Daily Archives: May 9, 2005

The Yankees did it again, defeating the Mariners 4-3 behind eight strong innings from Randy Johnson, some clutch hitting by their worst hitters, and yet another Tino Martinez homer to push their current winning streak to three games, their longest of the season.

With last night’s win, the Yankees move past the Mariners and within 1/2 game of the A’s as they slowly claw their way back to respectability in the American League. You can thank the starting pitching for that. Here are the lines of the Yankee starters in their last four games:

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Seattle Mariners

2004 Record: 63-99 (.389)
2004 Pythagorean Record: 69-93 (.426)

Manager: Mike Hargrove
General Manager: Bill Bavasi

Ballpark (2004 park factors): Safeco Field (92/93)

Who’s replacing whom?

Adrian Beltre replaces Edgar Martinez
Richie Sexson replaces John Olerud and Justin Leon
Jeremy Reed replaces Rich Aurilia and Jose Lopez
Wilson Valdez replaces Jolbert Cabrera
Miguel Olivo takes the starting job from Dan Wilson
Bobby Madritsch inherits Freddy Garcia’s starts
Aaron Sele takes over Ron Villone’s starts
Jeff Nelson inherits Mike Myers’ playing time

Current Roster:

1B – Richie Sexson
2B – Bret Boone
SS – Wilson Valdez
3B – Adrian Beltre
C – Miguel Olivo
RF – Ichiro Suzuki
CF – Jeremy Reed
LF – Randy Winn
DH – Raul Ibanez

Bench:

L – Dave Hansen (1B/3B)
R – Willie Bloomquist (UT)
L – Greg Dobbs (3B)
R – Wiki Gonzalez (C)

Rotation:

L – Jamie Moyer
R – Joel Pineiro
R – Ryan Franklin
R – Gil Meche
R – Aaron Sele

Bullpen:

L – Eddie Guardado
R – J.J. Putz
L – Ron Villone
R – Shigetoshi Hasegawa
R – Julio Mateo
L – Matt Thornton
R – Jeff Nelson

60-day DL:

R – Dan Wilson (C)
R – Bucky Jacobsen (1B)
R – Pokey Reese (IF)
R – Rafael Soriano
R – Scott Atchison
L – Travis Blackley

15-day DL:

S – Scott Spezio (1B/3B)
L – Bobby Madritsch

Typical Line-up

L – Ichiro Suzuki (RF)
S – Randy Winn (LF)
R – Adrian Bletre (3B)
R – Richie Sexson (1B)
R – Bret Boone (2B)
L – Raul Ibaniez (DH)
L – Jeremy Reed (CF)
R – Miguel Olivo (C)
R – Wilson Valdez (SS)

Did the Yankees record consecutive shutouts this weekend because of their excellent pitching or the pathetic Oakland offense? Hard to say. Brown and Mussina both had one previous start this season that would indicate that this weekend was not a complete fluke, but surely the A’s ineptitude had something to do with it. How much, however, the Yankees are unlikely to figure out for a while, as they face the A’s again in Oakland this upcoming weekend sandwiched in between home and away series with the even more pathetic Seattle Mariners, who are a game behind the A’s in last place in the West and just 1/2 game better than the Yankees thus far.

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You have to admire Rickey Henderson’s passion for the game. He’ll be back in uniform again this year in the new class-A Golden Baseball League as the left fielder of the San Diego Surf Dawgs. Terry Kennedy will be his manager.

Last summer, I caught Rickey in a Newark Bears game. He lead off the game with a walk, stole second, moved to third on the first out and scored on the second. It was the closest I’ll ever come to watching Shoeless Joe tear up the South Carolina sandlots after being banned from the major leagues.

Fortunately, Cliff has done his usual fine job of recapping a game. Emily and I were also at the stadium, but our seats were so spectacular that is was actually hard to keep perspective on what was happening on the field. The seats my mom scored for us were just up the left field line from the visitor’s dugout, seats 11 and 12, in the front row! I mean, you’ve got to be kidding me, right? One step forward and we’re on the field. Third base coaches Ron Washington and Luis Sojo were close enough to touch, and Eric Chavez and Alex Rodriguez weren’t too far off either.

The seats were memorable, though they would not be my first choice if I could sit anywhere I’d like. Being so close, you lose perspective on the entire field a bit. More than that, you have to be alert on every pitch, in case a foul ball comes zipping your way. The first time Sheffield was up, he rocketed a foul ball over our heads and it scared the bejesus out of me. After that, I literally crouched down each time he came to bat. I didn’t bring my mitt, but we were lucky enough to have a guy sitting next to us who did. To be honest, I was more concerned about Emily than I was about myself. But you really had to be on guard. No keeping score, or drifting off here. We were in the firing line.

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