It's Yankee Magic Time

On the up and up........

2008-07-21T19:17:03Z

Well, I suppose I have a lot to write about - and thankfully all good things. Baseball has been good for the city of New York the last few weeks.....not only having the All-star game there, but also having both teams slugging their way back into contention. I hope you all caught the ESPY's last night - where the NY Giants took 3 big awards......and Eli grinned and beared it while Justin Timberlake cracked some pretty hysterical jokes at his expense. If you missed it I suggest you catch the rerun which will undoubtedly be looped on ESPN for the next 3 months........

As for the Yankees - it's been very interesting as of late to see how the youngsters are proving their worth. I was at the game against Boston that Brett Gardner won on an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th - yes, I got extremely lucky being that that's the only game I have been to this year, and could very well be the last game I will ever see in the old Yankee Stadium. I am still torn about this new stadium.......I'm sure it will be spectacular - and for the 1.3 billion dollars it cost it better be, but riding the 4 train up to the stadium and seeing this huge architecturally sound, pristine, structure that reads Yankee Stadium in glistening gold letters, is a bit of a turn off for me.....

Back to baseball - looks like Johnny Damon will be back in the lineup soon. He wanted to play in Sunday's game against the A's but Girardi's being extra careful and waiting which is to be expected with Wang and Matsui out. Regardless, we swept the A's and are only 3.5 games behind Boston which is pretty amazing considering where we were last week. I'm sure you all remember that we were 14 games out of first last year at the all-star break and made the post season so if that's the way that we have to do it, let the trend continue. We also recently picked up some right handed slugging power with Richie Sexton, but only time will tell if he can fare better for us then for the Mariners.....

Today we start a series against the Twins with Ponson starting, whom we acquired on June 18th. So far, he has a 1-0 record and a 4.24 ERA in four games with the Yanks. He is matched up with rookie Nick Blackburn who has a killer sinker and a 5-7 record this season with a 3.65 ERA.

Who's in Last?

2008-05-19T19:43:59Z

Once again I apologize for my lack of current activity but seriously, can you really blame me? We have fallen to the bottom of the AL East, and have been ridiculously pummeled by the Mets. We got a break on that 3 run homer by Delgado, but couldn't even use that to our advantage. The ump went on to apologize for his mistake, as you can read HERE. I guess the silver lining is that I have David Wright and Jose Reyes on my fantasy team......

We have one thing to look forward to. The return of A-Rod tomorrow and thank God for that. He was 5 for 15 with a homer Sunday in a simulated game so hopefully that is a good sign. I mean, don't forget that last year at the All-star break we were 14 games back and still managed to make the playoffs. With the Yankees, anything is possible, as has been proved time and time again.

So, let's hope the boys take this off day to regroup and come back tomorrow with the added inspiration and strength of A-Rod. Mussina is pitching and has been a real asset to the team as of late with his smart, insightful technique. I think that the fact that he can't really throw a fastball anymore has really helped him more then hurt him. Let's hope he can pick up his sixth consecutive win tomorrow.......

Who's in first?

2008-05-14T08:31:02Z

Somebody pinch me. I might believe it if you told me the Marlins were in first place in their division, but the Ray's? Even more depressing is the way they got there tonight. When you fight such a long, tight battle as we did through 11 innings, it makes the defeat that much more draining. Even our fail-proof Mo couldn't save the day today. He gave up the game winning run in the 11th. Wang got a no decision but only because of Matsui's homer in the 9th to tie the game at 1. At what point will our all-star team start to hit? Besides Jeter and Matsui - we have no one batting over .300 and most everyone is batting way under it. When your line-up is full of veterans there are bound to be injuries, and we have definitely had our fair share to say the least.........

Now you have the Ray's in 1st - and 7 games over .500 for the first time in franchise history. The Red Sox fall into 2nd, and we still fall into 4th behind Baltimore. I know there are 162 games but still? A-Rod, hurry back!!!

Thunder McCutchen?

2008-05-13T20:40:47Z

I am sorry about the lack of posts lately. It's just that I am feeling slightly uninspired lately.....any ideas why? That all too familiar pang of disappointment has resettled in my stomach. There are talks of bringing up this 26 year old Thunder McCutchen from Trenton. I am sorry if I am skeptical, but after the Ian Kennedy's and Phil Hughes' of this season, I think it's understandable why.

This season has been as unpredictable as anyone could possibly imagine, and I am just hoping the Yanks don't get lost in the shuffle. The Rays are only .5 a game back from Boston and could potentially be in 1st at the end of the night. We need A-Rod back ASAP........

Give 'em the ol Rassle Dazzle

2008-05-10T22:02:11Z

Yea, I know - cheesy title. You know - New York: Broadway: the musical Chicago.......no? I guess that's what you get for reading a blog from a chick sports fan. Who would have thought that Darrel Rasner would be such a shocking surprise. Looks as though he has earned a spot in the rotation for the time being. Not to mention the middle relief from Farnsworth and the duely noted, overly enthusiastic Joba Chamberlain. Really people, aren't there more important stories to obsess over then the fact that he was enthusiastic about striking out Delucci after giving up a three run homer to him the night before? He's a young kid, he was excited - give him a break. Back to the pitching - can you believe Mo? 10 saves and an ERA of 0.00. If anyone thought that he was going to lose his touch with age, they were sorely mistaken.

As for our offense - we definitely need A-Rod and Jorge back. Looks as if Alex will be back the end of next week, but Posada is gonna be awhile. Then Betemit hurts his hamstring on an RBI double today. Damn these Tigers.....every time we play them someone gets hurt. It's an odd position to be in when your bullpen is your strength. If only we could have the hitting power and the pitching at the same time. Atleast Jeter hit his first homer of the season today......it's about time. He seemed to be lurking in the shadows so far this season. As usual, he's always clutch, but he needs to step it up a notch in the absence of power. As does Johnny Damon......

Tomorrow we look to Pettitte to wrap this thing up. Til then...

Their back.......

2008-05-08T19:09:04Z

I am writing this as Robbie Cano gets his swing back and hits a solo shot in the 7th. Poor guy has just looked defeated the last few weeks and now there's a smile on his face for the first time in awhile. You could tell on the double that he hit earlier in the game that he was feeling more comfortable and hopefully he's back on track now. It looks as though the Giambino is back as well with the 2 run homer in the 4th.......

After the last two losses it's refreshing to see us slugging away like past years. 4 homers so far (the other two by Betemit just now, and Damon in the 4th). We should not need Alex in the lineup to rack up runs. We are called the bombers for a reason right? We finally have some decent pitching going on as of late, so why can't we get our hitters to produce simultaneously?

Now Joba comes back into the game for the first time since the 3 run shot he gave up on Tuesday. Let's hope he isn't too shaken from his last outing. No one is perfect.....except for maybe Cliff Lee.......

Good pitching two days in a row?

2008-05-03T19:54:44Z

I feel like a broken record, but isn't it just easy when our starters are on their game? At this point it is pretty much a given that Wang is a sure thing, and now Mike has turned things around. He may have lost his velocity in the last few years, but he is such methodical, smart pitcher that he knows exactly what pitches to throw to each batter. He has really risen to the occasion this year considering that at the end of last season we had taken him out of the rotation for pitching so miserably. Now he is 4-3 and has just picked up his 254th win. Good work Mike. Even better is the fact that Wang is 6-0. That ties him for 1st in wins in the Majors.

Of course, it is very encouraging to see us getting runs with A-Rod and Jorge out of the game. 13 hits today - 3 of which were from Johnny Damon. It was a historical day for Johnny as well as he picked up his 400th career double.

Tomorrow will be very telling with Darrel Rasner pitching. He's got a big hole to fill and alot on the line......hopefully he can use the pressure to his advantage. Seeing as though our two hopeful youngsters went winless in April - maybe this guy is the diamond in the rough we were waiting for. Hey, you can't blame me for wishful thinking.......

Next up to the mound........Darrell Rasner

2008-05-02T08:54:19Z

As if it could get any worse then the sweep by the Tigers. Now it turns out that the youngest starter in the majors, our Phil Hughes, is out until July with a rib fracture - not an oblique strain. I may be the most optimistic person on the face of the earth, but if his bad pitching as of late is because of a fracture that explains alot. And who knows, maybe this Darrell Rasner will be the savior we are looking for. In Triple-A he is 4-0 with an era of 0.87. Not bad. Now lets wait til Sunday and see what happens.

No A-Rod = No Runs?

2008-05-01T22:24:36Z

I don't know if I can go on much longer trying to make excuses to myself for why we aren't winning these games. Either the rookie starters aren't settling in, or a key player is injured, or we have the most April road games of any team in history. At some point you just run out of excuses. The final verdict is that we have to start winning. We are at home now, Andy is one of our 2 best starters, and still we can't get the job done. It's time to regroup and refocus. It's May 1st - let this be the turning point. One of these kids has got to get a win, and Kennedy has to do it tonight, seeing as though now Hughes is out of the rotation for awhile with a strained oblique. Fantastic. If only Wang could pitch every day of the week......

There's no enjoying this win

2008-04-28T19:31:58Z

Wouldn't it be nice if we could enjoy the historical pitching of yesterday? It should have been magical to see Wang pitch 7 innings of shut-out ball, followed by Joba and Mo who each struck out 2 of the three batters they faced. Unfortunatly, that all was overshadowed by that fact that Posada is going on the DL for the first time in his career. He had previously been diagnosed with a strained muscle in his shoulder but Jorge believes it is something more serious and is going to have it checked out further. Along with Jeter - Jorge is something of a leader for the team and he will most definitely be missed.

In other disappointing baseball news: how about this Clemens affair scandal? As if things could get any worse for Roger's reputation..... I feel bad for the guy - I mean the whole steroid thing he brought on himself but now all his dirty laundry is going to be aired for the whole world to judge. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes right now....

Now hopefully Moose will follow in Wang's footsteps today. We need to tie this series up.

Let's get this started....

2008-04-24T19:09:15Z

Just a thought.......maybe we should have left that Ortiz jersey burried. Since digging it up, Boston has risen to the top of the AL - and Big Papi's average has gone from .083 to .188. Not to mention the grand slam that he had two days later. But hey, what's done is done. We just have to fight back.

I have to admit, I was getting a little worried last week, but with the return of Joba - and three straight wins, things are looking up. That all too familiar knot in my stomach has subsided and I am ready for Phil Hughes to settle in and get that win he deserves tonight.....

Manny + Moose = Trouble

2008-04-19T00:12:53Z

Once again we chose to have Moose pitch to Manny. At some point shouldn't we just stop pitching to him? I mean, when he's hot - he's hot. It's almost inevitable that he is going to hit that ball, and hit it well. Ramirez hit not 1 but 2 homers off Moose. One solo shot in the 2nd and a 2-run shot in the 3rd. Moose was not bringing his best stuff either - which should be a clear indication to pitch around Manny. At any rate, we fought back but not hard enough. Two runs scored off Papelbon in the 9th is an encouraging change for us. There was also a familiar tension between the two teams yesterday when Farnsworth pelted a 98 mph fastball off Ramirez's helmet causing an immediate bench warning to both teams. No retaliation was initiated - probably because of a pitch that struck A-Rod on the back the day before. Even though we won't be seeing Boston again til July, these little confrontations are not to be forgotten with these two teams.

In other baseball news - how about that 22 inning Padres/Rockies game? Something like the 9th longest game by inning in history - 147 at bats and 15 pitchers. Strangely the 6 hour 16 minute game wasn't much longer then Red Sox/Yanks game on Sunday. Alright, I may be exaggerating slightly...........

Lastly, I'm sure you all heard about them spending 5 hours digging up that Ortiz jersey under the future Yankee Stadium. If you want to see how the auction is going click here. As I am writing this it's already up to $53,000 - of course all proceeds are going to a good cause.

Time for the real game

2008-04-15T08:31:27Z

First off, I am sorry I haven't been posting as much as I would like. I have a horrible full time bartending job at night which restricts my time.....

Ok so we won the last two. Let's leave it at that. We had mediocre to good pitching, but nothing spectacular. All I know is that Wang is sharing first place for the most quality starts in the majors and I think that should make us happier then any batting stat thus far. Yea, if our boys can start hitting consistently, it's all good but we all know that our fate lies in the pitching. Joba will probably be out for the Boston series which isn't great news, but we give him our blessing and prayers. With Joba and Mo, we have pretty much the best closing staff in baseball and if Joba needs a few days off out of 160 games, we can live. Plus our boys are starting to hit....look at the game yesterday - three solo shots in the first two innings. That means we are definitely seeing any weak pitch that is thrown and acting on it. The Rays may have come back and fought a good fight but it wasn't enough and we took this series by a longshot.......

Now it's time to look to tomorrow. Back to the most exciting games of the year........playing the Red Sox. The two pitchers should look very familiar from our first game last week. Seeing as how spectacular Wang has been - tomorrow should be very promising....although Buchholz isn't going to go down without a fight. Go Yanks!

And round 1 goes to the Sox

2008-04-14T21:50:41Z

The first two games of this series proved to be encouraging - even Saturday's game was a very close one, but yesterday was just heart wrenching for us. First off, Phil Hughes showed his rookie status by letting the pressure of the Red Sox rivalry get to him. It was almost painful to watch as he gave up 7 runs over 2 innings (6 of them earned). Even more painful was watching the Red Sox take complete advantage of Jorge's hurt shoulder, after he was forced into the game when Betemit was put in to pinch run for Molina. The Yanks really fought back - and were effective against Matsuzaka who was also not having the best start of his career - but overcoming a 6 run deficit isn't easy.

Not to point fingers - but I have to say that I think the biggest mistake in this series was Joe G. leaving in Moose to pitch to Manny in the 5th on Saturday. Manny has batted against Mike more then any other Red Sox player and knows him like the back of his hand. That first at bat where Ramirez hit the homer, looked to me like Manny knew exactly what Mike was going to throw and was waiting for the right pitch. It's not very often that you see a hitter psych out a pitcher but that seemed to be the case. I thought for sure that Joe would take Moose out in the 5th when he started to look tired - but not the case and once again Manny took advantage of Moose and hit a double that ended up tying things up......and picking up his 3rd RBI of the game.

Not to worry, we have plenty more times to tie things up with Boston. The drama of this match-up has just begun.

Now for more bad news. Apparently we don't know who our catcher is going to be going into the series against Tampa Bay tonight. Molina hurt his hamstring on a slide into home on yesterday's game. Look's like they will move Betemit to the disabled list for pink eye and move up Chad Moeller from Triple-A. Wow, I am having strange deja-vu's from the beginning of last season when we could not seem to stay healthy. Let's hope this isn't a trend that's going to continue much longer.....

I Live For This....

2008-04-11T22:09:09Z

....To steal words from Derek Jeter. You know the season is back in full swing when we have the first Yanks/Sox match-up. Chien-Ming Wang against Clay Buchholz. We all know Buchholz from his no-hitter last winter in what was only his second major league start. Pretty amazing stuff, although his only start this year was not so great - giving up 3 earned runs in 5 IP. Wang was pretty outstanding his last outing and we hope to repeat that performance tonight.

No Jeter tonight still....alittle uncharacteristic of these rivalries but we will make it through. On an ironic side note...... In case you haven't heard, some dirty Boston fan working construction at the new Yankee Stadium put a Red Sox shirt in with the wet cement under what will be the visitors clubhouse. Apparently he was trying to put a curse on us. Good try bro - but watch your back when it ends up putting the curse back on the Sox..........