Today’s news is powered by Levon Helm:

• Ticket prices for 2010:

. . . prices for more than 80 percent of the stadium will remain the same.

Some of the highest price seats will see reductions of up to 40 percent, including those in the Legends area and the Delta Sky 360 Suite. The first level of non-premium suites, which are one level up behind home plate, will be reduced from $325 to $250 or $235 per game per seat, depending on the location. . . .

The only increase will be seen by those who own tickets in a group of 1,700 seats that surround the Delta suite, which currently sell for $100 per game. Those prices will increase to $125 per game next year.

The much publicized $2,500 per game suite tickets, which were not part of the seats whose price was cut in half in April, will cost $1,500 in 2010.

[My take: I guess we should say . . . umm . . . “thanks”?]

• Joel Sherman is confused with by the hubbub over “The Joba Rules”.
• The preliminary schedule for 2010 has been released.  Here’s a review of what they have to look forward to.
• Andy Pettitte will skip his next start to rest a tired shoulder.
• Kevin Goldstein highlights the best Yankee minor league performances this season:

. . . Even though he began the year as the top prospect in the system, catcher Jesus Montero went from best prospect in the Yankee system to one of the best in all of baseball by batting .337/.389/.562 across two levels, and having no problems handling Double-A pitching as a teenager.

A 10^th-round pick last year who signed for nearly half a million, righty D.J. Mitchell cruised through the Sally League, posted a 2.87 ERA at High-A Tampa, and compiled a ground-ball ratio of nearly 3-to-1.

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The Yankees have gone 24-10 (.706) against the two non-contenders in their division, the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, but with this brief, two-game, mid-week series against the Jays in the Bronx, that gravy train is finally pulling into the station.

The Jays and Yankees split a four-game set in Toronto, two weekends ago. Given that Sergio Mitre is taking on Roy Halladay in tonight’s game, the Yankees would probably be happy with a split here as well. Though they beat him in their previous meeting, Halladay dominated the Yankees the last time he faced them, throwing a one-hit shutout against them while striking out nine. In his four starts against the Bombers on the season, Halladay has three complete games and lasted seven full in the exception. In those 34 innings he has compiled a 2.65 ERA and 0.91 WHIP.

Mitre’s last start, also against Toronto, was a disaster. He gave up 11 runs in 4 1/3 innings, though he wasn’t helped by his defense in what was one of the sloppiest games the Yankees have played all year. The Yankees run out their standard lineup behind Mitre tonight save for Brett Gardner starting in center over Melky Cabrera.

The Yankees will start Chad Gaudin against Brian Tallet in Wednesday’s finale, skipping Andy Pettitte until Monday due to a bit of late-season shoulder fatigue. Pettitte said he threw a light bullpen Monday night and “felt great,” so it seems the team is just being cautious in anticipation of the playoffs. Still, there will be some lingering concern given that it was a shoulder problem that undermined Pettitte’s performance in the second half last year.

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Today’s news is powered by vintage Peter Frampton:

• Hal Bodley touts Jeter for MVP:

The MVP Award should go to the player whose leadership and value has contributed to his team’s success more than any other individual. Jeter has been that player for the Yankees as they storm to another AL East title.

There may be teammates who have higher batting averages, hit more homers, driven in more runs, but no one has been more valuable to the Yankees this season.

• Don Zimmer appreciates Jeter:

“He might go down, when it’s all over, as the all-time Yankee,” Zimmer said by phone Sunday of Jeter, who got the lion’s share of his hits after rubbing the crusty old coach’s head and tummy for luck. “He’s right up there with ’em now and anyone who said he was slowing down or losing range or whatever don’t know what kind of man he is. It’s no surprise he’s gotten where he is with the hits. The guy plays. He’s played hurt more days than people will ever know – the kind of hurt other players would be thrilled to take the day off.”

Watching Jeter basking in the adulation of the Yankee Stadium crowds, Zimmer could not help thinking back to that first spring training with Torre in 1996. At the time, there was some debate among the Yankee hierarchy as to whether Jeter was ready to take over as the shortstop. As a hedge, the Yankees had kept their ’95 shortstop, veteran Tony Fernandez, around and were working him in at second base while they evaluated Jeter.

“I remember Clyde King (George Steinbrenner’s longtime special scout) coming into camp and saying Jeter’s not ready to be the shortstop after watching him for just two days,” Zimmer said. “Joe and I just smiled. By then we’d seen plenty to convince us that this kid was gonna be special. He had great hands, a good arm and was a hit machine the way he could ‘inside-out’ the ball. More than that, though, it was the way he carried himself. He was a baby then, but he acted like a seasoned veteran. Nothing fazed him.

• The team makes some personnel moves:

The Yankees can tell from looking at Freddy Guzman’s career statistics that he knows how to run. With an eye toward October, they’d like the chance to see it up close.

New York on Monday promoted the 28-year-old speedster from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, signing him to a big league contract and adding him to the active roster.

“Freddy is another option to pinch-run for us, play outfield defense, play an outfield spot for us,” manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s got great speed and, in some late situations, there’s a chance that you’re going to see him in there.”

In a corresponding move, right-hander Anthony Claggett was designated for assignment to create room for Guzman on the 40-man roster.

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Due to a relatively small number of tough big losses and the vagaries of human perception, the Angels have become a larger-than-life antagonist in my mind – I always expect the worst when they play the Yankees, and I have a fatalistic, forget-it-Jake-it’s-Anaheim view of facing them in the postseason, home field advantage or no. It’s not really justified, but when Howie freaking Kendrick is hitting .465 against New York you can hardly blame me.

Things didn’t go too badly for the Yankees tonight, though, and while it was touch and go at times they won 5-3. First of all, and most importantly, Joba Chamberlain was looking better tonight – not great, but much improved. He gave up one run on a solo shot by Vlad Guerrero, but that’s just going to happen sometimes; he left with four innings pitched, 67 pitches of which 41 were strikes, 2 Ks and mercifully no walks.

It was a nail-biter all the way through: the Yankees tied it at one in the third on Nick Swisher’s home run (looks like those lopsided home/away power splits are correcting themselves); the Angels regained a one-run lead with a double, bunt and ground out against Alfredo Aceves in the fifth; in the bottom of that inning, the Yankees went ahead 3-2 when Mark Teixeira tripled home Swisher and Johnny Damon. In the eighth, though, the Angels loaded the bases against Phil Hughes with nobody out, and while he wiggled out of it with only one run scoring, the game was tied at three. (Hughes later was awarded the win because, again, wins are stupid).

New York forced a little luck in the bottom of the eighth: Mark Teixeira doubled and Girardi put Brett Gardner in to pinch run for him, an unusually aggressive move for this year’s Yanks. I’m not really sure how I feel about this – I do not like watching Teixeira walk off the field early – but it paid off when Gardner stole third, and Angels catcher Mike Napoli’s throw got away from Chone Figgins, trickling into the outfield and giving the Yanks the go-ahead run. Then Alex Rodriguez, who had walked and stole third when Gardner came home, scored on Robinson Cano’s single – and for all the talk of Cano’s lousy numbers with runners in scoring position, he’s come through a number of times in the last few weeks. Anyway, after that Mariano Rivera came in and successfully navigated the ninth inning for his 40th save of the season. It was a heavily managed game on both sides, and therefore a little playoff-ish, although for my part if I never see the Angels in October again it will be too soon.

Finally, I was going to go into a whole rant about Derek Jeter’s bunting, in situations where he is much too good a hitter to be bunting – he’s been on a real tear recently and he did it again tonight. But I feel like on this blog, there’s really no need. I imagine most Banter readers have already expressed similar feelings directly to their televisions and with more pungent language than I like to use here.

Tomorrow: the Blue Jays come to town, and ace Roy Hallady takes on… ah yes… Sergio Mitre. I see.

A few days ago, the New York Times ran an article that claimed the Yankees bypassed several golden opportunities to sign a young Willie Mays in the months before he officially became a member of the New York Giants’ organization. Like the Red Sox and numerous other franchises that populated the Jim Crow landscape in 1950, the Yankees gave Mays less than lukewarm attention because they felt little motivation to fully integrate their organization. On their way to a 98-win season and a World Series sweep over the Phillies, the Yankees were content to leave Mays in the Negro Leagues—or let him sign with some other major league team, one that was needier and perhaps even a bit desperate.

So let’s speculate a bit how much Yankee history would have changed if they had taken a more aggressive approach with regard to the young Mays. Even without Mays, the Yankees did their fair share of winning throughout the 1950s and the early years of the 1960s. But could they have won more? Though never particularly outstanding in postseason play, Mays could have made a difference in the outcomes of the 1955, ’57, ’60, and ’64 World Series, when the Yankees fell short to the Brooklyn Dodgers, Milwaukee Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and St. Louis Cardinals, respectively. The Yankees lost all four of those Series in the maximum seven games; perhaps Mays’ presence would have been sufficient to turn World Series defeat into the alternate reality of a world championship. Who knows?

Putting aside the harsh realities of the bottom line of world championships, I am certain that Mays would have made a huge difference in terms of baseball aesthetics. With Mays on board patrolling the monuments at the original Yankee Stadium, the Bombers, at least by 1960, would have been capable of boasting the greatest outfield in the history of the game. Let’s imagine the wonders of an outfield featuring Mays in center, flanked by the phenomenal Mickey Mantle in left field and the meteoric Roger Maris in right field, with all three men in the prime of their mid-to-late twenties. I mean, what more could you have wanted from three major league outfielders? High on base percentages, check. Gold Glove defensive ability, double check. Speed, check. And upper deck power, triple check.

The addition of Mays to the Yankee stable would have provided another lasting benefit to fans of the franchise, especially those who regularly attended games at the old Stadium. For fans of baseball in the 1960s, in particular, one of the most lasting images involved the sight of Mays rounding the bases. We can make all sorts of arguments about Mays being the greatest all-around player of all-time—I’m tempted to make that call, but know it will be met with rounds of debate and skepticism—but there should be little doubt that Mays was the most memorable baserunner of the television era. (And he just might have been the greatest baserunner of any era, with apologies to Ty Cobb.)

By the time this author began following baseball in the early 1970s, Mays was no longer in his overall prime, but remained a vibrant and dangerous baserunner. When Topps decided to include a series of “action” cards in its massive 1972 set, the company wisely chose to include a card depicting Mays in the act of completing one of his memorably dynamic and frantic runs around the bases. Specifically, his 1972 Topps card shows the “Say Hey Kid” sliding into home plate, his right arm extended, piling a cloud of dust onto the helpless catcher with his unseen but nonetheless powerful legs. And then there’s the Mays trademark on the basepaths—the cap. By the early 1970s, most major league baserunners wore helmets on the bases, but not Mays. He had always run the bases while wearing only his cap on his head, and he saw no reason to change in an era when player safety became more prevalent. There was just something right about Mays wearing that cap, which often flew out from underneath him because of the sheer force and torque with which he ran the basepaths. By the time that Mays reached home, his lonely cap was often sitting between third and home, or resting between second and third, waiting to be retrieved by a diligent coach or a batboy. I can see that picture on my old black-and-white Sony as if it were the day before yesterday.

As much as baseball statistics shed light on the quality of its players, they do little to convey the aesthetic landscape of the game, including the simple beauty of a runner making his way from first base to home plate. Thankfully, with its 1972 action card, Topps captured a small sample of what it was like to watch the artistic and comforting image of Willie Mays running the bases. And for those who love the visual dynamics of the game, there was nothing quite like it.

Bruce Markusen writes “Cooperstown Confidential” for The Hardball Times.

Today’s news is powered by men of constant sorrow (no, not fans of the Pirates):

• Monday’s make-up game with the Angels looms large:

With 18 games to play, the Yankees own a five-game edge over the Angels for the top seed in the AL — a title that comes with more than merely bragging rights. If New York captures it, the club will not only own home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, but it will be able to choose whether or not it wants to proceed with an extra off-day in the AL Division Series — a scenario that would allow erratic righty Joba Chamberlain to be skipped from the first-round rotation.

“We understand what’s at stake here,” Girardi said on Sunday. “That’s an important game tomorrow.”

• Mike Vaccaro has an appreciation of Derek Jeter.
• Here’s some helpful info regarding gameday weather updates.
• Jerry Coleman turns 85 today.  Coleman was a member of four championship teams between ’49 and ’57.  He is currently the well-liked, long-time radio man for the San Diego Padres.
• On this date in 1974, Graig Nettles homers for the Yankees in the first inning, and brother Jim Nettles homers for the Tigers in the 2nd. This is the 2nd time that the two brothers have homered in the same game for different teams, having done it on June 11, 1972, when Graig was on Cleveland and Jim was with Minnesota. Graig’s team wins 10 – 7.
• On this date in 1999, the Yankees rally with a pair of grand slams, just the 3rd time in club history, to beat the Blue Jays, 10 – 6. Bernie Williams ties the game with a slam in the 8th inning, and Paul O’Neill wins it in the 9th with another slam.

I generally try not to make assumptions about a team’s mental state, because who knows what players are actually thinking during any given game? But I couldn’t help wondering this weekend, with a playoff spot all but sewn up and the Jeter hype finally over, if the Yankees hadn’t lost focus a bit. It would certainly be understandable.

The fourth inning of today’s game, when Johnny Damon forgot how many outs there were and nearly threw a live ball into the stands, allowing a run to score, did nothing to undermine this theory. But after that little wake-up call – and after Alex Rodriguez and Joe Girardi were both ejected for arguing balls and strikes – the Yankees got their act together, and they went on to win 13-3.  Correlation is not causation but hey, the human mind loves to impose a narrative.

CC Sabathia started off a little shaky this afternoon, and he couldn’t hold the 1-0 lead provided by Alex Rodriguez’s first inning double. But after allowing three runs in the first four innings, he settled in and kept the O’s off the board through seven. In the bottom of the fourth, Melky Cabrera’s two-run single (he whacked a slider into center with a neat little piece of 0-2 hitting) tied the game at three. The promising inning ended when Alex Rodriguez struck out looking on a pitch that, while close, was pretty clearly a bit outside on the replay. And once A-Rod got the chance to duck into the video room and confirm his suspicions, just before the bottom of the fifth, he started hectoring home plate ump Marty Foster about it from the dugout. So Foster tossed him. And then Joe Girardi hulked out.

At first I thought Girardi was just trying to get tossed to “fire up” the team, which we’ve seen him do before; sometimes it seems like he’s just going through the argumentative motions, waiting to get run. But today he looked genuinely furious – he was yelling just inches from Foster’s face, and I think it’s pretty hard to fake that scary bulging-vein thing. He was thrown out, of course, so Tony Pena and Eric Hinske took over in the dugout and at third, respectively.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, took the lead when Jeter and Damon scored on a Hideki Matsui single, and that was it for O’s starter Jeremy Guthrie. Ex-Yank Sean Henn – who per Tyler Kepner’s nice Bats post, has no idea how he even ended up on the Orioles – got Baltimore out of the inning, but subsequent relievers did not fare as well. After Phil Hughes did his thing in the eighth, the Yankee offense unloaded: Damon walked, Teixeira singled, Matsui homered – nice day for him – and things went on in that vein until New York led 13-3. This was not enough of a lead for Brian Bruney to refrain from walking two batters in the ninth, but it was enough for that not to matter.

After the game both Joe Girardi and Alex Rodriguez explained their outbursts by talking about how important this game was, which… it wasn’t, really. But there are still two weeks of baseball left to be played, and a 2007-Mets-style death spiral is not yet technically impossible, so I guess you would have to keep telling yourself that.

No one expected the Orioles to blow into the Bronx and take the first two games of this weekend’s three-game set, handing the Yankees just their third series loss of the second half. The O’s have done not just that, but won those two games by a combined score of 17-7. It seems the Yankee bats are in a bit of a mini-slump, with the team averaging just 3.5 runs per game over it’s last four contests, and unlike the final two games of the Rays’ series, the Yankees haven’t gotten the pitching performances they needed to make those paltry seven runs stand up.

Nonetheless, the Yanks are still 12-5 (.706) on the season against the Orioles, and 40-15 (.727) in the second half, and they have CC Sabathia going in today’s finale looking to help avoid an embarrassing sweep at the hands of Jeremy Guthrie. CC is seven starts into a dominant late-season run (5-0, 1.75 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 11.05 K/9, 5.73 K/BB, 7 1/3 IP/GS, all Yankee wins).

Guthrie has had a nice little run of his own over his last five starts (3-1, 1.33 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 3.75 K/BB, 6 2/3+ IP/GS), his one loss in that stretch coming against Andy Pettitte and the Yankees in Baltimore on the final day of August.

Rain delayed the start of Friday night’s Yankees-Orioles schedule-filler by an hour and 27 minutes. Then during a pitching change with two outs in the seventh, the umpires called the tarp back out, leading to another hour-plus delay.

Things started off well for the Yankees during those first seven innings. Alex Rodriguez crushed a three-run homer into the second deck in left field in the first. Derek Jeter got his team-record 2,722nd hit, a single to right, leading off the third. His next time up he extended his new team record with another single to right, this one driving home Robinson Cano with a two-out run that pushed the Yankees’ lead to 4-1 after four.

Then the pitching fell apart. Andy Pettitte wasn’t sharp, needing 103 pitches to get through five innings. After giving up a second run with one out in the fifth, he loaded the bases, then made a great play on a chopper to the third base side for the second out. The ball tipped off Pettitte’s glove and headed toward the foul line, but Andy scrambled after it, picked it up with his bare hand and made a spinning, falling throw around the runner for the force at home. Unfortunately, Pettitte then hit Melvin Mora in the right elbow to force in the third Baltimore run.

Damaso Marte replaced Pettitte in the sixth and coughed up three more runs and the lead, plus a fourth which scored on a sac fly off Jonathan Albaladejo. In the seventh, Edwar Ramirez gave up three more, all with two outs, at which point the mid-game rain delay struck.

When the tarp came back off around 12:45 am, there were just a few hundred fans left. Ronan Tynan, out to sing “God Bless America” for 9/11, sang it to almost no one on 9/12. Down by six runs, Joe Girardi wisely put his bench in the game to protect his starters for the playoffs, leaving only Melky Cabrera, Brett Gardner, and DH Hideki Matsui in the lineup.

Jeter’s hit was a nice moment. The stadium was packed in anticipation of it, and he delivered, bringing about a huge ovation. His teammates came out of the dugout to congratulate him, and he tipped his helmet to the crowd and signaled to his family in their suite. Unfortunately, it was buried in a miserable morass of a rain-soaked 10-4 loss to a bad team. If nothing else, it worked well as a metaphor for all of the hype the hit was buried in. I’m genuinely pleased and impressed by Jeter’s accomplishment, but the Yankee hype machine nearly killed those emotions. The Yankees are an easy team to root for, but they can be a hard organization to like.

The Yankees are 12-3 against the Orioles this year and 12-1 against them since the third day of the season. Last week, the Yanks swept the O’s in a three-game series in Baltimore, outscoring them 24-9. The Yankees now welcome the Orioles to the Bronx having just swept the third-place Rays in four games amid one of the most dominant second-half runs in major league history. The O’s are 12-25 (.324) since the trading deadline and have won just two of their last eight stretching back through that last series against the Yankees.

What makes this series different, other than its location, is that the Yankees get their first look at the O’s two young starting prospects, Chris Tillman and Brian Matusz, who start tonight and tomorrow. Tillman is a tall, skinny, 21-year-old righty who came over in the Erik Bedard trade. Matusz is an equally tall (though not as skinny), 22-year-old lefty who was drafted out of college with the fourth overall pick last year. Neither has had much success in the majors thus far, but they, along with catcher Matt Wieters and outfielders Nick Markakis, Adam Jones (currently on the DL with a bad back), and to a lesser degree Nolan Riemold, should be thorns in the Yankees’ side for years to come. Thus far, Matusz, the polished college product has had more success, though per my man Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus, Tillman remains the better prospect and a potential ace.

Taking on Tillman tonight (weather permitting, and it don’t look good) is Andy Pettitte, who has been ace-like himself in the second half, going 5-1 with a 2.88 ERA while the Yankees have won his last seven starts. Johnny Damon sits out the bad weather with a stiff back. Melky’s in left with Gardner in center, those two hits 8th and 9th. Swisher hits 2nd.

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I. PROLOGUE

Derek Jeter’s Yankeeography was among the first of the series to air on YES after the network launched in 2002. It seems like the crew at MLB Productions has to scrap something and update it every year for future re-broadcasts. The next addition: he will stand alone as the Yankees’ all-time hits leader and the video to support the feat will be logged and included.

It is an honor that deserves all the respect we as Yankee fans and baseball fans can provide, especially considering the man he’s passing: Henry Louis Gehrig. A question needs to be asked regarding the coverage and the build-up, though: Did someone think to pull the plug on this, or at least trickle the information piecemeal? The fact that there was little else to discuss because the Yankees have practically locked up the AL East is no excuse.

Did anyone else think it was too much? Were you offended or insulted by the fact that there wasn’t anything new to add to the subject, that there was little we didn’t already know just continuously being regurgitated? It was like being force-fed the same meal every day at the same time, with no other alternative food choices.

To wit: Did the same video footage and nearly the same commentary — verbatim — need to be replayed and repeated night after night, day after day, from the beginning of the Toronto series last Friday? By the time Sunday’s finale came around, it was absurd.

The video from May 30, 1995, his first hit, a groundball through the left side of the infield at the Kingdome, off Tim Belcher, was shown countless times, with Michael Kay’s commentary, “and Derek Jeter standing on first base next to his future teammate and good friend, Tino Martinez.” We got it after the fourth viewing. At that point, I was mouthing Kay’s description of the clip. Then there was the praise for his upbringing with the cutaways to his parents and how anyone associated with the Yankees who scouted him or saw him play in high school “was not surprised at what he’s accomplished.” That fed the discussion of his legend, starting with the first game in Cleveland in 1996 when he homered and made a great over-the-shoulder catch in shallow left field, a play that along with the jump throw from deep in the hole became “Jeterian” (by the way, this is a B.S. adjective that sounds incorrect compared to “Jeteresque.” Can we get a decision on that?), continuing to the Jeffrey Maier home run, the flip play, the Mr. November home run, the dive into the stands against the Red Sox five years ago, and the list goes on.

I know I sound like the guy on the front porch yelling at kids to get off my lawn, which could lead you to the conclusion that I’m a Jeter hater. While I’m not averse to reprimanding people for encroaching my property, nothing could be further from the truth on the Jeter hating. I gained a great appreciation for him while covering him from 2002-06. You have to see how he handles himself amid all the potential distractions on a daily basis to understand how difficult it is to do what he does. He’s a great player, but there was just nothing there beyond his being a baseball player — at least not that he displayed to the people holding pens, pads, recorders and cameras. Jeter was trained well. He doesn’t give too much away, speaks the company line and controls his emotions. Would we as beat writers and reporters try to bait him to give more and show some personality? Sure, but he would never comply. He was too smart. At least he was not phony about it.

The biggest question, based on the personality test above, was, “Would he enjoy the moment?” There was legitimate concern over this in the local media. The best answer came from Jeter himself. He tipped his helmet to the fans, but knew the Yankees were trailing 2-0 and he didn’t want to “disrespect Tampa,” as he told Kim Jones. Only when the Rays all moved to the top step of their bench clapped for Jeter’s achievement did he take a little extra time to bask in the moment. Class act all the way. He does not act bigger than the game, either on the micro or the macro level.

That’s the essence of Derek Jeter. If he doesn’t enjoy the moment himself, we’ll certainly enjoy it for him.

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No video to start the post today.  Just think good thoughts for the widows and orphans of those lost on this day eight years ago.

• We wonder where Wang will wander in 2010:

Chien-Ming Wang, who had shoulder surgery in July, hopes to travel with the Yankees during the postseason even through he cannot play.

 “This is a great team. We can win the World Series,” he said. “I want to see that.”

In his first public comments since the surgery, Wang said he hopes to start playing catch again in January and believes he will pitch in the major leagues at some point in 2010. But he realizes that may not be with the Yankees.

Wang had a $5 million contract this season and is eligible for arbitration. There is virtually no chance the Yankees will offer him arbitration before the December deadline. That would leave Wang a free agent.

“I would like to stay in New York,” he said. “But I don’t know what will happen.”

One possibility is that the Yankees could offer Wang a minor-league contract. Or another team could sign him to a major-league deal and hope that he returns to form.

• Adulation from around the majors for Jeter’s accomplishments:

Rangers third baseman Michael Young, who has represented the American League in six All-Star Games, said he was in awe of Jeter’s career.

“That’s an incredible accomplishment, considering how many great players have played for that organization,” said Young. “Their best players are guys that played their whole careers there.

“It’s an amazing accomplishment. I’ve gotten to know Derek over the years, and as much as he won’t admit it, I think this means a lot to him.”

Veteran reliever Brendan Donnelly, who spent seven seasons in the American League before joining the Marlins this season, was also impressed by Jeter’s work ethic and role as the face of baseball.

“Jeter has been one of the best role models in Major League Baseball in recent history,” said Donnelly before Wednesday’s game. “He’s done it the right way, from start to finish, at the highest level and probably the hardest place to play. He’s been the face of Major League Baseball for years. You just don’t hear guys staying in one spot that long. For him to do everything he’s done, I think he’s earned every bit of his fame.

“To me, it’s not surprising that he’s about to become the Yankees’ all-time hit leader. He’s always healthy. He’s just done it the right way. I think more players in baseball should follow his way.”

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Joba Chamberlain’s third start under the new spring-training-style Joba Rules didn’t start terribly well. Jason Bartlett led off by smacking a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left for a homer. (After the game Joba said it was the pitch he wanted to make and pointed out that Bartlett was having a great year; Joe Girardi said the pitch was “a mistake.”) Carl Crawford followed with a single, moved to second on a wild third-strike to Evan Longoria, stole third while Chamberlain was in the process of walking Ben Zobrist, then scored on a Pat Burrell single.

After that, the Yankee shortstop went to the mound and gave Chamberlain a quick verbal kick in the pants. Chamberlain struck out the next two batters on nine pitches and retired the side in order in the second and third innings. Because Chamberlain’s night ended there (due, I assume, to the 32 pitches he had thrown in the first), it’s difficult to say if that is likely to have been a meaningful turnaround in Joba’s performance going forward, but it was the most encouraging performance Chamberlain has had since his final start in July, which also came against the Rays.

Tampa Bay starter Jeff Niemann, a 6-foot-9 righty who bears a slight resemblance to the actor Jeff Daniels and is having a fine rookie season five years after being drafted fourth overall in the 2004 draft, made those two runs stand up for seven innings, stranding runners in every frame while striking out eight. Meanwhile, the Yankee bullpen matched Niemann by following Chamberlain with six hitless innings, including three from Alfredo Aceves and two from Jonathan Albaladejo.

Alex Rodriguez led off the bottom of the eighth by singling up the middle on Niemann’s 110th pitch, driving the tall 26-year-old from the game. Joe Maddon curiously chose righty Lance Cormier over lefty Brian Shouse to face Hideki Matsui. Matsui singled, sending Rodriguez to third, and Chris Richards threw Nick Swisher’s ensuing grounder into left field while attempting to start a 3-6-3 double play, sending Alex home and pinch-runner Jerry Hairston Jr. to third. Maddon then went to Shouse, who struck out Robinson Cano for the first out of the inning.

With one out, the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on first, Girardi sent Jorge Posada up to bat for Brett Gardner. Gardner made a spectacular, game-saving play in Monday’s day game, but has been struggling to rediscover his stroke since coming off the disabled list, going a combined 1-for-18 since starting his rehab assignment. Maddon countered with hard-throwing Aussie Grant Balfour, flipping Posada around to the left side. Posada worked the count full, fouling off the two strikes, then launched the next pitch into the seats in right for a game-changing three-run home run.

And that was that. Protecting a two-run lead, Brian Bruney typically walked the first man he faced in the ninth on four pitches, but got the next two out on three more tosses before yielding to Phil Coke, who got the final out and a cheap save. The 4-2 win was the 24th game the Yankees have won in their final at-bat this season, a total which leads the major leagues. On the season, the Yankees are averaging more than two runs scored per game in the final three innings and 1.2 runs score per game in extra innings, when one is usually enough to win it.

The win gave the Yankees an unexpected four-game sweep of the rival Rays, who are now a shocking 18.5 games out in the division, and ran the Yankees’ second-half record to 40-13, good for a .755 winning percentage. If they can keep that up through the final 20 games, it will stand as the third-best post-break mark since the All-Star Game began in 1933.

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Today’s news is powered by U.K. national treasures Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, from season one of  “A Bit of Fry & Laurie” (1987) :

• Brett Gardner returns from the DL.
• Tyler Kepner wonders if the team all-time hits record will be Jeter’s biggest achievement.
• Could Jeter top not only Gehrig, but Rose too?.
• A nice profile of Lou Gehrig, on the eve of his Yankee all-time hits record being surpassed.
• On this date in 1919, Babe Ruth hits HR No. 26 off Jack Quinn in New York, breaking Buck Freeman’s 1899 HR mark of 25.
• On this date in 1978, New York continues its rampage of Boston by scoring two runs in the 1st inning and six more in the 2nd inning. Boston makes seven errors to ease the Yankees to a 13 – 2 romp. Reggie Jackson hits a 3-run homer and Lou Piniella adds a double, triple and homer to back Jim Beattie’s pitching. Dwight Evans and Carlton Fisk both make a pair of errors. New York is now two games in back.
• On this date in 1983, Yankees OF Steve Kemp will miss the rest of the season with a fractured cheekbone after being struck in the face by an Omar Moreno line drive during batting practice in Milwaukee. Kemp hit just .242 with 12 home run and 49 RBI in the first year of his 5-year, $5.45 million contract. New York wins today, 6 – 5.
• On this date in 1992, Yankees OF Danny Tartabull goes 5 – for – 5 with two homers and a double, and drives in nine runs as New York defeats Baltimore, 16 – 4. Scott Sanderson is the winner.
• On this date in 2000, the Yankees beat the Red Sox, 4-0, behind Roger Clemens. A scary moment occurs in the 9th inning when Boston P Bryce Florie is hit in the face with a line drive off the bat of Ryan Thompson. The Red Sox hurler never loses consciousness and leaves the field with blood streaming down his face. Florie suffers a fractured cheekbone and a fracture of the orbital socket, the bone that surrounds the eye, and retinal damage. He will undergo surgery.
• On this date in 2007, Alex Rodríguez homers twice off of Brian Bannister. The first of the homers is his 49th of the year and breaks the record for homers by a third baseman. Previously, Mike Schmidt (48 in 1980) and Rodriguez (2005) had shared the record.  Rodriguez had already held the single-season record for shortstops, giving him the highwater mark at two positions.

I’m back on Friday (at Yankee game Tuesday night, and Met game the next night).

The Rays arrive in the Bronx today for a Labor Day doubleheader and resultant four-game series trailing the Red Sox by seven games in the Wild Card standings. The Yankees, meanwhile, hold a 7.5-game lead over Boston in the division. It’s thus fair to say that, as secure as the Yankees’ division lead feels, that’s how unlikely it is that the Rays are going to return to the post season.

Put more simply: the Rays are out of the race.

That doesn’t make the remaining seven games between the two teams meaningless (though the three in Tampa in October most likely will be by then), and it doesn’t make the Rays any less competitive. It does, however, deflate the excitement most had expected this September series between division rivals to bring.

Make no mistake, the Rays are rivals. They won the division last year and the two teams are roughly split in their season series to this point, the Yankees taking 6 of 11,but the Rays having scored one more run (60 to 59). Home field hasn’t been much advantage thus far, as the two teams have split six games in Tampa with the Yanks taking three of five in the Bronx. That said, the series has slowly tilted the Yankees way as the season has progressed, with the Rays taking three of the first five and the Yankees four of the last six.

Some accused the Rays of giving up on the season when the traded Scott Kazmir. I’m not entirely sure that’s the case, but the trade was clearly a hedge; Andrew Friedman didn’t want to get stuck without a playoff berth and the remainder of Kazmir’s contract ($20 million the next two years plus an option with a $2.5 million buyout) given the arrival of young, talented, team-controlled arms such as Jeff Niemann (12-5, 3.67 in his first full season), and 23-year-olds David Price and Wade Davis (7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 9 K in his major league debut last night).

The Rays proved they were going for it when they benched Dioner Navarro and his .221/.252/.331 line and replace him via trade with Gregg Zaun, who has since hit .311/.333/.508. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Look at the lineup at the end of this post for a clue as to why.

The last time the Yankees saw the Rays, B.J. Upton was leading off and Evan Longoria was hitting third. Now they’re hitting sixth (Longoria) and ninth (Upton). Save for a hot June, Upton has been punchless all year, and has hit just .225/.276/.335 with 2 homers and 12 walks since July 1. Longoria, meanwhile, got out to a big start, then did very little in June, July, and August, though he has turned it on of late, hitting .441 and slugging .853 during an active eight-game hitting streak.

All-Star Ben Zobrist replaces Longoria in the three-hole, but he seems to have run out of pixie dust. Since snapping a 12-game hitting streak on July 23, he’s hit a very ordinary .243/.357/.407, and with Akinori Iwamura back from an ACL injury, Zobrist is now a corner outfielder again, making that production all the less useful (though it’s a smidge more than the Rays were getting from Gabe Gross). New leadoff man Jason Bartlett seemed to be out of magic as well in July, but silenced doubters with a .357/.443/.577 August, though he’s cooled off again over his last ten games.

As for today’s double header, the Yankees have stacked the deck, throwing CC Sabathia in Game 1 and A.J. Burnett in the nightcap. Sabathia’s numbers over his last six starts are eyepopping: 5-0, 1.83 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 10.76 K/9, 7.57 K/BB. The Yankees have won his last seven starts, his last loss coming against the Rays on July 28.

CC goes against Matt Garza, who has spiked his strikeout rate this year and leads the league in fewest hits per nine innings (7.8), but the latter is due to an abnormally low .268 BABIP (though he was at .271 last year), and his home run rate has also spiked, giving him a higher ERA than he had a year ago. Garza’s allowed just 3 runs in 12 innings against the Yanks this year, but has posted a 6.00 ERA over his last five starts.

As for Burnett, everyone keeps talking about the fact that he hasn’t won a game since July 27, a stretch of seven starts, but the Yankees have won three of those starts and A.J. has four quality starts in that stretch, which includes his dominant outing against the Red Sox in that 15-inning scoreless affair on August 7. Still, two of his last three have been awful. With his first playoff start looming roughly a month away, he needs to use his remaining starts to rediscover that groove he had in July lest he become what I’d always feared he’d be, the 2009 version of Randy Johnson, who blew a pair of crucial ALDS Game 3s in his only two Yankee playoff appearances.

Facing Burnett will be Andy Sonnanstine, who initially looked like Kazmir’s replacement down the stretch until Davis announced his presence with authority last night. Not that it really matters. Though Sonnanstine spent all of July and August in the minors, the Yankees have already seen him thrice this year. Sonnanstine got the better of the Yanks the first two times (though without earning a decision either time), but the Yanks touched him up for four homers (by Tex, Swisher, Damon, and Jeter) on June 8, marking his career high for a single game.

Brett Gardner returns for today’s action. He’s playing center and batting ninth in the opener, with Melky in left, Hinske at DH, and Damon and Matsui on the bench. Nick Swisher bats second, Robinson Cano moves up to fifth, and Hinske, Melky, and Gardner, in that order, make up the bottom three.

I’m going to be car shopping today (my 12-year-old Saturn was totaled by a tree branch a month ago and I’ve been too busy in the interim to get to the dealers), so this post will have to serve game threads for both games. I’ll be back late tonight to wrap it all up.

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Those of you who chose to do something other than watch the Yankees’ series finale in Toronto on a beautiful Labor Day weekend Sunday made the right choice as the Yankees lost perhaps the ugliest game they’ve played all year by a score of 14-8. The four errors in the Yankees’ line doesn’t even begin to capture how poorly they played. Sergio Mitre gave up 11 runs (nine earned) in 4 1/3 innings, but after the game, Joe Girardi said Mitre had really gotten 21 outs out there. He wasn’t far off.

After the Yankees stranded two in the top of the first, the very first batter Mitre faced hit a grounder to third, where Jerry Hairston Jr. was giving Alex Rodriguez a day off. Hairston let the ball play him, fielding it back on his heels and firing high to first base, inducing a collision between Mark Teixeira and the runner (neither was hurt). That set the tone.

Aaron Hill doubled home the run on the next pitch as the Jays went on to score three in the first. The first batter in the bottom of the second hit a soft grounder to Robinson Cano, but Cano dropped the ball on the transfer for the second Yankee error in as many innings. Amazingly, the Jays failed to score in that frame.

The Yankees tied the game in the third, then with one out in the bottom of the third, Nick Swisher lost a fly ball in the sun on a cloudless day in Toronto, turning an out into a double. Mark Teixeira then got eaten up by a grounder that scored the run on what was ruled an error. Mitre worked a 1-2-3 fourth, and the Yankees took a brief lead on a two-run Swisher homer in the fifth, but then everything fell apart.

With one on and one out in the bottom of the fifth, Mitre struck out Edwin Encarnacion on a nasty pitch that dove down and away from the righty, hit off Jose Molina’s glove, and ricocheted back the other way, allowing Encarnacion to reach base. That opened the door for an eight-run inning. After the next two batters singled, putting the Jays up 6-5 and leaving men on the corners with still just one out, Mitre induced a chopper to third, but Hairston couldn’t make up his mind whether to throw home or first and, after finally choosing first, threw too late to get the runner on what was ruled an infield hit (the run scored from third anyway). After another single, Mitre walked in a run and got the hook.

Mark Melancon came on and walked in another run on four pitches. After getting the second out, he then let two more in on an infield single and another walk, passing the ball to ex-Jay Josh Towers. Towers got ahead of Bronx native Randy Ruiz 0-2, then hit Ruiz in the face with a 90 mph fastball, bloodying his lip and forcing in another run. (Ruiz came out of the game, but suffered no serious injury.)

At this point it was 12-5, Jays, but the Yankees weren’t done. In the sixth, Ramiro Peña, in as a sub for Derek Jeter, bounced a throw past Mark Teixeira to let in another run in the sixth. Immediately following, Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera collided while chasing a fly in left-center, though neither was hurt and Melky held on for the third out. The next inning, the Yankee infield consisted of Eric Hinske at third base, Hairston at shorstop, Peña at second, Molina at first, and Francisco Cervelli behind the plate, but that combination fielded it’s only two chances (a pop up to Peña and a grounder to Molina) cleanly.

So to wrap that all up: four errors (Hairston, Cano, Teixeira, Peña), two outs played into hits (Swisher & Hairston), two collisions (at first base and in left field), a bloodied opponent (Ruiz), a rally started by a strikeout, three runs forced in by walks (one by Mitre, two by Melancon), and another forced in by a hit-by-pitch (Towers).

As for Mitre, he officially recorded 13 outs, but if you give him credit for inducing outs on the three errors and two misplays behind him and the strikeout Molina couldn’t corral (ruled a wild pitch), he really got 19 outs, the equivalent of 6 1/3 innings. I’m not saying he pitched well, or that I think he should be a candidate for the postseason roster (he shouldn’t), but he didn’t pitch as poorly as his line suggests (note his five Ks, and that the walk that forced in a run and got him pulled was just his second of the game). Given all that went wrong and his tenuous hold on his job, Mitre did a good job of not showing up his teammates on the field or to the press afterwords.

Me, I spent the day at a local park with my wife, three-month-old daughter, and dog. We had a nice picnic and a walk, played some frisbee with the dog, and took a collective nap (dog and cat included) on the couch after we got home. I then zipped through the game on fast-forward on the DVR. I’m hoping most of you saw as little or less of it and have an equally pleasant Labour Day tomorrow.

It’s thus far been a beautiful Labor Day weekend in the tri-state area, and with a double-header against the third-place Rays coming tomorrow, watching Sergio Mitre and Brian Tallet face off on artificial turf in Toronto’s half-empty concrete behemoth of a ballpark might not seem like the best way to spend your Sunday afternoon. Still, there’s a bit of intrigue as the Yankees are looking to win the series. If they do, they’ll have won 14 of 16 second-half sets. As it stands, the Yanks have won eight of their last nine games and should have Mariano Rivera available to close again today.

There’s also the fact that, since Chien-Ming Wang went back on the disabled list, the Yankees are 8-2 in games started by their fifth starter (be it Mitre, Chad Gaudin, or Alfredo Aceves). Mitre is coming off a legitimately dominant outing against the White Sox (0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 11 of 19 outs on the ground) that was ended after 6 1/3 innings when he was hit on the pitching elbow by a comebacker. Mitre pitched that game on seven-day’s rest and is pitching today having had another seven day’s off.

Tallet has made two starts since July 25 and has a 10.07 ERA over his last four starts. He does, however, have two quality starts against the Yankees this year, both of them Blue Jays loses.

Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada get the day off. Jerry Hairston Jr. plays third and bats seventh ahead of Melky and Jose Molina.

Let’s file this in the category of “taking nothing for granted.” Even with a sizeable lead over the Red Sox, I’m happy to see that the Yankees haven’t waited for Scranton’s Triple-A playoff season to end before bringing some reinforcements to New York. Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena, Mark Melancon, Edwar Ramirez, Mike Dunn, and Jon Albaladejo represent the first wave of call-ups, giving Joe Girardi additional options for the final month of the regular season. As painful as it is for fans of the minor league affiliates to hear, the priorities and needs of the major league team should always come first. Given the frequent rest needed by Jorge Posada and the semi-ludicrous pitching limitations being placed on Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees can use some bolstering in the areas of pitching and catching depth.

Once Scranton’s postseason run is complete, the Yankees should then promote their two best everyday players at Triple-A: Austin “Ajax” Jackson and Shelley “Slam” Duncan. If nothing else, both players deserve to be rewarded for fine seasons in Triple-A; minor league players need to know that they will be promoted if they produce at lower levels. Jackson still has flaws in his game (including a surprising lack of power and too many strikeouts), but did well enough to be named the International League’s Rookie of the Year. Duncan has had nothing less than a terrific season for Scranton-Wilkes Barre, leading the league in home runs, RBIs, and slugging percentage. Hopefully, the Yankees will be able to put an early clinch on the AL East and give Duncan some at-bats in which to impress opposing scouts. He could help any one of a number of teams, including the Indians, A’s, Diamondbacks, and Pirates. Heck, he’d be a good fit for the cross-town Mets, who probably won’t be re-signing Carlos Delgado and desperately need an infusion of power and enthusiasm. If someone gives Duncan a chance, they might just get some Dave Kingman-type numbers in return, with slightly better defense and significantly better attitude…

In pioneering the oversized S100 helmet made by Rawlings, David Wright has started me thinking about the history of batting helmets. Former Yankee great Phil Rizzuto is generally acknowledged as the first major leaguer to wear a full batting helmet in a game. “The Scooter” made the move from cap to hard hat in 1951, one year before the Pirates outfitted all of their players with helmets and a full 20 years before helmets became mandatory throughout the major leagues. Rizzuto wasn’t just a great shortstop and a funny broadcaster; he was a smart guy who realized the value of protecting oneself in an era when most pitchers felt comfortable pitching high and tight.

As much of a pioneer as Rizzuto was, he was not the first professional ballplayer to don a helmet in a game. That honor belongs to another Hall of Fame shortstop—longtime Negro Leagues great Willie “El Diablo” Wells. After being beaned and knocked unconscious in a 1942 game, the Newark Eagles’ legend returned to action wearing a workman’s helmet, which he found at a New Jersey construction site. Deciding that the construction helmet would work at bat, Wells donned the hard hat in his next game. El Diablo might have looked a little odd, but who could have blamed him?

Speaking of Wright, his use of the S100 helmet has conjured images of two of Hollywood’s beloved characters: The Great Gazoo from “The Flintstones” and the laughable Dark Helmet from Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs. So whom do you think Wright more closely resembles? It’s a close call, but I’ll place my vote with Gazoo, as portrayed by the brilliant Harvey Korman. In the immortal words of Gazoo, “Goodbye dum-dums.”…

Finally, has anyone else noticed how much Alfredo Aceves looks like former Yankee Jim Leyritz? Every time I see Aceves take the mound, I have to remind myself that “The King” is no longer playing. I had similar flashbacks when Bobby Abreu played for the Yankees; he always reminded me of former Yankee outfielder Matty Alou, at least in terms of their facial resemblance. Then again, maybe I’ve just been looking at too many old Topps baseball cards.

Bruce Markusen writes “Cooperstown Confidential” for The Hardball Times.

So much for Cito Gaston’s brilliance. Yeah, the Blue Jays traded Scott Rolen, let Alex Rios go via waivers, lost Rolen’s replacement, the disastrous Edwin Encarnacion, to a hamstring injury, and have been forced to play musical closers due to injury and poor performance, and have had to similarly improvise their starting rotation for similar reasons. Despite all that they have outscored their opponents only to find themselves with an actual record eight games worse than their Pythagorean.

The Jays have been in free fall since the end of June, playing .340 baseball (18-35) over that stretch. Since eking out a one-run victory over Sergio Mitre and the Yankees on August 10, they’re 5-16 (.238!). They haven’t won a series, or even had consecutive victories since they faced the Orioles the series before that. Even, Roy Halladay, who pitches tomorrow, has gone 0-3 with a 7.94 ERA over his last three starts. Top prospect Travis Snider has come back from the minors to replace Rios and has hit .167 in 16 games. Things really can’t get much worse for the Jays.

Well, I suppose there’s the Yankees coming to town. The Yanks, like they were against the Orioles prior to their just-completed sweep, are 9-3 against the Jays this year, and two of those losses came in May. The Yankees are 7-1 against Toronto since then. No wonder the Yanks figured they could bounce A.J. Burnett to Monday’s double-header against the Rays and throw Chad Gaudin (tonight), Sergio Mitre (Sunday), and the innings-challenged Joba Chamberlain (tomorrow) in this series. At least they’re giving the Jays a sporting chance.

Rookie of the Year candidate Ricky Romero starts for the Jays tonight. He has two quality starts in as many tries against the Yankees on the season, though the Yankees won the later contest via one of their many extra-inning walkoffs (Cano single). Gaudin was been alternately great and awful in August, striking out 12 in nine scoreless innings in his three “great” appearances (including his one start, in Oakland, all three as a Yankee) and giving up 11 runs in 8 1/3 innings in his three “awful” appearances (two in relief for the Yankees plus one start for the Padres). If he makes like Saberhagen, he’s due for “awful” tonight. Hopefully the Yankees can out-hit whatever it is he gives them.

With Mariano Rivera nursing a tender groin, Phil Hughes will close this weekend. Jonathan Albaladejo has been called up to add innings to the pen. Yanks run out the standard lineup tonight.

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Today’s news is powered by Woody Woodpecker:

• Swisher is at home on the road:

While the rest of the Yankees seem to have fallen in love with hitting for power at the new Yankee Stadium, Swisher has gone in the completely opposite direction. He now owns 23 homers in his first season with the Bombers, 20 of which have come away from the Bronx.

“I’m just trying to prove to everybody that hitting home runs in Yankee Stadium is not that easy,” Swisher said, laughing.

• Did Dellin Betances really have a true TJ procedure?:

Betances’ procedure was an “overlay TJ,” a variant of the Tommy John procedure where the damaged ligament isn’t removed, but instead left in place and the ligament is buttressed by the new tendon. Originally, it was thought that this would reduce the issue with proprioception that many TJ surgeries involve for patients, but the procedure is seldom used currently.

• The Times analyzes the “true” price of post-season tickets.
• Fangraphs examines the Angels replacement for Teixeira, Kendry Morales.

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