Daily Archives: August 14, 2009

Yanks look to keep on rolling tonight in Seattle. Andy Pettitte, who has been hot, goes for the Yanks. Let’s hope he’s got some more for us.

Dig in. And Let’s Go Yan-Kees.

I’m not sure why, but I’ve given in to the trend and opened a twitter account. I have no idea what will become of it, but I hope to keep it regularly updated with random thoughts, random stats, links to my non-Banter articles, and perhaps the occasional bit of news (though surely someone in comments will beat me to the last). I have a few posts up there already on Sean Black, Alex Rodriguez, and Amani Toomer. If you’re so inclined, follow along.

Today’s news is powered by the memory of a music legend, Mr. Les Paul:

• The “Joba Rules” have some quirks:

Joe Girardi announced Joba Chamberlain will start on Wednesday in Oakland, which will be on seven days’ rest and prevent him from pitching against Boston in next weekend’s series. Girardi also said that come playoff time, the Joba Rules may be waived as it will be “all hands on deck.”

“This is part of the plan, and this is what we have to do because this is not just about the next two months,” Girardi said of the varying degrees of rest between starts. “This is about years and years to come.”

• A couple of choice Q&As from Thursday’s online chat with Steven Goldman at Baseball Prospectus:

Pete (Bronx): If you were Brian Cashman, what would you offer Johnny Damon to re-sign? 2 years for ?? million?

Steven Goldman: It seems like the assumption now is that Damon should be brought back. Given that the Yankees don’t have great alternatives (Austin Jackson’s MLE doesn’t inspire confidence)and the free agent class is not bursting with possibilities, maybe it’s a reasonable assumption. I do worry about Damon being a product of Friendly YS II (or III, really), with only .273/.346/.459 rates on the road and declining defense. Two years would be my upper limit… I really wonder if Damon is going to last long enough to get 3,000 hits and wind up as a totally unexpected HOFer. It could happen.

Jeff P (NYC): Hi Steve, thanks for the chat. What are your thoughts on how Girardi handles the Yanks’ pen? He seems to be excellent strategically (players know and are comfortable with their roles, no one’s overworked, flexible in who has what role) but mediocre tactically (who to bring in to face which batters).

Steven Goldman: I think you’ve nailed it exactly. As I said earlier, in both of his seasons in New York, he’s started with one bullpen and finished with another, and after more than a decade of Joe Torre’s obsessive focus on one or two relievers, as well as blind loyalty to anyone who had been on the roster for more than 15 minutes, it’s been quite refreshing. If Torre were here, we’d still be watching balls hit off of Edwar Ramirez fly over the moon… It’s been so long since I’ve seen a manager who excelled at pen matchups on a regular basis. Who would you rate as tops at that? Scioscia? LaRussa?

(more…)

Despite not having Alex Rodriguez (elbow) or Jorge Posada (finger) in the lineup, everything went right for the Yankees Thursday night. The offense dropped some early runs on Ian Snell, ran up the score as the game progressed, and CC Sabathia held the M’s to three hits over eight innings, allowing just one run on a solo shot inside the left-field foul pole by replacement shortstop Josh Wilson, and striking out ten.

The Yanks got a pair of two-out runs off Snell in the top of the second, but the key sequence of the game came in the top of the third, when they added three more runs over the course of just five pitches. Derek Jeter, who showed no ill-effects of being hit in the right foot by a pitch on Wednesday night, led off with a first-pitch home run over the home bullpen in the left-center gap. Johnny Damon followed by doubling on a 1-0 pitch, and after Mark Teixeira pushed him to third on a first-pitch groundout, Hideki Matsui hit Snell’s next offering into the seats in right-center for a two-run jack, his first of two in the game.

With subs in for Jeter and Damon, Brian Bruney mopped up with a 1-2-3 ninth, sealing the 11-1 win for the Yanks.