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The Yankees hit four home runs last night (Matsui, Rodriguez and two more by Jason Giambi), and Randy Johnson pitched reasonalby well before leaving the game with an injury, but the bullpen blew a three-run lead as Vlad G’s grand-slam sunk New York, 6-5. I wasn’t up late enough to catch it. Sounds like it was a real heart-breaker.

According to Bob Klapisch, George Steinbrenner is interested in bringing the legendary Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone to the Bronx next season.

“We’re back in order,” Manager Joe Torre said. “We’re dragging a little bit, but I thought we showed a lot of dogfight in us over the last three games. I’m very proud, but it’s a little bit too early to pat ourselves on the back, because we have a lot of work to do.”
(N.Y. Times)

Aaron Small has a big chin and from the profile looks like the protagonist from the recent animated movie, “The Incredibles.” He’s not fat at all, he’s tall and well-built, but he’s got some kind of jaw. Jason Giambi’s high-school teammate had a decent outing for the Yankees last night, throwing a lot of off-speed pitches and working into the sixth inning. The offense gave him plenty of support as New York beat Texas, 9-4 to remain a half-game behind first place Boston. I liked the headline on the back page of today’s Daily News: “Biggie Small.”

The Rangers’ starter, Joaquin Benoit started off well, striking out the first four batters he faced (he would get Alex Rodriguez on strikes three times in all, and the three-four-and-five batters in the line up would go hitless on the night). Benoit’s stuff looked good early on as he combined a good change-up with a lively fastball. But he left an off-speed pitch over the plate to Jason Giambi in the second, and the Yankee DH lifted a high fly to center field. Gary Matthews Jr lined it up and narrowly missed robbing Giambi of a dinger. I didn’t think it would make it over the fence, but it did and the Yanks were on the board. Before you knew it, Jorge Posada reached out and slapped another hanging off-speed pitch into the upper deck in right field.

Richard Hidalgo answered with a solo home run in the second, but the Yanks came back with two more homers in the fifth, a solo shot by Tino Martinez and a three-run job by Robinson Cano–both off Benoit’s slow stuff. With the Yankees ahead 7-2 (Jason Giambi added another solo dinger), Small walked two men in the bottom of the sixth and was relieved by Tanyon Sturtze, who promplty left a high fastball over the plate. Hidalgo pounded it into right field. One run scored and men were on second and third. Next, Gary Matthews Jr. walked, putting the Yanks in a tight spot. Sturtze got Rod Barajas to pop out for the second out, but then fell behind 3-0 to the lead-off hitter Dave Dellucci. He did manage to get two strikes however, then Dellucci fouled off two more pitches before grounding out to Tino Martinez.

Sturtze recorded two outs in the seventh, but then allowed a single to Hank Blalock and a walk to Alfonso Soriano. Tom Gordon relieved him and got the Yanks out of the inning. A run would score in the eighth when a ball went through Martinez’s legs at first, but Tino hit his second home run of the night in the top of the ninth, and that was that. (Both Martinez and Giambi’s second homers came off lefties.) To cap it off, Rivera overwhelmed the heart of the Texas order in the ninth. Mark Teixeira led-off and swung at two cutters, up and in for strikes, then went down looking at a two-seamer on the outside corner. Blalock took an outside fastball for strike one, fouled off a cutter for strike two, laid off a high fastball, then swung through another high heater for strike three. Soriano took a cutter for a strike, leaned back at a fastball that came up and in, then split his his bat in two on a cutter, and grounded out weakly to second. It was vintage Rivera and the Yanks left Texas with another series win.

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With two less than stellar starting pitchers on the mound tonight, there is a good chance we’ll see plenty of offensive fireworks down in Texas. The Bombers have five games left on their current road trip, and the way we figure it, they’ve got to come home with three more victories, no matter how they get ’em.

I don’t have a gut feeling about tonight’s game, but I do think Giambi and Rodriguez and Cano will be strong. Maybe Jeter will break out of his slump too.

Let’s Go Yan-kees!

In a game that saw Alfonso Soriano Cadillac a double into a single–then hit a homer in his next at bat–and Derek Jeter stretch a single into a double, the Yankees out-bombed the Rangers last night in Arlington, 11-10. It wasn’t pretty: Kevin Brown was knocked around, Bernie Williams made a critical two-run error, and Ruben Sierra injured his hamstring crossing first base in the eighth after his two-run single scored the game-winning run. Tanyon Sturtze and Mariano Rivera provided the relief the Bombers needed to hold off Texas. Jorge Posada hit a three-run dinger and blocked the plate nicely to nail Hank Blalock in the first. The Yanks have pitching problems, and defensive issues in center field, but after the Red Sox lost to the Devil Rays, they are alone in first place this morning.

Sierra will be placed on the disabled list today. Also, according to the Daily News:

The Yanks announced yesterday that [Chien-Ming]Wang has an inflammation and a strain of the right shoulder. The 25-year-old will take part in an exercise program for two weeks and then begin a throwing program in the hopes that the rehab work will allow him to return to the Bombers near the beginning of September.

If Wang doesn’t respond, however, season-ending surgery “may be necessary,” according to a statement from team doctor Stuart Hershon.

Lots of stuff to talk about today, but right now the Yankees are thriving in spite of their many flaws.

“You have what should be a comfortable lead, but you know that it is not going to wind up that way, for some strange reason,” Joe Torre said. “This place, this team, they never stop.
(Newsday)

It was close to a perfect return for Al Leiter last night in Boston as the Yankees beat the Red Sox 5-3, and won the weekend series. Senator Al, wearing number 19 in honor of former teammate Dave Righetti, pitched into the seventh inning, striking out eight, allowing just one run, and walking only three. Leiter was able to throw strikes and he was also able to get the Red Sox to swing at balls that weren’t strikes. Tim Wakefield surrendered five hits to the Yankees, but they all went for extra bases, two doubles and three home runs. Jorge Posada and Gary Sheffield hit two-run dingers, and Alex Rodriguez added a solo shot in the eighth.

The surprisingly brisk game slowed down for some predictable drama in the bottom half of the ninth. Tom Gordon started the inning with New York up 5-1. After getting ahead of Manny Ramirez, Gordon hung a breaking ball that Manny promptly deposited over the Green Monster. Kevin Millar walked and in came Rivera. The first two pitches to Trot Nixon were in the strike zone. The first, a fastball, was taken for a strike; the second, a cutter which was fouled off, was right down Broadway. But then Nixon tapped a grounder to second. Robinson Cano fielded the ball cleanly but could not grip the ball properly and wound up throwing it into left field.

Instead of two men out and nobody on, there was nobody out with men on the corners. Jason Varitek pinch-hit for Mirabelli and lined a single past a diving Tino Martinez, scoring Millar to make the score 5-3. Bill Mueller blooped a single to shallow center (making him 5-11 lifetime versus Rivera) and the bases were loaded. Still nobody out. Joe Torre and the entire infield came to the mound. Rivera told them everything was going to be okay. But he fell behind the ninth-place hitter Alex Cora 2-0, and Fenway started to rock. Talk about a tight spot. But Rivera worked the count even and then Cora hit a ground ball on one hop to Rodriguez at third, who, in turn, fired a bullet home to Posada, who then fired to first to complete the double play. The replays showed that Cora was safe, but it was an excellent play by Rodriguez and Posada. (It was the second close play at first of the game–Jason Giambi had been called out earlier in the game.) Two men out, but the tying run was still on second base. Johnny Damon, who had a poor night against Leiter, but nevertheless extended his hitting streak to 29 games (the team record, held by Dom DiMaggio, is 34), was up. Rivera got him to ground out to Cano, and just like that, the game was over.

“Coming into the second half, these are the guys we wanted,” said Gary Sheffield, who tomahawked a two-run homer in the third off Tim Wakefield (complete-game five-hitter) for a 4-0 Yankee lead. “We got ’em, and we played well when we needed to.”

But, Sheffield added, “I don’t want those guys to wake up. We’re getting out of here just in time.”
(Boston Globe)

It was a big win for the Yankees, who move on to Texas and then Anahiem this week without a day of rest. It’s hard to know how many more performances like this Leiter has in him, but if the Yanks can manage to get another half-dozen or so, they would be ecstatic. Perhaps Leiter could eventually come out of the bullpen as a left-handed specialist. Who knows? But one thing is for sure, his return could not have been finer.

During a rousing 7-4 victory at Fenway this afternoon, the Yankees acquired Al Leiter from the Florida Marlins. Leiter looks as if he might just end his career where it started. I have gone back-and-forth in my appreciation of Leiter over the years, but I generally enjoy watching him pitch. He knows what he’s doing, is animated on the mound, and is a real pro.

The Yankees are desperate for starting pitching. In Leiter they get the kind of cagey veteran they had in El Duque or even David Cone before him. Part of what makes watching him enjoyable–and alternatively agonizing–is knowing that his margain for error is so thin. He might keep the Yanks in the game, but he’ll throw 126 pitches over five innings doing it. The tank is almost empty for Leiter, so what does he–or the Yankees–have to lose? He may be shot, who knows? But I’d gladly take my chances with him over Tim Redding. Look, if the Yankees are going to be successful in the second-half of the season, they’ll need a little of that old bullcrap Pinstriped magic to help them along. It would be a Made-for-YES story if Leiter came in and won a half-a-dozen games.

I’m looking forward to watching him pitch tomorrow night. Welcome back, Al.

Who do the Yankees play this weekend again?

Book Excerpt

A slow day in baseball makes for an ideal time to catch up on some current Yankee literature. So, for your reading pleasure, please enjoy the following cherce selection from Stephen Borelli’s biography of legendary Yankee broadcaster Mel Allen, “How About That! The Life of Mel Allen.” It’s a blast, with or without the Ballantine.

Chapter 9: Yankee Doodle Dandy

When Horace Stoneham needed a new lead Giants broadcaster for the 1949 baseball season, he asked Mel for recommendations. “Russ Hodges,” Mel said. Mel didn’t want to lose his faithful partner, but he thought Hodges deserved a shot at a No. 1 job. Stoneham and Liggett & Myers tobacco scooped up Hodges, who, along with Mel and Barber, serenaded the city of New York with a trio of Southern baseball voices.

The Yankees conducted a national search for Hodges’s replacement, sending out 300 letters to potential candidates. One of them reached Curt Gowdy, a kid announcer for station KOMA in Oklahoma City. Mel listened to a record of Gowdy’s voice, which rolled over the airwaves steadily and harmonically, much like the wind whipped through Gowdy’s home state of Wyoming. Allen and Gowdy met in person at the Yankees’ Fifth Avenue offices in December 1948. “Curt,” Mel said over lunch at Al Schacht’s, “I’d like to have you with me and I’m pretty sure it will work out that way.”

Later that day, general manager George Weiss offered Gowdy the job of assisting Mel with Yankees baseball and All-America Conference football. About as quickly as he accepted the position, Gowdy realized how far he was from Oklahoma. As KOMA’s top announcer for University of Oklahoma football and Texas League baseball, he had broadcast alone. He wasn’t used to bantering back and forth on the air, something Mel liked to do with Hodges. When Gowdy first started working games with Mel, he uncomfortably shook and nodded his head in response to his partner’s questions. “Nobody can see you,” Mel said.

When Gowdy read commercials for Ballantine beer and White Owl cigars, the Yankees’ joint principal sponsors from 1947 through 1955, he sounded stiff and awkward. Meanwhile, Mel was as crisp as that first sip of Ballantine after hard day at the office: “Well, while the fans are out here takin’ that stretch, it’s a mighty good time for you to take a quick trip to the refrigerator for a bottle of Ballantine beer. If you’re listening at your favorite tavern, don’t just say, ‘One up,’ but be sure to ask the man for Ballantine. Enjoy the two B’s, baseball and Ballantine. As you linger over that sparkling glass of Ballantine beer, as you feel it trickling down your throat, you’ll say, ‘Ah, man, this is the life.’ Baseball and Ballantine beer. And while we’re on this pleasant subject, folks, I’d like to remind you that it’s a smart idea to keep plenty of Ballantine on ice at home at all times, to serve at mealtimes, to enjoy during leisure hours, so at your dealer’s be sure to look for the three rings. Ask him for Ballantine beer.”

Mel described a Yankees home run as a “Ballantine blast” or a “White Owl wallop.” He could even work both sponsors into one call: “Folks, that ball was foul by no more than a bottle of Bal-…No, that ball was foul by the ash on a White Owl cigar!”

Between innings, Mel moved swiftly from game to commercial without changing his tone of voice: “Boy, that sure was close—a tough decision for the umpire. But you don’t have a tough decision when it comes to White Owl cigars.”

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Sheff is barking again.

The Yankees finsihed the first half in style, taking three-of-four from an impressive, and likable Indians team. Though Randy Johnson was far from imposing yesterday, he pitched well enough to guide the Yanks to a 9-4 win. The Yankee offense was led once again by Jason Giambi (who hit a long home run–probably right over Cliff Corcoran’s head in the right field bleachers), and Hideki Matsui. Gary Sheffield added a three-run shot in the bottom of the eighth to put the game away, and Mariano Rivera pitched two scoreless innings–retiring all six men that he faced–to earn the save. The Yanks trail the first place Red Sox by two-and-a-half games, and second place Baltimore by just a half game. After the All-Star festivities this week, the Bombers play four up in Fenway, so we know the second half will start with a bang.

I think it’s great that Dan Pasqua is going to be at old Timer’s Day this afternoon. And equally great to think that Cliff and Jay Jaffe are there in the Big House to see it all live. So, here’s the obvious question: who is your favorite Yankee old timer? And, which guy would you most like to see who wasn’t invited this year.

According to Steve Lombardi, Melky Cabrera is being called up to the Bronx and will start tonight against the Indians. Here is what Bryan Smith had to say about Cabrera yesterday over at The Baseball Analysts:

Normally, when one of my favorite prospects receives word of a promotion, I’m ecstatic. But instead the recent Yankees decision to move Melky Cabrera to AAA leaves me confused and worried. This was not someone that dominated AA by any stretch of the imagination, hitting just .267/.310/.413 with the Trenton Thunder. Granted this was a player hitting just .214 on April 26, I don’t believe Melky was showing AAA-caliber play. But, it appears this may be a situation of him proving me wrong and the Yankees right. Since being moved up to Columbus eight games ago, Cabrera is 11/32 with four walks and five extra-base hits, three of them via the home run. The Yankees plan with their young outfielder is anyone’s guess at this point, but with a player as talented as Melky, New York is proving that it’s hard to look wrong.

Melky, meet Coco; Coco, Melky.

After the Yankees pounded the Orioles 12-3 yesterday at the stadium, Randy Johnson told reporters:

“The only thing that separates me and the best pitcher – whoever that may be considered in the game right now – is that he’s been consistent all year long and I haven’t been,” said Johnson (8-6), who allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out eight. “That’s the frustrating thing … is you don’t know what you’re going to get. That’s never been the case.”
(N.Y. Daily News)

It is still hard to figure what the second half will bring for the Bombers. Will they be good enough to hang around and get our hopes up, only to falter in the end, or are they going to make a push and actually make the playoffs?

It was a stunningly gorgeous day in New York yesterday. Today, some of the humidity has returned, and the breeze has been muted. The sky looks milky and hazy. Randy Johnson will pitch on three-days rest this afternoon at the Stadium. Let’s hope the Bombers can build on yesterday’s win.

July 4th brought plenty of fireworks to the Bronx as the Yankees enjoyed one of their most satisfying wins of the season, out-lasting the O’s, 13-8.

I had a really good feeling at the start of the game. Watching the Yankee hitters walk to the plate, they looked like they were fresh out of a video game. Recall how incredulous I was earlier in the season when junk-ballin’ Bruce Chen shut them down. Well, I was not expecting a repeat performance. Derek Jeter led off and tomahawked pitch out-of-the-zone into left for a single. Then dancing around first, he distracted Chen plenty, who proceeded to walk Robinson Cano on five pitches. Cano was very calm, which I found impressive. Then Chen laid an egg, or a what you’d call a room service fastball (?) to Gary Sheffield. Sheff almost jumped out of his uniform, he was so excited, waiting just enough, and with a long, phat, juicy swing, slammed a three run dinger into the left field bleachers.

Alex Rodriguez was next and he hit a wicked line drive down the third base line. Melvin Mora bent his right knee and stuck his left arm across his body. Miraculously, it caught the ball in the webbing of the glove. But the speed was so great, that it could well have knocked Mora’s mitt clean off. Instead, he twirled around, propelled by his left leg, like a dradle, and threw Rodriguez out easily. The play happened in the blink of an eye, and was some kind of Major League moment. Rodriguez can’t seem to buy a hit (a problem that would continue in his next at bat when Jay Gibbons robbed him of an extra-base hit). But Hideki Mastui launched a breaking ball off the facade in right field, and Jason Gaimbi did the same in the next inning. It was a short day for Chen.

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Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui are two of the finalists for the last slot on the American League All Star team. According to the Daily News:

Asked if he were disappointed that he wasn’t already on the team, Jeter said, “Every year, there are people on other teams who are pretty deserving. I’ve been on when others have deserved it. It makes you appreciate the opportunities you do have to go.”

… Said Gary Sheffield: “I don’t know if the Japanese fans count (they do), but if they do, I think (Jeter) is done. He’s got vacation.”

It is an absolutely gorgeous morning here in New York. It might be a bit overcast, but the sun will be out, the humidity is low and there is a nice breeze. Yanks host the O’s at 1:00. Tanyon Sturtze gets the emergency start versus Bruce Chen, who has had the Yankees’ number early this year. (Randy Johnson, pitching on three days rest will go tomorrow.) Enough. Time for some fireworks! I’m ready for the Bomber bats to smack Chen around this afternoon.

Here’s hoping the Bombers make George’s 75th birthday and happy one. And by the way, Happy Birthday Mr. Steinbrenner.

Let’s Go Yan-kees.

Chien-Ming Wang and Nate Robertson both pitched brisk, efficient games today. Wang, starting in place of Carl Pavano, lasted seven innings, while Robertson went the distance; both were helped out by some key double plays. The difference was an RBI single by Gary Sheffield in the fourth inning. The Yankees won 1-0, taking the weekend series and gaining a game on the Red Sox, who lost to the Jays (the Orioles lost too).

Mariano Rivera allowed a double to Ivan Rodriguez to start the ninth, but retired the next three men to earn his 18th save of the year. Rivera’s earned run average is now down to 0.85. Rivera is one of three Yankees who are going to the All-Star Game. Alex Rodriguez will be the starting third baseman while Gary Sheffield made it as a reserve outfielder. Notably, Derek Jeter did not make the team. Fans do have the opportunity to vote in one more player from each league, so perhaps Jeter (or Godzilla Matsui) will make it after all.

The Yankees had six hits through the first four innings last night, but just one run to show for it. Mike Mussina was handling the Tigers well, but in the bottom of the inning, the Tigers struck for four runs, including a three-run shot by Dimitri Young (off a breaking ball).

However, the Yanks managed to slowly come back. In the sixth, with two men out (and Alex Rodriguez, the lead runner having reached on a strikeout/passed ball), Bernie Williams ripped a single to right, scoring two runs and the Yanks were back in it. They tied it in the following inning when Derek Jeter scored on a tomahawk double to left by Gary Sheffield. Both teams had rallys that fizzled in the eighth (Tom Gordon pitched the seventh and eighth for New York). Then the Yanks met their old nemesis Troy Percival, just a grizzly-looking as ever, in the ninth. He might still look mean, but Perival is not nearly as imposing as he was years ago with the Angels.

With one out, Alex Rodriguez slapped a high fastball into right. Magglio Ordonez had to go pretty far to his right to field it, so Rodriguez took a gamble and headed for second, sliding in safely for a double. Hideki Matsui weakly popped out and then Jorge Posada was walked intentionally so that the Tigers could face the pinch-hitter, Tony Womack. Actually, my reaction was that Womack was going to do something good. Percival promptly blazed two fastballs past him, but he couldn’t put him away, as Womack lined a single over the second baseman’s head. Rodriguez scored and the Yanks had the lead. Bernie Williams then stroked a three-run homer deep into the right field bleachers. It was a no-doubt-about-it shot, which got my fat ass off of the couch, yelling and whooping. Final score: Yanks 8, Tigers 4.

It’s always nice to see Percival get tagged, but it is even sweeter to see ol’ man Bernie come through. He had four hits in all for the game. Good for him. We’ve got to cherish these last couple of great Bernie moments while we can, right? Mo went through the Tigers without incident, one-two-three in the ninth, as the Yanks keep pace with the Red Sox and Orioles, who both won as well.

Just a couple of tidbits as the Yankees get set for a weekend series with the Tigers in the Motor City:

1. Gary Sheffield received a two-game suspension for losing his cool last Sunday night against the Mets:

“I think the decision by Bob Watson was absolutely wrong,” Yankees president Randy Levine said. “The entire incident was precipitated by what we know today to be a completely incorrect call and an overreaction by the umpire in ejecting Sheff from the game prematurely.”
(N.Y. Daily News)

Sheffield will appeal the suspension.

2. Mike Stanton and Paul Quantrill are officially out. Wayne Franklin, a left-handed reliever who was released by the Giants in March, has been called up, as has Bubba Crosby.

3. George Steinbrenner turns 75 on Monday. Murray Chass and Mike Lupica both have articles today about why George just ain’t the same anymore.

4. Mike Mussina was scheduled to pitch Wednesday. Battling a stomach virus, he’ll give way to the Big Unit tonight, and pitch tomorrow instead.

5. Big shout out to our pal Steven Goldman and his wife Stephanie on the birth of their second child, a baby boy named Clemens (named after Samuel, not Roger).

Hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. Cliff and I will be in and around the tri-state area watcing the Yanks, so fall through if you like, we’ll be here.