Musings

I don't know about you but I really like listening to sports commentators. My car radio is almost always tuned to ESPN radio. Sometimes a good determinant of whether I enjoy watching a baseball game on TV is who the particular color commentator is. One of the things I like most is the banter and discussion that takes place during this coverage.

Last night's game was a good example: When Joba came in to relieve Andy Pettitte in an effort to build up his pitch count, the commentary of course was directed to the decision by the Yankees to transition him to a starter. The plan was re-hashed, a clip of Girardi talking about Joba was played in which Joe stated that Joba would probably like to pitch every game, even if he had to do it under-hand, and there was speculation about whether Joba might get Kennedy's next start. Joba began his night on the mound a little shaky. He walked the first batter and, with only a one run lead at the time, was making everyone just a little bit anxious. Michael Kay then posed an interesting question: Who do you put in for Joba if he begins to get into trouble? Yes, the Yankees were trying to get him around 55 pitches last night but they needed the win more. At this juncture in the transition plan, would you ever want to bring Fartsworth in save Joba? A rather scary thought, I think. Of course, it never came to that. Joba straightened out and got the Yankees to the 9th in 28 pitches. I did wonder if Girardi considered keeping him in to finish the game and he probably would have if the Yankees didn't wind up leaving the bases loaded in the top of the ninth. Instead, Mo was brought in for the save... and did a fine job, despite A-Rod's error.

Speaking of errors... the Yankees have been making their share of them lately.

After the game, Kim Jones got a hold of Giambi (who has been showing promise lately and went 2-for-3 last night with a homer) and one of the things she asked about was his moustache. In case you haven't noticed, Jason began growing a little fuzz under his nose. My wife is adamantly against it and can't stand looking at him anymore (though I am not sure that she swooned over him before, either). Anyway, there is superstition everywhere and Jason said that the moustache is staying. Hey, if he continues hitting I bet the Steinbrenner's would let him grow a mullet and a mohawk too. What is funny to me is that there is an entire press release article on the Yankees website that discusses the moustache craze.

So here is my point, and I do recognize that this concept is probably one of those things that will always be much clearer in my mind than on paper... I enjoy the full baseball "experience" from April till October. When the Yankees are not doing well, I like listening to people talk about it. I get a certain comfort in that. When New York is at the top of the standings (and I sure hope they are sooner than later), I like listening to people talk about how they got there. The side stories surrounding the baseball season are almost as much fun.

That is why I decided to write a blog, even if it is only for the two people that read it semi-regularly (thanks Jed and Amy).

The Yankees won last night's game by a score of 4-to-2, avoiding the sweep in Baltimore. They will be off today and begin a four game series against the Twins on the road on Friday night at 8:10pm.

Yanks Lose Home Run Derby

This was a game that never should have been lost. Said a different way: these are the games that the Yankees need to win. I went to bed during the rain delay and I am so glad I did. No reason to lose sleep over this one.

First let's talk about the odd... 9 home runs in one game (according to the baseball almanac, the record is 10). Giambi, Damon, Abreu, and Rodriguez sent balls to the stands for the Yankees. Millar (2x), Herandez, Mora and Scott for the Orioles. A home run is exciting to watch, don't get me wrong... but last night's game almost pushed that limit for me. No doubt about it though, the Yanks hit well last night, especially Damon who went 4 for 5.

Now on to the bad... when are the Yankees going to realize that Ian Kennedy sucks? I have said it here many times, but let me say it again... the Yankees should get rid of him while other teams still might be fooled into thinking he is worth something. 4 runs in 3 short innings... a 7.41 ERA... we can do better. Kennedy hurt himself last night and will be added to the DL with a strained right lat muscle. Maybe Joba will be ready to take his place next week since he is scheduled to throw 50-55 pitches tonight to relieve Pettitte.

And to the awful... Latroy Hawkins. From the moment he joined this team he was trouble. He reminds me a lot of Fartsworth with his ability to screw up when he is needed most. I hope we are not going to have to pamper him now. Veras would have been the better choice last night.

Ohlendorf... yeah, you sucked last night too buddy; but I think you are a better pitcher than your performance in that game. Besides, if Kennedy would do his job, we wouldn't have to tax you so much. You get off easy, in this blog post anyway.

One last rant before I end this... Girardi was completely in the right for arguing to the officials about the rain coming down when Matsui was at bat in the top of the ninth. How convenient for them to wait until after the Yankees are retired before calling for the tarp.

Baltimore over New York by a score of 10-to-9 after 11 innings of play. It is back to 2 games below .500 and 6 games out, in that comfortable little spot in last place for the Yanks.

Rasner = Good, Bullpen = Bad

At least that was the story yesterday afternoon when the Yankees fell to the Orioles, losing by a score of 6-to-1. The first 5 innings were scoreless and Rasner pitched great. He left after 6 innings, having thrown 98 pitches (68 of them strikes), and was only responsible for one run. Then came LaTroy Hawkins... he only lasted .2 of an inning but managed to give up 2 hits and 3 runs. Veras didn't do much better with 2 hits and 2 runs.

Bullpens will give away games from time to time and although it bothers me, I can deal with that. What I don't understand is why Cashman hasn't done anything to put a lefty in the Yankees hand. They haven't had much luck in this area. Mike Meyers did little for the team last year and neither did Billy Traber. I would put this transaction on the top of my to-do list.

I was reading Greg Cohen's blog this morning and he posed an interesting question: why do we need both Duncan and Ensberg on the active roster? Neither of them are performing and it seemingly makes more sense to move one of them down to make room for someone else. Brett Gardner is the quick answer for a replacement. Clearly, the second thing on my list would be to strengthen the bench.

I am hoping that yesterday's game was just an anomaly and that New York can take the next two games against Baltimore to capture the series and stir some movement in the standings. Tonight's game starts at 7:05pm with Ian Kennedy on the mound. I am cautiously optimistic.

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.

Sometimes you get lucky...

No, I am not merely referring to the Yankees beating the Orioles last night by a score of 8-to-0. Hopefully this win was a sign of things to come, a mental turn-around of sorts. A display of what this team can really do that has nothing to do with chance. The good fortune that I am talking about has to do with Darrell Rasner. What a spectacular performance that we saw from him: 61 strikes thrown over 95 pitches, lasting 7 innings. Rasner gave up only one walk but returned 6 strike-outs for the club as he moved the ball across the plate in a timely fashion and with conviction. Michael Kay on the YES broadcast compared Rasner to an Aaron Small in 2005 who, although not a rookie at the time, seemingly came out of nowhere to pitch a 10-0 season for the Yanks. And then there was Shawn Chacon also in 2005 who surprised the club by coming in mid-season to provide 7 wins from 10 starts. Both Small and Chacon had something special going on in '05 and perhaps Rasner, with his now 3-0 record, will be that gift to New York in '08. You never know... sometimes you get lucky...

...and sometimes you don't. And of course I am referring to A-Rod's second home run of the night that was mistakenly ruled a double by the officiating crew. The line drive hit that ricocheted off the yellow-painted stairs behind the blue padded wall was clearly hit "out-of-the-park" and A-Rod knew it. Of course, without the benefit of instant replay, it was difficult to tell. This is now the third time this week (the second at Yankee Stadium) that major league baseball could have benefited from the use of a replay monitor by the officials. Let's hope that the commission uses this opportunity to reconsider their policy in these situations before a pennant or world series game is decided upon a bad call.

It was nice to see the Yankees take the infield after the game to shake hands and it brought a smile to my face to review the box score from last night. The team found hits up and down the lineup and were able to support the efforts of Rasner on the mound. Let's hope it wasn't just a lucky night.

The Yankees face Baltimore for the final game of their three game set tonight at 7:05 pm.

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.