0 Days Until Spring Training: Here Comes The Sun

Good morning Fackers. This is Oddibe McDowell. McDowell was drafted an astounding six times, including once by the Yankees, before finally signing with the Texas Rangers in 1984. A once promising prospect and member of the loaded 1984 U.S. Olympic team, McDowell became a middling outfielder for the Rangers, Indians, and Braves. He spent parts of just seven seasons in the Majors, finishing his professional career with fourteen games for the Columbus Clippers, the Yankees' AAA affiliate, in 1995.

So why does Oddibe appear here? Because no Yankee has ever worn zero on his back. One time Yankee Cliff Johnson wore 00 during his time with the Blue Jays in the 1980s, but I can't find any pictures of it. So Oddibe, the one time Yankee draft pick and minor leaguer, who wore 0 during his time at Arizona State and with the Rangers as a numerical representation of the first letter of his first name, brings our countdown to Spring Training to the magic number of zero.

And with that, here we are. My area in Connecticut got walloped with about ten inches of snow yesterday. My commute home took twice as long as usual. My driveway was a sheet of ice this morning. And I don't care. Because as of today, it's baseball season.

At some point today, thirty five Yankee pitchers and seven Yankee catchers will report to the team's complex in Tampa. Lockers will be filled. Physicals will be taken. And tomorrow, official workouts will begin, and I will never be so enthused about pitchers' fielding practice.

Welcome back baseball. It's been a long, cold, lonely winter.

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's alright,

Little darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter,
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here,
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right.

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces,
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here,
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right.

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting,
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear,
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
And I say it's all right.

World Series Game 2: Idiot Wind

Here's a new one guys, Joe Girardi is driving us insane before the game even starts!

When Francisco Cervelli was dropped from the World Series roster, I said that we could "almost certainly infer" that Jorge Posada would be catching A.J. Burnett in Game 2. Earlier today I threw out the option of benching Nick Swisher and starting Brett Gardner in center field but said that I was "certain Joe Girardi won't do it".

Well friends, Joe Girardi certainly did remove Nick Swisher from the line up, but in favor of Jerry Hairston, Jr., not Gardner. Why, you might ask? Because Hairston totally crushes Pedro! In 31 career plate appearances, he has a line of .370/.433/.519. Pretty awesome, right?

/touches earpiece

What's that? Ah, I've just been told that the last time Hairston faced him was in two thousand fucking four when Pedro was a completely different pitcher. Since then, Hairston made over 1606 plate appearances for four different teams. But don't worry, those 31 PAs are totally relevant.

Hairston's a pretty good defender, but he's not about to take over center field and allow Melky Cabrera to play right, thereby shoring up two positions like a certain gritty, guttier option would have. (By the way, Hairston has only started one game in RF all year). He's not going to steal bases like Gardner theoretically could either. He's also 10 for his last 65, for what it's worth.

I was semi-in-favor-of benching Swish this morning so I guess I can't complain too much. But to do it in favor Hairston doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Even Eric Hinske, who figures to get some ABs in Philly and might benefit from a tune up would be a better choice. The Molina decision, on the other hand, doesn't make any fucking sense at all.

One might have thought that after the first inning of Game 5 in Anaheim, the sacred union of Burnett and Molina would have been all but dissolved. After all, Burnett gave up 4 runs in the first frame without recording an out and with Molina catching him. After Posada pinch hit for Molina, he and Burnett worked well enough to record two scoreless innings. A.J. gave up two baserunners in the seventh inning who eventually came around to score, but some of that falls on the relievers. Or at the very least, you could conclude that the catcher isn't the problem, it's Burnett. And then simply insert the better offensive option behind the plate.

Now everyone enters the game with a prepackaged scapegoat. If Burnett fares poorly, Girardi should have had Posada behind the plate. If the offense is dead and Jerry Hairston goes 0-4 with 3 Ks, Joe should have left Swisher in. He's inadvertently putting more pressure on his players because they now have to come up big to validate his inexplicable gutsy decisions. Ask Joe Torre how moving A-Rod down to 8th in the order worked out for him.

Oh yeah, Pedro is starting for the Phillies, but we already went over that.

As Jorge Posada said before Game 2 of the ALDS "we'd better win". Because if the Yankees don't, the blame is going to be aimed squarely at Joe Girardi. No pressure, Yanks.

People see me all the time and they just can't remember how to act,
Their minds are filled with big ideas, images and distorted facts.
Even you, yesterday you had to ask me where it was at,
I couldn't believe after all these years, you didn't know me better than that.

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth,
Blowing down the backroads headin' south.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You're an idiot, babe.
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

Game 145: Day Tripper

The Angels made their only scheduled trip of 2009 to the Bronx back at the end of April, starting a four game series on a Thursday. The Yanks took the first two, including one of their 13 walk off wins during the Friday night game, before the Halos took the Saturday contest behind journeyman starter Matt Palmer on Kentucky Derby Day. Sunday's series finale was rained out, leaving us with today's make up.

That weekend in early May however was not the last time these two teams met. The Yankees traveled to Anaheim for a three game weekend series just before the All-Star break and completely mailed it in, getting swept despite leading each game at some point. Fortunately, that series marks the last thing remotely resembling a speed bump this season, as the Yanks have gone 41-14 (.745) since.

Joba Chamberlain will oppose Jered Weaver in today's game. Joba has faced the Angels once, on July 10th this year, allowing 10 baserunners, 5 runs, 4 earned, in 4.1 innings. This will be his fourth intentionally truncated start; with any luck he'll be able to get through four innings today and be able to do it something resembling a reasonable pitch count. After a rough first inning his start last Wednesday, Chamberlain had an effective last two plus innings, retiring the final eight batters he faced. He'll look to build on that tonight.

Weaver has faced the Yankees twice this year and is 1-0 with 1.08 WHIP despite a 5.25 ERA over 12 innings of work. For his career, he's 4-1 in six starts against the Yanks but carries a 5.82 ERA against them. For the season Weaver is 15-5, leading his club in starts, innings, wins and strikeouts, and is second amongst Angel starters in ERA. He and John Lackey are the only Halo rotation members with an ERA lower than league average. He's been outstanding over his last three starts: 2-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 17:3 K:BB over 19.1 IP.

The Yankee bench will be a little more crowded tonight, as the Yankees did what I thought they wouldn't do, and recalled outfielder Freddy Guzman. Peter Abraham speculates that the Yanks are giving him a look as a potential post-season pinch running option. Not only do I think that's a bad idea, I don't even know if it's possible since Guzman was not added to the 40 man roster until today. To make room for him, Anthony Claggett was designated for assignment, becoming the third young, if unspectacular, pitcher the Yanks have DFA'd this year in order to make room for inferior talent. I imagine the Pirates will scoop him up just as they did to Steven Jackson and Eric Hacker. Scranton's already decimated roster is down two more bodies, but they will have Ian Kennedy available to start Game 2 of the IL Finals on Wednesday.

After today's little day trip, the Angels travel to Boston for three then on to Texas for three more. All of that is good news for the Yanks, as they're guaranteed to reduce their various magic numbers by at least one for all six of those days, whether it be to clinch a playoff spot, to clinch the AL East, or to clinch homefield throughout the playoffs. Counting tonight, the Yanks have four more games against the Angels this year. Given their troubles at The Big A over the last several years, it would be awfully nice if the Yanks can beat up on the Halos and ensure they have homefield throughout the post-season.



Bonus version with Jimi Hendrix

Tried to please her, she only played one night stands
Tried to please her, she only played one night stands, now
She was a day tripper, Sunday driver, yeah!
It took me so long to find out, and I found out

Game 144: You Won't See Me

The Yanks will look to salvage the final game of the season's final series against Baltimore. The final meeting between these two teams this year will be a rematch of the of their first meeting, back on Opening Day, as CC Sabathia goes against Jeremy Guthrie. Guthrie got the W and CC took the loss on Opening Day, then they reversed roles in a May 8th rematch as the Big Fella tossed a shutout.

For the season, Sabathia is 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA and 1.10 WHIP against the O's. He's been on a tear since early August, going 5-0 with a 1.75 ERA in seven starts, all of which have been Yankee victories. Over 51.1 innings, he's fanned 63, walked just 11, and allowed only 4 home runs. Opponents are OPSing an anemic .539 against him.

Guthrie is 1-3 against the Yankees this year, with a 4.68 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. In his last four starts Guthrie is 3-1, the only loss coming against the Yankees on August 31st. Over that stretch he's posted a 1.33 ERA, held opponents to a .587 OPS, and has 15:4 K:BB over 27 innings of work.

Johnny Damon returns to left field today as the Yankees run out the "A" line-up this afternoon, with Melky Cabrera getting the start in center.

The Yankees won't see the Orioles again until next year. As for today, the Yankees will likely have a near capacity crowd, but with Derek Jeter's chase of Lou Gehrig now complete, today's game being relatively meaningless, and today being the first Sunday of the NFL season, I would imagine that fewer people than usual will be seeing the game on YES. Thankfully, the Yanks game should be wrapping up by the time the Giants and Redskins kick off at 4:15, so for today at least the viewing conflicts should be minimized.

#9

It's 9:09 on 09/09/09. What else did you expect to see here?

After seven outstanding seasons, five pennants, two championships, two MVP awards, and one single season home run record, the Yankees sent Roger Maris to the Cardinals in a rather poor trade following the 1966 season. The Cardinals were owned by the Busch family, as in Anheuser-Busch. When Maris wanted to retire after the 1967 season, Gussie Busch promised Maris a distributorship if he would return for one more year. He did, helping the Cardinals to their second consecutive NL flag, allowing him to play in the seventh World Series of his career.

True to his word, Gussie Busch set Maris up with a Budweiser distributorship in Gainesville, FL. Maris would operate it until his untimely death from cancer in 1985. Unfortunately for Maris, the Busch family didn't have a stake in Magic Hat.

That's our numerical history lesson for the morning. Now grab your self a Magic Hat #9, sit back, relax, and listen to this one.

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 66: Crying, Waiting, Hoping

Crying, crying,
Tears keep a-falling,
All night long.
Waiting, waiting,
It seems so useless,
I know its wrong,
To keep on...

...crying, crying,
Waiting, waiting,
Hoping, hoping...

While the weather looks pretty dismal at the moment, the end does appear to be in sight. All indications are that the Yanks are going to try to get this one in. If/When the game goes off, provided that it's still during work hours, we will host a live chat to keep you entertained and kill your productivity at your job.

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A rain delay has to be particularly difficult on a starting pitcher. They spend their professional lives knowing exactly when their next outing is going to take place, down to a matter of minutes. They prepare and work out and sleep and eat in accordance to when they will be taking the mound. They can focus and prepare for when they take the ball and all eyes turn to them. It's a gradual and predictable build up. But not today. Joba Chamberlain and Craig Stammen have to amble about the clubhouse, trying to stay loose, or alert, or ready, knowing that the call could come at any time.

This happened to Joba once already this season and the results weren't especially encouraging. On May 26th in Texas, the game was delayed almost two and a half hours by rain. If you'll recall, this was the outing that Joba was pulled after 4 innings, 4 walks, 4 hits, 84 pitches and 3 runs. His last start against the Mets wasn't a whole lot better (4IP, 2ER, 100 pitches). Since his 8 strong innings in Cleveland he's gone progressively fewer innings (8, 6, 4), while his pitch count has remained about the same (106, 100, 100). The free swinging Nats should help him buck that trend.

Starting for the Nats will be Craig Stammen (not "Stamen", easy there, flower children). As was the case with the other two pitchers Manny Acta has trotted out this year, the Yankees have not faced Stammen yet. He's a 25 year old rookie who has pitched a grand total of 27 1/3 innings in the major leagues and has yet to throw 100 pitches in an outing or see his ERA below 5. Let's test that theory again. He's lasted at least until the fifth inning in each of his starts, but (shockingly!) has yet to come away with one of the Nationals' 17 victories.

If they do get around to playing this thing, Jeter, Posada and Melky will all be out of the line up.

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Come back for the live chat when game time rolls around.

Game 54: Get Back

I love afternoon matinee games. Baseball is made for sunny afternoons, and while the forecast for today isn't perfect, baseball in the daylight is still a treat. When I was younger, I lived for the days there was a weekday afternoon game on during summer vacation. Those were the best. I'd love to see the MLB Network eventually broadcast a daily afternoon game during the summer months. I only wish I still had months-long summer vacations to enjoy it.

The Yankees continually do their opponents a favor by having these get-away-day matinees, allowing them to skip town early and get to the next city in time for a good night's sleep. It's a luxury the Yankees are rarely afforded on the road, as most teams need the night time start to ensure a good gate. Even with all the moaning about the new Stadium, the Yanks would still draw close to a packed house even if the game started at sunrise.

Despite my affinity for these afternoon contests, I'll be stuck in my luxurious cubicle following on GameCast, while Jay will be in attendance. Rest assured there will be more on that later. I'll bide my time knowing I already have tickets for a few other weekday afternoon contests later in the season.

Today's game is all about getting back. The Yankees look to get back to 10 games over 0.500, hopefully on their way to 15, 20, and 25 over. They also look to get back to another axiom from the Torre years: winning the series, as they try to take the rubber game of this three game set. They look to get the offense and starting pitching back to where it was before poor performances from both yesterday. Mark Teixeira gets back in the line-up after he missed yesterday's game with a sprained ankle suffered while getting back at the Rangers on Tuesday night.

But more than anything else, today's game is about getting Chien-Ming Wang back. Getting him back from the pitching limbo he's been in for the past two weeks. Getting him back to the starting rotation. And most importantly getting him back to the form he displayed from the start of his career up through his season ending foot injury last year.

Expectations are the first step towards disappointment, so I'm trying not to expect too much from the Wanger today. He's looked good in his last two relief outings, turning in 5 scoreless innings and allowing only 3 hits and a walk against 3 Ks. But I don't know that we can draw anything other than an optomistic outlook from that. Getting Wang back to where he once belonged will likely be a long and arduous process given the injury, the beatings he took early this season, and they way he's been mishandled over the past few weeks. Regardless, today is an important first step.

Wang should be good for about 80 pitches today, which is assuredly why Alfredo Aceves was held out of yesterday's game. If he's on, Wang may be able to go six, if he's off the Texas line-up can chew up his pitch limit in the fourth. If he's really off he won't even make it that far.

As an aside, with Aceves held out yesterday, Brett Tomko was the de facto long man, going three impressive innings in relief of Pettitte. Remember when the Yankees said Tomko couldn't be used for multiple innings because he had been conditioned as a short-stint reliever this year? Another pearl of honesty from Girardi and company. I guess they feel that he was sufficiently stretched out after making two appearances covering two innings in the last two weeks. Remind me again why this guy is on the roster?

[UPDATE 12:02 PM: Pete Abe is reporting that Burnett has been suspended six games by MLB for throwing at Nelson Cruz Tuesday. How he can be suspended for six games due to an action that didn't get him tossed from one is a little beyond me. But it makes perfect sense in the pretzel logic that is the MLB discipline policy. Burnett plans to appeal, but we may see Hughes back in the rotation sooner than thought. Even if he serves the full six, I don't care. Burnett did what he needed to do for his team. If that's the price to pay for it then so be it. Meanwhile I'll wait for MLB to suspend Padilla as well. That is if Texas doesn't cut him first.]

Please use this as a game thread. We're not quite ready for a fancy live game chat, but I imagine several of you, like me, are stuck at some soul-sucking office today rather than sitting in front of your big screen with a frosty cold one. So let's commiserate in the comments.

Here's your video for today. As a special matinee bonus we'll do this a little differently. Rather than your typical video of the song or a live peformance we'll give you a two part, behind the scenes look at the making of Get Back. In true Fack Youk fashion, it's in black and white. So in my best Ed Sullivan voice "Ladies and Gentleman, the Beatles" with the late, great Billy Preston on the keys. Enjoy.

Get back, Get back,
Get back to where you once belonged.

Game 40: Eight Days a Week

Phil Hughes gets the ball in Game 40, and with the return of #40 looming, it may be the last we see of the Phranchise for a bit. While some suggest putting Hughes in the pen when Wang returns, Hughes will almost assuredly return to the Scranton rotation. And I think that's the right move. I'm sure Hughes will see the Major League roster again before September.

After a brilliant 2009 debut against Detroit three weeks ago, Hughes hasn't done so hot in his last three starts, failing to make into the sixth in any of them, posting an 11.81 ERA, allowing nearly three base runners per inning, and striking out only four batters against ten walks. These very Orioles touched him up for 8 runs on 8 hits and 2 BB as Hughes recorded just 5 outs two starts ago.

Jeremy Guthrie goes for the Orioles, making his third start against the Yankees this year. He beat them on Opening Day and they returned the favor on May 8th to snap a five game losing streak and start the 9-2 run they currently have going.

The rest of the Yankees starting rotation has been a Fab Four of late; it would be nice to see Hughes turn in a quality start tonight to join the fun. The current seven game winning streak started exactly a week ago; tonight they try to make it eight.