Thursday Afternoon Linkarooski

Like seemingly everyone on the Yankees, these links are day-to-day.

A recent calculation by Forbes determined that the Yankees have the most valuable brand of any sports franchise in the world. At least internationally, I think this has more to do with this association with New York than their history as a baseball team.

I'm sure others who have traveled abroad have had the similar experiences, but I've talked to a good amount of people in counties like China and South Africa who were wearing caps with the interlocking NY and had no idea what the Yankees even were. To them, the hat stands for New York City and not the Yankees as a baseball team.

On Monday, Curtis Granderson wrote about his road to recovery - which included a case of strep throat - at Big League Stew.

Thanks to everybody who sent this one in: the NC State baseball team's media guide had a fantastic misspelling of "Wolfpack" that us Fackers were all too happy to see.

Apparently Matt Garza hasn't stopped being a complete cock between last July and now.

Still down about last night's loss? The first comment on this page should cheer you up.

Both Larry from the Yankeeist and frequent commenter Jimmy suggested the same thing this morning: moving Derek Jeter out of the lead off spot. As Matt said in the comments, it wouldn't be worth the media backlash and given how many balls Jeter has hit on the ground, particularly to short, he would be on a record setting pace for double plays this year.

So it appears that Josh Beckett is really hurt, unless putting him on the 15 day DL is just another part of the Red Sox elaborate ruse.

The Yankees are purportedly interested in Yunesky Maya, a 28 year old, right handed Cuban pitcher who has recently been unblocked after defecting nine months ago.

Ross from NYYSI discovers the seedy underbelly of Yankee Stadium's Bat Day.

Here's a puff piece from USA Today about George Steinbrenner and his contributions to the city of Tampa.

Joe Posnanski wrote a post explaining his contention that it's "just barely above possible" that Derek Jeter will break Pete Rose's hit record and then made some more predictions about which career numbers players including A-Rod, CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera will reach.

The WSJ says that Rivera is the best Yankee pitcher of all time. I don't agree with their methodology because Mo has a distinct advantage in categories like ERA and I'm not sure how they are isolating his "impact on attendance", but it's hard to argue with their conclusion. Mo is the man.

By now you know that Hanely Ramirez was benched for jogging after a ball that he booted into left field and was back in the lineup last night after apologizing to his team. Morgan Ensberg took him to task for it, David Ortiz told him to apologize, Bert Blyleven thinks how he dealt with it in the media was the real problem, and Posnanski mined some comments from his readers who imagined what Derek Jeter would have done in that situation, such as:

Jeter wouldn’t have chased the ball. The ball would have chased Jeter.

Plenty of words have been spilled about Ramriez think already, and it's basically over, but very quickly, I think it's kind of amazing amazing that we expect athletes to give maximum effort (or at least act like they are) on every single play, and for the most part, they do. We are imperfect as humans but we are capable of trying pretty damn hard.

Theo Epstein went to a Pearl Jam concert during a Red Sox game. Wearing a disguise. No big deal, Matt did the same thing when he saw them in Hartford. Gotta find a way to deflect all the attention from the roving hoards of Fack Youk Floozies, you know?

Ryan Wilkins explored what exactly the addition of historical WAR to Baseball-Reference.com means for the future of baseball history.

Angel Pagan hit and inside the park homer and started a triple play yesterday. And the Mets still lost.

Dave Cameron wonders why the respect for Ken Griffey Jr. is a one way street.

Ultimate Zone Rating just got a facelift. Over at FanGraphs, MGL lays out the updated primer and David Appelman announces the introduction of home/road splits for UZR (which unfortunately will be a small sample size minefield and probably only useful for outfielders).

Carson Cistulli's series at FanGraphs rolls on with Why Tommy Bennett Writes. It's both incredibly well-written and a veritable tour de force in one downsmanship. Here is Will Leitch's installment as well.

Bronx Native Randy Ruiz has been released by the Blue Jays and is heading straight for Japan.

Ben Jacobs from THT was at the game Stephen Strasburg started against the Rochester Red Wings last night and wrote about the phenom's performance.

Yanks Take Game One

CC Sabathia and Matt Garza locked horns for seven innings each as game one of today's double header was a pitcher's duel. CC continued his recent run of dominace, going seven innings allowing three hits, one run, four walks and ten strikeouts. His only run allowed came on an opposite field solo shot from Mrs. Tony Parker that just barely cleared the fence in the second inning. Brett Gardner returned from the DL, started in center field, and helped Sabathia out with a diving, run-saving catch in the fifth inning.

Garza was equally as good, going seven innings, five hits, one unearned run, one walk, and seven strikeouts. The only blemish on his record game in the first. With two outs and no one on base, Mark Teixeira grounded into the shift. Tampa shortstop Jason Bartlett, playing on the outfield grass on the second base side of the bag, bobbled the ball, allowing Teix to reach. Alex Rodriguez then worked a full count and Teixeira, taking off with the pitch, came around to score on A-Rod's double.

Phil Hughes worked a scoreless, hitless eighth for the Yanks. The only baserunner he allowed was a leadoff walk to Carl Crawford, who was promptly caught stealing on a first pitch pitchout.

The Yankee bats remained relatively quiet until the bottom of the inning. Nick Swisher drew a leadoff walk. Teixeira followed with a base hit to right field, and while Swish likely would have reached third base anyway, Gabe Kapler's bobble helped and his off line throw allowed Teix to take second. After A-Rod was intentionally walked, Robinson Cano hit a sacrifice fly to deep center, plating pinch runner Jerry Hairston Jr with the go-ahead run. Jorge Posada and Eric Hinske followed with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly respectively, pushing the lead to 4-1.

Mariano Rivera came on for the ninth. In his first appearance since last Tuesday, Mo walked the lead off man then sat down three in a row, two by strikeout, to give the Yankees the game.

(Photos)

Game 138: Working Class Hero

It might be Labor Day but unlike most of you, the Yankees will be putting in extra work today with a day/night double header against the Rays. The Yankees haven't seen the Rays since the end of July and as a result they still have 7 games remaining against them in the season series, the next four at home and a three game set to close out the regular season in Tampa from October 2nd - 4th. The Yankees hold the edge in the season set 6-5 as of now but it could tip pretty heavily either way depending on how these last 7 match ups go.

The Rays are quite unlikely to make the postseason at this point, trailing the Red Sox by 7 in the Wild Card standings with 26 games remaining and only 3 head to head meetings with the Sox. It would seem they are resigned to their fate, given that they shipped Scott Kazmir to the Angels for minor leaguers just before the waiver trade deadline hit. Despite numerous pundits picking the Rays to finished ahead of either the Yanks or the Sox or both this year, they never lead the AL East and currently trail the Yanks by 14.5 games.

Former Twin and consummate asshole Matt Garza takes the hill for the Rays today. He started against Joba Chamberlain in the last game contested between the two teams and was fined after he admitted that he intentionally hit Mark Teixeira in the shoulder with a 94 MPH fastball in retaliation for Evan Longoria being brushed back earlier in the game and hit earlier in the series. Garza is sporting a pretty solid 4.01 ERA but has won only one game in his past 11 starts watching his record fall to 7-9.

CC Sabathia will toe the rubber first for the Yanks today. Over his last 6 starts he's been everything the Yanks could ask for and then some, rocking a 1.83 ERA, striking out 53(!), walking just 7(!!) and averaging over 7 1/3 innings per start. He's picked up 5 decisions during that time and has put himself in position to chase 20 wins as the season winds down. He better get going those because he needs 4 more and probably has six more starts to go. The big man's ERA is about a run and a half higher during daytime starts this year, but September is has been his best month throughout his career.

Making his triumphant return to the Yankees after hitting the DL with a broken thumb and making the line up 11.1111% hustle-y-er in the process, is the one and only, the gritty and gutty, the scrappy and feisty... Brett Gardner, ladies and gentlemen! He'll be making the start in CF for the first game, getting his jersey dirty and doing the little things that help the team win. (Otherwise known as being short and white.)

While most people celebrate Labor Day by not working, the Yanks will be rolling up their sleeves twice as high and their getting hands twice as dirty, in the city where the very first Labor Day in the States was ever celebrated. Heroic, I say.

There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill.

A working class hero is something to be.

Matt Garza: Not A Genius

Look Out! (Sorry, still working on my Ken Singleton impression)

This is what Matt Garza had to say after hitting Mark Teixeira on the arm in the top of the 5th inning last night:

Tampa Bay Rays RHP Matt Garza acknowledged it was more than coincidence than he hit Mark Teixeira the inning after Yankees starter Joba Chamberlain threw a pitch at the head of Evan Longoria, and noted the Yankees threw inside to Longoria and hit him Monday too.

If you'll recall, Chamberlain went up and in on Longoria in the 4th inning on the first pitch of the at bat. Longoria then popped out to Robinson Cano on the next one to end the inning, and broke his bat by slamming it on the ground in disgust. He was hit by Jonathan Albaldejo on Monday.

I just kind of got tired of people brushing [Evan Longoria] back. It’s about time someone made a statement. They did it on Monday night and we didn’t do anything, they didn’t do it too much (Tuesday) and (Chamberlain) did it again tonight. I hate to be that guy, but someone had to take a stand and say, “You know, we’re tired of it.” You can go after our best guy, well, we’ll make some noise too, and that’s what happened.

I'm sure you really "hate to be that guy", Matt. Especially when you consider that (A) Longoria didn't even get hit, (B) no one made you throw at Teixeira and (C) no one would have known it was intentional until you started running your mouth. It was a good pitch up and in, which barely got a piece of Teix. I personally didn't think there was any malice behind it because it hitting Teix brought A-Rod up to the plate with two men on. Not exactly optimal strategy there. A-Rod ended up striking out, but only after a 9 pitch battle.

At least now everyone will know how tough you are while you're serving that six game suspension, Matt. Enjoy!

Eight Strong To Win Seven For Joba

From the first batter of the game last night, it was apparent that the Yanks had put the struggles of the previous game behind them. Derek Jeter worked a 2-2 count and proceeded to slice a ball down the right field line that travelled all the way into the corner. In his attempt to wrangle the ball, LF Gabe Gross inadvertently did his best Nick Swisher impression, buying Jeter enough time to get to 3rd base standing up. Two batters later, Mark Teixeira knocked Jete home with a single and the Yanks were off to the races.

After being staked to the early lead, Joba Chamberlain looked confident and dominant. He worked relatively quickly, retiring the first 8 batters of the game in a row before giving up a bloop single to Jason Bartlett who was immediately caught stealing on the next pitch.

The Yanks put runners on second and third with no one out in the 4th via a single by A-Rod and a double by Hideki Matsui. Robinson Cano drove in Alex with a ground out, but one run was all they could manage. Cano struck again in the 6th, but this time more decisively. After taking a ball way up and in, he absolutely rocked a pitch deep into the seats in right field. He paused a for a second to watch it sail and Garza literally gave it a little wave on it's way out.

Joba blazed through the Rays with a perfect fourth, worked around two walks in the fifth, a single in the sixth and sat down the side in order in the seventh. In all, Joba had four 1-2-3 innings last night, a season high.

He received another run in support in the top of the inning after Hideki Matsui singled and was pinch run for by Cody Ransom. Ransom came around to score all the way from first on a single by Jorge Posada. Swisher ended the inning with a double play, the Yanks third of the night in addition to two by A-Rod, but it didn't matter.

Joba entered the 8th inning with only 88 pitches, a number he's surpassed in 5 innings multiple times this year. He allowed another single to Barlett in the frame, but that was all. It was only the second time in his career he's gone 8 innings and the only time he's done so without allowing a run. Furthermore, he finished with 101 pitches and had as many baserunners as strikeouts, five. Garza didn't pitch terribly, allowing 3 runs through 7 innings, but was clearly out-classed.

Melky Cabrera and Mark Teixeira added homers off of Dan Wheeler in the 9th to give the Yanks even more breathing room, bringing the score to 6-0. Brian Bruney, continuing with his "turd in the punchbowl" role of late, was called on to pitch the 9th and could not complete the shutout, or even the inning. He allowed a triple to Carl Crawford and a homer to Evan Longoria before recording an out. He got Ben Zobrist to pop out but after Carlos Pena doubled, Joe Girardi was forced to go to the bullpen. Mariano Rivera came out even though it wasn't a save situation and locked down the victory. Mo did allow his 5th walk of the season, reducing his K/BB ratio to a merely superhuman 9.4, from a Godly 11.75.

It was obviously tremendously encouraging to see Joba deliver such a dominant performance, but the double-edged sword is that the deeper he goes into games, the sooner he will be bumping up against his innings limit. But that's a different issue for another day. The Yanks took the first series of the road trip and extended their lead to 3.5 games as the Sox lost 8-6 to the A's.

Game 101: Youthful Expression

Like almost every trade, the one that sent Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett for Delmon Young and Brendan Harris seemed like a fair deal at the time. The clubs exchanged average-hitting middle infielders in the late 20's and each gave up a decent minor league prospect, but the centerpieces to the deal were Garza and Young.

At the beginning of the 2007 season, Garza was the top prospect in the Twins organization. He started the year at AAA in Rochester and was vocal about his frustrations with the way he was being used. The organization called up guys like Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey before Garza, primarily due to a disagreement in pitch selection. The Rochester coaching staff was trying to get Garza to mix more offspeed pitches into his repertoire, but he insisted on throwing almost exclusively on fastballs.

"He's getting a little frustrated so we're going to bring him up here and give him a chance to pitch for us," Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire said. That's not exactly the tone you want the relationship between an organization and a top prospect to sound like.

Delmon Young probably wasn't the most popular character in the Rays franchise either, considering he was the player in the infamous minor league bat throwing incident in 2006, when he was with the AAA Durham Bulls. The idea of the trade was to get a fresh start for both guys and it seemed like a good one.

Since then, Garza has turned into a solid, top of the rotation presence for the Rays while Young has regressed to platooning with Carlos Gomez and batting .264/.291/.346 on the season. Garza pitched 184 2/3 innings for the Rays last year at a 3.70 ERA and is on pace for over 200 innings at the same ERA this year. He was the MVP of the ALCS last year, picking up two wins including game 7.

At the ripe old age of 25, Garza is the elder statesman of the pitching match-up this evening. He's had two pretty strong outings against the Yanks this year (12IP, 3ER) but has been stuck with a no-decision both times. He's coming of a studly outing in Toronto where he pitched a complete game and struck out 9.

Joba goes tonight for the Yanks. He's given up only 5 hits in his last two starts but has walked 6 in 13 2/3 IP. He's gave up a run each time and picked up two wins, bringing his season mark to 6-2. He was tantalizingly close to efficient in these two outings, throwing 107 pitches in the first and 100 in the second.

These two hard-tossin', young guns square off tonight in the rubber game of the series. The first one was lopsided and the second was sloppy. Perhaps tonight's performance will be a little more tightly executed?

Body's healthy, mind is wealthy,
Thoughts, they flow, that will prepare me,
To be a Native, get creative,
Original and designative.

Game 56: Do It Again

The nice thing about a four game series is that if you're a good team, it's very hard to lose the series. With Friday's rainout however, this has become a three game series, and with yesterday's loss the Yankees will need to win the next two to take the series. They've won three straight series and seven of eight dating back to A-Rod's return in Baltimore. It'd be nice to keep that momentum going.

In yesterday's game preview, I made an off the cuff, sarcastic remark about the Rays moving David Price to the eighth inning. Then in the recap, Jay offered up the story from the telecast that there was never any consideration from the Rays to do so. It must be nice for the Rays fans, not having to deal with the tired, foolish argument over and over again. I wish we were so lucky.

Joba Chamberlain takes to the mound today, coming off his best start of 2009: 8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 5 K in a win over Cleveland. His strikeout total might be somewhat lower than what we've grown to expect from Joba, but that was functional. Not going as deep into counts allowed Joba to get 8 innings out of his 106 pitches, compared to past starts this year where 108, 104, and 108 pitches netted him 5.2, 6, and 6 IP respectively. Getting deeper into games is certainly one thing upon which he needs to improve and Monday was a big step in the right direction. Starts like that will go a long way towards silencing those who want him in the bullpen.

He'll be opposed by Matt Garza. The lanky righty is off to great start and on pace for the best season yet of his young career. He faced the Yankees way back on April 14th, and held them to 2 runs on 5 hits and 2 BB over 7 innings, while striking out 9. Unfortunately for Garza the bullpen imploded in relief of him and the Yankees took the game 7-2.

So today's game is all about doing it again: getting to 10 games over again, taking the AL East lead again, getting in position to take the series again, and most importantly, for Joba to turn in a dominating performance again. Way back for Joba's first start of 2009 we went with Steely Dan, and today we'll do it again as well.

It's a beautiful Sunday. Enjoy it; I know I'm going to. I'll be back later tonight with the recap. Take it away Steely Dan....



You go back jack, do it again
Wheel turning round and round
You go back jack, do it again