Game 44: Aces High

It's a beautiful afternoon on a holiday weekend, but this game makes it pretty tempting to stay inside. Perhaps you have a screened-in porch you could watch it on? This afternoon will feature another lefty on lefty tilt, except this time it occurs at the top of the rotation. CC Sabathia will oppose Cole Hammels for the tenth and final game of the current homestand during which, the Yanks are 8-1 with four walkoffs. It has been a ravishing success so far, regardless of what happens this afternoon, but doesn't 9-1 just look so much better than 8-2? The Bombers are tied with the Red Sox and a half game behind the Jays. 

Like Sabathia, Hamels got off to a bit of a rough start, but his ERA has declined in every start since his first. Back on April 28th, Hamels rolled/twisted/sprained his ankle fielding a bunt against the Nationals. He didn't end up on the DL and only missed 10 days - essentially one start. Since his return, he has given up 5ER, 15H and 5BB, and in the process, lowering his ERA to 4.95.

The last three times CC Sabathia has taken the ball, he's averaged 8IP, 1ER, and 4H. If the Yanks didn't explode for 7 runs in the bottom of the 7th during his last start, he probably would have come back out for the 8th. He has struck out 20 and walked only 6, and hasn't needed more than 112 pitches in any game to do it. This is one of the stretches that the Yankees paid the big money for. If every one of your starters gave you eight innings of one run ball, you'd have a lot more nine game winning streaks. 

A-Rod is back at 3B today, as Nick Swisher rides the pine. After hitting .312 with a 159 OPS+ in April, Swish has plummeted back to earth (and possibly into the mantle), with an anemic .117 and 25 OPS+. He is slugging .233 this month. Ouch. Robby Cano, who is hitting .435 over the past week will bat 5th (behind A-Rod) today. 

Will it be a pitchers duel or a slugfest? If this song was a baseball game, the final score would be like 14-10.

Running, scrambling, flying,

Rolling, turning, diving, going in again,

Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die,

Run, live to fly, fly to live. 

Aces high.

Just A Little Brotherly Love

As numerous media outlets have mentioned, the Stadium and the city have played host to a huge number of Phillies fans this weekend. These two gentlemen were no doubt consoling each other in the Columbus Circle subway stop after the emotional letdown of the Yankees 3 run, 9th inning rally yesterday, courtesy of A-Rod's two run homer, capped off by Melky Cabrera's third walk-off hit of the year. Whatever eases the pain, guys. 

(They were actually in the middle of a highly amusing drunken scuffle)

The bleachers acted as Omaha Beach for this invasion, with an impossible-to-miss proportion of seats occupied by those wearing red caps and shirts. 

Interestingly, this gentleman was rocking a "Phillies '80" tee. 

I guess he has a flair for nostalgia, or perhaps it was just a discounted misprint of "Phillies '08"? 

Some Philly sports personalities were in the house as well. 


Michael Barkann, anchor of Philly's Comcast SportsNet, sideline reporter for the U.S. Open (tennis) and seven time Pennsylvania sportscaster of the year caught the game and hung around to chat with Cliff for a good ten minutes after graciously accepting one of the 150 or so high fives we handed out at the exit for Sec 111 . 

Most exciting homestand ever? Let's see what happens later today. 

Happy Belated Birthday, Freddy Sez

Fred Schuman turned 84 yesterday and the Yanks "pleased him", indeed. Happy birthday, Freddy, and many more.

If you haven't seen the mini-documentary No Mas put together on the man, the myth and the legend, take a look below. 

Freddy is like a elementary school teacher in the way that you only see him in one setting and can't possibly pitcure him outside of it. He's the guy with the sign, the spoon and the pan, but why does he do it? Where does he live? Is that his only jacket? It's a really cool glimpse behind the curtain and a humanizing portrayal of someone who is a minor character in many Yankees fans' lives. 

Enjoy:

Lonn Trost Does Not Acknowledge The Third Ammendment

Notice the all of the white-covered Navy hats populating the Legends seats. Sam Borden acknowledged that the Yankees were giving these tickets away for Fleet Week from Thursday through today. I have absolutely no problem with the Yankees opening up these seats for members of the armed forces, children's hospitals, in exchange for donations to charity, to people who volunteer in their community, etc... I'm not asking for one. 

But that is the reason you shouldn't say something like "Well, if you purchase a suite, do you want somebody in your suite? If you purchase a home, do you want somebody in your home?", Lonn Trost. Of all the dumb shit that has been said about the Stadium, I think that quote really stands out like a sore middle finger. So now you are quartering soldiers in people's homes, Lonn? 

By trying to preserve those seats as exclusive and Legendary (TM), even when the Yankees are trying to do something good, they open themselves up for bad PR. If everyone in the Yanks' front office was like Felix Lopez, who has acknowledged that there are things wrong with the Stadium, I wouldn't take nearly as much perverse pleasure in pointing out when they are off-base.

The building itself is beautiful. The only things wrong with it are fixable - the ticket prices, the exclusionary policies, the on-field dimensions, (the urinal dividers). If you agree with this and you aren't already, start reading New Stadium Insider. Ross and the guys over there have done a great job of keeping the Yankees honest and actually trying to get them to change some of their flawed policies. It's a blog, so it doesn't get acknowledged nearly as much as it should, but NSI has certainly been the first to publicly point out many of the now-familiar gripes with the new joint.
 

Team Walk-Off Marches On

As the Yankees faced a three run deficit in the fifth inning, a friend texted me:

Him: Apparently we don't measure up to the world champions
Me: Meh. They'll put a few on the board.

Little did I know that in doing so the Yankees would have their fourth walk-off win in their last nine games, and their second courtesy of Melky Cabrera.

The Yankees fell behind 1-0 in the second on the second Raul Ibanez HR in as many days. The soon-to-be 37 year old is simply tearing the cover off the ball right now, with an MLB leading 17 HRs.

The Yankees used a Robinson Cano double and some small ball in the bottom of the inning to tie the score and it would remain that way until the top of the 5th. Shane Victorino led off with a single, followed by a free pass to Pedro Feliz. Then John Mayberry Jr, making his Major League debut, hit a three run homer to left to make it a 4-1 game. Mayberry joined Jayson Werth as sons of former Yankees to go deep against their pop's old team this weekend.

Despite the two long balls allowed, Andy Pettitte pitched well, scattering 5 hits and 2 walks over 7 innings while striking out 5. He wasn't dominant but he pitched well enough, and more importantly, he gave the team length on a day where the bullpen still was not at 100%. On the other side of the ball, J.A. Happ was very impressive in his first start of 2009.

Derek Jeter cut into the lead in the 6th with his second homerun in as many games. In the bottom of the eighth, the Yankees would threaten thanks to a pinch hit double from Brett Gardner. But Philly set-up man Ryan Madson worked around it in striking out the side, recording a scoreless inning for the second consecutive day.

Phil Coke made his first appearance since getting hit with a line drive Wednesday, and kept the score at 4-2 in pitching the eighth and the first two out of the ninth, before Jose Veras came on to record the final out.

In the ninth Philly turned to closer Brad Lidge. After being virtually untouchable last year, Lidge has been downright combustible this year, walking to the mound with a 7.85 ERA, a 1.91 WHIP, and two blown saves in ten opportunities. As much as I felt last night would be an uphill battle, I had a feeling the Yanks would get something going in the ninth.

Lidge went 3-0 on Johnny Damon to lead-off the inning, battled back to 3-2 thanks to a generous strike two call from home plate umpire Lance Barksdale, then walked Damon on the sixth pitch of the PA. After throwing all fastballs to Damon, Lidge went to all sliders to whiff Mark Teixeira on three pitches. Despite looking silly against Lidge, Teix continued his hot hitting turning in a 2 for 4 day and upping his batting average to .263.

A-Rod then tied the game with a dramatic two run homer to right field, his sixth in the last eight games. When Robinson Cano followed with a base hit, I thought it might be a good idea to try to swipe second, putting the tying run in scoring position with one out, negating the double play, and giving Melky Cabrera and Nick Swisher two shots at the win before the offensive black hole of Angel Berroa and Kevin Cash came to the plate.



The Yankees must have thought the same, as Cano easily stole second. Melky then dropped a 2-1 slider into right-center field to give the Yankees the win. It was the third walk-off hit delivered by Cabrera this season. Post game, A.J. Burnett made certain that both Cabrera and Cano caught some pie to the face as the pair was interviewed by Suzyn Waldman. Waldman got caught in the crossfire, and with any luck, the trauma will keep her out of the radio booth for a couple days.

It appears the Yankees have started over again, and for today at least, the breaks went their way once again.

Game 43: Let's Start Rap Over

We all knew a loss was going to happen eventually, but that didn't make last night's game any easier to watch. With the first pitch of the game being sent into the seats by Jimmy Rollins, the Phillies set the tone for evening and it was all downhill for the Yanks from there. Momentum can be a fickle bitch and the kinetic energy accrued by having all the breaks go your way can vanish as quickly as it came.

Today, Andy Pettitte, owner of a 4-1 record but a 4.18ERA opposes J.A. Happ, he of a 2-0 and 2.49 resume. However, Happ's numbers might be a bit deceiving since this is his first start of the year, as he is filling in for Chan Ho Park. His longest outing was 3 2/3 innings in a losing effort against the Mets a little over three weeks ago, mopping up for Jamie Moyer who was shellacked for 7 runs in 2 1/3. He's thrown three innings only one other time this season and that was back on April 19th. Happ hasn't pitched since May 15th, so he should be rested enough to reach the requisite 100 pitches if Charlie Manuel so chooses.

For the Yankees, A-Rod is DH'ing today and Ramiro Pena will man third base. As a lefty, Pettitte should have a bit of an advantage over the Phillies three most dangerous hitters this season, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez (all southpaws). We'll see if Andy can buck the recent trend and keep the ball in the park today. As of now, it's a calm 71 degrees, so he won't have the heat or wind to blame if the shots start sailing.

Cliff, Meredith and I will be up at the Stadium today as the Yankees look to erase the memory of last night's game and start things over.

Let's start love over,
Back to the way things were,
Forget about them,
Cause all we got is us,
We can make it,
Said if we try,
I want to start love over,
Let's make it do or die.

You Know What They Say About All Good Things...

Sorry guys. My first night back in town and the Yanks snap their longest winning streak since the one that ended on June 15th, 2007. That loss same during an interleague game as well (against the Mets) with Roger Clemens on the hill. I know the Rocket's playing career is aging in dog years at the moment, but doesn't that see like forever ago? The last time they won 10 straight was in 2005, after starting 11-19. The winner of the 10th game? Carl Pavano.

When the streak began, Roy Halladay had just beaten the Yankees into submission and A.J. Burnett had left the mound to a Rogers Centre with a sneer on his face, to a distinctly Canadian chant. It ended when Burnett gave up 3HR and 5ER against the Phillies last night. He didn't collect a win in his start during the streak, either, although he pitched pretty well against the Twins. Despite the fact that Burnett snipped the streak on both ends, he will be most remembered for delivering three consecutive pies in the face after the Twins games walk-offs, which is fine by me. 

It was the best of times, friends. I wish I could have followed the games more closely from the road, considering I have the MLB.tv package, but I was basically never in the hotel room from 7-10 (which one really shouldn't be when they are on vacation). But I'm back now, and the streak is at zero. 

I also want to take a second to thank Matt, Boston Bren and Joe for keeping the site afloat while I was away. They put up more content that I would have during the course of a typical week and I'm guessing that you didn't really miss me too much. As you've probably gathered by now, Matt is going to be a big part of the site going forward, which I'm sincerely looking forward to. 

Now get out and enjoy the weather before the game starts. 

Home Run Derby

(thanks for the photos)

Perhaps by virtue of their home parks, perhaps by virtue of their potent line-ups, perhaps by a combination of the two, the Yanks and Phils entered interleague play tonight leading their respective leagues in HRs. No matter the cause, neither team broke character tonight, as the Phillies snapped the Yankees nine game winning streak and seven balls left the park.

Jimmy Rollins set the theme for the night, taking the game's first pitch into the right field stands. Burnett plunked Chase Utley high and hard with the very next pitch, though it appeared from Burnett's reaction that there was absolutely zero intent. A single to the en fuego Raul Ibanez followed, leaving Burnett in a first and third, no out jam already trailing by a run. But Burnett bore down and got out of the inning without further damage. That would be as good as it got for Burnett this night.

Two pitches into the the bottom half of the first, Brett Myers got even on behalf of Utley, putting a 92 MPH fastball behind Derek Jeter. Earlier this week we debated the merits of HBPs and knockdowns. I've always felt that throwing behind a batter is a greater transgression than plunking him. From a young age, hitters are taught to "bail out" when a pitch is bearing in on them. Throwing behind a batter exploits this by leading the batter right into the lion's den. Thankfully, Myers pitch was at belt level, Jeter escaped unscathed, and he exacted his revenge by lacing the next pitch for a base hit. It would be for naught, as the Yankees failed to carry a lead into the second inning for the first time since Sunday.

Things were no better for Burnett in the second as Carlos Ruiz took him deep on two run shot. It was the first of several notable events involving Ruiz on the night. He would go on to steal his first base since last July, then later get foolishly doubled off first on a fly ball to noodle-armed Johnny Damon.

In the top of the fifth, the long ball bit Burnett again. This time Jayson Werth blasted a two run shot, becoming the first player to put one into the left field mezzanine.

The Yanks got their licks in as well, but it would be too little, too late. A-Rod deposited one in the Philly bullpen in the 6th and Jeter dropped one in the Yankee bullpen in the eighth. Two batters later, Mark Teixeira just missed the first upper deck shot in the new Stadium's history, launching a home run into the right field club level between the mezzanine and the upper deck. Teix stayed hot at the plate, going 2 for 4 and adding a few defensive highlights for good measure.

The recently activated Chien-Ming Wang relieved Burnett to start the seventh. Wang had been scheduled to start in AAA tonight until last night's comebacker at Joba and recurring injuries left the bullpen in shambles. Wang threw the final three innings, saving the pen from further use, and as with Burnett, that's about the nicest thing that can be said of him tonight.

Wang was not sharp. The second batter he faced, Raul Ibanez, touched him up for the Phillies 4th and final long ball on the night. He needed 51 pitches to get through the final three innings, throwing just 57% for strikes. He lacked command, allowing 7 baserunners over 3 innings. He allowed 2 ER over 3 IP yet his ERA dropped from 34.50 to 25.00. I should be concerned, but given the circumstances of Wang's sudden recall and emergency usage, I'm willing to give him a pass on this one.

The streak is over, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. After staying lucky for a week a plus, all the breaks seemed to fall to the Phils tonight. Given the bullpen turmoil and roster shuffling, this one just felt like an uphill battle from before the first pitch, and Jimmy Rollins made sure it would be.

Tomorrow they try to start the next streak. See you then.

Game 42: Once

The final series of the homestand begins tonight against the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. In the 127 seasons of Phillies baseball this only the second time they could be referred to as such. That's nuts.

This marks Philly's first visit to the Bronx since July 2000, a series during which a soon-to-be-traded big mouth, with a son named Gehrig no less, told anyone who would listen how much he'd love to play for the Yankees. Funny how no one remembers that anymore.

A.J. Burnett gets the ball for the Yankees. Just as they did in his first three starts this year, the team will need innings from Burnett tonight in order to spare a fatigued bullpen. Burnett came up big in those three starts, all Yankee victories, before turning in four clunkers in a row. He did better in his start last Sunday (6 BBs notwithstanding), and will look to build on that tonight. To do so, he'll need to keep Philly sluggers Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Raul Ibanez out of the right field stands. Burnett will be opposed by former wife-beater Brett Myers.

Johnny Damon returns to the line-up after a night off to rest a sore neck. Brian Bruney is unavailable, Albaladejo has been optioned out, and Chien-Ming Wang will be in the bullpen as the long man. With that, here's the bullpen situation tonight:

• Albaladejo: Optioned out
• Aceves: Out tonight, likely tomorrow as well
• Bruney: Ditto
• Veras: 1.2 IP last night. May be available tonight
• Rivera: 2.1 IP over two days. May be available tonight
• Coke: Available I assume. Held out last night after taking a liner off the arm Wednesday
• Wang: Available to make his 4th professional relief appearance
• Tomko: Available (but do you really want to see him?)

We've been lucky the past three days picking songs that focus on the next number in the winning streak. The problem is the further we go with that, the more tenuous the connection becomes between the song and the game. But you gotta be superstitious during a hot streak and I'll be damned if I'm going to be the one to jinx this. So bear with me. Today we're going to stretch things a bit further, focusing on the album name rather than the lyrics or the song title.

We'll go with Once, the opening track from Pearl Jam's seminal debut album, Ten. Pearl Jam was the first band that I really got into. It's hard to believe that this summer will mark 18 years since Ten was released. It's not hard to believe that Pearl Jam kicks as much ass today as they did then.

Once is a song about a guy going insane to the point of becoming a serial killer. That doesn't have a helluva lot to do with the Yankees, but the inconsistent play earlier this year certainly was maddening. And there were more than a few people out there who were ready to lose their marbles over it. Once upon a time it seemed this team could do no right. That's all a distant memory right now; winning has a way of doing that.

So that's your loosely-founded connection today. Believe it if you need it, or leave it if you dare. At the very least this video will give you a jump start for your Memorial Day Weekend. It was shot four days before Ten was released.



Once upon a time I could lose myself....

Bruney Unavailable

Via the same friend who texted me from Springsteen last night comes more news about a fat man. This time it's not funny.

Mike Francesa says Brain Bruney had another MRI on his arm today. It was clean, but Bruney will be unavailable tonight, making a thin bullpen thinner.

Bryan Hoch is reporting that Albaladejo has already been optioned out, but that Wang hasn't been officially activated yet. I wouldn't be surprised now if you see more than just Wang added to the roster for tonight. Berroa would be the only other guy they'd drop at this point I'd imagine.

[UPDATE 5:15 P.M. - This has been confirmed by multiple outlets now. This is why he didn't pitch last night. He may be unavailable tomorrow as well]

Breaking News: Yanks' Wang to Get Some Action

This morning came the news that after Joba got drilled last night, the Yankees told CMW to turn around on his trip to Pawtucket.

Now comes the news that Wang will be activated tonight and serve as the long man out of the pen.

"Huh huh. You said 'long wang'"

This marks about the fifteenth different roster move this year that makes absolutely no sense to me. Just yesterday the team said they wanted to see Wang have one more strong outing before activating him. Now because the bullpen is short tonight, they're going to reverse course and use Wang, who has started in all but 3 of his 182 professional appearances, out of the bullpen.

Really? You don't think CMW is too valuable to be jerked around like that? Given how badly he's been beaten this year, I would hope he would be put in a position with a high chance of success upon his return. Instead, in a knee-jerk reaction, he'll be placed in a role with which he has no experience. Meanwhile Melancon and Robertson sit in AAA.

Generally a long man won't be needed, but the Yanks have only two sure things available in the pen tonight (Bruney and Tomko), so we knew a move would be made. Given that Wang was slated to pitch anyway, I'd guess it's a guarantee we see him tonight. It's too early tell what the implications are on the upcoming rotation as it involves CMW, Joba, and Hughes.

None of this is confirmed yet. We'll update you in the game preview later on, including the corresponding roster move.

Obese Football Coach Week Continues At Fack Youk

Following yesterday's Charlie Weis name-drop and a gratuitous picture of an asphyxiating Jabba the Hutt (or were he and Leia playing the choking game?), submitted for your enjoyment is the following text message exchange I had with my friend who attended the Springsteen show at The Swamp last night:

Him: Rex Ryan is sitting right in front of us. i didnt realize how fat
he is

Me: Who's fatter? Him or Weis?

Him: Definitely weis

I would have to agree.

So there you have it. Notre Dame may have fallen on tough times of late, but they still have the Heavyweight Champion of the Football World. I suppose I'm obligated to come up with something about Andy Reid soon.

As a side note, the Yankees faired much better last night than they did the night I caught The Boss on this tour.

Time Turns Elastic

As Matt mentioned last night, the penultimate destination of my road trip was a stop in Baltimore to see Trey Anastiasio (the frontman of Phish), play with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. If you aren't familiar with Phish's music, you might think this would be an unlikely match. That's probably because you didn't know that all four members of Phish are classically trained musicians and that many of their longer songs are tightly composed and would be well suited to an orchestral backing.

I've seen symphony performances before at SPAC, but never at a concert hall specifically designed for acoustics. We lucked into some pretty good seats - first row of the lower balcony - which certainly enhanced the experience as well. Above the stage at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall there were bowed wood panels, and on the ceiling there were giant half spheres with a slot down the middle that looked like flat head screws. The doors where you entered your section were closed and soundproof, each balcony was it's own little pod, the ledges of which were gently sloped and aimed (not surprisingly) right towards ear level. Each one of these design features were put in place solely for acoustical purposes, and last night, they were put to their full use.

There was a stringed band playing in the entry way across from a cocktail bar and the crowd was an interesting mix of dreadlocks and blazers, summer dresses and t-shirts. Trey walked on stage with conductor Marin Alsop, wearing a black suit and blue dress shirt, a pretty drastic departure from his normal stage attire, and was met with a rousing applause.

Standing in front of the orchestra and off to

Alsop's left, Trey then picked up his spruce-topped Languedoc, which was plugged in to a modestly-sized Fender amp, and delved into Divided Sky. The tone was clean and and carefully balanced with the mostly stringed arrangement. The crowd sat quietly through the roughly 10 minute version of the song but erupted with what I'm guessing was the loudest applause in the history of the venue when Alsop halted the strings. These being mostly Phish fans, the typical clapping was backed by plenty of "Wooohooo!!!"s and "Yeah, Trey!!!"s. It was a breathtaking moment, and one that made it impossible for me to suppress a smile.

Next came the mellow Brian and Robert (which I simulcasted via iPhone to Sampson), followed by the short, acoustic The Inlaw Josie Wales. Trey then took a moment to thank the crowd and said how honored he was to be able to do something like this.

The most emotional moment of the night came when he dedicated the next song to his eight year old nephew. Three weeks ago his mother, Trey's sister, Kristy Manning lost a long battle with cancer and they played a beautiful rendition of Water In The Sky in her honor. As I listened, I couldn't help but think back to the heartfelt post that Matt wrote earlier in the day and appreciate one of those times when life comes together - when for a short while it all seems to make sense. Last night was one of those fleeting moments.

The title song of the show was called Time Turns Elastic and was a 13 minute opus consisting of 9 shorter, interwoven songs that they played at the beginning of the second set. Next came what they call "Guyute" the orchestral composition of what is from Trey's album Seis De Mayo, and starts and ends with the intro from My Friend, My Friend. I recorded all 12 minutes of it on my phone, but haven't figured out how to get it off. The encore, If I Could, hadn't been played live in almost nine years.

Here is a link to the full setlist.

By the time I get back to New York this afternoon I will have logged over 2,000 miles on my Grandma's Mercury Sable and slept in 5 different states in 6 days. We ran into all sorts of pitfalls and obstacles and very little went according to plan, save for the show last night. I was lucky to have a traveling companion who in addition to being easy going, was a top notch iPhone navigator and text-retary who rolled with the punches at every juncture. We've been friends since Semester At Sea, so that last part came as no surprise. She's not a Phish fan, but I prepped her a little bit while we were sitting in traffic on the Baltimore-Washington Expressway and unless she was bullshitting me (unlikely), she came away almost as impressed and satisfied as I was.