The LoHud Yankees Blog

Here’s who is in the lineup for AAA Scranton this afternoon as they play Toledo:

Ramiro Pena (playing SS)
Austin Jackson
Shelley Duncan
John Rodriguez
Juan Miranda

So unless the Yankees have something really unexpected up their sleeve, looks like they’ll stick with the extra pitcher for tonight.

I can’t see calling up Austin Jackson unless he’s going to play regularly, and he wouldn’t. They do need an extra OF, however. The Yankees, in theory, could use Johnny Damon or Nick Swisher in center field but neither of them has played so much as an inning out there this season.

We’ll see what Joe Girardi has to say about it later on.

On Sunday at 3 p.m., Yankees historian Marty Appel will discuss the life and legacy of former Yankees great Thurman Munson at the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center, followed by a signing of his acclaimed biography Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain.

The event will coincide with the 30th anniversary of Munson’s tragic death at the age of 32, when the private plane he was piloting crashed in Canton, Ohio.

Munson is the intimate biography of a complex and larger-than-life legend, written by Appel, the former Yankees public relations director who worked closely with Munson and the Yankees of the 1970s.

Books are available for purchase at the Museum, which is located on the campus of Montclair State University in New Jersey. To RSVP for the discussion or reserve a personalized copy, please call (973) 655-2378.

For more information on Yogi’s Museum, please go to their web site.

Just a personal aside, I read Marty’s book a few weeks ago and it’s terrific. If you want to learn more about him and that era in team history, pick up a copy.

Tonight: RHP A.J. Burnett (9-4, 3.74) vs. RHP James Shields (6-6, 3.70), 7:10, YES

Tuesday: LHP CC Sabathia (10-6, 3.67) vs. LHP Scott Kazmir (4-6, 6.69). 7:10, MY9

Wednesday: RHP Joba Chamberlain (6-2, 3.86) vs. RHP Matt Garza (7-7, 3.68), 7:10, YES/ESPN

Here we are at the Delta Terminal at LaGuardia waiting for a 7:35 a.m. flight to Tampa. One cardinal rule of being a beat writer is you always leave too early rather than risk being late. Hence, the 7:30 a.m. flight.

The security line was actually tolerable today thanks to the two models in line in front of me. Seriously, models. They were Eastern European, pulling Louis Vuitton bags and chatting about whatever models chat about. Shockingly, neither turned around and asked me how long Brett Gardner would be out.

Speaking of hot girls, the new season of Entourage is already twice as good as last season. The show is more fun when things are going well for Vince and Co. Big fan of Alexis Dziena, too. Meanwhile, I’m, disturbed that I enjoy True Blood because the show makes no sense.

If you haven’t seen this YouTube clip of the wedding party dancing up the aisle, you’re one of 10 people left in the free world. So get on it.

OK, that’s it. I’m going to read some baseball stories from other papers and then get some sleep on the plane. Back later from Tampa.

A great homestand sends the Yankees on the road with confidence. They finished it off yesterday by beating Oakland. Ernie Palladino has the story.

Brett Gardner is on the DL with a broken thumb. This notebook also has updates on Chien-Ming Wang and Derek Jeter.

Here’s an update on Chien-Ming Wang:

When he got the second MRI on Tuesday, it revealed a possible rotator-cuff tear. The question is whether it’s a new injury or scar tissue from the operation he had back in 2000.

Because Dr. James Andrews did that surgery, he will examine Wang on Tuesday and figure it all out. If Wang does have a new tear, he’ll be out the rest of this season and part of 2010. Wang, as you might expect, is nervous about what Andrews might find.

If Wang does need surgery, the Yankees could non-tender him in December rather than have him rehab on their dime.

So we should find out more on Tuesday. Baseball-wise, It has been a rough 13 months for CMW, that’s for sure.

The Yankees leave shortly for Florida and a nine-game, 10-day road trip that will see them play the Rays (3), White Sox (4) and Blue Jays (2).

The Yankees (60-38) and 2.5 games ahead of Boston and 6.5 ahead of Tampa Bay. Somehow John Smoltz has a 7.04 ERA. That can’t be true.

If the Yankees hold those same leads when they return to the Bronx on Aug. 6, it will have been a successful road trip. Going 5-4 would be just fine. They could really bury Tampa, though, couldn’t they?

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Meanwhile, just wanted to say that I really enjoy the breathless reports that a team had a scout on hand to watch a player like Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee pitch.

I’m trying to imagine that phone call.

General manger: “Hello?”

Scout: “It’s me, just say Roy Halladay. He is very good. Make that very, very good. He got almost everybody out when I was watching.”

General manager: “That seals it, we’re making the deal.”

Scouts do serve a valuable purpose if a player is coming back from injury or you need to check our lesser-known players. They’re also a GM’s eyes and ears in different cities. But do teams really need scouts to tell them Halladay and Cliff Lee are good?

Also, most teams (including the Yankees) have a bunch of pro scouts who attend a game literally every day. It would be news if the Yankees didn’t have somebody at a game.

Chien-Ming Wang said this afternoon that he will travel to Alabama tomorrow to be examined by Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday.

Andrews, it seems, will have the final say as to whether Wang needs more rest or surgery. It was Andrews who performed shoulder surgery on Wang in 2001 when he was in the minor leagues. So if he needs it again, it would seem to make sense that he would stay there and get it done.

Obviously any sort of shoulder surgery would end his season. But don’t assume surgery. Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte both visited Andrews earlier this season and did not do under the knife.

YANKEES (59-38)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Posada C
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Ransom 3B

Pitching: RHP Sergio Mitre (1-0, 4.76).

NOTES: Thanks to Ernie Palladino for calling in the lineup. … The 1:05 p.m. game is on YES. … Oakland is starting LHP Dallas Braden (7-8, 3.40). … Yankees are 8-1 on a homestand that ends today. They leave after the game for Florida and open a series with the Rays tomorrow night. … A-Rod is just getting a day off with the team in the midst of playing 17 straight days.

UPDATE, 10:37 p.m.: Brett Gardner is on the disabled list with a broken left thumb. He did it sliding into second base yesterday when he broke up a double play in the first inning. Amazingly, he stayed in the rest of the game, had an RBI triple and made two great catches in the eighth inning.

RHP Jon Albaladejo is at the Stadium. More information later as it becomes available.

UPDATE, 10:42 p.m.: The extra pitcher is here temporarily. They’ll add a position player in the next day or two. There is not another OF on the 40-man roster. The choices would seem to be Austin Jackson, Shelley Duncan or John Rodriguez.

The question is whether they want somebody who can play CF. That would be A-Jax. If they want a thumper, that’s Shelley. Rodriguez has big-league experience but has never played CF in the majors. Maybe they bring back Ramiro Pena, who has been playing some CF in Scranton. But he has only a few games of experience there.

Jackson has not been swinging the ball particularly well of late (.200 in his last 10 games) but has had a good season in Triple-A (.311/.375/.429). Maybe now you see what he can do.

Gardner will be in a cast for two weeks and then they’ll evaluate it. He chipped part of the bone on the base of his thumb.

This is a big blow. Gardner has been a valuable player all season.

Andy Pettitte and Alfredo Aceves couldn’t get the job done as the Yankees were cooled off by Oakland.

Alex Rodriguez is likely to get a day off today. This notebook also has updates on Derek Jeter, the Hall of Fame class and an apparent injury to Brett Gardner.

As the trade deadline approaches, be skeptical of Brian Cashman’s assertion that a deal is unlikely.