In his last turn, Jake Peavy pitched six scoreless innings in his first start after an elbow-related DL stint. In his last turn, Darrell Rasner was beat severely about the head and neck by the typically mild-mannered Oakland A’s offense. Peavy needed just 72 pitches to get through those six innings against the Dodgers. He’ll likely be pulled before he hits 100 pitches today. Rasner, despite that beating, has still only allowed three homers and walked just six men in 42 major league innings this season, and hasn’t allowed a homer in any of his last three starts. Peavy was the best pitcher in baseball last year, but couldn’t deliver the Wild Card to San Diego in their one-game playoff against the Rockies. Rasner is 0-3 with a 6.35 ERA in his last three starts.

So there’s that.

Hideki Matsui’s left knee is hurting, so he sits tonight and will see a doctor tomorrow. I’m hoping his knee is just reacting to the wacky changes in atmospheric pressure. Here in New Jersey we’ve had different weather every two hours today. Cool and crisp like an early spring day. Downpour. Overcast and humid, but dry. Downpour. Sunny and hot like a perfect summer day. Downpour. It’s not raining now, but the sky is darkening and I can hear thunder in the distance (make that directly overhead . . . yikes!).

With Matsui out, Wilson Betemit will play first base while Jason Giambi moves to DH. In contrast to his persistent career-long split, Giambi has been a better hitter when not playing the field this year (.297/.458/.622 vs. 252/.383/.563). For those of you filling out All-Star ballots, the Big G leads AL first baseman in VORP this year and Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Giambi, and Matsui are all among the top dozen ALers in the stat.

(more…)

Pete Abraham’s game-post last night was chock-full-of-goodies, but my favorite part, a bit of information that my wife also shared with me (she learned it from S. Waldman on the radio), came from Ron Guidry, who called Chien-Ming Wang and told him, "You can pitch but you can’t run."

A Wocka, wocka, wocka. 

Cyd Charisse passed away yesterday.  A finer pair of legs have never graced the Silver Screen.  If you’ve never seen her work, I suggest you start with The Band Wagon and Singin in the Rain. 

Last night I got on the subway and stood next to two beefy, corn-fed couples.  They were young, blond, in their twenties, all wearing shorts, a sure sign that they are from out-of-town (it’s not that New Yorkers don’t wear shorts, we do, but in the summertime, suburbanites and tourists seem to almost exclusively wear shorts).  One of the guys had a tatoo on his leg.  They were talking loudly.  I turned to one of them and asked where they were from. 

"St. Louis.  How did you know we were from out-of-town?"

"Just a hunch." 

The foursome was headed up to the Stadium for their first, and only, trip to see the Yankees.  Next, they are going to Boston to catch the Cards play the Sox. 

I thought of them later in the evening as I was watching the game on TV.  What an ideal night to visit the old place.  Sure, it wasn’t a great game–the Padres inept performance made sure of that, as Cliff already noted–but the weather was gorgeous (not a rain drop in sight), Alex Rodriguez hit a bomb, Giambi hit two, including a real shot to left center, Robinson Cano got in some good hacks, and in a blow-out game, the out-of-towners were treated to a vintage three-K performance by Mariano Rivera.  There’s a Yankee Stadium memory for you, tension-free and made-to-order.

Rodriguez also made two nifty plays to his backhand side, showing off his strong arm in the process.  But it should also be noted that his Manny Ramirez impression in the seventh inning cost him his first triple of the season.  Rodriguez hit a line drive to straight away center and judging by the way he left the box, watching, jogging, he thought it was good enough for his second homer of the game.  Instead, he cruised into second and not third.  It’s a lot easier to see a player Cadillac-it when his team is up, 8-0.  Still, Chubb Rock could have been standing on third with his first triple since May 31st, 2006.

Rumor has it the Padres were actually on the field at Yankee Stadium last night, but there was little evidence of their presence. Andy Pettitte turned in his second straight dominant outing, tying his season high in strikeouts with nine, and the Bombers stomped on Randy Wolf, cruising to an uncontested 8-0 victory.

Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi got things going with solo homers in the second inning. Giambi then added a two-run shot in the fourth, setting the tone for a five-run inning that was aided by a wild pitch by Wolf and some sloppy play by Craig Stansberry at second base. The Yanks tacked one on in the eight against reliever Carlos Guevara. Meanwhile Jose Veras, Billy Traber (getting an inning ending groundout from Adrian Gonzalez with men on first and second in his return to the team), and Mariano Rivera, who hadn’t pitched since last Thursday and struck out the side in the ninth, nailed down the win.

With the win, the Yankees extended their season-best winning streak to five games. They have scored 29 runs in their last three games and haven’t allowed a run since the seventh inning of Saturday’s game in Houston. Tonight Darrell Rasner faces Jake Peavy, who is making just his second start since returning from an elbow injury. With the way this team is playing, I can’t wait for the first pitch.

San Diego Padres

2007 Record: 89-74 (.549)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 90-75 (.553)

2008 Record: 31-40 (.437)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 29-42 (.408)

Manager: Bud Black
General Manager: Kevin Towers

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Petco Park (91/91)

Who’s Replacing Whom:

Tad Iguchi replaces Marcus Giles
Jody Gerut replaces Jim Edmonds, who replaced Mike Cameron
Edgar Gonzalez replaces Geoff Blum
Paul McAnulty inherits Jose Cruz Jr.’s playing time
Tony Clark replaces Russell Branyan
Justin Huber replaces Terrmel Sledge
Scott Hairston inherits Milton Bradley’s playing time
Michael Barrett is replacing Josh Bard (DL) in the lineup
Luke Carlin is filling in for Barrett on the bench
Edgar Gonzalez is replacing Tad Iguchi (DL) in the lineup
Craig Stansberry is filling in for Gonzalez on the bench
Randy Wolf replaces David Wells and Clay Hensley
Josh Banks replaces Justin Germano, Brett Tomko, and Jack Cassel
Cha Seung Baek is filling in for Chris Young (DL)
Bryan Corey replaces Doug Brocail
Mike Adams replaces Scott Linebrink and Joe Thatcher
Carlos Guevara is filling in for Kevin Cameron (DL)

25-man Roster

1B – Adrian Gonzalez (L)
2B – Edgar Gonzalez (R)
SS – Khalil Greene (R)
3B – Kevin Kouzmanoff (R)
C – Michael Barrett (R)
RF – Brian Giles (L)
CF – Jody Gerut (L)
LF – Paul McAnulty (L)

Bench:

S – Tony Clark (1B)
R – Justin Huber (OF)
R – Scott Hairston (OF)
R – Craig Stansberry (IF)
S – Luke Carlin (C)

Rotation:

R – Jake Peavy
R – Josh Banks
R – Cha Seung Baek
R – Greg Maddux
L – Randy Wolf

Bullpen:

R – Trevor Hoffman
R – Heath Bell
R – Cla Meredith
L – Justin Hampson
R – Bryan Corey
R – Mike Adams
R – Carlos Guevara

15-day DL: R – Tadahito Iguchi (2B), S – Josh Bard (C), R – Chris Young, L – Shawn Estes, R- Kevin Cameron
60-day DL: R – Mark Prior, R – Tim Stauffer

Typical Lineup:

L – Jody Gerut (L)
R – Edgar Gonzalez (2B)
L – Brian Giles (RF)
L – Adrian Gonzalez (1B)
R – Kevin Kouzmanoff (3B)
L – Paul McAnulty (LF)
R – Khalil Greene (SS)
R – Michael Barrett (C)

(more…)

Wait, thunderstorms are in the forecast here in New York…

There’s an old joke.  Uh, two elderly women are at a Catskills mountain resort, and one of ’em says: "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible."  The other one says, "Yeah, I know, and such small portions." Well, that’s essentially how I feel about life.  Full of loneliness and misery and suffering  and unhappiness, and it’s all over much too quickly.

–Alvy Singer.

Keep your head up, Willie.  The worst is over.  And we still love ya. 

Few things remind me of why I love New York City more than the great game of Double Dutch. 

Ya heard?

People say Tiger Woods is ungodly. I’d say his performance is often flat-out godly. During yesterday’s dramatic playoff at the U.S. Open, one of the TV commentators said that Tiger isn’t used to chasing someone this late in a Major.  The pressure is on Tiger, he said.  A friend, who is an avid golf fan, turned to me and said, "The pressure is always on the other guy because Tiger is relentless."

Today, Joe Posnanski wonders what drives Woods and notices that there aren’t many telling anecdotes about the living legend.  Michael Jordan’s competitiveness is well-documented, but Woods is almost like an android, he’s so contained, so controlled.  But I thought this was revealing. Woods told reporters: 

"This week had a lot of doubt to it, to be honest with you.  I hadn’t walked 18 holes until the first round here since Augusta.  You know, you keep playing.  You just keep going, keep going forward.

All my buddies, when we were working out, used to always say ‘For.’  How many more reps do we have? ‘For.  Forever.’  And that’s the idea.  You just keep going.  There’s no finish line."

I think Woods is simply one of the most focused, disciplined, single-minded champions of all time. He is relentless. That’s why the pressure is always on the other guy. I’m sure he doesn’t let anything get in the way of his game–family, friends, even business. It doesn’t make me want to hang out with him. How could a guy like that be fun to have a conversation with? But it’s hard not to marvel at his drive, nerve, and his continued excellence in the world of golf.

In his blog yesterday, Rob Neyer looks at the Yankees’ pitching options now that Chien-Ming Wang won’t be around for a good, long while:

One thing I’m sure about: the Yankees aren’t punting. Not now.

I don’t believe that Dan McCutchen is ready. He was excellent in nine Double-A starts this spring, but has only five Triple-A starts and generally hasn’t been able to keep the ball out of the air this season. At 25, he’s a prospect but not a savior.

Ian Kennedy? He’s on the DL, but throwing without pain. Kei Igawa has a 3.73 in Triple-A this season, and a 6.75 career ERA in the majors. Jeff Karstens has a 5.65 career ERA in the majors, and a 6.11 ERA in Triple-A this season. Dan Giese? What a story. At 31, he’s finally getting his shot and he’s getting it with the Yankees. If he really could pitch effectively in the majors, you’d think he’d have done it before now. But stranger things have happened.

Right now the Yankees don’t seem to have any attractive options. But the same was true six weeks ago, right? And Darrell Rasner stepped in, and he’s given the Yankees five quality starts (out of seven). Can the Yankees really catch the Red Sox and/or the Rays with a rotation that includes Chamberlain, Darrell Rasner and (for example) Giese? Probably not. But they have to try, and will.

(And the same goes for the Indians, who still have a fighting chance and aren’t trading C.C. Sabathia anytime soon.)

Isn’t this guy looking for work?

Hey, our boy Bouton prolly still has some life in his knuckler…

While you were sleeping…

The Mets beat the Angels in California last night. Then, they fired Willie Randolph, pitching coach Rick Peterson and first-base coach Tom Nieto. Jerry Manuel is the new manager of the Mets.

This was coming. We all knew that. Still, it never ceases to amaze me just how these things are handled. I suppose the Met brass wanted to do this with the team out of town, do it so late in the night that it’d miss the morning papers–as if that really matters these days. I can’t call it. But it just seems like a cockamamie way to handle the situation. Why make Randolph schlep out to California in the first place?

How about this for an Odd Couple?

Tom Friend has a long piece on an unlikely friendship over at ESPN.com.

It was such a nice Yankee weekend too, wasn’t? That is, until the injury to Chien-Ming Wang. Over at Under the Knife, Will “Juicespin” Carroll reports:

Consider this another point for the DH rule, because the Yankees’ ace sprained his foot running the bases on Sunday and looks to be headed for the DL. Early reports indicated that Wang heard a “pop” on the top of his foot, a symptom that New Yorkers should be familiar with. If you don’t remember that Brian Bruney is already out for the season with a Lisfranc sprain, you might remember that missed season by the recently retired Giant speedrusher Michael Strahan. (Here in Indianapolis, it’s Dwight Freeney that comes to mind.) If Wang has injured the Lisfranc ligament or, worse, broken a bone, he’s done for the season for all intents and purposes, putting the Yankees in a terrible position as far as their rotation. With Wang on crutches, the team is unlikely to wait and see on this one, and will likely push him to the DL. The calls are already coming out to go after C.C. Sabathia, but the Yankees are going to need immediate answers. Ian Kennedy is making progress, but isn’t close enough to fill in for Wang’s next scheduled start, leaving Jeff Karstens or Kei Igawa as the most likely fill-ins. We should find out more on how serious Wang’s foot problem is in the next few days once the swelling is down enough for clear images. On the assumption that this is a Lisfranc sprain, I’m setting his DXL at three months.

And you thought we’d seen the last of Kei Igawa.

Update

Pete Abe has the latest. The news is not good. Looks like Wang could be done for the year.

As we wait for an update on the severity of Chien-Ming Wang’s injury, Tyler Kepner suggests why trading for C.C. Sabathia makes sense for New York.   

Curt Flood with Marvin Miller.

Allen Barra thinks that players need to stand up for Marvin Miller.

There are any number of things that look better on HD TV–nature shows, cooking shows, golf. I don’t play golf but it looks so inviting, all that green, on HD. Last night, after a long day with my family, I was lying on the couch watching the last moments of U.S. Open.

“Are you watching, golf?” says my wife?

“No, I’m watching Tiger.”

I’m like a lot of people. Woods gets me to sit and watch. I’m nervous all over again just thinking about that last shot he sunk. The guy is so great it’s almost unfathomable. Imagine being Rocco and having to sleep on that? Tiger is one shot ahead after two holes so far today.

The Yankees crushalated the Astros yesterday, finishing a three game sweep in Houston with a powerful 13-0 lashing. Unfortunately, they also suffered what could be a major injury.

The Yankees got three runs early when Hideki Matsui cracked a two-out double to the gap in left center and Roy Oswalt, who was struggling once again, responded by walking Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, and Jorge Posada to make it 1-0. Robinson Cano then made it 3-0 with a lucky broken-bat single that dropped in behind third base and plated two more runs.

The real action happened in the sixth. With Oswalt still on the mound, Posada and Robinson Cano led off with singles. After a Melky Cabrera fly out, Chien-Ming Wang laid down a hard bunt back to Oswalt that got Posada thrown out at third, but with Cano on second and Wang on first, Johnny Damon chopped an infield single to load the bases. Derek Jeter then singled Cano and Wang home, but as Wang was headed home from third base he pulled up lame and wound up skipping half of the way home. Once he touched the plate, Wang bent over at the waist as Cano anxiously waved out the trainer.

Wang was helped off the field and later left the clubhouse with the help of crutches and a golf cart with what was described generically as a foot injury. More won’t be known until Wang has an MRI today, but he’ll almost surely land on the DL, and if anything is broken, he could miss most or all of the remainder of the season (Brian Bruney’s lisfranc injury come’s frighteningly to mind). Let’s not get ahead of ourselves with regard to how long Wang will be out, but if it’s more than the minimum, it will be a brutal loss for the Yanks, as Wang appeared to have broken his slump with a strong outing in Oakland his previous time out and five shutout innings yesterday. Over those last two starts Wang compiled this line: 12 1/3 IP, 13 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K. With the team starting to click, Wang could have run off an impressive streak the way he was pitching.

Roy Oswalt left the game at the same instant that Wang did, but due to poor performance rather than injury. The Yankees then teed off on lefty reliever Wesley Wright, a Rule 5 pick from the Dodgers this winter. Wright’s first pitch was turned around for a two-run single by Matsui. His second was creamolished to left field by Alex Rodriguez for a three-run homer. Wright then got ahead of Jason Giambi 0-2, only to come back with three straight balls, the last of which hit Giambi. Two pitches later, Jorge Posada cracked another homer, driving Wright from the game and pushing the score to 11-0.

The last two Yankee runs came in the eight against ex-Brave Oscar Villarreal. In place of Wang, Ross Ohlendorf, Edwar Ramirez, LaTroy Hawkins, and Dan Giese each threw a scoreless inning in which each allowed one baserunner and struck out one batter.

The Yanks are coming back home with a four-game winning streak to face a poor San Diego Padres team, but all thoughts will be about Chien-Ming Wang until, and perhaps even after, the Yankees release a diagnosis on Wang’s swollen right foot.

Don’t look now, but the Yankees are making their move. Having finally smashed through the glass ceiling that being two games over .500 had represented for them since April 23, the Yanks move to three games over with yesterday’s win. They’re now 5-1-2 over their last eight series (including the current one against Houston), are 16-9 (.640) over that stretch, and have been in third place in the AL East for the last week.

Today, they send Chien-Ming Wang to the mound looking for their first three-game sweep of a team that’s not the Seattle Mariners and just their second four-game winning streak of the season. Wang snapped a four-start slump with a dominant outing against the A’s his last time out. The Astros will throw their own struggling ace in Roy Oswalt, who similarly dominated in his last start (7 IP, 1 R, 10 K against Milwaukee). Maybe we’ll get a good old fashioned pitcher’s duel to wrap this one up.

Bobby Abreu is the odd man out of the DH-free lineup this afternoon, with Hideki Matui, Johnny Damon, and Melky Cabrera roaming the pastures from left to right. Matsui is hitting third in Abreu’s place.

I talked to a group of kids, four dudes going into their second year of high school.  Nice guys, earnest and sincere.  Told me that they loved Jeter and Reyes and spent most of their time arguing who is better.  They also sweat A Rod and Soriano.  And Manny–duh.  Two of them told me they used to play of a team coached by Derek Jeter’s sister, back when they were 10-11.  Said that they got to meet Jeter on several occasions.  About twenty times, one of them said. 

"Yo, he took us to Mickey D’s and everything."

(more…)

Like many grown men, my father cried like a baby during the father-son reunion at the end of Field of Dreams. I always thought it was a corny, maudelin scene. After my dad died, I was told that I might react differently to that scene. I’ve actually seen it since, and I still think it’s phony, but it has effectively reminded me of my dad and how he found it moving.

The old man was never one to be made a fuss over on Father’s Day. Just a quick call, “How are ya, Pop? Happy Father’s Day.” That’s all he ever wanted. To be recognized. Now he’s gone but I still like to think that he’s got a cosmic subscription to the Banter. So, Happy Father’s Day, Pop. And the same goes to my brother, an impressive young father of two, and all the other dads out there, who are holding down one of the most challenging yet rewarding jobs in the world. Big up yourself.