It had all the makings of another frustrating game for the Yankees. They couldn’t come up with a timely hit and the Pirates kept tacking on runs. Not only that, but when the Yankees did hit the ball hard it tended to be directly at a Pittsburgh defender. The Pirates boast a slick defensive infield, and they strutted their stuff all evening long. But with a little bit of luck (in the form of a missed call that would have ended the game in the ninth, as well as a ball that hit Russ Johnson in the tenth), the Yankees finally earned a come-from-behind victory, as Jason Giambi’s moonshot off of Jose Mesa sent Yankee fans to bed with a smile on their face. The final was 7-5, and the Bombers didn’t lose ground to the Orioles and the Red Sox, who both won as well.

Giambi couldn’t catch up to southpaw Mike Gonzalez’s gas in the eighth inning, but Mesa couldn’t sneak the heater past him in the tenth. I called Cliff a few minutes after the game ended and he said something to the effect that Jose Mesa is good for what ails ya. Amen to that, brother. The Yanks pounded out fifteen hits in all. Kevin Brown had to leave the game due to back spasms, and Tanyon Sturtze was roughed up again, but Mariano Rivera dominated the Pirates for two innings, lowering his season earned run average to 1.09 in the process. After a one-two-three ninth, Rivera clapped his hands and encouraged his team in the dugout.

With Gary Sheffield on first and two out, Alex Rodriguez came to the plate. The Yanks trailed by one run. Rodriguez missed a room service fastball with the count 1-1, and I thought that might be the game right there. Man, was it ever a fat pitch. As much as I think the notion of Rodriguez as a choker is nuts, I admit that in a tight situation I don’t have the same confidence in him that I do with, say Sheffield. Nevertheless, Rodriguez was patient, and eventually muscled a good fastball that was bearing in on his hands into center for a single. Jorge Posada followed and laced a line drive into right, which tied the game.

After Tino Martinez walked to lead off the bottom of the tenth, Russ Johnson came into the game as a pinch-runner. Increasingly disgruntled left fielder Tony Womack, who replaced Ruben Sierra in left an inning earlier, was set to sacrifice him to second. After several pitches the Pirates called a pitch-out. Johnson was running. Hung up, he retreated to first. But the throw hit him and he made it back safely. At that point I turned to Emily and said, “There is just too much going right for them tonight to lose this one.” Fortunately, I was right, and I couldn’t be happier for Giambi, who absolutely crushed the ball into the upper deck, momentarily turning the jeers to cheers. After he was mobbed at home plate, Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez all took the time to not only hug Giambi, but give him some words of encouragment too. Good for the Big Lug. And kudos to the whole team.

Especially since tonight’s match-up could be special.

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In the three games since their embarrassing Keyston Kops routine on Friday night in St. Louis, the Yankees have played some of their crispest baseball of the year. Accordingly, they’ve gone 2-1 in those games, twice shutting out their opponent, holding a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning of the one loss, and outscoring their foes 17-5 in the three games combined. Going back to the final game of their Series in Milwaukee, the Yankees are 3-2 in their last five games, a small, but significant sample in that it represents their first winning stretch since late May.

Last night’s victory behind Mike Mussina’s second shutout of the year (his most since 2002) moved the Yankees 1/2 game ahead of the Pirates and within one game of .500, a mark they’ve not equaled in a week and a half. The Yankees also moved into a third-place tie with the Blue Jays in the AL East, 3.5 games behind the Red Sox and 6.5 games behind the first-place Orioles.

Tonight they send Kevin Brown to the mound to face lefty Mark Redman, whom the Yankees handled easily when they last met in Game 2 of the 2003 World Series. In thirteen starts for the Pirates this year, Redman has failed to deliver a quality start (minimum 6 IP, maximum 3 ER) just once, that coming against the Cardinals four starts ago. The reason for Redman’s strong performance has been a combination of a career-high ground-ball rate (2.04 ground balls for every fly ball, twice his usual rate) and the Pirates’ NL-best Defensive Efficiency. Thus the key for the Yankees tonight will be to try to hit the ball in the air, particularly to center field, where Rob Mackowiak and Tike Redman represent the Achilles heal of the Pirates’ defense.

Mark Redman’s consistency also puts the pressure on Brown, who has a superior strike-out rate, a similar ground ball rate, but the second worst defense in baseball (pity Cincinnati) behind him. As a result, hitters are hitting exactly .100 points higher against Brown than they are against Redman. That may not all be due to their respective defenders, but I’d guess that a great deal of it is.

On a more encouraging note, the Yankees did the right thing when disabling Rey Sanchez yesterday in that they called up, not Felix Escalona, but Andy Phillips. With the Yankees facing two left handers in three of their next four games (Redman tonight, Oliver Perez tomorrow, and Glendon Rusch on Saturday), Tino Martinez cold as ice, and Jason Giambi pulling his OBP-only routine (his double off the 408 sign in center last night was just his second extra-base since May 18, and only his fourth since April 20), one hopes that Andy Phillips will get multiple starts at first base in the coming days, thus getting a second chance to establish himself in the Yankee line-up.

That trio of lefty starters might also lead to some bench time for Tony Womack, who, in addition to being useless to begin with, has started hitting everything in the air, which is death for a slap-hitting speedster of his ilk. Allow me to repeat one of my favorite anecdotes from Whitey Herzog’s You’re Missing a Great Game concerning Herzog’s advice to a young Willie Wilson, who was swinging for the fences as a rookie for Kansas City in the mid-’70s:

I still don’t understand what in the hell told him he had home-run pop in his bat . . . the fly balls he hit just gave the outfielders a long way to run before the catch . . . He might get his 12 homers, but the rest of the time he was going to make himself and out, kill our rallies, and put the Kansas City fans in a coma.

What Willie did have, though, was speed . . .With the wheels he had, if Willie’d just learn to . . . beat the ball into the ground, and take off running, he’d be on base more often than Babe Ruth ate hot dogs.

A few walks wouldn’t hurt either. According to baseball’s free agency rules, today is the first day that teams can trade their first-year free agents (such as Womack) without their permission. Here’s hoping those lefties will get Womack out of the line-up, and Cashman’s new freedom to trade him will get Womack out of pinstripes for good.

In more lefty news, Steven Goldman tells me that, despite correctly leaving the righty-batting middle infielder Escalona in Columbus, the Yankees are indeed looking to sit Robinson Cano against lefties. It will be interesting to see if this results in a second base start for Phillips or Russ Johnson (something I’d approve of, as it could decrease the likelihood of either being demoted any time soon). Meanwhile, I’ll be fantasizing of an every-day line-up that looks like this:

Jeter
Bernie
Sheffield
Rodriguez
Posada
Matsui
Phillips
Giambi/Tino
Cano

“Sure we’re concerned,” [George] Steinbrenner said. “Until we’re in first place, we’re concerned. But we’re doing all right.”
(Star- Ledger)

On an unbearably hot night in the Bronx, Mike Mussina tossed a complete-game shutout and the Yankees crushed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9-0:

“We came out and scored, kept putting pressure on them and we played good defense,” Mussina said. “It was just a night I was glad to be pitching. I got some breaks, got some runs scored for us.”
(ESPN)

With Boss George in the house, it was the kind of laugher that the Yankees sorely need. It won’t mean much if they can’t string together a series of wins, but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

Considering how poorly they’ve played, it’s notable that nobody has publicly gone nutzo, from George on down. Lots of meetings, yeah, but no tirades yet. This team might be a lot of things, but the Bronx Zoo they ain’t. (Hey, the New Age Bronx Zoo is alive and well in the City of Angels.) While neither Bernie Williams and Tony Womack aren’t thrilled about how their seasons are going, neither has pitched a fit. Steven Goldman, president of the T. Womack Fan Club observed recently:

If I were him, I wouldn’t be disgruntled, I’d be embarrassed. The New York Times reports that Mr. Torre is thinking of trying Womack in center field. Unless this is a clever ruse to increase Womack’s trade value, it is, charitably, insane. There is nowhere on the playing field that you can hide a Womack, and he won’t help the defense any.

I figure Womack will be traded before the summer is out.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press and New York Times report that the Yanks will announce their plans for a new stadium later today.

Pittsburgh Pirates

2004 Record: 72-89 (.447)
2004 Pythagorean Record: 74-87 (.460)

Manager: Lloyd McClendon
General Manager: Dave Littlefield

Ballpark (2004 park factors): PNC Park (96/96)

Who’s replacing whom?

Matt Lawton replaces Jason Kendall
Humberto Cota takes playing time from Daryle Ward (or Craig Wilson due to injury)
Freddy Sanchez inherits Abraham O. Nunez’s playing time
Michael Restovich inherits Randall Simon’s playing time
Dave Ross inherits Chris Stynes playing time
Ryan Doumit inherits Ty Wigginton’s playing time
Mark Redman replaces Kris Benson and Sean Burnett
Dave Williams and Ryan Vogelsong switch roles
Rick White replaces Mark Corey, Brian Boehringer and other random relievers

Current Roster:

1B – Daryle Ward
2B – Jose Castillo
SS – Jack Wilson
3B – Rob Mackowiak
C – Humberto Cota
RF – Matt Lawton
CF – Tike Redman
LF – Jason Bay

Bench:

R – Freddy Sanchez (IF)
S – Bobby Hill (IF)
R – Dave Ross (C)
L – Michael Restovich (OF)
S – Ryan Doumit (C/OF)

Rotation:

R – Kip Wells
L – Mark Redman
L – Oliver Perez
R – Josh Fogg
L – Dave Williams

Bullpen:

R – Jose Mesa
L – Mike Gonazalez
R – Salomon Torres
R – Rick White
R – Brian Meadows
L – John Grabow
R – Ryan Vogelsong

DL:

R – Craig A. Wilson (OF/1B)
L – Sean Burnett (60-day)
R – John Van Benschoten (60-day)

Typical Line-up

L – Matt Lawton (RF)
L – Tike Redman (CF)
R – Jason Bay (LF)
L – Rob Mackowiak (3B)
L – Daryle Ward (1B)
R – Jose Castillo (2B)
R – Humberto Cota (C)
R – Jack Wilson (SS)

Entering a three game series with the Yankees tonight, the Pirates have a .492 actual and .519 Pythagorean winning percentage, both of which are better than the Yankees’ marks (.484 and .505 respectively). The Pirates are currently three games ahead of the Brewers in third place in the NL Central (the Yankees are still languishing a game behind the Blue Jays in fourth in the AL East).

Last week, when the Yankees began a three-game series in Milwaukee, the Brewers had a .464 winning percentage, but a .549 Pythagorean winning percentage. The Brewers then proceeded to take the first two games of that series before losing the third 12-3. Since then Milwaukee has lost four more, for a five-game losing streak that’s dropped them to a .444 actual and .509 Pythagorean winning percentage. The Pirates, meanwhile, are 7-4 in June, having won their last four series (against the Devil Rays, Orioles, Braves and Marlins), this on top of a winning record in May (15-13).

So much for Milwaukee and Pittsburgh providing the Yankees with an opportunity to pad their record. More on how the Pirates have been winning (tonight’s starter, Kip Wells, has been a big part of it) later.

Some quick notes as the Yankees recover from the 3-9 beating they took on their just-completed romp through the heartland:

Rey Sanchez has two bulging disks in his neck and may land on the DL prior to the Pirates series. Should that happen, the Yanks are expected to call up Felix Escalona, following the logic that Sanchez is a back-up infielder and thus should be replaced by one. This is, of course, nonsense. Tony Womack should be sent to the bench, where he can back-up Cano at second. Alex Rodriguez can back-up Jeter at short, and Russ Johnson can back-up Rodriguez at third. There is no need for an extra infielder on this team.

By that logic, it would seem there’s no need for Sanchez on this team, which is something I’ve been saying since spring training. Upon closer examination, however, Sanchez could be useful as a spot-starter at second against lefties (Cano vs L: 3/29, 1 HR, 1 BB–.122 GPA; Sanchez vs L since 2002: .285/.328/.369–.240). That is unless you believe this season is a lost cause and the Yankees would be better off exposing Cano to lefties now in the hopes that he can learn to hit them, making him a more complete player for next year and beyond. With the Yanks two games under .500 less than a month from the All-Star Game but just six back in the AL East in mid-June, I change my mind about this several times a day.

As for Escalona’s ability at the plate, his .308/.371/.431 (.275 GPA) as the Clippers’ starting shortstop last year was head and shoulders above anything he’d done outside of A-ball. This year, at age 26, he’s hitting .279/.364/.413 (.267), a solid-follow up to his break-out 2004 campaign. But solid at triple-A is not reason enough to put a guy on the major league roster. Crushing at triple-A is. For that, we turn to Andy Phillips, who is hitting .340/.389/.670 (.343) with Columbus on the heels of a .318/.388/.569 (.317) performance with the Clippers in 2004. I know Andy fell into a rut when he was here previously, but with Tino 3 for his last 35 with a double and just three walks (.088/.158/.114) and a roster spot opening up, I think it’s time for Phillips to get his second shot to nab the starting job at first base. Besides which, Phillips, like Russ Johnson, can play several infield positions and is serviceable as a back-up outfielder. This team is better with those two men in the Bronx and Andy Phillips could make this team better in the future as well.

Speaking of Tony Womack (I did mention him back there somewhere), according to The New York Times Joe Torre is thinking about moving him into center field, which would allow Hideki Matsui to stay put in left, where he’s a much better defender than he is in center. Meanwhile, Womack (who of course shouldn’t be starting at all, but we’ll get to that shortly) has the potential to improve on Matsui’s defense center thanks to his speed (something I had suggested when initial move of Womack to the outfield was made in early May). There are also rumblings that Womack is rumbling about playing the outfield, telling the press (when asked) that he still considers himself a second baseman. There are also rumblings that there are rumblings that could result in a more significant roster moves than Escalona-for-Sanchez-due-to-injury. Sez Brian Cashman, “I’ve got a lot of things going on behind the scenes.” This after he was seen talking with Womack twice on Sunday.

Could Womack, whose $2 million salary and stellar reputation combined with complete lack of production makes him a top trade candidate, be on the move? We can only hope. In the mean time, Womack could be seen in centerfield during the upcoming home stand, even as soon as tomorrow’s game against the Pirates.

In a related story, Hideki Matsui celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday with a clutch hit and a sprained ankle (he slipped while making a play in right field, where he was starting in place of the resting Gary Sheffield). That puts both his consecutive games streak and Tony Womack’s centerfield debut in jeopardy, as there have been no further rumblings about Bernie Williams playing left field. That suggests that Womack moving to center and being shopped could mean that the Yankees are indeed in the market for a real-life centerfielder (oh pleasepleasepleaseplease).

As for Matsui’s prognosis, despite leaning on Gene Monahan when coming off the field yesterday, wasn’t limping noticeably once back in the dugout, and will likely keep his streak intact, even if it comes via a DH start or a pinch-hitting appearance.

And thus concludes another post that would have been largely unnecessary had the Yankees ponied up for Carlos Beltran.

The Yanks and Cards played a reasonably crisp game yesterday. St. Louis came up with the big hits against the Yankee bullpen, good enough for a 5-3 victory. The Bombers went 3-9 on the road trip, and have lost 11 of 14. Remarkably, they are still only six games behind the first place Orioles.

The team has the day off today. Next, Pittsburgh is in town for three, followed by a fun match-up with the Cubs this weekend. Anyone got anything interesting to say about any of this? Right now, I’ve got nuthin for ya man.

Man, I’ve got no strong feelings about today’s game, in terms of what the outcome will be. Part of me thinks that Matt Morris will do very well and that the better team will win. But the other half of me just has to believe that the Yanks can take it. Come on fellas, let’s get the led out, willya, huh?

With Bob Gibson in the house, Randy Johnson pitched angry yesterday, and turned in his finest performance as a Yankee. The Big Unit threw seven shutout innings, and while Flash Gordon worked into trouble in the eighth, Mariano Rivera saved his bacon, striking out pinch-hitter Larry Walker looking on a 3-2 pitch to end the frame. Rivera got Albert Pujols to pop out in foul ground to Tino Martinez, and then struck out the next two batters in the ninth to nail down the Yankees’ 5-0 win.

Alex Rodrgiguez drove in the first and last runs of the game, while Derek Jeter had a big two-out, two RBI single. Godziller Matsui followed and double Jeter home, as the Yanks rebounded from their horrid Friday night performance.

Here’s some quotes from around Yankee Land.

According to the St. Louis Post- Dispatch:

Catcher John Flaherty said: “This is the guy that we thought we were getting (from the Arizona Diamondbacks). When you get ripped by your manager like we did, the best guy to have on the mound is a dominating lefthander.”

… “It was different from what I remember,” center fielder So Taguchi said. “Usually it’s fastball, fastball, slider. Today it was slider, slider, fastball, changeup. He had his command … very tough.”

The Boss has given Joe Torre the dreaded “vote of confidence.” Yikes:

“I am upset,” Steinbrenner said through his spokesman, Howard Rubenstein, but added, “I have confidence in (Torre). He is safe. He has said he can turn this around. Let’s see if he can do it.”
(N.Y. Daily News)

Finally, here’s Filip Bondy on Bernie Williams:

“If I’m consistent about one thing, it’s that I stink at the beginning of each and every season,” Williams told a writer, explaining that it is nearly impossible now for him to find any rhythm. “Then I always make it happen. It’s frustrating when you’re not given that opportunity. I still get to wear the uniform, and that gives me great pride. But they always stress loyalty to the team during contract talks, and then that only goes so far when it’s the other way.”

Huge game for New York this afternoon. If they can pull out a win, they will return home with some dignity. If not, after this disheartening stretch, it will be a long trip back East.

Having taken the final game in Milwaukee, the Yankees have already exceeded my expectations for the second half of this road trip. Having bollocksed away yesterday’s game, they’re right on target for my expectations of this weekend. Today they get to tangle with Mark Mulder and the alleged Game of the Week curse. Randy Johnson will have his work cut out for him to say the least. One things for certain, we’re not likely to see Jason Giambi starting at first base today.

The Yankees did their best Chico’s Bail Bonds impression last night, kicking the ball around, and playing themselves out of the game early, in a pathetic 8-1 loss to the Cardinals. It was such a depressing performance that I uncharacteristically found myself flipping through the channels by the middle innings because I simply couldn’t watch anymore. It’s not a matter of jumping ship, but if they aren’t going to show up, why should we?

Derek Jeter was visibly livid on the bench during the game, and Joe Torre lit into the team once again when it was over:

“It was an embarrassing game,” Torre said after emerging from yet another team meeting. “This is the worst. This one stands on its own.”

… “It’s not the pitching coach’s fault, it’s not the hitting coach’s fault,” Torre said. “It’s my fault. Ultimately it falls on me. I’m in charge of this team.”
(N.Y. Daily News)

Luis Sojo said it was the angriest he’s ever seen Torre; Bernie Williams said he’s seen him more upset, but nevertheless, Torre got his point across. Alex Rodriguez summed it up well:

“This is certainly rock bottom for this team,” he said. “Not just because we lost, but because of the fashion we lost in. It was just very embarrassing to be out there.”
(N.Y. Times)

The Yanks are saying all the right things. But talk is cheap. They need to get their collective head out of their ass on the field. At some point, you have to imagine that heads are going to roll.

St. Louis Cardinals

2004 Record: 105-57 (.648)
2004 Pythagorean Record: 100-62 (.617)

Manager: Tony LaRussa
General Manager: Walt Jocketty

Ballpark (2004 park factors): Busch Stadium (97/97)

Who’s replacing whom?

Mark Grudzielanek replaces Edgar Renteria
David Eckstein replaces Tony Womack
Mark Mulder replaces Woody Williams
Randy Flores inherits Steve Kline’s innings
Larry Walker takes over Ray Lankford and Marlon Anderson’s playing time
Yadier Molina inherits Mike Matheny’s playing time
Einar Diaz takes over Molina’s playing time
Abraham Nunez has replaced Hector Luna and is filling in for Scott Rolen (along with Scott Seabol)
Al Reyes inherits Kiko Calero’s playing time
Dan Haren is replaced by various and sundry relievers

Current Roster:

1B – Albert Pujols
2B – Mark Grudzielanek
SS – David Eckstein
3B – Abraham O. Nunez
C – Yadier Molina
RF – Larry Walker
CF – Jim Edmonds
LF – Reggie Sanders

Bench:

L – John Mabry (UT)
R – So Taguchi (OF)
R – Scott Seabol (IF)
R – Einar Diaz (C)
L – Skip Schumaker (OF)

Rotation:

L – Mark Mulder
R – Chris Carpenter
R – Jason Marquis
R – Matt Morris
R – Jeff Suppan

Bullpen:

R – Jason Isringhausen
R – Julian Tavarez
L – Ray King
R – Al Reyes
L – Randy Flores
R – Brad Thompson
L – Gabe White

DL:

R – Scott Rolen (3B)
S – Roger Cedeno (OF)
R – Cal Eldred
R – Mike Lincoln

Typical Line-up

R – David Eckstein (SS)
R – Mark Gruzielanek (2B)
R – Albert Pujols (1B)
L – Jim Edmonds (CF)
R – Reggie Sanders (LF)
L – Larry Walker (RF)
S – Abraham Nunez (3B)
R – Yanier Molina (C)

The Cardinals calling card is their quartet of Hall of Fame-quality sluggers: Albert Pujols, Scott Rolen, Jim Edmonds and Larry Walker. But with Rolen on the DL with a shoulder injury (replaced by Pirates castoff Abraham Nunez and the Yankee’s one-time answer to Moonlight Graham, Scott Seabol), and Walker hitting a pedestrian .245/.347/.417 (.265 EQA) at age 38 in his first full season outside of Colorado since 1994, it’s time to give credit to their pitching for their recent dominance of the National League.

(more…)

Speaking of nyerds, one of the nyerdest things to do is keep score at a baseball game (and if you are doing it at home, which I’ve tried on a few occasions, you are flat-out phreak). I never had the patience to do it when I was a kid. I also didn’t have anyone teach me either, and I think this is the sort of thing that is handed down from generation-to-generation. But about six or seven years ago, I started teaching myself how to do it. At first, I’d only last a few innings, but soon enough, I caught the bug. Actually, I think it appealed to my artistic nature, first and foremost. The idea of having a personalized record, complete with random notes, and little drawings, was appealing. Plus, it gave me a way to burn some nervous energy, doodling around, while I was at the game. I think I know the “correct” symbols to use now, but I still use half of my own notations, cause it’s just more fun that way.

Anyhow, I’ve come to appreciate people who keep score. Remember the story in the Times a few weeks ago about the woman who has been scoring Yankee games since the early 70s? Jay Jaffe has scorecards from when he was a kid, and I know Cliff is an expert scorekeeper. (Red Barber gives a lesson on how to keep score in his book “The Broadcasters” I believe.) A few days ago, Bob Ryan wrote a fun piece in the Boston Globe detailing his obsession with keeping score:

Why do I do this? If you have to ask, you wouldn’t understand. Anyway, it’s a good way to meet people. People will see me with my book in a minor league park and say, “Are you a scout, or somethin’?” And I say, “No, I’m just a baseball fan who likes to keep score.”

It’d be great to run a series of people’s scorecards, don’t you think? If anyone has any good ones, make a j-peg of them and send it along to us. At least we could see what everyone’s penmanship is like.

Our pal Steve Lombardi, who runs the excellent “Was Watching” Yankee blog, has written his first book, “The Baseball Same Game.” Using advanced metrics, Lombardi’s book compares players from different eras who has similar lifetime statistics. Fun for the baseball nyerds everywhere. In the true blogger spirit, Steve’s book is self-published, something Cliff and I both greatly admire. Check out his site for reviews and consider “The Baseball Same Game” as an ideal Father’s Day goody. Dude, it’s better than a tie.

Jerry Seinfeld once said that rooting for a single sports team over a long stretch of time ultimately means that one is rooting not for the players, or even for the coaches or owners, but for the uniform. “Basically,” reasoned Seinfeld, “you’re rooting for laundry.” This is not entirely true (after all, if it were, how would one explain Diamonbacks fans?), but there is a kernal of truth there, even if most teams change their uniforms much more often than they change ownership.

I myself have always enjoyed the history of the ever-changing baseball uniform, and as a result have delighted to the writings of Paul Lukas, whose Uni-Watch column was, along with Allan Barra, one of the reasons why the Village Voice‘s late one-page sports section was such a delight. Like Barra, Lukas initially moved to Slate.com after the Voice dropped sports. Last August, Lukas found a home on ESPN’s Page 2, where Uni-Watch now appears two or three times a month.

The latest Uni-Watch concerns an issue that is close to any baseball traditionalist’s heart: the stirrup sock, which just might be making a comeback thanks to, appropriately enough, the Red Sox. It burns me to say it, but I have to give props to the Sox high-sock contingent (Nixon, Mueller, Bellhorn and Millar), who have started wearing stirrups rather than plain red socks. Moreover, Lukas (perhaps unwittingly) reveals a hidden truth about Curt Schilling’s ACLS stigmata: had Schilling not been a stirrup-wearer, the Bloody Sock never would have been. Much as that would have made me very happy, I still long for the days of the classic stirrup and continue to hope that they will soon return to banish what Lukas calls the pajama brigade, which I believe started with Scott Erickson‘s break out year with the eventual World Champion Twins in 1991.

On a related note, fellow Toaster Alex Ciepley takes a look at the various types of goatees being sported around the league. I for one can’t stand the goatee (or Van Dyke for you facial hair sticklers out there). I remember when they broke into the league in the early ’90s on the faces of men such as Mark McGwire and Dan Gladden as grunge swept the nation and haphazard shaving became all the rage, turning us into a nation of evil twins. Despite my dislike for the style, even I couldn’t resist trying one out for about three days in 1993 just for yucks (though I was more Maynard G. Krebs than evil twin). That was more then a decade ago and the damn things just won’t go away. To add insult to injury, Alex not only drags Goose Gossage’s fu-manchu (a facial styling I also once emulated, resulting in something closer to James Hetfield) into the discussion, but calls Matt Clement’s facial merkin “infinitely more appealing,” than Gossages Hall-worthy stash. Well, I never!

To my memory, Goose was the only non captain to successfully circumvent Boss Steinbrenner’s rule against facial hair below the corners of the mouth (though in recent years David Wells, Roger Clemens and Jason Giambi have all gotten a bit lazy with the sublingual shaving at one time or another, none of them got past the Don Johnson/George Michael stage). Thurman Munson’s 1976 Topps card remains the only time I’ve ever seen a Steinbrenner-era Yankee with full-grown hairs on his chiny-chin-chin, and while I think Thurman looked good in a full beard, I think the Yankees, whose uniforms have remained virtually unchanged for nearly 70 years, are better for it.

There were lots of reasons for Yankee fans to smile last night as the Bronx Bombers beat up on the Brewers, 12-3. Joe Torre, veins bulging from his neck, saying everything he could to get run by Larry Vanover in the sixth inning was my favorite, but Alex Rodriguez stole the show, going 4-4, hitting two home runs, and, in the process, becoming the youngest player in the history of the game to reach 400 for his career. (Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano added solo shots of their own; man, ever notice how all of Jeter’s dingers come in meaningless situations…That’s a gag, son–gag, that is.) Though Rodriguez still hasn’t won over some Yankee fans, he’s one of the more remarkable players of his generation. Yeah, he’s a prima dona, but so are most superstars. The guy works hard, and plays hard. Currently leading the league in homers, runs scored and runs batted in, he’s having a fine season, aside from some notable defensive lapses. All I can say is that I sure appreciate watching him play.

(more…)

O.K., man, forget this, garbage: The Yanks are going to spank the Brewers tonight, and that’s that.

I generally try to avoid commenting on the mainstream sports media, in part because I rarely bother to read, watch or listen to it. I get all I need from the outstanding community of bloggers of which I’m privileged to be a part and independent on-line powerhouses such as Baseball Prospectus. MLB.com gives me the quotes and news of a roster move or a change in the rotation and ESPN.com is useful for their stats and pitch-by-pitch data, but neither offer much in the way of useful commentary (though ESPN boasts some top columnists). The daily papers are generally worse than redundant.

Still, sometimes when things take an unexpected turn, I like to breeze through the dailies, or dial on over to WFAN to find out how the mainstream is presenting things. In doing so today, I happened upon a pair of articles in The Star-Ledger that are fairly unexceptional on their own, but are fascinating taken together.

For one reason or another, Star-Ledger staffers Ed Price and Dan Graziano have tackled the exact same topic in today’s paper. That topic is, of course: “what is wrong with the Yankees and how can they fix it?” What’s fascinating is not only that the paper would run two articles on the same exact topic in the same day’s paper, but that the quality of the two articles would be so divergent.

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It was too little too late once again for the Yanks last night, as a ninth inning rally fell short, and the team lost again, this time 2-1. How about these sobering facts:

“We’re right where we deserve to be,” Jeter said. “We haven’t played well.”

He’s not kidding. The litany of numbers that demonstrate the Bombers’ futility seems endless. They’ve lost four straight series; they’re 0-22 in games in which they’ve scored three runs or less; they’re 0-28 when trailing after eight innings; and, in case you were wondering how they’re doing with runners in scoring position, the Yankees are 0-for-their-last-25 with the bases loaded, which is the longest such skid since the DH was introduced in 1973. (N.Y. Daily News)

Is Joe Torre’s job on the line? Tim Marchman doesn’t see why it shouldn’t be:

As bad as things have been for the Yankees, there hasn’t been much speculation about Joe Torre. There probably should be. A team’s lack of talent or desire or luck can’t be held against a manager, but what can and should be is careless play and a failure to get the most out of the talent on hand. Never the greatest tactician, Torre’s strength for nearly a decade has been his ability to get the most out of veteran players. If he’s not doing that, what use is he?

I don’t think Torre will be fired, but if this keeps up, Steinbrenner is going to sack somebody.

I didn’t expect to pay much attention to this year’s amateur draft, but with the big club flailing about in Milwaukee, the picks the Yankees have made today (thus far the next Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Rickey Henderson and Dave Winfield–in a perfect world, that is) are providing some hope as the Yankees seem to be doing a fair job of restocking their farm system, with three of their first four picks being used on college players. You can check out some of the comments to my previous post for more info, which I hope to assemble into a draft-wrap post tomorrow.

Meanwhile, back in the suffocating reality of the here and now, the Yankees will try to avoid dropping their fourth straight series tonight against the Brewers. To do so, they’ll have to defeat Ben Sheets, who was nothing short of the third best pitcher in the majors last year (behind Johan Santana and Randy Johnson and well in front of the boosted Rocket). Sheets is looking to get his season back on track following a reoccurring inner ear infection that hospitalized him in May. Thus far he’s made two starts since returning from the DL, lasting just five innings in each, showing the old form against the struggling Astros in the first only to be undermined by his defense, but struggling against the Dodgers in the second. Don’t be surprised to see him put it all together against the Yankees tonight (not that I thought you would be).

When things get rough, just dream about C.J. Henry.

A little over three weeks ago, on Sunday May 15 in Oakland, the Yankees put together a two run seventh inning rally against A’s reliever Ricardo Rincon to beat the Athletics 6-4. The victory was their sixth straight win and pulled their record even for the first time in more than a month. The Yankees then went on to win their next four and ten of their next twelve to push their record a full six games over .500.

The last of those games, a 6-3 Friday night victory at home against the rival Red Sox, also involved a late game rally, when the Yanks touched up Tim Wakefield and Alan Embree for five runs in the sixth inning. Basking in the glow of that victory and the 16-2 run that it capped, pushing the Yankees six games over .500, I claimed that the Yankees had “passed the test” by taking two of three from the Mets, sweeping the Tigers, and rallying to defeat the Red Sox. Since then, the Yankees have gone 1-8 against the Sox, Royals, Twins and now Brewers. Clearly my declaration was premature. With last night’s loss, the Yankees, now seven games behind the Orioles in fourth place in the east, have dipped below .500 once again.

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