Daily Archives: February 26, 2009

The Yanks made their home and broadcast debut with a 5-1 win over the Rays this afternoon. They’ve now won their first two spring games by a combined score of 11-2.

Lineup:

L – Johnny Damon (LF)
R – Derek Jeter (SS)
S – Mark Teixeira (1B)
R – Alex Rodriguez (3B)
L – Robinson Cano (2B)
R – Xavier Nady (RF)
S – Jorge Posada (DH)
R – Jose Molina (C)
S – Melky Cabrera (CF)

Subs: Cody Ransom (1B), Angel Berroa (2B), Eduardo Nuñez (SS), Doug Bernier (3B), Francisco Cervelli (C), Shelley Duncan (RF), Brett Gardner (CF), Colin Curtis (LF), Kyle Anson (DH)

Pitchers: Phil Hughes, Phil Coke, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte, J.B. Cox, Mark Melancon, Jonathan Albaladejo

Opposition: Carl Crawford and spare parts

Big Hits:

Jorge Posada (2-for-2) hit the first pitch he saw this spring into the right field bleachers, then hit a 405-foot RBI ground rule double in his next at-bat that likely would have gone out to dead center if not for a strong head wind. Shelley Duncan (1-for-1) crushalated a Calvin Medlock pitch in the seventh, dropping a three-run homer into the pond beyond the left field fence. Together, Posada and Duncan drove in all five Yankee runs.

Who Pitched Well:

Everyone. The seven Yankee pitchers didn’t allow an extra base hit and walked only one man. The one Rays run came off J.B. Cox in the seventh on a pair of infield singles and a stolen base. Phil Hughes issued the one walk and hit two other batters in his two innings, but he wasn’t wild. Both HBPs came when pitches inside and under the hands clipped the jersey of a left-handed batter, and the walk was on a full count. Hughes actually looked to be throwing a lot of strikes (Pete Abe had him throwing 67 percent of 33 pitches for strikes). He used his changeup and curveball, didn’t allow a hit, broke two bats, and struck out two men with fastballs (sitting around 92 miles per hour per the YES gun), one of whom was Carl Crawford, who went down on three pitches.

Nice Plays:

Robinson Cano made a nice ranging play on a hopper far to his left. Mark Teixeira saved a wild throw by Alex Rodriguez and got the out call, though his foot appeared to leave the bag before the catch.

Battles:

Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner both went 0-for-2, but Melky’s two were weak groundouts, while Gardner was robbed of a double in the right field gap in his second trip when the swirling winds blew his hit back toward a diving Ray Sadler in center. Gardner tried to bunt for a hit in his first at-bat, but didn’t get the ball far enough away from home plate and was easily thrown out by former Yankee farmhand Michel Hernandez. Gardner also showed good range in the field. Xavier Nady hit a ground rule double down the right-field line in two at-bats. Phil Coke pitched two scoreless innings, suggesting he might be in the mix for the long-man position, which would be a good solution to that problem. Mark Melancon and Jonathan Albaladejo both pitched perfect innings late in the game. Melancon got two outs on the ground and the third by strikeout, but didn’t look terribly impressive to me, pitching deep into counts and sitting around 90-91 mph with his fastball. Albaladejo got two of three outs on the ground and had a few extra ticks on the gun.

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The Yankees are running out their starters (save the rehabbing Hideki Matsui) for their first home game of the spring today at 1:15 against the Rays. This will also be the first televised Yankee game of the spring. Unfortunately, my laptop died last week and the new one’s still on order, so my traditional liveblog will have to wait until later in the spring schedule.

In the meantime, you can listen to my appearance on Kenrick Thomas’s Real Sports Talk podcast from last night here (I’m the first guest).

Also, with the arrival of the games, we here at the Banter have finally put together some guidelines for commenting on this site. The post below, which will be permanently linked on the sidebar, includes instructions on using HTML codes in your posts, but is also a code of conduct (adapted from that of our longtime colleague Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts).  We ask that everyone, new and old, familiarize themselves with these guidelines so as to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve become accustomed to here at Bronx Banter.

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Apropos of nuthin…the great Lester Young.

As I avidly followed baseball in the early 1980s, some of my favorite ballplayers did not happen to play for the Yankees. One of those players was Billy Sample. He was playing for the Rangers at the time, a team with which I’ve never had any kind of affiliation. Sample wasn’t a star. He was a pretty good ballplayer, though, a speedy defensive left fielder who stole bases, hit for a decent average, and launched an occasional longball. In other words, he was a role player, one who had to overcome the stigma that comes with being five feet, nine inches tall. I’ve always liked role players, in part because they have to struggle—just like us. Little comes easy to them, but they find a way to contribute in tangible and important ways.

One winter day in 1984, I was doing some broadcasting for WHCL, the radio station for Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. As I was preparing my afternoon sports report, I noticed a transaction on the AP wire. It involved the Yankees. They had made a wintertime trade, sending an over-the-hill Toby Harrah to the Rangers—for Billy Sample. Yes!

I immediately began to think of what role Sample might play for the Yankees in 1984. Left field looked like the logical destination, perhaps in a platoon with the elder Ken Griffey. You see, the Yankees collected outfielders in the early 1980s the way that Adrian Monk collects phobias. Only stars played every day in the Yankee outfield back then, Hall of Famers like Dave Winfield and Rickey Henderson. A player like Sample, a complementary role player, appeared destined to platoon in pinstripes.

Even so, a timeshare in left field looked appealing to Sample, who was glad to be out of Texas, a team that had lost 92 games. He also looked forward to playing for a new leader in Yogi Berra, a man with a reputation for being the consummate player’s manager. Unfortunately, no one could have anticipated that Berra would manage the Yankees for a mere 16 games in 1985. An early managerial changeover brought the worst of possible successors for Sample—the fourth pinstriped tenure of Billy Martin.

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Since the games have finally begun (OK … only exhibition, but still) … today’s news is brought to you by someone who decided to videotape a Strat game:

• ESPN recaps A-Rod’s day as part of the Yanks 6-1 Spring Training opener, and offers these tidbits:

The slugger had dinner Tuesday night with former Yankees star Reggie Jackson, now a special adviser with the team.

“I told him to hit the baseball. It’s really an old story. It never really changes,” Jackson said. “Hit the baseball, and hit it like heck. That’s really about all that really matters.”

The Hall of Famer also passed along some words from Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner.

“He said, ‘You deliver this message: Just tell him hit the damn ball and hit it when it counts. That’s really the most important thing that he can do. All the other conversations, they don’t matter. The more you talk, the more you have an opportunity to make a mistake.’ “

[My take: What an interesting contrast and comparison to be had … A-Rod and Mr. October.  Who wouldn’t want to be a fly on the wall for their conversations?]

• Tyler Kepner points out the contributions of Swisher and Gardner in the win.
• MLB.com offers a capsule recap of the game.
• PeteAbe ponders why Igawa is not playing in the WBC, and gets a blunt assessment:

One of the Japanese reporters in Tampa covering Hideki Matsui was asked why Igawa was not considered for the WBC roster. He searched for the right words.

“They think … he is not so good,” the man said.

• PeteAbe also gets some interesting quotes from Reggie regarding A-Rod’s revelations:

“The best answer I can give you is that I was disappointed. I was very lucky to have been a good player. When I started playing I was a fan. When I played I was a fan and when I left the game I am a fan of Derek Jeter, of Alex Rodriguez, of CC Sabathia. I like to be at games, I like to watch the games. … I get affected as a fan. You get saddened.

“I get angry sometimes. I’ve been reprimanded by the commissioner and the president of our team. I’ve pleaded with them to understand that I’m personally affected; I’m personally involved. I’m hurt; I’m bewildered. I don’t know that we ever get past it.”

• The Babe Ruth monument has landed at the new Stadium.

[My take: No truth to the rumor that the Babe’s view of the field is blocked by the center field restaurant.]

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