Monthly Archives: July 2010

By Ed Alstrom

Thanks to you Banterites who responded so nicely to my post! I read all of you every day, and have the utmost respect for all of you. Hell, even the jazz talk is right on point.

I wanted to give you one more Shep nugget to chew on. I mentioned in the post a handwritten poem he had showed me (on his own Yankee stationery), that he had penned after an infamous incident. He showed it to me on the sly, and his real fear about it getting around was that it would ‘get him fired’, so seeing as that’s not an issue now, I’ll take the liberty of issuing this as a ‘Banter Exclusive’.

I don’t think it will get him fired, or me in any trouble (I hope not, anyway), and you all deserve to hear it, Plus, it’s brilliant, concise, and pretty damn funny:

“O, Kevin Brown let his team down
When he fractured his hand on the wall.
Better instead he had fractured his head,
Then it wouldn’t have mattered at all!”

I, too, wish there could be a book of these published. He said he had ‘hundreds’ of them!

Editor’s Note: Bill Madden has a tribute to Sheppard today that includes another poem…Don’t miss it.

Ed Alstrom plays the organ on the weekends at Yankee Stadium.

[Drawing by Larry Roibal]

The Yanks gave the Mariners a whuppin’ today–smushed ’em 8-1–and finished the first half in style, winning another series. They’ve got the best record in baseball at 56-32, just two games ahead of the Rays, and five ahead of the Red Sox.

CC Sabathia was a horse once again and his record stands at 12-3, with a 3.09 ERA. Mark Teixeira drove the Score Truck with four hits, bringing his average to .254, Derek Jeter had a couple of RBI, and Marcus Thames hit a dinger. Yup, a most excellent way to go into the All-Star Break.

Sang it:

[Photo Credit: Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images]

Yanks end the first half of the season with ol’ CC on the hill.

Go, git ’em, boys.

World Cup Final this afternoon…

By Ed Alstrom

Like most of you, I just got the news of Mr. Sheppard’s passing. I didn’t know him for as long as some did, but over the course of only 5 years he had become a dear friend with whom I shared many indelible memories.

And that speaks volumes, I think. You’ll be hearing his praises sung by all for several days, but I too will affirm firsthand that for a man of his stature, who is so revered and so famous, to be as kind and friendly as he was to me from the very beginning is, well, almost beyond belief.

From the day I met him, when he calmed me down before my frantic first game as organist at the Stadium by extending a hand and a big grin and saying ‘Welcome to Yankee Stadium!’ (in the exact same tone of voice and volume he delivered it over the PA before every game!), to the last time I saw him when my wife Maxine and I visited he and Mary at their home on Long Island about 6 months ago, and we talked about seemingly everything but baseball for about three hours… he was quite simply one of the finest and most genuine human beings I’ve ever had the pleasure to come in contact with.

Think about this – why would you call an man routinely by the prefix “Mr.”? Unless it’s a total stranger, usually you are forced to do so because it’s someone who commands ‘respect’ only by intimidation, rank, or force (e.g., the contemptible CEO of the company you work for). Rarely these days do you address a man as “Mr.” all the time because you just flat-out love and respect him so much that it actually feels disrespectful to call him by his first name. And that’s Mr. Sheppard to me. Nobody at the Stadium ever told me I had to address him as ‘Mr. Sheppard’; that’s just what everyone did as a matter of course.

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The great Bob Sheppard passed away this morning. He was 99. It’s safe to say that he helped shape our memories in the Bronx as much as any player ever has.

He lead a wonderful life–my uncle Fred is 80 and had Sheppard as a drama teacher in high school out in Queens–and will be missed.

So, okay, the Yanks’ didn’t hit much last night. Felix Hernandez was tough again, though not as dominant as he’d been against the Yanks in New York (without Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada in the line-up, he wasn’t facing the team’s best). It eventually caught up to the Yanks when Joba Chamberlain coughed-up a slim, 1-0 lead in the eighth. Gave up a grand slam of all things as the Yanks fell, 4-1 to the Mariners. Shame because Javy Vazquez was terrific–he had a no-hitter through six.

According to Ben Shpigel in the Times:

“He’s a human being that’s giving everything he’s got out there, so I don’t get frustrated,” Manager Joe Girardi said. “I still believe in him. He hasn’t been the eighth-inning guy for a year and a half. Most of the times we’ve had the lead, he’s done a good job. Tonight, he struggled.”

Girardi is correct, in a sense: of the 31 times Chamberlain has entered with a lead, only four times has he departed with the score tied or the Yankees trailing. One other time, he left with the lead, but Mariano Rivera allowed three inherited runners to score. The larger problem plaguing Chamberlain and, by extension, the Yankees is his unreliability. After every implosion, he calls it a learning experience, but does not seem to be learning from it or to have an explanation.

“You’ve got to go out and pitch,” Chamberlain said. “That’s the art of pitching. You’re not always going to have your best stuff, you’re not always going to have your best command. That’s the journey we have as pitchers.”

Tough night. It might not be fair (since when does fairness have anything with being a fan?) but every time I think of Joba these days, this is what I hear:

[Photo Credit: AP Photo/John Froschauer]

The Yanks got served but good by Felix Hernandez not too long ago in New York. They’ve got to face the tough Seattle ace again tonight. Here’s hoping they give him a hard time. Nobody likes gettin’ played a piano twice in a row, even if the “King” is some kind of pitcher.

Let’s Go Yank-ees!

[Picture by Bags]

The Yanks erupted for 11 runs in the 3rd inning of the July 3rd game against the Blue Jays.  What was distinctive about this particular outburst was that they failed to score in any other inning.  This got me wondering if there was any record for most runs scored in an inning with no other runs scored by that team in the game.  My record books didn’t have such an entry.  So, I had to crunch the Retrosheet gamelogs myself.

While Retrosheet is missing some linescores from the early history of the National Pastime, I can now say with some reasonable certainty that the Yankees have never scored as many as 11 runs in one inning with no other runs scored during a regulation 9-inning game.

The Yanks did score 11 runs in one inning, with no other runs scored during the regulation nine in a June 26, 1987, 10 inning affair against the Red Sox.  The Sox pummeled Tommy John for eight runs in 1.1 innings, and had a 9-0 lead (with Roger Clemens on the mound) in the bottom of the third, when the Yanks sent 15 men to the plate to take an 11-9 lead.  The Sox tied it up in the fourth, and the score remained that way until Wayne Tolleson singled home Mike Pagilarulo in the 10th for the game-winner off of Calvin Schiraldi.

The Yanks HAVE had 11 runs scored against them, with no other runs scored in regulation, and they still won the game.  On June 3rd, 1933, the Yanks took a 3-0 lead into the top of the 3rd against the Philadelphia A’s, when Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Cochrane and their buddies knocked out starter Don Brennan and then Danny MacFayden.  Fortunately, Walter “Jumbo” Brown came in and threw 6.1 innings of 12-K relief, long enough for the Bombers to tally one in the third and ten in the fifth, for a wild 17-11 victory.

[After original post addendum:  Banter reader calyankee pointed out that on July 2, 1943, the Cleveland Indians scored all 12 of their runs in the fourth inning of a 12-0 whitewash of the Bombers.]

The record for most runs in an inning with zero scored in the rest of the game appears to be 13.  The “lucky 13” occurred on April 13, 2003, when the Phillies sent 16 men to the plate in the top of the 4th against Ryan Dempster,  got only six hits, but also received six unintentional walks (including three with the bases juiced).  The Phils cruised to the 13-1 rout of the Cincinnati Reds.

It’s still warm n muggy in New York but thunderstorms are supposed to cool us off today. Yanks don’t play until late tonight but there are other games on this afternoon, a World Cup match, you know, things.

Hope everyone is having a good Saturday.

[Picture by AB]

On Thursday, the Yankees thought they were going to have to hit against Cliff Lee Friday night. Friday afternoon, they thought they’d be welcoming Lee as a new addition to their rotation. By the time Friday night’s game finally rolled around, neither of those things happened. Instead, Lee was on his way to Texas, and journeyman right-hander David Pauley was on the mound for the M’s.

Pauley did his best Lee impression for five innings, allowing only a Mark Teixeira solo homer in the first and setting down 13 Yankees in a row after Alex Rodriguez’s subsequent single. That streak was broken when Brett Gardner worked a walk to start the sixth and Jose Lopez booted a hard grounder from Derek Jeter to put men on first and second with none out.

That’s where Lee’s absence finally reared it’s head, as Pauley was hooked after just 82 pitches. Former Nationals closer Chad Cordero replaced him and threw gasoline on those little sparks. After Nick Swisher bunted the runners up, Mark Teixeira walked, Alex Rodriguez plated Gardner with a deep sac fly, Robinson Cano cleared the bases with a triple, Jorge Posada walked, and Curtis Granderson singled home Cano.

That made it 5-0 Yankees thanks to a strong outing from Phil Hughes, who said he and Dave Eiland had corrected his arm angle after his last start in which he allowed five runs and three home runs in six innings against the Blue Jays. Hughes protected that early 1-0 lead for five innings then coughed up a lone run in the bottom of the sixth once he had the room to do so. He then held the line there, going seven strong while striking out five and walking no one.

Mark Teixeira added a right-handed home run off Luke French in the ninth for good measure, and David Robertson and Chan Ho Park wrapped up the tidy 6-1 win, a small consolation prize for having lost Lee made all the more satisfying by a strong outing from the Yankee starter who had been struggling most of late as well as the knowledge that Jesus Montero remains a future Yankee.

Cliff Lee was supposed to start for the Mariners tonight. Then he was supposed to sit in the Yankee dugout. Now he’s on a plane for Arlington Texas, where he’ll become the new ace of the Rangers. Keep an eye on SI.com tonight for my trade analysis.

As for tonight’s ballgame, the Yankees do benefit from the downgrade from Lee to David Pauley, who will be the Mariners’ spot-starter, but last year the Yankees faced a similar situation and lost. Clayton Richard was scheduled to start against the Yankees on the day that he was traded to the Padres in the package for Jake Peavy. The Yankees instead faced spot-starter D.J. Carrasco and got whupped. What’s more, the Yankees still have five games left against the Rangers and thus could face Lee twice more during the regular season and potentially in the postseason as well. Not that I feel bad for them. I’m beginning to think they’ll be the frontrunners for the free-agent Lee this winter.

As for Pauley, he’s a 27-year-old righty on his fourth organization making his fifth big-league start and first since 2008, when he was with the Red Sox. That also came against the Yankees and saw Pauley surrender seven runs in 2 2/3 innings. The Yankees hope for more of the same tonight as well as for a strong outing from Phil Hughes, who has allowed five or more runs in three of his last four outings and has a 5.56 ERA over his last nine starts, only four of which were quality starts.

Nick Swisher is the DH tonight. Colin Curtis plays right field and bats eighth.

Luke French is up to take Lee’s spot on the roster and Pauley’s spot in the bullpen.

Oh, and the Yankees still have the best record in baseball and a five-deep rotation.

Update: here’s my Lee analysis

According to Joel Sherman, Cliff Lee is not coming to the Yanks.

Update 5:30pm: Now word is the Rangers have finalized a deal to acquire Lee, reliever Mark Lowe, and cash for 1B Justin Smoak, minor league pitchers Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke, and minor league 2B Matt Lawson.

While we wait on more Cliff Lee news…

New York Movie, By Edward Hopper (1939)

And from Pops…

Just a quick teaser for what’s coming next week, when we cover one of the Wood Man’s greatest periods, the early Orion run: Zelig, Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters and Radio Days.

I was always interested in gangsters and people don’t associate me with that because of their image of me on the screen. They think I’m more intellectual than I am, because I wear glasses and I’m built slightly.

But the truth is I came from the streets of Brooklyn. I’m not educated–I mean I was thrown of college in my freshman year. My father was always, you know, a cab driver or a pool hustler. He ran a pool room. He worked for Albert Anastasia for a while, taking bets at Saratoga. I had always had an interest in and a feeling for that.

I’m not a gangster, but I’m more of that world. I’m more the guy that’s home with a beer in his undershirt watching the Television set, than I am pouring over, you know, the Russian novelists. I mean, I’ve read things over the years to keep up with my dates, but the truth of the matter is my heart has always been at the ballpark.

Woody Allen to Richard Schickel

Say Word, Woody!

[Photo Credit: Eclectic Commons]

It’s been nearly two years to the day that Bobby Murcer left us at the age of 62. I should have accepted this tragedy by now–it should have sunk in by this time–but his passing still stings. It still hurts that Murcer is no longer part of the Yankee broadcast booth, not to mention those wonderful Old-Timers’ Day reunions.

In looking for some consolation as we approach the second anniversary of his death, I can take some solace in his 1980 Topps card. For me, this card provided concrete evidence that Murcer had indeed returned to the organization in 1979, after a six-year layoff from the Bronx. That season became a swirl of disappointment, injuries, tragedy, and melancholy, but the return of Murcer represented at least one positive development.

The good news came on June 26, exactly 11 days after the official trading deadline of June 15. In the midst of an off season with the Cubs, Murcer slipped through waivers in both leagues, allowing the Yankees to acquire him for a minor league pitching prospect named Paul Semall. A lanky right-hander, Semall had won 17 games pitching at Double-A West Haven in 1978, but lacked a bigtime fastball. He was a decent prospect, but hardly a blue chipper. As it turned out, he never pitched in the major leagues, not for the Cubs or anyone else. Still, it wouldn’t have mattered much to me if Semall had become a 15-game winner for the Cubs; I was just thrilled that Murcer had returned to pinstripes, where he belonged.

As seen on his 1980 Topps card, Murcer brought a bit of a different look to his Yankee uniform in comparison to his earlier tenure. He now wore a helmet with a protective flap, having abandoned the old-style flapless helmet that was so common in the 1960s. He also brandished a large shin guard on his right leg, something that he had not worn in his earlier days.

Perhaps the extra equipment was a testament to his advancing age. Murcer was significantly older, at least in terms of baseball years. I didn’t much care that Murcer was now 33 and had already begun the declining stage of his career. He no longer had the power to hit 20-plus home runs a season and could no longer play center field the way that he had done for much of his first tenure in the Bronx. Yet, he still had real value as a role player. I figured that if the Yankees were smart, they would use him as a part-time left-fielder, platoon DH, and pinch-hitter extraordinaire off the bench. Those roles could all be filled in 1980, by which the time the Yankees figured to reload for another run at the American League East.

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Cliff Lee pitches against the Yanks tonight in Seattle. Could he be pitching for the Yankees soon? According to a report by Jon Heyman at SI.com:

The Yankees have intensified talks with the Mariners for star lefthander Cliff Lee, sources confirm.

The discussions appear serious, and one source said it’s “quite possible” a deal will be consummated. The Mariners are said to love Jesus Montero, the Yankees’ 20-year-old catching prospect, and have been asking for him all along. SI.com reported Thusrday that Seattle’s asking price of the Yankees was Montero plus two other prospects.

Over at the New York Post, Joel Sherman writes:

The Knicks didn’t get LeBron James, but the Yankees were on the brink of obtaining Cliff Lee late last night for a package that would include top prospect Jesus Montero, the Post has learned.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman and Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik have been in constant contact over the last week, but it was only last night that the Seattle GM told Yankee officials he wanted to move quickly, possibly before the All-Star break.

The Yanks were not assured of obtaining Lee since other clubs such as the Mets, Twins and Rangers were in talks. But the Yanks were definitely making the strongest move last night, coming from seeming disinterest into the clear front-runner and last night it seemed they were all but certain to obtain the 31-year-old lefty.

Not to be out-scooped, Buster Olney at ESPN adds:

The Seattle Mariners are pushing hard to complete a Cliff Lee deal, and the Yankees could be closing in on a trade for the left-hander — but as of Friday morning, there was no agreement in place, sources say, and it’s possible that another team could step in and make a more aggressive bid.

The Mariners have been talking with the Rays, Twins, Rangers, Reds and other teams, and news that the Yankees were on the verge of getting Lee — first reported by the New York Post — could spur one of the other teams to strengthen their offer.

All along the Yankees have felt as if no other team matches up better than they would with Seattle in a Lee deal, because they are offering Jesus Montero, who figures to have a long and productive career as a hitter regardless of whether he plays catcher or first base.

….Mornin’. LeBron, who?

UPDATE: Nothing done yet. Buster said the Yanks were getting close, then Ken Dawidoff reported the talks his a “snag.” More to come…MLB Trade Rumors has the latest…

UPDATE: Nothing set yet, but here’s the skinny according to Joel Sherman.

[Photo Credit: Rich Lederer]

I’m fairly certain that it’s been twenty years or more since the last time I scored a baseball game, so on Thursday night I printed out a couple blank score sheets, grabbed a clipboard and a pencil, put on the game, and sat on the couch next to my daughter to teach her how to score a game.  Now, I don’t mean to sound like a cranky old man, but you lose something when you follow a game on your cell phone or “watch” via ESPN’s Gamecast.  Sure, it’s convenient and easy, and any statistic you could ever want is only a mouse-click away, but you can never really get a feel for the game.  It turns out there’s no app for that.

So as Alison and I watched the Yankees and Mariners trade zeros through the first few innings, we noticed several things we otherwise wouldn’t have.  First of all, even though Andy Pettitte and Jason Vargas seemed to be matching each other pitch for pitch through the early going, they were actually pitching very different games.  Pettitte was cruising, facing just two over the minimum over five innings, but Vargas was walking a tightrope.

The Yanks put runners on in every inning, but Vargas was able to wiggle out of trouble each time, thanks mainly to a ground-ball-inducing changeup that bothered the right-handed hitters all night long.  (Jeter, Teixeira, and Posada totalled seven ground balls to the left side of the infield.)

Pettitte’s relatively easy first five innings paid dividends in the sixth, when he had to dig deep to avoid disaster.  The frame opened with consecutive singles by the eight and nine hitters, bringing Ichiro to the plate.  Just as I was explaining to my daughter how dangerous the situation was, Ichiro dropped a bunt in front of the mound.  Pettitte scrambled down the hill towards the third base line to field the ball and promptly fired it down the first base line, allowing the first run of the game to score as Josh Wilson scampered home from second base.  (By the way, I’d love it if someone could explain why this run was earned.)  It was Pettitte’s third throwing error in the past month, and he was visibly disgusted.  After the game, he explained: “I just panicked.  It’s terrible.  I just grabbed it and turned and looked over there, and I’m not even focusing on where I need to throw.  I just kinda threw it over there to a group of people… I gotta stop doing that.”  I’d agree.

Down a run with men on second and third and nobody out, Pettitte somehow managed to limit the damage right there.  He convinced Chone Figgins to ground out to third, freezing the runners, then followed an intentional walk by striking out Russell Branyan and José Lopez.  He scolded himself as he walked off the mound, but the reality is that he had just saved the game when he could’ve lost it.

Vargas finally ran out of gas in the eighth, as he walked A-Rod on four pitches and followed that by allowing a single to Robinson Canó.  Brian Sweeney relieved, then promptly uncorked a wild pitch that moved A-Rod to third, from where he’d score as Jorge Posada grounded into a double play, and finally the game was tied at one.

Managing by the book, Don Wakamatsu brought in his closer, Dan Aardsma, to pitch the top of the ninth, but it didn’t turn out the way he hoped.  After fanning Kevin Russo for the first out, Aardsma walked Jeter on four pitches and then gave up a double to All-Star Nick Swisher, who suddenly can’t do anything wrong.  Swashbuckling Swish was four for four on the night with two doubles and a walk, plus a nifty sliding catch in the field.  With the go-ahead run waiting patiently on third and only one out, Teixeira fouled out to the catcher, bringing the game to Alex Rodríguez.

I dwelled on Teixeira’s failure to get that run in as I explained to Alison that it would be much more difficult to get the run in with two outs.  With the optimism of a ten-year-old, she looked down at her scorecard and told me that Alex Rodríguez was up next.  “He hits a lot of home runs, Daddy.”  He didn’t hit a home run this time, just a base hit to right field, but it was good enough to score two runs and pass the game on to Mariano Rivera.  Alison was right; I needn’t have worried.  Oh, and here’s an interesting stat that I don’t believe but can’t possibly verify.  After the game Ken Singleton told us that of the last 18 times the Yankees have scored a tying or go-ahead run in the ninth inning, Alex Rodríguez has been responsible all 18 times.  Believe it or not.

Rivera, of course, worked a hitless ninth inning, saving an Andy Pettitte victory for the 68th time, possibly my favorite statistic ever.  Yankees 3, Mariners 1.

Last week, After Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez became the first pitchers in a decade to toss consecutive complete games against the Yankees, I pointed out the following about their recent performance.

In their last six combined starts, Lee and Hernandez have gone 5-0 with five complete games. In the sixth game, Hernandez allowed just one run in nine innings, but the Mariners lost in 13.

Both pitchers have made one start since then. Lee beat the Tigers, holding them to one run over eight innings, striking out 11 against one walk. Hernandez allowed a whopping two runs in seven innings to the Royals in a game the Mariners’ bullpen blew immediately in the eighth.

The Yankees will have to run the Lee/Hernandez gauntlet again this weekend in the middle two games of a four-game set against the Mariners that will conclude the first half for both teams. That puts the onus on them to make hay against bookend starters Jason Vargas and Ryan Rowland-Smith, the latter of whom held the Yanks to two runs over six innings in the finale of last week’s series only to be out-dueled by CC Sabathia. Rowland-Smith has posted a 4.15 ERA in seven starts since returning to the rotation from a May stint in the bullpen, but he has walked four more men than he has struck out and allowed seven home runs, including one to Robinson Cano, in those seven starts.

Tonight, the Yankees and All-Star Andy Pettitte (10-2, 2.82 ERA) take on Jason Vargas, the former Marlin and Met lefty who came to Seattle in the massive J.J. Putz trade. Vargas, now 27, has proven to be a perfect Mariners pitcher in that he throws strikes (2.3 BB/9) and lets his defense and ballpark take care of the rest. Opponents are hitting .263 on balls in play against Vargas, and the lefty has gone 5-1 with a 2.30 ERA at home (against 1-3, 4.50 on the road), though to his credit he’s also just flat-out nails against lefty batters, holding them to a .173/.204/.288 line this season with 18 strikeouts against just three walks.

Despite Vargas’s dominance of lefthanders, Curtis Granderson starts in center (after sitting to start Wednesday night’s game). Robinson Cano returns to the lineup after a 24-hour Derbyitis bug. Alex Rodriguez will be the DH with Ramiro Peña filling in at third base. Brett Gardner drops to eighth against the lefty, hitting between Gardner and Peña.

Oh, and Nick Swisher won his popularity contest.

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