Plenty of good seats still available
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Tiger Woods explained why the golf tournament he hosts, the AT&T National, lets kids 12 and under in for free:
“We don’t want to have what happened at Yankee Stadium. Tickets are so overpriced that you can’t bring the family. We want to have everyone come out and enjoy being in a family atmosphere, walk around, have a good time and not have it cost an arm and a leg.”
This from a guy who, according to Forbes, made $110 million in 2008.
Congratulations to the Yankees. They’ve managed to make even Tiger Woods blanch at their ticket prices. Meanwhile, they haven’t sold out a game since Opening Day and the team looks better than it has in several years.
The good news is that if you get a seat in right field, odds are you’ll catch a home run. Probably two.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Well, if the AT&T National had a finite number of seats to fill, I’m pretty sure they would charge what they could for it.
Yankee Stadium prices are too, high, that’s true. But let’s keep it real. Golf courses do not equate to stadiums. How much did that Yankee game cost you to attend, Tiger?
that does sound like great news actually…when i go to the stadium i want to sit in rf
Hey, their cheapies were cheaper than our cheapies yesterday.
And I think Roy Halladay just crossed off “pitch for the Yankees” from his secret wish list.
Oh, this is classic.
I bet Tiger doesn’t pay to attend Yankee games. Charles Barkley says Tiger is notoriously cheap.
I’m glad that he’s letting kids in free. That’s great. But like I said, they’ve got acres and acres to fill with people. They can afford to be generous with admissions.
Golf. lol
You know Halladay was snickering when Joba didn’t get the ball in enough on those homeruns.
Nothing can be gained from saying negative things about NYS. Or OYS. If Ken Griffey, Jr. couldn’t say anything nice, why say anything at all?
Golf. lol
==============================
Hahaha.
Pel-
See you do comedy as well as post audio clips.
And back to my point from this time 5 days ago… In the second Major League movie, they tried to make Rick Vaughn a starter too..
I wish we could post youtube links here.. I have a bunch of good similarities.
I’m not much of a golf fan, but Tiger is growing on me.
Yet another Stanfurd phony steps in it.
They’re still leading the league in attendance, you fat disingenuous disgrace to your profession.
Tiger’s fat?
Tiger Woods is a red sox shill he has an agenda. He and Smoltz are buddies. Tiger saying this is nothing more than Red Sox propaganda.
For all of the complaining done about YS, the ERA this year is only slightly higher than the 2008 season and lower than the 2007 season.
I e-mailed Joe Kehoskie, an agent who has worked with Cuban players and knows a lot about baseball there, and asked for his impressions of Aroldis Chapman. His response: “Chapman has more upside than any pitcher in Cuba and that 100-mph fastball is exciting. However, strictly from the standpoint of ML-readiness, I don’t believe Chapman is Cuba’s best pitcher right now, or even in the top five.”
Since we’re all Aceved out. From Olney’s blog:
http://tinyurl.com/qgstah
So the tickets at the NYS are well priced and Tiger is delusional? Excuse me, I’m wanted back on Planet Earth.
If Chapman is about upside and not what he currently is, then whether he is 21 or 26 is even more important than it seemed to be.
GreenBeret7
July 6th, 2009 at 1:31 am
For all of the complaining done about YS, the ERA this year is only slightly higher than the 2008 season and lower than the 2007 season.
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The yankees have one of the best home records in the league. The team has adjusted well to the new stadium. I dont understand why people are complaining about all the homeruns that are being hit.
“Golf. lol”
My thoughts exactly!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C7c-nZIyfc …just sayin…
Golf is a family outing?
Yup, they interviewed a proud family. Their baby’s first words were, “GET IN THE HOLE!”
m, By far the funniest line of the Holiday weekend….
jfinfonsfosnf
July 6th, 2009 at 1:37 am
GreenBeret7
July 6th, 2009 at 1:31 am
For all of the complaining done about YS, the ERA this year is only slightly higher than the 2008 season and lower than the 2007 season.
—————————————————
The yankees have one of the best home records in the league. The team has adjusted well to the new stadium. I dont understand why people are complaining about all the homeruns that are being hit.
————————————————————
They’re winning at a .625 clip at home and a .550 clip on the road. The biggest problem has that the additional walks and hit batters are allowing more runs to be scored. NYY is actually leading the major leagues in hit batters. 42 this year. They’re 10th in the ML in walks. That’s the issue and not all are because they’re being scared out of the strike zone.
LSU is reporting they expect Slade to sign w/ the Yankees this week.
“In baseball recruiting, LSU is expected to pick up several commitments within the next two weeks to replace underclassmen drafted in the MLBD including Jared Mitchell, D.J. LeMahieu, and most likely one or two others. Mainieri will also have to replace at least two signees, Slade Heathcott and Chad Stang, who are very close to signing pro baseball contracts this coming week.”
Sign already !
I would expect Slade to sign with the Yankees. Hopefully he does, oddly I think it’ll be a better environment for him. And he’ll really be the BMOC as the #1 Yankee draft pick, and a position player to boot.
Who wants to take a family to a golf event???
Nothing screams family fun like walking around with kids all day while they scream to sit on your shoulders because they wont be able to see anything in 90 degree heat…
i’m both bemused and saddened by the comments relating to chamberlain and hughes. don’t people realize that 95% of all young starters have various growth pains? what will be the level of hysteria when mcallister/nova/etc. arrive and have their own issues? i’m just happy that the yankees appear to be truly committed to looking within the system first, as opposed to previous years of panicking and overpaying for mediocrity in money and/or prospects!
When was the last time you saw a 4 inning save ????? Aceves was brillant today……
Pete have you heard of the recession? I sat in the bleachers 11 times last season. once this year.It ain’t the tickets, it’s the gas, tolls, and rent I can’t Afford and I’m not the only fan in the lifeboat.
Wow. Ticket prices and a bandbox. Had to find something to counter the overall good vibe in Yankeeland today, huh? Nice work. At least those are fresh, original thoughts. Missing only was the obligatory poor attempt at humor in disparaging A-Rod.
To Yankee fans: Man, Aceves rocks. When his number is called, you have a sense he’s going to get the job done but today was off the charts.
Trivia question I don’t have the answer to: Who has been involved in more 3-2 counts — Swish or Joba? Just wondering…
>Trivia question I don’t have the answer to: Who has been involved in more
>3-2 counts — Swish or Joba? Just wondering…
Yesterday’s totals not including:
Nick – 70
Joba – 66
*included
Slobba
My family and I are among the thousands that the Yankees screwed out of their weekend plans and were shoved into weekday plans. We also lost our seats in Sec. 2 behind home plate and were moved to Sec 413B right next to the left field foul pole. Living 175 miles from NYC, I’ve had to sell off all but 4 of my 12 game package.
After 10 years of attending over 200 games, including 12 -15 games per season at the old Yankee Stadium, I finally attended my first 3 at the new ballpark this past weekend.
My observations, for what their worth are that the Great Hall is a fabulous entrance to a ballpark. The Museum is nice, although I wish there were even more to see. But what is shown is impresssive. Monument Cave is a flat out disgrace. They took a bright open space and turned it into a mauseleum. But when you first look out at the field, you are struck by how close the new Stadium looks like the old place did.
Our Section 431 seats reminded me very much of Petco Park in San Diego. Watching the game from their, you think that there is nothing distinguished about the new ballpark. It’s clean, the seats are set too far away from the field and you cant hear a thing becasue of the way the air travels.
I had seats in Section 319 yesterday, and those seats near home plate felt more like the old Stadium.
Yankees magic number to clinch AL East: 83
Yankees magic number to clinch a playoff birth: 80
sad to say but Tiger is right…… there is a reason why Yankee Stadium hasn’t sold out a game since opening day…..
Tiger should use his near billion dollars to help fill those seats.
the scoreboards are just too small and not good!
Tiger should put his money where his mouth is. He could give the Yankee ticket office a call, buy up the available seats and distribute them to a deserving group of children under the age of 12.
It’s nice that Tiger lets kids under 12 in free,but my favorite hole is not on that course.
Given the recession, the overall attendance at the Stadium has been decent. Watch in a few weeks the number of good seats available at Citifield. You will go there when you want to be alone. You will have your own personal vendors and no lines at the shake shack.
So nice of someone who probably calls up his Gillette Champions buddy at short and gets his tickets for free to comment on Yankee Stadium seat prices.
I knew there was a reason I always hated that loser. Golf…what a joke. Hey Tiger, try a sport that actually requires you to be athletic, and that people actually care about. Maybe then they would care about your free tickets.
The more I think about it, the more I think Aceves makes the start on Thursday now. A lot is going to depend on how Pettitte, CC and AJ pitches in the next three days, but if all three pitchers go 7 innings or more and the bullpen is relatively rested than I think that increases the possibility that Aceves takes the ball on Thursday. Also, Girardi’s comments about Aceves being able to throw 55-60 pitches over the weekend and then Ace throwing almost 45 pitches yesterday plays into my thoughts.
Anyhow, if that happens it gives the Yankees until July 21st to decide about the other three starts left in the July for the 5th starter position. Furthermore, Joba’s starts will play in the decision-making process too. The Yankees can’t afford too many of yesterday-type performances from him.
“The good news is that if you get a seat in right field, odds are you’ll catch a home run. Probably two.”
the obvious solution is to move home plate back ten feet and take out the first few rows of empty seats which makes it harder to hit homers and simultaneously gets rid of those empty seats and bored phony fans behind home plate who never seem to be watching the game.
Jack Nicolson was really watching the game from those seats and he was actually cheering at times.:)
Eldrick sounds like an idiot when he — the biggest name in the most elite of sports like activities — criticizes the cost of anything else.
When you look at the cost of attending a golf tournament remember this. The MOST you can hope to see is 1/18th of the competition. Stay at one hole and watch everyone play it and you see 1/18th of the event.
Baseball let’s you see 18 times as much of the action as golf does, so unless baseball prices are more than 18 X higher it’s a better deal.
I live in Florida and paid for three ridiculously high priced tickets to see them lose to the Phillies. I would have gone to another game, but not at those prices. I would like to think we’ll see a significant “market correction” in 2010, but since they are still averaging about 90 percent of tickets sold I don’t think it will be all that dramatic.
Funny, I never see or hear Tiger take a social stand on ANYTHING.
Jim Brown calls him out, he’s now the champion of high priced baseball tickets?
That’s pretty funny.
Are the tickets priced too high at Yankee Stadium?
In SOME sections, yes. In most of the place, no.
Why do I say that? Because over 90% of the seats are still filled for every game.
They still average over 45,000 people per game, highest in MLB.
No question, there are things they have to fix in the new Stadium in the off-season. That will happen.
However, the potshots everybody takes at the place is just because its the “in” thing to do for phonies like Tiger Woods and others to rip anything associated with the New York Yankees.
When Tiger Woods actually says something of substance AND takes actual, legitimate stands on real social issues in our country, I’ll listen to him.
If I want to hear somebody cry about Yankee Stadium ticket prices, I’ll listen to WFAN.
Today is really the key to Thursday. If Pettite goes 7+ I thin Aceves gets the start and Mitre pitches for Scranton Tuesday. However if Andy struggles or extra inning means another 4+ innings for the pen they’ll hold Mitre.
Aceves is unavailable til Thursday anyway. The perfect scenario today would be 7 from Pettite and 2 from Tomko in an 8-2 win.
Lost in all this talk about whether Aceves should move into the rotation or stay in the bullpen is the most obvious reason of all:
HE’S EARNED IT
If any of you who think he should stay in the bullpen because he’s ‘too valuable’ there would just apply his situation to your own life it would be totally clear. If your boss told you that even though you were qualified for a job at a higher pay scale but you were too valuable where you were, would you be pleased? I’ve managed hundreds of people in my career, ranging from entry level to vice presidents, and have never strayed from giving a promotion to the one who has earned it the most. It’s the same with Aceves, he’s earned the right to be in the rotation. If he goes in and fails, he can still be great in the bullpen. The more likely scenario, though, is that he will pitch the same way in the rotation as in the bullpen and, with the Yankees bats, wins tons of games.
I really believe Aceves can be slotted into the rotation, whether its Thursday or after the break, seamlessly.
In fact, he really belongs in the rotation because his stuff, as well as his ability to pitch, translates better for the team in the pen.
Aceves knows how to give you innings. He’s like Andy Pettitte in that regard.
Even if he is off, he will find a way to give you 6 innings, much like Andy does, in his outings.
You don’t need a relief pitcher to give you 3-5 innings an outing. If you do, you have BAD starting pitching.
The guy has a feel for pitching. Definitely needed in the rotation right now. Especially with Joba underperforming as he is.
CC-AJ-Pettitte-Ace-Chamberlain. You can live with that rotation until they figure out what to do with Wang and Chamberlain.
I add Chamberlain to the mix because if he can’t show more than he is showing, he’s not long for the rotation.
Mitre is supposed to pitch for Scranton today but it’s entirely possible that could change.
They haven’t played any games recently in Scranton so it won’t be hard to find a replacement for him tonight if they decided to go that route.
I think that’s a great point.
Positions in a starting rotation should be earned. They shouldn’t be granted because you “developing” someone, or someone “needs” innings.
Those buzzwords are for non-competitive teams like the Padres and the Pirates to keep their fans interested in the next, “hot” prospect.
Alfredo Aceves has earned a spot, or at least an opportunity, to be in this rotation. He pitched well when given starts last year and he’s probably the best option they have right now.
He knows how to pitch, he’s not on any innings limits, and he has no fear of the strikezone.
That translates to being a good starting pitcher.
Give me break, Pete – I like Tiger, but he sounds like a complete idiot here. Nuff said.
SJ,
You and I both know there’s no chance Joba gets moved out of the rotation anytime soon.
It would be one thing if Wang was healthy and pitching like vintage Wang and they had Hughes waiting for his shot to challenge Joba for his slot in the rotation.
They would also be in better shape if Kennedy was pitching well in Scranton after a rough 2008 campaign and knocking on the door for another big league opportunity as well.
You could then push the envelope a bit with Joba. But none of this is happening because this is not a perfect world.
Wang is out for awhile and his replacement in Hughes is now pitching in the bullpen and not going to be moved. And Kennedy is out for most of the season and won’t be back for awhile.
They are already three pitchers short as far as rotation replacement options are concerned and Sergio Mitre and other AAAA pitchers stumbling around in Scranton are not viable replacements for Joba at all. It’s not even debatable.
Joba’s not going anywhere. He’s just going to have to toughen up and fight through his struggles like Hughes did after the start in Baltimore.
At this point, the Yanks don’t have any other choice. Joba needs a kick in the ass once in awhile and hopefully he’ll perform better on the road next week.
I agree, the Yankees need to get Bruney turned around and find another reliever that can give them multi-innings and is more trustworthy than Tomko.
SJ, people were up in arms after Phil and IPK struggled, killing Cash for giving two kids spots in the rotation (I thought Phil had certainly earned the shot after his performance in 2007 – Ian, not so much after 3 starts), but with Joba, it’s a different story. He’s treated much differently. People wanted Phil to be sent down to AAA last year before he got hurt, but interestingly, they don’t feel the same abuot Joba.
I do not think putting Aceves in the rotation is a good idea – I wouldn’t do it. Without his innings, the pen will collapse – I don’t think anyone can replace what Ace brings. No, I think putting him in the rotation should be an absolute last resort.
This post is a prime example of the International Red Sox Conspiracy being perpetuated by ESPN, Tiger Woods, Gammons, Shaggesy(sp) and of course Peter, who are all closeted Red Sox fans pushing the Red Sox agenda.
SJ,
Hughes has earned another shot at starting too. He’s earned it as much as anyone, including Aceves.
But he’s not going to be moved and you applaud that non-move.
“Hey Tiger, try a sport that actually requires you to be athletic”
I’ll be the first to admit that golf has some fat slobs playing at a high level, but I had to laugh at some one throwing this at Tiger who is more athletic than any DH or pitcher in baseball and probably moreso than a lot of everyday position players…the guy is a physical freak which is probably one of the biggest reasons he’s been as good as he has been for so long.
I also find it humorous that him saying what 90% of the people here have been saying all season draws such a strong reaction. I understand defending your team and all that, but this is a message the Yankee fans have been screaming about all season long…some one agrees with you and because he plays golf there’s outrage! Ridiculous…
Good point, GF……
If the pen collapses because Aceves is out of it, its because the starting pitchers can’t give them length.
You won’t last long in the race if your bullpen has to pitch 6 innings in 3-4 games a week.
The pen won’t collapse if Aceves goes into the rotation.
In fact, the pen has a chance to be BETTER because you add a guy to the rotation who can give you innings.
Bullpens are more effective when they pitch less and not more.
Re: Joba….
GF,
I think Joba-Mania died yesterday. He not only got booed off the mound, you can tell Girardi was seething at him.
Simply put, he’s not been coachable all year. Nobody has had more closed door meetings with the staff than Joba has so far this year. They are losing patience with him. He doesn’t listen and at some point, he’s going to be at odds with the powers that be and that will put his spot in the rotation up for grabs.
Would they pull him out of the starting rotation? They obviously don’t want to but, if he can’t give them more than this, they will have no choice but to do it. You can’t pitch like that for a team trying to make the playoffs.
At this point, Joba is going to have to show why he belongs in the rotation. The kid gloves are off now. There is nobody else left to blame for his performances.
Taking Wang out of the equation (because I think his injuries have hurt him more than anything else), you can make a pretty strong argument that the most disappointing Yankee (performance-wise) for the first half of the year has been Joba Chamberlain. That’s unacceptable, given his talent.
He has to pick it up in the second half. If not, this idea of him becoming a frontline starting pitcher will have to be re-assessed in the off-season.
I don’t expect him to be Cy Young right now. I do expect him to be a heckuva lot better than he is showing. If this is all he is as a starter, back to the bullpen next year.
If he doesn’t want that, work harder, pitch smarter, and show you belong in this rotation.
Three things he is not showing at this time.
SJ, at what point do you think that the Yankees think about trading Joba?
GF,
There is risk to moving Hughes that isn’t associated with Aceves.
First off, moving him in season puts strain on his arm. They did it with Joba last year and that probably lead to his injury. I wouldn’t want to see them risk that with Hughes.
Second, he is a short reliever now and they don’t have anybody to cover his slot in the pen. Bruney can’t do it, even if he was healthy. Nor can Tomko, Robertson, Albie, etc. Too big a hole to fill.
Third, he’s on an innings count. Aceves is not.
Aceves is the more durable guy right now and he isn’t on an innings count.
That’s why its easier and more practical to move Aceves into the slot than Hughes at this time.
statistics don’t lie in baseball…
Aceves has made 21 relief appearances this year…
The Yankees are 12-9 in those appearances, including 3 wins in blow out games where Nick Swisher could have filled the same role…
In fact, in Aceves’ last 10 appearances, the Yankees have lost 7 of those games…
So all this talk about Aceves being vital to the Yankees success out of the bullpen is just that, talk.
He’s pitched great and deserves to be in the rotation since there is an opening.
Hughes is my first choice but since switching him in and then back out could be a health issue then Aceves is the only option. Mitre has not only pitched ZERO innings in the majors this year he is coming back from Tommy John surgery, why is he even an option right now in any of your minds?
Sigh – the thing is, I agree with both MG and SJ. However, remember our first really hot stretch where we won mostly based on late inning comebacks? Our SP was pretty good for that stretch, too, but the pen sucked – which is why we needed all those comebacks (at least, in part). If Wang is out long-term, then I put Phil back in the rotation and I leave him there permanently, even when Wang comes back. I still would not have Aceves there long-term. If it’s just a few starts? Maybe…….
Why did Wang have to get hurt again
Leading NL All Star vote- Albert Pujols
Leading AL All Star vote- Derek Jeter
Only one of the those two is the best in their league.
The two problems sited hear regarding Joba’s failure to pitch well are very valid.
I think he probably didn’t work hard enough in the off season to get in shape because he got caught up in all the hype aimed at him.
Which goes to the second issue mentioned here. His lack of maturity.
In some ways it might be good that he wasn’t in shape so he has to deal with the maturity issues in order to suceed.
I think he needs to hit bottom in order to humble himself enough to relize that he needs to continue to work hard in order to have long term sucess.
I think lack of maturity is the biggest issue he has to deal with at this point.
Maybe Tigger can have his butler or one of his servants teach him how to use the Internet.
I got a $115 seat for $39 and there are tons for sale to any game.
Face value prices are high, IMO, but since the Yankees reinvest in the team with quality players… I won’t be semi-hypocritical and complain about it.
“There is risk to moving Hughes that isn’t associated with Aceves.
First off, moving him in season puts strain on his arm. They did it with Joba last year and that probably lead to his injury. I wouldn’t want to see them risk that with Hughes.
Second, he is a short reliever now and they don’t have anybody to cover his slot in the pen. Bruney can’t do it, even if he was healthy. Nor can Tomko, Robertson, Albie, etc. Too big a hole to fill.
Third, he’s on an innings count. Aceves is not.
Aceves is the more durable guy right now and he isn’t on an innings count.
That’s why its easier and more practical to move Aceves into the slot than Hughes at this time.”
Petty much sums it up….i see Ace making the start thursday
MG, you drastically under-value Aceves so far this season. In those losing situations where he is plugged in, his value comes in the form of eating innings, which may not be as flashy as getting the save or bridging the gap to Mariano but is none-the-less very important to the success of the team over the season….
All Star Joke -
Since when is the all star game about having the best players?
Jason Varitek has started over Joe Mauer in the past. At least Jeter is a good player.
“Alfredo Aceves has earned a spot, or at least an opportunity, to be in this rotation. He pitched well when given starts last year”
yes he did. Aceves proved way more in his limited starts last year, then Ian Kennedy the year before
Two things strike me.
First, Hughes actually pitched himself out of a starting opportunity by pitching so well. Odd, isn’t it? I mean, he only need 8-10 pitches in an inning. Stretched out he is not. If he was getting the same results and using more pitches to do it, even, he could have been in the conversation. But he’s been too good.
Second, what Joba is doing now is pretty much what happened with Hughes and Kennedy at the beginning of last season, but Hughes and Kennedy did not get the offensive support that was expected, which would have allowed them to weather the storm of the “learning curve.” Joba appears to be stubborn and the situation is frustrating as all get-out, and I sure hope that this mental aspect of the situation improves. But, that saic, he is no different than Hughes and Kennedy were. He is learning, that much is true. And he has actually benefitted from the Yankees offense and bullpen stepping it up in his starts, so as a team the Yankees have not suffered as much as they could have been.
The Yankees were prepared for 6 inning starts from Joba. What they did not expect was 4-5 innings consistently. And I think they were hoping that THEY would be the ones limiting the innings, taking Joba out and having people scream “no,no, leave him in!” Instead, Joba’s pitch counts have dictated his innings.
I think it will work itself out. But certainly, Wang’s situation all year hasn’t helped. And luckily the Yankees haven’t been horribly hurt. Tho, the argument could be made that if the pen hadn’t gone through stretches of over-work, especially earlier in the season, they could be the ones in first place. Being just one game is fortunate.
I’m curious if something happened to Mitre? It seemed once Wang went down he was the popular choice but no one’s talking about him today…the way the bullpen has been working so well it makes more sense to me to plug in someone from AAA (with Mitre appearing to be the best option at the moment) to eat some innings and keep the bullpen the way it is…whoever pitches in Wang’s spot Thursday needs to last hopefully 7 but at least 6 as Joba pitches the next day and can not be counted on for length…
You know what. I am sick and tired about hearing people complain about ticket prices. Say they lowered the $1200 seats to $400. Guess what I still wouldn’t be able to afford them. And of course they’d have to make their loss back elsewhere. SO what do you think they would do? Raise the grandstand prices from an affordable $20 bucks to probably $40. Do people really think they’d lower the lower level seats and not look to make the money back elsewhere. You can still take a family of 4 to the game and not pay a ton of money. You just can’t sit next to the field. But hey that is life. And guess what! You can bring food in. You don’t need to buy the $4 hot dog. Bring cheese sandwiches and soda from home. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I am so tired of it.
You need guys in the bullpen to “eat innings”, you have bad starting pitching.
I’d rather have the guy “eat innings” in the rotation. That makes the bullpen better because they have to cover less innings.
Based on what he showed yesterday, Albaladejo could be kept to pitch in the role Aceves has held if a decision is made to slot Alfredo in the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation.
If Mark Melancon can step it up, he can be useful at some point.
No decision will be made until Wednesday.
SJ, that was my point, but I’d rather that guy in the rotation not come from a bullpen that has been such a strength lately that messing with it just doesn’t make sense…it’s kind of like why the Yankees didn’t send Hughes back down to work as a starter…they didn’t want to mess with a good thing.
While trying to find the interview with Nick Swisher from last night. I came across this on NBC’s website for Mike’d up.
Are you Mike’d Up?
Mike Francesa delivers a clear, concise and honest analysis of the region’s week in sports
I almost fell off my chair. Clear and concise? On what planet?
Girardi said on his manager’s show on YES that a decision probably won’t be made until the day before, because they don’t know what they’re going to be needing for the games between now and then. So, we can speculate, but with every passing game and each pitcher used in relief, the answer to the question of who pitches in Wang’s spot will change daily.
The cost of the seats haven’t gone up. It’s just that now you pay the Yankees instead of a scalper. At least I know if i want to go to a game there will be a ticket.
How are people defending the Yankees? If they dropped some of the prices they would sell out every single game resulting in a comparable profit margin while allowing more fans to enjoy the game. This isn’t Florida where the stadium would still be empty if the tickets are free. People want to go to the game but a family of 4 is going to spend at least 150$ to enjoy a game. It’s fine to charge a ridiculous amount for the best seats in the park and the amenities that come with them but the Yankees really should make an effort to lower some prices.
I’d give Albaladejo a few more outings before he’s declared ready to fill the void that would be left by Ace…there’s a reason Albe didn’t stick the first time.
Funny, kinds sick about hearing about the ticket prices. We all get the fact that many seats are overpriced, but the Yankees lead the lead in attendence, according to a report last week their earnings are doing quite well.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/.....rFwRCW_iN0
Tiger has made light of it because the media has made light of it. How are the Mets doing with their seats for a junk team?
We can keep bashing the Yankees, but they are actively looking at feedback from their season ticket holders, they are getting out in the community and I imagine their will be changes next year. Anyone that thinks the seats are too expensive and they can’t attend a game. Hit up stubhub and get them at a discount. Really the people who are suffering are the ones like me who put up the money for some sort of ticket plan and I am not complaining.
“Jason Varitek has started over Joe Mauer in the past. At least Jeter is a good player.”
Jeter is also legitimately the best player at his position this year. Granted, SS is a black hole in the AL, but Jeter gets an edge over Bartlett for staying healthy and nobody else is close.
Biggest all-star screwings: 1) Lind 2) Kinsler
So the Yankees don’t sell out. So what? They are still leading MLB in both home and road attendance. The home figure is almost 200,000 more than Philadelphia. The new stadium plays small, we get it. But it plays small for both teams. Last time I checked they were both playing in the same ballpark and have the same opportunity to hit one out. So enjoy the games and the new ballpark. The Yankees are playing well at home and the amenities at the new stadium are head and shoulders above the old stadium. If they weren’t hitting home runs, people would be complaining about that too.
t- Now really say half the legends seats are not sold. But say in order to sell out the legends seats they’d have to drop the price to $300 a seat, well they’d have to lower the $300 seats as well. So you know what? They’d rather have empty seats they are making more money.
I think the Yankees are wrestling with this dilemma:
They will never say it publicly but, I doubt they expect much more than they are getting out of Chamberlain the rest of the year.
Too much ineffectiveness and too much stubborness to expect differently out of him at this point.
Mostly 4-5 inning starts and he will drain the bullpen in those starts. He will mix in a few decents starts but, overall, he is what he is at this point of the year.
When you only see the 7th inning twice in your first 16 starts, expecting him to eat innings now is folly.
If you add another guy (Mitre or someone else) who pitches with similar results to the rotation, your bullpen is gassed every week.
That’s going to be difficult to keep the pen fresh the rest of the way.
Aceves can eat innings. He’s a bulldog type of guy.
If you add him to the rotation, you have 4 guys capable of eating innings. Even though Joba’s performances are becoming less and less acceptable, you can live with them if you have 4 other guys producing innings more often than not.
That’s probably why they are taking their time in making this decision.
John you know what the funniest thing is. I think it was in a NYT article. People who bought season tickets expecting to sell say half of them and make a profit on the tickets cause they thought they’d be such a hot item, having to take a loss on them. I laugh at their misery, cause they are greedy people.
Steve- They really need to end fan voting, or change the way it is done. The fact that fans can vote 25 per email address, and most people have more than one, is stupid. Why in the world was Hamilton voted in, he has missed so much of the season.
SJ Also keep in mind that Joba’s turn in the rotation as of now follows Wang’s spot so having two days in a row where you may need to go to the bullpen early is even more draining on the pen.
SJ,
I think you are going way overboard on Joba. You do that a lot when you’re frustrated with certain players (ie: Cano, Melky, etc, etc).
It’s not an insult or anything like that. But that is your nature and you’re entitled to that like anyone else.
Personally, I don’t think Joba-Mania died yesterday at all. I would be thrilled if it did because that’s too much pressure to put on a 23 yr old kid anyways.
But we saw the same kind of crap and even worse with Hughes last year. We heard the bust label come out quite a bit. He was downright horrible and probably hit rock bottom. A lot of people wrote the obituary for Phil Phranchise and now Michael Kay is slobbering over him and giving him new cheesy nicknames.
But that failure turned out to be a good thing for Hughes because he’s a different pitcher now. Many on this board probably remember you suggesting that Hughes’ background might have been a contributor to his lack of toughness after blowing up against Baltimore.
Ironically enough, you compared Hughes’ background to Joba’s background and how his much tougher upbringing probably made Joba a better pitcher than Hughes.
It was quite the Outsiders reference. It was like comparing the greasers to the socials.
There’s no question Joba needs to grow up a little bit. But he’ll learn like any other youngster at 23 yr old.
BTW, I wouldn’t put too much stock in the Neanderthals booing Joba yesterday. These are the same knuckle draggers who booed Teixeira, Mo (yes, Mo!) this season and continue to boo A-Rod for simply showing up to work.
I don’t have any respect for those kinds of “fans” at all.
From the Bloomberg article written by Aaron Kuriloff
:
“The share of projected revenues that is dependent on luxury suites could be a credit weakness in the current economic environment,” the report said. “However, Moody’s understands that only seven of the suites that were available are unsold as of June 2009.”
The stadium has a total of 47 luxury suites.
end of quoted reference.
Once the economy improves you can be sure those other suites will sell out. There was a rationale behind the ticket prices, but this was well before the economic slump. Merrill Lynch used to have seats next to the Yankees dugout, four seats as well as multiple locations. Once these buisnesses went away, so did the re-up for this season.
Again businesses adjust, just not overnight, this is again an issue which keeps coming up this year and who cares now really?
The Mets luxury seats are essentially given away at a step discount to fill them up behind home as a friend of mine who works for them let me know. They give them internally to employees at the discount to get people in them.
gayle- Joe is going to have to change that up. But he’ll also have to weight it with the fact that AJ apparently loves following CC. He feeds off of CC. Might not want to change that dynamic either.
MaineYankee — I think that what you’re talking about is only one aspect of his problem. You could tell he has bought into his own hype and let’s face it he hasn’t produced out of the rotation the same way a guy like Lincecum has. I can’t speak for the whole fan base but when I thought Joba to the rotation that’s what I thought I was getting. This isn’t to say it won’t ever happen but maybe it’s all a little too much too fast. The old “he never failed in the minors” line may fit here too. He is failing and is seemingly in freefall because he doesn’t know what to do about it; maturity.
The other thing I’d like to put out there is maybe this is some sort of residual issue from his injury last year. Remember, he wasn’t the same pitcher after that, even out of the pen when he returned. It took Hughes well over a year to get back to 93-95 after his injuries. Wang wasn’t right even including his last start, and now he hurt his shoulder because of it. I personally think we could be seeing some residual mechanical issues that have resulted from his (speculative) less than great off season program, and the shoulder trouble. Wang got all out of whack compensating for his foot, maybe Joba is too because he’s thinking about his shoulder?
Let’s just hope Wang comes back strong or we’ll have larger concerns.
“Steve- They really need to end fan voting, or change the way it is done.”
Players and manager selections are close to as weak. Michael Young??? Maddon picking Wakefield as sort of a sentimental choice? I don’t know. I don’t get too crazy about it. Felt bad for Lind and Kinsler. That’s about it. Hoping one of them wins the vote and the other gets in to fill for injury.
“There was a rationale behind the ticket prices”
The rationale = There’s one born every minute.
jennifer, I agree. But the greedy people are the same with any sport. Football season seats were a scam for the longest time. So the non fans who were re-selling the tickets could care less until this PSL thing came up to grab some of that money they made back. The real fan gets killed there as that is total out of pocket since they actually attend the games.
As far as the Yankees go, how many normal fans ever had season seats behind home plate for the full season? I would say very few. To a corporation that money isn’t really all that relevant (only in a economic downturn when they are looking to cut costs).
Bottom line is, most of the common fans never sat in the Legends seats to begin with without getting them thru work or some corporation. This year less corporates bought them because of the economy so more are just available.
jennifer -
Absolutely – people speculated and lost out this time around. And the people who really wanted the seats didn’t get them because they were sold to the people who had no intention of going to the game themselves.
SJ44 -
They never expected Joba to be an innings eater this year. What they did expect, I think, was for the 5-6 inning outings to be of a better quality. I don’t think they anticipated the 4 inning, 100 pitch stuff they’ve gotten too much of at this point. I mean, even typing that, it should be really difficult to throw 100 pitches in 4 innings. It really should be.
Hokiehill
July 6th, 2009 at 8:51 am
MG, you drastically under-value Aceves so far this season
No, I don’t at all, I highly value Aceves’ ability and want him on the mound, in a game that starts 0-0, every 5 days. There is a need on the staff for a ‘mopup’ guy, the one who pitches when the starter gets knocked around and leaves early. The best fit for that role on the Yankees is Tomko, he is a veteran, has been a starter most of his career, and can pitcher 3 or 4 innings if needed. One of the things many of you miss right now is that the Yankees have real depth in the bullpen. Hughes and Coke not only have pitched great but can go more than 1 inning; they can also both get out lefties and righties so there isn’t the need to mix and match in the LaRussa mode. Bruney will get better and may have turned the corner pitching out of that jam on Saturday. So, if your starters give you 6-7 decent innings most games, how much more do you need to win 95 games and go to the playoffs?
SJ:
Regarding Joba, is it at all reasonable to think a trip to the minors might impress upon him the importance of listening to and applying to his craft, what his coaches are telling him? To me, it’s either physical, which I don’t think it is, or obstinance, which can’t go unchecked.
I guess the quesion about ticket prices, would you rather the Legends seats be really expensive and try to get corporates to carry the bill or would everyone like the bleacher seats, uppers and everywhere else go up significantly? Or maybe everyone would rather see the cost of their cable bill increased for viewing the games.
GF,
I’m not saying Joba is a bust. Far from it. But, its hard to deny he has been a disappointment this season.
Not because he isn’t pitching like an all star. That’s not it at all.
Its because he refuses to make adjustments and continues to pitch the same way regardless of results. He is a handful to catch and he tough to coach. Its undeniable and its pretty clear Girardi is reaching the breaking point with him.
Fact is, he has been a disappointment and a drag on the staff so far this year.
Can he turn it around? Sure he can.
However, the rotation can’t revolve around Joba. If he can’t do the job, just as Hughes couldn’t when given the opportunity, he isn’t going to keep his job.
You have to see improvement at some point from him. We aren’t seeing it.
To that end, the Yankees have to make adjustments to the rotation to make sure he doesn’t kill the pen for the other guys.
That means, they have to add another guy they feel can give them innings so the pen is fresh for Joba’s short starts.
john — Football is much worse than what the Yanks are doing. Me and my dad own season tickets for the NY Football Giants (seats my grandpa got from his uncle who worked as the equipment manager for the Giants when the stadium opened) and there is no loyalty whatsoever. On top of the $10,000 we have to pay them by next season they’re raising ticket prices roughly $30 a game. PLUS, because this new place is for both NY Football teams they’re getting to double dip on the PSLs. Now my dad is a cop and I’m a law student, we aren’t rich, just good fans. I’ve been to every Giants home game since I was 12 (including a few Christmas eves, and driving down from Boston twice a month for the past two years) and seen the team lose HORRIBLY in the two post-season home games we’ve had in the last 5 years. I have all my ticket stubs. But it’s obvious based on the pricing structures they’re creating that my favorite football team doesn’t care about that, and they don’t really want me there anymore. Sports, if it ever was, is no longer about the fans.
And I think Roy Halladay just crossed off “pitch for the Yankees” from his secret wish list.
______________
Does anyone think that Cashman knew how much of a homer happy stadium Yankee stadium was being built to be when he signed the two biggest free agent pitchers to long term deals? Makes me wonder if he assumed that it was the last chance the Yankees will have in a long time to land a top flight starter.
Doreen,
How exactly did the real people who want them not get them? The Legends seats were never going to be $100 each or something? If you go on StubHub for Legends seats before the game many of those seats can be had for less than $200 bucks so if people really wanted to go they can get those or cheaper than face value seats anywhere in the stadium.
I am not saying the seats aren’t overpriced, but let’s be real supply vs. demand applies here. Fans that want to go to the game are willing to buy the seats cheaper, Stubhub or elsewhere. Those that bought in to make money are suffering. Companies could care less if they were willing to buy the seats, they expense them and give them away for “business purposes.” The Yankees will probably adjust next year.
Bottom line, Yankees lead the league in attendence and if the games aren’t sold out or full to capcity that no one can say they can’t go to the game if they really want to.
Steve B,
I don’t think the minors will help Joba because he will go there, throw his slider all the time, and dominate minor league hitters.
In a way, it will exascerbate the problem because he will continue to believe his slider is his “get out of jail” free card on the mound. When in fact, its his overreliance on it that’s leading to his problems.
Its a tough thing to get a handle on for Girardi, Eiland, and Posada. He’s one of those guys that is difficult to catch and very, very stubborn. Lots of pitchers are like Joba. Its like cracking a complex code to get them to make adjustments.
Yesterday, Posada forced him to come out throwing fastballs. He would get ahead and go back to his familar pattern. Shaking off to throw the slider, take forever to deliver the ball from the stretch, etc.
He is so fixated on that pitching pattern, he has yet to understand the league has adjusted to him and he has to make adjustments if he wants to have success.
You keep waiting for the bell to go off in his head and he makes the adjustments needed to improve. Sadly, its ringin’ but, he just refuses to hear it.
Rob NY
Agree football is the disaster which no one seems to get. I know quite a few fans that had to give up their season seats because of the PSL. The true die hards that have had seats passed down forever who go to every game, just have the money to pay the season prices. Who has $5k – 10K and above just to keep your seats. I know a lot of guys who keep their seats as their one gift to themselves every year.
I have been on the waiting list for the Giants for 15 years. Finally got a call even though I was still thousands of people away. Strictly because of the PSL.
That’s the only issue I have with the Yankees complaining, the corporate money always carried a lot of the ticket revenue, much of the new stadium would be carried by these with the Legends etc. The Yankees didn’t crush the people in the bleachers by doubling the cost of those or making those regular seats, could have done that. Could have increased all these seats significantly. You would rather them charge some of these luxury boxes through the nose. The Yankees simply overdid it. It happens. Look at what it costs to go watch the Sox in Fenway. They even auction off their extra seats to get extra revenue. There are no cheap seats in their park. Standing room only they even sell.
How the stadium plays this season doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to play like that in future years. They will make some engineering changes to the ballpark in the offseason and will have a full season of data to evaluate what those changes will be this offseason.
SJ44,
Sounds like we need Crash Davis to teach Joba what’s what.
“Aceves can eat innings. He’s a bulldog type of guy.”
I said this last week and ill say it again….way too many Yankees fans believe the hype….Maybe Aceves will be in the rotation and Joba in the pen….Who cares, I say…as long as we win games….I hear “he is a number 1 starter and we all believe it..Hughes is a number 1 starter…Right now Hughes has been lights out in the bullpen….this is the Yankees we worry about next year, next year…We learned that lesson last year when we had kids in the rotation…We could have suck with that plan…but Cash got wise and signed CC and AJ….I could care less about the name on the back of the jersey as long as they win games…
Part of the problem for Joba with his slider is that he can’t throw for strikes when he needs to so the batters stop swinging at those pitches in the dirt and make hay for those mistake ones that are right down their wheelhouse.
SJ,
But my point before is that they have no means to push the envelope with Joba. They just don’t.
Hughes would be ideal but he’s staying where he is. Kennedy might even be an option but he’s not coming back anytime soon.
Aceves would be fine as well, but if he does join the rotation, he’ll be replacing Wang – not Joba.
Igawa is no replacement. Neither is Mitre. Towers? I tend to doubt it.
McAllister? Nova?
Major major long shot.
Joba needs a kick in the butt. We agree on that.
But he’s not going to be removed from the rotation and replaced by a Double-A, Triple-A, or AAAA starter. That’s just not going to happen.
David Cone is an expert when it comes to pitching. He was a starter who began his career in the pen and pitched in both the rotation and pen during his career. He was the first person to advocate PH to the pen when CMW came back the first time. Most people never thought of that or thought it was a bad idea. Turns out it was a great idea and both PH and the NYY benefited. Yesterday Cone said that if the NYY want to replace CMW long term with PH, the team could have Phil stretched out within 3 weeks without risking injury. I tend to believe Cone knows what he’s talking about. It may be the best way to go, if Bruney can step up as the 8th inning guy. It all starts with starting pitching and the NYY need to put their 5 best out there, that includes Phil Hughes.
john– yeah I know that the tailgate party we go to has a lot of people who say they just can’t do the new stadium. I mean I understand that “all the new stadiums for football have PSLs” but what does that mean to me? In the words of my grandmother “If the Pittsburgh Steelers jumped off a bridge should we do it too?” well sort of.
Talk about getting priced out of a stadium, as a fan base we’re being extorted for the privilege of continuing to pay for seats. Maybe Tiger woods should get on his high horse and ride over to the Meadowlands when he’s done at NYS.
Regardless of what he shows for the rest of this year, Joba will be put on a strict offseason training regimen and in particular gaining leg strength.
The honeymoon is over for Joba with Yankee fans. It’s time for him the take the game seriously.
Patrick,
What’s amazing to me about Joba is, he has AJ and CC telling him the SAME THING Posada, Eiland and Girardi have told him about what adjustments he needs to make out there and he still doesn’t listen.
He’s a good kid but, his stubborness is really hurting him right now.
You learn a lot about players in terms of how they handle failure. That gives you a window into how they will handle success and how they will develop as players.
With Joba, the early signs were that he would handle success pretty well. Then, the hype got really crazy, he had the DUI in the off-season, and he came to camp this year in pretty poor shape.
He’s been playing from behind fitness-wise all year. IMO, that’s 50% of his problems in terms of maintaining velocity, crispness of stuff and endurance. The other 50% is between his ears.
I thought his “come to Jesus” moment was going to come after the Mets game. He got read the riot act by Girardi after that one. Unfortunately, what he was told didn’t take.
Its going to be interesting to see which Joba shows up Friday night in Anaheim. He usually pitches better on the road so, perhaps that will help.
However, if doesn’t start taking instruction better, the Yankees have an issue on their hands.
Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that.
I understand why everyone is frustrated with Joba (heck I am too) but the fact is, he has a 4.00 ERA in the AL east as a 23 year old. The team has a winning record when he pitches.
Joba should NOT be taken out of the rotation, it is way too premature to say that. These are just growing pains. If you want Joba to be an ace someday this is what we have to suffer through.
Hopefully yesterday was a wake-up call for Joba. If you pitch poorly the fans aren’t going to love you. I really hope he realizes that his way isn’t working. It’s time to listen to the coaches and Posada. It’s also time to really work on your mechanics because I’m sick of a 90-92 mph fastball coming from Joba.
I’m still uncertain who should fill the fifth starter role on this team. We can’t expect Wang to be back this season. If he is, that’s a bonus.
So what are the options for fifth starter? Mitre, Aceves, Hughes, kids from the minors.
We’d all love Hughes there but it would weaken the bullpen a lot and we’d probably lose him for a month while he stretches out.
Mitre sucks, plain and simple. The kids (Nova/McAllister) aren’t ready.
Aceves seems like the right choice, IF Cashman can trade for another dependable reliever.
If Cash can get another veteran in the pen we would have Rivera, Hughes, Bruney, ??, Coke, Robertson, Tomko in that order. At that point I’d cut Tomko and bring up a long reliever, maybe Mitre.
The rotation becomes Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte, Aceves, Chamberlain.
john-
What I’m saying is that there are always ticket speculators. People who buy the tickets – a lot of them – first and count on the re-sell market to make a profit, without ever going to a game themselves. This isn’t new. But the number of seats available is less than the old stadium, and I’m suggesting that the re-sellers scooped up those seats that the partial plan people would have gotten, causing those people to accept different plans than they would have liked. People like Drive 4-5, who had to forego his/her weekend plan for a weekday plan which, because he/she works, going to a weeknight game is not always viable.
Sure, now those tickets are available on Stubhub and for some games they’re even below face value. And people who really want to go to games will go to the games.
But the original sale of some of the tickets didn’t necessarily go to the people who bought them for personal use. That may have always been the case. It’s exacerbated this season because of the lesser number of seats overall, and the general state of the economy.
When we went to the game a few weeks ago, we ran into a guy my husband knew in high school (total surprise, you never know who you’re going to run into!) who usually bought a partial ticket plan. He ended up getting a full season plan so that he would have the opportunity to buy playoff tickets, if the occasion arose. Lucky him he could afford to do that. And I think the seats he has now are not as good as the seats he had in OYS. But he wasn’t upset or miserable about it. He’s still having a good time at the games he can get to, with his sons and their friends.
I think, bottom line, the Yankees didn’t foresee the economy tanking quite so abruptly. They’re a victim of poor timing as much as anything else.
john -
I wasn’t knoocking the Yankees, by the way, but the speculators.
How this ballpark plays actually works to this team this year. CC a tough lefty will be hard to pull homers into RF. They have quite a few stikeout pitchers which is good. Jeter hits balls to RF so better for his power numbers, same with Damon. Also almost pushes Arod to hit the other way which is a good thing.
The players it hurts the most is Andy Pettitte and Wang, guys who when the ball is up give up the long flys.
Also teams that aren’t used to hitting in the park are less likely to take advantage.
Bill, I agree with you on David Cone completely. The Yankees are being stubborn about moving Hughes back and forth so I have accepted that and moved on to the next best option for them, which is Aceves. It’s not out of the question that in 2010 both Hughes and Aceves will be starters along, hopefully, with Joba. I’m not discounting Wang but just feel very uneasy about his future, he’s essentially a one pitch pitcher (his slider is not major league quality, no change of speeds at all) and they have a tendency to have short careers at the top.
I just noticed something. The San Francisco Giants are leading the wild card race right now. Wow..
maybe the next time the Yankees have an off day in the schedule and can swing it, they should just skip Joba in the rotation. They can say to the media/fans that they’re doing it to keep him within his season innings limit or whatever, but hopefully they’ll be giving Joba a bit stronger of a message…
I think its easier to find a bullpen arm on the trade market (and cheaper) than it is a starting pitcher.
That’s why Aceves to the rotation may make the most sense.
You can cover his spot in the pen. Hard to cover innings in the rotation.
As far as Joba? It all comes down to performance. Growing pains are growing pains IF you see improvement.
If you don’t see improvement, then its not growing pains, its a problem.
28 starts in his career, 9 decisions. the lowest % in the history of baseball for a starting pitchers first 28 starts.
16 starts this year, only twice has he hit the 7th inning.
His low ERA is as much a byproduct of them taking him out early in games as it is good performance.
Their 11-5 record in his starts are more because of their offense than it is him.
I just want to see improvement. Even if its incremental.
So far this year, we aren’t seeing it.
He ought to thank his lucky stars Wang got hurt. That injury may be the only thing keeping him in the rotation right now.
Joba only has one start until after the All Star break, it will be interesting to see how the starters line up after the break since none of them are on the All Star team. It’s probable that Joba will make his next start on Friday (July 10th) and then not pitch again until either July 20th or 21st, so he’s missing a start in his schedule no matter what.
Doreen, agree with you the Yankees screwed this up and the timing.
And they certainly didn’t adjust the original plan.
To your point, I had a Friday and Sunday plan. I got awful seats for Friday, but took them because the Yankees said if you didn’t accept your relocation seats you would be put in a lottery for a new area, but more than likely wouldn’t get seats. My Sunday plan got moved to a weekday which I wouldn’t want. So went back into the lottery, two weeks later could have a Sunday plan in mutliple locations? I could have also taken Friday or Saturday plans that were supposedly sold out??? So I asked the guy if I could upgrade my Friday seats or move them, was told no.
My plan going into the season was scrap both plans and upgrade to a half season. Since they told me that was near impossible I obviously didn’t do it.
So whoever was in charge of all of that messed up bigtime.
Also they used to have the plan A and B 40 gamers and combined them into one. I think that merger screwed them up too.
Next year though, now that people are in, I am sure some people will upgrade locations like me. Those that speculate will be out. The Yankees will amend the premium seat prices and if the economy improves will get more corporates in there or come up with a better plan selling them.
So I agree some seats are well expensive and they messed up. The speculators and ticket scalpers should be smacked around for a change. I just never like the arguement of some people making it seem like they can’t attend a game. Bleachers are as low as $5-9 dollars on stubhub for pretty much every game. So people can go if they want. They can bring food with them. Most of the people making the arguement would never pay the money for the Legends seats in the old stadium so I can’t see the constant complaining about that.
And sorry, apologize to all, didn’t realize I wrote so much which is something Pete asked people to cut back on.
You know, SJ44, I’ve starting thinking about the statement Joba made about the boos. The “when the sun comes up tomorrow, I have a job” statement. Perhaps he is too complacent and comfortable. He misses the point – yes, you have to kind of ignore the boos, but booing is almost always a product of poor performance. So, essentially, his statement says, and he probably did not mean to say this, but how people will hear it is, if the Yankees win, and I think I gave 100%, it doesn’t matter how poor my results are. I still have a job.
Just a thought.
SJ44,
As I said before, I understand the frustration over Joba. And I also understand why his ERA is low, etc. He needs to be better, that’s a given.
My point is, we know this guy is young and needs experience. You say you want to see improvement but at what rate? That’s the question. We don’t know how long it will take him to “get it”. The thing is, he has too much talent to be impatient.
I don’t think Joba’s rotation spot was in any danger, even if Wang got hurt. I just don’t see the replacement for him right now. With no injuries do you really think they’d put Ace in the rotation over Joba? Why mess with a good thing?
That is pointless to consider now that Wang is down.
Joba isn’t going anywhere. We all have to bite the bullet and HOPE that Girard/Eiland/Posada get through to him.
I really love Alfredo Aceves
Whoever found him deserves a pie(start baking AJ)
The Joba debate shouldn’t be one. He’s a young pitcher, look at the Becketts, Halladays, etc early in their careers. All had issues, all had poor starts and not going deep into games. It’s typically of power strikeout pitchers. The future of this team relies on needing him to be a starter as you can’t go out and spend big money on more starters. Andy obvious doesn’t have much left, Wang now getting hurt again. The future is CC, Burnett, Wang and then who else going forward, if Wang is ok. Hughes is and should be a starter and Joba. Aceves is the 2009 El Duque and Ramiro Mendoza.
Its one of those questions we can’t answer.
If Wang was healthy and performing, it would have been interesting to hear Girardi answer the, “would you take Joba out of the rotation for Aceves” question right now.
Its moot now, obviously.
However, if his “ceiling” this year are 4-5 inning starts, its going to be a very interesting off-season for the Yankees in terms of where they put Joba next year.
Joba:
When you are not pitching well, as Joba is for sure not. His velocity is down much lower than anyone anticipated. Yes, he is a starter now.. but still he was hitting 100 last year.. now he averages 91. You don’t lose 9MPH from changing roles. Maybe you lose a little bit, but 9MPH has me concerned. Also, his control is sporadic at best!
With all that I have read here.. Yes, he is young and has to learn. However, shaking off a veteran like Posada is not showing willingness to learn but EGO, and unwillingness to be teachable. Obviously, he needs to stop pitching in his head and allow JP to teach him.
How do you do that if he has not been willing to do that thus far? You have no choice but to demote him. All the “closed-door meetings” have done nothing for him. He is unwilling.. nothing more you can do about that.
If anyone needs a slice of humble pie on that team right now.. even over Arod (Wow, did I just say that?) it’s Joba. In his mind he is still pitching at speeds upwards to 100MPH, in his arm he is throwing nothing but average fastballs that he can’t locate.
DO I believe in him still. Yes, but what SJ has said in the previous posts… +1 for something drastic has to change.
Maybe I should not have said, “demote”.. I should’ve have said, “change role”.
I think part of the Joba problem is that he debuted in 2007 and within 2 bullpen appearences became a rock star.
The guy has never really had any humbling.
Also, I did see him hit 95MPH yesterday…
Erica, I agree.. but he WAS a rockstar
can’t deny that.
But the issue now is that he thinks he is and he is far from it. When asked about it, he says, “That’s baseball, it happens”. *grmf!
Man, people really misrepresent this yankee ticket thing. Pete- you wrote a blog post a while back saying that this is the time to go to a game because you can get tickets so cheap on the secondary market- then you post this as if Tiger Woods knows what it’s like to take a family of 4 to a ballgame?
The average ticket price is monumentally skewed by the highest prices in baseball history for the GREAT seats. Does it matter to any normal fans that those seats are so expensive? It doesn’t matter to me….bleacher and upper tier seats cost the same, what the hell is there to complain about?
On another note, great to see Tex beat out Youk for starting 1st baseman in All Star Game. Looks like Yankee Universe out numbered the great Red Sox nation. Bet ESPNers like Gammons, Berthuame, and Ravech are growling over this one.
This is obviously just to help further advance the Red Sox Agenda through the Red Sox bias in the media.
Its ridiculous.
Wasn’t there a Yankee reliever last year (can’t remember who at all), who got completely shelled for an inning. In the post game he said, “well, I thought I made some really good pitches, they just hit them”
Joba’s postgame yesterday reminds me of that. I think the Yanks need to let him know that he needs to pitch well. Or my pretend boyfriend, Johnny Damon could give him a famous pep talk
And Yes, Joba was a rock star. I had the Joba Rules T-shirt
Joba lost velocity because his mechanics are wack and he’s out of shape. He hit 97 consistently in Cleveland and his slider/curve/change velocity is the same so I highly doubt he is pitching with an injury.
I agree it’s easier to find a bullpen arm, but at this point in the season there are only a handful of teams out of a playoff position: Nationals, Padres, Diamondbacks,A’s,Indians,Orioles and Royals.
The Padres just traded Scott Hairston who was making 1.250M. Could Heath Bell be far behind? He also makes the same as Hairston.
tommy h
My point exactly. Even in the old park your average fan wasn’t buying the seats in those locations so shouldn’t matter. Your average fan does not have a PSL charge in the new stadium. Some seats have gone up, think mine went up by $5 or something. I buy some seats on the secondary market when I want to go for cheaper than face. And they added beer back into the bleacher area, another plus. And I think the bleacher views are actually much better than at the old park, especially in LF. Plus the Bleacher Cafe is a nice spot.
Joba wasn’t going to throw 100 MPH anymore anyways. He only did that because he threw as hard as he could for an inning or two and emptied the tank.
You can’t do that as a starter. But he was throwing 97-98 MPH in the 7th and 8th innings against the Tribe in Cleveland in June.
I don’t think that Joba has died. He just needs to find it again. He’ll learn more from failure than he will from success.
About Yankee Stadium, ticket prices, the recession, and other confluences of events. If corporate America had not taken the pipe as part of the recession, and if those corporations that had to take money from the federal government weren’t prohibited from being Stadium sponsors, you’d likely see nothing but sell outs.
Nobody had a heads-up that the country was going to be economically “challenged” the very first year the Stadium was going to open. While it would be nice for the Yankees to hand out freebies, they’re a business and need to continue to pay those high-price athletes.
On the other hand, did people really think that a brand new Stadium was going to have the same prices attached to their seats? Really?
To me, to continue to harp on this is just another tempest in a teapot. Unfortunately, it appears that a number of people don’t mind squeezing inside the teapot to keep it going.
Pete, I’m suprised at how out of touch your comments are. People aren’t going to games because of the cost of commute and parking. Not to mention unemployment at 9.5%. The tickets the Yabkees don’t sell weren’t meant for the avg Joe. There are still plenty of reasonable seats available for a fraction of face value if anyone wants to go. That screams poor economy not exorbinant ticket prices. But, keep printing outlandish comments if it drives up your page hits.
Erica-I think you are thinking of Ian Kennedy
If we are going by the merit system then Aceves deserves the spot start more than anyone because he’s been the most consistent long man in the bullpen. Historically that’s who gets the spot start.
ramiro pena should be up and ransom nowhere around.
SA-
That could be it. I remember really scratching my head on that one. And I like IPK (we share a birthday so I have a softspot for him)
I get a kick out of people mocking the Yankees for not selling out games, the fact of the matter is that sell outs do not necessarily net you dollars. For instance, despite the fact that the Yankees have not sold out a game since Opening Day, they are still leading the Majors in home attendance.
The Yankees average a full 1,300+ fans more a game over the second place team in attendance (Philadelphia) and 7,000+ more than the Red Sox, a team that enjoys flaunting its hollow “sold out” streak for everyone to see.
So far on the season the Yankees have had 1,855,004 people attend their games in Yankee Stadium, the Red Sox, with all of the sell outs, have had just 1,436,824. That means that the Yankees in fact fill more seats and hence, make more money, filling just 86.5 % of their stadium than the Red Sox do filling 101.5 % of their seats at Fenway (standing room is included).
In closing, this is why the Yankees have the money to afford such free agents as Sabathia and Teixiera and Burnett because of wise buisness decisions such as constructing a new stadium. So if the people of Boston want to continue to cry about the Yankees spending then they should really turn their angst towards their own ownership and encourage them to get the plans in the works for a new, larger, Fenway Park. In the end they can keep the sellouts*, we’ll take the money.
I realize a lot of this rant had nothing to do with Tiger Woods and ended up focused basically on the Yankees and Red Sox but come on, Im a Yankee fan. Plus, I live in New England and have to constantly listen to how great the Red Sox are for selling out what I am pretty sure is the smallest venue in the Major Leagues.
As far as tickets, the Sox have “Upper Bleacher” the last few rows of the bleachers $12, regular Bleachers are $26 a game. Standing Room only is $20. Pavillion Standing Room $25. Grandstand $30
Yankees Bleachers are $14, Grandstand $23
Also if you go online can use the Yankees E-Savers discount to get some of the premium seats for more than half off for Mohegan Sun, Bleachers Cafe and Audi Sports Club.
In his last two games Jesus Montero is 0 for 8 with 4 strikeouts. BUST
Tiger was correct about the price of the tickets and the impact buying for the family and,causing a financial drain on families budgets.
What’s the problem with the truth?
The YANKEES even lowered some prices on their choice seats.
I don’t get attacking the truth.
Attacking the truth because they dropped the premium seat prices. What I am curious about did more people that are complaining about the cost go out and buy the seats then? Are they buying the Legends seats for $150 which they end up being on Stubhub? Doubt it. Even at $75 a ticket, how many people complaining about the ticket prices would buy a full season Yankees plan? Not too many I am sure, so if that’s the my concern is pricing people out of going to a game if they wish or taking their family. I am sure the cost probably went up, but not so much more than it did at the old stadium. And complaints about the other things, you can bring food etc in if you wish. If you start complaining about the cost of beer or something else, the Rays and Giants apparently have the most expensive cost. The smallest beer for the Rays is $8. Beers are expensive for sure, but that’s up to someone if they want to spend it, it’s not stopping you from going to a game.
Try taking 5 people to the stadium,providing food and tickets
for6 total,and spending almost $3000.00 Then get back to me.
I saw an interesting thing captured on camera in the dug out a couple of starts ago. It was a quick cut and lasted only a few seconds. Molina was travelling with the team, I guess before he started his minor league rehab games. Joba came off the mound and sat at one end of the bench and sought out Molina. They talked and occasionally looked down the bench toward Po and Girardi. Joba’s face and demeanor was clearly that of someone pleading their case with Molina. FWIW, I couldn’t help but get the vibe that Joba feels that Molina is on his side and the others aren’t. Not saying he has any right to be a diva, however, gotta find a way to get the most out of him for now.
Be interesting to see whether Molina catches Joba from hereon out (I can’t imagine Po wants anything else to do with him Joba right now) and whether that changes the kid’s obstinate behavior and most importantly his results. If he’s really physically unfit and out of shape, that means he’s mentally out of shape too. Who shows up for his first full season as a Yankee starter out of shape?
Haiku — the overpriced tickets are the ones they lowered. The seats most people aren’t going to be sitting in. The stadium isn’t entirely overpriced. Tiger saying what he did is just sort of odd. Especially for a guy whose interviews are usually in the mold of wet towel Derek Jeter.
Truth is a really good thing as long as you are willing to expose all of it and not just mention that parts that tend to inflame. Some of us believe in giving the truth its proper context. You (people in general) want to rail at something – rail at the economy. As posters have pointed out, there are a lot of reasonably-priced tickets that go begging. That would indicate that there is something more at play. Like an extremely depressed economy.
As an aside, I find it comical that Tiger Woods would mention a golf tournament and baseball in the same breath. Maybe if he hosts 162 tournaments in a row and sells out all of them I might start to find any relevance in his comments.
Not the seats most people are going to be sitting in*
how much did the family trip cost last year v. this year and how much of the cost differential is due to the cost of gas/train, parking etc and how much due to tickets.
My tickets this year cost the same as last year. Went to more games last year b/c it was the final season, but i’ve still been 3 times this year and 2 more (at least) planned.
haiku-man, you must be crazy? Trying to claim it costs you $3k to take 6 to a game. And if you meant $300, try taking the same six to a Knicks game, Mets game, Giants, Jets, Rangers, Devils or most sporting events. On top of that, the Yankees offer the promo games inclusive of food and discounts which is what most teams do.
It’s true Joba isn’t going anywhere, but Patrick you’re too smart to use Joba’s misleading ERA to support your argument. He’s been mediocre until yesterday when he was flat out horrible. A 1.54 WHIP and 5 1/3 innings per start are not even close to good enough numbers.
For now I expect Aceves to start Thursday and go from there. A strong start from Pettite today would assure that. Messing with Hughes just makes no sense. Leave him alone and count on him continuing to do one helluva job down there. By the time you could get him “stretch out” again Wang might be back and Joba could be cruising.
Folks, please stop referring to Joba having consistently thrown 100 out of the pen, he did not. He was usually in the 96-97 range, now he’s 91-93. That’s about right for going from reliever tostarter.
SJ — The “interesting” thing going forward might well be that the Yankees may well feel the need to bring back Pettite if Joba and Wang don’t get straightened out.
Time to go work… have a nice day folks
Stubhub for today’s game :
6 seats together grandstand OF $23 each. Pairs of 2’s $18 each for grandstand OF. So sit all 6 together. Instead of it being OF, how about 6 together in 425, grandstand over visitors dugout for better seats $29 each. Sorry just don’t know how many sporting events you think you are going to where the seats aren’t going to cost that.
Cheapest Legends $295 a seat.
Infield Dugout $100.
“We don’t want to have what happened at Yankee Stadium. Tickets are so overpriced that you can’t bring the family. ”
That’s telling the truth? Maybe Tiger should do a little homework before commenting on something that is simply not true.
By the way, those seats are all cheaper than what I paid for Opening Day when Javy Vasquez was on the team (that’s how long ago that was.)
John, I have a feeling that the people doing the complaining wouldn’t go to a game if Jeter stood at the turnstile and gave them free tickets. It’s just something to whine about – and it lacks teeth.
You really can’t fault Tiger, it’s what you read. It’s been written about time and time again so people are like brainwashed into it. As with anything you really have to look at it.
And as a fan since my tickets didn’t really change in price, I am more than fine paying what I do to go and getting tickets from StubHub at a discount as long as they put money back into the product. I would rather pay a little more to see CC, Burnett and Tex play than watch this team without them or watch a team like the Mets depleted squad.
I DON’T THINK YOU KNOW WHAT SEATS I’m talking about or the cost of the food,lobster,prime rib,it wasn’t cheap!
Yankees won,food was great,view good,clients had a great time.
I closed the deal,expense report turned in,waiting for reimbursement,done! Corporation made a lot of money on that outing.
It was a corporate sponsored event,they aren’t cheap!
trisha, agree completely. And the Yankees are even having the guys there when they walk in to some games now !!! I just don’t get the arguement crying about the premium seats and then in the same breath complaining about not affording any seats there. What? So you can’t shell out $50 for decent seats, but will complain that you don’t get a shot at the ones behind home. We’d all love those to be $25, but such is life.
My real fear with the Yankees is them pricing people out of the game completely which I don’t think they have done. And their loss of touch with the fan base which I think is an issue. But like Pete has highlighted, Yankees being at the turnstiles, them pulling in season ticket holders to voice complaints, getting out in the community, it seems like they are making an effort to change those things so that is good.
Haiku-man so you are complaining about what it cost to entertain clients which is just classic when people are complaining about getting the true fans in the seats?
Like I said the tickets in the infield box behind homeplate today, right behind the Legends are $100 a piece on stubhub. If you were sitting right behind homeplate at the old stadium that is no more expensive.
I have also gone to NYY Steak and that is no more expensive than any premium steakhosue in the city.
john again, it turns out to be a dog chasing its tail. The recession is not the Yankees’ fault but they are being forced to deal with the ramifications.
Were it not for the recession, corporations would own all of those high-priced seats that continue to go begging.
Were it not for the recession, corporate sponsors would still be pumping BIG BIG BIG money into the Stadium to have their names plastered around the Stadium – something many had done every year until the feds had to bail them out and as a result they were no longer able to spend their bucks that way.
If it were not for the lack of that previous corporate sponsorship the Yankees wouldn’t have had to up the seat prices so dramatically in an effort to make up for that lost revenue.
And so it goes. Rather than take in nothing, the Yankees tried to find a way to price down some of the seats and allow more people to attend while still bringing in some revenue.
Psst. Nobody told the Yankee organization the country would be in the toilet when they opened the new Stadium.
IT’S LIFE.
Trisha, seriously it stinks. I for one have my seats, but haven’t been able to go to some games like Sunday. I gave them to my coffee guy instead of listing them on stubhub or something because I know he would love to go.
The Economy is the central issue and fans are placing the blame on the Yankees to vent frustration. It’s like saying though that Tex or Arod doesn’t deserve $20 mill a year. What athlete really does? But when things are going well….
I think it’s all about perception… so many stories at the beginning of the season were about the ticket prices, that became the easy talking point.
I got an email today from the Yankees about the Red Sox series in August – can those games really not be sold out?
Sox games in August might have some of the premium left. The Yankees also did away with those mini plans they used to have which included games like those.
It’s like the Mets series at Citi. The Mets held onto blocks of seats to try and package those seats up in mini plans and then released them in lottery format. I tried to get some, missed the first lottery, there were still more left so they did a second lottery, I got field box seats, but there were still more they released to the public. They just held a boat load back.
Pete, it’s been a great season so far, but after leaving Sundays game, a classic, it was still not the same walking out and looking at the oldballpark ready to be torn down. The seat prices only make it worse.the Yankee brass should be operating for the fans not money, the new park isn’t for real fans, the people who go just for the game, they should never have switched.