Daily Archives: March 1, 2007

Using my standard spring format, which I hope to apply to all of the Yankees spring training games this March, here’s the recap of today’s opener. Check out the previous post for the liveblog blow-by-blow.

Lineup

L – Johnny Damon (CF)
R – Derek Jeter (SS)
L – Jason Giambi (DH)
R – Alex Rodriguez (3B)
L – Hideki Matsui (LF)
S – Jorge Posada (C)
L – Robinson Cano (2B)
S – Melky Cabrera (RF)
L – Doug Mientkiewicz (1B)

(according to Jim Baumbach, class clown Johnny Damon looked at the lineup and cracked “are we even trying?”)

Pitchers: Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes, T.J. Beam, Ross Ohlendorf, Luis Vizcaino, Mike Myers, Jose Veras

Subs: Josh Phelps (1B), Miguel Cairo (2B), Alberto Gonzalez (SS), Marcos Vechionacci (3B), Raul Chavez (C), Kevin Thompson (RF), Brett Gardner (CF), Kevin Reese (LF), Jose Tabata (PR/DH)

Opposition: The reigning AL Central Champions B-squad, just two notable hitters (Morneau, Cuddyer), and no quality major league pitchers.

Big Hits: Homers by Giambi (a two-run shot, 1 for 1, 2 BB) and Damon (leading off the game, 1 for 3, K), a bases-loaded RBI single by Posada (1 for 1, BB)

Who Pitched Well: Wang retired all six batters he faced, five on ground balls, and needed just 19 pitches to do it. Only ten of those pitches were strikes, however, and both he and Posada said after the game that he was wild up in the zone. He gets better? Ohlendorf looked sharp in his two innings, pitching around a pair of singles, one a well-placed grounder, the other a blooped jam shot over second. Four of Ohlendorf’s six outs came on the ground and one was an infield popup. Joe Torre enthusiastically described him as “real polished” after the game. Vizcaino, Myers, and Veras also looked good against the Twins’ subs.

Who Didn’t: Golden Boy Phil Hughes was anxious, overstriding by his own admission, and likely overthrowing. His laser-guided control deserted him and his lethal curve either hung or missed wildly. He used up his 33 pitches in 1 1/3 innings walking two, allowing a double to Michael Cuddyer, and throwing a wild pitch that moved Cuddyer to third, from which he scored after Hughes’ departure. Hughes did get the reigning AL MVP to take a perfectly placed strike three to end his outing. Hardly a disaster by any stretch, but a disappointment given both the hype and what I’ve seen of Hughes with my own eyes in the past. T.J. Beam allowed that one run to score in the process of allowing as many baserunners as outs recorded.

Ouchies: Carl Pavano had a successful bullpen, reported no problems with his bruised foot, and will make his scheduled start on Sunday. Raul Chavez, all the way back from his broken hand, played half of the game behind the plate. He and Giambi, who had off-season wrist surjery, appear to be 100 percent.

Battles: Hughes made a case for starting the year in triple-A by showing some butterflies on the mound. Ohlendorf has injected himself into the emergency-starter picture along with Rasner and Karstens. Chavez was the only backup catcher to see action and went 1 for 3 with a single and a K. In the field he showed off his arm by throwing behind Twins’ lead-off man Denard Span and almost picking him off. Josh Phelps walked in his only at-bat and got the job done in the field. Andy Phillips, meanwhile, has left the team to be with his mother who was in a serious car accident. Last year Phillips’ wife was undergoing chemotherapy during spring training. His wife is doing well. Here’s hoping we can soon say the same about his mother.

One of the joys of baseball is the way it works its way into your life, be it the daily routine of watching the ballgame after work or on a lazy weekend afternoon, the seasonal shift from fresh, optimistic Aprils, to the brutal dog days of August, to the crisp, suspense-filled pennant races and playoffs of September and October, or the annual renewal that comes around each spring. As I begin my fourth full season blogging the Yankees, I’ve found that similar patterns have emerged in my work. Each spring there are two posts I look forward to with particular enthusiasm. The first is my breakdown of Yankee campers (2004: NRIs and 40-man, 2005, 2006, 2007). The second is my live blog of the first spring training game. In 2004 I actually blogged the third spring game due to the YES Network’s broadcast schedule (running upstairs to my desktop between innings to do so). In 2005 I blogged MLB.TV’s free-broadcast during a slow day at work in what proved to be the penultimate post on my Big Red Blog. Last year I was reduced to blogging YES’s 7pm replay of the spring’s opening game, though thankfully with convenience of a laptop.

This year, however, I’m doing this in style. I’ve taken the day off and am home with my laptop and DVR humming, a two-liter of Coke and a one-pound bag of Bauchman’s sourdough “nutzel” bites at the ready, prepared to transmit as much of the action as time and my fingers will allow. All updates will appear in this post (I’m currently updating after each plate appearance at minimum). With that, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present 2007 New York Yankees baseball!

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When I was growing up, my grandparent’s lived on 81st street, directly across from The Museum of Natural History. Their apartment served as a homebase for my father at various times, and I was often dispatched to Zabars, the specialty food shop, just a few blocks away on Broadway. I was usually asked to get the same thing: a beef salami and a seeded rye, sliced (must be seeded, must be sliced, I learned the hard way). The salamis hung above the meat counter and you had to take a number before being served.

One time, when my twin sister Sam and I were 12 or 13, we were standing on line facing the counter, when we heard two excited voices from behind us. They were discussing all of the treats behind the glass counter. In a nifty bit of timing, we both turned our heads around slowly, and who should we see but Danny Devito and Rea Pearlman. I think we may have had an inch on them, but we were essentially looking at them eye-to-eye. Just as our heads were completely turned, facing them, they stopped talking, looked up at us, and gave us a big smiled. They waved, which was comic because they were standing about two feet away. We turned our heads slowly back around, looked at each other and shrugged.

Zabars is still around of course (it practically takes up the entire block now). I stopped in earlier this week and was nearly floored when I got to the deli counter and found that there were no salamis hanging above it anymore. It made me think of my father. They still sell beef salami, but it just isn’t the same. Such is life in the big city. But I did feel better–at least somewhat comforted–after reading Alex Witchel’s piece in The Times yesterday. Hey, I’m thankful that Zabars is still here–and it’s not likely to go anywhere for at least a minute.