18 of 22 appearances and his last seven straight. Over those last seven starts, the groundballing Carmona has gone 5-2 with a 1.68 ERA and just one home run allowed. That’s further evidence of how much the offense has been struggling as Carmona has lost his last two starts by scores of 3-1 and 1-0. Carmona also started that wild series finale in the Bronx back in April, holding the Yankees to two runs (one of them on a Jason Giambi solo homer) on a walk and six hits over six innings.

Phil Hughes was in triple-A back then, but he’ll be on the mound in Cleveland tonight looking to build his stamina. After throwing 91 pitches in his final rehab start, Hughes threw 92 pitches in his last start against the Royals, but appeared to tire around 70. Jose Molina will catch Hughes as Jorge Posada has a stiff neck. Wilson Betemit gets the start at first base. Despite that April homer, Giambi is not in the lineup, rather Damon gets the start at DH.

(more…)

The second half of the Yankees’ season breaks into three distinct parts. The first, completed on Thursday, was what I’ve been calling the “cupcake” portion of their schedule, 28 games against the weaker teams in the league including Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Baltimore, Chicago, and the roughly-.500 Blue Jays. The Yankees went 20-8 (.714) over that stretch to propel themselves into the playoff hunt. Tonight they begin the second leg of their second half, a stretch of 20 games in which 17 come against contending teams, and 14 come against Cleveland, Detroit, and Boston, the teams they are chasing in pursuit of a playoff spot.

With that in mind, here’s a look at how the Yankees have performed against the cupcakes, and some thoughts about how that performance might translate against the contenders.

Offense: While the Yankees have risen to the challenge against the weaker teams in the American League, it still remains to be seen if they can continue their success against the contenders. One encouraging sign is that they didn’t just defeat the cupcake teams, they destroyed them, averaging 7.64 runs per game over the last 28 games.

Studs:

Robinson Cano .419/.479/.743, 18 XBH
Jorge Posada .385/.505/.692
Hideki Matsui .342/.382/.694, 12 HR, 29 R
Bobby Abreu .350/.409/.612, 33 RBI
Melky Cabrera .368/.405/.604, 10 2B, 3 3B
Shelley Duncan .314/.385/.743 (5 HR in 39 PA)
Wilson Betemit 5 for 14 (HR, 6 RBI, 3 R, BB)
Wil Nieves 4 for 11 (4 2B, 4 RBI, 4 R, 4 K)

Counting stats listed for Cano, Matsui, and Abreu are team bests over the last 28 games.

Duds:

Andy Phillips .279/.309/.356
Miguel Cairo 1 for 8 (2B, 2 BB, 3 K, SB)
Jose Molina 2 for 11 (2B)

Johnny Damon hit .129/.333/.129 and was 1 for 2 on the bases through the first ten games after the break, then hit .371/.444/.532 and went 4 for 5 on the bases over the final 20. He played in nine of those first ten games, but only 15 of the last 20, and his hot-hitting began after his first game off of that stretch. Of course, that game was game one of the double header against Tampa Bay on July 21, so Damon didn’t really get a day off as he played in the nightcap, but the obvious conclusion is that Damon is more productive when given regular rest, which is exactly how Joe Torre has been using him over the past three weeks.

One wonders if the presense of Wilson Betemit should prompt Torre to start giving Derek Jeter additional days off as well. Jeter hit .338/.377/.477 with four stolen bases in as many tries over the first 15 games of the cupcake schedule, but just .234/.345/.340 with one steal in two tries since then, picking up just three extra base hits in his last 60 plate appearances. Jeter played in all 28 cupcake games, starting 27 of them.

Alex Rodriguez hit .278/.412/.630 through and including the game in which he hit career home run number 499. He then endured an 0-for-19 slump (though he did walk six times, twice intentionally, and was once hit by a pitch). Since snapping that slump two games before hitting number 500, he’s hit .348/.414/.522.

Rotation: Here’s where I start to worry. The Yankees only received a quality start in half of the last 28 games. Of the four primary starters, Andy Pettitte was the only one not to have a disaster outing (more runs allowed than innings pitched). Indeed, per the stats below, Pettitte, not Chien-Ming Wang, has been the Yankee ace in the second half. Admittedly, Wang’s fluky disaster outing against the Blue Jays on Wednesday soured his numbers considerably, but even before that game, Pettitte had a better ERA over six starts than Wang had over five (though Wang did lead Pettitte in WHIP).

Andy Pettite 6 GS, 4 QS, 3.29 ERA, 4-1, 8.69 K/9, 3.76 BB/9, HR, 1.49 WHIP
Chien-Ming Wang 6 GS, 4 QS, 5.66 ERA, 4-2, 4.89 K/9, 2.31 BB/9, 0 HR, 1.57 WHIP
Roger Clemens 6 GS, 3 QS, 4.45 ERA, 2-2, 5.57 K/9, 2.51 BB/9, HR, 1.42 WHIP
Mike Mussina 5 GS, 3 QS, 4.76 ERA, 3-1, 5.72 K/9, 2.22 BB/9, 3 HR, 1.62 WHIP
Kei Igawa 3 GS, 0 QS, 5.74 ERA, 0-1, 10.34 K/9, 5.17 BB/9, 4 HR, 1.91 WHIP

Phil Hughes and Matt DeSalvo both made one start, neither did particularly well.

The x-factor here, of course, is Phil Hughes. Based on his one start after coming back off the DL, Hughes simply needs to build up his endurance, as he appeared to tire very quickly. If Hughes can start giving the Yankees quality starts out of the fifth spot in the rotation (something that spot failed to do in five tries over the last 28 games), it would not only help the Yankees’ chances of winning every fifth day, but would also reduce the bullpen’s workload, increasing the Yankees’ chances of winning on days the other four starters take the ball.

Bullpen: The Yankee bullpen posted a 3.74 ERA over the last 28 games, but if you factor in unearned runs that number jumps to 4.55, which means this pen has been allowing a run every other inning. That’s a problem. The good news is that, as with Cairo and Igawa above, some of the worst offenders have been shown the door.

The Good:

Mariano Rivera 11 G, 0.00 ERA, 6 SV, 12.75 K/9, 0 BB, 0 HR, 0.58 WHIP
Luis Vizcaino 16 G, 1.13 ERA, 4-0, 9.00 K/9, 1.69 BB/9, HR, 0.69 WHIP

The Bad:

Brian Bruney 11 G, 7 1/3 IP, 7.36 ERA, 6.14 K/9, 6.15 BB/9, 0 HR, 1.77 WHIP
Scott Proctor 7 G, 6 2/3 IP, 5.40 ERA, 4.05 K/9, 6.75 BB/9, 4 HR, 2.70 WHIP
Jeff Karstens 2 G, 6 1/3 IP, 7.11 ERA, 4.26 K/9, 4.26 BB/9, 1 HR, 1.74 WHIP
Kyle Farnsworth 11 G, 11 IP, 5.73 ERA, 6.55 K/9, 4.91 BB/9, 4 HR, 1.64 WHIP

Farnsworth is still around, but at least he’s being used in low leverage situations now, such as with his team down 11 runs as was the case on Wednesday when he threw just his seventh 1-2-3 inning of the season (in 48 tries). Karstens most recent failure came in the finale of the Toronto series, so I’m holding out hope that he’ll be replaced on the roster in the very near future.

Conclusion: Great hitting, questionable pitching. That’s not how you beat good teams. Beginning with the promotion of Shelley Duncan on July 21, the Yankees have upgraded their bench (replacing Kevin Thompson, Miguel Cario, Wil Nieves and Chris Basak with Duncan, Wilson Betemit, Jose Molina, and Jason Giambi), their rotation (with the return of Hughes), and their bullpen (mostly addition by subtraction thus far, though Joba Chamberlain looked extremely promising in his one appearance in Toronto). The latter two will have to result in significant improvement, however, if the Yankees want to stay in the playoff hunt over the next 20 games.

Offense: Six runs per game almost feels like a slump the way this team has been hitting, but it’s still better than the season average of the best offense in the majors, which just happens to be the Yankee offense anyway.

Studs:

Melky Cabrera 7 for 12, 2 2B, 2 3B, RBI, 4 R
Robinson Cano 3 for 9, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 3 BB, HBP, SB
Jorge Posada 3 for 9, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, HBP
Johnny Damon 4 for 8, 2 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, SB

Duds:

Andy Phillips 2 for 12
Derek Jeter 2 for 12, 2 RBI
Bobby Abreu 2 for 10, 3B, 4 RBI, 2 R, BB, 3 K
Wilson Betemit 0 for 4, K
Jason Giambi 1 for 5, R

Jose Molina went 0 for 1 after Joe Torre put the subs in yesterday’s blowout finale.

Rotation: Just one quality start, though Andy Pettitte came close, getting the hook with two outs in the sixth in the opener. Roger Clemens was dominant, but also had a short outing lasting just six full (yes, he was ejected for throwing at Alex Rios, but he was at 90 pitches and knew what was going to happen). Chien-Ming Wang had the worst start of his major league career by far.

Bullpen: Despite turning over nearly half of the personnel, the Yankee pen still allowed ten runs in 11 2/3 innings. Lack of length on the part of the starters can be blamed to a certain degree, as can a pair of lopsided scores that allowed Torre to try out some of those untested arms. Still, that’s unacceptable.

The Good:

Believe it or not, Kyle Farnsworth, who pitched a perfect inning, striking out one and throwing nine of 12 pitches for strikes in the finale. Of course, he did that with his team behind by 11 runs. Mariano Rivera struck out the heart of the Jays order on 16 pitches (11 strikes) to nail down a one-run lead in the opener.

The Bad:

Jeff Karstens has pitched twice since being activated from the DL. Both times he was brought in after a disaster start and asked to escape a jam and eat innings. Both times he escaped the jam without further damage and ate up three innings, but he also allowed a total of eight runs in those 6 1/3 frames. Last night he allowed five runs (though only two earned) in three inning on three hits and three walks and had to be pulled with two outs in the sixth. He has a 10.12 ERA on the season. He needs to go. Jim Brower needs to go as well, though he hasn’t been nearly as bad in his two opportunities thus far. Brower allowed a run on three hits and a walk over an inning and a third in this series, also allowing an inherited runner (1B, no outs) to score. I think that’s the best that can be expected of him. Ron Villone picked up where Karstens left off in the sixth last night allowing two runs on four hits and two walks over 1 1/3 innings and needing 51 pitches to do so, though he did strike out three.

Conclusion: Heading into the tough part of the schedule, I’m still concerned about the pitching, but the offense is so strong that even against the league’s best it may be enough to compensate. Still, while the bench is suddenly the best it’s been since the days of Darryl, the pen continues to be a work in progress. I’ll have more on the overall state of the team heading into Cleveland tomorrow morning in a “Series Wrap” of the entire now-completed cupcake portion of the schedule.

“If these guys would have beat us again tonight easily, a lot of heads would have been hanging in the locker-room thinking, ‘Do we have what it takes to beat these guys?”‘ said Matt Stairs of Fredericton, who scored three runs out of the leadoff spot. “It’s a huge win.”
(Toronto Sun)

Chien-Ming Wang vs. Roy Halladay was supposed to be a fine pitcher’s duel. Instead it was a blowout, as Wang suffered the shortest and worst outing of his career, allowing eight runs (all earned) in 2.2 innings. “He just got his ass kicked,” Joe Torre told reporters after the game. And so this contest was over for the Yankees before it really started. Yeah, they managed to hit three home runs off of Halladay (two by Robinson Cano), but that hardly put a dent into the Jays lead. Final: Blue Jays 15, Yanks 4.

“These games are easy to put away,” said Yankees manager Joe Torre, whose team is 20-8 since the All-Star break, “because you can’t point to any one thing and say this could have changed things.”
(Hartford Courant)

The Jays finished the series with a measure of self-respect after getting waxed twice. Clearly, some bad blood has developed between these two teams. The number one chief rocker, Alex Rodriguez, did not play as his calf was still sore from getting drilled the night before. Josh Towers, the man who has won more than ten games in a season exactly once, and the owner of a 45-54 lifetime record had the chutzpah to talk trash about Yankee first base coach Tony Pena after Tuesday night’s game. Jays third base coach Brian Butterfield, who used to work for the Yankees, was upset with a couple of slides from the same game. Lots of chest-puffing from a Toronto team that has several very good professional players but in total are, and have been, the epitome of mediocrity.

The Yanks and Jays play six more times against each other in September.

New York is back to six games out in the AL East as the Red Sox beat the Angels last night, but the Yanks are still just a half-a-game out of the wildcard as the Tigers and Indians continue to struggle.

Today gives a day of rest. The Yanks play three in Cleveland this weekend:

“Right now, we’re probably as good a team as we’ve been all year,” Torre said. “We’ll see how good that is when we test ourselves against the better teams.”
(N.Y. Times)

Amen to that. Hey, if the Yanks crap out against the likes of the Inidans, Tigers, Angels and Red Sox, well then, they don’t deserve to play in October. Full speed ahead.

What better way to wrap up a fantastic stretch of the season than with a great pitching matchup. That’s exactly what the Yankees will do tonight as they look to win their sixth straight by sending Chien-Ming Wang to the mound to face Toronto ace Roy Halladay. Halladay’s had more than his usual share of struggles this season, but held the Yankees to just one run over seven innings when these teams last met in mid-July. He followed that by shuting out the Mariners and losing a complete game to the White Sox 2-0. His last start, which game at home against the Rangers, was less impressive, but did see him strike out nine in six innings. Altogether he’s posted a 2.10 ERA over those last four starts while allowing just 25 hits and 8 walks in 30 innings while striking out 25. Wang, meanwhile, has a 2.76 ERA and a 6-1 record over his last seven starts, the one defeat being a 3-2 loss to Toronto.

Alex Rodriguez will sit tonight while nursing the calf that was hit by a Josh Towers pitch last night. Wilson Betemit starts at third base, while Jason Giambi gets the start at DH. Enjoy tonight, tomorrow the Yanks arrive in Cleveland, and things get serious.

Some mid-afternoon links fo yo face…

Allen Barra on Yankees hitting coach, Kevin Long:

The little things that Mr. Long helped Mr. Rodriguez with have restored A-Rod’s reputation as the game’s greatest slugger. A firm believer in using technology to study hitters, Mr. Long pored over DVDs of Mr. Rodriguez after his prolonged slump last season (during one stretch he struck out 12 times in 17 at bats) and noticed that A-Rod’s famous leg kick was too high. “Not only too high, but he was starting it a split-second too late. His knee was at his waist, and there was a 95 mph fastball coming at him. It was tough for Alex to get his leg down and turn his hips in time to hit an inside fastball — and the result was that’s what a lot of pitchers were attacking him with. It was basically a question of getting him into a better position faster. If you have to worry about getting your knee down before you hit the ball, you’re giving yourself too much to do. In this instance, it was a case of subtracting in order to gain.”

Did Mr. Long approach A-Rod and suggest a change? “It was more of a mutual understanding. We talked about things he could do, the mechanics of his swing. We spent four days in Miami before the season in a batting cage at his house, working on that leg lift and how to make his swing more compact, more powerful.” He taught A-Rod his “net drill,” which he describes thusly: “You take a stance parallel to a net only a bat-length away from you. You hold the knob of the bat to your stomach to measure the distance. Then, your coach flips balls to you and you hit them — without the bat touching the net. That’s how you know your swing is more compact. The drill forces you to pull your hands towards your body as you swing — it gets you in the proper position to turn on those inside pitches.”

Kevin Goldstein and Tyler Kepner on Joba Chamberlian. Here is Goldstein:

The resume is there for Chamberlain to step in and succeed at the big league level. The only question is whether or not Joe Torre will let him. In July, the team called up Edwar Ramirez, who struck out all three Minnesota Twins he faced in his pro debut, pitched one more time three days later, and then all but rotted on the bench for two weeks. Torre’s record of success cannot be denied, but he is a creature of habit, a manager who decides on a system and a role for a player and then sticks with it, even to the detriment of his own team at times. The Yankees have been waiting for a reliever all year to step up and take care of those three-to-five mid-game outs that lets them hand another lead to Mariano Rivera. Joba Chamberlain might be that guy, if they just give him a fair chance.

Christina Kahrl on the Yankees’ latest moves:

The release of Cairo, like the decision to pick up Betemit, demonstrates that Brian Cashman’s best tool in fixing this team is take away the toys Joe Torre likes to play with, and replace them with better toys. This isn’t about the manager’s comfort zone, it’s about winning the division, and the longer any vestige of that sort of haphazard, downright slack management style remains in play, the more the front office should be asking itself how long it can indulge this behavior.

Finally, here is Joel Sherman on the future of Cooter Farmadooke (via Steve Lombardi),Sweeny Murti on The Boss, Mark Feinsand on last night’s near brawl, Ben Kabak on Alex Rodriguez’s hamstring, Tim Marchman on why Baseball-Reference is the greatest thing since sliced bread, Ken Burns and our old, dear friend, Brian Gunn, on Barry Bonds breaking the all-time home run record, and, finally, just cause…a budget-ass recording of a classic Biz Markie/Redman freestyle circa 1990, which includes a great diss of the New York Knicks.

It’s difficult to remember a more historic stretch of days in baseball, with Bonds’ 755^th home run, A-Rod’s 500^th blast, and Tom Glavine’s 300^th victory all taking place within 36 hours of one another. The closest time frame I can come up with is June 11^th and 13^th, 2003, when the Yankees were protagonists on banner nights. On the first night, the Yankees, who hadn’t been no-hit since Baltimore’s Hoyt Wilhelm stifled them in 1958, were no-hit by a record six Houston Astros pitchers (a game that featured a record-tying four-strikeout inning from future Yankee Octavio Dotel). Two nights later, Roger Clemens eclipsed the 4,000-strikeout mark and won his 300^th game versus the St. Louis Cardinals. 

(I’m not big on mementos, but I covered three of Clemens’ four shots at 300, including the winner. I still have my scorecard. It’s the only card I ever kept in five seasons reporting on Yankee games for YESnetwork.com. )

As soon as A-Rod hit 499 on July 25^th, was there any doubt that he would be the story every game thereafter until he finally hit the 500^th? And was there any doubt that despite what he told Kim Jones after hitting No. 499, that 500 was only creeping into his mind “a little bit,” he would later admit what was obvious to everyone watching, that he was trying to hit the home run in every subsequent at-bat? The tabloids were brutal up to the point that he hit the home run (see Deadspin for a hilarious take on the home run, including a sweet David Bowie/Flight of the Conchords tie-in). Then, as is usually the case, the angles shifted from the significance of the home run — not just from a historical standpoint but in the context of the game, it gave Phil Hughes an early 3-0 cushion — to all the ancillary stuff that in a way demeans the achievement. Stories of who should get the ball, A-Rod or the Rutgers student who grabbed it were everywhere. In the Post’s case, where Cynthia Rodriguez was when he hit it (I know I’ve written a lot about the off-field A-Rod stuff, but even if I was editor of the Post, I wouldn’t care where A-Rod’s wife or alleged mistresses were when he hit the home run.)

The juxtaposition of A-Rod and Bonds will grow even more now that the man who used to look like Morris Day is baseball’s all-time home run leader.  The prevailing thought is that A-Rod will be the record holder when all is said and done; Bill Simmons referred to it in his ESPN Mag column, as did the Associated Press in its recap of 756.  The Post’s George Willis asks the question that I would ask: Sure, A-Rod’s got the talent to do it, but does he want to play 10 more years? Within the Willis column are some sharp quotes from Joe Torre bashing media coverage of “the third baseman.”

The other component to the A-Rod 500-homer story — and it’s a reasonable hypothesis — regards the skeptics’ view that the outpouring of support during A-Rod’s chase for 500 and the “MVP” chants filling the Stadium have an ulterior motive, to coax A-Rod to staying in New York. Newsday.com’s Jim Baumbach provides some insight on this topic. The man himself said, “It’s two different things.”

My feeling is this: if the Yankees reach the playoffs and A-Rod maintains his regular-season level of production, the Yankees will pony up the cash to re-sign him and still have some left over for Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada. If the brain trust were willing to spend $25 million and change to earn the rights to talk to Kei Igawa — oops — a $30 million per year extension over four years is not out of the realm of possibility.

QUICK RANTS
* So the Kansas City Royals smacked Phil Hughes around. Does that mean he’s not the future ace of the rotation? Nope. Any Yankee fan who expected him to go out and throw another no-hitter needs a reality check. Saturday afternoon’s FAN host, Lori, was incorrect in saying that the best way he’ll learn is by picking the brains of Clemens, Pettitte, Rivera and Guidry

Bob Klapisch asked Hughes about this, and the 21-year-old said:  "I hope people don’t think I’m going to throw a no-hitter every time, because obviously that’s not going to happen."

Judging from some of the calls into WFAN and 1050 on Saturday and Sunday, there was that sense. Nothing like judging a guy after three major league starts.

* Even if you’ve seen George Steinbrenner in recent years or heard his quotes and thought, “You know something, George got old,” the Franz Lidz Conde Nast Portfolio story of GMS III is disturbing on many levels. The content of the story itself did not bother me. It generally reflects what the public may be thinking of Mr. Steinbrenner at his advanced age of 77; he’s not the volatile public figure he once was. But he is still a commanding presence and deserves better treatment, as Wally Matthews notes. To use Steinbrenner’s 84-year-old friend as bait to tap into a story that really isn’t a story — if Mr. Steinbrenner is in failing health, the Yankees have remained quiet — is antithetical to journalistic ethics. Maybe there are no journalistic ethics anymore.

* Joba Chamberlain. The Star-Ledger’s Dan Graziano, an erstwhile Yankees beat writer turned national baseball columnist for the paper, had what I thought was the best story on Chamberlain and how his call-up could affect Joe Torre’s tenure and legacy as Yankees manager. Interesting stuff.

Oh, and we need to put a moratorium on Joba and “hut” references. Now.

* Met fans are a trip. There’s an overwhelming sense of doom not unlike what Red Sox fans used to harbor. In addition, there’s a certain faction that has a rather peculiar obsession with the Yankees. Part 1 of this story: Riding the train home tonight, I overheard one commuter — a Met fan — saying how this series with the Braves was “the season.” It’s not, but getting smoked in the first game of the series doesn’t do much to validate that the Mets are the better team.  Part 2: If I was hosting a radio talk show, and a Met fan asked about the chances of the Mets and Yankees facing each other in the World Series, I’d hang up on the person. Seriously. Would a Subway Series rematch be awesome? Absolutely. But I get the sense that Yankee fans do not care who the opponent is, provided the Pinstripers get that far. Met fans have been asking the question since May. It’s time to stop. If the Mets reach the World Series and play the Red Sox, Tigers, Indians or Angels, and defeat those teams, is their championship invalid because they didn’t beat the Yankees? Of course not. I know plenty of Met fans who loathe the Yankees and don’t follow them at all. The people calling into the various radio programs could learn something from that group.

* Roster moves. Finally, some dead weight is gone. DFAing Mike Myers and Miguel Cairo and sending down Brian Bruney, a surprise because Torre loves him, were the correct moves at this time. I’m curious to see what happens during the remainder of the waiver period. Keeping Melky Cabrera as the everyday centerfielder is a step in the right direction also. Keep the momentum going. Jason Giambi’s $20-million price tag this year doesn’t guarantee him a spot in the everyday lineup.

NETWORK FOR SALE, SORT OF
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this story. When the news broke that Goldman Sachs was looking to sell its stake in the YES Network, many family members and friends e-mailed me the link to the story and expressed shock at the possible worth of the network. To me, it’s not a shock that Goldman is looking to get out, or that the asking price could be in the mid-billions.

Two and a half years ago, Leo Hindery stepped down as YES Network’s CEO and shortly thereafter, Tracy Dolgin, who made a name for himself in marketing at FOX Sports, took over. In November of 2004, several people across many departments were let go as corporate restructuring began. In nearly three years at the helm, Dolgin has done what a good business man does: assesses the landscape of the company, brings in his own people, moves the company forward and increases revenue. There was a general feeling among some of my colleagues — and I’ll confess, me — that the goal was for Dolgin to do exactly what he’s done, take the profit margin to the YES board and then Goldman would likely sell its stake in the company. It was a matter of when, not if.

I don’t know what’s going to happen to the Network. I do hope that in the event of a sale and potential restructuring, that the efforts of my friends and colleagues who helped YES get to the point where its value is so high are recognized and they can further their careers there.

Until next week …

First of all, the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 9-2 last night. With that they won the series, giving them wins in nine of their last ten series. Prior to that, the Yankees had won just ten of their first 26 series. The Yankees were 38-41 (.481) prior to these last ten series, and are 25-9 (.735) since. With one game left in the cupcake portion of their schedule, the Yankees have gone 20-7 (.740). They are now 63-50 (.558) on the season and a half-game behind in the Wild Card race behind the Tigers (who also won last night). Revisiting my post-All-Star-break math, if the Yankees go 12-11 against the contenders left on their schedule (Detroit, Cleveland, Boston, Seattle, and the Angels), and win all of their remaining series against the cupcakes (Orioles, Devil Rays, Royals, and Blue Jays), they’ll finish the season 92-70. Based on their current winning percentage, the Tigers are on pace to win 91.2 games. If the Yankees can do better than 12-11 against the good teams (especially in their whopping eight games against those Tigers), the Wild Card should be theirs.

Second of all, Roger Clemens was aces last night, allowing just two hits through six innings while striking out six and walking just one. Oh, he also hit a batter.

You see, Jesse Litsch threw at Alex Rodriguez in Monday’s game as likely retaliation for the Rod Said “Ha!” incident. The only problem is that Litsch missed. Last night’s starter Josh Towers is known for his excellent control, so he didn’t miss when throwing at Rodriguez’s knees last night after allowing an RBI triple to Bobby Abreu which broke the scoreless tie in the third. Rodriguez didn’t take kindly to Towers reopening what he had figured was finished business after Litsch’s pitch on Monday and informed Towers of such. Just to be sure they were clear on the matter both teams came out onto the field to make sure they understood. With that cleared up, Rodriguez took first base and everyone else took their seats, but apparently Towers had one more point to make and Rodriguez summoned the teams back out to the field to make sure things were properly resolved. The umpires, apparently displeased by the length of these deliberations, warned both benches that they would not be allowed back on the field to debate the subject any further and thus when Clemens drilled Alex Rios in the back with his second pitch of the seventh inning, they asked him to leave the field. Having thrown 90 pitches and with his team up 7-0, Clemens was happy to oblige, thanking home plate umpire Angel Hernandez effusely on his way toward the Yankee dugout.

Incidentally, those other six runs scored thanks to a two-RBI double by Jorge Posada that immediately followed the initial discussions, a Melky Cabrera triple that was plated in the fourth, and three more runs that scored in the sixth. That sixth inning started with Shelley Duncan singling to drive Towers from the game. Cabrera, who had doubled and tripled in two trips to that point and would add another double later, attempted to bunt Duncan over to second, but Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun pounced on the ball and fired to second where, just as John McDonald was about to receive the ball, Duncan barreled in with a flying drop kick slide that not only knocked the ball into shallow right, but knocked the glove off McDonald’s hand and McDonald on his keister. The best part about Duncan’s slide, other than the fact that all hands were safe and the Yankees rallied to score three runs in the inning, was that it was perfectly legal. McDonald was on the bag, as was the slide. No one felt the need to converse about it.

Jim Brower replaced Clemens in the seventh and proved that he’s still not a major league-quality pitcher (he’s the “2” in the game’s 9-2 final). Joba Chamberlain did quite the opposite in getting the final six outs.

Chamberlain, who walked just 2.75 men per nine innings in the minors, walked two and allowed a single, but didn’t allow a run and struck out two. The walks were the result of nerves and, as both Torre and Chamberlain said after the game, his flying open a bit early on his fastball. That’s unlikely to persist. What will persist is his mid-90s velocity on that fastball and the nasty break on his curve and slider, the latter of which nearly corkscrews down and away from right-handed batters. All I really needed to know about Chamberlain, however, I learned from the way he handled his very first batter in the major leagues.

Rey Olmedo is hardly what you’d call a major league hitter, but he was the first man Chamberlain faced in a major league game. With the switch-hitting Olmedo batting lefty, Chamberlain’s first major league pitch was a 96-mile-per-hour sinking fastball that just missed the outside corner. His next pitch was the same but lower and a bit further outside, 2-0. He then poured a 95-mile-per-hour fastball right down the middle at the knees for a strike and again just barely missed outside with a 96-mile-per-hour belt-high fastball. So here he is behind 3-1 on his first major league hitter. Chamberlain takes the throw back from Posada, looks in and shakes Posada off once. Then twice. Then a third time. Finally, he calls Posada out to the mound. With his glove over his mouth, he meets his catcher at the base of the mound and starts telling Jorge what he wants to do as Posada’s still jogging toward him. Jorge responds briefly. Chamberlain nods, pats Posada on the chest protector, returns to the rubber and fires a 95-mile-per-hour sinking fastball that catches the outside corner for strike two, then breaks off a wicked 12-to-6 curve (or was it a splitter?) that starts out at the letters, dives to the knees as Olmedo swings over it, and finishes in the dirt. Straight nasty. Welcome to the big leagues, Joba. Get comfortable.

(more…)

It’s official. Joba Chamberlain and Jason Giambi are on the 25-man roster. To make room for Giambi the Yankees have done what I never though they’d do: designate Miguel Cairo for assignment. It was an obvious decision. With Wilson Betemit on hand, Cairo was worse than redundant, he was obsolete. Now he’s gone and Shelley Duncan’s good right-handed at-bats remain. Maybe Duncan’s baseball bloodlines were enough to outweigh Cairo’s veteran experience. Whatever the reason, the Yankees have maximized their bench, resulting in a nearly unassailable group of hitters that looks like this:

Lefties: Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano, Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi
Righties: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Andy Phillips, Shelley Duncan, Jose Molina
Switch: Jorge Posada, Melky Cabrera, Wilson Betemit

(Jose Molina would be the “nearly” part.)

As for the bullpen, well . . . rather than option Jeff Karstens to make room for Chamberlian, as was rumored, the Yankees sent down Brian Bruney. I’m not going to rush to Bruney’s defense (he had 30 walks against just 32 Ks in 42 2/3 innings on the season and an 8.68 ERA since July 1), but any pen that includes Karstens, Jim Brower, and Kyle Farnsworth is far from fixed.

Giambi isn’t in the lineup tonight against Josh Towers, but Shelley Duncan is. He’ll DH while Damon plays left and Matsui gets a day off. The Yanks got to Towers good when they last faced him in mid-July (curiously, Matsui hit one of three Yankee home runs off Towers in that game). More recently, Towers has allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings in each of his last two games. Roger Clemens, meanwhile, is coming off one of the worst starts of his Hall of Fame career. Clemens held the Jays to one run over six innings when he last faced them, also in mid-July. Here’s hoping we see more of that tonight, along with Chamberlain’s major league debut, idealy to protect a lead in the eighth. If the Yankees win tonight, they’ll take the series from the Jays and thus have accomplished their mission for the cupcake part of their scedule.