Daily Archives: March 2, 2007

The Yanks remain undefeated and the Yankee starters remain perfect through four spring innings. The details:

Lineup:

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

Pitchers: Andy Pettitte, Darrell Rasner, Scott Proctor, Chris Britton, Ron Villone, Colter Bean, Kevin Whelan

Subs: Josh Phelps (1B), Alberto Gonzalez (2B), Andy Cannizaro (SS), Chris Basak (3B), Todd Pratt (C), Bronson Sardinha (RF), Brett Gardner (CF), Kevin Thompson (LF), Eric Duncan (PR/DH)

Opposition: The last-place Devil Rays’ starters followed by a full compliment of subs.

Big Hits: Chris Basak’s three-run, eighth-inning homer was responsible for all three Yankee runs. Alberto Gonzalez, subbing at second after subbing at short in the opener, went 2 for 2. Jason Giambi (0 for 1) drew his third walk in four spring plate appearances.

Who Pitched Well: Andy Pettitte pitched two perfect innings, recording one K and three groundouts on 20 pitches (15 strikes). Darrell Rasner followed by allowing just one hit in two shutout innings, recording a K of his own and getting four of his remaining outs on the ground. Colter Bean pitched a perfect eighth inning, striking out one and getting two groundouts. Chris Britton allowed one hit while otherwise matching Bean’s performance.

Who Didn’t: Ron Villone gave up a pair of hits and made a throwing error in his one inning, resulting in the only Devil Ray run. Ironically, he earned the win when Basak homered in the following frame.

Battles: Following strong performances by Jeff Karstens in the intrasquad game and Ross Ohlendorf in the opener, Darrell Rasner turned in one of his own. Wil Nieves and Todd Pratt both went 0 for 2. Josh Phelps went 1 for 2. His hit was creamed off the left-field wall, but ricocheted back so hard that he was held to a single.

Notes: Today’s 1:15 start against the Pirates at home will be WCBS’s first Yankee broadcast of the year. The station just signed a multi-year extension with the Yankees.

By Bruce Markusen

Throughout the year, we’ll be spotlighting a variety of historic baseball cards at Baseball Toaster. Some will feature former Yankees, and most will be from the sixties, seventies, and eighties. We’ll discuss some of the intricacies of the cards–and the players featured on them. We hope you enjoy them.

I started collecting baseball cards in 1972. That was 35 years ago, though it seems more like three and a half. I remember well my first trip to Gillard’s Stationary Store in my hometown of Bronxville, New York. My first card, the one that was on the top of the pack I purchased, featured Dave Cash of the World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates. That seemed to be pretty good luck to me, obtaining the card of an everyday player for the best team in baseball.

It wasn’t until many years later that I happened to pick up another card that turned out to be a favorite of mine, No. 692 in that old Topps set. Back then, Topps issued cards in series, with the high-numbered cards usually released sometime in August. By then, most of us had moved on to collecting football cards for the upcoming NFL season. So I never even saw Curt Blefary’s high-numbered action card that year. I didn’t pick it up until I had started to become a serious collector, buying it for a few dollars from a local baseball card dealer sometime during the 1980s.

Why did I like that Blefary card? First, it was an action card, which was fairly rare back then. In 1972, Topps heralded every one of its action shots by surrounding it with a bold red border, topped off by the words, “In Action,” near the top of the card. Second, I loved the Oakland A’s of that era, the height of Charlie Finley’s green-and-gold dynasty. And third, Blefary was a former Yankee, always my most favored team.

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Yo, I just thought this was too funny:

“I felt kind of sexy up there today and I don’t know why,” [Jason]Giambi said. “I usually look to get hot the last week of the spring.”

[Johnny] Damon built a gym in his Orlando home this past off-season and bulked up to the point he said he came to camp five pounds over the 212-pound reporting date. He has shed four pounds since arriving.

“I wanted to look good with my shirt off,” Damon said of hitting the weights. “My wife still digs me. You have to keep your sexiness at all times.”

I wonder if Tank Pratt ever feels sexy.