Back Where It All Begins

Shortly before Christmas last year - on December 23rd to be exact - I was sitting down for lunch/dinner at my company's holiday party at the 21 Club, cutting into a piece of prime rib when I felt my phone vibrate. I didn't want to be rude but I fished my phone out of my pocket with my non-fork hand and stole a glance at the incoming text message. It was from my friend Joe: "Yankees close to signing Teixeira".

My face must have betrayed something when I read the message because my co-worker Greg nodded his head towards me and went, "What's up?".

I replied, "Holy shit, I think the Yankees are going to sign Mark Teixeira".

I put down my knife and fork and stared at the middle of the table shaking my head. I honestly couldn't believe it. Maybe it was just a rumor. They had already locked up CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Did Brian Cashman and the Yanks really have the balls to orchestrate an eleventh hour coup for the most coveted position player on the market? Over the next hour or so, the texts kept flowing in from friends and cousins and college roommates, each one more certain than the last.

After the party, the other big Yankees fans from my office and I huddled up at the bar downstairs, having drinks on the company tab as groups of people would stand up and take turns belting out Christmas carols printed on a Salvation Army pamphlet they must have been handing out in exchange for donations outside. Between the renditions of Frosty the Snowman and sips of Macallan 18, we tried to get our heads around the fact that, amidst the faltering economy, the Yankees had just sent a message to their fans and to the rest of baseball: "We want to win a World Series that badly"

I got up early the next morning to head back upstate for Christmas with the family. I loaded up my car in the near-freezing rain, drove up the Westside Highway and crossed the George Washington Bridge, thinking I was going to beat the traffic upstate. I turned onto the Palisades Parkway and was met with a sea of taillights which bluntly informed me that this wasn't going to be a smooth getaway I had envisioned. The highway was a sheet of ice.

After 15 minutes of not moving one inch, I put the car in park, unbuckled my seatbelt and took out my iPhone to thumb through my Google Reader. At that point I needed something - anything - to keep my mind off the fact that I was hungover and stuck in standstill traffic in New Jersey to which there was no end in sight.

One of the first posts I came across this one from Shysterball and suffice it to say, it sort of blew my mind. An incredibly poignant blockquote from Will Leitch about Dock Ellis' no-hitter on acid and two beautifully dovetailed paragraphs from Craig summing up what writing about sports should really be about. It couldn't have been more up my alley.

And that's when I decided that I was going to start a blog. Well, I had technically already started one. I reserved a domain name wrote one post about trying to decide who to root for when the Red Sox played the Rays in the ALCS a little while back but that was the only thing on there.

Then on Christmas Day, after our visiting relatives had departed, I sat down and pounded out 1000 words on the Yankees most recent acquisition on my laptop. I drafted an email entitled "The Fack Youk Manifesto" to five or six of my friends informing them of my intentions, and said:

I realize that there is like an 85% chance that this never really goes anywhere, then dies a slow death from neglect, but there's that 15% that we can carve out this little space for our thoughts, all contribute and make it interesting/entertaining enough for some other people to check it out. I talk enough sports with you guys and hear interesting stuff worthy of a blog post and it makes me think that we could put that stuff to use and concentrate it here.

A lot has changed since then. Joe and Will don't really contribute much anymore because of the demands of studying for the bar exam and fascist corporate internet policies. I got unimaginably lucky to find Matt in the comments section, who, is not only a talented writer with a great sense of the history of the Yankees, but a great dude with similar musical tastes.

On the shortest of notice, I handed him the reigns to the blog for almost a full week back in May when I left for a road trip, which coincided nicely with a 9 game winning steak by the Yanks. He didn't miss a beat - which was far more than I had any right to expect - and the site has been markedly better ever since.

In the months since then, we've previewed and recapped every game (except for the three against the Blue Jays 4th of July weekend) and churned out almost 800 posts between us, which is very nearly 5 per day, including weekends.

I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a huge sense of personal validation involved in the Yankees winning the World Series for me. Since the playoffs began, our work has been recognized by a lot of people and we've more than doubled our average daily traffic. We've received even more kind emails and insightful comments from you guys than usual, which makes this all seem worthwhile. We've got some other recognition from well-respected baseball writers that I really couldn't have imagined when I wrote that first post on the signing of Mark Teixeira.

I've devoted what can only be described as an unhealthy and perhaps inadvisable amount of time reading about baseball in order to make my writing for this site as good as possible.

Unfortunately, that not-so-indirectly led to me getting laid off from my last job - the one that brought me to that company party in the beginning of this post. I wasn't going to regret the decision either way because I've spent the last six months doing something that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning as opposed to smothering myself to death with my pillow like my last job.

I highly doubt I have a career ahead of me as a writer, but seeing someone like Craig, whose work I have a lot of respect for, make that jump just two days ago is quite inspiring. Regardless of where it goes from here, I'm incredibly proud of what we've managed to do with this site in terms of traffic and recognition but mostly in terms of content. 105,000+ unique visitors and 270,000+ pageviews later (and counting), here we are.

When I first moved down to New York City, I didn't have a real job. I played online poker compulsively until the point that I was consistently profitable at it; enough so that I could afford to live in a sick apartment on the Upper West Side with my lifelong best friend. Eventually the slimy legislative tactics involved with the SAFE Port Act dried up the new money flowing into the online poker sites and the games got harder. A lot harder. Eventually I had to get a real job.

Now I'm back in Albany, not far from where I grew up, living with two of my good friends from high school, doing something that's barely profitable at all which in no way shape or form is a real job, despite the fact that I treat it like one. In some ways, it has come full circle.

Tomorrow, Matt, a few of my buddies and I are going down to the parade, so if you are going to be there and want to meet up, use my email address on the left side of the site.

After that, I don't know. This blog isn't going to disappear regardless of what happens, but we're going to have to scale back the content here if I ever want to get my shit together. There will be still be posts - probably much more off-topic material - but they won't be going up at 9:00, 11:00, 1:00, 3:00 & 5:00 all offseason, obviously.

If you've made it this far, I'd suggest you subscribe to our RSS Feed via Google Reader (164 people can't be wrong!). It will tell you when there is a new post so you don't have to come to the site to check. It will hurt our pageviews but help your sanity.

So thanks for reading this year. Thanks for your great comments and signed baseballs and for filling in the gaps where our knowledge is lacking. Thanks to those other bloggers who were kind enough to link, especially Joe from River Ave. Blues, Craig, Jason from IIATMS, Kevin Kaduk from Big League Stew, Ross from New Stadium Insider, Pete Abe, Rob Neyer (once), and even A.J. Daulerio, you know, back when Deadspin used to link to other blogs. A big thanks to Cliff who helped me a lot behind the scenes and Boston Bren who is mostly responsible for the site layout. There are others I'm forgetting, so I apologize for the omissions.

So, before we all disperse, there of course has to be a song. And it's only fitting that what is probably the de facto band of Fack Youk provides the soundtrack to this post.

See you around.

Jay

Say you want to be a rolling stone,
Get your sail out in the wind,
Get out on the highway and let 'er roll on,
Roll on back to someplace you ain't never been.

When I was younger I was hard to hold,
Seem like I was always goin',
Whichever way the wind would blow,
Now that travelin' spirit calls me again.

Callin' me back to where it all begins.

Yanks Drop Opportunity To Win

My favorite type of game to watch is a good pitchers duel. The game moves quickly, both pitchers are usually dealing, and you might even get a few defensive highlights.

Coming out on the losing end of a pitchers duel isn't quite as entertaining. And the difference for the Yankees last night wasn't a defensive highlight, but rather a lowlight on a blown routine flyball.

A.J. Burnett pitched extremely well: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. He surrendered a solo HR to Dan Uggla in the second, then rebounded by recording 8 of his next 10 outs via Ks, including all three outs in both the third and fourth innings. His second run, an unearned run, came in the sixth, as Johnny Damon lost a Jorge Cantu flyball in the lights, allowing Hanley Ramirez to score from first. It's the second dropped flyball from Damon in less than two weeks and I can't help but wonder if he's still having trouble with his eyes.

As good Burnett was, Josh Johnson was better: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. The Yankees couldn't touch him early on, as he put down 11 in a row at one point, and 19 of the first 22 he faced. The Yankees finally pushed a run across in the seventh, using an RBI single from Nick Swisher to plate Jorge Posada.

With Johnson out of the game in the eighth, the Yankees threatened again. Hideki Matsui laced a pinch hit, leadoff single. Brett Gardner pinch ran and stole second. A-Rod pinch hit and worked a walk, putting two on with no one out. Derek Jeter was the next batter, and after showing bunt for a few pitches, grounded into his second doubleplay of the night. With the tying run on third, a Johnny Damon strikeout ended the inning.

The Yankees put the tying run on again in the ninth, this time with a Mark Teixeira leadoff single. But Jorge Posada popped to short and Robinson Cano grounded into the Yankees third doubleplay of the night to end the game.

A loss is never fun, but sometimes a team is just going to run into great pitching. The Yankees did last night, and they failed to capitalize on the few opportunities they had. There are a few positives to take out of the game: Burnett turned in a second straight outstanding start. Jorge Posada threw out both would-be base stealers, and worked extremely well with Burnett. Burnett was certain to give credit to Posada, both as he left the mound in the seventh and in his post-game comments. Phil Coke and Phil Hughes continued their stellar pitching out of the bullpen, combining for 1.2 IP of perfect relief, including 3 Ks.

In the end though, it was still a loss. The Yankees will need to take the rubber game today to avoid a second straight series loss to a sub-.500 team.

An Easy Flight Home

A plane ride from Cleveland to New York City takes about an hour and fifteen minutes in the air. Coming off a 5-2 road trip after a confidence-inspiring victory like the one last night will probably make it seem even shorter.

The Yankees hit the ground running in the first inning, as Jeter and Teixeira both extended their hitting streaks, to 15 and 14 games, respectively. With one out and men on first and second, A-Rod flew out to center and Jorge Posada struck out swinging to kick start a frustrating night with men in scoring position. Going 3-16 w/RISP isn't typically a recipe for success, but the Yankees overcame those shortcomings, mostly on the back of Joba Chamberlain.

The eight innings he tossed tonight marked Joba's longest outing as a professional. What he lacked in dominance (only 5Ks) he made up for in efficiency (106 pitches). In addition to inducing 12 groundballs he certainly made the highlight reel in the fifth inning.

Joba allowed a walk and a single to start the frame, and had men on first and second with no one out. Kelly Shoppach came to the plate and popped a bunt in the air down the left foul line. Joba charged the ball and made as spectacular of a catch as you will see made by a pitcher. He laid out with full extension and snatched the ball just before it hit the ground, and at the behest of Jorge Posada, took to his feet and double Ryan Garko off of second base.

It didn't just look good on film. If that ball had fallen in, the Indians would have had the bases loaded with no one out. Instead, they had a runner on first with two outs. Although it's not highlighted on this chart, you can figure out the damage that play did to the Indians' chances at victory (FanGraphs does't mark defensive plays on their WPA charts). With the next batter, Asdrubal Cabrera up, Jamey Carroll tried to steal second but was nabbed after a correct guess on a pitch out and the threat was deterred.

The Yankees mounted their own threat in th top of the 6th on the strength of three walks from Jeremy Sowers. Eric Wedge went to the mound and Sowers' night was over after 85 pitches, as he was replaced in favor of Eric Aquino. Jeter, Swisher, Teixeira packed the bases with no one out as A-Rod stood at the plate. As it seemingly so often does in big spots, Alex got behind 0-2.

In 97 plate appearances entering last night's game A-Rod had been in two strike counts in 41 of them. Four of his home runs have come with two strikes and he is well above league average, with a 213 sOPS+ (OPS in comparison to league average with two strikes), even with a .190 BABIP in those spots. However, this time he was called out looking on a back-up slider up and in. One out. Jorge Posada chopped out to second. Two down. Robby Cano flew out to left. Inning over.

At this point, the score was still tied 1-1 and any coherent observer was left to wonder if the Yankees had squandered their chance to bust the game open.

Joba sat the Indians down in order in the bottom of the inning and the Yanks picked up right where they left off in the seventh. Acquino took his turn walking the bases loaded with one out, which brought up the slumping Nick Swisher. But for all of the confidence he inspired early in the season, he certainly wouldn't be the consensus choice among Yankee fans to be up in a big spot at the moment. Swish stepped up and sliced a near home run into the left field corner, driving in two.

Our old pal Luis Vizciano was brought into face A-Rod. The count quickly fell to 0-2 again, but Alex slipped a single past Asdrubal Cabrera and knocked in two runners of his own. The score would end 5-2 with Cleveland getting one back in the bottom of the 7th on an RBI ground out.

Joba allowed only four hits and two walks before handing the ball to Mo in the ninth. What now, Chris Shearn?

Texas Two Step

In a game that featured both what's right and what's wrong with the Yankees at this stage in the season, the Yankees defeated the Rangers 9-2 to take the rubber game of the series and hold a share of first place for the first time since April 16, 2008.

In the first inning, the Yankees jumped out to a lead they would never relinquish, as Mark Teixeira launched a two run homer to left, his 15th of the season, good for second in the AL. Teix would add a hot shot single in the third and just miss a second long ball in the fifth when he tomahawked one to the centerfield warning track. Over his last 15 games Teixeira is hitting .426/.486/.918 with 8 HR and 22 RBI.

Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano would also get in on the homer act, with Matsui homering to right in both the sixth and seventh innings and Cano crushing one to right in the ninth. The other Yankee runs would come on an RBI double by Derek Jeter in the second and a Kevin Cash two run single in the sixth.

Cash, getting his second start in the series, went 2 for 4, raising his average to a robust .231, and leaving him at 5 for 9 in the series. He also threw out 1 of 2 would-be base stealers on the night. After entering the series 1 for 17 on the year, and entering the game having caught just 1 of 9 on the bases, Cash is probably sad to leave Texas. With Posada set to come off the DL as soon as Friday, Cash may want to consider staying there.

All told, Jeter, Teixeira, Matsui, Cano, Gardner, and Cash all had multi-hit games. Every starter save for Johnny Damon recorded a hit. Damon gave the team a scare in the field, crashing into the left field wall at a time when the team can scarcely afford to lose another outfielder. Angel Berroa made another ninth inning pinch running appearance and got doubled up at the plate for the final Yankee out when he tried to score on a Jeter flyout.

From the mound, A.J. Burnett earned his first win since April 14th, and did so in an unusual manner. He went 6 scoreless innings, allowing only 3 hits, issuing 4 walks, and striking out 7. But, he threw under 60% of his pitches for strikes and needed 117 pitches to get through 6 innings, a whopping 19.5 pitches per IP.

With Burnett done after six, the Yankees needed three innings from the bullpen. Despite a comfortable eight run lead, Joe Girardi would not let Brett Tomko pitch for the first time since Sunday. Nor would he immediatley turn to Chien-Ming Wang, who hadn't pitched since Friday and desperately needs innings.

Instead, Jose Veras got the ball for the twenty-first time this season, and turned in yet another representative performance: double, groundout, homer, walk, showers. David Robertson came on to clean up the mess Veras left and illustrated why he should have been on the roster ahead of Veras a long time ago, using six strikes on eight pitches in retiring both batters he saw.

Wang pitched the final two innings, and looked far better than he did against Philly on Friday. He needed just 26 pitches in working two perfect innings, throwing 69% of his pitches for strikes. He recorded two outs via strikeouts, two on the ground, and two in the air. The GB/FB ratio isn't quite what you'd like to see from Wang, but looking at it over a two inning outing isn't very telling.

What is telling is that his sinker looked good. It was staying down in the zone and his velocity was good. Wang looked like a far more confident pitcher last night. He's not where he once was, nor is he where he needs to be in order to be trustworthy again. But let's hope tonight was step one on the path to recovery.

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.

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.

IX

(Photos come from here)

This marks the fourth consecutive recap I've authored this week, and as the winning streak rolls on they're starting to feel a little formulaic.

For the fourth consecutive night, the Yankees took a first inning lead and never looked back. Wednesday's game saw the Yankees start the the second inning with three consecutive HRs. Thursday, it was three consecutive doubles to start the first. Mark Teixeira continued his hot hitting, with a first inning RBI double for the second night in a row.

For the second consecutive night, Robinson Cano homered to left right in the second inning. Thursday's shot landed no more than 10 feet from where Wednesday's touched down, though Thursday's was of the frozen rope variety as opposed to Wednesday's moonshot.

Nick Swisher was once again decked out in high socks and a pink wrist band, the latter supporting breast cancer research. He once again went 1 for 2 with 2 BB. Continuing the theme of charitable efforts by the Yankees, we learned during the game that Francisco Cervelli visted Columbia-Presbyterian today. He wouldn't get the same-day good fortune of Gardner or Swisher, as he went 0 for 4. But life has been good for Frankie of late, and the rewards aren't always instantaneous.

And, once again Alfredo Aceves turned in an impressive and effective multi-inning performance: 3.1 scoreless innings pitched with just four baserunners allowed.

And that brings us to the real story of the game. Aceves was needed for so long because Joba Chamberlain took a liner off the leg while facing the second batter of the night. Chamberlain recovered to retire the perpetrator, Adam Jones, walked it off, and stuck around to face two more batters. But both Nick Markakis and Aubrey Huff knocked base hits, and that would be it for Joba. Fortunately the x-rays revealed no structural damage and he was diagnosed with just a bruise.

Faced with having to finish off the final 8.1 innings, the beleaguered Yankee bullpen rose to the occasion. Jonathan Albaladejo followed Aceves. He surrendered 4 runs in his 2.1 IP. It's not the prettiest line, but I prefer to think he pitched to the scoreboard. Spotted to a big lead and knowing his team needed innings, Albaladejo stayed around the plate (yielding 2 HRs), threw 66% of his pitches for strikes, and surrendered no free passes despite averaging 4.8 BB/9 entering the night. It was an unusual set of circumstances for the big righty and he gave his team what they needed. Jose Veras followed Albaladejo and turned in 1.2 innings of scoreless, walkless work.



Joe Girardi once again chose to pitch Mariano Rivera in the ninth, despite holding a three run lead. I can understand wanting to secure the victory after all the bullpen had done, especially with the 2 through 4 spots due. But if former starter Brett Tomko couldn't go multiple innings because he's been used as a short stint reliever this year, and he couldn't be trusted to close out a 3 run game, why exactly is he on the roster? Still, it's a minor point. Consecutive victory number nine is one to be proud of, as the team rallied together against a bad break. The dice keep tumbling the Yankees' way.

Speaking of the roster, expect a move before tomorrow's game. The bullpen will be short: Albaladejo and Aceves are done for a couple days, Veras is likely unavailable tomorrow, and perhaps Mo as well after going two days in a row. Phil Coke may also still be dinged up after taking a liner off the arm Wednesday. Both Mark Melancon and David Robertson have been down long enough to be eligible for recall. Anthony Claggett is the other possibility. While this will mean a temporary return to the absurd eight man bullpen, it's necessary in the short term. The silver lining is it should spell the end for the Angel Berroa era.

The streak stands at nine. They've swept the last two series. The defending World Champions come to town tomorrow as interleague play begins.

Come Back Anytime, Twins

[Ed. Note: Photos via ESPN/the AP this morning]

The Yankees ran their winning streak to six last night, finishing off a four game sweep of the Twins. While Monday's game lacked the walk-off heroics of the three that preceeded it, it still managed to up my blood pressure thanks to the continued high wire act that is attempting to get innings from the Yankees' relief core. Complicating matters, the pen was walking the tightrope without a net last night, as Mo was unavailable after throwing 44 pitches over three innings the last two days.

But back to the beginning. Pettitte staked the Twins to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first as Mauer and Morneau continued their hot hitting with a pair of RBI singles. I feared that my in-person losing streak would run to four games.

Thankfully for the Yankees, and for me, Glen Perkins extended his streak of giving up at least 4 ER to five consecutive starts, and would do so in the most efficient fashion possible. Jeter and Damon got it started with back-to-back singles, and Teix and A-Rod followed with back-to-back homers to left field to make it 4-2 Yanks. You could have hung your laundry on A-Rod's blast, a Winfield-like lined shot that never got more than 15 or so feet off the ground.

After retiring the ice cold Nick Swisher on another deep fly ball to left field, the Yankees got the line moving again with hits from Cano, Cabrera, and Cervelli, sandwiched around a fly out by Ramiro Pena. That would be it for Perkins: 0.2IP 7H 6R 6ER 0K 0BB. Ouch.

[UPDATE 5:13 PM: The Twins placed Perkins on the 15 day DL today with the same injury Chien-Ming Wang had - inability-to-get-anyone-out-itis. Wang's manifested in his hips; Perkins' in his pitching elbow. The Twins called-up old friend Sean Henn to take his roster spot. I have a feeling Twin fans will be hoping for a speedy return for Perkins.]

R.A. Dickey finished off the first for the Twins and used his knuckler to shut the offense down through the 5th. The Yanks would tack on another run in the 7th, with Texeira going deep again, this time left-handed, marking the second time this year he's homered from both sides of the plate in the same game.

Pettitte spent the rest of his night pitching into and out of trouble, aided by some great defense from Robinson Cano, with help from Teixeira, and a bare-handed pick at third by Pena that would have made Scottie Barehand proud. Pettitte even got in on the act himself, knocking down a hot shot comebacker from Joe Crede in the 5th and catching Brendan Harris between 3rd and the plate to help himself out of a 2 on, 1 out jam.

Carlos Gomez continued to endear himself to the Yankees. Following Friday night's exchange with Teixeira, Gomez went in wide, high, and hard on Jeter in the 4th, breaking up a potential double play. I'd have to say Gomez now joins Ellsbury and Huff on the list of people who should be dusting themselves off in a future game against the Yanks this year.

The Yankees would have the last on laugh on Gomez though, as he came to the plate in the the 7th with the bases loaded and the Twins trailing by two. Jose Veras had entered the game one batter earlier, and walked Michael Cuddyer on five pitches. Instead of making Veras show him a strike, Gomez jumped on the first pitch, flying out center to end the threat. That's why you entered the night with an OBP under .300, Carlos.

Lamentably, that would not be the final jam for the Yankee pen to face. Edwar Ramirez came in for the eighth, and as is becoming his calling card, surrendered both a HR and a BB. With Mauer on first and a 4 for 4 Justin Morneau at the plate as the tying run, Girardi summoned Phil Coke. Coke would get his revenge on Morneau: after surrending homers to him on Friday and Saturday, Coke whiffed him on three ugly looking swings to end the inning.

Things would not go as smoothly for Coke in the ninth. After walking the leadoff man, Coke traded a run for two groundouts, cutting the lead to a run. Gomez walked to put a very speedy tying run on base. But pinch hitter Mark Redmond grounded to Cano, running the streak to 6, completing the sweep, and giving Phil Coke his first Major League save.

The Twins lost these four games in the Bronx by a grand total of five runs. It's not that far away, but I get the feeling that's going to be a long flight to Chicago.

Anyone Else As Excited As I Am?

Found this via Pete Abraham.

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Talkin' Baseball With An Old Timer

I love talking about baseball with anyone. Especially with Sawx fans so I can tell them to go Fack themselves. Friday night, I had the opportunity to talk hardball with an older generation Yankees fan named John in an Ancient Order of Hibernians hall. The guy has been a Yankees fan for over 70 years and remembers seeing Gehrig and Ruth play at the original Yankee Stadium (before its charm was gutted by the 1970s renovations). Below are some of the topics we chatted about.

Yankees Payroll: Despite being a humble, bingo-playing man, John had no qualms about the Yankees payroll. He cannot get over the fact that people start bitching about the recent signings of Teixeira, Sabathia and Burnett but fail to consider that their payroll will be less than last year. He is very pleased that the Hank/Hal tandem will continue to spend like their father. "Put the best team on the field," says the man. Many older generation fans have soured on baseball due to the ridiculous salaries of players, but John is such a dedicated fan that even at his advanced age he makes several bus trips from Albany to Yankee Stadium a year.

Yankees Prospects: Almost every other word out of the guy's mouth was "Jackson." Of course, he was talking about future perennial All-Star CF Austin "Action/AJax" Jackson. Knew everything about him. Cannot wait for the 5 tooler to start manning sports' most pristine real estate in 2010. If I remember correctly (don't hold me to this due to copious Guinness consumption), I think Mickey Mantle's name was even mentioned when discussing Jackson. I have no idea how he knows all of this considering I don't think he has a computer/internet access. He was also adverse to trading Ian Kennedy away.

Current Outfield Situation: According to John, the CF job needs to be given to Brett Gardner. Melky needs to be released/traded due to his negative influence on Cano (who is expected to have a great comeback year). He would love to see Matsui moved but the full no-trade clause makes it virtually impossible. Nady or Swisher? Like me, he likes Nady more than Swisher but thinks Nady is a better trade option due to his salary. Likes Damon for LF.

Key to '09: The health of Posada.

Teixiera: The Yankees best signing in a long time. Thinks he will be at worst a Tino Martinez.

Overall, a great and interesting conversation given his obvious wealth of knowledge concerning the Yankees and baseball in general. I hope to catch a game with him at the New Stadium.

Fair And Balanced

There has been a lot of Boston-centric content on the site today, and I just wanted to level it out a bit.

Yup. That's better.