Slow day here at the Banter. Yanks have to deal with Roy Halladay tonight and he’s been less than his regular stellar self of late. Figure he should have a strong start. Let’s see what Joba Ranks has in store for us.
Nevermind the comfortable lead:
Let’s Go Yan-Kees!
Let’s file this in the category of “taking nothing for granted.” Even with a sizeable lead over the Red Sox, I’m happy to see that the Yankees haven’t waited for Scranton’s Triple-A playoff season to end before bringing some reinforcements to New York. Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena, Mark Melancon, Edwar Ramirez, Mike Dunn, and Jon Albaladejo represent the first wave of call-ups, giving Joe Girardi additional options for the final month of the regular season. As painful as it is for fans of the minor league affiliates to hear, the priorities and needs of the major league team should always come first. Given the frequent rest needed by Jorge Posada and the semi-ludicrous pitching limitations being placed on Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees can use some bolstering in the areas of pitching and catching depth.
Once Scranton’s postseason run is complete, the Yankees should then promote their two best everyday players at Triple-A: Austin “Ajax” Jackson and Shelley “Slam” Duncan. If nothing else, both players deserve to be rewarded for fine seasons in Triple-A; minor league players need to know that they will be promoted if they produce at lower levels. Jackson still has flaws in his game (including a surprising lack of power and too many strikeouts), but did well enough to be named the International League’s Rookie of the Year. Duncan has had nothing less than a terrific season for Scranton-Wilkes Barre, leading the league in home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage. Hopefully, the Yankees will be able to put an early clinch on the AL East and give Duncan some at-bats in which to impress opposing scouts. He could help any one of a number of teams, including the Indians, A’s, Diamondbacks, and Pirates. Heck, he’d be a good fit for the cross-town Mets, who probably won’t be re-signing Carlos Delgado and desperately need an infusion of power and enthusiasm. If someone gives Duncan a chance, they might just get some Dave Kingman-type numbers in return, with slightly better defense and significantly better attitude…
In pioneering the oversized S100 helmet made by Rawlings, David Wright has started me thinking about the history of batting helmets. Former Yankee great Phil Rizzuto is generally acknowledged as the first major leaguer to wear a full batting helmet in a game. “The Scooter” made the move from cap to hard hat in 1951, one year before the Pirates outfitted all of their players with helmets and a full 20 years before helmets became mandatory throughout the major leagues. Rizzuto wasn’t just a great shortstop and a funny broadcaster; he was a smart guy who realized the value of protecting oneself in an era when most pitchers felt comfortable pitching high and tight.
As much of a pioneer as Rizzuto was, he was not the first professional ballplayer to don a helmet in a game. That honor belongs to another Hall of Fame shortstop—longtime Negro Leagues great Willie “El Diablo” Wells. After being beaned and knocked unconscious in a 1942 game, the Newark Eagles’ legend returned to action wearing a workman’s helmet, which he found at a New Jersey construction site. Deciding that the construction helmet would work at bat, Wells donned the hard hat in his next game. El Diablo might have looked a little odd, but who could have blamed him?
Speaking of Wright, his use of the S100 helmet has conjured images of two of Hollywood’s beloved characters: The Great Gazoo from “The Flintstones” and the laughable Dark Helmet from Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs. So whom do you think Wright more closely resembles? It’s a close call, but I’ll place my vote with Gazoo, as portrayed by the brilliant Harvey Korman. In the immortal words of Gazoo, “Goodbye dum-dums.”…
Finally, has anyone else noticed how much Alfredo Aceves looks like former Yankee Jim Leyritz? Every time I see Aceves take the mound, I have to remind myself that “The King” is no longer playing. I had similar flashbacks when Bobby Abreu played for the Yankees; he always reminded me of former Yankee outfielder Matty Alou, at least in terms of their facial resemblance. Then again, maybe I’ve just been looking at too many old Topps baseball cards.
Bruce Markusen writes “Cooperstown Confidential” for The Hardball Times.
1961 was a good year for the Yankees. However, they were not a great Yankee team, according to Steven Goldman.
Discuss.
Bring it back, come rewind.
Feels like old times a little bit, huh? We still don’t know what October will bring but these Yankees sure are built for the 162-game schedule. They are absolutely wearing the league out, especially the bad teams. Chad Guadin started and didn’t make it out of the fourth, giving up three runs. Alfredo Aceves replaced him and allowed a couple of runs over a couple of innings, and then David Robertson, Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte each threw a scoreless inning. They got it done and so did the hitters.
The Yankee offense is relentless. Jorge Posada was the star tonight with four hits and four RBI. He hit his 20th home run and the Yanks now have seven players with 20 or more dingers. Alex Rodriguez had a couple of hits and a couple of RBI including a frozen rope solo shot in the ninth. Melky Cabrera also had two hits.
Ho Hum? Maybe. Happy? Why certainly.
So much for Cito Gaston’s brilliance. Yeah, the Blue Jays traded Scott Rolen, let Alex Rios go via waivers, lost Rolen’s replacement, the disastrous Edwin Encarnacion, to a hamstring injury, and have been forced to play musical closers due to injury and poor performance, and have had to similarly improvise their starting rotation for similar reasons. Despite all that they have outscored their opponents only to find themselves with an actual record eight games worse than their Pythagorean.
The Jays have been in free fall since the end of June, playing .340 baseball (18-35) over that stretch. Since eking out a one-run victory over Sergio Mitre and the Yankees on August 10, they’re 5-16 (.238!). They haven’t won a series, or even had consecutive victories since they faced the Orioles the series before that. Even, Roy Halladay, who pitches tomorrow, has gone 0-3 with a 7.94 ERA over his last three starts. Top prospect Travis Snider has come back from the minors to replace Rios and has hit .167 in 16 games. Things really can’t get much worse for the Jays.
Well, I suppose there’s the Yankees coming to town. The Yanks, like they were against the Orioles prior to their just-completed sweep, are 9-3 against the Jays this year, and two of those losses came in May. The Yankees are 7-1 against Toronto since then. No wonder the Yanks figured they could bounce A.J. Burnett to Monday’s double-header against the Rays and throw Chad Gaudin (tonight), Sergio Mitre (Sunday), and the innings-challenged Joba Chamberlain (tomorrow) in this series. At least they’re giving the Jays a sporting chance.
Rookie of the Year candidate Ricky Romero starts for the Jays tonight. He has two quality starts in as many tries against the Yankees on the season, though the Yankees won the later contest via one of their many extra-inning walkoffs (Cano single). Gaudin was been alternately great and awful in August, striking out 12 in nine scoreless innings in his three “great” appearances (including his one start, in Oakland, all three as a Yankee) and giving up 11 runs in 8 1/3 innings in his three “awful” appearances (two in relief for the Yankees plus one start for the Padres). If he makes like Saberhagen, he’s due for “awful” tonight. Hopefully the Yankees can out-hit whatever it is he gives them.
With Mariano Rivera nursing a tender groin, Phil Hughes will close this weekend. Jonathan Albaladejo has been called up to add innings to the pen. Yanks run out the standard lineup tonight.
Over at SI.com, our man Cliff takes a look at some key players down the stretch. The man for the Twins?
That Big Bum:
No, not that Bum, this one:
Amazingly and sadly, the Twins are looking for real help from Carl Pavano. Pavano has made as many starts this year as he did in all four years of his $39.95 million contract with the Yankees. He’s even had some encouraging runs along the way, particularly the eight starts from May 1 through June 5 in which he went 6-1 with a 3.00 ERA and a 4.0 K/BB. Things got a littly rocky after that, but he posted a 3.46 ERA and 3.5 K/BB in six August starts, five of them for the Minnesota. If the Twins are going to catch the Tigers by the tail, they’ll need Pavano to do as well or better in September.
Tyler Kepner has a nice piece in the Times today about Derek Jeter appreciating the moment:
“I was talking to my parents not too long ago, and they were telling me, ‘You’ve got to learn to enjoy some of these things as they’re happening — there’s nothing wrong with that,’ ” Jeter said. “So I’m sure it’s something that I’ll enjoy if it happens.”
…The torrid month has put him close to a record Jeter will cherish, if he takes his parents’ advice. Posada, his close friend, considered their wisdom and laughed.
“It doesn’t come twice, so he could take a step back and look,” Posada said. “That’s a good way to put it, but I don’t think he will.”
One day, we’ll see Jeter give it up and let a few tears drop off his cheek. May not be for a few years still but the Iceman will melt a ‘lil bit. You watch.
Today’s news is powered by Woody Woodpecker:
While the rest of the Yankees seem to have fallen in love with hitting for power at the new Yankee Stadium, Swisher has gone in the completely opposite direction. He now owns 23 homers in his first season with the Bombers, 20 of which have come away from the Bronx.
“I’m just trying to prove to everybody that hitting home runs in Yankee Stadium is not that easy,” Swisher said, laughing.
Betances’ procedure was an “overlay TJ,” a variant of the Tommy John procedure where the damaged ligament isn’t removed, but instead left in place and the ligament is buttressed by the new tendon. Originally, it was thought that this would reduce the issue with proprioception that many TJ surgeries involve for patients, but the procedure is seldom used currently.
There is an old Yiddish routine between a man and woman that my dad and his sister used to do. That’s where my twin sister Sam and I learned to do it.
It goes like this:
“You Dancin?”
“You askin’?”
“I’m askin’ if you’re dancin’.”
“I’m dancin’ if you’re askin.'”
“So I’m askin.'”
“So I’m dancin.'”
I had dancing* on the brain tonight after watching Robinson Cano turn an elegant double play in the seventh inning. With a man on first and one out, Cano fielded a ground ball to his right, took a few steps to the bag and falling away, flipped the ball to first. Cano is one of the few players in the league that can “flip” a ball across the field with such ease and still put a good amount of mustered on the throw. It was a remarkably quick and agile play, over in an eye-blink, but smooth like butter.
And that wasn’t the only thing that was smooth on another smooth night for the Yankees. CC Sabathia was a load. Again. The Big Fella went seven innings and allowed one run on seven hits and a walk. He struck out nine. And Alex Rodriguez was more money than money, breaking up a 1-1 game in the seventh with a two run single, and then adding to a 3-2 lead with another two-run base hit in the ninth, giving him 75 RBI on the year. His first hit a few innings earlier was the 2,500 of his career.
Rodriguez’s RBI in the ninth was just the start. The Yanks scored seven runs in all, good enough for a 10-2 win, and another series sweep. The Yanks have won ten straight against the Orioles. They are a big inning waiting to happen. Tonight, the Bombers had 17 hits in all, 4 by Johnny Damon, 2 each by Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera.
So what’s not to like?
*One of the all-time jips of my childhood came when my mother and grandmother took my sister to see Bob Fosse’s “Dancin'” on Broadway in a theater while my father and grandfather rolled my brother and me a few blocks away to Loew’s 83rd Street to see Elliott Gould and Bill Cosby in The Devil and Max Devlin.
I had my handful of disappointing movie theater experiences as a kid–Chariots of Fire, Swing Shift, Author! Author!, Carbon Copy–but that one took the cake. Like losing Fred McGriff in the Davey Collins dump for Dale Murray.
I didn’t even like musicals but that “Dancin'” poster was everywhere in Manhattan for a few years. As a kid, I thought it was so adult and provocative. I think of it side-by-side in my mind’s eye with the Oh! Calcutta! poster.
Another win? Why not. Wins is delicious.
Let’s Go Yan-Kees!
These days everything seems to be available on-line. And while places like the SI Vault are wonderful, there is still so much good writing–especially magazine and newspaper writing–that cannot be found with a google search.
Pat Jordan has been a freelance writer for more than forty years. The majority of his work is not about sports and not available on-line. So I’m going to feature some of Pat’s original work here from time-to-time. (The pieces are reprinted with permission from the author.)
First up is a story Pat did for Penthouse in 1999 about a woman bodyguard.
Dig it.
A Different Drummer
By Pat Jordan
She racks the slide of her Glock .40 Smith and Wesson semiautomatic pistol to chamber a round. She takes aim at a paper target, a silhouette of a human, 20 feet away. “This place is an absolute toilet,” she says.
The indoor gun range is a filthy concrete room reeking of burnt gun powder. Bullet casings litter the concrete floor. She aims at the heart of the silhouette and squeezes off a round. A loud, “Pop!” echoes off the walls. Then another, and another, spaced fifteen seconds apart.
“Guys fire in rapid succession,” she says, still aiming. “Women take their time and aim. We learn differently. We have to read the manual first to know everything before we shoot.”
She fires off 12 more evenly spaced rounds then peers over her yellow shooter’s glasses at the target. The holes are slightly to the left of the human target’s heart.
“I shot with this woman cop once,” she says. “She kept shooting across the lane into my target. I said, ‘Heh, what are you doing?’ She said, ‘Oh, I always shoot to the right, like when I killed that perp.'”
She ejects the pistol’s clip, thumb-loads 15 rounds, slaps in the clip, racks the slide, and takes aim again. She squeezes off five more evenly spaced rounds, all to the left of the heart. She says, “You’ll probably write that the broad can’t hit the broad side of a barn.”
She is 32, with white skin, pale blue-green eyes that look slightly startled, and long, wild, luxuriant, curly red hair like Julia Roberts. She stands 5-5, and weighs 130 pounds, but she appears to be a much bigger woman. She has broad shoulders and muscular legs. She is wearing black sneakers; black, spandex shorts; and an oversized, sleeveless t-shirt that exposes the tattoo on her left arm. “A Japanese fire dragon,” she says. “For strength, because my left side is my weak side.”
The Daily News has a gallery listing their picks for the twenty-five best sports movies of all time. No Body and Soul or Fat City, no Long Gone, but it’s not the worst list you’ve ever seen.
Today’s news is powered by an orchestra-accompanied version of a Dire Straits classic:
When Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees picked Dr. Marc Philippon to operate on the superstar’s right hip in March, they did so because they believed the Vail-based surgeon was the best in the business.
. . . When Philippon was done with the March 9 surgery, which repaired a torn labrum, removed an impingement and drained a cyst, the doctor said Rodriguez was looking at another operation after the season was finished. Now, there is a chance Rodriguez can avoid the second operation.
“Eighty percent no; 20 percent yes,” Rodriguez told The Post before sitting out last night’s game against the Orioles at Camden Yards. “But you got to call him.”
. . . Though Philippon deserves credit, so does Mark Lindsay, the chiropractor Rodriguez has worked with since the surgery.
The league leader in home runs, RBIs and runs scored, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees right fielder Shelley Duncan has been named the International League MVP. He’s the second Scranton/Wilkes-Barre player to win the award, following Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino, who won it in 2005.
Duncan has eclipsed his own franchsie record by hitting 29 home runs this season, and he’s eight away from becoming the second player in franchise history to amass 100 RBIs in a season. After a breakout 2007, Duncan had a bizarre and unsteady 2008 that saw him shuttled to and from New York before landing on the disabled list. This season, though, he was back in a big way.
Yankees center fielder Austin Jackson has won the league’s Rookie of the Year award, becoming the third player in franchise history to do so. Long time major league second baseman Marlon Anderson won it in 1998 and right-handed pitcher Brandon Duckworth won it in 2001, when he was also the league’s Pitcher of the Year.
At 22 years old, playing in a league usually dominated by veterans, Jackson is third in the league in hits and leads the league in triples. He’s top 20 in runs, stolen bases and batting average. Earlier this season, Baseball America conducted a poll of International League managers who named Jackson the league’s top hitting prospect.
The Yankees are certainly an excellent regular-season team again. And with September upon us, it’s a good time to look ahead to October. If the season ended today, the Yankees would see those Tigers in the division series again.
That means Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, Jarrod Washburn and Rick Porcello – a more formidable on paper than the 2006 group of Nate Robertson, Verlander, Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman.
By October 2006 the Yankees were a jumble of mismatched offensive and defensive parts. (Remember Gary Sheffield playing first base?) This Yankees offense functions well together, with power, discipline, speed, and a knack for success in the late innings.
As for the theory that the Yankees rely too much on homers, consider last fall. The 2008 Phillies also played in a cozy ballpark and led their league in homers. They won the World Series and did it with clutch home runs in every postseason series.
Jorge Posada channeled the spirit of Bernie Williams tonight. He had to be reminded to take first base by the home plate umpire when he walked in his first at-bat. Next time up, he hit a two-run homer. Third time up, score tied at three in the fifth, Posada took a 3-1 pitch for a strike. Only he thought it was strike three and started walking back to the dugout. The ump called him back. Alex Rodriguez held up two fingers and grinned. Jeter’s smile couldn’t get any wider. Posada fouled a pitch off and then hit the next one over the wall in left for a homer.
Believe it. It wasn’t Bernie thinking he’d walked then hitting a grand slam, but it was close enough.*
Smooth move, Wormser, you meant to do that, right?
AJ Burnett labored in every inning but the fourth, but even when he gave the lead up it was hard not to believe the Yanks would win the game. They are playing like the Gashouse Gorillas. Rodriguez tied the score at 6 with a two-out RBI single in the sixth inning. In the seventh, Nick Swisher hit a two-run homer and Eric Hinske followed with a solo shot. Swisher has more homers (4) in Baltimore this season than he’s got at home (3). He’s got 23 all told. Cano also hit his 22nd.
Eleven pitchers in all. Mo finished it, recording his 34th straight save (1.78 ERA).
Final Score: Yanks 9, O’s 6.
Yanks are rough, boy. Even with Burnett having a forgettable outing. Red Sox ain’t losing much lately either.
* Jorge got a sorry reminder of his injured hand when he took a foul tip off the glove with one out in the eighth. “It was not a direct hit but it was a stinger,” said Ken Singleton on the YES broadcast. He did not leave the game.
It was a gorgeous day in New York. A distinct autumn chill is in the air, the humidity is gone, the sun is out. Crisp, lovely. I can only imagine that it’s nice down in Baltimore too.
Yanks are rolling. Serving bad teams and good alike. AJ Burnett, Todd Drew’s Boy, is back on the hill. Let’s hope he’s in a good mood tonight.
Whadda ya say, Meat?
Let’s Go Yan-Kees.
Today’s news is powered by the Captain, talking to Cal Ripken:
Regular season ticket prices for full-season ticket licensees (non-Suites) will be replicated for the 2009 American League Division Series (i.e., a Main Level ticket that costs a full-season ticket licensee $60 in the 2009 regular season will cost the same licensee $60 for the ALDS), however, full-season ticket licensees (non-Suites) of $325 Field Level seats may purchase their seats for the ALDS at the lower price of $275 each.
For full-season ticket licensees (non-Suite), prices will range from $5-$275 per ticket for the ALDS, $10-$350 per ticket for the ALCS, and $50-$425 per ticket for the World Series.
Full-season Suite licensees in the Legends Suite, Delta Sky360° Suite and Jim Beam Suite, have all already paid their Suite license fees. Accordingly, they will only be required to purchase their Suite tickets, which will range from $65-$275 per Suite ticket for the ALDS, $115-$350 per Suite ticket for the ALCS, and $150-$425 per Suite ticket for the World Series. As with the regular season, Legends Suite licensees will also be required to pay a per-game food and beverage fee, but not a Suite license fee.
Though the Yankees have not announced their plans, (Francisco) Cervelli and (Ramiro) Pena are likely to highlight the team’s September callups.
Though the Yankees will not announce the rest of their callups until Tuesday, there are plenty of candidates who will receive consideration. Chief among them is Shelley Duncan, who endeared himself to the Yankees during a 2007 power binge and is leading the International League with 27 home runs.
Also likely to return to active duty is Brett Gardner, who has been on the disabled list since July 26 with a fractured left thumb. The Yankees will not immediately activate Gardner, but should do so sometime in mid-September after he has completed a rehab assignment.
