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Yankees 2009 Season Blog
WELCOME TO THE POST SEASON! Welcome to our blog on the New York Yankees 2009 season in their new ballpark! American League East Champions! Division Series Winners! American League Champions! World Series Champions!

Yankees win 27th World Series!
We just want to take a second to pat ourselves on the back - skip down to 'Yankees top Angels and head to the World Series,' where we predicted that the Yankees would beat the Phillies in six games! OK, we're done patting ourselves on the back.
The Yankees outpitched the Phillies - it's that simple. If the Yankees have proven anything over the last few years, its that you can't slug your way to a Championship - maybe you can slug your way into the playoffs, but you'll go down in the first round, as the Yankees have shown us, except for last year, of course. We think a lot of the criticism Joe Girardi got from the press was a bunch of nonsense - the idea that the Yankees should consider starting Chad Guadan in game 5 was ridiculous given that he'd only picthed what, 1 inning the entire month of October? The same people that criticized him for starting AJ Burnett on short rest would have crucified him if he started Guadan in a World Series game after he barelymade the the post season roster as the mop up guy.
How does Hideki Matsui spell 'contract?' 2009 world series MVP, that's how. Can't say enough about Matsui's bat in this series, whether as the starting DH or coming off the bench in Philly and hitting a big home run, Matsui was doing it all. 6 RBI in one game is just an amazing accomplishment, so we hope that cartoon wife of his takes care of him! You deserve it, big guy! Sure, he hit over .600 in the series, but we do think it might have been a good idea to have Matsui and Mariano Rivera share the honor. Rivera was excellent in a series where relief pitching was so important and good performances were rarte, posting an ERA of 0 over 5.1 innings - DOMINANT!
Although Phil Hughes pitched poorly in the post season (6.2 IP, 11 hits, 6 ER), we don't think the Yankees would have made it this far without him. Without him breaching the gap to Mo for most of the regular season, the Yankees would not have had such a large lead and been able to rest their starts and allow their pitching staff to pich on short rest in the ALDS and the World Series. He's a huge part of this team and they couldn't of done it without him.
ATTENTION AROD HATERS: Let it go. He hit over .400 in the ALDS and ALCS and had some HUGE hits in the World Series. If you still can't reconcile your Alex Rodriguez hate, the New York Mets would love for you to come root for their team.
The critics are finally right - the Yankees bought a championship - it turns out that last off season, they finally bought the right parts!

Yankees and Phillies split 2 games at Stadium - Game 3 & 4 preview
Game 1: CC Sabathia was good, despite struggling with his control, but Cliff Lee was genius. His location, his ability to repeat his delivery, and that amazing curve ball came together for a package the Yankees just couldn't handle. That, coupled with the Yankees' bullpen, who performed terribly in the 8th and 9th innings, put a 2-0 Phillie lead out of reach and turned it into a 6-0 lead coming into the bottom of the 9th. Here is where Phillies manager Charlie Manuel lost us... Cliff Lee had just thrown 8 brilliant innings and over 100 pitches and the Phillies had a lead of 6 runs. Why run your starter back out there? What if he throws a pitch and twinges a shoulder or an elbow? What if he slips off the mound or Derek Jeter hits him with a comebacker? It seemed like an unreasonable gamble, and the only reason we can think that it's worth taking is that Charlie Manual doesn't have anyone in his bullpen he trusts to hold a lead, even a big one. Really? Is there no one in your bullpen you trust to get 3 outs before the Yankees offense can get 6 runs to tie the game and force extra innings. This might be something to look at going forward, but more on that later.
Game 2: AJ Burnett delivered. Pedro Martinez was surprisingly good, but Burnett was better. Burnett's 1 ER probably should have been scored an error on ARod, but he pitched a great game. Martinez dazzled with great control and a good curveball, but it just wasn't enough. Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui both went deep, and although Pedro had 8 strike outs and delivered a great performance, it just wasn't enough. The umpires blew 2 more calls, this time at first base. They were both really tough calls for the 1st base umpire to make as the players' bodies were in the way both times, but we can't help think that this could all be averted by giving the crew chief a cell phone and having the home office call him whenever the umps blow a call.
Looking ahead: Cole Hamels, who was last year's World Series MVP, has not been the same guy this year. If you believe in the Tom Verducci rule (aka 'the year after effect') that says, "pitchers 25 and under are at risk of injury or significant regression in the year after their clubs boost their workload by 30 or more innings," then you already know why he's struggled this post season. If he struggles with his fastball and change up control and fails to mix in a good curve ball, the Yankees are going to hammer him. Meanwhile, there is no reason to doubt steady Andy Pettitte, who has been there, done that 7 times before.
Looking Even Further ahead: The Yankees have to be pumped that the Phillies are starting Joe Blanton in Game 4 instead of Cliff Lee on short rest - maybe if he didn't pitch that extra inning in game 1, which went on for a while as he gave up 1 run on a botched double play attempt by his middle infielders, he could have gone. With that being said, the Yankees will most definitely go to CC Sabathia on short rest again, who pitched great on short rest in the ALCS. Pettitte was heard to comment that he thought he might pitch better on short rest because he would throw fewer bullpens in between starts. This also means that Cole Hamels would be the scheduled starter if a game 7 is needed.

Yankees top Angels and head to the World Series
Can't say enough good things about Andy Pettitte, but part of this Yankees victory belongs to the Angels. Pettitte might have benefited from a big strike zone, especially low and away to right handers, but we felt that strike zone was pretty even for both Pettitte and Joe Saunders. Pettitte really hit that outside corner and through some good breaking balls and stayed away from the middle of the plate. Then you have the mistakes the Angels made: Vladimir Guerrero got picked off first base in the 2nd inning on a shallow flight ball to Nick Swisher, caught wandering too far away from the bag. Then, former Tampa Bay Ray Scott Kazmir threw a bunted ball to Howie Kendrick that he couldn't catch and another that sailed over Howie Kendrick's head. It's easy to say these are the reasons the Angels won the game, but if not for Darren Oliver forcing Jorge Posada to ground into a double play with one out and the bases loaded in the fourth inning, the Angels never would of had a chance. So stick Darren Oliver's performance in your pipe and smoke it, Angels haters! It's also nice to see Johnny Damon's bat start to come around; after struggling early, Damon got his ALCS average up to .300 and had 2 hits last night and 2 huge RBI.
Now we look ahead to the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 World Series. First off, 'Phillies' is the worst team name ever... next to the Houston Texans, which is the dumbest in sports. But 'Phillies' is pretty dumb, and the Phillie Fanatic is worse. We often confuse him with the Capital City Goofball. (Wow, we're not the only ones!) So, ridiculous mascot aside, we're picking the Yankees in 6 games over the Phillies. We think it'll be very similar to the Angels series - the Yankees will take games 1 and 2, steal one of the three games in Philadelphia and come back home with 2 chances to win it. We think the Yankees will win games 1, 2, 4 and 6 - so yeah, same as the ALCS. We just don't believe the Phillies have the personal to beat the Yankees in a best of 7 game series, but it looks like we're going to find out for sure.

Angels take games 3 and 5, Yankees take game 4 in ALCS
Game 3
Things were looking good for the Yankees until Vladimir Guerrero homered off Andy Pettitte. It was starting to look like the Angels were warming up in the cozy confines of their home park until...

Game 4
Pure. Yankees. Domination.
CC Sabathia was just as dominate as he was in Game 1 (see below), and the Yankees offense broke through in the top of the fourth and never looked back. How did this one end, 10-1? Domination, pure and simple!

Game 5
AJ Burnett got hit all over the place and surrendered 4 runs in the first inning - the strange thing was, although he was getting hit hard, he wasn't giving up home runs, and the pitches weren't especially up high - at least not up by the batters' belts. We think this is why he was able to settle down and drudge through innings 2 through 6. After the Yankees exploded for 6 runs in the top of the 7th, we though Burnett's night was done for sure, but he came back out for the first 2 batters, who both reached base. We think its a simple question: Do you trust Burnett with a 2 run lead in the 7th inning on the road (where he has struggled mightily this year) after the way he'd been pitching that night? We would have left Joba Chamberlin start this inning. We think there is a big difference between relievers starting the inning and when relievers come in during the middle of an inning and an even bigger difference when relievers come in to a situation in the middle of an inning with runners on - we just don't think Hughes and Chamberlin have the necessary experience to handle that kind of situation. Marte did a good job against the lefties, but we all know how it turned out - 7-6 Angels, despite Brian Fuentes' flirt with disaster in the top of the 9th with two outs. With two more chances at home to get it done, we think the Yankees will be American League Champions, one way or the other.

Missed calls by the umpires
Yep, so many missed calls by the umpires, it necessitates its own section! Sure, the foul ball call in left field during the ALDS hit by Joe Mauer was a head scratch-er, but how the double play call was missed at 3rd base involving Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano we can't even speculate. The Nick Swisher call for leaving 3rd too early on a tag up play was also a horrendous call. Of course, Swisher was clearly picked off second base - we thought that was an easy call. The Johnny Damon play at first was bang, bang, but Damon was clearly safe. Hence, after all this garbage, MLB has taken action: only veterans will umpire the World Series, as seen here. We don't think this will help - weren't all the mistakes made by veteran umpires? However, we don't think instituting instant replay for every call is the answer. We all saw how insane John Lackey went after the home plate umpire called ball four on Jorge Posada during a crucial top of the 7th at bat - can you imagine Lackey's reaction if replay reversed the call on Damon after the Angels already walked off the field? We won't speculate.

Yankees take games 1 and 2 from Angels
GAME 2: AJ Burnett wasn't perfect, but he was pretty damn good. The Yankees pitching has held up as the Jose Molina experiment continues to work. (OK - its not really an experiment. Molina has caught Burnett's starts exclusively since August - did anyone REALLY THINK that Jorge Posada was going to catch Burnett in the playoffs?) Joe Girardi emptied the bullpen last night, but it was all worth it as Burnett delivered another one of his custom pitches - a cream pie in the face, his second of the playoffs. We think keeping Burnett comfortable was a big factor, and it was totally worth it - Molina only got up to bat twice and he had a single. Posada went 1-3 when he entered the game, so 2-5 is a fine performance from the catcher's position, but if the Yankees had lost the game, maybe we'd have some second guessing here... while we're on the subject, kudos to the Yankees bullpen. 6.2 innings of work: 6K, 1 ER - and a big hand to Mariano Rivera. His 2.1 innings was, well, inspiring.
And speaking of inspiring, how about that homer by ARod? This guy is looking unstoppable in the playoffs. Opposing managers would be wise to start walking this guy in clutch situations. It's like he just wills the ball over the fence. Don't touch that ARod, it's white hot!
The Yankees and the Lost Angeles Angels of Anaheim (that's right, LOST - have you seen how sloppy their fielding has been?) left a small village on the base paths - the Yankees left 12 runners on base and the Angels left 16! that's right, folks, 28 men left on base!
Oh, and a quick shout out to Mark Teixeira for his stellar play at first base, stretching every which way in games 1 and 2. Without Teixeira, the Yankees would have had at least 5 errors in game 2 and probably would have lost the game.
GAME 1: CC Sabathia DOMINATED this game. What else can you say? 8 innings, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks - just dominating. The Angels sloppy play in the first inning helped and the Yankees tacked on 2 more runs for support, but this game was all about CC and his dominance.

Yankees move on to the ALCS
The Yankees completed their sweep of the Minnesota Twins in the final game at the Metrodome as Andy Pettitte pitched a beauty and the Yankees finally got a little just deserts off Carl Pavano. This will be the Yankees first American League Championship Series since the painful 2004 collapse against the Boston Red Sox.
The Twins struck first in the 6th inning when Joe Mauer singled to shallow left and Denard Span scored, but the Yankees answered right back with homers in the 7th inning from ARod and Jorge Posada off Carl Pavano. ARod was an animal in the ALDS - 2 home runs and 6 RBI in 3 games - can't ask for much more than that. We think Jose Molina catching for AJ Burnett works, and having Molina out there is especially critical for the Angels series because they're liable to run a lot, and Molina is a great defensive catcher. Besides, what are we really talking about, 2 at bats, max? Burnett isn't going to pitch 9 innings. Jorge Posada isn't guaranteed to get a hit every time he gets into the box and Molina has hit some clutch doubles in his time with the Yankees. Besides, they can always pitch hit Posada if they need to and carry three catches like they did in the last round. We think that Joe Girardi should use the same roster for the ALCS as he did for the ALDS. The Yankees are flirting with using a 3 man rotation in the ALCS, and we think its a great idea. Otherwise, we'd start Chad Gaudin and bring in Alfredo Aceves in if Gaudin gets into trouble. We think that Hughes and Chamberlin can pitch 2 innings if needed, and Mariano Rivera looks more than capable of getting a 4 out save; we just don't want him to come in when the game is tied or the Yankees are behind. The Angels are a tough club and this series could go deep, but we like the Yankees in 5 games - this is us being optimistic. We wouldn't be surprised if it went 7.
After the Yankees finished celebrating, the Metrodome's ground crew ran out and began extracting homepate to bring to their new stadium opening next year, which will feature no roof of any kind - a decision we believe they will live to regret, especially in April.

ARod, Teixeira big hitters in Game 2 of ALDS
Sometimes, the ball bounces your way.
Amidst all of the silly controversy over Joe Girardi starting Jose Molina or Jorge Posada to catch temperamental AJ Burnett, the ghosts from across the street made 3 appearances in the game 2 victory of the Yankees over the Minnesota Twins. The first ghost sighting occured when ARod hit a 2 run homer to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. Second Ghost: a ball hit down the left field line was called foul that was fair - even with a few extra umpires, they still can't get the calls right. Ghost of Christmas Future: Mark Teixeira hits a walk off homer that nearly scraps the fence in left field.
MLB.com coverage makes it sound like Burnett pitched well, but he really didn't. If you glance at the box score, you'll see Burnett walked 5, hit 2 batters and was the beneficiary of some good defensive plays, particularly by Nick Swisher's heads up throw to second to get the straying runner before the OTHER runner could score.
ARod is having a great series so far: his RBI single, game tying 2 run homer and a few excellent defensive plays is more than anyone could ask for, so perhaps the ridiculous 'ARod isn't clutch' argument can finally be put to rest as he's been an ANIMAL this series. We know he's had post season struggles before, but he's also had post season successes - like the last time the Yankees met the Twins.
We can't be bothered to read Jeff Passan's column calling for expanded instant replay. Reviewing home runs is enough as MLB games take long enough as it is. You bring in two extra outfield line judges and they STILL can't get the calls right... we understand this is frustrating, but we can't sit around and review everything. It's just going to get worse and worse if we head any farther down this slippery replay slope. Home plate umpire Chuck Meriwether made HORRENDOUS calls all night long, playing host to one of the largest strike zones in recent memory as he called strikes or rung up hitters on both team with reckless abandon on pitches that were low, high and in the other batter's box. So while we sympathize with the Twins plight, these things happen - in Game 1 of the Red Sox v Angels series, the Red Sox got totally hosed on a bad call at first base when Kevin Youkalis was pulled off the bag by a throw but tagged the runner on the way by but was told he missed by the umpire. Are we going to start reviewing those calls, too? Should we just dismiss the umpires all together and have the guys in the truck call the game? We can all stare at the score board and wait to find out if a runner was safe or out - it'll be fun!
Anyway, we're looking forward to the Yankees going to Minnesota and kicking Carl Pavano's butt.
One more thing: Mariano Rivera
We love Mariano Rivera. He's the best relief pitcher EVER. No one protects a lead like him - NO ONE. But, Rivera is NOT good in tie games or when the Yankees are behind. He's just not. We don't know why, and it doesn't make any sense, but any time Girardi brings him in in a situation like he did against the Twins in game 2 of the ALDS, he lets somebody score, whether they're his base runners or not. We just don't know if Girardi is ever going to learn this lesson.

Yankees win Game 1 of ALDS against Twins
One victory down, ten to go as the Yankees begin the race to eleven victories with the 7 other playoff teams. CC Sabathia gave up some hits but had 8 Ks and only 1 ER over 6.2 innnings against the Minnesota Twins lineup that has been red hot for most of September and carrying over into the beginning of this month. Jeter's homer to left was pulled with authority - we don't want to hear it was the wind. Matsui hit a bomb to the deepest part of the ballpark in center - again, we don't want to hear it! Give these guys their due! And ARod coming up with 2 RBI, very nice. And TBS: Kate Hudson is there. We get it. Now let it go. And nice job by the Yankee relievers - dominance from all. Hughes, Chamberlin, Coke, Rivera - you've gotta love it! See you Friday for more action!

Yankees Update October 2nd 2009
Sorry the Yankee blogs have been few and far between lately, but when the Yankees are this much better than their competition, what's there to say?
Coming off the Yankees American League East clinching sweep of the Boston Red Sox that secured home field advantage for the Bombers throughout the playoffs, they now have 6 meaningless games that only have three real goals: get Joba Chamberlin straightened out, pick guys for the back end of the bullpen and the bench and most importantly of all, don't let anyone get hurt. We think Brian Bruney is going to make the roster after all, along with Joba Chamberlin as the 4th starter. There was a very light moment on Monday night against the Kansas City Royals when Ramiro Pena (who were like to refer to as Scrappy Do) hit his first career home run. The bench's first impulse was to go nuts and congratulate Pena, but ARod quickly dismissed that notation and made everyone sit down and act casual, showing Derek Jeter to his seat by grabbing his sweat shirt and fairly throwing him to the bench. When Pena arrived back to the bench, his teammates all gave him their best, "What happened? I was in the bathroom..." look. They let it linger for a moment before they pounced on him in congratulations. And then there's the save Kyle Farnsworth blew and ultimately took the loss as his inability to field grounds, which we didn't realize was a hole he had in his game, cost the Royals a victory. Joba's bad start the next night really left a lot of questions on his future role with the team for the rest of the '09 campaign. It's hard to have confidence in him as a starter at this point, and to throw him back in the pen after being away from that job for so long seems like a gamble. It wouldn't shock us if the Yankees decided to leave him off the post season roster completely... but we think they'll carry him in some capacity. Will Chad Gaudin be the fourth starter if the Yankees make it the ALCS?

Derek Jeter passes Lou Gehrig as all time Yankees hit leader
Derek Jeter now has 2,722 hits - and climbing. This puts him ahead of Yankees legend Lou Gehrig, the Iron Horse, who manned 1st base for the Yankees everyday for nearly every year that he played until he took himself out of the lineup in 1939 when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Jeter and Gehrig are two very different hitters - Jeter ranks third in batting average this year in the American League while Gehrig hit a minimum of 20 homeruns nearly every year he played - and the year he hit 20 homers was an off year. Both Yankee captains, both great players surrounded by other great players. One can only speculate if this will bump Jeter from secondary level of Yankee legends he inhabits with players like Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Don Mattingly to the 'Holy Trinity' level with Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth.

Yankees 2004 Roster vs 2009 Roster
In most recent memory, the farthest the Yankees have made it into the postseason is to the American League Championship season in the historic 2004 collapse. Take a look at that roster. This team won 101 games. Can you imagine that team playing the 2009 Yankees? The 04 Yankees #1 starter was Mike Mussina - a very fine pitcher, but probably not a real ace at any point in his career, and definitely not in 2004. The 2009 Yankees would CRUSH the 2004 Yankees in a seven game series - easily. It really makes you wonder: how on earth did the 04 Yankees win 101 games? It baffles the mind. Their starting rotation is weak. Their bullpen is suspect. Their outfield is old. Their bench is... well, crappy. Their infield is pretty representative, accept at 2nd base. This gives us pretty high hopes for the Yankees 2009 post season chances. We see the Yankees going all the way and bringing home the World Series in 2009! This is our official prediciton: Yankees over Phillies in 5 games!

Yankees sweep Red Sox
A Boston Massacre in the Bronx is hyperbole, but, did you expect anything less from the New York Post? You had to see it coming, it was so easy, and such is the feasting of all tabloids. No matter what you call it, the New York Yankees swept the Boston Red Sox and now have a 6.5 game lead in the AL East - that's the biggest lead by any division leader in both leagues. The Yankees have NEVER blown a lead this big at this point in the season EVER, so history tells us that the race to win the American League East pennant is over, and the Yankees have won. We think the Red Sox can still win the American League Wild Card, but the Tampa Bay Rays aren't going to just let them have it, and the Red Sox have a lot of flaws in their line up.
In game 1, Joba Chamberlin matched up against struggling hall of famer John Smoltz, and it wasn't pretty for either pitcher. Chamberlin went just 5 innings and gave up 4 runs, narrowly escaping a tough top of the 5th. Smoltz wasn't so lucky; he was bounced in the bottom of the 4th, getting hammered for eight runs. Theo Epstien flew to New York to tell Smoltz that the Red Sox were releasing him. It's no surprise, Smoltz has been awful with the Red Sox. After 20 years with the Atlanta Braves and major shoulder surgery, Smoltz looks like he doesn't have anything left - we think he can come back next year and get a job with a national league team... the Yankees ended up cruising to a 14-6 win.
Game 2 brought two excellent starters to the hill in the persons of AJ Burnett and Josh Beckett and they both lived up to their billing. Burnett limited the Red Sox to 1 hit in 8 innings while Beckett only allowed 3 hits in 7 innings against the Yankees offense. The game tumbled on, and although both teams had opportunities, neither could score. Finally, in the 15th inning, the Red Sox bullpen having been taxed the day before and with no where to turn, ARod finally hit the game ending homer after a few near misses by other Yankee hitters. Jason Bay made a great play to keep the game alive and Melky Cabrera just missed a big hit, but in the end, when you need a blast, you bring in the big guy, ARod - and it goes in the seats. ARod may not be hitting for average, but he missed 5 weeks or so of the season and he was 21 home runs and plenty of clutch hits and play. He's not 100%, but he's getting the job done.
Game 3 featured a shut down performance by CC Sabathia and another scoreless day for the Red Sox - now 24 innings and counting without scoring a run.
Game 4 matched up a pair of lefties: the phenom that cancer can't kill, Jon Lester, and Andy Pettitte. Lester reminds us of Pettitte when he was that age, and Lester's ability to defeat disease, regain his power fastball and spot his pitches makes him one of the games best young stars. He pitched well, but the Red Sox couldn't score against Pettitte. They finally scored in the top of the 8th, a two run homer by Victor Martinez, but the Red Sox bullpen promptly gave the runs back as Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira homered back to back, and then Nick Swisher singled in two more runs, and suddenly the Yankees had a 5-2 lead. Mariano Rivera gave up one hit, and then finished up the sweep. The Red Sox look old in some positions and their inability to score runs was the downfall here. And its going to be hard for them to improve the team for the rest of the 09 season or going forward. They need desperate help at short stop!
After 111 games, the Yankees are now 69 and 42 after sweeping the Red Sox. That means there are 51 games left. If the Yankees with 25 of them, they'll be at 94 wins. That's 1 game under .500, and if you can't already tell, the Yankees are going to be over .500 during the last 51 games of the season. That tells you the Yankees are going to win AT LEAST 95 games. They could easily win 100 games this year. It's amazing.

Yankees at Blue Jays
Validation at the end of the road trip! The Yankees are going home after a 5 and 4 journey spanning Tampa Bay, Chicago and ending with a two game quickie in Toronto. The Yankees offense handled Roy Halliday in game 1, who was left in to start the 9th inning despite the fact that the Jays were behind and he'd given up back to back home runs the inning before, and everyone seemed surprised when he gave up another one. The Yankees pulled away late after scoring 2 early and then being silenced by Halliday in the middle of the game as he regained his composure and then lost it again. Pettitte pitched pretty well, featuring a very nice cutter. Andy Pettitte looks like he's going to have a typical Pettitte second half. Game 2 starter Sergio Mitre couldn't get out of the 5th inning after giving up 3 runs. He just doesn't look strong enough, but could be a help down the road. His sinker has nice movement and we have hopes that he might not be unfixable. The Yankees used Alfredo Aceves for several innings, and he was great. Phil Hughes also had a nice performance. We're curious to see if they're available for the first game against he Red Sox in the big four game series, for which the Yankees have added an extra relief pitcher. In any case, the Yankees offense just wouldn't go away, and the Jays just couldn't hang in there, so the Yankees take both games and increase their lead back to the 2.5 game mark on the Red Sox as the Sox lose both to Tampa Bay.

Yankees at White Sox
When you look back at the Yankees four games in Chicago against the White Sox, you can't really find many bright spots. After a rain delay on Thursday evening, the home plate umpire gave both starters a generous strike zone, which ultimately cost the patient Yankees offense, who like to wait out walks and up pitcher's pitch counts. They got called out on strike 3 looking, time and time again, every Yankee hitter thinking, "Surely he's not going to call that a strike again at this critical point in the game... Oh. Guess he is. I'll go sit down, then..." Ultimately, Andy Pettitte slipped on the wet grass late in the game and then a tough error by ARod and an aggressive slide caused a Cano throw to go off line, and before you knew it, the game was over, a walk off single in the 9th inning off Phil Coke. It was a whirl wind of a game.
In game 2, Sergio Mitre had a nice 3 run cushion before he even took the mound, which he promptly returned to the White Sox. Mitre is quickly proving himself to be sub mediocre and the Yankees are going to need to be aggressive on the waiver wire as they search for a starting pitcher, particularly as Joba Chamberlin gets closer ot the innings limit they set for him. Game 3 was another bad performance by a starter, this time the offender being AJ Burnett, and th Yankees end up with another embarrassing loss. Game 4 brought CC Sabathia, the big left handed ace to the mound in a situation where the Yankees desperatly needed a dominating performance. Sabathia didn't give one, but he pitched well enough to start the 8th inning but was quickly pulled, but managing to keep the White Sox in check by only giving up 3 runs during hit outing.The Yankees relief managed to keep the White Sox in check, and the Yankees salvaged a game of an otherwise dismal weekend in Chicago. Hopefully, the day off will revitalize them as they have Roy Halliday waiting for them in Toronoto.

Yankees take 2 of 3 from Rays
AJ Burnett was filthy in game 1. CC Sabathia wasn't great and neither was the rest of the team in game 2. Joba Chamberlin pitched 8 scoreless innings, looking nearly unhittable in game 3 - only 3 hits and 2 walks, that's it! The Yankee bats pounded in games 1 and 3 (although it took a while to get going in game 3) and were silenced by Scott Kazmir in game 2 - although Scott Kazmir is not havnig a good year, he pitched very well against the Yankees by locating his fastball and his change up. The Yankees won a series on the road against a good team; you can't ask for much more than that. Meanwhile, the Rays playoff hopes have dwindled to almost nothing as the Yankees extend their AL East lead over Wild Card leader Boston Red Sox to 3.5 games. The Red Sox had a rough loss the othe other night against the Oakland Athletics when closer Jonathan Paplebon couldn't hold down a 3 run lead to convert the save. Ouch.
Useless acquisition?
The Yankees acquired Jason Hirsh from the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named later and sent him down to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. We're guessing that Hirsh will be used in the event an emergency starter is needed or if a double header come up. Otherwise, he might be competing for a starting job when Joba Chamberlin reaches his innings limit - we don't think the Yankees are going to try to stretch out Phil Hughes at this point in the season and return him back to the starting rotation - he's much to dominant in the bullpen. On the other hand, a vision of a Hughes/Chamberlin 7th and 8th inning bridging it to Mariano Rivera has World Series #27 written all over it! Hirsh stinks; these are his AAA numbers, he hasn't pitched with the Rockies this year: 101 1/3 innings, 130 hits and 78 runs (75 earned), while walking 35 and striking out 59. That's a 6-7 record with a 6.66 ERA in 20 games (16 starts). Again, ouch. Maybe this will motivate Igawa... but, he's not even on the 40 man roster, so he's probably not a candidate. The Yankees don't have any depth at starting pitching now that they've lost Chien Ming Wang to shoulder surgery. The trade deadline is July 31 at 4 pm, and Roy Halladay is still available - the Blue Jays will want a kings ransom, and the Red Sox and the Yankees are probably not willing to pay the piper with their precious young talent like Hughes, Chamberlin or Jon Lester and Clay Buchholtz, who the Jays will surely ask for.

Yankees take 3 out of 4 from As
The Oakland Athletics are not a great team, and they are sellers at the trade deadline - Matt Holliday departed after game two to play against the Phillies for the St Louis Cardinals - but, anytime you can take 3 of 4, you're playing pretty good ball. If not for a rare bad outing by Alfredo Aceves on Saturday, the Yankees might have found a way to take all 4 games, but 3 was good enough. The Yankees starters pitched well and continued to hit and field pretty well. There isn't much to complain about in Yankee land these days; even fill in starter Sergio Mitre is decent, if not good. Outside from the occasional blemish, the bullpen is pretty good, probably the team's biggest weak spot coming out of spring training. Even Brian Bruney had a good outing on Sunday. The Yankees just might defy the odds and win the AL East if they keep playing like this... as long as they don't let the Red Sox get big boy Roy. That would be a disaster. {July 2008]

Yankees in 1st Place amidst sweep of Orioles, July 2009
The Yankees completed a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in three performances that included good starting pitching, clutch hitting in low scoring games and timely bullpen positions. Matsui's walk off home run in game 1 was a big highlight - his teammates reminded him to throw up his helmet before he crossed home plate and AJ Burnett delivered the standard towel pie in the face during his interview in front of the dug out. ARod had a big home run to tie the game. There was also the 7th inning antics when Phil Coke relieved Andy Pettitte. Mark Teixeira made a great play at first and heaved in home where Jose Molina made a great tag. Then, during the next at bat, a wild pitch got away from Molina but Coke was covering and he got the call on a bang-bang play to get out of the inning. Today, AJ Burnett got through 7 innings while surrendering 2 ER, so a pretty good job there. The Yankees are continuing to fatten up on the lesser teams while beating good teams like the Tigers and continue to put pressure on the rest of the league as they move into first place in the AL East in front of the Boston Red Sox.

Yankees sweep Tigers, July 2009
On the back of good pitching, the Yankees swept the first place (central division) Detroit Tigers. AJ Burnett allowed 2 runs in the first game, CC Sabathia allowed 1 run in the second and Joba Chamberlin allowed 1 run in the second game - very impressive for both the starters and the relievers! The Tigers might not be one of the greatest hitting clubs in the league, but they are, again, in first place in their division and a good all around team. Verlander was especially good on Saturday, but ARod's homer broke the 1-1 tie - ARod has been getting a lot of big hits lately, hitting homers to either tie or break ties. ARod's average is down, but, he's still having a very good year. Its nice to see the Yankees don't have to bludgeon every team they face to beat them. A very nice start to the second half after getting swept by the Angels. We think that showed the Yankees that starting Alfredo Aceves in Minnesota against the Twins was a mistake as he was unavailable for the entire Angels series.

Mr. 500: Mariano Rivera

As if Mariano Rivera's legendary career didn't already make him a first ballot hall of famer, his 500th career save just hammers home the message harder and reminds you that you now need to start grasping that Rivera is the best relief pitcher to every play the game. No one repeats their delivery so flawlessly, pitch after pitch, year after year; no one else can keep their cool and get the job done in the high pressure moments. Even now, at the 2009 All Star Game, with great closers like Jonathan Papelbon available to pitch, the American League turned to Mariano Rivera to get the save, knowing that there was no margin for error with a 1 run lead. No one was nervous - they had Mr. Automatic up there; they had Mr. 500.
You can't talk about 500 saves without mentioning Tevor Hoffman. Hoffman can only compete with Mariano Rivera on number of saves, and he does have more. Remember the All Star Game save Hoffman blew in the top of the 9th? Rivera came in the bottom of the 9th and wrapped it up, no problem, no stress - just pure control. Hoffman is a great player, no question, but you'd have to be crazy not to pick Mariano Rivera every day of the week and twice on Sunday as the best relief pitcher of all time. As a National League pitcher, Hoffman has been dealt a set of circumstances where he faces lineups that just don't offer the pop and power of American League bats. True, Hoffman has probably faced his share of power hitting pinch hitters, but what closer hasn't? Again, Hoffman is great, but he's no Mariano Rivera. No one is and its unfair to ask them to be. Rivera isn't just great, not just the greatest of his era - he's the greatest ever. Minnesota Twins Manager Tom Kelly said it best on April 28, 1996: "That Rivera guy, we don't need to face him anymore. He should be illegal."
Yankees and baseball fans alike are glad he's not. So the next time you see him on the mound, take a moment and realize that you're seeing the greatest, the Babe Ruth of relief pitching. Really soak it in and enjoy it, because one day, he'll be gone. Oh, he'll still be around, hanging at his restaurant or doing some Yankees event, but once he steps off the mound, relief pitching will never be the same.

Yankees Update July 2009
Derek Jeter out at 3rd
In the game four series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays, Derek Jeter was thrown out at 3rd in the 1st inning with no outs. We'd call this a base running mistake, accept for the fact that the replay revealed he was safe as he was never tagged. What's more, the Bryan Hoch article from MLB.com had some hilarious quotes from Jeter that featured the umpire's explanation - that being that the ball beat Jeter to the bag and no tag was necessary. Jeter was flabergasted and seemed ready to burst into hysterical laughter. "I was unaware they had changed the rules," and later, he said, "[The Umpire] told me, 'He didn't have to [tag me],'" Jeter said. "I'm not making this up. This is what I was told." It was a risky play by Jeter, and all things being equal, the umpires are going to blow a few calls here and there, but they should at least know the rules.
Chien-Ming Wang back to the DL
Chien-Ming Wang was removed from his start against the Toronto Blue Jays with what MLB's website is calling 'Right shoulder strain and bursitis.' We don't know exactly what that means, but we do know that this is at least Wang's second shoulder injury and it's his second trip tot he DL in what has been a less than steller 2009 for the big righty. Joe Girardi has been heard to say that they're shutting him down until after the all star break and he'll start throwing at some point after that. The MLB fantasy site says he could return in late July, but we don't know which Wang will show up: the Wangthat gets hammered, the mediocre Wang we've been seeing lately or the Wang that we saw in 06, 07 and half of 08.
Kei Igawa has a win record
In a revelation that is sure to shake the Yankees organization to it's core, Kei Igawa is now tied for the Yankees AAA wins recorded by a pitcher with (drum roll please) 7 wins. Igawa, who will turn 30 on July 13, will hope to have sealed up his 8th and AAA franchise leading win by then, but you never can tell. Igawa, who has proven to be a not ready for prime time player during his stints with the MLB Yankees, is a relatively soft tossing lefty from Japan, where he won several strike out awards... throwing a smaller baller to weaker hitters. Japan's professional baseball league is often regarded as a quadroupple A League - better than tripple A, but not as good as MLB, so you'd think Igawa would set the world on fire there, and he does have 7 wins, but we can harldy get excited about 90 hits in 91 innings and 67 Ks.
Francisco Cervelli and Ramiro Pena
These are two guys who did a great job for the Yankees during a tough period of time when injuries were getting the better of the team. Francisco Cervelli did just about everything you could ask for, hitting in pressure situations and for average while doing a great job at catcher. Ramiro Pena (or, as we like to call him, Scrappy Doo), played a great infield where ever he was asked to play and while his average wasn't great, he seemed to come up big in the pressure situations everytime. If the Yankees sent these two younger players down so as not to retard their development, great - otherwise, they both deserve to be on the team. Their great play earned those spots, not to mention that Cody Ransom is a dud as both a fielder and a hitter. We've seen plenty of him, and why he hasn't been released, we can't say. Jose Monlina is a good catcher and he can get into a groove and become a doubles machine, but since coming to the Yankees, it feels like he spends a lot of time either on the DL or not hitting a lick. In any case, we just wanted to give a shout out to two guys who are gone - but not forgotten! We look forward to seeing these guys back on the roster in September!
Roy Halladay may be available via trade...
The Toronto Blue Jays, who started the 2009 season red hot and have cooled way down to an even .500 record, may be putting their ace on the block. If Roy Halladay is truly available, the Yankees have to pursue this. It's likely that the Jays don't want to deal him within the AL East and the cost would be high, but Roy Halladay has a full no trade clause, and you figure he'll want to go to a contender like the Yankees, Red Sox or Angels. It would be a disaster for either the Red Sox or the Yankees to let the other team get Roy Halladay, and the asking price is sure to be something like either Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlin plus a prospect from the Yankees or Jon Lester or another pitcher plus another prospect from the Red Sox. The Red Sox have a better system than the Yankees, but the Red Sox operate on a fairly strict budget and like to hold on to their prospects. The Red Sox also assign a value to an available player and they don't really budge from it. Between Roy Halladay's no trade clause, his salary, his desire to go a contender and teams willing to deal top prospects, there aren't a lot of options for the Blue Jays to trade with, and the Yankees might be able to get it done. If the Yankees grab him and CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett continue to pitch at the level they have so far, the Yankees will easily get into the playoffs, if not pass the Red Sox and would be favorites for the World Series - as would the Red Sox if they get him! Cross your fingers!

Yankees at Mets
We'll save our Mets (My Entire Team Sucks) loathing for our Mets Blog. Game 1 was a tight affair until the Yankees blew it open in the top of the 8th for a 9-1 victory. Game 1 was pretty much all Yankees: the Mets came up with 1 hit on the day as they got shut out by dominant Yankee pitching lead by AJ Burnett. Game 3 was a squeaker, featuring 3 of the oddest things we've ever seen on a ball field. In the first inning, Mets first baseman Daniel Murphy tried to gun Derek Jeter down at 3rd on a ground ball with no outs... he had an easy out at first, but he didn't take it. Don't understand it. Then, a few batters later, Daniel Murphy dropped a tailer made double play ball. Terrible. In the top of the 9th, the Mets brought in their closer, Francisco Rodriguez, and KRod got himself in trouble, like he usually does. KRod ended up WALKING MARIANO RIVERA, WHICH WALKED IN A RUN and brought the deficet to 4-2 Yankees. It was pathetic. He was nibbling at the corners against Mariano Rivera, an American League pitcher who is 38 years old and coming to the plate for his 3RD CAREER BAT! We know he had a good rip foul, but jeez, don't walk him! Pathetic, just pathetic. Take out the brooms and shut the lights off - too bad the Mets don't have Monday off too.

Yankees at Braves
Ugh, national league baseball. But, at least the Yankees won the series. After they lost game 1 via the shut out, we were pretty bummed, and after the first 5 innings of game 2, during which the Yankees recorded 0 hits. In the top of the 6th, Brett Gardner led off with a walk but was picked off on a call that we'll just go ahead and say was flat out wrong. Joe Girardi argued until he was thrown out of the game and Francisco Cervelli promptly hit a home run, and the Yankees road to victory from there, scoring 7 more runs before the game was over. The Yankees survived a slugfest the next day and found themselves series winners. It felt like a while!

Yankees Update, June 2009
Bye, Jose
The Yankees have sent Jose Veras, who the designated for assignment, to the Cleveland Indians for "cash considerations;" we wish him well. He throws hard and we think he'll land on his feet in some form or another. We're pretty sure the Yankees were still in the deadline and this was a trade, but it's pretty shocking that Cleveland either didn't have anyone the Yankees wanted or were willing to part with for Jose Veras - on the other hand, they had the Yankees by the baseballs, as the Yankees had to trade him or release him after designating him for assignment.
Wild Card or Bust in 09 for Yankees
We're sorry, Yankee fans - the Yankees just aren't going to win the AL East this year. Boston is too good and while five games isn't a big lead, Boston is really, really good this year. They have good starting pitching, good position players and a great bullpen (and almost everybody else has a mediocre bullpen) and they've already beat the Yankees 8 times in as many tries. True, stranger things have happened and the Yankees could come back and take the east, but it seems unlikely. The Yankees have to go play away games 3 more times on the West Coast while the Red Sox have finished their west coast swings for the season. Those trips (and time zone adjustments) are grueling, and its a huge advantage for the Red Sox going down the stretch. So pick the Red Sox to win if you're a gambling man, but remember what we always say - don't gamble!

Yankees at Marlins, June 2009
Another sub .500 opponent, another series loss for the Yankees. Andy Pettitte pitched 7 strong innings and the Yankees knocked Sean West around for 10 hits in 4 innings of work, scoring all five of their runs. Then, for the next 2 games, the Yankees bats went to sleep as the scored 1 run combined. COMBINED! It was a tough pitching duel and the Yankees saw good performances from AJ Burnett, Phil Coke and Phil Hughes, but it wasn't enough to get a W. Game 3 is actually under protest; the Marlins made an illegal substitution and Joe Girardi was watching. The Yankees offense choked again and CC Sabthia had to leave the game early, so the Yankees didn't give themselves any chance to win on Sunday. CC's chances of making his next start are 50/50, and its bad news for the Yankees if they loose him for any serious amount of time. Somehow, the Yankees will stumble into Washington 7 games over .500 and hopefully can rebound after their series lost to the Nats at Yankee Stadium.

Nationals at Yankees, June 2009
Oh, the humanity!
The Yankees bats have gone to sleep. ARod and Swisher are both in the middle of pretty ugly slumps and the Nationals won the 3 game series as the Yankees trend of poor performances against young, unknown pitchers continues. They've been this way under various coaches for as many as the last five seasons, it's really incredible. The Yankees managed to steal game 1 away from the Nationals bullpen with yet another come from behind victory and they nearly were able to do so in Game 2 with 1 out in the 9th and the tying run on 1st base, but Robinson Cano hit into a double play after a long, hard fought at bat. Cano had homered earlier in the game and has been on fire in stark contrast to the rest of the team. Game 3 was no better as the Yankees got shut out by another 90 MPH fastball scrub. The Yankees are flying to Miami next, and they'd better get their act together quickly as their National League ballpark tour begins. Lets hope Wang has better luck on the base paths this year!
Speaking of interleague play, we're pretty tired of this. We think we would like this to be maybe two weekends a season where each time plays an inter league rival: the Yankees play the Mets, the Cubs play the White Sox, the Orioles play the Nationals and so on. Otherwise, its just silly: the American League pitchers are extremely over matched when hitting and the National League teams often aren't built with a DH or they're resting a position player at DH and fielding someone in his place who either can't hit or can't field. It's time for this idea to be reformed before these glorified position games get someone really hurt or the fans really bored.

Mets at Yankees, June 2009
The Subway Series, 2009, edition 1, was a lot like a day at Great Adventure: a lot of waiting around followed by moments of pure excitement or sheer terror. Game 1 saw the most unlikely ending perhaps ever when Alex Cora dropped what looked like a fairly routine high fly ball in shallow right field with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th with the Mets nursing a 1 run lead. Derek Jeter never stopped running and had already scored from second when the ball hit the palm of Cora's glove and then the ground. By the time Cora got the ball into second and the relay was sent home, Mark Teixeira had already scored, and just like that, the Mets coughed up the win to the Yankees in Game 1. Francisco Rodriguez just stood there on the mound, watching in horror with his hands on his head in disbelief. We hear you, KRod; we still can't believe it either. There's not much to say about game 2, except that Andy Pettitte got whacked for 12 hits in 5 innings. He only walked one, meaning he was deadly accurate - he didn't miss a bat all day. The Yankees offense got shut down by a Mets rookie, so not much joy to be found there. Game 3 was all Yankees, all day. AJ Burnett struggled in the third inning, but he got out of it and pitched 7 shut out inning which the Yankees offense rocked Johan Santana for 9 runs in 3+ innings. Santana's fastball was only touching 90 but his change up was working nicely, but he kept giving up hits and getting into deep counts. Coupling not having his best stuff with some location issues, Sanata wasn't long for the game and was the loser in a 15-0 one sided slug fest. Somehow, the Yankees won this series despite 2 poor pitching performances in games 1 and 2.

Yankees at Red Sox, June 2009
"Oh the pain! The pain of it all!"
Here's a simple breakdown of the Red Sox sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park:
Game 1: AJ Burnett stunk of the joint. If your starting pitcher can't get out of the 3rd inning, you have virtually no chance of winning the game, and when you face Josh Beckett, you don't have much chance of winning the game anyway. Still not sure why the Yankees juggled the rotation to get Burnett this start after they shelled him last time...
Game 2: The Yankees have mismanaged Chien-Ming Wang horribly since he hurt his foot in the 2008 season. This was probably his best start of the year, but he couldn't get out of the third inning, so see above. Yankees did a nice job making it interesting, but the Red Sox have the best bullpen in the game right now.
Game 3: While Sabathia pitched a good game through seven innings, we were shocked to see him go out there for the bottom of the 8th after a long top of the 8th, especially as he was over 100 pitches and it was cold and raining. After a great at bat that resulted in a walk by Pedroia, Sabathia was clearly done, but Girardi left him in there to face Kevin Youkalis, perhaps the most feared hitter in the Red Sox line up and the player most universally despised by the shaving cream industry. Sabathia gave up a single to Youkalis and Girardi went to the bullpen for... Aceves? Really? We have a lot of confidence in Aceves, but no outs in the 8th inning with runners on 1st and 2nd? We thought this was Phil Coke country, who relieved Aceves after he blew the lead. We admired Girardi's gutsy hit and run call Cervelli batting and the Red Sox infield looking for bunt, but we think he out managed himself in the 8th inning by not showing enough confidence in his bullpen by first leaving Sabathia out there and then bringing in the wrong reliever. We would have also favored David Roberston coming in to face the Red Sox big right handed bats as we think he has some untapped potential for big innings, but we hope that Bruney can come back next week and fill that 8th inning void. We think Girardi let game 3 slip through his fingers.

AccuWeather.com says Yankees Stadium RF wall design to blame for homers
AccuWeather.com posted a report that says the right field wall in the new Yankee Stadium is to blame for the increase in home runs and not wind from the stadium's old design. They say that the right field wall is lower and a bit shorter in spots. Read more... or check out more from our Yankees Blog

Yankee Notes, June 2009
Here are some notes on the Yankees series that we didn't cover:
Yankees at Indians: (May/June 2009) Yankees take 3 out of 4 and Sabathia has a nice outing against his former team. This is usually a tough outing for a pitcher as its easy for your former teammates to remember you, but he handled it well.
Rangers at Yankees: (June 2009) Just when you thought one of 2009's most improved teams might be ready to dish out some payback, the Rangers got whacked in 2 of 3 games and won a squeaker in the middle of the series.
Rays at Yankees: (June 2009) Game 1 was rained out. Although the Rays played well, their bullpen is pretty dismal from what we saw and the Yankees won 2 of 3 from their shortened series. We think the Rays have a roll in them, but they are digging themselves too big a whole just like the 2008 Yankees did.

Yankee Update, June 2009
What a difference 4 players make!
The Yankees 25 man roster has had 4 decremental changes since last year, and these guys are a making a huge difference in the standings. Mark Teixeira - He's got a glove like Mattingly and a ton more power, so if you're looking for a big part of the 18 game streak of no errors, check out Mark Teixeira, catching every ball thrown in his vicinity and even a few who aren't. He had a slow start, but May has been kind to him, especially since ARod has returned.
CC Sabathia - With fastball velocity and the ability to go deep into games, he's the first real ace the Yankees have had in a long time.
Nick Swisher - We don't want to think about what April would have been like without this guy. And its nice to have a right fielder who isn't afraid of the wall!
AJ Burnett - His win total might be lacking, but Burnett has pitched some good games and given the Yankees length when they desperately needed it. He's let up a few too many HRs, but he's got nasty stuff and is a serious upgrade over most of the bottom feeders in last year's rotation.
Chein-Ming Wang returns to the starting rotation and Phil Hughes moves to the bullpen
Wang has looked really good since he's returned to the Yankees and now he's back in the starting rotation. If he can get back to where he was before he was injured in 2008, the Yankees will have a rotation that can't be rivaled by anyone in baseball. If Hughes can phil the void int he bullpen while spot starting when needed, he can be a real asset in an emergency and until Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte can get back to the the majors.

Yankees at Rangers, May 2009
Game 1 is just what you want to see - a young prospect playing to form and an injured veteran doing the same. Phil Hughes pitched 8 innings of shut out ball while limiting the Texas Rangers to 3 hits and 1 walk - very impressive. He had good fastball and breaking ball command, and that was pretty much all he needed. Meanwhile, ARod went 5-5 as the Yankees scored 11 runs without a home run. Plenty of doubles, though - lets see if Peter Gammons decides that the Rangers Ballpark at Arlington is a joke, too.
We'll let Joba Chamberlin speak for himself: "Plain and simple, I was terrible," he said. "I've got to do a better job of keeping the team in the game." No doubt about it, its pretty tough to win a game when the starting pitching only goes 4 innings and lets us 3 runs. Alfredo Aceves was no better, allowing 3 runs in 2 innings and worst of all, Melky Cabrera injured his shoulder by hitting the wall hard while chasing down a fly ball in the first inning. The Yankees left 12 men on base - that's flat out TERRIBLE.
The rubber match of the 3 game series brought more of the good stuff for the Yankees - 6 shutout innings for AJ Burnett and two home runs for Hideki Matsui, who hasn't exactly been wowing us this year. Jose Veras had a very bad outing, but Chien-Ming Wang threw 2 scoreless innings, allowing no hits, walks and striking out 2. We have no idea what the Yankees plan to do with six starters on the roster, but they may let Wang linger in the bullpen a while longer so he can continue to get stronger and get his velocity back. We saw some pitches hit 92, but didn't see any trace of 95. Burnett, however, was consistently around 94, and even though he struggled with his command and was over 100 pitches after the sixth inning, he managed to make big pitches when he needed to and blanks a pretty good Rangers offense.

Phillies at Yankees, May 2009
The streak is dead and dies at the hands of the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies and to make matters worse, the Phillies took the series, too. The home field advantage suddenly died away as AJ Burnett let up three home runs in six innings. What else can you say? when your starting pitcher can't keep you in the game, you're probably not going to win. That's all there is to it. True, the Yankees hit their share of home runs with solo shots by Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, but it just wasn't enough. Chien-Ming Wang made his return to the Yankees and gave up 2 runs on 6 hits in 3 innings; an improvement, in his case! Wang's velocity was a bit better than before he went on the DL, but he's not all the way back, that much is clear. What the Yankees have planned for Wang is anybody's guess, but they can't option him back to triple A, so he's here for the duration.
When you need a walk off win, you call Melky Cabrera - obviously. Cabrera's bottom of the 9th single plated Robinson Cano for the 3rd run of the inning and pandemonium and pies reigned in the Bronx, just like last weekend. Of course, all the media coverage of this game centered around ARod hitting the game tying home run in the 9th. A great hit, a huge moment in the game - but it was Cabrera's third walk off hit of the year and it's MAY. Isn't that a bigger story? Andy Pettitte had a decent performance with 7 innings and 4 runs; if this is who he is this year, the Yankees are going to win a lot of his starts.
The rubber game of the series was two good pitching staffs going at it, and the Phillies prevailed. You don't want to lose extra innings games at home, but the Yankees have won quite a few of those, but it didn't happen this time. But hey, the Yankees left 8 guys on base - not going to score too many runs when you do that.
We didn't talk too much about the Phillies line up during their short stay here - wow, 1-9, they're pretty impressive, led by Ryan Howard's awesome power and improving glove. Glad the Yankees don't have to play them 18 times this year!

Orioles at Yankees, May 2009
CC Sabathia pitched a nice game and looked like he was going to come out for the 8th inning until the Baltimore Orioles' bullpen imploded to allow 7 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning. Sabathia had a nice inning, which is good to see after his slow start (typical of Sabathia), particularly against a team like the Orioles who have a decent lineup, although a bit top heavy in the 1 through 5 holes. Before the impolosion, it was looking like a squeaker, 2-1 in favor of the Yankees, but if the Orioles have a weakness (and they do), it's their bullpen. 7 runs in one inning to let a tight game still within your grasp slip away? That's not how you want to start a series...
Although Phil Hughes only went 5 innings and let up 3 runs, he did strike out 9 batters. We think there is hope for Hughes to make it at the major league level, especially if he can get his change up working. This was a case where his fastball command was excellant and he was able to throw his curveball for strikes, which makes all the difference for a guy like Hughes - the difference being someone who can dominate and someone who gets their butt handed to them! But, like the night before, another tight game in favor of the Yankees by a score of 4-3 and enter the Orioles bullpen in the bottom of the 8th... and 6 runs go up on the board. These guys are a waste of our time!
No Joba? No problem. Joba Chamberlin got hit in the knee and left after recording 2 outs in the 1st inning, the Yankees pitched 8.1 innings out of their bullpen to fantastic results, led most notably by Alfredo Aceves and his 3.1 scoreless innings. Jonathan Albaladejo's 2.1 innings were less impressive as he let up 4 runs and didn't throw a single scoreless inning. We really thought Albaladejo was much better than he's shown this year, but he hasn't proved anything yet, excpet that he's best suited for mop up duty and emergency situations like this one. Jose Veras, on the other hand, flat out wowed us with his 1.2 inning scoreless hold. We know he has filthy stuff, but he's struggled all year and its nice ot see him come around. Mariano Rivera did what he does with a perfect 9th inning for his 9th save of the year, topping out around 92 MPH and clearly getting stronger as time goes by. Of course, you can't talk about this game without talking about the Orioles team as a whole. If the opposing team has to manufacture 8.1 innings out of their bullpen, you need to find a way to win this game. Now this does impart fall on the Orioles offense, but, four runs isn't exactly an embarassment. Tonight, Orioles starter Adam Eaton couldn't get it done and gave up 7 runs in 4.2 innings. This was an opportunity for the Orioles to salvage the last game of the series and they blew it with flying colors.
The Orioles have promising starting pitching and some guys who can hit, but their bullpen SUCKS. The Yankees should fatten up on wins against them all year long and if it comes down to being close at the end of the year, they'll feel bad about losing that opening season series to them in April.

Twins at Yankees, May 2009
Sometimes, everything comes up Yankees, and this four game series against the Minnesota Twins was one of those times. It's easy to talk about the big hits: walking Robinson Cano to get to Melky Cabrera, who came up with the game winning hit on Friday night, Alex Rodriguez's two run homer on Saturday in extra innings, Johnny Damon's solo blast on Sunday in the 10th or the 6 run first inning on Monday night. Since the four game losing streak, the Yankees have posted an 8-1 record, and there have been several very good or very gritty pitching performances, perhaps flying the lowest under the radar was AJ Burnett's Sunday outing when he went 6.2 innings and gave up 2 runs. The last inning was tough, but he was otherwise spectacular. If the bullpen was a bit deeper, Joe Girardi probably wouldn't of asked Burnett for a seventh inning, but outside of Mariano Rivera, Girardi has been going with match ups when picking relief pitchers. True, we'd like to see starters go seven innings, but that's life, and six scoreless innings is pretty good. These were all tough games to win, but the Yankees found a way - Friday night was especially impressive as the Yankees came from behind and won the game in dramatic fashion. The Yankees are doing what they need to do - beat up on weaker teams while their starters get into shape, who are starting to round out nicely. Phil Hughes has been gritty but inconsisent, but Joba Chamberlin is really starting to look good. The bullpen has been spotty and the Yankees need to get that in shape - the return of Brian Bruney should help, but they need to find some consistency there.

Yankees at Blue Jays, May 2009
Game 1 of 3 from the Rogers Centre featured a match up of master vs apprentice, and it ended pretty much the same way as Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith with Roy Halladay as Obi-won Kenobi and AJ Burnett as Anakin Skywalker. Halladay threw a complete game, allowing only 1 run on 5 hits and improving his record to an astonishing 8-1. If Halladay can stay healthy, he's looking like a 20 game, Cy Young winner. He's the best pitcher in the league, and he's pretty hard to stand up to. Burnett had a good game going through the first seven innings, but with the Yankees bullpen woes, Girardi tried to stretch Burnett out into the 8th inning, which ended up making a 3-1 Toronto lead a 5-1 lead; Until Brian Bruney returns, the Yankees need to find another reliever they trust besides Phil Coke, who isn't exactly healthy himself.
Andy Pettitte always seems to get the ball after a Yankees lose, and he nearly always seems to come up big. He turned in a good 6 IP and allowed only 1 ER, 2 R all told. Pettitte knows how to pitch with a lead; the Yankees exploded for 5 runs in the top of the second, featuring Brett Gardner's first home run of his career. He also tripled in the 5th, showing off his great speed. Even Mark Teixeira is showing some signs of life after a slow start with a double and 2 RBI. Scott Richmond, a replacment starter for the injury decamated Toronto Blue Jays rotation, was knocked out during the second inning, because, well, he's out of his league - literally. It was a tough night for Toronto all around - 3 Blue Jays made it two second with no outs and none of them scored.
Game 3 was all about the big man - CC Sabathia went 8 innings and allowed 2 runs, followed by a 1-2-3 inning by Mariano Rivera against the heart of the order. Sure, this wins shows a total lack of confidence in the Yankees middle relief by sending Sabathia out there again for the eight inning after we was over 100 pitches, but he is big and strong and can handle the work. After missing Jeter and Matsui the night before in the slugfest (that's right, the scored all those runs without Matsui, Jeter or Posada - impressive! Or, Richmond sucks... maybe a bit of both). Then Jeter came up with the game tying hit and Matsui hit a home run that put the Yankees on top for good off Carlson, a nasty left hander. This ends up being a pretty good road trip for the Yankees - they get ARod back and go 4-2 and get back to .500. If the Yankees can just tread water until June when they get some of their pitchers back, they should be in good shape to make a run. Time will tell...

Yankees at Orioles, May 2009 - The Return of the ARod
Before we get into ARod's moment, lets talk about CC Sabathia, who's Friday night performance tended to get overshadowed by Alex Rodriguez coverage - that's an issue for another day. Someone could be performing an emergency appendectomy with a steak knife and if Arod ran out of the room and vomited, the press would all follow him. "Is he afraid of blood?" one reporter would ask. "Is he pregnant?!?" a reporter from the Post would ask.
The Yankees were in a terrible rut and had lost their previous five games; 1 to the Angels, 2 to the Red Sox and 2 to the Rays, all at home. Ugly. How do you spell relief? Take two CCs and call us in the morning, chief. CC Sabathia threw a complete game shut out, dominating after the first inning. He was just overpowering, striking people out right and left, even after a couple of little bloop hits int he 9th inning. CC certainly lived up to his big contract that day, no question. He's just the sort of pitcher the Yankees have been lacking the last few years.
Yes, Arod is back. First pitch, first at bat, bam - 3 run homer. You can't make this stuff up. It sounds totally unbelievable, but that's how it happened; that's just baseball. You can say whatever you want about him, but he sure does have a good swing. So the Yankees finally stopped their losing streak with a satisfying victory over the Orioles.
And then Phil Hughes showed up and ruined everything. Since his first start in the big leagues, he's been extremely disapointing, and it sounds like Chien-Ming Wang is really close to being ready, so we think Hughes will get one more start, but that's it, and it'll be back to Scranton with him. He deserves it - he got totally shelled by the Orioles.
After Joba Chamberlin gave up two hits and then a three run homer, you had to be thinking, "Here we go again." But, he held them down for the next five innings and ended up giving a quality start with 6 IP and 3 runs, not bad at all. It sure is tough to work that way, but, Johnny Damon had another big homer, along with Mark Teixeira's in the first inning, and the Yankees were able to squeak by and take the series.
So the Yankees find themselves under .500, and you'll here a lot of people are sitll down on them. But, you compare this team with last year's Yankees, and this team is definetly better. That team won 89 games - this team should win more. It's that simple.

Rays at Yankees May, 2009
The first game was a heart breaker, no question. You don't want to lose extra inning games at home, that's for certain. But once the Yankees got deep into their bullpen, confidence begins to wane. You can see it in everyone's faces, their body language and the end result. You look at the standings and see the Yankees under .500, and you might want to point to Mark Teixeira's meager offense, and you might be concerned about the Yankees offense. Go to the Yankees website and look at their schedule and take a look at the results. The Yankees are 1-5 in May and have scored at least 3 runs in all 6 games, so that doesn't sound like games lost because of offensive struggles. In fact, the Yankees have only failed to score at least 3 runs in 3 games so far this season. Now take a look at the May numbers and the runs scored in the games they lost by their opponents: 8, 6, 7, 4, 8. There are two decent starts by Sabathia and Burnett in there, but they're just average performances, not the lock down starts the team desperately needs. It all comes down to pitching, which is pathetically under performing right now. Although the starters are not pitching well, the bullpen is the worst offenders. The loss of Brian Bruney has been the most devastating of all Yankee injuries so far this year, followed by Jorge Posada, the real leader of that team. Derek Jeter is the media leader, the public face of the organization, but Posada is the leader on the field, and that's as it should be - he's the starting catcher, running the game every night from behind home plate. But back to the bullpen... these guys are really stinking up the place. True, Mariano Rivera's recent inability to keep the ball in the park is a concern, but you can't worry about Mo, because if you have to worry about him, the season is already over anyway. The Yankees need somebody to lock up the 7th and 8th inning; they desperately need a long reliever for when the starters fall flat and they could use somebody else just to give the other guys a night off. Right now, guys we thought were totally capable are just not getting it done. We knew Jose Veras and Edwar Ramirez were inconsistent, but this is ridiculous. If the Yankees pitching could hold the opposition down to a minimum of four runs a game, they'd have 4 more wins right now at least, and this isn't too much to ask; after all, it's not like they're pitching against the Yankees lineup. Hopefully, the inclusion of ARod behind Teixeira will turn a great offense into an amazing one, but the real solution to the Yankees problem is pitching... and we have no idea how to fix it.

Red Sox at Yankees May, 2009
You hear someone struck out 12 hitters in one game and you think, that pitcher must have won the game. Well, not this time. Joba Chamberlin pitched 5 and 2/3 innings and did strike out 12, but he let up four runs in the first inning. Now, from both sides of the Joba debate, you'll hear the voices - the 'leave Joba in the rotation' camp will say, "Wow! 12 strike outs!" and the 'put Joba in the bullpen' camp will say, "He knocked the Yankees out of the game in the first inning." You could have heard as much from Michael Kay and Mike Francesa. We tend to think that Joba will be an above average starting pitcher and the Yankees should give him a solid chance at the roll throughout the 2009 season; they can always put him back in the pen next year. We don't think you can dismiss 12 strikeouts in 5 plus innings and the idea that a game is over when it's 4-0 after the first inning is ridiculous, especially in the modern game - take a look at Angels at Yankees on Friday, May 1st, final score 10-9 in favor of the Yankees; and only 1 home run was hit in that game. As for the Phil Hughes game? The Red Sox just beat up on him and the weather also seemed to effect Hughes. Now, the Yankees are 0-5 against the Red Sox this season; so, they'll have to do better the next 16 times they play them for the rest of the year.

Angels at Yankees May, 2009
After a 2-4 road trip, the Yankees return to the comfy and soggy confines of Yankee Stadium. And we've got pictures! Read more...

Yankees at Indians April 2009
After getting swept by the Boston Red Sox during the Sunday Night Baseball, the Yankees trudged into Detroit with CC Sabathia on the mound. Although he went 8 innings, he gave up 4 runs. The Yankees eeked out two runs in the top of the 9th inning, but it wasn't enough and the Yankees were dealt their fourth consecutive loss.
With Chien-Ming Wang on the disabled list, the Yankees called up Phil Hughes for his first tour of duty in 2009, and he answered the call with 6 innings of two hit shut out ball. Hughes had pretty much everything working, and after the top of the seventh, it didn't matter anymore. The Yankees offense exploded for a zillion runs, showing a bit of the feast and famine innings that is beginning to look typical of the Yankees offense this year, and they ran away with the game. Make a long story short, the Yankees come back and win the series after losing the first game by taking the next two, and they do it with solid pitching by Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlin. We think Chamberlain is very close tp breaking out, by the way, and rolling into a good season in the starting rotation. Nice way to put a stop to a four game losing streak!

Reactions to new and old ARod steroid allegations
New excerpts obtained by the New York Daily News from the upcoming book "ARod" make allegations that ARod took steroids in high school and probably continued to use performance enhancing drugs after high school and after he was with the Texas Rangers, meaning he was using PEDs when he was with the Yankees. Our reaction is simple: so? Read more...

Yankees at Red Sox, April 2009
Now here is a great example of a rough weekend on the road for the New York Yankees; you come into Boston and run into the Red Sox who are red hot, winners of their last seven games, and things just don't go right for you. You have Mariano Rivera on the mound with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning and a 2 run lead and Rivera gives up a two run homer and Joba Chamberlin's gritty outing is wasted and you lose in extra innings. Rough. You show up the next day and jump out to a 6 nothing lead with AJ Burnett on the mound, who has been the team's best starter so far this season, and you end up losing a slug fest, which is strange because the Red Sox have Josh Beckett on the mound. Very Rough. You show up for Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, your second nationally telivised game in as many days, and you try salvage a game out of the series, and you get shut down by a hard throwing rookie and get swept. Now that's what we call a rough weekend. Sure, there was strange moments: why did Joe Girardi go to Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 8th inning with Jonathan Albaladejo already throwing strike one to the batter with two outs; before Rivera gave up the home run, he had to dodge a hit ball Keanu Reeves Matrix style and you have to wonder if that shook him up; and who would have guessed Burnett and Beckett would both get whacked? So, the Yankees leave Boston and head for Detroit not feeling that god about themselves - they'll have to do their best to even the score when Boston comes to New York in May.

Athletics at Yankees, April 2009
The Monday night game for the first meeting of the year between the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees was washed away, and since this gave the Yankees the opportunity to send Chien-Ming Wang down to pitch in an extended spring training game in Tampa, things worked out for the best. Andy Pettitte started for the Yankees and went seven strong innings of well pitched ball, allowing no walks. He allowed 9 hits, but the Indians only converted that into 2 runs, and 2 wasn't going to be enough. Brian Bruney served up another hold in the 8th inning, and if there was ever any doubt about who owns the 8th inning, he's put that to rest, we think; we think he's clearly the 2nd best pitcher in the pen. Mariano Rivera locked it down for his 4th save, and suddenly, nobody hit any homeruns... except Johnny Damon, but good pitching will do that for you. Dana Eveland got knocked out early and gave up 9 hits and 4 runs with only 12 outs recorded and that was really all the damage the Yankees needed to do, although Damon's homerun against Andrew Bailey in the 6th inning was nice insurance. Eveland poor control of his pitches gave the Yankees offense the opportunity they needed, and Eveland 4 walks tells most of the tale, which never really gave his team much of a chance, although the Athletics bullpen did what they could to keep them in the game. Yankees 5, Athletics 3.
So... much... baseball...
The Yankees and Athletics dueled it out in a 14 inning slug fest, powered by Melky Cabrera's off A's starting pitcher Brett Anderson and then his walkoff home run, his second two run homer of the game, against former Yankee Dan Giese. It was the kind of game where you might ask afterwords to see a list of who pitched, and you see so many names you say, "No, I don't need to know every pitcher that both teams carry, just who pitched today," to which you would be replied, "I HEARD YOU, all of these guy pitched today!" CC Sabathia struggled again and only struck out two batters in 6.2 innings and walked 4, but after six innings, he was well over 100 pitches and you had to question why manager Joe Girardi ran him back out there with a lead to start the seventh, which he gave up. In the end, Jose Veras went 3.1 innings of hitless, scoreless ball, a very impressive outing after he walked the first batter. Veras and Melky were the heroes of the day, and no matter what you might say about the game, all those wins look the same in the W column. Yankees 9, Athletics 7.

Indians at Yankees, April 2009
The Yankees would have probably preferred to open up the new Yankee Stadium's first official game with a win, but that didn't happen. They also probably would have preferred to not have the first series be a four game series, which are more often then not split between the two teams, in this case, the Indians and the Yankees. The game looked like a tight pitcher's duel between CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee. Sabathia went 5.2 innings but started the sixth inning well over 100 pitches and was lifted with two outs for Edwar Ramirez, who gave up a hit and was then replaced by Phil Coke, who got the last out of the inning. Sabathia struggled with his pitch control and walked five and struck out four; it felt like a sub par outing, but it really wasn't all that bad. Cliff Lee held the Yankees to just one run over six innings although giving up seven hits and three walks. In the seventh inning Jose Veras opened the flood gates and allowed three earned runs while not getting single runner out and was lifted for Damaso Marte, who promptly got demolished for two home runs, ultimately giving up six runs. Scranton Shuttle rider David Robertson finished the game for two scoreless innings and is knocking on the door to take a Yankees reliever job. Indians 10, Yankees 2... and so ended the first day.
A somewhat erratic Joba Chamberlin started game 2, who didn't get out of the 5th inning and allowed five runs. Then, the Yankees bullpen took over for a combined 4.1 scoreless innings and allowing only three hits. Phil Coke, Jonathan Albaladejo, Brian Bruney (who got his 2nd win of the season and will get many more, count on it) and Mariano Rivera (3rd save) all took the reigns and got the Yankees their first win in their new park. The offense did it's part, too: the Yankees turned eight hits into six runs including home runs by Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter (game winner in the 8th inning); Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, and Melky Cabrera also contributed with an RBI each, and nearly all were done with two outs. Yankees 6, Indians 5... and so ended the second day.
To say Chien-Ming Wang is having a bad start is like saying the housing market is down - a bit of an understatement. Wang got through the first inning without letting up a run, a personal best this year, but the wheels came off in the second inning and Wang was lifted for another Scranton Shuttle rider, Anthony Claggett - all told, Wang was credited with eight earned runs in just 1.1 innings and it all started innocently enough with a bloop hit, and Wang came unraveled. Clagget, the day's sacrificial lamb in case Wang couldn't hang, managed to finish the inning, a historic 14 run affair for the Tribe - Claggett pitched one more inning before he was lifted for Edwar Ramirez, who gave up 4 ER, then Jose Veras, who gave up 1 ER and Damaso Marte, who also gave up 1 ER for a spectacular total of 22 runs. Wang's velocity is down and his mechanics look different from last year; he's more free swinging and not as compact. Yankees coaching says he looks good in the bullpen but Wang's good stuff isn't making it on to the mound. You have to wonder how many more starts they're willing to loose before they skip a start or put him on the DL; Wang is out of options and can't be sent down to Scranton - his next start would be in Boston... Need was say more? Indians 22, Yankees 4... and so ended the third day.
Desperate for a pick me up, the Yankees turned to A.J. Burnett, who has pitched well in the early going, and he did not disappoint. Although he struggled with his command and walked 7, Burnett threw 6.1 innings and allowed only 3 runs on 3 hits. Jonathan Albaladejo got his first win of the year after finishing the seventh inning, Brian Bruney got his 3rd hold of the year and since Mariano Rivera was already warmed up, he pitched a scoreless 9th, his old dominate self despite the shoulder surgery. You can't say enough about what AJ Burnett has meant to the Yankees in the early going - coupled with Andy Pettitte, they're both saving the bullpen and getting the team wins in style. Jorge Posada had the somewhat dubious honor of having his home run examined by replay, resulting in the call on the field standing, it was a home run, sorry we wasted your time. It was a close game for most of the day; Carl Pavano, now a member of the tribe, pitched 6 innings and allowed only 1 run, but his bullpen was not so kind, as Rafael Perez allowed a double to Robinson Cano and didn't retire either hitter he faced and Jensen Lewis gave up the aforementioned home run to Posada, which gave the Yankees the lead, and they put another 3 spot up in the bottom of the 8th, and that put the game out of reach for the Indians, who faced Rivera in the 9th. Yankees 7, Indians 3... and so ended the fourth day, and the Steinbrenner brothers saw this and it was good.

Fan sues Yankees and city of New York over ejection from stadium during God Bless America
A man named Bradford Campeau-Laurion was ejected from an August 26, 2008 Yankees vs Red Sox game when he attempted to leave his seat during the playing of God Bless America to use the bathroom, and he's suing. His lawsuit says that when he tried to pass a police officer, the officer grabbed his right arm, twisted it behind his back and two officers marched him out of the stadium and apparently suggested that he leave the country if he wasn't a fan of God Bless America. Read more...

Yankees at Rays April 2009
The Yankees finished off their road trip at the Tampa Bay Rays, arriving just in time to see them raise their American League Championship banner, a day many of us (probably including many people in the Rays organization) thought would never come. The Yankees started Chien-Ming Wang and he proved to be worse than he was during his first start against the Baltimore Orioles. Wang recorded only 3 outs in 1+ innings of work, giving up 6 hits in 8 walks before he was replaced by Jonathan Albaladejo, who gave up the home run that credited those finally three runs to Wang on a grand slam. We think Wang will come around, but we're not sure how long it will take and whether or not he should be making his corrections at the big league level. In any case, it's clear from watching him that he's struggling with his delivery, something the Yankees coaching staff says he's not doing during his bullpen sessions, so they're confident he'll get over it. We think four starts (two more after this) is a fair assessment time frame, but we'll have to see what the Yankees do. With the wheels coming off so early, Scott Kazmir had no trouble winnings this game 15 to 5.
Game two saw new Yankee A.J. Burnett again prove he's worth his $82.5 million, five-year contract he he threw a no hitter through six innings before finally letting up 2 runs and pitching eight total innings. Derek Jeter had three hits and a big home run that put the game out of reach for the Rays in the 9th inning. But, the win didn't come without it's price. While throwing a ball in from right field, Xavier Nady felt pain in his right elbow, and it looks to be pretty bad. No word yet on whether his surgically repaired elbow while require a second (and probably season ending) surgery. Fortunately, the Yankees still have Nick Swisher, who is hitting out of his mind and represents no downgrade in right field.
In the rubber game of the series, Andy Pettitte delivered seven and a third solid innings of work and let in 3 runs. Brian Bruney finished the eighth inning and ultimately got the win as Derek Jeter hit a single that brought in the winning run in the 9th inning. The Yankees go home from their road trip winners, winning two out of three series - you'd like them to win series against teams like Baltimore, but oh well - plenty of baseball left to correct that! The 1998 Yankees really spoiled us with their 115 game season, but so far, things are looking good. The big concerns are Wang's pitching, the middle relief's inconsistency and the health of Nady's elbow and Hideki Matsui's knees. Matsui isn't really hitting much, but luckily for all, Nick Swisher is hitting the cover off the ball. We're pretty confident that Mark Teixeira's wrist injury isn't a big deal. Cody Ransom can't hit, but we all knew that, so the Yankees will have to make due at third base the best they can until ARod can return and really fatten up the middle of the Yankees order.

Yankees at Royals April 2009
Andy Pettitte started Friday's game against the Kansas City Royals, their home opener. Our old friend Sidney Ponson started for the Royals and, well, as you can imagine, the Yankees roughed him up and won the game. We'll say this for Royal's - Koffman Stadium's new big screen is really impressive, just as nice as the one at the new Yankee Stadium. Otherwise, their team is not so great. Tony Pena junior is now coming off the bench, which is a real statement about how they feel about him and the fact that he can't start for that particular team, meaning if he can't start there, he probably can't start anywhere (backwards "New York, New York"). Andy Pettite went 7 innings and gave up only 1 run while Sidney Ponson went 6 innings and gave up 4 runs. Our old buddy Kyle Farnsworth threw a perfect inning, but it wasn't enough to help the Royals overcome a 4-1 deficit.
In game 2, Nick Swisher exploded again for 3 RBI and led the Yankees in offense with the absence of Mark Teixeira, who is nursing a sore wrist and also missed Sunday's game. CC Sabathia also wanted to make a statement after his poor first outing and did so with 7.2 strong, scoreless innings, striking out 6 and allowing 6 hits. Sabathia was a monster - his fastball was in the mid 90s and his change ups were outstanding. Jorge Posada also had 3 RBI and looks strong at the plate in the early goings.
The final game of the series matched up Joba Chamberlin in his 2009 season debut against Royals ace Gil Meche. Chamberlin pitched a great game, although he labored at times through the rainy day and sluggish footing. Chamberlin raked up 5 strike outs and only 1 walk in 6 innings and had good stuff despite hitting two batters with sliders that he yanked. While Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte had a good day, the rest of the Yankees relievers didn't fare as well. Jose Veras walked the batter he faced and that run was charged to him when Phil Coke allowed three hits and 2 runs to score along with Veras' base runner. So while the important thing is to win the series, which the Yankees did, they had a sweep within their grasp and the bullpen let it slip way.
After 6 games, Cody Ransom has only 1 hit, and you have to wonder if the Yankees are starting to get itchy. If he was playing a sparkling third base, it would be easier to ignore, but he's made a few bad plays. We're not sure what sort of ability Ramiro Pena has to play third base, but, if Ransom keeps up like this, someone else might get an opportunity.
Yahoo! columnist Jeff Passan has a story up about how much the Yankees miss ARod's bat. No question, ARod is a force in the middle of the line up and the Yankees will be much improved both offensively and defensively when he returns, but to say the Yankees are struggling offensively is ridiculous. In their first 6 games, the Yankees scored at least four runs all but once and they've exploded for as many as 11. This doesn't sound like a team having a hard time scoring runs. Is Cody Ransom doing a pathetic job filling ARod's shoes? Again, no question. Is the team 3-3 because ARod is on the DL? Nope; the lost all three games because of pitching. Jeff could have figured this out if he simply red the box scores; he didn't even need to watch the games. Oh well, better luck next time, tough guy.
Oh and the fact that Chamberlin handed a lead to the bullpen and they blew it doesn't spark debate about whether Chamberlin should be a starter or a reliever - when teams have crappy starters, they don't have leads to hand off, unless the other pitcher's starting pitchers were even crappier. Brian Bruney is an excellant 8th inning option; get over it!
[April 2009]

Yankees about face against Orioles and avoid sweep
Starting pitcher AJ Burnett gave the Yankees what they desperately needed: five and a third innings reasonably pitched baseball. Burnett gave up 1 home run, allowed 7 hits, 1 walk and struck out 6 for a total of 2 earned runs. The Yankees have found ways to put runs on the board during the entire series with the Orioles, but their pitching fell pretty flat during games one and two, but not so this time. Phil Coke followed Burnett and struck out both batters he faced to finish out the sixth inning. Jose Veras allowed no hits and one strike out during the seventh inning. Brian Bruney fanned 2 batters during a hitless inning and Mariano Rivera struck out one during his hitless ninth. True, the Yankees offense in the sixth and seventh innings probably took the wind out of the Orioles postion players' sails, but thats going to happen. Over the course of what turned into a 11-2 route by the Yankees, they saw doubles from Nady, Gardner and Swisher, homeruns from Teixeira, Swisher and Cano and RBI from Teixeira (one), Swisher (wow! five!), Molina (one) and Cano (two). Relax, Yankees fans - the good starting pitching performances are coming, we swear! [April 9, 2009]

Yankees at Orioles Game 2 April 9
We didn't get to watch Yankees at Orioles, Game 2 on April 9 of the 2009 season, but the box score speaks volumes. Chien-Ming Wang didn't make it through the fourth inning, and when you're starting pitcher can't get through five innings, you have a very low percentage of winning that game, as we saw in game 1 when CC Sabathia got knocked out early. We don't think this is any indication of how the Yankees starters will pitch and we are reminded of that amazing 2008 team that won 125 games and started the season 1-4... we're not saying this team is that good, but they are pretty good. We'll be patient and not render much judgement on this 2009 version of the Yankees until around May 1. You can't really get on Girardi, or anybody, really... when a starting pitcher doesn't have their best stuff, its hard to look at anybody else on the team except the starting pitcher. You can ask your catcher to make some adjustments, but Jorge Posada hasn't played much since his 2008 campaign was shortened because of injuries (just as Wang's was), and even if he was back up to speed (which we don't think he is yet), Posada isn't a miracle worker. So we'll sit back and watch - it's too early to start pulling our hair out. [April 8 2009]

Yankees at Orioles on opening day
The New York Yankees squared off against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards for their first game of the season. CC Sabathia, the crown jewel in the Yankees off season triple crown, struggled with his control, particularly with his fastball. His curve ball looked good, but it appeared he was trying to throw a two seam fastball to the corners and kept missing. He got away with it for a while, but he just threw too many pitches and combined with a misplay by Cody Ransom at third that should have been scored an error, Sabathia wasn't able to get through the fourth inning. Relievers Brian Bruney and Phil Coke let the game get out of hand after the Yankees offense rallied back.
For the most part, the team played well, but a few bad performances by pitchers let the Orioles run away with the game. So that's one game down, 161 games to go.
On the bright side, Cabathia has an arsenal of pitches that really look impressive. We saw four seam fastballs, two seam fastballs, curve balls, splitters, change ups and cutters. He didn't have it all working in game 1, but he did give us hope for his next start. [April 2009]

Yankees 2009 Season begins...
The Yankees reloaded their starting pitching rotation, which addressed their biggest need In fact, the Yankees look primed to go far this season, in the rough and tumble AL East. They've got good starting pitching, good bullpen guys in all slots, offense, and good enough defense to make this the best Yankees team since 2003 without question and after last year, you know Derek Jeter is going to be hungry, not to mention Jorge Posada, who missed most of the 08 season.

Notable Yankees for the 2009 Season
Derek Jeter
For the fist time in his career, Derek Jeter didn't get to the playoffs. We speculate he spent October driving everyone he knows insane.

Alex Rodriguez
Things are never dull in ARod's life, are they? Steroids, divorce, tabloids... who knows what else life has to throw at this guy? We hope he gets clocked right int he forehead with a world series ring.

CC Sabathia
The Yankees have the number one starter they desperately needed in CC Sabathia. He won't have much trouble adjusting to playing for the Yankees and the extra attention.

AJ Burnett
Can he handle the bright lights of the Bronx? Probably. He's got filthy stuff and he's pitched well against the Yankees in recent years... but there are injury concerns.

Andy Pettitte
Is this the last year Pettitte plays pro ball? We think so, and if the Yankees go all the way this year, we think it's a lock.

Robinson Cano
We think Cano will have a break out year and hit for average and power - in fact, we think so highly of him, we think he might be the next Manny Ramirez, with less attitude, and probably not as much talent, but its a fair trade off.

Jorge Posada
After an injury shortened 2008, we think Posada will have one of the better seasons of his career and play like a man possessed.

Mark Teixeira
We think Teixeira can handle playing in the Bronx, but only time will tell. He's a great fielder and has a nice bat, bringing an improvement at the number three hole in the batting order... at least, that's where we would bat him.

Johnny Damon
Damon will probably split time between LF and DH and have a typical Damon year, assuming he stays healthy.

Chien-Ming Wang
We think Wang will stay healthy and put in his usual 15+ wins, just another day at the office - but, look for improved splitters and change ups.

Mariano Rivera
Assuming Mo's surgery went well, we expect a typical season from him.

Joba Chamberlain
We think Chamberlain can be a great starter and can give the Yankees a rotation few teams in baseball can hope to compete with.

Joe girardi
We expect more of the same form Girardi; solid bullpen management along with some aggressive play on the base paths.

Brian Cashman
Hopefully, nobody gets hurt this year and we don't hear from this guy at all.

Hank Steinbrenner
Hank doesn't seem to have George's personality, but watch for a blow up if the Yankees start out the 2009 season slowly.

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