Daily Archives: March 6, 2008

The Yankees took the long trip to Sarasota for a game they’d probably rather forget, a 12-8 loss to the Reds that wasn’t nearly that close.

Lineup:

L – Johnny Damon (DH)
R – Jose Molina (C)
L – Bobby Abreu (RF)
L – Jason Giambi (1B)
S – Wilson Betemit (2B)
R – Austin Jackson (LF)
L – Brett Gardner (CF)
R – Chris Woodward (3B)
R – Alberto Gonzalez (SS)

Pitchers: Chien-Ming Wang, Scott Patterson, Kyle Farnsworth, Darrell Rasner, Sean Henn, Dan Giese, Billy Traber, Steven Jackson

Subs: Morgan Ensberg (1B), Bernie Castro (2B), Cody Ransom (SS), Nick Green (3B), Francisco Cervelli (C), Jose Tabata (RF), Justin Christian (CF), Greg Porter (LF), Juan Miranda (DH)

Opposition: The Reds starters minus Brandon Phillips and their ace pitcher Aaron Harang.

Big Hits: A grand slam by Greg Porter off Alexander Smit in his only at-bat. A solo homer by Bobby Abreu (1 for 3), and doubles by Johnny Damon (2 for 3) and Chris Woodward (1 for 3). Hitting ahead of Porter’s salami, Morgan Ensberg (1 for 1) hit a would-be double to center but was held to a single by Jose Tabata’s baserunning.

Who Pitched Well: Scott Patterson, Dan Giese, and Billy Traber were all perfect, Giese and Traber for an inning each, Patterson for an inning and a third. Patterson and Traber each struck out one, Giese got all three outs on the ground. Kyle Farnsworth faced the minimum as Joey Votto, whom he walked, was caught stealing by Molina. He struck out one.

Who Didn’t: Chien-Ming Wang was decimated. He lasted just two-thirds of an inning and gave up six runs on six hits (five singles and a double by NRI second baseman Andy Green) and two walks. The only two outs he got came in the air (one of them a sac fly). Wang later said he was overthrowing and overstriding leaving his sinkers up. After throwing 32 pitches in the game, Wang threw about 20 more in the bullpen while working on correcting what went wrong in the game. Darrell Rasner allowed a single, walked three, and gave up a grand slam to Edwin Encarnacion. He got five of his six outs on the ground, but struck out no one. Sean Henn struck out two in his one inning of work, but also gave up three hits and two runs (though one was unearned). The game officially ended with the hosting Reds up 12-8, but Joe Girardi asked them to play the bottom of the ninth so that Steven Jackson could get an inning of work. Jackson got only one run before allowing four runs and having his manager throw in the towel.

Oopsies: A boot by Woodward and a bad throw by Nick Green.

Tyler Kepner has a piece on Ian Kennedy today in the Times:

Kennedy’s average fastball is probably 89 miles an hour, and what was exceptional in high school — when he teamed with Young on a United States junior national team — is nothing special now.

But Kennedy, who studies the control artist Greg Maddux closely, has extra life on the pitch to make it seem harder.

“You’re going to see 87s and 88s on the radar gun, but the way the hitters react, it’s not like 87 or 88,” [Kennedy’s AA catcher, P.J.] Pilittere said. “He’s got a nice, easy delivery with that late, hard finish on the ball where he really drives through it. Phil Hughes is the same way. He’ll be throwing 91, and you’ll catch it and say, ‘Man, is he throwing 98 today?’ That’s something you can’t really teach.”

This brought to mind an article that Jack Curry did on Greg Maddux back in 2003:

“Why am I so good?” Maddux said, repeating a question. “I think it’s probably because I understand myself as a pitcher, somewhat. I have an idea of what I can and can’t do on the mound. That’s probably the only reason I’ve lasted for the last five or six years.”

…While Maddux’s fastball rarely exceeds 89 miles per hour, it is a pitch he hones extensively and a pitch that enables him to be so masterly. Maddux’s fastball has tremendous movement and he can usually hit a one-inch box from 60 feet 6 inches. Since he controls it like a yo-yo, it enhances the rest of his repertory. Maddux counsels teammates to spend more time controlling their fastballs and less on curveballs or sliders.

“It’s unbelievable the amount of time he puts on perfecting the command of his fastball,” Mazzone said. “It’s his No. 1 priority. In his mind, if you can command your fastball and change speeds, there isn’t a heck of a lot more you have to do.”

…”I think what separates him is he’s so much better at recognizing what the last pitch dictated and gathering information from that than most guys are,” Glavine said. “Most guys say: `I threw a fastball in. Now I’m going to throw this.’ Why? They don’t know. It might not have anything at all to do with the last pitch. I think that’s what he’s good at. Seeing the hitter’s reaction and using that information on the next pitch.”

Horse of a Different Color

Curry, writing in the Times, and Gordon Edes, writing in the Boston Globe, both have stories on Terry Francona and his relationship with Joe Torre and the Yankees today. Edes notes:

For fans inflamed by provincial loyalties, it may be hard to fathom the personal bonds forged in an environment seemingly more suited for enmity than affection. But this winter, the general managers, Theo Epstein and Brian Cashman, made public appearances together, Cashman at Epstein’s charity event in Boston, Epstein at a speaking engagement at a New Jersey university, one that Cashman jokingly likened to an Obama-Clinton debate. The friendship is genuine.

“We’ve known each other and been friendly for a long time,” Epstein said yesterday.

The rivalry is real, but it’s mostly for (and about) the fans. Which is not to say that players on each side don’t want to beat each other, but, with perhaps a few exceptions here and there, I don’t believe the players dislike each other in the same way they did in the Fisk-Munson days.