The Yankees’ feeble October dreams were dashed for good yesterday. El Cappy went hitless for the first time on the homestand.
Today gives rain–all day and into the night. I’m sure they’ll everything they can to at least start it. Give Jeter just one at bat. Imagine if yesterday was it, though? Last at bat a ground out to first? Wouldn’t be the worst way to go, quick and painless and without too much ado.
Picture by Bags.
Brandon McCarthy had a rare crappy outing and Derek Jeter had but one lousy infield hit. Still, there was the Captain in the bottom of the 9th inning, tying run on first.
One last moment? We wuz cheering. But it wasn’t to be. He struck out and the Yanks lost, 5-4.
Picture by Bags.
We’ve payed special attention to Derek Jeter all season, taken the time to appreciate every last hit, stolen base or nice play in the field. The hits are gratifying, of course, but I think the moments that have provided the deepest satisfaction is when Jeter’s fouled off a two-strike pitch to keep an at bat alive. He did it again yesterday in his third at bat. He was 0-2 at that point with an RBI. Second pitch he rips foul down the left field line. Would have been a 2-RBI double. So what happens? Jeter works the count full, fouls off another pitch and then hits a 2 RBI double to left. Again, to left. I’m not sure if he’s cheating or if he’s slightly changed his approach but a majority of Jeter’s hits on this homestand have been to left.
Michael Pineda was fantastic, the Yanks won 5-0, and Jeter gave us reason to cheer.
The man does rise to the occasion, doesn’t he?
[Picture by Bags]
There have been many constants in Derek Jeter’s career—hits, runs, rings, endorsements, and beautiful girlfriends—none more endearing than the site of his family watching him from the stands. They are the modern family—his father Charles is African American, his mother Dorothy is Irish and German. Fifty years ago Jeter’s blackness would have been an issue; today, in the age of Obama, race has never been an issue for Jeter—it’s as if he’s beyond race. They are often joined by Jeter’s younger sister, Sharlee, her two-year old son, Jalen, now in tow. Sometimes there’s an aunt or a girlfriend.
They are still here at the end, rooting harder than ever—suffering with every near miss—as if he were a rookie or a kid playing an American Legion game on a cold rainy spring morning. When Jeter makes an out, their suffering seems worse because the inescapable truth is that his time is short. Including yesterday’s 5-2 win over the Blue Jays in which Jeter had 2 hits for the 4th straight game, he has—what, 20-25 at bats left at Yankee Stadium? Each at bat is precious and if Jeter has retained his usual stoic countenance you can see the desperation in his parents’ reactions.
A few weeks ago, when he was in the middle of a slump, Jeter hit a ball to deep left center field against the Rays. It was his third at bat of the game (0-2: groundout, flyout, both weak) and he hadn’t turned on a pitch in what seemed liked forever. He hit it hard enough for the crowd to react but not well enough to go over the outfielders head. The ball was caught at the warning track.
The TV replay showed Charles Jeter in his seat watching the flight of the ball. Next to him, Dorothy sat up straight and said “Oh” when the ball was struck. As the watched it she said, “Please go, please go, please go.” She paused a beat and said it one last time. She jerked back into her seat when the ball was caught, clasped her hands behind her head and leaned back. Charles Jeter smiled and looked down, almost sheepish as if it was greedy to expect more.
On Friday night, Jeter sent another fly ball to the warning track in left field. He’d already gotten 2 hits in the game and there was hope that he had one last flourish left in him during his final home stand. Jeter’s dad stood up when his son hit the ball. Dorothy gasped and put her hands on her cheek, eyes were wide with concern. Her sister was next to her leaning forward, hands pressed together in prayer. Dorothy covered her eyes when the ball was caught. She fell back into her seat. Oh, a mother’s agony.
Charles Jeter smiled and sat down. Their son has given them more thrills than they ever could have ever dreamed of and you can’t blame them for wanting more.
The $64,000 question around the Yankees is will Jeter cry before the season is over? Chances are he won’t, but if he does, I suspect it will be in his parents’ arms.
Couple more hits for Jeter last night as the Yanks beat the Jays, 5-3. It’d be cool if Jeets and the Yanks go on a little run here.
Maybe it’s the change in weather but I woke up with this morning with a scratchy throat. Then I remembered yelling–bouncing off the couch with a scream–when Derek Jeter turned around a meatball from R.A. Dickey and hit it over the left field fence for a home run. His first home run at Yankee Stadium this year.
Remember that feeling? Shouting when something good happens? I’m out of practice. Maybe that’s why my throat is raw this morning. Or it could just be the fall chill in the air.
Either way, it’s a familiar sensation. So was the look on Jeter’s face when the winning run scored in the bottom of the 9th. He shouted too, and raised his fist.
Even if this is all there is, for a moment it felt like a revival–and that’s enough.
[Photo Credit: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images]
Jeter got a hit and the Yankees won, another 1-run game. This time, 3-2.
It is condescending to celebrate Jeter getting a base hit? No. He’s got 11 more games left, 8 more at home. He’s exhausted. Hits are hard to come by. Every one is a reason to cheer. We used to take them for granted.
Now is the time to appreciate each last one.
p.s. Dellin Betances is pretty good.
[Picture by Bags]
The Yanks lost again. And they are frustrated.
Jeter went 0-3 with a sacrifice. He’s only got 12 games, maybe less if he takes a day off. Never been a guy who really needs anything from the fans but now we’ll be rooting him on more than ever, even if it is just window dressing on his great career. Be nice to see him go out with a few more hits, score a couple of runs, smile that famous smile.
[Photo Credit: Design Crush via This Isn’t Happiness]
The Yankees didn’t score any runs and they didn’t allow a run, not until 2 men were out in the bottom of the 9th. That’s when Ben Zobrist’s single gave the Rays a 1-0 win.
And so it goes for the 2014 Yankees.
“You feel like you’re due at some point,” Brett Gardner said after the game. “I don’t feel like it’s been a couple of games. I feel like it’s been pretty much all season. We’ve had flashes of being pretty good, but for the most part, we’ve just struggled to get guys across the plate. It’s frustrating because, with all the injuries we had to our rotation, the guys that have come up and come in from other places have really stepped up and done a great job, pitched really well and kept us in the ballgame. Just like tonight, all we needed to get was just one or two runs and we couldn’t even get that. It’s just really frustrating. Guys are working really hard. Guys are trying. Guys are putting in the effort. For one reason or another, we’re just not getting it done.”
The Yanks almost won the first game on Friday and they almost won last night. But this ain’t no Golden Ticket kind of season so in the end, they lost. Brian McCann hit a solo home run in the top of the 9th to give the Yanks a 2-1 lead but David Robertson couldn’t hold it and the Orioles won, 3-2.
Our boy Jeter was 0-4 and he looks gassed. Maybe a day or two off would help but at this point that’s a tough call because fans are hoping to get their last look of him every game. He’s trotting up there like a monument not a ballplayer and that’s got to make him uneasy. But unless your name is Rivera, Mariano, even the great ones like Jeter don’t go out on a high note. S’alright. He’ll be ok. And so will we.
Picture by Bags.
It’s too late to get excited but any time the Yanks win is a good thing.
Really tough stretch for our man Jeter, though. He went 0-3 with a walk and is now 0-for-his-last-20. He hit the ball hard once yesterday, hard once the night before, but I’m sure that’s little comfort for him. Just to say it’s gotten to the point where bad luck is hitting Jeter along with a string of overmatched, tired-looking swings.
Be interesting to see if he can have a few good games before the season ends. For his sake, I sure hope so.
The Yankees scored 1 run yesterday; two games, 20 innings. The first one was close, but needless to say, the Yanks lost both.
Stick a fork in ’em.
[Photo Credit: Thomas Hoepker]
Alex Cobb took a no-hitter into the 8th inning last night, the Rays up, 4-0. This one was over, folks. With 1 out, Chris Young doubled and there was a sense of relief–at least the Yanks weren’t going to get no-hit. That was it for Cobb which turned out to be bad news for the Rays because Martin Prado followed with a 2-run home run. Derek Jeter got hit on the elbow but the Yanks stranded a pair without scoring again.
Frightening moment in the 9th when Jake McGee hit Chase Headley in the chin to lead off the bottom of the 9th. This shortly after Mike Stanton was hit in the face in the Marlins-Brewers game. The stadium got quiet and so did players on both sides, concerned looks on their faces, as they waited and watched. Headley eventually sat up and was able to walk off the field. Ichiro doubled and after Zelous Wheeler struck out, Young–again, that’s Chris Young–turned around a 97 mph fastball and hit it over the wall in left field.
Game-ending 3-run home run.
Yes, Suzyn, you just can’t predict it.
Yanks down 4-0 in the first? No, sweat. They come back and win, 8-5.
Our man Jeter didn’t get a hit. In his third at bat, he swung at the first pitch and hit the ball to the warning track in what was formerly known as Death Valley (I guess it was never known as that in the new park but you get what I mean). The TV replay of his parents was sweet. Dad looking down as the at bat was starting but watching his son by the time the pitch was delivered. Mom looking on. After the ball was hit she said, “Oh.” Their bodies tensed as they watched flight of the ball. “Please go,” she said, “please go, please go.” She held her breath then said it again. Please Go. But he didn’t get enough of it. When the ball was caught, Jeter’s parents reflexively jerked back in their seats.
Ohhh. His mother leaned back and clasped her hands behind her hand. His father smiled.
Their son might be old, in his last days playing a game for boys, but they still looked like Little League parents. It was still fresh for them. They were still right there.
Cool.
[Photo Via: N.Y. Post]
The Yanks were luckless last night as their slight playoff chances decreased again. The Rays chased our man Hiroki early and had what seemed like a comfortable 4-1 lead in the bottom of the 5th. Yeah, 3 runs ain’t much but this year…So the Yanks get a rally going against Chris Archer, who hit Chase Headley to start the inning. Then comes 4 straight hits. The last of which sent Stephen Drew home where he was tagged out. Didn’t look like the catcher gave him a lane and the play was reviewed but the cockamamie rule was upheld and Drew was out.
“To begin with, just a bad send,” third-base coach Rob Thomson said. “Just an error on my judgment. I take full responsibility for it. We’re all accountable around here. It just wasn’t a good decision. Nobody out, the middle of the lineup coming to the plate, I’ve got to stop him right there. I thought the outfielder was going a little bit further to the line. He came up and squared up (to throw) pretty quick. I should’ve stopped him. … From my perspective, the ruling doesn’t really come into play. It’s just a matter of whether I think that guy is going to be able to score or not, and (the rule) shouldn’t come into play, especially with nobody out.”
Or, to put it another way:
“You can’t make the first out at home,” Joe Giradi said. “It’s a quick decision he has to make. It’s a bang-bang decision — and it’s not an easy job — but you have the bases loaded and nobody out (if he doesn’t send the runner).”
So, here are the Yanks, down 4-3 with runners on first and second, 1 out, for Jeter. And he hits the ball hard–the only well-struck ball he had all night–but it’s right at the second baseman who flips to second to double off the runner.
Couple of innings later, Ichiro singles with 1 out, steals second and then runs to third and looks to have another stolen base, except the batter (Drew) swings at the pitch, lines out to right, and Ichiro is a dead duck. Another double play.
There is no shame in going out on a weak team even if it is something to which you are not accustomed. Jeter looks old now at the end, he looks tired, and so do the Yankees. He hasn’t had that Willie Mays 1973 moment of humiliation but he was so bad in August that the talk radio chatter about dropping him in the lineup seemed to be getting to him. Every at bat is a Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony. It must be exhausting. Top of that, the Royals had a kid starting today throwing 98 mph. Almost each guy out of the pen throwing 97 plus. Good luck, old man.
Nobody hit much of anything today. Royals didn’t hit much, either. But 2 is more than none and they leave New York with a series win.
Final Score: Royals 2, Yanks 0.
The usual suspects were there to honor Jeter (Torre, Cone, Paulie O, Bernie, Jorgie, Tino, Torre) but also childhood hero Dave Winfield, pals Gerald Williams and Tim Raines, and fellow icons, Reggie Jackson, Cal Ripken and Michael Jordan.
Jeter addressed the crowd and said the he hoped he’d brought us joy and entertainment. That you, did, Hombre. He said the right thing as always, but you can’t imagine it was much fun for him, all the attention on himself instead of the team, playing out the string without much of a chance for October.
The Farewell Tour begins its Final Weeks! run. now. I’m sure Jeter will be hugely relieved when it’s all over.
Saying goodbye is never easy.
Brandon McCarthy, who looks like he comes from an earlier time, pitched well yet again today. His old pal Martin Prado had 3 hits, and Ichiro had 2 as the Yanks beat the Royals, 6-2.
The fans who came to say goodbye to Jeter saw him collect a sac fly RBI, ground out twice and whiff. It was hot and humid as we had another day of the summer weather that we mostly avoided this year. The fans may have been bummed about Jeter’s day at the plate–he DH’d and didn’t play the field–but they were also easily pleased: singing “YMCA”, watching themselves dance on the jumbo screen, doing the wave, and rooting the Yanks to victory.
[Photo Credit: Dorothea Lange]
The Yanks and Sox don’t score much this year, which makes them similar to just about every other team in the game. But last night there were a few big flies, a couple off the bat of David Ortiz. Derek Jeter had a nice shot, a double to center that drove in two runs, and in the 9th, Mark Teixeira and Chase Headley hit solo home runs against the weary Red Sox close Koji Uehara, good enough to give the Yanks a 5-4 win.
[Picture by Cameron Stewart]
