The LoHud Yankees Blog

Say what you will about George Steinbrenner’s stewardship of the Yankees. It certainly had moments of all kinds. But there’s no question the players desperately wanted to deliver The Boss a win tonight in the worst way. They nearly snapped under the strain of it, falling behind twice, but an RBI single in the ninth by Nick Swisher made the Yanks walk-off winners.

“The Boss would’ve been proud,” Derek Jeter said.

That theme passed through the Yankee clubhouse after tonight’s 5-4 win. Players were moved by tonight’s pregame ceremony, which, as you know, included a quick speech by Jeter that led to a moment of silence and another touch so solemn that you could hear the team’s championship flags ripple in the wind as they flew at half-mast. Mariano Rivera brought a pair of roses to home plate — one for Steinbrenner and one for Bob Sheppard (pictured above; credit: AP).

Jorge Posada said it made him tear. Joe Girardi couldn’t hold back his during a brief postgame press conference. He said “it was a wonderful night.”

Considering how focused Girardi and his players are, it was surprising to hear them talk about the difficulty of ignoring the video tributes between innings. Girardi, Jeter, Posada and Swisher all admitted watching them. The typically unflappable Jeter said he tried to bear down and treat his at-bat with one out and the winning run on second in the ninth as usual. He couldn’t. He wanted to deliver the big hit.

“You can’t help but think about it,” Jeter said.

I’ll have more on Swisher in a bit, but here’s what Girardi shared after tonight’s win:

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YANKEES (56-32)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira !B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Juan Miranda DH
Brett Gardner LF
CC Sabathia LHP (12-3, 3.09)
vs. Rays

RAYS (54-34)
B.J. Upton CF
Carl Crawford LF
Evan Longoria 3B
Carlos Pena 1B
Ben Zobrist 2B
Kelly Shoppach C
Willy Aybar DH
Gabe Kapler RF
Jason Bartlett SS
James Shields RHP (4-9, 4.87)
vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 7:05 p.m. ET/MY9 and MLB Network

UMPIRES: HP Derryl Cousins (crew chief), 1B D.J. Reyburn, 2B Marvin Hudson, 3B Jim Wolf

WEATHER: 93 degrees and partly cloudy. It is hot and humid, but a good night for baseball. There is a slight chance (30 percent) of a thunderstorm tonight that could bring gusty winds.

Update, 7:10 p.m.: The picture above was taken by the Associated Press. It is of George Steinbrenner’s statue just inside Gate 2.

The game is underway. Enjoy it everyone…

Update, 7:38 p.m.: Sorry for the lack of updates guys and girls. I’m just trying to catch up because of the busy pregame.

The Rays just pulled ahead 1-0 on an infield single by Zobrist, who moved to first on a throwing error by A-Rod. Rodriguez tried to make a difficult play on the speedy Zobrist but his long throw got away from Mark Teixeira. Zobrist moved to third on a soft single by Kelly Shoppach and scored on Willy Aybar’s sac fly.

No worries about Sabathia. He still looks awfully sharp.

Update, 8:00 p.m.: It’s 2-0 Rays in the middle of the third. Longoria delivered an RBI double with two outs in the third.

Sabathia wasn’t very sharp in the third. Now, he has already thrown 46 pitches in three innings.

Update, 8:02 p.m.: Here’s a transcript of Jeter’s speech during the tribute to The Boss: “We gather here tonight to honor two men who were both shining stars in the Yankee universe. Both men, Mr. George Steinbrenner and Mr. Bob Sheppard, cared deeply about their responsibilities to this organization and to our fans, and for that, will forever be remembered in baseball history and in our hearts.

“Simply put, Mr. Steinbrenner and Mr. Sheppard both left this organization in a much better place than when they first arrived. They’ve set the example for all employees of the New York Yankees to strive to follow.

“So now I ask everyone to join us in a moment of silence.”

Update, 8:22 p.m.: Rays lead 2-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth. Swisher answered Longoria with a run-scoring hit of his own.

In other news, I ran into Chad before the game. He’s somewhere in right field watching the game with a friend. I got the impression he wasn’t exactly in the type of seats where he’ll catch many home-run balls. Anyway, hello to Chad.

Update, 8:44 p.m.: Yanks trail 3-1 but Sabathia did a good job to escape with just one run. The Rays loaded the bases with no one out and scored when Longoria grounded into a double play. Sabathia walked Pena before retiring Zobrist for the third out on a called third strike that kind of, maybe, possibly, looked a little low. Regardless, his pitch count isn’t great — 84 — but he should be able to pitch seven.

I know some of you think the Yanks look flat. They certainly haven’t squared up many of Shields pitches. It’s been a lot of lazy flies and weak ground balls to this point aside from Swisher’s RBI single to right.

Update, 8:51 p.m.: For those of you following along but not watching the game, you just missed two great plays by the Rays. Upton started the inning with a diving shoestring catch on a sinking liner to center by Gardner. Then, with two outs, Kapler robbed a possible home run from Swisher with a leaping catch at the top of the wall in right. Swisher hit a soaring fly ball that — judging by the replay — would’ve hit the top of the wall at the very least. Swish was understandably stunned when he saw Kapler had caught the ball.

Still 3-1 Rays. Shields still has a two-hitter, but it could be a tie game without those two gems.

Update, 8:54 p.m.: … and then there’s the Yankee defense.

It appeared Swisher just lost Shoppach’s high fly in the lights, but the ball did hit his glove. E9.

Update, 9:00 p.m.: Say what you want about Sabathia, but he has escaped several problems, including his own command issues and a potentially troublesome drop by Swisher. He’s through six now and it’s still 3-1.

For those of you at home, you’re missing out on a great part of the tribute to Steinbrenner. The videos in between innings of players talking about The Boss are a nice touch. They just showed Mariano Rivera. This may surprise you, but when he talked about Steinbrenner, he smiled. Such an unhappy guy.

Update, 9:07 p.m.: Cano had two terrible at-bats off Shields earlier in the game, but he smacked that homer, his 17th of the year. If you check the head-to-heads I posted above, Cano has thrived against Shields throughout his career.

Update, 9:11 p.m.: The Yanks struggled all day until those back-to-back homers. The game is now tied 3-3 and there’s finally a little life here in the ballpark.

You have to think that somewhere George just gave a nice fist pump.

Update, 9:23 p.m.: 4-3 Rays on an RBI groundout by Zobrist.

I had just started writing my story. Was I the only one who thought the Yanks had grabbed the momentum and were NOT going to lose this game?

Update, 9:44 p.m.: If the Yankee bullpen is holding auditions for important roles, David Robertson just delivered a nice reading. He struck out the side. Yanks still trail 4-3 going into the bottom of the eighth.

Update, 9:49 p.m.: Let’s go Yankees chants are heating up now after Swisher ties the game 4-4. Swisher will be a quote machine after this one of the Yankees win.

Update, 10:01 p.m.: Tie game after eight. Here’s Rivera to pitch the ninth.

So folks, who’s gonna be the hero?

Update, 10:15 p.m.: Yanks up here with a chance to win it in the ninth. Joba is warming in the pen.

Update, 10:27 p.m.: Two on, one out, Dan Wheeler in for Tampa. Jeter has a chance to be the hero after an 0-for-4 night.

Update, 10:33 p.m.: Good job by Wheeler. He nearly struck out Jeter looking and came back with a good pitch. I have no idea what’s behind this pitching change. A righty for a righty? Que?

Update, 10:40 p.m.: Swisher is the hero. He just ripped a two-out single to right. Yanks win 5-4.

Few have ever enjoyed the pie to the face like Swisher did there.

More later.

The ceremony to honor George Steinbrenner and Bob Sheppard will begin in a moment. For those watching at home, here are a few things to look out for:

• As a tribute to Sheppard, the public address system will go silent throughout tonight’s game.

• There will be a special video tribute to The Boss and, after the video, two long-stem roses will be laid across home plate to honor both men.

• A moment of silence will then be held, followed by a rendition of “Taps,” which will be performed by Staff Sergeant Mikki Skinner, a bugler with the West Point Band. U.S. Army Sergeant First Class MaryKay Messenger will then perform the national anthem, while the West Point Color Guard presents the colors in deep center field. The field will be left nearly empty in salute of Steinbrenner and Sheppard.

• A wreath was placed in front of The Boss’s statue in the Gate 2 Lobby at the Stadium; another one was placed in front of Sheppard’s plaque in Monument Park.

• Throughout breaks in the game tonight, videotaped messages and memories of Steinbrenner will be played on the stadium boards.

• A video tribute to Sheppard will be shown before tomorrow’s game.

—–

We’ll have the regular game post up just before first pitch. Considering the circumstances tonight, it seemed appropriate to have a separate post for the pregame ceremony.

Derek Jeter met with the media a little while ago to talk all things George Steinbrenner, a man he considered more of a friend than his owner. A case in point: Jeter woke up at 9 pacific time on Tuesday and saw a series of messages offering condolences for his loss. He didn’t know what had happened at the time, or who had died, and so someone asked a follow-up about if he was concerned it had been a family member.

“Well, it is a family member,” Jeter said. The look on his face said he wasn’t being dramatic.

Jeter also talked about Steinbrenner as “The Boss,” the owner who often chided Jeter and his teammates over the years but only because he demanded the best from anyone and everyone in the organization.

“He expected perfection,” Jeter said. “If you couldn’t take it, you couldn’t play here.”

Here’s the rest from Jeter:

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Other notes:
• Alex Rodriguez’s thumb is fine, according to Girardi. The manager did not pinch run him for David Ortiz in the All-Star Game Tuesday night because of the health of Adrian Beltre, who was, and still is, nursing a hamstring injury. Beltre insisted he wanted to play, so he and Girardi decided on a two-inning stint. Girardi intended to put Rodriguez in at 3B if the game was extended. He did not want to pinch run Rodriguez because it would have forced him to re-enter Ty Wigginton at third. The AL would have then been without any players on its bench.
• Juan Miranda was called up and Kevin Russo was sent to Scranton. He will DH today and could see some at-bats in the future as well. Girardi said the club waited for Miranda to get healthy. “We like his bat,” Girardi said.
• Alfredo Aceves will play catch on either Saturday or Sunday.
• Sergio Mitre will throw a side session on Saturday. Nothing else has been determined for either pitcher going forward yet.
• Nick Johnson did not receive a shot. He has began exercising his injured wrist more aggressively, according to Joe Girardi, but he has not started taking swings.

Joe Girardi talked for a little over 20 minutes today — more than twice the typical duration of his pregame presser. The topic, of course, was almost exclusively George Steinbrenner.

Of course, this will be the first Yankee game since The Boss passed on Tuesday. Girardi took everyone through his steps Tuesday morning when he learned about Steinbrenner’s death. He received a message from COO Lonn Trost at 6:15 a.m. and watched TV until about 10, pacific time. As you can hear in the audio, Girardi said it was a very emotional morning for him and his family, for whom he said Steinbrenner had done so much.

There’s too much from Girardi to break it down in detail, but he touched on a few key topics I think you’ll enjoy. Among them:

• He had few “Boss” stories, saying that he wasn’t sure if Steinbrenner just liked him or (in a lighthearted way) if the owner didn’t think Girardi was worth it.
• He talked about the urgency to win. “You could feel it,” Girardi said. “You could not only feel coming from up above, but you could feel it in the crowd. … He set up an expectation here that getting to the playoffs wasn’t good enough.”
• Girardi addressed the question about whether or not his players will be able to focus after an emotional pregame ceremony in time for what is the opener of a huge series vs. the second-place Rays. “They know exactly what he’d want us to do,” he said of Steinbrenner.
• What did it mean to beat Tampa? A lot, no matter if it was the regular season or February in Florida. “George wanted to keep that a Yankee town,” Girardi said.
• Girardi shares several memories: the time George offered to lend his private jet to fly Girardi’s father-in-law; Steinbrenner’s urgency before Game 3 of the 1996 World Series; and his favorite, delivering the ring this spring.
• There’s a few notes in there as well. I have more on them closer to first pitch.

Here’s Girardi:

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Juan Miranda was promoted today to replace Kevin Russo on the active roster. Miranda will start as the DH.

Here’s both lineups below. Hang tight and I’ll have audio from Joe Girardi on the passing of George Steinbrenner in a bit.

YANKEES
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Granderson CF
Miranda DH
Gardner LF
Sabathia LHP

RAYS
Upton CF
Crawford LF
Longoria 3B
Pena 1B
Zobrist 2B
Shoppach C
Aybar DH
Kapler RF
Bartlett SS
Shields RHP

Tonight
LHP CC Sabathia (12-3, 3.09 ERA) vs. RHP James Shields (7-9, 4.87)
7:05 p.m., My9

Saturday
RHP A.J. Burnett (7-7, 4.75) vs. RHP Jeff Niemann (7-2, 2.77)
4:10 p.m., FOX

Sunday
LHP Andy Pettitte (11-2, 2.70) vs. LHP David Price (12-4, 2.42)
1:05 p.m., YES

——-

Should be quite an emotional night in the Bronx tonight. Just a reminder that YES will carry the pregame, including the video tribute to George Steinbrenner, even though the game is on My9. Josh Thomson and I will be out at the Stadium and will check in from there this afternoon.

* That’s an AP photo of Pettitte pitching during the All-Star Game.

Unlike some players who have noticeable trends towards being a first-half or second-half player, Curtis Granderson is almost dead even over his career. His first-half OBP? .342. Second-half? .340. His first-half slugging? .475. Second-half? .480. His first-half batting average? .271. His second-half? .268.

In other words, Granderson isn’t typically the kind of guy who has a huge surge after he takes off for the All-Star break. Does that mean it won’t happen this year? Not at all. And the Yankees are certainly hoping that Granderson bucks his own trend a little, as they’ve been (understandably) disappointed with his overall production.

To be fair, Granderson has had a few moments (he also battled an injury) yet ultimately it’s hard to call his first half with the Yankees much more than average. Most of the “grades” I’ve seen writers and bloggers do for the Yankees have Granderson in or around a “C” and I can’t really disagree. At the very least, Granderson has failed to show the improvement against lefties that he (and the team) was hoping for (.537 OPS).

Obviously the Yankees have been doing fine without Granderson’s typical impact but you know there will be some valleys during the course of the second half. Will Granderson step up and be the kind of star the Yankees imagined when they traded for him?

* That’s an AP photo of Granderson from the series in Seattle.

I know that many of you have asked for details on Old-Timers Day, which will be held on Saturday. Here’s the latest info on timing of events as well players expected to attend.

Gates will open to ticket-holding fans at 12:30 p.m. with introductions scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. and the traditional Old-Timers’ game immediately to follow. Monument Park will close to fans at 3:15 p.m.

The Yankees will also celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Yankees’ 1950 World Championship team. The seven members of the World Series-winning club in attendance — Hall-of-Famers Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford, as well as Jerry Coleman, Don Johnson, Duane Pillette, Charlie Silvera and Hank Workman — will wear replica 1950 uniforms.

In addition, Jill Martin, widow of former Yankees player and manager Billy Martin, will join the widows of four other legendary Yankees—Arlene Howard, widow of Elston Howard; Helen Hunter, widow of Jim “Catfish” Hunter; Kay Murcer, widow of Bobby Murcer; and Diana Munson, widow of Thurman Munson, among the honorees.

List of those Scheduled to Attend (*Denotes First-Time Old-Timer)

Luis Arroyo                        Brian Doyle                      Reggie Jackson                       Joe Pepitone
Jesse Barfield                    Mike Easler                      Don Johnson*                        Duane Pillette*
Yogi Berra                         Dave Eiland                      Pat Kelly                                    Mickey Rivers
Ron Blomberg                  Cecil Fielder*                   Don Larsen                               Charlie Silvera
Homer Bush                     Whitey Ford                    Hector Lopez                 Bill “Moose” Skowron
Rick Cerone                     Oscar Gamble                   Jill Martin                                   Aaron Small
Chris Chambliss              Joe Girardi                      Lee Mazzilli                              Mel Stottlemyre
Horace Clarke          Rich “Goose” Gossage             Gene Michael                             Ralph Terry
Jerry Coleman               Ron Guidry                         Diana Munson                            Mike Torrez
David Cone                    Charlie Hayes                      Kay Murcer                                 Bob Turley
Bucky Dent                Arlene Howard                      Jerry Narron                                Roy White
Al Downing                Helen Hunter                     Graig Nettles                             Hank Workman*

**List of Old-Timers in attendance is subject to change**

There are only seven games on the MLB schedule tonight which, you know, makes perfect sense since most players haven’t had a day off in a long time.

Either way, the Yankees are back at it tomorrow against the Rays and, for those who have asked, the YES Network WILL broadcast the pre-game ceremony and video tribute to George Steinbrenner, which the team says should get started around 6:45 p.m. The game itself will be on My9. A pre-game video tribute to Bob Sheppard is planned for Saturday, and there will also be a “special performance” recognizing Sheppard during the 7th-inning stretch, the team said.

Two other notes:

• All nine Nederlander theaters on Broadway will dim their lights for one minute tonight in honor of The Boss. Very cool and classy.

• Bernie Williams released a statement about George Steinbrenner through the team. Bernie has been out of the country performing, but wanted to offer his thoughts and condolences. Here is what he said:

“I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Mr. Steinbrenner today. It was a privilege to know and work for him, and my heart goes out to the entire Steinbrenner family.

“I will forever be grateful to Mr Steinbrenner for allowing me to become part of the Yankee organization, and then stay a Yankee for my entire career. He will go down as one of the greatest owners in the history of baseball, and all of sports. No one wanted to win more than Mr. Steinbrenner, and he did whatever it took to put his team in the best position to win. From there, it was up to all of us in the Yankee organization, from the front office, to the grounds crew, to the clubhouse assistants, to all of us players and staff, to do our jobs, and perform to the best of our ability.

“Year in and year out, inspired by his commitment to excellence, I always knew I had to be at the very top of my game to meet the high expectations he set. He made me a better baseball player – and for that, I will be forever grateful to him. He will be missed, and never forgotten”