Daily Archives: July 20, 2008

Since 2002, the Yankees have the best winning percentage in baseball after the All-Star break, at .638 (240-136, including their 3-0 mark so far in 2008). Maybe it’s because with each passing year, the team gets a little older, and it takes four months to loosen up. Or perhaps by mid-July, the collective group remembers how to shrug off the media distractions (see Rodriguez, Alex), and win ballgames.

Contrary to last year, when the Yankees were 43-43 at the break, the Yankees began post-All-Star play this season five games above .500, with fewer teams to leapfrog in the Wild-Card race. But this year, there seems to be more riding on the last two and a half months of the season from a performance standpoint, with it being the final year of the current incarnation of Yankee Stadium, a 13-year playoff streak to maintain and a new manager trying to place his imprint on the franchise. At least, that’s my interpretation based on the media coverage of the team. Fewer pundits are writing the Yankees off, whereas last year at this time, broadcasters were giddy at the thought of a Yankee-less October.

Some of the stuff is mind-boggling, though. Is consistency too much to ask for? On Sunday morning’s SportsCenter, within 30 seconds of endorsing the Yankees’ Wild Card chances based on their second-half surges, Tim Kurkjian placed Joe Girardi on the “Hot Seat,” because, “He couldn’t think of anyone else” to put there. Huh? Tim Kurkjian, you’re better than that. Without concrete information, how can we take that comment seriously? If nothing has been printed or broadcast about Girardi being fired, don’t arbitrarily put him there during a five-minute filler segment; not unless you want to continue feeding the theory that ESPN has a company policy to hate the Yankees. For what it’s worth, I’d think that in Detroit and Cleveland, Mark Shapiro and Dave Dombrowski are keeping a close eye on Jim Leyland and Eric Wedge.

There is consistency on one level: broadcast teams habitually repeat the same meaningless banter on a game-by-game basis, and espouse the theory that this Yankee team is like the playoff and championship teams that came before it. It’s gone on for years, and it’s wrong. These exchanges add nothing to the broadcast, and they insult the intelligence of the fans who eat, sleep and breathe the team and know better.

Some myths need to be dispelled, and the broadcasters hold the key. I say this because the writers — when not shadowing Star, Globe or the Enquirer for the latest dish on A-Rod and the Queen of Kaballah — are growing savvier in using the Internet(s) as a viable research tool for their stories. More beat members and columnists are scouring cyberspace to create angles and complement their articles with the numerous stat categories at their disposal. How difficult is it to take 10-15 minutes to provide a series of stat lines that could enhance the game and make the broadcasters sound smarter? Who cares if the numbers outline certain deficiencies? Numbers don’t lie, and they reflect the big picture.

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Andy Pettitte pitched a terrific game on Sunday out-dueling Justin Duchscherer at the Stadium as the Yanks completed a three-game sweep with a 2-1 win.

Duchscherer is an interesting-looking guy. He has a gaunt, narrow face with pointy features–he could be a spy in a WWII movie. He is a likable pitcher because he thows junk but has excellent control–he’s thinking out there. He was under-the-weather on Sunday but still went seven innings allowing both runs–one on a sac fly by Alex Rodriguez, the other on a solo homer to Jason Giambi. But he wasn’t as good as Pettitte who was a horse, going eight, allowing a run on four hit and no walks. Pettitte also tied his season-high with nine strikeouts.

The game moved along briskly, a welcome change on a scorching hot day. It took just under two-and-a-half hours to complete. Robinson Cano continued to hit the ball hard. But it ended on a strange note.

With Mariano Rivera on the mound and one out in the ninth, Ryan Sweeney on first, Bobby Crosby lofted a fly ball to right field. Bobby Abreu camped under the ball, and at the last moment held up his hands, like Count Dracula meeting the morning light. The ball landed in Abreu’s glove and then popped out. He picked it up and launched the ball over second base where Ryan Sweeney was a sure out. Fortunately for the Yanks, Rodriguez snagged Abreu’s wild throw and flipped the ball to Derek Jeter who side-stepped his way to the bag just as Sweeney arrived. The Yankees got the call and the second out.

Rajai Davis replaced Crosby as a pinch-runner and was thrown out trying to steal second to end the game. Jose Molina was hit with the bases loaded to win Saturday’s game and he throws out a runner to end Sunday’s game.

That’s twice as nice.

 Question:

Answer: A sweep would be nice.  Tough to do, but still, nice.

Hey, they don’t need to be pretty to count, right? The Yankees left 7436 men in scoring position on Saturday while their pitching staff whiffed 632 A’s. A long, frustrating day in the heat at Yankee Stadium.  And it all came down to Jose Molina batting with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning.

Molina entered the game as a defensive replacement for Jorge Posada who allowed two stolen bases in the ninth  (Rivera was at much at fault for the swipes but Posada’s arm has nevertheless become a liability).  Lenny DiNardo, Oakland’s side-arming lefty almost hit Molina with the second pitch of the at bat. A few pitches later, another slider got away from him inside, Molina froze, then carefully leaned his right knee into the ball, which grazed him, allowing the winning run to score.

“José did a good job of letting the ball hit his leg,” [manager, Joe] Girardi said.

Yanks 4, A’s 3.

"I was never so happy to see someone get hit," Derek Jeter told reporters after the game.

As one of the Banterites mentioned, it was a "fitting end to a maddening day." A day, incidentally, where David Cone, the YES analyst, invented a new word–"Variates." As in "He does a good good of variating his pitches." A pitcher doesn’t vary his pitches, he "variates" them. I guess Coney is really becoming an analyst after all!

Mariano Rivera gave up a run in the ninth and Huston Street blew the save in the bottom of the inning. Robinson Cano had a terrific day, collecting four hits. He’s hitting the ball squarely now, a good sign for sure.  And the much-maligned Wilson Betemit got the game-tying hit against Street, lofting a single to left on an 0-2 pitch.  Joba Chamberlain had another solid start too.  Man, has it ever been fun watching this kid–first as a reliever, now as a starter, or what?

Gunna be another warm one today.  Dude, it’s roasting right now.