Mother's Day News And Notes

Though I'm sure they would frown upon some of the language used here from time to time, we'd like to extend our Mother's Day wishes to all the moms out there. Happy Mother's Day to you all.

On to today's news and notes:

Another day, another injury for the Yankees. As Jason noted in the recap, Alfred Aceves had to exit yesterday's game with two outs in the sixth inning. Alf's lower back seized up on him; he's out for the next two or three days, further shortening the roster.

I was forced to listen on the radio for most the game yesterday. After the Aceves injury all Sterling and Waldman could muster up was "Isn't amazing?" parroting each other and using the phrase for about the five hundredth time on the afternoon. No, it's not amazing you idiots. It's horseshit luck. How do these two still have jobs?

Aceves' back gave him problems last year and during Spring Training this year. Back problems tend to be chronic, so there's a good chance this will flare up again before the season is out. I'll be interested to see if all those who are so quick to condemn signing of the perpetually injury prone Nick Johnson as a bust afford the same level of impatience to Aceves.

Of course with all the Yankee injuries, trainer Steve Donahue is keeping awfully busy these days. Sadly, the Yankees are still without longtime trainer Gene Monahan as he continues his recovery from throat cancer. He's targeting a June 1st return. The Daily News has a great profile on Geno today. Give it a read, and as always, we extend our get well wishes to Monahan.

In the minor league injury department, Juan Miranda returned to Scranton's line up yesterday, following a two game absence resulting from a hit by pitch on the elbow. Chances are we'll see Miranda recalled in the near future, and that he'll be part of DH platoon with Marcus Thames in Johnson's absence.

Kevin Russo, who made his Major League debut yesterday, is the likely candidate to be demoted for Miranda. Once Robinson Cano can return to the field, Russo will no longer be necessary. However, he is also currently doubling as the fifth outfielder, Greg Golson having been demoted Friday in favor of a thirteenth pitcher.

That thirteenth pitcher, as we've mentioned, is Romulo Sanchez. Apparently a nine run lead wasn't safe enough for Sanchez to mop up the final two innings yesterday, which begs the question: why is he even on the roster at all? Of course with Sergio Mitre pulling spot start duty tomorrow night and Alf and Andy out of action for a few days, Sanchez and the thirteen man staff are a likely bet to stick around for awhile longer.

Instead of Sanchez pitching yesterday, Joba Chamberlain, after coming on it a bit of a jam in the seventh, started the eighth. With two outs and a lefty due, Girardi went to Damaso Marte. Nothing like matching up in a nine run game.

More minor league news: Jesus Montero was pulled from Scranton's game Friday night. The initial fear was a leg injury suffered while trotting out a ground ball, but he did manage to catch another inning before getting pulled. However, later on in the game Montero was warming up pitcher's in the bullpen, leading to speculation that his removal was more disciplinary than precautionary, leading to everyone's favorite Yankee blogosphere doomsayer to proclaim Montero the new Jose Tabata. Nothing like jumping to conclusions. For what it's worth, Montero was held out of yesterday's game as well. Still no official word as to what transpired.

With Russo recalled to the Big Club, Scranton poached utility guy Justin Snyder from the Trenton roster. To take Snyder's spot, the organization signed former prospect Justin Christian from the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League.

In honor of Mother's Day, MLB will once again be partnering with Susan G. Komen for the Cure today. Former Yankee Dave Winfield, who lost his mother to breast cancer more than twenty years ago, is taking an active role in the initiative this year.

Lastly, check this piece of lazy journalism from the NYT. Yes, I'm sure Red Sox fans are much much more comfortable losing. Those World Series titles get old after awhile.

Now go spend time with your mom. We'll be back with the preview.

Game 7 Recap

[WPA data via FanGraphs]

1. The Yankees got it going in the bottom of the first, as Nick Johnson jumped on a 1-1 Ervin Santana fastball and crushed it to the right field bleachers to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

2. In the top of the third, Derek Jeter followed with a solo shot of his own to right-center

3. The next inning, the Yankees stretched the lead to 3-0, as a bases loaded infield single from Jeter plated Curtis Granderson.

4. Andy Pettitte pitched himself into a bit of a jam in the fifth, allowing a leadoff single to Jeff Mathis followed by a walk to Brandon Wood. Erick Aybar's groundout to third put both runners in scoring position, but Pettitte wriggled out of trouble by inducing a pop up from Bobby Abreu and a groundout from Torii Hunter

5. The Angels threatened again in the sixth, with back-to-back singles from Kendry Morales and Juan Rivera leaving runners on the corners with one out. Pettitte then induced a double play ball off the bat of Howie Kendrick, costing the Angels 11.9% of Win Expectancy.

6. The Yankees made it 5-0 in the bottom half of the inning. Walks from Nick Swisher, Nick Johnson, and Mark Teixeira loaded the bases. An infield single from A-Rod plated the Nicks. Raise your hand if you thought you'd see Nick Johnson score from second on an infield single this year. Yeah, me neither.

7. The Angels got on the board in the top of eighth, as Kendry Morales blasted a solo shot into the second deck in right field. The Yankees responded in the bottom half. Nick Johnson led off with a double and came around to score on a Jorge Posada two bagger. Curtis Granderson continued his hot start by driving Robinson Cano home with a base hit. Though seemingly pile-on runs at the time, they would prove crucial.

8. David Robertson had a rough top of the ninth. He gave up three straight singles to start the inning, the second of which was supposed to be a bunt attempt. After retiring Aybar for the inning's first out, D-Rob surrendered a grandslam to Bobby Abreu to make it 7-5. Even so, the Yankees' Win Expectancy still stood at 95.9%. Mariano Rivera came on to get Torii Hunter and old friend Hideki Matsui to shut the door.

IFs, ANDs & BUTs

• Outstanding job by the Yankees with the ring ceremony. From the 27 championship flags flying from the Stadium, to the presence of living legends Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford, to the surprise guest appearance by Jerry Hairston Jr, who took a cross country red eye from San Diego last night to spend his off day getting his ring, it was well done. If only Bernie didn't bounce the first pitch, and if only YES wasn't late in getting back on the air for it.


• Extremely classy move by the Yankees to give World Series MVP Hideki Matsui the final ring. It was also very nice to see the entirety of the Yankees come forward to greet Matsui after he received his ring. While that move spoke volumes of how Matsui's former teammates feel about him, the fans took the opportunity to express their gratitude with a standing ovation for Matsui's plate appearance in the first inning. Nice job by Andy Pettitte to take his time and step off, giving Matsui an opportunity to tip his batting helmet.


• As nice as the reception was for Matsui, the best moment of the day was to see Gene Monahan in attendance. As we mentioned this morning, Monahan has been away from the team battling illness, reportedly cancer. His appearance today was the first of the season. It was very poignant that he received the first ring in the ceremony and touching to see the warm reception from the fans and how much it moved Geno.


• The very first ring of the day was presented to George Steinbrenner. Joe Girardi and Derek Jeter visited his suite early in the afternoon to deliver his ring. Hal said his pops was very appreciative.


• Another solid outing for Andy Pettitte, who was very sharp through four and gutted through jams in the fifth and sixth. It was good to see that Pettitte was able to receive his ring on the field before heading to the bullpen to warm up.


• Nine walks by Angels pitching today, including three to Nick Swisher and two each to Nick Johnson and Mark Teixeira.


• Robinson Cano continues to swing a hot bat, picking up a double and a single, and making good contact on his fly out to the right field warning track.


• Nick Swisher has been replaced for defense in three consecutive games and five of the last six. I know he can look bad at times and that his arm isn't great, but as we discussed a couple weeks back, he's not a terrible defender.


• Chan Ho Park looked good for his second consecutive outing. Perhaps those who were ready to write him off following his Opening Night performance might have reacted a tad too quickly.


• David Robertson's ERA is going to take a looooong time to recover from today.


• I don't want to jump to conclusions after just one game, but Torii Hunter looks like he's aged in dog years defensively. He got poor jumps on about three or four fly balls today. Perhaps the wind played a factor, but that doesn't explain away his failure to cut off Nick Johnson's eight inning shot in the right-center gap.

See you in the morning Fackers.

Derek, Lou, And The Other Guys Too

The Yankees completed a four game sweep of the Rays tonight, using yet another comeback win to continue their dominant run through the season's second half and further crush the Rays now nearly non-existent post-season hopes. That wasn't the story of the game.

Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Jorge Posada came to the plate as a pinch hitter with one out and runners on the corners. He worked a full count, then blasted a go-ahead three run homer to right, giving the Yankees the only lead they would need all night. That wasn't the story of the game.

Derek Jeter, as you may have heard, came into this homestand needing just three hits to tie Lou Gehrig atop the Yankees' all time leaderboard. In the three games since, Jeter has gone 0 for 12, allowing that story to linger. And that was the story of tonight's game.

Jeter led off the bottom of the first. With Evan Longoria playing back, Jeter resorted to an old slump buster, dropping the first pitch down the third baseline for a bunt single. After grounding out in the third, Jeter came up again in the fifth, driving a 2-2 slider to deep center field for a ground rule double and bringing him within one of the Iron Horse.

In the seventh, Jeter came up with two outs, no one on, and the Yankees trailing 2-0. For the fourth time on the night, Rays starter Jeff Niemann threw Jeter a first pitch fastball. Jeter pounced on it, with his familiar inside-out swing, and punched a basehit through the right side. The ballpark and both dugouts erupted with a standing ovation. In a subtle, but poignant moment, YES showed Yankees Head Athletic Trainer Gene Monahan, in the Yankees organization since 1962 and in his current position since 1973, standing at the top of the dugout steps, applauding with the rest of the team.

Johnny Damon followed with a single of his own, making it appear that Jeter's historic hit might also be the start of a rally. But Mark Teixeira fanned to end the threat.

Aside from giving the Yankees the lead, Posada's one out homer in the eighth ensured that Jeter would get another plate appearance on the night. Jeter stepped in for his fifth plate appearance of the night with no one on and two outs. Jeter worked a seven pitch walk, much to the chagrin of the crowd and more the disappointment of Yankees' play-by-play man Michael Kay who has been painfully wringing ever last possible ounce of drama out of this chase. Hyperbolic even by his lofty standards, Kay called it "the most underrated walk in the history of baseball". Sure it is.

As for the rest of the game, Joba Chamberlain turned in a start that was rather representative of his 2009 season. He needed 32 pitches to get through the first inning, surrendering a leadoff home run to Jason Bartlett, two singles, a walk, a wild pitch, three strikeouts and leaving the Yanks in a two run hole before they even picked up a bat. Appropriately, a mound visit midway through the first from the man of evening seemed to change Joba's approach. Chamberlain settled down from there, throwing a perfect second and third inning and retiring the last eight batters he faced after the Captain's visit. With his pitch count at 55 through three, Joba's night was over, marking his third consecutive start of just three innings.

Alfredo Aceves followed and turned in an outstanding performance, going three shutout, hitless innings in which he allowed just a walk and K'd three. The Yankees still dormant bats prevented Alf from getting his 11th relief victory of the year. Jonathan Albaladejo then tossed two perfect frames to pick up the win, and Brian Bruney and Phil Coke combined to close out the ninth.

Derek Jeter is deservedly the man of the hour with his historic achievement coming tonight. However, this game, like so many other this year, was an impressive team effort in which several players - Jeter, Posada, Alf, Albaladejo, A-Rod, Hideki Matsui - all made important contributions to another Yankee victory.

Jeter will take his swings at the record on Friday night. Rest assured that tomorrow's off day will be flooded with talk about the impending accomplishment. We'll be here for you to discuss that and more. See you in the morning.

Happy 5th Anniversary, Jeter's Face & The Stands

My favorite regular season Yankee game of all time took place five years ago today. It was the day that the two things in the title met, however briefly, on the way to a thrilling extra innings victory.

On July 1st of 2004, the universe was still aligned. The Red Sox were still a bunch of hopeless choke artists and the Yankees had just appeared in their sixth World Series in eight years. Despite trailing Boston in the season series 1-5 entering the series, the Yanks were up 5.5 games in the division. After outscoring the Sox 15-5 in the first two games of the series, that lead had swelled to 7.5. Their record was 49-26, which was the best in American League by six games.

That Thursday night, the Yankees prospects for victory didn't look so hot. Pedro Martinez was scheduled to start for the Sox while all the Yankees could counter with was Brad Halsey. Making just his third professional start managed to make it 5 1/3 innings and allowed only two runs, which came on a two run homer by Manny Ramirez. It was a dramatic improvement from his last outing in which he was destroyed for 7 runs by the Mets and chased in the fourth inning. The legendary Paul Quantrill cost Halsey a chance at a victory by giving up the tying run in the seventh inning.

Pedro wasn't perfect but he went 7 innings, allowed 3 runs and struck out 8. When he left the game, the score was tied 3-3, a position Yankees fans would have happily accepted at the outset of the evening.

Felix Heredia/Tom Gordon and Keith Foulke matched perfect 8th innings to keep the draw intact. Gordon delivered another scoreless frame in the ninth, but Foulke ran into some trouble. The Yankees loaded the bases with one out but Foulke got Ruben Sierra to strikeout swinging and Kenny Lofton grounded out to send the game into extras.

In Mariano Rivera's second inning of relief (the 11th), the Sox had runners on first and third with two outs. With Trot Nixon at the plate, Johnny Damon took second on defensive indifference. Then, on the 4th pitch of the at bat, Nixon popped one in back of third base, drifting towards the stands. Jeter, sprinting at full speed made the catch and unable to stop himself, flew head first into the stands.

Did the play decide the game? Probably not. Had Jeter not caught the ball, it would have landed in foul territory and Trot Nixon still would have had two strikes against Rivera, and regardless, the Yanks would have had a chance to respond in the bottom half. It most certainly defined the game, however.

I'm not sure if most Yankee fans would remember that Boston actually took the lead in the 13th on another homer by Manny and it took back-to-back-to-back two out hits by Ruben Sierra, Miguel Cairo and John Flaherty to vault the Yankees to victory. The lasting image was not of Flaherty rounding first base with his arms in the air, but of Jeter emerging from the stands and being tended to by Gene Monahan, his face bloodied and bruised.

It was a concrete representation of the mythical qualities and intangibles of Jeter, that can typically be dismissed as bullshit, all rolled into one photograph. It was part hustle, part toughness and part all-out effort.

Home from college for the summer, I watched that game at my friend John's house, over a soundtrack of powerful thunderstorms. We had plans to go out, but couldn't pull ourselves away from the extra inning drama. I'm glad we didn't.

The View From On Top

For the first time since October 1st, 2006, the Yankees are in sole posession of first place in the American League East. It's the only time it has happened in the Joe Girardi Era. Chew on that for a moment.

For the fifth straight game, Derek Jeter led off the game with a hit, setting the tone for another comfortable victory. 

The margin of victory was only two runs, but the Indians never had the tying runner in scoring position. 

Andy Petttitte had held the Indians scoreless when he was lifted with runners on first and second in the fifth inning and had only tossed 84 pitches. The main reason for his early departure was an apparent back problem which surfaced in the fourth inning.

Pettite doubled over after delivering a 3-1 slider to Ben Francisco and was visited on the mound by Joe Girardi and Gene Monahan. He stayed in the game but retreated to the clubhouse for treatment during the top of the 5th. Andy allowed a lead off single to Asdrubal Cabrera to being the bottom half of the fifth inning, but then recorded three straight outs. After taking the hill for the sixth, Pettitte was yanked after giving up a single and a walk.

Alfredo Aceves allowed one of Pettite's baserunners to score on a sac fly by Shin-Soo Choo, but that was all the offense Cleveland could muster. Aceves, who is emerging as a versatile late inning bullpen option for the Yanks, surrendered only a walk and a single in three innings of work.  

In his first game back, Jorge Posada went 2-3 with a walk. He saw 17 of Cliff Lee's 112 pitches, a contribution which certainly helped send the Indians' starter to the showers in the 6th inning for only the second time in his last 8 starts. 

A-Rod picked up a single and a walk at the plate but the most encouraging signs of the night for him won't be found in the box score. 

In the top of the second, Ben Francisco tapped a nubber down the third baseline, and A-Rod made a great effort charging in on the play, although the out wasn't made at first. Then, during top of the fifth, Alex hit a weak grounder to third base and sensing the possibility of an infield hit, he busted ass down the line and made it a closer play than expected, but was out by a nose. Hustle has long been a trademark of A-Rod's game, and regardless of your feelings about him, it's encouraging to see that he is feeling comfortable and healthy enough to go all out. 

Mo gave up a hit to Choo, but otherwise it was an uneventful and non-threatening ninth inning. The save moved Pettitte and Mariano as the starter/closer tandem with the most wins/saves together (58), passing Dennis Eckersley and Bob Welch (57).

The Yanks are in first. I'm not sure if I remember what that was like.