The one that got away!
Yankees fail to bury Red Sox in 4-game split

There were no winners and no real losers. The Boston Red Sox came into this weekend’s wrap around series at Yankee Stadium trailing the New York Yankees by six games. They left the Bronx after Monday’s game trailing by the same six game margin by virtue of a four game split. The Yankees, on the other hand, fared a little better. Although not able to gain ground on the Red Sox they did pull further ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are in action tonight against the Detroit Tigers. A win would pull the Rays within a 1-1/2 games of the division leaders and a loss would put them 2-1/2 games behind.

Sox starter Jon Lester was absolutely dominating in the early and middle innings of the contest. He didn’t allow a hit until the bottom of the fifth inning. He went seven innings, surrendering only four hits and no runs while striking out six and walking three. He threw 99 pitches before turning the ball over to reliever Daniel Bard in the eighth inning.

Phil Hughes pitched a doozy himself. Even though he wasn’t quite as dominant as Lester Hughes threw six strong innings and only allowed two runs, all in the second inning, on six hits. He struck out three and walked one in the loss.

The pitchers were the story of the day, but the story of the weekend was the Yankees failure to take advantage of playing this series at home. If the Yankees had won the series or had swept the Sox they could’ve taken a commanding eight to nine game lead in the division race. As it is Boston remained six games behind the Yankees and depending upon what the Rays do are within striking distance of the wild card slot.

The Red Sox took the lead in the game in the second on a throwing error by catcher Jorge Posada. LF Ryan Kadish hit a one out single to right and then stole second to set himself up into scoring position. Posada threw the ball wide of the bag and into the outfield. Kadish popped up and took third. He scored the first run on 2B Bill Hall’s infield hit to shortstop. CF Jacoby Ellsbury followed with a single to shallow center field allowing Hall to go to third. Hall scored on RF J.D. Drew’s grounder to Robinson Cano at second. Hughes got catcher Victor Martinez to ground out to end the inning.

Lester kept the Yankees off balance by mixing his pitches all afternoon. The Bombers best chance came in the bottom of the seventh when Posada led off with a single. DH Marcus Thames doubled to deep right, narrowly missing a game tying home run, but the slow-footed Posada could only make it to third. Lester then hit LF Austin Kearns to load the bases with no one out. Boston manager Terry Francona kept Lester in the game to face CF Curtis Granderson and Lester rewarded Francona by striking Granderson out on three pitches out of the strike zone.

Francona made a pitching change bringing in the hard throwing Daniel Bard to face SS Derek Jeter and RF Nick Swisher. Bard struck both of the Yankee hitters out leaving the bases full of Yankees and nothing to show for it.

The Yankee had one more shot at winning the game in the bottom of the eighth when 1B Mark Teixeira led off with a long solo shot into the second deck in right field off Bard. 3B Alex Rodriguez followed with a single and he was replaced on the bases by the speedy Brett Gardner. Gardner moved to second on a ground out by Cano. Posada walked, but neither runner advanced as pinch hitter Lance Berkman popped out to left. Berkman ran off the field to a chorus of boos.

At this point Francona went to his stopper Jonathan Papelbon to record the final out of the inning. He did so on one pitch as Kearns swung at the first pitch and grounded out to second.

Papelbon returned in the ninth to close out the game. He struck out Granderson, Swisher and Teixeira to put the final stamp on an afternoon of terrific pitching.

"Give them credit because they made the big pitch when they needed to," Teixeira told reporters after the game. "It was kind of a bend but we don't break attitude for them today, and we just couldn't come up with the big hit."

Manager Joe Girardi said the Yankees had their chances to score, but the Sox bullpen kept the Yankees at bay.

"We missed a lot of opportunities in the last three innings," Girardi said to the media. "We had some chances to score some runs. Obviously they have a good back end of the bullpen, but we had our shots."

Hopefully for the Yankees they won’t look back on this series as the season winds down to wonder what if? The next meeting between the two clubs won’t be until September 24, and they might be the most important games of all.

"We know that there's still a lot of baseball and we have to continue to try and win series," Girardi stated. "I'm going to say it again and you probably get tired of hearing it. No one said it was going to be easy."

The Yankees take their show on the road as they fly to Texas to take on the Rangers in a 2-game series in Arlington before moving onto Kansas City to face the Royals in a 4-game set. The Red Sox head to Toronto to play three against the always tough Blue Jays, and then follow the Yankees down to Texas to face the Rangers in a 3-game series.

© 2010 Yankees Talk Shop @ yuku.com.
Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop, Pride in the Pinstripes or its affiliates is strictly prohibited.

500 Gets Mo One!
Rivera gets first ever RBI while recording 500th career save

It was a wacky 9th inning to be sure. The Yankees were holding on to a precarious one run lead going into the top half of the inning and the cat and mouse game between Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Mets manager Jerry Manuel began.

To set this up you have to go back to the bottom of the 8th inning when RHRP Brian Bruney took the ball from Phil Hughes. Hughes came into the game in the 6th and threw a scoreless and hitless 1-1/3 innings. Bruney was a mixed bag of tricks as he walked Mets third baseman David Wright to open the frame, and then induced OF Gary Sheffield to pop out to Derek Jeter. Bruney subsequently walked Fernando Tatis, moving Wright into scoring position before striking out Fernando Martinez.

Seeing a chance to sweep their cross town rivals Girardi pulled out Bruney and handed the ball to his closer Mariano Rivera.

Rivera, who has been the Yankees stopper since taking the reins from John Wetteland after the 1996 season, was on the verge of making history. Rivera was sitting on 499 saves with a chance to become only the second man in baseball history to record 500 saves. The leader in the saves category is Trevor Hoffman who currently owns 571 of them.

After Wright stole third Rivera buckled down and struck out Omir Santos to end the inning.

The weirdness began as the Yankees came to bat. Manuel realizing how bad his team needed this game against their home town foes brought in his closer, Francisco Rodriguez, to hopefully hold down the Bombers and keep the Mets within a run. Unfortunately, Rodriguez ran into bad luck…..again.

On June 12, Rodriguez entered a game against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Rodriguez and the Mets were nursing an 8-7 lead. Rodriguez retired Brett Gardner before giving up a single to Jeter. He was able to strike out Johnny Damon with Jeter stealing second, and then intentionally walked first baseman Mark Teixeira in order to face Alex Rodriguez.

Things went according to script for the Mets as A-Rod popped the ball up into short right field. He slammed his bat down in disgust and ran towards first base as second baseman Luis Castillo drifted under the ball. He put his glove up, in went the ball, and then it came back out and landed on the grass at Castillo’s feet. Both Jeter and Teixeira raced around the bases and scored the tying and winning runs on Castillo’s muff. It was Francisco Rodriguez’s first blown save in 17 attempts.

The first batter Rodriguez faced in Sunday’s contest was Jorge Posada. Posada blooped a pop up into short center field as shortstop Alex Cora and Castillo went back on the ball. Cora looked at Castillo thinking he was going to get the ball and slowed down. When he realized Castillo wasn’t going for the ball Cora attempted to get to it, but ball made its way to the grass giving Posada a gift single.

Rodriguez had to be cursing Yogi Berra, because it was déjà vu all over again. He got Melky Cabrera to ground into a force play, eliminating Posada at second, but then allowed Cabrera to steal the bag on him. Rodriguez then walked Brett Gardner, putting the Yankees into somewhat of a quandary.

The next hitter was Jeter, but behind him Rivera was scheduled to bat. Attempting his best Houdini slight-of-hand Girardi tried to fool Manuel into believing the Yankees were going to have reserve catcher Francisco Cervelli bat for Rivera. While Cervelli stood in the on deck circle stretching, and going through the motions of acting like he was going to hit Rivera sat in the dugout with a batting helmet and gloves on. Somebody must have said something to him, because Rivera took off the helmet, but left the gloves on. He was having a hard time keeping a straight face.

It was difficult to tell if Manuel was taking Girardi seriously or whether Rodriguez and Santos (catching) misread a sign, but as Jeter settled in to face him Rodriguez threw the ball over the outside corner of the plate for a strike. Jeter backed out of the batter’s box and smiled, glancing toward the Mets dugout with a look of “are you kidding me? You’re going to pitch to me?”

Apparently, sanity returned to the situation and Jeter was intentionally walked to load the bases.

Up walked Rivera who was making only the third at bat in his decorated career, and the second of this season. It was a rare instant where the closer of one team was batting against the closer of the other team. It was just another bizarre moment in an odd inning.

Rodriguez worked the count against Rivera to 2-2. Rodriguez poured in a fastball, which Rivera fouled straight back. Appearing more dangerous now, Rivera evidently rattled Rodriguez who then threw balls three and four, walking his opposite number and forcing in an insurance run. It was Rivera’s first recorded RBI.

As Rivera trotted toward first and Cabrera crossed the plate to make it a 4-2 Yankees lead the Bombers dugout erupted into whoops and hollers. It was though Rivera’s teammates had seen Santa Claus for the first time. They were genuinely acting like a bunch of little kids reacting to what had just transpired.

The fact that Teixeira struck out to end the inning didn’t matter to him or the rest of the squad. They put a fork into their longtime adversary and now it was Rivera’s turn to show why he is the greatest closer the game has ever seen.

Rivera induced Castillo to ground to second; he struck out Jeremy Reed looking and ended the game by also getting Cora to ground out to second. As the ball nestled into Teixeira’s glove at first to record the final out Rivera sealed his name once again into the record books.

Teixeira was one of the first to reach him and handed Rivera the ball.

Posada, Rivera’s battery mate had a message for him. “I told him he’s the best ever,” Posada told reporters later. “The best I’ve seen. Nobody can even compare,”

Every member of the Yankees came out onto the field and gave Rivera a big hug and words of encouragement. Some of them commented on Rivera’s historic at bat against Rodriguez.

“He looks good up there,” longtime teammate Andy Pettitte said to reporters after the game. “I think in Atlanta they gave him a take sign and he swung anyway.”

Even Rivera remarked on the at bat.

“I had one thing in mind—just try to do something,” Rivera said, before talking about his save. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely special.”

Manuel, whose team has been ravaged by injuries, had to say this about Rivera’s night.

“He’s one of the premier closers in my time,” Manuel told reporters. “I wasn’t applauding him tonight, but you do have to applaud that.”

Another first happened in this game as well. Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang recorded his first victory of the season after staggering to a 0-6 start. Wang allowed two earned runs on four hits in 5.1 innings of work. He struck out three and walked three batters. The loser, Livan Hernandez (5-3), actually pitched better than Wang. He went seven innings and allowed three earned runs on three hits. He walked five and struck out one.

The nightmare for the Mets didn’t end with this game. After getting swept at home by the Yankees and losing five of six overall in interleague play the Mets had to catch a flight for Milwaukee to play the Brewers tonight at 7:08 pm EDT as part of ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball. The Yankees fared much better, catching a bus for the Bronx where they will open a home stand on Tuesday night against the visiting Seattle Mariners.

Getting back to Rivera, anyone who has the chance to watch this remarkable talent play should take every opportunity to do so, because as much as Yankee fans will hate to admit it, Rivera’s career is winding down. No matter how much he’d like to Mariano Rivera can’t pitch forever. He has been at the top of his class for much longer than most closers are expected to last. To be in the upper echelon for nearly 13 years is mind blowing.

How much more gas is in the tank? Only God and Mo know the answer to that one.

© 2009 Yankees Talk Shop @ yuku.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop, Pride in the Pinstripes or its affiliates is strictly prohibited

BoSox KO Yankees with early season sweep
Bronx Bummers go 3 and out

If this weekend proved anything it proves the 2009 version of the New York Yankees isn’t very good. At least they’re not good right now and not good in the State of Massachusetts.

The Boston Red Sox shredded the Yankees starting rotation of Joba Chamberlain, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte, along with a shoddy bullpen, for 25 runs on 34 hits, five of which were home runs to sweep the Yankees. With the weekend losses the Yankees dropped to 9-9 on the year, and they landed into third place, four games behind the front running Toronto Blue Jays. The Sox improved to 12-6 and moved to within one game of the Jays.

This was the first major test for the Yankees who, along with the Tampa Bay Rays and Red Sox, were considered by most experts to be one of the three best teams in all of baseball. Unfortunately for New York fans the Bronx Bummers didn’t live up to the hype.

On Friday evening, with the Yankees leading the Sox 4-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, Yankee manager Joe Girardi handed the ball to his star closer, Mariano Rivera, with the confidence Rivera would close the door and secure victory for the pinstripers.

It’s no secret Rivera has had difficulties from time to time in Fenway Park and this night proved no different. The inning started off well, as Rivera struck out David Ortiz, but then gave up a single to Kevin Youkilis who just happens to be the hottest hitter in the American League at the moment. He moved to second on JD Drew’s ground out and came home after Rivera threw a ball down the middle of the plate, which was promptly deposited into the deepest part of center field by outfielder Jason Bay. Rivera surrendered a single to third baseman Mike Lowell, but ended the inning by striking out catcher Jason Varitek.

Predictably, the damage was done.

The Yankees failed to score in the 10th and 11th innings and with Dámaso Marte on the mound Youkilis ended the game with a walk off home run as the Sox edged the Yankees 5-4.

The following afternoon bore out the Yankees inability to maintain a lead or get off the canvas when knocked down.

New York starter AJ Burnett cruised through the first three innings as the Yankees built a 6-0 lead in the top of the 4th inning. However, in the bottom of the frame Burnett unraveled and the Yankees allowed Boston back into the game. The Red Sox scored 5 runs, capped by Varitek’s grand slam, which by the way, doubled his RBI total for the year. The Sox scored 3 more runs in the 5th to take an 8-6 lead.

The Yankees scored 2 runs in the 6th and 7th innings, but the Red Sox answered with a run in their half of the 6th and 3 more in the 7th. The Yankees got a run in the 8th, but Boston ended it with a knockout in the bottom of the frame scoring 4 runs to make it a 16-13 victory in a slugfest that saw the two teams combine for 28 hits.

It seemed no matter what the Yankees did the Red Sox countered with greater ferocity.

Hoping to avoid the brooms leaving town the Yankees put their hopes in the left arm of Andy Pettitte. Pettitte has always been the Yankees slide stopper, and he has had a lot of success pitching in Fenway Park. Pettitte came into the game with a 2-0 record and a decent 2.53 ERA. Things were looking good, because the Red Sox had to counter with a kid by the name of Justin Masterson who was making an emergency start. Masterson had thrown just 11 innings in 5 previous appearances, and he was facing off with one of Baseball’s best gamers.

There are reasons teams play 162 games on the field and not on paper. Masterson mastered the Yankees, keeping them off balance in his 5.1 innings of work. Masterson allowed 6 measly hits, while striking out 4 and walking one. He did not give up an extra-base hit. Boston’s bullpen picked Masterson up after he exited the game by not allowing a run to help the young gun improve his record to 2-0.

On the other side of the mound Pettitte didn’t pitch bad, but he made a huge mental error in the game, which shifted momentum to the Red Sox side of the ledger. In the bottom of the 5th with Pettitte locked in a 1-1 ballgame he walked Varitek to start the inning. He struck out Ortiz, and then walked Jacoby Ellsbury, who is a blur on the bases. Pettitte induced Dustin Pedroia to fly out and it looked like he might get out of the inning, as he faced the struggling Ortiz.

Ortiz spoiled Pettitte’s attempt to get out of the inning unscathed by hitting an opposite field double into left field scoring Varitek and putting Ellsbury at third. Pettitte intentionally walked Youkilis to load the bases. While facing Drew, Pettitte and Posada neglected to check Ellsbury at third. Pettitte wound up and delivered a slow breaking pitch. While Pettitte was in his windup Ellsbury broke for home and slid head first across the dish before Posada had a chance to receive the ball from Pettitte and apply the tag.

The Yankees were stunned.

To add insult to injury Drew doubled to score Ortiz to make the score 4-1. New York was unable to overcome its mistakes and only collected two insignificant singles (Robinson Cano – top 6th; Melky Cabrera – top 9th) the rest of the way.

The Yankees who broke spring training camp in Tampa with two new arms (Burnett and CC Sabathia) in the starting rotation and a new power hitting, defensive first baseman (Mark Teixeira) had hopes for a fast start. After losing 2-of-3 in Baltimore where they were expected to win the Yankees went to Kansas City and won 2-of-3 to even their record at 3-3. They went home to open up their new $1.5 billion palace against the Cleveland Indians.

With the new digs as a backdrop, an enthusiastic crowd and their ace on the mound the Yankees opened their home stand with a 10-2 loss. Sabathia, who had been signed in the off-season for $161 million over 7 years had a good start, but was betrayed by his bullpen who gave up 9 runs to blow the game for the big lefty.

The Yankees won the following game 6-5, but were embarrassed by Cleveland in Saturday’s matinee game by coughing up 22 runs on 25 hits. It was one of the most lopsided losses in Yankees’ history. In fact New York, who owned a 2-0 lead after the first, gave up 14 runs in the top of the 2nd inning to break the MLB record for most runs scored by a team in a single inning. The old record was 13 previously held by--you guessed it--the Yankees.

Finally, in Sunday’s get away game the Yankees finally played solid baseball all the way around and beat the Indians 7-3 to unrighteously earn a split in the 4-game series.

The Yankees took a rain shortened, 2-game series against the visiting Oakland Athletics by beating the A’s 5-3 and 9-7 respectively, then headed into Boston with a 9-6 record and tied with the Red Sox for second place.

The Yankees, with their tails between their legs, head for Detroit where they will play the Tigers in a 3-game series before traveling back home to open their stint against the always dangerous Los Angeles Angels.

This team, so far, has been a huge disappointment. They have been grossly overrated at this juncture and have underperformed given their expectations. Mark Teixeira, although putting on displays of defensive genius, has been a mess at the plate. As one of the big winter signings Teixeira is expected to provide a lot of offense in replacing the aging Jason Giambi.

A notorious slow starter, it was hoped Teixeira would mash out of the gate, but true to form he has achieved little in the month of April. He is batting just .218 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI. In 55 at bats he has struck out 11 times.

He isn’t the only underachiever on the team. Cody Ransom, who is standing in for Alex Rodriguez until A-Rod returns in May, was only hitting .180 with no home runs and 6 RBI in 50 at bats before he injured his right quadriceps sliding into 2B on April 24. Center fielder Brett Gardner beat out Melky Cabrera for the starting job in spring training by swinging a hot bat, but has fallen off the radar screen with a .220 BA, 0 HR, 4 RBI and only 9 runs scored. Not a power hitter Gardner was expected to get on base and use his unbelievable speed to create scoring opportunities. So far Gardner is sporting an OBP of .254, which is not getting the job done.

There have been some bright spots though. Newcomer Nick Swisher has carried the team for much of the month of April. He is currently batting .286 with 4 HR and 13 RBI. With Xavier Nady on the disabled list Swisher has been able to play daily and has made the most of his opportunities.

The biggest surprises have been Robinson Cano and Cabrera.

Cano, who started the 2008 season as an undisciplined hitter, had a terrible first half season, and even though he warmed up in the second half of ’08 only batted .271. He had 14 HR and 72 RBI. This season Cano came out of the spring with a renewed purpose. He is the Yankees hottest hitter. Cano is batting .373 with 5 HR and 15 RBI. If nothing changed Cano would project out to 45 HR and 225 RBI. Obviously, that won’t play out, but you get the picture. Cano has completely turned his game around since the end of last season.

The same can be said for Cabrera who is hitting .303 in April. Melky has 4 HR and 7 RBI in limited playing time. Beat out of the center field job, Cabrera is showcasing his talent at the plate in hopes of possibly moving Gardner to the bench.

Up to now the Yankees have played rag-tag baseball. They are not getting timely pitching, nor are they getting timely hitting. The Yankees can’t expect to get 10-15 runs per game in order to win. They seem to have lost the killer instinct that marked the great Yankees teams of the ‘90’s. They get leads, lose them, and then lose the game. They’re not answering the bell when they get hit on the chin. In order to compete with other teams in their division the Yankees are going to have to get tougher. Now with Nady, set up man Brian Bruney, starter Chien-Ming Wang, Ransom and Alex Rodriguez all on the DL, it is up to the rest of the team to suck it up and get after it. Somebody is going to have to step up and put the team on his back, otherwise, the Yankees will fall further behind the front runners.

The Yankee organization spent a ton of money on marquee free agents to help this team get back into the winner’s circle. It also spent megabucks on opening a new citadel. But, unless the new stadium has a winning team in it the fans are going to find other things to do with their time. Yeah it’s early, but to me, the games in April and May mean just as much as those in August and September. A win is a win no matter when you get it.

If the Yankees can’t get off the deck when floored, then when that hot streak comes sometime during the season it’s going to be used in getting closer to the top, but not over it. And, as we all know the measure of a successful season for the Yankees is capturing the World Series trophy and taking a trip down the Canyon of Heroes. Anything less is considered failure.

Failure is not an option.

© 2009 Yankees Talk Shop @ yuku.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop, Pride in the Pinstripes or its affiliates is strictly prohibited

The Constant Gardner
Brett continues to improve his game







Special to Yankees Talk Shop
March 10, 2009

Coming into spring training Brett Gardner has something to prove to the New York Yankee brass. He has to prove that he belongs on the field playing at the crown jewel position of the New York Yankees. The same position that has seen such past greats as Earl Combs, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Bobby Murcer, and Bernie Williams. Brett Gardner has to prove he’s the 2009 center fielder for the Yankees.

The road to making this team hasn’t been an easy one. Gardner is a good old Southern boy born on August 24, 1983 in Holly Hill, South Carolina. With a population of around 1,300 Gardner attended high school at the Holly Hill Academy and later attended the College of Charleston where he was as unrefined as a ballplayer that the school would only take him as a walk-on.

Gardner remained an undrafted player after his junior year and if drafted at all he was projected to go in the lower rounds of the Major League baseball draft. It was in the second half of his final year at Charleston that teams started to take notice of his talent.

The New York Yankees called on Gardner and drafted him in the 3rd round of the 2005 Major League draft. He was assigned to the Short Season-A, Staten Island Yankees in the New York-Penn League. Gardner played 73 games for the Yankees hitting .284. He showed promise as a base stealer by swiping 19 bags in 22 attempts (86%), and helped the Yankees grab the McNamara Division title. In the playoffs Staten Island beat the Auburn Doubledays in the finals to take the New York-Penn League championship.

In 2006 Gardner moved up the Tampa Yankees where he played in 63 games before moving up to the Yankees Double-A affiliate the Trenton Thunder. Gardner finished the year playing in 118 games and batted .298 (.323 in Tampa and .272 in Trenton). He proved his prowess as a base stealer once again as he nabbed 58 bases in 70 tries (83%). Once more Gardner helped his team as the Thunder took the North Division crown of the Eastern League before falling to the Portland Sea Dogs in the semi-final round.

Gardner started out the 2007 season with the Thunder where in 54 games he hit .300 and drove in 17 runs while getting caught stealing only 4 times in 22 attempts (82%)

Things got tougher for Brett when he moved up to the Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barrie Yankees for the second half of the season. Gardner’s batting average fell to .260 and he only knocked in 9 runs in 45 games. However, he was still proving to be a threat on the base paths as he stole 21 of 24 bases (88%)

In 2008 Gardner had his dream come true as he was called up to the Bronx on June 30. The dream turned into somewhat of a nightmare as Gardner found out there was a world of difference between the levels of talent at the Triple-A level opposed to the major leagues. Gardner struggled mightily at the plate hitting only .161 in 56 at bats.

Gardner who had a reputation of being patient at the plate in the minors tried to use that same ploy in the majors, only to have it backfire. Gardner turned patience into reluctance and pitchers threw pitches in for strikes often putting the young player into a 0-2 count. Gardner struck out nearly once every 4 at bats (23.6%). The one bright spot in Gardner’s time in New York was his speed and stealing ability. When he did get on Gardner stole 13 times in 14 attempts. That wasn’t enough to keep him around and on July 26 he was demoted back down to Scranton.

He had to wonder if he had seen his 15 minutes of fame.

Gardner used his time in Scranton to improve his game. He worked with hitting coach Butch Wynegar to change his stance slightly by lowering his hands.

On Aug. 15, Gardner was recalled to the Yankees and hitting Coach Kevin Long continued to work on Gardner’s mechanics, taking out the stride in his stance, which allowed him to get to the ball quicker. The changes paid off as Gardner finished the rest of the season batting .283 (.228 overall).

In the off season Gardner continued to work at his hitting. Watching all of his at bats during the 2008 season along with continual batting practice has helped Gardner reinforce the corrections he’s made in his mechanics and also the areas he needs to improve.

So far, the result of hard work has paid off. In the eight games Gardner has played in he has gone 8-for-21 for a .381 BA. He hit his 3rd home run of the 2009 pre-season equaling the number he hit in Scranton last year. He has a lofty .435 OBP and a SLG% of .905.

"I'm seeing the ball well and my timing's pretty good right now, just trying to take advantage of good pitches to hit," Gardner said of his recent success.

Gardner is in a battle with Melky Cabrera who held the position most of last year until he was demoted to Scranton because of a substandard season. Cabrera who had his own rough beginning when he was promoted to the Yankees in 2005 came back in 2006 and had a very productive season (.280 BA, 7 HR, 50 RBI). He followed it up with another outstanding season in 2007 as Cabrera batted .273 with 8 HR and 73 RBI.

However, in 2008 Cabrera regressed at the plate and wasn’t showing the patience he had in the previous two seasons. Cabrera’s average dipped to .249 and his OBP and SLG% plunged as well. Cabrera was only hitting .201 with runners in scoring position when he was given a ticket to the minors.

When he went down, Gardner came up.

Cabrera returned to the club in September and had his first plate appearance on Sept. 17. Cabrera finished the month hitting 6-for-13 for a .462 average and a .923 OPS. There was something positive to build on in the off season.

Cabrera spent the winter playing ball, working hard in his home town of Santo Domingo and adding muscle to as he put it, “add strength and agility.”

The stage was set for a battle royal between Cabrera and Gardner in spring training.

We’ve seen Gardner’s numbers so far this spring, but what about Cabrera? He knows he has to come out and sparkle otherwise he will be the odd man out and that could mean a trade.

Cabrera’s numbers have been solid, but so far not in Gardner’s universe. Cabrera is hitting .278 with 0 HR, 2 RBI, a .381 OBP and a .389 SLG%.

In fielding percentage both Gardner and Cabrera are about dead even. Cabrera has no errors in 14 total chances while Gardner has one error in 13 total chances. Gardner has more speed, and both have good arms with Cabrera’s being slightly stronger.

Right now, it appears that Gardner has the inside track to start the season in center field, but keep in mind there is a lot of spring training left.

Manager Joe Girardi told reporters, "It's still wide open. There's a lot of things that can happen in the next few weeks. I don't think it's fair to really start judging too much now."

The competition between Cabrera and Gardner should remain fierce and it will be a fun duel to watch. Gardner knows that consistency and continued hard work will pay off in the end. As for Cabrera, he knows he let down last year and now has to fight for the position that he’s already won before.

However, the ever upbeat Gardner put it this way.

"I hope that we both make the team and both make a positive impact."


© 2009 Yankees Talk Shop @ yuku.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop, Pride in the Pinstripes or its affiliates is strictly prohibited