So remember when, last week, I wondered about Jorge Posada and the importance of game calling? “Kyle Farnsworth is probably going to do some Farnsworthing no matter how meticulously you’ve planned your pitch sequence,” I wrote, “and Mariano Rivera could probably strike batters out if he threw to a lump of clay.”

Well, apparently the Yankees took that as a challenge.

In all fairness, sudden catcher Chad Moeller has done a good job so far under difficult circumstances, with a higher-than-expected VOLC (Value Over Lump of Clay). The Yankees scraped some runs together, Andy Pettitte didn’t let the Rays scrape together quite as many, and in the end it was a 5-3 Yanks win.

“Pettitte did a solid job despite not having great stuff”: I feel like I’ve written variations on that sentence about 30 times over the last year or so. Which means it’s probably time for me to adjust my idea of what Andy Pettitte’s stuff actually IS these days, huh? Clearly he can still be plenty effective, but it’s not 1997 anymore (thank god), or even 2005. Anyway, Pettitte had a rough few innings to start the game – allowing seven hits in the first three frames, some blooped and some smashed – but he got through it with only two runs scored, then settled in for the long haul, eventually giving up three runs in seven innings on exactly 100 pitches.

As for the Yankee offense, it wasn’t exactly a banner night – they left the bases loaded three times – but it was enough. Hideki Matsui started the scoring with a solo shot in the second, and in the fourth Bobby Abreu and Alex Rodriguez scored on a groundout and a wild pitch, respectively. (Rays pitcher Edwin Jackson, in his general demeanor on the mound, struck me as a bit of a Nuke LaLoosh “I want to announce my presence with authority!” type, but maybe I’m being unfair). The Yanks tacked on two more the next inning, when Jeter singled Damon home – one of his three hits on the night – and was then driven in by Abreu.

Mariano Rivera got the save with his usual panache, but with Joba Chamberlain still home with his father, Kyle Farnsworth pitched the 8th inning. And you might want to sit down for this: he set the Rays down 1-2-3. In a two-run game. Frankly, I’m paralyzed. Do I make a joke about the apocalypse and Revelations? Quote the old Ghostbusters “cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria!” line? Or should I reveal my suspicion that Farns has been replaced by a remarkably lifelike android/mutant/alien pod creature, which – even if it helps the team – probably ought to be stopped? I don’t know. I was not prepared for this contingency!

Finally, in other news, LaTroy Hawkins – on the advice of Jeter and Rivera – has apparently decided to give up #21. I think most Banter readers will agree that Hawkins did nothing wrong in trying to honor Roberto Clemente, and that booing him for his choice of uniform number was definitely uncalled for… but I have to admit that part of me is a little happy he’s switching. Not the smart, logical part, mind you*. But I do find it oddly touching that fans are still so devoted to O’Neill, even if they choose to express it a dumb, counterproductive sort of way.

*All together now: "What smart, logical part?"

I haven’t mentioned it yet, but I can’t let the seventh anniversary of Jay Jaffe’s seminal baseball blog Futility Infielder pass without comment. Jay was the first person connected with the blog world that I ever met in person. It was right around this time, the spring of 2003. We had lunch at Christine’s, a polish diner on Second avenue just south of 14th street that I frequented often as teenager with my friend Mary Lou, who lived right around the block.

Jay and I have remained friends ever since. We generally go to a couple of games at the Stadium every year, and we watch a handful more together at our respective cribs (Brooklyn, Bronx). Jay is one of the all-time baseball conversationalists. I always come away from our conversations knowing more, curiosities satisfied, others stimulated. And we never fail to have laughs. A spontaneous schtick that we did watching Paul LoDuca late last season has forever altered my ability to take LoDuca seriously ever again. I can’t not laugh at Paulie when I see him, read about him or hear his name.

And more than just that, respect due, cause Jay is strictly OB: Original Blogga. He’s one of a small group of guys, which include Geoff Young, whose Ducksnorts started in 1997, that is still around. And even if he doesn’t blog as frequently as he has in the past, Jay’s writing–particularly the work he does at Baseball Prospectus–is better and more prolific than ever. He’s polished when talking in front of audiences at bookstores, he knows his s*** when talking on the radio. He’s a pro.

Anyhow, I’m happy to call him a pal, and I’m really impressed with how he’s developed and honed his work over the years. And I wanted to say as much.

Now, come on you guys, let’s git ’em!

DISCLAIMER: Yankee Panky will be on vacation for the next two weeks, as the author will be sightseeing in Italy. Maybe a comparison to how the Italian media cover soccer to how our fine professionals cover baseball would be a good column. You can provide your thoughts below.

* * * * *

Nothing injects excitement, drama and absurdity into the New York media like a Yankees-Red Sox series in April. Last weekend’s series in Boston seemed to have snuck up on people — except we ever-observant schedule-hawking fans — whereas in years past the buildup was suffocating.

To me, the tipoff for this was the "Curse" story at the construction site of the New Yankee Stadium, where a worker who happened to be a Red Sox fan buried a David Ortiz jersey in the cement. It’s light-hearted and it’s funny. Yankees COO has said they’ll investigate the worker and potentially prosecute. On what charge? Vandalism? Does that apply?

With all the opportunities to go "Daily Show" or "The Soup" on this particular topic, I was surprised and disappointed that no Jimmy Hoffa jokes were printed anywhere, not even on Deadspin. Maybe it’s me, but I thought that was an easy one. Everyone swung and missed.

To the series coverage … There were the obvious angles of Joe Girardi’s first Yanks-Sox series as a manager, and the comparisons of the rivalry now to when he was embroiled in it as a player. Thankfully, the papers sounded the "Dead Horse Alert" on those stories early. The most striking articles were the commentaries on Girardi’s decision-making and overall demeanor with the media. It was presented as his first major test: How would he react to the intense scrutiny and second-guessing from the Fourth Estate? Newsday’s Ken Davidoff had an innovative take, intertwining Girardi’s Sunday pre-game powwow, in which he chronicled his media colleague’s interrogation of the Yankee manager, with a pining for the past. Davidoff opined that this arena was where Torre shined. Davidoff noted that Torre would have deflected the questions with humor, whereas Girardi visibly became agitated answering the same questions. An interesting read, to be sure. No Maas took a more pointed approach, superimposing a puffy white cloud in Torre’s likeness over Girardi’s right shoulder.

More than any series in recent memory, I noticed a heavy amount of overlap in the coverage. Mainstreamers on the print and TV side, and the non card-carrying observers in cyberspace peppered us with different takes on the same stories. It demonstrates how difficult it is to provide information that you can’t get anywhere else. The key is presentation.

ELSEWHERE…
• Is Joel Sherman angry? Are his comparisons correct in that Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are the second coming of Matt DeSalvo and Tyler Clippard? Or Sam Militello? I disagree with his opinion, but his statistical analysis of pitches-to-outs is eye-opening.

• Kim Jones’ quick-burst postgame interviews rarely unearth any information, but in the event they do, it restores faith that the right questions can elicit genuine answers. Following a 4-for-5 effort which included his 521st career home run, Kim Jones asked Alex Rodriguez about any specific adjustments he made during a pre-game batting session with hitting coach Kevin Long. A-Rod openly mentioned shortening his stroke and swinging with less effort; that he was getting ahead of himself and swinging too hard in Boston. It was refreshing to hear something other than "stay back," "stay inside the ball," or "let the pitch dictate the swing."

• I wonder if the Yankees-Red Sox game was earlier and had a more exciting finish — the Yankees coming back to win, perhaps — if that story would have trumped Tiger Woods’ second-place finish at The Masters.

Three of the first six Yankees to come to the plate against Andy Sonnanstine last night hit solo home runs, including one on the second pitch of the game by Johnny Damon (Alex Rodriguez and Morgan Ensberg, who got his second start of the year at first base, hit the other two). When the Yankees bounced Sonnanstine (“Sonny” per the inscription on his glove) in the midst of a four-run fourth inning, it seemed the Bombers would cruise to an easy victory.

Making just his second actual start of the season, Ian Kennedy held the Rays to two runs over six innings (7 H, 2 BB, 4 K) and came back out to start the seventh, but the first batter he faced in that frame, Jason Bartlett, lined a comebacker off Kennedy’s right hip. Kennedy emerged with just a bruise, but was in obvious pain, so with Bartlett on first and the three lefties at the top of the Rays’ order due up, Girardi called on Billy Traber. Traber got Akinori Iwamura to fly out for the first out of the inning, but gave up a two-run homer to Carl Crawford on a 0-1 pitch to make it 7-4 Yankees. Traber then hit Carlos Peña on the hand and was pulled in favor of Brian Bruney, who promptly gave up another two-run homer, this one to B.J. Upton, to make it 7-6, and then Even Longoria’s first major league tater to tie the score.

Facing Al Reyes in the top of the eighth, Girardi pinch-hit for Alberto Gonzalez, who had started at second base in place of the struggling Robinson Cano, with Robinson Cano and was rewarded when Cano hit a taser . . . er, laser out to right field to give the Yankees an 8-7 lead.

Brian Bruney, who had gotten the final two outs of the seventh after giving up the two homers that tied the game, got the first two outs of the eight, but the second was a long fly ball to left and, with those lefties at the top of the order coming back up, Girardi brought in Mariano Rivera for a four-out save, which is exactly what Mo delivered, along with an 8-7 Yankee win.

A few game notes: Derek Jeter went 2 for 5 and, though he didn’t run all-out, didn’t appear limited by his quadraceps. Gonzalez and Hideki Matsui were the only Yankees without hits, though Gonzalez drew a walk. Alex Rodriguez went 4 for 5 with his 521st career homer. Morgan Ensberg went 2 for 5 in his spot start and is hitting .385 as a Yankee despite his infrequent use thus far. The Yankees’ eight runs and 15 hits were both season highs.

Finally, while Cano’s homer was obviously the key hit in the game, my favorite might have been Chad Moeller’s first Yankee hit. With one out and Melky Cabrera on first base in the fourth, Girardi put on the hit-and-run. The Rays guessed correctly and pitched out, but Moeller reached out and slapped the pitch past Iwamura (who was heading over to cover the bag for the expected throw) picking up a single and moving Cabrera to third base. Both men ultimately scored on a double by Johnny Damon amid the Yankees four-run rally in that inning.

The Yankees wrapped up four-game split with the Rays just a week ago, but the Rays have undergone a lot of changes since then, most of them injury-related. Matt Garza didn’t pitch in the Bronx and wasn’t scheduled to pitch in the brief two-game set against the Yankees that opens at the Trop tonight, but it’s still worth noting that the team’s big off-season addition hit the DL with a nerve issue in his pitching elbow and is expected to miss at least four weeks (home-grown pitching prospect Jeff Niemann pitched well in his place last night as the Rays beat the O’s 6-2). In addition to Garza and catcher Dioner Navarro, who hit the DL in the Bronx after slipping and cutting his hand in visitor’s dugout, the Rays have also had to place DH Cliff Floyd and third-baseman Willy Aybar on the DL. Floyd, who is one of the most fragile players in the game, has a tear of the medial meniscus in his right knee. Aybar strained his left hamstring.

There’s irony in the latter injury as losing Aybar to the DL has forced the Rays to promote top prospect Evan Longoria and install him at third-base, where he’s likely to remain well into the next decade. Longoria should have opened the season in the majors, but, best I can tell, the Rays were hoping to delay the start of his arbitration clock. The Rays could have continued with that plan by installing Eric Hinske at third–Hinske did start two games at third in place of Aybar before the latter was officially placed on the DL–but it seems the Rays are quickly tiring of seeing Hinske in the field. Hinske started in right field in three of the Rays first six games, including two at Yankee Stadium, but hasn’t played the outfield in any of the team’s six games since. Instead, with Floyd on the DL and Longoria at third, it appears the Rays have adopted platoons in right and at DH with lefty Nathan Haynes and righty Justin Ruggiano splitting right field and the lefty Hinske taking Floyd’s place in the DH platoon with righty Jonny Gomes.

The end result is improved team defense, but a decrease in offense. There’s no comparison between Longoria and Aybar long-term, but Aybar was swinging the bat well in the early going, hitting .292/.370/.500 before hitting the DL. Longoria, who is 2 for 6 with a pair of walks after two major league games, could match those numbers, but as a 22-year-old rookie, he’d be hard pressed to surpass them. Hinske and Gomes are also swinging well, but squeezing them into one spot to make room for the punchless Haynes is sure to have a negative effect on the offense. What’s more, after a hot start, catcher Shawn Riggans isn’t hitting a lick. Still, the Rays have played .500 ball since leaving the Bronx and have scored 5.17 runs per game against the Mariners and Orioles while allowing just 3.83 runs per game.

(more…)

Shortly after Shaq Fu was traded to Phoenix a few months ago, the Suns were playing a nationally televised game against the Spurs. At one point, Shaq was lying on the ground and Tim Duncan offered him a hand. Shaq ignored him. Hey, just like the olden days, I thought. Which brought to mind a story that Jeff Pearlman wrote for SI on the changing nature of the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry back in 2002:

Like many notable encounters, this one was accidental—a simple, unexpected meeting of…well, rear ends. Really, it was perfect. How many times over the years had they crossed paths and thought of growling, Kiss my ass? And here they were, Dwight Evans and Willie Randolph, posterior to posterior on one of their old battlegrounds, Yankee Stadium.

This took place last Friday, roughly two hours before the first-place Boston Red Sox and the second-place New York Yankees, baseball’s greatest rivals, were to meet for the ninth of the 19 games that their fans are being blessed with this season. Randolph, the Yankees’ third base coach and their former six-time All-Star second baseman, was standing on the pitcher’s mound, gathering the balls left scattered from his team’s batting practice session. Evans, the Red Sox hitting coach and their former three-time All-Star rightfielder, was strolling toward the hill to begin tossing BP to his club. As he was chatting with Red Sox infielder Carlos Baerga, Evans accidentally backed into Randolph, who was bent over at the waist. The two men turned around, and for an instant their eyes met. Then they spoke.

Evans: “Hey, Willie, how’s it going?”

Randolph: “Pretty good…pretty good.”

And that was that. As Randolph jogged toward the home clubhouse, he was stopped by a reporter who had witnessed the scene. Randolph shook his head and sighed. “Man,” he said, embarrassed that there’d been a witness to the friendly exchange. “You saw that?”

From 1976 through ’88, when Evans and Randolph were principals in the great rivalry at the same time, the two teams detested each other. It wasn’t just that the clubs were routinely clawing for American League East supremacy. (Over those 13 seasons, the two combined for six division titles and five World Series appearances.) No, members of each team had a genuine dislike for the other. “It was hatred, no question,” says Randolph. “I’m sure they thought we all had attitudes, and we felt the same way about them. There was no talking before games, no hanging out by the batting cage. Just snarling.”

As Randolph was speaking, a familiar scene unfolded nearby that curdled his old-school blood. Two Yankees jogged alongside a couple of Red Sox, chatting like long-lost brothers. And in the outfield a gaggle of Boston pitchers exchanged pleasantries with their New York counterparts. There was laughter with backslaps and—egads!—handshakes, the byproducts of free agency run amok. “I guess it’s O.K. for me to say ‘Hi’ to Dwight because he’s a coach now,” says Randolph. “But as a player I wouldn’t even look at him. Nowadays you see Red Sox and Yankees running in the outfield, hugging each other. That bothers me, but what can I do? Nothing’s the same anymore. Everything’s changed.”

(more…)

It goes without saying that everyone here in the Bronx Banter community is sending best wishes to Harlan Chamberlain today.

The Yankees dropped their second straight series last night, losing the rubber game in Boston by a score of 8-5. The game took a ridiculous three hours and 55 minutes to play and saw 336 pitches thrown. The majority of those pitches, 193 to be exact, came out of the hands of Red Sox hurlers, including 116 in five innings from Daisuke Matsuzaka, who walked six and allowed four runs in his five frames. Unfortunately, the Yankees were only able to scratch out one more run against the underside of the Boston bullpen (on Jason Giambi’s second solo homer off Mike Timlin of the series). That wasn’t enough to overcome the hole dug by Phil Hughes and Ross Ohlendorf.

Hughes, who had looked so sharp in his first start of the year, was even less effective, and less efficient, than he had been in Kansas City. It took Hughes 39 pitches to get out of the first inning. He started things off with a seven-pitch walk to Jacoby Ellsbury. On the 0-1 pitch to Dustin Pedroia, the Yankees pitched out. For the third time on the road trip, the Yankees correctly identified when an opposing baserunner was stealing, but for the third time they failed to get the runner as Jose Molina’s throw sailed into center field and Ellsbury went to third. Hughes rallied to strike out Pedroia, who was completely bewildered by a wicked curve up and in (Pedroia flinched twice as the pitch dropped into the strike zone), but that K took another seven pitches. Hughes then walked J.D. Drew on an ironically efficient four tosses before Manny Ramirez ended another seven-pitch at-bat with an RBI single that sent Drew to third. In that at-bat, Hughes got ahead 0-1 and 1-2 with his fastball, then threw a pair of heaters up and in, had yet another low and inside fouled off, then finally came with a curve, which Ramirez served to center. Kevin Youkilis was disposed of with just two pitches, but his sac fly placed Drew. Hughes then got ahead of Sean Casey 0-2 only to even the count and give up a 375-foot ground-rule double to right that pushed Ramirez to third. Hughes then again got ahead 0-2 on Jason Varitek, but with Casey on second, Hughes and Molina developed some communication issues. The second strike of that at-bat caught Molina off guard and was dropped at the plate. After a fastball that just missed the outside corner and a pair of fouls, Hughes crossed up Molina again, throwing a curve when Molina was expecting a fastball. Molina popped out of his crouch to catch what he though was a high fastball only to have the ball dive and get by him allowing Ramirez to score. After Molina’s third trip to the mound of the at-bat, Hughes got Varitek looking on a fierce curve on the outside corner to end the inning, but the Red Sox were already up 3-0 and Hughes was half-way in the bag.

Hughes appeared to settle down in the second, surviving a bunt single and stolen base by Coco Crisp (both calls that could have gone either way) by getting a groundout, a pop-up, and a strikeout (Pedroia again, this time swinging at a fastball just below the knees and slamming his bat down in frustration). Hughes needed just 11 pitches to get through those four batters, but it all went wrong again in the third.

Drew led off with another walk, this one on five pitches (though ball four looked like strike two). Manny Ramirez followed by working the count full and lining a fastball off Alex Rodriguez’s glove for another single. Youkilis and Casey then followed by singling hard on fastballs down and in to plate Drew and Ramirez, driving the score to 5-1 and Hughes from the game.

All totalled, Hughes threw 65 pitches in two-plus innings and just 54 percent of those offerings were strikes. Hughes struck out three men, but allowed nine others to reach and five to score on his watch. Ohlendorf then allowed both of the baserunners he inherited from Hughes to score, pushing Hughes’ tally to seven runs (one unearned due to the passed ball). From what I saw, Hughes only threw three pitches that weren’t fastballs or curveballs, all of which were taken for balls. The lack of an effective third pitch as well as a general lack of command seemed to be the problem. Hughes had a huge break on his curve, and he wasn’t wild, but he wasn’t hitting his spots, often just missing the strike zone or having a strike called a ball because Molina had to reach for it. Unable to put the ball where he wanted it, he was getting deep into counts and getting hit.

I’d shrug it off if it was just one start, but it’s been two straight now (aggregate line: 5 IP, 12 H, 10 R (9 ER), 7 BB, 5 K). Only 2 of those twelve hits went for extra bases (both doubles) and Hughes is getting his strikeouts, but giving up 19 baserunners in 5 innings almost exactly how Mike Mussina got himself yanked from the rotation last August. Suddenly Hughes’s next start becomes pivotal. If he struggles again, the Yankees may have a decision to make.

The upside to the game was that despite being down 7-1 after three, the Yankees got the tying run to the plate several times and on base once while Ohlendorf, LaTroy Hawkins, and Kyle Farnsworth ate up the remainder of the game while allowing just one run of their own. Also, Alberto Gonzalez went 1 for 2 with a single and a walk and made a nice over-the-shoulder catch in shallow left in the third, and Jose Molina went 2 for 4 with yet another double. The Yankees five runs were their third-best total of the season.

The immediate downside is that Molina strained a hamstring, forcing an odd late-game maneuver in which Joe Girardi pinch-ran for Molina with Wilson Betemit following the catcher’s eight-inning single while simultaneously pinch-hitting Melky Cabrera (who got the day off with Jorge Posada–1 for 4–again DHing) for Gonzalez. Melky singled, but the Yankees didn’t score, and Posada had to catch the ninth, pushing Farnsworth into the lineup (though his spot never came around and Morgan Ensberg was still around to pinch-hit). Posada clearly had instructions not to throw during his inning behind the plate as both Crisp and Pedroia stole off him uncontested, with Crisp scoring to set the final score.

Per Pete Abe, with Posada still unable to catch because of his shoulder and Molina unable to play because of his hammy, the Yanks will have to call up Chad Moeller. It remains to be seen if Molina’s bad enough to require a DL stay. The good news is that Derek Jeter is expected to return to the lineup tonight, which could mean the Yankees could farm out Gonzalez to make room for Moeller and have Molina take Jeter’s place as the unusable player with a short-term injury on the bench. Did I really just call that good news?

My first job out of college was as a runner on the Ken Burns “Baseball” series. I stuck around until the job was over. My final task was to empty the research office, which was stuck in the old Technicolor Building on 44th street and drive all the stuff they wanted to keep up to Walpole, N.H. My brother, who I was able to get on as a second hand, and I helped throw away tons of books, magazines, photographs that I’d now think twice about getting rid of. I kept some stuff for myself, of course, and gave a lot away to my friends.

I have a friend from high school who has kept the four boxes of books that I gave him in the spring of 1994. He told me that I could have them back a few years ago, but he lives in Long Island and I’ve never found the time to truculate my fat ass out there to get them. Then his wife said that if the books aren’t out of the house by the end of the month they are going to the library. So I went out there today and took home five boxes of books.

I waited until I got home before I look inside. When I did, I found a bunch of of junk, but good copies of “Birth of a Dynasty,” “Steinbrenner’s Yankees,” and “Baseball Anecdotes,” plus a terrific little green paperback copy of “The Chrysanthemum and the Bat” by Robert Whiting, and a first edition hardcover of “The Diamond Appraised,” uncracked, with Craig W Wright’s business card tucked in the center crease. Best of all, there is a beat up copy of “The Reggie Jackson Scrapbook,” my favorite baseball book growing up. I remember my friend having this book long after I had lost my own edition. It was one of two things I coveted at my friend’s house. The other was an unopened can of Coke from Israel.

I was secretly hoping that the Reggie book would be in one of the boxes. And damn if it was at the bottom of the last pile of books. But when I got there I let out a cry. I startled Em, but couldn’t help myself. It felt like my whole body was breaking out into a smile.

Mr. Hughes tonight.

Let’s Go Yan-Kees!

Well, that sucked. Tough 4-3 loss for the Yanks. A long rain delay helped prolong the agony for the Yankees but the crucial moment in the game was when manager Joe Girardi let Mike Mussina pitch to Manny Ramirez in the sixth. This is Manny we’re talking about.

Jonathan Papelbon finished the Yankees off.

Ugh.

Both teams are now 6-6. Phil Hughes goes against Dice K tonight. Are you ready for some Joe Morgan!

I was in 10th grade when the Mets and Red Sox played in the 1986 World Serious. It was the first and last time that I ever rooted for the Sox. They were the American League team, I figured, but the real reason I pulled for them–even after they beat my second-favorite team, Reggie Jackson’s California Angels–was because I knew more Met fans than Sox fans, had more of a daily battle cooking with them than any Sox fans.

I had always liked Bill Buckner. We had WGN and so I watched a lot of Cubs games after school during my middle school years. Buckner was a grinder, much like my hero, Don Mattingly. In the mid-80s, Tom Boswell wrote a piece on Mattingly and mused that “He’s Wade Boggs with power. Eddie Murray with hustle. George Brett but younger and in a home run park with Rickey Henderson on base and Dave Winfield on deck.”

None of these parallels charm Mattingly much. “I appreciate it…but it doesn’t help me on the field. So let it go. I’d compare myself more to Bill Buckner. He’s consistent, hard-nosed, good in the clutch. I love the way he plays. If it’s biting it takes, then it’s biting; if it’s scratching, then scratch…I’ll take a ground ball off the chest, get my uniform dirty.”

Of course, Bucker isn’t best remembered for being a very good player, he’s remembered in a single image–that of a feeble old man letting a slow ground ball dribble through his legs. It is an unfair way to remember the man but sometimes that’s what happens in sports. Awful moments coexist along with the wonderful ones. Bad things can happen to anyone. But I sure don’t know anyone who ever blamed Buckner for them losing that game.

Still, when Billy Bucks threw out the first pitch on Opening Day in Fenway earlier this week, my initial reaction was, That’s nice. Followed shortly by a more cynical one, Jeez, took ’em long enough–funny how they reached out to him now that they are a winning club. But I was off on my thinking. Red Sox fans have in fact given Buckner love for a long time. He received a standing ovation on Opening Day in 1987, and another one in 1990 when he had another brief stint with the tam. Check out this piece The Hub Hails its Hobbling Hero, by Peter Gammons from the SI Vault (November 10, 1986).

As much as I like to moan about Sox fans, they can be pretty great. Remember the ovation they gave Joe Torre back in ’99?

Okay, enough love. I can’t let one beautifully pitched ballgame–and I won’t be surprised if Wang’s performance last night turns out to be the finest of the season for a Yankee starting pitcher–get me all mushy. Especially with Mussina v. Beckett on tap this afternoon. I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand Yankee-Sox games that are broadcast on Saturday afternoon on Fox. I think the Yanks have an okay record against Boston on Fox Saturdays but it feels as if they don’t. These are the blowout games, the ones that last four hours.

Who knows, maybe we’ll be in for a surprise? Stranger things have happened…but I wouldn’t count on it.

Well, I guess Chien-Ming Wang has solved Fenway Park. Wang shrugged off his career 6.17 ERA at the Fens last night and dominated the Red Sox for nine innings. Wang only struck out three men and gave up more than his share of fly balls and line-drive outs, but he needed just 93 pitches to complete the game and held the Sox to just three baserunners on the night.

Wang set the first ten Boston hitters down in order, striking out David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez along the way. With one out in the fourth, Dustin Pedroia hit a hard grounder to Alex Rodriguez’s right. The Yankee third baseman hit the dirt to backhand the ball, scrambled to his feet, and fired high to first base as Pedroia reached with what was initially ruled an infield hit. On the very next pitch, Wang got Ortiz to ground into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double-play. In between innings, Pedroia’s hit was changed to an E5.

With two outs in the fifth, J.D. Drew hit a fly ball to the front of the Boston bullpen in right field. Bobby Abreu had the ball measured. He drifted back, found the five-foot-three wall with his bare hand, and lept to make the catch. Unfortunately, he got a bit too close to the wall and, as he jumped, his back caught the top of the wall and stopped his momentum. Drew’s fly ball tipped off the end of Abreu’s glove and fell into the bullpen for a home run that knotted the game at 1-1. Wang wouldn’t allow another hit until Coco Crisp’s bunt single with two outs in the ninth.

Clay Buchholz was good, but he was no match for Wang. The two pitchers combined to face one man over the minimum through four innings (a Hideki Matsui single in the second), but Buchholz started the fifth by walking Matsui and Jorge Posada. (Posada was again serving as the designated hitter. Johnny Damon took a night off while Matsui played in Fenway’s small left field.) After Buchholz rallied to strike out Jason Giambi, Jose Molina struck a first-pitch double into the left field gap that plated Matsui and gave the Yankees a slim 1-0 lead. Buchholz escaped further damage when Alberto Gonzalez, who followed Molina with a walk, strayed too far off of first base and was doubled up on a Melky Cabrera line-drive to Sean Casey. The Yankees threatened again in with two outs in the sixth when Alex Rodriguez singled and Hideki Matsui doubled him to third, but Posada ground out to end the threat.

With his young starter up to 98 pitches and no margin for error given Wang’s performance, Boston manager Terry Francona went to his pen in the seventh, calling on Mike Timlin, who had just been activated from the disabled list before the game. Timlin’s first batter was Giambi. Giambi got out to a 3-1 advantage, looked at strike two, then sent the payoff pitch 379 feet to dead center for a skin-of-his-teeth homer into the nook to the right of the Green Monster. That gave Wang all the runs he’d need, but another Molina double, a Gonzalez sac bunt, and a Cabrera sac fly added another before Hideki Okajima managed to get the Sox out of the inning. The Yanks then added one more for good measure against should-be Pittsburgh Pirate David Aardsma in the top of the ninth when Gonzalez led off with a double, was bunted to third by Cabrera, and scored on a two-out infield single beaten out by Abreu.

The Yankees are now 6-5 on the season. Wang has three of those six wins. Wang also has a 1.23 ERA, a 0.73 WHIP, and is averaging 7 1/3 innings per start. In other Fun With Small Samples news, four members of the bullpen (Mariano Rivera, Joba Chamberlain, Brian Bruney, and Billy Traber) have yet to give up a run in a combined 18 1/3 innings. As a team, the Yankees are only allowing 3.55 runs per game and have allowed two runs or fewer in six of their 11 games. None of that will persist through the whole season, but it’s nice to see. Similarly, Jose Molina, who was 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles last night, is hitting .346 and slugging .577 while filling in for the sore-armed Posada. Six of his nine hits have been doubles, which ties him for the American League lead in two-baggers. Alberto Gonzalez is hitting .375/.444/.625 after three games of filling in for Derek Jeter, boasting a pair of doubles of his own. Again, that won’t keep up, but with both Jeter and Posada hoping to return to action by Monday, when the Yanks will be in the climate-controlled Tropicana Dome, it won’t have to.

As for Wang, new pitching coach Dave Eiland has him working inside to batters (Wang struck out Ortiz in the first with a series of inside pitches), working both sides of the plate, and mixing in his slider, changeup, and split-finger. Eiland was also able to make an in-game correction with Wang last night following the inning in which Wang gave up Drew’s homer and three other loud fly outs. Sez Eiland, “It was just his hand position behind the ball. He was kind of getting on the side of it and it was staying flat. He just repositioned his hand and threw down through the baseball and got his sinker working again and got back on track.”

With that sort of guidance, one wonders if Wang might actually be taking his game to another level in his age-28 season. It makes Eiland’s career 5.23 ERA as a Yankee seem totally worth it, don’t it?

Boston Red Sox

2007 Record: 96-66 (.593)
2007 Pythagorean Record: 103-59 (.635)

Manager: Terry Francona
General Manager: Theo Epstein

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Fenway Park (106/105)

Who’s Replacing Whom:

Jacoby Ellsbury replaces Coco Crisp in center field (sometimes)
Sean Casey replaces Erik Hinske
Kevin Cash replaces Doug Mirabelli
Jon Lester replaces Curt Schilling (DL)
Clay Buchholz replaces the starts of Julian Tavarez (bullpen) and Kason Gabbard
David Aardsma replaces Mike Timlin (DL)
Bryan Corey replaces Kyle Snyder

25-man Roster:

1B – Sean Casey (L)
2B – Dustin Pedroia (R)
SS – Julio Lugo (R)
3B – Kevin Youkilis (R)
C – Jason Varitek (S)
RF – J.D. Drew (L)
CF – Jacoby Ellsbury (L)
LF – Manny Ramirez (R)
DH – David Ortiz (L)

Bench:

S – Coco Crisp (OF)
L – Alex Cora (IF)
S – Jed Lowrie (IF)
R – Kevin Cash (C)

Rotation:

R – Josh Beckett
R – Daisuke Matsuzaka
L – Jon Lester
R – Tim Wakefield
R – Clay Buchholz

Bullpen:

R – Jon Papelbon
L – Hideki Okajima
R – Manny Delcarmen
L – Javier Lopez
R – Julian Tavarez
R – David Aardsma
R – Bryan Corey

15-day DL: R – Mike Lowell (3B), R – Mike Timlin
60-day DL: R – Curt Schilling

Lineup:

R – Dustin Pedroia (2B)
R – Kevin Youkilis (3B)
L – David Ortiz (DH)
R – Manny Ramirez (LF)
L – J.D. Drew (RF)
S – Jason Varitek (C)
L – Jacoby Ellsbury (CF)
L – Sean Casey (1B)
R – Julio Lugo (SS)

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Other than Kent Tekulve, I can’t think of anyone who looked less like a ballplayer than Rawly Eastwick. At six feet, three inches and 175 pounds, Eastwick bested Tekulve by a few pounds, but he still looked more like the 98-pound weakling than the second coming of Jack LaLanne. Eastwick’s face didn’t give him any additional toughness either. The antithesis of Clint Eastwood, Eastwick had the kind of baby face that would have made Barbara Stanwyck jealous.

And then there’s the name. Rawly Eastwick, short for Rawlins Jackson Eastwick III, which makes me think of English royalty, or might even conjure up memories of that clever 1987 film, The Witches of Eastwick. It sure as heck doesn’t sound like the kind of name that we should be seeing on the front of a 1978 baseball card.

In this case, Eastwick provides a good example of the variations in Yankee cards that were issued that spring and summer. The Eastwick card depicted here is the only one ever issued that shows him wearing the colors of the Yankees. It’s not part of Topps’ official 1978 set; that card shows him sporting the airbrushed colors of the Cardinals, for whom he had finished out the 1977 season after a mid-year trade from Cincinnati. (The Reds, having given up hope of re-signing Eastwick, traded him for the likes of Doug Capilla.) No, this card is part of a special Yankees set, fully authorized by the Pinstripers, but sponsored by a third party—Burger King.

With the full cooperation and permission of Topps, the Yankees and Burger King used the same basic card design—both front and back—that the venerable card company featured in its 1978 set, but the photograph on the front of the card posed a problem. Rather than airbrush Yankee colors over the airbrush of Cardinals colors, the Yankees snapped a new photo of Eastwick, by now wearing an authentic Yankees uniform, and provided it to the card designers for transferal onto the Topps design.

In most cases, the 1978 Yankee cards used the same photo as the regular Topps set, but variations were produced for Eastwick and Rich "Goose" Gossage. Gossage’s Topps card shows Yankee colors airbrushed onto a Pirate uniform while the Yankee/BK card features a new photo with "The Goose" wearing an authentic Yankee uniform. As with Gossage, the Yankees and Burger King decided that a fresh photo would be a better place to start.

Unlike Gossage, Eastwick wasn’t the most integral member of the 1978 World Champion New York Yankees. He made only eight appearances for New York that season before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for flaky backup outfielder Jay "Moon Man" Johnstone. (Chapter and verse could be written about the Moon Man, but that will have to wait for a later date.) Eastwick’s early-season presence in pinstripes, however, did provide one of the first controversies of that tumultuous summer. With Eastwick, Gossage, and Sparky Lyle all on the ’78 roster to start the season, Billy Martin had an overload of ace relievers. Martin picked Gossage to close most of the time (sticking with him despite an early season slump), employed Lyle in a late-inning set-up role, and predictably had little use for Eastwick.

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The Yankees got a solid effort from Andy Pettitte, the usual from Joba and Mo and some pop from ‘lil Melky as they avoided being swept in Kansas City and now head into Boston with a 5-5 record (the Sox are 5-5 as well). Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada added back-to-back solo dingers in the ninth against Hideo Nomo (Rodriguez passed Mickey Mantle on the all-time RBI list, and with 521 home runs, is just one shy of Ted Williams. Rodriguez is just 32 years-old). Final Score: Yanks 6, Royals 1.

Chamberlain replaced Pettitte with one out in the seventh. He got out of inning unscathed but allowed two singles in the eighth (the Yankee lead was just 4-1 at the time). Jose Guillen, the potential tying run, struck out to end the inning. The last two pitches he saw were, in a word, unfair. First, he waved at a nasty, biting slider, and then Joba blew a fastball by him. It was right over the plate and came in at 99 mph according to the YES radar. Joba trudged off the mound. No arm swinging, no yelling. Just very tough.

I was on the Upper West Side last night and walked through my father’s old neighborhood. It’s funny how quiet Broadway can get in spots in the high 80s and 90s. It almost feels desolate at times. But when the traffic has ceased temporarily, there is a stillness that falls over the streets, that is welcoming. You can still hear a hum of noise, and then a stray siren in the distance or a horn from the upper floors of a nearby apartment building.

I thought I heard a familiar tune as I crossed 96th street but wasn’t aware of it until I got to the next block and saw a man in a beret and an overcoat playing a flute. Just outside of what used to be the Wiz. And now–I didn’t notice–I still don’ think anything is in that spot, making it even more isolated. There was a Beatles songbook on a music stand in front of him. The flute case was open at his feet (red velvet) and he was playing “And I Love Her,” almost painfully slowly; the mournful sound of his instrument echoed throughout the vicinity. I could still hear him playing, faintly, fading, several blocks away.

I stopped in at Sal and Carmine’s on 101rst street for a couple of slices. Sal and Carmine’s is my childhood pizza jernt–though they used to be in another spot—and I still go back when I can. Sal and Carmine are both old, wrinkled and cranky, but they warm up to you if they know you a little bit. The pizza is too salty but I love it. I prefer my slices lukewarm when I’m on the go. I finished one of them when I got the 103rd street subway station and then started to dog the second one as I waited on the platform for an uptown train. I was thinking of you guys. Dag, I better house this slice, I can’t get on a train with food after my rant this morning. The slices didn’t give off any smell becaue they were cold, but that made the dough doughier and harder to chew. When the train came, I was down to the crust, but my jaw was killing me (only one other thing I can think of can make your jaw ache like that–think Shelley Duvall and Woody in Annie Hall).

Yo, Royals fans must be pleased, huh? And why not? Their team has handled the slow, old guys from New York for two consecutive days and they are going for the sweep tonight. Andy Pettitte is sure to hear it but good from them. He’ll need to get used to it, of course but I doubt he’ll be bothered by it.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I feel good about the bats tonight. Something’s gotta give.

C’mon, let’s get somthing cookin fella, wouldya, hah?

The Bats blog over at the Times is really heating up. There are more posts these days and most of them are either informative or entertaining. Witness Jack Curry running into Vanilla Ice up in Boston recently. Hey, toys are people too you know.

Joe Pos has a link to a new blog by veteran columnist Ian O’Connor. Joe asked Ian a few questions in the post, which I thought you might enjoy:

Joe: You grew up a Yankees fan. What year is your favorite Yankees team?

Ian: ’78, hands down. I’d totally given up, like every other Yankee fan I knew. The Boston Massacre is still my all-time favorite series, that and Brideshead Revisited on PBS. I count Bucky Dent’s homer as the third-best day of my life, right after my wedding day and the birth of my son. In the still of night in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere, I’ll still occasionally do Bill White’s call.

Joe: Who is your favorite Yankees player, first as a fan?

Ian: As a fan, Bobby Murcer. Roy White and Reggie Jackson are right in there, too, Roy for the way he carried himself, Reggie for being Reggie. But Murcer was my guy. No, he didn’t turn out to be the next Mickey Mantle as hoped.* There was just something about the way he carried himself. He’s obviously dealing with a very serious health issue now. I hope he lives forever.

Pos interlude: *You know, Murcer obviously did not become Mantle. But, in context, his 1971 and 1972 seasons are very Mantle-like. Here’s what the numbers look like:

1971: .331/.427/.543, 25 homers, 94 runs, 94 RBIs in 146 games.
1972: .292/.361/.537, 33 homers, 102 runs, 96 RBIs in 153 games.

Excellent numbers. Throw in that Murcer was a very good outfielder (Gold Glove in ’72), and you see a really good player. But the numbers deceive because it was such a low-scoring era. Murcer led the AL in on-base percentage, OPS and runs created in 1971, he led in extra base hits, total bases and runs scored in in 1972, Here’s what those numbers adjust to if you place him in Yankee Stadium in the mid-1950s:

1971: .362/.461/.591, 27 homers, 108 runs, 108 RBIs.
1972: .328/.399/.601, 39 homers, 133 runs, 125 RBIs.

Back to the interview.

Joe: What about your favorite Yankees player as a columnist?

Ian: Bernie Williams. He was always good to me, for whatever reason, and I always loved the dignified grace on the field. He wasn’t Jeter or Rivera, and he wasn’t the greatest defensive center fielder by a longshot. But he was very good when it mattered most, and I found him to be a most thoughtful interview.

Man, I miss Bernie. I really do. You can also check out O’Connor’s web site here.

Thanks to Repoz, I caught Steve Goldman’s NY Sun column today about Jorge Posada:

In Posada’s injury there have been disturbing implications that Girardi could reside among the group of blinkered skippers. Posada’s shoulder strain, which apparently will not force him to the disabled list, was said to interfere with his throwing, not his hitting. The possibility existed, then, that even if the injury prevented him from getting behind the plate for an extended period of time, he would still be able to swing the bat as the designated hitter.

Girardi apparently rejected this suggestion, not wanting to remove Hideki Matsui from his DH role. By extension, this also means that he did not want to move Matsui to left field (a position he has proved healthy enough to play) and bench Johnny Damon. This would have been a tremendous misjudgment. In his career, Damon has rarely been much more than a slightly above-average hitter at the best of times, and a below-average hitter at his worst — and the minimum contribution expected from his bat has only risen as Damon has shifted to left field, more of a power position than center. Last year, major-league left fielders batted .277 AVG/.347 OBA/.453 SLG. The year before they hit .278/.354/.464.

It is doubtful that Damon’s hitting will rise to that level. It did not last year, it has not over the course of his career, and it has not during the present season. Posada, however, should reach those numbers with ease, though he is older and unlikely to repeat last year’s .338 batting average. A .277/.380/.478 hitter, he is more likely to come closer in failing to reach them than Damon. The Yankees would also gain an additional benefit from shifting Damon to the bench, adding the pinch runner and outfield substitute they are lacking.

What do you think?

When I was at the Stadium last week with Jay Jaffe two kids, must have been about six or seven-years old, sat nearby. They were dressed in Yankee gear, down to the batting gloves. I wondered what they would actually remember of Derek Jeter or Mike Mussina when they get older. It is possible to watch so many more games on TV today, I wonder if kids of this generation will have more than fleeting impressions of the stars of their childhood.

Probably not. I don’t know how many times I actually ever saw Willie Stargell or Joe Morgan or Yaz actually play. But to this day, I can imitate their batting stance. It’s like being able to do an imitation of Ed Sullivan or Richard Nixon–it doesn’t necessarily have to be good or even competent to be recognizable. In a simple motion of twirling the bat around and shaking your ass you can instantly become Pops Stargell. It is something that you will be able to do until the day you die.

After work last night I walked from midtown through Central Park and east to the Frozen Ropes hitting cage located on York Avenue and 90th street, a place my father would have called “the ass-end of the planet.” On the way, I passed an apartment building on 89th street between 1rst and 2nd avenues where, one summer in the early 80s, my father subletted an apartment for the summer, the year the USFL folded and I became addicted to Sports Center (Remember the days when Bill “Doran” Doran, Jose “Can You See?” Cruz and Chris Berman’s other quips were something that you actually looked forward to hearing?).

Soon, I was standing over a tee with a ball on it in a mesh cage with a bat in my hands, imitating Don Mattingly’s stance and using one of Mattingly’s bats. Joe Janish, a public relation’s man for Mattingly’s line of “V-Grip” bats, met me at the hitting cage to demonstrate the product. Janish explained that when Mattingly played, he would shave the sides of his bad near the handle so a “V” shape was formed. This helped him keep his knuckles lined up on the bat and prevented him from holding the bat in the palms of his hands, which robbed him of his power and he met the ball. Later, when Mattingly saw his boys struggle with keeping their knuckles lined up properly he had the idea of designing his own line of bats.

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