Barring a moderately unlikely post-season matchup against the Twins, the Yankees will play their last game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome this afternoon. The first came back on May 28, 1982, when Ron Guidry matched up against a similarly diminutive and mustachioed righty named Bobby Castillo.
Giving early credence to the new stadium’s “Homer Dome” nickname, the two starters combined to give up seven home runs as the lead changed hands four times in the first six innings. Rookie third baseman Gary Gaetti, future Yankee Gary Ward, and rookie right-fielder Tom Brunansky (twice) all connected for solo shots off Gator. Lou Piniella, Oscar Gamble, and Roy Smalley, who had been acquired from Minnesota for reliever Ron Davis and shortstop Greg Gagne that April, went deep off Castillo.
With the game knotted at 4-4, Gaetti led off the top of the seventh with a double, prompting Yankee manager Gene Michael to go to his bullpen. George Frazier, the 1981 World Series goat, retired the next three batters, stranding Gaetti, after which the Yankees pushed across a fifth run in the top of the eighth on an Oscar Gamble triple that bounced Castillo and a two-out RBI single by Bobby Murcer.
With a 5-4 lead, Michael went straight to Goose Gossage in the eighth, but Goose blew the save, starting with a lead-off walk to Larry Milbourne, who had been traded from the Yankees to the Twins earlier that month in the deal that netted catcher Butch Wynegar. Milbourne was singled to third by Brunansky and scored on a sac fly by pinch-hitter Randy Johnson (not that one, or even the other one, this one).
In the ninth, Twins skipper Billy Gardner turned to Gossage’s former set-up man, Ron Davis, who came over in the Smalley trade the previous month. With one out, Willie Randolph and Dave Collins singled. Randolph then stole third and scored on Gamble’s subsequent single. After getting John Mayberry to fly out for the second out, Davis walked Bobby Murcer to load the bases, then gave up a back-breaking grand slam to Graig Nettles.
Given a reprieve, Gossage retired Gaetti, Ward, and Tim Laudner in order in the bottom of the ninth, punctuating a wild game with a strikeout of Laudner to give the Yankees a 10-5 win.
The loss ran the last-place Twins’ losing streak to nine games, which explained why just 18,854 showed up to see the Yankees’ first visit to the new building. Despite all that scoring, the game took just 2 hours and 29 minutes to play.
That was the first game the Yankees played in the Metrodome. The most significant were the four playoff games they won in the dome in 2003 and 2004:
2003 ALDS: After splitting the first two games in the Bronx, the Yankees win Games 3 and 4 at the Metrodome to defeat the Twins in the series. The combined score of the two games in the dome is 11-2. Jason Giambi, Bernie Williams, Hideki Matsui, and Nick Johnson all double off Johan Santana in the fourth inning of Game 4 as the Yankees score six runs and bounce Santana from the game.
2004 ALDS: Repeating the previous year’s pattern exactly, the Yankees win Games 3 and 4 at the Metrodome to defeat the Twins in the series. The Yankees enter the top of the eighth down 5-1, then score four runs to tie the game, the key hit being a game-tying three-run home run by Ruben Sierra off Juan Rincon. The game goes into the 11th inning, when Alex Rodriguez doubles, steals third, then scores on a wild pitch with what proves to be the winning run of the series.
Today, the Yankees send spot-starter Alfredo Aceves to the mound against lefty Francisco Liriano. Liriano, who made the All-Star game as a rookie in 2006 then missed all of 2007 due to Tommy John surgery, came on strong at the end of last year, but got off to a rocky start this year, going 2-7 with a 6.60 ERA through the end of May. Since then, however, he has turned in four quality starts in six tries, and the Twins have gone 5-1 in his starts. Over those six starts, Liriano has struck out a man per inning and posted a 3.79 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP, not quite the performance of a pitcher who was supposed to replace Johan Santana as the team’s left-handed ace, but just fine from a 25-year-old lefty once again moving in the right direction.
This will be Liriano’s second start against the Yankees this season. In his first, he walked six Yankees in six innings, but only allowed one run, on a Derek Jeter solo homer. The Yankees ultimately won that game via a three-run ninth-inning rally against Joe Nathan capped off by a walk-off single by Melky Cabrera.
Aceves is making his first start since being called up–he went 2-0 with a 3.80 ERA in four starts for Scranton in April–and will be limited to 60 pitches. He has averaged 14.4 pitches per inning in his 21 relief appearances, so don’t expect him to last much past the fourth inning. That could mean lesser relievers such as Jonathan Albaladejo, Brett Tomko, and the struggling Brian Bruney could yet play an important part in this game, which might render Aceves’s performace moot if Liriano is on is game.
Fortunately, the Yankees have already won the series, and have gone 6-0 against the Twins on the season. If they finish the season series 6-1, I won’t be complaining.
Nice article on fangraphs up on Gardy: http://tinyurl.com/kk9yno . Apparently the stats show he's got one of the best arms in baseball (I do not see how this has occurred). While I was one of the Gardner supporters in ST, he's surprised even me with his play recently. Did you know he already has like 30 stolen bases?!
As for the pitching matchup, if its close after 4 innings, I'd love to see the Yankees go straight to Hughes for 2+. It won't happen, but I'd love to see it.
[0] With a 5-4 lead, Michael went straight to Goose Gossage in the eighth, but Goose blew the save...
What was Stick thinking? Why didn't he go to the eighth inning guy??
.
.
.
.
Yeah, I know, low hanging fruit...
[2] Dave Righetti was only available for 3 pitches? ;)
[1] Yes, there's some discussion in the previous thread.
[2] [3] Tony LaRussa hadn't yet become a bullpen genius in 1982.
[2] I think a week or so ago the issue of blown saves came up. Goose leads for career blown saves for a reason. While I think we glorify the old time closers who went 3 innings, their ability to successfully close out a win was remarkably lower than today's closers. Same theory should apply to 8th inning. One guy who can do it at a very high rate is better than stretching a closer or not having that guy. Closing to me has become a 2-3 pitcher duty. You ideally have 3 guys who can finish the last 3 innings plus the occasional lefty on lefty matchup or whatever.
It's amazing how many "Yankee fans" seem to have forgotten how well Alex performed in the 2004 ALDS.
[6] Ahh, but the purpose is to win the game, not to get one pitcher to accumulate saves. In this example (an anecdote, of course), the Yankees won the game: Goose, gave up the tie, but pitched well in the ninth. Now, had the Yankees gone saved Goose as a "closer" he no doubt would have had a higher save rate, but they might well have lost this game by throwing a lesser pitcher in the 8th who may have given up several runs.
It is also a bit unfair to compare save rates. When the Save was introduced as a stat, relievers more commonly pitched multiple innings, or came in with the bases loaded, etc. In other words, the stat broadly reflected usage. But now even very poor closers have high save rates because a significant percentage of saves are of the bases empty, two or three run lead, pitch the ninth variety. Just because Mo (for example) saves 90% of the games he closes, this does not mean that the Yankees win more games than they would if he were occasionally stretched to two or three innings, or used in higher leverage mid-game situations (probably costing him some saves), or not used in every technical save situation in the ninth.
I have yet to see any evidence that teams leading after 7 or 8 or 9 innings since, say, 1990 have a significantly higher percentage chance of winning than they did in 1970 or 1980.
I would have to see some hard evidence that contemporary BP usage really does "shorten the game."
[6] But Goose was put in more situations where he could blow a save, no? And so of course he blew more saves. Today's closers are almost never the ones used in those tricky situations in the 7th or the 8th, with the game within a run. Rather, those blown saves get handed off to the 7th and 8th Inning Guys of the world. In fact, to me, this is exactly why closers should be used more like Goose was - better to have the closer (in theory the best reliever) in the high-leverage situation than waiting around for a three-run lead in the 9th.
I want to say Joe Sheehan wrote an article about this at BP a few years ago, but a quick search on my part didn't turn it up. I do feel pretty sure that I read a study about save opportunities and usage now versus then, though.
[5] Oh right, I forgot about that. We are blessed to live in these more enlightened times!
: )
That '04 ALDS was pretty damn memorable for a 4 game first round series.
-Great 12 inning game 2 at The Stadium
-Kevin Brown (!!) getting the win in the dome in game 3
-a classic game 4
And then the 2004 postseason immediately ended...nothing else happened after that Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
[9] no. he wasn't. He simply blew a lot more saves.
[8] Did I say anything about accumulation of saves being the goal? I totally missed that. You miss the point. One game is just a stat. Overall, take two seemingly equivalent talents and have one throw one inning and have the other throw three and the former will be more successful. So the only reason to have a guy go two or three innings, instead of having two or three guys go one inning each, would be due to disparity in talent.
I can elaborat emore later. right now i hvae to work.
[6] In fact, I would argue that closing has become a three man job (as you put it) *because* the closer is being misused. Since he is now largely restricted to ninth inning save situations, many of which are not particularly threatening, teams must find a couple of other pitchers to use every day in the 7th and 8th. This in turn leads to 12 and 13 man pitching staffs, more pitching changes, and shorter benches. I'm not sure the game is better for it (that is an aesthetic argument), nor am I convinced that it provides teams with a competitive advantage. Of course, this is hard to test since everyone uses their BP the same way.
I have yet to see any evidence that teams leading after 7 or 8 or 9 innings since, say, 1990 have a significantly higher percentage chance of winning than they did in 1970 or 1980.
I remember somebody doing a study that showed % of games won when leading going into the 9th essentially hadn't changed during the duration they looked at (which IIRC, was something like 50's - present). I can't exactly remember if they only looked at the 9th, or extended it to the earlier innings as well, though I think it was only the 9th.
I'll poke about and see if I can find it.
[14] I thought I'd read that once before as well. Of course, one could posit that in the old days, everyone was blowing games in the 9th because they didn't have a "closer," so it all leveled out.
I am convinced that one of these days a team IS going to use their BP differently, probably because some personnel issue will "force" them to. That will be interesting to see,
[15] but that would mean that the winning % would increase as the closer was implemented in baseball strategy.
But it didn't.
Closer or not, the chances of winning a game entering the 9th, appear not to have changed. (IIRC)
[7] Well what do you expect given his track record since game 4 of that year's ALCS? Extended ineffectiveness of that order, under the bright lights of playoff baseball, from "the best player in baseball" tends to obscure past success.
[16] Yeah, you're right.
Ideally, there should be a study done on lead changes after, say, the 7th inning. Did sticking with your starter longer and/or relying on fewer "firemen" (in the old days) mean that teams stood a greater chance of coming back and tying or taking the lead, even if that lead was subsequently squandered by the team's own stretched starter? Or are there just as many comebacks against the bevy of specialists and one-inning guys employed today?
[17] Especially when it fills a preconceived notion of someone. Ugh, can we please not dredge this debate up again? A-Rod has had some really great playoff series and some really bad ones, this makes him like nearly every other player in baseball. The bad ones just happen to be more recent than the great ones. Hell, I still remember clutchy captain Derek Jeter GIDP to kill a rally in Game 4 in 2007 against the Indians.
It's not a perfect match, but I wrote this piece for SI.com a couple of months ago. A sample:
[19] Surely you see the irony in following a request not to "dredge up this debate" ... with a Jeter comparison!
No Damon or Matsui against lefty Liriano today. Ransom plays third. Rodriguez DHes. Melky in left. Brett "The Gun" Gardner in center.
[21] Not really, I love Jeter, my only point was, even "great clutch" players screw up in big spots sometimes which I hoped would lead to an end of pointing out each time A-Rod has popped up in the 7th inning, with a runner on and the moon full.
[22] The Gun! I love it!
[22] So, does that make Garty a Gritty Gunslinger?
[20] Thanks, Cliff. So basically this implies: contemporary closers' save rates may be higher than those of the firemen of yore, but in turn more saves are being blown in earlier innings by set-up men and eighth-inning-guys which in the past would have been dealt with by starters (working into later innings) or the firemen.
[12] seamus, if you've got some numbers to back you up, I'm very curious to see them. To me, the odds of blowing a save increase the lesser the lead. That is, a 3-run lead is going to be saved (and not blown) more often than a 2-run lead, and a 2-run lead saved more than a 1-run lead. Maybe I did not state this well, but my point is that Goose had far more opportunities to blow saves than today's closers do because he came into far more 1-run lead situations.
That is, as monkeypants said, back then they managed according to putting the best pitcher in the highest leverage situation, instead of TLR's managing according to the save rule.
Now maybe the sheer volume usage of closers has gone up, so being used more they can blow more saves - but Cliff's bit in [20] seems to dispel that.
I could be completely wrong, as I have no data handy to back me up - but this (explained elegantly by monkeypants in [13]) has been sabermetric orthodoxy for so long, I'll be really surprised if no one has ever shown its true.
[26] Which is what I was saying (or trying to say) in [8].
Why does seamus's work have to get in the way of a perfectly good baseball discussion? =)
With regards to Gossage's game described above, the real take-home is don't walk the damn leadoff man when trying to protect a one-run lead. Sure, there had already been seven homers in the game, but Milbourne had just one tater since the turn of the decade when Gossage was facing him.
[29] The lesson I took from your recap of that game is that you just can't predict baseball.
Whee, let's go Vulture, pick their bones clean!
[30] That too.
BTW, am I the only one who wishes YES would include things like that first game at the Metrodome in their Yankee Classics lineup? I mean, Guidry, Goose, eight taters including a ninth-inning salami from Nettles, the seeds of the 1987 Champions on the other side of the field . . . mix it up a little!
inside, outside, mauer's a monster.
All the more reason to love the Twins getting off the turf: keeping Mauer healthy.
[33] I love watching games from the 70s and 80s--they look so different (the camera view from CF is not usually so tight, the players are smaller and stand farther from the plate, less advertising, a bunch of older parks not yet demolished to make way for HOK, etc.). Those were really my formative years as a baseball fan, and in my mind they represent the "norm."
they're just "ducts" Robbie, they're for the air conditioning ...
Blech. Usually Rogers Sports Net carries Yankees day games so long as they do not conflict with Blue Jays games. Today, I get poker.
Yeah Cody!!!
[33] I would love to see that game. I think the issue is actually getting a hold of it. Who knows if the game even exists.
I own a copy of another Yankee-Twin Classic from May 1985: Mattingly's 3-run walk off HR capping a comeback from down 8-0. Ed Whitson started for the Yankees, but didn't last too long.
i'll take it...
2-0
I like 2 out RBI's.
yay, Cap'n!
Cap'n!
3-0
[43] damn son!
What has happened to Liriano? I saw him pitch a game 2 years ago and I thought he would be better then Santana.
What the HELL was the point of that?
wow, that hit by Jetes was our first...
[46] You saw him before Tommy John surgery, then.
[46] http://www.baseball-intellect.com/Articles/francisco-liriano-injury.html
christ. gardner got thrown out stealing home?! was it even close???
55 pitches for Liriano thru 2 innings...
[47] I can't complain too much since I have called for Garty to steal every time he gets on base, and have been relishing such a double steal opportunity. I guess the Twins have done their homework: they've thrown Gardner out twice and guessed right another time on a pitch out.
meh
courtesy the Minneapolis/St. Paul citypages blog:
April 3, 1982 concession costs at Metrodome (Yup, they sold cigs back then)
Candy and Treats
Cotton Candy $0.75
M & M's $0.75
Milk Duds $0.75
Malt Cup $0.75
Soft serve cone $0.90
Peanuts $0.75
Seeds $0.75
Food
Hot Dog $1.00
"Colossal" Dog $1.75
Brat $1.75
Nachos $1.75
Pretzel $0.60
Beverage
Soft Drink, Small $0.60
Soft Drink, Souvenir $1.25
Coffee $0.60
Beer, 20 oz. $2.00
Cigs
Marlboro, Winston, Salem Light, or Vantage $1.00
[51] no, but it was a semi-delayed double steal with Jeter taking off from 1st and drawing a throw.
Twins weren't fooled for a second though ...
SLICED!!!! : )
i have a TON of 1983 Topps cards, including the Randy Johnson guy on the Twins from that year...
[54] Hey Sliced - nice to see you!
20 oz of brew for $2? A "colossal" hot dog for $1.75? Those a minor league prices now - on a special day! Wow.
[55] thanks, man.
NOT a good start to the inning.
ugh.
[56 57] what's up, fellas?
watching the game at my cubicle, when work's not blocking the view.
Love following the Banter during daygames, too.
I try not overreact to individual plays, but Ransom should be DFA'd immediately following the game.
It's time to DFA Ransom. He has never been and is not a 3B. With Ramiro Pena on the 40-man it makes no sense to keep Ransom around. He is a bad baseball player.
So....we kept Ransom again why? For his great bat?
fuck cody ransom.
and Ace is already past half his pitch count. let's hope he can go 4 and keep at 2 runs...
Dear Cody Ransom
KYS
kthanxbye
Me
If Ace hurls a ball at Ransom's head right now, does that go toward his pitch count?
[60] Good to know you're still out there, man.
Not that I've exactly been around for many game threads this year . . .
I think I would almost rather have the Yanks try Betemit again than keep Ransom around. Maybe.
nice. 41 pitches thru 2. middle of the order comin' up.
[66] hurling!
man, i hope you come by more often. we could use the laughs! : )
Halladay is losing again and has 95 pitches through 5. Halladay hasn't been that good since coming off the DL, so many the Jays are motivated by more than a desire to pick up prospects and cut payroll.
way to work the count, Swish. : /
[70] the flip of that is...the Rays are winning - again.
[66] Nice! Good thing my office door is closed so no one can hear my guffaws.
[65] Where's Schteeve? Maybe he could set Ransom on fire? /jk
Apropos of nothing, I stumbled on this thread while trying to make sure I spelled Schteeve's name right. Look at all the comments on Gritty Gun Gardner!
Do we have three runs on one hit??
[73] i think i've taken over Scheteeve's fire setting role, by default.
at least i'm a Sagittarius!!!
This Mauer guy is obviously overrated. Our seventh starter just struck him out.
good job, Ace!!! M&M are outta the way. hopefully Ace can go at least 4...
i gotsta hit it. enjoy the rest of the game, folks.
GO YANKS!!!
Huh. Guess I got here just in time. I missed just one hit, and now I get to see a Posada infield hit(!) and a Cano double.
Uh, and a Melkman pop.
meh-lky.
DFA Ransom!
Pay that Ransom! and get that man a Kate Hudson while yer at it!
nother RBI!
Well, at least Cody's gotten even for the day ...
Madison Square Gardner!
Yanks up 5-2!
True Grit!
I told the baseball gods I'd settle for a FC RBI with Brett beating out the DP. Good thing they never listen to me.
DFA Jeter!
2 is better than none
what a dumb question. Hall of Famers don't strikeout.
[85] total scrub. ransom could do his job.
[87] That's why they don't call it the Hall of...
Uh.
I'll get back to you.
[85] Well played.
Boy, I love this place when the Yanks are on a roll.
obviously, the Twins feared the gun of Gritner!
Hm, the third time through the order could be nasty. David Robertson, huh?
We may need more runs...
[91] Gardenhire reads Fangraphs???
looks like Aceves just done run out of gas ...
Ugh.
Good time for a patented Dr. Robertson Strikeout (patent pending)!
I managed to snag tickets to the last two games ever @ the Metrodome. :)
[95] patent delivery
Bingo!
Nicky Punto: no grit whatsoever.
[95] Better watch out, RI. There's a rash of false patent marking lawsuits going around these days.
/work
[99] Gulp.
Grrrr. The shoulder is IN, Doctor.
[94] Not "stretched" out enough to go longer. Still, I'll take it. Emergency start by a reliever. They almost never go long.
Oh yeah, that's the other Robertson Special. I don't think he's got any patent on it, though.
[95] Robertson's got *another* patent pending, gah.
Girardi has to get Coke up for the lefties, right?
Why does it always shock the manager when a rookie walks guys with the bases loaded? Is it really such a surprise?
I guess it's going to be one of "those" games where the offense will be plentiful for both teams?
ohferfuck's sake Robertson.
just tuned in (via gameday) - can't expect much more from aceves - 5th starter will need to be addressed somehow - hopefully ace can be stretched out more by the next turn
[103] oh i think he does - his act on the game i went to showed me he has filed those patent papers - i wish he would just attack hitters - he has the stuff to do so
I feel bad for the kid.
Still annoyed, but sympathetic.
After a few games without hurting the team, the bad Girardi is back. Incredibly, he is going to put this entire game on the shoulders of Dave Robertson, despite having at least 3 innings from Hughes and Mo. It makes absolutely no sense.
[105] Looking @ gameday there was only one pitch that wasn't in the zone to Tolbert.
Robertson has to be completely churning inside.
.377.273
.462
.395
.362
.354
One of these things is not like the other . . .
Cripes Robertson, way to ruin my witty post. And walk a guy with a .273 OBP!
robertson is someone you really can't trust with the bases loaded at this point in his career
So is Robertson nibbling or can he just not find the strike zone now?
PHEW.
[108] I wonder how I can become the official patent attorney of the New York Yankees?
[110] Someone please tell me Hughes is warming up now.
well, at least he got the 3rd out...
[111] You have to remember that Gameday really can't be trusted on low pitches.
Or high ones, but that's not relevant.
Still, they were close, and Dave wasn't going to "give in"...
Man, that could have been so damn good. It wasn't as bad as I feared, but he was so close to a shining performance.
[117] (part b)
I'll tell you, unless you also demand that it be sincere.
well, we've got a shot at more runs, Liriano's still in there ...
The drought is over!
Ah, the curse is broken!
Let loose the hounds of dinger!
The colorful shirts of the campers makes a charming scene. If there are any millionaire camps in the NY area they should go to Yankee games.
oh yay - i am way late but nice to see tex with the hr
[117] and for part a you have to promise not to work on robertson's second patent
Yeesh.
Two True Outcomes this half inning. Liriano obviously still has something, though not enough to be a good pitcher.
[126] I think "Pat Pending" would be a good name for a middle relief pitcher.
Go figure. Girardi's IQ rose about seventy points in the past twenty minutes or so, huh? I mean, before Robertson got Mauer and Morneau, Joe was flirting with moron status.
oh, Doctor Robertson, what wily ways you have.
Walk 2 scrubs to force in runs, make easy work out of Mauer and Morneau ...
Robertson had no idea where the ball was going.
[130] Coo coo kachoo.
So, hm. I must say that I am a bit concerned over who will be coming out of the bullpen for Joba's start.
[131] I wonder if the adrenalin helped when he faced M&M, or whether it was just pure luck?
I've just concluded that baseball is actually completely random. A-Rod has only been very, very lucky for a long time. Pedro Martinez? Lucky, very lucky.
All except Mo, that's pure ability.
[133] He pitched well to Mauer, but I think Morneau helped him out by being aggressive.
[134] Mo is so good that even Chuck Norris bows down to him.
I hate watching the soft underbelly of the Yankee bullpen.
[126] Deal! Where do I sign? How many Yankeebucks will I get paid?
So, when Albaladejo goes 2 or so innings here, who gets called up tomorrow to shore up the pen - Melancon, or Edwar?
[132] I imagine we'll be seeing someone up from AAA, the 10 day turn around isn't nearly as much of an issue with a 4 day ASB.
[138] I sure hope it's Melancon, Edwar hasn't exactly been impressive down there.
[138] I would say Edwar, since he's the "proven veteran"
Attaboy.
I have to go get a caffeine charge. Someone else will have to hold down the fort while I'm gone. I nominate Ms. October.
Who knew the Twins could take a walk?
Or are the pitchers just missing that badly?
Or (worse) is the umpiring just that awful?
[134] I wonder if this is all related to the impossibility of predicting baseball?
[137] Yep. They are really struggling to find the bridge from their starters to Hughes' six pitches in the eighth.
[140] hmmm, just looked up the lines, I guess it's closer than i thought. Seems like every time I looked at the RAB DotF, Edwar wasn't throwing strikes.
Why can't Cano recognize those pitches? He is never going to be a great hitter as long as that massive blind spot remains.
better than nothing, i suppose, but sure would have liked that in one of the previous at bats ...
a knuckleballer ... Ransom's got no chance ...
I was going to ask if this would be a good Hinske PH spot, but Ransom struck out in the meanwhile. Also, that would mean Hinske in the field for four innings.
[150] it might have been except as you say for having to play him in the field. hmm.
[144] You just can't predict baseball. Why I was just telling Joe the other day . . .
So I guess it's Coke then Hughes then Rivera?
CoHuMo!
I'm a bit late here, but I really think Girardi was nuts bringing Robertson, a guy who regularly can't find the plate, into a bases-loaded situation.
That was kind of cool. Not good, but cool.
I knew Joe Mauer was good, but come on, the guys been batting basically .400 for 2 months now.
[153] Ideally Coke and Mo can be stretched for four outs each, so that Hughes stands a better chance of throwing fewer than five pitches.
Something had to give: a righty in the seventh inning...
I wonder if Coke sends Mauer a gift after the game?
Hughes doesn't seem to have the same command....let's see if he finds it.
Thank you Morneau.
Ha!
Good game for Posada, huh?
Not a good inning for Mr. Morneau ...
What the hell could they be talking about?
"I think I'll throw the knuckler, okay?"
"Sounds good."
"Right, just wanted to be sure."
[158] monkeypants, Hughes already got his 5 pitches - Mo for the 2-inning save, or do you bring in Bruney?
After all, he has to be worked into shape, so he can go back to being the 8th Inning Guy, and Hughes can assume the ROOGY role for which he was born.
Eat your heart out, Steve Reed!
Why was ARod trying to steal 2nd last inning?
A.) to selfishly pad his stats
B.) to draw attention to himself
C.) to undermine Mariano Rivera's career by negating a save opportunity
D.) All of the above
Philthy.
Huuuuuuuggggghhhhheeesss
[168] E.) He saw Kate Hudson in the third base stands making out with Madonna.
19 pitches! Horrible, just horrible. What is Girardi thinking?
No way this kid could be a successful starter. Nope, to the bullpen with ye!
/snark
[167] : )
[171] F.) because he's a terrible, un-clutch, steroid-using, playoff-choking loser. Who no one likes.
[171] One other possibility: Girardi is asleep at the wheel.
Yep, it felt like three outs.
Ugh, I hate coming up with the same joke that both Kenny and Coney thought of.
[176] ?
[176] Oh, because Mijares walked off the mound after striking out Gritner. He clearly thought he'd got the third out.
Mariano against Punto, Span, Tolbert.
[179] Or, Punto, Span, Harris.
Crap
Rematch.
Baseball. Predict. Just can't.
Not worried.
Mo to earn his paycheck now...
It might sound crazy, but in such a position, I would have the pitcher throw a 90 mph pitchout to see if he could nab the runner.
good morning
good afternoon
good hit
good night and good luck, Mr. Mauer
Mo Rules.
Yanks win.
I LOVE MO!
See you at the All Star Game, Joe.
Well done, team.
Wow... Mo must be excited. I SAW HIS LIPS MOVE!
[185] Did he earn it?
Praise be to Mo.
[183] Predict baseball? No you cannot, hmm! To Suzyn just say this I did, heh.
/Yoda
The Sox-Royals game is on tv here tonight. Should I bother?
And let the discussion begin--who takes Wang's spot after the ASG? I doubt they go back to Aceves. Mitre?
How about if Wang comes back, he goes to the BP and Phil goes to the rotation.
[195] I like that plan, but I'm asking what people think *will* happen.
have the yankees announced the post-ASB rotation? that is, who will start the 1st game against the Tigers?
[197] Yes they did...maybe I saw the rotation on Lo-Hud?
[198] You are correct, sir:
UPDATE, 6:48 p.m.: The rotation after the break: Burnett, Sabathia, Chamberlain, Pettitte, and TBA.
(Game 84 notes)
[196] I'm not sure there is much choice. Fighting tooth and nail for the division, I'm not sure how you can put Want back in the SP without testing him in the BP first. If we lose the division, it could be solely on Wang's loses. But again, it depends on if the Yanks want to deal Wang. If so, he starts, and if he shows any life, Cashman is living on the phone.
back in the SR, I mean.
Check this out:
Currently in The Post.
[200] I think this time they will give him a few rehab starts in AAA before un-DLing him, assuming that Joba doesn't get hit by a line drive or bit by a dog or something.
[194] My choice is a Zach Attack, I just doubt Mitre's worth of anything.
My guess is Mitre ...
Hey, we're at .600.
That pace should get it done for the playoffs, if not for the division. If the Yankees maintain the pace (the overall pace, obviously not the recent scorching pace), and can beat Boston a few games, that should take the division.
Bring on the Angels.
Does 7-0 against the Twins for the season take some of the bitter taste out of the 0-8 Red Sox record so far for any of you?
It does for me... as they are now @ .600 ball. And they put the Twins back down to .500 ball again like they did sweeping the four game set at The Stadium!
Poor Ron Gardenhire. He's as snakebit as they come against the Bombers.
Off to Halo Country...
I'd love two out of three or another sweep into the ASB!
Peace peeps!
: )
[206] The Twins really have been unlucky. They've scored more runs than Detroit, given up fewer, but they're in third and the Tiggers are in first.
We have ten more games against the BoSox, right? Winning six of those would happify me. You should hear the fantalk around here. RSN thinks they are odds-on favorite to win the Series, that it makes no difference how close the Yankees look in the rear view mirror because Beckett and Smoltz and Lester can shut down the Bombers at will. There are many times when Boston naivete is charming, but in this case it's pretty irritating.
Yeah, I'm gonna need at least seven wins out of those ten, come to think of it.
The Royals are sort of hopeless.
Another win against the Twinkies, huzzah!
Let's hope KC can steal one from Boston and we move into a tie for 1st..
[208] "sort of"?? down 5-4 now but their lineup is just...I think several Japanese league pitchers could easily shut them out..
Perhaps I speak too soon.
[209] Yeah, maybe, but Manny Del Carmen and Justin Masterson are getting shelled by the bottom of that line-up. Are you watching? It's downright embarrassing.
Indeed, I *did* speak too soon.
lots of time left to go in that game. but i like royals up by two better than sox up by two. :D
Can we exchange Pena for Ransom? Please?
Even if the Sox win, the embarrassment to their bullpen is extremely pleasurable. Del Carmen and Masterson coughed up four runs to arguably the weakest six-man section of any line-up in MLB.
Speaking of weak teams, anyone catch the little bit of Nats/Astros game earlier? They finished a mid-game postponement before their regular game, and it was kind of bizarre. The winning run was scored by a player (Nyjer Morgan) who was acquired in a trade for the winning pitcher (Joel Hanrahan).
[211] wow, just saw the score, only..i LOVE seeing the BoSox pen get knocked around..
RamRam in now for the Sox!
Five pitches to Guillen, not one of them in the strike zone, but he's swung at three. There's one in the zone -- foul tipped...
The Royals just refuse to be walked. I guess that's why they're Royals, and not BoSox or Bombers. Well, that's one reason. I think three scarecrows could have reached base against Ramirez this inning.
Did everyone see that David Cone is going to be on Capitol Hill next week? Testifying at the Sotomayor hearings?
I know we're supposed to steer clear of politics. This is just a Coney remark, not a political remark.
[219] really? why is testifying?
[219] yeah i saw that. i think it is cool - without getting into politics at all either - just cool for coney to be there.
i didn't see any of the yanks game today - just followed a tiny bit on gameday , so sorry i couldn't step in for your riyank when you went somewhere.
and my cable has been out since i got home and was told at 7pm by twc that they *hope* to have it back within 4 hours - #$@%!!!
[220] because sotomayor issued a ruling that helped end the strike in 94 and coney was very active in the mlbpa
random factoid: in 1972 Steve Carlton threw 30 complete games. Thirty!!
[220] Ah, right. Thanks! Cone in front of Congress..think he drops a choking the bishop reference or two?
[21] I think three scarecrows could have reached base against Ramirez this inning.
That's good stuff.
New thread open.
[223] That is almost too hard to believe. Are you sure? I mean WOW! I feel safe saying that's one modern record that win never be broken! (I'm sure there's some oldtimer from 1892 that pitched 1,627 innings with 57 complete games.)
[223] I've been going on a lot about pitcher usage lately (well, Phil Hughes usage), and it gotten me thinking about the manly men of yore and their complete games, etc. I can't believe that no one has a study of how many pitches starters used to average. I tried to look at this myself, but the info on baseball-reference only goes back so far. I also figure for the real olde tymes we do not have super-accurate pitch totals, but surely they can be roughly approximated from play-by-play info?
My main question: do pitchers today, who demonstrably throw fewer innings per start, throw fewer, the same, or more pitches per start?
[226] Check out the year-by-year season leaders in CG--you still 20+ CG in the 1980s, I'm pretty sure.
[226] CG league leaders in the 1980s:
1989 (NL AL)
Tim Belcher (LAD)
Bruce Hurst * (SDP) 10
Bret Saberhagen (KCR) 12
1988 (NL AL)
Orel Hershiser (LAD)
Danny Jackson * (CIN) 15
Roger Clemens (BOS)
Dave Stewart (OAK) 14
1987 (NL AL)
Rick Reuschel (TOT)
Fernando Valenzuela * (LAD) 12
Roger Clemens (BOS) 18
1986 (NL AL)
Fernando Valenzuela * (LAD) 20
Tom Candiotti (CLE) 17
1985 (NL AL)
Dwight Gooden (NYM) 16
Bert Blyleven (TOT) 24
1984 (NL AL)
Mario Soto (CIN) 13
Charlie Hough (TEX) 17
1983 (NL AL)
Mario Soto (CIN) 18
Ron Guidry * (NYY) 21
1982 (NL AL)
Steve Carlton+ * (PHI) 19
Dave Stieb (TOR) 19
1981 (NL AL)
Fernando Valenzuela * (LAD) 11
Rick Langford (OAK) 18
1980 (NL AL)
Steve Rogers (MON) 14
Rick Langford (OAK) 28