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Guilty Pleasure Movie Week

Take one cast full of megastars with numerous memorable roles already in their respective portfolios, add in a few great character actors, embellish with the adrenalin, in-your-face, highly-stylized mayhem of producer Jerry Bruckheimer, mix liberally with the talents of a first-time movie director whose resume had most recently included Budweiser commercials with dancing ants, and what do you get? Only one of the biggest hits of 1997, the critically-panned but commercially-successful “Con Air“.

Con Air tells the story of Cameron Poe* (Nicolas Cage, working with Bruckheimer for the second straight movie after the similarly-styled “The Rock“).  Poe is a former U.S. Army Ranger, so you know he has all sorts of combat training (and, it turns out, one poorly executed supposedly Southern accent by Cage).  He arrives home after fighting in Desert Storm and being honorably discharged from the military. However, on the night he returns, he is assaulted by three drunkards while escorting his pregnant wife (Monica Potter) home from the bar where she was waiting for him (Note to wife: second-hand smoke isn’t good for you or your unborn child, and if your hubby is coming home from the war, is the bar really the nicest place you can think to meet him?).

* "Cameron Poe" anagrams to such phrases as "poor menace",
"peace moron" and "No rape! Come!".  Strangely, all of these
seem to fit the character at various stages of the movie.

Poe defends her by using his special ops skills, and subsequently kills one of his attackers. On advice from his attorney, he pleads guilty to first-degree manslaughter, expecting leniency from the court due to his military service. However, the judge sentences Poe to 7–10 years in a maximum-security Federal penitentiary, because his special ops training makes him a deadly weapon.  Uh yeah, OK . . . but no way would that have happened had that character been played by Steven Seagal.  Anyway, I would have paid to see Poe inflict his training on his lawyer afterwards.

Poe keeps his nose clean in jail and ends up getting paroled eight years later.  He is to be flown back on the “Jailbird,” a C-123 airplane, along with several other prisoners that are being transferred to a new super-duper-maximum security prison.

Now here I must admit a bit of a bias in my choice for a guilty pleasure movie, as my current employer at one time did in fact fly inmates upstate.  And I can tell you beyond a reasonable doubt that no parolee would EVER get released this way.  But let’s not let that detract from the story, shall we?

Meanwhile, DEA agent Duncan Malloy (Colm Meaney, playing against his usual mild-mannered type from the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” TV series) approaches U.S. Marshal in charge of the transfer, Vince Larkin (the always enjoyable John Cusack), and requests he slip an undercover agent on board to coax information out of a drug lord during the flight. Larkin reluctantly agrees on the condition the agent doesn’t carry a weapon, but Malloy manages to slip a gun to the agent before boarding.  (Silly DEA agent!  Don’t you know guns, mean convicts and pressurized aircraft don’t mix?)

Wouldn’t you know it . . . shortly after takeoff, the prisoners launch what turns out to have been a carefully-planned and scripted coup led by Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom (John Malkovich, in a restrained, cool, and understatedly convincing role) and overpower the guards, taking control of the plane; when the DEA agent tries to take control of the situation by brandishing his now-not-sneaked-on-anymore gun, he is quickly killed by Grissom. Poe opts to keep his “secretly a good guy just trying to get home to his ‘hummingbird'” identity quiet (yes, that’s Poe’s pet name for his wife . . . hummingbird) and cooperates with Grissom, who promises all prisoners that they will be flown to a non-extradition country thanks to the drug overlord, if they help out.

The plane lands as scheduled to make prisoner transfers; Grissom and his crew pose as guards and take advantage of a dust storm to make sure the transfer appears to go smoothly, acquiring reinforcements such as a pilot known as Swamp Thing (veteran character actor M.C. Gainey) and Garland Greene (a droll Hannibal Lecter-like psychopath with a keen sense of humor, played by a scene-stealing Steve Buscemi).

Meanwhile, Joe “Pinball” Parker (played by a then-unknown David (not Dave) Chappelle) sneaks the Jailbird’s original transponder onto a private tour plane, leading the authorities astray. Although Poe secretly manages to get word out on the hijacking, it is too late to stop the plane from taking off.

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So here we are, sitting in the “waiting room” anxious to find out if Alex Rodriguez’s next homerun will be a line drive or a moon shot.  Maybe Gene Monahan will have to perform some sort of C-section on Rodriguez’s bat to get that 600th to come out.   It certainly feels like Yankee fans have wanted to induce labor on A-Rod and then hold his hand as he steps to the plate  . . . “C’mon Centaur … push!  OK . . .  we can see the baseball’s head!  And now breathe . . . swing the bat . . . nice and easy . . . there you go!”

While we wait for the blessed event, let’s look at the longest homerless streaks (in games) in his career.  It took Rodriguez 33 games to hit his first career homer, back on June 12, 1995.  Other than that, the longest streak without a homer has been 18 games, which has occurred twice.  The first was between August 4, 1995 and April 9, 1996. The second stretch was between September 10, 1997 and April 6, 1998.

Of more recent vintage, Alex had a 15-game homerless drought from April 20 to May 9 of this year.  He also went 16 games between dingers from July 19 to August 7, 2009 (coincidentally, both streaks came to an end against the Red Sox, whom the Bombers once again face starting this coming Friday).

For his career, A-Rod has had 68 separate streaks of at least eight games without a homer (as he is now).

So, when do YOU think he’ll get off the schneid?

The Yankees had amassed nine hits in the first two games of the current series with the Indians.  They had gone 0-10 with runners in scoring position.  Tuesday night, they were silenced by yet another rookie making his major league debut.  Now they had to face the Indians lone All-Star representative in Fausto Carmona.

Carmona had won his last three starts, two of those against the Rays, and had ten wins for a 42-58 team.  He had had only one start shorter than five full innings the entire season.  So, of course they pummeled Carmona into submission by the end of the third inning Wednesday.

The Yanks took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Mark Teixeira double and an Alex Rodriguez single up the middle. The Bombers kept Indians right fielder Shin Soo-Choo very busy in the second, as they laced three consecutive one-out singles (Curtis Granderson, Francisco Cervelli and Brett Gardner) and then a two-out two-RBI single by Teixeira, all to right.

The third inning featured a Cano double high off the wall in left, a Granderson RBI triple (making him 16-36 lifetime against Carmona), a Cervelli HBP and a Gardner RBI double to right.  An RBI single by Nick Swisher finally knocked Carmona out after 2.2 IP, having surrendered ten hits and seven runs while throwing 73 pitches.

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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]

You may remember back a few months ago when I announced that I was ending my “News of the Day” column to pursue other writing ventures.  Well, I didn’t quite know exactly what I was going to write about, but I knew something would strike my fancy.

Well, consider my fancy struck.  After I participated in that ESPN Zone Sports Spelling Bee, and had so much trouble piecing together study materials in preparation for it, an idea popped into my head.  (I also happened to be reading “Cardboard Gods” at the time).

I’ve adopted the “case study” approach of Josh Wilker’s blog/book, mixed it in with my love of words/spelling and encompassed that within the world of sports.

Behold . . . Spellczechs, a blog dedicated to the stories behind and about  hard-to-spell athletes names.  I’ll be discussing the likes of Yaz, Coach K, Mientkiewicz.  The origins of their names.  Tricks to remember their spelling.  Their values in Scrabble.  Original poems about them.  Whatever comes to mind.

I hope you “Czech” it out . . . and don’t worry . . . “Bantermetrics” isn’t going away.

OK folks . . . let’s kick off the 2nd half of the season with some poll questions:

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Woody Allen Week

The quirky, complex Woody Allen has had, amongst his many dimensions and vocations,  a 40-year career as a movie writer, director and actor.   With about 60 movies to his credit in one way or another, it might surprise folks to read that he considers Zelig (1983) one of his six favorites.

Zelig was remarkable for its time, a feature-length, theatrical  “mockumentary”.  Prior to Zelig, Allen’s own 1969 release “Take the Money and Run” and Albert Brooks’ 1979 film “Real Life” were probably the most recognizable mockumentaries (even before that term was coined by Rob Reiner for his “This Is Spinal Tap“).  Spinal Tap may have been the more mainstream, commercially-popular example of the genre upon its initial release in 1984. However, Zelig placed its subject in a historical context, and the subject’s actions had an impact on world affairs.  This weighty undertaking was then combined with the standard mockumentary “inside joke” humor, fanciful examples of whimsy, and an actual love story, and encompassed all of that within a technical expertise that predated the digital film-making techniques available beginning in the early ’90s.  Its a heady endeavor for a movie that clocks in at a mere 79 minutes.

Set primarily in the 1920s and ’30s, Zelig tells the fictional story of one Leonard Zelig, a seemingly ordinary man who is discovered to have the unique ability to take on the physical characteristics of those around him.  While the premise might seem too thin or flimsy for a feature-length movie (Forrest Gump, anyone?), Allen presents and portrays Zelig as a damaged soul, who seemingly finds acceptance through his “chameleon” nature, albeit with severe (and severely funny) consequences.

Vincent Canby noted this satisfyingly broad palette in his review:

Yet ”Zelig” is not only pricelessly funny, it’s also, on occasion, very moving. It works simultaneously as social history, as a love story, as an examination of several different kinds of film narrative, as satire and as parody.

Co-star Mia Farrow is brilliantly understated in her role as Dr. Eudora Fletcher, a psychiatrist who wants to help Zelig with this strange disorder. She futilely attempts to hypnotize him, and here the film has some of its most riotously dry and funny scenes, with her and Zelig arguing over whether Zelig himself is a doctor.  Allen’s trademark stand-up intonations, timing and vocal patterns imbue the scenes with pure joy.  (4:00 mark onward).

Eventually, she succeeds in hypnotizing him, and through this discovers that he yearns for approval so strongly he physically changes to fit in with those around him. Fletcher’s devotion to finding a cure for Zelig eventually pays off, but not without complications; now Zelig develops a personality which is violently intolerant of other people’s opinions.

I mentioned that this is in fact a love story, as Dr. Fletcher does fall for the lonely, misunderstood, unloved Zelig. While real-life stories of doctors having relationships with their patients may incur scorn, here the storytelling is subtle enough, and the suspension of “reality” legitimate enough, that this “taboo” is overlooked.  Fletcher’s fierce determination to cure Zelig is set against her unfulfilling romance with a man much higher on the social scale.  But something in Zelig, and something about Zelig, beguiles and enchants her to the point of choosing him.

Meanwhile, because of the media coverage of the case, both patient and doctor become part of the popular culture of their time.   Here the technical wizardry and cinematography really come to fore, as Allen’s character seamlessly interacts with the political and socialite stars of the day, from Fanny Brice to Adolf Hitler.

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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.

I’m writing to you today from the afterlife, but please do not be alarmed. I am asking for your kindest assistance in a noble venture. It is completely on the up-and-up, and my minions are beyond questioning regarding their decency and motives. They have taken my good name and ascribed it to a cancer research foundation.  Not only have they done that, but they’ve endeavored to undertake a fundraising walkathon in that hallowed house of our National Pastime, Yankee Stadium.

Yes, on the same field that the smoothly dashing Derek Jeter and genial yet lethal Mariano Rivera ply their trade, many feet will trod on August 15th.  They will saunter and/or gallop through the corridors of the seating areas, and end their 5K jaunt on the warning track of the Stadium.  And you, dear reader, can join in this aerobic activity.

What’s that you say?  You can’t make the event?  Your “ambulatoryness” lost its “ness”?  You can’t afford the entry fee?  Well, I am sad to hear of that, and I can’t help but think of the opportunity you are missing, but let me offer you yet another way to help my enterprise.

Unbeknownst to you readers still of this mortal coil, they do have the Internet in Heaven (I hear they have it in Hell too, but there its dial-up).  One of my favorite sites for sportswriting is the portal through which I am communicating right now, Bronx Banter.  It just so happens that Diane Firstman, an erudite Banter columnist and long-legged lass, who can probably circle the bases in a mere 64 paces or so, is already registered for the event, and is looking for supporters.

Being of the feminine persuasion, and therefore lack some of the proper, how should we say, “equipment” to play this wondrous game of baseball, this may be the only way dear Diane will ever make it onto the dirt at Yankee Stadium (unless she tumbles out of the stands in a futile attempt to corral an $8.00 foul ball, but of course that would require a seat in those “Legends” sections, which would seem to imply that the sittee could BUY hundreds of those same $8.00 baseballs and not risk getting tossed out of the Stadium by that delightful Yankee Stadium gestapo, but I digress).  It would touch my weary soul if you would pledge a few dollars towards her participation in this event.

If you’ve read this far, I thank you.  If you’ve decided to participate by joining this walkathon/run, I thank you.  If you’ve decided to participate by supporting Ms. Firstman, I thank you.  If you HAVEN’T read this far, then there must be some alternate reality existing within this portal, and I suggest you log off and go outside and throw a ball around.

Sincerely, Damon Runyon’s ethereal presence . . .

Phil Hughes took the mound against Brandon Morrow on Sunday, trying to put his last start, a flu-and-skipped start-dogged subpar affair behind him.  For a while, the only thing in his and the rest of the Yankees’ way were gopherballs and the outfield arms of the Blue Jays.

Hughes cruised through the first two innings on 20 pitches, featuring three swinging Ks.  Leading off the 3rd, Lyle Overbay launched a Monument Park homer, the ninth homer Hughes has allowed at home this season (strangely, Hughes hasn’t allowed one in his road starts).

The Yanks put two on the board in the bottom of the inning on a single to left, an infield single to third, a Jeter sac bunt in which Lyle Overbay tried and failed to get Brett Gardner on a force out at third, a Mark Teixeira sacrifice fly and an Alex Rodriguez RBI single.  While it didn’t match the Bombers’ 11-run 3rd inning outburst from Saturday in terms of clout and duration, Hughes was pitching well enough that one thought it might be enough.

The Yanks tacked on a gift run in the 4th. With one out and Curtis Granderson on first, Grandy was allowed to advance to 2nd on a Gardner called swinging third strike/wild pitch, even though the ball appeared to nick Gardner’s leg, which would have made it a dead ball.  Ramiro Pena plated Granderson with a 2-out single.

The Jays got to Hughes again in the 5th, with the big blow coming from DeWayne Wise, a 3-run doink high off the right field foul pole on a floating breaking ball mistake from Hughes.  Wise was only starting in center for the Jays due to Vernon Wells getting a day off in the midst of an 0-for-18 slump.  Mr. Wise’s day would get more interesting soon thereafter.

Nick Swisher led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to center, and then Teixeira boomed a double over Wise’s head (Wise plays a notoriously shallow centerfield).  Swisher hesitated rounding second to make sure Wise didn’t catch it, then was waved around third, and was gunned down 8-6-2, with our old friend Jose Molina deftly blocking the plate and applying the tag.  Teixeira took third on the throw home.

Then Rodriguez lofted a flyball to medium center, and Wise threw a one-bouncer to Molina, who tagged Teixeira as he was trying to hook his arm around home plate.  End of rally.

Hughes served up yet another homer (his 7th in the last four starts) in the sixth, this time a bullpen blast off the bat of  Adam Lind.  Hughes’ day would be done after the sixth, having allowed five runs on nine hits and a walk, with seven Ks.

Down 5-3 now, Jorge Posada knocked a one-out single and after Granderson K’ed (one of four on the day for him), Gardner belted another ball over Wise’s head.  This time though, Wise caught up to it in time enough to put up his glove, only to lose the ball in the tough sun, and have it tick off his glove as Wise fell to the ground in self-defense.  Gardner circled the bases on a debatable inside-the-park homer, tying the game at 5.

Damaso Marte pitched a perfect top of the 7th, but the Yanks lost Jorge Posada with one out in that frame due to a foul tip off the edge of the glove that bent Posada’s fingers back.  It was eerily reminiscent of the recent injury to the BoSox’ Victor Martinez.  (Fortunately, x-rays proved negative, and a sprained ring finger makes Jorge day-to-day).

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As Cliff noted in his recap of Saturday’s loss, A.J. Burnett has been lit up recently.  Burnett has basically gone 0-for-June, amassing an 0-5 record featuring a slash stat line of .357/.455/.724.  In his first 11 starts of 2010, Burnett pitched to a 1.08 GB rate with 15% line drives.  The last five starts, those numbers are 0.63 and 22% respectively.

But I’m not here to opine on what ails A.J. (It can’t be as simple as not being able to find an Eiland on a map, can it?).  I’m just here to have fun with numbers (and avoid doing my laundry on this beastly hot day).

This is the third time in Burnett’s career, and the first time since 2005, that he’s had five consecutive starts with Game Scores no higher than 50*.  Now, to be fair, the prior two occasions each featured ERAs of 7.40 with only two homers allowed, while this fivesome is festooned with nine homers surrendered and an 11.35 ERA.  So, this is a whole ‘nother level of ugly.

The franchise record for longest streak of starts with game scores no higher than 50 is held by two Jeffs, current Dodger Jeff Weaver, and historical after-thought Jeff Johnson.  Weaver had 11 straight subpar starts from April to June of 2003, while Johnson’s rookie campaign of 1991 featured a Summer-full of bad pitching (July to September).

If you page down that list, you’ll note that the last Yankee to have five or more straight starts like this was Javier Vazquez, who managed to begin his second tour of duty with the Yanks as he ended his first one, getting hammered.  Vazquez’s streak of eight starts was preceded chronologically by some equally frustrating stretches by the likes of  Joba Chamberlain, Sergio Mitre, Chien-Ming Wang (though we might give Wang a pass due to injury), Carl Pavano (here we might NOT give Pavano a pass due to injury) and Sidney Ponson.

Now clearly, Burnett has enough of a track record to make one think he’ll snap out of it after pitching well enough for the majority of his first 1+ seasons with the Yanks.  The question now becomes, will Girardi let Burnett pitch himself back to normalcy without a bullpen stop?  It should be interesting what the return of Dave Eiland does for A.J.’s fortunes.

* - 50 is the baseline score used for assessing starting pitcher's
outings, as developed by Bill James.

In his series preview, Cliff pointed out the peculiarity that is the 2010 Blue Jays, a team that abhors smallball, and lives and dies by the homer.  Coming into today’s game, the Jays were leading the majors in homers . . . by a whopping 17 over the Red Sox (94 to 77).  Their gaudy, majors-leading  .476 slugging percentage was tempered by a 23rd-best .248 team batting average.   Their resulting ISO (isolated slugging; the difference between batting average and slugging percentage) of .228 would be the highest season total in at least 20 years.  They are also dead last in GB/FB ratio, at .63.  The edict in Toronto seems to be “we are Jays . . . everything we do must involve flying”.

Furthermore, they’ve executed exactly two sacrifice bunts and attempted only 29 stolen bases all year.  Smallball is apparently not spoken in Canada anymore.

Andy Pettitte looked to stem the Gashouse Gorillas conga line of homers today as he faced off against Ricky Romero.   Pettitte worked both corners well throughout the game, striking out a season-high ten, all of them swinging.

Meanwhile, Romero, when he wasn’t toying with Mark Teixeira like Teix was a frenzied kitten,  was inducing many groundballs with a solid changeup.  The Yankees best early threat came in the top of the second, as Alex Rodriguez singled, and two outs later, Francisco Cervelli and Brett Gardner each walked.  On his already-40th pitch of the game, Romero got Kevin Russo to ground out to short.

Leading off the bottom of the second, Vernon Wells took a Pettitte fastball up in the zone out beyond the RF fence. Two outs later, Lyle Overbay hit a one-hop double to the RF wall.  But Andy got John Buck to foul out to Francisco Cervelli to end the inning.

After a couple more well-struck pitches in the third, including a ground-rule double leading off the inning, Pettitte really settled down, as there were no more pitches left up in the zone.   From that double through the end of the sixth, he allowed but two walks and one single.  In a one-run game seemingly dominated by the pitchers, for each of those three baserunner opportunities, Jays manager Cito Gaston eschewed trying to build a run through a sacrifice, hit-and-run or stolen base attempt.

Meanwhile Gardner led off the Yankee 5th with a double down the RF line, and then Derek Jeter capitalized on a rare Romero mistake, a changeup left up and outside, to collect his 6th homer of the season, giving the Bombers a 2-1 lead.

The Yanks had a rare, but golden opportunity to extend the lead in the 7th.   Cervelli led off with a hard-hit grounder to Edwin Encanarcion which knocked him down, allowing Cervelli to beat the throw to first.  Gardner walked again, and then Russo complied with General Joe Girardi’s smallball order, executing a nice 1-3 sac bunt to put runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out.

With the infield a few steps in all around, Jeter then lined a ball right at second baseman Aaron Hill.  Hill caught it, then dropped it on the transfer to his throwing hand.  Cervelli made the mistake of not watching the ball to see if it got out of the infield, and took off for home on contact.  Hill easily doubled Cervelli off third, as Jeter wondered what had happened.  Your not-so-basic 4-5 double play.

Meanwhile, the top three hitters in the Jays lineup had gone 0-10 against Pettitte as he took the mound in the bottom of the 7th.  Unfortunately the cosmic laws inherent in the Yanks missing a scoring opportunity bit Pettitte, as #6 hitter Alex Gonzalez led off with a homer on an 0-1 pitch, knotting the game at two.

Soon after, the game turned into a battle of the bullpens.  Girardi had relieved Pettitte after 107 pitches with 2 outs in the eighth, while Romero had completed eight innings, finishing by inducing a double play grounder from Alex Rodriguez.

Joba Chamberlain relieved Pettitte and promptly gave up a single to Wells.  But once again, Gaston didn’t put any wheels in motion, and Jose Bautista struck out looking on a nasty curve.

Chamberlain was still pitching in the ninth when he yielded a one-out single to Lyle Overbay.  Surely this would be the time for a pinch-runner for the sluggish Overbay? Nope.  Instead John Buck popped up to Cano and Encanarcion struck out.

The Yanks mounted a 2-out rally in the 10th against Kevin Gregg on a Jeter single and an eight-pitch walk by Swisher, but Teixeira struck out swinging for the fourth consecutive time, on his way to his own hellish version of a 5K.

Against David Robertson, Bautista led off the bottom of the 11th with a full-count walk, and again . . . the Jays did not play for one run . . . in a tie game in extra innings.  Gonzalez promptly banged into a 6-4-3 DP.  Even after Overbay immediately singled, there was no pinch-runner, and Buck flew out to deep left.

The Yanks did try to make something happen with their limited opportunities in extras.  Gardner singled with one out in the 12th, and one out later, stole his 20th base of the season.  But Jeter ended the threat grounding out to third.

In the bottom of the 12th, Chan Ho Park came on and walked the sub-.200 hitting Hill with two outs, but Gaston sat on his hands as Lind K’ed.  Park was still pitching in the 13th when Gonzalez placed a two-out single down the LF corner and Overbay walked.  But Buck buckled under the pressure, grounding to short.

In the top of the 14th, the Yanks tried to show Gaston about this smallball thing one more time, as Posada laced a long one-out single, and pinch-runner Ramiro Pena came on.  Pena couldn’t get a good lead on new pitcher Casey Janssen and somewhat curiously, Cervelli wasn’t asked to bunt.  Cervelli eventually struck out.  Pena did manage to steal second with Gardner up, but was left stranded when Gardner flied to Bautista.

Finally, in the bottom of the 14th, Gaston finally seemed to have the smallball impetus, and the absolute best players to employ it.  It also helped that they were now facing Chad Gaudin.  Encanarcion walked on four pitches leading off, and then Lewis executed a nice little 5-3 sacrifice.  Girardi elected to have Gaudin pitch to Hill, rather than setting up the force/DP by walking him and facing the lefty Lind.  Hill promptly ripped a hanging slider to plate the winning run in an excruciating 3-2 game.

(photo credit:  RoyalsReview.com)

Saturday marked the 15th anniversary of Derek Jeter’s major league debut.  On May 29, 1995, he went 0-5 with two putouts and two assists in an 8-7 Yankee loss at the Kingdome.

He would go on to compile a .250/.294/.375 line in 15 games with the big club in ’95 . . . and got the starting shortstop nod in ’96.  The rest is much-repeated history.

Here are some stats to munch on . . .

Since his debut, Jeter leads in games played (2,185, 2 ahead of Alex Rodriguez), games started (2,176, 11 ahead of A-Rod), at-bats (8,868, 293 ahead of Johnny Damon), hits (2,807, 248 ahead of A-Rod). He’s second in runs (1,602), 3rd in batting average (.317), 10th in OBP (.387), 14th in doubles (448) and 14th in stolen bases (310).

Over his 15 seasons, he’s faced 1,089 different pitchers. His worst 0-fer is against Jorge Julio (14 ABs).  He’s gone yard the most against Sir Sidney Ponson (5 times in 88 ABs).  Of those pitchers he’s had at least 40 plate appearances against, his best batting average is against Rodrigo Lopez (.448).  Oh, and John Lackey has plunked him the most (5 times in 57 plate appearances).

Jeter has had 41 different hitting streaks of ten games or more in his career (12 of these were 15 or more games). On the flip side, he’s had only seven instances of going hitless in four or more consecutive games.  All this while amassing only one major stint on the disabled list.

Here’s to you, Captain!

(photo credit: Cardboard Icons)

Friday night, Francisco Cervelli laced an opposite-field hit down the right field line.  It hugged the stands as it reached the outfield wall, and then hit some sort of “hyperspace” button . . . picking up speed and scooting past a surprised Michael Cuddyer.  Cervelli easily cruised into third with his second triple of the season.

When it comes to Yankee backstops, its been a while since any of them possessed any footspeed.  Its been 665 plate appearances since Jorge Posada’s last triple.  Its been four years since any Yankee catcher has had as many as two triples in the same season.  You have to go back to 1998, and discover that Cervelli’s current manager was the last catcher to amass more than two triples in a year.

Back in the days of the cavernous YS I, triples were much more plentiful.  Through its final season (1973), there were 105 instances of a Yankee amassing ten or more triples in a season (home and road combined).  You might notice that Hall-of-Famer Bill Dickey holds the Yankee record for most triples by a catcher in a year, ripping ten in 1927.  In the final season of the original Stadium, the team triples leader was none other than catcher Thurman Munson, with four.

YS II, with its somewhat more humane dimensions, didn’t lend itself to many triples, nor, with the exception of Rickey Henderson, did the Yankees focus on team speed much.  Henderson hit only 11 triples in 363 career games at YS II, and only 16 total triples in 2,700+ Yankee plate appearances.  During the 33 seasons playing their games in YS II, the Yanks only had three players reach double figures in triples, and none since Jerry Mumphrey in 1982.

In terms of catchers in the YS II era, Munson held the record for most triples in a season, with five in 1977.

Now, the latest incarnation of Yankee Stadium has not exactly been a triples paradise.  In fact, last year it was the toughest park in which to hit a three-bagger, with only 15 collected in the year.  But “Frankie” is helping to reverse that trend, as so far in 2010, the Stadium is the 9th-easiest for triples (small sample size alert applies, of course).

Could Cervelli lead all American League catchers in triples?  Within the last three decades or so, its taken anywhere from four to six to lead the league.  Arguing against Cervelli’s chances are his minor league numbers . . .  two triples in 828 career plate appearances.  Frankie better hope for some more “hyperspace” hits.

The Banter wishes Yogi Berra a very happy 85th birthday!

(Photo credit: www.Britannica.com)

The off-season acquisition of Randy Winn evoked much consternation amongst Banterites and associated Yankee fans. It wasn’t like Winn was a lifetime fourth outfielder. Through 2008, he had compiled a .288/.347/.425 line (102 OPS), with 104 homers and 193 stolen bases.

But here was a player who couldn’t add much punch to an impotent Giants lineup in 2009, posting a .262/.318/.353 line in 597 PAs, with a mere two homers and twice as many strikeouts as walks.

His range in the outfield, as he turned 35, was diminishing a bit from above average towards slightly above league-average. And now the Yanks wanted to add him as a 4th/5th outfielder . . . asking him to come off the bench for the first time in his career.

This season, he had started three games, and appeared in nine others, with one single and five strikeouts in 13 ABs. This was Winn’s first start since Curtis Granderson’s groin strain and DL stint Saturday.

Starter CC Sabathia endured very little trouble with the Orioles line-up, save for an opposite field line drive homer to Matt Wieters to lead off the 2nd. He struck out only two through his first four innings, but kept the ball on the ground, to the tune of nine groundball outs.

Orioles’ starter Jeremy Guthrie, who had faced Sabathia only last Wednesday, was also locked in early in the game, allowing only two walks and a single in the first three innings.

Alex Rodriguez led off the bottom of the 4th with a single to left. Robinson Cano flied out to left and Posada grounded out to second (A-Rod moving to second on the out). Nick Swisher, who owns Guthrie (now 13-24 lifetime) laced a long single off the right field wall, scoring Rodriguez to tie the game.  Brett Gardner was fooled on a change-up, but managed to punch a single up the middle.

Winn then stepped to the plate. With an 0-1 count on him, he plastered a 91 mph fastball deep into the Yankee bullpen . . . his first homer in 491 at-bats.  That would be all Sabathia needed in a 4-1 win in a tidy 2:29.

CC sailed through eight innings (106 pitches), assisted by two double plays.  There were only two flyball outs against him all night. He didn’t have his best stuff, striking out only two despite throwing 69 strikes out of those 106 pitches.

The only drama after the fourth inning took the form of Yankee injuries.  Jorge Posada took himself out of the game after the fifth inning, citing tightness in his right calf. This was the same leg he got plunked in last week, so the possibility of a cascade injury may be there.  [Late news from Mark Feinsand: MRI reveals mild calf strain.]

With a three-run lead heading to the ninth, the (heretofore unknown) other injury came into play, as it turned out NOT to be Mariano Rivera time. Joba Chamberlain came on to finish it out. Joe Girardi later revealed that Mo had awoken Saturday to stiffness in his left side (after pitching Friday night). Rivera threw a bit during pre-game, and said he felt better, but not 100%. Girardi stated he would like to hold him out at least one more day.

Otherwise, the big news from the game was the red-hot Robinson Cano Nick Swisher. Prior to this game, Swisher had gone 16-45 (.356) with three homers and 11 RBI in his last 11 games, raising his average from .200 to .282. Michael Kay mentioned during the broadcast that Swisher had been working with hitting coach Kevin Long on “quieting” his stance, allowing the bat to rest on his shoulder with less wiggling prior to the pitch. It seems to be paying off, and facing Guthrie didn’t hurt either, as Nick added two singles and a double.

With the win, the Yanks moved to within one game of the idle Rays, with AJ Burnett set to face Brian Matusz Tuesday night.

Over at Baseball Prospectus, Will Carroll offers up an opinion on Jorge Posada’s injury, and how it may be treated going forward:

Ben Wolf . . . points out something about Posada getting hit by a pitch Wednesday that hadn’t occurred to me: “Was reading your latest column and saw that Posada was hit in the fibular head (I had just read knee in the general news).  Even if there isn’t a fracture, there’s a risk of the injury being more of a long-term problem if he ends up with any restriction in the superior tibiofibular joint, especially considering the demands of a catcher squatting on the knee (including that joint specifically I think), not to mention any mechanistic problems he could have running.  I suppose we will see.” . . . .  Posada says he could catch if it was an emergency, but it’s clear that it’s the squatting that’s the problem. We’ll see how the Yankees deal with this over the weekend, but expect Posada to miss time. At best, he could DH, but I think they’ll hold on to the retro DL move until they’re more sure.

To honor Hideki Matsui, this recap will be presented in 5/7/5 form:

Pre-game
Yankees and Angels
First of three at The Big A
A.J., Ervin, Ks!

Bottom 1st
A.J. Burnett wild
Walks Erick Aybar on pitch
That reached the backstop

AJ then wheels and
Catches Aybar trying steal
Who needs Posada?

Bobby Abreu
Jealous of Matsui-love
Shown by former team?

Abreu doubles
He states “No walls were hurt in
making of this hit”

Next, Torii Hunter . . .
Swisher slides for liner, but
Can’t hold it, two on

Matsui lines out
But then Kendry Morales
Chops a pitch, hang time!

Mark Teixiera waits
And waits . . . and waits for it to
Come down . . . But too late

Abreu scores run
AJ gets Juan Rivera
To fly out to right

Top 2nd
Santana is sharp
Through two frames only one hit
(A-Rod line single)

Bottom 2nd
Maicer Izturis
Brings Yankees only tsuris
Singles past A-Rod

Kendrick named “Howard”?
He flies out to warning track
Burnett not fooling

Who’s Bobby Wilson?
All Angel catchers must have
Six letters in names?

Napoli is one
Mathis is another one
Who cares? Wilson Ks

Tsuris stole second
While Wilson was striking out
But Aybar ends threat

Top 3rd
Swisher pops to short
Gardner lines hit down left field
First double of year!

Jeter mirrors Brett
Dumps double down right field line
Tying game at 1

Johnson K’s, close pitch
Teix hit on elbow (again?)
Takes first base, two on

Alex rips a hit
Past Izturis, a single
Jeter scores, 2-1.

Teix now at second
Cano drives score truck, singles
Teix charges round third

Plate was his to have
Wilson was out front, up line
Teix plowed over him

Wilson groggy, hurt
Was assisted off the field
No weight on left leg

That made it 3-1
Posada popped out to short
Could A.J. hold lead?

Bottom 3rd
Up stepped Abreu
He doubles again, off wall
Hunter lines to third

Alex snares it, throws
Off mark, Hunter runs into
Teix no harm no foul

Now its first and third
Matsui up, AJ gets
A pitcher’s best friend

4-6-3 DP
Run scores, can Burnett escape?
No, Kendry gets plunked

Rivera doubles
High off right-centerfield wall
Tie game now . . . field goals?

Tsuris adds to woes
He doubles, Angels 4-3
Pins in A.J. dolls

Burnett finally
Gets third out of the inning
On Kendrick groundout

(more…)

Prior to last night’s game, Nick Johnson had walked in slightly better than one of every four plate appearances this season.  With 14 walks in his first 12 games, he was on a pace which would eclipse the all-time franchise record of 170 by Babe Ruth in 1923.

Now of course, Nick is a DL stint just waiting to happen, so that all-time mark is highly unlikely.  But he could more reasonably eclipse the more recent high-water mark of Jason Giambi, who got a free pass 129 times in 2003.

In the DH era, there have been only ten occurrences of a Yankee drawing 100 or more walks in a season, and Giambi has four of them.

Johnson’s .158 batting average (prior to last night’s game) will of course come back to more-normal levels, as he is a career .271 hitter.  Since 1990, there have been 78 occurrences of an American League batting title qualifier amassing 100 or more walks, and the median batting average of that group is .285, with a range of .223 (Mickey Tettleton in 1990) to .363 (John Olerud in 1993).