Game 21: #9

Start spreading the news...

Game 22: #8

Not what I was hoping to capture with that shot. Hang in there Teix.

Game 22: #7

Greetings from Section 122...

Hip, hip...

Game 22: #6

YMCA...

It's never going away. Thanks Lon Trost!

Game 22: #5

I just told everyone in line for Popcorn Indiana that the company is
owned by Isaiah Thomas.

There is no longer a line.

Game 22: #4

First off: Der-ek Jet-er
Secondly: Welcome back, Bobby

Game 22: #3

There is a full grown man in front of me with a teddy bear in his
pocket. If I was Matt Vasgergan (sp?), I would say he looks like
Plaxico Burress.

Game 22: #2

Despite the fact that there are maaaaaybe 15,000 people here, Abreu
got a warm reception.

Game 22: #1

AJ Burnett has a pretty hardcore intro song. Not unlike what you would
expect from a guy with pierced nipples.

The Hook

We sort of left off on a sour note last night, but you had to be encouraged by the way the Yankees played. 

The star of the show was of course the Jobanatior, who needed only 88 pitches to get through seven innings. The only bump in the road was the third, in which he allowed only one run, despite issuing three walks and a hit. He shut down the threat by striking out one of the last guys in the league you'd want to see in that situation, Miguel Cabrera, on a diving 74MPH curveball down and away: 


 
 Doesn't get much better than that. And that's his third pitch. 

How To Overmanage Your Bullpen, by Joe Girardi

"Hmmm, let's see here. There are two outs and it's the bottom of the 9th inning. The tying run is still in the dugout. Why don't I go get my closer? RIGHT NOW!"

"Yeah, perhaps that wasn't such a good idea."

Rivera hadn't pitched in five days, he probably needed some work. The Yanks had been up for 7 runs for four straight innings, it's not like the situation snuck up on Girardi. Why not let him start the 9th?

Or, I suppose, you could bring in someone else and go into panic mode when you are still up by 5 runs. The absolute worst case scenario was that Albaladejo gives up a three run homer and the Yanks are up by two, with two out and no one on base. That shouldn't even count as a save situation. It's one out. And again, that's the worst case scenario. Why pull the alarm and rush Rivera into the game? The guy is an extremely valuable commodity and he's 39 years old. Don't jerk him around unless it's absolutely necessary. 

This isn't because Granderson hit the home run. It was a stupid decision regardless of the result. The bullpen meddling annoys me, Joe, it probably lowers the confidence of the pitcher you are taking out of the game, and most importantly, IT KEEPS BACKFIRING ON YOU. 

STOP IT. 

We've been over this.

Nice Try, Tigers Fans

Pulling the fire alarm is not approprite reaction to your team getting lit up. It's only a figure of speech. 

Game 21: Detroit Medley

The rubber match of the Motown Showdown goes down tonight as the Yankees look to climb back over .500. Like Phil Hughes did last night, Joba Chamberlain will get a chance to remind everyone why he should be in the rotation. I think Joba should be a starter until injuries or ineffectiveness prove otherwise. Having too many good starting pitchers is a good problem to have. And that's all I have to say, about that. 

Toeing the rubber for the Tigers tonight is a lanky 20 year old righthander named Rick Porcello. For those unfamiliar, Porcello was a high school phenom who entered the 2007 draft and was projected to go in the top five picks, with some forecasts placing him as high as number two. His senior year at Seton Hall Prep in New Jersey included a perfect game, a 14.7K/9IP ratio and he was named the Gatorade National Baseball Player Of The Year. 

Porcello chose Scott Boras, and as a result, concerns of signability allowed the Tigers to draft him with the 27th overall pick, just three slots ahead of where the Yankees drafted Andrew Brackman. His total contract was worth over $11M, making him the highest paid high school prospect ever. After spending only one year in High A-Ball, Porcello is already in the Big Show. While he had a solid 2.66ERA in the minors, his strikeout ratio dipped to just 5.2/9IP. Clearly, the Tigers felt pressured by the massive contract they extended to him, along their lack of depth in the starting rotation, to give Porcello some Big League burn. 

So far this year, he has made three starts. Sandwiched between two outings where he gave up 4 and 5 earned runs respectively, Porcello threw seven innings of one run ball against the Mariners last Sunday. By far the youngest starting pitcher in baseball at the moment, just over two decades old, Porcello makes a 23 year old Joba Chamberlain look like a seasoned veteran. 

I must extend a special thank you to local Springsteen Aficionado, Schiff Happens for tonight's song selection. In honor of Jersey boy Rick Porcello, from The Boss, here is a version of Detroit Medley from the '78 Tour, which I have been assured was epic.