The best part of yesterday...

May 2, 2012 was as great a regular season day that you will ever see.

3 walk off homers and another extra inning game winner by the Marlins.

The Royals won in the 9th inning, and two MVPs from a decade ago launched walk off shots (Giambi and Chipper.)

The Rays came back to make James Shields a 5 game winner. And Jeff Suppan came out of nowhere to get a win.

And oh yeah, Jered Weaver threw a no hitter.

Do you know what all of that did?
It took ALL the attention from the stupid Roger Clemens trial and, as Subway Squawkers called it, Andy Pettitte's Frankie Pentangelli moment.

I begged Roger to settle last July.
He didn't and the trial is going on.

And I couldn't care less. There's too much great baseball being played.

Roger took juice and Andy wants to have his friendship back. End of story. Let's play ball.


 

Hey Yankees! Why not bring back Ron Guidry?

Seriously! Why not?
He's left handed.
He's a great Yankee.
He's won big games.

And like Andy Pettitte, he didn't pitch a single inning in 2011.
If the Yankees are bringing back players for purely sentimental reasons, why not Louisiana Lightning?

Cashman needed to make the rotation younger, and what better sign of that than a pitcher who will turn 40 this season and the team already gave a big send off?

I have already written about this subject this year. The Yankees and their fans can't say good bye to their team. That's why players return to the Yankees over and over again.

But if you are going to let sentimentality rule, why not let Guidry have a shot?

Pettitte to retire? Now Cashman's failure is complete

One of the most disastrous off season in recent Yankee history will reach its mindboggling conclusion.

The Yankees, in desperate need for pitching depth and starters who can eat innings, are going to enter spring training with a worse rotation than the one they had last year and a pitcher in Bartolo Colon who can evidently eat everything EXCEPT innings.

Andy Pettitte is going to retire.

And who can blame him? He doesn't have a lot to play for. He has his rings, his fortune, his adoration of New York fans and his integrity for actually saying "Yeah, I used the stuff."

And that admission will probably end whatever slim Hall of Fame hopes he had so why not stay home and retire the way Mike Mussina did? Still a good pitcher and not embarrassing himself.

But Cashman and company can not POSSIBLY spin this into a good winter.

With the Yankees you ASSUME your own stars will come back.

Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter returning doesn't make this a positive winter.

And now one of the key parts and links to the championship years are gone.

Pettitte was the middle square on the bingo card for the rotation. You ASSUMED he was going to be there. Add in Cliff Lee and you have CC Sabathia, Pettitte and Lee... BOOM! The A.L. Pennant is won.

Now, the Yankees will have A. J. Burnett as the #3 starter. Ivan Nova at #4. And the "Hey we were good in 2005" bunch for #5.

Plus a bullpen with Rivera, Rafael Soriano (with 2 elbow surgeries in the last few years) and the artist formerly known as Joba Chamberlain.

How the Yankees with their budget and prestige and near lock on a post season berth whiffed so badly in building up their rotation is nothing short of amazing.

And, as Subway Squawker Lisa Swan pointed out, Hal Steinbrenner has offered Brian Cashman a vote of confidence, which must be as reassuring as Michael's kiss of Fredo.

At this point I am not even sure a World Series victory will save Brian Cashman's job.
They don't have the prospects to trade for a big pitcher.
And there is nobody left on the market.

The music stopped and the Yankees are left without a seat.

Not that I am gloating.

I hate to say "I told you so"... no wait! I LOVE saying "I told you so"

10 days ago I wrote a blog post... basically calling Joe Girardi's pitching rotation for the ALCS insane.

I thought that lining up the rotation so Sabathia would not be available to pitch Game 7, flip flopping Hughes and Pettitte so Andy faced Cliff Lee and throwing A. J. Burnett in Game 4 gave the Rangers a clear and almost unfair advantage in Games 3, 4 and 7.

In other words, Girardi had set up the rotation so the Yankees had no margin for error in Games 1, 2, 5 and 6.

I said that Sabathia needed to throw games 1, 4 and 7. (Spare me the "he's tired" act. He had thrown 6 innings over 2 weeks.)

They needed Pettitte to throw game 2 (because he was their second best option) and start A. J. Burnett against Cliff Lee (consolidating their miserable match ups).

Hughes (available for bullpen work in Games 1 and 2) would be on full rest for Game 5... Pettitte 6 and Sabathia 7th.

Instead they sent out the mismatched 3 and 4 games and lost by a combination of 18-3 in those two games.

The fact that the Yankees were outscored 31-6 in the four losses shows that the pitching kinda sorta favored the Yankees.

It didn't have to be that bad.

I told them so.

You are damn right Giants fans should cheer Barry Bonds

Barry threw out the first pitch yesterday afternoon in San Francisco, and no doubt people will fret over it... wondering what message it will send the kids.

Funny, the other night when Andy Pettitte pitched a wonderful game against Cliff Lee, I don't remember people saying how disgusting it was that he was playing.

He used the stuff.

He followed Clemens from New York to Houston and back again.

He denied it at first, and then after getting caught was hailed as a great man for saying "Yeah I used it... like one time. The fact that I was crossing country back and forth with Clemens was a complete coincidence."

Nobody seems upset that Alex Rodriguez has been playing this post season... another guy who used it and denied it left and right until he was cornered.

Those guys are playing in the PLAYOFFS.

Is anyone upset that Mark McGwire, the man who could have done so much good if he were honest but decided to not talk about the past, is a hitting coach for a contending Cardinals team and giving players tips? Maybe some pointers... like one to inject into your butt.

Bonds got applause from the fans and threw a ceremonial first pitch.

And the fans know, as I wrote earlier, that Bonds saved baseball in San Francisco... BEFORE his body ballooned up.

The fans were sitting in beautiful AT&T Park, instead of miserable Candlestick Park... or Tropicana Field, because of the excitement that Bonds brought to San Francisco starting in 1993... the year after they almost moved to St. Pete.

Let's not get carried away over a first pitch, shall we?

For Christsake, they had someone dressed as Captain Morgan throw out the first pitch at some games! It's not a big deal!

Wins and Losses can be unfair

Well there is no doubting who WON the game tonight. Heck, when the announcers start bringing up Sandy Koufax in their comparisons with Cliff Lee, you know you are in good company.

But Andy Pettitte pitched a GREAT game tonight. He deserved better.
I mean he threw 7 solid innings, let up 2 runs, all in the first inning.

Technically he lost the game... but let's get down to brass tacks. The Yankees BULLPEN lost the game! The Yankees had the top of their order coming up and Ron Washington had to make a tough decision... leave Cliff Lee in with a high pitch count or bring in Feliz?

One 6 run rally later and the only decision left to make in Yankee Stadium was "Should we leave now or walk around and see if anyone left a souvenir cup?"

Seriously... don't hang this loss on Petttitte. Give it to the group effort of Boone Logan and David Robertson.

It's a shame that Javier Vazquez wasn't on the roster. The 8-0 game would have been the ideal time to stick him in there.

Are the Yankees insane?

Let's say you are organizing the entertainment at a casino.
While putting the line up of shows together, you realize that you can have Frank Sinatra perform three nights... but you say "Nah... we only want Frank for two nights. We need to save his voice, so we'll book Steve Lawrence instead for a night."

And when lining up the shows you say "We won't have Sinatra in our biggest show. We're booking Wayne Newton for our biggest show."

Chances are someone would break your legs or at least call you an idiot.

That's basically what the Yankees are doing.

They have that most valuable of commodities... a legit ace in C. C. Sabathia. He's an innings eater (and a Subway sandwich eater) and can take the ball over and over again (remember his tour de force complete game marathon for Milwaukee at the end of the 2008 season?)

And there is no danger of the Yankees running him into the ground like the Brewers did that season. He's thrown 6 innings since September 28th.

He's ready to throw game 1. And the Yankees should line up their rotation to get Sabathia throwing as often as he can against Texas. Have him throw Game 1, Game 4 and OF COURSE Game 7.

I thought that was a no brainer. He is Sinatra in this scenario.

And evidently the Yankees have other plans.

They intend to go with a 4 man rotation... and start A. J. Burnett.
Yes, the same guy who pitched for them in the regular season.
The same guy with a 5.25 ERA.
The same guy who essentially pitched himself out of the playoff picture.

Girardi will start him Game 4.

He is Steve Lawrence in this analogy.

And what about Game 7? The potential do or die game for the pennant... the one where the Rangers will inevitably throw Cliff Lee...

They intend to give the ball to Phil Hughes.

A nice pitcher. A good pitcher. A pitcher who has been up and down recently.

He's Wayne Newton.
Wayne Newton isn't bad... but he's no Sinatra.

And the Yankees are putting themselves into a potentially bad situation with their pitching staff in the ALCS.

They have the clear advantage in game one between Sabathia and C.J.Wilson.
The Yankees also have the edge in game two between Phil Hughes and Colby Lewis, but it isn't a sure thing.

Then their proposed Game 3 has Andy Pettite against Cliff Lee. OVERWHELMING advantage to Texas.

Then A. J. Burnett will throw Game 4.
Does it even matter who Texas is pitching? They have the advantage in Game 4 as well.

In other words the Yankees have set up their pitching staff to give Texas obvious advantages in Games 3, 4 and 7.

All because they don't want to use Sabathia 3 times. If they did use him 3 times, the Yankees would have the clear advantage in Games 1 and 4 and set up an ace versus ace Game 7.

The Yankees should throw Sabathia in those 3 games.
If they MUST throw Burnett, why not use him in Game 3 against Cliff Lee? Consolidate the pitching match ups that favor the Rangers into one game.

Have Pettite go Game 2 with Hughes coming out of the pen.
Have Hughes start game 5 and Pettite start game 6 on regular rest.

This is not a second guess. I am writing this on Wednesday and the series starts on Friday.

I am clearly NOT rooting for the Yankees to win. I would love to see this rotation explode in their face.

It just strikes me odd... they aren't putting their best team on the field.
They aren't booking Sinatra.
Ah well... I guess Girardi is saying "I'll do it my way!"

Pettitte's biggest thrill in his career...

Andy Pettitte knows a thing or two about pressure packed games.
He won Game 5 of the 1996 World Series, dueling future Hall of Famer John Smoltz 1-0 in a must win game.

He won the clinching games of the 1998 and 2009 World Series for the Yankees. He also pitched 7 solid innings in the clinching game of the 2000 World Series.

In the wake of Sept. 11th, he was the MVP of the 2001 ALCS, winning twice against the 116 win Mariners squad.

He won critical game 2's in the Division Series, LCS and World Series of 2003, each time keeping the Yankees out of an 0-2 hole.

As a member of the Astros, he won the first game of the 2005 Division Series, taking home field away from the Braves.

He went 5-0 in the 2009 post season and has made 40 post season starts over 28 series in 12 different Octobers.

The man has experienced pressure and memorable thrills.

But how could ANY of them compare to pitching the AA Eastern League playoffs last night as a member of the Trenton Thunder?

With ice water in his veins in front of 8,072 fans, Pettitte stared down the New Hampshire Fisher Cats for 4 shutout innings in his rehab start.

Forget pitching in the Bronx against the Red Sox or Philadelphia.
The kiln in which champions are finished is in Trenton... and no team is a bigger test for someone's resolve and place in history than the Fisher Cats.

Pettitte has answered his critics and shown that no, the Fisher Cats do NOT have his number.

After this, the Yankees know they finally have a champion who has earned his pinstripes.

Hats off to you Pettitte. Everything after this will be gravy.

44 game season

118 games into the season and the first and 21st biggest payrolls have reached a standstill.

The Yankees and Rays are dead even... and chances are both teams are making the post season. (It will take an effort worthy of the 2007 Rockies for the Red Sox to be a factor again.)

And while any suspense to whether or not they will be playing in October, there is concern this year to actually WIN the Division.

Unlike say 2003* and 2004 or 2008 when the ALCS was a match up of AL East teams that steamrolled through the competition, there is a truly formidable obstacle in the way of the ALCS:

The Texas Rangers and Cliff Lee on the road in Arlington for Games 1 and 5.

You want to face him? Granted, both the Yankees and Rays won games recently started by Lee... but how many times do you think you can pull THAT off?

So the two teams are going to play 44 and whomever has the best record will face the White Sox at home. No push over team, to be sure... but homefield advantage and avoiding Cliff Lee is the key.

And so far, guess what?
EVERYTHING is pointing Tampa's way.
They have a slight edge on head to head match up (6-5 over the Yankees) and if they finished tied, then the team with the best head to head match up will be the Division Champ (thus why the Yankees were the Division Champs in 2005 while tied with the Red Sox.)

They play 7 more times against each other.

The Rays have an edge in pitching edge. While they have experienced injuries, they have been able to stick in minor league stud Jeremy Hellickson into their rotation and Soriano has made the bullpen solid.

The Yankees have Sabathia, but Burnett is inconsistent, Vazquez is mediocre, Hughes is up and down and Pettitte is hurt. And oh yeah, no reliever not named Rivera can be trusted.

And schedule wise, Tampa finishes the season against Seattle, Kansas City and Baltimore while the Yankees finish against Toronto and Red Sox teams who would LOVE to knock the Yankees out of the Division Lead.

I wish it were a 3 team race, but 6 games back in the loss column with 7 weeks to play is a bit much to ask for.


*Yes I know the A's nearly beat the Red Sox in 2003... but they didn't, so there.

Why this Red Sox fan thinks George Steinbrenner was good for baseball

George Steinbrenner, a unintentionally a showman to the end, died on the morning of the All Star Game. Nobody knows how sick he has been over the last few years as his public appearances have been more and more seldom and his sons Hal and Hank have been running the show.

But now the Boss is gone. And so is a baseball era.

I know I am a Red Sox fan and my blogpost title might have some people think I am going to write a snarky sarcastic piece... or that I am going to try and say something polite out of respect for the recently departed.

But I'm not. I am 100% sincere when I say that when George Steinbrenner took over the Yankees in the 1970s, it was a great moment for baseball in terms of popularity, passion and making the game more fun.

Think about it... for Yankee fans, the franchise turned around twice under his leadership. When he took over the team in 1973 from CBS, the Yankees were just another team. They were 9 years removed from their last pennant and they lagged far behind the Orioles, the Tigers and the mighty Oakland A's in the American League... and the great Yankee Stadium was crumbling.

By the time of his death, the Yankees once again were the gold standard of baseball, winning titles in the 70s, 90s and 2000s with superstars both homegrown and acquired.

Yeah, George had his bad qualities as an owner. His insane merry go round of managers in the 1980s, his gobbling up of free agents from Catfish Hunter to CC Sabathia, and his treatment of Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Dave Winfield and Joe Torre inexcusable.

But wasn't that part of what made the Yankees of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s fun?

And for the rest of us... it was made the Yankees fun to HATE!

For whatever reason, Yankee fans have never seemed to embrace that they are the bad guys in baseball... the villains. But do you know who DID?

George M. Steinbrenner.

He got it. He understood that role the Yankees play in baseball. As I wrote before, the resentment for the Yankees started long before Steinbrenner took over the team. There's no musical called "Damn Orioles."

But with Steinbrenner the Yankees assumed the role of the monolithic team that everyone wanted to see and beat.

First with the Bronx Zoo, then with the efficient Torre Years and now with the star studded Jeter/Rivera/A-Rod teams, people love to root AGAINST them.

Don't believe me? Check out the Yankees road attendance. Look at places like Oakland or Kansas City or Seattle or Cleveland when the Yankees come to town. There is always a spike in attendance. The teams charge more for tickets because they know that fans want to see their team beat the Yankees.

The Dodgers wouldn't sell single game tickets for the Yankee series... you also had to buy tickets for a less desirable match up.

Like any James Bond film, the better the bad guy, the more exciting it is. And Steinbrenner was always the one to absorb the blows as the Oil Can Harry figure of the team. Whether it was in his crazy press releases, hosting SNL or getting a kick out of being a character on Seinfeld, he understood his role.

It was tough to hate quiet professional stars like Jorge Posada, Andy Pettite, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams (although I found ways to)... but George was always a punching bag and he seemed to relish it.

The biggest dips in baseball's popularity were in the late 1960s and the early 1990s... and in both times the Yankees were lousy. Is that a coincidence?

It's tough to get worked up when the bad guy is the Oakland A's or the Baltimore Orioles.

As for the biggest complaint about him... the fact that he spends the most on free agents on payroll, let's not sidestep that.

Yeah, the payroll of the Yankees is obscenely high. Even more obscenely high than my beloved Red Sox who are as gluttonous as John Belushi circa 1981.

Let me ask you something though... do you think Steinbrenner is the richest owner in the game? For years that was Carl Pohlad of the Twins who let his players jump ship left and right and threatened to contract the team.

Who is a bigger disgrace to the game? George Steinbrenner for making every off season somewhat of a circus? Or the Pirates management pocketing revenue sharing and playing in a tax funded stadium while putting an unwatchable product on the field for nearly 2 decades?

And if you think that just playing in New York makes you a winner, then you should have some conversations with some Mets fans... or Knick fans... or Ranger fans... or Jet fans.... (Imagine if you were a Met/Knick/Ranger/Jet fan... Lord help you.)

As with most of the Yankee resentment, there comes a certain amount of jealousy. I know this as a Red Sox fan... I wanted the Yankee titles and all the Yankee stars to come to Boston. And when people started saying the Red Sox were evil like the Yankees I LOVED it.

Let's face it, Sox fans... Steinbrenner and the Yankees raised the interest level for the Red Sox as well.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Sox main rivals were the Toronto Blue Jays. Yeah those pennant races were fun (especially the wild down to the last Brunansky catch season of 1990) but they were a mere sparkler compared to the fireworks of the late 1990s and 2000s clash with the Yankees.

The Red Sox became a national brand and the passion went through the roof. Part of that was the new ownership who sold the team to the public better than the moronic Yawkeys ever could. But they also had the perfect bad guy for Red Sox Nation.

Would 2004 have been as sweet if the Red Sox came back from 0-3 against the Twins?

Now of course I am heaping a lot of praise on how Steinbrenner ran the team over the years when of course he made many mistakes and often times was the benefactor of other people's work that he disagreed with.

Lest we forget if he had his way Ron Guidry would have been traded to the Blue Jays.

Bernie Williams would have been dealt countless times.

Jeter was almost dealt for Bryan Harvey!

As I wrote before the Yankees of the 1980s were a comedy of insanely bad decisions.

And Yankee managers Dick Howser, Billy Martin, Lou Piniella, Buck Showalter and Joe Torre all led other teams to the post season after getting fired by George.

But that was one of the things that made George fun as well... pointing out the mistakes and the BAD signings. The Hideki Irabus and Ed Whitsons... the Randy Johnsons and Carl Pavanos.

It's going to be different now. With the Yankees as a conglomerate and most owners being anonymous, you aren't going to see a lightning rod owner like this for a long time.

Who knows how interested Hank and Hal will be in running the Yankees?

Who knows what kind of passion there will be in the front office in the Bronx?

The Boss is gone.

Whether you loved him or hated him... feared him or mocked him... he made the game more fun.

I know I am going to miss him.

I covered a lot of this when I compared Steinbrenner to the Weinstein Brothers a few years ago... it is still applicable.

I don't know if there is an afterlife or not. There may be... there may not be... but if there is, I hope someone up there is recording the George Steinbrenner-Billy Martin reunion.

It would be a sight to behold.

Rest in peace, Mr. Steinbrenner.

Girardi's quandry

Man I am glad I am not Joe Girardi today.

It looks like we’re going to have thundershowers in New York today and the chances of the game being played are thinner than that airbrushed picture of Filippa Hamilton.

So if the series is to resume on Sunday, what the hell should Girardi do?

Should he go for the jugular and start C. C. Sabathia on 3 days rest?

Should he start Andy Pettitte on his regular rest and have Sabathia ready to go in either Game 7 of the ALCS or Game 1 of the World Series?

Jeez when I write them both out like that, they both make a lot of sense.

The Angels’ confidence is running high right now going into New York. They have a new lease on life… and the two guys who are credited with lightening up the Yankee clubhouse (Nick Swisher and A. J. Burnett) are wearing goat horns.

But the Angels haven’t figured out Sabathia… who is 2-0 with a 1.12 ERA in the ALCS and has an awesome WHIP and strikeout to walk ratio… and is a stud.

It would all but certainly put an end to the series.

It would pull the rug out of any momentum and erase any relevance of the two Angels losses.

Remember how the A’s and the Mariners extended their 2000 series against the Yankees with big wins? Remember how the Indians pushed the Yankees in 1998? Or the Red Sox played the Yankees tough in 1999?

OF COURSE YOU DON’T! The Yankees went on to win the World Series those years… and the Angels grittiness would be thrown into the pile of forgotten playoff series.

Sabathia would be the exclamation point. Plus he is capable of throwing 8 or 9 innings, thus making sure the suddenly ineffective Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain don’t have to come into a big game.

But then again…

Wouldn’t that be a desperation move?

The YANKEES are in the lead, not the Angels. The Yankees are throwing Andy Pettitte and save for a Vlad Guerrero homer in Game 3, he pitched well.

And what if… and bear with me on this… the Angels BEAT Sabathia in Game 6? It’s possible. Sabathia lost 8 times this season.

He was dreadful in the post season prior to this year.

There could be a pitchers duel… or a battle of the bullpens.

So let’s say the Angels win a Game 6 started by Sabathia. They would have insane confidence going into Game 7… the Yankees would be pressing and the Game 7 pitching match up of John Lackey vs. Andy Pettitte would favor Los Angeles… or California… or Anaheim… or Los Angeles of Anaheim.

And isn’t this over managing exactly what has Girardi in the crosshairs of the fan base’s ire?

And if Sabathia DOES win Game 6 on Sunday, he would not be ready to throw in the World Series until Game 2… and he’d only have 2 starts. Which means the Yankees would be forced to start either Chad Guadin or the artist formerly known as Joba Chamberlain.

Can you imagine how Girardi would be crucified if Chad Gaudin is forced to pitch a critical Game 4 of the World Series?

But then again… how will he be slaughtered if he DOESN’T start Sabathia and he’s blamed for letting the Angels stay alive…

What I am saying is, I’m glad I’m not him.

But his job is to make decisions… and as George W. Bush said “My job is a job to make decisions. I'm a decision.. if the job description were, what do you do.. it's decision maker.”

Use those pearls of wisdom when you make your decision Joe.

I don't want to speak too soon but...

Am I the only one to notice the Yankees pitching hasn't exactly been remarkable recently?

Last night was the third time in four games that the pitching staff let up double digit runs.

Joba has been the definition of mediocre.

Since August A. J. Burnett has had two very good starts, one mediocre start and two disasters.

Before everyone starts making parade preparations, keep in mind Sabathia is a rotten post season pitcher and Andy Pettite is 78 years old.

At this point I still think the Yankees are the team to beat... but couldn't this pitching staff make them beatable?

I'm just saying.

Big Picture: 101

After the (say it with me) third Red Sox sweep of the Yankees this season, all of the Yankees are talking about "the big picture."

They are saying "big picture" so often that you'd think they were a bunch of art history students who came back from the Sistine Chapel.

The big picture is it is only 3 games and that there are 102 games left in the schedule and its only a 2 game deficit... blah blah blah.

Well there are some other aspects to the big picture that can't just be swept under a bumpy rug.

Yes it is early, but it isn't THAT early. The season is more than 1/3 of the way through. This isn't April... it's mid June. And before you know it it will be July.

The Yankees pitching staff is still underwhelming.

CC Sabathia has been good, but not on anyone's short list for Cy Young contenders.

A. J. Burnett has gone back and forth between mediocre and terrible.
Andy Pettite has been underwhelming.
Joba Chamberlain has shown flashes of brilliance but is a #3 starter at best now.

And Chien-Ming Wang is so terrible this year that I am sure Brian Cashman is thinking of ways to get him injured again. It's interleague! Why not have him run the bases again?

(Remember how everyone said that Wang would be back no problem because his injury wasn't pitching related? Oh well.)

It's been a year since Wang last gave the Yankees 5 innings in a game and this year his 0-4 record and 14+ ERA doesn't lie.

Meanwhile Mariano Rivera is still great but that 3.20 ERA isn't as eye popping as it used to be. And the middle relief is causing Mike Francesa to scream about Joba in the bullpen even louder.

(Losing a game in the 8th inning to the Red Sox will do that.)

And now they have Phil Hughes doing the bullpen/rotation shuffle because that worked out so well for Joba.

But would you rather have Hughes doing that or count on Aceves, Veras and Robertson?

To be fair, before last night Aceves pitched well and Robertson has been effective as well... but are the late innings of a potential pennant contender really going to be protected by Aceves and Robertson?

The big picture for this Yankee team is their depth is still in question. Besides Sabathia, their rotation depth is an issue. Besides Rivera their bullpen depth is an issue. If there is another injury in the infield, their infield depth will be an issue. Etc etc etc.

As I wrote before, it is inexcusable that Brian Cashman has an extra $65 million to throw around and has depth as an issue, but I digress.

More than a third of the season has passed and the Yankees have given their chief rival an 8 game head start on the season series. Remember that is more than a psychological edge. In 2005 the two teams finished tied but both made the playoffs. The Yankees were declared division champs based on their 10-9 head to head record against the Red Sox.

And the Yankees had every reason to believe they would win this series. Yeah Beckett has been great, but wasn't he due for a let down?

Shouldn't Wakefield have been a pinata?

Isn't Penny vs. Sabathia a mismatch?

With A-Rod and Teixeira both healthy and smacking homers, shouldn't the Yankees have done better than 3 runs total off of those three starters?

Had the Red Sox won one more game, they would have played the Angels at home to start the playoffs instead of the eventual champion White Sox on the road.

And more than a 1/3 of the way through the season, the Yankees have played 16 games against teams currently in first place and lost 12 of them.

Granted, that 4-12 record is heavily skewed because of the 0-8 record against the Sox... but a stat like that shouldn't come up for a team thinking of winning it all.

Here's a big picture.

The pitching is shaky, the line up can be subdued by good (not even great) pitching, the roster is old and more at risk for injury as the season goes on and they are playing .250 ball against division leaders... and it isn't THAT early.

And oh yeah, here's another 101.

The Magic Number for the Red Sox 101!

And they need to go 2-8 against the Yankees the rest of the way to win the season series.

I don't know if that is art... but I like it

Second Act Yankees and other patterns

Originally posted on Friday, January 12, 2007

Andy Pettite returned to the Yankees last month, potentially helping to correct one of the biggest blunders in their recent history. When the Yankees low balled Pettite, a home grown big game winner beloved by the fans and the organization, his health was cited.

The Yankees replaced Pettite after the 2003 World Series with such paragons of health as Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Shawn Chacon, Al Leiter and the late Cory Lidle.

While Pettite did get hurt in 2004, he had a big Cy Young caliber second season in Houston as the Yankees were bounced from the playoffs with a weak pitching staff.

Of course, the Yankees are not getting the same player back. Pettite left as a 31 year old pitcher coming off a fantastic post season.
They are getting a 35 year old pitcher and one who has pitched well the last two years but in front of inferior hitters.

The Yankees are hoping that Pettite will lure his now best friend in the world Roger Clemens out of his latest retirement, making him also a second act Yankee.


Clemens might be a freak of nature, but even Nolan Ryan eventually broke down... how many 44 year olds remain dominant?

But Pettite’s return and the potential return of Clemens shows an interesting pattern in Yankee off season acquisitions. And because I am a Red Sox fan, I naturally spend way too much time thinking about the Yankees and trying to analyze their next move.

Casual baseball fans assume the Yankees always try to go out and catch the biggest and most famous and expensive fish. But that is not always the case.

Neither Carlos Beltran nor Vladimir Guerrero, both the best offensive players in their respective free agent class, were gobbled up by the Yankees.
Daisuke Matsusaka and Barry Zito went elsewhere this off season.

No, more often than not the Yankees make moves based on two apparent motives:

1. Bring back an old hero from a previous champion
2. Bring over players from a team that humiliated them

The first category is pretty easy to understand and Pettite and Clemens fit the mold to a T.

There is a glaring hole in the team and Steinbrenner says “Get me [FILL IN FORMER FAN FAVORITE HERE]! He was good!”

Since Joe Torre’s first Yankee title in 1996, there have been 12 players who played in the post season for one of the 4 championship teams that have had more than one tour of duty in the Bronx.

Some fared well in their return trip.

David Wells comes to mind. His second tour with the Yankees yielded a 19-7 and a 15-7 season. (Although he bombed badly in the 2002 playoffs and had to be pulled due to injury after 1 inning in a 2003 World Series start, a game the Yankees needed and lost.)

El Duque Hernandez returned after a year in Montreal to give the Yankees rotation a much need boost in the 2004 season.

Some gave the Yankees a little post season jolt.

Jim Leyritz kept on hitting post season homers in his second go round with the
Yankees and Luis Sojo's 2 out 9th inning single won the 2000 World Series.

But the others, Tino Martinez, Doc Gooden, Ramiro Mendoza, Jeff Nelson, Brian Boehringer, Homer Bush and Mike Stanton, came up far short of their original Yankee glory.

However Pettite and probably Clemens end up, we'll see. But the Yankees aren't bringing them back for old time's sake. They have old timers day for that!


The other well from which the Yankees tend to draw from are teams that humiliated them.

I'm not talking about simply eliminating them from the playoffs. The Indians, Angels and Tigers have all sent the Yankees home in October... but they haven't seem keen to plunder those teams.

I'm talking humiliation. The kind that makes Steinbrenner's intense insecurities about the Yankees place in the world rise to the top.

It's not just that the Yankees
need to win... it's that other teams can't be happy either.


HUMILIATION TEAM #1:
THE 1986 METS.

I know what you are thinking... the Yankees didn't play the Mets! It was my Red Sox who were humiliated by them.

Au contraire!

The Red Sox LOST to the Mets. But they took away the city from the Yankees. In one of the few times in their history, the Mets were the main baseball attraction in New York. The Yankees had some winning teams but they couldn't get into the playoffs. They had some solid players (especially Mattingly and Winfield) but nobody had the Mets swagger.

There was a tough "We kick butt and know it!" bad ass quality to the Mets and Steinbrenner's squad couldn't replicate it no matter how many times they brought Billy Martin back.

And at the heart of the team were the two home grown, cooler than cool, talking the talk and walking the walk superstars that captured the imagination of the city:

Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry.

Guess where they ended up?
And Steinbrenner did his Father Flanagan act to a T when their lives fell apart due to drugs... but he also made sure that everyone thought of them as Yankees, first and foremost.

Well, all the members of the 1986 Mets have retired now. And besides Doc and Strawberry, you had Rafael Santana, Kevin Elster, Jesse Orosco and Bob Ojeda all suit up with the Yankees... and Lee Mazzilli became a fixture in the coaching staff.

Even the decision to sign Gary Sheffield over Vladimir Guerrero could be linked back to the 1986 Mets. Steinbrenner preferred Sheffield because he was a Tampa guy. He also just happens to be Doc Gooden's nephew.


HUMILIATION TEAM #2: THE 1995 SEATTLE MARINERS

When Edgar Martinez ended one of the best playoff series of all time with that 2 run 11th inning double, it marked the end of Buck Showalter's tenure as manager. It also
ended Don Mattingly's only post season appearance and their first taste of post season since 1981. (Hard to imagine now the Yankees going so long between October trips).

In some ways Yankee fans should feel happy that Edgar won it. It ushered in the Joe Torre era, stability in the manager's office and 4 titles in 5 years and 6 pennants in 8 years.

But at the time, there was nothing but humiliation... and a team to plunder.


Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson and Luis Sojo all came over.

Later Randy Johnson and Alex Rodriguez made the trek as well.
So did fringe players like Jim Mecir, Chris Widger and Darren Bragg.

And there are always the Ken Griffey Jr rumors... Griffey... the guy who hit 5 homers against the Yankees in 5 games that series... the guy who scored the series ending run. He will someday atone for his sins in the Bronx!


HUMILIATION TEAM #3: THE 2001 ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS


Ah yes, 2001. The year that all of America (except your truly) were rooting for the Yankees in the World Series. The storybook finish was all written, complete with 2 run 2 out 9th inning game tying homers in the Bronx on consecutive nights.

Then with the Great Mariano on the mound, the Diamondbacks did the most unAmerican thing imaginable: They beat the Yankees.

There were two big heroes in that game 7:

Randy Johnson again was the Yankees nemesis, coming out of the bullpen a day after winning as a starter to go 3-0 in the series.

And pesky Tony Womack, whose game tying double in the 9th capped off a series where he confounded the Yankees.

Guess which teams they both ended up with?

So did David Delucci, who was a pinch runner in that 9th inning.

And don't think that the Yankees didn't have their eye on Curt Schilling... thank God Theo got down to Arizona and asked for seconds at Thanksgiving dinner!

Schilling leads us to ...




HUMILIATION TEAM #4:
THE 2004 BOSTON RED SOX

When the Torre Yankees lost in 2001, 2002 and 2003, they lost to the Diamondbacks, Angels and Marlins.

Two 1990s expansion franchises and one franchise who can't decide what name to go by. Bad defeats to be sure, but there aren't a lot of Marlin fans hanging around in
New York. Hell, there aren't a lot of Marlin fans in Miami!

But losing to the Red Sox... a team with a long history... one whose history tended to include the phrase "And then the Yankees beat them again in dramatic fashion"... one where the idea of a Yankee loss was inconceivable... that would be bad enough.

Up 3-0 with Rivera on the mound? Wow. A face plant with no precedent!

When the Red Sox won the World Series in St. Louis a week after dispatching the Yankees, I turned to a buddy of mine and said "Watch a bunch of these Red Sox will turn up on the Yankees soon."

Well the exodus began subtly with Ramiro Mendoza but who are we kidding? He was a Yankee in Red Sox clothing. The Yankees wanted him for old time sake, not for celebrating with Big Papi et al.

But soon more joined.

Mark Bellhorn hit two key homers in the ALCS... and was a Yankee the next year.

Alan Embree was the pitcher on the mound when the Red Sox clinched the pennant...and was a Yankee the next year.

Mike Myers (not the actor) was part of the bullpen crew that shut down the Yankees during the long extra innings of games 4 and 5... and was signed by the Yankees after the 2005 playoffs.

Johnny Damon... the very face and spirit of the Red Sox idiot crew and whose two homers broke the Yankees back in game 7... shaved his beard.

And now Doug Mientkiewicz... the man who caught the last out at first... donning the pinstripes.

And you are nuts if you think someday Manny Ramirez and possibly David Ortiz won't be a Yankee eventually.

Time will tell if the 2005 Angels and 2006 Tigers will find their way to the Bronx.