Game 62: Diamondbacks at Yankees
-
- June
- 12
Here are the lineups:
YANKEES
Johnny Damon DH
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jorge Posada C
Hideki Matsui LF
Robinson Cano 2B
Melky Cabrrera CF
Miguel Cairo 1B
Chien-Ming Wang RHP (5-4, 3.73)
DIAMONDBACKS
Chris Young CF
Stephen Drew SS
Orlando Hudson 2B
Eric Byrnes LF
Chad Tracy DH
Tony Clark 1B
Mark Reynolds 3B
Carlos Quentin RF
Chris Snyder C
Brandon Webb (6-3, 3.13)
Pregame chatter: The Yankees are hitting .330 (132 of 400) in the last 11 games and averaging 7.6 runs. … Webb has won his last three starts, allowing two earned runs in 22 innings while striking out 23. He took the loss against the Yankees on June 15, 2004, allowing three runs in five innings. … The Wanger has never faced the Diamondbacks in the regular season. I believe he did face them in an exhibition game before the 2006 season, however.
Just had a chance to see one of my favorite people in baseball, Arizona 1B Tony Clark. I covered the Mets when Tony was with them in 2003 and there is nobody in baseball who is more professional, accountable or genuinely friendly than Tony. There will be plenty of Yankees going over to say hello to TC before the game.
By the way, Roger Clemens is in the clubhouse. While he may have the right to go home, that doesn’t mean he is going to.
Back later with updates and plenty of blogging during the game.
UPDATE, 7:37 p.m.: The skies have cleared and the game will be starting at 7:55 p.m.
UPDATE, 8:00 p.m.: We’re just about underway. The Wanger vs. Webb. Should be a good one.
UPDATE, 8:15 p.m.: How different is the National League from the American League. Arizona is 37-27 with Orlando Hudson hitting third and Eric Byrnes fourth.
Couple of tidbits from Joe Torre’s pregame: Nieves will catch Moose tomorrow and A-Rod will DH on Thursday. Interestingly, Joe also said that when he wants to give Abreu or Matsui a rest, they could play Damon in the corners and keep Melky in center. I’m not sure they can get away with Damon in right field.
UPDATE, 8:28 p.m.: I didn’t know Bobby Abreu still had that kind of power. That ball was smoked. He has now reached base safely in nine straight PAs and has an 11-game hitting streak. 19 of 39 with 12 RBI in that stretch with eight extra-base hits.
UPDATE, 8:33 p.m.: Blog favorite Doug Mientkiewicz had surgery today at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia. He had a screw put in his fractured bone, which should help speed the healing process. No word on how long he will be out.
UPDATE, 8:47 p.m.: As I proved in the media games, I’m not much of a hitter. But at least I never flipped the bat so that it nearly hit me in the head when I grounded out. Nice job, Melky. Meanwhile the Yankees just announced plans to build a monument to Miguel Cairo.
UPDATE, 8:53 p.m.: Yankees just announced their new ballpark would be named “Miguel Cairo Stadium” in honor of the great first baseman.
UPDATE, 9:06 p.m.: That was the first homer Wang has allowed in 46 innings, going back to May 5. Meanwhile the choking dogs Red Sox are tied up with the Rockies at Fenway.
UPDATE, 9:39 p.m.: OK, I helped write a book about the guy. But this notion that Wang isn’t a true ace because he doesn’t strike out enough guys is nonsense. Pitching is about going deep into games and getting outs and that’s what CMW does. No muss, no fuss, every five days like clockwork. Who cares that he doesn’t strike people out? Crash Davis was right.
UPDATE, 10:02 p.m.: I was just flipping through the comments. Why are some people so bitter. Jeter catches a line drive and somebody posted, “Torre you lucky moron.”
Really? If you hate the guy that much, go root for another team. What does Torre have to do with that play? He left his ace in the game and Wang got lucky. Part of the game. But Torre is a moron somehow? I just don’t get it.
UPDATE, 10:10 p.m.: That’s 28 appearances and three 1-2-3 innings for Kyle Farnsworth. Or Farnsworthless as he’s known in some circles. How can they ever trust this guy in a big spot? The answer is they can’t.
UPDATE, 10:23 p.m.: Is there a more useless stat than the hold? Farnsworth gives up two rockets and a walk and he gets a hold.
Great pitching by Webb and Wang. Each made one mistake, Webb just made his with two runners on. Nice crisp game. Now a little “Enter Sandman” and everybody goes home happy.
UPDATE, 10:34 p.m.: Where have all the “Rivera has lost it” people gone? He just threw a 96 mph four-seamer then came back with a 94-mph cutter. The guy is dealing and has been for a month now.
Thanks for reading. Back later with some audio.
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on Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 4:32 pm by Peter Abraham.
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I always liked Tony
I thought Tony Clark was a very classy Yankee. Glad to see he’s still playing somewhere.
i loved having tony clark around in ‘04. he was a big target at first with incredibly soft hands and good foot work for such a big dude. switch hitter with some pop. i remember he had a monster 2-run bomb to the black off pedro in that epic extra innings july 1 game against the sox that year. seemed like a good team guy too, just as you described him.
I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that there will be a few ground balls hit in this game…
Should be an interesting match up.
I didn’t think TC was still playing – for some reason I thought he was really old. Did he make the last out against the Sox in ‘04? I feel like he was one of the 3 in the bottom of the 9th.
Either way, always liked him as a player. Someone told me he pulled a Winfield and was drafted for more than one sport out of college.
I wouldn’t mind having Tony here now. He was one of my daughter’s favorites and she often wears her Clark t-shirt to games. (I think he did more to enhance #29 than Igawa.)
Paddy R – about that homerun:
According the Wikipedia “Clark joined Bernie Williams and Danny Tartabull as the only players to reach the center field bleachers more than once since the remodeled Yankee Stadium opened in 1976.”
Im surprised Pete didn’t mention if the tarp is on.
Its pouring right now.
I’m almost positive Ruben (another guy I grew to really like) made the last out of the ALCS.
hmmm, i wouldn’t mind an hour rain delay to give me time to go to the gym and get back for the start of the game.
Here’s what I remember about Tony Clark. A near-miss double that probably would have won game 5 in 2004. And two on, two outs in the the ninth, down by two against Foulke in game 6. Then flying out. Still, he’s the type a player you can really route for.
Wow, it’s good to see that Roger Clemens is in the clubhouse, if you believed everything the media was telling you, you would think he would have been on the first flight back to Houston.
Sierra did make the last out in 04. TClark always did seem like a class act, had a ridiculous year last year, look up his stats, something like 303 BA, 30 bombs. Still has some pop in his bat. Going tonight, hoping the rain holds off, everyone enjoy the pitching duel.
YankeeDudel – those are the at-bats I was thinking of. I had repressed them.
nice to see CMW’s numbers starting to return to form… Let’s hope for another great start from the Wanger.
“Here’s what I remember about Tony Clark. A near-miss double that probably would have won game 5 in 2004.”
yeah, ditto on that one.
it’s weird, i don’t remember him being interviewed much, but something about him makes him seem like a nice guy. i wonder if some people just have a friendly look to them.
It would be nice to go into one series without the threat of rain.
Guys, there was no game 7 in the ALCS in 2004. It ended mysteriously after game 3 and there was no World Series that year either.
Any word if the game will be delayed?
Chris NY –
I was under the impression the season ended after game 3 of the ALCS in 2004 because of another strike. Maybe that would explain the mystery? (That at least has always been my revisionist history anyway:))
Chris NY—
Funny, that’s how I remember it,too.
Tony always seemed like a great guy, but he killed the Yankees in the 2004 ALCS after Olerud went down with the bad ankle. I remember a couple of times where a hit by him would have made a HUGE difference.
The thing that always killed me too was that he had a monster year in 2005. He hit .304 with 30 HRs in just under 350 ABs. Why couldn’t he have had THOSE numbers with the Yankees??
I don’t recall a strike. My calendar skipped immediately to Thanksgiving that year.
Lots of scattered thunderstorms in the area, if it does get delayed, this game is very likely being played.
Chris NY and Doreen – Must be right. I kind of remember just watching the screen and then everything just going black . ..
Lori— LOL!
RJ IS NOWHERE NEAR YANKEE STADIUM ACCORDING TO “AROUND THE HORN”
you say that like you’re surprised
THEY DIDN’T WANT HIM TO MAKE THE FLIGHT BECAUSE OF HIS BACK…LOL
RJ didn’t come into town when the Mets were playing the D-Backs, either.
Randy is nowhere near the eastern seaboard. He didn’t come to Shea a week or two ago either.
He’s doing well, but he wouldn’t be doing well if he was still here.
Also glad Shef is gone. He’s doing well too, but that’s a little bit of addition by subtraction in my opinion.
How ‘bout getting Arizona to throw Tony Clark back to the Yankees for a package of Pavano-Giambi-Igawa-Vizcaino?
I know it’s only a couple/few starts – and it’s just triple A – but perhaps Igawa has somewhat fixed his ‘problems’ by pitching a few great games down there.
Maybe he gets back to become a decent #5. If he can keep the walks down, maybe he’s an okay 4.5 era type of guy. He can definitely strike some people out.
http://www.firejoemorgan.com/search/label/wallace%20matthews got to love this. Wallace Matthews wrote an article about how the Yankees should let A-Rod walk and use the money for relief pitching…..What a joke of an article this is, but funny what firejoemorgan.com said about it..Pete don’t ever write an article like Wallace
Paul9:
They could take some of the money and it for relief of a few third world countries! hehe.
Steve –
Cashman and Torre have both said in the last day or two that Igawa was ‘nowhere near major-league ready’. Pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras altered some of his mechanics, with prime objective to improve his changeup
==============================================
Pete – As usual, thanks for the lineups
Now this is offtopics about the Yankees, but completely on-topic regarding sports and blogging.
Did you hear that a reporter was tossed from the NCAA baseball tourney for live blogging?
This is DeadSpin’s take:
http://deadspin.com/sports/we-were-talking-to-the-pig/so-a-blogger-and-a-pig-walk-into-a-press-box—267622.php
Paul9-
good link, funny stuff.
can someone provide me with more info on just how bad the arod deal was for texas? you may not realise this, but tom hicks, along with george gillett, has bought liverpool fc, a ‘fairly’ big (we say football, you say…) soccer team over here in england.
any info on how bad a mess tom hicks (who is now portrayed as some wild west saviour) made of it all will provide me with some much-welcome pub argument ammunition.
The guy with the lumpy head now leads Cano in the All-Star voting. Jorge is in 2nd place right now. Vote online, up to 25 times.
Dano –
I believe A-Rod’s salary is $25M and that Hicks and Co. pay about $9M per year. So the Yanks have been getting him for right around what the Sox will be paying JD Drew for the next 5 years.
The following is a link to an excellent website that (in great detail) explains every players contract – check it out –
http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2005/01/new-york-yankees_111398168678860040.html
Great link, Paul9. Thanks.
Mel—I used both my daughters’ plus my e-mail to vote 75 times. Never done it before. But Posada’s also moving closer to Pudge at catcher. Posada’s having a phenomenal year so far and deserves to start. (Even though he could use the rest!)
For weather info, head to my blog at:
http://www.nyystadiuminsider.com
CLASSIC breakdown of the A-Rod opt out situation at firejoemorgan.com
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=303#S=303&F=1637&T=616904
The lame links here are getting semi ridiculous.
Learn to use tinyurl noobs
My “lame links” are to help people prepare for heading to the game with the rain, btw.
Rain Rain go away.
Ross, I just visited your blog. Fun to read.
Pete:
How long is Cairo going to start at first? I know it hasn’t cost us yet, but jeez we are going to be giving away a lot of offensive production over the long haul.
Is the game delay??
Its pouring here in Queens
Rain delay.
Well, don’t like the King of Queens so flipped to HBO. Fever Pitch. Anyone see it? I watched it on an airplane a while ago. Thought I could handle it. My husband told me to “get a grip.” It was like reliving a nightmare. Thought since I knew the outcome, it wouldn’t be so bad. Wrong. Just wrong. Would have been a good movie, too, if the Red Sox just did what they were supposed to do – I’m sure it was in the movie script for them to lose as usual.
So, I shut the t.v. and now I’m here. Oh, Jeopardy is on.
Does anyone know how long the rain delay is? I am stuck game daying it and its not telling me
Nettles: whose offensive production? Minky? Phelps, who’s been hitting into DP every other AB? Cairo’s been great on defence. The rest of the line-up is handling offense quite nicely.
I’m watching the Tigers vs Brewers game and these birds are just ridiculous. They are everywhere. I’m waiting for a Major League Pedro Serrano or Randy Johnson moment. It is pretty entertaining
Doreen: Fever Pitch was originally going to end with the Sox reverting to form. They re-wrote the ending after they won the Series (gag). It’s pretty bad – even a lot of Sox fans hate it (according to Wikipedia).
When the hell is the game going to start? Anyone???
Pete we need info!! when is this thing getting underway??
They just broke into an episode of “The Simpsons” up here and Michael Kay said “We think there will be baseball tonight, but until then we’re going to entertain you, so here’s an episode of “Bernie Mac”.” I think it is safe to say that Michael Kay just told the biggest lie of all time.
7:55 start, allegedly.
1-0 USA v El Savador
When Tony Clark was a Yankee, he was definitely one of my favorites. Too bad his double in Boston could not have hit a a foot shorter
If Wang gets out of the 1st unscathed I think the Yanks make the streak 7. When he gets out of the first without allowing a run it seems like his win percent skyrockets. I have no proof of this, of course, but I bet there is statistical evidence of this. I would also guess his first inning ERA is higher than any other inning.
I hear RJ does not travel when he is not pitching because of his back. They dont need him sitting on aa plane I guess
Michael Kay is in a strange and annoying mood tonight.
Michael Kay is always in a strange and annoying mood
Why is he throwing a slider?!?!?
Mary Drews sister is up
Meanwhile, some more exciting stuff in the minors. Joba was called up to Trenton, according to John Nalbone, prompting speculation that Alan Horne or Brett Smith could go to Scranton. Wow, do we have pitching depth.
Go NYR,
I thought he was Mary. The guy in Boston is called Nancy.
Andrew got that right.
Byrnes combs his hair with his shoe?? HUH?
And today on his show, he had someone on, and they were talking about ironing his shirt, so Kay goes I just got a distrubing thought of you ironing in your underwear. I was like where the heck did that come from. Kay has a disturbing obession about men in their underwear. LOL
How can anyone besides a beat writer call Tony Clark one of their favorite Yankees?
Was Steve Balboni already taken?
Jimmy- My bad, I knew it was something like that
Wang ERA’s
Inning 1 – 5.00
Inning 2 – 2.00
Inning 3 – 3.00
Inning 4 – 2.00
Inning 5 – 6.23
Inning 6 – 2.25
Inning 7 – 0.00
Inning 8 – 1.50
Inning 9 – 0.00
Bobby!!!!!!!
Wlecome to the American League, Brandon Webb
Abreu!!!
He’s on FIRE!
Wonder if that’s enough runs for Wang to work with.
Anyone still want to trade Bobby?
Anyone?
Remember when I wanted Abreu out of the 3 hole? Nevermind. Funny how Torre’s seems like he’s a better manager when the pitchers are healthy and guys hit. He’s doing nothing different now than he did earlier. If someone knows what he’s doing differently, please let me know.
Anyone listening to Sterling?
WHat the hell did he say about Abreu? Sweeter than candy…in spanish???
Man that guy is weird.
I guess you would have a problem with me saying Cairo is one of my favorite Yankees too?
Typical NL pitcher in an American League ballpark.
Would be nice if Abreu could get back that power swing a little bit.
On a side note, does anyone here think Sterling and Waldman are the worst broadcasters in baseball, if not ever? I know I certainly do. I bought XM for Yankees games and now wish they played all their games on the road.
Detroit leads Milwaukee 3-0 in the bottom of the 6th.
That crappy start killed NY.
Bobby Abreu serving me and a bunch of Yankee fans some big bowls of crow lately.
En feugo
I was thinking to myself, why dont I remember that homerun? Then I remembered those Japan games started at 5 am
Cairo has actually played more than half a season in pinstripes and actually contributed.
You still got your Wayne Tolleson jersey, Ranger?
Quite possibly Josh…..
I’m actually jealous of the Mets right now.
They get to play the Dodgers and Vin Scully…..still the best.
Wow, you read into my statement way too much. I did not say he was my all time favorite player. I consider every Yankee outside of a few my favorite players
wang needs to get his pitches down.. to many fly balls early, but he always struggles in the early innings then settles as the game goes on.. so the early lead is huge
bobby is just locked in.. amazing. I dont care to much about his power numbers, id rather him hit line drives and walk then worry about the hr.
interesting point that torre looks like a better manager now that they are pitching and hitting.. you have to give him alot of credit for the way he handle the slump. when you stay true to yourself, its just that more rewarding when things work out… it would have been awkward if he started changing his approach/philosophy
“ABREU IS WASHED UP AND IS A LAZY FIELDER”
– 90% of Yankee fans two weeks ago
You’re all idiots and Abreu is an on-base machine. His OBP will probably be .390 by the end of the season.
Jordan- Is that really necessary? Tell me what youre smoking if you did not think he was washed up and lazy
For those who said the early part of the season didn’t matter, Detroit is coasting 3-0 against Milwaukee (and Verlander has a no-hitter through 7) and Boston is up 1-0 vs Colorado in the 7th.
NY just dug itself too big a hole. That analogy that you can lose a golf tournament in the first round but can’t win it holds true in baseball, too. You can ruin the season early on and that’s what the Yankees did.
Seriously, Ted.
I heard during Clemens game…Sterling went on for two minutes about how to pronounce Maholm’s name…then mispronounced it for the rest of the inning…I almost went to GameDay for relief.
I wasn’t smoking anything in not thinking he was washed up and lazy. I understand what slumps are. I also understand that his fielding isn’t any different than last year, its just that he was hitting and the idiots really didnt bother to go after his fielding.
Must have been the same stuff I’ve been smoking all season. I’ve been defending the team this year as much as anyone. Two weeks ago I was saying the Yankees should win 90 games this year. I still think they will. The Yankees have been incredibly unlucky thus far this season both with injuries and general variance. Their Pythag W-L has been much better than their actual record all year.
Abreu’s 33, not 43, and the logical conclusion should always have been that he’d end up trending back to his typical numbers.
He’s not a good fielder, never has been, but it’s not laziness.
Jordan, the only thing that matters are wins and losses. Not some nonsense stat. Those stats dont get you into October
Exactly, LibertyBelle. Look at Abreu’s OBP numbers the past five years: .413, .409, .428, .405, .424. Then people were all of a sudden thinking it would drop to nearly .300? Nonsense.
Web gem
he hit .238 for 2 months! You cnat expect people to think hes gonna hit .500 for a few weeks after hitting .238 for 2 months
The stats don’t get you into October, but in June, they help you forecast whether or not you will.
Verlander is comin out for the 8th now
6-pitch third inning for Wang.
really.. when things start clicking for this team.. everything looks so good!
cairo at 1st for the entire season doesnt look so bad.. i dont need tex or helton or whoever. miggy plays good def and can hit enough to stay in the lineup
Abreu has won a Gold Glove.
While he may not be Tori Hunter out there he is a pretty solid defensive OF.
And Jordan is right. 90% of this blog wanted him traded 3 weeks ago or flat out cut.
Go NYR- maybe not .500, but yeah, one would expect that Abreu would end up hitting what he typically does, so that implies that there would be some major hot streaks coming. We’re in one now, and it’s pretty awesome.
When things start clicking?
I’ll state it again.
Its all about pitching.
Great pitching leads to good, timely hitting and a ton of confidence. Beginning of the yr? We had starters going 3 innings. 7 rookies starting games. The pen had to come and clean up in the 3-4th innings. No guy had regular work in their regular roles.
Now we’re getting solid starts and what do you know the bullpen has been getting better with guys in their roles. And the team has started feeding off the solid starts with good hitting and solid D.
It begins and ends with pitching.
Asst Manager,
People on this blog think that you can just cut any player. They don’t realize how few veterans actually get cut, if they did those words would never come out of there mouths. A few guys like Russ Ortiz, Darren Driefort and others do because there is no logical reason to keep them around but it is insane to cut someone and pay them to play for another team.
rockies tie the sox in the 8th 1-1
Cairo can field at 1st, but Minekeiasjdlksf can do so even better and hits a tad better, also. Miggy’s not bad but the team is slightly better off with Mien9283439832uadlft in there.
let’s go rockies, let’s go rockies.
Helton, make ‘em pay for not trading for you.
Asst Manager,
It is absoluetly lewd, foul, despicable that you would bring up Abreu as a Gold Glover. Yes he did win ONE but that was more because of his offensive prowless than his defensive skill. He’s horrid at fielding, no one can defend him there.
Bobby A+ GoldGlove= Outrageous!
What a jerk Kay is.
Regarding Bobby, he says that many knoledgeable baseball people said that Bobby was done. Even after John F discounted that he still keeps repeating it to show he was right.
Just like may good baseball players, Bobby had a bad beginning to the season. That does not mean he was done.
Does any one remember Jeter started so badly a few seasons ago. He could not buy a hit for a month. Should we have given up on him?
Liberty- I still dont know. I mean, the guy looked like he need need glasses. To think that all of a sudden he was gonna put those horible months behind him and be an all-star again is saying a little much.
BTW Verlander has a no-no thru 8. and what is with all those birds at Comerica?
This is going to be a World Series matchup again sometime soon. 2010 is my guess. This is going to be a pretty good NL team when they get a couple more pitchers.
long time between homers for wang
“he hit .238 for 2 months! You cnat expect people to think hes gonna hit .500 for a few weeks after hitting .238 for 2 months”
Why not? Thats what exactly baseball is like!! It has periods of troughs and mountains. Sometimes you’re hitting .500, sometimes you’re hitting .238!
Wang gives up a rare home run.
Entering this game, he had given up 3 in 256 plate appearances from the opposition. That means he makes every batter he faces look like a light-hitting middle infielder, pretty amazing.
i dont agree the minky can hit better then cairo.
it will be really interesting when minky and giambi come back. i think that is when he really earns his keep with what he decides. if this team is playing great a few weeks from now when these guys come back, i dont think you mess with the lineup.
I am on this blog a lot and I never heard ONE person defend Abreu when he was struggling, so how bout you guys stop pretending you did.
NIck B.
I kept defending Bobby and the team and there were a few others too.
Yankee VIP, it’s hard to argue against their career lines:
Miguel Cairo: .267/.315/.359
Doug Mi423st: .268/.356/.404
Granted, that’s not TOO big of a difference, but Mien2930ualsfdkj definitely gets on base more than Miggy.
How about a question for you guys.
I was for keeping Abreu next year all pre-season long. Then with his huge slump, I was all for letting him go and signing someone and keeping Melky as a reserve.
Now that Abreu has awoken, what do you do if he has his typical season and Cabrera continues to play well when he is in there everyday?
If Abreu continues like this, I am all for taking the option, even if he will drive us crazy many times next year.
Umm Nick?
How about you get off your high horse? Sometimes with the amount of stupidity that is posted on this blog, stuff gets lost and sometimes there is no point saying anything -because the you can’t be heard over the masses of sheeple screaming hysterically.
Kay stinks hes getting a lot of mileage out of a story by an unnamed scout who said Bobby A. was a piece of garbage. i don’t know any scouts but i doubt that is how they talk about players. its unprofessional and uneducated speak. i just assumed it was a completely fabricated story by the writer.
Verlander just got a No-No against the Brew Crew for those wondering.
2-1 boston
Picking up Abreu’s option next year and keeping Melky as a reserve sounds good to me. I’m still of the opinion that Melky will never be good enough to start in the AL, but he can play all three outfield positions, has slightly above-average speed, and is capable of hitting for decent contact.
No-hitter for Verlander. The NL is really starting to look like AAAA.
I don’t know if this has been said today,
but does Robbie Cano EVER take the first pitch?
Why give the pitcher the advantage?
Verlandar throws no-hitter
Regarding Bobby’s option, it is important to note that because of the 2mil option payout, his actual cost to Yankees will be 14mil, not 16mil. They have to pay the 2mil irrespecive the option pickup. I think 14mil is a resonable amount for his production under the current market conditions.
Erick,
Cash has a big option. He either picks up Abreu’s option 14M (16-2), looks elsewhere at Hunter, Ichiro or thinks Melky has what it takes to be a right fielder. No matter what he does he is going to get second guessed. Abreu is probably the cheapest of the 3 veterans b/c you refrain from getting locked up to a long term deal but I also would like to have Ichiro out there, he is a player that will play into his 40’s
Grabsomebench, have you not been around for the last week and a half where the Yankees have taken 5 1/2 games off of Boston’s lead?
Just curious..
Under no condition should they trade Melky though. This OF isn’t built to play 140+ games a year. A good back up is necessary no matter what decision Cash$ makes
Cano is a guess hitter and I think he always will be. Last year, he was even more aggressive than he is this year, seeing 3.22 pitches per plate appearance as opposed to 3.42 this year. Personally, I think the coaches are telling him to see more pitches, and he’s struggling because that conflicts with his style. I’m not saying that it’s bad that they’re trying to develop his patience, but this may be a transition year for Cano. I still think he’ll hit over .280, though.
Detroit wins
Boston wins
The division race is OVER. The wild card is the only hope, but Detroit looks too good to play 6 games worse than NY during the last half of the season.
I hope everybody who said the start of the season didn’t matter and those games weren’t important are happy now. The Yankees are playing better and have nothing to show for it and it’s going to get to the point (if we aren’t there already) where it doesn’t make any difference whether they win or lose. If you aren’t in the playoffs, then who cares what happens.
congrats to Justin V but lets hope Porcello goes to N. Carolina cuz Detroit scary enough with one Verlander.
When Robbie Cano came up Torre and others were saying how much he reminded them of Rod Carew i only saw him late in his career the guy he reminds me of is Nomar swinging at the first pitch all the time and he can still hit well over .300
I understand patience is a virtue, but one of the great bench marks of the earlier Torre teams, was the ability to be patient and to let the picture dig himself into a hole.
Now, if the pitcher is throwing heat just about every first pitch, that’s one thing, but how often can that big first pitch swing be right?
It is understandable many do not still beleive that Mekly is a regular. He has a couple of months (more if Joe does not insert Giambi into the lineup and send Melky to the bench) to prove that is not correct. If he holds up well, then including how he did last year as a regular, why can’t he be a regular? He is the best defensive outfielder we have on the 25 man roster.
BTW, Verlander was throwing 99 mph in the 9th inning. He was literally incredible. You watch him pitch and then Wang, who depends on the ball being hit right at somebody and realize the Yankees need that true “ace” of a staff.
The division race is NOT over.
There are still 100 games left (62% of regular season!).
red sox win 2-1 ahh s***
Cairo is like a vacume cleaner out there….Zoooooom, Zoooooom, Zoooooom
The Red Sox are going to win 95-100 games this year, you guys are crazy if you get upset every time they win.
Verlander threw a 102mph fastball with 2 outs left in the 9th
BBFan: Melky Cabrera had an OPS of .751 (OPS+ of 100) as a regular last year. That’s not very good for a corner outfielder.
Nick B.
I agree, I´d love to see Ichiro in pinstripes, he’d be the only one I would really like of he big 3 free agents.
I would rule out Cabrera being traded or starting as well, at least for next year. He is a good insurance policy.
Now if Giambi could just play first next year and Damon DH, we´d have room for Ichiro.
Damn it Giambi, get some bionic legs.
sory, after he GOT 2 outs in the 9th
I upset that the rockie pitcher with an era over 5 gets beat 2-1. Score some runs wakefield stinks
Cleveland lost, so they and the Tigers are tied at 37-26.
That opens up some interesting wild card possibilities, since Cleveland and Detroit are going to be in a dead fight in the central (and they still have 11 games against each other).
Just a read comment from someone about NL looking like AAAA . Thats so true . Does anyone think that Glavine would have got half the wins if he pitched in AL . The pitcher’s life is so easy in NL .
As some expect on this blog, if Red Sox lose every game and Yanks win every game, we will win the divison by 90 games. That would be some record!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JRVJ,
Plus we haven’t played them at all yet (Tigers).
Here’s the thing about the races. When they were out 14.5 games and the plan was to win series, then yeah, it would take forever, 43 games winning two out of 3. So they would have gone from 21-29 to 50-43. However they have decided to accelerate the plan by sweeping series.
If they win tonight they will be at .500, 31-31. With 100 games left can anybody honestly say that a team with a .500 record has no chance to make the playoffs? Back to the football analogy, they would be 3-3 with 10 games left to play. Would anyone in their right mind say that team is done? Absolutely not. The Yankees are back whether the trolls like it or not.
nice play by Bobby and Arod, breaking up a double play
Miguel Cairo for Johan Santana straight up
Jeff NJ, well said.
Man, after a 6 pitch at bat by Abreu and ARod swings at the first pitch!! oh well I still love the guy.
I dont understand when the hit and run is on , why dont the guy run as if to steal a base .
Eric… that was some sentence, tell your brother Rocco to ask for a trade.
Thanks Jeff NJ—folks need to get a little perspective.
Gotta swing at the first pitch sometimes. Otherwise, the pitcher knows you’re going to take and just throws a fastball down the middle every time. Baseball is about constant adjustments.
If it’s a line drive, the runner can get doubled up.
My guess is we will be able to deal Giambi this off season. Players on the last year of their deal have always accepted trades providing they were given extensions. If your old enough to remember the Yankees tried to trade (or threatened to) Dave Winfield for years and he fought them off until he was in the last year of his deal and he finally accepted one to the angels (for Mike Witt terrible trade). It was a battle of wills between the owner and player and no one thought Winny would throw in the towel if for no other reason than spite. He was here longer and more married to this team than Giambi but players do what they can to get their new deal. Winfield hurt his back in spring training and missed the entire year and the angels still wanted him someone will be willing to give Jason 2 or 3 years and hell accept the trade
the best part of this game is it’s moving really fast. even with the rain delay.
good pitching beget quick games.
check out this article about Cano and how fluckie was last year for him.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=402
I don’t like the idea of signing Ichiro for the following two reasons:
1) He would require a $2 trillion, 57 million year deal.
2) Jose Tabata may be ready in a couple years.
Speaking of adjustments that is what happened to Yanks last year in ALDS with Detroit. Their pitchers were attacking the strike zone with strikes and Yankee hitters were always down in the counts which made it difficult. Some times you have to attack the first pitch.
James,
I dunno, when Giambi is healthyhe is a great DH, but with this year as sample size, how many teams trade for him? And how much do the Yanks have to pony up?
Snyder should be the last batter Wang faces, whether he gets him or not.
wow.. JETER!!!!
Nice, Jetes.
OMG. Torre, you lucky moron. Way to go Jetes.
Jordan,
When Tabata is ready, Matsui will probably be running out of his contract and Damon as well, so there would be room for him and Ichiro.
sign ichiro, hunter and jones and trade them all for tony womack
I think next year you see abreu coming back, giambi gone and either matsui or damon as your everyday DH. doing that gives the yanks alot of flexibility and a much better def.
keeping melky as a 4th outfielder doesnt make sense since he has value.. you can easily pick someone else up who gives good defense and can hit mid to upper .200s (i.e, byrnes, dye, etc.). Melky has shown he plays well when he is consistently in the lineup and feels comfortable
Weird game for Wang, as he got more outs in the air (10) than he did on the ground (9) yet only gave up one run in seven innings of work.
It’s the first game where he’s gotten more outs in the air than on the ground. The next closest game was May 21st against Boston, when he got 9 groundouts and 5 airouts.
Yanks have to eat up lot of Giambi’s salary and trade him just like Philly did with Jim Thome.
check out this article about Cano and how fluckie was last year for him.!
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=402
i don’t know what kind of lineup were going to have next year {Arod, Abrue?) but i do know cashman would like to deal Giambi make the team more flexible. providing we get a real first baseman im okay with it hopefully well get a real first baseman if he stays too. Obviously Texiara would be perfect.
Why does it look like that Matsui is always trying to pull everything instead of going to opposite field .
dontcha know
This is why Wang is an Ace in my opinion regardless of his numbers.
He doesnt have his best stuff and is struggling. still can give 7 innings and only 1 run. that is the staple of an Ace.
great side-step comments by john flaherty about RJ on Yes… his avoiding how he and RJ would have interacted if RJ was in nyc right now says it all about RJ was perceived by his teammates.
No way Giambi gets traded unless a team picks up his gargantuan 09 option. He isn’t dumb and doesn’t really want to get traded. 1% chance that deal gets done unless you want the Yanks to pay his salary so he can go to Anaheim and win a world series with them b/c they have the 2nd greatest staff in baseball right now, maybe 1st
Giambi can still get on base, and the Yankees would have to eat too much of his salary for it to make sense to trade him next year. He should be the DH and be given an off-day every four or five days to keep him healthy.
2nd & 3rd, no outs. Let’s go Cairo!
Wow the silence from Flaherty about Randy Johnson spoke volumes.
Yuck. But they got a little insurance.
I was just going to say, Flaherty sounded like he was either terrified of RJ or hated him.
No, not Farnsworth. No. Please.
i dont think getting rid of giambi has anything to do with getting someone like Tex. Giambi doesnt play 1st anymore and offensively dont need him in the lineup to really put up numbers (assuming abreu, cano, arod, etc perform like they are now).
WHY KYLE!!!
our dh damon gets on base fine. Cashman asked jason to waive his no trade last year and that was in additon to trading shefield not instead of and nooooooo why????????? someone needs to warming up with this bum
Justin Verlander just threw a no hitter…. Wow…. good for him.
Cashman (or whoever signed Farnsworth) should be forced to watch him pitch.
Is Kyle that bad, that even the broadcasters are talking about giving your setup man confidence?
Never mind. Just got my answer.
LOOK OUT BOSOX YANKS ARE ROLLING
Why the f*@k is Farnsworth in?? Somebody enlighten me. He should be in if the Yanks are losing 21-4 in the eighth inning.
Why is Farnsworth in a close game?!?
Ahem, Torre is dumb for bringing in Kyle.
Kay: “In his perfect world, Torre would make Farnsworth his 8th inning guy, and Proctor his 7th inning guy. And he’s working toward that.”
This is the problem – Farnsworth doesn’t live in Torre’s perfect world, he lives in the real world, where he doesn’t strike guys out, puts lots of runners on, and is by no means dominant. And yet here he is, pitching the 8th, because Torre thinks he’s an 8th inning pitcher.
Even Flaherty is now saying that Farnsworth is an inconsistent pitcher who can’t be relied on to bring his best stuff each day. Just what you want for your 8th inning guy, right?
How many more shaky outings does it take before Torre accepts that Farnsworth isn’t a close-and-late pitcher?
WHY Kyle USE SCOTT OR HENN
Godspeed to Yankees, Mr. Farnsworthless is pitching. Pppppppppppplease God, let the miracle be as Farnsworthless could pitch out the jam.
Ah, c’mon everyone, give Farnsworth a chance. He throws flames. His five is hot!
Yeah cuz Henn is A LOT better. To bad Great Britton can’t teleport and come here to pitch (can Great Britton teleport, he is the closest thing to perfect I have ever seen?)
Settle down.
Farnsworth likes to make it interesting, maybe give up a run or two but believe me. We will win this game.
And what’s with the Torre bashing? We are about to win 7 straight, quit your whining!
BTW this is the FARNS audition for a trade methinks
What’s Farnsworth’s WHIP? I’m guessing something like 4.9. Idiot.
The first hitter Kyle faces reached base…..what a surprise. Nice K on the 2nd hitter, but you have to wonder if Kyle’s usual mandatory BB is still to come.
Farnsworth must have some dirty laundry on Torre. He should not be anything other than a mop up guy.
Nick B., don’t be ridiculous. Britton can’t teleport. He has ESP.
As far as I’m concerned Britton/Proctor, Bruney, Mo should be 7, 8, 9. Never Farnsworth.
pete i agree with your comments about wang, let him try and get out of the 7th, we all get up in arms here when torre pulls the starters early
but on kyle i agree with the announcers, i dont think the yankees make the playoffs unless he gives them some better outings, you cant use proctor everyday
Let remember Torre wanted Jeff Nelson out of here. He was tired of his effectiveness and attitude. He then assassinated Mike Stanton’s arm lets remember that as he refuses to demote this bum from the 8th inning and lets hope Farns doesn’t start throwing well hes capable of putting a run together cuz hell ruin our post season if we let him
Jeremy: ”[Farnsworth] doesn’t strike guys out”.
Farnsworth has had a slow start, but the guy is perfectly capable of striking lots of people out. I mean, he’s had more SO’s than IP the past five years in a row. He’s really not as bad as everyone seems to think.
Can we stop with the auditioning for trades? No reliever is going to get traded from this team to another. No one wants our bullpen guys who all have tired arms and location issues. Name one reliever who has come FROM the Yankees to another team and actually been better. I bet you can’t list 5 in the last 10 years.
Why is it necessary to call fellow bloggers idiots?
One can simply disagree with what is written. No need to call names.
i dont think melky has to prove his ability to play CF.. its if he can shows he can hit .290ish, you have to keep him as your everday CF.
then its a matter of who do u want as DH, giambi, matsui or damon. Giambi has to be the odd man out.
I like giambi and think he is being made into a scapegoate.. but his numbers and lack of defense just dont justify him in the lineup.. otherwise, he just becomes a very expensive pinch hitter
Jordan- If you refuse to throw the ball over the plate, you cant strike alot of people out
I agree with the Assistant, this is insane. Farnsworth could very well be blackmailing somebody.
Farnsworth threw that first ball 97 exactly where Posada put his glove. Thats Posada’s fault.
shut up bb just kidding …you the man or woman
Wow, Farnsworth’s throwing 99.
I think I see Torre’s logic now. Farnsworth should be a second closer. He has all the talent and ability he needs, he just can’t put it together. I guess Torre uses him in the 8th to make him rediscover whatever led him to a 2.19 ERA in 2005. If Farnsworth becomes dominant again, and says it was pitching in the 8th that helped him get there, then Torre is a genius.
I just hope he doesn’t cost us too many leads in the process!
Kudos to Peter on those of you who write crap about Torre being a moron, etc.. He’s right – go find a different team to root for and put your crap in their blogs – not ours!! Go Yankees!
Pete, people are only happy when they’re complaining. Instead of watching and enjoying a baseball game, they need to second guess every pitch selection, every pitching change.
Someone wanted Torre to take Wang out? I wanted Wanger to pitch into the 8th. I thought he could go batter-to-batter in the 8th. But I’m not moaning about it, because I understand what Joe is trying to do here. Hopefully it works.
PEPTO!!! I need pepto!
You know I don’t think Farnsworth is that much worse than Wetteland was. He always made us live on the edge. I think he’ll come through here though.
I called FARNSWORTH an idiot, BBFan (if that was a reference to my comment). Although it was tough to stop there with this 5 million dollar prick.
If Philly offered you Lieber for Farnsworthless, would you pull the trigger?
Nah, we don’t need Lieber, now if its as part of a deal for Teix, no problem.
mr farnsworth sure does make it interesting—- wow
Farnsworth gets the job done. I really don’t care that he didn’t go 1-2-3
If Proctor isn’t gonna pitch, can he go on a beer run?
Farnsworth sure does keep things interesting.
Jordan Meisner, I’m actually less critical of Farnsworth than many people on this site. I say he’s mediocre, while others have called for his life.
You’re right that Farnsworth has traditionally been a strikeout machine, and he could become one again after a slow start. My problem is just using him in close-and-late situations while he’s clearly not dominant. I don’t see why he can’t rediscover that dominance in lower leverage situations.
That said, nice job on your scoreless inning Farnsworth. We got lucky on Clark’s liner.
Bobby A and his gold glove.
man, he’s like an eagle out there.
Yankee VIP,
He is a long way from hitting .290 over a season I think. The critique on him is that he is never going to hit for power so he will have to hit for a high average. He is a long way from hitting in the .330’s like Bernie with 20-30 homers.
Thanks, my lord. You have answered my prayer; though I almost had an heart attack with that line drive to Abreu.
although some of you hate farny and he doesnt come through all the time i cannot bad mouth him…i saw this guy sign autographs for kids for almost an hour before a game last year…very classy
The BEST thing (for those of us with heartburn issues) is that Farnsworth threw so many pitches that he won’t be available tomorrow!!!
I told you last time, Farns just likes to mess with the fans. He wants to take 5 years off all our lives. He is doing a good job.
Looks like Yankees will be .500, now I can scout the field, Tigers look tough, I think the Red Sox may be easier prey. If A’s make a move for a bat they may be tough. Yanks need a bench player, a bullpen arm, and maybe an outfielder that can chase some balls down.
farnsworth is not unstable. 1H 1BB 1K
Why is everyone so sold on Britton? He is tremendously out of shape and has not even pitched for the Yankees much. Yet some of us think he is our savior. I just dont understand it. Im sure if he were that good he would be pitching for us by now. He does have an ERA under 2 in AAA but so does Ron Villone and he gets shelled up here. I dont see how a pitcher that is a little better than Ron Villone is gonna save our bacon
Go NYR,
O no. You just insulted the blog hero. I tried that argument 100 times and you never win. They think he is the 2nd coming.
Johnny b.- Whats wrong with Melky?
“That’s 28 appearances and three 1-2-3 innings for Kyle Farnsworth. How can they ever trust this guy in a big spot? The answer is they can’t. ”
couldnt agree with you more Pete. The question then is, why does Torre persist in bringing him in in tight games? I dont get it.
Also, i noticed some of you guys saying the gun had Farns at 99…well, i have the extra innings package and am getting the Diamondbacks feed and they had him topping out at 95. Im guessing the YES gun is just a tad inflated.
ugh, i hate farnsworth
Jeff NJ, I have the same memory of Wetteland as a guy who put tons of runners on and got the job done anyway. The stats show we are both wrong.
Wetteland 1995: 2.93 ERA, 156 ERA+, 0.88 WHIP
Wetteland 1996: 2.83 ERA, 179 ERA+, 1.178 WHIP
Farnsworth 2005: 4.36 ERA, 100 ERA+, 1.364 WHIP
Farnsworth 2006: 4.97 ERA, 85 ERA+, 1.618 WHIP
Wetteland was a dominant pitcher in both his seasons with the Yankees. Farnsworth was mediocre last year and is bad this year.
Wang didn’t look especially good tonight, but his line looks pretty respectable, 7IP, 6 hits, 0 walks, 1 HBP, 1ER, 1R, 2 SO. Defense saved him with some nice plays. Wang needs to develop a consistently good 2nd pitch to take that next step. The sinker’s top notch, but it seems like his slider is very inconsistent (but pretty good when it’s on), and the changeup looks so so.
Nick- You would figure he is the next Babe Ruth. I dont understand it. They insult me over everything I say and they think a AAA pitcher is gonna put up a sub-2 ERA. They are not smart as they think
i hope abreu doesnt start pulling the ball trying to hit for more power now.. he was doing so well going the other way and hitting line drives.. he needs to stay in that mode
“Why is everyone so sold on Britton? He is tremendously out of shape and has not even pitched for the Yankees much. Yet some of us think he is our savior. I just dont understand it. Im sure if he were that good he would be pitching for us by now. He does have an ERA under 2 in AAA but so does Ron Villone and he gets shelled up here. I dont see how a pitcher that is a little better than Ron Villone is gonna save our bacon”
Go NYR,
People like me in the “Free Britton crowd” are not sold on anything. All we want is Britton to be given a shot in this bullpen to stay. He’s tearing it up the minor leagues and was GREAT for the short 5 IP he was here earlier.
He is better Vizcaino no matter what anyone says. Last year he had a 3.35 ERA in the AL East. That itself is a better resume than Vizcainos entire career in the NL.
Also before you spew that Britton was put in “NON-Pressure” situations last year, remember that Bruney was and still is put into those same light hearted situations as well. 6th inning, 7th inning, coming in when losing, blowouts, etc.
No one says anything about Bruney.
Also, no one is saying he’s a savior. More a piece to an improving pen. Not a fan of giving young power arms a chance in the pen huh? I guess Bruney or Proctor wouldn’t be here then.
Go, Go, Seven in a row!!
I think Britton is a good bet to put up a sub-4 ERA, which he did last year. Is that such a crazy notion?
Wang is an ace on most teams. I think he would be the best #2 in baseball when/if Hughes ever pans out to be the next Rocket.
Nobody said Britton is the second coming, but he throws 94 that looks like 96 because of his delivery, has a very good curve, had a decent era with Baltimore, an excellent era in aaa. He should be given more of a chance.
Mr. Abraham:
I called Joe Torre a lucky moron for leaving Wang in because it was a moronic decision. Want an explanation as to why I felt that way? Here:
Wang tires more than most people realize. Look at some of his splits for this season:
1st time through lineup: .244 BAA
2nd time through lineup: .247 BAA
3rd+ time through lineup: .291 BAA
7th inning: .333 BAA
Torre was leaving him in against a batter who would be seeing him for the fourth time, this after he just plunked the NUMBER NINE hitter with a pitch and there were two on, two out. Young hit a line drive and Jeter made a great play. Torre got lucky.
Also, I can still be a fan of the Yankees without agreeing with every decision the manager makes. Obviously.
They have to bring back these memories. I was ready to cry after that.
I mean, seriously, telling me to go root for another team because I criticize Torre sounds just like the idiots who say I should move to another country because I criticize Bush.
My biggest thing with Farnsworth is why cant he work on his stuff in blowouts why does he need to figure things out late in games that are close. What has Farnsworth done to get the long rope treatment hes a far cry from Flash Gordon, Nellie or Stanton even Steve Karsay had a better track record. Farnsworth had one good year for the braves before he came here. Always a good idea to give a Braves pitcher a contract they always get better after they leave Atlanta
Jordan- This is the same guy who threw a complete game last week. If he had brought in Proctor and the guy hit a 3 run 450ft shot, you would be saying Torre should have left Wang in.
Farnsworth’s fastball is straight, and his control is mediocre. Maybe he should try slow it up a little, try a different grip to get a little movement on the ball, and try to hit his spots. It’d be a lot better than trying to throw 99 every time….. Mo hit 95 up the ladder, very encouraging.
Of Brittons 52 appearances only 11 game in the 8th inning and and 26 of them came in the 4-6 innings. Its not like he was throwing in big games in Baltimore either.
Mariano is throwing some nasty $&!#
Uh, no I wouldn’t have done that, Go NYR, because I literally typed in “Snyder should be the last batter Wang faces whether he gets him or not” before Young even came up to bat. I wouldn’t have been able to backtrack.
Anyone notice how Mo is throwing that sick, 95 mph 2 seamer, inside corner? There is not one player in baseball that could hit that
The season starts again!
Also batters hit .333 off him during his career in tie games.