The LoHud Yankees Blog

It has been a while since we’ve had a mailbag. So here goes …

Dave writes: “If it was up to you, what would you do with the Yankees’ bullpen? The back end of it looks great; the rest of it is horrible.”

Answer: This is what I personally would do: Replace Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez and Jonathan Albaladejo with Mark Melancon, Dave Robertson and Alfredo Aceves.

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Josh writes: “I have had Saturday season tickets for over 10 years. Spent awesome days in the sun going nuts with all the other crazy Yankee fans. This will never happen at the new place. It is not meant for that. They gave us Saturday seats located in section 420B row 14 or 15 (last row). In the last few rows the following happens:

1. You hear NOTHING. The exhaust from the air conditioning that is keeping the people cool in all the places I am not allowed into absolutely blows into that area. You almost get blown over, and you CANNOT hear anything. Not the crack of the bat, the ball hitting the mit, the PA announcer, Yankee matchup game, the great subway race, NONE OF IT. It is awful.

2. You see NOTHING. The damn frieze/facade/whatever the hell they call it hangs down right in your face.”

Answer: Josh, I contacted the Yankees for you and they offered the following answer: Get a job that allows you to afford seats that cost $2,625. All your problems will be solved.

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Matt from Seattle writes: “I wonder how long it will take for the Yanks to fire Girardi and bring in Willie Randolph to manage?”

Answer: If Girardi gets the gate, it won’t be Willie. He does not have the personality to manage in New York and didn’t work well with the front office. I’d be surprised if he got the call. Meanwhile, how about we let A-Rod get back from the DL and Chien-Ming Wang back from oblivion before we call for the manager’s head?

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Cory writes: “What would you rate the chances of swapping Hughes for Wang until he gets his sinker back? Hughes just pitched so it wouldn’t really mess with his rest.”

Answer: With the day off on Thursday, they can just skip Wang in Boston. There is no reason to bring Hughes up — yet.

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Joe Fan writes: “My son and I are avid Yankees fans. We go to probably a dozen games a season and are perfectly fine with our bleacher seats. We also liked to try to get player autographs and balls during batting practice. This season at Yankee Stadium, they’re opening the gates three hours in advance of game time. Sounds great, or so you’d think. The problem is that security won’t let anyone down to the field level unless they have a ticket in that section. That’s not fair. At the old Stadium, they let people down to the field from third base to the foul pole and first base to the foul pole, and that worked just fine.

I understand that people in the expensive seats want that access, but most of them are not there three hours before a game, every game. How about letting everyone down until an hour before game time, and just in those base-to-pole sections? The irony is that all over the stadium there are giant photographs of players signing autographs for kids.

I just want to see a dialogue started on this topic. I’ve already seen a bunch of disappointed kids and more than a few exasperated dads trying to explain to their kids that their $125 tickets weren’t good enough.”

Answer: Joe, yours is one of several e-mails I have received on this subject. It’s not fair and it’s not right. I would not expect them to change because the Yankees will cater to the wealthy. I suggest taking your son to Scranton or Trenton. The atmosphere is much different and you could get a future star to sign your ball.

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Frank Lyman from Amherst writes: “Do you think Brian Bruney’s recent dominance will quell the talk that Joba belongs in the bullpen?”

Answer: Alas, Frank, I don’t believe anything will end that debate. As long as there are columnists who can’t come up with anything better to write and bloggers who want more traffic, there will be those who insist a 23-year-old with four pitches who was drafted in the first round should pitch in the eighth inning.

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Thanks to everybody for writing.

Brian Cashman and ESPN’s Peter Gammons will be speaking at Southern Connecticut State University on Wednesday.

Here’s what the release said:

New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman will join legendary ESPN sports reporter Peter Gammons for a lively discussion about “The Yankees and the Business of Baseball.” The event, part of the Mary and Louis Fusco Distinguished Lecture Series, will be held at Southern Connecticut State University’s Lyman Center at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 22.

A portion of the proceeds support Southern’s Endowed Awards of Excellence, a merit-based scholarship program.

Here is the link with information on the event,

Order tickets via this link.

Jason Giambi will be back in New York today. You can count on a nice ovation from the fans.

The Big G spent seven seasons in New York. He hit only .260 but belted 209 home runs, which is 10th in team history. Giambi had a solid .925 OPS.

His legacy in New York is mixed. Giambi never helped the Yankees win a World Series and it was during his time here that Giambi was forced to admit he used steroids. He also missed large chunks of time with injuries.

But Giambi was a colorful figure who had a lot of fans. When he grew a mustache for luck last season, fans took to wearing fake ‘staches to games and the Yankees even had fake mustache day to promote Giambi’s All-Star candidacy. Jason wasn’t voted in, but everybody had a good time with it.

“I spent seven years with them, and I made a lot of great friends there,” Giambi said yesterday. “The town was great, and the fans were unbelievable, so it’ll be fun to go back.”

Giambi is off to a slow start (.227/.333/.295) with the Athletics. But he’ll figure it out, he usually does.

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It was a new day for the Yankees as they beat the Indians thanks to a home run from Jorge Posada that was carefully reviewed. Kevin Devaney has the story.

The new Stadium is a home run haven.This notebook also has information on Chien-Ming Wang, Xavier Nady, A-Rod and a lineup shift that was temporary.

Thanks to Kevin for filling in for me the last two days both here and for the paper. He did a great job.

Monday: LHP Dana Eveland (0-0, 6.75) vs. LHP Andy Pettitte (1-0, 2.51), 7:05, YES/ESPN

Tuesday: LHP Brett Anderson (0-2, 4.85) vs. LHP CC Sabathia (1-1, 3.57), 7:05, MY9

Wednesday: LHP Josh Outman (0-0, 6.48) vs. RHP Joba Chamberlain (0-0, 5.06), 1:05, YES

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees are 11-0 after beating Rochester 7-2 today. That’s a franchise record for consecutive victories.

Shelley Duncan homered. He’s hitting .351 and has 13 RBI. Eric Duncan is at .364. Juan Miranda has 15 RBI. Angel Berroa is at .386. Jason Johnson went 6.1 innings for the win today. Good for him after all he has gone through.

Mark Melancon has appeared in five games. His line: 9 2 0 0 3 15.

The old Stadium had a walkway alongside the top of the right-field wall so fans could not easily lean over and interfere with play. After the Jeffrey Maier incident, the Yankees always had security there to keep the fans back.

Why wasn’t the new Stadium planned out the same way? What we saw today in the seventh inning is going to happen time after time as fans reach over the wall.

Michael Kay talked about it today during the YES telecast and he was exactly right. The Yankees caught a break today but that just as easily could have been fan interference.

Construction workers are going to be busy at the Stadium again over the winter. There are a lot of things that need to be fixed.

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Matt, a reader, pointed this out to me. The original plans for the new Stadim including a rendering of Monument Park that had it in a nice, open area, not in Monument Cave like it is now.

Check out this link, go to the fourth image on the slideshow.

YANKEES (6-6)
Gardner CF
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Matsui DH
Ransom 3B
Molina C

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (2-0, 2.70).

INDIANS (4-8)
Sizemore CF
DeRosa 2B
Martinez 1B
Hafner DH
Peralta SS
Choo LF
Garko RF
Shoppach C
Cabrera 2B
Idle P

Pitching: RHP Carl Pavano (0-2, 16.71).

Burnett vs. the Cleveland hitters.

Pavano vs. the New York hitters.

ANOTHER MOVE: RHP Steven Jackson was called up. No word yet on who is being sent down but it’s surely Anthony Claggett.

WELCOME BACK, IDLE: Carl Pavano, the American Idle, the Rajah of Rehab, the bandit who stole $39.95 million from the Yankees, will take the mound today against A.J. Burnett. If you thought yesterday was embarrassing, imagine what losing to Pavano would feel like.

He must go down and he must go down hard.

THE LAUNCHING PAD? Counting the two exhibition games, there have been 25 home runs hit in 43.5 innings at the new Yankee Stadium. While that is a lot, homers are up all over the league. Just a coincidence? Could MLB be juicing the balls to stimulate flagging ticket sales?

Steve over at Was Watching talked to a home-run expert who has some interesting data on the dimensions at the new stadium.

They’re not as exact as the Yankees led us to believe, both in terms of distances and the height of the fences. Several of the players have mentioned the fences being shorter.

Did the Yankees build a launching pad with too many overpriced seats and lousy camera angles? It’s too early to say that but there seem to be some issues in the place, that’s for sure.

WORST INNING EVER: The 14 runs the Yankees allowed in the second inning yesterday were the most allowed in franchise history. The previous high for runs allowed was 13 on June 17, 1925 in the sixth inning of a 19-1 loss vs. Detroit.

It also matched the most runs the Indians have scored in an inning. They also scored 14 in an inning in a 21-2 victory against the Philadelphia A’s on June 18, 1950.

TROUBLING TREND: The Yankees have allowed 10 or more runs in four of the 12 games they have played. At what point might they finally admit they could use a long reliever?

CANO COMES ON: Robbie Cano has hit safely in 11 of the 12 games and is at .391/.451/.630 for the season. A slow starter in his career, this could be a sign that Cano is headed for a big season.

UPDATE, 9:54 a.m.: The Yankees don’t have to report until 11:30 a.m., so no lineup as of yet.

UPDATE, 11:10 p.m.: Lineup is posted. Johnny Damon is hitting third for the first time as a Yankee and the third time since the start of the 2000 season. He did a lot in Kansas City in 1999. He’s for 4 for 7 with two doubles against Pavano.

That’s it from me. Kevin Devaney will take it from here. Enjoy the game.

UPDATE, 12:02 p.m.: Kevin Devaney here. Just got back from the clubhouse after a rather uneventful morning.

Just before we left, good ‘ol Nick Swisher walked through the clubhouse and tore off the covers of all the Daily News sitting on a table. They read “22-4!” on the front and “You Stink” over a picture of Chien-Ming Wang on the back. “New day,” Swisher shouted. “It’s a new day, brotha.”

The most notable thing was from Wang, who said that he’d rather work through his troubles in a game than have his start skipped. Normally players will defer to the manager on a decision like that, and the Yankees are strongly considering not having him throw on Friday in Boston. Wang, though, said he wants to pitch.

Girardi said that the Yankees coaching staff watched video of Wang this morning and compared it to last year. Girardi wouldn’t specify what they saw until they spoke with Wang first, which insinuates they’ve noticed something wrong. Wang meanwhile said he’s also watched film of himself and “everything’s the same as last year.” Clearly there’s a disconnect here.

Xavier Nady will have to wait at least another day to figure out what the diagnosis is on his right elbow. He took his second MRI yesterday but his doctor out West wasn’t available to examine it. He will today and discuss all five tests (two MRI, two X-Rays and a CT scan) with Yankee doctors tomorrow. Apparently they’re having a difficult time figuring out what damage is old and what is new.

Girardi said he shuffled around the lineup to break up the lefties. … Hideki Matsui (knee) gets the start at DH after hitting a double, walking and getting hit by a pinch off the bench yesterday. … Anthony Claggett (8 ER in 1.2 innings) was sent down after one day in the bigs to make room for Steven Jackson. For those who don’t know Jackson, he’s a tall righty who throws a fastball, slider and splitter and uses a sinker to get a lot of ground ball outs. He last pitched on Friday.

UPDATE, 12:48 p.m.: Obviously, yesterday’s 22-4 defeat is still burning some of you. But allow me to put a positive spin on things. Remember back to these two dates:

Aug. 31, 2004: Cleveland goes into Yankee Stadium and deals the Yankees their worst loss in franchise history, 22-0. The Yankees respond by winning 14 of 19 and secure a division title.

July 4, 2006: The Indians beat the Yankees 19-1 in Cleveland to drop the Yankees four games out of first. The Yankees respond by winning nine of 10 and 19 of 25 to climb into first place, which is where they stay the rest of the way.

April 18, 2009: Cleveland scores 14 runs in the second inning and thumps the Yankees 22-4 at the stadium. How will the Yankees respond? Smacking around Pavano would be a nice start.

UPDATE, 1:08 p.m.: This photo isn’t mean to anger you, just illustrate the fact that some of the best seats at the new Yankee Stadium are still available behind the Yankee dugout. You might think a few people weren’t here by the National Anthem, but those are a lot of empty seats.

The picture was taken on my weak camera phone, so please bear with the quality.

The rest of the stadium is filled for the most part. Enjoy the game. We’re underway.

UPDATE, 1:24 p.m.: The Mighty Pavano puts down the first three hitters he faces. Hey, even Wang got through the first inning unscathed yesterday. Now he’s on the brink of retirement/demotion/deportation.

UPDATE, 1:32 p.m.: HOMERUN COUNT: 18 in 28 innings at the new stadium. Of those, 13 have gone to right field.

UPDATE, 1:51 p.m.: Here’s the exact quote from the pregame from Girardi on Wang:

“We looked at his hands break, his leg kick where his head is and if it’s on line, the angle of his arm. We haven’t had a chance to discuss it with him yet. We had some healthy stuff that we saw and we understand that we need to make some adjustments. … Physically there are some things I think we need to correct that’s leaving him up in the zone. I just really believe no matter who you were, whether you won four Cy Youngs, it would be difficult to go through.”

And Mr. Wang said:

“Nothing is wrong. … I watched the video and everything is the same as last year.”

UPDATE, 2:11 p.m.: The people at Elias are probably scrambling right now to figure out if Pavano ever retired 10 straight hitters while with the Yankees. I’m going to guess not.

UPDATE, 2:21 p.m.: Mark Teixeira since getting a cortisone shot on his wrist on Thursday: 3 for 8 with two HR and four RBI. And he’s driving the ball pretty good now.

UPDATE, 2:31 p.m.: Question from a blogger: So why is it that Pavano feels the Yankees didn’t, as he put it, have his back? Subsitute blogmaster Kevin D: any expert insight into Pavano’s bizarro world reasoning?

I’m going to defer to Pete Abe on this one. I probably covered 40-50 Yankee games over the past three seasons, most of which Pavano was doing some sort of rehab for. The players never openly spoke bad about him, of course. I just never got the feeling that, when asked, they considered him a part of the team. How could they? He was never around.

Pete, though, would be better to respond to that than I.

UPDATE, 3:01 p.m.: Bases loaded and two outs in a one-run game. This is the most important batter Carl Pavano has ever, and will ever, face in New York.

UPDATE, 3:05 p.m.: The Yankees are officially cursed. The Curse of Carl Pavano.

UPDATE, 3:06 p.m.: Welcome Deadspin readers! Just saw this online. Pete Abe will be so proud.

UPDATE, 3:25 p.m.: Jonathan Albaladejo saves the Yankees from having this game being broken open. He comes in and gets two outs with the bases loaded. Take away his disastrous performance on opening day (3 runs and 5 hits in 3 innings) and he’s pitched five shutout innings and allowed two hits in four appearances.

UPDATE, 3:31 p.m.: The line for Burnett: 6.1 inning, three runs, three hits, two Ks, seven walks (yes, seven), two home runs, three wild pitches, one hit batter. He threw 111 pitches, only 60 for strikes. Welcome to the Wonderful World of A.J. Burnett, Yankee fans!

Pavano, by the way: 6 inn., one run, four hits, four Ks and one walk.

The Yanks have something cookin’ here. Matsui lines an RBI single to center after Cano led off the inning with a double. I smell a rally.

UPDATE, 3:38 p.m.: Thank goodness for the jet streams. Although that could be fan interference.

UPDATE, 3:45 p.m.: Umpires reviewed the play, which was originally ruled a home run. It’s upheld. All is right in the world.

UPDATE, 4:19 p.m.: Cody Ransom delivers a three-run double down the line to left. Very strange play. Not sure what Shin-soo Choo was thinking just letting that ball drop in. At any rate, it’s 7-3 Yanks and Ransom gets a much-needed boost of confidence at the plate.

The Yankees were beaten 22-4 yesterday. Kevin Devaney has the story.

The Sunday Baseball Beat looks at how CC Sabathia has settled in with the Yankees.