The LoHud Yankees Blog

Remember when everybody made fun of the Red Sox for forming the “Red Sox Nation” fan club? Guess the Yankees thought it was a good idea. This release from the team:

The New York Yankees today announced the creation of Yankees Universe, an official fan club granting members exclusive benefits, unique access and special savings.

Here at the LHYB, we try and be helpful. So when Suzyn Waldman reported that John Sterling did not have a home run call for Eric HInske, we sprang into action.

If anybody could help John out, it’s our readers. So what to do you have?

Not much rhymes with Hinske and I don’t know of any particular nickname he has. But we’ll take the best three suggestions and present them to John for consideration. Give it your best shot in the comments section.

I came up with “Hinske tattooed it!” because he’s covered in tattoos. But nobody would get that. How about, “There is goes, further evidence that the Yankees should have improved their bench long ago!” No, too long.

You guys figure it out. If John actually takes your suggestion, I’ll get you a media guide.

The Yankees were swept by the Angels as playing against a top team again proved troublesome.

Joe Girardi plans to spread out playing time in the outfield after the break. This notebook also has updates on A-Rod and Sergio Mitre.

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Coming to you from Gate B-24 in Atlanta …

Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Mariano Rivera arrived in St. Louis last night, having taken a private plane chartered by Jeter. They’ll take part in the festivities tonight. Jeter was disappointed to hear that his WBC pal, Dustin Pedroia, had asked out of the game to attend to his pregnant wife.

“I hope she’s doing OK,” he said. “It would have been fun to play with him again, but your family has to come first.”

A-Rod will spend the break with his kids and Dr. Mark Lindsay, his physical therapist. He told The Daily News that he planned to watch “every inning” of the All-Star Game, which is kind of funny considering he was actually in the game last season and left Yankee Stadium before it was over while Jeter hung around for all 15 innings.

Meanwhile, I’ve been at the gate for 20 minutes and for 15 of them, an alarm has been going off. Here is what it sounds like:

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So far, three Delta employees have stopped, looked at the door and kept walking rather than, you know, seeing what the alarm was for or perhaps even stopping it.

I finally went over to the next gate and asked the person there to do something. “Oh, they’ll get to it,” she told me.

“It’s been going on for 15 minutes,” I said.

“That’s not my job, sir,” she said.

And people wonder why airlines are failing. Meanwhile. “they” still haven’t got to it.

At least the annoying buzz obscures the “please do not smoke in the terminals” announcement made every 17 seconds. Is there really a danger in this day and age that smokers will somehow think its OK to light up in airports? They can’t get their lighters through security anyway. You probably could space those announcements out a tad.

I’m cranky. Connecting at 5:45 a.m. will do that.

Good evening from the Bobby Grich International Airport and Spray-Tan Salon here in Orange County. We’re waiting for a red-eye flight home via Atlanta.

(Attention accountants at the Journal News, I’m coming home on Delta via Atlanta because it saved lots of money. Please keep that in mind.)

I will not be covering the All-Star Game this year and I’m fine with that. Covering the game last year was like covering two of them anyway and I’ve seen all of St. Louis I care to see at this point. I’m going to head out on a little vacation and see my family, read a book and have a beer or two while sitting in the sun.

This job isn’t digging ditches by any means. It’s a lot of fun, actually. But time away is good no matter what you do.

The blog will soldier on, albeit not quite as frequently for a few days. I’m not covering a game again until a week from today. But there will be a post or two every day. That’s the plan at least.

The next few months are going to be busy and a lot of fun. What is better for baseball fans than a pennant race? The Yankees were playing catch-up by this time last season and now they’re right in the thick of it.

Anyway, they’re calling the flight and some sleep awaits. Catch you tomorrow.

Jesus Montero batted fifth for the World Team in the Futures Game today. He was 0 for 2 with an RBI in a 7-5 victory.

Montero grounded into a force play in the first inning that drove in a run. He then grounded to first with a runner on second base to end the first inning. The game only went seven innings because of a long rain delay, so those were the only plate appearances he had.

The Yankees’ other representative, little lefty Manny Banuelos, did not get in the game.

To a man — and manager — the Yankees said that getting swept by the Angels was no big deal and that they still had a good first half.

Fair enough. They are 51-37 and if the playoffs started tomorrow, they would be the wild card.

But the Yankees have played four teams (the Angels, Red Sox, Phillies and Tigers) who lead their respective divisions at the break and they are 5-15 against those teams. That’s why you can’t dismiss this weekend as just some bad luck.

The idea for a $210 million team in a $1.5 billion ballpark isn’t to make the playoffs, it’s to win them. For now, the Yankees have not been especially competitive against the best teams.

That has to change in the second half. The Yankees have 10 more games against Boston, three against the Angels and three against the Tigers starting on Friday. And don’t forget the nine games left against Tampa Bay.

The Yankees were nine games out after 88 games last season. So while this season has been significantly better, it’s still not good enough. How they play in those 25 games will determine how good this team really is.

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.

The Yankees played the Angels and they lost, which is usually what happens.

Alex Rodriguez homered twice to move into the top 10 all-time. This notebook also has updates on Joba Chamberlain, Eric Hinske, Robbie Cano, Bobby Abreu, Damaso Marte and Angel Berroa.

The Baseball Beat hands out some awards.

Sam Borden’s writes that we never really know athletes until it’s too late.

We’ll try and leave you with something to laugh about after two rough games …

Eric Hinske looks an awful lot like the actor Kevin James. Some of the Angels fans near the on-deck circle were giving him a hard time about it and when Hinske hit his second homer, he playfully pointed at them after he crossed the plate.

“It was just a fun thing,” he said.

Hinske has three homers in nine at-bats as a Yankee. He had one home run in 106 at-bats with the Pirates. If he keeps hitting like that, he can look like Rick James for all anybody will care.

I’ll spare you the details. The post-game scene was one of general lament over the pitching. The clubhouse cleared out fast. A bad game tends to do that.

“You have to try and find a way to stop it,” Girardi said about the fifth inning when Anaheim scored seven runs. “We didn’t do that.”

Andy Pettitte said he had no idea what happened after the third inning. “This is just a good team and they put a lot of pressure on you,” he said.

The Yankees are 5-16 here over the last five years. They turn their lonely eyes to CC Sabathia tomorrow to try and dodge a sweep.