Game 46: T for Texas

Give me a T for Texas, give me a T for Tennessee
Give me a T for Texas, give me a T for Tennessee
Give me a T for Thelma, woman made a fool out of me.

One of the unique things about Lynyrd Skynyrd was their three guitar line-up. Initially it was Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, and Ed King. When King departed in 1975, one of the band's back-up singers, Cassie Gaines, recommended her younger brother as a replacement. Steve Gaines first played with Skynyrd on May 11, 1976. The 26 year-old was brought into the band, and just three months later they gave the above performance of Jimmie Rodgers' Blue Yodel No. 1, or T for Texas as they called it, in front of 120,000 people at Knebworth Fair. Gaines is the tall bearded fella standing to Ronnie Van Zant's left, playing a black Les Paul.

Steve Gaines was a revelation and a revitalization for Skynyrd. Despite his relative youth, Gaines was at ease amongst the road-weathered band, routinely outplaying Collins and Rossington. He began co-writing with Van Zant for material to be on the Street Survivors album and Van Zant even let him take lead vocals on one of the tracks. To my ears, the Gaines material on Street Survivors represents the finest work on the album, if not Skynyrd's whole catalog. He was a prodigy, and Van Zant predicted a very bright future for the young guitarist.

Then came the plane crash. And just like that, at 28 years old, Gaines was dead, as was his sister, Van Zant, and Skynyrd's assistant tour manager. There's no telling what the artist could have gone on to had he been lucky enough to survive.

Talent and potential are funny things like that. As a fan of music or sports, you can see certain people that just seem to have "it", and it's one of the true pleasures of being a fan to watch that talent displayed and to see that potential fulfilled. On the flip side, as A Bronx Tale taught us, there's perhaps nothing more disappointing or saddening than seeing potential go unfulfilled, to see talent wasted or snuffed out.

Just as Skynyrd featured three guitarists, the Yankees have featured three young starting pitchers in recent years, all of whom have sufficient talent and potential to excite the fan base. One, Ian Kennedy, had a disappointing 2008 and it now appears that his 2009 is lost thanks to an aneurysm. A second, Phil Hughes, spun a gem yesterday, and a third, Joba Chamberlain takes to the hill tonight.

This is the Yankees only trip to Texas this year, and I'm sure they're happy about that. Chien-Ming Wang suffered his lis franc injury in Houston last year and has not yet displayed anything close to his pre-injury form. Meanwhile, up in Arlington the Yankees have seen the two crown jewels of their young arms suffer injuries in each of the last two years. In 2007 it was a pulled hamstring for Phil Hughes, derailing his no hit bid. Last year, it was a shoulder injury to Joba Chamberlain, suffered in the same game that may have begun the demise of Damaso Marte as well.

It was an unfortunate injury for Chamberlain. That game would mark the 12th and final start of 2008 for him. Despite a relatively poor performance that night, his numbers as a starter for the year were outstanding: 3-1, 2.76 ERA over 65.1 IP, 1.30 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, and 2.96 K/BB while opposing batters hit only .245/.319/.322 against him. That my friends, is scary good for anyone, let alone a 22 year-old rookie. If you want to talk about wasted talent, just kick up the old "Joba to the bullpen" argument.

Hughes exacted some measure of redemption yesterday in his return to Texas, turning in his second impressive start in row with eight innings of shutout ball, allowing just four base runners while fanning six. Chamberlain looks to follow suit tonight in his first Texas appearance since his injury last year and his first start since taking a liner off the shin last Thursday.

I for one look forward to watching these two young pitching prodigies fulfill their potential and display their talent in the Yankee rotation for several years to come.

Has Anyone Seen This Man?

When Damaso Marte was placed on the DL on May 3rd with left shoulder tendinitis/ inflammation, he had only pitched 5.1 innings in the first month of the season, allowed 14 baserunners and 9 earned runs.  Entering 2009, he was considered one of the Yankees best options for the 8th inning, but now he has faded into the oblivion of the disabled list. It's been over three weeks since he's been placed on the DL and the latest updates I could find were that he's started a throwing program (on level ground) but there is no timetable for his return.

Since coming to the Yankees as part of the Xavier Nady deal, Marte has not been good. At all. In 32 games in pinstripes (23.1 innings) his ERA stands at 7.60 and he has a WHIP of 1.521. Much was made of the one outing in Texas on August 4th last year where Joe Girardi left in him for 42 pitches, a total he had reached only one other time since April 20th, 2002. That's all well and good, but he had the entire offseason to recover and as documented above, was terrible to begin this year. 

Perhaps the Yankees are taking their time with Marte's return because he is less than two months into the 3 year/$12M contract they gave him this offseason. By the time the free agent market collapsed, it looked like a pretty bad deal. Now that he has been ineffective/totally absent for the first seven weeks of the season, it's starting to look worse.

Despite the epic suckitude Marte has displayed with the Yankees, he still has a career ERA of 3.43. He's 34 years old, so perhaps injuries are catching up to him and his best baseball is him. However, the Yankees could really use to stability at the back end of their bullpen and unfortunately, barring a trade, Marte still represents one of their best options.

Yankee Rehab

As we collectively shake off the rust from a three day weekend and the unofficial start of summer, several Yankees are now shaking off the rust down in Tampa.

Jorge Posada, Jose Molina, Xavier Nady, and Cody Ransom all went to Tampa Sunday to continue their injury rehab.

The AP reports that Posada could be in Extended Spring Training games this week, Nady could DH in minor league games in the next couple days, and Molina may be ready by week's end.

The return of either catcher will help the Yankees, allowing them to DFA the worthless Kevin Cash, who despite having a three hit day yesterday is still batting just .182. Getting rid of Cash will open up a 40 man roster spot as well and the Yankees would be wise to add Shelley Duncan, Todd Linden, or John Rodriguez so they that they have another bat at their disposal on the 40 man. Cash will assuredly clear waivers and will likely wind up back with Scranton.

Posada was having a tremendous season before injuring his hamtstring, hitting .312/.402/.584 and his return will deepen the line-up and make the bottom third of the order slightly less of a black hole.

Nady's return will create an interesting roster situation as both he and Matsui will be relegated to designated and pinch hitting duty. The original plan was to hold Matsui out of the field until the Yankees visit an NL park, but his surgically repaired knees have given him trouble this year. Matsui has grown progressively worse in the field over the past several years and probably shouldn't see the outfield in anything other than an emergency situation. Still, having one or two bats of that quality available on the bench will be a luxury the Yankees have not enjoyed this year.

Ransom is on the 60 day DL and not eligible to return for another month. Given his poor play prior to his injury and the emergence of Ramiro Pena as a viable infield option I'm not so sure we'll see Cody Ransom in pinstripes again.

It's Not Unusual

(I thought umpire Carlton Banks' punch
outs were a little over the top as well...)

I don't think too many people would have expected that Phil Hughes would turn in a better performance today than his last time in Arlington. Perhaps some would disagree that today was better than 6 1/3 innings of no hit ball, but the object of the game is to avoid giving up runs, not necessarily hits. No-hitters are captivating and are remembered as historically significant, but as far as the scoreboard is concerned, they are no different than any other scoreless performance. 8 innings of shut out ball are better than 6 1/3, no matter how you cut it. 

Hughes gave up only five baserunners - three hits, a walk and a hit batsman - while striking out six. He threw 65 of his 105 pitches for strikes and dropped his ERA nearly two runs to 5.19. Twelve of his remaining outs came via fly balls, as opposed to six on the ground. That ratio isn't necessarily encouraging, but the fact that he kept that many fly balls in the park in Arlington is impressive in it's own way. 

The young righty wasn't the only bright spot on the day. A-Rod went 5-5, drove in four runs and raised his average from .189 to .259 in the process. Mark Teixeira went 2-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs, his 35th and 36th on the season. Even Kevin Cash got in on the party, notching three singles. The Yanks stacked up 19 hits (9-20 w/RISP) and only stuck out three times.

Robby Cano went 2-5 while driving in two runs and apparently found some time in the top of the 5th to praise be to God. 

The Yanks got out early and gave Hughes and Cash room enough to breathe and be aggressive with their pitch selection. As the 11-1 final score would indicate, the outcome of the game was never in doubt. Why can't they all be like this one?

Game 45: Memories Live

First and foremost, it is Memorial Day. Although I know we all understand what the day signifies, it must be noted as we barbecue, sit on the beach, play golf, throw lawn darts or otherwise, that this holiday honors those who gave their lives for the country. Or rather, had their lives taken from them. These weren't Kamikaze pilots or suicide bombers. They were mostly people my age or younger who had previously assumed they were coming home. No one ever thinks it's going to happen to them. I'm guessing there are some active military members in our readership, perhaps some who are deployed overseas. Much respect to you folks as well. 

-----

It's also sort of fitting that today, Phil Hughes makes his first return to the Ballpark at Arlington, the scene of Yankees' fans fondest memory of the youngster. We refer back to it as Hughes' high point, although we've already seen the heartbreaking ending. The date was May 1st, 2007, and the highly touted 20 year old rookie was making his second ever Major League start. In his first, he gave up four runs in 4 1/3 IP but struck out 5, giving fans brief glimpses of his nasty curveball and reason to be optimistic.

I still remember this game quite vividly. Well, Hughes' halves of the innings anyway. He was finding Jorge Posada's glove with nearly every pitch, when he didn't Posada would stand up and attempt to reassure Phil as he threw the ball back. 

Hughes issued three walks that night, but erased two of them with double plays. He had faced only one batter over the minimum once he retired Michael Young to start the seventh inning. He got ahead on future teammate Mark Teixeira 0-2 when it happened. Hughes awkwardly rolled his ankle and came up clutching his left hamstring and was immediately taken off the mound, no-hitter still intact.

I remember watching it and thinking it was basically the worst thing that could have occurred within the context of the game. It wasn't the injury that bothered me so much, although that was certainly disheartening. I just wished he had given up a hit or not. The game was left in suspended animation and we were all left to ponder "what if". It was like the ending to the Sopranos before David Chase told us all to fuck ourselves in cinematic form. 

Part of what's great about watching sports is that we get definitive answers. I don't watch sports whose games end in ties. The Yankees were already up 9-0, so we knew what the outcome of the contest was going to be. Since about the fourth or fifth inning, the only question left to be determined was whether Hughes could complete the no-hitter. 

It's been over two years, and thanks to guys like Clay Buchholz and Anibal Sanchez, we know that early no-hitters aren't surefire indicators of impending Major League success. That night though, it wouldn't have mattered. 

In my lifetime, ain't too many things better,
than watching your first son put his sentences together,
Yo, it kinda make me think of way back when,
I was the portrait of the artist as a young man.

More Melky Magic Not Quite Enough

When Melky Cabrera redirected a Brad Lidge fastball back up the middle to score Ramiro Pena and tie the game in the ninth inning, it seemed as though there was room for another walk-off this homestand. It was even more realistic of a possibility in the 10th inning, when Jeter and Damon were standing on first and second with no one out. 

Mark Teixeira came to the plate with two hits already, one of which was a broken bat home run. This was the first of it's kind I have seen; Teix was left holding just a shard of maple in his hand while the ball carried the wall and nearly into left field bleachers. 

There were warnings of a strong wind blowing out to left, but that's still a pretty super-human act. Unfortunately, that would be the last of his heroics for the day, as Clay Condrey got Teix to ground into a double play and effectively killed the threat in the 10th. Girardi neither double stole Jeter and Damon, nor started them on the 3-2 count, both of which would have likely kept the Yanks from suffering a inopportune twin killing.

Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless 10th frame but was removed in favor of Brett Tomko in the 11th. Girardi was willing to use Mo for more than three outs even after the game turned into a blowout on Thursday night, but with the game on the line today, opted not to.

Tomko got two quick outs, but gave up a walk to Chase Utley what would turn out to be a game winning double to Carlos Ruiz. Despite only playing in two games this series, Ruiz reached base 9 times (6H, 3BB) and drove in three runs. He was also at the plate for both of Johnny Damon's ill fated attempts to score, in the first inning on Friday night, and during the third today.

That run would prove to be important as both starting pitchers held up their end of the bargain and made crossing the plate difficult. Hamels went 6 innings and surrendered 2ER while Sabathia lasted 8 but gave up 3. 

After the Phillies took the lead in the 11th, the Yanks went down quietly in the bottom half of the frame, and leveled their record in extra innings this year to 3-3. Had the Yanks managed to score first in extras, it would have been their 5th walk off win in the 10 game homestand, but as it stands, they went 8-2, and picked up 3.5 games in the standings. Despite losing all five games against the Red Sox this year, the Yanks trail them for the division lead by only one game. 

The Yankees embark on a seven game road trip tomorrow, which will take them through Cleveland via Texas. The Rangers are a surprising 26-17 while the Indians are a disappointing 17-28. The Bombers won't have to worry about any of those momentum-killing off days, as they only have one in their next 19 games (this Thursday), which includes series against the Red Sox and Mets.

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.