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Game 88: Yankees at Angels (now with Mitre news and a draft update)

Peter Abraham
July
12

YANKEES (51-36)
Gardner CF
Jeter SS
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
Hinske RF
Cabrera LF
Molina C

Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (8-5, 3.70).

ANGELS (48-37)
Figgins 3B
Izturis SS
Abreu RF
Napoli DH
Matthews CF
Kendrick 2B
Wood 1B
Quinlan LF
Mathis C

Pitching: RHP John Lackey (3-4, 5.18).

TIME/TV: 3:35 p.m., YES.

STATE OF THE STRIPES: The Yankees have lost two straight and are 3-2 on a road trip that ends today. The Yankees have won six of their last nine but have dropped three of their last six. They are two games out of first.

PITCHING PROBLEMS: The Angels have hit 29 of 75 (.387) in the first two games of the series with 24 runs scored, 10 extra-base hits (four home runs), six stolen bases and six walks.

MATSUI MANIA: Hideki Matsui is 12 of his last 30 with four homers and 12 RBI.

DEVIL OF A TIME WITH THE ANGELS: The Yankees are 2-3 against Los Angeles and 38-48 since the start of the 2000 season. They are 5-16 at Anaheim in the last five years, 2-9 in the last three.

TROUBLE WITH THE TOP TEAMS: The Yankees are 5-14 against the four division leaders they have played this season — the Red Sox, Tigers, Angels and Phillies.

DON’T YOU KNOW: Robinson Cano is 17 of 46 this month, 8 of 19 on the road trip. He has had two or more hits in seven of the last 12 games.

A-ROD UPDATE: Alex Rodriguez is 22 of his last 54 (.407) with eight homers, 22 RBI and 17 runs scored. He is up to a season-best .263.

A-ROD IN ANAHEIM: Alex has hit 35 homers in 85 games at Angel Stadium.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR: The Yankees were 46-42 and nine games out after 88 games last season.

SLOPPY PLAY: The Yankees have committed six errors in the last four games.

GOOD DEAL: Eric Hinske is 4 of 8 with three home runs as a Yankee.

LIVING IN THE FUTURE: Catcher Jesus Montero and LHP Manny Banuelos will play for the World Team in the Futures Game today in St. Louis. Montero will start and hit fifth. The game is at 2 p.m. ET.

OH, SERGIO: Sergio Mitre is scheduled to start for Triple-A Scranton today against Buffalo at Syracuse. If he pitches well, he could be named the No. 5 starter in the majors and start a week from Monday.

Back with more later.

UPDATE, 2:38 p.m.: Interesting lineup, eh? Swisher has bad numbers against Lackey, Damon has been struggling this month and it’s pretty evident that CC doesn’t want to throw to Posada. Girardi said he wanted to control’s Anaheim’s running game. But a few days ago he said Posada would play all three games here. Something is fishy. Posada has been hitting, too.

Girardi sort of said that Hinske would play more than was first expected. It’ll be a matchup thing. His poor defense makes that a tricky proposition one would think.

Meanwhile, some news:

• Sergio Mitre was terrific today for Scranton (8 6 0 0 0 5). He threw 82 pitches, 64 strikes. You can bet he’ll be in the rotation as the fifth guy. That will allow them to use Aceves in the bullpen. Girardi said they needed to talk about it over the break but Mitre had to have impressed today.

• West Coast scout David Keith was in the clubhouse with Chad Thompson, their 17th-round pick. He is from nearby El Toro HS, where Austin Romine attended. He had Tommy John surgery on May 1. Prior to that, he was likely going to be a high-round pick.

Thompson had signed with Arizona State but the Yankees are very hopeful of signing him. He was introduced to a bunch of players and coaches today, sort of a recruiting trip. Thompson certainly has a projectable body. He is 6-7 and could easily added 20 pounds of muscle.

“I think we can get him and he would be a great addition,” Keith said.

UPDATE, 3:38 p.m.: We’re underway at Angel Stadium. 86 degrees and not a cloud in the bright blue sky. Hope you enjoy the game wherever you are.

UPDATE, 4:16 p.m.: Hey, the Yankees lead the Angels. No chance Anaheim can come back.

UPDATE, 4:21 p.m.: Pop-ups are A-Rod’s kryptonite. He does everything else well accept catch pop-ups. Meanwhile, the scorer here did not give him an error despite the ball nearly landing on his head.

UPDATE, 4:23 p.m.: Ah, A-Rod starts a 5-4-3 to make up for his little mistake. Still 1-0.

UPDATE, 4:34 p.m.: The Yankees were right not to offer Bobby Abreu arbitration. But he is wearing them out this weekend.

For $5 million, he’s a tremendous value.

UPDATE, 4:43 p.m.: Hinske just wasn’t fast enough to get to that ball. Maybe MLB would let the Yankees forfeit these games in Anaheim and let the players go to the beach instead. Or have the Gulf Coast League kids play.

UPDATE, 4:55 p.m.: I’ll be shocked if the Yankees get back in this game. It’s the day before a break, they all have planes to catch and people to go see. These next four innings could fly by. I’m not saying they’ll quit, but look for quick at-bats and see you next week.

The players will say they’re not concerned about being 2-12 against the Angels and Red Sox. But that is not a good sign.

UPDATE, 5:16 p.m.: If he played every game against the Yankees, Mike Napoli would be known as Future Hall of Famer Mike Napoli. He is 6 for 11 in the series with four extra-base hits.

UPDATE, 5:31 p.m.: Angels bring Kendry Morales in for defense and he throws a double-play ball into left field.

This could be the best shot the Yankees have. Down 4-2, first and second, nobody out and Jeter up with Tex and A-Rod on deck.

UPDATE, 5:36 p.m.: Loaded for Tex.

UPDATE, 5:39 p.m.: Wow, epic disaster there. Tex K’s on a slow hook and A-Rod grounds into a DP. Had to get more than one run out of all that.

UPDATE, 5:59 p.m.: Starters in this series: 15.1 innings, 25 hits, 15 earned runs, 6 walks, 10 strikeouts. An 8.80 ERA. Yikes.

UPDATE, 6:12 p.m.: Justin Speier invited the Yankees back into the game by walking Matsui and hitting Hinske. Here we go again, bases loaded, one run in, nobody out and Posada, Gardner and Jeter due up.

Maybe the Yankees can turn the table on this team for once.

UPDATE, 6:18 p.m.: Wow. After a sac fly, Swisher hits a rocket up the middle that Oliver catches and turns into a double play.

Swisher crushed it, too. That was targeted for center field and one run would have scored. 5-4 Angels as the Yankees can’t catch a break.

UPDATE, 6:25 p.m.: Angels have committed two errors, walked four and hit two. They’ve all but begged the Yankees to get back in the game and they just can’t get over the hump.

Jeter, Tex and A-Rod in the ninth against Fuentes.

UPDATE, 6:33 p.m.: Phil Hughes in relief: 18.1 innings, 7 hits, 2 runs, 5 walks, 19 Ks.

Down a run and three outs to go.

UPDATE, 6:40 p.m.: Angels 5, Yankees 4 and a sweep headed into the break. Bad three days in the O.C. Back later with some more.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 12th, 2009 at 12:00 pm by Peter Abraham.
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1,266 Responses to “Game 88: Yankees at Angels (now with Mitre news and a draft update)”

  1. SCRANTON

    I might go see how Mitre throws the ball.

  2. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    So, who’s gonna watch the futures game?

  3. DF

    The 5-14 record is what scares me. I know Pete tries to assuage the “chicken little” crowd that the season is going just fine. And I agree that this team is the clear favorite for the wildcard. But I have absolutely zero confidence, based on the 5-14 mark, that they’ll have any success once they get to the postseason.

  4. SCRANTON

    I want to see if Montero has “Light Tower Power”

  5. stuart

    total misleading stat the yanks record agaisnt the best teams… they are 0 and 8 against the sux so what do yo uexpect.

    the angel fiasco is because the yanks really 4th and 5th starters stink and aceves was not available in releif and he is really important to this team out of the pen. if everything was the same but aceves was available this weekend the yanks would have won at least 1 game in my opinion.

    they cannot start aceves he will not be anything more then a avg. starter and his absence kills the pen…

    funny some clown is in love with Hinske after his 9 AB’s.. He is a bench player for a reason……………..

    again why do all managers save there 8th inning guy for the 8th inning all the time when the time for him to pitch may be the 6th inning??Hughes is real rested and the benefit of that is? Hughes has to be able to go at least 2 innings to really maximize his benefit to the team…

    Pettitte is done, he is avg at best and Joba is a mental case and better get it together immediately……………..

    they are not trading 4 studs for halladay and wells dream on losers…………

  6. SCRANTON

    I would take a long look at Pedro and see if he has anything left in the tank.

  7. stuart

    i guees beating tampa and minny and other good teams does not mattter. throw out the boston fiasco and the yanks are 5 and 6 agaisnt petes top teams that proves what?

    Yanks have beaten texas a bunch and are a very good team, your eyes do not lie. they have problems at the end of the rotation, the pen is fine if aceves, hughes, coke, and mo are available….

    see if melancon can help, figure out the rotation, and go from there…..halladay is not getting traded to the yanks unless the deal is a joke and why do that???

  8. stuart

    pedro has stunk for 3 years, old age and innefffectiveness does not get miraculously turned around unless you are mike mussina……………

  9. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    TROUBLE WITH THE TOP TEAMS: The Yankees are 5-14 against the four division leaders they have played this season — the Red Sox, Tigers, Angels and Phillies.

    They are also 4-2 against the Rangers and IIRC dead even or close to it with the Rays.

  10. Giuseppe Franco

    Texas was in first place most of the season and the Yanks are 4-2 against them.

    I also don’t care what their record is against the Phillies. If they play that team again this season, we’ll all be giddy.

    They have the same record against the Marlins and Nationals, too.

    Doesn’t mean a whole lot.

  11. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “I also don’t care what their record is against the Phillies. If they play that team again this season, we’ll all be giddy.”

    Amen, brother.

    Anyway, take the 0-8 away and it’s 5-6. Not great, but respectable enough.

    Beat the Angels today, and we’re even on the season series.

  12. Betsy

    It’s ok to be a prospect hugger if you are talking about Phil or Joba. I really, really don’t want to trade them – I think they can be the foundation of the rotation for years. I do admit that the Joba, Jackson, Romine trade mentioned earlier might be something I’d consider. I think that’s fair…except that’s not what the Jays are looking for (they want a major league ready SS and I don’t even think they need OFers). Just throwing out names doesn’t help – the ? is do the Yankees have what the Jays are looking for? Do they match up? If not, it doesn’t matter how talented the Yankees farm system is.

    Already we’re counting the Yankees out of it if they make the post-season? LOL

    Today is kind of a big game. Going 3-3 on the road trip and losing the last 3 would really suck…….CC needs to come up big and the Yanks have to continue to work Lackey like they have the other starters.

  13. SCRANTON

    Andy Pettitte lets my life down

  14. joe.

    scutaro seems to be fine at SS for the jays, why do they need a SS?

  15. Trevor

    People still consider Hughes and Chamberlain prospects? They’re past their ML innings mark to be now considered non-prospects.

  16. S.A.--The sun will come out tomorrow; I'm down with the OPPC

    LIVING IN THE FUTURE: Catcher Jesus Montero and LHP Manny Banuelos will play for the World Team in the Futures Game today in St. Louis. Montero will start and hit fifth. The game is at 2 p.m. ET

    ==========================

    Fun. I’ll be watching :)

  17. Tom in N.J.

    2-2 vs the Angels

    2-1 vs the Tigers

  18. SJ44

    Scutaro is a FA at the end of the season and its doubtful the Jays will re-sign him.

    I will definitely be watching the Futures Game.

    The Scranton game is going on now 0-0, top 2.

  19. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    For those that are gonna be watching the futures game, I’m gonna live blog it. At least the Montero/ManBan parts. At least until the Yankees start.

    =D

  20. SJ44

    BTW, Pena is starting in CF for Scranton today. Austin Jackson is in right.

    Mitre, 2 innings, 28 pitches, 21 strikes, 0-0, bottom 2.

  21. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    28 pitches 21 strikes. I like.

  22. Mrs. Kekich

    “Anyway, take the 0-8 away …”

    Um … yeah, and take away the last four games of the 2004 ALCS and it was a good series. Sure, take away the most important games to make the stat suit your needs.

  23. Steve B

    Can’t get terribly excited about Mitre. He’s a #7 starter on a good MLB team. Maybe a #5 on a bad one.

  24. Alfred

    posada in the lineup today or no?

    Waiting for the yankee line up to be announced.

  25. Ed

    Texas is a paper tiger. Look at their pitching staff… it’s no wonder we beat them. We can beat up bad pitching.

  26. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Steve B: Honestly, I’d prefer giving Nova a shot, but I can’t see the Yankees doing that.

  27. SJ44

    Steve,

    The Yankees are down to #7 or #8 starters because of the injury situation. That’s why you use get a guy like Mitre.

  28. Yanks 172

    “Um … yeah, and take away the last four games of the 2004 ALCS and it was a good series. Sure, take away the most important games to make the stat suit your needs.”

    Exactly. Why should those 8 games against Boston be dismissed? We were beaten in every way imagineable. Lost close games, lost blowouts, lost games late, lost games in extras, lost shootouts etc.

    Would we like it of the media discredits our 7 wins against the Twins because it was “flukey”?

  29. Alfred

    sj, how do you think CC will do today against the Angels lineup?

  30. Mark

    Everybody root hard for the Tigers.

    If they have a better record than LA by the end of the year, we play them assuming we’re the WC.

  31. Giuseppe Franco

    Ed July 12th, 2009 at 12:37 pm

    Texas is a paper tiger. Look at their pitching staff… it’s no wonder we beat them. We can beat up bad pitching.

    ———–

    The Yanks beat the Tigers 2 of 3 at Detroit facing Verlander, Jackson, and Porcello and did so without A-Rod.

    But are you going to downplay that too because the Yanks are 0-8 against the Red Sox?

    People focus TOO MUCH on the Red Sox. They have to beat other teams too if they want to go to the postseason.

  32. jayhi

    How come i feel if they hadn’t sent JA down or started Aceves we would have one or both of these games. When you are hot don’t change the chemistry.

  33. Mark

    Rasner started the season 3-0 for us last year and had an ERA of 2.58 through his first 6 starts.

    Look what Fernando Nieve is doing for the Mets so far, he also started 3-0.

    You can always catch lightening in a bottle. Who knows? Maybe we do with Mitre.

  34. Steve B

    “The Yankees are down to #7 or #8 starters because of the injury situation. That’s why you use get a guy like Mitre”

    Yeah, true enough. Definitely important to get the pen stabilized once again and Aceves needs to be part of it for that to happen, IMO.

    Noticed young Mr. Sanchez had a monster game the other night. Homer and 4 or 5 RBI? How cool was that?

  35. SJ44

    Mitre after 3….0 runs, 38 pitches, 28 strikes.

    2 GIDP, good sign since he is a sinkerball pitcher.

    0-0, bottom 3.

  36. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Steve: SJ has been providing us with nightly updates!

  37. SJ44

    Yeah, Steve he is on fire. 12 RBI in his first 8 games in WVA and he is hitting .431 with a 1.241 OPS. Couldn’t ask for a better start.

    The entire league is off today (unusual for a Sunday) and they go on the road for the next week to Augusta and Rome, GA.

  38. Rick

    Historically, the Yankees always pull the trigger if a player is available that’s considered a difference maker.
    Being left out of the playoffs last year for the 1st time since ‘93 will not happen again this year.
    The team is sandwiched between Boston and Tampa Bay. Too risky to take chances with Chamberlain suddenly finding himself with quality starts and Wang coming back to ‘06 – ‘07 form.
    Halladay is a known commodity – - – get him and don’t look back.

  39. Fran (the original) and OPPC member

    I hope that the Yanks bring up a starter to replace Wang after the all-star break and put Aceves back in the bullpen.
    I think this also demonstrates that Hughes needs to stay in the bullpen. Aside from Mo, Hughes and Aceves are probably the most valuable arms in the pen and look what happened when the Yankees took one of them out.

  40. vinny-b (RIP Air McNair)

    “Everybody root hard for the Tigers.
    If they have a better record than LA by the end of the year, we play them assuming we’re the WC”

    I would rather root for Texas. If they were to get Halladay, they would win the division. It won’t happen tho.

    either way, if the Angels next playoff birth is 20 years from now, it will be too soon

  41. S.A.--The sun will come out tomorrow; I'm down with the OPPC

    Hopefully the yankees can get the heck out of LA with at least 1 win. Get em CC!

  42. vinny-b (RIP Air McNair)

    don’t sleep on Mitre

  43. rconn23

    CB,

    From the last thread. I don’t say go acquire Halladay at any price. Taking Wells or Rios’ contracts are a non-starter. So is including Montero in any deal.

    Other than that, I wouldn’t hesistate to trade Halladay for Joba of Hughes and a package of two other prospects.

    The “what ifs” with Halladay are a lot fewer than with Joba or Hughes. Could Halladay reinjure his groin? Sure.

    However, Joba’s always an injury risk. Has been since college. You could certainly make the argument that Halladay at 32, is less of an injury risk than Joba at 23.

    And injuries are a always a caveat – in any deal.

    Trading for Halladay is not a panic move. It’s also not a luxury, especially when you can’t trust your three through five starters as far as you can throw them.

  44. benfica356

    Mitre’s line:
    4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 K, 0 BB on 48 pitches.
    8 Groundouts
    2 Fly outs

  45. benfica356

    Mitre’s line:
    4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 K, 0 BB on 48 pitches.
    8 Groundouts
    2 Fly outs

  46. SJ44

    Mitre after 4 innings…..0 runs, 2 GIDP, 2 K’s, 48 pitches, 36 strikes, 0-0, botttom 4.

  47. SJ44

    If Mitre can give them that kind of production as a #5 starter for 2-3 starts (the groundball outs, 5-6 innings) it gives the Yankees some breathing room to consider their rotation options as you get closer to the deadline.

    It would allow Aceves to go back into the pen to cover the innings Pettitte and Chamberlain can’t give them at this time.

    From the Yankees perspective, its not putting yourself in a position to make a panic trade. Something they have done very well the past 3-4 years.

  48. Betsy

    Nice line……….has he ever pitched in the majors? Aceves needs to be put back in the pen, so it would be nice if we could strike a LITTLE lightning with him. I’m not asking him to be Cy Young – 5 or 6 innings pitched, 4 run ball would be acceptable. The Yanks would still need another pitcher, but that would be a good start. Still, he’d be the #5 with Joba/Andy as #3 and #4 – an extremely untenable situation. I just don’t know how long the Yankees can go like this……blowing leads that Joba/Andy did is unacceptable and will cost the Yanks more games than it’s already done.

  49. benfica356

    Betsy, he has but struggled mightly. I heard he has like a 6 Era or something like that.

  50. Cash is King

    Mitre has pitched in the ML before, but has a terrible record. However, I think Girardi knows him and probably thinks he can get something out of him.

  51. Fran (the original) and OPPC member

    Didn’t Mitre pitch for the Marlins when Girardi was the manager?

  52. Betsy

    Ugh, that’s not good Benfica. Well, maybe that was a long time ago – at this point, I do think the Yankees are desperate. I’m HOPING that Mitre can give us decent innings, but that’s just a hope – I’m not counting on it and either should the Yankees. Aceves has to go back in the pen no matter what, so they need to be thinking about multiple options for the rotation.

  53. Alex

    The problem is, Andy’s rotation spot is pretty much secure. They are not going to yank him from the rotation unless he is Wang-like.

    Then he question is, when do they cut the cord on Joba? You simply cannot have both of them pitching like this, especially when you have no #5 starter.

    And if they do yank Joba from the rotation, where does he go? Scranton? Pen? Does Hughes get a chance to start?

    ASB is coming at a good time… lots of decisions to be made.

  54. AndrewYF

    I think Mitre will get a long look this all-star break. How much better, really, is Aceves than Mitre in a starting role? And is that better than Mitre as a starter and Aceves as the bullpen swiss-army-knife?

    Nova probably won’t get major league starts, as this is really the first year where he’s had success, and he’s only 22. He’ll definitely be a September call-up, as the Yankees will assuredly add him to the 40-man, as well as Jackson.

  55. Cash is King

    Nova might be part of a trade package too.

  56. benfica356

    Mitre’s line:
    5.0 IP, 6 Hits, 2 K, 0 BB on 58 pitches.
    11 Groundouts
    2 Fly Outs

  57. SCRANTON

    Where is Aaron Small when we need him?

  58. Cash is King

    The Yankees will wait and see if the ASB gives Pettitte and Joba some air to improve their performances.

  59. RC 16

    Mitre was 3-4 with a 2.85 ERA in 15 starts before the ASB in 07.

    After the break, he had a 7.27 ERA in 12 starts before getting the surgery.

  60. SJ44

    Mitre pitched for the Marlins and Cubs. He was once one of the Cubs top pitching prospects and hurt his elbow.

    He was damaged goods when the Marlins acquired him. That didn’t make the Marlins too happy. He blew out his elbow and needed TJ Surgery. The Marlins released him and the Yankees picked him up.

    He took an over the counter supplement while rehabbing and got banned for 50 games by MLB.

    He’s made a fast recovery from TJ Surgery. He’s only 11 months out from the surgery and his velocity is back to what it was. That’s a tribute to his hard work during his rehab.

    He’s a sinkerball pitcher. Back of a rotation/long reliever type. A guy who has the potential of helping out for a few starts.

    In other words, the perfect guy for the Yankees to run out there for a few starts and see if he can contribute.

  61. S.A.--The sun will come out tomorrow; I'm down with the OPPC

    Looks like so far so good for Mitre. Maybe we will see him soon

  62. Jordan

    I dont get the entire Mitre discussion… the guy has never pitched at the MLB level, he would not show up until after the break, and Wang will be back by then (for at least another start).

    So why do we need another pitcher from AAA right now? If you dont like swapping Joba with Hughes (or Aceves) in the rotation now, then the best #2 move is no-move… leave Joba where his is, unless you have good reason to believe that Mitre can do a better job than Joba???

  63. David

    Mitre has a 5.36 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, and .298 BAA in 78 career games… all of them in the NL.

    At this point, his track record is abysmal. This is strictly hoping to catch lightening in a bottle, like we did with Rasner for a while last year.

  64. benfica356

    RBI Double by our boy Ramo to make it 1-0 Scranton

  65. benfica356

    RBI Double by our boy Ramo to make it 1-0 Scranton

  66. Jordan

    Oh, sorry, Mitre has pitched at the MLB level, but I still believe its foolish to bring him up now if we know that Wang is coming back after the break. If they are going to make a move with Joba, now is the time to do it.

  67. AndrewYF

    Jordan – Mitre would not be replacing Joba, he would be replacing Wang. Remember that the number 5 slot is now being occupied by Aceves, whose absence from the bullpen really weakens it.

  68. Yankee Trader

    Due to current payroll and luxury tax premiums that add 40%, plus his no trade clause, and possibly no window to negotiate a contract extension,I wouldn’t get my hopes up about taking on Halladay, let alone with Rios/Wells, plus giving up low cost talent.

    CB, SJ44, and all.

    If you give up young talent, trade for young talent, and go get Soria to be the 8th inning guy, and closer some days to learn from Rivera. Then you can move Aceves or Hughes into the rotation.

    Our bullpen currently is a mess, in large part because of the inability of 3 of our starters going more than 4-5 innings, but also in part of the inconsistency and inexperience, and the injuries to Bruney and Marte.

    How many wins would adding Soria to the bullpen, in concurrence with putting Aceves or hughes in the rotation?

  69. Cash is King

    Jordan,

    At this time, the Yankees have no idea when Wang is coming back until he starts throwing the ball again without any pain.

  70. SJ44

    Wang isn’t even throwing yet. He’s not coming back after the Break anytime soon.

    They need a 5th starter on July 21. Its not going to be Wang.

  71. benfica356

    Ramo scores on fielding error by third basemen, 2-0 Scranton. BTW, Make sure to watch Future’s game today. Banuelos and Montero will both be on the World team and Montero will be starting and batting 5th

  72. Cash is King

    Yankee Trader,

    The Royals have no motivation to move Soria, who’s three years away from free agency after this season.

  73. S.A.--The sun will come out tomorrow; I'm down with the OPPC

    Oh, sorry, Mitre has pitched at the MLB level, but I still believe its foolish to bring him up now if we know that Wang is coming back after the break.

    ==================================

    I don’t think anything definite can be said or expected about Wang. Who knows when we will really see him back again.

  74. SJ44

    Soria isn’t on the market. The Royals aren’t trading him unless they were overwhelmed with an offer. That isn’t going to come from the Yankees.

    The most valuable players to small and large market teams these days are 0-3 year service time players.

    In many ways, it would cost a team like the Yankees and Red Sox for example more (in terms of prospects) to get Soria than it would Halladay because their financial advantage wouldn’t have an impact on the deal. In Halladay’s case, it could.

  75. 86w183

    Mitre was 5-8, 4.65 in 27 starts with the Marlins in 2007.

    The good news —- he went 6 innings or more 19 X. After 21 starts he was 5-5, 3.64

    The bad news —– he faded badly down the stretch giving up 27 ER in 25 1/3 innings in his last six starts.

    It’s all aobout his command and keeping the ball int he park.

  76. Cash is King

    I think Mitre pitched with a bad elbow during the second half of 2007.

  77. SJ44

    Mitre after 6: 6 innings, 0 runs, 0 BB, 3 K’s, 65 pitches, 52 strikes.

    If the quality of his pitches are good, something you can’t tell by a pitching line, it would seem he is the logical choice for the Yankees when they need a 5th starter after the Break.

  78. benfica356

    Mitre’s line:
    6.0 IP, 6 Hits, 3 K, 0 BB on 65 pitches.
    12 Groundouts
    3 Flyouts

  79. benfica356

    on gameday, it looks like his sinker is sinking well as is ends up mostly inside to batters.

  80. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “Soria isn’t on the market. The Royals aren’t trading him unless they were overwhelmed with an offer. That isn’t going to come from the Yankees.

    The most valuable players to small and large market teams these days are 0-3 year service time players.

    In many ways, it would cost a team like the Yankees and Red Sox for example more (in terms of prospects) to get Soria than it would Halladay because their financial advantage wouldn’t have an impact on the deal. In Halladay’s case, it could.”

    Soria has a contract that is EXTREMELY favorable for the Royals. Thru 2011 for 8.75 and then club options thru 2014.

    It might be the one good move the Royals have made in the last 20 years.

  81. mg

    pettitte ttipping pittches?

  82. benfica356

    so if Mitre gets the start on July 21st then he will have 9 days before he pitches?

  83. 86w183

    If Mitre does start in the # 5 spot — next Tuesday — they’ll need to open up a psot on the 40-man roster.

    Can’t they move Nady to the 60day DL? If they don’t do that does Mr. Tomko get a kiss goodbye?

  84. stuart

    keeping Aceves in the pen is key. without him in the pen, the yare counting on robertson abeledajo and melancon to show consistency they have not yet.

    suprised that robertson has faltered so far, especailly with inherited runners.

    for the fools the good news is robertson and melancon are like 24.

    again why is TOmko on the team????????????????????????

  85. Zooboy

    I was disappointed to see Angel Beroa sign with the Mets; I was looking forward to seeing him at Old Timers Day.

    Go CC!

  86. benfica356

    i think that Nady will be moved to 60 day DL and either Melancon or Robertson back to Scranton.

  87. SJ44

    They can move Nady to the 60 Day DL to add Mitre.

  88. miggs

    shouldn’t the lineup be up by now?

  89. benfica356

    Bernier gets a RBI single to make it 3-0 Scranton

  90. stuart

    mitre gave up Dereks lone grand slam of his career. he is a guy worth giving a shot, he is a legit major leaguer, probably a league avg guy but with some upside.

    again besides keeping aceves in the pen they must take the training wheels off hughes and allow him to go 2 innings when required, why is girardi so hesitant to increase the guys workload????

  91. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Don’t they already have an open spot on the 40 man anyway?

  92. BBFan

    Do not discount Nova for July 21st start.
    He pitched yesterday.
    He can have one more start in AAA and aligns well for 21st Start.
    If he pitches lights out next AAA start like he did yesterday, it is not out of the question he will be a candidate for 21st start. They need one for only two or three starts until Wang comes back.

  93. 86w183

    Nine days off is too much for a sinkerballer.

    They should let him start again on Friday (7/17) and limit him to about 30-45 pitches and then start him on Tuesday (7/24).

  94. Richie

    One reason that the Yankees are in need of pitching is that Kennedy, Sanchez, Garcia, Horne, and Kontos are hurt. It’s possible that their throwing program, and/or the people responsible for implementing it, need to be re-evaluated.

    It’s also becoming apparent that they made a major misjudgment by bringing Pettitte back.

    Girardi has blundered by not using Hughes for more multiple inning outings because it would have enabled them to transition him to being a starter much more easily. Even though he hasn’t done that, yesterday’s game presented a perfect opportunity to begin that process when Pettitte faltered, especially with Aceves unavailable, yet Girardi failed to do that once again.

    The decision to send down Albajedo instead of DFAing Tomko was not one of genius.

    The only thing that has saved this team is their ridiculous payroll advantage, which is kind of pathetic.

  95. Zooboy

    I think one more inept outing by Robertson and he’s going back to Scranton for either Mitre or Allby.

  96. 86w183

    The 40-man is full at the moment unless Nady gets moved to the 60-day DL. The Hinske deal filled the vacant spot.

  97. Ramey

    “again why is TOmko on the team????????????????????????”

    I know everyone thinks Tomko has no purpose being on the team and even though we got our butts handed to us yesterday, Tomko was the ONLY one who at least somewhat did his job yesterday. Everyone else let up 4 runs (and pettitte 6). Tomko let up 1 run in 1.1 innings of relief, when the game wasn’t yet entirely out of hand. He serves the purpose of pitching in games like that, so u don’t burn out the important guys in ur bullpen simply because he throws strikes

  98. m

    Tomko needn’t be dfa’d at this point. We need a long-guy (or two). But Robertson should’ve gone down instead of Albie.

  99. stuart

    tomko serves no purpose on the team. he is old and bad and will never be better then a 5 + ERA guy but he has taken up a roster spot for at least 45 days, that is the yanks seniority system at work.

    detroit who is not as good as the yanks would have DFA’d tomko 35 days ago if not more… The organization takes far to long to make obvious player moves..WHY???????????

  100. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Honestly, while I don’t think Tomko’s necessarily been good, I think he’s been better than you all give him credit for.

  101. Giuseppe Franco

    Girardi should have no issues with Hughes pitching two innings today.

    He and Mo are fresh and nobody plays again until Friday.

    Well, for the exception of the All Stars of course.

  102. SJ44

    Garcia, Sanchez and Horne have been injured their entire careers. Even before they came into the Yankee organization.

    Kennedy had an blood clot in his shoulder. That has nothing to do with any throwing program.

    Pitchers get hurt. Its just a fact of life. It happens in every organization.

  103. Ramey

    “tomko serves no purpose on the team. he is old and bad and will never be better then a 5 + ERA guy but he has taken up a roster spot for at least 45 days, that is the yanks seniority system at work.”

    Tomko is a servicable long man. they just need someone to eat innings at times when the games are long over with. that way the yankees aren’t using guys like aceves when we’re up or down by 6 or 7 runs

  104. stuart

    baloney on Tomko he serves no purpose and is terrible.. ALlow Melancon or whoever the new call up to get there feet wet in long relief instead. Melancon can go 2 or 3 innings and so can abeledajo.. thess guys need to learn how to get major leagues out Tomko can’t..

    tomko has given up 5 HRs in 20 innings he is at best a high 5 ERA guy, he is of no help to any team…Dream on………..

  105. m

    Chen vs Beckett

    Potential for some major pain. (now watch Chen win!)

  106. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    So, uh, line ups anyone?

  107. BBFan

    Isn’t Garcia on the 40?
    If so, he can be DFAed to create a spot on the 40 as well.
    Thus between Nady and Garcia they can create 2 spots on 40.

  108. Ramey

    stuart ur logic behind it is short sighted. so because tomko has given up 5 home runs in 20 innings he serves no purpose of being used primarily as an innings eater?

  109. Giuseppe Franco

    Just a prediction, but I think Soria is going to be Mo’s successor.

    That doesn’t mean Mo is going to retire after the 2010 season, though.

    Whenever Mo does decide to hang it up, I think that’s who the next closer will be.

    Probably the nastiest stuff of any closer in the bigs.

  110. ePic

    Lineup: Gardner CF Jeter SS Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Matsui DH Cano 2B Hinske RF Cabrera LF Molina C

  111. stuart

    yea hughes can pitch today 2 innings and my repsonse is so….

    CC is pitching he usually gives you 7 and therefore Hughes is not needed for 2 in most cases.. That is why hughes pitching friday or sat. would have been advisable…Again I do not agree with the roles BS about the pen, the most important inning may be the 5th not the 8th. If you cannot put out the fire when it needs to be then the 8th or 9th inning importance may be nill.

    aceves, hughes, coke, and mo… use the first 3 in the highest leverage non 9th inning circumstances and fill in from there…if aceves faltered or hughes yesterday then you have have the mop up man tomko mopping up in the 8th no different then the 6th………….

  112. SJ44

    Mitre after 7…..0 runs, 6 hits, 0 BB, 5 K’s, 2 GIDP, 77 pitches, 60 strikes, Scranton winning 3-0, bottom 7.

  113. benfica356

    Mitre’s line:
    7.0 IP, 6 Hits, 5 K, 0 BB on 77 pitches.60 strikes
    12 Groundouts
    4 Flyouts

  114. m

    Thanks ePic,

    So Gardner and Hinske replace Damon and Swisher?

  115. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    talk about a getaway line up:

    Gardner CF, Jeter SS, Teixeira 1B, A-Rod 3B, Matsui DH, Cano 2B, Hinske RF, Cabrera LF, Molina C, Sabathia LHP

  116. Terry from NH

    1-0 Sox in the bottom of the 1rst.

  117. benfica356

    lineup isnt bad today.

  118. Ramey

    :if aceves faltered or hughes yesterday then you have have the mop up man tomko mopping up in the 8th no different then the 6th………”

    if i recall, didn’t coke pitch yesterday in the 8th inning when the yankees got the game to within 10 – 8? and didn’t he get smoked for 4 runs?

  119. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Giuseppe: Some worries about Soria’s arm… and the Royals have him till 2014 if they want.

  120. stuart

    ramey my point is TOmko sucks. he has no purpose.. use the rookie getting his feet wet in the mop up long man role..

    tomko is innefective in any role and therfore should not be on the team unless the yanks had a stud starting staff that was eating up tons of innings, which they do not have.

    again anyone thinking tomko serves any purpose on this team is just foolish.

    SAY IT OUT LOUD OVER AND OVER; TOMKO SUCKS………

  121. SJ44

    GF,

    I agree. I have the same feeling. He’s nasty.

    If I’m the Yankees, that’s a guy the moment he hits free agency, I give him a check and tell him to fill in the numbers.

    He’s really good.

  122. Giuseppe Franco

    SJ44 July 12th, 2009 at 1:48 pm

    Mitre after 7…..0 runs, 6 hits, 0 BB, 5 K’s, 2 GIDP, 77 pitches, 60 strikes, Scranton winning 3-0, bottom 7.

    —————–

    Welcome to the Bronx, Sergio.

    Now go out there and throw 10 consecutive shutouts or the whiners and complainers will turn on you.

  123. m

    stuart,

    Love your rants, but here’s the thing. Hughes is not just an 8th inning guy, he’s the setup guy. Anyone looking for Hughes to do anything other than that will be sorely disappointed.

    He sets up for Rivera, or pitch when he absolutely needs work.

    But that’s okay, he can always build up his innings next season and get to 200 IP right before he’s eligible for free agency.

  124. SJ44

    I would expect lots of short game in MLB today.

    Usually, the last game before the break, guys are looking to book and don’t really get into working counts and playing in 3 + hour games.

    Private jet time gets expensive when they are just sitting on the runway.

  125. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    ajax 0 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base….15 of 16..

  126. Ramey

    why isn’t damon playing today? is he still banged up? he’s a career .333 hitter off lackey in his career

  127. stuart

    ramey Coke faltered yesterday absolutely and that happens…but you give you best pitchers the most critical times to pitch. also coke came in after tomko and robertson faltered and allowed the angels to add on more runs. I think robertson and tomko gave up 4 more runs……THose 4 runs count as much if not more then the coke runs given up when they were already down…

    also wild pitches on strikeouts are quite unusual and coke had at least 1 of those..

    tomko stinks, you think he pitched well because he gave up only 1 run, the yloser pitches 1.1 inning. he is a run machine…………………

    aceves pitch in the 5th not robertson yesterday and keeps the score 5 to 5 or only 6 to 5, then the game is totally different…

  128. Ramey

    and posada is a career .393 hitter against lackey. am i missing something, or aren’t those two of the guys we’d really want playing today? lol

  129. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    “The only thing that has saved this team is their ridiculous payroll advantage, which is kind of pathetic.”

    Say what?

  130. RS

    “Exactly. Why should those 8 games against Boston be dismissed?”

    I don’t think anyone’s saying to dismiss those games, but the 5-14 record makes it seem like we struggle against ALL first place teams, and that’s definitely not the case.

    The Yankees have struggled considerably against the Red Sox, but have done just fine against the other top teams.

    Besides, they can’t win every game. If the Yankees were 14-5 against the Sox, Angels, etc. people would be whining about how they lose to the Royals and Athletics. The losses have to come from somewhere, and at least they’re beating up on the teams they’re supposed to beat. I believe the Angels and Red Sox are the only AL teams the Yankees don’t have a winning record against (and a win today would make them .500 against the Angels).

  131. 86w183

    I love the myth that Tomko is needed as a long man.

    He has pitched more than two innings twice all year and the last time was more than a month ago.

    Even with all the short starts lately he hasn’t gone more than two innings. He’s a spare part at best and should be replaced by Mitre with Aceves returning to the pen.

    I hope they arrange for Bruney to throw at least once in a simulated game during the all-star break. He’s one guy who doesn’t need time off.

  132. Ramey

    “aceves pitch in the 5th not robertson yesterday and keeps the score 5 to 5 or only 6 to 5, then the game is totally different…”

    Aceves could’ve just as easily let up 3 or 4 runs yesterday too. I mean nobody really expected Coke to falter. It was one of those games where none of our pitchers had the ability to get guys out

  133. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    It’s the day before the All Star break If you can get your old guys, ie Damon and Posada, one extra day of rest so they get five days off? You do it.

  134. S.A.--The sun will come out tomorrow; I'm down with the OPPC

    Mitre after 7…..0 runs, 6 hits, 0 BB, 5 K’s, 2 GIDP, 77 pitches, 60 strikes,

    =======================

    See you soon Mitre!

  135. Ramey

    “It’s the day before the All Star break If you can get your old guys, ie Damon and Posada, one extra day of rest so they get five days off? You do it.”

    I guess that’s fair enuogh. I mean most of our guys in the lineup have good career numbers against Lackey anyway. It just seemed odd that posada got 2 days off in this weekend series

  136. RS

    “Mitre’s line:
    7.0 IP, 6 Hits, 5 K, 0 BB on 77 pitches.60 strikes
    12 Groundouts
    4 Flyouts”

    This is what we should have had almost every 5th day if Wang hadn’t run the bases in Houston.

  137. Giuseppe Franco

    It is a little odd that Girardi has chosen to have Molina catch two of these three games with the break starting tomorrow.

    Not a big deal, but just odd even though I understand Sabathia had his de facto personal catcher in Cervelli.

  138. SJ44

    Rebecca:

    Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!

    Damon is beat up. So is Posada. The rest helps more than hurts right now.

  139. stuart

    Tomko serves no purpose mainly because he cannot get batters out.

    that is a problem for a pitcher. people may think I am nitpicking but you can waste a roster spot on a mopup man when you have a great staff and the last guy gets very limited work and inconsistent work. this is not the case with the yanks…again try a young guy in the tomko role and allow them to get there feet wet, why would a crappy pitching staff be in position to waste a psot on a known, older, crappy pitcher???It is not like they could not use a guy who actually stands a chance of getting batters out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    tomko for anyone with a brain serves zero role and has zero beenfit on this team, why cannot cashman and girardi see this????????????????????????????????

  140. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    SJ:

    Ahaha, so I AM pickin this stuff up!

  141. dennis-Costanza

    Who cares about who you have beat and who you have not beat? Grind, try to to get 95 wins ans see what happens in the playoffs. There are no style points and no NCAA selection committee or a BCS in MLB.

    -dennis

  142. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    lets go montero!!! and man-ban!!!

    peter gamons said montero!!

  143. stuart

    ramey do you have clue of the term percentages or propensity???

    Aceves has a 2 ERA and therfore his likelihood of giving up 4 runs is less then TOmko’s.. Those are called statistics.. Can Aceves blow up and on any given day give up 4 runs??? Absolutely but much less likely then Tomko.. If you do not get this you are beyond reasoning……….

  144. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Wow, is Gammons really saying nice stuff about Montero?

  145. S.A.--The sun will come out tomorrow; I'm down with the OPPC

    Future’s Game time

  146. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “Wow, is Gammons really saying nice stuff about Montero?”

    said he has tremendous power and it wont matter what position he plays in the bigs, hell hit anywhere

  147. miggs

    OK so the Yankees have 4 days off after today’s game.

    There’s no Posada, no Damon, and no Swisher.

    I just don’t get it. If these guys are that “beat up” that they can’t play a game with 4 off days coming up, then maybe they should be on the DL.

    Clueless Joe Part II

  148. ArodMVP217

    Gammons really has no choice. Unlike I, who am definitely muting him. Will read his ridiculous comments afterwards :P

  149. Ramey

    “ramey do you have clue of the term percentages or propensity???

    Aceves has a 2 ERA and therfore his likelihood of giving up 4 runs is less then TOmko’s.. Those are called statistics.. Can Aceves blow up and on any given day give up 4 runs??? Absolutely but much less likely then Tomko.. If you do not get this you are beyond reasoning………”

    I know baseball stuart. I know aceves’ era would determine he’d be less likely to blow up. But, coke had a pretty good ERA and he got smoked yesterday. Pettitte had a 2.79 era on the road up till yesterday and he got smoked. Things happen.

  150. SJ44

    Dennis,

    Exactly.

    Its not college football. If the Yankees go 0-18 against the Red Sox, win 95 games and make the playoffs, the BCS won’t step in and uninvite them to the post-season.

  151. Ramey

    “There’s no Posada, no Damon, and no Swisher.”

    To be fair, swisher is a career .116 hitter in 43 at bats against lackey

  152. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “OK so the Yankees have 4 days off after today’s game.

    There’s no Posada, no Damon, and no Swisher.

    I just don’t get it. If these guys are that “beat up” that they can’t play a game with 4 off days coming up, then maybe they should be on the DL.”

    It’s not that they can’t play. It’s that you have a chance for them to be that much more fresh when they come back on Friday.

    And from Friday on there’s no stopping till you get to the Postseason.

    Remember all the make up games the Yankees still have to play?

  153. SJ44

    Mitre just had a 5 pitch 8th inning and retired the side in order.

    Has an 82 pitch, 64 strike, shutout going after 8. 3-0 Scranton.

  154. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    I think Mitre wants to pitch in the Bronc.

  155. stuart

    ramey things do happen but over a extended period of time the %’s tell a story.

    aceves 2 ERA tomko 5 + ERA, Tomko will not get outs as often as Aceves…

    figure it out….managers can only do what has a higher probability of succes after that it is up to the players.

    tomko serves zero purpose…zero…

  156. RS

    Montero has to be our #1 prospects next year, right?

    The only reason he was behind Ajax was because he was so young and only hit in low A ball last year. But if he continues to hold up in AA as a 19 year old, there’s no way Jackson will continue to be rated ahead of him.

  157. Ramey

    “Mitre just had a 5 pitch 8th inning and retired the side in order.

    Has an 82 pitch, 64 strike, shutout going after 8. 3-0 Scranton”

    SJ; is mitre pitching against a poorly hitting team? I know it’s still only the minor leagues, but is he doing this against a good offense or an offense that has trouble scoring runs?

  158. miggs

    Rebecca I hear what you’re saying but they just lost 2 bad games to Anaheim.

    They should be doing everything they can to not be swept going into the break.

    I’m sorry, but today I thought for sure we’d see the everyday “best” lineup.

    If there was ever a day to play everyone, today is that day. Again, just my opinion.

  159. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “Montero has to be our #1 prospects next year, right?

    The only reason he was behind Ajax was because he was so young and only hit in low A ball last year. But if he continues to hold up in AA as a 19 year old, there’s no way Jackson will continue to be rated ahead of him.”

    cant argue with that

  160. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    It should be Nova not Mitre.

    Pel are you here !!!

    we need your media recording abilities for the futures game.

    BTW Wilmer Flores(Mets) just threw a ball into the stands.

    Jesus is starting and Manny Banuelos (NYY) will com in later.

  161. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “Rebecca I hear what you’re saying but they just lost 2 bad games to Anaheim.

    They should be doing everything they can to not be swept going into the break.

    I’m sorry, but today I thought for sure we’d see the everyday “best” lineup.

    If there was ever a day to play everyone, today is that day. Again, just my opinion.”

    We still have CC on the mound.

  162. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Tillman (BAL) looks nervous

  163. Rick

    Mitre is not hurting his chances of being on the mound vs. Baltimore on 7/20.

  164. 86w183

    miggs—

    You need to give your lineup whining a rest. Molina needs the work and Damon should have as much if not more time off than Alex at this stage. Hinske is better than Swisher against Lackey.

    “If there was ever a day to play everyone today is that day” ranks with the strangest things you’ve written. There is ZERO added importance to this game, none.

    Just watch the game. I bet two of the three get into the game.

  165. Christina

    I’m at the Scranton game now. Mitre has looked great. His fb has been 90-92. So far ip and 0 er but the pen is up so I doubt he’ll be pitching the 9th. I don’t see a pitch count here so not sure what he’s at….. Edwar is in

  166. Pat M....Section 211

    Seems to me that Rebecca has her finger on the pulse of what’s happening away more than most here…..I’ll be seated just down the hall from Pete, in the shade….Should be another hot one from Anahiem, at least there’s no humidity to speak of here in So.Cal…..See where Mgr. Joe Giradi is using his now a days deeper bench to it’s full advantage…….CB is right, Doc Halliday is all about moving contracts ( Vernon Wells , lesser degree Rios )….Yanks would be giving back players with marginal names….

  167. Ramey

    “Hinske is better than Swisher against Lackey.”

    Umm not to really nitpick at all. But Hinske is 1 for 16 in his career against Lackey, while Swisher is 5 for 43. I think it’s safe to say they both equally suck against him

  168. RS

    It doesn’t bother me too much that Damon and Posada are out of the lineup. They’re both available to pinch hit anyway, so it’s not like they can’t be used at all today.

    Molina swung the bat well yesterday, and it’s possible Girardi would rather have him behind the plate because he anticipates a close game

  169. S.A.--The sun will come out tomorrow; I'm down with the OPPC

    Heeeere’s Jesus

  170. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    speaking of Jesus.

  171. Trevor

    Come on Montero is not 180 pounds.

  172. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    i like how they messed up his height and weight

  173. David

    Hey-Zues!!

  174. Gary

    LOL Montero is 180 lbs?

  175. Fez

    Knee buckler there by Tillman

  176. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    look at that hustle and that rbi!

  177. V Cast

    And Montero hits into a DP

  178. Fez

    Jesus = not very fast

  179. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    RBI infield single for Jesus, he can run

  180. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    gammons is really speaking highly of montero…

  181. Trevor

    He is not as slow as some reports say he is.

  182. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Montero grounds to short and legs it out to avoid a DP, gets an RBI and now 2-0 World team.

  183. Tom in N.J.

    Gammons sounds heart-broken when talking about Montero.

  184. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “RBI infield single for Jesus”

    cough fielders choice cough

  185. Mike

    Has an All-Star game ever been rained out?

  186. SJ44

    Montero didn’t hit into a DP. A forceout, and and and RBI.

    Did a nice job covering a nasty changeup.

    Brandon,

    You ever see Nova pitch? Just curious as to why you are so sure he and not Mitre should get the nod.

  187. Fez

    C’mon guys. Anyone with average speed is 3 steps beyond the 1st base bag on a ball like that.

  188. Trevor

    Gammons probably wishes Montero choose the RS.

  189. 86w183

    One leg on the scale?

    My messup on Hinske/Swish… assumed he couldn’t be any worse. This is where Matsui’s complete inability to play OF kills the Yanks cuz Damon could then DH.

    The guy can hit, but I hate when you have a DH who can’t field anywhere…. especially when you have an older team and position players neeing to DH on occasion.

    Nice AB for Montero, fought off a tough curve and got a run home. Would have liked to see him do damage on one of those fastballs though.

  190. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “Gammons sounds heart-broken when talking about Montero.”

    he’s scared of him becoming Mauer w/ power.

    I can’t wait to see Bumgardner (SFG)

  191. SJ44

    ESPN had the incorrect height/weight for Montero in the graphic.

    He’s 6-3 and about 230 right now. He started the year in Tampa about 235 and has lost weight since then.

  192. 86w183

    Fez — That is average speed… for a 235 pound catcher!

  193. big bobby

    I hope Mitre is good but looking at the fact that he has pitched on and 5 years in the NL and never had an ERA below 5 is not good. The NL is much weaker than the AL offensively and much weaker than the AL east for sure- so not sure what this guy can do against those odds

  194. 86w183

    Enjoy the game gang…. things to do and people to annoy in person!

  195. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “Brandon,

    You ever see Nova pitch? Just curious as to why you are so sure he and not Mitre should get the nod.”

    he’s outperforming him and Dave Miley gushes about that kid and his complete 180. Nova is in his early 20’s sinker, curve, change and fastball and finally getting it.

  196. Matsui??

    Think Matsui in the OF is over blown. I bet he could play one day a week. Yankees choose notto use him out there. There are far far worse guys then him in ML outfields

  197. SJ44

    The stats with Mitre are meaningless since he pitched the last 14 months in the NL with a bad elbow.

    That tends to skew the numbers.

    They need a guy to fill 3-4 starts. Look at Chamberlain and Pettitte’s numbers the last month.

    If he is a little better than both of them have been the last couple of months, he does his job.

  198. steve

    what the hell?

  199. Tom in N.J.

    If the ASG gets rained out how whould they decide W.S. home field?

  200. Trevor

    Montero was in the Future Game last year too.

  201. tommy h

    HAHAHA, did anyone else just hear Steve Phillips call Clayton Richard-Richard Clayton from last years futures game?

    hahahaa- imagine him making a call to the White Sox as a GM and messing up a name?

  202. YankeeRay

    Montero didn’t look 6′3 as he looked closer to the 5′11 that they showed.

    Weak ground ball, trade him for Halladay :)

  203. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “what the hell?”

    rain delay, it’ll restart shortly.

  204. SJ44

    Brandon,

    He didn’t outperform today and has no ML experience. Young isn’t always better.

    Mitre has better ML quality stuff than Nova. Its not just numbers. Its quality of stuff.

    You can get AAA hitters out with stuff that isn’t ML quality.

    Mitre has a major league quality sinker and ML experience. Those are the differences between the two guys and probably why Mitre gets the shot.

  205. vtyankeefan-the original!!

    I’ll take my chances with the line-up. Of course, I’m not a line-up complaining type. Thers’s still enough fire power beat Lackey. CC, the Yanks stopper and ace will shut the Angels down

  206. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “If the ASG gets rained out how whould they decide W.S. home field?”

    Probably a coin flip.

  207. SJ44

    Ray,

    I’m 5-11 and I have stood next to the kid and he towers over me. He’s every bit of 6-3. Probably will end up being 6-4, 6-5 when all is said and done. He’ huge.

  208. Fez

    “You can get AAA hitters out with stuff that isn’t ML quality.”

    See: Kennedy, Ian

  209. Cal

    Wow, enjoy the rest of your career in the minors Edwar, was that guy ever a flash in the pan. He is awful in the minors. Won’t be seeing the majors anytime soon. Thank goodness.

  210. YankeeRay

    SJ44
    July 12th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
    Ray,

    I’m 5-11 and I have stood next to the kid and he towers over me. He’s every bit of 6-3. Probably will end up being 6-4, 6-5 when all is said and done. He’ huge.

    —–

    SJ I was just busting chops though he didn’t look that big. I hope he gets another at bat as I would love to see him hit a big fly and then hear Gammons.

  211. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    GO KC!

    GO DEJESUS!

    GO BRUCE CHEN!

    :)

    And dear God in heaven, please strike both Eckersley and Orsillo with laryngitis. I can definitely see why Eck’s wife left him for another ballplayer.

  212. Fez

    Dejesus has to go on that soft grounder.

  213. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Anyway El Nino’s first day in the OF (CF) was good.

    Top second: First ball hit to Ramiro Pena in center field is a routine single. There was a runner at first, so Pena had to charge the ball and throw to the cutoff man, which he did. Not much of a test, but at least he played it properly.

    Top sixth: Routine fly ball to center field. No problem for Pena. He didn’t have to move much, but he seemed to read it off the bat. As long as he can make the routine plays out there, he should be able to play a role as an outfield option off the big league bench. I imagine he’ll always be more of a slick fielding infielder.

    Top ninth: Nice running catch by Pena, who had to range well into right field. That was his most challenging play of the day and he made it look easy. Nice work by him.

  214. David

    The lineup that Mitre faced today actually had some legit ML players like Berroa, Nick Evans, Emil Brown, Mike Lamb, Wilson Valdez, Robinson Cancel etc.

    It’s not like he was doing this against a bunch of scrubs… he did face actual ML hitters

  215. SJ44

    They don’t need Mitre to be Cy Young. They need him to try and give them 6 innings and if they give him a 4 run lead, don’t flush it away.

    His job requirement is lower than the others given that he is probably #9 or 10 in the pecking order of starters that were in the mix to start the season.

  216. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Brandon: I have a hard time imagining Peña playing defense at any position and not taking to it…

  217. Trevor

    The Future’s Game maybe rained out. That’s not a small storm. Unless they’re willing to wait 2 or 3 hours.

  218. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Nova faced those same hitters and did it better David.

    *Dave Miley doesn’t always want to talk about his pitchers, he usually leaves that to Scott Aldred. Today, though, he was raving about Ivan Nova (right). “He showed, I don’t know if fire is the right word or not, but a pitcher can feel the sense of how a game’s going,” Miley said. “And the fire and the way he went out and competed, that’s a tip of the hat to him.”

    Nova was 90-94 with his fastball, and the 15-to-3 groundout-to-flyout ratio was outrageous. He got the first batter to fly out to left, but that was his only out hit to the outfield. He said he was getting groundballs with everything — fastball, changeup and curveball. I tried to ask what’s made him so effective this year, and he just kept saying, “Everything.” He said he’s making better adjustments, his arm feels stronger, his command has improved. “Every time I get on the mound, I feel good,” he said*.

  219. Fez

    Trisha:

    I’ll take those guys over the Yankees stiffs all day. Eck isn’t terribly professional, but he’s kind of funny. Branch work?

    It was Eck who made “walk off homer” a regular part of baseball lexicon. Of course, when he was talking about it had a negative connotation (he was referring to the Gibson homer in ‘88).

  220. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    “Dejesus has to go on that soft grounder.”

    Thought the same thing. Hopefully he’ll get another chance.

  221. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “The Future’s Game maybe rained out. That’s not a small storm. Unless they’re willing to wait 2 or 3 hours.”

    It’s not they said it’s a storm cloud it’ll resume later.

  222. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Brandon:

    I’d have more faith in Nova over the long haul but I think right now the Yankees want to go with someone that has ML experience.

  223. Y 27

    “Berroa, Nick Evans, Emil Brown, Mike Lamb, Wilson Valdez, Robinson Cancel etc.”

    Those are supposed to be ML hitters?

    :lol:

  224. Billy Mays

    Y 27
    July 12th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
    “Berroa, Nick Evans, Emil Brown, Mike Lamb, Wilson Valdez, Robinson Cancel etc.”
    Those are supposed to be ML hitters?

    ——–

    “ML” = Minor League ?

  225. SJ44

    Brandon,

    That’s great and guess who he recommended to the Yankees for the start? Mitre.

    Major league experience and a quality ML pitch, his sinker, trumps a guy finally finding it.

    Like Rebecca said, long term, you probably choose Nova.

    In the short term, you pick a guy like Mitre for those starts 100% of the time, based on what I talked about above.

    I don’t know of a manager at the minor league level who doesn’t praise his player publicly.

    That’s not an indication as to who the better player is when it comes to a call up.

  226. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Fez, seriously I’d like to chloroform Orsillo. Do you get to listen to them often? This is probably a culumative effect thing with Orsillo but every call he makes has the “urgency” of a last out in the world series call – whether it’s a hit or a ground out. They all sound the same!

    Eckersley sounds like a few cards short of a deck with some of his commentary. That whole thing about bunting to get the runner over thereby making it “seem” like they were playing for runs “They mustn’t be planning to get a lot of runs off Beckett.” Well freakin’ DUH! Thank the lord Eck provided that info because otherwise nobody would have ever figured it out.

    I also HATE when he refers to things as “high cheese”. It’s like he’s lost in the 50s or something (I realize wasn’t around then but it’s like he’s in a continual time warp.)

    If you have to be stuck with NESN, at least Remy is a good listen.

  227. Tom in N.J.

    Wait, Brandon is obsessing over prospects?

  228. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    SJ: I’m on some sort of roll today. It’s kind of awesome.

  229. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    That was a very fast hook with Chen. I wonder if he’s so poorly.

  230. Mikey

    Royals didn’t get swept… that is the consolation prize.

  231. Betsy

    Hughes should have pitched 2 innings yesterday, when we really needed him. This one inning at a time really is a waste for Phil and the team……. if the Yankees don’t need him in the 8th (down or up by a lot, or just down period), then Phil can’t pitch. It’s stupid – and there I agree with Richie. I said it when it happened – keeping Robertson over Alby was asinine.

  232. Fez

    Trisha:

    You get NESN a lot on Extra Innings. I do think Orsillo struggles little with so many different color guys being in the booth. He misses Remy, but I’d take him over Kay everyday of the week. Eck is definitely lost in the 70’s,right down to his hairdo, but he’s makes me chuckle from time to time.

  233. hardwired

    my advice for today in the Yankee clubhouse: pump Judas Priest’s ‘Some Heads Are Gonna Role’ through every sound system at max volume.

    the go out and kick some azz.

  234. hardwired

    ‘Role’ s/b ‘Roll’

  235. RhapsodyInBlue

    Eck is sickening with his numerous trips down memory lane.

  236. Mikey

    Cashman being interviewd (at last year’s Futures game)

  237. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “Wait, Brandon is obsessing over prospects?”

    I don’t see Mitre as a legit SP. I’m not saying he’s not good, yes I know the experience factor in all this but, Mitre’s numbers suggests he’s better as a BP arm

    http://www.baseball-reference......;t=p#times

  238. Fez

    “Eck is sickening with his numerous trips down memory lane.”

    Imagine if half of memory lane wasn’t obscured by the fog of drugs and alcohol. Doubt he remembers anything before 1983.

  239. Wi Zak

    Run prevention is as important as scoring runs against the Angels, as we saw these last few days. Angels manufacture runs to death. CC doesn’t hold runners well either.

    I have no problem putting our best defensive lineup out there. Molina at C, Gardner in left, Melky in Center.

  240. JZ

    The yankees need Halladay. Get rid of Joba in a package and take Rios. This team will never have a better rotation then Boston this year until they get Halladay. CC, A.J., and Roy can get you deep into the postseason, and who would you rather have in game 3 Roy Halladay (CY young award winner- best pitcher in the game) or Joba or Andy? LOL PLEASE ! Halladay any day.

    We have tons of pitchers in the farm like Andrew Brackman who will come up down the road so Joba is not the end all be all.

  241. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    Honestly, if Mitre comes up he’s going to be called up to provide 5th starter stats. As long as he can give them decent innings, and keep the team in the game by not giving up too many runs, then he’ll have done his job. Anything else is bonus.

    It seems that he might be capable of doing that. He should at least be given a shot, without people assuming he’s going to fail before he’s even thrown a pitch.

    You just never know what can happen in baseball when people are given a second chance. Aaron Small is living proof of that.

  242. SJ44

    Thompson could have have been a sandwich/second or third round pick, if not for the injury and his thought of firm committment to ASU.

    If the Yankees were to sign him, that would be a nice signing. That kid has a lot of talent.

    Perhaps Pat M has seen him pitch and can offer more.

  243. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    What I MEANT to say was that I wondered if Chen was on a pitch count because he wasn’t really doing that poorly and it seemed that they had a real fast hook with him. I guess I think it’s pretty cool if it was done in an attempt to win the game by KC. Good for them it that was the case (though it seems like Chen was a lot more effective than Tejeda has been to this point…)

  244. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Brandon:

    You have to consider that in his NL starts he was pitching hurt. Now that he’s healthy, and considering how fast he came back from TJ surgery, we may yet be pleasantly surprised.

  245. All-Star

    Hughes is going to be in the rotation soon anyway, so the innings limits are no longer an issue.

    Andy won’t be taken out of the rotation under any circumstances, Joba could be though.

  246. Tom in N.J.

    was kidding, Brandon. I’ve come to enjoy your unabashed blind faith in every Yankee minor leaguer.

  247. SJ44

    Brandon,

    Sergio Mitre, pre-elbow injury, was probably the Cubs #1 or #2 prospect a few years ago. He pitched the last 14 months of his time in the majors with a bad elbow.

    It finally blew out in Florida.

    He’s more of a “legit” SP than Nova. A kid who has had no track record until this year.

    Its known v. unknown and known wins everytime.

    Major league experience, a ML sinker, and a guy who knows how to pitch to ML players.

    The Yankees are going to choose that everytime to fill a short term role than putting an unknown rookie into the middle of a pennant.

  248. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “You have to consider that in his NL starts he was pitching hurt. Now that he’s healthy, and considering how fast he came back from TJ surgery, we may yet be pleasantly surprised.”

    I hope so Rebecca from the Bronx :)

  249. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    I asm definitely a pitching/defense lover. I’d much rather watch a well-pitched, well-fielded game than watch bombs exploding off the ends of bats. I’m sure that is why I am so desirous of seeing catchers like Cervelli and Molina behind than dish.

  250. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Brandon: So far I’m right on Aceves…

  251. Giuseppe Franco

    Um, Hughes is not going back to the rotation and Joba isn’t being moved out of the rotation.

    Does that clear everything up?

    When Sergio Mitre is the BEST option to take Wang’s spot in the rotation, I don’t want to know who the next guy in line will be.

  252. rconn23

    Nova needs more seasoning in AAA before you even conisder bringing him up.

    He’s a “lightbulb may have finally come on” guy. He wasn’t on the radar before this year.

    Don’t want to rush him up yet.

  253. Fez

    “What I MEANT to say was that I wondered if Chen was on a pitch count because he wasn’t really doing that poorly and it seemed that they had a real fast hook with him”

    Chen faced 18 batters and half of them reached. He was struggling.

  254. Dinosaur

    If Hughes pitched the 5th and 6th inning yesterday. Then who pitches the 7th-8th-9th? Even Coke, our 2nd best reliever, got battered yesterday.

    Tomko, Robertson, Bruney etc. would have still pitched, it would have just been later in the game, possibly protecting a lead or tie. The bigger issue is that we only have 1 reliable reliever at the moment.

    And we can’t look at it like “We scored 8 runs”. We have no idea how Socsica would have managed if it were a close game. Maybe some of those relievers we saw would not have been in the game. Angels had 4 run leads twice.

  255. Terry from NH

    4-0 Sox in the 4th.. Looks like CC is gonna have to have his “A” game today to keep the team from falling further back!

  256. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Crap. That was sad. Well you can only do what you can do. KC has certainly managed runs in their games against the Suxers so…

  257. vb03

    Giuseppe Franco July 12th, 2009 at 3:01 pm

    Um, Hughes is not going back to the rotation and Joba isn’t being moved out of the rotation.

    Does that clear everything up?

    When Sergio Mitre is the BEST option to take Wang’s spot in the rotation, I don’t want to know who the next guy in line will be.

    ———————

    In that scenario, it will be Kei Igawa’s long awaited return to the Bronx!

  258. SJ44

    Tom,

    I love Brandon. I really do. He should be a farm director for a major league team because farm directors are just like Brandon.

    They believe every one of their “kids” are bound for greatness! lol

    Seriously though, its fun to track the prospects. However, its always a “caveat emptor” (let the buyer beware) experience.

    Some guys are talented but just not as good as their numbers.

    Other guys have so so numbers but more talent.

    Its such a tricky proposition.

    You have to have an eye for talent, and ability to sell that talent to your GM AND the ability to also tell your GM which guys are really nothing more than AAAA type of players regardless of the numbers.

    That’s why projecting young talent sometimes is fools gold.

  259. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Nova was on someone’s radar, he’s been in BA’s top 30 for NY and SD for 07, 08 and 09.

  260. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    “Chen faced 18 batters and half of them reached. He was struggling.”

    I guess I was looking at the results. The glass half full tells you that if half of them reached and only two runs came in, the pitcher was doing something right. Just ask F’Ortiz!

  261. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “Brandon: So far I’m right on Aceves…”

    We all were, except for SJ :lol:

    rconn, we lost him to (SD) and were very lucky to get him off waivers after they quit on him. I just think w/ the deadline nearing we could raise his stock for us and deal him for something useful.

  262. G. Love

    Really love those Mitre numbers from today. Give me a guy who can throw strikes and not walk people for the back end and this team will the win the game.

    If he comes up here and doesn’t give up walks and can hang onto a lead, Joba will get demoted if he doesn’t change his act.

  263. Tarheelyank

    AAAA guys are valuable- you can always trade them to the Pirates. j/k

  264. SJ44

    Mitre is the best option because:

    Hughes is in the bullpen, Kennedy is injured, Horne is always injured, Kontos is out for the year with TJ Surgery, Nova isn’t ready, Jason Johnson has a torn Labrum, and Zach McAllister is also not ready.

    A combo of injuries, guys who aren’t ready, and process of elimination for Mitre to get the start.

    That said, if he can help for 2-3 starts, you take it at this point.

  265. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Hi Tarheel!

    That’s all. Just sayin hi.

    :)

  266. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    SJ:

    I think the hardest thing is timing.

    How do you know when it’s time to give up on someone?

    Yankees gave up on Carlos Peña and Dioner Navarro and paid for it last season.

    Right now, fans are giving up on Joba Chamberlain even though history is littered with pitchers that took a couple of seasons to put it all together.

    On the other hand, how long do you keep believing in guys that you’ve been waiting on forever? IE, Christian Garcia, Alan Horne (my brain doesn’t want to work today but I’m sure there are more applicable examples)

    Where do you draw that line?

  267. Clark

    Mitre’s first 3 starts would be

    Home vs. Baltimore
    Home vs. Oakland
    Road vs. White Sox

  268. SJ44

    Brandon,

    The best way to raise Nova’s trade value is to keep him where he is and hope he puts up good numbers.

    That’s easier to sell than to put him in the rotation because, if he doesn’t pitch well, he will then have no trade value.

    With Tampa and Boston winning today, this would be a good time for these guys to win one in Anaheim.

    Going into the break with a 3 game losing streak, with Boston and Tampa hot, is not the way you want to go about your business.

  269. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    they expect to continue the futures game shortly

  270. Tarheelyank

    Hey Trish
    :D

    (I’m blushing)

  271. Ramey

    “Mitre is the best option”

    So, even though I constantly get my head chewed off for this, i’ll ask again, why the Yankees don’t even factor in igawa into the equation at all? The last year and a half at Scranton he has done wel and thrown strikes consistently.

    I still think he deserves another shot. If we can sign sidney ponson off the scrap heap twice, why can’t Igawa get another go at it?

  272. Mark in Tampa

    We have to understand that we have seen many pitchers look great in AAA(Melancon, Edwar, Kennedy, etc) and then get to the majors and get knocked around like they never had been before. As long as we realize they will get hit, their main job is going to be to keep the team within striking distance. Also, how do they bounce back from rough outings? Reminds me of the great Mike Tyson quote: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”. :D

  273. Betsy

    That’s how I look at Mitre, SJ – I will gladly take 4 runs in 6 innings (just hope he doesn’t give us 1 or 2 innings -that would destroy the pen). They still need two starters, though….and another arm in the pen.

    I’m not going to whine, but I agree with those who think Po should be playing. YOu can’t get swept in Anaheim, thereby making a good/very good trip into an average one. They’ll also be (likely) 3 games back with a loss, losing almost all of the ground they worked so hard to gain.

  274. CB

    You can’t draw many valid inferences about Mitre from his prior stats. Just ignore them – they are largely irrelevant.

    He was throwing with a bad elbow for a good chunk of that time and that is going to skew his stats.

    Mitre’s value to the big league club this year depends on the quality of his pitches. That’s it.

    His minor league numbers are good to see but even they aren’t going to tell the story.

    It’s the quality of his pitches. If he’s keeping the ball down in the zone with good velocity then he can help.

    Giving Nova a start at the big league levels could very well be the worst thing possible for him. He’s finally finding some success on the diamond for the first time. Give him some time.

  275. Wangawa

    Good news about Mitre. Keep Aceves in the bullpen… he’s been fantastic in that role.

  276. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “So, even though I constantly get my head chewed off for this, i’ll ask again, why the Yankees don’t even factor in igawa into the equation at all? The last year and a half at Scranton he has done wel and thrown strikes consistently.

    I still think he deserves another shot. If we can sign sidney ponson off the scrap heap twice, why can’t Igawa get another go at it?”

    Because Igawa has shown, time and again, that he can’t pitch at the ML level.

  277. Zed

    Boston up 4-0
    Tampa up 3-0

    It would be a good idea idea to win today

  278. Nick in SF

    “Imagine if half of memory lane wasn’t obscured by the fog of drugs and alcohol. Doubt he remembers anything before 1983.”

    Then he should read “The Greatest Game — The Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Playoff of ‘78″ by Richard Bradley. He’s even a character in the book! :)

  279. RS

    Boston and TB both winning today.

  280. Cal

    It would behoove the Yankees to just get a W today, the Rays and Red Skunks are taking care of bueiness, just get a win and get out of that place.

  281. G-C

    There isn’t a player in baseball anyone here would have traded Joba Chamberlain for a year ago to date. This is a guy that was the best starting pitcher in baseball over the course of his 12 starts (and had he been in the rotation from the beginning we probably wouldn’t have had the shoulder troubles in the first place).

    Look, obviously the way he has performed so far is frustrating. But that talent, the talent that made him the best pitcher in baseball over 12 starts last year, is certainly there. It hasn’t disappeared over the last calendar year, and anyone who thinks any less of Joba because he’s scuffled a bit over 17 starts in his first full year as a starter is being silly. This guy has Hall of Fame talent, not All-Star talent but Hall of Fame talent, and you can rest assured that he isn’t going anywhere, certainly not for a 32 year old starter in line for an what would be our third exorbitant contract to a 30 + starter.

  282. Betsy

    Excuse me? It’s evident that CC doesn’t want to throw to Posada? Pete, that’s your interpretation – it’s not necessarily fact. Great, I guess Po-gate start again.

  283. Ramey

    “Yankees gave up on Carlos Peña and Dioner Navarro and paid for it last season.”

    How did the Yankees give up on Pena? Didn’t he have a clause in his contract that allowed him to become a free agent if he wasn’t callled up by a certain date?

    And wasn’t Navarro part of a package that brought Randy Johnson to New York? They made that deal becasue they thought it gave them a great chance at winning the world series. It’s not exactly giving up on someone imo

  284. V Torch

    Mitre before the All-Star Break in 2007:

    2.85 ERA in 15 starts.

  285. Betsy

    If CC doesn’t want to throw to Po, then he’s just like people were claiming AJ was when rumors (on here) abounded that he didn’t want to throw to Po – selfish. I don’t believe that of CC like I didn’t believe it of AJ. If this team goes anywhere, it’s in large part because of Jorge – and if they get into the playoffs, Jorge will be catching.

  286. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Tarheel it is very nice to see you! I haven’t seen you around in a while, though I too have taken some time away from this place so it is possible that you have been around and I’m the one who was missing!

    :)

  287. SJ44

    Rebecca,

    That’s always the tricky part and there is no one answer to it. Its a player by player thing.

    Lots of teams, including the so called “infallible” Red Sox gave up on Carlos Pena.

    Sometimes, you just make a call and hope you are correct.

    As far as Joba, I don’t think many people (at least logical people) are “giving up” on him.

    I think its a matter of seeing a guy like Halladay on the market and people saying, “I would trade Joba for Doc”.

    Honestly, there are a lot of smart baseball people who would do that deal. Other baseball people would not.

    There isn’t one universal way to run your team. Money, marketplace, ownership, depth in your system, all kinds of factors go into a trade and/or running your team.

    With big guys like Doc, its never just about player for player transactions. Much, much more goes into it.

    That’s why its so tough to trade for guys like Roy Halladay and why its tough for Toronto to even consider doing it.

  288. Ramey

    “Because Igawa has shown, time and again, that he can’t pitch at the ML level.”

    16 games and 71 innings in 2 seasons. His results were terrible obviously, but I don’t think he’s that same pitcher. He seems to have figured something out. Obviously I could be dead wrong and he is nothing more than a AAAA pitcher who can do well in the minors but not translate it to the majors. But, we’re paying him a ton of money, you have to see if EVENTUALLY you can get something out of that investment.

  289. G. Love

    Rebecca,

    I don’t think most of us are giving up on Joba. I think we all are coming to realize he needs more work and has to get it and change his act right now.

    He doesn’t appear to be developing and learning at the big league level.

    Perhaps a demotion gets him to get his head on straight. Going from eating at Nobu to Applebee’s in Scranton may inspire him to listen to his coaches/catcher.

    That said, we’re talking about trading him for Halladay who is one of the best, if not the best, pitcher in baseball.

    When we traded Navarro we did it because we were getting Randy “freaking” Johnson who pitched Cy Young like the season prior. I’d make the trade again. No one knew he was that close to the cliff and wouldn’t fit well in NY.

    With Halladay, he’s younger than Johnson was and apparently isn’t the locker room diva RJ was. He and AJ are buds and I’m sure he’d fit right in with this team.

    That’s the one thing people on this board don’t understand; when we discuss trading Joba or Cano for top talent we’re not giving up on them, we’re trying to use them to get pieces to make the team better.

    I understand the prospect hugging is at an all time high with the trade deadline approaching, but not all of these guys will pan out and some are going to take a lot time.

    The inexcusable thing Cashman did, in my opinion, was give up on Pena like he did. He had the defensive power hitting 1b in the organization and he treated the kid like he was ground up vet with one last shot.

    That release showed no foresight in my opinion.

  290. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “Mitre before the All-Star Break in 2007:

    2.85 ERA in 15 starts.”

    If that’s the Mitre we get than I will STFU.

  291. Matt

    Well, why else would Girardi keep Posada out of the lineup? He is a .393 career hitter against Lackey, got the 1st game of this series off, and is off for the 4 of the next 5 days (he won’t play the Saturday day game against Detroit if he plays Friday night).

    We’re not going for the sweep, we’re trying to avoid getting swept. Isn’t this the time to your your best lineup?

  292. Tom in N.J.

    The A’s, Rangers, Tigers, and Red Sox also “gave up” on Carlos Pena…

  293. RS

    Last season might have been a fluke for Navarro, based on how he has hit the rest of his career, including this season.

    Besides, Montero is far better offensively and Cervelli is better defensively. With those two, Posada, and Romine, I doubt we’ll be missing Navarro much over the next decade.

  294. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    SJ: And why, I think, Cashman, if he makes any moves, will go under the radar.

    We don’t need Halladay to get to October.

  295. Terry from NH

    I can only dream of CC, AJ and Hallady!! This opportunity only comes once in a lifetime. The Yanks farm system right now is very good. So this is the time to consider this trade. Doc should sign an extension (you don’t make that trade unless he gets the extension) I just don’t want Phil and Montero included. I could live with Joba,Romine and AJAX if Rios is included.. I like Rios and he would be a great #5 after Arod. If this trade doesn’t happen then we keep the farm intact, but I feel very nervous with Pettitte and Wang and even Joba filling out this rotation.

  296. Fez

    “He was throwing with a bad elbow for a good chunk of that time and that is going to skew his stats.”

    He wasn’t all that good with a healthy elbow.

  297. raymagnetic

    “And we can’t look at it like “We scored 8 runs”. We have no idea how Socsica would have managed if it were a close game. Maybe some of those relievers we saw would not have been in the game. Angels had 4 run leads twice.”

    The Angels have the worst bullpen in the league, so the Yankees likely would have scored runs off of them regardless of how Socsia(sp) managed.

  298. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    G Love et. al–

    I hadn’t realized we traded Navarro for Johnson, so a bad example on my part.

    Still, there certainly are instances in which the Yanks have given up on players when they should have been more patient.

  299. Betsy

    I have no idea why Po isn’t playing – he’ll get plenty of rest of the ASB. We need to win this one and Joe doesn’t feel a sense of urgency……….

  300. Terry from NH

    Imagine Halladay taking the ball for the next Sox series. That would make that 0-8 start easy to digest!

  301. Ramey

    I’m not trying to be argumentative in any way, but people who say Igawa proved time and time again that he couldn’t get major league hitters out…Hasn’t Mitre proved that as well?

    Mitre posted era’s of 6.62, 5.37 and 5.71 in the years before he blew out his elbow…Not exactly showing a tendency to get hitters out either.

    Does Mitret get the pass because he used to be a top prospect and Igawa was just some pitcher we signed from another league?

  302. SJ44

    Yes, Navarro was in the trade for RJ. The Rays are also looking to trade Navarro because they don’t like his work ethic and think last year’s success has gone to his head.

    Catching depth in the system isn’t a problem for the Yankees at this time.

    Re: Igawa, it is the quality of his pitches. They aren’t good. His numbers at AAA are meaningless because you can get AAA hitters out on bad curveballs and so so changeups.

    Major league hitters punish those mistakes.

    Here is one scouting caveat you guys should always put into your memory banks.

    A bad major league hitter is better than a good minor league just about 100% of the time.

    That’s why one guy is in the majors and one guy is in the minors.

    Sergio Mitre has a major league sinkerball. That means, a plus pitch that can get major league hitters out.

    He would also be pitching, IIRC, 2 of his first 3 starts at Yankee Stadium.

    If that’s the case, having a good sinkerballer throwing at Yankee Stadium is a good thing.

    Think of him as a poorman’s Chien Ming Wang when Wang is right. That’s probably the best way I can describe Mitre.

  303. raymagnetic

    “I guess I was looking at the results. The glass half full tells you that if half of them reached and only two runs came in, the pitcher was doing something right. Just ask F’Ortiz!”

    Or it could mean that the guy pitching was EXTREMELY lucky.

    Putting on half of the hitters you face means you are pitching VERY poorly.

    Considering how much you HATED the Yankees resigning Pettitte, I’m a little bit perplexed as to how you can see this as a glass half full sort of thing.

  304. Mark in Tampa

    Betsy,

    I guess you are back from Philly, where did you get your cheesesteak/dinner?

  305. The Curious Case of Joba Chamberlain (The sun will come up tomorrow)

    No but they need Halladay to win in October.

  306. Ramey

    Sj;

    Thank you for the input on Igawa. Much appreciated

  307. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    “and it’s pretty evident that CC doesn’t want to throw to Posada.”

    Oops. Betsy shouldn’t have mentioned that!

    :lol:

    Lots of times I don’t think to read Pete’s updates so would have missed that one. I’m sure everyone here is pleased that Betsy quoted it! Ha ha ha.

    Hey, Pete is pro-Posada if he is anything so if he is saying that it is evident that CC doesn’t want Posada catching him, I would say it is more than his interpretation.

    Some of you carry on as if Posada is the son of God (certainly not just you Betsy!). IF there are pitchers who would prefer that he doesn’t catch them, big flippin deal! They don’t have that right? They are the ones throwing to the catcher, not you. They have been around the block for a very long time and if they DO have catcher preferences they just might have valid reason for it.

    So IF it is the case that certain pitchers do not prefer Posada – IF it is the case – they may have somehow earned the right. Maybe you should try to understand why that is rather than continually kick at the pitchers involved!

    Okay that’s it. I certainly don’t want to risk further angering those who don’t want any more talk about Posada.

  308. Trevor

    I honestly can’t think of any other reason why (unless he’s hurt but we haven’t heard that) Posada isn’t catching today.
    Cervelli caught CC a lot now Molina?

  309. Matt

    Even if Cashman acquires someone… it is a temporary fix.

    Wang isin’t going to be out forever. Andy isin’t leaving the rotation. You are also not going to have Hughes AND Joba in the bullpen.

    There is a limit to what Cashman can do considering he does have Wang coming back. He doesn’t need a solution for the rest of the year.

  310. SJ44

    GLove,

    Pena is a bad example because everybody gave up on him. Even Rudy Jaramillo couldn’t fix him and Rudy is the best in the business.

    Steve Henderson in Tampa saved his career.

    The rest of your post about prospects and trades…..100% spot on.

  311. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “No but they need Halladay to win in October.”

    No not really, they need to hit in October from what I’ve noticed.

  312. Nick in SF

    No Nobu for Joba? That really is tough love!

    I bet Joba is happy with Panda Express.

  313. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    SJ, or anybody else:

    This is mike ashmores midseason recap of montero:

    He seems to have some trouble with offspeed pitches at times, but he may have the strongest bat in the organization right now. Defensively is where Montero struggles, as his size causes him trouble in transferring the ball and making a strong, accurate throw to the desired base. One American League scout recently told me that overall, he liked Austin Romine better than he did Montero as a result of Montero’s defensive troubles. But his bat will keep him in the lineup every day, regardless of where he is on the field.

    agree/disagree..why/why not?

  314. Yanks 83

    There is no logical explanation for Posada not catching today. Not when we are looking at a sweep and our rivals gaining 2-3 games on us. And you consider his numbers against Lackey, and it is even more of a mystery.

    Maybe Pete speaks the truth.

  315. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    I said it earlier and it seems to bear repeating:

    Sitting Posada and Damon today likely has nothing more significant to it than trying to get the two an extra day of rest. Five days off, for a beat up catcher and left fielder, is a godsend.

  316. KO

    test

  317. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “Pena is a bad example because everybody gave up on him. Even Rudy Jaramillo couldn’t fix him and Rudy is the best in the business.”

    Funny how the only person that fixed him was Kevin Long. I mean if Rudy can’t usually that means it’s over, but Kevin got him and presto comeback player of the year ! he also did the same for Giambi.

  318. Mark in Tampa

    I think the red sox gave up on Pena as well, if I remember right, he was in their organization the same year he was with the Yankees.

  319. stuart

    try mitre out for a few starts, why not?

    Acees is good in the bullpen, guile, guts, and wide array of avg pitches sounds good for the pen….

    aceves is very important to the yanks as there ramiro mendoza, do not change that………..

  320. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    “Or it could mean that the guy pitching was EXTREMELY lucky.”

    Of course it could mean that. But I’ve been watching the game and it didn’t look like he was pitching thast poorly. Plus I don’t know whether Fez was being literal when he was saying half. I am not sure how many hits they had.

    “Considering how much you HATED the Yankees resigning Pettitte, I’m a little bit perplexed as to how you can see this as a glass half full sort of thing.”

    Seriously? Oh well I am not quite as invested in the happenings of other teams as I am in my own team. Go with that for starters. That was a pretty dumb comment for you to make Ray. Have you been sitting with hurt feelings for Pettitte all this time? Don’t tell me you’re one of those fans who secretly feels like you’re related to the players and when someone insults one of your favs it wounds you to the core. Please don’t tell me that’s the case!

    :)

  321. KOOOO

    I seriously feel sorry for our lineup the last couple of games…. I mean you score 6 on Friday and lose… 8 runs yesterday, including FIVE home runs and you lose again. (meanwhile, everyone can shut up about the Yankees power numbers being way up cuz the Stadium. Sure it’s helping, but this team can mash anywhere) I hope CC can give them like 7 or 8 strong today, ‘cuz we need it. If the Yanks could win today and salvage one game of this series, they’d finish the road trip 4-2. Despite Friday and Saturday’s brutal losses, I would take a 4-2 road trip all day, any day

  322. Sweet_Lou_in_Vermont

    # Rebecca–Optimist Prime–Montero Fanaticus Primus July 12th, 2009 at 3:11 pm

    “So, even though I constantly get my head chewed off for this, i’ll ask again, why the Yankees don’t even factor in igawa into the equation at all? The last year and a half at Scranton he has done wel and thrown strikes consistently.

    I still think he deserves another shot. If we can sign sidney ponson off the scrap heap twice, why can’t Igawa get another go at it?”

    Because Igawa has shown, time and again, that he can’t pitch at the ML level.
    =============================

    Anybody know if Igawa still pitches while wearing sun glasses?

  323. bodhisattva - Destiny Wears Pinstripes

    bodhisattva – Destiny Wears Pinstripes
    July 12th, 2009 at 3:16 pm

    SJ44
    The belief that Austin Jackson can hold down CF for the next 10 years is a fan statement. There is no guarantee of that.
    He may not even make the Yankees next year. He’s a nice player. He’s not a surefire star. Don’t overrate him like you did Christian Garcia.
    ====
    SJ44,
    I said he “could” hold down – not he “can.”

    You respond selectively to better leverage your argument, and that is dishonest.

    There is no guarantee that AJax will “make” it. However, I don’t kneel before a wishing well and implore the Baseball Gods to breathe brilliance into him.

    I saw him early on – he was all arms and high leg kick and blindfolded hacks. I was not impressed – I even remarked, on a forum I frequent more – that one needs to be suspicious the the so-called 5-tool guy who doesn’t appear to have any honed baseball skills.

    Guess what?

    AJax has completely turned things around; his approach is like someone else slipped into his body: he uses his front foot to adapt to where the ball is – he keeps his hands back, and he doesn’t lunge like he used to – he generates way more power (probably the key to the power we’re seeing more regularly), and his bat is naturally quick.

    AJax is not pie in the sky or a PR push – he has the athletic gifts and apparently, the coachability and determination – to become a real baseball player.
    He already has very good instincts on where the ball is going off the bat, runs like a gazelle, can time his jumps to make “spectacular” thieving plays at the wall, and has a decent arm.

    Right now, anyone who is marking his progress has to concede that he has really developed nicely; I believe his ETA was considered 2009; best to let him have his cup of coffee and say, see you in ST 2010, because he is very, very close.

    Garcia has not been over rated: Garcia is impossibly talented; his issue is his physical health – not his stuff.

    Based on what you have written about him, it’s clear to me you haven’t seen much of him. If you had, you wouldn’t even think of calling him “over rated.”

    He just can’t seem to stay healthy. Only those of us who have seen him enough know that is something to lament. Had he been healthy, we could have moved him into the BP for this year but sadly, one doesn’t even know if he has any kind of future.

  324. Tom in N.J.

    I don’t know if I can name a recent player the Yankees “gave up on” too soon .

  325. Giuseppe Franco

    Montero only has to be a serviceable big league catcher to remain there.

    And he’ll get plenty of coaching from Pena, Girardi, and Posada once he gets on a big league roster.

    I think we’ll see him catch 40 games for the Yanks next season and DH a lot.

    Amazing considering a month ago I didn’t think we’d even see him in the Bronx until late 2011.

  326. Nick in SF

    Oakland within a run of Tampa, men on 1st and 3rd, still one out.

  327. Mark in Tampa

    “Five days off, for a beat up catcher and left fielder, is a godsend.”

    I don’t see where anything is going to recover or heal in 5 days that can’t recover in 4.

  328. KOOOO

    I think the Yankees have realized how important Aceves is to their bullpen. They couldn’t possibly be so lame again, and not bring up Mitre or someone for the next empty start they have.

  329. Nat

    Do not bring up Edwar under any circumstances. The guy is a one-trick pony…

  330. Betsy

    Trish, that’s Pete’s opinion and he has nothing to back it up.

  331. G. Love

    SJ,

    My issue with how we handled Pena was this. At that time, I believe, we were still watching Cashman give at bats to an Andy Phillips or a Minky.

    Pena was a better player at that time than Phillips for sure. Minky had the edge on defense, but Pena had a real good glove.

    He also had power and was hitting HR’s in AAA for us.

    Cashman could have stashed him on the 25 in place of both of those guys easily and allowed Donnie and Long to work with him at the big league level.

    I know a lot of teams let the guy slip through the cracks, that still never made it okay that we were out looking for a guy who could actually defend the position and field throws from Jeter and Arod and hit a little.

    We had him. He hit in the minors. Cashman couldn’t find the room for him for some odd reason.

  332. Nick in SF

    And Oakland ties the game on a ground out as I hit ’submit commment’.

  333. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    cool…rays blew the lead 3-3

  334. CB

    “The inexcusable thing Cashman did, in my opinion, was give up on Pena like he did. He had the defensive power hitting 1b in the organization and he treated the kid like he was ground up vet with one last shot.

    That release showed no foresight in my opinion.”

    The yankees did not release Pena.

    Pena was signed to a minor league contract which , like many contracts like that, had a player only option to opt out of the contract.

    Pena exercised that option. He did not get released.

    And quite honestly Pena isn’t nearly the player he was during that breakout year he had with the Rays.

    He hit for average and power that year. Now he doesn’t hit for average anymore and hits for power/ walks/ strikesout.

    But it’s a myth that somehow the yankees just released him. They didn’t.

  335. KOOOO

    Montero catching 40 games NEXT season???? Uh, no. I would be any amount that does not happen.

  336. Betsy

    Mark, I’m going down on the 22nd – be back on the 28th. I will report on my cheesesteak adventures then….I can’t wait to see Citizen’s Bank Park also

  337. Nick in SF

    “There is no logical explanation for Posada not catching today.”

    There probably is a logical reason. We just haven’t been told what it is. And some of us might not agree with it. But I doubt Mr. Girardi flipped a coin and it came up Molina.

  338. SJ44

    Nobody thinks Posada is the “Son of God”, Trisha.

    The problem is, most of us think he is much better than you think he is and he has been that way for his entire career. Including this season.

    You have assigned blame to Posada everytime a Yankee pitcher struggles. Well, as we have seen in the cases of Wang, Joba and AJ, it wasn’t Posada.

    CC and Posada? No question CC isn’t comfortable throwing to Jorge. That’s not a big deal. No catcher is infalible in that regard.

    The entire premise of this “debate” has been your contention Posada is the “problem” with the pitching staff.

    Its been shown time and time again he is not.

    There are always isolated incidents where catcher and pitcher don’t match up.

    However, to make a universal argument, one that has been debunked over and over re: Posada, is the gist of the disagreement.

    AJ Burnett and Jorge worked out their issues and AJ is pitching better to Jorge than he has to any Yankee catcher.

    CC Sabathia, as far as I’m concerned, can throw to whomever he wants because he’s CC Sabathia. He’s earned that right.

    Joba Chamberlain? He should be happy he’s still in the rotation, stop shaking off catchers and throw to whomever is back there because he’s had neither the success nor service time to demand anything.

  339. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    And by the way, Raymagnetic, “glass half full” is my middle name. I’m perplexed that you wouldn’t have figured that out by now! :)

    If I can’t find a positive in a situation, you can probably take to the bank that the mighty Casey has indeed struck out!!!

  340. JJ

    “CC Sabathia, as far as I’m concerned, can throw to whomever he wants because he’s CC Sabathia. He’s earned that right.”

    Bingo

  341. Mark in Tampa

    Betsy,

    I thought you going there yesterday, for some reason.

  342. Tarheelyank

    Trisha

    I have been away as well. I am back to work after a long surgery re-hab. Still visit a lot but, but more of a lurker. Thanks for noticing.

    By the way T, it’s time to rally the troops. The sky is falling mentality has been terrible over the last couple of games. I know it’s hard to find positives lately, but I have faith in you!

  343. Scott

    Not being comfortable throwing to someone and not liking that person is 2 completely different things. CC has earned the right to throw to whoever he wants. He is one of the top pitchers in the game.

  344. G. Love

    CB,

    What backup 1b was on the Yankee roster at that time that was more capable and valuable than giving Carlos Pena a shot on the 25 in the same capacity?

  345. Giuseppe Franco

    KOOOO July 12th, 2009 at 3:30 pm

    Montero catching 40 games NEXT season???? Uh, no. I would be any amount that does not happen.

    —————-

    Uh, don’t rule it out. I’m not some crazy prospect hound with unrealistic expectations.

    But I do think he has a good chance to make the big club fairly early next season and they aren’t going to simply leave him at DH for the entire season.

  346. Fez

    Jason Bay had seen 13 pitches that have resulted in 3 four pitch walks and an HBP.

  347. joe b

    They still don’t beat the good teams…Red Sox, Angels and Phillies. They will fold in the playoff as usual.

  348. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    ““Five days off, for a beat up catcher and left fielder, is a godsend.”

    I don’t see where anything is going to recover or heal in 5 days that can’t recover in 4.”

    If you have the chance to get an extra day of rest, you take it.

    The team’s got very, very few off days because of all the make up games once the second half starts.

    The Yankees will NEED JoPo and Damon. That’s why you rest them now.

  349. DT - OPPC member (blood type - Positive)

    To make everyone happy – Girardi should let CC hit and have Posada DH for Molina.

  350. Don 38

    Montero can’t hit breaking balls.

    He is basically like Shelly Duncan with better pitch recognition right now.

  351. JZ

    There is no assurance that Joba will be a Cy young type pitcher. We have hughes and other pitchers in the farm that have as much potential as Joba so who cares if the yankees trade joba. He thinks he is so great and that he isn’t pitching badly. He is arrogant and immature, and hurting this team’s chances. The goal every year is to win, and if you have a chance to get the best pitcher in the game to get you to the world series and win championships for a couple years then you take that chance. Halladay is a complete pitcher in his prime and has at least 5-6 years left in terms of dominance.

  352. Ramey

    “They still don’t beat the good teams…Red Sox, Angels and Phillies. They will fold in the playoff as usual.”

    So doing well against the Rangers and Twins, both of which are more than above average team, means nothing? Hindsight is 20/20. As long as the Yankees win enough games to get into the playoffs, I don’t care who we play.

  353. Antones

    “They still don’t beat the good teams…Red Sox, Angels and Phillies. They will fold in the playoff as usual.”

    Assuming they even get to the playoffs… which is no lock considering Tampa is red hot and has better pitching than either BOS or NY.

  354. Nick in SF

    Oakland takes the lead in the 7th, 4-3 with men on 1st and 2nd, 2 out.

  355. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “Montero can’t hit breaking balls.

    He is basically like Shelly Duncan with better pitch recognition right now.”

    i find it hard to believe that BA’s #3 prospect is shelly duncan-esque

  356. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Everyone fell in love w/ King of Bloop Andy Philips…everyone :roll: (except for me) Anyway Kevin Long was big for Carlos Pena, he took his offseason tips and used them well. Even called Long to keep in touch.

    Pena hit for PWR/AVG/OBP struck out a bit. And played GG defense.

    Now his defense has diminished ALOT, he only hits for PWR and he strikes out alot more. Teix >>> Pena.

  357. Betsy

    Rebecca, I still disagree with it. Sorry, one extra day of rest when he will already have four and had one on Friday doesn’t cut it. This is an important game for the Yankees and Joe is not putting out his best lineup. Reminiscent of the game in MN last year when he started some nobody over Johnny Damon. Idiotic.

  358. SJ44

    Bod,

    I’ve seen Christian Garcia pitch since he was in HS. I know of the kid very, very well.

    Part of projecting prospects, and important part of it, is for said player to be able to answer the bell. The player has to stay healthy.

    He’s always had a great arm and could never stay on the field.

    When you see a kid like that, you realize its not going to happen for him. He’s injured too much and at some point, teams just can’t be in constant rehab mode with a player.

    Sadly, Alan Horne is the same way. Another kid I’ve seen since his HS days. Great arm, just can’t stay healthy.

    As far as Austin, I’ve seen him play over 50 times. You are correct, his improvement the last 2 1/2 years has been remarkable and impressive.

    That said, he’s not an “elite” prospect. He’s a very good propsect. Not “elite”.

    Jason Haywood is an elite OF prospect. There is nothing that kid can’t do on a baseball field. Austin has some limitations.

    Doesn’t make him a bad prospect at all and I like what he brings to the table.

    However, if I was drawing up a list of “elite” prospects in the game right now, Austin is not on that list and Jesus Montero is.

    Why? For his age and the position he plays, his power, pitch recogination and ability to put the bat on the ball, is something you only see once a decade from a prospect.

  359. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “Montero can’t hit breaking balls.

    He is basically like Shelly Duncan with better pitch recognition right now.”

    Montero’s also 19 and can learn.

  360. GreenBeret7

    Montero will get some pretty good instruction on his defense when he gets to AAA (which may or may not happen in August). Butch Wynegar was one of the better defensive catchers in the ’70s and ’80s with the Twins and Yanks.

  361. Fez

    I don’t imagine Montero being up next year. Aside from a 9 for 15, 4 homer, 7 RBI effort over 4 games in Erie, PA, the one hitter’s haven in the Eastern League, he’s been a .235 hitter at AA. He’s still got some work to do.

  362. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “He is basically like Shelly Duncan with better pitch recognition right now.”

    Don’t ever compare Jesus to Shelley. Please don’t.

    Teix needs a break.

  363. Ramey

    So I have a question for anyone who may have the answer. I NEVER follow the home run derby, because it just doesn’t do anything for me, but, have players who aren’t in the All-Star game, usually allowed to participate in the home run derby? I know Carlos Pena is one of the 4 American League representatives in the derby tomorrow. Does that happen often?

  364. RS

    CC and Posada are going to have to learn to work together, if there really is an issue between them. There’s no way Molina would get 1, let alone 2 starts in a 5 game playoff series.

  365. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “Rebecca, I still disagree with it. Sorry, one extra day of rest when he will already have four and had one on Friday doesn’t cut it. This is an important game for the Yankees and Joe is not putting out his best lineup. Reminiscent of the game in MN last year when he started some nobody over Johnny Damon. Idiotic.”

    You do know Posada’s got a sore thumb, right? And that Damon has a bad calf?

    Girardi isn’t resting these guys for the utter heck of it.

  366. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    SJ – I can’t read super long posts. It’s my ADD. I can guess what most of it said though.

    :)

  367. Pel

    I guess the Yankee hitters really were anxious to see CC pitch.

  368. joe b

    I hear Jeter and A-rod don’t like throwing to M. Tex. What next..Damon doesn’t like throwing to Jeter.

  369. AndrewYF

    Look at that, the Unbeatable Rays that are going to easily pass the Halladay-less Yankees are experiencing a slump too. And to a much lesser team than the Angels. I thought only the Yankees could slump?

  370. Kevin in Austin

    a one pitch two outs at bat… can’t get any worse than that
    :(

  371. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    But since I didn’t read it, if you DID allude to anything about Posada’s catching being more than average, I have to say that having a relative who manages a Holiday Inn isn’t the same as managing one.

    Randy, who caught major league players, has said many times that Posada is an average defensive catcher. And so he is.

  372. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Pel you better record some of that futures game when it gets back on, I want video clips of Jesus and Manny Banuelos. :D

  373. CB

    G. Love,

    That’s fine. All I was commenting on was that Pena was not released.

    Having a player exercise a one way option in his contract is very different than an outright release.

    He hit .260 in AAA with a lot of strike outs and home runs. There are veterans every year who do that. Shelley Duncan puts up better numbers in AAA than that.

    Picking out the Carlos Pena or Nelson Cruz from the the Shelley Duncan’s in the world is a needle in the hay stack endeavor.

    The Sox are thought to be amongst the best talent evaluators in the game.

    They didn’t bother to pursue Pena after they signed him either.

    Every year the minors are filled with guys who put up numers like Pena.

    This year Shelley Duncan has been by far the best hitter in the International league. He’s been much better than Pena was. I don’t hear much clamor from yankee fans to bring him up. Todd Linden was third in the international league in OPS. He’s a very comparable player to Pena. I didn’t hear much outrage when he was sold to the Japanese league.

  374. SJ44

    Montero “not being able to hit breaking balls” isn’t true at all.

    Ralphie,

    Most 19 year olds have trouble with off speed pitches because they don’t see a lot of them. What’s rare about him though is, he makes more contact on pitches than a lot of kids with his power.

    Mike Stanton, the Marlins top prospect, is a tremendous power hitter. Like Montero in that regard. He doesn’t make anywhere near the contact Jesus makes.

    He’s a rare, rare bird in that regard.

    Defensively, ball transfer is his weakness.

    That said, GF is right, he can play 20-40 games behind the plate for the Yankees next year because his bat is almost big league ready. It will be by next year.

    When it is, he will be on the roster because you don’t keep a guy with his bat in AAA.

  375. vb03

    Please sign Figgins in the offseason, just so we don’t have to see him beat the Yankees up year after year.

  376. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    so I think we’re going to get swept here.

  377. Tarheelyank

    “To make everyone happy – Girardi should let CC hit and have Posada DH for Molina.”

    LOL. Brillant

  378. RS

    “Montero can’t hit breaking balls.”

    I don’t think any 19 year old has had a good handle on breaking balls over the past decade, except MAYBE Arod.

  379. raymagnetic

    “Seriously? Oh well I am not quite as invested in the happenings of other teams as I am in my own team. Go with that for starters. That was a pretty dumb comment for you to make Ray. Have you been sitting with hurt feelings for Pettitte all this time? Don’t tell me you’re one of those fans who secretly feels like you’re related to the players and when someone insults one of your favs it wounds you to the core. Please don’t tell me that’s the case!”

    Trisha,

    My feelings weren’t hurt at all about Pettitte. He’s a guy who plays a kids game for a team I root for, that’s about it.

    I just find it hilarious that you can find the good in a guy putting on half of the hitters he faced and yet you were so against the Yankees re-signing Pettitte because he always pitched in trouble last year.

    Glass half full may be your middle name, but Illogic seems to be your first name.

  380. Betsy

    Instead of worrying about the Rays, why don’t we let them worry about us? It’s always “the Rays are red hot, etc…….”. Well, they’ve been behind us almost all year – they haven’t played as well as us. I’m by no means saying they are out of it or aren’t to be respected, but it’s the grass is always greener argument (that is, our team sucks and all the other teams are better). Great – Tampa is 4-4 against us. That means they have an inferior record against other teams than the Yankees do. They get a pass for that?

  381. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    thanks SJ!

  382. Betsy

    SJ, I part ways re: CC and a personal catcher. I detest the notion of one – and it’s nothing personal against CC. He’d better learn to throw to Posada…it’s silly to have Molina as a crutch for him.

  383. GreenBeret7

    Montero has been hitting breaking balls since he started. He he has shown that he can hit better breaking balls as he progresses up the ladder. Maybe the troll that made that statement should worry more about Lars Anderson for awhile.

  384. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “so I think we’re going to get swept here.”

    you tend to fail alot…hoping that continues :P

  385. Josh from NC

    VB03,

    I cant agree with u anymore lol

  386. Sunshine

    It was reported that Posada is out with a bad thumb. Well it wasn’t reported here… because that would take…wait for it…reporting…and not just trying to stir it up. I suppose it will come out in the post-game. Bad job, Pete.

  387. Benny Blanco

    abreu…GO AWAY!

  388. SJ44

    Trisha,

    I never said he was an above average ML catcher. He’s not a below average one, as you have believed.

    Read the posts, you will learn something.

    It has nothing to do with having relative as a catcher.

    I’ve only spent 30 years of my life in and around baseball.

    I can certainly tell good catchers from bad catchers and Jorge Posada is a good catcher.

  389. Maria

    Didn’t get the out but great play by Cano. So close.

  390. Ramey

    around the horn double play…nicely turned

  391. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    good job CC!

  392. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    “I just find it hilarious that you can find the good in a guy putting on half of the hitters he faced and yet you were so against the Yankees re-signing Pettitte because he always pitched in trouble last year.

    Glass half full may be your middle name, but Illogic seems to be your first name.”

    Oh wah wah wah!

    Pitched in trouble? I’m laughing so hard my sides are aching. No I was against re-signing him because he stunk for an entire half of a season! That’s a little more than a KC pitcher giving up 2 runs in 4 innings.

    You need to give it up also. Anger seems to be your first and last name!

  393. DYNASTY IS DESTINY!

    Forecast for today…

    Bright sunshine in Anaheim…

    CC clipping wings…

  394. Wangawa

    hey, something went our way for once

  395. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    If you’re the Yankees right now, you don’t worry about the Sox or the Rays.

    You worry about the game you are playing today.

    Win the game in front of you.

    Only time to worry about the Sox and the Rays is when you play them.

  396. SJ44

    Betsy,

    Its not about having a personal catcher. Its about comfort zone. CC Sabathia has earned that right.

    He has thrown to Posada and, if the Yankees make the post-season, will throw to him again.

    Now? If he is comfortable doing something else, its not a big deal.

    In the end, you make the pitches, you get the outs, regardless of who is behind the plate.

    GB, coming out STRONG to put the piledriver on the Red Sox troll!! lol

    He comes on here everyday saying the same thing when Montero is the topic.

  397. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    James Shields. I have a big decision to make. I had such high hopes for him on my fantasy team but he really hasn’t been what I had hoped for. Do I wait to see how the second half of the season begins or do I jettison him?

    Any advice?

  398. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “If you’re the Yankees right now, you don’t worry about the Sox or the Rays.
    You worry about the game you are playing today.
    Win the game in front of you.
    Only time to worry about the Sox and the Rays is when you play them.”

    very true…but its still fun to root against them :P

  399. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    Thanks Betsy for calling attention to the CC not wanting to throw to Posada comment. :-P

    I am SO over this entire *debate*.

  400. SJ44

    Rebecca,

    You are on a roll! lol

    That’s exactly it. Win today because you can’t control anything else.

  401. S.A.--Serenity Now

    come on Alex

  402. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    SJ: They should give me a job =P

  403. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “come on Alex”

    7-8 pitch AB and takes a pitch that could have been ball 4. I don’t see the problem here.

  404. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Gary Thorne is pissing me off.

  405. Betsy

    Angel, I just can’t leave well enough alone……..sorry!

    Rebecca, I definitely agree with that. The Yankees will have their chances again against the Rays and Sox. I just really want to win this game -they were playing so well coming into this series, it would be a shame to have a 3 game losing streak coming into the ASB. Again, though – we’ve seen that the team doesn’t give up so if they can fix their pitching problems….

  406. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    I have a doghouse just for MLB umpires these days.

  407. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    mall cop just missed that one.

  408. S.A.--Serenity Now

    7-8 pitch AB and takes a pitch that could have been ball 4. I don’t see the problem here.

    =========================

    Neither do I. It was a ‘you can do this’ “come on Alex”

    :P

  409. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    Heh, just teasing you and following Trisha’s instructions, Betsy.

  410. GreenBeret7

    SJ, like any other player in baseball, will have trouble with quality breaking pitches. That’s why pitchers throw them. They cause problems. Montero has been hitting quality breaking balls since he started, or, at least quality for his level of play, and that’s all he can do. I know that you know this. I just attached your quote to this.

    as far as some of the other subjects that you have tackled today….no disagreements. I’m not in the mood to remark on the tiresome Posada BS. He does his job and when the catcher’s spot in the order comes up, there’s nobody on a short list of two catchers in baseball I’d rather see besides Mauer.

  411. bodhisattva - Destiny Wears Pinstripes

    SJ44
    July 12th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
    Bod,
    I’ve seen Christian Garcia pitch since he was in HS. I know of the kid very, very well.
    Part of projecting prospects, and important part of it, is for said player to be able to answer the bell. The player has to stay healthy.
    ============

    Well forgive me if you’ve seen him; my conclusion was based on your having stated he should retain only his slider and FB for BP duty (this is prior to his recent DL stint, obviously).

    The thing is, he doesn’t throw a slider at all.

    And if you have seen him, I’m not sure how you’d be calling him “over rated” – that would not be my choice of words were I trying to put him into context.

    You can argue, I suppose, although not all that credibly in my estimation, that a player’s hardiness or fragility can somehow be filed under “talent.”

    I can say, for instance, it’s a shame that Junior’s health derailed/abbreviated what might have been a non-pareil career. In hockey, Mario Lemieux was the only equal ever of Gretzky – but people not familiar with the sport don’t realize that, because the latter had such an unfortunate health history – he had to have someone else tie his skates before he could get through the gate.

    You don’t say: Lemieux, th greatest pure goal scorer and the greatest pure talent of all time, is “over rated” because he had a debilitating back injury that didn’t allow him to break Gretzky’s records (which Gretzky has conceded).

    Clearly, and I’ve no doubt anyone who read my thorough posts on Garcia, I have been referring to his talent – the HOPE was/is? that he somehow could overcome his injury troubles so we could have that shining light in our rotation.

    One hoped, because he is not a high maintenance thrower, that his elbow issues were behind him. That is just how fragile pitching can be.

    You mention Horne, who has a good arm – but let’s face it – Horne is pedestrian compared to Garcia (Christian…we hardly knew ye).

  412. Nick in SF

    Pettitte revisionist history. Shocker.

    Oakland leads 6-3 over the deathly Death Rays with a man on 1st and 2 out in the top of the 8th.

  413. SJ44

    He was sitting curveball and got a fastball.

    Sometimes, the pitcher makes a good pitch.

    John Lackey has one of the best curveballs in the league.

    If you are crushing fastballs like Alex has been lately, its not bad guess you aren’t seeing a fastball at 3-2.

    Lackey fooled him. That’s the ying and yang between pitcher and hitter.

  414. Johnny D.

    I have no desire to watch the AS game this year. Why not have it at Citi or Yankee Stadium?

  415. Fez

    Trisha:

    Shields is a keeper.

  416. miggs

    “UPDATE, 2:38 p.m.: Interesting lineup, eh? Swisher has bad numbers against Lackey, Damon has been struggling this month and it’s pretty evident that CC doesn’t want to throw to Posada.”

    The question I have, and maybe SJ44 can answer it for me, is: Does CC really have a problem throwing to Posada or is that speculation on Pete’s part?

    Seems to me, unless I’m mistaken, that CC has thrown to Posada the majority of the time this year to good results.

    Am I missing something?

  417. vb03

    CC getting squeezed.

  418. Mark in Tampa

    Why does Alex constantly guess with 2 strikes? He strikes out looking on very hittable fastballs more than any good hitter I have ever seen. That pitch today may have been borderline, but I don’t think Alex took it because he thought it was a ball. It looked like he was guessing breaking ball and couldn’t have pulled the trigger no matter where that fastball was.

  419. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    What the hell.. how was THAT a ball?

  420. Trevor

    The heck that pitch?

  421. vb03

    Haha, that was a strike. What a joke of a strike zone.

  422. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    I don’t know, Mark. But he might have though the umpire was going to call it a ball, given what he’s called a ball for the Angels that inning. Ack.

  423. Johnny D.

    The Yankees have been getting horrible calls this past week. This happens every season. The umps are pathetic.

  424. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Fez – thanks. I needed to hear that. I’ll stay with him. Lately he really hasn’t gotten the job done, but I guess he’s earned that right too.

    :)

  425. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    The Yankees are making some stupid decisions lately.

    Joba and Andy are unreliable so the answer is to put Mitre – a third unreliable pitcher – into the rotation? At least you know Aceves has a shot to be good. Mitre has no shot.

    It’s also absurd that CC won’t pitch to Posada. Maybe the team would have a better record with him pitching if he let Posada hit. I didn’t think CC was this kind of guy but I am losing a lot of respect for him.

  426. Mark in Tampa

    “He was sitting curveball and got a fastball.”

    That’s what happened, and if he is looking fastball and gets curve, he can’t hit it. But, he has a better chance of fouling off a curve if he is looking fastball than vice versa. He can at least pull the trigger.

  427. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “I have no desire to watch the AS game this year. Why not have it at Citi or Yankee Stadium?”

    Seriously?

    Because it was in NYC last year.

  428. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    Are we getting Verlander in that DET series?

  429. Benny Blanco

    CC has more 1-2-3 innings than any pitcher in the Al, per singleton.

  430. S.A.--Serenity Now

    25 pitches for CC

  431. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    1st time through doesn’t bug me vs this Angels team, it’s 2nd and 3rd time through that they usually get to us. We have a problem adjusting to them and thier 1st to 3rd speed game. It’s like they always have that big XBH or single w/ RISP 3rd time through, I wonder what we can do to stop that type of game from beating us.

  432. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “I didn’t think CC was this kind of guy but I am losing a lot of respect for him.”

    First of all, you don’t know why Posada isn’t playing today. Maybe his thumb hurts. Maybe he needs an extra day off. Have you heard CC say I don’t want to throw to Posada? Stop making assumptions that you can’t back up.

  433. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “Are we getting Verlander in that DET series?”

    Verlander, Jackson, Porcello. We beat the Tiger Bullpen and Porcello back in April.

  434. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “Are we getting Verlander in that DET series?”

    considering the as break…prbly verlandr and jackson

  435. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    first game is luke? french though versus detroit

  436. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    Or perhaps they’re just trying to give Jorge a decent break. Given that he’s coming off surgery, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if that was the motivation.

  437. miggs

    “Joba and Andy are unreliable so the answer is to put Mitre – a third unreliable pitcher – into the rotation? At least you know Aceves has a shot to be good. Mitre has no shot.”

    Don’t agree with your assessment of Mitre here. Mitre was good before he hurt his arm. Not beofre he had surgery,but before he got HURT. check the numbers. If healthy and strong he can give them what they want, he’s shown it in the past. I think he’s definitely worth a shot.

    I have no problem with it being Ace either, except for the obvious weakening of the pen. But he’s also a guy I can see having success in the rotation.

  438. bodhisattva - Destiny Wears Pinstripes

    CB,

    The trade for Miguel Cabrera gains perspective, when one considers the player just turned 26 – not even technically his prime.

    I understand you brought up that deal to make a larger point, and were just objectively stating it. The post, overall, was extremely balanced. (These chronological threads in here are hard to keep pace with, unfortunately. I prefer the PSD setup, where separate, simultaneous discussions can go on.)

  439. Trevor

    Didn’t know Pena was in last years future game.

  440. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Jose Molina – Expert 2 strike looker

    This is what you get with Molina folks. He isn’t good.

  441. Johnny D.

    # Rebecca–Optimist Prime–Montero Fanaticus Primus July 12th, 2009 at 4:06 pm

    “I have no desire to watch the AS game this year. Why not have it at Citi or Yankee Stadium?”

    Seriously?

    Because it was in NYC last year. #

    So what? St. Lois has a boring park/team. And, you know, it’s in Missouri, which sucks more than John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman combined.

  442. SJ44

    GB,

    A lot of times scouts, and the guys at Baseball America who look at players, make mistakes when they say, so and so, “can’t hit a breaking ball”.

    Often, they see a guy flail at a bad curveball in the dirt and conclude he “can’t hit a curveball”.

    The key however is, pitch recognition. If you can recognize the curveball isn’t good, you layoff it and get in a fastball count.

    My nephew’s rep was the same thing. “Can’t hit the curveball”.

    Last summer in the Cape, his hitting coach spent the entire summer working on doing a better job recoginizing pitches and staying inside his “little box” as a hitter.

    Meaning, only swing at pitches in your “little box” or your hot zone.

    He started laying off bad breaking balls, getting in better counts, and his BA, OBP and slugging all jumped.

    Montero is the same way. His eye is so good for a 19 year old, its scary.

    He’s going to be a special hitter if he stays healthy because you can’t teach what he already posssesses. It will only improve with time.

    Bod,

    Pure, raw stuff, which Garcia posssesses, is almost the last thing you look at with a pitcher. Durability is up there because if you can’t take the ball consistently, stuff won’t help you.

    He’s got a great arm. So does Humberto Sanchez. I saw Humbero Sanchez once throw 7 shutout innings in the minors, touching 98 on the gun, with a torn elbow ligament.

    The problem is, staying healthy. Unfortunately, both of those kids just can’t do it.

    Garcia threw a slider in HS and in his first year as a pro. Like Hughes, they got him off throwing the slider because of the pressure it puts on the elbow.

    His slider in HS was a plus pitch.

  443. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    haha gardy…lol what an ugly yet effective hit

  444. Pel

    damn, jeets.

  445. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    good job breaking that up gardy

  446. vb03

    Captain DP almost hit into another one, yikes.

  447. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    So what? St. Lois has a boring park/team. And, you know, it’s in Missouri, which sucks more than John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman combined.

    **************************************

    Yikes, thats harsh. What on earth is wrong with Missouri? St Louis isn’t that bad a city, have you ever been there?

  448. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “That’s what happened, and if he is looking fastball and gets curve, he can’t hit it. But, he has a better chance of fouling off a curve if he is looking fastball than vice versa. He can at least pull the trigger.”

    Srsly if I were Alex I forget about LF and aim to the right, as for his pitch guessing yeh that’s true, his hands are so good I’d just sit fastball and instead of crushing it line it somewhere, it’s when he tries to crush it that he strikes out.

    That Gardenhoser AB was Angels baseball like 1st to 3rd for Melky and it results in an RBI FC for Jetes.

  449. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Brett Gardner: Preventing Derek Jeter from GIDP’ing since 2009

  450. Maria

    Should have given Gardner the chance to steal but an RBI works.

  451. CB

    Just saw Pete’s note on Chad Thompson. That’s a very good sign that he’s in the club house. That would be a terrific signing if they could get him to break his commitment to ASU.

    From Thompson’s perspective I can’t understand him not prioritizing getting into pro ball. He’s in HS and had TJ surgery. There’s no way the rehab as a red shirt freshman will be as good as it would in the yankees system.

    With all the TJ guys the yankees have had they have a lot of experience working with young pitchers getting over surgery.

  452. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “Didn’t know Pena was in last years future game.”

    That’s when I first thought he could stick, he was batting LH in that futures game and took some tough pitches.

  453. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    “First of all, you don’t know why Posada isn’t playing today. Maybe his thumb hurts. Maybe he needs an extra day off. Have you heard CC say I don’t want to throw to Posada? Stop making assumptions that you can’t back up. ”

    Oh really, it’s an assumption I can’t back up? How many times has Posada caught CC this year? When was the last time Posada started when CC started?

    The last time Jorge started with CC pitching was on June 21. THat was when CC was pulled in the 2nd inning.

    So 4 turns through the rotation with no Posada isn’t enough evidence that CC doesn’t like throwing to him?

    Considering Jorge is our #1 catcher and CC is our #1 starter you’d think they’d hook up more often.

  454. SJ44

    Mitre vs. Ace.

    I think they are more comfortable with Ace in the pen because he’s been covering the innings Joba and Andy aren’t giving them.

    Perhaps they see that as a more vital role than losing him to the 5th spot in the rotation and having someone less reliable in that role.

    For example, if Ace was available one of the last two days, the Yankees probably win one of those games.

    They are probably more comfortable giving Mitre a shot as the 5th starter than putting him in the “Ace Role” in the pen.

  455. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    LOL Rebecca. That and batting lead off – well at least the first time through the lineup, anyway.

  456. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Yo Teix needs a week off badly.

  457. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    SJ:

    You kind of just re-iterated the WFAN call I made, word for word.

  458. Denise

    when is the last time Tex had a day off?

  459. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    while i agree that the all star break is a nice rest for the players…i think we get too carried away in assuming a player needs rest when they might simply be just going through a simple slump

  460. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    I’m fine with Aceves in the pen. We saw the last two days why he is a big help there. I’m just not sold on MItre in the rotation, especially with Joba and Andy being so unreliable.

    Just more evidence why Hughes never should have gone to the pen…

  461. Mark in Tampa

    Is it possible that Molina is catching today to slow down the Angels running game and has nothing to do with CC?

  462. MG

    Jeter is having an MVP quality year and you’re busting his chops about double plays? Have you noticed how hot he’s been for the past month?

  463. miggs

    SJ, CB, Rebecca or anyone else who may know, do any of you have an answer to my question from my 4:03 post?

    Really curious about this because I’ve never heard anything about it until now.

  464. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “So 4 turns through the rotation with no Posada isn’t enough evidence that CC doesn’t like throwing to him?”

    Actually, no it’s not. It could be a coincedence that Posada’s breaks just happen to occur when CC pitches.

    Let’s see what happens when we get back from the break. If this trend continues, then you might be on to something.

  465. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    I’m purely thinking of the guys like Damon, Matsui, Alex and Posada who either had off season surgery or who are playing injured and seem to benefit from a couple of days off, Ralphie. Otherwise, I agree.

  466. bodhisattva - Destiny Wears Pinstripes

    SJ44,

    Garcia is heralded for the best CB in the system- its been that way for 4-5 years.

    He also has a devastating changeup. Both pitches are insane – there’s no comparison to Humberto Sanchez. Garcia is another level of pitcher.

  467. Angel (OPPC) - A tale told by idiots, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

    NOT liking this umpires strikezone one bit.

  468. Pel

    Alex looking reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally amateur right there.

  469. Nick in SF

    7-3 Oakland in the top of the 9th against the Alaskan franchise in Tampa.

    Patrick: you are drawing a conclusion which might be correct but which is not proven by the evidence.

  470. RS

    Oh, Arod. The only HOFer who can’t catch popups.

  471. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Mark, considering this is the 4th start in a row Posada hasn’t caught for CC I think it’s more than just a coincidence.

    Haha wow that was a hilarious effort by A-rod. He looked afraid of the ball..

  472. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    Poor Alex. He and popups just don’t get along.

  473. Pel

    Thanks, Al.

  474. vb03

    This strike zone is really ugly.

  475. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    missed foul popup turns into walk…

  476. Mark in Tampa

    Brandon Re: Arod and guessing.

    I am all for guessing with less than 2 strikes, it is your best chance to hit the ball hard somewhere. But, with 2 strikes, you should do what you have to do to put the ball in play.

    A K for a hitter is like a walk for a pitcher. You have no chance to get on base if you don’t put a 2 strike pitch in play.

  477. SJ44

    Miggs,

    CC and Jorge? Haven’t heard they don’t get along. I did hear earlier in the year that CC liked throwing to Molina.

  478. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    That was more the sun than anything, even Molina couldn’t see it.

  479. Ramey

    “Is it possible that Molina is catching today to slow down the Angels running game and has nothing to do with CC?”

    Which is EXACTLY what Flaherty said about 10 minutes ago when Molina was hitting

  480. Maria

    Oh Arod…hahahaha You know Jeter will be running in to get the next one he always is laughing at Alex tracking popups.

  481. Maria

    Oh Arod…hahahaha You know Jeter will be running in to get the next one he always is laughing at Alex tracking popups.

  482. Pel

    Thanks again, Al.

  483. S.A.--Serenity Now

    nice. Dp!

  484. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    well that was turned perfectly lol…

  485. vb03

    Well you don’t see that everyday. Figgins hitting into a DP.

  486. RS

    Great DP. I was worried that miscatch would come back to hurt the Yankees as always.

  487. S.A.--Serenity Now

    36 pitches for CC

  488. YankeesLuv

    That was all sun, I don’t know Molina lost it too. Anyways nice job CC gettting out of trouble.

  489. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Miggs:

    “The question I have, and maybe SJ44 can answer it for me, is: Does CC really have a problem throwing to Posada or is that speculation on Pete’s part?

    Seems to me, unless I’m mistaken, that CC has thrown to Posada the majority of the time this year to good results.

    Am I missing something?”

    I really don’t know. I can’t tell you if it’s coincidence or something else…I think Sabathia really liked Cervelli and today might have to do with being able to get Posada an extra day of rest.

    I wouldn’t put much stock in it unless Sabathia refuses to pitch to Posada in late September games against Boston and Tampa.

  490. Tarheelyank

    “Considering Jorge is our #1 catcher and CC is our #1 starter you’d think they’d hook up more often.”

    Could also be the reason why they aren’t.

  491. cody

    ALEX YOU MAKE MORE THAN 20 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR YOU SHOULD KNOW HOW TO CATCH A POPUP

  492. Johnny D.

    Great pitch count for Sab.

  493. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    Getting the DP was good, but our pitchers need to stop walking the #9 hitter. The guy is batting last for a reason. He sucks. Pitch him aggressively and you’ll get him out.

  494. MG

    if there has ever been a worthless statistic it’s pitch count with CC, he averages between 110-120 anyway.

  495. Pat M....Section 211

    Fast paced game…CC is chucking with tempo…..The sky is so blue and the sun is bright, so for all those at the LoHud who are ragging on # 13, lighten-up. There’s going to more like that today…The sun is sitting right over the park…

  496. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Nick,

    It’s not proven because nobody on the Yankees will ever admit to it. But isn’t it suspicious that Posada has been benched for CC’s last 4 starts? Especially considering Jorge just got a day off on Friday.

    Also, Jorge has thrown out a higher percentage of runners than Molina this year and the Angels had no problem running on Molina on Friday. I highly doubt that’s the reason Posada is sitting today.

    I’d say that’s plenty of evidence pointing to CC avoiding Posada.

  497. miggs

    But would CC liking to throw to Molina be enough for Girardi to start Molina in the majority of CC’s starts?

    I was never under the impression that they didn’t like each other. I just assumed (and I should just go look it up) that CC pitched well in the majority of the games Posada caught for him.

    I was also under the impression that Posada caught most of CC’s starts, at least until the last few weeks.

  498. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Mark in Tampa Re: Arod and guessing w/ 2 strike pitch

    I know, srsly he’s better off reacting w/ his hands because if he’s sitting fastball and lines one it’s most likely leaving the park or going for an XBH because of his PWR. I hate it when he tries to crush it. Instead of settling for bat on ball for a wall scraper he at times strikes out trying to hit a 450 ft. plus shot. A guy like him aim for RF it’ll do your career better.

  499. CB

    “The trade for Miguel Cabrera gains perspective, when one considers the player just turned 26 – not even technically his prime.”

    It does. And that’s a key reason why the trade is even worse for the Marlins than it otherwise would have.

    A key reason why the Marlins even got two elite prospects (and miller and maybin were elite prospects at the time) was that Cabrera was so young.

    And now Miller really has fizzled. No one thinks of him as a front line guy. And maybin has raised serious concerns about his ability to make contact at the major league level.

    That was clearly a trade where the Tigers surrendering their elite prospects was not only the right move but a steal for them.

    Teams have to scout their own organizations better than any other team does.

    Branch Rickey said that back in the 1950’s and it still amongst the most important thing any team can do.

  500. Ramey

    Does Flaherty stating that Molina is playing so the Yankees have a better chance of shutting down the Angel’s running game and that Posada must not be too pleased with the decision, do anytihng to quiet the fact that “CC just doesn’t want to pitch to Posada”?

  501. bodhisattva - Destiny Wears Pinstripes

    Patrick the Prospect Hugger,

    Don’t think you saw my reply to your question about whether I was being “sarcastic.”

    I emphatically was not. I was in earnest accord with your post, and your username is wonderfully ironic. :)

  502. SJ44

    Mark,

    That’s not how it works. As a hitter on 3-2, you can’t cover all the pitches a guy can throw. Its impossible because good ML pitchers like John Lackey, have stuff that’s so good, your reaction time isn’t going to catch up to all of the pitches.

    A lot of hitters don’t like to guess off the fastball because they don’t want to look bad at the plate. So, they are always guessing dead red. Alex isn’t one of those guys. That’s a big reason why he is such a great hitter.

    In Alex’s first AB, he knows Lackey’s curveball is too good and he won’t center it if he isn’t looking for it in that count.

    He could also have a scouting report that says Lackey throws him a curveball in that count a certain % of the time.

    The reports are that detailed these days.

    Look at his second AB with Lackey. Lackey threw him back to back curveballs.

    That’s the art of pitching. Its not about the radar gun. Its about how to work hitters through a lineup 3-4 times a game. That’s how you become a good SP.

    Out of the bullpen? You can blow people away. As a SP, you have to be more of a thinker and more of a pitcher.

  503. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “ALEX YOU MAKE MORE THAN 20 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR YOU SHOULD KNOW HOW TO CATCH A POPUP”

    NOT EVEN MOLINA SAW THAT BALL. The Angels scorers know thier field and sun effect at this time of day, they also didn’t give him a error on it.

  504. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “I’d say that’s plenty of evidence pointing to CC avoiding Posada.”

    Patrick, let’s say you are right and CC prefers throwing to Molina. Who cares as long as we win the game? I don’t have a problem with one guy having a personal catcher. Moose did it with Molina last year and that turned out well.

  505. Pel

    everybody in a rush to get out of LA?

    Hideki, your patience at the plate does not go unnoticed.

    :roll:

  506. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    What’s going on w/ K-Rod 8O

  507. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “Teams have to scout their own organizations better than any other team does.

    Branch Rickey said that back in the 1950’s and it still amongst the most important thing any team can do.”

    Branch Rickey may be the greatest baseball man to have ever lived.

  508. Donnie - Will Meet The Entire Angels Roster Under the O'Neill Banner

    Walk Matsui on 5 pitches, and then the next two guys swing at the first thing they see. Makes sense. Except…you know…it doesn’t.

  509. Tom in N.J.

    Fake Michael Kay’s twitter is fantastic:

    http://twitter.com/yesmichaelkay

  510. Jay

    I went and saw Mitre pitch today. He was good, not great. A lot of the outs were really nice defensive plays, including one in center field by Ramiro Pena

  511. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “What’s going on w/ K-Rod 8O”

    K-Rod hasn’t been right since his back spasms in Boston. It’s entirely possible he’s been pitching hurt.

  512. SJ44

    Posada may have a higher % of throwing out guys but, he’s not a better thrower than Molina. Not even close.

    Teams don’t like to run when they see Molina behind the plate.

    I like Jorge but, let’s not get carried away. Molina is the better defender and thrower.

    The stats aren’t the indicator on that one.

  513. Nick in SF

    Game over in Tampa, A’s win 7-3.

  514. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “Walk Matsui on 5 pitches, and then the next two guys swing at the first thing they see. Makes sense. Except…you know…it doesn’t.”

    Actually, it does. He was pitching very carefully to Matsui. The other guys probably assumed that he was going to start them out with the heat on the first pitch and they wanted to be aggressive. They hit the balls hard; just right at somebody.

  515. RS

    The Angels have so many small, speedy Hispanic players, I can’t tell them apart.

  516. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “That’s the art of pitching. Its not about the radar gun. Its about how to work hitters through a lineup 3-4 times a game. That’s how you become a good SP.”

    SJ what do you think happens to this SP vs the Angels 2nd and 3rd time through the lineup, I mean they adjust quicker than we our SP has since 2002.

  517. SJ44

    Rays lose 7-3. Nice comeback for the A’s after trailing 3-0.

  518. Pel

    womp womp womp wommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmp

  519. Mark in Tampa

    SJ,

    I’ll give Alex enough credit as a hitter that he can react to the curve, and at least foul it off. Pete Rose and many other great hitters have stated that they looked fastball very pitch, and adjusted to the others. Also, I am only advocating him doing this w/ 2 strikes.

    On the other hand, I don’t know of any hitter ever who could look curve or change and adjust back to the fastball.

  520. RS

    That was a bad 0-2 pitch.

  521. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    Abreu once again tells the Yankees to kiss his rear end.

  522. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    abreu is having some series

  523. Pel

    way to put him away, cc.

  524. Trevor

    Do they ever miss a pitch? Geez

  525. CB

    “Considering Jorge is our #1 catcher and CC is our #1 starter you’d think they’d hook up more often.”

    On any given game CC starts through a 5 game turn through the rotation, that game holds the highest probability of the opposition scoring a minimum number of runs.

    Posada must rest at least once every 5 games, especially on day games.

    So I could very well see there being an excellet systematic reason for CC pitching to be INVERSELY correlated with Posada playing for reasons that don’t have to do with Posada but are more highly related to Molina poor bat.

  526. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    There’s that 1st to 3rd speed that the Yankees might never have b/c they always dip for FA boppers.

  527. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    SJ44,

    You can’t ignore stats that don’t please you.

    THIS YEAR Posada is a better thrower.

    Over their careers Molina is better but this year Jorge is clearly superior.

    It seems pretty clear to me that at least lately CC doesn’t like throwing to Posada. Which in my opinion reflects poorly on Sabathia.

    Meanwhile he just gave up the lead and is about to give it away to the Angels.

  528. RS

    I hate this team so much. At least last year they won 100 games. This year they’re not that good and they have a terrible record against the AL West, all teams that the Yankees have handled well.

  529. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    RT @KenDavidoff Futures Game will resume shortly with weather clearing up.

  530. dennis-Costanza

    SJ.

    Good call on quick at bats for KC/MLB today. Beckett had decent stuff but they had one hand on the bat and the other on the kiosk at the Delta Gate at Logan. Tough to hit Beckett when you are looking at the seating assignment. No private jets for that lineup.

    -dennis

  531. Nick in SF

    Patrick: perhaps. But Jorge needs days off. We both agree that the Yankee offense benefits with Jorge in the lineup over Molina or Cervelli. What pitcher, theoretically, least needs that extra help?

  532. cody

    Well I know what i saw. Alex called Molina off and alex being alex did not do his job in that PLAY.

    Can anyone tell me what is up with BJ upton this year? Is he playing hurt? I thought he was going to have a breakout year after the post-season he had.

  533. MG

    either CC doesn’t have his best fastball or the Yankees are just afraid to challenge the Angels, he’s been throwing almost all breaking balls and change ups

  534. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “Over their careers Molina is better but this year Jorge is clearly superior.”

    You do realize that Molina was on the DL for quite a long time and therefore has caught less games than Jorge, right?

  535. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Jorge just got a day off on Friday. I really really doubt he needed another one today. Molina is catching due to Sabathia’s preferences, there is no other conclusion I can draw from this.

  536. RS

    Why do umps have such tiny strikezones? They have contributed to the spike in offense just as much as steroids has.

  537. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    CC doesn’t appear to have his good stuff today.

  538. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    “You do realize that Molina was on the DL for quite a long time and therefore has caught less games than Jorge, right? ”

    Which is why I said “percentage”

    Reading comprehension please.

  539. Mark in Tampa

    Can we just refuse to play the 4th and 5th innings against this team? This is ridiculous!

  540. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “I hate this team so much. At least last year they won 100 games. This year they’re not that good and they have a terrible record against the AL West, all teams that the Yankees have handled well.”

    Actually they are quite good, hitting they are absolutely quite good, the best hitting team in the AL.

    The Angels is what I wish the Yankees pattern thier future about. Yes 1st to 3rd speed, defensive studs. Timely PWR. We need to get back to that.

  541. Eric

    No one ever says the Angels are managed better than the Yankees. Look at the energy and the patient at bats.

  542. Eric

    No one ever says the Angels are managed better than the Yankees. Look at the energy and the patient at bats.

  543. RS

    Any chance Hendrick strikes out or hits into a DP?

  544. RS

    *Kendrick

  545. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “UPDATE, 4:34 p.m.: The Yankees were right not to offer Bobby Abreu arbitration. But he is wearing them out this weekend.”

    Well, you know what Khan said. Revenge is a dish that is best served cold. It is very cold on the baseball field.

  546. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “Jorge just got a day off on Friday. I really really doubt he needed another one today. Molina is catching due to Sabathia’s preferences, there is no other conclusion I can draw from this.”

    Jorge got Friday off because he’d played three days in a row on turf, including day game after a night game.

    If you have a chance to rest your 38 year old catcher, you do it.

  547. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “No one ever says the Angels are managed better than the Yankees. Look at the energy and the patient at bats.”

    It’s partly Scioscia but it’s more the type of players they have on the field.

  548. William Buckner

    “The Angels is what I wish the Yankees pattern thier future about. Yes 1st to 3rd speed, defensive studs. Timely PWR. We need to get back to that.”

    Couldn’t agree more. Tampa’s already there. And you see it working well for them.

  549. Pel

    :roll:

    pathetic

  550. SJ44

    Brandon,

    The last 2 days? The Yankee starters have just stunk. No further analysis needed. Both guys did a poor job protecting leads.

    There really is no excuse to face this lineup as depleted as it is and pitch in bad counts, as Joba and Andy did, with a 4 run lead.

    In the past? Vlad killed the Yankees for years because he punished guys that tried to fool him with off speed stuff.

    Lots of times, its matchups. The Angels have trouble with the Red Sox for example because Red Sox pitchers (except for Wakefield of course) pound their hitters with fastballs in. They have enough pop on the fastballs to jam their hitters and keep their arms from getting extended.

    Andy doesn’t have that pop anymore and was just trying to get outs from one side (the outside corner) of the plate. That will get you pounded by a team like the Angels.

    In fact, that style of pitching from Andy now is the reason why he isn’t as effective as he used to be. The byproduct of no longer having that biting cutter he can get in on righties.

    Joba? Truth be told, Joba has no idea how to pitch yet. Its a hodge podge from start to start and there is no logical pattern to how he attacks hitters. Its why his results aren’t what folks are expecting.

    Today? CC so far doesn’t have his good fastball. That’s a problem because you are going to have a hard time getting through this lineup with just slider and changeups.

    They are a pesky team and their hitters are bad matchups for certain Yankee pitchers.

  551. vb03

    God I hate the Angels.

  552. RS

    Of course, there’s no way Kendrick would have made a weak out there. No effing way.

  553. Jerkface

    The Angels is what I wish the Yankees pattern thier future about. Yes 1st to 3rd speed, defensive studs. Timely PWR.

    Melky, Gardner, Jeter, Damon, A-rod, Cano, Tex can all go 1st to third.

    Timely power just means they dont hit that many home runs so when you get them its a big surprise. Made up buzz word.

  554. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Well that’s what you get with Eric Hinske

    Swisher gets to that ball easily.

  555. roger(live from amsterdam)

    Hinske looks very very bad in RF…

  556. GG

    Saw Mitre pitch today in Syr. He looked good. I thought he got better as the game went on. Worked quickly. Lots of strikes and ground ball outs. Worked 8 strong innings and left with a 3-0 lead. Edwar almost lost it in the 9th, but they won 3-2. I was sitting next to pitcher Jason Johnson. Is he working for the Yankees now?

  557. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    1st to 3rd speed again bites us. Kendrick hits a XBH and Matthews gets to 3rd, RBI XBH.

  558. The Curious Case of Joba Chamberlain (The sun will come up tomorrow)

    Its the same game day after day after day. They have a lead then they go into the 4th inning and the starter just implodes.

  559. vinny-b (RIP Air McNair)

    every ******* time

  560. vb03

    Hinske isn’t exactly Mr. Gold Glove out there. What you see is what you get.

  561. Jerkface

    1st to 3rd speed again bites us. Kendrick hits a XBH and Matthews gets to 3rd, RBI XBH.

    ???? Any baseball player in the league would be on 2nd and 3rd after that hit

  562. Ramey

    “Jorge got Friday off because he’d played three days in a row on turf, including day game after a night game.”

    Except he only played 2 games in Minnesota, then got most of Friday night’s game off as well

  563. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Best thing about that hit is Kendrick gives his team 2 chances to knock in runs w/ RISP.

  564. Matt

    Against most pitchers, you get enough chances to score at least 3-4 runs. The difference is, the Angels take advantage and play fundamental baseball. The Yankees hitters don’t move runners.

  565. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    “If you have a chance to rest your 38 year old catcher, you do it. ”

    Well today is not a chance to rest him. The Yanks are facing one of the better teams in the AL trying to avoid a sweep in the last game before the all-star break. Are you really trying to tell me that Jorge needed a rest today even though he will get a 4 day rest starting tomorrow?

    Take off the pinstripe glasses. CC obviously didn’t want to throw to Posada today.

  566. rconn23

    Another disastrous start from a Yankees starter.

    That darn Posada.

    That sound you hear is the Posada Truthers leaving the blog.

  567. SJ44

    Patrick,

    And you can’t continue to quote stats with no context.

    Jose Molina missed two months of play. The stats are meaningless. Molina is a better thrower than Posada.

    Everybody in baseball knows it and they aren’t going to use the stat sheet to keep from running on Posada because he has better “stats” than Molina.

    You rely way too much on numbers, often small sample sizes, to make points.

    Jose Molina is a better defensive catcher than Jorge Posada. You don’t need stats to know that. You just need a set of eyes.

  568. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “???? Any baseball player in the league would be on 2nd and 3rd after that hit”

    Not really.

  569. The Curious Case of Joba Chamberlain

    I should no better by now to just not watch when they play the Angles.

  570. Pat M....Section 211

    CC is getting hurt by not keeping the ball down…It looked like every hit has been on pitches up….Abreu especially….Kendricks ball just carried, Hinske had no chance….Halos hav the swagger, Yanks on their heels

  571. Pel

    CC FAIL

  572. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    its nonsense that the angels are better than the yanks because they go first to third and have speed…

    they are beating us this series because they are executing, thats the bottom line…

  573. vb03

    This is brutal.

  574. hardwired

    I hope the Yanks make a run at Danys Baez. He looks healthy this yr.

    Also, I can’t watch these games in Anaheim. I like horror movies, don’t get me wrong.

    I just don’t like them when they’re starring the New York Yankees.

  575. CB

    “You can’t ignore stats that don’t please you.

    THIS YEAR Posada is a better thrower.”

    What are you trying to argue. If you are trying to argue that Posada has thrown out base runners at a higher rate that is true.

    If you are trying to infer from this year’s data that Posada is a “better” at stopping the running game then the data doesn’t particularly support that contention due to selection bias.

    The way I interpret posada’s catching data is that first and foremost I’m struck by how often runners have tried to run against Posada.

    It seems to me that runners were working off the assumption that Posada had a weak shoulder off of surgery. So they kept challenging him. And in doing so they were running in situations where there may have been a lower probability of success.

    And posada has demonstrated that his arm is ok and that runners were giving up his outs.

    Molina has an excellent reputation for stopping the runnings game and clearly has an tremendous arm.

    I’d guess that Molina faces stolen base attempts that are systematically more difficult than those posada has faced. Just a guess but it seems like a reasonable one.

  576. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Terrible pitching by CC

  577. stuart

    the nightmare weekend continues and I am stunk listening to the angel announcers..

    check swing no strike, boom. double.

    hinske is a big man he does not move real well..

    abreu is killing them with his bailout double down the left field line.. abreu is the opposite player to swisher. I also am fine with letting abreu go at $15 mill but he can still hit…

    CC giving up 4.. amazing our stud could not hold this team down. walk mathis, bloop to quinlan, this is a terrbile 3 game series.. terrible….terrible..

  578. vb03

    Molina shows off the gun.

  579. Mark in Tampa

    What really annoys me about this team is not that they beat the Yankees, but that they cower like a bunch of whupped dogs every time they play Boston.

  580. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    That’s why Molina is playing.

  581. Pel

    good for molina, bailing out his pitcher.

  582. Jerkface

    Against most pitchers, you get enough chances to score at least 3-4 runs. The difference is, the Angels take advantage and play fundamental baseball. The Yankees hitters don’t move runners.

    The yankees outscore the Angels by 40 runs this season. They have also ahd 203 chances with a runner on 3rd less than 2 out and only have 131 RBIs. So whatever.

  583. cody

    WHY DOES CC ALWAYS MELTDOWN DURING THE MIDDLE INNINGS?

    How do you let a scrub like mathews(HGH),quiland get on base.

    SJ, i think this guy is having symptoms from the abuse that Milwaukee enduced.

  584. RS

    Why is it so hard to put this team away?? Let them steal, get sac flies, etc. But is it so hard to not give up hit after hit after hit?

  585. Eric

    Someone tell me what good teams Sabathia and Burnett have defeated. Neither has a victory against the Angels and Red Sox…those are obviously the elite teams in the league. Our rotation is pathetic.

  586. Trevor

    I never thought the Angels where that talented. I still don’t.
    They just have a bunch of players they play over their heads against the Yankees. They’re not nearly as good as the Yankees make them look.

  587. GreenBeret7

    It would appear that Sabathia doesn’t like throwing to Molina, either. He’s not even allowing him to touch the ball.

  588. Nick in SF

    Patrick: you might be absolutely correct.

    Or what Flaherty said might be the reason.

    Or maybe there’s something else at play, such as a sore thumb.

    Or a combination of them all.

    To say that there is no other conclusion to draw from the available evidence is odd.

  589. Matt

    This is what happens when your hitters put the bat on the ball, something the Yankees hitters don’t do with runners on base.

    Bloop hits are not “bad luck,” they are the result of making contact and not swinging at bad pitches way out of the zone.

  590. Jerkface

    “???? Any baseball player in the league would be on 2nd and 3rd after that hit”

    Not really.

    Yes really, it was a high fly ball that bounced up against the wall. Any player in this league is going to be at 3rd if they started at first and any hitter is going to be second on that. Even if Hinske catches it he is running into the wall.

  591. AndrewYF

    Looks like Posada was never the problem after all.

    People, you really can’t take too much from this series. The Yankees have looked fantastic so far against all but the Angels and Red Sox. Yeah, they’re in first place, but only because they won against the Yankees. They’re not as good as their record indicates, and the Yankees, really, are better than theirs indicates.

    Also, results from regular season games mean almost less than nothing when it comes to the postseason. The Yankees creamed the Tigers and Indians in the regular season of their postseason matchup, and look what happened.

    It’s really not worth stressing. At least against the Angels, it’s been like this every single year. It really doesn’t mean the Yankees are bad, or that the Angels are all that good.

  592. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “Well today is not a chance to rest him. The Yanks are facing one of the better teams in the AL trying to avoid a sweep in the last game before the all-star break. Are you really trying to tell me that Jorge needed a rest today even though he will get a 4 day rest starting tomorrow?”

    How many off days do the Yankees have between Friday and the end of the season?

    There are at least two or three that are completely wiped out because of make up games.

    You want Posada to be as fresh as possible for the second half because you’re probably going to need him more than his body can hold up.

    If this game matters that much to Girardi, JoPo will pinch hit.

  593. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    You almost think they should play the OF a bit shallow vs this team. It’s always a bloop here and there that gets us vs this team. The XBHs come w/ runners on corners, the singles come w/ RISP. This is what happens.

  594. JZ

    2009 Yankees:

    1. LAA continues to be Yankees’ daddy
    2. They have big problems when facing quality teams. (Can they win ONE game off RedSox?)
    3. Even if they make playoff, they could win at most 2-3 games.
    4. The front office continues to suck. Yanks have had average whole pitching staff for many seasons. Management failed to address this issue effectively year after year.

  595. Peter Abraham

    Guys:

    Please, no cursing on the blog. Just because the team is playing poorly doesn’t mean the rules have changed. If you’re not sure what is allowed, read the posting guidelines. Link is in the blogroll.

    I’ve chased off or banned a few troublesome trolls lately and the discussions have been better. Please keep it that way.

    Thanks

  596. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “It would appear that Sabathia doesn’t like throwing to Molina, either. He’s not even allowing him to touch the ball.”

    LMAO!!!

  597. Jerkface

    This is what happens when your hitters put the bat on the ball, something the Yankees hitters don’t do with runners on base.

    Bloop hits are not “bad luck,” they are the result of making contact and not swinging at bad pitches way out of the zone.

    The angels strike out at a higher rate than the yankees with RISP.

    Can you people stop making up reasons why a team that is beating us is better?

  598. yankeenate

    this got ugly quick. CC must have caught the same disease Joba and Pettite have. Glad that break is here.

  599. Nick in SF

    Jose shows what he’s best at! :)

  600. Debbie Downer

    I hope next year at this time Andy Pettitte is working on his short game at some Houston country club.

    Also, I hope the NL wins the all-star game. This might give the Dodgers a chance against the Red Sox in the World Series.

  601. SJ44

    The Angels punish the Yankees everytime they play them in Anaheim.

    This has nothing to do with CC’s work in Milwaukee.

    You leave balls up in the zone and out over the plate, which just about every Yankee pitcher has done this weekend, you get pounded.

    Which is what’s happening and why I said prior to this roadtrip if they went 3-3, you take it.

    Anaheim is a House of Horrors for the Yankees and it was even that way under Torre.

  602. Betsy

    Wow – just got home. It’s 4-1 ? Very disappointing performance by CC………ugh.

  603. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    “You rely way too much on numbers, often small sample sizes, to make points.”

    You rely on small sample size when it pleases you. Dave Robertson in high leverage situations ….

    CB, I’ve made it very clear what I’m arguing. Posada has thrown out a higher percentage of runners this year than Molina. You just acknowledged that fact.

    I’m arguing that Sabathia doesn’t like to pitch to Posada and that’s why Posada is benched today. Lets look one more time at the evidence.

    In his last 4 starts Posada hasn’t caught Sabathia.

    Posada just had a day off on Friday and this is the last game before the break. There is no way he needed a day off today unless he’s injured.

    THIS YEAR Molina hasn’t been particularly good at throwing out runners. (Yes I just saw him throw someone out but my point still stands)

    I hope I’m wrong because it reflects very poorly on Posada but there are only two conclusions I can draw from this. 1. Posada is injured, which wasn’t reported prior to the game and 2. CC doesn’t like throwing to Posada.

  604. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    2008

    at the all star break 50-45

    2009

    worst case scenario 51-37….

  605. JZ

    add one more:

    5. Do they really want Bruney to be their 8th inning guy? hell no! He sucks.

  606. Fan Interference

    Wow, wow, Wow. All of that momentum gone. Boston will win today, and we’ll be three back. I at least expected us to win one of these games. This is a bad way to head into the break. I know we’re still in the WC lead, but we haven’t shown that we can compete with the Sox, and LA is still this massive thorn in our side. And they’re missing their two best position players. It boggles the mind. Really.

  607. Pepitone

    The Yankees needed a solid effort from their “ace” today, and Sabathia has not delivered. The game is not over, but he has not been the ace they needed today.

    That’s the difference between him, and say a Josh Beckett. The true ace gives them that top performance when the team really needs it. Well, I guess we shall see if he gets better as the season wears on.

    Perhaps it doesn’t matter who the Yankees start, perhaps the Angels would still kick their butts even if Roy Halladay, or Johann Santana were on the mound. I don’t know?

    This is truly embarrassing, for a team with playoff expectations to get manhandled like this … is embarrassing.

  608. CaptainsCorner

    You just can not miss over the plate as much as CC, Andy and Joba have in this series. The pitch to Abreu 0-2 was up. Kendrick is supposed to be pitched inside and all of the pitches to him today have been right over the plate to him. CC has to get the ball down and go inside more. CC has pitched well in his last couple of starts but his location hasn’t been the best.

  609. IhateLAA

    2-12 combined record vs. BoSux and the LA Bastages….we SO stink against the teams that count….nice way to head into the All Star Break, Spankees ! :-(

  610. Matt

    Putting the bat on the ball is not the same as striking out or not.

    It’s about swinging at quality pitches with runners on base, which is something Yankees hitters tend not to do. Statistics do not measure everything, realize that and stop only citing numbers.

    Contact is different than good contact. The Yankees hitters strike out fewer times because they swing early in the count with runners on base at bad pitches, which anyone who watches this team can see consistently happening. See how statistics are not everything?

  611. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Rebecca you are really stretching if you think Girardi is benching Posada because he needs the rest.

    The Yanks are about to be swept and there is a long break starting tomorrow. So despite that Girardi gives Posada, one of our best hitters, a rest? I doubt it.

    The only reason he could be sitting is he’s injured OR CC doesn’t want to throw to him.

  612. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “2009 Yankees:

    1. LAA continues to be Yankees’ daddy
    2. They have big problems when facing quality teams. (Can they win ONE game off RedSox?)
    3. Even if they make playoff, they could win at most 2-3 games.
    4. The front office continues to suck. Yanks have had average whole pitching staff for many seasons. Management failed to address this issue effectively year after year.”

    lol and they have the third best record in mlb

  613. jonathan c.

    I’m pretty sure games against any team count.

  614. Eric

    You could see this coming…everyone got excited about being tied for first. But we were going to LA and the Red Sox (who actually have clutch players) had Kansas City at home all weekend.

  615. MG

    baseball is a funny game, the Angels just lost a series to the Rangers and now could sweep the Yankees, who just swept the Twins on the road. The Yankees took 2 series from the Rangers, one at home, one on the road. The Yankees took the series against the Angels at the Stadium in April.

    The meaning of all this? it’s a long season, filled with ups and downs, and just because CC hasn’t pitched well today doesn’t mean he can’t beat the Angels in the playoffs. Teams are never as good as they look when they are winning, and never as bad as they look when they are losing. I don’t remember what year it was but sometime during the 50’s one of the Yankees dynasty teams won 18 in a row and then lost 9 in a row. No one jumped off a building, they got it back together and won the World Series that year. Just some perspective from a Yankees fan since 1953…

  616. Jerkface

    Putting the bat on the ball is not the same as striking out or not.

    It’s about swinging at quality pitches with runners on base, which is something Yankees hitters tend not to do. Statistics do not measure everything, realize that and stop only citing numbers.

    Contact is different than good contact. The Yankees hitters strike out fewer times because they swing early in the count with runners on base at bad pitches, which anyone who watches this team can see consistently happening. See how statistics are not everything?

    I don’t know if you’ve been watching this game, but the angels have fisted about 10 balls for bloop singles. Swinging at terrible pitches up in their breadbasket and getting some luck on putting them in play. They also had 4 hits that were skied straight up and over 2nd that died right infront of our fielders.

    They have not made ‘quality contact’, sorry.

    watch the games please.

  617. SJ44

    The biggest issue face is fixing the back of the rotation.

    You can’t expect CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett to win every start because Joba, Andy and whomever is the new 5th starter can’t give you length and quality on a consistent basis.

    They had two 4 run leads and blew those games because their starters didn’t get the job done.

    No team, not the Yankees, Red Sox or Rays, can win wtih 2 starting pitchers and 3 unreliable guys in the rotation.

    How the Yankees solve their issues with their #3-4-5 starters after the Break will determine their fate the rest of the way.

  618. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Wait, what?

    The Yankees, despite signing the best two FA pitchers on the market in the off season, did not do enough?

    wha?

    The stupidity. It astounds.

  619. Dan

    Could be me, but I don’t think of Joba as the kind of player that would watch ANY veteran pitch and think; “Hey maybe I should think about doing something of that.”

  620. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “we SO stink against the teams that count”

    That’s where you are wrong. ALL of the teams count. The games against BOS and LAA don’t carry any extra weight. I used to think that they do, but I’ve changed my mind. We need to beat everybody.

  621. Pel

    The pitching didn’t make it to LA.
    The offense did, but it left early.

  622. vb03

    This team hasn’t done well at all against quality teams except Texas, and Texas doesn’t have good pitching. It is worrisome because even if you make the playoffs, these are teams you’ll find there.

  623. AndrewYF

    Pepitone, Josh Beckett gives good performances once in a while, and can go on hot streaks, once in a while.

    He killed the Red Sox’s postseason last year. He was god-awful. He really didn’t dominate last year at all. Was he an ‘ace’ then? Nope, not at all.

    It’s funny seeing people deem CC “not an ace” because he didn’t perform this game or that game. He was an ace last season down the stretch for Milwaukee. The best ace in the game. He’s been huge for the Yankees this season, too. There is a difference between CC Sabathia and Josh Beckett. Sabathia, overall, is the superior pitcher. Not today, obviously. But he blows him away when you want to look at their careers.

  624. Betsy

    CC has to do a better job, though – we didn’t give passes to Andy and Joba, no pass for CC, just a terrible job. This could end up as a really bad 3-3 trip – I’m tempted to say it’s embarrassing. If we lose this game, we’re 3 back and, in 3 days, gave back almost all of the ground we gained on the Sox. Not only that, but we’ve allowed the Angels back in the WC hunt (should they not win the division).

  625. RS

    Stop giving the Angels so much credit. They have energy, go first to third a lot, hit timely HRs, etc. is a bunch of BS. They also run into more outs than any other team in baseball, used to have a terrible OBP, and now that their offense is actually good, their pitching has been horrendous.

    The fact is the Yankees just stink against them and make the Angels look better than they really are.

  626. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    We took two of three from the Angels in New York, remember? We won at home when we’re supposed to.

    We are 0-8 against Boston, yes, but six of those games were at Fenway. When Boston comes to NY I don’t expect the Yankees will sweep them but I do expect the Yankees will play much better.

  627. SJ44

    Its not the BCS. It doesn’t matter who you beat. It matters if you win enough games to make the playoffs.

    If the season ended today, the Yankees would be in the playoffs.

    They owned Cleveland and beat them in every game in 2007 and lost in the post-season to them.

    Head to head matchups are the most overrated thing in baseball.

    In the grand scheme of things it means little.

  628. Matt

    But fisting the ball is a good piece of hitting. That’s what you don’t get.

    The Yankees try to pull everything and hit weak ground balls to second base and such. The Angels are fisting your so called “lucky” bloop hits by not trying to do too much and meeting pitches rather than rolling over on them and making weak outs on ground balls.

    It’s not luck, it’s skill to take a tough pitch and fist it over the second baseman’s head. Most of those pitches are grounded out softly, but if you meet the pitch you have a chance to dunk it in.

    Yankees hitters are overaggressive with runners on base and try to do too much. They might strike out less and such, but they also swing at a lot more bad pitches and make weak outs. If they just tried to put the ball in play rather than pull everything, they would be getting their share of bloops too.

    Bloops are not luck, they are induced by fighting off tough pitches and not trying to do too much, which is something the Angels are adept at.

  629. cody

    The fact IS ANDY PETITTE is too stubborn and wants money that i dont think he will ever give up his spot in the rotation unless cashman and co have a serious meeting (where trade for a starter has been completed). But i dont like the way andy has been pitching, alas he is too stubborn that i cant see him being taken off the rotation.

  630. Betsy

    Beckett is not as good a pitcher as CC – if CC’s not an ace, then either is Josh – but CC has not been great this year. He’s been good – but definitely not great.

  631. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Is anyone but me worried about Sabathia’s performance as a Yankee thus far? His k/9 is way down and BB/9 is up compared to recent years

  632. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “It is worrisome because even if you make the playoffs, these are teams you’ll find there.”

    We’ve seen time and time again that the playoffs are a crap shoot. Just because you lose to a team during the regular season, doesn’t mean that you can’t beat them in the playoffs. CLE and DET taught us that hard lesson.

  633. Pel

    an inning late with that one

  634. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “Is anyone but me worried about Sabathia’s performance as a Yankee thus far? His k/9 is way down and BB/9 is up compared to recent years”

    At least some portion of this has to be attributed to moving to the AL East.

    I’m not sure how much, though.

  635. Debbie Downer

    ‘Take The Money and Run’ CC Sabathia’s theme song.

  636. Tarheelyank

    CC should drill somebody in the butt. Get both benches warned, and take away the inside of the plate for Lackey.

    Maybe Joe could get thrown out as well. j/k (kind of)

  637. AndrewYF

    I can’t believe people are complaining about the Yankees’ offense. They have the best offense in the game!

    Last year, their offense was the problem because of a perfect storm of injuries and underperformances. Now, pretty much everyone in the lineup is playing to the back of their baseball card, no one is even overperforming, with the exception of minor players like Gardner or Hinske.

  638. Angels '09WS

    Angel Fans across the world are thanking the Yankers and their fans for bowing down and taking it in the ass again. Next time the Yankers are thinking about coming to Angel Stadium please leave the skirts and tampons at home.

  639. SJ44

    Fisting the ball isn’t a good piece of hitting. Its luck.

    Nobody teaches their hitters to “fist” the ball.

    It usually means you get jammed and get lucky.

    Its not a taught hitting philosophy.

  640. Jerkface

    I’m sorry but fisting a ball is not good hitting. Because more often than not if you fist a ball its going to be an out. Especially considering they are swinging at garbage pitches.

  641. Zooboy

    Glad we get to avoid Joe’s fifth inning guy–Robertson–today.

    How sweet will it feel to comeback and beat this team? Go bats, go!

  642. Matt

    This is baseball though. You can fight your way back to the top, and one embarrassing weekend and you could lose everything.

    3 games out again if they lose today. Not too far off from where they started this run a few weeks back.

  643. vb03

    More than this, the bigger concern is that they should have won the first two games with their offense. Today should have been a house money game if Joba or Pettitte could hold a 4 run lead.

    It’s the major concern heading into the break. You can’t have an unsettled #3, #4 and #5 situation.

    This is why getting an effective and healthy Wang back would do wonders for this team’s mojo.

  644. Tom

    Have to tip your hat to Lackey, he is pitching pretty well however I feel that they could be hitting him a little better.

    Someone needs to sit down with these guys and teach some situational baseball, you could feel the momentum shift all the way back here in NY when Jeter grounded to second after Gardner’s single. Need to work the count and allow Gardner to take a shot at 2nd or even do a hit and run.

    or *GASP* pull out the long lost delayed steal, I’m 99% certain that would catch them off guard.

  645. stuart

    hey at least hughes will be rested!!!!!!

    that is why you do not manage today about tommorrows game unless you are way ahead like the dodgers…

    lucky cano and the other hackers are swinging away today, last thing they want to do is get into the angels bullpen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    my wish for the break; weds they DFA Tomko… If ransom continues to stink say adios and bring back pena. try mitre as the 5th starter, keep aceves in the pen along with hughes and increase his workload.

    get chamberlain a lobotomy..

    tex having a bad bad series, swinging early and doing nothing…

  646. Johnny D.

    A sweep before the AS break. Just great. Our team really sucks.

  647. Christina25

    Andrew YF,
    Did you know that Beckett had a really bad injury last year in the playoffs? Everybody knew something was wrong because he always dominated in the playoffs.

  648. GreenBeret7

    Tampa Yanks won today. The best of the offense was Brandon Laird, who’s been hitting like last year. He started late last year, too. He was 4-4 with a double and a homer (8th) and his 45th RBI.

    Romine was 2-5 with a double and his 53rd RBI.
    Daniel Brewer is a very good young hitter looking for a position. He’s being worked in RF now. 2-5 with a homer and 4 RBI.

    Noesi wasn’t that good today. 3 runs in 5 innings.

  649. Trevor

    They’ve done well against Tampa and the Jays. But every time they play the RS they go into the series not playing good baseball. They’ve played the RS 3 series and all 3 times the RS happen to be playing good baseball and the Yankees cold.
    I don’t put a lot stock into 6 of the 8 have been in Fenway. Yankees in the past have had little trouble winning up there.

  650. Pel

    mark is on base. holy cow.

  651. Nick in SF

    Maybe someone has told the guys in the dugout that the lowly A’s came back from a 3-run deficit today to win on the road. So it’s possible — theoretically.

  652. jonathan c.

    The difference between CC and Beckett is that Beckett never did anything close to what CC did down the stretch last year.

  653. RS

    “This team hasn’t done well at all against quality teams except Texas”

    Like I said earlier, unless the Yankees go 162-0, if they play well against all the top teams we’d be whining about how they lose to the Royals and Orioles.

    Losses have to come from somewhere. And it’s not like they’ve been pathetic against all top teams. They’re 0-8 against Boston but 14-12 against the Rays, Tigers, Rangers, Angels, and Phillies. That’s actually pretty good.

  654. SJ44

    Walk totals are up all over baseball so far this year.

    My explanation? The umpiring has been so bad all over the game, nobody has any idea of the strikezone and guys are getting killed with calls.

    Why are CC’s strikeouts down? Some of the games this year, he has pitched to contact more than he usually does. Especially in games in which he has had leads.

    I think his strikeouts will increase more in the second half of the year. He usually is a very strong finisher.

  655. Buck Nasty

    It is really awesome to see that fans have so much confidence in the team, welll even if we do make the playoffs we cant beat anyone who isnt awful so we will lose. never thought id see the day that id be ashamed to call myself a yankee fan and that red sox fans would look more sane than yankee fans

  656. Betsy

    I agree, SJ, but the Yankees still needed CC to do a better job. He was awful against the Ms and now this poor performance. Aces are held to higher standards than other pitchers and CC didn’t pitch well today. Of course he’s humman, but we expect more out of him…….and rightly so, I think.

    Anyone know Tex’s stats since June or the end of May? His extended slump has really flown under the radar…..

  657. Betsy

    I agree, SJ, but the Yankees still needed CC to do a better job. He was awful against the Ms and now this poor performance. Aces are held to higher standards than other pitchers and CC didn’t pitch well today. Of course he’s humman, but we expect more out of him…….and rightly so, I think.

    Anyone know Tex’s stats since June or the end of May? His extended slump has really flown under the radar…..

  658. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    I think I’ll go out on a shaky limb and predicty that the Yankees take this game.

    :)

    GO YANKEES!!!

  659. Dan

    Fisting a ball for a hit is just strength. Not great hitting but good strength.

  660. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    predict also

  661. CaptainsCorner

    The pitchers haven’t been able to do what Girardi said, limit the damage. 1 or 2 runs ok, but another 4 spot from the ace is just terrible. He could of got out of it with only giving up 3 runs but then he gave up a 2 out hit to a 220 hitter. Just horrible…

  662. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    dumb luck there.

  663. AndrewYF

    Christina – Beckett was suffering from some lingering back soreness. He was not injured, or he wouldn’t have pitched. Don’t let the Boston media trick you, they NEED Beckett to be some kind of ‘postseason god’, or he’s just another good pitcher who got hot in the playoffs. Does Sabathia get a postseason pass because his teams ride him like a rented mule down the stretch? I haven’t heard that, all I’ve heard is that CC’s ‘not proven’ in the postseason.

  664. Trevor

    The Angels made an error. :shock:

  665. RS

    All our hard hit balls find their fielders’ gloves and all the Angels’ soft dunkers find holes.

    Hey look, Kendrick made an error! Let’s see if we can actually take advantage of it.

  666. Matt

    Fisting the ball is the result of fighting off a tough pitch, and NOT rolling over on it weakly to an infielder on the ground.

    Most of these pitches would tend to be grounded weakly to an infielder, but these guys are not rolling over on pitches, and when you don’t do that you give yourself a chance to get lucky.

    Bloop hits are definitely part luck, but you can’t ignore the fact that they are also, in large part, due to having a quality at bat and fighting off a tough pitch. You can’t get a bloop if you ground out to the second baseman on a hop.

    If Sabathia made those same pitches to a team like Minnesota they probably pop out on them or ground out weakly, but a team like the Angels fights off those pitches and dunks them in. Heck, even the Red Sox might fly out on those pitches. Hitting the ball shallow is just as good as lining it sharply into the outfield, the result is just the same.

    The Yankees have hit a lot of deep fly balls today but have nothing to show for it. What does it matter how hard you hit it if it is an out? Good teams find ways to get runners home, and the Angels fight off the tough pitches and get them home rather than grounding into double plays.

  667. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Robi I getting tired of this.

  668. Bombers

    CC being horrible today makes Joba just a clown

  669. AndrewYF

    Matt – the Yankees are the best in baseball at driving runners home. Much, much better than the Angels. I guess they’re that much of a better team, huh?

  670. Cash is King

    I’m late to the party, but Posada should be catching today and Girardi needs to take control of this catcher situation because he needs his best lineup out there.

  671. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “Robi I getting tired of this.”

    Robbie looked like he was tired of it as well.

  672. CaptainsCorner

    Cano just keep hacking away…If he can see the ball he is swinging..

  673. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    mall cop has had some bad luck today.

  674. Fez

    “He killed the Red Sox’s postseason last year. He was god-awful. He really didn’t dominate last year at all. Was he an ‘ace’ then? Nope, not at all.”

    All true, but he was injured dude.

  675. Jerkface

    Fisting the ball is the result of fighting off a tough pitch, and NOT rolling over on it weakly to an infielder on the ground.

    Dude do you even watch baseball? Fisting a ball is when you are swinging at a severely inside pitch and you hit it off under the label or lower. Rolling over a pitch is usually a pitch middle or away that you don’t make solid enough contact on.

    They have NOTHING to do with each other.

    You can’t accidentally roll over a pitch if you are attempting to fist it. You’re more likely to foul it severely or miss completely.

  676. Nick in SF

    CC could do some serious damage at Nobu. It boggles the mind.

  677. Donnie - Will Meet The Entire Angels Roster Under the O'Neill Banner

    I know he’s hot and all, but when Hinske is 1-18 against Lackey all-time, can anyone tell me who’s bright idea it was to start him?

  678. Tarheelyank

    Hinske was out. make him pay.

  679. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Maybe CC’s strikeouts will increase, we can’t know for sure until the season is over.

    The bottom line right now, he isn’t pitching well enough. This is not the CC Sabathia we thought we were getting.

    The Yanks got this guy to be a true ace of the staff. With the team on the verge of being swept, this is the guy you want out there as a stopper. Unfortunately he’s pitched poorly today.

    I believe he can be an ace. He was an ace the past two years. Right now? Not an ace.

  680. RS

    “Don’t let the Boston media trick you, they NEED Beckett to be some kind of ‘postseason god’, or he’s just another good pitcher who got hot in the playoffs.”

    And it’s not like Beckett ever had a LONG track record of postseason dominance, like Smoltz has. In ‘03 he was a young flamethrower whom the Yankees had never seen before. Not much of a shocker that he shut them down.

    ‘07 was just a great year for him all around. He had the best regular season of his career and almost won a CY Young. Again, it’s not surprising that he did well in the playoffs.

  681. Betsy

    Stuart, that’s true…Phil will not have pitched in any games this series. How crazy is that? Is that good for the Yankees? Is that good for him? No on both counts – he sould have pitched two innings yesterday. Now, unless the Yankees come back, he won’t be pitching today. If the team comes first, then Phil should have pitched the high leverage innings that Robertson pitched. How many innings as Phil thrown in July – 5? 6? He threw 13 in June……..At this rate, he’s going to end up with 80 innings pitched…..You have to think about next year, even just a little, with him. You can not go into next year with Phil throwing 100 pitches (and he likely won’t come close to that this yaer). It’s just aggravating because he’s our 2nd best bullpen arm and he’s hardly being used. He could have helped us win the game yesterday.

  682. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    Can we send Hinkske back to PIT? LOL!

  683. sunny615

    ugh – we’re going to be swept…

  684. Pel

    so far, top 10 worst swings of the 2009 yankee season

    :roll:

  685. vb03

    That’s how you pick a fielder up after an error.

  686. CaptainsCorner

    Horrible at bat..We shouldn’t be surprised the Yanks haven’t hit a good pitcher all season..

  687. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Time for Cashman to visit with the team. Either that or bring back Lt. Intangibles – Francisco Cervelli!

    :D

  688. Pepitone

    Well, I will not get into a back and forth about who’s an ace and who isn’t. I will only say this, Josh Beckett has come through with more top performances when it counted than Sabathia. His stint with Milwaukee was very impressive, but I haven’t seen him come close to that with the Yankees. Granted, he may get there as the season wears on, but he is no where near the pitcher he was with Milwaukee last year.

    I like Burnett’s consistency more than Sabathia’s. Anyway, it’s not worth arguing about.

    But, I certainly agree with the posters who say that the regular season means nothing during the postseason. The only difference with the Angels is they have shown the Yankees that they own them in the postseason as well (2002 and 2005). If they do happen to meet each other this year in the playoffs, I hope our scouts do a better job preparing our pitchers for these guys. I mean, it looks like the Angles know exactly what the Yankees are going to throw.

  689. AndrewYF

    RS – seriously. Peter Gammons, and this is not a joke, once said that Josh Beckett should be in the Hall of Fame just based on his postseason credentials. This was before the ‘08 postseason obviously, but it goes to show how completely un-objective he is whenever it comes to Boston. He should never have left the Globe, where he was a gem and gushing about his hometown team is expected.

  690. Angels '09WS

    THIS YEARS YANKEE TEAM IS ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. IT IS A JOKE THAT THERE ARE STILL YANKEE FANS AROUND TO WATCH THESE OLD TIMERS RUN AROUND THE DIAMOND.

    P.S. THANKS FOR ABREU. HE WILL DEFINITELY BE HUGE FOR US IN THE WORLD SERIES THIS YEAR.

    P.S.S. THE SEASON IS OVER FOR THE YANKEES. KILL YOURSELVES

  691. Aroidlover

    I think the Yanks will start winning when Aroid takes the syringe out of his Ass

  692. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    incase you guys dont knw…CC is a notorious second half pitcher…a 3.37 era in the second versus a 3.8 era in the first half…

    people on here are so overreactionary and immature…CC is a great pitcher whether or not you want to believe it

  693. Sunshine

    “Horrible at bat..We shouldn’t be surprised the Yanks haven’t hit a good pitcher all season..”

    Now I will use this post from CaptainsCorner as an example of everyone getting goofy. Calm down. Three rough games…3-3 road trip – I will not panic. Say that to yourself — I will not panic!

    And stop obsessing about Phil – it’s weird.

    Oh and Matt – you make watching a bad game worse.

  694. Dave

    Can we finally say, without reservation, that CC was and is overrated?

  695. Angels '09WS

    SWEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!

  696. Tarheelyank

    Trisha
    I will join you on the limb. In fact I predict an extra inning win. Tomko with the win, Robertson the save and Ransom with the game winning hit.

    :D

  697. Pat M....Section 211

    This is 2002 all over again…..Lackey pitches out of a jam, as he picks up teammate Howie Kendricks……Lot’s of Brian Wilson’s California Girls here today….The sun always brings out the best of the local talent…..

  698. Carl

    Because the Yankees didn’t beat Santana…He isn’t a good pitcher!

  699. Fez

    “Not much of a shocker that he shut them down.”

    Yankees were a huge favorite. It was a tremendous shocker.

  700. RS

    “Good teams find ways to get runners home, and the Angels fight off the tough pitches and get them home rather than grounding into double plays.”

    That’s all well and good, but I don’t see the Angels scoring double digit runs back to back against the Red Sox, or most other teams.

  701. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “Horrible at bat..We shouldn’t be surprised the Yanks haven’t hit a good pitcher all season..”

    its hard to win 51 games in the first half and not hit a good pitcher…

  702. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    “Well, I will not get into a back and forth about who’s an ace and who isn’t. I will only say this, Josh Beckett has come through with more top performances when it counted than Sabathia. His stint with Milwaukee was very impressive, but I haven’t seen him come close to that with the Yankees. Granted, he may get there as the season wears on, but he is no where near the pitcher he was with Milwaukee last year.”

    What CC did with Milwaukee was legendary. Heroic. Mythical.

    To expect him to do that again is to expect Alex Rodriguez to hit 20 HRs in a month or Joe Mauer to hit .500

    There are expectations and then there’s delusion.

  703. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “Oh and Matt – you make watching a bad game worse.”

    Well, part of that is due to the fact that Matt is only around during bad games. When we are winning, he’s nowhere to be found.

  704. sar515

    Really Captains Corner???

    Haven’t hit a good pitcher all season??

    Only those “bushers” Santana and Halladay!

  705. SJ44

    Well, if Andy and Joba could hold 4 run leads, it wouldn’t have to always fall on one guy.

    Its not a one man team.

    Games the day before the ASB are not indicators of anything.

    Most times, the team that gets out in front, usually wins because guys are headin’ out.

    CC Sabathia isn’t the problem with the pitching staff.

    Its starters 3-5.

    CC will have bad games. He also keeps the team in most of his starts and limits damange for the most part.

    Same can’t be said of others.

    The Yankees hopes rise and fall on how they fix their rotation.

    Even if CC dominates in the second half, which he is capable of doing, if starters 3-5 continue to be bad, the Yankees have trouble.

  706. Betsy

    Getting on Hinksie who’s had 3 HRs in 3 games? That’s really fair, lol

  707. stuart

    cano with some more quality ab’s with runners on base.. he is a total hacker.. he will never be great ever.

    he does not have it between the ears. he should never hit higher then 6th ever…

    more clutch hitting for the yanks…hard to complain when you have the highest scoring offense in baseball…pitching, pitching, pitching…cc having a bad game still will go 7 innings, show you how much joba and pettittes short outings kill a team.

    biggest 1st half dissapointment is Joba(lack of innings in outings and his ERA), biggest positive the centerfield combo. they are not a negative for the team.

    2nd biggest positive. aceves effectiveness. 2nd biggest dissapointment, wangs disaster……….

  708. Pel

    another 0-2 blunder

  709. Matt

    Uh no, they are not completely different things. I could throw you a curveball on the inside corner and you could either be way out in front of it and roll it over to the third baseman, or you could wait back on it and inside out it the other way.

    Get over it. Just because you don’t like a team, it doesn’t mean you can’t give them any credit. They are doing the complete opposite of what Yankees hitters do with runners on base, which is to take tough pitches and put them in play with enough authority to get guys home.

    Statistics are not everything. The Yankees score more runs, but they also pile on a lot against weak pitchers too. They have to be able to score runs off of tough pitchers like John Lackey without hitting 5 home runs, because those kinds of pitchers tend to not give up home runs. Sometimes you have to play fundamental ball, take extra bases, hit sacrifice flies, try not to do too much.

    The Yankees score runs, but they have trouble scoring off of the tough pitchers. Good teams find ways to get it done rather than going 1 for 10 with RISP. Do you think that will fly in the post season? You have to find a way to get a big hit.

  710. Angels '09WS

    FATASS CC $ABATHIA SUCKS! IS HE REALLY YOUR ACE??? MONEY CAN’T BUY RINGS ANYMORE!

  711. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “Can we finally say, without reservation, that CC was and is overrated?”

    Can we finally say, without reservation, that you are insane?

  712. MG

    CaptainsCorner
    July 12th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
    Horrible at bat..We shouldn’t be surprised the Yanks haven’t hit a good pitcher all season..
    ———————————————————
    what a bunch of crap, I guess Johan Santana is a back of the rotation starter and knocking out Beckett in the 1st series against the Sox means nothing.

  713. Christina25

    Andrew,
    He had a back problem but in the beginning of the year. In September he had injured his hip in one of the games. He pitched in the rain and he was injured. That is a fact. I’m not making this up. After they got eliminated Epstein aknowledged that he was pitching injured in the postseason.

  714. Betsy

    Dave, if you want to say that about CC, go ahead – I won’t. I don’t think he’s pitched up to his ability or rep so far, but he’s not overrated, not by any means.

  715. sar515

    Hey ANGELS ‘09…

    How come “the worst team in baseball” is ahead of you in the standings???

  716. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Never said CC is the problem. Just that right now he isn’t quite what we were expecting.

    I fully expect him to have a great second half but the fact remains, he has pitched worse than most of us expected thus far.

  717. Pel

    thats what you’re supposed to do with 0-2

  718. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    Howie Kendrick getting the Pujols treatment. LOL!

  719. AndrewYF

    Christina25 – Uh huh. Of course they would say that, it makes them look better.

    Sabathia can easily just say he was gassed in the postseason, otherwise he would have dominated. There! No worries. But, no excuses. Not surprising Boston made excuses for themselves, again, they NEED Beckett to be a ‘postseason god’. Otherwise, he’s good but not spectacular, like hundreds of other major league pithers.

  720. CaptainsCorner

    This is stupid walking Kendrick. He was hitting 220 coming into the series. If they pitched him like every other team does inside and not up over the plate he wouldn’t hit 400 against them.

  721. vb03

    Don’t feed the trolls. Probably some 10 year old kid who got grounded on Sunday by mommy.

  722. Pel

    so you’re going to put a free runner on base, with the potential to score more runs?

    because you’ve been lights out all day and they haven’t gotten to you at all.

  723. Betsy

    You’d think the Yanks would have a little more pride than that, after losing the first 2 games. I would never say they aren’t trying, but if they are looking for the first plane home, on the edge of being embarrassingly swept in Anaheim and somehow turning what was an excellent road trip into a mediocrity (and losing 3 games in the standings), well…..that’s disappointing to say the least.

  724. GreenBeret7

    At Staten Island, Medchill has a 2 run homer (4th) to go with 2 more doubles last night and hitting .329. Higashioka is 0-2 (.260) but had his 1st homer last night.

    Adama Warren, out of NC has been pitching well.

    http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....pid=476589

  725. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “UPDATE, 5:16 p.m.: If he played every game against the Yankees, Mike Napoli would be known as Future Hall of Famer Mike Napoli. He is 6 for 11 in the series with four extra-base hits.”

    Some players get ramped up for playing the Yankees. Figgins, Napoli and Kendrick fit that bill. Watch them against other teams and they don’t do as much damage.

  726. Bombers

    Dave July 12th, 2009 at 5:14 pm

    Can we finally say, without reservation, that CC was and is overrated?

    Compared to last year he is pitching better in the first half. If he has a better second half… I will be extremely excited.

  727. Trevor

    It’s not “stupid” walking Kendrick when you consider he owns Sabathia.

  728. Fez

    Intentional pass to a .239 hitter. That how it works now?

  729. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    these “problems” that people are having with CC pitching come about only because silly yankee fans concoct insane expectations from their players….CC has had a fine first half sans 2 or 3 games…thats good considering hes had what 18/19 starts?…im not saying every game hes dominant but he gives distance and most of the time its very good results

  730. Angels '09WS

    HOW COME EVERY TEAM IN THE AL WEST HAS A WINNING RECORD AGAINST THE EAST?

  731. Betsy

    That said, I’m by no means panicking because I think the Yankees are a very good team and that they will fix their pitching woes. The FO and ownership will not stand by and do nothing – I think we will all agree on that. I just vented there, but as I said earlier, the Yankees showed a lot of heart (as always) the past couple of days. I just wish they were executing today. I guess this is how it’s going to be the rest of the year, though – a real dogfight.

  732. Pel

    and the experiment works out

  733. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    That’s why you walk the guy who kills you. So that you can get to the scrub behind him. :P

  734. Bombers

    That IBB worked out ok

  735. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    91 pitches for CC.

  736. Mo

    Apparently Joe Saunders and Jered Weaver are not good pitchers, because the Yankees smacked them around.

  737. Betsy

    ANGELS WHY DON’T YOU GO BACK TO THE ANGELS’ BOARDS SO YOU CAN CELEBRATE? OH WAIT, THE ANGELS DON’T HAVE ENOUGH FANS TO MAKE A BLOG LIKE THIS FEASIBLE. DO YOU GLOM ONTO EVERY OTHER TEAM’S BLOGS OR MESSAGE BOARDS WHENEVER YOU WIN A GAME?

  738. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “How’d the Boston starter do today?”

    You mean the BOS starter who was playing KC, which technically isn’t actually a real team? I’m sure he won. But then again, Kei Igawa could probably beat KC.

  739. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    “HOW COME EVERY TEAM IN THE AL WEST HAS A WINNING RECORD AGAINST THE EAST?”

    Dude I’m too awesome to care about the AL West, P.S. has Bobby and the wall been fun for you ?

  740. CaptainsCorner

    “what a bunch of crap, I guess Johan Santana is a back of the rotation starter and knocking out Beckett in the 1st series against the Sox means nothing”

    Oh please that is just 2 games. They didn’t do anything against, Lester, Halladay, Verlander, Lee, Garza, Johnson, Hamels. If they don’t do it in the regular season then how do they expect to do it in the post season.

  741. Angels '09WS

    CLASS…

    http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pf.....tid=410270

  742. stuart

    CC having a bad game and still going 7 innings and only 4 runs…

    that is a good pitcher, joba has so much to learn it is laughable…

  743. Betsy

    Troll alert – go back under your rock, Smith. If you judge players on a game by game basis, you clearly don’t know anything about the game.

  744. sar515

    Hey CC…check your stats before mouthing off…

    Lester…Halladay…Didn’t do anything? Hmmm

  745. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    “FATASS CC $ABATHIA SUCKS! IS HE REALLY YOUR ACE??? MONEY CAN’T BUY RINGS ANYMORE!”

    Stupid – the Yankees still have the third best record in the majors. Here’s a hint. The Angels aren’t one of the other two teams with better records. The Angels are an annoyance, nothing more. Don’t let the fact that the Angels haven’t done jack squat in a long time get in the way of your frenzy, nor the fact that they haven’t done jack squat much in the history of the franchise.

    See ya now!

  746. Fez

    “That IBB worked out ok”

    Some weak “the end justifies the mean” argument can me made, I suppose. Of course, manning up and pitching to Kendrick, a guy with an OBP a sub .300 OBP has some merit.

  747. Pel

    >HOW COME EVERY TEAM IN THE AL WEST HAS A
    >WINNING RECORD AGAINST THE EAST?

    global warming

  748. Tarheelyank

    Hey troll Dont you have a monkey to go play with.

  749. vb03

    And THAT is Posada’s value.

  750. Pel

    good for you, jorge.

    coming off the bench and contributing.

  751. Dan

    So CC needs to get over it, Jorge is the man

  752. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “Some weak “the end justifies the mean” argument can me made, I suppose. Of course, manning up and pitching to Kendrick, a guy with an OBP a sub .300 OBP has some merit.”

    Some pitchers have trouble getting certain guys out. You do what you have to do to get by. Sometimes, walking a guy is the best defense.

  753. Zooboy

    Keep it coming!

  754. Johnny D.

    And we’re back.

  755. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    That’s why Jorge Posada is the starting catcher and not Francisco Cervelli or Jose Molina.

  756. Pepitone

    Yeah, that’s right, Rebecca, everyone’s delusional who has a different opinion than you.

    Everyone’s a moron, an idiot, retarded, or whatever, because they just happen to have a differing opinion.

  757. Jerkface

    Yankees are 10-5 vs the AL west???

  758. Jerkface

    BRETTS SPEED DID THAT

  759. Pel

    Angels doing their best to keep the Yankees in the game.

  760. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    hmmm

  761. Rebecca--Optimist Prime--Montero Fanaticus Primus

    Pepitone:

    No. Not really. I’m not calling you delusional; what’s delusional is the expectation that Sabathia could repeat what he did in Milwaukee. That’s a once-a-career type thing.

    I admit when I’m wrong.

    Well, most of the time, anyway.

  762. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Please do not GIDP, captain

  763. Dan

    Betsy you may see Yuuuusssee today.

  764. Cash is King

    Again, Girardi needs to take hold of the catcher situation because Posada needs to catch five times a week.

  765. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    This could end up like that one game we had against LAA at the stadium where they made like 6 errors or something. I think it was last year.

  766. RS

    Beltran also had a monster ‘05 playoffs and did damage in ‘06 until his last AB. Does that mean that he’s without question a godly postseason performer?

    I tend to think that in most cases, postseason performances are a crapshoot. In the same way a great team can run cold in the playoffs (’01 Mariners) a great player can perform badly in a couple of short series, and vice versa.

    Over the long haul, however, it’s more likely to see a player’s postseason record mirror his regular season performaces, (ie. Jeter, Pettitte, Manny). I save true postseason greatness for those who have performed better in the playoffs than in the regular season, but over a long period of time (ie. Rivera and Smoltz). To me, Beckett has not reached that status yet.

  767. Pat M....Section 211

    Game time for the Yanks with Derek up…..

  768. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    “HOW COME EVERY TEAM IN THE AL WEST HAS A
    WINNING RECORD AGAINST THE EAST?”

    The good news is that most people here are ignoring you. The bad news – for you anyway retread – is that the opposite is true.

    The AL East owns the Al West. Good try though.

    LOOSAH!!!!

  769. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Way to go Jetes

  770. vb03

    And that is where Posada’s speed hurts.

  771. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    nice jeter!

  772. Pel

    Well, good for Derek.

  773. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Georgy you should have scored.

  774. Dan

    oh yeah cappy

  775. Zooboy

    Gotta send the runner there. Wow. Bad call.

  776. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “Georgy you should have scored.”

    No way. He’s slower than a turtle. I don’t take a chance like that. Not down 2.

  777. RS

    Don’t swing foolishly at the changeup Mark!

  778. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Why send him with 0 outs, down by 2

    It’s on POsada for being slooooww, not on Thompson for being conservative with said slow runner

    It’s up to Teixeira and A-rod now

  779. GreenBeret7

    As good a pitcher as Lackey is, I’m not sure that I’d want him on the Yankees. That habit of showing up his defenders on every error could lead to a few dugout dustoffs. I’m surprised that it hasn’t happened before.

  780. vb03

    Jorge is the 2nd slowest man on the team next to Jose Molina. No way you can send him there.

  781. CaptainsCorner

    “Hey CC…check your stats before mouthing off…”

    If you face a pitcher 5-6 times a season and you hit them 1 time and do nothing the other 5 times I do not consider that hitting a good pitcher.

  782. Pel

    put a wrinkle in it

    make mark look like a tard

  783. vb03

    A 3-2 curveball? That’s just wrong.

  784. Carl

    Lets go A-Rod!

  785. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    that’s why you send Georgy, Teix has been so off this week.

  786. Pat M....Section 211

    Just knew Lackey was going back to the hook

  787. Trevor

    Teixeira is having a lot of trouble with curves and changes.

  788. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Wish Teixeira wasn’t going to the all-star game.

    He needs some time off to get his stuff together.

  789. Sean Serritella

    This is exactly who the Angels want up at bat now with the bases loaded, alex rodriguez because he’s a choker.

  790. tastic

    Cripes, our 3 and 4 hitters looking like fools.

  791. Donnie - Will Meet The Entire Angels Roster Under the O'Neill Banner

    Change up.

    Change up.

    Change up.

    He’s missed on it every flipping time today. Why was he not sitting on it? Bad AB for Tex. Just awful.

  792. A-rod will never get it

    big spot for alex???

  793. RS

    Of course it was the offspeed pitch that got him. Has Teixiera always been this bad with breaking pitches?

  794. Pepitone

    Bases loaded, nobody out, Teixeira up to bat, we get at least one run out of it, right?

    Uhhhh…..no.

  795. Denise

    A-Rods shades look ridiculous!

  796. Pel

    F A I L

  797. tastic

    Thanks for the GIDP A-Rod. A-wipe.

  798. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Awesome job guys

  799. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    wow…

  800. RS

    What a choke job. Posada should have scored on Jeter’s single.

  801. Carl

    :(

  802. vb03

    Hahaha, man, you just can’t get a break with these guys. Hilarious.

  803. djsunyc

    oy vey…

  804. Betsy

    Um ,Tex? Good job……..NOT

  805. Denise

    wow….that was their chance, blew it…..

  806. stuart

    that is all you need to know..l bases loaded no outs and zip.

    absolutely pathetic. do not give me any bullsh-t.

    PATHETIC….

  807. Trevor

    :cry:

  808. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    THA’S WHY YOU SEND GEORGY !!! :evil:

  809. Sean Serritella

    Like I said. He’s a choker. I knew that was coming.

  810. Rick

    Clutch …….. NOT.

  811. vb03

    Can’t wait to get the hell out of Anaheim. What a hellhole.

  812. sunny615

    so much for that

  813. Debbie Downer

    I honestly believe Jorge Posada may be a low-grade retard.

  814. Pel

    the yanks can’t get any more pathetic this series

  815. Thomas

    Absolutely pathetic

    Get on the plane

  816. A-rod will never get it

    not one run there omg,

  817. Betsy

    Excuse me, Alex………but what are you going to do? Like he hasn’t had plenty of big hits? What a surprise that the Alex-haters come out in full force.

  818. Wangawa

    we are cursed against this team, it’s almost laughable

  819. Coolerking

    A-Rod being A-Rod

  820. Dutch Hugo

    GAG GAG GAG. Choke job against Angels continues. Unbelievably pathetic. Worst team in baseball with RISP. Just pathetic. Beyond pathetic. Sickening.

  821. Donnie - Will Meet The Entire Angels Roster Under the O'Neill Banner

    Anyone who didn’t see that coming has not watching a single pitch thrown this series. This is what they do against the Angels. I am honest to God never watching another inning of any game we play against this team. I have better things to do with my time than watch them play spooked, and blow every chance they have to do anything.

  822. Pat M....Section 211

    John Lackey is a stud…….He’s picked up Kendricks and Morales, faces Texeria & A-Rod with the bases juiced and wiggles off the hook again……Impressive ….

  823. YankeesLuv

    I was hoping Tex would do something there, Al doesn’t have good numbers against Lackey.

  824. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    arod has been extremely clutch this year…that ab doesnt change it but it would of been nice for him to do something there

  825. stuart

    do yo uthink for a moment youkilis and some other bozo are going to drive in zip???

    that is the disgrace of this team and team that leads the league in runs scored.

    they try to hit the ball 500 feet and leave so many damn base runners it is pathetic……

    PATHETIC…

  826. joe torre

    i have to laugh!

  827. GreenBeret7

    All Rodriguez or any hitter can do is hit the ball hard and he’s done that in each of his last two at bats. That ball was rocked and took a wicked hop. Figgins made a very good play.

  828. DYNASTY IS DESTINY!

    Do we have to visit Anaheim again this year?

  829. vb03

    Get on the plane, no point risking injury by even playing the rest of this game.

    What a down way to get into the ASB. Pathetic effort all around.

  830. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Great thing about Posada – clutch

    Bad thing about Posada – slow

    Anyway, unless my math is off the season series between the Angels and Yankees as of right now is tied.

    :)

  831. Trevor

    Couldn’t even get a lousy sac fly. Epic Fail – Tex Arod.

  832. Dan

    Wow Brandon! I could give ten reasons why Jorge didn’t score I don’t how you don’t realize the facts.

    1. He didn’t stretch correctly before he came in.
    2. His jock was a little off center.
    3. He had Jose’s cup on.
    4. Bobby asked him to hold up a second.
    5. 3rd base blended in with the dirt.
    6…… I really feel like I’m fitting in with this blog now.

  833. djsunyc

    bad on arod for that…but inexcusable for tex to strike out there…

  834. RS

    Have the Yankees ever dealt a trade with the Red Sox? If so, I have a proposal to make.

    Edwar Ramirez + cash for 25 Red Sox jerseys. We’ll even throw in some brand new bats.

    Why do we need Red Sox jerseys? I think it’s pretty obvious.

  835. CB

    People who believe that Roy Halladay is going to lock down the world series for this team really should go back and look at how the offense has performed in the post season the past several series.

    The offense has been nearly as big a problem as the defense.

    Pitching is the most important part of the game. But it’s only one part.

    Tex’s at bat there was simply horrible. Alex once again tried to do too much with the pitch.

    Neither one of them was looking to just make contact to get the run home.

  836. Debbie Downer

    I’m surprised Jorge knew to run towards home plate on A-Rod’s grounder and didn’t just mull around third base like a zombie looking for yummy delicious brains.

  837. Mike

    Texeira should do the right thing and forfeit his starting All-Star spot and give it to Morneau or Youkallis

    Such a joke that he is an All-Star….

  838. E-gawa

    All you can do is laugh. The Angels are in horrible shape and we’re pretty much handing them victories. I think the team including Girardi were more looking foward to their vacation instead of playing baseball.

  839. Betsy

    Right, because Tex really did his job as well………..the guy has been an a slide for a month and it’s all Alex’ fault. Sheesh, really – calling players vulgar names because they don’t execute? Some fans….

  840. smith

    for your information, Tex is brain dead if he wasn’t expecting an off-speed pitch on that 3-2 count.

    enjoy getting the sh** kicked out of you by a good team again.

    The Angels have Lackey, who is an Ace and the Yanks have CC, who is not, LOL!!

  841. vb03

    If you can’t even get a sac fly out of your #3 and #4 hitters, it’s time to go home. Too bad we have another 3 automatic losses in Anaheim later in the year.

  842. Fez

    Awfully nice play by Figgins. Arod can control whether he hits hard. Can’t really control where. That’s a tough GDIP.

  843. Jerkface

    Neither one of them was looking to just make contact to get the run home.

    A-rod pretty clearly made hard contact with a level swing???

    This blog is the king of revisionist history

  844. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    I would have been happy with a Sac Fly. Getting zero runs is rough.

  845. JJ

    Who cares guys?

    We play Baltimore and Oakland after the break… we will bully their pitching and throw pies at eachother and all will be right in the world.

  846. Johnny D.

    If that happened to the Yankees, not only would the other team score all of the players on base, but they’d also stretch the inning out further and have two different pitchers try to end it.

  847. Donnie - Will Meet The Entire Angels Roster Under the O'Neill Banner

    “Anyway, unless my math is off the season series between the Angels and Yankees as of right now is tied.”

    Your math is off. We have one 2 game and (likely) after today, will have lost 4.

  848. Betsy

    Alex has at least had some pretty big hits……Tex has squeezed 90% of his production in 3 weeks.

  849. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    seriously…why is it inexcusable for Tex to strikeout there? lackey threw him a sick curve ball 3-2 and he missed it?…that was an exceptional pitch…its not like tex chased some crap in the dirt or up high…that was a damn good pitch

  850. RS

    “Even if the Yanks get the Wild Card, the Angels are going to demolish them, as usual.”

    And the Red Sox will chew the Angels heads off, as usual!

  851. Donnie - Will Meet The Entire Angels Roster Under the O'Neill Banner

    won*

  852. Zed

    3 games out again… all the momentum from our good homestand/Minnesota series is gone. Still can’t beat a good team (Rangers are paper tigers).

    It’s ok though. They’ll beat the Orioles next week and pie eachother in the face as it is some accomplishment.

  853. stuart

    more arod apologists.. do anything but hit into a dp.

    tex is a baffoon the angels announcers said here comes a off speed pitch..

    the post game comments should be classic, yankee bull….

    tip your cap, blah blah blah…they cannot hit when it matters that is insane since they lead baseball in runs scored…how can that be????????????????????

  854. vb03

    Yankees deserve whatever abuse they get from Angels fans/trolls/whatnot. What a pathetic display of baseball.

  855. Danny Boy

    When they pitch, they don’t hit, when they hit they don’t pitch.

    Back to the Pre-Atlanta Yankees.

  856. Jerkface

    tip your cap, blah blah blah…they cannot hit when it matters that is insane since they lead baseball in runs scored…how can that be????????????????????

    Exactly, you’ve answered it! Think to yourself. How did they win 51 games? You people are the best. Good entertainment to lighten a dull mood.

  857. Hank

    Any of the Red Sox hitters get a run in there.

    But the “best” the Yanks have to offer give feeble accountings of themselves.

  858. Donnie - Will Meet The Entire Angels Roster Under the O'Neill Banner

    “seriously…why is it inexcusable for Tex to strikeout there? lackey threw him a sick curve ball 3-2 and he missed it?”

    Because they’d thrown him breaking stuff all day, and he’d missed every one of them. He was sitting fastball, which was highly illogical. His approach that AB was terrible.

  859. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    OT – really important question and please don’t answer unless you absolutely know the answer. Brother just called and is taking my 13 year old nephew to a concert in Montreal tomorrow. Someone told him there is a new requirement that my nephew will need a passport to get into Canada from the US. (Definitely doesn’t sound right to me.)

    Does anyone know if this is accurate? If it is, is there a quick way to accomplish it? Going to AAA? Does he need any kind of formal identification?

    Thanks!

  860. Betsy

    Well, what are you going to do. The Yankees are a very good team, but they have their flaws. Laughing at the people blaming Alex- and only Alex. The same clowns who disappear when he comes up with big hits.

  861. vb03

    Elixir for an injury-depleted Angels team = the New York Yankees. Great job.

  862. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    CC had that one bad inning, but has since put it behind him. Too bad we haven’t been able to get him some runs.

  863. RS

    “The Angels have Lackey, who is an Ace and the Yanks have CC, who is not, LOL!!”

    1. Lackey has a 5.00 ERA and has injury concerns.
    2. Lackey sucks against the Red Sox, specifically Fenway Park.
    3. If the Yankees did want him, and they won’t because of the reasons stated above, they could have him easily because your team is too cheap to outbid for him.

  864. CB

    “A-rod pretty clearly made hard contact with a level swing???

    This blog is the king of revisionist history”

    First of all – he swung at Lackey’s pitch – not his. With the bases loaded and 1 strike you don’t need to do that.

    Second, on a very tough pitch to handle he tried to pull it instead of shortening his swing and trying to take it up the middle.

    There’s nothing revisionist about that.

  865. Rolex

    CC’s value is his above average innings

    He is not a stopper. He isin’t a guy who is going to dominate. You can hit him.

    He’ll give you 220 quality innings, like Wang. AJ has more potential to be an ace than CC does.

  866. Pepitone

    Betsy, I respect your opinion, but A-Rod does that kind of stuff way too much when we need him to come through, way too much. But, that’s why he is known as A-Choke.

    Mark is the guy that has me scratching my head. I remember last year when he played for the Angels, he just killed us with singles, doubles, home runs, etc. He was absolutely clutch! But, now? What happened? Seriously, what has happened to the guy?

    Maybe he’s a second half kind of a guy? I hope so, because I honestly believed that he would send a double down that right field line.

  867. Jerkface

    Any of the Red Sox hitters get a run in there.

    The red sox have less RBIs in bases loaded situations in more chances than the Yankees.

  868. Betsy

    ARod apologists? LOL Stuart, give me a break. I hope you weren’t cheering when he hit the two HRs in the first two games. I hope you weren’t cheering when he got the game winning hit in AJ’s game (I think it was) in Minnesota……

  869. Dan

    I think the Yankees read this blog and do things so they can laugh at what people say. I’d like to see the comments of the first home game of the year. Probably WOW THE YANKEES SUCK SO BAD I’LL BET THEY LOSE EVERY GAME WE NEED 12 MORE ALL STARS.

  870. Evan

    Yanks have 14 September games against Tampa, Angels and Boston. I hope they are 4-5 games up in the wild card or division (unlikely since we only have 2 reliable starting pitchers) or we can kiss the postseason and Joe “Panic” Girardi goodbye.

    This team is too good to have this kind of weekend. Embarrassing.

  871. 38HotDogs

    Hi Trisha – my brother had to get a passport for his 3 year old daughter to travel to the US. I think flying you definitely need a passport but not for driving yet.

  872. Dave D.

    The old guard must be disgusted… can’t beat their 2 biggest October foes – Angels or Sox.

    Those guys want to win a world series, not beat up on the Royals in the regular season

  873. Wangawa

    This is why I have very little faith in the Yankees in the postseason. They can’t beat the elite teams. They may end up winning 98 games, but once they get to the postseason they will probably play as awful as they have this series.

  874. Hank

    All the trolls and realists were 100% correct when they predicted the West Coast trips would be the nail in the coffin. 3 more games in Anaheim await.

    No chance for the division.

    Hope like heck for a lucky wild card berth.

  875. G-C

    I’m shocked there hasn’t been more discussion about CC’s disappearing strikeout rate. I’m far from saying that he’s overrated or anything to that degree, but the reason he isn’t dominating as we’ve expected him to is because he simply isn’t missing as many bats as he usually does. More balls in play, in most cases, equals more runs.

    The sharp drop in his strikeout rate isn’t really a great omen for the future.

  876. Mark

    Yanks again this year aren’t a good team, even with a record-breaking payroll. With bases loaded and your 3-4-5 guys coming up, how can you NOT score at least 1 run??

    Because your 3-4-5 guys (OK, maybe not the 3 guy) are trying to hit homeruns, so they strike out or pop up.

    The Angels have the best manager in the MLB. He know how to play the game without depending on homeruns or over-the-hill super(paid) stars.

  877. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “The old guard must be disgusted… can’t beat their 2 biggest October foes – Angels or Sox.
    Those guys want to win a world series, not beat up on the Royals in the regular season”

    so only jeter, posada, andy and mo care?

  878. Steve

    Our ace can’t even beat this team.

    No Vlad, No Hunter… no problem. You think the Sux would get swept by this depleted team? No, they would be the ones doing the sweeping…

  879. Donnie - Will Meet The Entire Angels Roster Under the O'Neill Banner

    Trisha,

    He needs a passport. Post 9/11 mandate.

    http://gocanada.about.com/od/c.....border.htm

    As for the quickest way…I don’t know that there IS a quick way, sadly.

  880. Evan

    Gotta love the optimists on this blog who don’t really follow baseball. How could you have confidence in this team?

    And even if they do make the Wild Card (which I believe they will hold off the Rays for – barely), who do you think their opponents will be in the playoffs?

    ALDS – Angels
    ALCS – Red Sox

    Do you honestly have confidence that this team can win it this year? Do you know their record against good teams?

    I’ll still watch/go to every game but I certainly don’t believe in this group.

  881. Vince

    Put Figgins on the priority list for this offseason. He’ll be a FA and is multi-positional.

  882. Trevor

    Hey look another bloop. SMH

  883. E-gawa

    “CC’s value is his above average innings

    He is not a stopper. He isin’t a guy who is going to dominate. You can hit him.

    He’ll give you 220 quality innings, like Wang. AJ has more potential to be an ace than CC does.”

    Lay off CC, he’s allowed to have a bad game every now and then.

  884. Patrick the Prospect Hugger

    Pretty bad start by CC…

    6.2 IP, 5 ER? Not exactly an ace-like effort

  885. vb03

    Hank July 12th, 2009 at 5:51 pm

    All the trolls and realists were 100% correct when they predicted the West Coast trips would be the nail in the coffin. 3 more games in Anaheim await.

    No chance for the division.

    Hope like heck for a lucky wild card berth.

    ———————-

    This is why I’ve never had my eyes on the division in the first place. This team can’t beat division leaders other than Texas, who won’t be division leaders for very long.

    The problem is, even if they make the playoffs as the Wild Card, they would probably draw Anaheim and get knocked out in 4 games.

  886. Betsy

    Pepitone, he may be known as A-Choke to you and some others, but I certainly don’t refer to him that way – nor do I think he deserves it. Why don’t you give a new nickname to Tex, who’s been brutal for 3/4 months?

    Alex has come up with plenty of big hits this year and in his career. He’s not perfect, but who is? I hope those who call him A-Choke don’t cheer him the next time he comes up with one.

  887. Bo Knows

    Both Teix and A Rod screwed themselves into the ground. I thought A Rod was going to rip that hip splice on that first pitch. Talk about overswinging. You’ve got the bases loaded, down two and Lackey on the ropes with a bad Angel BP. God I hate stupid at bats. “I wanna be a hero and instead I look stupid”.

  888. Nick in SF

    http://travel.state.gov/travel.....quirements

  889. Pel

    time of death, 5:53PM ET

  890. RCD 232

    Not much you can do… just admit that we can’t beat good teams and move on.

    We can still beat the Torontos and Oaklands of the world

  891. RS

    “Texeira should do the right thing and forfeit his starting All-Star spot and give it to Morneau or Youkallis”

    Youkilis just struck out with the bases loaded and nobody out yesterday and Morneau did NOTHING as his team got swept by the Yankees at home.

  892. Carl

    The Angels have owned us for years. Nothing new.

  893. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    amazing how many bloops this team gets…

  894. M/. Kay's Head

    Does it really matter what this team does the rest of the season? They are headed towards another 1st round playoff elimination. You can see it a mile away

  895. Bronx Jeers

    Trisha,

    I don’t think 13 year olds need it.

    15 and up.

    An original birth certificate and parental consent is what he needs.

  896. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    right now I’m watching on ESPN2 Josh Hamilton make old YS look like a toy park.

  897. Stop The Walks

    There is the difference. Man on 3rd with 2 outs for LAA, no problem….a single to score him.

    Bases juiced, 0 outs, and the 3 and 4 hitters due up, and the MFNYY get ZERO runs.

  898. stuart

    shocking little macier itzuris gets the guy in from 3rd and our slow fotted home run hitter thugs do jack with RSIP..

    sabathia pitched OK and should have been tied at the worst but no..

    GOOD NEWS CANO IS UP NEXT INNING.. WHAT IS THE OVER UNDER ON PITCHES PROFESSOR CANO SEE’S THIS AT BAT? i SAY HE WILL BE ON BASE OR OUT IN 3 PITCHES OR LESS…………

    What a re beutiful 3 game stretch by the yanks, way to play good fundamental baseball, pitch well, and get it done. given up 19 runs so far in 25 innings for the series.. .that is hard to do..

    hey look hughes is in, and he is rested isn’t that good news???????????????

  899. Betsy

    LOL CC gave up another run….nice.

    Evan, why bother watching the team if you have no confidence? That’s your negative thinking – plenty of us believe in this team.

  900. vb03

    Next time this team goes 15-5 against barely .500 teams, don’t get too excited. The real Yankees are the ones on the field right now.

  901. Jerkface

    If the Angels are so elite why do they get eliminated in the playoffs every year?

  902. E-gawa

    No kidding Brandon. Never thought you’d be fairweather.

  903. Donnie - Will Meet The Entire Angels Roster Under the O'Neill Banner

    Trisha,

    http://travel.state.gov/passpo.....s_834.html

    There’s the steps for a minor to get a passport. Looks like it CAN be done quickly. All the links and such should send you where you need to go.

  904. Pat M....Section 211

    Every time CC has fond himself in trouble it’s been a result of missing upstairs….1-2 count and he leaves one up, and it’s poked to right……Here comes Young Master Hughes…..

  905. Betsy

    So now Phil comes in…..

  906. 3 Games Out

    This is despicable. You see the look on the Angels’ faces each time they score. The smerks say it all. They know the Yanks don’t have a shot. At some point you gotta start dusting guys. Let some frustration out. Can’t wait to hear all the “Sucking against these guys is no big deal” in the post-game.

  907. Trevor

    “time of death, 5:53PM ET”

    Time of resurrection 6:10PM ET

  908. Dan

    Do any realize that there are 74 games left and the Yankees are 3 games out of first place in the AL? For all we know the Red Sox go 37-37 the rest of the way out and the Yankees play .600 ball. Or the Yankees go 37-37 and the Red Sox play .600 ball. Overall there is so much baseball left that speculating playoffs at the moment is just crazy. Enjoy the baseball and take the bad with the good. One thing is for sure Joba will continue to lose. Just joking Joba will figure his stuff out. Maybe.

  909. Vincent Capone

    “Anyone who didn’t see that coming has not watching a single pitch thrown this series. This is what they do against the Angels. I am honest to God never watching another inning of any game we play against this team. I have better things to do with my time.”

    Ditto what Donnie said. I made that vow two years ago. Early Friday evening, after I made an offhand remark about how the Yankees were going to get swept in this series, my Dad told me that if the Yankees did NOT get swept, then I had to buy him and my Mom Slurpees all week. I guess my wallet is safe. B)

  910. Kid A

    If I was running a baseball team, I’d weed out the bad base runners early on. If you don’t have instincts for the game, you are just hindering the team.

    That’s what I find the most fascinating about the 1998 Yankees: they had arguably two of the worst base runners in recent memory (Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada). Each guy ran the bases like each game was the first he had ever played. Still, the team went 125-50…that’s just simply amazing.

  911. RS

    Only good news to take out of this game is that CC is due for a good outing to get the Yankees off to a good start after the ASB.

  912. GG

    U.S. and Canadian citizens ages 15 or younger with parental consent will be allowed to cross the borders at land and sea entry points with certified copies of their birth certificates rather than passports.

    Visitors of all ages arriving in Canada by air require a passport or passport equivalent.

  913. Jerkface

    Hughes should be starting :(

  914. Dutch Hugo

    “Hope like heck for a lucky wild card berth.”

    Why??? So we can get drubbed out in the first round again? What’s the point, with a team that can’t hit in the clutch, can’t beat the Angels or Red Sox to save their miserable lives? They make the same mistakes over and over and over, keep getting beat by the same hitters over and over and over. It’s groundhog day with this team in clutch situations against quality opposition. They bully the mediocre teams all season and then choke against the tough ones. Same sad story we’ve seen for how many years now?

  915. Joe

    It’s only three games, guys. We don’t play them again until Sept. 21. I know it’s bad to lose 3 to this team, and they blew it with Texieira and A-Rod that time, but it’s a long season.

    We could be several games up, or battling for a wildcard.

  916. Evan

    Where are the trolls who say everything will be okay and the season isn’t over yet?

    I’m waiting to find out what the bright side is….

    Is it “only” being 3 games out?
    Is it that we were close during the 0-8 stretch vs. Boston?
    What about the fact that we are “still” 4 games ahead of the Rays (who also had a horrendous start and many injuries?)
    And finally – how about the fact that we have a manager who panics, a #3 starter who can’t get out of the 5th, a #4 starter who went 1-8 in the 2nd half of last season, and a #5 starter who pitched in the minors today? This seems promising!

  917. Vincent Capone

    “Here comes Young Master Hughes”

    Don’t subject him to this torture, Girardi!! He’s just a CHILD!!!!!!!

  918. Blog Poster

    There really is something to this with this team – losing to good teams.

    This is how this team performs in the playoffs.

    Wild Card will be a fight for sure, now.

    Not sure whether it will matter.

  919. GreenBeret7

    Baseball is a strange game. Twins beat Chicago and neither Mauer or Morneau homer. Morneau was 2-5 with 0 RBIs and 2 singles. Gomez, Span and harris were there only homers and accounted for 11 RBI.

    Mauer? He was 0-5 with 4 strikeouts.

    Buerle gave up 8 runs in 3.1 innings.

  920. stuart

    i meant they have given up 30 runs not 19…

    30 runs to a depleted offense… juan rivera has not played the last 2 games with a bad hammy….

    but hey hughes is rested and since aceves pitched thursday he will not pitch for about a week and thank g-d we still have tomko on the team…………

    fridays game and this game the yanks should have won but zippo……………..

  921. Betsy

    Nice job, Phil – nice curve………I hope he at least comes out for the 8th.

    REALLY bad job by CC giving up the one run the Yankees did score in the 7th.

  922. Pepitone

    You know what? I was ready to change my mind about Sabathia today. I thought, weather is warm, CC knows the team needs a lift before the break, he’s coming through with a good performance. The most he will give up is maybe 2 runs, but no more than that. I figured if the Angels beat the Yankees 2-1, then, OK, but at least Sabathia gave them the kind of performance you would expect from your ace.

    But, 5 runs in 6 2/3 innings? No, that is not a good performance for someone all of us counted on to be our ace this year. I am willing to see what happens in the second half, but so far, for me at least, he has been a disappointment.

    I agree with others on this as well, A-Rod is known for his choking in crucial situations, you take the bad with the good with him. But, it’s Teixeira that has me scratching my head. He killed the Yankees last year when he was with the Angels. Clutch hit after clutch hit. What happened? Bases loaded no outs, and he strikes out? Granted, that pitch by Lackey was nasty, but, he swung at a bad pitch before that, which put him in that position.

    I don’t know, hopefully these guys are second half guys, or we are in trouble.

  923. Nick in SF

    Radiohead fan, Kid A?

    Or the first of an uncreative 26-child family?

  924. Evan

    Watch them come back and win this game….

    Which leads to the question – what if the Yankees did not have all those come from behind and/or lucky (thanks Castillo) wins?

  925. Bronx Jeers

    Actually Trisha,

    If he’s flying, he needs a passport regardless of age.

  926. Pel

    >Time of resurrection 6:10PM ET

    lol no

  927. stuart

    contact teams win in the playoffs you cannot count on hitting long balls in the playoffs that is the yanks achiles heel. i thought with gardner, jeter, damon, etc the ycould manufacture some run..

  928. beetle

    “Overall there is so much baseball left that speculating playoffs at the moment is just crazy.”

    Actually, the Yankees are very easy to predict. They cannot beat the Red Sox and cannot win in Anaheim. Maybe they’ll be able to scratch out a Wild Card spot, but then it’s a sure loss in the postseason.

    This team lacks any heart and is extremely hard to cheer for. They just don’t have that extra something that would allow them to compete with the elite teams.

  929. Bret the Hitman

    I’m totally relieved the red flags went up now since there’s still time before the deadline. This team was giving the front office false hope to the point Cashman declared all solutions for this season are supposedly internal. Cashman has no excuse now to do nothing. The pitching is imploding, starting and relief. The hitting is inconsistent from week to week and seemingly nonexistent against good teams. There are lots of sluggers in the lineup who go cold for long stretches and go through bursts of good production when they pick their spots to feast on pitchers that play to their strengths.

  930. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Thank you thank you all! I think Hot Dogs and Bronx Jeers
    got it with the kids/flying part. I found this while I was waiting. I hope it is accurate information!

    http://gocanada.about.com/od/c.....ssport.htm

    :)

  931. Betsy

    Evan, you can stop watching the games. There’s an option for you…….

  932. Trevor

    I wonder how far Hamilton would hit it at new YS.

  933. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “UPDATE, 5:59 p.m.: Starters in this series: 15.1 innings, 25 hits, 15 earned runs, 6 walks, 10 strikeouts. An 8.80 ERA. Yikes.”

    See, Matt? It starts with the pitching.

  934. Jerkface

    Cano’s weakest hit ball goes for a hit. Just can’t predict baseball!

    Also look at these no heart yankees, giving up in the 8th.

  935. Pat M....Section 211

    Spiers is fragile

  936. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    “This team lacks any heart and is extremely hard to cheer for.”

    You are free to root for another team. No one is making you stay a Yankee fan.

  937. Nick in SF

    Here we go, Robi Cano!

    Never say die, in it until the end… :)

  938. Johnny D.

    Hins-KEY!!!!!!

  939. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    if that ball was 1 foot to the left everybody on here would be killing cano for swinging at the first pitch and gidp..yet hes cheered now

  940. RS

    “I’m shocked there hasn’t been more discussion about CC’s disappearing strikeout rate.”

    I actually mentioned this yesterday. Burnett has also averaged fewer strikeouts than what he got with the Blue Jays, and Joba hasn’t missed as many bats as he did last year. That, and Pettitte’s increased walks is why I believe this entire rotation has not been as good as we expected.

  941. Carl

    Watching Joba and Pettitte made me want to cry at Angel Stadium :(

  942. Dan

    Once again what is wrong with people? The season is hardly half way over. For all we know the Yankees figure things out with the rotation and all is well. But they may not. They could lose, they could lose every game. If they did lose every game would peoples lives be over? Take the game for what it is just good fun. Who thought the Red Sox would win 4 straight after being down 3-0. Baseball is fun whether you suck or do well. There would be no Nationals fans if it were all about success.

  943. Tarheelyank

    Isn’t there anybody who could have run for Matsui?

  944. RCD 232

    They can’t beat good teams. 3-14 against the Sox, Phillies, Angels.

    No, the Rangers are not a good team, they won’t even make the playoffs.

  945. NYY626

    I just walked in the door when Arod DPed. Here’s to us turing this around! Also, I wish you had to pass a “true yankee fan test” to post here. The comments are really disturbing today

  946. M/. Kay's Head

    I will be amazed if they are able to tie this game without a home run being hit. No home runs = no win for this team

  947. Doreen

    CC is not an Ace. He is a very good pitcher, but not an Ace.

    Just got in from a gorgeous day out. Hoping to find out that our man CC did the job. Very disappointed to see this.

  948. Nick in SF

    What would Hinske’s nickname be if he played for the Mets?

  949. Mike

    Even if we beat Tampa out for the WC, we’re only delaying the inevitable. We ain’t going to the House of Horrors and winning.

    Even if the pitching shows up, the offense will go stone cold.

  950. NYY626

    No home runs = no win for this team
    -____________________________________________________________
    ecept for in MN?

  951. Bronx Jeers

    Speaking of mall cops,

    Remember Orange Julius?

    Do they still have them?

  952. Jerkface

    bases loaded no one out for the CLUTCH part of the lineup

  953. BX 44

    “They still don’t beat the good teams…Red Sox, Angels and Phillies. They will fold in the playoff as usual.”

    El Hinske

  954. Wangawa

    hahaha, bases loaded no one out, if we don’t score in this situation again i’m turning off the TV

  955. Pat M....Section 211

    Yanks will not denied this time around..That’s not Lackey out there…..Spier is fragile

  956. Trevor

    If they screw this bases loaded 0 out again………

  957. Zooboy

    Now they have the Yanks right where they want them.

  958. Maria

    Round 2. Let’s drive in some runs.

  959. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Josh Hamilton was GOD that night.

  960. Fran (the original) and OPPC member

    Trisha, tell them to make sure the birth certificate is the original with a raised seal on it. My niece(12)tried to go with one that did not have a seal and was not allowed to go despite her parents protests, so they had to cancel the trip.

  961. Jerkface

    The Yankees are historically a .500 team vs Boston, and lost some very tough ones this season at Fenway. I dont get this whole ‘we can’t beat the red sox’ thing.

  962. DYNASTY IS DESTINY!

    A second chance now…

    Will we make the most of it?

    This is our moment…

  963. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Thanks GG.

    :)

    Come on Yankees. Show em why you are going to win the division and take it all this season!

    (Even if you don’t show em, I know you’re gonna do it this year!)

  964. Tarheelyank

    Bronx Jeers
    Yeah, there is one down here.

  965. Nick in SF

    Bronx Jeers: there are still some Orange Juliuses around. I most recently saw one a few months ago at a mall in Fairfield, California, which is in between SF and Sacramento off I-80.

    Melky!

  966. Carl

    Wooo Melky!!!

  967. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    nice hitting melky!!

  968. DYNASTY IS DESTINY!

    Here we go!!!!!!!

  969. vtyankeefan-the original!!

    Come on Melky, deliver

  970. Fran (the original) and OPPC member

    Melky showing Alex and Tex how it’s done

  971. RS

    “contact teams win in the playoffs you cannot count on hitting long balls in the playoffs that is the yanks achiles heel.”

    Ironically the Phillies are a huge HR hitting team and they strike out a lot. Last year, their starting pitching outside of Hamels was shaky at best.

    The key is to just get hot when the playoffs arive. The difficult thing is, the Yankees have a LOT more pressure to win than other teams do, so that might also factor into their approach come October. I definitely believe that a guy like Arod will press more than someone in TB or St. Louis.

  972. Maria

    Melky with the clutch hit! Feel like they should have sent Cano but I guess him being out at the plate would be bad.

  973. Evan

    Betsy – I miss maybe 20 games a year and that’s been the case for over 20 years. That’s why I get so frustrated with this team.

    I also wrote at 6:02 “Watch this team come back and win…”

    Nevertheless, I agree with Beetle – The team is very very predictable and is not on the same level as the Angels or Red Sox. We are a tier below – it is what it is.

    Can we beat them – yes? Is it likely – NO.

  974. Wangawa

    see, that’s how you do it, melky wasn’t trying to hit a grand slam

  975. Pepitone

    Alex has come up with plenty of big hits this year and in his career. He’s not perfect, but who is? I hope those who call him A-Choke don’t cheer him the next time he comes up with one.
    …………………..

    Fair enough, Betsy. We will just have to agree to disagree on the guy. I didn’t like it when they first signed him, and I still don’t.

  976. KO

    GOOD CALL ON THE YANKS GIVIN UP AND HAVIN QUICK AB’S PETE…. HAVE U NOT WATCHED THIS LINEUP LATELY, U ARE CLUELESS

  977. Bo Knows

    The whole world knew that an off speed pitch was coming except Teix. It’s not about winning a game, it’s about stats. Does anyone care that A Rod has X number of HRs? I don’t understand it.

  978. Dan

    There is an Orange Julius in Montoursville, PA home of hometown hated Mike Mussina and myself.

  979. RS

    How good would 2 sac flies in the 7th inning look now?

    If the Yankees win, it’ll be a great victory. If they lose, it’s just another tremendous tease against the Angels.

  980. Doreen

    Nice Melky.

    Should I bother to catch up on the game thread, or can I assume it’s the same old, same old? :)

    I agree with the guy above who said teh Yankees and Red Sox play .500 baseball against each other. Lots of games left against them. It’s not that they can’t beat the Red Sox. The haven’t so far this year, that does not mean they can’t. I hate those leaps! :)

  981. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    And this, boys and girls, is why you never give up on the New York Yankees!

    They will do whatever they can to claw back. Statistically it won’t happen every single time, but if you’ve been keeping track you know that it happens the majority of the time.

    The majority of the time is what a team needs to succeed.

    LOVE THOSE YANKEES DAMMIT!

  982. CB

    Posada comes up with a man on second – takes the ball up the middle with a short swing and scores the run.

    Melky comes up with bases loaded – goes the other way and scores the run.

    That’s not an accident.

    Tex and ARod both tried to pull the ball in big spots.

  983. Dutch Hugo

    I will say this, there is a difference between this year’s team and recent editions, and that is that this team battles until the end. Rare is the game that they don’t at least bring the tying run to the plate in late innings. No one with a brain would say this team lacks heart. But the way we play against Boston and Anaheim just doesn’t bode well for the postseason.

  984. Maria

    Speier jokingly sticking his tongue out at the camera. I guess he isn’t concerned.

  985. Carl

    Posada!

  986. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    good job jorge!

  987. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Fran, you will be pleased to know that both Tarheel and I predicted a Yankee win – and we did it when the score was 4-1. I know you would have added your approval to that prediction!

    (So it hasn’t happened quite yet, but we’re inching closer!)

    :D

  988. RS

    Why do you pinch hit for Gardner? At worst he’ll strike out. He’s much less likely to hit into a DP.

    Oh well, I hope Swish can do something here.

  989. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    NO DP!!!!

    Thank you Nick.

  990. Pepitone

    I will say this, our offense keeps us in the game!

    They have heart, here’s the evidence right in front of you! Go YANKS!!

  991. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    so much for the futures game starting up again soon huh..

  992. Trevor

    Don’t like this move.

  993. Evan

    No Dp – Tex wants to redeem himself…

  994. E-gawa

    “Why do you pinch hit for Gardner? At worst he’ll strike out. He’s much less likely to hit into a DP.

    Oh well, I hope Swish can do something here.”

    Playing for the 3 run HR.

  995. Carl

    Are you kidding me

  996. Pel

    lol fail

  997. Evan

    unreal….gardner doesn’t hit into DPs. bad move girardi.

  998. RS

    Can we get any luck against this team??

    And what kind of baserunning is that?

  999. M/. Kay's Head

    Unreal

  1000. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    how did he catch that??

  1001. Dan

    Wow, can’t do anything about that.

  1002. Bronx Jeers

    Unreal.

  1003. Maria

    Well that was interesting.

  1004. Fran (the original) and OPPC member

    Trisha, I hope you guys are right, but that double play just now did not help :(

  1005. Yankee44

    Twice with bases loaded and nobody out, and we come out of it with ONE run.

  1006. Angels '09WS

    FAIL

  1007. stuart

    the swisher out is just a head shaker.. swisher did nothing wrong that was pure luck.

    this is a joke…

  1008. Doreen

    There must be something in the water out there. Swisher could not have hit it any harder. The glove was just there. It was just there. Unbelievable.

    And now that last run looms very, very large.

  1009. GreenBeret7

    Before the whining starts, Swisher hit a bullet and Cabrera had no place to go.

  1010. Wangawa

    that was ridiculously unlucky… only happens against this team

  1011. Pel

    >Maybe the Yankees can turn the table on this team for once.

    The Yanks still have to pitch, Pete.

  1012. Dan

    Evan you are a joke. That was an unreal play, not a routine double play.

  1013. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    he didnt even realize he caught it…might of been a dp anyway even if he didnt touch it…swisher hit it hard at a really bad spot looks like

  1014. Josh

    I have to say this has been one of the worst games to watch this year. Inning after Inning they’ve had multiple chances to take control of the game, but for some reason they fall short each time.

  1015. Josh

    I have to say this has been one of the worst games to watch this year. Inning after Inning they’ve had multiple chances to take control of the game, but for some reason they fall short each time.

  1016. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    I would have let Gardy hit. He might have dunked one in front of one of the outfielders.

  1017. Johnny D.

    Ugh.

  1018. Pepitone

    Swisher hit the ball on the nose, just right at the pitcher.

    This is not the Yankees day. The baseball gods are against them!

  1019. CB

    Now that at bat by Swisher is absolutely one where that’s just the agony of baseball.

    Swisher took the ball right up the middle and smoked it. That was a good swing on a good pitch.

    Of course with the yankees luck in anaheim it turns out as the worst result possible.

    The yankees have had some bad at bats this game in key spots – but that wasn’t one of them.

  1020. Pat M....Section 211

    Snake bitten..Swish drills it up the middle…There’s a group wearing Boston uni tops going crazy for the Angels

  1021. M/. Kay's Head

    Two runs would have scored? Cano is going to score from first on a single?

  1022. KO

    Luckiest play I have seen all year I think…. I mean did Oliver even see that ball…. Merry Christmas… and Spier who blew the game goes crazy in the dugout what a joke… God I love it

  1023. RS

    Unreal that this game might come down to Tex and Arod doing nothing with the bases loaded.

    Like I said, the Yankees always seem to hit into the hardest outs against the Angels, and the Angels hurt us with soft dunkers and 10 hoppers through the infield.

    I really believe we’re just cursed against this team.

  1024. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    can we see a replay

  1025. Someone Else

    UPDATE, 4:55 p.m.: I’ll be shocked if the Yankees get back in this game. It’s the day before a break, they all have planes to catch and people to go see. These next four innings could fly by. I’m not saying they’ll quit, but look for quick at-bats and see you next week.

  1026. Dan

    Swish laced a ball how is that a bad at bat I don’t understand most of you.

  1027. Vince B in Chicago

    “Mark” : July 12th, 2009 at 5:52 pm

    wow just wow!

  1028. smith

    The yanks are kings of the gutless epic fail with men on base.

    What a joke of a team.

    But ya gotta love the mohawk haircut and the pies in the face, lol!!

  1029. Evan

    good point by flaherty – where was melky going??

  1030. Laura - And the Oscar goes to....Optimus Prime!!

    Well, we have the firepower coming up in the top of the 9th. Tex gets on and Alex jacks one out.

  1031. Someone Else

    UPDATE, 4:55 p.m.: I’ll be shocked if the Yankees get back in this game. It’s the day before a break, they all have planes to catch and people to go see. These next four innings could fly by. I’m not saying they’ll quit, but look for quick at-bats and see you next week..

  1032. Johnny D.

    Not sure if this is a well known site, but this John Sterling mocku-blog is amazing.

  1033. Someone Else

    UPDATE, 4:55 p.m.: I’ll be shocked if the Yankees get back in this game. It’s the day before a break, they all have planes to catch and people to go see. These next four innings could fly by. I’m not saying they’ll quit, but look for quick at-bats and see you next week.

  1034. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    wow really that was the epitome of bad luck…that definitly would of been a single unless the ss was right there…man oh man what luck

  1035. Pepitone

    Now, if Sabathia could have just held them to the 4 runs, we are tied now.

  1036. GreenBeret7

    That bullet to Oliver would have been tough to see. I thought that it might have skipped just in front of the glove.

  1037. RS

    This ump really has a tight strike zone…for both teams.

  1038. Johnny D.

    http://johnsterling.blogspot.com/

  1039. YankeesLuv

    Not making excuses but the last two dps were some nice plays by the Angels.

  1040. Tarheelyank

    We have them right where we want them.
    Jeter
    Tex
    Arod

  1041. Doreen

    And then there’s Phil.

    What a joy to watch.

  1042. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “The yanks are kings of the gutless epic fail with men on base.

    What a joke of a team.”

    almost every fan should hope their team is as “gutless” as the yankees..

  1043. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    “HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! CLASSIC”

    This from the stupid ass who said the AL West owns the AL East.

    What’s classic is that you stopped posting once the Yankees started getting runs.

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! CLASSIC

  1044. vtyankeefan-the original!!

    Didn’t see the play(following on internet), but its ounds like Swisher couldn’t have hit it any better.
    Hughes looking good(again). Time for the meat of the order to come thru in the ninth

  1045. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    wow…hughes hit 97

  1046. Pepitone

    Let’s see if Phil Hughes has any luck keeping these guys from scoring.

  1047. CB

    So far late in this game with men on base the yankee batters who took the ball up the middle or the other way had good at bats that either scored runs or produced rockets.

    The at bats where hitters tried to pull the ball added up to nada.

  1048. dennis-Costanza

    Angels09WS.

    Are you serious? I am sorry that when you yelled to your folks to watch you dive off the diving board into the pool that they never looked. Tough draw I guess.

    -dennis

  1049. Stann46

    Can we just skip the second trip back out to LA in September?

  1050. sar515

    Never say die Yanks…

    One more shot!

  1051. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    We beat this game 2 out of 3 in NY.

    Every Yankee fan knows that the Yanks don’t mail in games.

    Just a few statements of fact.

  1052. smith

    Well, thank your ACE (gag, laugh, cough, gag, laugh, cough) for giving up that 5th run. If CC has any guts and finishes off the hitter with 2 strikes, the Yanks have a chance.

    What a fun season and it will only get better with the coninued collapse of the starting rotation.

  1053. Vince B in Chicago

    GreenBeret7 July 12th, 2009 at 6:00 pm

    Baseball is a strange game. Twins beat Chicago and neither Mauer or Morneau homer. Morneau was 2-5 with 0 RBIs and 2 singles. Gomez, Span and harris were there only homers and accounted for 11 RBI.

    Mauer? He was 0-5 with 4 strikeouts.

    Buerle gave up 8 runs in 3.1 innings.

    Right on the head, and that is why it’s the greatest game.

  1054. RS

    I still think it was the wrong move to pinch hit Gardner for Swisher.

    Swisher is very hit or miss. Gardner wasn’t going to get a HR in that spot, but he’s the type of hitter who can get an infield single or blooper. He also would not have hit into a DP.

  1055. stuart

    no problem not running fo rmatsui, down by 3.

    also no problem hitting swisher, the righty lefty routine…

    jorge with a passball.. he is avg defensively..

  1056. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    We beat this TEAM 2 out of 3 in NY.

    Every Yankee fan knows that the Yanks don’t mail in games.

    Just a few statements of fact.

  1057. Pel

    all that throwing to 1B meant jack squat.

    pay attention to the batter, phil.

  1058. Pepitone

    Who’s fault was that? Hughes or Posada?

  1059. GreenBeret7

    NYY has always had teams that they couldn’t beat on the road, no matter how good that team was or how bad the other team was. In the 50’s and 60’s, it was Chicago and Cleveland. In the ’70s it was KC. In the ’90s, it was Texas, Seattle and Minnesota. in the ’00s, it’s Anaheim.

  1060. OHHHHH

    Hey every one! When I fart, it smells really bad. What should I do about it? Do you want to smell it? Do you want to try it? Try it on? Maybe we can fart on each other and then rub it like a little pooooosy!

  1061. Johnny D.

    Hughes is good at baseball.

  1062. Nick in SF

    You’re welcome (unless that was directed at Mr. Swisher).

    Hold the line here and send Jeter, Tex, and Arod to the plate. Down the the last out, nobody’s worried about the flight leaving without them!

  1063. Dan

    I give Willits the award for the worst warm up swing in the MLB.

  1064. Angels '09WS

    Actually I said that every team in the AL west has a winning record against the AL east. Stop crying everything is gonna be ok… Just consider it a rebuilding year for the east.

  1065. CB

    “Who’s fault was that? Hughes or Posada?”

    Pep,

    It was Hughes all the way. Posada was set up at the extreme outside part of the plate.

    And Hughes just jerked the fastball to the low inside part of the plate. He missed the spot by 3 feet. Posada had no chance as it was a fastball or a cutter and thrown very hard.

  1066. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    LETS GO OFFENSE!!!…

  1067. GreenBeret7

    Vince B in Chicago
    July 12th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
    GreenBeret7 July 12th, 2009 at 6:00 pm

    Baseball is a strange game. Twins beat Chicago and neither Mauer or Morneau homer. Morneau was 2-5 with 0 RBIs and 2 singles. Gomez, Span and harris were there only homers and accounted for 11 RBI.

    Mauer? He was 0-5 with 4 strikeouts.

    Buerle gave up 8 runs in 3.1 innings.

    Right on the head, and that is why it’s the greatest game.

    ————————————————————

    This really is the only game where” On Any Given Sunday” really means just that. Nobody in their right mind would have bet on Mauer being 4 of the Twins’ 6 strikeouts against anybody.

  1068. Pat M....Section 211

    Bring on Fuentes…….SHOWTIME

  1069. stuart

    hughes ERA 3.92 now.

    the long drive down..

    the swisher double play was no one’s fault including melky’s watch the play morons..that was either skill or pure luck…..

  1070. sar515

    Mr. or Ms. or Other Angels ‘09WS,

    Please make sure to visit blog in about a month when Yanks will be in first…and Halos will be be hangin’ on to a wild card hope…or battling to have less losses than those always-winning Rangers.

  1071. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    did I read gameday right ? 97 mph 8O

  1072. Betsy

    That run CC gave up could be the difference – that’s a killer.

    Good job, Phil!

  1073. Blog Poster

    On a private tarmac somewhere in LA, Kate Hudson awaits Alex….”you’re late honey…let’s go”

  1074. Dan

    Angels ‘09WS – Thank you for the concern, the front office is working hard to get things back on track in NY. I’m hoping that the Yankees will get back to being contenders in the next few years (10 or so). Have a nice day, and good luck to your prophecy of the ‘09 World Series.

  1075. Nick in SF

    Phil is the King of Orange County… the Santa Ana winds will continue to blow at his back… the John Wayne Airport will still be there when the game is over regardless the result…

  1076. Pepitone

    I agree with what some of you said earlier, the Angel hitters are WAY TOO COMFORTABLE at the plate. I don’t say throw at their head, but some of these guys need to be decked!

    Hey, did Phil just pitch his way out of a jam against the Angels? OK, Phil, I want you to teach a class on pitching to the Angels to CC, Jobber, and Andy starting Monday morning.

  1077. Tom in N.J.

    Lets. Go. Yankees!!

  1078. Trev

    Unfortunately, we’re going to go down quietly into the night

    A-Rod and Tex are our coldest hitters.

    This one is over fellows

  1079. igotid88

    Come on give Phil the win.

  1080. RS

    Can we score a run off Fuentes?

  1081. vtyankeefan-the original!!

    Hughes continues to impress,now its up to the offense to deliver. Lets get it done the enter the Sandman.

  1082. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “That run CC gave up could be the difference – that’s a killer.

    Good job, Phil!”

    on the other side..the runs the yanks didnt score could be the difference as well

  1083. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    the finish line towards baseball half’s vacation is at grasp, Jetes found his.

  1084. GreenBeret7

    Hard to see anything about it when a team plays “that far out of position” on purpose and makes the play.

  1085. Blog Poster

    FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.

    ALL WEEKEND LONG.

  1086. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    “A-Rod and Tex are our coldest hitters”

    do you live under a rock or are you just dumb? arod is the hottest hitter on the yanks right now

  1087. Betsy

    Per Suzyn, she said Phil told her that he’s thrown 95, 96 before (so it’s not like the velocity increase is due to being in the pen). I wouldn’t know, but I’ve read that Phil went back to his old mechanics (lower arm slot, more of a drive with his legs) and that accounts for his better command and velocity. I missed the first two ABs – did he really hit 96 and 97? Wow

  1088. RS

    Sac flies by Arod + Tex = Yankee lead already.

  1089. Brandon... I'M AWESOME !

    Al just pop it up. We all want the 1st half to end and not extend this game.

  1090. Johnny D.

    **** this team.

  1091. Trevor

    Future Game is on. and Montero behind the plate.

  1092. Pepitone

    Thanks, CB.

    Now, in your opinion, what is up with Teixeira? He looks lost up there.

  1093. Doreen

    Nah,it’s games like these they got CC for.

    It’s on CC.

    Especially since the offense gave it their all the last two nights, and Lackey was going today.

  1094. Sean Serritella

    How fitting for A-Rod to make the last out.

  1095. Donnie - Will Meet The Entire Angels Roster Under the O'Neill Banner

    First pitch, clearly inside. What a joke.

  1096. Maria

    Fast ball right down the middle. Damn.

  1097. RS

    How disturbing is it that Arod and Tex both had good swings in their ABs but fouled the pitches off?

    Thank god for the ASB. These guys need some time off.

  1098. Betsy

    A lost weekend – I can’t believe it.

  1099. Pel

    Gain ground. Lose ground immediately.

    YAY!

    :roll:

  1100. Fran (the original) and OPPC member

    Really disappointing and frustrating end to what started out as a great road trip. The Yankees had leads in all of these games but their pitching really let them down this weekend. And this game they squandered too many scoring chances especially in that 7th inning.

    3 games out isn’t bad, but it could have been closer.

    After the break the Yankees have a 10 game homestand and should be able to do well against the Tigers, O’s and A’s.

  1101. Angels '09WS

    AROID STRIKES OUT!!! CHEATERS NEVER WIN!!

  1102. RalphieD (OPPC) DO NOT LOOK AT YES RADAR GUN..IT IS WRONG

    well…time to enjoy the next 4 days

  1103. Pepitone

    A-Choke strikes out, what a shock!

  1104. Betsy

    Doreen, I’m very surprised at you – he had a bad game today and it was very disappointing, but now you don’t think he’s an ace?

  1105. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    “FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.

    ALL WEEKEND LONG.”

    Big FAIL deal.

    The team that just beat us doesn’t have a record as good as ours.

    Things happen. Life is still real good.

    :)

    ENJOY THE ALS BREAK ALL.

  1106. RS

    The Angels little slap hitters hit pitches off the plate and our big boppers can’t do anything with a fastball right down the middle.

    Disgusting game, disgusting series.

  1107. RDM

    Pathetic, another year that the playoffs will have to go through LA and Boston and the Yanks can’t beat LA w/out their two best hitters….not a good game by CC today….

  1108. Angels '09WS

    This one felt good!! Thanks for bending over and taking it in the ass. Have fun watching the yankers miss the postseason AGAIN. Later SCUMBAGS… Go back to that dump that you call New York.

  1109. Josh

    The Yankees should just be thankful that it’s the All Star Break. They were embarassed by the Angels B Team.

  1110. Carl

    Angels ‘09WS July 12th, 2009 at 6:41 pm

    AROID STRIKES OUT!!! CHEATERS NEVER WIN!!

    Tell Garry Matthews Jr. He needs what Alex is taking.

  1111. igotid88

    Angels ‘09WS
    July 12th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
    AROID STRIKES OUT!!! CHEATERS NEVER WIN!!
    ——————————————

    I’m gonna investigate the Angels. I’m sure they’re stealing signs.

  1112. Tarheelyank

    The Yankees never gave up. I hope we see them in them in the playoffs.

  1113. bodhisattva - Destiny Wears Pinstripes

    Well, not to be a wise guy, but theoretically you’re supposed to win at home and play .500 on the road.

    Being 3 games out of first at the break hardly requires bringing in a priest. Tampa losing is also a blessing.

  1114. M/. Kay's Head

    Nice to see the #3 and #4 hitters and #1 starter earning their money

  1115. trisha - OPPC lifetime member

    Well I will leave you all because I don’t believe in mourning temporary situations. If I mourned every time the Yankees lost, I wouldn’t be able to hold my head high, proud of the Yankees having the third best record in baseball!

    Try not to get too carried away. Not good for your health and you just end up looking very silly when all is said and done.

    ;)

  1116. rconn23

    No blaming the offense. Tex is in a really bad slump right now and Alex had a bad game. He also hit three home runs this series.

    Your ace is supposed to be a stopper and he couldn’t do it.

    Terrible performance by Sabbathia. Awful, awful pitching in every game.

  1117. bodhisattva - Destiny Wears Pinstripes

    Tarheelyank
    July 12th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
    The Yankees never gave up. I hope we see them in them in the playoffs.
    =====
    Yeah, they’re a good team, but I’m getting a little tired of this deification of the Angels. I’ll take that series, too.

  1118. Matt

    Yankees have nobody to blame but themselves for the outcome of this weekend.

    Bases loaded, no outs, top or middle of the order coming up, TWICE, and they scored a COMBINED one run.

    That’s pathetic.

  1119. Pat M....Section 211

    Disneyland Little Leaguers do it again..Now I must slither my way out of here and listen to all the Yankee’’s go home crap..Brutal..September is going to be a tough month.

  1120. Betsy

    Way to go, blame the whole game on Alex…..not the other 2 hitters that made out before him…..Pathetic. Alex is the scapegoat for the entire team while Tex gets away scot free.

    What a sucky weekend. The Yankees just gave back all of the ground they gained on the Sox and pissed away what could have been a terrific road trip. Thank god for the ASB.

  1121. Trev

    Tex and A-Rod need to give their paychecks back to Hal

  1122. stuart

    wow that was a enjoyable train wreck of a series.

    did about nothing right the whole series.

    a lot of clutch hitting offensively and our pitchers ability to get out of jams was stellar…

    I especially like arod and tex in the 7th inning they really put some good ab’s up. tex, someone should inform him pitchers throw something called an offspeed pitch. he might want to look up that term in the dictionary…

    hey hughes and Mo did not get overused this series and ransom and tomko are still key pieces to the puzzle.. 9 LOB today the angels left 4….

    why can’t this team hit with RISP? If they could they could score 1000 runs..

    wonder where hillbilly chamberlain will spend his 4 days off? Porbably tipping his cap and watching film of his good curveball to morales. the one he hit 415 + feet. Overall a disaster series..right now damon and tex are doing nothing and I do not expect much from clutch cano ever so they are down 3 hitters right now and at least 2 if not 3 starting pitchers……………

  1123. 77513

    Well atleast Tampa lost to Oakland at home. They dont make up ground on the yanks. CC has to pitch better he gave them length but he cannot allow 5 runs in 7 innings. Its seems like the entire pitching staff except for Hughes forgot how to pitch in this series.

  1124. bodhisattva - Destiny Wears Pinstripes

    trisha – OPPC lifetime member
    July 12th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
    Well I will leave you all because I don’t believe in mourning temporary situations. If I mourned every time the Yankees lost, I wouldn’t be able to hold my head high, proud of the Yankees having the third best record in baseball!
    Tr