The LoHud Yankees Blog

If you’re a fan of baseball history, you had to appreciate watching Ken Griffey Jr. hit a home run at Yankee Stadium last night.

It was No. 621 in his career, 39 shy of Willie Mays. The new Stadium also became the 44th park he has homered in, one short of the record held by Sammy Sosa,

On the clean home run list, Griffey trails only three legends: Aaron, Ruth and Mays. Had Griffey stayed a bit more healthy, yesterday could have been 721. But he’s 39 and aging the way players used to before they sought out Victor Conte and his ilk.

It’s hard to believe, but Griffey has received only one vote in the MVP balloting in the last 11 years and has been an All-Star twice in the last decade. He’s like a cameo of his greatness.

Griffey is a guy that the young players in the clubhouse were thrilled to see, much like Chipper Jones. In a game lacking heroes, those are two players you can respect.

Even Joe Girardi seemed a little tickled to have seen Junior hit one. Back in 1988, Girardi played for Pittsfield (Mass.) in the Eastern League and Griffey was with Vermont. an 18-year-old kid with all the talent in the world.

So if you’re at the Stadium tonight, cheer Griffey. It might be a long long time before we see somebody hit 621 home runs the right away again.

If you watch Jorge Posada closely, he always blesses himself before the start of the game. Last night, he got a little extra assistance.

Father Joseph McShane, the president of Fordham University, threw out the first pitch and bestowed a blessing on Jorge before giving him a hug. Jorge didn’t get any hits, but he called a nice game and the Yankees won 4-2.

Nice work, Father.

A few unrelated items:

• Today is the start of the international signing period. In essence, teams are allowed to sign 16-year-old Latin American kids. Some will get huge signing bonuses, others a few thousand. The Yankees will announce their deal with Dominican catcher Gary Sanchez, a kid who reportedly can really hit. They also are said to have a deal with a speedy shortstop named Damian Arredondo and RHP Chris Cabrera.

Be careful getting too excited about this stuff. Projecting how a 16-year-old kid will fare against vastly better competition in a different county six years down the road is an inexact science at best and a complete crapshoot at worst. Oakland invested millions in a pitcher named Michael Ynoa last year and all he has done is come down with a sore elbow.

Quite often, it’s the players who sign for the smaller bonuses who end up making their way through the system. There are a few analysts — particularly Ben Badler of Baseball America and Jorge Arangure of ESPN.com — who really know this market. Most everybody else is just guessing.

• MLB announced that that All-Star rosters will now have 33 players each. They added an extra pitcher. At some point soon, they’ll pull fans out of the stands and let them take an inning at second base. While the game “counts” because it determines home field for the Series, it really has become a farce with the convoluted voting process and assorted sideshow activities. How much of an honor is to be an All-Star when 66 players get selected?

• Interleague play isn’t going away any time soon. According to MLB, the games drew an average of 33,351 fans, well above the intraleague average of 28,727. There are plenty of reasons for this, particularly the amount of games played after school was out in different parts of the country. But, nonetheless, the owners love it.

If you’re interested, the AL held a 137-114 edge, the sixth straight year it won the series. The White Sox and Cubs still have a game to play.

• Jim Leyritz was arrested again in Florida, this time for domestic battery as he allegedly struck his ex-wife.

It was a sad sight last month when Leyritz was at Land Shark Stadium, pressed up against the wall next to the Yankees dugout imploring players to come over and say hello to him. It’s unfair of Leyritz to do that, putting his old friends in a position where somebody could snap a photo of them shaking hands with an accused felon. He did the same thing in 2008 when he showed up at spring training just a few months after being charged with DUI manslaughter.

At some point, the Yankees need to tell this guy to stay away from their players until or unless he gets his life straightened out.

He’s rested and mashing. A-Rod went deep and the Yankees beat the Mariners. That’s seven straight.

Eric Hinske is happy to be back in the A.L. East. This notebook also has updates on Ramiro Pena, Jose Molina, A-Rod, Ken Griffey Jr. and Xavier Nady.

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Lots of celebrity deaths lately. The great actor Karl Malden passed away yesterday at 97.

Talk about a career. He played opposite Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire. Then in the ’70s, he was in the terrific television crime drama The Streets of San Francisco with a young Michael Douglas. If you grew up back then, there were a ton of good cop shows and Streets was one of the best.

Malden also played Gen. Omar Bradley in Patton, one of my favorite flicks. He also did an episode of the West Wing late in his life.

Alex has pulled a Hulk Hogan in the last seven games. He was down and out, sprawled on the canvas with the referee about to count to three.

Then, suddenly, he was up and now the American League is about to get thrown around the ring before A-Rod drops the leg on them.

Joe Girardi said tonight that some hitters turn around quickly. But usually not this quickly. Alex was 1 for 27 after his first two at-bats against the Braves on June 24. He was down to .204 on the season and appeared dead in the water.

He is 10 for 21 since with four home runs and 13 RBI along with 10 walks. The Yankees have won seven straight and all is right in his world. He was even cracking jokes to the writers tonight.

Here is his postgame press conference:

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Two things are at play here, I think. Obviously those two days off in Miami helped. Plus A-Rod also has cut down on the extensive pre-game work he used to do. He estimated that he takes 75 percent fewer swings than he used to before games. It’s obvious just watching him in the field that he has more energy.

Plus he reached rock bottom. There was really nowhere to go but up and that probably freed his mind a little. Alex is a notorious over-thinker, but at some point you can’t really analyze going 1 for 27. You can just go out and do something about it.

Credit to him, he got up and did do something about it. Now the question is whether the Yankees will have the courage to sit him down sometime soon and whether the fans will know enough not to complain about it.

I crack myself up.

But this was for a good cause. Alex, Cody Ransom and Brian Cashman were chefs for a day at the El Nuevo Caridad Restaurant in Washington Heights this afternoon and gave some neighborhood kids a free lunch.

Maybe it’s me, but the Yankees seem to be doing a lot more community service-type projects than in previous seasons. Whoever is behind that idea deserves congratulations.

Nice photo by Cash.

YANKEES (44-32)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF
Ransom 3B

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (7-3, 4.38).

MARINERS (39-37)
Suzuki RF
Branyan 1B
Lopez 2B
Griffey DH
Gutiuerrez CF
Balentien LF
Woodward 3B
Johnson CF
Cedeno SS

Pitching: LHP Jarrod Washburn (4-5, 3.22).

TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.

STATE OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankees have won six straight and trail Boston by 2.5 games in the American League East. They are 12 games over .500, their high-water mark of the season.

BACK IN TUNE: Alex Rodriguez is 8 of 19 with three homers and 11 RBI during the winning streak. He also has drawn 10 walks.

SLEEPLESS IN THE BRONX: The Mariners have lost nine straight games in the Boogie Down.

CLUTCHY CABRERA: Melky Cabrera has 31 RBI, 12 that have either tied the game or given the Yankees the lead in the seventh inning or beyond.

DAMON DYNAMITE: Johnny Damon is 9 of his last 21 with six RBI and four extra-base hits.

TEIXEIRA’S TUMBLE: Mark Teixeira is 13 of his last 59 with no homers and six RBI. He has done 60 at-bats without a homer.

COKE IS IT: Phil Coke’s last 14 appearances: 12.1 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 14 strikeouts.

BUT HE’S STILL THE SECOND-BEST PHIL IN THE PEN: Phil Hughes in relief: 8 games, 13 innings, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 3 walks, 16 strikeouts.

MO THE MAGNIFICENT: Mariano Rivera’s last 8 outings: 8.1 innings, 2 hits, 1 earned runs, 1 walk, 12 strikeouts.

HE’S A GENIUS: The Yankees have scored 45 runs over 49 runs since Joe Girardi got ejected in Atlanta last Wednesday. They had scored 18 runs in the 67 innings prior to that.

IT’S ALL ABOUT PITCHING: The Yankees have a 2.56 ERA in their last 14 games and opponents are hitting .207.

ON THE iPOD RIGHT NOW: The ’59 Sound by The Gaslight Anthem.

Back with much, much more later.

UPDATE, 3:42 p.m.: Ramiro Pena optioned to AAA.

UPDATE, 4:40 p.m.: Pena will get some time in CF in Scranton. The Yankees want to increase his versatility.

UPDATE, 5:15 p.m.: Here is Eric Hinske’s first interview as a Yankee:

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UPDATE, 6:09 p.m.: For some reason it’s not raining and the game may start on time. I didn’t realize that was allowed. Back later on for first pitch.

UPDATE, 7:19 p.m. We are underway under a nice blue sky. It was 72 degrees at first pitch.

UPDATE, 7:25 p.m.: Jose Molina on his way to Pawtucket, the Paris of Rhode Island. He’ll play for Scranton tomorrow and Friday.

UPDATE, 7:34 p.m.: Nice work by Andy there getting out of trouble.

UPDATE, 7:57 p.m.: Hey, Johnny Damon hit a home run to right field in Yankee Stadium. You don’t see that very often. … 15 homers this season, 11 at home. He’s at 198 for his career.

UPDATE, 8:06 p.m.: If Tex fields that cleanly, it’s a double play. Instead it’s 1-1. But Pettitte is pitching well.

UPDATE, 8:18 p.m.: Pettitte strong d through 5 innings: 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 3 Ks.

UPDATE, 8:23 p.m.: The umpires will review the tape. But that was a HR based on the replay I saw.

UPDATE, 8:24 p.m.: Yep, gone. 2-1 Yankees.

UPDATE, 8:35 p.m.: Andy will be happy about that, another Yankee Stadium cheapie. 2-2.

Griffey knows what he is doing. He spent most of BP drilling balls that way.

UPDATE, 8:45 p.m.: Rest? He don’t need to stinkin rest.

A-Rod at it again with his second homer in as many nights. That’s 13 RBI in the last seven games.

UPDATE, 9:03 p.m.: Girardi spent the last two days saying Bruney was his 8th inning guy. So here we are in the 8th inning and it’s … Alfredo Aceves? Curious.

Maybe Mo is not available. We shall see.

Not Bruney or Hughes.

UPDATE, 9:12 p.m.: Hughes warming up. Mo must not be available. Wow, save situation for the Franchise. Who would have guessed this in March?

UPDATE, 9:19 p.m.: Why did Hughes even warm up? Mo is in. Very strange.

Here are two photos I just took of the old Stadium. The grand old place now has a black shroud around it as workers prepare to further dismantle it.

Those in that business would know better than I, but I imagine this is to cut down on the dust and debris on the site.

Robinson Cano has not not driven in a run since time began.

Or June 17, it only seems like since time began. When Mariano Rivera has more RBI than you do in the last nine games, something is amiss.

Cano is hitting .300 after getting a couple of hits last night. But he’s now at .213 with runners in scoring position, .190 with runners in scoring position and two outs. With a runner on third and less than two outs, he’s hitting .188.

These things happen. But these things do not need to happen to the No. 5 hitter. We applaud Joe Girardi for his lineup discipline this season after last year’s lineup roulette. But it could be time to get somebody else behind A-Rod.

If you’re going to the game today:

Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Alfredo Aceves will greet fans entering through Gate 4 at roughly 4 p.m.

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Enough, please, with the steroids “list” that some fantasy baseball site irresponsibly posted earlier this week.

It’s a list of random names. It’s a crock, it’s nonsense, it’s a total fabrication. Even The Daily News, which has made doping its raison d’être, has ignored it. That the mainstream media has passed on this should tell you a little something, no?

Deadspin has some details if you’re interested.