TIME TO GO TO WORK
With off season moves completed Yankees focus on 2010

The “Hot Stove” has officially been turned off as pitchers and catchers officially reported to the New York Yankees’ spring training facilities in Tampa, Florida. Barring any last minute additions or trades the 2010 Yankees’ squad has been set. Gone are Johnny Damon (free agent – signed Detroit Tigers), Chien-Ming Wang (not resigned – signed by Washington Nationals), Melky Cabrera (traded to Atlanta Braves) and Hideki Matsui (not resigned – signed by Los Angeles Angels) from the 2009 championship squad. In the off season the Yankees traded for OF Curtis Granderson (Detroit Tigers), signed DH/1B Nick Johnson (Florida Marlins), traded for SP Javier Vazquez (Atlanta Braves) and signed OF Randy Winn (San Francisco Giants).

Adding Granderson to the outfield corps was an instant boost in defense, but he’ll also be judged at the plate where Johnny Damon excelled batting either in front of or behind Derek Jeter. Last year Damon hit behind Jeter and delivered. His numbers were .282/82/24 for average, RBI and home runs. He also had .365 on base percentage. Damon was also very instrumental in the Yankees winning their first World Series championship in nine years, as he batted .364 and had an on base percentage of .440.

Damon also had the single highlight moment in the World Series. In Game 4, with the score tied 4-4 in the top of the ninth inning and Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge on the mound Damon stole second, popped up and outran 3B Pedro Feliz (who was covering second on a defensive shift put on for batter Mark Teixeira) to an unprotected third base. The move seemed to unhinge Lidge who hit Teixeira allowing Alex Rodriguez to come to the plate. A-Rod delivered a 2-out double to left field scoring Damon and putting Teixeira at third. Catcher Jorge Posada smacked a 2-run single to left, which doomed the Phillies to their fate. Instead of possibly tying the Series at 2 games apiece the Yankees took a commanding 3-1 lead, and ultimately the Series in six games.

On Granderson’s side of the ledger he is only 28 (Damon is 36) and he is defensively head and shoulders above Damon in this stretch of Damon’s career. Granderson hits for power. Last season he knocked out 30 home runs and drove in 71. Of concern is his .327 OBP, which was lower than Damon’s. His batting average was 33 points lower as well. However, throw out Granderson’s overall numbers for last year and he is offensively on par with Damon in all the pertinent categories.

The one move that has everyone scratching their heads is not resigning World Series MVP Hideki Matsui to a one-year contract. Matsui wanted to come back to the Yankees, and it was reported he would’ve taken a one-year deal, around $7 million to make it happen. Nonetheless, the Yankees jettisoned the man affectionately known as “Godzilla” and signed ex-Yankee Nick Johnson to a one-year deal for nearly the same money.

In the six years Matsui played in New York he averaged a .292 BA. He averaged 23.3 HR per year, and that’s including an injury shortened 2008 season when he only hit nine round trippers. Matsui also nearly averaged 100 RBI per year. That’s a lot of firepower to let walk away. The liability with Matsui is his knees, which have both been surgically repaired. The injuries have basically relegated Matsui to a DH role.

Johnson, on the other hand, can play first base where he has a career .992 fielding percentage. Johnson also has a better on base percentage than Matsui, and a comparable slugging percentage. Where Johnson lags is in the power numbers. He has played two more seasons than Matsui and has 51 less home runs. He has also plated 218 less runs. It will be interesting to see where manager Joe Girardi places Johnson in the Yankee lineup in order to effectively use him.

Next on the list is Javier Vazquez, who returns to the Bronx after being traded away following the 2004 season. Vazquez was part of a three team trade, which sent OF Melky Cabrera to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Vazquez.

Vazquez had a mixed season in his one and only year with the Yankees. In the first half of the campaign Vazquez went 9-5 with an ERA of 3.42 (as of June 29). Vazquez’s performance earned him his first and only all-star appearance. After July 1 Vazquez developed shoulder problems and his ERA averaged 6.78 for the remainder of the year.

In the 2004 playoffs Vazquez was a mess. He gave up 12 earned runs in 11.1 innings earning Vazquez a one-way ticket out of town via trade.

Vazquez enters the 2010 season hoping to build upon the best overall season of his career. Last year Vazquez pitched to a 15-10 record. He attained career bests in win percentage (.600) and ERA (2.87). Over the past three seasons he has struck out 200 or more batters and has pitched 200+ innings in nine of the last ten seasons. The ability to eat up innings at the back of the rotation made Vazquez very attractive to New York.

The Yankees are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle and hope the pitcher they saw in the first half of 2004 and all of last year in Atlanta is the guy they traded for.

Lastly, the Yankees signed free agent Randy Winn to a one-year deal to play outfield. Winn comes to New York by way of San Francisco. His career numbers are very good. Touting a lifetime average of .286 Winn plated 50 or more runs in each of the past 4 seasons. He will probably share playing time with Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner.

Many observers think the Yankees are making these short term deals in order to make a run at Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford who becomes a free agent after this season.

As for the rest of the squad there are question marks as well. Posada is 37 years old entering the new season. He has been the full time catcher since 2000. In 2008 Posada, after signing a big 4-year contract, made two trips to the disabled list for the first time in his career. He had surgery on his throwing shoulder, and only played in 51 games. Last year Girardi rested his catcher often in order for Posada to make it to the finish line. He responded positively by hitting .285 with 22 home runs and 81 RBI. One has to believe that Girardi will continue to rest Posada as often as he can so he can have his bat late in the season.

A-Rod is expected to have a monster year this year. He had the first significant injury of his career when it was discovered he had a torn labrum in his right hip. Rodriguez had corrective surgery and after missing the first 31 games of the season came back to hit 30 home runs and knock in 100 RBI. In his last game of the 2009 regular season A-Rod hit two home runs and drove in 7 runs in one inning to reach the 30/100 plateau for the 12th season in a row. He finally broke out of his playoff slump by hitting .378 while driving in 18 runs and hitting 6 home runs in 15 playoff games.

The biggest, potential, distraction to the upcoming season will come from Yankee captain Derek Jeter. Jeter has been the face of the Yankees ever since he came up to the big club for good in 1996. Jeter is coming off one of his best seasons, hitting a team high .334, while belting 18 home runs and driving in 66 runs all from the lead off position in the lineup. He also scored 107 runs and came in third in the MVP balloting last year.

Jeter is entering the last year of his ten-year, $189 million contract and if he has another year close to last year the Yankees will be put between the proverbial rock and hard spot. Last season Jeter earned his fourth Gold Glove award as well as the Silver Slugger award for being the best hitter at the shortstop position. He also broke Lou Gehrig’s Yankees hit record and is only 253 hits from reaching the 3,000 hit mark to become the only Yankee in history to do so.

The list of accomplishments goes on an on. Jeter is a 10 time all star, was the 1996 Rookie of the Year. He was the 2000 ALCS and World Series MVP and he has had 7 seasons of 200 or more hits. Without a doubt when Jeter hangs up his spikes he can punch his ticket into Cooperstown as a first ballot hall of famer.

The quandary for the Yankees is what to do with Jeter after this year. He will turn 36 on June 26. He is at an age where playing shortstop becomes more and more difficult. The Yankees have to determine how much longer can he play there and how long of a contract they will give him. Jeter has stood by and watched Mariano Rivera, Posada and A-Rod receive huge pay raises. In a climate of economic strife will Jeter get the money he deserves or will he be offered less because of the market?

The Steinbrenners and Brian Cashman better have a big bottle of aspirin ready. They’re going to need it.

Lastly, the pitching looks to be solid again this year. With CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte anchoring the top and middle of the rotation Vazquez’s presence should improve it as well. Fighting it out for the fifth spot will be Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. Both have struggled as starters and pitched well as relievers. It should be a terrific duel during spring training.

The bullpen will also add concrete support. Alfredo Aceves, Damaso Marte, David Robertson, either Hughes or Chamberlain handing the ball to Rivera should all have good seasons.

The 2010 squad appears poised to defend their title going into the new decade. The road will not be easy. They play in the toughest division in baseball. Boston, Baltimore, Toronto and Tampa Bay have added depth to their teams and all have their sights set on the Yankees. Other teams looking to knock off the Yankees are the Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners.

Fasten your seatbelts it’s going to be a bumpy and exciting ride to the finish line.

© 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

Girardi needs a new number!
Yankee manager wore 27 as a goal to another championship

It’s been nearly two years since ex-Yankee manager Joe Torre packed his bags and headed west, and it’s been nearly two years since current Yankee manager Joe Girardi sat down with the Steinbrenner family and convinced them he was the guy who could lead this team to its next World Series championship. Torre won four in his 12 years in New York and the Yankees went to the playoffs every year under Torre’s leadership. Girardi had some big shoes to fill.

No two guys were more different than Torre and Girardi. Torre was a player’s manager. He was a media darling who always measured his words and always seemed to say the right things. He had this aura about him that seemed to have a calming effect in the clubhouse. He looked like your dad, or granddad or uncle Joe.

Girardi, on the other hand, looked like a recruiting poster for the United States Marine Corps. Intense is a word that comes to mind when describing Girardi. Girardi came into the Yankees clubhouse with just one year’s experience under his belt. That year was spent managing the Florida Marlins in 2006. Girardi did a fantastic job in the sunshine state; so much so that it earned him the National League Manager of the Year Award.

He was also the first manager to earn that award and then get fired in the same season. The incident that caused his dismissal came in August during a game when he and owner Jeffrey Loria got into an argument over Loria’s heckling home plate umpire Larry Vanover. When Vanover complained to Girardi he and his bench coach Gary Tuck told Loria to stop. Loria apparently didn’t like being told what to do and wanted to fire Girardi on the spot. He said that Girardi swore at him, but people who know Girardi know he’s a devout Christian and doesn’t use profanity to get his point across. Loria bided his time and got his pound of flesh at the end of the season when he sent Girardi packing.

Of course, Girardi was no stranger to the Yankees. He spent four years in pinstripes (1996-1999), winning 3 rings along the way. He was their everyday catcher, but gave way to another Yankee staple; Jorge Posada. After his playing days ended Girardi was hired by the Steinbrenner owned YES Network as a commentator. He spent the 2004 season as a broadcaster and as the host of YES’ “Kids on Deck.”

That lasted one year, at which time Girardi decided to pursue a coaching career. He moved out of the broadcast booth and went into the Yankees dugout as Torre’s bench coach for the 2005 season. He continued to host “Kids on Deck.” When the season ended Girardi went south and became the Marlins manager.

At the end of the 2006 season Girardi was unemployed, but after losing out for the managing job with the Chicago Cubs and turning down a shot at the Washington Nationals Girardi went back to the YES Network where he was hired as an analyst. He worked approximately 60 games in 2007. In June of that year Girardi interviewed for the Baltimore Orioles manager’s position, but ultimately turned it down when offered.

As one door closed another door opened. At the end of the 2007 Torre and the Yankees management had a parting of the ways. Torre headed for Los Angeles and the Yankees went looking for a new manager. They found him in the broadcast booth.

Girardi was apparently just the guy the Yankees were looking for. He was a no nonsense type of personality. Many of the Yankees coming into Spring Training for 2008 admitted they were not in the best of shape when they reported to camp in 2007. They knew Girardi wouldn’t put up with any lack of preparation, because he would probably be in as good as or better shape than his entire squad. They were right.

The first thing Girardi did was take the number 27 to signify he was going to lead the Yankees to their 27th title. However, 2008 wasn’t the year. The Yankees plagued by injuries, clubhouse in-fighting and other issues missed the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. They ended up in 3rd place in the AL East behind the surprising Tampa Bay Rays (division winner) and Boston Red Sox (wild card). It was a huge disappointment for an organization whose sole purpose is to win the World Series every year. Anything less is considered a complete failure.

In the off season the Yankees made some drastic changes. Gone were Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, Carl Pavano and Bobby Abreu. General Manager Brian Cashman went out and secured three premium replacements in CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Mark Teixeira. He also landed some role type guys, the most notable being Nick Swisher. Swisher would proved to be invaluable during the course of the season. They also resigned Chien-Ming Wang, Brian Bruney, Melky Cabrera and Xavier Nady.

Early in April Nady, who was slated to be the everyday right fielder reinjured his right elbow requiring a second “Tommy John” surgery on it. That ended his 2009 season and Swisher was inserted into the everyday lineup. Swisher responded by hitting 29 homers and driving in 82 runs.

Wang was another key element the Yankees were hoping to rely on to get them into the post season. Wang was coming off a serious foot injury he suffered in a game against the Houston Astros in June of ’08. Wang had previously won 19 games in ’06 and ’07 and had compiled an 8-2 record before the injury.

However, the Wang the Yankees saw wasn’t the one they saw before the foot injury. A guy possessed with a power sinker that batters described like hitting an anchor suddenly was very hittable and he was giving up a lot of fly balls. After amassing an 0-3 start and an ERA of 34.50 the Yankees removed Wang from the starting rotation and sent him down to Tampa to work on mechanics. He returned in May and was inserted into the bullpen, and eventually the rotation, but the results weren’t any better.

After Wang recorded a 1-6 record the Yankees put him back on the disabled list and on July 30 he had season ending shoulder surgery and is expected to miss up to a year.

Two other pieces of the Yankees puzzle were Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. Both returned after having shoulder surgery. Posada had the more severe injury requiring a season ending procedure to repair a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. Rivera had minor surgery to clean up his throwing shoulder. Both responded very well. Posada ended the season with 22 home runs and 81 RBI. Rivera saved 44 games in 46 chances this season, which is the most he has saved since saving 53 games in 2004.

Alex Rodriguez continued to struggle both on and off the field. In spring training he admitted to using performance enhancing drugs for 2001-2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers. He was also linked to a notorious New York madam and Madonna, as he divorced from his wife Cynthia. Then the biggest blow came when A-Rod had to have surgery performed on his right hip to remove a cyst and repair the labrum. He was expected to sit out up to 10 weeks.

While A-Rod was gone Teixeira struggled at the plate in April and the Yankees looked to be performing a death spiral. In their first 28 games the Yankees were 13-15. Somehow, Girardi managed to hold things together and managed to hold onto his job. For once nothing was coming out of the front office intimating that a managerial change was imminent.

On May 8 Rodriguez returned to the lineup and that was the day the Yankees took off. The Yankees were a completely different team. After going 0-8 against the Red Sox the Yankees went 9-1 against them in the final 10 games to split the season series 9-9. They also held their own against the always tough Los Angeles Angels by winning three of the final four games against them and also splitting the season series 5 apiece.

The Yankees were the only team to win more than 100 games as they ended the season with a 103-59 mark, eight games in front of the second place Red Sox.

Nonetheless, winning 100+ games meant nothing in the playoffs. The last team to win that many games and then go on to win the World Series was the 1998 New York Yankees when they won 114 games.

After failing to even make the playoffs in ’08 Girardi knew he had his work cut out for him.

The Yankees didn’t disappoint. In the divisional series the Bombers overtook the Minnesota Twins in each game to sweep them 3-0 to advance to the Championship Series. They ended up facing the Angels.

As we all know, the Angels had met the Yankees in two previous divisional series and beat them both times.

It wasn’t an easy series even though the Yankees vanquished the Halos in six games. In the two games the Yankees lost Girardi was scalded for questionable pitching and personnel moves. As always playing or managing in New York puts a permanent bulls eye on your back.

This journey brought the Yankees back to the stage they had not set foot on since losing to the Florida Marlins in 2003 and had not won since 2000. It wasn’t going to be any easier for them, because they were facing a team that had everything the Yankees had. Pitching, hitting, defense and power. The Philadelphia Phillies were the defending champions and they were trying to be the first National League team to repeat as World Series champions since the Cincinnati Reds did it in 1975-76.

The brightest spot for the Phillies in the World Series was lefty Cliff Lee. Lee was as dominant a pitcher as you could find in Game 1, and the Yankees offense was completely shut down. Sabathia was very good as well, but not as good as Lee. Sabathia gave up two homeruns to Chase Utley and the Phillies eventually won the game 6-1. The one run the Yankees scored was unearned, but it helped them avoid not scoring in a World Series Game 1 for the first time in franchise history.

Another piece of history not favoring New York was the fact that in the last six World Series the team losing Game 1 went on to lose the Series.

Fortunately, this edition of the Yankees was no ordinary team. They came back and took Game 2 and then went into Philadelphia and won the first two games giving the Yankees a 3-1 series lead. Girardi seemed to be pushing all the right buttons.

In Game 5 New York went up against Lee again. Although not as dominant as in Game 1 Lee had more than enough to stifle the Yankees’ bats. Philadelphia insured the Series went back to New York trailing the Yankees 3-2.

Last night Girardi went to his game hardened warrior. Pettitte has pitched in more post season games than nearly all of the pitching staff combined. Going on 3 days rest Pettitte gave the Yankees all he had, but with two outs in the 6th inning Andy’s 37 year old body was tired. Girardi went and got his veteran and turned the ball over to Joba Chamberlain, Damaso Marte and the incomparable Mariano Rivera who kept the Phillies off the scoreboard.

The last batter of the Series, Shane Victorino, grounded out to 2B Robinson Cano to end the game. Once Teixeira secured the ball in his glove to record the last out the wild celebration began. Number 27 was no longer a goal, it was a reality.

Lest anyone forgets this Series was dedicated by the team to its ailing owner George Steinbrenner.

”This is what the Steinbrenner family has strived for, year after year -- to deliver to the city of New York," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said to reporters following the game. "To be able to deliver this to the Boss, the stadium that he created and the atmosphere around here, it's very gratifying to all of us."

For the core four, Jeter, Posada, Pettitte and Rivera, it was their fifth time in the winner’s circle, and it took nine years to get there.

"You realize how difficult it is to get here," Jeter told the media. "I never lost sight of the fact that it's very difficult to get to the World Series, let alone to win one. You realize and remember how hard it is."

For all the guys who had never tasted World Series champagne it was a special night indeed.

World Series MVP Hideki Matsui put it this way. "My first and foremost goal when I joined the Yankees was to win the world championship," Matsui said. "Certainly, it's been a long road and a very difficult journey. I'm just happy that after all these years, we were able to win and reach the goal that I had come here for."

To be sure the man who pulled all the strings was Girardi. In two short years he took the Yankees from the outhouse to the penthouse. Now he’ll have another type of target on his back. Since Girardi has finally guided this team to a world title he will be expected to do it again.

In order to accomplish that, however, he’ll need to trade in his number 27 for a 28. Where is Shelley Duncan anyway?

© 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

Doing the math: 1 = 27
One more win culminates long and difficult season

It has been a long road to this point. The New York Yankees have had to overcome predictions, doubters and, yes, even themselves sometimes to put this team on the brink of bringing a 27th World Series trophy back to the Big Apple.

It hasn’t been an easy road. Going into Spring Training many so-called experts were split as to how well the Yankees would do in 2009. In Sports Illustrated 13 sportswriters predicted the AL East. Four predicted the Bombers would finish first, six chose the Boston Red Sox and three picked the Tampa Bay Rays. Six of the writers predicted the Yankees would be the wild card entry and only two felt New York would be crowned American League Champions.

Flip over to ESPN and only Tim Kurkjian selected the Yankees as the 2009 AL East Champs and the winners of the American League crown.

Then there was the whole Alex Rodriguez drama, which started just as Spring Training got underway. In January Joe Torre’s new book, “The Yankee Years,” had some derogatory things to say about A-Rod. Then in February, Rodriguez’s name was leaked out of a list of 104 players who had tested positive in 2003 for performance enhancing drugs during an MLB sanctioned screening in order to see how bad the steroid/HGH/PED problem was in baseball. There was no punishment attached to a positive test at the time. A-Rod came out and admitted his use.

Things continued to get worse for Rodriguez as an injury to his right hip was discovered and he learned he needed to undergo corrective surgery to remove a cyst and repair a partially torn labrum in the hip. The predictions were that A-Rod could miss up to 10 weeks of the regular season. On top of all of that a news story broke that Rodriguez was linked to New York madam Kristin Davis, who is allegedly the same peddler that supplied ex-governor Eliot Spitzer with hookers before his dalliances became public, causing him to resign from office.

The Yankees also had some damaged goods players they were worried about. Hideki Matsui was returning after having had surgery on both knees over the past couple of seasons and wasn’t projected to play the outfield until late June, early July. Jorge Posada was returning after a winter of recovering from having surgery performed on his throwing shoulder to repair a torn labrum. Lastly, Mariano Rivera had his throwing shoulder cleaned up and at nearly 40 everyone wondered how that would affect him.

The Yankees also started the new season with three new faces on the squad. In the off season New York signed pitchers CC Sabathia (FA – Milwaukee), AJ Burnett (FA – Toronto) and probably one of the best signings in recent years, first baseman Mark Teixeira (FA-Los Angeles Angels).

On paper the Yankees looked as formidable as any team, but the proof of their toughness would have to be established between the white lines.

The season began horribly for the Yankees. With Alex Rodriguez on the sidelines the Yankees staggered to a 13-15 record in their first 28 games. They failed their first major test of the season by getting swept in a 3-game series against the Red Sox in April (24-26).

Then on May 8 the fortunes of the Yankees turned around with the return of A-Rod to the lineup. The Yankees were facing the Baltimore Orioles and pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie was the same guy who outpitched Sabathia on opening day as the Orioles beat the Bombers 10-5.

Guthrie threw one pitch to Rodriguez and A-Rod knocked the ball out of the park. It was as if A-Rod was telling baseball, ‘I’m back and I’m on a mission.’ A-Rod’s return energized a struggling Teixeira who had had a rotten opening month. With A-Rod to protect him Teixeira’s home run and RBI production took a turn upward, as well as his batting average, on base percentage and slugging percentage.

The Yankees looked like they were taking two steps forward and one step back. In their first meeting against the Angels, a club has always given New York fits; the Yankees took 2-of-3 at the Stadium. That euphoria quickly evaporated at the Red Sox came in for a two game set and took both games from the Yankees. The Rays also came in for two games following the Sox and they won both of their encounters.

Instead of getting down on themselves the Yankee players jump started their performance and began to climb out of the hole they had dug for themselves. After the Rays left town, saddling the Yankees with the aforementioned 13-15 record the Bombers went on a tear for the remainder of the month and after two months of play the Yankees were 29-21.

After June it was 44-32, but there were still some potholes in the Yankees’ road to the playoffs. They went to Boston for another 3-game series and the Red Sox continued their dominance by once again sweeping the Yankees out of town. New York’s 0-8 start against Boston was the worst start in franchise history. Until they could figure out their arch rivals winning the division, let alone making the playoffs, was going to an improbable task.

The Yankees ran into other glitches along the way. They dropped 2-of-3 against both the Washington Nationals and Florida Marlins. However, after leaving Florida the Yankees won 14 of 16 games giving them a huge boost as they flew into Orange County to take on the Angels in a 3-game series that would end the first half of the season.

As everyone recalls the Angels continued their mastery over the Yankees by sweeping them out of Angel Stadium. It was a frustrating setback going into the all-star break.

Apparently, the break was exactly what the Yankees needed. After play resumed following the all-star game the Yankees ripped off eight straight wins, and 10 of 11 before running into a bump in Chicago as the White Sox took 3 of 4 from the Bombers.

That hardly slowed the Yankees down as they went 19-6 over their next 25 games including taking 5 out of 6 from the Red Sox. In fact the Yankees continued to steam roll through the American League. In their final 32 games the Yankees put up a record of 21-11, and in doing so they took 2-of-3 from the Angels in a return visit to Anaheim, and then flew home to sweep the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in their final regular season meeting. That series allowed the Yankees to split the season series at nine games apiece. That was an incredible feat for a team that started out 0-8. Additionally, the Yankees split the 10 games played against the Angels something that neither Yankee nor Angel fans had seen in quite a while.

The Yankees finished the season with the best record in baseball at 103-59 and won the AL East by eight games over 2nd place Boston. Going into the playoff rounds the Yankees were brimming with confidence.

In the divisional series against the Minnesota Twins the Yankees held it together to sweep the Twins 3-0. The series was a close match, but the Yankees pitching and timely hitting proved superior.

The championship series (no offense to the Phillies) the Yankees were pitted against the Angels. The Angels came into the series with a lot of confidence as well. They met the Red Sox, a team which had ousted the Angels from the playoffs 3 times this decade. However, in a ritual of exorcism the Angels swept the Red Sox into a early exit from the playoffs.

It was the Yankees turn to do the same with the Angels and in a great series the Bombers did just that taking the Angels out in 6 games behind the arms of CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte, plus the bat of Alex Rodriguez.

That set up the 2009 Fall Classic against the Philadelphia Phillies, who many have called a mirror image of the Yankees. Good starting pitching and a powerful lineup.

The Yankees lost Game 1 facing Cliff Lee, who on that night was pitching like was from another planet. Sabathia took the hill for the Bombers, but wasn’t quite up to Lee’s standards. He made two mistake pitches to Chase Utley who knocked both of them over the wall. The Yankees lost 6-1 and in doing so dug themselves a hole. Of the last six World Series, the loser of Game 1 also lost the series. The Yankees had to right the ship.

Game 2 saw AJ Burnett starting for the Yankees and the Phillies countered with Pedro Martinez. Both pitchers were brilliant, but Burnett had just a little bit more as the Yankees nipped the Phillies 3-1.

Philadelphia was going home with a split, and had aspirations of a 3-game sweep over the Yankees. New York refused to cooperate, winning both Game 3, 8-5 and Game 4 with a dramatic 9th inning rally to drop the Phillies 7-4.

Tonight the Yankees have the opportunity to close out the Series and Philadelphia in order to take their first ride down the Canyon of Heroes in 9 seasons. The only thing standing in their way is Cliff Lee. If he pitches like he did in Game 1 the Yankees may have to wait a day. If AJ Burnett pitches like he did in Game 2 they may not. This game comes down to pitching and which team will be the first to blink.

If the Yankees can win just one more game they can rinse a lot of post season disappointment and history out of their mouths with some bubbly. In the immortal words of Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, “Just win, baby.”

1 = 27.

© 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

Andy scares up a Halloween victory
Lefty survives rough start to notch 17th post season win

Once again the Yankees turned to “Old Reliable.” In one of the linchpin games of the 2009 edition of the World Series Joe Girardi handed the ball to the elder statesman of his pitching staff.

Andy Pettitte has taken the hill in the post season more than any other Yankee pitcher not named Mariano Rivera. Whitey Ford has the major league record for most wins the World Series with 10, but Pettitte had the most victories in the post season with 16. Last night he was going for his 17th.

The Philadelphia Phillies countered with last year’s World Series MVP, Cole Hamels, and the Phillies were banking on the Hamels of 2008 showing up. As Game 3 unfolded it appeared that the boys from the City of Brotherly Love were going to get their wish.

In the first 3 innings Hamels completely shut down the Yankees. The only flaw in his game up that point was hitting Alex Rodriguez in the top of the second, but he quickly erased that situation by inducing catcher Jorge Posada to hit into a force at second, striking out Robinson Cano and getting Nick Swisher to fly out to right.

Pettitte also looked like he was ready for the evening. After giving up a leadoff single to shortstop Jimmy Rollins in the first Pettitte retired the Phillies big bats by popping out Shane Victorino, then striking out Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to end the inning.

The game appeared to be shaping up to another pitching duel, but things got dicey for Pettitte and the Yankees in the second. In a script tailor made for Halloween Pettitte served up a leadoff home run to Jason Werth before striking out Raul Ibanez. Catcher Pedro Feliz followed with a double to right and Carlos Ruiz walked. With runners at first and second Hamels laid down a bunt single to load the bases. Rollins walked to force in a run and then Victorino hit a sacrifice fly to left scoring Ruiz. Pettitte finally escaped further damage by striking out Utley for the second time to end the inning.

The teams traded zeros in the 3rd inning, but it wasn’t looking great for the Bombers as Hamels hadn’t given up a hit and appeared to be cruising through New York’s lineup.

That all changed in the top of the 4th.

Hamels started the inning like he had the entire game by getting Johnny Damon to fly out to right field. He walked Mark Teixeira and up to the plate strode Alex Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, who had had stellar division and league championship series performances was hitless in the Fall Classic. In eight official at bats A-Rod had recorded six strikeouts conjuring up memories of his preceding post season woes.

A-Rod put a charge into an 0-1 fastball and sent it down the right field line. Initially, it looked like the ball hit the top of the wall and came back onto the field, causing Rodriguez to stop at second and Teixeira at third. However, the strange way the ball bounced back onto the field caused Girardi to ask for a video review of the ball’s flight. All six umpires retreated to a viewing room and in a very quick reversal ruled that A-Rod’s shot had hit a FOX camera located just behind the wall in the right field corner of the park. It was now a 3-2 Phillies lead.

"I think it was a big hit," Rodriguez said to reporters after the game. "I think it woke our offense up a little bit. It felt really good."

Added Girardi about A-Rod’s breakout swing, "It was a big hit for us because it really got us going. He has been so good for us in the playoffs. He's a big reason we're at this point."

Pettitte pitched a scoreless 4th and then the Yankees went back to work in the top of the 5th inning.

Swisher finally got to the party by doubling to left to start the inning. After Melky Cabrera stuck out Pettitte helped his own cause by blooping a first pitch curveball into center as Swisher came around and beat the throw to home with a hard slide into Ruiz.

With the score tied Jeter singled to left, moving Pettitte to second. Johnny Damon doubled to right center scoring Pettitte and Jeter. Rapidly the game unraveled for Hamels and the Phillies. After walking Teixeira manager Charlie Manuel took his staggered starter out of the game.

J.A. Happ quickly restored order by getting A-Rod to line out to center and Posada to pop out to second to shut down the Yankee threat.

Leading 5-3 Pettitte faced the heart of the Phillies lineup. However, as he had done so many times in past post season games, Pettitte came up big getting Victorino to line out to center, followed by Utley grounding out to first and Howard popping out to short.

Both teams traded home runs in the 6th as Swisher recorded his first knock in the World Series and Werth hit a monster shot over the left field wall for his second round tripper of the game.

In the seventh with two on and two out Posada got on the ledger by hitting a soft single to left scoring Damon as the Yankees took a 7-4 lead.

Pinch hitter Hideki Matsui, substituting for reliever Joba Chamberlain (who pitched a scoreless 7th inning) finished up the Yankees scoring by hitting an opposite field home run off Brett Myers to make it an 8-4 ballgame.

With the Phillies down to their last 3 outs and the Yankees holding onto a 4-run lead Girardi elected to go with the erratic Phil Hughes to close out the game. Unfortunately for Hughes, after Feliz grounded out, Hughes threw a 1-1 four seamer to Ruiz over the plate and Ruiz launched it over the left center field wall. Girardi wasted little time finding his hook and pulling the beleaguered reliever out of the game.

For the third straight game closer Mariano Rivera was given the ball and asked to end the game. Rivera did so on 5 pitches. He induced pinch hitter Matt Stairs to ground out to second and Rollins to hit a soft pop up to Rodriguez at third. Ballgame over.

Losing Game 1, and knowing the last 6 World Series runner ups lost Game 1 the Yankees knew they had a steep, but not impossible mountain to climb.

"We feel like we've got a real strong team," Pettitte told reporters. "Obviously, losing that first game, we weren't happy with that. We were upset about it, but we feel real good about what we're doing and we felt good about coming in here."

Pettitte critiqued his pitching performance as a rough one. One that came after an 80-minute rain delay.

"It was a battle tonight -- I wasn't able to get ahead," Pettitte said in the clubhouse. "I wasn't able to get my breaking ball over. I was able to get some outs when I needed to get some, but it was a grind tonight for me."

More from Pettitte on Pettitte:

"You're out there and you're by yourself," Pettitte admitted to reporters. "There's not a whole lot of anything that can help you except just trying to just keep battling and keep trying to get it there and keep trying to get it there, and hopefully, it'll come around."

Luckily for the Yankees Pettitte did come around, and so did the Yankees offense. Although happy with the outcome the Yankees know the battle isn’t over.

"We feel good about being up, 2-1," Pettitte mused afterward. "But we know there's a lot of work left to do."

New York hopes to put the Phillies on the brink of elimination today in Game 4 as their ace CC Sabathia takes the hill on three days’ rest. The Phillies counter with RHP Joe Blanton. Game time is 8:20 pm EST. As usual the broadcast will be carried by FOX and anchored by Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.

2 to 27.

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Yankees Big 3 finally earn their (pin)stripes
Sabathia, Burnett & Teixeira start paying dividends

Imagine the chagrin at the administrative offices of the New York Yankees located at E 161st Street at River Avenue after April 30 when the Yankees record in the American League East was 12-10 and they were sitting in third place, two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees were swept in Baltimore to start the season and later swept in Boston by their chief antagonists.

On top of that C.C. Sabathia, who signed for the biggest contract ever given to a pitcher, was 1-2 with a 4.73 ERA. On Opening Day in Baltimore the Orioles stung the big lefty for 6 runs on 8 hits. A.J. Burnett, the other high profiled, big contract, free agent signee, although sporting a 2-0 record, had 3 no-decision games and owned an alarming 5.40 ERA. In fact on April 25 against the Red Sox Burnett was burned for 8 earned runs in 5 innings of work, which jumped his season ERA from a respectable 3.20 to a bloated 5.47 overnight.

That brings us to first baseman Mark Teixeira whom the Yankees outbid both the Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels for his services. Teixeira owns a .289 lifetime batting average, has hit an average of 33.83 home runs and has knocked in an average of 120 runs per season prior to 2009. Although Teixeira is known as a very slow starter, when the season began it was expected that with a new contract and a new team Teixeira would bound out of the gates blazing. If spring training was any indication the Yankees had every right to believe Teixeira would be an offensive monster. He was batting .433 with an OBP of .485 and a SLG% of .800 (OPS of 1.285) coming out of camp.

Alas, that was not the case. Teixeira like Cinderella’s coach turned back into a pumpkin during the month of April and the first part of May. If not for the heroics of free agent OF/1B Nick Swisher, who took over the everyday duties in right field for an injured Xavier Nady, there wouldn’t have been much for the Yankees to write home about. Swisher responded to a lackluster offense by hitting .312 in April with 7 home runs and 19 RBI. Teixeira’s numbers fell like a meteor to earth. He was hitting a very pedestrian .200 and had only 3 home runs and 10 RBI to show for it.

May wasn’t looking much better for the Yankees either. After play ended on May 7 the Yankees had dropped to 4th place and owned a 13-15 record. Teixeira continued his freefall; dropping to a .197 average and was only up to 5 home runs and 15 RBI in 24 games. Sabathia’s ERA jumped up to 4.85 and he saw his record fall to 1-3 with 2 no-decisions. Burnett was the biggest puzzle of all. After two brilliant outings Burnett couldn’t find his rhythm. He continued to go at least 6 innings in his starts, but had nothing to show for it. It took nearly to the end of May before Burnett would see his next victory.

After last year’s 89-73 third place finish manager Joe Girardi’s tenure with the team was definitely in jeopardy. He beat out Yankee legend Don Mattingly for the managerial job in ’08 after Joe Torre left the team for Los Angeles. Girardi knew he had some big shoes to fill. Torre made the playoffs every year he was at the helm taking the team to 2 wild card appearances, 9 division championships, 6 AL championships and 4 World Series championships. Not even making the playoffs was not the way Girardi wanted to start his managerial career in New York.

To be fair not everything has bounced the right way for Girardi. He had a lot of injuries to deal with, most notably Jorge Posada who took two trips to the DL; the second one on July 20, 2008. Posada didn’t return for the remainder of the season. Chien-Ming Wang was another. Wang injured his right foot on June 15 in an interleague game against the Houston Astros and immediately went to the DL for the remainder of the season.

Two solid performers, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano, had down years. Pitching, especially the bullpen, continued to be inconsistent in 2008. During spring training one of the biggest bombshells in the history of baseball took place when Alex Rodriguez was accused of taking performance enhancing drugs, which he later admitted to doing. Also, Torre, along with Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci, published a book called “The Yankee Years,” in which Torre chronicles a lot of behind-the-scenes dirt about what went on inside the four walls of Yankee Stadium.

Getting back to this season if you’ve been following the Yankees you know about other situations that have plagued the squad. In addition to Rodriguez’s admission of using banned substances he went on the disabled list when a cyst and a torn labrum was discovered in his right hip. He had corrective surgery to address the problem to hopefully get him into the lineup as soon as possible.

Wang had horrific 3 starts at the beginning of the season after coming back from his foot injury. He lasted just 6 total innings in those starts and his ERA was a stratospheric 34.50. He went back on the DL with a side injury, but recently returned and has seen action in the bullpen. Additionally, relievers Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte have landed on the DL. Posada returned to the DL on May 5 with a hamstring injury, and reserve catcher Jose Molina went down with a quad injury on May 8.

Those injuries necessitated the Yankees bringing in a whole bunch of minor leaguers to hold the fort down until the regulars could return. Third baseman/shortstop Ramiro Pena, RHP Phil Hughes, RHRP David Robinson, C Anthony Cervilli, C Kevin Cash among others have done a masterful job in keeping the season from getting away from the Yankees.

All those headaches were enough to send anyone, let alone a manager, screaming into the night. However, the entire negative vibe turned positive on Friday, May 8.

That was the day A-Rod returned to the lineup.

Whether or not A-Rod is the real reason the Yankees suddenly turned around is an argument to be discussed around the water coolers, but the fact remains the day their superstar third baseman returned was the day the Yankees turned their season around.

Since May 8 the Yankees have gone from 13-15 and in 4th place to 31-21 and 1st place in the AL East Division. That means they have gone 18-6 in that span. They currently own the best record in the American League and they lead the Red Sox by a game.

The biggest beneficiary of A-Rod’s homecoming has been Teixeira. Since May 8 Teixeira has raised his average from a season low .191 (May 12) to .279. He is hitting .374 with 11 home runs and 19 RBI during that stretch. He is tied for 2nd in home runs and 4th in RBI totals in the AL.

Sabathia and Burnett have improved as well.

Sabathia is now 5-3 and has lowered his ERA to 3.46. Sabathia is 4-0 over his past 5 outings and has averaged a 3.00 ERA. Burnett, too, has responded. He is 4-2 and his ERA has dropped to 4.69. He has won his past two games posting a 2.08 ERA.

The team as a whole is playing the game with more enthusiasm and more focus. In the AL the Yankees are 2nd in home runs (82), 1st in RBI (285) and 2rd in team hitting (.282). Pitching continues to be a concern, especially in the bullpen, but with the Yankees offense clicking on all cylinders the pitching has been good enough. No one is hurting them to the point where the Yankees have to go out and look for an arm.

A month ago the media and fans alike were bemoaning this club and now there is a glimmer of hope. The Yankees have brought back some of the swagger that everyone has seen from teams past. But, before anyone goes and shines up the World Series trophy, keep in mind the Yankees have a long road in front of them and they still haven’t beaten the Red Sox this season.

Until “B” happens and if they don’t continue to play at the level they’re playing at now today’s hope in this team won’t become tomorrow’s reality.

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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

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Yankees, Sabathia Stumble in Baltimore
Orioles hammer Yankee ace in 10-5 win

The highly anticipated debut of the New York Yankees $161 million pitcher ended up to be a major fizzle as the Baltimore Orioles took the Bombers and C.C. Sabathia to the woodshed with a 10-5 pounding before 48,607 screaming fans at Camden Yard Monday afternoon. It was the largest Opening Day crowd in the 18-year history of the park.

Sabathia, who signed with the Yankees in the off-season for the richest contract by a pitcher in baseball history, didn’t make it out of the 5th inning; a familiar sight to Yankees fans during the 2008 season. The Yankees are counting on Sabathia to eat up major innings during the year. However, Sabathia struggled with his command from the get-go and left the game after surrendering 6 earned runs on 8 hits. The six were the most runs he had given up in a game going back to July 25, 2008 against the Cleveland Indians (32 starts).

Opening Day saw Vice-President Joe Biden throw out the first pitch to kick of the Orioles and Yankees 2009 campaigns; a high fastball catcher Chad Moeller had to climb the ladder to get. He is the first sitting vice-president in history to do so at Camden Yard. Afterward, the O’s took the field and Derek Jeter strode to the plate to face Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie. Jeter got the Yankees first hit, singling up the middle, but was left stranded to end the inning.

Sabathia took the mound and immediately had trouble locating his pitches, especially his fastball. He gave up a leadoff single to Brian Roberts and later uncorked two wild pitches, although the second one should have been handled by catcher Jorge Posada. The two wild pitches equaled the amount he threw in 253 innings last year. However, Sabathia was able to keep Baltimore off the boards for the first two frames.

In the third the Yankees took a 1-0 lead on a manufactured run, when Brett Gardner singled to left, and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Johnny Damon.

That’s when the Orioles went to work on Sabathia.

Baltimore scored three runs in the bottom of the inning when César Izturis singled, Roberts walked, Adam Jones tripled and Nick Markakis hit a sacrifice fly to score Jones.

The Orioles scored 3 more runs off Sabathia in the 5th when Roberts doubled, and scored after Jones and Markakis hit infield singles. Third baseman Melvin Mora hit another infield single getting Jones to third and moving Markakis up 90 feet. Sabathia intentionally walked Ty Wigginton to load the bases. Jones scored on a ground out by Aubrey Huff with Markakis advancing to third. Sabathia’s afternoon ended after he walked Luke Scott force in a run and reload the bases.

The Yankees bullpen took a beating as well. After Jonathan Albaladejo threw a scoreless 1-1/3 innings in relief of Sabathia the Orioles tagged relievers Phil Coke and Brian Bruney for two runs each, capped by Izturis’ home run off Coke in the 8th.

The Yankees other big time signee Mark Teixeira had a rough afternoon also. Teixeira, who went 0-for-4 with walk, stranded four, including two runners on in the 8th after the Yankees had cut the Orioles lead to 6-5 in the seventh.

After the game, Teixeira remarked to reporters about his poor showing.

“I didn’t get it done there,” he said, referring to his ground out with runners at the corners and two outs.

Teixeira, who was born and raised in Maryland approximately 30 minutes south of Baltimore, was lustily booed by the hometown crowd every time his name was announced at the plate or when he made a play on the field.

After the game, Sabathia summed up his afternoon this way.

“I was terrible. I battled from the first inning on,” he told reporters. “At some point I’m usually able to find it. Today was just one of those days where I didn’t. When I have one of those days, this is the result you get.”

Yankee manager Joe Girardi took the game in stride.

“I guess we can’t go undefeated,” Girardi said. “Yeah, it’s one game. We didn’t execute today.”

Even with the loss the Yankees can point to some positives. Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui homered and Jeter and Damon went 3-for-5 and 2-for-3 respectively at the top of the order. So far Girardi’s flip-flopping of the Yankees shortstop and left fielder in the lead off and No. 2 spot in the order is paying off.

The Yankees and Orioles have Tuesday off before battling again on Wednesday and Thursday to complete their 3-game series.

Notes: Sabathia didn’t record a strikeout for only the 5th time in 253 career starts and Nick Swisher recorded his first official hit a Yankee by getting a pinch-hit double in the 8th inning.

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