The LoHud Yankees Blog

Marc Carig and I started talking about this last night…

Several weeks ago, Andy Pettitte was talking about Alex Rodriguez and said this: “He can tell me almost every pitch I’ve thrown throughout the course of a game… He’s always in the game. His head’s up. He’s always prepared. That’s why he’s such a great player.”

Last night, Rodriguez said this: “I chased in the first inning, a slider down, but Westbrook had good stuff. He had us off balance all day. With the exception of a 3-2 fastball away to Jorge, and I think it was a 1-0 changeup to Granderson, he didn’t make many mistakes.”

Pretty much every hitter in the game would have remembered swinging and missing at a slider out of the zone, but I’m not sure how many would have known the count on Posada’s single and Granderson’s home run. Especially not a player who wasn’t close to coming to the plate at the time of those hits. Gameday labeled the Granderson homer a fastball, not a changeup, but the point remains the same.

Rodriguez locks himself into the game. There have been times the past few days when he’s swung for the fences in pursuit of No. 600, but I can’t imagine there are many 599-homer guys who haven’t occasionally swung out of their shoes.

“People are screaming and flashbulbs are going,” Joe Girardi said. “He’s not going to be able to get away from it. He can’t.”

But he doesn’t have to let it affect him, and Rodriguez seems to be doing a pretty good job of that.

The Baseball Hall of Fame has announced election changes that immediately impact the possible election of George Steinbrenner. Basically, the veterans committee elections are changing. The Hall is breaking those elections into three eras, with only one era eligible each year. Steinbrenner’s era will be up for election this year. Here are the details from the Hall of Fame.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Board of Directors has restructured the procedures to consider managers, umpires, executives and long-retired players for election to the Hall of Fame.

The changes, effective immediately, maintain the high standards for earning election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The voting process will now focus on three eras, as opposed to four categories, with three separate electorates to consider a single composite ballot of managers, umpires, executives and long-retired players.

“The procedures to consider the candidacies of managers, umpires, executives and long-retired players have continually evolved since the first Hall of Fame election in 1936,” said Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the board for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. “Our continual challenge is to provide a structure to ensure that all candidates who are worthy of consideration have a fair system of evaluation. In identifying candidates by era, as opposed to by category, the Board feels this change will allow for an equal review of all eligible candidates, while maintaining the high standards of earning election.”

Eras: Candidates will be considered in three eras — Pre-Integration (1871-1946), Golden (1947-1972) and Expansion (1973-1989 for players; 1973-present for managers, umpires and executives).

Candidates: One composite ballot of managers, umpires, executives and long-retired players will be considered in each era. The Expansion Era ballot will feature 12 candidates, while the Golden and Pre-Integration era ballots will feature 10 candidates. Candidates will be classified by the eras in which their greatest contributions were recorded.

Electorates: A Voting Committee of 16 members for each era will be appointed by the Board of Directors annually. Each committee will be comprised of Hall of Fame members, major league executives, and historians/veteran media members. Any candidate who receives at least 75% of ballots cast will earn election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Frequency of Elections: An election will be held annually at the Winter Meetings. The Eras will rotate, with the Expansion Era Committee to vote on December 5, 2010 at the Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla. The Golden Era committee will meet at the Winter Meetings in 2011 and the Pre-Integration Era Committee will vote on candidates at the 2012 Winter Meetings.

Screening Process: The BBWAA-appointed Historical Overview Committee will devise the ballots for each era. The Historical Overview Committee currently consists of 10 veteran members: Dave Van Dyck (Chicago Tribune); Bob Elliott (Toronto Sun); Rick Hummel (St. Louis Post-Dispatch); Steve Hirdt (Elias Sports Bureau); Bill Madden (New York Daily News); Ken Nigro (formerly Baltimore Sun); Jack O’Connell (BBWAA secretary/treasurer); Nick Peters (formerly Sacramento Bee); Tracy Ringolsby (FSN Rocky Mountain); and Mark Whicker (Orange County Register).

Eligible candidates:
· Players who played in at least 10 major league seasons, who are not on Major League Baseball’s ineligible list, and have been retired for 21 or more seasons;
· Managers and umpires with 10 or more years in baseball and retired for at least five years. Candidates who are 65 years or older are eligible six months following retirement;
· Executives retired for at least five years. Active executives 65 years or older are eligible.

Joe Girardi doesn’t seem to be a guy who likes controversy, and he seemed to sense one brewing tonight. “I don’t want to start a thing of, who’s our eighth-inning guy,” he said. Thing is, he didn’t start the question. But he’s the only one who can answer it.

Tonight, he played matchups. With switch-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera at the plate, Girardi went to Dave Robertson, who got a double play before Boone Logan came in to strikeout the tough lefty Shin-Soo Choo. Mariano Rivera — of course — handled the ninth.

“I knew I was going to go to Logan for Choo,” Girardi said. “Cabrera has had some success off of Javy, even though he did a good job against him tonight, I thought I’d go to Robby for just one hitter and then go to Boone and it worked out.”

Girardi said it would be a “misinterpretation of today’s events” to say he’s lost faith in Joba Chamberlain. He said there will be times when he turns to Chamberlain for a full eighth, and times he plays matchups. He said the matchup is why he chose Robertson over Chamberlain for the Cabrera at-bat.

“Sometimes the seventh inning is just as important,” Robertson said. “So I don’t really see the difference. I’ll throw whenever he wants me to.”

I had some issues with my recorder tonight, but here’s most of Girardi’s postgame interview.

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• Both Girardi and Alex Rodriguez said they could tell by Trevor Crowe’s reaction — firing to second instead of showing the catch — that he had not caught Rodriguez’s looping line drive in the fourth inning. Replays showed it was a trap. “That’s being generous,” Rodriguez said. “That’s a short hop, not a trap. I think Tex did a great job reading that ball.”

• Curtis Granderson hit his third home run in the past two games, and nearly hit his fourth when he drove a ball off the wall in right field. “The feel came come and go in the matter of a pitch, a swing, a game, a series or a couple of games,” he said. “=For two swings today, I had it, and hopefully I’ll continue to have it as we move on.”

• Girardi said Mariano Rivera was available for four outs tonight. “He hadn’t pitched in a while and I thought he could do it,” Girardi said. The plan was for Logan to face Choo and Carlos Santana, but Rivera was coming into the eighth if necessary.

• Rodriguez said his hand gave him no problems.

• Granderson was thrown out trying to stretch that ball off the wall into a single. “I didn’t have a problem with it,” Girardi said. “He’s got outstanding speed and a perfect throw. Bang-bang play.” Truth is, Granderson was probably safe.

• I’ve joked with Robertson before about it being weird to see him get ground balls. He always laughs at it too. It’s not necessarily his game, but he’ll take it. “I don’t get too many double plays,” he said. “I was pretty excited about that one. I’ll take that. It’s much easier.”

• Rodriguez said he doesn’t think he’s getting more or less pitches to hit now that he’s sitting at 599 home runs. “I’m not really concerned about it,” he said. “It’s going to come whether it’s this week or next week or next month. At some point it will come… I’d rather not hit a home run and win than hit a home run and lose.”

• Until that eighth inning, Javier Vazquez was in line for a loss. It would have been the fourth time this season that he went seven innings, allowed two runs or less and didn’t get a win. Then Granderson picked him up with that home run. “After the first month, I just tried to forget about it and help the team from then on,” Vazquez said. “I think I’m doing that.”

• With his home run, Nick Swisher scored the 500th run of his career.

• Teixeira was hitless, but he drew a walk to extend his on-base streak to 42 games.

Associated Press photos of the infielders on the mound, the argument after the play in left and Vazquez with Cervelli

Curtis Granderson has 10 home runs for the season. Three of them have come in the past two games. Granderson’s two-run home run tonight sent the Yankees to a 3-2 win in a game that was nearly lost on two blown calls by the umpires. Instead, Javier Vazquez got a much-deserved win and Mariano Rivera got his 21st save, but only after Dave Robertson and Boone Logan — not Joba Chamberlain — handled the eighth.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (62-35)
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF

RHP Javy Vazquez (8-7, 4.68)
Vazquez vs. Indians

INDIANS (41-57)
Michael Brantley CF
Asdrubal Cabrera SS
Shin-Soo Choo RF
Carlos Santana C
Travis Hafner DH
Jhonny Peralta 3B
Matt LaPorta 1B
Trevor Crowe LF
Jason Donald 2B

RHP Jake Westbrook (6-6, 4.74)
Westbrook vs. Yankees

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

UMPIRES: HP Mark Wagner, 1B Dan Iassogna, 2B Dale Scott, 3B Jerry Meals

WEATHER: Mid-70s. More or less no chance of rain. Not a bad night in Cleveland.

SIX HUNDRED: Alex Rodriguez is one away from his 600th career home run. You might have heard about it. He’s 6-for-13 with two doubles and four RBI single hitting No. 599.

BACK ON THE ROAD: This is the Yankees first road trip since the all-star break. As it stands they are 28-19 away from Yankee Stadium, the second-best road winning percentage in the Majors behind Tampa Bay (33-18). The Yankees are tied with San Diego and San Francisco for the second-most road wins this season. The Yankees have won 10 of their past 12 road games.

ONE THAT GOT AWAY: For the most part, the Yankees have had pretty good success against Jake Westbrook.  Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez have the most career at-bats against him — most of anyone on the Yankees roster — and both are better than .300 hitters. The exception is Nick Swisher, who is only 2-for-23 with seven strikeouts and no walks. That’s a .087 average and on-base percentage.

UPDATE, 7:21 p.m.: Pretty nice cheer for Rodriguez. A lot of Yankees fans in the house hoping to see No. 600.

UPDATE, 7:30 p.m.: I’ve heard Butch Wynegar say far too many great things about Travis Hafner to possibly be surprised when Hafner goes deep. His solo shot off Vazquez has given the Indians a 1-0 lead in the second inning. It was Hafner’s ninth of the season.

UPDATE, 7:50 p.m.: Nick Swisher’s 18th home run has tied the game at 1. It was the Yankees first hit of the game after 10 straight were retired by Jake Westbrook.

UPDATE, 7:52 p.m.: Mark Teixeira saw that ball hit the ground before it went into Trevor Crowe’s glove. The umpires, it seems, did not. Seeing it live, I was pretty sure it dropped. Seeing a replay, there can be no doubt. That should have been a single, not a double play.

UPDATE, 8:07 p.m.: Close play at second. Granderson is called out, but he looked safe on a bang-bang play. That’s a more difficult call than the one in left field, but it still seems like the second bad call against the Yankees tonight.

UPDATE, 8:22 p.m.: So far so good for Javier Vazquez, who’s allowed just the one run through five innings. Of course, it doesn’t help that the Yankees have made only 12 outs but been charged with 15.

UPDATE, 8:37 p.m.: Choo’s a nice hitter, and his two-out double has given the Indians a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the sixth.

UPDATE, 9:03 p.m.: Vazquez pitches out of trouble in the seventh inning to keep it a 2-1 Indians lead. He’s pitched very well today, but the Yankees have a lot of trouble scoring for him. He’s allowed two runs through seven innings, and right now he’s in line for the loss. Brutal.

UPDATE, 9:08 p.m.: The Yankees have done next to nothing against Westbrook tonight — with help from the umpires — but Curtis Granderson has just hit a ball 421 feet for a two-run home run and a 3-2 Yankees lead.

UPDATE, 9:15 p.m.: Curious. Dave Robertson and Boone Logan are warming in the Yankees bullpen. Yes it is the eighth inning.

UPDATE, 9:18 p.m.: After a lead-off walk, Vazquez is out, Robertson is in. The Indians have a switch-hitter, lefty and switch hitter due up.

UPDATE, 9:24 p.m.: That’s a big double play by Robertson, and now Logan will try to get the lefty Choo to finish the inning.

Sergio Mitre had pitched well this season, but Saturday’s spot start was not a good one. Joe Girardi said he took that as a sign that Mitre is not back to 100 percent following that oblique injury that cost him more than a month.

“We tried to prepare Serge to start, and I just didn’t see the crispness in his pitches,” Girardi said. “I don’t think he’s physically ready to do it. I think he could have used some more time, so we’re going to try to get him right in the bullpen.”

Instead, the Yankees will turn to Dustin Moseley for Thursday’s start. Mitre will be available out of the bullpen beginning Wednesday. The most pitches Mitre had thrown this season was 79. The fewest pitches Moseley threw in his 12 minor league starts was 75. He’s been stretched out as high as 112.

“Dustin is more built up,” Girardi said. “… We’re not exactly sure how many starts Andy is going to miss. We’ll evaluate it after every start and see what we need to do.”

• Girardi had enough confidence in Alex Rodriguez’s left forearm/hand that he made his lineup before even talking to Rodriguez this afternoon. “Hand’s good,” Rodriguez said. “Hand’s real good.”

• If the Yankees have a slim lead in the eighth inning, “I’ll probably lean toward Joba,” Girardi said. “… If it’s David Robertson’s time to come in in the seventh, I’m going to bring him in. I’m not going to hold him back.”

• Alfredo Aceves did long toss today and is scheduled to throw a bullpen this week. “We’ve had more positive news this time,” Girardi said.

• Aceves is actually ahead of Damaso Marte, Girardi said. Marte played catch at 60 feet today. There’s no time table for either pitcher to return to the bullpen.

• A small group of Cleveland writers was gathered around CC Sabathia when I finally got in from Detroit. The topic? LeBron James. What else?

• Girardi on the pursuit of No. 600: “I don’t necessarily think so much it’s the pressure of it,” Girardi said “I think it’s the daily dealing with it. They just want to get it by them. I think Alex knows he’s going to hit 600, but the fact he has to answer questions and they have to stop the game (for a new ball), it’s time consuming, and players want their time.”

INDIANS (41-57)
Michael Brantley CF
Asdrubal Cabrera SS
Shin-Soo Choo RF
Carlos Santana C
Travis Hafner DH
Jhonny Peralta 3B
Matt LaPorta 1B
Trevor Crowe LF
Jason Donald 2B

Associated Press photos of Moseley and Rodriguez

Joe Girardi just announced that Sergio Mitre will move back to the bullpen. Dustin Moseley will fill that spot on the rotation.

Girardi said he thinks Mitre, because of the injury, is better prepared to pitch out of the bullpen rather than the rotation at this point.

“I don’t think he’s physically ready to do it,” Girardi said.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Francisco Cervelli C
Brett Gardner LF

I booked connecting flights for only a handful of road trips. This was one of them. My flight out of New York got onto the runway before it was determined the plane had some sort of mechanical issue. So we went back to the gate, fixed the problem and landed in Detroit at the same time that my scheduled connection to Cleveland took off.

Right now I’m stuck in Detroit, waiting for a later flight that should land just in time for me to take a taxi straight to ballpark. It’s not a great situation.

Meanwhile, Jayson Stark has added a detail to a previous Jon Heyman report that the Yankees made a significant attempt to trade for Joakim Soria. Stark reports that the Yankees went so far as to “dangle” Jesus Montero. If that didn’t get it down, then the Yankees clearly don’t have what the Royals are looking for.

Tonight
RHP Javier Vazquez (8-7, 4.68)
vs.
RHP Jake Westbrook (6-6, 4.74)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

Tuesday
LHP CC Sabathia (13-3, 3.18)
vs.
RHP Josh Tomlin (ML Debut)
7:05 p.m., MY9

Wednesday
RHP A.J. Burnett (8-8, 4.77)
vs.
RHP Fausto Carmona (10-7, 3.51)
7:05 p.m., YES Network

Thursday
RHP Sergio Mitre (0-2, 3.99)
vs.
RHP Mitch Talbot (8-9, 4:08)
7:05 p.m., YES Network