Subway Series coverage in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 13, 2009 
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The Yankees received a gift from the Mets in the form of a dropped pop-up.
Sam Borden writes that there is more to Mark Teixeira than there sometimes seems. He and John Henry have become sparring partners.
Luis Castillo was devastated by his mistake. Ernie Palladino has that story.
Francisco Rodriguez blew his first save for the Mets. Not that he deserved it. This Subway Series notebook has a host of other items including news on Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, Brian Bruney and Joe Girardi.
The Yankees have a new belt fit for a King. From the King, really.
Back later on with the game post.
murphydog – SYDS Stop Yankee Derangement Syndrome
June 13th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Like the old St. Louis Cards pitcher, Joaquin Andujar said: “You can sum up baseball in two words, ‘You never know’ ”.
Yogi-esque.
——————————————————————————————
“Andujar was a character. That remark was made on national tv after he won his 20th game
one year.”
murpydog and gb7-
i caught andujar for a short time in florida, maybe a month, and behind the scenes he was one of the hardest workers i’ve ever seen.he was in amazing shape for his age. he was at the end of his career and still threw about what joba was throwing last night.
how’s that for a segway to what is up with joba’s velocity ?
even if it’s just mechanics the yankees need to have him checked out for muscle weakness because something could be wrong and joba doesn’t know it. all injuries don’t have pain associated. sometimes it’s tightness that loosens up as a pitcher pitches.
as a precaution they need to have it looked at and checked out. what’s the downside of doing that and finding out he’s fine?
something is strange though.
“Laura – agreed, not only is the adrenaline natural and instinctual. MT personally made it a walk-off instead of a tie game, all the more reason for celebration.”
Now, let’s not shortchange Castillo’s contribution to the win. If he had thrown home instead of throwing to 2nd, there would have been a close play at the plate. Thanks, Luis!!
I really didn’t have good reaction time to last night’s win because I found the game so wearying that I didn’t even know how to process the ending. I found my sense this morning after watching the replay on SportsCenter and listening to Kay’s call. I got teary and giddy and happy and yes, extremely accepting of the gift win, especially in the face of the times the Yankees have been screwed royally by umpires unfit to call games!
About Castillo, I am someone who typically feels sad for players who screw up like that – but I have put a lot of it right on the doorstep of the overly-animated (except for last night) FRod, who had he not allowed two base runners would not have been in the position to blow the save.
On another note, I will never understand all the tears on this forum whenever someone has the “audacity” to question the game-calling of Posada. Get over yourselves. If pitchers had never asked for another catcher and if Posada had never earned the reputation of being hard-headed, then maybe the questions wouldn’t be out there. But it is not universally held that Posada’s pitch selection is above reproach. While there may be times that the question is asked and Posada is totally blameless in the scenario, there may be other times that the question is legitimate.
JMO
Yesterday’s game in a nutshell:
“I have to catch that ball. I need to get it,” Castillo said.
He dropped it instead. Stunned, Castillo flipped the ball toward second base, only making matters worse. Mark Teixeira, running like crazy, never assuming a third out, scored all the way from first for the 9-8 victory, without so much as a close play at the plate.
Teixeira came all the way home, saw his mates celebrating this weird victory, and asked Derek Jeter, “What just happened?”
“I didn’t see it,” said Teixeira, who also slugged a two-run homer in the third. “I kind of put my head down and was running. Doesn’t happen very often, not in the big leagues.”
Welcome to incestuous, flawed New York baseball: A walk-off error in the ninth, after a game plagued by lousy pitching and suspect fielding.
“When the ball goes up you think of all the walks that put us in the bad position,” Girardi said. “Then you see him drifting and drifting and you hear the roar of the crowd, and that kind of changes things.
“Hard to believe. We tried to give away the game all night.”
Scorpio, isn’t that from Bondy’s column from the Daily News?
I didn’t read the article, but I feel badly for Castillo – he’ll never hear the end of it from Mets fans.
I don’t know why Tex got this rep for being corporate, but it’s just not so. I love it when he gets fired up and I love it that he’s going toe to toe with John Henry, who continues to make himself look foolish every time he utters a word or tweets about Tex. Playing up the curse? Joke. MT? Who’s that? It’s undignified and it makes Henry look like he’s about 3 years old.
“Laura – All we are saying is give Wang a chance!
June 13th, 2009 at 11:15 am
If anyone is interested, MLB.com has a video that features all of the calls of the missed popups by both NY TV stations and both radio stations. Kay’s was the most animated. Sterling was surprisingly subdued. I think that he was in shock.”
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.....8;c_id=mlb
Laura, the best call I heard was Howie Rose’s, Sterling’s was a joke, Micheal Kay has this in the middle of trying to be Sterling and screams at you type of way of calling those moments. Howie Rose if he’s ever a FA I could listen to this guy on radio or tv.
LOL – great article from Sam. I don’t see how anyone can think Tex’s reputation took a hit – if anyones did, it would have to be John Henry’s.
Laura – Yes, it’s from Bondy. Wasn’t trying to plagiarize, was too lazy to cut & paste his byline.
And I still would have brought in Mo last night b/c Coke vs Beltran was not a good matchup and David Wright kills LHPs. Mo was the right choice and really he gave us a chance to win that game, giving up just 1 R vs the 3,4,5.
Laura, thanks for the link. I just listened to all three calls. I found Sterling’s to be really forced. YAWN! I still liked Kay’s because he is a real live drama queen so you know that was right from the heart!
Betsy amazing how no one said a thing about it, ESPN/Red Sox media aka NESPN would have been all over this had one of the Yankees brass done that. Henry is what 70 ? WTH is he doing on twitter starting crap vs Teix ?
Oops. Thank you Brandon! I thought the link was from Laura.
Brandon, the bottom line is that Girardi will always be damned no matter what he does. I agreed with the call last night and though it didn’t look so good, he he he, Mo ended up with the win. But wasn’t that appropriate for the way things ended?
If Girardi hadn’t brought Mo in and Coke gave up the lead run to Beltran, there would have been a firestorm about how Mo hadn’t pitched since Monday and definitely was available for 5 outs and should have been in there. You know that and I know that.
Hey Trisha, you are so right that Girardi is in a no-win situation. He will always be second guessed.
Still can’t get over last night’s game.
The Red Sox fan last night had some good points. But he failed to point out that the mark of a good team is their ability to win on the road.
We’ll see how the two teams play out the string.
Falling in love with Teixeira more and more each day. I think we’re looking at the future captain. Love the response to Henry. Yes, he disrespected his elders, but Henry was acting like a child with his petty tweeting.
I guess Castillo didn’t think Tex had a chance to even try to score on that play. I hope the Mets were taking notes on how to run the bases. I think it’s a travesty that team makes so many fundamental mistakes. Maybe Swish for brains got traded to the wrong NY team.
Why does he refer to him as “MT”?
And imagine if Hank was the one doing this? You’d have other owners and GMs and everyone ripping him. Selig might even fine him.
m, the only put that idiot made last night is that he was a beligerant troll. I read the threads. It takes a real butt hole to post that crap on another teams blog. He was just looking for a fight.
put = point
sorry
DB,
I certainly hope the mets were taking notes on how Swisher runs the bases…
“Mo was the right choice and really he gave us a chance to win that game, giving up just 1 R vs the 3,4,5.”
Haven’t seen that much spin since watching my clothes dry.
Rivera nearly lost the game plain and simple. It happens, no need to spin it any other way.
Even Henry seemed impressed. As Teixeira was in the interview room following the 9-8 win, Henry – no doubt pleased after seeing the Sox beat the Phillies in 13 innings – sent out a late-night Tweet: “Great play by MT to score from first on the pop! What a night of baseball.”
Still can’t believe that really happened last night.
Hopefully a good outing from Andy today. Enough with the crappy starting pitching.
“Oops. Thank you Brandon! I thought the link was from Laura.”
It was from me. It was in the previous thread.
Why does he refer to him as “MT”?
Probably thought Yankees fans were too dumb to figure out his ingenious code or I guess it’s catchier than The Curse of Mark Tiexiera. Tex Curse? Curse of Tex?
Fran, how about that I didn’t think this team needed Tex at all and that Swisher at first was sufficient??????????
HOLY SCHMOLY!!!!!
I have spent the morning manicuring my last-place fantasy team and realizing the likliehood that I end up in last!!!
So I figure, what do I have to lose by chess-piecing players at this point?
About Girardi, a good part of the fanbase on lohud tends be unforgiving by nature, so no matter what Girardi does, he will always hear it from those who, er, know better…
Nice cake…..
http://www.nj.com/yankees/
Well then, thanks again Laura!
DB,
I think he puts mt because he can’t spell “Teixeira”!
Al, according to Kim Jones “Mark is the MVP of this league”
This was our Alex
I was at the game last night with a smug Mets fan, so the ending was sweet in that regard. Can’t say it was a good win for the Yankees, but it was a bitter loss for the Mets which is always fun.
I’m going again today with another Mets fan. Gotta figure the Yankees will win today.
I am interested to see how Johan does on Sunday in regards to the short porch and his penchant to give up homers.
Cokey’s job is to get the lefty
Trish, you got some good hitters..just need some better pitching stats.
Nice cake…..
http://www.nj.com/yankees/
==========================
That is a nice cake. Good job by the Japanese media
Pete, Derek’s birthday is June 26th. You and the other beat writers should bake him a cake.
Do people realize that as soon as Castillo dropped it, he threw it to 2nd base?
If he had thrown straight home, he would have atleast had a play with Teixeria.
What in the world was he doing?
Trisha, your fantasy team got + 1.5 points last night. I am only 2 points ahead of you. I could easily be in last place by Monday!
“Haven’t seen that much spin since watching my clothes dry.
Rivera nearly lost the game plain and simple. It happens, no need to spin it any other way.”
Ray, I know that, but in that situation w/ 3,4,5 being next would you rather Coke pitch there ? to a switch hitter like Beltran or David Wright who kills LHPs ?
Fact is 4 outs and 1 ER, and that kept us in the game.
Is Bruney up or down today?
Either Castillo wasn’t thinking or he had not idea where Teixeira was.
He’s in Trenton………which is this the right move
Bruney in Trenton today
“If he had thrown straight home, he would have atleast had a play with Teixeria.
What in the world was he doing ?”
IDK, srsly that’s the first thing that came to my mind, why are you throwing to 2nd ?
Matt June 13th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Do people realize that as soon as Castillo dropped it, he threw it to 2nd base?
If he had thrown straight home, he would have atleast had a play with Teixeria.
What in the world was he doing?
=====================================
Yeah, he should have thrown home. I guess he just wasn’t thinking.
The man might need therapy
Trish, you are going with an empty Pitching spot and your relievers aren’t that good. Dump a hitter and pick up a reliever. You can grab Percival and put him on the DL. Your relief stats are killing you
Here’s how I explain what happened last night.
Alex Rodriguez has super powers, he popped up, but after that he summoned his earth power and slammed the bat in the ground so hard that he caused the ground to shake and Castillo stumbled and that’s why he dropped the ball.
Benigno and Roberts at 1pm on WFAN. I need to listen to Joe. Might be able to play the “Oh the pain” drinking game
““Great play by MT to score from first on the pop! What a night of baseball.”
Tex is in Henry’s head. It’s still killing him.
He has to watch pappi flail at mediocre fastballs while Tex puts up an MVP season.
Boston signs Tex and they win the division and probably the world series easy and possibly have the foundation for a dynasty.
Henry knows that. Knows what slipped through his fingers.
And he’s still grasping at what he lost.
There’s some kind of joke in there with that 2D version of matsui and his wife….DT? Nick in SF?
“Benigno and Roberts at 1pm on WFAN. I need to listen to Joe. Might be able to play the “Oh the pain” drinking game”
I can’t miss that.
I don’t know what’s sadder. An old guy like Henry tweeting when he has better things to do. Or me laughing on a blog at an old guy like Henry tweeting when I have better things to do.
I think it’s the latter.
BRB, BFFs!!!
I know a lot of people give in easily and every time the Yankees lose, or a pitcher pitches poorly, or someone slumps, they say the Yankees suck and we have no chance and we should fire Girardi. Pete disagrees with these people’s views and consistently says that it’s still early in the season, and a 3 game skid isn’t going to kill us. I am not of those people who is ready to throw the towel in. However, I feel like it’s late enough in the season that most of what’s happened up to this point is at least somewhat of a good indicator of where the team is going and what the rest of the season is going to look like, and to me, there seem to be some glaring issues. I’d like to know what you guys think about some of these:
1) Starting pitching. I know a lot of people complain, but honestly, this is one of the things I’m not worried about. CC is great, Pettitte’s fine for what we expect him to give us, Burnett isn’t giving us what we wanted but hey, maybe he’ll turn it around, Joba is so-so but he’s also a back-end very young starter right now so I’m fine with him, and Chien Ming Wang/Hughes (I’ll call them the 5th starter) aren’t great (actually I would take Hughes as a 5th starter anyday, but not Wang the way he’s pitching now). But honestly, you can’t expect your team to be unhittable from top to bottom.
2) Bullpen. This to me is the biggest weakness by far and I can’t see certain guys just turning it around. I can’t see the Yankees at the end of the season with these guys going into the playoffs as a favorite. I mean, look at the Red Sox. They have about 8 guys in the bullpen who Francona and the Sox fans can rely on. We have 1 guy in Mo (struggling lately, but I still feel the need to trust him), maybe 2 (Bruney when healthy). Not much more than that. Some guys here and there fill in nicely (Coke, Aceves, Robertson), but the bullpen right now isn’t going to win us a championship. I’d like to know how you guys feel about this. Whether you think this group can get it done, why they’re struggling right now, whether they need to bring in new guys (and how many), and where you see them at the end of the season.
3) Coaching. I love Dave Eiland and I think he’s great. I remember him working with the young guys a few years ago and he was great. With all the struggles the pitchers are having now, and the feeling that nothing’s being done about it, I have to wonder whether he’s actually that good or not. Is he to blame at all, or is this out of his control? Also, this falls on Girardi also. Speaking of Girardi, I honestly think he’s terrible. That doesn’t mean get rid of him mid season. But I find myself questioning his moves waaaaaay too often. Do you think any of the Yankees’ problems can be attributed to coaching?
4) Vs. Red Sox. I know it sucks they keep losing to them, but I haven’t found myself kicking myself about it yet. The good news is that the Yankees are 6 games up on the Red Sox when they don’t play each other. Why do you think they keep losing to the Red Sox? Do you think this is a bad sign for the season or the playoffs?
Sorry for such a long post. This is actually a modified version of an email I sent to Pete, but I want to get other people’s perspectives on this too. Please respond. Thanks.
During all this verbiage I don’t see anyone debating the RF problem. It is totally painful. Swisher, between his rainbow arm, poor fielding reads and extended batting swoons makes for a very bad situation. The question is; Can Nady recover enough arm by the All Star break. I would almost be tempted by Ajax if he curbed his strikeouts, he is batting 340 in AAA.
Re Boston BP
They had a spare CF that they traded for Ramirez. Gambled on Penny and Saito – full marks to them – It’s called good management, last year they still had Timlin hanging around.
Bullpens come and go – last year the Yankee BP was excellent, this year it’s all over the place. But when your three top set up guys as in Bruney, Marte and Veras implode you have a problem that you can’t solve overnight. This forces guys like Coke, Melancon and Robertson into high levels situations that they’re not ready for. Ramirez was very good last year, this year he’s a bust.
I posted this a week ago or so, thought I’d post it again. A blown save by K-Rod when he was with the Angels, he tried showing up the ump but it led to him losing the game. I’d much rather see A-Rod jack one out last night, but if the Yanks had to win this way, I’m glad it happened to Frankie. Check it out:
http://oakland.athletics.mlb.c.....0&v=2
DB and Fran, thanks for the boost! I have to say that it actually amuses me. DB, Fran knows this already but it’s like there is some kind of curse on my fantasy team. No lie, if I pick up a player, the player turns to stone no matter how well he was doing when I picked him up! If I drop a player the player then turns into either Cy Young or Babe Ruth!!! Seriously, it’s actually funny at this point.
Okay DB, since you’re with me on this, I want to explain at least for public consumption that I had no idea how to play fantasy baseball. I need to explain that since I had no idea how to draft players and started off with Mariano Rivera and then picked up some players who were great defensively. Yes truth as I write it. Then I had the greatest bay of starting pitchers. Nobody told me there was such a thing as max and pace. Well here is my two-prong horror. I am over my pace for starters by 33 games. That means at some point my starting pitching will get shut down entirely. The second prong is that none of my starters, save James Shields, knows how to win games!!!
I am going to go back and take a look at what you said. What should I be doing with my starters that I have? Do I bench certain starters until I am closer to being on pace? As “bad” as he’s been, I don’t want to get rid of AJ. Same with Cliff Lee. Any help will be appreciated!
You squeaked out a win on an error,today is another day.
Error less game ceased when Posada returned.
Pitching is your weakness,the vets and the rookies.
You will have a rough second half because of this fact.
Cashman had better find a set up man that doesn’t just look
good on paper.
I’ll leave the personal name calling to you.Speaking the truth on this blog is a crime.you are required to be a drone,just hold hands and sing kumbaya. That’s not baseball.
When a team with this much talent and potential,falls to Wakefield and Penny.How many teams does Beckett have to be on beating the Yankees,to prove he owns you?
With your much too over weight Ace allowing a slumping Ortiz to homer and hit him every at bat,you are weaker than you know.CC threw 10 pitches to Pedroia,before he walked him,and the rest is history.
You need pitching,but if it makes you PC to deny and bury your head in the sand, so beat it. You can always wish your way to postseason.
Also, people should head over to Pinstriped Bible to read this article from Goldman. Here’s the link:
http://pinstripedbible.mlblogs....._aver.html
Basically, as much as people have been getting on Swish, Cano has for the most part escaped the ire of the fans and media although he is deserving of it. When he’s cold, he’s too cold. And with his lack of patience, he should not be behind A-Rod. And if some of you point out the homer last night, save your breath and look at a trend that spans more than one AB or one game. I love Cano, but I love him batting somewhere else lower in the line-up.
Awh finally a person telling the truth on this blog,with a link about Cano,finally the truth and not just syrup,there’s hope yet!! I wonder how dirty the name calling will get?
*About Castillo, I am someone who typically feels sad for players who screw up like that – but I have put a lot of it right on the doorstep of the overly-animated (except for last night) FRod, who had he not allowed two base runners would not have been in the position to blow the save.*
I agree with this.
*On another note, I will never understand all the tears on this forum whenever someone has the “audacity” to question the game-calling of Posada. Get over yourselves. If pitchers had never asked for another catcher and if Posada had never earned the reputation of being hard-headed, then maybe the questions wouldn’t be out there. But it is not universally held that Posada’s pitch selection is above reproach. While there may be times that the question is asked and Posada is totally blameless in the scenario, there may be other times that the question is legitimate.*
And last night, IMO it wasn’t legitimate. And it was refuted on my part without tears. Given that, I think the “get over yourselves” decree was somewhat uncalled for.
JMO.
But Mo’flatcutter, do you think anyone here gives a flying truck about your opinion? Seriously? Do you think anyone takes you seriously in the least when your team has a sub500 record against so many of the team it plays and you’re here trying to promote it like it is JCA?
Boston fans like Ray and Dennis are respected here. You’re not.
But keep droning on pal. The Yankees were in first place without your help and they’ll make it back there without your help, and to the postseason and to the world series without your help.
So kumbaya, pal, kumbaya.
I’ll leave the personal name calling to you.Speaking the truth on this blog is a crime.you are required to be a drone,just hold hands and sing kumbaya. That’s not baseball.
****************************************
There is also allegedly no crying in baseball either. Doesn’t stop you doing more than your fair share of it though, does it?
Angel, I didn’t have you in mind when I talked about Posada and tears so I will stick with my original post and tell those teardroppers they need to get over themselves.
And it if wasn’t legitimate last night (I certainly can’t say with any kind of unequivocation that it was or was not) so be it.
Trisha,
You annoy me. Some people blame the catcher if the pitcher screws up. If the pitchers not executing or has no control. Then, theres not much a catcher can do. I’ve seen your other comments your making yourself look like a hypocrite. You NEED to get over yourself and back off Posada. I would love to see you behind that plate.
Yankees played error less ball before Posada’s return,now every game has an error.
When you dismiss the games with the Sox as, it’s only 3 games in June.You fail to see the Yankees handing over home field advantage,if you make post season.
It just felt like it was, seeing as I actually weighed in on the discussion last night. If not, then sorry for jumping to conclusions.
I’d say we pretty much agree on more than we don’t. While I agree that no one is beyond criticism or review of their performance – I thought people were really jumping the gun with respect to blaming Posada specifically last night.
Wes, well you don’t annoy me and I think you are entitled to your opinion. You perhaps are at least a little less informed on this one than you might otherwise be because I did not state that Posada was at fault. I did question whether he might be. I will continue to do so when I choose to because I do not find Posada to be the greatest defensive catcher nor pitch selector. I do find him to be almost intimidating to pitchers. I know there are others who feel the same way.
I’m not a Sox fan thank you very much..
As long as the guys in the military, keeping protecting our individual rights to free speech, I’ll speak.
Yeah everything is Posada’s fault. Maybe he shouldn’t have come back. What would he know about catching right? The starting pitchers have absolutely nothing to do with it. Not saying Posada can’t ever take the blame but its ridiculous if people actually think he’s the reason of poor pitching. Cervelli should take over. Then, its only a matter of time till people knock on him too.
Angel, just for future reference, you are about the last person here I would accuse of being a teardropper about anything. I find your posts to be extremely well balanced and rational. So I can say probably without equivocation that if you see me questioning positions that posters may be taking, you are likely exempt even if you are in the mix.
You will never see me cry over a game or catty remarks,not for nothing.
“I’m not a Sox fan thank you very much..
As long as the guys in the military, keeping protecting our individual rights to free speech, I’ll speak.”
Well you’re sure not a Yankee fan, and you’re sure not respectful regarding anything you say to Yankee fans or about the Yankees, so as long as the guys in the military keep protecting our individual rights to ignore white noise, I’ll keep you high up on the list.
If the catcher calls the wrong pitch,and the pitcher throws it, andthe fielders pay for it. Baseball is and always will be a game of pitching.