Game 158: Promised Land

Despite their best efforts last night, the Yankees actually beat the Royals and will attempt to continue their climb past 100 wins this evening. The highest they can get is 106, but it would only take three more wins to reach 104, their highest total since 1998. The last time they won as many as 104 games (save for '98) was way back in 1963, when the league had just recently expanded. It's an attainable goal, but obviously won't take precedent over aligning their rotation and getting everyone well rested for the playoffs along the way.

A.J. Burnett takes the hill for the Yankees tonight, fresh off two pretty solid outings. He didn't make it through the sixth inning his last time out against he Angels, but that was largely because he racked up 11 of the 17 outs he recorded via strikeout. He threw 65 of his 101 pitches for strikes but did allow ten baserunners over that span. This will be his second to last outing before the postseason rolls around, so he's still got a little time to work out the kinks. Tonight against the punchless Royals should be a good opportunity to do so.

For the Royals, Anthony Lerew gets the call. The 26 year old righty was up for a quick cup of joe in both 2006 and 2007 with the Braves but had Tommy John Surgery an was released after some rehab starts in 2008. The Royals picked him up off the scrap heap in the beginning of this year and signed him to a minor league deal. He posted pretty marginal numbers in AA this year but was recalled to make a start against the Red Sox last week. He gave up 4 runs (only 2 earned) in 4.2 IP but also surrendered 10 baserunners, threw 108 pitches and struck out just 2.

Unlike Luke Hochevar yesterday, Lerew will be facing pretty close to a full strength Yankees line up. Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada and Melky Cabrera were given the night off, but A-Rod, Jeter, Teixeira, Matsui, Swisher, and Damon are all back in action.

Also, as Matt mentioned early today, tonight is also Peter Abraham's last night on the Yankees beat before he heads off to the fackin' Boston Globe. Be sure to head over to his game thread and wish him well.

We already did a tribute to Pete when the news first came down, but wanted choose a song to commemorate his ascent to what is one of the premier sports pages in the country. While the glory days of Ray Fitzgerald, Will McDonough, Peter Gammons, Bob Ryan and the like are gone, the Globe still represents the top of the world of sports journalism. Congrats Pete and best of luck.

There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor,
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm.

Run For Cover, This Is Not 11 Years Ago!!1!!!1!

You may recall the name Allen Barra from FJM Day over at Deadspin last week. He was the one saying that Derek Jeter should win the MVP because Paul Newman won an Oscar for The Color Of Money, for his "inspiration and professionalism", and because Jeter had been snubbed in the past.

Well yesterday, Mr. Barra busted out some similarly stupid logic for the Village Voice in regards to the Yankees' playoff chances:

Be afraid, Yankee fans -- be very afraid.

A couple of weeks ago everything seemed all sewn up -- the Yankees had vanquished the Red Sox, and all everyone wanted to know was if this year's editions was as good as the 1998 team. A couple of more games like yesterday's, and they're going to be wondering if this team is as good as the 2008 Yankees.

/shakes in shoes

I should be afraid because this year's team isn't one of the greatest teams ever? This actually makes perfect sense because if you were stupid and shortsighted enough to equate the '09 Yankees to the '98 version "a couple of weeks ago", then you are probably dumb enough to compare them to last year's team after they've lost 6 of 10 games.

A year ago [Joba] looked like the greatest young phenom in baseball; now he's a weight dragging down the rest of the pitching staff.

That's right folks, Joba is pitching so poorly that he hurt Andy Pettitte's shoulder. He's the reason A.J. Burnett has only won 1 of his last 10 starts and I'll be damned if he didn't make Mo blow that save in Seattle. Just wait 'til he starts getting into CC Sabathia's head. Then we'll really be fucked.

Sunday's outing against the punchless Seattle mariners -- dead last in the American League in both batting average and runs scored -- was an out and out disgrace that would have earned any other pitcher a demotion to Double-A.

Could the last declaration be any more factually incorrect? He's made 29 starts for the Yankees this year. Please give me even one example of the last time a pitcher was demoted, not to AAA but to AA, because of one outing late in the season, let alone "any other pitcher". Allen Barra makes George Steinbrenner in his heyday look calm and measured by comparison.

Is there a team in baseball with a worse record of developing young pitchers than the Yankees?

I'm not sure, but instead of trying to figure it out, you should probably just pose it as a rhetorical question, imply that it's true and move on.

Was there any more illogical way to bring Joba along than to put him in games where he was expected to only go three or four innings? If whoever is calling the shots in the front office had conferred with Joe Girardi and pitching coach Dave "No Man Is An" Eiland and at least agreed to put Job aback[sic] in the bullpen to be worked in front of Phil Hughes, they might at least have something to show for all the absurd coddling and pampering of Joba.

Is there a more illogical way to handle a pitcher than limiting him to pitching three or four innings a game? They should have only allowed him to pitch one or two innings a game! How absurd that they would want to protect a young pitchers arm by not transitioning him back and forth between the bullpen and the rotation, which ended with him being injured last year! IDIOTS! (And minus 10 for the non-sequitur Bermanism.)

What's the big difference between the 1998 and 2009 Yankees? Try this: In 1998, the Yanks weren't going into the last nine[sic] games of the season wondering if they were the best team in the league.

First of all, this was written yesterday, so the Yankees were actually heading into their last 12 games of the season. Mr. Barra apparently does not have access to the internet where he could look up the Yanks' schedule.

And the "big difference" is that after 150 games in 1998, the Yankees were FIFTY-EIGHT GAMES OVER .500. They were arguably the best baseball team ever. No shit this year's team isn't as good as they were, even though they still have the best record in baseball. Which would typically mean that they are, you know, the best team.

It's funny that Barra mentions the 1998 squad because although they were historically awesome and finished 114-48, they seemingly ran out of gas towards the end of the season. After 126 games the Yankees were 94-32. From that point forward, though, the Yankees had just the 12th best record in baseball at 20-16, which was significantly buoyed by finishing the regular season on a 7 game winning streak. Then, lo and behold, they went 11-2 in the playoffs en route to a World Series Victory.

So be afraid! The Yankees have the best record in baseball but are not comparable to the best team ever!

[Update 11:50: Although Barra was suggesting that Jeter is the AL MVP for the Wall Street Journal in the piece that got FJM'd, he wrote for the Village Voice that Cap'n Jetes is no better than the 5th most valuable Yankee this year. Allen Barra: Logician.]

Derek Jeter Can In Fact Press

Let's just continue to beat this topic of conversation into the ground, shall we?

Derek Jeter went 0 for 8 between the two games of yesterday's double header. On the YES telecast, Michael Kay pointed out that never before had Jeter played both ends of a double header and gone hitless. Fair enough, though double headers are far, far less common than they used to be. An 0 for 8 streak isn't that uncommon. Jeter has had three such streaks this year, and has had more than twenty such streaks in his career, including an astounding 0 for 28 in his horrific April 2004.

After the game, the media asked Joe Girardi if he thought Jeter was pressing to reach Lou Gehrig's franchise hit record. Girardi began his answer with a comment along the lines of "if it was any else...", before going on to say "I have never seen it [pressure] bother him [Jeter] at any point in his career".

It's wholly possible that yesterday was nothing more than what it was on the surface: an 0 for 8 slide, which has happened to Jeter dozens of time in his career. I certainly don't think that pressure is getting to Jeter, even if the media (and now us) are bashing everyone over the head with Jeter's pursuit of the record, Over the course of his career, "clutchiness" aside, Jeter has demonstrated himself to be a very calm, collected individual. Rarely has he seemed outwardly rattled by anything, and he's often shown a knack for the big moment.

That said, as much as some would like to make him out to be as such, Derek Jeter is not Superman. He is in fact human. He can presumably press a bit from time to time. As an example, let's take a look back at another Yankee season where the team was cruising down the stretch.

On September 9, 1998 the Yankees beat the Red Sox at Fenway 7-5, running their lead in the AL East to an incomprehensible 20.5 games. That night, Joe Girardi watched from the bench as Derek Jeter homered in his first two at bats, running his season total to 19. It was nearly double the ten home runs he had posted in both of his first two full seasons, but it was one short of a nice round number.

Through the end of the September 9th game, Jeter was hitting .334/.394/.500 with a K% of 16.4, a BB% of 8.5, and a HR% of 3.1. Over the final 18 games of the season, Jeter hit .250/.304/.333 with a K% of 22.8, a BB% of 6.3, and a HR% of 0.0. He ended the season stuck at 19 home runs, but would hit 24 the following year, still a career high.

Perhaps Derek Jeter just went into a slump over the final 18 games of the 1998 season. Or perhaps with an insurmountable lead in the standings and nice personal milestone easily within reach, Jeter changed his approach at the plate. It's certainly a possibility, even for a player as unselfish as Jeter. The changes in his walk and strikeout rates over that stretch suggest that he became less selective and more aggressive in his approach at the plate. Perhaps he was gripping the bat just a little tighter and swinging just a little harder over that time.

When he passes Gehrig at some point on this homestand he will be given a lengthy and deserved standing ovation, he will humbly accept it and quickly move on, reminding everyone that a championship is the only milestone that counts. It will be a scene similar to when Jeter set the Yankee Stadium hit record last year, and similar to many others that will yet play out as Jeter continues to write his name in the franchise record book.

Derek Jeter is a once-in-a-generation type of player. As Jay mentioned this morning, for people our age Jeter will go down as our Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, or Mantle. But to dismiss out of hand that he could be pressing in the face of an accomplishment as historic as this one is to paint him in a nearly inhuman light. With any luck, Jeter will set the record in short order, allowing everyone to enjoy the moment and then move on with the business of the season.

The Yankees Have A Mascot?

While watching the video of A-Rod and Jerry Hairston Jr. playing stickball with kids in the Bronx that has been circulating the Interwebz recently, I noticed an interesting spectator lurking in the crowd.

Wha, wha, whaaaat? As A.J. Burnett might say "That motherfucker?".

The Yankees with all their "class" and "tradition" and "pride" would never have a mascot, would they?

Well, yes, actually, it turns out that once upon a time, they did.

From an article in the New York Times from 1998 (h/t WasWatching), we found out that Yankees did in fact have a oversized fuzzy costume representing the franchise from 1982-85. Unfortunately Dandy did exist, despite the fact that both George Steinbrenner and Lonn Trost both denied remembering so back in '98. Steinbrenner might have had an excuse, but I'm guessing Trost was just lying.

So, back to the current fuzzy disgrace. What is that thing supposed to be? Does it have a name? Was this just an ad hoc creation? It doesn't look like a mascot designed specifically with the Yankees in mind with the red belly and all. Did someone throw that jersey on a generic mascot? It's looks kinda short though, like it was custom fit, doesn't it? Perhaps the Yanks have a mascot that goes around to events where kids will be? Are we okay with this as long as it doesn't show up at the Stadium?

It shows up aroung the 1:00 mark. Discuss.