Postgame notes: A humble man’s milestone
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes, Podcast on Jun 11, 2010 
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The final game ball from Andy Pettitte’s 200th Yankees win was delivered, appropriately enough, by Mariano Rivera.
“Guys were all just coming in here and just hugging me,” Pettitte said. “Mo, with a big ole smile on his face, had the baseball and handed it to me. Gator just called me and congratulated me on it.”
Pettitte said he can’t help but think about these milestones because he gets so many questions about them — it was clear that this win meant a lot to him — but as always, there was a business-as-usual quality to the veteran left-hander.
“Andy is about as humble a guy as I’ve ever met,” Joe Girardi said. “One day, though, I think he’ll sit back and be very fond of what he’s done in his career.”
Here’s Pettitte after win No. 200.
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• Brett Gardner was diagnosed with a Grade 1 sprain of the ligament in his left thumb, but he was also cleared to take full batting practice tomorrow. “Hopefully play tomorrow or Sunday,” he said. He took BP in the cage and threw a little bit today. He said both felt fine.
• Pettitte said he felt a little too strong today. The extra-days rest, he said, might have hurt him a little bit. “Mechanically I felt like I was over-throwing, which I haven’t done in a while,” he said. “I was very glad to see that I could get back on track in that third or fourth inning.”
• Also, it seems television cameras caught Pettitte mouthing the word “fastball” to Francisco Cervelli during an at-bat. Was his stuff so good it didn’t matter if the hitter knew what was coming? “Oh gosh no,” he said. “I would never.” Pettitte said that’s something he does when he knows the hitter isn’t looking. He does something quick like that so that the catcher doesn’t have to give a sign and they can just move on to the next pitch.
• Pettitte admitted it was a little awkward facing his former team, but there aren’t many guys over there he played with. He was glad to get Lance Berkman out. He called Berkman one of his best friends.
• Girardi said he didn’t give much thought to keeping Pettitte in after the sac bunt in the eighth. “I just thought it was time to go to Joba,” he said. And Joba did the job.
• Girardi called Kevin Russo’s fifth-inning at-bat — coming back from 0-2 to draw a walk and steal second — one of the key’s to the game. Clearly the biggest hit, though, was Cervelli’s two-out, two-run single in the first inning.
• Pettitte is one strikeout shy of tying Ron Guidry for second place on the Yankees all-time list.
• At two hours and 19 minutes, this was the shortest home game of the season. Those of us who had early trains out of Baltimore this morning greatly appreciate it!
• The Yankees are back to 15 games over .500, matching their season high.
Associated Press photos of Pettitte and Cervelli.
Hey Chad,
Any news on who they signed down in Tampa this morning? Thanks!
Blue Jays are owning Ubaldo. Welcome to the AL East.
15 over with the offense still not fully healthy & clicking, yikes. When the nagging injuries die down & other bats heat up, it will be very fun to watch.
Good night Yankee people!
YES just announced a new version of the hit show, LOST. starring Jorge Posada.
Say what you want, but, Cervelli keeps coming through with RISP.
Cervelli may need rest, he’s not use to being a every day catcher, yet.
Let’s give Posada credit for all the great years he’s given the Yankees, but, it’s time to consider the changing of the guard. If not now, soon.
OK, now all you GM’s and baseball great minds, take what I’ve said apart, but, that will not change the facts. Posada is getting more injury prone as he gets older, and that too, is a fact.
as it is a fact for most mammals. He’s still a much better hitter than Cervelli and Cervelli has been overexposed playing as much as he has. He’s a perfect back up for a great ball club. Not a starter.
Phillies binocular guy was probably caught again
Hope he doesn’t return till after we play them
EVERY player gets more injury prone as they age. That’s what we call part of life.
ToddZolecki
Phils juggled rotation for Yankees series. It’ll be Halladay, Kendrick and Moyer. Gives Doc extra start before ASB. about 6 hours ago
Pettitte pitched well and there were no homeruns given up tonight.
What exactly did the Phillies juggle? All they did was replace Blanton with Kendrick. We were still slated to face Doc and Moyer in the original rotation.
Ubaldo not exactly getting owned. Plus he had to sit through a 2 hour rain delay to start the game and pitch in a downpour for the first 3 innings.
# Wimms June 12th, 2010 at 12:25 am
Ubaldo not exactly getting owned. Plus he had to sit through a 2 hour rain delay to start the game and pitch in a downpour for the first 3 innings.
I’m joking.
man bautista is in a huge slump. 0 for his last 23
We need a bat, bad, we’re barely beating or losing to the worst teams in baseball and can’t score runs. We need a dh/of, Russo’s a good kid but unacceptable at this level for this team. I’m hoping Detroit keeps losing ground to Minnesota and Damon’s available. He’d fill out the lineup nicely, bat 2nd , play occasionally in lf, and be a nice fit. If he’s not available how about Wiggington or Luke Scott from Baltimore, they’re going nowhere and might want to drop salaries, Wiggington is particularly attractive at $3.5m and in his last year. He’s had a great year and can play all infield positions except ss and occasionally play of in a pinch. He has power and a decent obp and ops, if Damon’s not available I like Wiggington. Any other ideas because we really need a bat to replace Johnson/Matsui.
Oh, good one…
I’m with you on Wiggington. His glove leaves a bit to be desired, but he’d actually be a good fit here where he could spell Arod, Cano and Tex and play some DH. He’d basically get full time at bats on this team.
I’m also interested in Kelly Johnson on the Diamondbacks. He’s a lefty hitter who has found his power stroke and when he was on the Braves he was a bit of utility guy. He plays mostly 2b for them, but I think he can handle 3b here to give Arod some DH time.
The miss on Nick Johnson ended up hurting this team since the was the projected #2 hitter and the teams DH.
While we’re winning the majority of our games, capably replacing that offense is important.
I’d rather pass on the Berkman’s of the world and go for the guys mentioned above who can also sub for Arod at 3b if this hip thing tends to come to and go this season.
That way Arod could slot into the DH and we replace him at 3b with an above average bat.
As for Damon, I don’t see it happening. Detroit will stay in it and even if they do consider trading him here, they will ask for the moon because they know what a perfect fit he’d be here. They’d be doing us a favor and they’d expect something great in return other than salary relief for the last two months of the season.
They’ll take less for him from another team though.
If Cashman didn’t panic and sign Johnson so quickly he still could have had Damon on the cheap and not to now have to give up prospects and money to get him or some other bat similiar to him to help out the offense. Damon would be a great dh/of fit, hope it hapens. We’d have Jete/Damon/Tex/Arod/Cano/Jorge/Grandy/Swisher/Gardner, awesome. We need a bat, now, come on Cash do something.
Lol @Wimms.
Would-a should-a could-a won’t work, Damon is gone give it a rest already!!
Damon was never giving the Yanks a discount. That’s why he’s a Tiger. Cash let him know he stop the Yanks from signing NJ, but Damon misplayed it and now he’s Tiger. Good luck to him, he didn’t believe them when they said they had a budget.
I know give it a rest. How many times are we going to have to hear about Damon and Matsui. Give it a rest already ! It’s over so move on !
Damon CHOSE to give the Tigers a discount though, because the Yankees offered 2/14 mm, he chose 1/8mm !
Oh my God I haven’t been to this place in like three months and people are STILL going on about Matsui and Damon??
Also, on a more serious note: Congrats, Andy. You rule.
Updated standings:
Tampa Bay 39 22 .639 -
NY Yankees 38 23 .623 1.0
Boston 36 27 .571 4.0
Toronto 34 28 .548 5.5
Baltimore 17 44 .279 22.0
Cash just needs to get a bat and a set up man.
Should we all forget Damon n Matsui cos it happened in January? No. People r allowed to point out what they think is wrong n what they think we need.
I’m trying not to laugh about Boston’s injury woes, but Beltre took out another OF. Hermida and Beltre crashed a week ago, and Hermida went on the DL today. Two freak accidents ending up with the same injury and the same result.
Found this little tidbit buried in Pete’s pre-game notes:
“Ryan Howard and future Sox teammate Jayson Werth homered off him [Lackey].”
Does Pete know something we don’t? Could the Sox be serious players for Werth? Would they jump into the Crawford fray?
They probably could used a solid ML OF (too bad Jason Bay’s not available). They’re going to call up a 27 year old undrafted player, Daniel Nava. Young sensation Josh Reddick will be sent down.
The best bat available will be Paul Konerko. The White Sox said everyone’s available. He is having an outstanding year, and would be a great fit.
2010 Chicago White Sox .287 55 195 35 56 11 0 17 44 34 34 .392 .605 .997
an awful/terrible/worthless bench, yet the Yankees seem to get production
“They’re going to call up a 27 year old undrafted player, Daniel Nava. Young sensation Josh Reddick will be sent down”
—————————————————
yes. Maybe one day the Yankees will have a farm system as good as the BoSox
speaking of bad farm systems, Slade Heathcott had a huge game last night. 2 hits, 1 run scored, he threw a runner out at 2nd base. And also 1 steal (he stole home)
I think the Yanks’ bullpen is fine. They’ve had a few struggles but overall it’s done the job. Joba, for example had three awful outings in May where he gave up 10 ER in 2 innings. In his other 25 games his ERA is 1.78.
I agree the larger need is a versatile bat for the bench and had said all along I think Ty Wigginton would be a great get.
How about props for Andy Pettite, though? 200 wins in pinstripes plus another 17 in the post-season. He’s well on his way to his 15th season of 12+ wins and he has never had a losing season — and at 8-1 he probably won’t have one this year, either.
86,
Good post. I agree on the bullpen, it looks like its starting to round into form Somewhat. Joba has been pretty good his last 6 outings and the rest of the guys are also showing positives signs. Getting Aceves back would really be the equivalent of making a good trade..
I also like the idea of Wiggington…don’t know what the Os would ask for in return but he’s right handed, versatile, and probably wouldn’t oppose to a utility/bench/DH type role.
that win was a nice mix of old, Andy and Mo, and new, Russo and Velli
Joba seems to be coming around, along w/ the rest of the BP
Today’s Guess The Line Up is Now Open For Business
Good morning everyone. I’ll take lineups until 10 am.
You know you’ve got a problem when you’re just getting to bed when the next day’s lineup game has already begun.
Have a good Day’s sleep Nick.
Here’s a strange guess:
SS Jeter
RF Swisher
1B Teixiera
2B Cano
C Posada
CF Granderson
DH Thames
3B Russo
LF Gardner
Almost used ARod as the DH… maybe tomorrow
Where’d everyone go?
Doreen-
They’re all runnin for the Hills.
Mornin’ MTU.
Doreen
Everyone’s waiting for your morning State Of The Yankees address.
If we can win today it’s broom time for the series.
Tampa Bay. Don’t look back. Guess who’s gainin on ya ?
“EVERY player gets more injury prone as they age. That’s what we call part of life.”
GF
We can speak from experience, lol.
Also not to mention the fact that Jorge’s latest “injury prone” incident was caused by a foul ball off the foot.
Regarding his current slump check out the stats for catchers (min 100 AB). Jorge 2nd in OPS, 4th in slugging, 8th in OBP –those are for the league.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/b...../minpa/100
Have a nice day everyone.
MTU -
They’ve got a long wait.
I didn’t see the game last night. My husband and I went out to dinner and a show with friends, and I was MIA from here from about 3:30 until well after the game was over. I forgot about the replay on YES and by the time I turned it on, it was the bottom of the 1st, but the 3 runs had already scored. I promptly fell asleep and woke up at the end of Pettitte’s post-game interview. It was a very weird experience, all in all.
But we did have a great time. Great food and we saw Steve Martin’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” at the Two River Theater Co. in Red Bank. Very funny show, and a perfect length at 90 minutes, no intermission. Some really excellent performances, too. We put on the radio to catch the end of the Yankee game, to find the game had already ended!!
I was relieved to hear about ARod, and what can you say about Andy Pettitte??????
I think the state of the Yankees is pretty darn good.
Doreen-
Sounds like a fun evening.
“I think the state of the Yankees is pretty darn good.”
Yup.
Doreen
“I think the state of the Yankees is pretty darn good.”
I think you summed that up very well.