A waste of time...

Last night's game just seemed like a waste of my time. With so many other projects that I have going on around the house, I often feel guilty sitting in front of a TV for an entire game on a weeknight evening. If I could have gotten myself motivated, I would have painted the guest room while I listened to John Sterling call the game on the radio... but I didn't. I sat through all nine innings and watched Andy Pettitte give up one Yankee lead after another. He really wasn't pitching well last night. "It's an extremely disappointing loss," Pettitte said. "I'm extremely disappointed in the way I performed. The team gave me the lead three different times, and it's unacceptable."

The pitcher that I really want to talk about though is Kyle Fartsworth. For the life of me I can't understand why he is brought in during close games. Yes, I understand that he is the consideration for replacing Joba as the set-up man and that just makes me more irate. He should be dumped on his ass off the team no matter what it winds up costing the Yankees. He is worthless. Every time, without fail, he loses the game for us. And what REALLY gets me is the fact that Fartsworth doesn't think he is doing anything wrong: "I'm throwing my pitches, and I get beat on my best pitch," Farnsworth said. "It's going to happen. You've got to take the good with the bad. You just keep on going at it." What a friggin' idiot!

Probably the only excitement that came from last night's 6-to-5 loss was watching the plethora of close officiating calls. A-Rod's "safe" call at home being my favorite.

The Yanks will be back home tonight to battle the Jays with Joba Chamberlin on the mound.

7 Train De-rails 4 Train in Subway Series Opener

There wasn't too much to get excited about during yesterday afternoon's 7-to-4 Yankee loss to the New York Mets. What started out as a good game with a 13 pitch, 3 strike-out first inning performance by Pettitte and a two-run lead by the bombers, quickly turned sour... probably at the moment when Damon was called out sliding into home on a Bobby Abreu double. That call at the plate seemed to be a turning point in momentum for the Yankees. Pettitte returned in the fourth to an incredible struggle that seemed to last forever resulting in 3 runs for the Mets.

As if that were't enough, Fartsworth came in during the 7th inning to give up 3 more runs (from 2 homeruns by Reyes and Wright). The Yankees tried to rally with a couple of home runs by Giambi and Abreu but with no one on base at the time, and little else happening with the Yankee offense, a recovery of the lead just wasn't in the cards.

I did almost have to opportunity to be on tv but that too didn't come to pass. Although I convinced the roving cameraman to pose for a quick snapshot with me, the lens passed up me and my buddies in section 627.

So the Yanks reach a season low of 3 games below .500 and Willy Randolf's job as manager becomes slightly more secure (if you believe all the hype by the media regarding the subway series pressures). Tomorrow night's match-up of Wang against Perez will last game of this abbreviated series because of Friday night's
rainout.

Here are the standings (as depressing as they may be) as of 5/18/08:

A Beneficial Rainout

I am not quite sure why the Yankees waited until 7:18pm and had fans trek to the stadium before calling last night's game against the Mets. It had been raining the entire day in New York and all the forecasts called for the rain to continue through the wee hours of the next day. I had several friends who showed up at the stadium last night only to turn around before even getting to the front of the beer line.

Despite its inconvenience to fans though, this rain out is clearly an advantage to the Yanks. Because the game will not be made up this weekend (mostly because of TV line-ups, believe it or not) and can not be played on Monday's off-day because the Mets already have a double-header scheduled for the following day, Friday night's makeup will likely occur next month sometime. This means that a match-up that otherwise would have been played without Posada and A-Rod, will likely include those sluggers later this season.

The other nicety that comes from this rainout is that Pettitte will now face Santana instead of Rasner. I do believe that Rasner can continue to prove himself as a quality starter for the club but, all things considered, I feel more comfortable with Andy Pettitte on the mound for this game. Better still, I will be at the game today!

See-Saw Baseball

I don't know about you but I am getting a little tired of watching the Yankees teeter on the .500 mark of baseball. With last night's 7-to-1 loss to the Rays in Tampa, the Yankees fell once again to one game below .500. This is the 8th time this season that this has happened... trust me, I have been counting.

It is rather amusing to me (insert sarcasm here) that it is the Tampa Bay Rays who are partially responsible for holding them back. Last night's Yankee lost translated to a Ray's win that put Tampa Bay six games above .500, the first time ever that that has happened in their franchise history. Who would have thought that this team would still be sitting in 2nd place and now just 1/2 game behind Boston? The truth is, Tampa played last night's game exactly the way the Yankees should be playing. They hit the ball well, were aggressive on the bases, and came through when there were runners in scoring position.

Yes, I realize that this a Yankee blog and it is pathetic that I have to find my excitement by writing about an opposing team. So let's talk about Pettitte and the Yankees. The last time that Andy Pettitte lost a start against Tampa, gas prices were at $1.15 a gallon and Bill Clinton was denying sexual relations; Windows 98 was just released and Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a first-run series. Although Pettitte started out the night looking sharp, he crashed in the 4th inning giving up 7 hits that scored 4 runs. For the first time this season, Pettitte left the game pitching less than 5 innings and did so with 82 throws across the plate. He was clearly distracted and admitted in the post game interview that he let the runners on base get to him.

Offensively, we had nothing. Gonzalez was the only one that showed any life at all really with 2 hits. Molina crossed the plate for the Yanks' only run.

Sorry to be so depressing, but sometimes you just have to write about what there is. Wang, Mussina, and Kennedy will try to do something with the next three games in Florida before Rasner gets a shot against the Mets on Friday night.

Much needed wins...

So my Yankee prayers on Friday afternoon were answered this weekend as the Yankees took all three games from the Seattle Mariners. Sweeping this series was a very important step in the rebuilding of confidence and momentum for the Yanks. This past week or two brought some misfortune in the way of injury and lack of performance but the team has made some adjustments and only additional time (and games played) will determine the effectiveness of these changes.

It would appear, at least for the time being, that the Yankees have switched to a four-man pitching rotation. With Phil Hughes on the DL and Ian Kennedy sent down on Sunday, the probable pitchers lineup indicates Pettitte, Wang, Mussina, and Rasner for the next four games. The team does have the night off on Monday so this modification will have little to no effect this time around.

Fox news last night had a poll question that asked: "Are the Yankees going to be better off without Hughes and Kennedy?" Admittedly, I dozed off before hearing the results but it is an interesting question to ponder. The one thing that jumps out at me, at least when looking to yesterday's performance by Rasner, was that we have been watching a completely different offense this past weekend. Now this is not to diminish Rasner's pitching in any way and I think he was magnificent in his major league debut of this season, but the Yankees outscored the Mariners 19 runs to 4. Had they performed this well at the plate when the two kids were on the mound, we may have seen some different game outcomes. One might argue that Seattle is not Boston, and this is certainly a valid argument. Nevertheless, it is an interesting question to ponder.

Speaking of Boston, they also picked up the broom this past weekend and swept the Tampa Bay Ray's at Fenway 26 runs to 10. The Yankees therefore were not able to gain positioning in the standings and remain 3 games back in the AL-East. This weekend was all about opportunity though and as more of those opportunities reach the Yankees with Cleveland, Detroit and Tampa Bay in the immediate future, I am confident that brighter times will prevail.

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.

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.

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.

Some back-dated comments...

Saturday Afternoon - April 5 (Tampa Bay)
It was nice to be back at our Saturday season ticket seats today. The weather cleared up and it turned out to be a nice day (though perhaps a little chilly). We arrived at the stadium early to purchase some additional tickets at the advanced sales window. Season ticket holders get a handful of discount coupons and we generally have no problems getting decent seats for some mid-week night games. Well, not this year. Practically nothing was available!I had all the best of expectations for a Yankee win today but like Friday night, it just wasn’t meant to be. I don’t really blame Pettitte (who received a warm welcome from the fans). True, he gave up 5 runs on 8 hits but I continue to see offense as the major downfall in these games. We left 21 players on base today including a bases-loaded situation. Unacceptable! What is it going to take to start hitting like a championship team? Today’s loss of 6-3 puts the Yankees on the bottom of the AL-East. Something needs to be done to turn around these slumps.

Friday Night - April 4 (Tampa Bay)
There are some games that you just don’t deserve to win. Friday night’s 4-game series opener against Tampa Bay was one of those games for the Yankees. Pitching can set the tone for a game. Good, quality pitching can be a true motivator just as poor performance on the mound can drain some of the strongest inspiration. Ian Kennedy was horrible and he knew it. He may have gotten squeezed on a few pitches but, for the most part the strike zone seemed invisible to him. Last year when Kennedy and Hughes made their debut, I heard many compare the talent of these two noticeably young starters. I didn’t agree those comparisons then and as most would have to agree now, there was nothing even remotely comparable between Hughes’ quality start last night and Kennedy’s weak pitching tonight.This being said, if Kennedy could be described as weak, than Hawkins was just plain pathetic. Six runs off of six hits in two-thirds of an inning. An ERA of 31.50 for the game. Why is LaTroy Hawkins even here? Is it to keep Fartsworth company? In complete contrast, Albaladejo, Ohlendorf and Traber pitched incredibly well. In fact, I am not sure why Ohlendorf and Traber didn’t get more than an inning each.Now let’s discuss hitting. Aside from the third, which seemed to be something of a passing dream of what should be instead of reality, the Yankees had nothing. I know it is only game four but aren’t we supposed be in our best form after Spring Training, rested from the off season and eager to perform. I am just not seeing that. Why did we not see Shelley Duncan until the ninth inning? Or how about Ensberg? Yes, Giambi has definitely impressed me at first base but if he is cold at the plate, bring someone else in. I suppose that I believe in stirring the pot.I will be at Saturday’s game in my usual seat in Section 627 hoping that a Friday night loss will lead to a Saturday afternoon win. Tonight’s score of 13 to 4 needs to be vindicated.

Thursday Night - April 3 (Toronto)
I had a late meeting at work last night and was only able to hear the first 6 innings of the rubber match between the Yanks and Jays on XM radio as I drove home. That was really no big deal since not much happened before the sixth inning anyway.
Let me take that back… Phil Hughes did what I thought was an excellent job allowing only 2 runs on 4 hits over 6 frames. In fact, the entire pitching staff performed exactly the way they should have. Limiting a club like Toronto to only a few runs opens the door for a qualified Yankee offense to do their work and bring in the win. Hughes performed like, as Damon said in the post game, an ace in the making. Traber completed his task with lefty Overbay. Bruney, whom amongst a handful of other Yanks that dropped some pounds this past winter, was sharp. The Joba (who registered a 99 mph pitch) got the win after pitching the 8th and the Sandman led us to Frank. A very respectable night on the mound.
As far as hitting is concerned, I thought I was going to have to continue my rant from yesterday. But, thanks to Abreu, my rant can now just be a warning: Cano, Giambi, and Matsui… you really need to be doing better at the plate. I know it will happen and I am not really worried but I think in recent years we have lacked some consistency and predictability at the plate. I want my Yankees to make me proud. I am not going to mention A-Rod here because A-Rod is A-Rod. When he is on, we love him but, like every single other person in this world, he has the ability to disappoint us too.
So the Yankees win the game 3-2 and take the first series of the season 2 games to 1. I am looking forward to Tampa coming to town for the next 4 games, secretly hoping that we see some residual drama left over from Spring Training (the Elliot Johnson slide into Francisco Cervelli at the plate, the Shelly Duncan slide into Akinori Iwamura at 2nd, the Melk-man’s involvement). It is probable that Duncan will get his first start of the season tonight.

Opening... night!

It was supposed to be the only home game ever that would be played at Yankee Stadium in the month of March. Obviously the first game of the final season in the current stadium, but also the first ever opening day game that I have ever been to. I was there early on Monday, eating my sausage and drinking my beer, waiting for the ceremonies to begin while I chatted with my good friend from high school who was nice enough to invite me along with him. But, the game never happened. Postponed by rain until the next night at 7:05 pm. Oh well.



Last night was like deja vu. Back in Seat 2 of Row G in Box 315 at section 29, right behind the right field pole (the same pole that made our friend "Squirrel" famous last year). The sky was clearing and the ceremonies began. Pettitte recieved a warm applause but I wasn't surprised by that. Oddly, the guy sitting in front of us still had more of a problem with Giambi. Of course I am referring to the whole steriod thing. The only one who got an audible boo (and rightfully so, in my opinion) was Farnsworth (or Fartsworth as I like to call him).



The game itself was good. Not the biggest thriller I have ever seen but a solid performance. The hightlight of my night was Melky's homerun ball that landed about 10 feet from where I was standing. To be able to touch the first homerun of the season in the opening game of the final year at the current stadium (phew) gave me slight high. Perhaps that was the third big Bud of the night though.



The Yanks added a MetLife home game countdown board that changed from 81 to 80 in the fifth inning as soon as the game was "official". Steinbrenner himself flipped the switch (previously recorded, I am guessing).



Wang looked ok though I wasn't seeing many of his infamous grounders. He hung in the for a solid seven innings though. Joba handled himself fine, getting into a bit of a squeeze but then squeezing himself out of it. Mo, well, Mo was Mo.



The final score: Yanks over Blue Jays 3-2. Good start to the year.