The LoHud Yankees Blog

Waivers are sort of this secret part of baseball. The players don’t understand how it works, few in the media do and it’s a sure way to throw fans into a panic. Rabble-rousing reporters love to mention how certain big names are on waivers. But it’s really not a big deal.

Here is some information via the Inside The Majors blog written by Bart Given.

There are four kinds of waivers — outright, optional, unconditional release and trade. Think about waivers as teams getting permission from other teams to make a roster move.

Outright waivers are what happens when teams take a player off the 40-man roster. Optional waivers are for some players (but not all) who are optioned back to the minors but stay on the 40-man roster. Unconditional release waivers are self-explanatory. Trade waivers are what we’re going through now.

Teams can place seven players a day on the waiver wire. Teams routinely do this to nearly every player on the roster. You do this to gather information about a possible trade for now or in the future. Or maybe you waive a few stars to try and hide the fact you’re waiving somebody else you do want to trade.

By default, any player claimed is automatically pulled off waivers unless MLB is told otherwise.

If a player is claimed and the original team wants to make a deal, clubs have two business days to make a deal. Team can claim players based by league affiliation, lowest winning percentage first. Basically, AL players go through the AL first before they get to the NL teams.

So if you hear the Yankees put Players, X, Y and Z on waivers, it doesn’t mean they’re trying to unload them. It’s just Brian Cashman giving himself options just in case something happens

During HOPE Week, the Yankees were involved with kids from Camp Sundown in upstate New York. Those are the kids with XP, a disease that makes sunlight deadly.

The Yankees held a carnival after a game and Burnett stayed until after 3 a.m. to take part.

For most players, that would have been enough. But Burnett was so impressed with Camp Sundown’s mission that he decided to organize a unique fundraiser.

As you know, the Yankees award a WWE championship belt to the player of the game after every win. The started out using a toy belt before getting a real one sent to them by wrestler Jerry “The King” Lawler.

A.J. took the original belt and is having every teammate sign it. It will then be auctioned off with the proceeds going to Camp Sundown. Once I get information on the fundraiser, I’ll post it on the blog.

This is yet another example of how Burnett the person has surprised the Yankees. They knew what kind of pitcher he was but the kind of teammate he turned out to be has been a very pleasant surprise.

The Yankees lost and he did not pitch well, but Sergio Miyre will keep his job as the No. 5 starter. Ernie Palladino has the story.

Alfredo Aceves pitched well in relief. This notebook also has updates on Johnny Damon and Phil Hughes.

YANKEES (69-42)
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Hairston LF
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: RHP Sergio Mitre (1-0, 7.50).

BLUE JAYS (53-57)
Scutaro SS
Hill 2B
Lind DH
Overbay 1B
Wells CF
Rios RF
Encarnacion 3B
Barajas C
Inglett LF

Pitching: LHP Marc Rzepczynski (1-3, 3.74).

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m. YES.

STATS OF THE ‘STRIPES: The Yankees have won seven straight, 18 of 23 and 31 of 41. They have won 13 of 14 at Yankee Stadium and 18 of 21. They have a 6.5-game lead in the American League East and they also have the best record in baseball. So, the state of the ‘stripes is pretty good.

PITCHING PRIDE: The pitching staff has a 2.50 ERA in the winning streak, allowing 56 runs and 20 hits over 69 innings. The Yankees have thrown 62 percent of their pitches for strikes and held opponents to a .224 batting average.

CLASSIC TRAP GAME? Let’s see, the Yankees have won seven straight. They just finished an emotional four-game series against Boston played before the first sold-out crowds at the Stadium. They are 7-2 against Toronto this season and facing a pitcher they beat last Wednesday. Today is one of those true tests of professionalism type of games.

THE RIVERA REPORT: Mariano Rivera has not allowed a run since June 12, a stretch of 21.1 innings. His ERA has dropped to 1.88. However … Mo has allowed six hits and three walks in his last 5.1 innings. That’s an unheard-of (for him) 1.68 WHIP. The man is going to give up a run eventually and he’s showing signs of it, perhaps.

A-ROD MOVES UP THE LIST: Alex Rodriguez hit career home run No. 574 last night. That gave him sole possession of ninth place all-time. Next up: Mark McGwire, who hit 583 homers. Frank Robinson is in seventh place with 586 homers.

SURGING: The Yankees are 27 games over .500, their best record since the end of the 2006 season when they were 97-65.

CATCH ME NOW I’M FALLING: The Blue Jays were 27-14 and had a 3.5-game lead in the American League East on May 18. They are 26-43 (.376) since. The Yankees were in third place and 4.5 games out at that point. Let this be a lesson to those of you who fret about the standings in May.

ROSTER UPDATE: Cody Ransom cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Scranton.

OH, SERGIO: The Yankees have won three of the four games Mitre has started. But he has allowed 15 earned runs and 32 hits over 18 innings.

ON THE iPOD RIGHT NOW: Go Amanda by Steve Earle.

AS FOR ME: I’m taking the Toronto series off like a lazy dog. Headed to Seattle on Wednesday to start yet another long road trip (10 games in 11 days) and it’s time to relax a little. Thanks to Ernie Palladino for calling in the lineup today. I’ll chip in with some updates from time to time.

Enjoy the game.

UPDATE, 6:44 p.m.: Blue Jays unload Alex Rios and his contract on the White Sox via waiver claim. That’s $60 million off their books. Huge break for the Jays given that Rios is not worth that kind of money in the current baseball economy.

Tonight: LHP Marc Rzepczynski (1-3, 3.74) vs. RHP Sergio Mitre (1-0, 7.50), 7:05 p.m. YES

Tuesday: RHP Scott Richmond (6-6, 3.97) vs. RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-2, 3.73), 7:05 p.m. MY9

Wednesday: LHP Ricky Romero (10-5, 3.66) vs. RHP A.J. Burnett (10-5, 3.67), 1:05 p.m. YES

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A.J. Burnett, Ramiro Pena and Nick Swisher will greet fans entering Yankee Stadium through the Great Hall at 4 p.m. today.

Don’t get weirded out if Nick hugs you. He’s like that.

It was fun to solicit your questions for players like Derek Jeter, CC Sabathia, Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes and Jason Giambi. But when it came to Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, it was more of a privilege.

More than 500 readers of the LoHud Yankees Blog and The Journal News sent in questions and nearly all of them were accompanied by a personal note mentioning how much Yogi meant to them and asking me to wish him well. “That many people, huh?” he said before we got started. “Pretty good.”

Yogi was a four-time MVP, a 10-time World Series champion, a manager who led teams to the World Series in both leagues and a combat veteran of World War II. Now 84, you can frequently find him at Yankees games or at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center on the campus of Montclair State University in New Jersey. He is the center of a large group of family and friends.

“Everybody loves Yogi,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

A wise man once said that you can observe a lot by watching. Here’s hoping you enjoy reading and/or listening to the interview with Yogi. We chatted last week before the first game against the Red Sox in Girardi’s outer office at Yankee Stadium.

If your question was not chosen, please take no offense. There were literally 500 questions sent in and narrowing them down was difficult.

Here is the audio:

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And here is the transcript:

Matthew asks: What was your favorite park to play at other than Yankee Stadium and what did you like about it?

Yogi Berra: “Detroit. You could see the ball good there, it had a good background.”

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Edwin asks: You won 10 championships with the Yankees. Which one was the most memorable one and why?

YB: “It’s got to be ’56 because of Don Larsen and the no-hitter. It had never happened, never been done. It’s got to be that. There hasn’t been a no-hitter at all as far as that goes.”

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Luds asks: Which Yankee player that you played with would you consider as the most underrated?

YB: “Oh, boy. That’s pretty tough, we had some pretty good players. That’s pretty tough. Maybe they figure (Roger) Maris was until he hit the 60 home runs. They didn’t know how good he was. (Gil) McDougald was a pretty good player. McDougald was a good player. McDougald made the All-Star team at three positions: second, short and third.”

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Brian asks: Of all the Yankee pitchers you never played with, is there anybody you didn’t get a chance to catch you would have liked to caught?

YB: “On our team? Not necessarily. We used them all as far as that goes. We didn’t carry 13 pitchers like they do now. We only carried 10. We carried eight starters and two relievers.”

Follow-up question: “Is there anybody now in the last 10 years or last 15 years you thought you would like to catch?

YB: “Sure, (Andy) Pettitte would be nice to catch, too. Pettitte would be good. (Mariano) Rivera would be good as far as relievers. We had pretty good relievers, the ones we had. (Pettitte) mixes it up like Whitey Ford. Same kind of guy.”

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Sean asks: Which player that you played with back then do you think could fit in good with the team now?

YB: “(Laughs) Quite a few of them. DiMag and Mickey. They weren’t bad. Tommy Henrich wasn’t bad, jeez. You know, a lot guys never saw Billy Johnson, he was a good third baseman. He was good. One thing the Yankees had, they always had a pretty good third basemen.”

————

Michael asks: Did you talk to the hitters when they came up?

YB:” I talked to them but I never talked when the ball was on the way. I’d talk to (Ted) Williams and say, “Where you going fishing today?’ because he liked to fish. He used to tell me to shut up. He was good. Minnie Minoso, I used to throw dirt on his shoes. I talked to them all. Larry Doby because he was from Jersey and was my neighbor.”

————-

Nicolas asks: Who is your favorite current player?

YB: “Aw, (Derek) Jeter is a good ballplayer. Look how long he has been playing. He’s been here since he was 19 years old. He come through the Yankee farm system. He’s good.”

————-

Ed asks: Of all the outfielders you played with, who had the best arm?

YB: “The best arm? This is going back. Cliff Mapes, I’m not kidding He’s the guy who forced (Johnny) Pesky at home on the hit to right field, Good arm. Joe (DiMaggio) had a good arm before he hurt his back. Joe had a good arm. Hank Bauer had a good arm. Mickey had a good arm before he got hurt.”

(Just so you know, Yogi is talking about a famous play on July 4, 1949 against Boston. With the bases loaded in the ninth inning against Vic Raschi, Al Zarilla lined a ball to right that fell in. Johnny Pesky thought Mapes would catch the ball and held up. Mapes threw a strike to the plate that Yogi caught like a first baseman. It was a force and Pesky was out.)

Follow-up question: Do you think outfielders back then had better arms than they do now?

YB: “(Laughing) I think we hit the cutoffs better.”

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Randy asks: How you keep your legs in such good shape after all those years catching?

YB: “Well, I had a knee replacement seven or eight years ago. But I played a lot of soccer when I was a kid, a lot of running. We did anything. Our pitchers back in spring training, they did a lot of running. I talked to Tom Seaver at the Hall of Fame. Legs. Legs mean a lot. You don’t have to lift those weights. Soccer was real good.”

————

Matt asks: As a member of the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee, would you vote for Pete Rose to be in the Hall of Fame if he was reinstated?

YB: “I might. I don’t know yet. I need to see what the story is, more of what is going on. It might (come) up, you never know. It’s up to you writers. It’s like the (steroids) list, I want it to come out.”

————

A lot of people asked: What do you think of the new Stadium?

YB: “Love it. It’s a beautiful ballpark. I wish I was playing in it. (The clubhouse) is too big. I still can’t find my way around.”

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Special thanks to Yogi, of course, and to Dave Kaplan from the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center for helping arrange the interview. If you haven’t been out to Yogi’s museum, you should take the time. There are a lot of great displays and you could meet the man himself.

Thanks also to everybody who submitted questions. I’m hoping to do at least two more Q&As before the season is finished.

The Yankees finished off their sweep of the Red Sox but it took some late-inning heroics.

Sam Borden writes that that the Boston-New York rivalry always delivers drama.

Boston’s slump has become a nightmare. Ernie Palladino has the story.

Chad Gaudin arrived in the thick of a pennant race. This notebook also has updates on Alfredo Aceves, David Ortiz and assorted facts and figures.

Sergio Mitre is pitching for his job tonight as the Yankees line up replacements behind him.

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Just a reminder: The reader Q&A with Yogi Berra — a LoHud Yankees Blog Exclusive — will be on on line at 10 a.m. today.

The interview room was full of Yankees tonight. Here is Joe Girardi:

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Andy Pettitte:

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and Mark Teixeira:

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A few notes: The Yankees have won seven straight. That includes winning games started by Mark Buehrle, Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester. … Boston is now tied with Texas in the wild card. Joe Girardi has gone a great job. But Ron Washington should have a statue built in his honor. … Yankee starters had an insane 1.32 ERA in the series. … Boston had scored 14 runs in its last 64 innings.

The four games drew 194,253 to the Stadium and they were loud and involved. Now let’s see if it stays like that, at least reasonably so. Or will we go back to the wine-and-cheese, let’s-visit-the-museum crew? The players noticed the difference as they nearly all commented on it. It shouldn’t take the opponent to make the place loud.

Andy Pettitte since the break: 33.2 innings, 25 hits, 7 earned runs, 9 walks, 33 strikeouts. His emergence has been a tremendous factor and should make you feel a whole lot better about what is to come.

Overall standings
Yankees 69-42
Dodgers 67-45
Angels 65-44

It doesn’t mean a darn thing. But it’s worth noting, regardless. Here is what I can’t forget, however: Tampa Bay has a +81 run differential. I think when it’s all said and done, the Yankees will have to withstand a charge from the Rays, not the Red Sox.

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Thanks to everybody for reading these last four days. It was tremendously fun.

Be here tomorrow at 10 a.m for our reader Q&A with Yogi Berra. It came out great.

On Monday at 4 p.m., A.J. Burnett, Ramiro Pena and Nick Swisher will greet fans entering Yankee Stadium through the Great Hall.

The crowd said all there had to be said.

Meanwhile, the Yankees now lead the AL East by 6.5 games. In the long history of this franchise, they have never lost a lead of more than six games at any point of the season.

And before you break the internet asking, Phil Hughes was not available because had pitched in two consecutive games and four of the last five. Whether you agree with that or not — and I’m not sure I do given that he had thrown a grand total of eight pitches in the two previous days — you have to admire Joe Girardi’s willingness to stick by his standards.

People used to complain about Joe Torre abusing relievers. This is the price you pay, getting the Phil Cokes of the world in a big spot. Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira bailed their manager out tonight. Imagine the howls of protest had the Yankees lost this game.

But they did not. That’s 18 of 23 and an amazing 31 of 41.

That’s 13 of 14 at home and 18 of the last 21.

That’s 27 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2006 season.

And that’s it for now. Back later with some audio.

New thread as we go scoreless into the bottom of the seventh.

UPDATE, 10:19 p.m.: Boston has gone 31 innings without scoring, its longest streak since a 34-inning drought in 1974.

UPDATE, 10:21 p.m.: He did it again. Alex Rodriguez blasts one to center. Yankees lead 1-0. Crowds wants a curtain call.

UPDATE, 10:21 p.m.: They get one.

UPDATE, 10:29 p.m.: Big plays by Pedroia and Youkilis there as they save runs. 2-0 would be enormous in this game with Mariano looming.

Phil Coke in.

UPDATE, 10:36 p.m.: No Hughes for Pedroia?

UPDATE, 10:39 p.m.: This is on Girardi. Phil Hughes has thrown nine pitches in the last two days. Nine. Why isnt he on the mound instead of Coke and his 4.70 ERA? Makes no sense unless Hughes is injured.

UPDATE, 10:41 p.m.: Now Chad Gaudin is warming up. What?

UPDATE, 11:16 p.m: Wow, what a comeback. Homer, homer, walk, double, single. Four runs just like that. If Mariano can finish this off — and it hasn’t been easy so far — this will be a crushing loss for Boston.

The crowd is chanting “sweep, sweep, sweep.”

Still trying to figure out why Hughes wasn’t used. He had faced two batters over two days and thrown nine pitches. They also had a long break after the day game yesterday. I’ll be sure to ask.

Back later with reaction.