Daily Archives: July 21, 2010

For the third time in less than two weeks, the Yankees have lost a noteworthy member of their family.  Ralph Houk, their manager from 1961-63, and again from 1966-73, has passed away at the age of 90.

Houk piloted the Yanks to two World Series titles and another AL pennant in his first three seasons at the helm.

Houk also skippered the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox after he left the Yankees.   At the time of his death, he was the oldest surviving manager of a World Series champion.

Our condolences go out to Houk’s family.

(Image: Beckett Media)

On the surface, the game Wednesday afternoon seemed tailor-made for a Yankee victory.  Starting pitcher Javy Vazquez had been on a roll as of late, compiling a 4-2 record in his last eight starts, with a 2.55 ERA and only 32 hits allowed in 53 innings.  He was facing an Angels’ lineup including Kevin Frandsen (on his third team this calendar year) at third and Bobby Wilson (he of the broken ankle suffered in a perhaps unnecessary collision with Mark Teixeira back in April) behind the plate. The Anaheimers were also flying to Texas after the game for the beginning of an important four-game series tomorrow.  So perhaps they could have been looking ahead.

However, Vazquez’s mound opponent, Joel Piniero, had proven to be tough on Yankee batters in the past.  Coming into today’s game, current Yanks had a career line of .249/.312/.411, with only Robinson Cano and Nick Swisher having much success (8-for-13 and 9-for-25, respectively).

Vazquez started out very strong, breezing through the first four innings yielding two singles and a double through a mere 37 pitches.  Meanwhile, the Yanks built a run on two hits and a groundout in the first, and then flexed some muscle in the third.  Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira went single, double, two-RBI single to start the inning.  One out later, Mr. 8-for-13 Cano launched one deep into the Yankee pen, and it was suddenly 5-0.  The Bombers tacked on another in the fourth (Teixiera RBI #27 since June 19), and you thought “this is what the Yanks were supposed to look like all year.”

But then, Vazquez reverted back to the form that frustrated Ozzie Guillen so much during his time in Chitown, inexplicably losing “it” in the 5th and 6th innings.   The first four batters reached base in the fifth, including a two-run homer by career .213 hitter Wilson.  Vazquez was bailed out of further damage by an inexplicable attempted steal of third by Erick Aybar with one out and Bobby Abreu up, down 6-3.   After Aybar was gunned down, Abreu K’ed.

But Vazquez continued to slip slide away in the sixth, allowing a two-run jack to Hideki Matsui.  David Robertson relieved, and managed to dance around two singles and a walk to hold the lead at 6-5.

DH Juan Miranda extended the lead to 7-5 with a solo homer in the 7th.  Later in the inning, with Curtis Granderson and Francisco Cervelli on base, Brett Gardner was ejected for arguing a strike call on an inside corner pitch, so Colin Curtis took over the 0-2 count.  Curtis worked the count from Scot Shields to 3-2, and then lined a wall-scraper homerun over the auxiliary scoreboard in right.  It was Curtis’ first major league dinger . . . and curtain call.

The Yanks survived some Joba Chamberlain unsteadiness in the eighth, yielding a run on two hits, and Mariano Rivera worked a perfect ninth.

10-6 Yanks.

[Photo Credit: Nick Laham, Getty Images]

Doesn’t take much to get me riled-up. Just ask my old pal Rich Lederer, die-hard Angels fan, who had me cursing like a sailor last night as the Angels pounded the Yanks. Eh, I don’t like to disappoint, so I gave him a show. In honor of Sweet Lou announcing his retirement. Yeah, that’s it.

The Yanks and Angels finish their two-game series this afternoon with Mr. Vazquez and Mr. Pineiro on the hill. Pineiro has been terrific for the past two months, and Vazquez hasn’t been too bad himself.

Another scorcher out there today; this one could be a barn-burner. Nevermind the heat, boys…

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

[Picture by Bags]

Apollo and Daphne (Detail), By Gianlorenzo Bernini (1622-25)

What a weird turn the season has taken through the first 91 games, and specifically over the last two weeks. With the passings first of Bob Sheppard and then of George Steinbrenner and news of the fall that landed Yogi Berra in the hospital, a somber mood has befallen the Yankee Family, which includes us.

There’s a lot on my mind — nothing new there — and I wanted to get it as much of it down as I could, not only for my own cathartic reasons, but also for your reading enjoyment.

Here we go …

* The discussion regarding the fifth starter spot was rendered moot very quickly, Phil Hughes, with an improved cutter and curveball and most importantly, and an Eff-You attitude that he took from his eighth-inning role in ’09, took control in Spring Training and never let go. He won 10 of his first 11 decisions and earned an All-Star appearance. Now, with Andy Pettitte on the shelf and AJ Burnett looking like an extra in “Girl Interrupted” — more on this in a bit — Hughes is effectively the Yankees’ No. 3 starter, maybe even No. 2, depending on your opinion of Javier Vazquez. Yes, even though Hughes got roughed-up last night. 

The question with Hughes now becomes how the Brain Trust wants to handle the Phil Rules. He is supposedly on an innings limit (160 innings? 175? What’s the number?). But what will that do to his effectiveness? Skipping starts to curb innings is likely not the best move, as evidenced by the 10-day break between his home starts in June against the Mets and Mariners. The Yankees need him to be effective in September and October, yes, but they have to figure out a way to do this right.

On WFAN Saturday, Steve Phillips, commenting on the Cardinals’ management of prospective NL Rookie of the Year Jaime Garcia, said Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan are not taking chances with Garcia; they’re not allowing him to start the seventh inning when he has a big lead. The Yankees can learn from that with Hughes. Skipping starts, especially as the pennant race heats up, could be devastating to both the Yankees’ chances and to Hughes’s development. Look what happened to the Tigers and Rick Porcello last year. Porcello was skipped several times over August and September as a means of preservation for the stretch run. He pitched well in the one-game playoff against Minnesota, but then this year had a miserable start and was optioned to Toledo in mid-June. He’s back with the team now amid rumors he’ll be packaged in a trade? Do the Yankees want to take that chance with Phil Hughes? Probably not.

(more…)

Things haven’t gone well for the Yankee rotation since Saturday. First A.J. Burnett cut his pitching hand by punching a wall in the clubhouse and has to be removed in the third inning. Then Andy Pettitte went down with a groin injury that will have him out at least a month. Then, Tuesday night, Phil Hughes continued his recent struggles by coughing up six runs on nine hits, two of them homers, and three walks in five-plus innings while striking out just two.

Not that the Yankee offense helped much. After pushing across two first-inning runs again replacement starter Sean O’Sullivan, one of them on a Nick Swisher solo homer, the Yankees made ten straight outs and failed to get another hit, never mind a run, until a two-out Juan Miranda single in the seventh. They never did add to their tally. Meanwhile Jonathan Albaladejo, Chan Ho Park, and Chad Gaudin coughed up four more runs, two of them on a wall-scraping homer to right by old pal Hideki Matsui off Park.

Jorge Posada threw Bobby Abreu out stealing second twice, Miranda and Alex Rodriguez both had two-hits, Rodriguez with a double that was the Yankees’ only extra-base hit other than Swisher’s homer (heck they only had six all night), and Mark Teixeira walked twice and scored the other run. That was the sum total of highlights for the Yankees in a game that was a total team loss. 10-2 Angels.