Girardi gets mad!

It was refreshing to watch a close game last night. A 2-to-1 game that ended in a walk-off RBI single by Cano. It was nice to see the Yanks work effectively, and good to see some stability out of Kennedy. Heck, it was even good to see Fartsworth not blow a game for a change. But perhaps the greatest show last night came from Girardi, just before he secured his 100th win as a manager (even though he had to watch it happen from the clubhouse).



As shown in the video (and my thanks to Greg Cohen for finding and posting it on his blog), Girardi got ejected in the bottom of the ninth after arguing (Billy Martin style, I might add) about a strikeout call on Giambi.

Now, I don't know if this was just a dog-and-pony-show by Girardi to motivate his team or not but it certainly worked. It is exactly what the Yankees needed right now. The players needed to see it and more importantly, the fans needed to see it. The bottom line in baseball is that it is just a game. It is entertainment... and the people paying for this entertainment need to be inspired just as much as the players. Good job, Joe!

The Yankees will begin a 3-game series against the struggling Mariners at the stadium tonight. Seattle is coming off a 3-game losing streak after being swept in Detroit and is currently holding an 18-and-30, last-place record.

Who is to blame?

And I thought the Yankees' performance against the Mets on Sunday night was bad... last night's loss at the stadium to the Orioles with a final score of 12-to-2 was pathetically pitiful. Twelve Baltimore players crossed the plate last night and only 4 of them were earned runs. The YES announcers last night would lead you to believe that it was Jeter's error on the throw to 1st base in the 1st inning that started it all. Yeah, I don't think so. Moose clearly had nothing last night.

A-Rod returned last night and he was good for a two-run homer in the sixth inning but that was it. Like I have said before, A-Rod can not heal this team. Even if he were able to send balls into the stands every game, the Yanks are not going to survive this season on home runs alone. Among other things, the Yankees need to start playing small ball. They need to manufacture runs from the first at-bat. It isn't pretty and it isn't what the New York fans are paying to watch but the fans certainly aren't happy about these losses either.


In business, or more appropriately... in life; we like to assign blame to things that go wrong. It is actually a healthy thing to do. It creates responsibility and forces people to take ownership. The question I have been pondering is: Who is to blame for the the way the Yankees have been performing, or shall I say, not performing? The obvious answer is the position players on the field, but what kind of weight should the manager be carrying for these losses? If you are going to talk about how Girardi was voted "Manager of the Year" and if you are going to credit managers when you talk about winning seasons and world championships, then you can not just blame the players when the losses start rolling in either. Girardi is also responsible for these losses. Clearly, he needs to do something and so far, I haven't seen him do much. Kim Jones asked Joe in the post game interview if he was going to say anything to the team regarding last night's loss. He said no, explaining that they all ready know that something was wrong and that they need to correct it. Here is one of the problems as I see it. We seem to like to idolize the players, treat them like professionals, but we do not come down on them hard enough when they don't perform. I don't know about you but if I don't perform at my job, I am going to hear about it. I am going to be concerned about losing that job. This is the feeling that Girardi needs to instill in his players.

Excitement

Wait a minute... isn't that a fist pump that Morgan Ensberg gave after tagging Cliff Floyd out at third to end the second inning? I thought that emotional reaction of excitement had been outlawed by the Yankees. I mean, after Goose Gossage denounced Joba Chamberlin a few days ago for fisting David Dellucci, I thought someone from the Yankees organization would have spoken to the team. Wasn't that the subject of the 45-minute, closed-door team meeting that occurred before last night's 2-to-1 Yankee win over the Rays? Seriously folks, if this cheerful display of confidence goes unchecked, we might soon see Melky Cabrera high-fiving fans over the wall just like Manny.

Well, I propose that it is this kind of excitement that will take the Yankees to where they need to be. All too often I think we tend to forget that this is a GAME. If we have to second guess what our opponent might be "feeling" before reacting to a good play, then we are thinking too much. I am not saying that we need to chant in the dugout like the Nationals, but a little excitement can go a long way.

Moose pitched an amazingly good game last night and since I am the kind of person who likes to say "I told you so," I hope all you radio talk show callers and bloggers who were calling for the Moose to be "put down" in early April are able to take notice that Mussina has won his last 5 starts and is now 6-and-3.

The Yankees bats aren't really where I would like them to be but it is nice to see some life in Cano who went 4-for-4 last night. More importantly though, it seems like Girardi has finally woken up to the fact that he needs to more aggressively manage this team. Perhaps it was the report from Hank demanding more fire from the team, but Joe is showing more signs of life too.

The Yanks will have a chance to even up the 4-game series against the Rays today at 4pm.

Worst series ever...

Well, maybe not the worst series ever but still pretty bad: The Yankees got swept by Detroit in their own home by losing the last three games... something that hasn't happened since 1966. Joe Girardi... do you think perhaps it is time to do something? Maybe have Cano sit on the bench for a game or two? Perhaps encourage Mr. Cashman to start thinking about pitching (and please don't simply think that you can solve this predicament by making Joba a starter... we need better, more thought out solutions here)? And how about a team meeting? Don't get me wrong... I liked Torre as a manager but I thought we were going to be getting more life when Girardi was brought in. I think we need some anger; I think we need a little Billy Martin or Lou Pinella to come out. Over-turn a table in the clubhouse; ask Jeter to pick the starting lineup from names in a hat. I don't know... do something, because what we are doing now is definitely not working.

Enough about that... tonight the Yankees start a three game set against Seattle. The Mariners, a team that has also been struggling quite a bit lately is 13-and-16 and will be looking for a little adrenaline boost. Being married to a Seattle-native, I generally attend most of the match-ups with Seattle and I will be at the game tonight and tomorrow. We generally go with a few friends and I am often the only one in our group actually cheering for New York. It could be worse... my wife could have been from Boston. But actually, that couldn't have happened because, like tattoos or being a smoker, being from Massachusetts would have been a dating deal-breaker. I love my wife and support her in everything she does but, tonight I will have my $9 beer in hand, cheering for the Yanks, hoping not to be disappointed by lazy at-bats and sloppy ball playing. Wang is undefeated so far this season with a 5-and-0 record and I would love nothing more that to see a nice, quality start. Please, New York, do not embarrass me in front of my own wife.

Standings

I am not quite sure that I understand Girardi's thinking these days. Going into yesterday's game 2 of 4 against Cleveland, after having lost the day before (and the last two games), why would you decide to rest half of your starters? If you look at the box score, you will see what I mean. Oh, and Joe, this was also a wonderful game to sit out Joba.

The Yankees were 2 and 13 last night with runners in scoring position. Not good.

Fortunately, the team's 3 game losing streak is topped by Boston's 4 game losing streak. Tampa Bay seems to be the only team in the division doing anything lately as they gain ground on Baltimore and Boston.

Here are the end-of-the-week standings:

Comments and Concerns

Yes, I am a little cranky from staying up late last night, hanging on through the rain delays, and ultimately losing the third game to Chicago by only one run. It would have been nice to sweep the series before heading over to Cleveland, but overall, I have been pleased by the way that the Yankees have performed this week. The team is starting to show momentum at the plate and seem to be re-focusing their abilities. To me, that is what is important... not the fact that Joba let us down. Because, you know what, he didn't let us down. I really enjoyed reading Wolf Williams' blog this morning. I won't recap it all here. Just go and read it for yourself.

There are some concerns that I have looking out to this weekend... our bullpen. Ohlendorf threw 49 pitches last night. I wish those pitches would have led to more outs than runs but I also recognize the factors faced (replacing Hughes, rain delay, etc). Fartsworth suffered an elbow injury last night. Bruney is wearing a protective boot for his sprained foot and will likely go on the DL. The Yankees are running low on options and if their starters get into trouble early in the game, we could be in for some disappointment. Girardi has said that their will likely be some shifts and transactions today. Hopefully we can get a decent plan put together.

It is like I said before...

Less than one week ago, the internet was scattered with blog entries about how Mussina is a washed-up pitcher. Hank Steinbrenner was being quoted and misquoted. Last Friday, here is what I had to say:

Although I haven't yet read all the blog feeds this morning, I can almost predict what they are going to say... "The Moose has got to go". Now I don't agree with this statement and I do think that Mike Mussina brings value to the team but not matched up against Josh Beckett.

Now, for those of you who watched the Moose pitch last night, don't you agree that he can bring value to the Yankees this season? Mussina gave his team a quality start by going 7 innings and only giving up 2 runs (both solo HRs). He worked incrediably well with Posada and placed his pitches with precision. I am not trying to "sell" Mussina on anyone. He definately comes with his baggage. But when used correctly, he can be effective to the point of at least giving the team a chance, assuming that the offense is hitting. I still believe that the rotation needs to be tweaked and I was happy to see that Pettitte has been moved up one notch to the 4 spot to seperate the two kids.

As long as I am quoting myself, let's talk about LaTroy Hawkins. I remember it like it was last Thursday when I said, "I think he going to put the Yankees in some tough (negative) situations this year." Fortunately, Girardi stepped in before he gave up all of the lead. Perhaps Joe should have listened to Posada a little more carefully. I am no expert in lip reading but I could have sworn that Jorge said something like "Please Joe, don't even think of bringing that jackass into the game".

Speaking about that little confusion at the mound when Girardi raised his arm to signal for the bullpen and take out Moose but quickly did a double-take after something Posada said... I like it that Girardi listens to his players. They may not always be right (i.e. Mussina's "I can get this guy" comment that convinced Girardi to let him pitch to Manny instead of walking him to the open base) but it shows me that he has an open mind. Sometimes, of course, you need a manager to "step up to the plate", so to speak, and hand down a definitive, inarguable decision. My hope is that when that time comes, Joe won't disappoint us.

P.S. Three doubles from Posada last night... man, it is great to have him back!

Reflections

Thinking about the Pope visiting Yankee Stadium yesterday kind of inspired me to reflect on the Yankee season so far. Sitting at .500 or 10 wins and 10 losses at this point in the season is not the worst thing ever to happen to the team. Looking back to April 21st of the last three years I noticed that last year the Yankees were at .500 (8-8), in 2006 they were .467 (7-8) and in 2005 they stood at .438 (7-9). So what does this mean? Not too much. Obviously the Yankees made the post season in the last three years. They came back from 11 1/2 games back last year in late June. Hey, we all remember 1978 when they came back from 14 games in mid-July, right? Today, in early April it is only 3 games... still a lot of season left!

That was the positive spin. What concerns me today is that the Yankees at present don't look anything different than the Yankees of the last three years. Yes, in the past we caught up. Yes, in the past we made the post season. But... what else? I think Joe Girardi needs to do something, anything to break up this cycle of catching up. All I hear on the radio is commentary about how the Yankee bats are bound to come alive (can't you just hear John Sterling's voice?) and I know this is true. But I want consistency. I don't want to play catch-up. In many ways yesterday's 7-to-1 win over Baltimore is kind of frustrating to me. Why, you ask? Because if the team can bat seven runs across the plate with Pettitte on the mound, why the hell can't they do it with Kennedy or Hughes or Mussina? All three of these pitchers struggled over their last three starts but offense could have saved those games. What was so different about yesterday?

A fellow blogger at It is high, It is far, it is... caught compared today the standings of the "Joe's":
Joe Torre in 1996: 11-9
Joe Girardi in 2008: 10-10
Joe Torre in 2008 (Dodgers): 7-11

Hmmm, interesting? Well, not really. You can do almost anything with statistics. All I am trying to say is that I am tired of looking up to Boston in the standings.

On another note... A-Rod left yesterday's game with a strained quad, a condition that recently kept Jeter out for 6 games. A-Rod is currently down in Miami using his off day to be with his pregnant wife. It would be great if she would deliver soon so that the Yankees could catch a break with his obligatory time away from the team. All the best wishes to the Rodriguez family.

What the hell happened?

My wife and I had a date night last night so I didn't see but the very end of last night's game. We were eating dinner at the first pitch and then went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the first movie I have seen in a theatre in quite some time. It was a pretty funny flick and I would recommend it. A few sexually racy scenes in it though so careful about taking the kids.

OK, so I get into the car and turn on the game, first to the local station. Just hearing John Sterling's voice gives me some comfort. Then the kicker: "At the bottom of the seventh, Yankees trail by a score of 8-to-2."

"What the hell happened?" is the first thing I asked my wife. Did Phil Hughes blow yet another game? When I got home and watched the remainder of the game and the wrap-up, I got the answer to my question. Yes, but he also had some help from LaTroy "Why the hell are you even in pinstripes?" Hawkins. Now I don't want to start a panic here Yankee fans but we need to address our pitching issues at this point and not after the all-star break. The main criticism here is this: The reason that the Yankees didn't make a deal for Santana was because they refused to give up Hughes. Ok, but now we find out the Hughes sucks (at least so far this season)... now what? Even if the young starter's game improves, we still have the Moose issues, we still need to keep and eye on Kennedy, we still need to be mindful of taxing our bullpen. Even if we bring Joba to the starting rotation, we need to make some adjustments with the entire pitching staff. I don't know what the answers are... but Girardi and Cashman and the rest of the coaching staff better well have a plan here. I like to watch meaningful games. I don't even mind a loss every so often... it comes with the territory. But come on Yankees, we are so much better than this.

The game that was doomed from the start...

Although I haven't yet read all the blog feeds this morning, I can almost predict what they are going to say... "The Moose has got to go". Now I don't agree with this statement and I do think the Mike Mussina brings value to the team but not matched up against Josh Beckett. I just don't think it is a fair deal. Moose should be at the end of the rotation and would be right now if it weren't for the scheduling difficulties related to Pettitte's delayed presence at the start of this season. I think Girardi needs to figure out a way to get his starters back in right order.



Ok. So let's jump to last night's game... Mussina is in the number two spot and on the mound. There is not much we can really do about that. But did he have to pitch two home runs to Manny Ramirez? I defended both Mussina and Girardi last weekend when everyone was questioning the controversial pitch to Manny (with first base open) that ultimately broke open a win for Boston last Saturday. I think there was nothing wrong with last Saturday's decision to pitch to Manny. It was a decision that was made, a risk, that turned out to be a bad one. Fine. But as George Bush said so eloquently once, "You fool me-- you can't get fooled again" Bottom line: Girardi should have known better. Mussina should have pitched around Manny and moved on to the next batter. It is that simple. Those two home runs last night not only put numbers on the scoreboard but they deflated a lot of energy from the Yankee hitters. Inexcusable.

I had other commentary to make about this game but none of it matters. I was going to write about Fartsworth's pitch inside to Manny but quite honestly, I am tired of talking about Manny. I can't understand why Matsui would be brought in off the bench to pinch hit when we have other more capable people to come the plate in that kind of a situation. Instead, I am going to take a deep breath, be positive, and look forward to this weekend's match up against Baltimore.

Final Score: Boston 7 - Yankees 5

Numbers

I had completely forgotten that it was Jackie Robinson day yesterday. It was great to see the entire Rays team wearing 42 but it made me wonder why only Jeter, Cano, Girardi (and of course, Rivera) were the only Yankees sporting the legend's number. Regardless, I think it is nice that Major League Basesball recognizes this event.

On the Michael Kay show yesterday afternoon, they were discussing some of the racial issues surrounding baseball as compared to the other major sports. The point being made was that children growing up in the inner cities do not have as much access to baseball fields nor do they have the money to spend on the additional equipment required to play the sport (like a glove, bat, cleats, etc). In contrast, a sport like basketball is much easier to practice and master. All it takes is a ball, can be played with much fewer players (even alone) and basketball hoops are much more common than baseball diamonds. I am not sure if I have an opinion to all that yet but some interesting points were raised and I wanted to touch on it briefly. If any of you would like to expand the discussion just let me know.

Back to numbers... the Yankees have announced that LaTroy Hawkins is officially giving up his number 21 uniform because he is tired of all the flack he is getting for wearing Paul O'Neill's number. I think this is rather funny. LaTroy, maybe if you pitched a little better, you would get so much crap. So, what number is hi going to be wearing starting with tonight's matchup against Boston... number 22. I guess no one will give him a hard time for wearing an old, juiced-up pitcher's number. At the start of the season I was wondering why Cano didn't switch back to number 22 since the rocket was reported as taking on too much fuel and is probably in Houston for good.

Sorry to short change last night's game in this post. Check the box score but watch the highlights too. Pettitte gave up an awful lot of hits but did very well limiting the score. I think it is important sometimes to get yourself into trouble if for no other reason than to prove that you can get yourself out of trouble. I trust Andy.

Mixed Emotions

Wow. Last night's game against Tampa Bay was certainly an unusual one. Firstly, something must have been pumped into that dome air to cause all those home runs! Damon, Rodriguez, Ensberg and Cano (finally) all knocked one out of the park for the Yankees. Unfortunately, Yankee pitchers also let three go for the Rays.

We got to see some variety of talent on the field last night and I was pleasantly surprised by what they brought to the table. Moeller did fine catching for Bombers, and that is a good considering he is third-string. The Gonzalez at 2nd and Ensberg at 1st duo worked well and I think it made sense to sit Cano out for most of the game (more on that in a minute). Kennedy certainly pitched a whole lot better than his last outing and more importantly, it seemed that he made corrections and targeted improvements from his last start against Tampa.

I would have liked to have seen Albaladejo come in to the game for some relief. I think at one point he was in the pen but Joe opted for Traber and Bruney. Both were a disappointment but I think (hope) it was just a case of them having a bad night. I do like Bruney alot and think he will help in those middle innings but Joe needs to be sure not to over use him like Torre did with Proctor. Traber also has a targeted purpose and the Yankees need to be mindful of that. Clearly Joba was missed last night.

Back to Cano... I think Girardi took a risk by bringing him in the pinch hit and I think that risk paid off. Joe got lucky. Nothing more... nothing less. I was at my chiropractor last night and he asked me what I thought of Joe's decision to have Mussina pitch to Manny in last Saturday's game against Boston as opposed to walking him to an open first base. I told him that I think Girardi made a decision (took a risk) and it turned out to be a bad one. No, not really a bad one... just one that didn't work in his favor. Had Cano struck out last night, every paper in the city would be chanting "Clueless Joe".

So why mixed emotions? I am elated that the Yankees hit well last night, putting a season-high 15 hits on the board. I am especially pleased with ARod's 4-fo-5 performance at the plate. But I am concerned about bringing a 7-2 lead in the seventh to such a close game. If the hitting we saw last night continues throughout the entire season (and it should) then there really is no concern I guess. I just want to know that we didn't just get lucky last night (and I am not just referring to Cano).

Standings

I only got to watch until the sixth inning of last night's game since I had to drive to a fundraiser that I as attending. The NY Daily News, a paper not worthy of even assisting me to clean-up the remains of my dog, choose to apply the "Clueless Joe" tag to Girardi by allowing Mussina to pitch to Manny in the sixth instead of walking him to the open base. I find it remarkable that sports writers in NY can be such jackasses. Hence, the reason I get most of my information now from press releases and blog entries.

The NY Post (my usual source of information if I have to get it from a newspaper) spent a lot of ink telling us how good Manny was, printing pictures of of Red Sox, and yes, Joel Sherman had to add his two cent comment (and believe me, that's all his columns are usually worth) about Girardi's pitch to Manny.

I want to ask this question: why are we so quick to see the negative? Yes, I am guilty of it too I suppose but somehow it is different. I am just a guy with a blog. These sports writers are supposed to be a little more objective, aren't they? I am tired of picking up a NY paper and reading about how great the Red Sox are, especially when they aren't (see Standings below).

The bottom line here is that the Yankees are fine. They are even with Boston in the standings and Baltimore (currently leading the AL East) is not going to stay where they are for long- trust me. You will always hear me say that every game matters (and it does) but we have lots of time ahead of us too. I think it is way too early in the season to be knocking on Girardi and kissing up to the Sox.

At last... some signs of life

Last night's game against Kansas City almost started to inspire me. We still have a little work to do at the plate but energy seems to be picking up. Homeruns by Cabrera, Rodriguez and Posada put 3 runs on the board (peculiarly, all 3 were 2 out shots with no men on base). The other three runs were the result of plate work from, well, yeah... Cabrera, Rodriguez and Posada, the only RBI-makers for the team. Matsui and Ensberg both left 3 on base. I guess this could be consider a game of threes; including Cano's three at bats that resulted in nothing.



I liked the way Pettitte pitched, especially after the very efficient 28 minute rain delay. A 3.09 ERA for the game, many say he tends to pitch better after the Yankees lose. Joba and Mo, or "Jo-Mo" as I like to call them did exactly what they were supposed to do.



Because of injury and and rest schedules, Jeter, Giambi, and Abreu sat out, Posada was moved to DH. Joe Girardi changed around the line-up a bit and it seemed to work ok. I like change. I want to see Melky more towards the top of the order, A-Rod batting third... why not? In fact, why not make some more changes... why not put A-Rod at short while Jeter is recovering? There are others that can play third base. Don't get me wrong... I am not saying that any of these changes need to be permanent, just a temporary practice to keep our Yankees awake and on their toes. It is all about inspiration and motivation. I think we may be turning things around... slowly.