Blog Archives

Hidden behing the excitement of Alex Rodriguez’s 10-RBI night and the Yankees 12-4 victory over the Angels last night was another strong seven innings from Carl “Meat” Pavano. Tossing out his two starts against the Orioles–the first in which he was beaned with a comebacker and the second in which he imploded in the sixth after five strong innings–Pavano has posted a 2.53 ERA in three starts, averaging seven innings in each and allowing a total of just three walks and one home run. His K/BB ratio in those three starts is 4:1 and his K/BB ratio over the season, his two Oriole starts included, is better than 3:1.

Meanwhile, Randy Johnson, in five starts as a Yankee, has a 0.96 WHIP, a .211 opponent’s batting average, 8.91 K/9, 1.57 BB/9 and 5 2/3 times as may strikeouts as walks. Amazingly, all of those season stats are worse than his final numbers from 2004. In his last three starts he has a staggering 8:1 K/BB ratio. He’s just getting up to speed.

With Meat and the Big Unit forming an impressive top two in the Yankee rotation, it sure would be nice to get something Mussina-like out of Moose tonight against the Angels. That may be wishful thinking–a vintage Mussina performance is increasingly looking about as likely as a vintage Bernie Williams performance–but if he can at the very least replicate what Pavano’s dishing out (one hit per inning, excellent control, going deep into games), the Yankee rotation could really begin to take shape. Replacing Jaret Wright with Tiger Wang could also be a big part of that as a strong performance from Wang could force Wright and Brown to battle for the fifth spot.

(more…)

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

2004 Record: 92-70 (.568)
2004 Pythagorean Record: 91-71 (.562)

Manager: Mike Scioscia
General Manager: Bill Stoneman

Ballpark (2004 park factors): Angel Stadium (99/99)

Who’s replacing whom?

Steve Finley replaces Jose Guillen
Orlando Cabrera replaces David Eckstein
Dallas McPherson replaces Troy Glaus
Juan Rivera replaces Tim Salmon (injured)
Lou Merloni replaces Casey Kotchman (minors)
Maicer Izturis replaces Shane Halter and Alfredo Amezaga
Paul Byrd replaces Aaron Sele
Esteban Yan replaces Troy Percival
Jake Woods replaces Ramon Ortiz

Current Roster:

1B – Darin Erstad
2B – Chone Figgins
SS – Orlando Cabrera
3B – Dallas McPherson
C – Jose Molina
RF – Vladimir Guerrero
CF – Steve Finley
LF – Garret Anderson
DH – Jeff DaVanon

Bench:

R – Juan Rivera (OF)
S – Maicer Izturis (IF)
R – Robb Quinlan (IF)
R – Lou Merloni (IF)
R – Josh Paul (C)

Rotation:

R – Kelvim Escobar
R – Bartolo Colon
L – Jarrod Washburn
R – John Lackey
R – Paul Byrd

Bullpen:

R – Francisco Rodriguez
R – Brendan Donnelly
R – Scot Shields
R – Kevin Gregg
R – Esteban Yan
L – Jake Woods

DL:

R – Tim Salmon (OF) (60-day)
L – Adam Kennedy (2B)
R – Bengie Molina (C)
R – Matt Hensley
R – Bret Prinz

Typical Line-up

L – Darin Erstad (1B)
S – Jeff DaVanon (DH)
R – Vladimir Guerrero (RF)
L – Garret Anderson (LF)
L – Steve Finley (CF)
R – Orlando Cabrera (SS)
L – Dallas McPherson (3B)
R – Jose Molina (C)
S – Chone Figgins (2B)

A curious observation about current trends in roster construction: as I continue to rail against the Yankees carrying too many pitchers (though I must admit, I haven’t figured out whom they should get rid of), the Angels are the first team the Yankees will play this year that is not carrying twelve pitchers. Every team in the AL East as well as the departing Rangers are carting around 12 hurlers and a four-man bench.

Anyway, Vlad is as Vlad does, but other than a solid performance from Orlando Cabrera and a hot streak from Bengie Molina before he landed on the DL with a quadricep injury, no one is hitting. Things are looking much better on the other side of the ball, however, where Kelvim Escobar returned from the DL (sprained elbow) with six scoreless innings on Sunday and the bullpen has posted a 2.30 ERA. Bartolo Colon, who goes tonight against Carl Pavano, has earned his ace tag thus far with a 2.60 ERA, dominating in his last two starts. It seems likely that Meat will have to keep those Halo bats silent to keep the Yankees in the game tonight, while the Bombers would be well advised to get on the board early.

(more…)

Ever since leaving the ballpark on Sunday afternoon, I’ve been racking my brain to come up with something to say about Andy Phillips racking up four RBIs and six total bases in his first start of the year and the first Yankee Stadium start of his career, but I’ve got nothing. I’ve said it all already. The man can hit. He should be a permanent part of the Yankees’ 25-man roster and deserves the opportunity to establish himself in a platoon or even a starting role at first or second base. What happened Sunday was that the rest of the Yankee universe began to notice.

To his credit, Joe Torre may actually have been ahead of the curve. Torre was the man responsible for recalling Phillips when Ruben Sierra went down with a torn bicep, recognizing that Sierra’s only contribution to the team was at the plate and that Phillips is, above all else (and all others), a hitter. Torre then reacted to the two dismal losses that began the current homestand by inserting Phillips into Sunday’s starting lineup in place of left-handed fan favorite Tino Martinez despite the fact that the Rangers were starting a righty. Phillips then delivered with an RBI double in his first at bat and a three-run homer in his last. The home run earned him a curtain call from the Yankee Stadium crowd and, after the game, Joe Torre said, “he showed that we want to see him a little bit more.” Tom Singer of MLB.com went as far as to call Torre “a devotee of Phillips.” I hope he’s right.

(more…)

This is getting ridiculous. I think we all expected Kevin Brown and Jaret Wright to take their lumps against the Rangers’ young power bats, but to have the Yankee offense manage just five runs over two games against rookie Chris Young and notorious free agent disaster Chan Ho Park is difficult to take. Actually (and even worse), just two of those five runs came against the two Texas starters, the other three coming against the Ranger bullpen.

On Friday night the Yankees failed to score despite getting their leadoff hitter on base in the first, second, and sixth innings. In the fifth, Luis Sojo again windmilled Tony Womack home with two outs only to watch him get thrown out by several strides. In the eighth, the Yanks couldn’t get a runner home from second with one out. Save for a Hideki Matsui double in the fourth (which drove home Gary Sheffield who reached on a leadoff walk), the offense wasn’t able to break through until the ninth inning, when three pinch hitters–Rey Sanchez, Andy Phillips!, and Jorge Posada (John Flaherty got the start with Brown on the mound)–combined to produce two one-out runs (Sanchez singled, Phillips reached on an error after chopping the ball in front of the plate, and Jorge doubled them home). But by then it was too late, as Kevin Brown repeated the formula of his first start by allowing four runs in the first and another in the third before he and the bullpen (Stanton and Quantrill on this night) shut the Rangers down the rest of the way.

Yesterday, the Yankees again got the leadoff hitter on in the first inning (Derek Jeter’s on-base percentage is .471 and he’s on pace to walk a career high 144 times), but failed to bring him home. In five different innings the Yankees didn’t get a man on base until after the second out, scoring that man only once (in the third, a Bernie two-out double followed by a Sheffield RBI single). Alex Rodriguez reached third with two outs in the sixth, but was stranded when Posada struck out to end the inning.

Again, the Yankees finally broke through with pinch-hitters after the game was essentially out of hand. Down 10-1 in the eighth (six runs off Jaret Wright, two each off Steve Karsay and Felix Rodriguez), Torre began pulling his starters. Bubba Crosby singled for Sheffield, Matsui walked, Rodriguez moved them over via a groundout and Giambi got Crosby home via another. Almanzar then walked Posada and Buck Showalter brought in lefty Ron Mahay to pitch to Tino Martinez, prompting Torre to give Andy Phillips his second pinch-hit at-bat in as many games. With runners on the corners, Phillips blasted Mahay’s first pitch into the gap in left, but Kevin Mench was able to chase it down, nabbing the ball in the top of the webbing of his glove as he charged toward the warning track. The Yanks stranded another two-out baserunner in the ninth.

Of course the big story was the pitching.

(more…)

Texas Rangers

2004 Record: 89-73 (.549)
2004 Pythagorean Record: 87-75 (.537)

Manager: Buck Showalter
General Manager: John Hart

Ballpark (2004 park factors): Ameriquest Field (111/109)

Who’s replacing whom?

Richard Hidalgo replaces Eric Young and Brian Jordan
Greg Colbrunn replaces Brad Fullmer
Mark DeRosa replaces Herb Perry
Sandy Alomar Jr. replaces Geral Laird (minors)
Chris Young inherits the starts of Joaquin Benoit and R.A. Dickey (DL/bullpen)
Pedro Astacio replaces John Wasdin and various failed experiements
Matt Riley replaces Jay Powell and Jeff Nelson

Current Roster:

1B – Mark Teixeira
2B – Alfonso Soriano
SS – Michael Young
3B – Hank Blalock
C – Rod Barajas
RF – Richard Hidalgo
CF – Laynce Nix
LF – Kevin Mench
DH – David Dellucci

Bench:

S – Gary Matthews Jr. (OF)
R – Mark DeRosa (IF)
R – Sandy Alomar Jr. (C)
R – Chad Allen (OF)

Rotation:

R – Ryan Drese
L – Kenny Rogers
R – Chris Young
R – Chan Ho Park
R – Pedro Astacio

Bullpen:

R – Francisco Cordero
R – Carlos Almanzar
L – Brian Shouse
L – Ron Mahay
R – Doug Brocail
L – Matt Riley
R – Nick Regilio

DL:

R – Greg Colbrunn (1B)
R – Frank Francisco
R – Erasmo Ramirez
R – Joaquin Benoit
R – R.A. Dickey
R – Ryan Bukvich

Typical Line-up

R – Alfonso Soriano (2B)
L – Hank Blalock (3B)
R – Michael Young (SS)
S – Mark Teixeira (1B)
L – David Dellucci (DH)
R – Richard Hidalgo (RF)
R – Kevin Mench (LF)
L – Laynce Nix (CF)
R – Rod Barajas (C)

Wednesday night’s 11-2 victory behind Meat Pavano’s best Yankee outing was nice, but last night’s 4-3 victory, which required clutch hits, manufactured runs, tight defense and, above all else, an unyielding bullpen, was the sort of victory that really could turn this team around.

The one disappointing aspect of last night’s game was that Mike Mussina is still pitching like the rapidly aging veteran of April through August of last year rather than the days-of-old ace of September. Through the first four innings he alternated pitching out of jams (the worst a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third which he ended by turning a comebacker into a rapid-fire 1-2-3 double play) and setting the side down in order (which he actually only did once, requiring a double play to keep it to three batters in the fourth). In the fifth he gave up five singles, which lead to three Blue Jay runs. Then in the sixth he gave up a single and a walk to the first two batters, got the first out via a sac bunt, and was pulled from the game by Joe Torre, who could have yanked him an inning earlier without argument from me.

The Yankee bats, meanwhile, were silent through three, the only baserunners being Rey Sanchez (starting for Womack against a lefty) who was hit by a pitch and Alex Rodriguez, who walked in the second only to get picked off, yet another unnecessary out on the bases.

The opposing starter was Gustavo Chacin (prounounced SHA-seen), who had intrigued me as he had pitched seven strong innings in the Bronx last September to beat the Yankees his major league debut and entered last night’s game with a 1.42 ERA and a 3-0 record in three starts. Chacin is an interesting cat to watch. A lefty from Venezuela, he makes an odd pause prior to his delivery. He also wears Oakleys on the mound, but unlike the prescription lenses of Eric Gagne or Francisco Rodriguez, Chacin’s are tinted and hide his eyes. Chacin also has a strangely drawn mouth with thin, rather bluish lips that turn down at the corners at sharp angles. Combined with the shades, his poor complexion, and the Blue Jays’ gray caps, this gives him a creepy, robotic look. It’s as if he were some sort of evil android from the future. (Strangest of all, he wore the shades for his MLB mugshot. Maybe he really is a robot from the future!)

(more…)

That’s it. I’m fed up. Maybe I’m a couple of days late, but as Alex will tell you, I tend to be both level-headed and optimistic when it comes to my favorite ballclub. Still, after attending last night’s 6-2 loss to the Devil Rays, I want my $5 (actually $13 and change thanks to Ticketmaster) back and an apology, not from the Boss or the skipper, but from the team.

The Yankees have now completed five series on the young season and won just five games. They are tied with the Devil Rays and Royals for the worst record in the American League, and have not recorded consecutive wins since the first two games of the season (which had an off day between them).

On the whole, the problem remains the pitching, the Yankees have the third worst ERA in the majors (only the D-Rays and Rockies are worse, and that’s according to the stats before last night’s 6-2 loss to the Rays). Their team ERA (prior to last night’s game) was 5.65, but they’ve allowed a staggering 6.5 runs per game (including last night) thanks to some very costly errors and their pitchers’ inability to pitch around them.

Last night, despite a noble effort from Randy Johnson, was the 2005 Yankees at their worst. Worse even, in my opinion, than Saturday’s brutal 7-6 loss in a game they lead 6-2 in the seventh inning.

(more…)

Walk. Homer. Double. Ground out. Single. Single. Single. Single. Single. Single. Double. Walk. Single. Grand Slam. Ground out. Walk. Fly out.

17 batters, 59 pitches, 11 hits, 3 walks, 13 runs.

That’s what the Yankees did in the bottom of the second inning last night, not only getting off the schnide, but doing so with a historic offensive outburst. The Yankees 13-run second inning tied the record for the most runs scored in the second inning of a game (accomplished four other times, just once before in the AL), fell one short of the franchise record for runs in any single inning (14 on 7/6/20 in Wash), and was the most ever scored in one inning by the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees have scored 13 runs in one inning just three times, including last night, the most recent coming on June 21, 1945 in Boston.

(more…)

Tampa Bay Devil Rays

2004 Record: 70-91 (.435)
2004 Pythagorean Record: 68-93 (.422)

Manager: Lou Piniella
General Manager: Chuck LaMar

Ballpark (2004 park factors): Tropicana Field (96/96)

Who’s replacing whom?

Travis Lee replaces Tino Martinez
Josh Phelps replaces Jose Cruz Jr.
Jorge Cantu inherits playing time from Rey Sanchez
Alex S. Gonzalez replaces Geoff Blum
Nick Green replaces B.J. Upton (minors)
Alex Sanchez replaces half a season of Rocco Baldelli
Eduardo Perez inherits playing time from Robert Fick
Charles Johnson replaces Brook Fordyce
Chris Singleton replaces Damian Rolls
Scott Kazmir inherits Victor Zambrano’s starts
Hideo Nomo replaces John Halama
Seth McClung replaces Jorge Sosa
Casey Fossum replaces Jeremy Gonzalez, Paul Abbott and Chad Gaudin

Current Roster:

1B – Travis Lee
2B – Jorge Cantu
SS – Julio Lugo
3B – Alex S. Gonzalez
C – Toby Hall
RF – Aubrey Huff
CF – Alex Sanchez
LF – Carl Crawford
DH – Josh Phelps

Bench:

R – Eduardo Perez (corners)
R – Nick Green (IF)
R – Charles Johnson (C)
L – Chris Singleton (OF)

Rotation:

R – Dewon Brazelton
L – Scott Kazmir
R – Rob Bell
L – Mark Hendrickson
R – Hideo Nomo

Bullpen:

R – Danys Baez
R – Lance Carter
R – Travis Harper
L – Trever Miller
L – Casey Fossom
R – Seth McClung
R – Doug Waechter

DL:

R – Rocco Baldelli (OF)
R – Jesus Colome
R – Kevin Cash (C)
R – Franklin Nunez

Typical Line-up

L – Carl Crawford (LF)
R – Julio Lugo (SS)
L – Alex Sanchez (CF)
L – Aubrey Huff (RF)
R – Josh Phelps (DH)
L – Travis Lee (1B)
R – Jorge Cantu (2B)
R – Toby Hall (C)
R – Alex Gonzalez (3B)

[commentary to come]

Enough is enough. I am bitterly disappointed, as I’m sure all Yankee fans are, by the lack of performance by our team. It is unbelievable to me that the highest-paid team in baseball would start the season in such a deep funk. They are not playing like true Yankees. They have the talent to win and they are not winning. I expect Joe Torre, his complete coaching staff and the team to turn this around.

The above words were issued by George Steinbrenner immediately after today’s 8-4 Yankee loss to the Orioles dropped his team to 4-8 on the season, their .333 winning percentage better than only the triple-A squad in Colorado and equal to that of Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Tampa Bay, three teams with a combined 3 winning seasons since 1992 (all by the Royals).

The Yankees 4-8 record is their worst this “late” in the season since 1991, Stump Merrill’s last season as Yankee manager, when the team opened 4-8 and finished fifth in the east at 71-91.

After this afternoon’s loss, Joe Torre held a closed-door team meeting. The panic button has been pressed. The shit has hit the fan(s). So what’s gone wrong? I have no idea.

(more…)

The Yanks kick off a three-game series in Baltmore tonight at 7:35 as Carl Pavano makes his first start since taking Melvin Mora line-drive off his right temple. Sunday, Kevin Brown is expected to return from the DL to make his 2005 debut against Daniel Cabrera. Brown’s return will, in all likelihood, return Andy Phillips to Columbus. Phillips remains the only Yankee hitter without a plate appearance, thus the Yankees have wasted this opportunity get a good look at the best hitter in their minor league stystem. Is it too much to ask that Torre start him at first against the lefty Chen tonight? That’s a rhetorical question.

Fri 4/15 7:35 YES (Pavano v. Chen)
Sat 4/16 4:35 YES (Mussina v. Lopez)
Sun 4/17 1:35 YES (Brown v. Cabrera)

Last night, the Yankees won a gem of a ballgame in Fenway that pressed all the right buttons for a Yankee team that seemed to be on the verge of a slump.

With Curt Schilling coming off the disabled list, Jaret Wright coming off a disaster start against Baltimore, and the Red Sox coming off an 8-1 win over the Yankees in their celebratory home opener on Monday, everything seemed to be leaning the Red Sox way.

In the early going it stayed that way. Schilling looked dominant, while Wright appeared to be hanging on by his teeth. Schilling struck out four while allowing just two hits in the first three innings. Then Wright–who stranded runners at the corners in the first, and pitched around a lead-off single in the second–got himself into an awful mess in the bottom of the third.

He went to a full count on the first two batters, getting Ramon Vazquez (starting at second for Mark Bellhorn) to groundout before yielding a double to Johnny Damon. He then walked Trot Nixon and Manny Ramirez on five pitches each to load the bases. That brought David Ortiz to the plate with one out. Wright promptly fell behind Ortiz 3-1, who was 5 for 10 lifetime against him coming into the game. Miraculously, Wright got Ortiz to lift a mere sac fly to left. He then walked Kevin Millar to re-load the bases and fell behind Edgar Renteria 2-0 only to get him to ground to short on the 2-1 pitch to end the inning.

Despite struggling through the heart of the Red Sox order, walking three men and allowing a double to another, Wright escaped down just 1-0. He then settled down in the fourth, pitching around another lead-off single by racking up his only two strikeouts of the game.

In the fifth, the Yankees finally got to Schilling. After Jason Giambi reached on an infield single into the shift, Tino Martinez followed with a booming ground rule double that bounded into the Boston bullpen, pushing Giambi to third. After a Bernie fly out to shallow left, Tony Womack drew his third walk of the season (more on this later)–after falling behind Schilling 0-2, no less. That loaded the bases. Jeter then singled Giambi home, keeping the bags juiced, and Gary Sheffield followed with a sac fly to center that put the Yankees ahead 2-1.

(more…)

Key moment’s from Sunday’s 7-2 Yankee loss to the Orioles:

• Torre’s lineup: Joe Torre impresses by giving Bubba Crosby the start in center field. Bubba goes 1 for 3 with seven putouts, catching everything hit near him and firing off an impressive throw to home on a failed attempt to nail Palmeiro scoring in the second. Joe Torre also confounds by not only starting Ruben Seirra over Tino Martinez, thus forcing Giambi into the field where his defense is exploited by the Orioles, but batting Sierra fifth with Jorge Posada hitting seventh. Posada goes 2 for 4 with an RBI single and a should-have-been double. Sierra goes 0 for 3 with a ninth inning walk and a run scored.
• Top 2nd: Following a one-out single, Rafael Palmeiro, who has 11 stolen bases in the last six years, steals second on Carl Pavano. He’s later driven in by a two-out single by Jay Gibbons.
• Top 3rd: Jason Giambi made a great play on a Brian Roberts liner in the top of the first, and now Roberts makes him pay by bunting to him for a base hit. Melvin Mora then hits a foul pop back by the tarp that Giambi loses in the sun. On the next pitch, Mora lines a shot off Pavano’s right temple for a base hit, putting runners at the corners and sending Pavano to the hospital with a mild concussion.
• Top 5th: With Paul Quantrill on in relief of Tanyon Sturtze, who had gone nine regular season appearances without giving up a run before allowing three on this day, the Orioles have the bases loaded and one out. Jay Gibbons lifts a fly out to Gary Sheffield in medium right field and Miguel Tejada decides to tag and come home. Sheffield fires a strike to home plate in plenty of time to catch Tejada but, as is his wont, Posada catches the ball on the first-base side of home instead of on top of it and misses Tejada, who comes in with a nice evasive head-first slide, when lunging back for the tag. Here’s hoping Joe Girardi had a few words with Posada about this play.

(more…)

The Yankees got back at the Orioles today, winning 8-5, but it wasn’t Randy Johnson that allowed the Yanks and their fans to forget about last night’s drubbing. Rather it was a five-run seventh inning at the expense of the Oriole bullpen that saved Johnson from what would have been his first loss as a Yankee.

Johnson pitched well, throwing 66 of 100 pitches for strikes, but couldn’t get the job done in the fourth inning. With the score even at 1-1, Javy Lopez lead off the fourth with a double deep in the gap in left that fell in front of the 399 foot sign, a shot that likely would have been a homer in Camden Yards. B.J. Surhoff–the lone lefty in an Oriole lineup that included Lopez at DH, Geronimo Gil behind the plate, and Chris Gomez at first–followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Frustrated, Johnson then started Luis Matos off with a wicked slider that broke under the strike zone and hit the Baltimore centerfielder in the left foot. Matos crumbled to his knees in pain. For a second I thought his foot had been broken, but he turned out to be fine and trotted to first to load the bases. Johnson then fell behind Gomez 3-0 on a couple of borderline pitches on the outside corner (his second pitch looked like a clear strike to me) before walking him on five pitches, forcing Lopez home. 2-1 O’s. Gil followed with a single to plate Surhoff and keep the bases loaded. 3-1 O’s still no outs.

Then Randy got serious. He struckout Brian Roberts, who fouled off three pitches before going down. Then he struckout Melvin Mora on three pitches. All that stood between him and escape was Miguel Tejada, but Tejada, in a great piece of hitting, cracked Johnson’s first pitch the other way for a clean single to right, driving home Matos and Gomez. Finally Sammy Sosa flew out to Sheffield to end the inning. 5-1 Orioles.

(more…)

The Yanks got tooled by the O’s last night. Just generally manhandled. Jaret Wright, by his own admission, had nothing. An off night that resulted in 6 runs on 8 hits in four innings (though his 4/1 K/BB ratio and 62 percent strikes were solid).

The bullpen didn’t fare much better with Steve Karsay bombing in his first appearance of the season. Karsay actually did a decent job coming in, striking out Sammy Sosa with runners on second and third and no outs and allowing just a sac fly before escaping the inning. In the next frame, however, he gave up three straight hits, including a Luis Matos triple, and was yanked before recording an out. Paul Quantrill then made his 2005 debut, allowing a run (plus a runner inherited from Karsay to score) on three hits (all singles) and a balk in two innings of work. Felix Rodriguez uncorked his second wild pitch in as many outings this season (this one ruled a passed ball on John Flaherty) and also hit Sammy Sosa in the process of giving up a run on two hits in 2/3 innings. Mike Stanton cleaned up Felix II’s mess with one pitch in the eighth, but then gave up a run of his own on two hits in the ninth, one of them a triple by the en fuego Brian Roberts.

The offense only did moderately better. Derek Jeter is officially on fire, going 3 for 3 with two walks he’s 7 for 14 with a .650 OBP in the Yankee’s four games. Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui both crushed deeep homers, Sheffield a two-run jobby into Monument Park. Matsui’s, coming in the ninth inning, was an absolute bomb, way back into the centerfield part right field bleachers. Tino and Jason Giambi both went 1 for 3 with a walk each.

John Flaherty got the start at catcher last night to save Posada from the day game after night game thang, allowing Jorge to catch Randy today. Flaherty went 1 for 3 with a walk. In the ninth inning, Joe Torre emptied his bench, giving Rey Sanchez another inning in the field and Ruben Sierra pinch-hit at-bat (he struckout). He also got Andy Phillips his first game action, putting Our Hero in for Tino at first. In addition, Bubba Crosby got his first at-bat . . . against left-handed Orioles closer B.J. Ryan . . . against whom lefties have hit .156/.255/.248 (.177 GPA) in 302 at-bats over the past three seasons. Poor Bubba looked utterly bewildered at the plate missing badly on three straight pitches after a first-pitch ball. That was the last out of the game. Andy Phillips was on-deck.

Today Randy Johnson helps us forget last night. Lefty journyman Bruce Chen takes the mound for the O’s. Think Joe might start Andy Phillips in place of Tino, Jason or Tony Womack? Yeah, me neither.

Baltimore Orioles

2004 Record: 78-84 (.481)
2004 Pythagorean Record: 82-80 (.506)

Manager: Lee Mazzilli
General Manager: Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan

Ballpark (2004 park factors): Oriole Park at Camden Yards (104/103)

Who’s replacing whom?

Sammy Sosa replaces Jerry Hairston and a chunk of David Newhan
Bruce Chen takes over the starts of Eric Dubose and Matt Riley
Steve Kline replaces Buddy Groom
Steve Reed replaces Jason Grimsley and Mike DeJean
Chris Gomez replaces a long list of spare parts
Geronimo Gil replaces Robert Machado and himself

Current Roster:

1B – Jay Gibbons
2B – Brian Roberts
SS – Miguel Tejada
3B – Melvin Mora
C – Javy Lopez
RF – Sammy Sosa
CF – Luis Matos
LF – Larry Bigbie
DH – Rafael Palmeiro

Bench:

L – B.J. Surhoff (OF)
L – David Newhan (UT)
R – Chris Gomez (IF)
R – Geronimo Gil (C)

Rotation:

R – Rodrigo Lopez
R – Daniel Cabrera
L – Erik Bedard
R – Sidney Ponson
L – Bruce Chen

Bullpen:

L – B.J. Ryan
L – Steve Kline
R – Steve Reed
L – John Parrish
R – Todd Williams
R – Jorge Julio
R – Rick Bauer

DL:

R – Jason Grimsley
R – Kurt Ainsworth
L – Val Majewski (OF)

Typical Line-up

S – Brian Roberts (2B)
R – Melvin Mora (3B)
R – Miguel Tejada (SS)
R – Sammy Sosa (RF)
L – Rafael Palmeiro (DH)
R – Javy Lopez (C)
L – Jay Gibbons (1B)
R – Luis Matos (CF)
L – Larry Bigbie (LF)

There was a lot of talk going into the season that the Orioles had an outside chance to slip into second place in the east if one of the Big Two fell on particularly hard times. Most of the motivation for this comes from those infatuated with the Oriole offense. The thing is, the only change the O’s have made to their line-up since last year is the addition of Sammy Sosa, and while that would seem to be a huge upgrade, the numbers just don’t support it. Sosa replaces Jerry Hairston and takes away a significant chunk of David Newhan’s playing time. Hairston was good for 2.2 WARP (Wins Above Replacement) in 2004 and Newhan was good for 2.4. Assuming Sosa takes just half of Newhan’s 373 at-bats (which combined with Hairston’s 287 would give Sammy 473 in 2005, just five fewer than in 2004), Sosa would have to replace 3.4 wins.

(more…)

It was a beautiful day in the Bronx yesterday, or at least it was for eight innings.

Bathed in golden sunlight on a still, 67 degree day, the Yankees and Red Sox played a nice taut 3-2 game through eight. Tim Wakefield’s knuckler was dancing as he allowed just five baserunners in his 6 2/3 innings of work, facing the minimum through 3 1/3 thanks to Doug Mirabelli nabbing Derek Jeter, who had singled, as he tried to swipe third with one out in the first.

Jeter probably spent more time on base than any other Yankee during the first seven innings. In the fourth, Alex Rodriguez lifted a lazy Wakefield curve into the lower part of the black section in center for the Yankees first run. An inning later, Tino Martinez creamed a knuckler that stayed up around his shoulders into the right field seats for what remains his only hit of the season. Bernie Williams followed Tino with a five-pitch walk. Bernie remains hitless this season, but has a .308 on-base percentage thanks to four walks and a sac fly. Jason Giambi was the fifth man to reach against Wakefield, drawing a full-count walk in the seventh. Giambi has just one hit this year, but a .455 OBP thanks to one walk and three hit-by-pitches and a single.

Speaking of hit batsmen, Derek Jeter, who has now been plunked twice, was hit in the left shoulder by a Mike Timlin pitch in the eighth. The pitch actually glanced off Jeter’s shoulder and hit the bill of his batting helmet, sending Jeter to the ground in a loud and scary moment. Jeter got up and ran the bases–avenging his first-inning caught stealing by making it to third, though no further–but he was replaced in the top of the ninth by Rey Sanchez (wearing 26, despite being listed as #14 on the Yankees official site). After the game, Jeter was taken to the hospital because of a ringing in his ears. A CAT scan came back negative. There are no cats in Derek Jeter’s head.

(more…)

Baseball is back in the Bronx, and boy does it feel good.

Becky and I headed up to the stadium early last night. The idea was to beat the traffic, nab a choice parking spot, and hightail it to Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too in Harlem for some down home cooking before the game started. Best laid plans, you know.

We hit the road about 4:30 and didn’t have too much traffic to deal with across the GW, but our preferred parking lot was full by the time we drove by around 5:40. We eventually settled on a lot in front of a strip mall further up 161st and caught the 4 and the 2 down to Miss Mamie’s, arriving at about 6:15. After inhaling their complimentary cornbread (served too hot to touch) and devouring some fried (for me) and roasted (for Becky) chicken, mac n’ cheese, collard greens and cornbread stuffing, washing it all down with a couple of Stewart’s rootbeers and some of Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Punch, we dropped our green on the table and split for the Stadium at about 7:10.

We then waited for the 2 train for 25 minutes. You see there was some sort of watermain break in midtown and the northbound trains just weren’t running with any sort of regularity. After a 3 train finally showed up at 7:35 (we needed a 2), we bolted for the B & D two blocks across town, only to find out that we’d have to go downtown one stop to go uptown at all, and those trains weren’t exactly running on a rush hour schedule either.

(more…)

On Friday I wrote in this space that Kevin Brown’s achy, breaky back was acting up and could lead to his being moved into the delayed fifth spot in the rotation with Jaret Wright taking over his starts against the Orioles on Friday and in Boston a week from Wednesday. Yesterday that switch became official. Today, WFAN’s Sweeny Murti reports that the Yankees have placed Kevin Brown on the 15-day disable list. Some may take this as a sign that Brown’s back is in particularly dire shape, but it’s actually an excellent job of roster management on the part of the Yankees and, if Brown is able to come back (no pun intended) on schedule (don’t hold your breath), could work out better for the team than their original plan to have Jaret Wright hang around doing nothing until April 15.

You see, Wright’s (and in turn Brown’s) first start was supposed to be April 15 in Baltimore. In reality the Yankees wouldn’t need a fifth starter until April 17, as Pavano and Mussina can pitch on the 15th and 16th on full rest as the rotation is currently set up (swap Wright and Brown, of course). Of course, Brown will not be eligible to come off the DL until April 18, so the Yanks will need a spot start out of Tanyon Sturtze in Baltimore, but that seems a small price to pay to have a full 25-men at Joe Torre’s disposal over the first 12 games of the season.

Best of all, that twenty fifth man will be . . . Andy Phillips! Hot diggity dawg! I suppose it would be too much to ask for Torre to revise his Opening Night line-up one more time to have the hot-hitting righty Phillips start over either the left-handed Giambi at first or the left-handed Womack at second against the left-handed David Wells. Still, look for Phillips to pinch-hit for Womack if Not My Wacko comes up in a key spot tonight. Meanwhile, let’s hope that, during this early part of April, Phillips is given the first base starts against lefties (the Orioles have two in their rotation: Erik Bedard and Bruce Chen) over the struggling Tino Martinez. Any opportunity for Phillips to prove himself with the big club can only be a good thing for the Yankees, so while there should be legitimate concern about Brown’s back, this shakes out as a pretty good deal for the Yankees, at least for now.

For those looking for tonight’s final 25-man rosters, just click below.

(more…)

Happy Opening Night Eve, everybody!

The Yankees dropped their final spring training game yesterday afternoon, optioned and reassigned the remaining players who failed to make the 25-man roster which was set in mid-February, and high-tailed it for the Big Apple. Now nothing stands between the team and Randy Johnson’s first pitch, which will kick off the season sometime after 8:00 tomorrow night.

With that in mind, here are some quick notes to get us all in the same shape:

Before Thursday’s game, Andy Phillips, the Official Lost Cause of Bronx Banter, was given the James P. Dawson Award as the top rookie in Yankee camp this spring. I’m sure he’d rather have been given a spot on the 25-man. For those who can stand it, his final spring stats are:

.324 AVG (12 for 37), .730 SLG, 13 R, 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 27 TB, 1 SB, 1 HBP

Don’t get me started on the fact that they keep HBP stats for spring training, but not walks. No word on who on earth James P. Dawson is/was.

If Andy Phillips is taking his undeserved demotion in stride, NRI LOOGY Buddy Groom, who was also sent to Columbus, is not. Groom was stellar this spring. Final stats:

1.13 ERA, 7 G, 8 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 HR, 0 BB, 3 K

But with seven relievers signed to major league contracts, there’s no room in the pen for him. The NRI contract Groom signed with the Yanks allows him to bolt if he’s not on the 25-man roster by May 1, and he plans to use it. Sez Buddy: “I’ve got nothing to prove to them and no reason to stay down there after May 1.”

One player who’s not going anywhere, surprisingly, is Alex Graman, despite his being out of options like Wil Nieves trade bate (how’s that for a distinction?) Bret Prinz. Graman actually cleared waivers and was outrighted to Columbus, proof of how far his stock has fallen. His final spring stats:

7.62 ERA, 13 IP, 18 H, 12 R (11 ER), 4 HR, 9 BB, 7 K

Avert your eyes! Ye horrors!

(more…)