Game 99: The Road And The Sky

The Yanks departed last night for Tampa after an incredibly successful homestand, but are now staring down one of the tougher stretches of their season. They embark on a 9 game road trip tonight against the Rays, White Sox and Jays come back for a 7 game homestand (four of which are against the Red Sox) and then are sent on a 10 game swing that takes them through Seattle, Oakland and then back cross-country to Beantown. This means that 19 out of their next 26 will be away from the Bronx and 18 will be against teams with winning records.

They've been solid on the road so far this year, going 25-21, but this stretch comes on the heels of the news that that Brett Gardner is out with a broken thumb and Chien Ming Wang is likely done for the season.

It seems a little early to say this, but the series that kicks off tonight in Tampa is a pretty important one in the context of the season. The Rays are 4 games out of the Wild Card and 6.5 back in the division, and losing 3 straight to the Yanks might turn them from buyers to sellers at the trading deadline. On the other hand, if the Yanks drop three to Tampa, they could relinquish their grip on first place and the Rays would appear much larger in their rearview mirror.

Luckily, the Yanks are summoning their three best starters in terms of ERA for this series (A.J., CC & Joba), while the Rays counter with their three best by reputation, James Sheilds, Scott Kazmir and Matt Garza.

Sheilds' ERA is a touch lower than A.J. Burnett's on the season (3.70 to 3.74), but he's been unlucky with his won-lost record, currently at 6-6. He's made 8 quality starts that haven't resulted in a win, including taking a loss despite holding the Mariners to just 1 run over 7 1/3 IP in April and getting a no-decision after throwing 8 1/3 innings of shutout ball against Oakland back in May. He hasn't faced the Yankees yet this year, but in 3 outings against the Bombers in 2008, he held them to 4 runs over 19 innings and struck out 17 while walking only 3.

A.J. Burnett remained hot in his last start against Baltimore, picking up his 9th win on the strength of 7 innings of two run ball. He's nailed down 7 quality starts in a row and watched his record go from 5-3 to 9-4 in the process.

The lineup returns to full strength with A-Rod back at 3rd and Matsui DH'ing as the Yanks look to start this 9 game, 10 day adventure off on the right foot despite some ominous signs above.

Now can you see those dark clouds gathering up ahead?
They're going to wash this planet clean like the Bible said,
Now you can hold on steady and try to be ready,
But everybody's gonna get wet,
Don't think it wont happen just because it hasn't happened yet.

Saturday At The Stadium

It was a fairly quiet weekend around these parts, because as Matt mentioned yesterday, he's in SoCal and I had the esteemed pleasure of filling up a 14' U-Haul truck with the contents of a 5th floor apartment only accessible by a very narrow staircase. You never realize all the shit you've accumulated until you have to drag it down the 5 flights of stairs one trip at a time.

As foreshadowed in Saturday's preview, Big Willie Style and I were in attendance during that day's game. We went up to the Stadium with the intention of scalping some cheap seats. We got there during the second inning and were looking to get in the Stadium as cheaply as possible. The best we could do were two separate $40 tickets in the 200 level. We kept searching and but ended up gave up our quest for the cheapies before settling for two seats in Sec 103 for $50 each. It was more than we wanted to spend, but the seats were pretty sweet; just underneath the right side of the bleachers and next to the home bullpen. Unlike our old Saturday package seats in Section 7 of the Old Stadium, these were subject to the full wrath of the sun. It was in the low 80's but felt much hotter.

During the 7th inning meltdown, Will and I met up with our pal Jason from IIATM,S for the first time in person. It was his first trip to the Stadium (which he chronicled beautifully over here) and it will likely be our last for a little while, so it was cool that our paths crossed as such. It's funny getting to know people over these here global webernets. You can exchange countless emails with someone, but you don't feel like you actually know them until you see them in person. We didn't talk to Jason's son, who was also at the game with him, but since Will and I were double-fisting Bud Heavys out of our souvenir cups, it was probably better that way. We're not great role models.

Anyhow, there was some saving grace after Aceves left that 0-2 pitch out over the plate to Landon Powell. After meeting up with Jason, we went back to our seats and drowned our sorrows while watching Mark Melancon warm up in the pen. Sec 103 is in pretty prime HR territory, so it was certainly in the back of our minds that one could come our way. Lo and behold, the illustrious Derek Sanderson Jeter ripped a two run shot into the first few rows of our section in the top of the 8th.

That would be us, circled in red. We had no chance of catching it, but there's nothing cooler than watching a ball travel and quickly figuring out that it's coming right towards you. Especially when said ball is coming off the bat of a player from your own team and you are sitting in home run territory.

As a cool side benefit, after Jeter hit that HR, Mo started warming up in the bullpen. Nearly everyone who was still there and within 15 seats or so started working their way over to catch a glimpse of the man in action. After a few minutes, the usher came down and started clearing the aisle and was met with a chorus of "Awww..."s, to which she replied "Hey, I don't make the rules." I go, "Right, you just selectively enforce them".

The Yanks threatened again in the 9th after starting off with back to back walks to bring the winning run to the plate but Jorge Posada hit into a rally-killing double play and that was that. We sat in the stands, a little stunned that it was already over in under three hours despite the long 7th and 8th innings.

The last bright spot was this character to the right, dwelling outside of the Stadium, presumably with the intention of luring unsuspecting children away from their parents. Yes, friends, that would be a grown man in a Spiderman costume playing the saxophone. What else could posess an adult to thrown on a full body costume on a hot summer day and play an instrument outside of a sporting venue?

So, all in all it was it was a good time, despite the final score. We were okay with attending the only loss of homestand. We're team players like that.

Rickey Enters The Hall

We've already taken a look at former Yankees Joe Gordon and Tony Kubek who were honored in Cooperstown this weekend. The one remaining former Yankee to examine is easily the best of the bunch, Rickey Henderson.

Henderson is best remembered for his days in Oakland, and rightfully so. But Rickey spent four and a half of Rickey's best years playing for the Yankees. The A's shipped Rickey to the Bronx after the 1984 season. It was the first of several transactions in Rickey's career, as Rickey would go on to have a 25 year career that included 13 different stints with nine different teams, including twice with the Padres and four times with the A's.

The Yankees paid a hefty price for Rickey, surrendering top prospects Jose Rijo and Stan Javier, as well as valuable bullpen arm Jay Howell and prospects Tim Birtsas and Eric Plunk. But Rickey paid immediate dividends for the Yanks. Rickey combined with Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield to give the Yanks a potent offensive core.


In his first season with the Yankees, Rickey led the AL in runs and stolen bases and set a then career high in OPS+ with 157, surpassed only by Rickey's MVP campaign in 1990. Rickey finished third in the MVP voting in 1985, was an All-Star and won the Silver Slugger as well. The Yankees finished just two games out of first in the AL East.

In 1986, Rickey again lead the league in both runs and stolen bases, but saw significant drops in his AVG, OBP, and SLG, causing his OPS+ to drop to 125. Rickey also began to gripe about playing centerfield, where Rickey had been moved upon Rickey's arrival from Oakland.

In 1987 Rickey split time between left and center, but perhaps all the stolen bases and the stress of playing center had taken its toll on Rickey, as Rickey played in only 95 games. Rickey got Rickey's OPS+ back up to 145, but it was also the only year from 1980 to 1991 that Rickey didn't lead the AL in SB.

Rickey rebounded in 1988. Moved back to leftfield full time, Rickey set a franchise record with 93 stolen bases. Rickey also scored 118 runs, good for third in the AL. On July 21st in Kansas City, Rickey led off the game with a homerun, passing one-time Yankee Bobby Bonds for the all-time mark.

In 1989, Rickey was unhappy with Rickey's contract situation. Rickey was in the final year of Rickey's contract and Rickey was the less than enthused about that situation. It was reflected in Rickey's play, as Rickey was batting just .247 and slugging just .349. So the Yankees shipped Rickey back to Oakland. They received Eric Plunk, who they had shipped out for Rickey nearly five years earlier, Greg Cadaret, and Luis Polonia for the first of his three stints as a Yankee. Needless to say, it turned out to be a bad trade, occuring in the midst of the first of four consecutive losing seasons for the Yankees.


Rickey was an All-Star are four of his full seasons in the Bronx and remains the Yankees career stolen base leader with 326, with Derek Jeter 33 behind Rickey entering play yesterday. Rickey also has the top three single season SB totals in Yankee history.

For Rickey's career, Rickey is the all-time leader in stolen bases, caught stealing, and runs, is second in base on balls, and fourth in games played and times on base. Rickey is baseball's all-time greatest base stealer and leadoff hitter. Rickey is also one of baseball's all-time characters, as these stories can attest. Rickey loved to play the game, not officially announcing Rickey's retirement until Rickey was hired as a coach by the Mets in 2007, and often playing in independent leagues hoping for another shot at the Bigs.

Another Yankee Honored in Cooperstown

Friday we took a look at Joe Gordon, the most recent Yankee Hall of Famer. In the post, I took the time to get up on my high horse and pontificate as to how Gordon is largely forgotten by Yankee fans and overshadowed by more famous teammates. Well, I forgot another former Yankee who was also honored in Cooperstown over the weekend.

Tony Kubek was this year's winner of the Ford C. Frick award, given annually to a writer or broadcaster who has made major contributions to the game. Kubek spent decades doing the Game of the Week on NBC, and also covered numerous All-Star and post-season games. His former NBC broadcasting partners Curt Gowdy and Joe Garagiola have also been given the Frick Award.

Kubek came up with the Yankees in 1957 and won the Rookie of the Year award as the Yankees won the AL pennant for the third consecutive year. Kubek was a utility player initially, spending time in left and center, as well as at third and short. He served a similar role again in 1959, but for the rest of his career he was the Yankee shortstop.

He was a three time All-Star and in 1960 he finished eleventh in AL MVP voting. That fall, as the Yankees faced the Pirates in the World Series, an eighth inning ground ball in Game 7, off the bat of future Yankee manager Bill Virdon, took a bad hop and hit Kubek in the throat. It knocked him from the game and was a critical point in turning the game for the Pirates. The Pirates put up a five run inning, erasing the Yankees' three run lead, and setting the stage for Bill Mazeroski's walk-off homerun in the ninth.

In a losing effort, Kubek hit .333 with a .394 OBP for the Series. In his nine year career, Kubek played on seven pennant winners and won three World Series. Kubek's best season came in 1962 when he posted a 115 OPS+, but he played only 45 games that year due to military service. A back injury kept him off the World Series roster in 1964 - the final pennant of the Yankees Dynasty era - and would end his career after the 1965 season, when Kubek was just 30 years old. Like Gordon, Kubek is largely forgotten these days. But in the years before Derek Jeter arrived, Kubek likely ranked behind only Phil Rizzuto as the best shortstop in Yankee history.

In addition to his work with NBC, Kubek also called games for the Toronto Blue Jays for the first thirteen years of their existence. When NBC lost their national broadcast rights following the 1989 season, Kubek returned to the Yankee family, calling games on MSG Network from 1990 through 1994. Disillusioned with the state of the game following the 1994 strike, Kubek retired and has hardly been heard from since. Since retiring, he appeared at Old Timers' Day only once.

Kubek joins Mel Allen, Red Barber, Curt Gowdy, Joe Garagiola, and former Yankee teammate Jerry Coleman as former Yankee announcers to receive the Frick Award.

Some Thorns Amongst The Roses

Good morning Fackers. Another work week is upon us, and it's something of a mixed bag this morning. On the good side, the Yankees just wrapped up a 9-1 homestand. Coming off an a four day All-Star break that was preceded by an awful three game sweep at the hands of the Angels, the Yankees rebounded by sweeping the Central leading Tigers, the basement dwelling O's, and taking three of four from the A's. This nice little run has left the Yanks with a 2.5 game lead in the AL East as they hit the road for the next nine games before returning home for a big four game set against the Sawx.

On the bad side of things, the Yanks have some bad news on the injury front. The nightmare continues for Chien-Ming Wang. He did not throw as scheduled Friday and is currently on his way to visit Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham. Wang had an MRI last Tuesday that showed damage to his rotator cuff. At this stage it's unclear whether the damage is new or if it's residual from his 2000 procedure, performed by Andrews. Wang also missed time in his rookie year of 2005 with rotator cuff issues, though that injury did not necessitate surgery. If surgery is necessary, Wang will miss the remainder of this year and at least part, if not all, of next year. At this point I can't feel anything but bad for CMW. I hope he can put his career back together at some point.

While CMW has contributed next to nothing this year, Brett Gardner, after a rough start, has been very valuable. I've been pretty vocal here about my opinion that Gardner should be playing regularly in CF. Now a broken thumb will leave him sidelined until mid-August. So on the same day the best base stealer in Yankee history was inducted into the Hall of Fame, the Yankees lose their best base stealing threat since Rickey. It's as of yet unclear who will take Gardner's roster spot. Jonathan Albaladejo was recalled for yesterday's game, but logic would dictate that another position player, specifically someone who can back Melky up in CF, will be needed. Word is that it won't be Austin Jackson at this time, and I still think that's the right move. Ramiro Pena has played CF just five times since being demoted, but went 3 for 3 with a HR last night for Scranton.

We're four days away from the non-waiver trade deadline. Certainly these injury developments impact the Yankees' plans, but given Brian Cashman's statements over the past several weeks, I don't imagine that he'll allow himself to be strong armed into a deal based on this latest news. It will however be interesting to see if Cash pulls the trigger on a deal for a starter before Wang sees Andrews. If Wang is lost for the year, the Yankees leverage will be significantly decreased when the news becomes public.

Game 98: Sunny Afternoon

The A's will try to salvage a split of the four game series this afternoon. They'll have a decent shot at it. They send 25 year old lefty Dallas Braden to the mound. Despite his 7-8 record, he has a 3.40 ERA (120 ERA+), a WHIP of 1.295 and a K/BB ratio of 2.23. He's allowed two ER or fewer in nine of his last ten starts dating back to May 31st. He's never faced the Yankees.

Meanwhile, the Yankees send Sergio Mitre to the mound. For the time being at least, the sinkerballer is the Yankees' 5th starter. He gave up 4 runs, three earned, in going 5.2 innings and getting the win against Baltimore Tuesday. He's never faced Oakland.

A-Rod gets the day off, with Cody Ransom getting his second straight start.

Bad news just breaking from lohud. Brett Gardner is on the DL with a broken thumb, suffered breaking up a first inning double play yesterday. The dude played the whole game, hit a triple, and made two very nice catches yesterday, all with a broken thumb. This is a bad break for the Yanks; your time to shine Melky. Jonathan Albaladejo is up for the time being, but a posistion player will soon join the roster. It could be Ramiro Pena, or Xavier Nady could be moved to the 60 day DL to make room for Shelley Duncan, Austin Jackson, or John Rodriguez.

We're officially mailing it in again today folks. Jay is caught up with the vagaries of moving and I've been exiled to Southern California until Thursday. Weather.com says the Bronx will be mostly cloudy today, but it's a nice sunny afternoon in the summertime here. Of course, I thought the song title was "Sunday Afternoon", so I'm mailing that one in too. Enjoy the game.



And I love to live so pleasantly
Live this life of luxury
Lazing on a sunny afternoon
In the summertime

Game 97: Hope

Big Willie Style and are are heading up to the Stadium for the first time in a long while so the preview gets short shrift. It goes like this:

Andy Pettitte is coming off a strong start against the Orioles in which he threw 7 1/3 innings of one run ball but got a no decision. He struck out 8 in that game, gave up six hits and only walked 2. He started once against the A's this year, going 7 innings and giving up 2 runs on 9 hits.

Gio Gonzalez goes for the A's and he's been, um, pretty terrible this year. He's been used as both a reliever and starter, but has been especially unsuccessful in the later role. In four starts he's only managed to last 17 1/3 innings and has surrendered 22 runs. His last outing, a 2 2/3 inning 11 run debacle against the Twins, certainly didn't help his line, but he's been far from good.

Jose Molina and Cody Ransom are in the line up but here's to hoping the Yanks can extend their record to 6-0 during HOPE Week.

Your shadow walks faster than you,
You don't really know what to do,
Do you think that you're not alone?

You really think that you are immune to,
It's gonna get that the best of you,
It's gonna lift you up and let you down.

But you don't...
Always...
Have to hold to your head...
Higher than your heart.

You better hope you're not alone.

Game 96: Nebraska

When the Yankees last saw Brett Anderson, he was a rookie with two Big League starts under his belt, and a record of 0-2. They touched him up for 5 runs over 5 1/3 in the game against Sabathia we mentioned in yesterday's preview and left him with a 5.89 ERA.

Since then, the 21 year old right hander has made 14 more starts, lowered his ERA to 4.25 and gone on a tear as of late. He hasn't allowed a run in his last three starts, starting with a complete game shutout in Boston on July 6th, and leaving off with 8 scoreless innings against the Angels last Sunday. I'm sure Brett's a nice kid, but it would be nice to bring him back to Earth.

Heading into the All-Star break Joba Chamberlain was coming off of three dreadful outings against the Mariners, Blue Jays and Angels. The one against the Halos was the most frustrating because he not only blew a seemingly comfortable four run run lead but did so by following up a fielding error by A-Rod by allowing a 3 run shot to Kendry Morales. However, he came out of the All-Star break strong with 6 2/3 innings of one run ball against the Tigers and earned himself his fifth victory on the season.

It's only one start, but Joe Girardi thinks the break might have helped Joba:

Girardi thought that the biggest difference in Chamberlain's return from his time in Nebraska -- when he said he spent most of the time chasing his 3-year-old son, Karter, around the family backyard -- was that he was able to repeat his delivery more consistently and get out of jams.

"I just got back to being myself," Chamberlain said. "It was fun to get away from baseball for four days. I think that was the best -- to get those four days to get my mind right and get back to having fun and the confidence and attitude I know I have."

We took a much-needed hiatus during the break, so I can kind of see where Joba is coming from. Hopefully he can carry that confidence into tonight's game and keep the Yanks rolling. In any event, look on the bright side, Joba. You're not in Nebraska anymore.

And Nebraska's so flat that I don't care,
I'll never use this map, have I made it clear,
I don't know jack, but I stay sincere,
Woah-oh my navigator's here.

And just because it's Friday (and it's in black & white), here is the Springsteen version, which Matt most likely would have chose had he wrote this post:

Risky Robby

Leading off the bottom of the 5th inning last night, Robinson Cano slashed at the first pitch he saw from Vin Mazzaro, sending it bending down the left field line and into the corner. It hit off the wall, just inside of the line and as the ball bounced directly to Matt Holliday and the cameras panned back to Cano, he was just rounding first, and I knew he was dead to rights at second.

It was part of that innate feel you develop as a fan. If you know who's at the plate, you've got a pretty good sense of how long the ball needs to rattle around before an outfielder gets his hands on it for your guy to get to second or third. You know when a balls rolls up to the wall and Jeter is running, he's thinking about a triple (and so are you). With that clean carom, it would have been a tight play even for Brett Gardner.

Replays showed that Cano paused for a second to see if the ball was fair or foul off the bat (understandable), and started down the first kind of slowly, which would have been fine if he was going to settle for a single. But inexplicably, as he was nearing first base, he broke into a full sprint, only to be gunned down at second about literally two full strides at the least. In the second picture on the right, it looks as if first base coach Mick Kelleher yelling at him to stop. That's probably because Holliday had already released the ball and Cano could have turned back.

As you can see, he was at barely in the fame when the ball arrived to Mark Ellis at 2nd base, and was out by 3 full strides.

This is an isolated incident, and it might seem like I'm dwelling on a baserunning mistake for way too long, but I think lends some insight into his lack of discipline at the plate and in turn his inability to hit with runners in scoring position.

His baserunning mistakes (he's 16 for 34 in SB in his career) say more about his level of risk aversion than his speed on the basepaths. The same can be said for someone with a lack of discipline at the plate. They are willing to swing at pitches that are harder to hit, thus increasing the likelihood of failure.

Cano has the 13th highest swing percentage in the Majors with 51.7%, but makes contact 91.2% of the time, which is 7th highest, where the leaders in that category (Luis Castillo, Marco Scutaro) have some of the lowest swing percentages in the game. Think about how good you have to be at putting the bat on the ball to rank so highly in both of those categories. He makes contact with 79.5% of the pitches he swings at out of the zone.

My contention is that his lack of plate discipline is what is eating away at his production with runners in scoring position and men on base in general. He's at .205 w/RISP this year as opposed to .356 without. For his career, he has a .743 OPS men on base as opposed to .895 with the bags unoccupied, and the former includes 14 intentional walks.

My half-baked theory goes like this: Pitchers are more reluctant to give a batter a pitch to hit with men on base, especially early in the count, but Cano goes up swinging like he always does, and puts the bat on the ball, but makes poorer contact as a result. His BABIP bears this out, as it is .297 with men on as opposed to .338 with the bases empty. We usually cite BABIP as a statistic to explain away fluky performances, but this is over his entire career, 2765 plate appearances. There are no more flukes at that sample size.

It's easy to imagine how good Cano could be if he was just more selective at the plate, but as Bill James has pointed out, it's not easy for a hitter to change his approach:

I think it is easier to learn plate discipline than it is to learn speed or to develop a strong throwing arm—but not much easier. A player who lacks plate discipline at age 18 will usually lack plate discipline at age 30. But not always; some players can adapt well to the challenge of learning to lay off certain pitches.

Robinson Cano is an excellent player as he is. Don't get me wrong. He's probably my favorite Yankees' position player and I love watching him take a ball 6 inches off the plate into the home bullpen as much as the next guy. But he will never be a scary, middle of the order type presence unless he can be more selective and make pitchers throw him balls in the strike zone with runners on base.

The Forgotten Hall Of Famer

(Photo from NYT)
This weekend brings the annual Hall of Fame inductions from Cooperstown. The attention this year will assuredly be focused on Jim Rice and former Yankee Rickey Henderson, but another, lesser known, Yankee great will be enshrined with them.

Former Yankee second baseman Joe Gordon was elected to the Hall by the Veterans Committee in December of last year, a full month before the BBWAA chose Rickey and Rice. Before there was Tom Gordon, before there was John Flaherty, Joe Gordon was "Flash", nicknamed after the popular comic book character and inspiration for the God-awful 1980 movie - Flash Gordon.

Gordon attended the University of Oregon, in the days before Phil Knight and Nike outfitted the Ducks with abominable football uniforms. In addition to playing for the baseball team, Gordon also played football and track, and according to some sources, may also have participated in gynamstics, soccer, and/or played the violin.

Following his collegiate days, Gordon joined the Pacific Coast League, the closest thing to major league baseball on the West Coast in the years before the Dodgers and Giants left New York. He spent 1936 with the Oakland Oaks, the same franchise that would later send both manager Casey Stengel and fellow second baseman Billy Martin to the Bronx, hitting .300 but making 42 errors as a shortstop.

Undeterred, the Yankees brought Gordon East after the season and sent him to their top farm club, the Newark Bears. There, he was part of what's considered one of the greatest minor league teams of all time, where his teammates included other future Yankees Babe Dahlgren and Charlie "King Kong" Keller. Switched to second base, Gordon still made 47 errors, but also led International League second basemen in putouts, assists, and double plays. At the plate, he finished second in the International League in both home runs (26) and runs (103), while batting .280 and slugging .474. His play was enough to usurp future Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri as the Yankee second baseman for 1938.

Joining a team that had won back-to-back World Series, Gordon became a key cog in a potent offensive line-up that featured Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey, and a young Joe DiMaggio, as well as potent bat in second year man Tommy Henrich, and a solid complimentary parts in George Selkirk, Red Rolfe, and Frank Crosetti. Gordon hit .255/.340/.502, posted an OPS+ of 108, slugged 25 HRs, and drove in 97. With a pitching staff anchored by Hall of Famers Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing, the Yanks cruised to their third straight pennant by 9.5 games, and swept the Cubs in the World Series, where Gordon hit .400/.438/.733 with a HR and 6 RBI.

Gordon improved as a sophomore, with the Yankees again winning the Series. He upped his batting line to .284/.370/.506 (123 OPS+), was fifth in the AL with 28 HRs, drove in 111, and made his first All-Star team. He also led AL second basemen in chances, putouts, assists, and double plays.

The Yankees' run of World Series victories ended in 1940, but Gordon turned in another exemplary season of .281/.340/.511 (121 OPS+), with 30 HR, 103 RBI, 112 runs scored. He again led AL second baseman in chances and assists and was second in putouts and double plays. The Yanks won the Series again in '41, with Gordon having another fine season (117 OPS+) and getting his second top ten MVP finish in three years. He also spent part of the year playing first base.

In 1942, with the league weakened by America's entering World War II, Gordon turned in his finest season. He hit .322/.409/.491 (155 OPS+), with all but his SLG representing career highs. His HRs dropped to 18, but that was still good for sixth in the AL, was fifth in OBP, sixth in SLG, fourth in OPS, and made his fourth straight All-Star appearance, three of them starts over fellow Hall of Famers Charlie Gehringer and Bobby Doerr. His campaign earned Flash the AL MVP award, sandwiching him between DiMaggio and Spud Chandler as the second of three consecutive Yankees to win the award. The Yankees again went to the Series, but lost in five games to the Cardinals, with Gordon hitting going just 2 for 21 (.095).

The team rebounded in 1943, beating the Cardinals for the title, following another great season from Gordon. He had a 126 OPS+ and finished sixth in the AL in HR, marking the sixth time in six seasons Flash finished in the top ten. He also finished second in BB, seventh in runs, and made his fifth straight All-Star team.

Gordon lost the 1944 and '45 seasons to military service. Orginally stationed in New Mexico, he was shipped to San Francisio before being relocated to Hickam Field in Honolulu with the Seventh Army Air Force in the summer of 1944. When he wasn't performing his duties in the motor pool, Gordon played baseball for the 7th AAF, along with Yankee teamamte Joe DiMaggio. As Gordon later recalled, they weren't the only two ringers on the team: "We had Don Lang, Bob Dillinger, Walter Judnich, Dario Lodigiani, Mike McCormick and Red Ruffing on our club. At one point we had a streak of about 31 straight wins. I think we finished with about an .800 average".

Upon his return in 1946, Gordon suffered through the worst season of his career. Thinking he was finished at 31, the Yankees traded him to Cleveland after the season, getting Allie Reynolds* in return.

*Nicknamed "Superchief" due to his Native American heritage, Reynolds became the Yankees ace, as they won the World Series in 1947, and five straight from '49 through '53. Reynolds was often used out of the bullpen as well, brought in during the late innings as the afternoon shadows crept over homeplate, making his 100 MPH fastball more unhittable than usual. Hmmm.... a Yankee pitcher of Native American descent who could dominate in relief and be a front end starter as well. Where have I heard this before?

Back to Gordon. Much to Cleveland's delight Gordon was not yet done. He turned in OPS+ of 134 and 135 in 1947-48, the second and third best of his career, finishing second in HR both years and in the top ten in RBI, SLG, and OPS. He returned to World Series for the sixth and final time in 1948, and won his fifth career ring as the Indians took what remains their last World Championship.

Gordon played two more Big League seasons, turning in a league average performance both years, before returning to the PCL as a player-manager with Sacramento. At 36, he led the league in both HR and RBI. He hung up his spikes after one more season, but continued to be involved in baseball as both a scout and a PCL manager. In 1958 he returned to the Majors as the Indians manager. In the middle of the 1960, Cleveland traded him to Detroit for Tigers manager Jimmy Dykes (for those of you scoring at home the Tigers had a manager name Jimmy Dykes and later a player named Rusty Kuntz). Following the 1960 season he became the manager of the Kansas City A's, only to become the first in a long line of skippers fired by Charlie Finley. He finished his association with MLB by managing the Kansas City Royals in their innaugural season of 1969. He died in 1978 at the age of 63.

Much like Jim Rice, I'm not entirely sure that Gordon is a HoFer, but he certainly was a great player. After Flash hit .500/.667/.929 in the '41 Series, no less an authority than Yankee Hall of Fame manager Joe McCarthy called Gordon the greatest all-around player he'd ever seen. In his New Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James ranks Gordon as the 16th best second baseman of all time, between Hall of Famer Nellie Fox and fellow Yankee Willie Randolph. James ranks Gordon ahead of HoFers Bobby Doerr, Tony Lazerri, Johnny Evers, Red Schoendienst, and Bill Mazeroski, but behind underappreciated and unenshrined players such as Bobby Grich and Lou Whitaker. He still holds the AL record for career HRs by a second baseman, and held the single season record until Bret Boone, likely pharmaceutically enhanced, bested him in 2001 and was later passed by fellow Yankee Alfonso Soriano.

Worthy of induction or not, I'm happy to see Gordon get some long overdue recognition. More than sixty years after he last put on pinstripes, Gordon is all but forgotten by modern Yankee fans. He was a major component of five Yankee pennant winners and four World Series champions and a former MVP, but his career is overshadowed by teammates Joe DiMaggio and Bill Dickey. While those two were surefire HoFers and are remembered to this day in Monument Park, those Yankee teams wouldn't have been nearly as successful without the likes of Charlie Keller, Tommy Henrich, and of course Joe Gordon, all of whom have been undeservedly relegated to footnotes in Yankee history.

Worth The Wait

By the time the players and fans had sat out the 2:43 minute rain delay last night, they could have watched a replay of Mark Buherle's perfect game in Chicago and still had 40 minutes to spare. It was almost 10:00PM at gametime, a brisk 66 degrees and windy with a slight drizzle still falling down. The weather system that had caused the delay had moved off the coast, leaving only scattered pockets of light rain behind.

Early on, Vin Mazzaro seemed poised to out-pitch CC Sabathia in front of a huge cheering section in the upper deck that was a mix of #54 Mazzaro jerseys, Oakland hoodies and Yankees logos.

He blazed through the first three innings, holding the Yanks scoreless and striking out six in the process, all the while be staked to a 3-0 lead. The runs came on a sac fly by Jack Cust and a single by Bobby Crosby in the second and a single by his battery mate Kurt Suzuki in the top of the 4th.

However, not all went according to plan for the 22 year old righty from Rutherford. Mark Teixeira ripped a two run homer to right after being green-lighted on a 3-0 pitch in the 4th to get the Yanks off the schneid. A-Rod followed that with a walk, stole second and was rewarded for his timely thievery by being promptly doubled in by Jorge Posada. Eric Hinkse continued his Swisherific start as a Yankee by adding a two out single and putting the Yanks ahead for good.

Two more runs came to the plate against Mazzaro in the 5th inning, bringing his total to six and sending him to the showers. He pitched well in the early going, but once the Yanks woke up from their rain delay slumber, he couldn't hold on. The win last night brought the Bombers' record against rookie starters this year to 18-7, which is the best in the AL and second only to the Braves (10-4) in the Majors, according to the YES broadcast last night. You think we can put that myth to rest for a while?

Sabathia settled down after his rough 2nd and 4th innings and held the A's to three runs though seven. He gave up 9 hits but didn't walk a batter while striking out 4. Phil Hughes came on for the 8th inning and sat the A's down 1-2-3. To be honest, I thought Joe Girardi would probably bring on Rivera in the 9th to close it out but to my surprise (and delight) he gave the new found bullpen stud a shot at his first major league save. Hughes sat them down in order in the 9th and seized the opportunity.

The Yanks are making it look easy right now. This was their largest margin of victory since the All-Star Break, a whopping three runs, and they did it in comeback fashion. In those 7 games, the pitching staff has given up only 17 runs (2.4/game) while the offense has scored 29 (4.1 per). They haven't blown their opponents out of the water, but they've found ways to win close games, which might be even more satisfying. This victory, coupled with an off night for the Sox stretches their lead in the AL East to 2.5 games.

Game 95: Got To Get Better In A Little While

This will be CC Sabathia's second start against the A's wearing Pinstripes, and the last one wasn't particularly pretty. It took place on April 22nd and was a sloppy back and forth affair that took 14 innings and nearly 5 hours to complete. CC went 6 2/3 innings but allowed 7 runs (6 earned) and only struck out two. His opponent that day was Brett Anderson, a rookie from Midland, Texas making his first start against the Yanks. The Yanks got to Anderson as well (5ER in 5 2/3IP), but neither factored into the decision for obvious reasons.

Tonight, another rookie will make his debut against the Yankees in the Bronx, although this one might be a little more familiar with the area. Vin Mazzaro was born in Hackensack and attended Rutherford High School from which he was drafted by Oakland in the 3rd round of the 2005 draft. He started out in low A-Ball in 2006 with less than impressive results. He started 24 games for the Kane County Cougars, averaged fewer than 5 innings per appearance and had an ERA of 5.05. He was promoted in 2007 anyway to High A Ball in Stockon, CA where he produced similar results: a 5.35 ERA and a 1.62 K/BB ratio.

He received another promotion in 2008 (to AA) and took a gigantic leap forward in his age 21 season. Scouts credit his improvement to increases in velocity and swapping a nasty slider for what had been a relatively ineffective curveball. He was promoted to AAA before the conclusion of the year but struggled there, posting an ERA of 6.15 over 33 2/3 innings. His 2009 season began in AAA but picked up where he left off in AA performance-wise, compiling a 2.38 ERA in 9 starts and one relief appearance. He was called up to the Major League club in late May this year, and hit the ground running. He didn't allow a run over his first two starts, totalling 13 2/3 innings, but his ERA has risen steadily ever since. It's now at 4.09 following 5 consective losing outings and his record sits at 2-6.

Sabathia, on the other hand, has been alternating gems and clunkers over his past 5 starts, going 3-2. He's given up only 2 runs in the 1st, 3rd & 5th of those outings while surrendering 11 in the 2nd and 4th. He came back from the All-Star break on a high note with 7 shutout innings against the Tigers and looks to keep that momentum going tonight. As was the case in the Detroit game, Jorge Posada will do the catching.

It might be a little while before the game starts up tonight as rain is already falling on the NYC area. It looks like it's going to pass, but not for a while. Ross from New Stadium Insider's personal Weather connection tells us that the game probably won't start until about 8:30. Check back with him for more updates or stop by Yankees Weather on Twitter.

Hang in there, this rain won't last forever.

Still one thing that you can do;
Fall down on your knees and pray.

It's got to get better in a little while...

It's Linktastic!

So, I don't have anything specific in mind to write about at the moment, probably because winning breeds apathy. Unless of course you are a Red Sox fan (who doesn't read this blog), in which case it breeds douchebaggery. In any event, here it's what's becoming a daily cop out for me: A collection of links to a bunch of things which are interesting but not worth an entire post devoted to them for differing reasons. Enjoy!

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Mike from RAB thinks the Yanks should deal for a starter. It doesn't seem like one is necessary at the moment, but by the time the need arises, it might be too late. [Update: Joe looks at the bullpen as well]

I take no pleasure in seeing the Mets fail, but I can't say the same about this. At least God still loves them.

Joel Sherman takes the Mets to task for the lack of order within their organization. He compares it to the earlier versions of the Yankees, when there wasn't a designated power structure and almost anyone could have The Boss's ear, "It might be the GM, a scout, a friend, a cab driver". He sees the recent issues with Tony Bernazard as a manifestation of such structural issues. Don't plan on listening to Joel on 1050 ESPN Radio anytime soon, though. He got streeted yesterday (by no fault of his own).

This is terrible for Donnie Baseball. Upshot? I bet you didn't know the term "Battery By Bodily Waste" existed...

Craig from Shysterball doesn't get the Red Sox number retirement policy. I do, it goes a little something like "Well, he's gawtta be in the HoF, ten yeahs with the Sawx, but nawt if left us fwah the fackin' Yanks..."

Is Jesus untouchable? (Montero that is...)

Who was the last pitcher to throw 300 innings in a single season? The man started 38 games that year, went 24-9, and was part of a World Series winning team. The season included 13 CGs and only 4 starts shorter than 7 innings. And he was 35 years old when he did it. The answer can be found in the tags (or by clicking that link).

1.98/game to 3.25/game. Yes, it would seem that homers are easier to come by in the New Stadium.

And totally off-topic, but how awesome is this?

Here's the original, and a shot for shot comparison.