Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Leftover Weekend Notes

Good morning Fackers. We're easing our way out of the weekend and yesterday's off day, with a World Series rematch against the Phillies looming tonight. Before we turn our focus to that, we'd be remiss if we didn't point out a few items from the weekend series where the Yankees swept up after Astro like they were Rosie the Robot:

On Friday, Andy Pettitte became just the third pitcher in Yankee history to record two hundred wins. Yes, wins aren't a very good means of measuring a pitcher's effectiveness, but for Pettitte to join elite company in the franchise's storied history is noteworthy. Pettitte has been flirting with retirement for the past four off-seasons. Even if he finishes 2010 pitching as well as he has thus far, he's still a good season plus away from catching Red Ruffing (231) and Whitey Ford (236). If he had never left for Houston he'd likely already hold the record.

As Jay mentioned yesterday, Jorge Posada hit grand slams on Saturday and Sunday. He now has 251 career home runs, pushing him past Graig Nettles (250) for seventh place on the Yankees' all-time list. Next up is Bernie Williams (287), but A-Rod is lurking just five behind Posada.

Derek Jeter's leadoff home run on Saturday broke Rickey Henderson's club record for career leadoff home runs.

Marcus Thames injured his hamstring Saturday and was placed on the DL. Chad Huffman was recalled to take his roster spot. Huffman made his Major League debut Sunday, legged out an infield single in his first at bat, and later reached on a walk and a dropped third strike.

Former Yankee Oscar Azocar passed away yesterday at age 45 in his native Venezuela. Azocar was one of several young players the Yankees brought up during their last place season in 1990. He wasn't particularly good, but much like Francisco Cervelli, he had an enthusiastic style play that endeared him to fans and to Phil Rizzuto. Azocar frequently sprinted from his post in left field to back up third base on plays where he was otherwise uninvolved. A free swinger, Azocar walked just twice in 218 plate appearances that season, but he made enough contact where he only struck out 15 times. He was traded to San Diego following his rookie season and washed out of organized baseball after two years there.

2 comments:

  1. Who will have a better Yankees career ... Hughes or Joba?

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  2. I think you'd need a crystal ball to answer that question, anon. However, based on a very small sample of data, I'd go with Hughes. It doesn't appear too likely that Joba will return to a starter's role any time soon, and with the one glaring exception, Mo, relievers just don't hang around long enough to be career players for any one team. I'm sure Jay and Matt will blow my theory away shortly, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

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