Hillman Fired; What's Next?

In the season's least surprising turn of events thus far, yesterday the Royals sacked skipper Trey Hillman, just days after he was given the dreaded vote of confidence from GM Dayton Moore. In two plus seasons at the helm, Hillman was just 152-207 (.423), including 12-23 this year, good for the second worst record in baseball.

Hillman certainly wasn't chiefly culpable for the mess that is the Royals, but he wasn't doing much to help either. Even with the bad hand he was dealt in KC, Hillman didn't do himself any favors. Perhaps it was his lack of prior Major League experience. Perhaps it was a bad attitude. Perhaps it was his poor relationships with his players. Perhaps it was simply his pattern of questionable or downright indefensible decisions. Perhaps no one could take him seriously while he sported such a badass 'stache.

Whatever the cause, Hillman deserved the axe sooner or later. His contract was set to expire at the end of this season, and barring something wholly miraculous, he had little to no chance of returning next season anyway. It was probably in Kansas City's best interest to make this move now rather than wait until the end of the season. But make no mistake, a change of managers isn't going to magically cure all that ails this organization.

All of this is a far cry from when Hillman was hired following the 2007 season. After a successful twelve year career as a minor league manager, Hillman took over the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japan's Pacific League in 2003. In five seasons in the Far East, Hillman's club made three post-season appearances, twice reached the Japan Series, and took home the championship in 2006. He was something of hot commodity when the Royals inked him to a three year deal on October 19, 2007.

The day before, Joe Torre refused the Yankees' one year offer to return as manager in 2008, and for the first time in twelve years, the Yankees' managerial job was open. Had Hillman not already been past the point of no return in negotiations wth the Royals, he likely would have joined the trio of Joe Girardi, Don Mattingly, and Tony Pena as candidates for the Yankees' job.

Two and a half years later, it's easy to look back and be relieved that Hillman never made it into that mix. I certainly wouldn't trade out Girardi for him, or for either of the other candidates for that matter. But that doesn't mean that Hillman isn't a good baseball man, and it doesn't mean that he won't be of some future value, in another role, to a different organization.

Hillman joined the Yankees organization as a minor league coach in 1989. The next year he was promoted to manager of the short-season Oneonta team, where he won the NY-Penn League championship. He spent twelve years as a manager in all levels of the Yankees' system, with stops at Greensboro, Prince William, Tampa, Norwich, and Columbus. He had three first place finishes, three playoff appearances, and one championship. But more importantly, he oversaw the development of future Yankee stalwarts like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada, as well as one-time prospects like Carl Everett, Ricky Ledee, Ruben Rivera, Mike Lowell, and Eric Milton.

He's still well-regarded in the Yankee organization, has a good relationship with Brian Cashman, and prior to getting hired by the Royals, was in regular contact with the Yankees G.M. His time in Kansas City can't be considered anything but a failure, but that doesn't mean he isn't still a good baseball man. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him end back with the Yankees in some sort of roving instructor or player development role.

Thursday Morning Linkarooski

As we mentioned a couple of times yesterday, Jay-Z and Eminem were slated to show up in the Yankees' broadcast booth during the second half of the doubleheader, and turned out that they were on air during the only inning during which Phil Hughes' had any trouble - the fourth.

The two renegades were there to announce two shows that they are playing in September - one at Comerica on the 2nd and the other at Yankee Stadium on the 13th. Appropriately, Jay-Z will headline the show in New York - the first concert at the new place and his first show in a stadium anywhere - and Eminem will take top billing for the one in Detroit.

During their time in the booth, Michael Kay said Eminem's new song "Not Afraid" was only the second ever to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts. Um, it's the 16th. No one batted an eyelash at that and surprisingly, the most awkward moment belonged to Ken Singleton. Kenny had apparently been told that Eminem did "poetry" nearby the current location of Comerica Park "back in the day". Em's response, "Um, Poetry?"

Jay-Z attempted to steer the conversation back on track by clarifying that "Rap is poetry" and they eventually changed the subject.

Other highlights:

• Jay-Z bragged about getting Betty White's number when he met her on Saturday Night Live and said he and Eminem were going on a double date with her and "the othah one". Michael Kay then clarified it was Rue McClanahan he was talking about and Eminem said they actually had to get going and meet up with them.
  
  
• Em said that, in light of what they did in the draft, he can't remember the last time he's felt this good about the Detroit Lions, which is not saying all that much.
  
  
• He then sabotaged any and all of his credibility by saying he was also a Cowboys fan.
  
  
• Michael Kay referred to "Lose Yourself" as "one of the best songs ever" and claimed that he works out to it and it was the reason that "he's the shape he's in",
  

Like any other guest appearance it totally detracted from what was going on in the game, but as far as these promotional things are concerned, it wasn't that bad. Fortunately, the first time around I was watching without any sound and it didn't make a difference at all.

Now, onto the rest of the links:

Andy Pettitte wanted to pitch yesterday but he still has to throw one more "downhill" session (off a mound) before he can rejoin the rotation.

After six long weeks languishing in the top 5, the Yankees have finally ascended #1 of the Beyond the Box Score power rankings, which are based solely on the team's statistical output this year. Incredibly, the Red Sox, whose Pythagorean winning percentage is a humble .484, have played like the fourth best team in the league, according to BtB.

Via Lisa at Subway Squawkers, here is a ranking of the Yankees' warm up jackets over the years. I like the ones that say "Yankees" across the front as opposed to the ones with the interlocking NY, but I've always felt that wearing a warm up jacket out with casual clothes looks kind of weird.

On the heels of the AP story about teams scouting umpires that we linked to on Tuesday, Jeremy Greenhouse of Baseball Analysts attempted find evidence of pitchers altering their approach based on who was behind the plate.

Navin Vaswami's road trip swung through Chicago this week, first stopping at Wrigley and then the Cell. You can also check out the photo album from his trip right here.

Big League Stew has the video of Dallas Braden's appearance on Letterman, including the top 10 thoughts that were going through his mind when he was pitching on Sunday. Carig has the transcription of that list.

The Wall Street Journal's sports section hasn't been around for very long but they are already cranking out crusty and nostalgic pieces like this one about the good ol' days when batters didn't dare step out of the box, lest Bob Gibson fire one at their head.

Via the Book Blog, here is an incredibly deep analysis of wind effects on baseball parks.

The greatest thing about being rich and famous? People give you shit for free. Reminds me of the end of this Louis CK bit.

Via Jonah, this tumblr site is sheer brilliance. Similarly, so is this shirt.

Also from Mr. Keri, Bloomberg Sports has upped the ante with Mustrash Talk, a series of videos of Keith Hernandez giving you the business about the goings on in your fantasy league.

At Walkoff Walk, Dan McQuade notes that if the Phillies aren't duplicating the oldest trick in the book by stealing signs with binoculars and the bullpen phone, it's pretty damn close. Meech from the Fightins' found visual evidence that the Phils' bullpen coach does indeed have "opera glasses".

What do Mike Sweeney and Carmello Anthony have in common? Neither tolerates snitchin'.

The "10th inning" of Ken Burns' Baseball is scheduled to air late this September.

An interesting tidbit about the upcoming season of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Did you know that you can get a DWI on a golf cart? Thankfully there aren't very many cops patrolling the links or we'd all be screwed.

Could the Super Bowl be coming to New York in 2014? The wheels are in motion.

They found a hole in space. Whaaaa? Wrap your head around that one without it exploding.

Amidst all the action yesterday, we neglected to wish Yogi Berra a happy birthday. Happy belated 85th, Yogi, and many more.

Canadians And Crowes

Good morning Fackers.

Friday at long last. Good Friday. And the final baseball-less Friday until the fall. That's a very good thing.

For those of you who are off today: you're lucky. For those of us who aren't: we're almost there.

We'll be back with more in a bit, including our final AL East preview, courtesy of some drunken Canadians. That ought to help the day go by a bit quicker.

Speaking of Canada, here's a performance from London, Ontario from last September. I suppose the song title is appropriate for today, or inappropriate for today, depending upon your point of view.



And speaking of both Drunk Jays Fans and the Black Crowes, here's DJF's outstanding picture of Jays' pitcher Brian Tallet looking exactly like former Crowes guitarist Marc Ford circa 2005.

Some Lunchtime Reading

Nothing crazy, just a few quick links:

• Here's a piece on summer sports in New York City that Alex Belth of Bronx Banter wrote for SI.com. As you would expect from a piece about the city penned by Belth, it's beautifully written, and it's long enough to swallow your lunch break whole if you so choose. If you get through that, check out his post on the blog about it.
  
  
• Lar from wezen-ball dug up some pictures of past Yankee players wearing uniforms (and fake mustaches) from the early 20th century and before. That's where the one of Yogi to the right came from, but click through for a bunch more.
  
  
• There's been plenty of talk about Jeter and his side of the Yankee hit record recently. Here's a little about Lou Gehrig's.
  
  
• Matthew Pouliot from NBC's Circling the Bases arrives at the Yankees during his series "Restoring the Rosters" in which he ranks the teams in the MLB based on the players they have drafted or acquired via international free agency. The Yanks are ranked pretty highly, but much of their depth comes from the latter of those two components.
  
  
• Rob Neyer suggests moving Phil Hughes back to the rotation and Joba back to the bullpen. It sounds good on paper, but inertia of the status quo will keep in from happening. The risk of injury while transitioning roles is probably too risky for the Yankees to stomach as well.
  
  
• God help me, I actually agree with Bob Raissman. I vehemently disagree with this mustache, however, which makes the fake one Yogi is wearing look reasonable by comparison.

You Knew It Was Coming...

Right on cue this morning, the the legendary typing 'stache at the New York Daily News is rushing to draw lines through one poor performance by Joba Chamberlain which extend in all directions into infinity:

Nine runs should be enough to win any major league game. But Chamberlain was Ollie Perez-like last night, which is to say he was awful. On those eight days' rest, he reverted to early-season form and lost command of his pitches. There was little consistency to his failure, nothing but sheer randomness to his location. At times, he was too fine and walked three batters. Other times he threw the ball over the plate and wished for the best.

>8

Like most pitchers, he would do better with a more consistent routine. The Yankees may have to make that admission sooner than later, if Chamberlain is going to rediscover his mojo in time for the playoffs. That might mean stretching or ignoring a few Joba Rules.

There are so many things so fantastically wrongheaded about these two paragraphs, it's almost impressive in it's scope.

First and perhaps most egregiously, Filip Bondy appears to be unaware that since two teams play in a baseball game, if one of them gives up 9 runs, then by definition 9 of their own runs won't be enough to win the game. He has also evidently forgotten the other 16 times this season that the Yanks have allowed 9 or more runs.

"Oliver Perez-like"? How about "Joba Chamberlain-like", because this is exactly the type of start that he's been plagued by all year (short and inefficient) and it has nothing to do with the number of off days in between his starts.

Filip, he didn't pitch well. I'll give you that. But how would it have been any better if there was "consistency to his failure"? He walked guys AND gave up hits? This should never happen!

And I don't want to hear about the 8 days of rest. The last time Joba pitched with that much time off was after the All-Star break and he put together an excellent start against the Tigers. How does Bondy know that Joba would "do better with a more consistent routine"? He has had 6 starts lasting fewer than 5 innings this season (not including the one against Baltimore when he was removed for an injury) and all but one of them have come on the regular 4 days of rest.

Due to one bad start, the Yankees should ditch their plan to conserve Joba's innings? Are you flipping serious, Filip? I know you get paid to overreact to all things NY sports via the written word, but can you look at the big picture for just a moment?

Here are some things relevant to this situation that the Yankees should be concerned about, listed in descending importance.

1. Joba Chamberlain's short and long term health as it relates to him being a productive starting pitcher
2. His performance this postseason
3. His performance during the rest of the regular season

The Yankees are going to make the postseason with or without a solid contribution from Joba Chamberlain the rest of the way. It would be great if he were to ace every one of his starts from here on out, but it's really not that important. They need him to be ready to pitch in the postseason and most importantly they need him to be healthy over the long haul.

No one knows for sure what course of action will be best for #2 on that list, but nearly all rational thought devoted to keeping young pitchers healthy has concluded that taking a conservative approach to the number of innings pitched has the best chance of addressing #1. If you're going to be frustrated with someone, choose Joba. He's got to pitch better, regardless of how many days he's given off.

Back In The High Life Again

Good morning Fackers. As we try to make it through one more workday until the sweet, glorious weekend, we awake this morning with a little extra bounce in our step. The Yanks are tied for first in the AL East and for the best record in the AL, thanks to the combination of yesterday's sweep of the Twins and a Royals comeback victory (after being down four runs) over the Sawx last night.

Things are not good in Royal-land right now. They entered play yesterday with the third worst record in the AL and have had exactly one winning season (skippered by current Yankee Bench Coach Tony Pena) since the 1994 strike ended. Even longtime Royals optimists Joe Posnanski and Rany Jazayerli have apparently seen enough (h/t Rob Neyer for the links).

The Royals of course are led by former Yankee minor league manager Trey Hillman. After some early success last year, Hillman has fallen on the same tough times that did in his predecessors. But the man has a Hall of Fame cookie duster and that's gotta count for something. Not to mention a First Base Coach named Rusty Kuntz. Hopefully Hillman can keep his team rolling through the weekend and help the Yanks out.

We're now double digits into July. The All-Star break is three days away. The standings are no longer some small sample size fluke at this point; they're for real. The Yankees still have some flaws. Their record is still better than their run differential would predict. They're still 0-8 against the Sox. But despite all of that, they're still tied for the best record in their division, best in their league, and second best in baseball. So as we await tonight's late start, let that thought carry you through to quitting time. We're back in the high life again.

Where, Exactly, Is The Visiting Bullpen At Citi Field?

Did they temporarily put it in the basement while they finish the actual one off? Is it in one of the chop shops alongside the Stadium? Does that phone even connect to the dugout? Is this what the home bullpen looks like? Why is that electrical box on this side of the fence? What does it look like on the other side of that fence? Was this calculated decision, or did they simply forget about it until it was too late?

So many questions...

Brian Bruney Is A Renegade

No, I'm talking talking about the tattoo.

Brian Bruney is back from the DL, he's got a bad ass motherfuckin' mustache and he doesn't give a shit about that damn patch commemorating the first season at the New Stadium the fuckin' MAN is tryin' to get him to wear.

Brian Bruney does what Brain Bruney wants, thank you very much.

(Below: Where the patch should be, as displayed

by upright citizen Joba Chamberlain)

(And by the way, yes, we would have nabbed a shot of Mo batting if Jason didn't beat us to it.)

Maybe The Seventh Time Is A Charm?

[Pics from here since MLB.tv still doesn't have the archived game up yet]

The last time A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett squared off was the day of the NFL draft. That afternoon both of the former Marlin teammates were lit up with very similar lines, giving up 8 runs each, including 2HRs, in five innings of work.

Impossibly, Burnett's performance was actually worse tonight, the night of the MLB draft. He gave up 5 runs (3 earned) in 2 2/3IP, walked five batters, only struck out one and blew through 84 pitches (40(!) strikes) to get those 8 outs. He allowed his 12th home run this year in as as many starts, a deep blast to straightaway center to some chump with a .308 slugging percentage entering that at bat. In an amusing and unintentionally pathetic display, Sox fans called Papi out after this second inning two run jack for a curtain call. Congrats, Papi... You know you are a sad case when people are applauding things that you used to make look pretty routine not too long ago.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Josh Beckett subdued the Yankees offensively like they had been hit with a tranquilizer dart and stuffed in his trunk. In the process of being rung up on strikes eight times in six innings, only three men were able to reach base. No Yankee achieved that feat more than once in the game. Beckett carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning until he was unceremoniously jinxed by an anonymous commenter on the game post. When your team's lone offensive highlight is of someone breaking up the opposing pitcher's no-hitter, you know it wasn't a very fun contest to watch. After only 94 pitches through six innings, Terry Francona went to the bullpen, who kept the shut out in tact.

One of the pitchers he called on was highly touted prospect Daniel Bard. He worked a perfect ninth inning and came out throwing hard. So hard, in fact, that the YES guns repeatedly clocked his offspeed pitches in the high 90's and once at 100mph. Amazing.

The final pitch of the game was clearly a slider to Robinson Cano. 100MPH?

Although there were 11 walks issued in the game (7 by the Yankees), it wrapped up in a tidy 3:04. It was a damp affair, as mist swirled around Fenway throughout the entire contest. It was a horrible game to watch, but it least it didn't take all night like every Yanks vs. Sox game seems to. The six in a row the Sox have taken from the Yankees is the longest such streak since 1912.

That's enough masochism for tonight, I think. Hey, the Yanks are still tied for first with the Sox despite being 0-6 against them. Yaaay...

/downs more scotch.

Let's try it again tomorrow.

Frankie Goes to Hollywood The Bronx

I'm already kicking myself for referencing such a shitty band in the title, but I couldn't think of anything wittier to introduce a post about a player who is fast becoming a fan favorite.

When Jorge Posada went down with a hamstring injury on May 4th, followed by Jose Molina injuring his quadriceps three days later, I thought the Yankees catching situation was pretty well screwed.

Being the only other catcher 40 man roster, Francisco Cervelli was recalled as soon as Posada went on the DL. I had already braced myself for a mini-repeat of last year, when Molina was forced into everyday duty and responded by hitting .216/.263/.313, good for an OPS+ of 51. It had been 100 years since a Yankee catcher received that many plate appearances and posted an OPS+ that bad.

But when Molina went down, making Cervelli the de-facto starter, I feared things would get worse. While he'll never be Yogi Berra with the bat, in the long run Francisco should be better with the stick than Molina. But at the time of his recall, Cervelli had all of 152 career PA above A-ball and was hitting .190/.266/.310 at AA. Now he was going to be an everyday player in the Big Leagues; he would assuredly be overmatched.

Then something funny happened. Cervelli was inserted into the starting line-up and CC Sabathia pitched a shutout. That started the Yankees on their current 10-2 run. Cervelli has started 8 of the 12 games and is hitting .370.

But it's not the statistics that have been so impressive. It's been watching Cervelli play: his enthusiasm, his confidence, his howitzer of a right arm, his handling of the pitching staff, his headfirst flop across the plate Tuesday night. He carries himself like a veteran, somewhat reminiscient of a young Derek Jeter, though perhaps a little more demonstrative.

His stats will come crashing back to earth eventually. He'll be lucky to be a .270 Big League hitter, let alone .370. He hasn't shown any power in the minors and has yet to record an XBH in the Majors. I doubt he can even continue to throw out base-stealers at his current 44% clip. But I'm more convinced now than I was before that he can succeed at the Major League level.

Cervelli missed nearly all of last season, registering only 112 PA after breaking his wrist in a needless home plate collision in spring training. Outside of a decent walk rate, he doesn't possess any real offensive skills. As with Ramiro Pena, I fear that keeping Cervelli in the Majors without ever playing in AAA may stunt what little offensive potential he has. But both are keeping their heads above water for the moment, and I'm enjoying watching them play.

Jose Molina's 2 year, $4M contract expires at season's end. Cervelli will likely inherit the back-up role next year, potentially seeing increased playing time if the aging Posada's body continues to betray him after so many injury-free years. Cervelli could then continue to serve as a caddy to Jesus Montero and/or Austin Romine as they arrive in The Bronx. I hope he continues to be as entertaining as he's been the past two weeks. If only he would grow a Sal Fasano stache.

CC Sastachia

One hit, one walk and seven strikeouts in 4 IP?

I approve.

Could someone please notify the American Mustache Institute?