Game 60: Get Up Jake

Now that we've reached the stage of the season where clubs can promote minor leaguers without having to worry about them being eligible for Super Two status, this year has really begun tp produce a bumper crop of top prospect debuts in the MLB.

Jason Heyward began his career as an Atlanta Brave with a bang at the beginning of the season and Ike Davis was called up when the Mets were struggling in mid-April. More recently, we've seen the debuts of Steven Strasburg, former Yankee farmhand Jose Tabata, fellow Pirate Brad Lincoln, and Mike Stanton (who is not related to the former Yankee reliever) to name a few. Still on the horizon are promising youngsters like the awesomely-named Carlos Santana - a catcher in the Indians' system, outfielders Domonic Brown of the Phillies and Desmond Jennings of the Rays, Scott Boras' Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez and Kyle Drabek - now property of the Blue Jays - who was the centerpiece of the Roy Halladay deal. Even these players experience a higher than expected rate of attrition, there's a good chance that we'll look back at this class of rookies as one of the best in the ten or fifteen years surrounding it.

Tonight, a highly-regarded Baltimore prospect will make his debut, but given the performance that happened just two days ago and forty miles down I-95, this one will seem considerably more subdued.

Jake Arietta was a fifth round pick in the 2007 draft but didn't begin his ascent through the minor leagues until the 2008 season. He debuted at High-A ball and struck out 120 batters in 113 1/3 innings while maintaining an ERA of 2.87. Last season, started with the AA Bowie Baysox, pitched 59 strong innings over 11 starts there and was promoted to AAA. While in Norfolk, Arrieta's strikeout rate dropped and his ERA rose, but was still respectable in his 92 innings there, tallying an ERA of 3.92 and a K/BB ratio comfortably over 2.

The twenty four year old right hander broke camp with the Triple-A squad this year and got off to a great start. Although his strikeout and walk rates aren't as strong as they were in the lower levels of the minors, they are better than they were at the same level last year and Arrieta has an ERA of just 1.85 through 11 starts. He has been more or less unhittable so far, surrendering fewer than six hits per nine innings and allowing only three homers in 73 IP.

In the past two years, the Orioles have seen more than their fair share of pitching prospects make their Major League debuts. Brad Bergesen first appeared in the Big Leagues April 21st of 2009, the less-celebrated-but-still-young David Hernandez joined the club May 28th, last night's pitcher Chris Tillman was called up at the end of last July, Brain Matusz made his debut six days later. Tonight, Arrieta will get his shot.

When we talked to Orioles fan and blogger Daniel Moroz before the season began, he surmised that barring a number of injuries, Arrieta wouldn't see more than a cup of coffee this season. Koji Uehara, who began the rotation, is on the DL and Hernandez, who has been ineffective in his eight starts, has been relegated to the bullpen. Those two moves, along with Arrieta's dominance and the O's futility, created Jake's chance to be called up.

It might not be occurring under the greatest of circumstances and it might not pay dividends immediately, but tonight should be a bit of a silver lining for Orioles fans, if such a thing can be found in one of their worst stretches in one of their worst seasons in franchise history.

Get up Jake, it's late in the mornin',
The rain is pourin' and we got work to do.
Get up Jake, there's no need a-lyin',
You tell me that you're dyin', but I know it's not true.

Now, me and Jake, we work down on the river,
on the ferry "Baltimore".
And when Jake don't rise up in the mornin',

People lined up along the shore.

[Song Notes: I've been a fan of this tune for a long time and it was the first thing I thought of when I heard Arrieta was going to be starting tonight. The lyrics don't line up perfectly, but the kid's name is Jake, "Baltimore" and "lined up" are in the song and that's good enough for our purposes. If only there was someone named Dan from Savannah on the Yankees, it would have really sealed the deal.

I had to upload the version from To Kingdom Come because the only "video" on YouTube kind of sucks.]

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Brett Gardner is once again out of the lineup; Marcus Thames gets the start in left field tonight. Pray for lots of groundballs and strike outs. Francisco Cervelli gets the finale off, with Chad Moeller getting the start against his former team.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Marcus Thames LF
Chad Moeller C

RHP A.J. Burnett

Orioles:

Corey Patterson LF
Miguel Tejada 3B
Nick Markakis RF
Ty Wigginton 1B
Luke Scott LF
Adam Jones CF
Matt Wieters C
Scott Moore 2B
Cesar Izturis SS

RHP Jake Arrieta

Game 8: Ain't Got No Home

Joel Pineiro gets the ball for the Halos today. Pineiro's been a bit of a nomad over the last few years of his career. After spending his first seven seasons with the Mariners, Pineiro signed with the Red Sox for 2007. Primarily a starter during his years in the Pacific Northwest, the Red Sox made Pineiro a reliever exclusively. There was even talk that Jonathan Papelbon, coming off his rookie campaign, would return to the starting rotation with Pineiro inheriting the closer's role. That didn't come to pass, and after a disastrous half season in their bullpen, Boston shipped him off to the Cardinals. It would prove to be a career altering transaction for Pineiro.

Returned to the rotation, Pineiro finished the 2007 season strong, but followed it up with a mediocre 2008 campaign. Under the tutelage of pitching coach Dave Duncan though, Pineiro had a career season in 2009. Armed with a new two seam fastball, his ground ball rate went through the roof, his walk and home run rates went through the floor, and his stock as an impending free agent skyrocketed.

Pineiro parlayed his age 30 career season and Major League best walk rate into a two year $16M deal from the Angels. It's unlikely he'll replicate his 2009 season; his ground ball, walk, and home run rates from last year just aren't sustainable, particularly when switching to the more challenging American League. Yet even with some regression, Pineiro figures to be a good value at just $8M per year. And if he isn't, he just may find himself on the move again in 2012.

Since the 2003 season, Javier Vazquez has done six different stints with five different clubs over eight years. He's gone from Montreal to New York to Arizona to the south side of Chicago to Atlanta and back to New York. Aside from the three years spent with the White Sox, each of Vazquez' stops since leaving Montreal have lasted just one season. His current contract expires at the end of the year, and virtually all the speculation since his reacquisition has assumed Vazquez' return engagement with the Yankees will be just a one year affair. Many Yankee fans may be hoping as much.

I've already said more than my share on Vazquez and on how some Yankee fans view him. I will attempt to restrain myself from expounding upon it any further. I am however very curious to see how Javy is received today, his first appearance in pinstripes in more than five years. His reception during Opening Day introductions yesterday was lukewarm. I couldn't hear many, if any, boos, but there certainly wasn't a loud cheer for him either. I hope the fans will be supportive today; I know I'll be cheering from the right field stands.

The life of a professional baseball player is transient by nature. On the way up, if he's lucky, a player will hit a new minor league outpost each year. Once he reaches the Majors, and is fortunate enough to establish himself there, he spends six consecutive weeks in Spring Training and half of the following six months on the road. Most players will change teams a few times over the course of their career.

As Joel Pineiro and Javier Vazquez know all too well, it's hard to establish a home as a Major Leaguer. Yet as Javier Vazquez returns to the Bronx, makes his first home start of 2010, and tries to re-establish a home in New York, I fear he may be facing a higher degree of difficulty than most, particularly in light of those who saw what they expected to see in his first start. I hope that these fans, who are so often told they're the best in the world, don't prove my fears to be well founded.

So as we face our second consecutive weekday matinee, we turn to The Band's Moondog Matinee album for today's video. The album is comprised entirely of covers from the early days of rock and roll. So while we're going with The Band's version here, it's tough to top the original from Clarence "Frogman" Henry.

I ain't got no home, or no place to roam
I ain't got no home, or no place to roam
I'm a lonely boy, I ain't got a home

-Lineups-

Yankees:

Jeter SS
Johnson DH
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Granderson CF
Swisher RF
Gardner LF

Angels:

Eric Aybar SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Torii Hunter CF
Hideki Matsui DH
Kendry Morales 1B
Juan Rivera RF
Maicer Izturis 2B
Jeff Mathis C
Brandon Wood 3B

A Tier-fall Friday Afternoon Linkaround

These links are dedicated to the memory of the 2009-10 Syracuse Orange basketball team. Their epitaph will certainly mention the 18 turnovers they committed last night.

To their credit, River Ave. Blues is having a "No Joba, No Hughes" day.

Still need your fix? Dave Allen at FanGraphs thinks putting Joba in AAA is the right move.

Around the 17:00 mark on this podcast, Don LaGreca from the Michael Kay Show on 1050 ESPN Radio begins interviewing Dave Eiland. At about 23:00, Eiland explains that the Yankees most likely won't ask Joba to start this season because of the shoulder injury he suffered in 2008.

However, Brian Cashman claims that Joba is a "starter in the bullpen". Which is sort of like saying that someone is a lawyer working as a legal aide.

During his recap of last night's game, Cliff from Bronx Banter dropped this little gem:

Marcus Thames, meanwhile, is hitting .094 (3-for-32) with just one walk and no extra-base hits after going 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Joe Girardi keeps talking about Thames’ track record, and it still seems as though Thames will make the team. That should tell you just how much spring performances really matter.

Marc Carig asks how long the Yankees will wait for Thames to start hitting. Brian Cashman contends that he's "impacted the ball pretty hard", but his 13 to 1 K/BB ratio isn't terribly encouraging. In his defense, he hasn't faced many lefties, something he'll have a chance to do tonight against Jamie Moyer.

Chad Jennings was hoping to shoot Cashman today. With a paintball gun. During a game of paintball. No word on whether Jennings accomplished his mission, but Brian Hoch, Carig and Feinsand all hit the target.

Joel Sherman dares to argue that if A-Rod is found to have used HGH that it will ruin his legacy. Bold, I know, but he also offers up something that you probably didn't know: A-Rod turned down the chance to host Saturday Night Live several times this winter. Probably a good choice. I doubt A-Rod is a very good actor considering he isn't even good at being himself.

NYY Stadium Insider introduced a new author today, and he tells his story of what might be the ultimate Yankee Stadium Insider experience.

Another blow to the notion of "clogging the bases".

Wezen-ball ranks the worst seasons by an Opening Day starter in the last 50 years. Carl Pavano's 2007 isn't on there because Larry's bottom 10 are guys who stuck around long enough to compile a WAR of -2.2 or worse. You know who did make the list, though? Mr. Opening Day, Jack Morris.

Breaking news: Jonathan Papelbon can't grasp a simple concept. To those who think Yankees vs. Red Sox games are too long, he says:

If you don’t want to be there, don’t be there. Go home. Why are you complaining?

They want to be there, dummy, but they probably have to get up for work in the morning and want to see actual baseball instead of an endless parade mound visits, guys stepping out of the box to adjust their jock and asshat revilers who take so long to come into the game they get fucking fined for it. I'm not one to complain about the length of Yanks/Sox games, but can understand why people - especially fans of other teams - are irritated by a 5-4 game that takes 4 hours and 15 mins to complete.

Rob Iracane of Walkoff Walk rounds up two recent and rather pathetic some stories combining prostitution and baseball (attempted prostitution, that's an embarrassing charge to be tagged with). Had he expanded that to actresses potentially playing prostitutes in baseball-related movies, he might have included this. He wouldn't mind her for a rib, but before Megan Fox gets the part our buddy Old Hoss has requested to take a gander at her cat-heads.

And I know it's painful, but via 'Duk's Twitter feed, here is the last tier of the grandstand at the Old Stadium being torn down. Disclaimer: it's not for the elderly, nostalgic or faint of heart.

/sobs quietly on keyboard

This Film Should Be Played Loud!

On Thanksgiving night thirty three years ago, the focus of the music world was on the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Luminaries from throughout the industry - Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Dr. John, Van Morrison, and others - joined The Band as they gave their final concert - The Last Waltz. It was a diverse collection of friends, mentors, and influences assembled to give a great group a proper sendoff.

Earlier that year, The Band - or more specifically The Band's guitarist Robbie Robertson - decided it was time to leave the road. So they decided to give one final concert, and invite Robertson's new buddy Martin Scorsese to film the whole deal. The result is one of the most legendary concerts of all time, and a film that is all at once the gold standard of concert films, a lasting - if disturbing - monument to Robertson's massive ego, and insight perhaps into just why The Band broke up. After Leo the Lion roared, signaling the opening of the MGM film, the sentence "This Film Should Be Played Loud!" appears on the screen.

Watching the film at some point over the weekend and listening to the CDs on my Thanksgiving morning drive to New Jersey has become a personal Thanksgiving Day tradition. So, in the event that anyone is looking to kill time this Thanksgiving, here are some performances from the film:



"Up On Cripple Creek", the concert's opening performance and one of The Band's most recognizable tunes




"It Makes No Difference", a beautiful song featuring the vocals of the late Rick Danko




"The Weight", easily The Band's most well-known and most widely-covered song. The concert performance didn't make the cut for the film. But a post-production performance was cut on a soundstage shortly after the concert. It features the fabulous Staples Singers, and Pops and Mavis really steal the spotlight on this one.




"Mannish Boy", with the legendary Muddy Waters. Just prior to the start of the song Scorsese had ordered all his cameramen to change film. One cameraman, fed up with Scorsese's incessant instructions, had long since removed his headphones. His was the only camera rolling during the performance and is the reason why the entire performance is a single shot.




"Further On Up the Road", with Eric Clapton. The strap on Slowhand's Strat gives out during his opening solo. Robertson astutely swoops in to grab the lead and keep things moving.




"Helpless", with Neil Young, and Joni Mitchell providing background vocals off stage. Drummer Levon Helm was the only non-Canadian involved in this performance. I imagine he was wondering why they didn't hold the concert on Canadian Thanksgiving the month before. Legend has it that Young had a huge clump of coke hanging in his nostril during this performance and that it was edited out during post-production.




"The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", my favorite Band song, written about the war that was taking place when President Lincoln issued the proclamation that began an annual observance of Thanksgiving. This is easily the most powerful performance of the song that I've heard.




"Forever Young", with Bob Dylan. "The Band" existed as a band before they linked up with Bob Dylan, but they didn't become "The Band" until they met Dylan. They were with him for his foray into electric music, and it was Dylan who brought them to the hamlet of Woodstock, where Danko lived until his death and Helm still calls home.




"Don't Do It", the opening performance of the film was in fact the final performance of the night, and the final performance of "The Band" consisting of this line up. It's a Marvin Gaye song that The Band often covered, and covered well.

Pete Abe's Stealing Our Schtick

Just kidding. Pete appears to be every bit the music enthusiast we are, but I have to admit, he came up with one today that I had never heard of.

The whole Brill Building / Tin Pan Alley type stuff is sort of a forgotten part of American music history, but it was really the primary source of popular music between the first wave of rock and roll in the early to mid 1950s and the British Invasion led by the Beatles and the Stones in 1964.

In their farewell concert, The Last Waltz, The Band tried to pay tribute to all periods of their career, and by extension all facets of post-1950 popular music, by inviting guests to represent these different stages and genres. So even though he sticks out like a sore thumb in a game of "one of these things is not the like the others", that's why Neil Diamond is included amongst the likes of Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, and Muddy Waters.

Sorry for yet another music-centric post. I'm out of ideas at the moment and counting the minutes until the weekend gets here.

Game 119: Tears Of Rage

The Yankees' West Coast road trip continues tonight, with the first of three 10PM starts. Three of the games in the last series in Seattle had late starts as well, which kind of sucks for us back here on the East Coast, but apparently not for the team, as those were the three games the Yankees won against the Mariners.

After dropping Sunday's matinee with Joba Chamberlain on the hill, the Yanks look to reload with A.J. Burnett taking the ball this evening. Burnett's last start against the Blue Jays, which Matt and I witnessed from the upper deck, was technically a quality start, but only by the slimmest of margins. He went six innings and allowed three runs, but was lucky to do so as the Jays tallied up 10 hits and two walks while Burnett was charged with three (albeit questionable) wild pitches. He ultimately coughed up the lead in his last inning and received a no-decision.

Opposing the Yankees will be an artist with a vendetta. When the Yankees DFA'd Brett Tomko earlier this year, he voiced his displeasure with not being given enough opportunities to succeed with the Big League club:

I don't think I got a fair shot. I pitched great in spring training and didn't make the team. I pitched great in the minors, got called up and didn't get much of a chance. I understand other guys are pitching great. But it could have been different. I can't see the point in coming back.

This is amusing because Tomko had a 5.23 ERA in 20 2/3 MLB innings this year, tallied a K/BB ratio of less than 2:1 and gave up 5 HRs. Sure, his numbers in 14 innings at AAA were very good, but that should be expected from a 36 year old journeyman who has years if not a decade of experience on his competition at that level. The A's picked him up off the scrapheap for whatever reason and are trotting him out tonight even after his three appearances in Sacramento for them consisted of 5 2/3 IP, 9 hits and 5 earned runs.

The Yankees have a chance to prove Tomko is not deserving of a starting pitching gig in the Major Leagues when they face him tonight. Hopefully they give him something to really cry about.

We pointed you the way to go,
And scratched your name in sand,
Though you just thought it was nothing more,
Than a place for you to stand.

I want you to know that while we watched,
You discovered no one would be true,
And I myself was among,
The ones who thought,
It was just a childish thing to do.

Game 49: Look Out Cleveland

When CC Sabathia was traded to the Brewers early last July he bid his hometown of 10 years goodbye by taking out a full page ad in the Cleveland Plain Dealer thanking the fans for their support. The $12,870 the black and white ad cost was just a drop in the bucket compared to what he had already made in his career, much less what he was about net on the free agent market. Still, lots of guys get traded from a team and don't bother to offer such a thoughtful gesture. Hopefully the fans at Progressive Field tonight will be a little more accommodating than those at Thursday's Cavs game where the crowd actually booed CC. 

Knowing that there was almost no possibility of resigning Sabathia before he reached free agency and wanting to get something in return, the Indians dealt him to Milwaukee for highly touted, power hitting outfield prospect Matt LaPorta along with pitchers Zack Jackson, Rob Bryson and third baseman Taylor Green. The Hardball Times evaluated the trade at the time and called it dead even.

The Brewers probably got more than they expected from their three month and one week rental of Sabathia. He made 15 starts, seven of them complete games, totalling 130 1/3 innings pitched at a 1.65 ERA. His start in the ALDS against the Phillies left much to be desired, but from a Yankee fans' perspective, that was a good thing, as it ultimately limited the abuse points the Brewers were able to put on our future commodity. 

LaPorta made his major league debut this year, but struggled in his 13 games in The Bigs. He's currently down in AAA and hitting well, but hasn't shown the power he was rumored to have when the Indians acquired him. Taylor Green is at AA Huntsville, and Rob Bryson is still with Lake County in A-ball. The last piece of the deal, Zach Jackson, has spent most of the year in AAA, but made two starts and one relief appearance (against the Yankees) for the Tribe.

Sabathia's opponent tonight is Fausto Carmona, who was seemingly less affected by the midges in the 2007 ALDS than Joba Chamberlain. Carmona threw nine innings of one run ball that night using only 113 pitches, but it wasn't enough to net a complete game, as it took a walk off single by Travis Hafner in the 11th to snuff out the Yankees. 

2007 was unquestionably Carmona's finest year in the Major Leagues. Despite operating in CC Sabathia's shadow, he finished 4th in the Cy Young voting behind his teammate on the strength of a 3.06 ERA, but more importantly, a 19-8 record. The year before, the Indians tried to convert him to a reliever, but that experiment failed miserably as he collected 8 losses out of the 'pen. 

Last year, Carmona spent two months on the DL with a left hip strain and was ineffective in the 22 starts he did make, accumulating a 5.44 ERA. This season, he's picked up right where he left off. In 10 starts, his ERA is sitting at a smooth 6.42, and he was lifted from his last outing against the Rays after only 1 1/3 IP. He's walking nearly 6 batters per nine innings (up from 2.6 in 2007) and has a WHIP of 1.665. Many comparisons have been made between he and Chien Ming Wang in the past since both are tall, hard-throwing, right-handed sinkerballers who keep the ball in the park and have low strikeout rates. Allowing too many balls in play makes it tremendously difficult to have extended success against Major League hitting and both of these guys are facing that reality.

The Yankees enter this game winners of their last two against the Indians and 13 of their last 16 overall. Mark Teixeira has hit 12 home runs in May and has an OPS of 1.113. They say momentum is only as good as the next night's pitcher? Sabathia has averaged 8 innings over his past four starts and only given up a total of six runs.

Look out Cleveland, 

The storm is comin' through,

And it's runnin' right up on you. 

[H/T to Emma from Bronx Banter for the idea for the song.]

Game 34: Acadian Driftwood

It's not everyday you see a match-up of 6' 7" left-handed pitchers.

This will be the sixth start of the season for 31 year old Brain Tallet. In his three previous seasons as a Blue Jay, Tallet only only made one other start and you'd have to go all the way back to his time with Cleveland in 2003 to find another. He's been solid as a reliever for the Jays, especially last year, when he threw 56.1 innings to a 2.88 ERA, but the injuries to their staff this season forced him into the rotation on April 18th. For the time being, it looks like he's there to stay:

"They (management) do have to make a decision and it's tough to take him out of the rotation now," Jays manager Cito Gaston said of Tallet. "I'd like to have another lefty in the bullpen, but if he continues to pitch the way he has, there's no reason to take him out of the rotation."

His ERA sits at 4.95, but that is severely inflated by one hellacious outing against Kansas City during which he gave up 10 ER in 4 innings. Since then, he's lasted 7 innings in each of his two starts and allowed only 10 baserunners combined.

Of course, jumping the bump for the Yanks tonight will be CC Sabathia. When last seen, Sabathia was letting out a primal scream in Baltimore after throwing a complete game shutout to stop the Yankees' five game skid. They are 2-2 and since then. His second complete game of the year (the first in a losing effort) brought his ERA under 4.00 but CC's won-lost record is still 2-3. After issuing 14 walks in his first four starts, he has given up only 2 in his past three. It seems as though the Hefty Lefty (we can use that for him now that Jared Lorenzen is gone from the Giants, yes?) is starting to hit his stride. 

-----

As the Yanks head out of Canada and back to New York tonight, I thought it would be appropriate to bust out Acadian Driftwood by The Band. As is the case with some of their other songs, this one is based on historical events, even though the lyrics take some liberties at times. 

Acadia was a French Colony in Canada founded in 1604 which consisted of the modern-day Maritime Provinces, Eastern Quebec, and parts of New England. The colony changed hands numerous times, going from France to The Netherlands to England, back to France. In 1755, at the beginning of the Seven Years War, if Acadians did not swear allegiance to the English crown, they were forcefully deported throughout the American colonies. 

Robbie Robertson (a Toronto native) was the one who wrote the lyrics and did so from a first person historical narrative, similar to The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (except, unlike "Virgil Kane", the narrator is never named). The It's a pretty long song, but this article provides a thorough breakdown of the background behind it and an assessment of the historical validity of it line by line. 

Everlasting summer filled with ill-content,

This government had us walkin' in chains,
This isn't my turf,
This ain't my season,
Can't think of one good reason to remain.

[...]

Acadian driftwood,
Gypsy tail wind,
They call my home the land of snow,
Canadian cold front movin' in,
What a way to ride,
Ah, what a way to go.