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

Curt Flood with Marvin Miller.

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

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

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

“No, I’m watching Tiger.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“When you look back on it, you win 10 any way you can do it, it’s a good year,” Mussina said. “And, actually, my minimum’s 11. I didn’t stop at 10 in any of those years. I actually made it to 11, just like Spinal Tap.”

…He leads the league in victories over his eight Yankees seasons, but he has not been an All-Star since he pitched for the Orioles in 1999.

“It would be great,” Mussina said of a possible selection. “It has been quite a few years. For the last year at Yankee Stadium, this late in my career, after the way last year went — yeah, it’d be exciting.”
(Kepner, New York Times)

Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it. I’ve been thinking about it for weeks, and it’s still such a longshot, but…my number one baseball fantasy wish this season would be to see Mike Mussina finally win 20 games. I don’t think it’s going to happen–and I’ll more than settle for 16-17–I’m just saying I can’t think of anything that would make me happier. Just talking about individual performances, that is. Who knows, maybe he keeps pitching after this season after all. Maybe he winds up with 275+ wins.

Watching the Yankees play in Houston seems unreal like something out of a video game.  The late afternoon light floods the place in odd, broken-patterns, and the Yankees’ dark helmets and black socks have never looked as menacing or sharp.  They actually look like Bronx Bombers.  It was especially noticable on HD TV.  Rodriguez and Giambi scoring on Jose Molina’s clutch RBI single, the sun shining off their helmets.  The YES replay used the angle behind the batter’s box that looks up the third base line. It was really brilliant.  Giambi’s Porn Stach of Doom has never looked nastier–he’s reaching Nick Nolte territory. 

And Alex Rodriguez has looked absolutely terrifying.  It’s scary to think what he’d do if Houston was his home park. In his first at bat tonight, he sliced a fly ball over the fence in right, and he didn’t even really get all of it.  Hunter Pence narrowed his sights on the ball as it approached the wall in right and he timed his leap expertly.  But an Astros fan wearing a red shirt went for the ball too, his glove knocked into Pence’s mitt and Rodriguez had himself a dinger.  It looked like a weak pop fly but he’s so strong he was able to muscle it out.  Scary.

The home run put the Yankees on the board after Mike Mussina gave up a three-run bomb to Carlos Lee in the bottom of the first.  But Mussina didn’t fold and he didn’t allow another run, going six, and pitching long enough to leave with a 5-3 lead.  Ross Ohlendorf (1 run), Kyle Farnsworth, and Edwar Ramirez finished it off and Mariano was able to take the night off.  Johnny Damon had three hits and is batting .324, Melky had a couple of hits too, and Robbie Cano and Wilson Betemit each had pinch-hit RBIs.  Let’s hope this is the start of something for Cano. 

Final Score: 8-4.     

The win puts the Yankees at 36-33, the first time they have been three games over .500 all season.  It was career victory #260 for Mussina, his 10th of the year.  Unless he completely melts down over his next couple of starts, he should be headed to the All-Star Game.  How unlikely is that?  Good for Mussina.  He’s earned it.  260 is an awful lot of wins.  He’s won ten or more games for seventeen straight years. 

Yeah, You Get Props Over Here.       

Mike Mussina has more than exceeded expectations of late but I fear that he’s due for a stinker, especially with that awfully short porch in left down in Houston.  Who knows? I’d love to be wrong. Here’s hoping the Yanks do the cookin’ tonight.

I’ve always prided myself on being an expert on Bobby Murcer, primarily because he and Thurman Munson remain two of my favorite Yankees of all time. After attending last week’s Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, I realize I don’t know as much as I think. Or perhaps I just don’t remember as well as I should. An informative presentation by Willie Steele of Cascade College, titled "America’s Yankee: Bobby Murcer’s Life In and Out of Baseball," provided me with several new nuggets of information relating to the former Yankee center fielder and all-around good guy.

*While I was certainly aware of Murcer’s connection to Mickey Mantle—with both being from Oklahoma, leading to inevitable and grossly unfair expectations for the young Murcer—I didn’t know that the Yankees staged three different "Mickey Mantle Days."

The first one occurred on September 18, 1965, a Saturday afternoon at the Stadium, with both Murcer and Mantle in the lineup that day. In fact, they batted back-to-back, with the 19-year-old Murcer sitting in the two-hole and Mantle hitting third. Both players played positions with which we no longer associate them, Mantle in left field and Murcer at shortstop. (Bobby played shortstop about as well as I figure skate.) Each man went 0-for-3 against Tigers pitching, which included a relief stint by Denny McLain. And neither man finished the game, a 4-3 loss to the Tigers; Murcer was lifted for a pinch-hitter (Tony Kubek), while Mantle gave way to a pinch-runner (the immortal Ross Mosschito).

*Though he’s remembered for his eloquent eulogy at Munson’s funeral, Murcer was not the only Yankee to speak at the service. Lou Piniella, who was friends with both players, also eulogized Munson. That really shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the closeness between "Sweet Lou" and Thurman. I still remember the scene from last summer’s The Bronx is Burning, when Munson and Piniella tried to hide from Billy Martin after secretly meeting with George Steinbrenner in an effort to save the manager’s job. Martin found the two players in the bathroom.

*Murcer was the Yankee teammate who gave Munson the nickname "Tugboat." Most of the Yankees called Munson "Squatty Body," which was both an endearing and derisive reference to Munson’s flabby build. "Tugboat" sounds just a bit more flattering. Once again, Murcer tried to be the nice guy in the Yankee clubhouse.

*In 1983, unusual roster circumstances led the Yankees to ask Murcer to retire. Somehow I must have forgotten the details to this story. An injury to Ken Griffey left him unavailable to play the outfield for a few days, but wasn’t considered serious enough to merit placement on the 15-day disabled list. In need of another outfielder, the Yankees wanted to recall a young prospect from Triple-A Columbus. Needing to clear out a roster spot, the Yankees asked Murcer, who was strictly a DH by then, to step aside. With no interest in attempting to play for any other team, Murcer agreed to retired gracefully. And, in the process, he just so happened to make room for another future Yankee great. The young outfielder waiting in the wings? Why, it was none other than Don Mattingly.

*Both Murcer’s mother and brother died of cancer. That’s partially why he remains so regretful over having recorded the country song, "Skoal Dippin’ Man," in the mid-1980s. Murcer has hosted an American Cancer Society golf tournament for years and remains committed to establishing a tobacco-free environment. He continues to do this while battling his own cancer, which arrived in the form of a brain tumor in December of 2006.

During his talk at the Hall of Fame, Steele also delivered a rousing endorsement for Murcer’s new book, Yankee For Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes. I haven’t read the book yet, but just about every review I’ve seen has sung its praises. It remains on my must-read list for the summer of ’08.

Once again, it was a nice performance by Joba Chamberlain last night in Houston.

Pete Abraham has Chamberlain’s post-game interview while David Pinto explains why Joba belongs in the starting rotation.

This is one of those Interleague weekends that look like the misbegotten results of one of those old Choose Your Own Adventure books.  The Rangers vs the Mets?  Padres vs. the Tribe?  Nats vs. the M’s?  Yanks in Houston.  Right…

Shawn Chacon and Joba Chamberlain share at least one thing in common–they both rock a baseball cap with the hard, flat bill.  That’s probably about it, though.  Chacon, a familiar face to Yankee fans, is a veteran junkballer; Chamberlain, a hard-throwing young stud.  They both pitched well on Friday night, each allowing a run over six innings.  Chacon gave up three hits and walked four.  For Chamberlain, it was his best start yet–he’s been a little better in each of his three turns since joining the rotation.  He walked four and gave up six hits only striking out a couple of hitters.  88 pitches in all.  Really, it was more like 80–he walked two batters intentionally.  Joba worked in-and-out-of trouble–picked Lance Berkman off second for a big out in the fourth.  Robinson Cano made a smooth play behind him too and Melky Cabrera got in plenty of running out in center.  And while the Astros ran at will against the combination of Joba and Posada, the Yankee catcher made a big throw to nail Michael Bourn at third in the sixth inning.

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Houston Astros

2007 Record: 73-89 (.451)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 71.5-90.5 (.442)

2008 Record: 33-34 (.493)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 32-35 (.475)

Manager: Cecil Cooper
General Manager: Ed Wade

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Minute Maid Park (99/99)

Who’s Replacing Whom:

25-man Roster:

1B – Lance Berkman (S)
2B – Kazuo Matsui (S)
SS – Miguel Tejada (R)
3B – Ty Wigginton (R)
C – Brad Ausmus (R)
RF – Hunter Pence (R)
CF – Michael Bourn (L)
LF – Carlos Lee (R)

Bench:

R – Mark Loretta (IF)
S – Geoff Blum (IF)
L – Darin Erstad (OF)
R – Reggie Abercrombie (OF)
R – Humberto Quintero (C)

Rotation:

R – Roy Oswalt
R – Brandon Backe
R – Brian Moehler
R – Shawn Chacon
L – Wandy Rodriguez

Bullpen:

R – Jose Valverde
R – Oscar Villarreal
R – Doug Brocail
L – Wesley Wright
L – Tim Byrdak
R – Geoff Geary
R – Chris Sampson

15-day DL: R – Felipe Paulino

Typical Lineup:

R – Hunter Pence (RF)
S – Kazuo Matsui (2B)
R – Miguel Tejada (SS)
S – Lance Berkman (1B)
R – Carlos Lee (LF)
R – Ty Wigginton (3B)
L – Michael Bourne (CF)
R – Brad Ausmus (C)

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Earlier this week, Jay Jaffe wrote:

The obituaries have been all too full of familiar names in recent weeks, men whose life’s work brought me a great deal of joy, countless hours of entertainment, and plenty of food for thought. Since Memorial Day alone, we’ve lost director Sydney Pollack, actor Harvey Korman, musician Bo Diddley, and sports broadcaster Jim McKay. Today’s bad news is the passing of writer Eliot Asinof. He was 88.

Tim Russert died today. He was just 58. I don’t know his work well but understand that he was well-regarded. He was certainly accomplished and I liked him enough when I did happen to see him on TV. I know he was a big baseball fan. He died of a heart attack. He was at work. Oh, man.

I love used book stores, I’m just a sucker for ’em.  These days, used book stores are doing a lot of thier business on-line which takes some, but not all of the fun out of book-hunting.  It just so happens that one of our own, a Banterite who goes by the handle "unmoderated" runs a used book store (pictured below).  I’ve been using him recently in my search for old books and he’s been great to work with.  Check out the store on-line and please consider supporting one of the gang. 

Generally speaking, I enjoy the cards featured in the 1973 Topps set. There are plenty of action shots (even if some of them seem like they’ve been taken from a distant parking lot), and there’s something groovy about the shadowed figure of a ballplayer transposed against a colored circle. Yet, not all of the cards featured in the set are attractive.

Like this one. As you can see, former Yankees and A’s third baseman Rich McKinney was one of the wilder looking athletes of the 1970s. There’s that large chin, prominent enough to make Jay Leno and Bruce Campbell blush. Coupled with his long, curly hair (a classic 1970s perm that some have called a "white Afro"), McKinney looked anything like a Yankee. Even his 1972 Topps card shows him wearing only an airbrushed Yankee cap alongside an actual White Sox uniform. Nonetheless, the Yankees and their suffering fans had to endure "Curly Mac’s" presence for all too much of the 1972 season.

After the 1971 season, the Yankees acquired McKinney from the White Sox for pitcher Stan Bahnsen in a deal that was panned by Pinstriped fans almost from the start. While McKinney had excelled in a pinch-hitting and backup infield role for the ’71 White Sox, he had never been an everyday player and had never exhibited the defensive skills needed to play third base on more than a part-time basis. For this, the Yankees parted with the 26-year-old Bahnsen, a reliable young starter who filled a vital role as the team’s No. 3 starter behind Mel Stottlemyre and Fritz Peterson. It hurt that much more when Bahnsen won 21 games in his first season with the White Sox.

Strangely, Yankee management expected McKinney, his chin and his Afro to fill the third base void that had been created five years earlier by the trade of Clete Boyer to the Braves (for another failed Yankee, Bill Robinson). Reality soon set in. Within days of his Yankee debut, it became evident that McKinney was overmatched—especially in the field. On Saturday afternoon, April 22, with the Yankees less than a week into the strike-delayed season, the Bombers played the rival Red Sox at Fenway Park. McKinney hit well that day, with three hits in four at-bats, including his first pinstriped home run. Yet, no one remembers any of that. In attempting to field his position, McKinney made four miscues at third base. In the first inning, he booted Danny Cater’s ground ball, permitting an unearned run to score on the play. Later that inning, McKinney made his second error, allowing two more unearned runs. In the second inning, McKinney mishandled another Cater ground ball, with an unearned run scoring on the play. And then in the sixth inning, McKinney committed a fourth error, this time on a Rico Petrocelli grounder, with yet another unearned run scoring on the play.

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My friend and colleague Steven Goldman had me on the second installment of his new Pinstriped Bible Podcast (if Pinstriped Bible, and Pinstriped Blog, why not just Pinstriped Podcast?) over at the YES site. The interview was taped Wednesday night and was posted yesterday. Steve and I discuss writing about baseball and the Yankees in equal measure, so check it out (alternate link).

Final: Yanks 4, A’s 1. 

C’mon.  Please.

Let’s go Yan-Kees.