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.

Repeating is hard to do
Yankees quest for No. 28 will be an uphill battle

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi stepped to the podium to address the crowd of some 2 million fans that invaded Manhattan to watch his team take a ride down the Canyon of Heroes to celebrate the Yankees latest World Series victory. He told the adoring crowd he had spoken on the telephone to “the Boss,” George Steinbrenner.

“I want to tell you, I got a call from The Boss today. He told me this morning, 'The only thing greater than this celebration, is doing it two years in a row.' So he asked me to remind everyone - pitchers and catchers report in 96 days. Be ready to defend it."

Nice sentiment indeed, but in reality a very difficult task to accomplish. Just ask the Philadelphia Phillies who, before falling to the Yankees 4-2 in the 2009 World Series, were the defending world champions. The Phillies were attempting to become the first National League team since the 1975-76 Cincinnati Reds to achieve that feat. That is 33 years without an NL repeat winner.

In the American League the history isn’t so far removed. The last team to defend their world title was the Yankees, who not only defended it once, but defended it twice after winning it (1998-2000). They almost made it three defenses and four-in-a-row in 2001, but fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 7 games.

Between 2000 and 2009 there have been eight different World Series winners. The only repeats were the Yankees (2000, 2009) and the Boston Red Sox (2004, 2007). The other one-time winners were the Diamondbacks (2001), Anaheim (Los Angeles) Angels (2002), Florida Marlins 2003), Chicago White Sox (2005) and the Phillies (2008).

Not helping matters will be the lie of the land in the off season. The Yankees as do other teams have a number of free agents who will be looking for multi-year contracts worth millions of dollars. Depending on how long and how much will determine whom the Yankees will retain and whom they will cut loose.

At the top of the list are left fielder Johnny Damon and Designated Hitter Hideki Matsui. Damon just concluded the season playing out a four-year, $52 million contract and already his caustic, yet effective agent, Scott Boras is making noises that Damon is the indestructible man and worthy of signing a contract in the area of what Derek Jeter is being paid ($18.9 million average per year). Boras is also looking at, a minimum, another four-year contract for his client. According to Boras potential suitors shouldn’t look at Damon’s chronological age (36), but his biological makeup. Damon has played an average of 140 games over the past four years.

Here’s the fly in the ointment. Most sideline watchers are saying that the Yankees don’t want to offer Damon more than a 2-year contract, and that with their goal to cut payroll any raise Damon might receive will be well below what Boras is shooting for. Using another of his clients, Mark Teixeira, as a lightening rod Boras told the media the Yankees are known for paying players their “fair market value.” The problem is whose gauge for what is “fair market value” is correct? Unfortunately for Damon, the Yankees may be unwilling to meet Boras lofty expectations. So now the ball will be Damon’s court. Will he be willing to take a shorter duration contract to stay with the Yankees and a great shot at repeating a world title or will he listen to his agent and look for a more lucrative payday? Secondly, who else has got the kind of money the Yankees do who would be willing to part with that big a chunk for one player?

Ah, the joys of being a general manager.

Hideki Matsui is somewhat of a more complex situation. First off, this guy, in Game 6 of the World Series, completely dismantled the Phillies to earn himself the series MVP trophy. He single-handedly kicked in the door to the Yankees’ 27th world championship. If the Yankees were to release Matsui he would be the first reigning World Series MVP not to return to his team since Jack Morris won the award with the 1991 Minnesota Twins and was on the Toronto Blue Jays roster for the ‘92 season.

Matsui came to the Yankees from the Yomiuri Giants in December of 2002 when he signed a 3-year deal to play left field for New York. He quickly became a fan favorite and forever etched his name in Yankee lore when he became the first Yankee to hit a grand slam in his first game at Yankee Stadium. That same year Matsui came in second to Angel Berroa in the “Rookie of the Year” balloting. Many felt that the voters for the award didn’t vote for Matsui, because they felt he wasn’t a true rookie having played professional ball in Japan.

Matsui also became the first Japanese player to hit a home run in the World Series when he did it in Game 2 of the 2003 series against the Florida Marlins. In his first 3 seasons Matsui played in every game while hitting an average of .397 with an average of 110 RBI (106, 108, 116) and 23.3 home runs (16, 31, 23). Those numbers earned Matsui a new four-year, $52 million contract.

In May of 2006 Matsui fractured his wrist while attempting make a sliding catch in the first inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox. The injury severely limited Matsui’s playing time and he ended the year playing in only 51 games.
Matsui rebounded in 2007 with 25 home runs and 103 RBI to help the Yankees make the playoffs for the 13th consecutive time as the wild card entry.

Nonetheless, injuries continued to plague Matsui as he eventually underwent surgeries on both his knees. In 2007 Matsui had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee after the season ended, because the knee limited his playing time in the field and he was used more prominently as a designated hitter in the latter stages of the season.

The following season Matsui’s arthritic left knee became a problem. The knee had bothered Matsui throughout his playing days in Japan where he played on artificial turf for 10 years. In September of 2008 Matsui had surgery on the knee to help reduce the swelling and the pain caused by the constant stress of playing on it.

The plan for Matsui during the 2009 season was to use Matsui strictly as a designated hitter, at least until the middle of the season. However, Matsui’s approach and value to the DH position made it impossible for the Yankees to move him out of the role and put him in the field. Matsui had another productive year by hitting .274 with 28 homers and 90 RBI.

The situation for the Yankees is this. In 2006 Matsui signed a four-year deal with the Yankees who projected him as their long term left fielder. Unfortunately, the injuries and surgeries to Matsui’s knees have relegated him to a full time DH. How much value do you assign to a productive designated hitter versus a productive full time position player? And, at 35, how long do you sign Matsui for? These are the questions the Yankees, Matsui and his agent Arn Tellem have to answer during the off-season.

More questions for the Yankees will also determine the direction they go in the off season. In addition to Damon and Matsui the Yankees also have to contend with Andy Pettitte, Jose Molina, Xavier Nady, Eric Hinske and Jerry Hairston Jr.

Nady, Hinske and Molina are probably the easiest players to deal with. Nady who was slated to be the everyday right fielder when the 2009 underwent “Tommy John” surgery on his throwing elbow and missed the majority of the season. Nick Swisher, who was contracted from the White Sox in the off season, took over and performed admirably, earning the everyday slot.

Molina is a great defensive catcher, but not much to write home about offensively. Francisco Cervelli, who spent time with the club during the season, and was on the post season roster has proven he is great behind the dish, handles pitchers well and can hit major league pitching. He is ready for the big time, full time. The enthusiasm he brought to the team was a big boost in the dugout. Figure Molina and Nady will be playing elsewhere next season.

The same may be said for Hinske. Hinske began his career with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2002 where he hit 24 home runs while knocking in 84 runs. That effort earned Hinske the “Rookie of the Year” award for that season and it showed the promise of a productive career.

Sadly, Hinske never lived up to that promise. He only reached the 20 home run plateau one other time and that was when he played for the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays. He hit 20 round trippers and plated 60 runs.

In eight seasons Hinske has hit a pedestrian .254 while generating a .334 lifetime OBP and .438 SLG%.

However, in the post season Hinske has shined when given a chance. He has played in 3 World Series (2007-2009), winning with Boston and New York. In his limited appearances Hinske has hit .333 with a .500 OBP and a 1.333 SLG%.

Hinske can also play first and third bases as well as the corner outfield positions. The Yankees may want to keep Hinske around as a multi-positional utility player.

Whether or not Andy Pettitte comes back will be up to Pettitte. If he wants to return for another season the Yankees will do their best to accommodate him, because of all what Pettitte means and has meant to the franchise.

Hairston is in the Hinske camp. He is a multi-positional player who can spell the big boys a game here and a game there. He was an important pickup during the season and performed well in limited action.

Hairston is two years older than Hinske and with similar numbers and less playoff experience may be the odd man out.

Other factors loom for the Yankees as well as their in house players. Other free agents from other clubs could help the Yankees in winning their 28th championship. Chief among those players is RHP John Lackey who will most likely garner the most attention. Depending on which other teams are interested in Lackey services the Yankees may or may not be motivated to make a move for him.

The Yankees also have to look beyond next year. The biggest name the Yankees will have to contend with is Derek Jeter. Jeter will be completing a 10-year, $189 million contract at the end of next season and will be looking for a significant pay increase.

As the captain of the team, a five time World Series champion, a ten time all star, a World Series and all star MVP, a Rookie of the Year award winner, and as the face of the franchise the Yankees of the will be hard pressed to cry poverty when it comes to dealing with Jeter.

In addition, Jeter is the Yankees all time hits leader passing Lou Gehrig this season for the top spot in history. He will undoubtedly become the franchise’s first 3,000 hit player, which will be the ultimate accomplishment on a team that has had the names of Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra playing on it.

In the top seven offensive categories for the Yankees Jeter ranks in the top 10 in six of them. He is 5th all time in batting average, 10th in home runs, 10th in RBI, 4th in runs scored, 1st in total hits, 4th in doubles, and 7th in extra-base hits.

It will be a delicate balancing act for the Yankees. On the one hand Jeter will be 37 when his current deal runs out. How much longer can he play shortstop? Even one of the all time premier shortstops in major league history, Cal Ripken, Jr., switched to third base in 1996 at the age of 35. The only other option open to the Yankees is the outfield, because Alex Rodriguez is holding down third base and Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira are much younger than Jeter and play a solid second and first base respectively.

Over the past two seasons Jeter has seen the Yankees dole out obscene contracts to A-Rod, Teixeira, CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett. None of those players mentioned is even close to owning the resume Jeter brings to the negotiating table. As arguably the most popular Yankee in franchise history Jeter will swing a heavy hammer to get a deal done with Yankees.

Lastly, since the Yankees have once again ascended to the top of the mountain every other team in baseball will be just that much more motivated to knock them off. It is the same with every team who calls themselves “world champions.” Every other team from the Red Sox to the Angels to the Tampa Bay Rays will be looking to dethrone the champs.

This has forever been the law of the jungle. It is always, always harder to defend a championship than to win it.

28.

© 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

The 800 lb. gorilla has left the room
A-Rod’s playoff woes quickly becoming a memory

Everybody is asking who is that masked man wearing number 13 in New York Yankee pinstripes? That can’t be Alex Rodriguez can it? Isn’t he the guy who has proverbially choked in the playoffs since coming to the Bronx?

Well look again. It is a new A-Rod. One who is delivering timely hits in run scoring situations.

Ever since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS when the Yankees became the first team in sports history to blow a 3-0 series lead losing to the Boston Red Sox in 7 games A-Rod’s numbers had dwindled in the post season to microscopic proportions unfitting for a talented player of his magnitude.

Since signing on with the Yankees in 2004 Rodriguez has been a player of two seasons. In the regular season A-Rod has been a tiger. From 2004 – 2007 Rodriguez averaged a .303 BA, 42 HR and 123 RBI. His average on base percentage was .4004 and his slugging percentage was .5736. Add those two figures together and Rodriguez’s on base + slugging was .974. Lofty numbers indeed. Those numbers helped Rodriguez secure two MVP trophies in 2005 and 2007 to become only one of six players in Yankees’ history to win the MVP trophy. The others were Joe DiMaggio (3), Yogi Berra (3), Mickey Mantle (3), Lou Gehrig (2) and Roger Maris (2).

However, once the regular season ended and the calendar flipped to October those regular season heroics didn’t translate into post season magic.

In the 2004 ALDS against the Minnesota Twins Rodriguez amassed a .421 BA, a .476 OBP, and a .737 SLG%. He hit one home run and drove in 3 RBI. In the first three games of the ALCS, against the Red Sox, A-Rod hit .428 with one home run and 3 RBI. The Yankees won Game 3 19-8 with the offense collecting whopping 22 hits along the way. What flew under the radar at the time was the fact the Sox scored 9 runs of their own, next to 15 hits. Not exactly a pitching gem by the Yankees pitching staff either.

The roof caved in on the Yankees after that. It was like the well suddenly dried up and no more water was to be found. This was especially true in A-Rod’s case.

In the next 4 games Rodriguez batted a dismal .118 with one home run and two RBI. He wasn’t the only one. It was a total team collapse. It began back in Game 4 when the Yankees, leading the game 4-3 in the bottom of the 9th inning, brought in Mariano Rivera to shut down the Sox and lead the Yankees to their 40th World Series appearance.

Rivera did the unthinkable. He walked Kevin Millar to open the frame. Sox manager Terry Francona immediately sent in Dave Roberts to pinch run for Millar. Roberts then stole second to put the tying run into scoring position. The next batter, Bill Mueller, hit the first pitch he saw from Rivera into center field, scoring Roberts, and forever changing the course of baseball in Boston and the Bronx. Three innings later, after Manny Ramirez singled, David Ortiz sent a 2-1 pitch from Paul Quantrill into the night securing a 6-4 Red Sox victory in front of the Fenway faithful. Three nights later the Red Sox exorcised the so-called “Curse of the Babe” by beating the Yankees at Yankee Stadium 10-3 before a stunned home crowd of 56,129.

After that series things went totally wrong for A-Rod. Not the most liked person in the press or in the dugout A-Rod always tried to give the answer he thought people wanted to hear. He tried to say the right things, but often times it came out the wrong way, which just gave the press more fodder to write about. Rodriguez quickly became his own worst enemy. Both on and off the field, drama followed him everywhere.

During the next 3 season’s A-Rod’s individual numbers continued to flourish. Between 2005 and 2007 Rodriguez hit .321, .290. and .314 respectively. He knocked in 407 runs and sent baseballs over the wall 137 times. However, one of the continual knocks on A-Rod was, yeah he got his numbers, but rarely in key situations. He’d hit home runs if the Yankees were six runs up or down, but never when the game was on the line.

Not all was negative press in that time period for Rodriguez. On August 4, 2007 Rodriguez hit his 500th home run over the left field wall at Yankee Stadium to become the youngest player in major league history to reach that milestone. Statistically, 2007 was a monster year for him. Rodriguez finished with a line of .314 BA, 156 RBI and 54 home runs. His numbers were good enough for A-Rod to garner his second MVP trophy in pinstripes and third overall.

What happened to Alex Rodriguez during post season play was something out of the Twilight Zone. Inexplicably A-Rod would just stop hitting and driving in runs.

Over the three year period covering 2005 to 2007 the Yankees were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Three different teams sent the Yankees packing. The LA Angels in 2005, the Detroit Tigers in 2006 and the Cleveland Indians in 2007. In that time Rodriguez’s numbers were appalling to say the least.

In 55 at bats A-Rod had 7 hits for a .127 average with one home run, one RBI and he had struck out 15 times.

Last year was another good year for Rodriguez. He hit .302, plated 103 runs and knocked out 35 home runs. However, for the first time since 1995 the Yankees missed the playoffs under new manager Joe Girardi, who replaced the iconic Joe Torre. In fairness to Girardi, he was dealing with a lot of issues and injuries, but still managed to win 89 games. In other seasons that might have been good enough to make the playoffs, but unfortunately for the Yankees an upstart Tampa Bay Rays team won the division 8 games ahead of the Yankees, followed by the runner up Boston Red Sox who made it in as the wild card entry. The Yankees 3rd place finish was their lowest since the team came in 4th in 1992 under Buck Showalter.

It was embarrassing, nonetheless, for a team accustomed to playing in October.

Off the field, Rodriguez’s life was full of tabloid exploits well documented in the New York press, on sports talk shows and in the scandal rags.

In January of this year news leaked that the aforementioned Torre had written a sort of “tell-all” book about life behind the closed clubhouse doors of the New York Yankees. Rodriguez was prominently referred to by Torre. Torre said A-Rod’s teammates called him “A-Fraud” behind his back and he described the third baseman of having a “single white female” fixation on Derek Jeter. He also described Rodriguez as stat driven, not getting a job done in a particular situation.
Of course, this caused teammates to become involved in defending A-Rod, which they did.

Torre’s expose was barely out of the box when the next big bombshell hit. In February Sports Illustrated published that A-Rod’s name appeared on a list of 104 players who tested positive in 2003 for steroid and/or human growth hormone use. Once again, the Yankees were thrust into a negative spotlight because of their embattled third baseman.

Doing the right thing, A-Rod, in an interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons, admitted he had taken illegal substances in 2001 – 2003 while a member of the Texas Rangers. He told Gammons he stopped prior to joining the Yankees in 2004. Without rehashing all of A-Rod’s excuses as to why he went down this road suffice it to say there has been absolutely no proof to this point to refute A-Rod’s statements.

Rodriguez private life became public as well. Allegedly, A-Rod was cheating on his then wife Cynthia while traveling around the country with the Yankees. He was photographed with a mysterious blond when the two of them entered the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. There were reports this same woman was seen at various other spots around the country with Rodriguez going to dinner and high end strip joints.

He was also romantically linked to singer/actress Madonna. Both denied any involvement, however, both parties were divorced from their spouses within a short time of each other.

And just when you think you had seen and heard it all another A-Rod left hook came out of nowhere flooring his teammates and Yankee fans alike.

A-Rod’s name was associated with well know madam, Kristin Davis, the lady who had supplied fallen New York Governor Eliot Spitzer with hookers. Email exchanges between A-Rod and Davis were published in the NY Daily News. One had to wonder how long a proud organization like the Yankees were going to put up with these continual embarrassments.

On top of all of that in the beginning of March Rodriguez learned he was going to have to have surgery on his right hip to remove a cyst and repair a torn labrum as well. Initially it was thought that the injury might cost A-Rod the 2009 season, but after an examination by Dr. Marc Philippon in Vale, CO Rodriguez was told he could have corrective surgery done initially and he could play after a period of rest. He would need another surgery to complete the repair after the season was over. (Recently, A-Rod learned that he would need no further surgery after the playoffs)

A-Rod opted for the surgery and was told he would be out of action between 8 to 10 weeks.

In the meantime, the Yankees opened a new stadium in the Bronx, but the 2009 campaign hardly started the way the organization had pictured it. With A-Rod out of the lineup the Yankees struggled to a 15-16 record after the first 31 games. Girardi’s name was continually being bandied about as a guy who was going to be fired at any time. However, the front office kept mum, apparently content to let Girardi, with the team’s help, hang himself.

On May 8, all of that changed.

A-Rod returned to the lineup after his recovery went much faster and better than predicted. His presence immediately helped a struggling Mark Teixeira, who had been signed in the off season to an 8-year, $180 million contract. Prior to Rodriguez’s comeback Teixeira was hitting a woeful .192. He had generated only 5 home runs and 15 RBI. Afterward, and until the end of the season Teixeira’s numbers took off like a meteor. He ended the season tied for the American League home run lead with Carlos Pena of the Rays with 39 bombs and led AL with 122 RBI. He also hit a very respectable .292 to put him in the hunt for his first ever MVP trophy.

A-Rod’s return also re-energized the team as a whole after going 15-16 the Yankees went on a tear compiling a winning record of 88-43 (.693 winning percentage).

What was significant about Rodriguez’s season this year was, not only did he miss the first 30 games due to his injury, but he sat out an additional 8 games for rest. That was almost 25% of the 2009 campaign.

Even more amazing was A-Rod’s deportment after returning to the lineup. He appeared more relaxed, and a lot less wooden in the clubhouse. In interviews, instead of giving company type answers to questions, he just talked. Everyone around him noticed Rodriguez was more at ease with everything and that translated into one of the most enduring seasons of his career.

Rodriguez hit the first pitch he saw of his new season for a home run off Jeremy Guthrie of the Baltimore Orioles and he also hit the last pitch he saw of the season for a home run off Andy Sonnanstine of the Tampa Bay Rays. In that last game Rodriguez had 28 home runs and 93 RBI. Dating back to 1998 A-Rod had hit no less than 30 home runs or driven in less than 100 RBI for 11 straight years. No one in their right mind thought he had a shot at reaching 30 and 100.

A-Rod proved us all wrong.

With the Yankees trailing 2-0 in the 6th inning Rodriguez hit a 2-run home run off the Rays Wade Davis to start the Yankees scoring and to make his numbers 29 and 96. Then, in what I consider a gutless move, Rays manager Joe Maddon walked Teixeira in what would prove to be his last regular season at bat so he wouldn’t have the chance to break his home run tie with Pena. That move loaded the bases and it also brought Rodriguez to the plate.

With the bases juiced Sonnanstine pitched to A-Rod and in a scene that only Yankee lore is made of Rodriguez made Maddon and the Rays pay for walking Teixeira by blasting a grand slam home run over the right-center field wall. The Yankees scored 10 runs in the inning and Rodriguez set a new American League record by being the first player to plate 7 men in one inning. He also set a new major league record for being the first player to hit at least 30 home runs and driving in 100 runs in 13 seasons (he also accomplished the feat in 1996).

With the regular season over the playoffs began against the Minnesota Twins who barely made it to the dance. They ended the season in a dead heat tie with the Detroit Tigers and the teams were forced to play one more game in Minnesota to determine the AL Central Champs. Minnesota took the game and the title to New York where they played the Yankees the very next day.

So far in the two games played against the Twins in the ALDS Alex Rodriguez has delivered in the clutch. On Wednesday in Game 1 A-Rod was 2-for-3 with RISP. On Friday he was 1-for-1, but even this statistic is misleading. A-Rod delivered a game tying single in the 6th inning to tie the score 1-1. After the Twins got to Hughes in the top of the 8th, taking a 3-1 lead, the Yankees got busy in the bottom of the 9th inning.

With super-closer Joe Nathan on the mound Teixeira singled giving the Yankee faithful a glimmer of hope. That brought Rodriguez to the plate. Nathan threw A-Rod a fastball down the middle of the plate and Rodriguez hit it over the right field wall, over the Yankee bullpen and into the seats adjacent to Monument Park. Rodriguez dropped his bat and as he was running toward first looked into the Yankee dugout and pumped his fist. A-Rod rounded the bases and headed back to an ecstatic Yankee dugout and a curtain call.


The game remained tied until the bottom of the 11th when Teixeira faced Jose Mijares and hit a 1-1 pitch which skipped off the top of the left field wall and into the seats for Teixeira’s first career walk off home run. Teixeira rounded the bases and as he approached home plate tossed aside his batting helmet and jumped into a pile of celebrating teammates.

Said Teixeira after the game, "I don't think there's anything better in sports. Best place to play in the world."

Rodriguez was also asked about his heroics and he told reporters, This whole year I'm playing with no expectations." A-Rod added this. "The fun part is I was just thinking base hit," he said. "Hit the ball hard somewhere. And it went to the seats."

Although it’s only been two games there appears to be a calmness in Alex Rodriguez’s approach to his game. His teammates have responded as well. So far A-Rod has a home run and 5 RBI, and has delivered in 3-of-4 run scoring opportunities. However, given the power of this club I would put his 2-run home run in the 9th inning of Game 2 in that category. That would make him 4-for-5 in scoring chances.

How the rest of the playoffs go for A-Rod and the Yankees is anyone’s guess, but for now it seems that A-Rod is finally shedding his demons and that 800 lb. gorilla that he’s been carrying around for so long has finally jumped off his back and left the room.

© 2009 Yankees Talk Shop @ yuku.com

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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

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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.

© 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

Yankees having a roller coaster season
Mediocre Bombers under .500 after first 31 games

First of all, I want to wish all of you baseball loving moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day.

UGLY! There is no other way to describe the New York Yankees. This team is ugly. It wins ugly and it loses ugly. Today’s finale in Baltimore was no different. It was ugly. Yeah, they won 5-3 on Johnny Damon’s 3-run home run in the top of the 7th inning, but getting there is an E-ticket ride Yankee fans are getting tired of watching.

Coming out of spring training, the Yankees were pegged by most baseball experts as one of the three best teams in all of baseball this season. Unfortunately for the Yankees the other two teams mentioned play in their division. Along with the Bombers, the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays have also been talked about as being at the top of the class. It was predicted that between the three teams one would be AL East champion, one would be the wild card representative and the last could possibly win 90+ games and still go home.

So far New York looks like the odd team out. In fact, they don’t nearly resemble any team projected to win over 90 games this season. Besides the Red Sox and Rays you can add the Toronto Blue Jays who are playing tremendous baseball so far.

After 31 games (including today’s win in Baltimore) the Yankees record stands at 15-16. Projected out over an entire 162 game campaign the Yankees would finish 78-84. That is hardly the kind of record that would catapult a team into the playoffs.

The fall guy in all of this drama is Yankee manager Joe Girardi who, last year, took over the reins of the team from the departed Joe Torre. The baseball gods smiled cruelly on Girardi and the Yankees. After Torre headed for the sunny weather in Los Angeles as manager of the Dodgers the Yankees under Girardi’s guidance failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 1994. Torre’s teams made the post season 12 straight years, making 6 World Series appearances and winning four of them. That’s the kind of record which leads to a direct membership in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

To make matters worse Torre took the 2008 Angelinos to the playoffs, beating the heavily favored Chicago Cubs in the first round before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS 4-1. No Dodger team had gone that far since Tommy Lasorda’s crew surprised the baseball world by upsetting the Oakland Athletics in the 1988 Fall Classic in five games.

While the Yankees flounder around on the east coast the Dodgers and Torre are currently enjoying life and the best record (22-10) in baseball on the west coast. Those facts must have the Yankees brain trust standing on its ear.

You can just hear all the arguments right now. Yeah, the Dodgers were nothing until they got Manny Ramirez from the Red Sox. Or, the Dodgers play in the weakest division in baseball. While some of or all of that may be true it doesn’t change the actuality of the situation. Torre and the Dodgers are winning (now without Ramirez who was suspended 50 games for a positive drug test) while Girardi and the Yankees are barely treading water.

In five head-to-head meetings this year the Red Sox are perfect against New York. As their greatest rival, that record grates on the nerve endings of anyone even remotely associated with the Yankees. Against all East Division rivals the Yankees are 5-11. With a new $1.5 billion stadium to show off and after spending $425 million in the off season upgrading the roster this start is hardly what the Steinbrenners and general manager Brian Cashman had envisioned.

Girardi’s trip to the hot seat is hardly all his fault. The offense has been sketchy at best. Owning a team average of .273 the Yankees rank sixth in the American League, trailing Toronto, Boston and Tampa Bay. The Yankees trail the same three teams in RBI, but trail only the Texas Rangers (50) in home runs (45).

While the hitting has been mixed the pitching has been absolutely horrendous. New York presently ranks at the bottom of the American League with a team ERA of 5.88. That average is nearly two and a half runs under front runner Kansas City who owns a team ERA of 2.39. In the AL East the Yankees trail the Baltimore Orioles, the next lowest team by a little under half a run (5.39) per game.

The starting rotation, including three disastrous starts by Chien-Ming Wang, has a combined ERA of 5.73. Without Wang it’s 5.22. The relief corps has been very unreliable. In 96 innings pitched the bullpen has surrendered 68 runs for an ERA of 6.38.

Even Mariano Rivera, arguably the greatest closer in history, has had his problems. Rivera has already surrendered four home runs this season, nearly equaling his career high (5) set in 1997. On May 7 against the Rays Rivera gave up consecutive home runs, which, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, hadn’t been done in 862 appearances by Rivera. His 3.97 ERA is 1.67 points higher than his career average.

In fairness to Rivera he is coming off shoulder surgery and he has said his velocity isn’t where it should be. Admittedly, Rivera said he has enough tools to get guys out. But, keep in mind Rivera is approaching 40 and as a closer he has been at the top of the ladder much longer than most of his contemporaries. It could just be Rivera has begun the inevitable downward spiral that ultimately catches up with every player.

Another thing which is out of Girardi’s control is injuries. The Yankees have had an inordinate amount of them since Opening Day. So far this season Girardi has had to juggle his starting rotation, bullpen and lineup card a number of times. The Yankees have lost RHRP Brian Bruney (15-day, right flex muscle mass), LHRP Damaso Marte (15-day, left shoulder tendinitis), C Jose Molina (15-day, strained right quad), RF Xavier Nady (15-day, right strained elbow), C Jorge Posada (15-day, strained hamstring), 3B Cody Ransom (60-day, right quad tear) and RHP Chien-Ming Wang (15-day, weak hip abductor muscle) to the Disabled List.

Up until this past Friday you could have included 3B Alex Rodriguez who has been out since the beginning of the season due to having surgery performed on his right hip. A-Rod came back with a flurry as he hit a 3-run bomb off the first pitch he saw from Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie. Still, as A-Rod returned both Posada and Molina went on the DL.

Girardi hasn’t had a full complement of players since he took over the team last year. Regrettably, he knows that the blame for failure has to fall somewhere, and it usually falls squarely on the shoulders of the manager. Cashman’s neck should be on the chopping block as well. As the general manager he is the guy, along with the manager, who recommends where the money spent on high priced players goes. Looking at the Yankees successes so far this year the team has overspent for its newly acquired talent.

This team still has time to right the ship. Going on the road and facing opponents in other divisions may be the tonic the Yankees need to turn their season around. However, their success or failure begins with each individual player. Unless each player is willing to come out every game and leave it on the field the 2009 drive will result in another year of failure. Some guys have stepped up, while others have stepped back. The Yankees still have to come back and face the other teams in their division and if they can’t get by them, then it doesn’t matter what they do against the other foes in the Central and West.

Where is the Gipper when you need him?

© 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