The LoHud Yankees Blog

This time, the Yankees believe they have assembled a rotation that will get them back in the playoffs.

Andy Pettitte and A.J.Burnett for some work in yesterday as the Yankees wrapped up spring training. Ernie Palladino was at the Stadium and has that story.

I’m off to Baltimore to cover today’s workout. Check back later for a report.

The Yankees placed Alex Rodriguez on the disabled list retroactive to March 27. So technically, he could return on April 11.

The Yankees rarely give any updates on his rehab. He’s supposedly still in Colorado under the care of Dr. Marc Philippon and Dr.Mark Lindsay, a rehab specialist. He is expected in Tampa any day now to start doing baseball stuff.

Following today’s game, the Yankees added Ramiro Pena to the 40-man roster and reassigned INF Angel Berroa to minor league camp. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, the Yankees designated RHP Dan Giese for assignment.

Pena will wear No. 19.

Instant analysis: This not a move to get to worked up about as Pena will likely be around only until Alex Rodriguez returns. Then Cody Ransom will return to the utility spot.

But it does speak to the change of direction by the Yankees under Joe Girardi that they would take a 23-year-old who has never been above Double-A ball instead of a 31-year-old with eight seasons of big-league experience.

Pena is a superior glove and has some speed, two qualities Girardi treasures. It will be very interesting to see whether the manager will use Pena for defensive purposes at shortstop late in games.

Courtesy of the Yankees, here are some postgame notes:

— The Yankees won their final nine spring games (last lost on 3/23 at Philadelphia, 3-8), matching their nine-game winning streak from 3/14-21…won 18 of their last 20 spring games…finished with a 24-10-1 record (.706) vs. Major League competition this spring, marking their most such wins and best such winning percentage since at least 1961.

— The Yankees hit a spring-high four home runs today, giving them seven home runs in the two-game series vs. the Cubs.

— All four probable Opening Day infield starters (1B Mark Teixeira, 2B Robinson Cano, SS Derek Jeter and 3B Cody Ransom) have homered in Yankee
Stadium during the two-game series with the Cubs.

— LHP Andy Pettitte started and allowed 1ER in 4.0IP (6H, 1BB, 2K, 1HR)…allowed just 2ER in 15.1IP this spring (1.17 ERA).

— RHP A.J. Burnett made his first relief appearance of the spring and tossed 4.0 scoreless innings (2H, 1BB, 6K, 59 pitches/39 strikes)…marked his highest strikeout total of the spring.

— The Yankees’ starting rotation of LHP CC Sabathia, RHP Chien-Ming Wang, RHP A.J. Burnett, LHP Andy Pettitte and RHP Joba Chamberlain finished with a 13-3 combined spring record and a 3.35 ERA (99.1IP, 37ER).

— 1B Mark Teixeira (2-for-3) recorded the first two-homer game by a Yankee this spring…finished as the Yankees’ team leader this spring with a .433 (26-for-60) batting average, 5HR and 15RBI.

— SS Derek Jeter (1-for-3) recorded a personal spring-best 3RBI and finished the Grapefruit League season with a .389 (13-for-33) batting average against
Major League opposition.

— C Jorge Posada (0-for-2) caught 6.0 innings behind the plate…has appeared at catcher in 12 games this spring (nine games vs. Major League teams and three games vs. minor league opposition)…caught 6-of-12 runners trying to steal this spring in all 12 games combined.

YANKEES
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Nady RF
Ransom 3B
Gardner CF

Pitching today: Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett.

Notes: Pettitte and Burnett will split the game, probably four innings each. … The Yankees leave for Baltimore tomorrow morning and have a workout at Camden Yards tomorrow. … I am not working today but will be in Baltimore tomorrow for the workout.

SAVE SOME FOR LATER: The Yankees have won nine straight exhibition games and 18 of their last 20. Counting the games against Team USA and Team Canada, they are 23-12-1 this spring.

UPDATE, 10:52 p.m.: Here are the stories we had in the newspaper today:

Sam Borden writes that a new stadium doesn’t change the fact that the Yankees have pressure to win.

Meanwhile, Derek Jeter and the rest of the players got used to their new ballpark and liked how it played.

10:00 a.m.: Gates open to ticket holders

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Yankees batting practice

11:20 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.: Cubs batting practice

12:50 p.m.: Lineups announced

12:54 p.m.: Presentation of colors by SUNY Maritime Color Guard

12:54:30 p.m.: Introduction of Challenger the American Bald Eagle

12:56 p.m.: Moment of silence for Arthur Richman and Johnny Blanchard

12:56:30 p.m.: National Anthem: Robert Merrill Tribute Video

1:02 p.m.: Umpires and Managers to home plate

1:05 p.m.: Yankees take the field / ceremonial first pitch by Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger

1:08 p.m.: First pitch

A few other impressions:

There’s a lot more room between the dugouts and the baselines. There will be more foul balls caught by the infielders. … The highly-touted manual scoreboards set inside the wall in right field and left field are almost useless. The numbers are too small to see from the stands. The out-of-town scoreboard is in right field now. Only four games at a time, however.

Mark Feinsand of the News made a good point during the game that you can’t see the retired numbers in Monument Park like you used to be able to. There should be somewhere where everybody can see them. Retired numbers should be celebrated, not hidden away.

The Yankees, unfortunately, didn’t change the in-game entertainment very much. The same old lame YMCA, etc. I also don’t understand why the Yankees have to be the only team in sports that plays God Bless America in the middle of the game. Is there a prize for most patriotic team? The Star-Spangled Banner would seem to suffice. … The new announcer, Paul Olden, was fine.

I suspect, just at first glance, that it won’t be a very intimidating park for opposing players. The fans are not on top of the field like they used to be. And the wealthy people close to the field will be more interested in the wine list than screaming at Kevin Youkilis.

But the comforts and the benefits will far outweigh any problems, that’s for sure. According to some friends who were at the game, it was pretty easy to get around and to get in and out of the place.

Meanwhile, I find it comical that some people are faulting the Yankees for opening such a luxurious stadium in a recession. When they broke ground on Aug. 16, 2006, the Dow was at 11,327.12 and tickets were in high demand. Were the Yankees somehow supposed to know the Dow would close on Friday at 8,017.59?

If the market was at 11,327 today, those $2,000 seats would be getting snapped up. The economy will turn and the Yankees will either adjust their prices until it does or have a lot of empty seats.

I’m sure some of you were there tonight. What did you think?

UPDATE, 10:04 a.m.: I’m not against God Bless America. I think it’s great to honor the country by playing our national anthem before every sporting event, from Little League on up. Put your hand over your heart, bow your head and honor anybody you want to. Personally, I think of soldiers serving abroad at that moment.

My question is why are two songs necessary? If patriotism is the mission, than let’s play My Country Tis of Thee in the third inning and The Battle Hymn of the Republic in the fifth inning. Toss in America The Beautiful in the sixth.

Baseball just held the WBC. The Yankees have players from Japan, Panama, Taiwan, Mexico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. The crowd is full of people from dozens of countries. But the Yankees seem intent on proving they love America the most, like it’s some sort of contest. So are the Giants wrong because they don’t stop the game in the third quarter and play God Bless America? Based on some of the comments, apparently so.

At some point, it’s a baseball game and not a rally for patriotism. I applaud you if you want to rally for patriotism. Apply for a permit and hold it in a public park.

As Samuel Johnson once said, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”

The clubhouse inside the Stadium is really amazing.

For starters, you could play touch football in there, that’s how big it is. Each locker is separated by a frosted glass partition and there’s a replica of the frieze above lit by a blue neon light.

Each player has two electrical outlets, enough room to charge a cell phone, an iPod or whatever else you have. While that doesn’t sound like a big deal, the old Stadium was pre-cell phone and there only a few outlets in the entire room.

There’s also an IBM ThinkPad with the revolving screen installed at each locker. Ostensibly, it’s for the players to receive messages and make their ticket requests. But of course the guys have already personalized the desktops with family photos (Joba), a scene from 300 (A.J.), a skull and crossbones (Bruney) and other things.

“I haven’t even turned mine on,” Jorge Posada said.

As for who is where, picture the clubhouse like a clock. Jeter is at 1 o’clock. Then going clockwise around the room you have:

Burnett, Pettitte, Wang, Chamberlain, Sabathia, Cano, Molina, Pena, Albaladejo, the doorway, Swisher, Damon, Nady, Teixeira, Gardner, Ransom, Cabrera, Berroa, Matsui, Rivera, Ramirez, Veras, Coke, Bruney, Rodriguez and then Posada back at 11 o’clock. There’s a doorway between Jeter and Posada.

Jeter and Posada get the all-important empty locker next to them to store more stuff. Perks of being around so long. Mo is next to a wall and a post, so he is sort of secluded.

The photo over to the right is the “bat room.” Each player has a locker within the room that he can store his bats. The lockers have combination locks. In the past, there were bat racks within the clubhouse or the players just stacked up their lumber in boxes near the lockers. No more.

There’s a room for bats. That’s how complete the place is.

“They said they wanted to build the best stadium in sports. I haven’t seen every stadium but I can’t see any stadium being better than this,” Jeter said. “I don’t know what else you could put into a stadium.”

Yankees
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Nady RF
Ransom 3B
Gardner CF

Pitching today: Chien-Ming Wang.

CUBS
Soriano LF
Fukodome CF
Lee 1B
Bradley DH
Ramirez 3B
Fontenot 2B
Soto C
Theriot SS
Johnson RF

Pitching today: Ted Lilly.

Notes: The rain has abated here in the Bronx. Today will be a good test of the drainage system, that’s for sure. … The Yankees for Rule 5 pick Reegie Corona back from the Mariners. He was assigned to Double-A Trenton. Back with more later.

UPDATE, 4:40 p.m.: No update as of yet on the 25th roster spot. Cashman said they are “looking through external options” along with Berroa and Pena. … Nady is fine and took BP. … Tarp on the field but it’s not raining. … Looks like they could play.

UPDATE, 5:56 p.m.: Tarp still down but it’s not raining.

UPDATE, 6:04 p.m.: The tarp is off the field. Looks like we’ll have some baseball.

UPDATE, 6:18 p.m.: You know what is weird? When you look at the field, it’s pretty much like looking at the old park. A lot of the same signs, even. But the difference is that the stands go back more gradually than straight up like they did at the old place.

It’s a great place to watch a game.

UPDATE, 6:59 p.m.: We’re about to get underway.

UPDATE, 7:02 p.m.: Reggie Jackson threw out the first pitch. Bounced it.

UPDATE, 7:07 p.m.: First pitch here and Wang throws a strike. He told me other day he was a little nervous about it. There were thousands of flashbulbs.

Lots of empty seats here, especially the expensive ones.

UPDATE, 7:10 p.m.: 1-0 Cubs. Two singles and a sac fly by Lee. Gardner threw a one-hop strike to the plate but Jorge (wisely) didn’t block the dish and Miles slid in safely.

Soriano was scratched, by the way.

UPDATE, 7:28 p.m.: A reader wanted me to pass this along: “MLB.tv is giving a free preview. Just need to register for a free mlb.com account.” So if you’re at a computer and not a TV, you can get the game.

1-0 Cubs as the Yankees left Jeter stranded at third with one out. Tex fanned and Matsui hit a bullet up the middle the pitcher stopped.

UPDATE, 7:36 p.m.: Wang is down 3-0. With two outs, Gathright grounded up the middle (just past a diving Jeter for the first of 1,054 times this season). Then Miles doubled into the right-field corner.

CMW getting knocked around a little.

UPDATE, 7:42 p.m.: Posada singles and Cano drills one into the right-field stands. Cubs 3-2. Meanwhile, a lot of the shots on TV are through the screen. What a disaster that is for YES. That is poor planning on somebody’s part.

UPDATE, 8:04 p.m.: Jeter singles and Matsui hammers one to right. 4-3 Yankees.

UPDATE, 8:14 p.m.: There is a crowd of people in that plaza area atop the restaurant. That looks like a place where will people will hang out during games.

Meanwhile, it’s raining.

UPDATE, 8:16 p.m.: Here is Joe Girardi’s pre-game. There were a lot of nonsensical questions but that’s how it works sometimes:

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UPDATE, 8:26 p.m.: Cody Ransom drills a three-run shot off the foul pole in right. Yankees lead 7-4. What was Sterling’s call? Let me know.

Meanwhile, I snapped this shot just now:

UPDATE, 9:06 p.m.: Yankees lead 7-4 still. Mo threw a perfect inning (of course). Subs all around. Crowd has thinned out. Bill Murray is here.

Sadly, the grounds crew is doing the YMCA thing. So lame. Incredibly, incredibly lame.

The Yankees took the writers around the new Stadium three or four times during its construction and I had a pretty good feel for what the place would be like.

But to walk in and see the place finished is astonishing.

First impressions:

When you’re looking out at the field, you get almost the same sense as you did across the street. There’s that gap in right field to see the subway rumbling by. The right field porch is there, too.

There is no gap in left field, it’s all seats. The out-of-town scoreboard also appears to hold no more than four games at a time. Personally, I think every stadium should have a scoreboard that shows every other game all the time. But it’s nothing to get too upset over.

The biggest difference? Those fancy Legends seats that stretch from first base to third base are set apart by a high concrete wall. It’s like they wanted to protect the wealthy from the rest of society.

The building is just immense. The Great Hall looks like you could run a train through it. There are two small scoreboards in right and left field that show the linescore, the count, etc. There are also a lot more bleacher seats. A whole lot more.

The suites are all over the place. But they don’t dominate the place. All in all, it’s quite a place. Can’t wait to start covering games here.

Anyway, here is where I’ll be sitting: