The Captain's Blog

Yankees’ Pen Helps Write Winning Script for Opening Day

April 1, 2011 by William Juliano

Opening Day proceeded as if working off a blueprint. The Yankees’ lineup flexed its muscles with a pair of homeruns, both early and late, and then the bullpen slammed the door with three perfect innings of relief. Ballgame over. Yankees win.

Although there are very few questions about the Yankees’ offense, it was still encouraging to see Mark Teixeira get off to a good start and Curtis Granderson pick up where he left off last season, and against a left handed pitcher no less. Alex Rodriguez also carried his hot spring into the opener, giving further credibility to the high expectations once again being placed upon him. If all of the pieces fall into place on offense, the Yankees could be poised for a historic season at the plate.

Were Brett Gardner's two sacrifices on Opening Day a sign of things to come?

One member of the lineup who raised some eyebrows, however, was Brett Gardner, who was credited with two sacrifice bunts. The initial reaction from the Yankee fan intelligentsia was dismay, especially coming on the heels of a spring training in which the Yankees actively worked with Gardner on honing his bunting skills. It remains to be seen whether Gardner’s two bunts represent a new strategy in his game, or just a coincidence of circumstance. After all, his first attempt was a drag bunt, not a sacrifice. What’s more, targeting a weak fielding first baseman like Miguel Cabrera on wet grass in a game that could be cut short by rain is a strategy that has merit. Although the second bunt appeared to be more of a sacrifice, it was also later in the game against a lefty with the Yankees already holding a lead. It’s easy to see why some would come away from Opening Day with some concern about Gardner bunting too much, but there’s no reason to jump to conclusions just yet. The sacrifice has never been a dominant part of Girardi’s strategy (the Yankees 95 sacrifices since 2008 is the fifth lowest total in all of baseball), so there’s no reason to believe it will now.

Yankees’ Sacrifice Bunt Leaders, 2008-2010

Player	SH	G	PA
Brett Gardner	14	300	994
Francisco Cervelli	12	138	423
Derek Jeter	12	460	2123
Jose Molina	9	152	452
Melky Cabrera	8	283	993
Nick Swisher	6	300	1242
Ramiro Pena	5	154	288
Curtis Granderson	4	136	528
Johnny Damon	4	286	1249

Source: Baseball-reference.com

Posted in Alex Rodriguez, Baseball, Game Recap, MLB, Yankees | 1 Comment »

Opening Day Batter/Pitcher Matchups: Tigers vs. Yankees

March 31, 2011 by William Juliano

vs. Justin Verlander	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI
Brett Gardner LF	7	0.400	0.500	0.400	0	0
Derek Jeter SS	26	0.364	0.462	0.409	0	0
Mark Teixeira 1B	20	0.059	0.200	0.059	0	0
Alex Rodriguez 3B	19	0.188	0.316	0.375	1	4
Robinson Cano 2B	22	0.190	0.227	0.238	0	0
Nick Swisher RF	48	0.186	0.271	0.442	3	7
Jorge Posada DH	20	0.333	0.500	0.467	0	3
Curtis Granderson CF	2	0.500	0.500	2.000	1	1
Russell Martin C	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0	0
Total	164	0.246	0.338	0.377	5	15

vs. CC Sabathia	PA	BA	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI
Austin Jackson CF	7	0.143	0.143	0.571	1	1
Will Rhymes 2B	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0	0
Magglio Ordonez RF	72	0.266	0.333	0.516	3	17
Miguel Cabrera 1B	15	0.538	0.600	1.077	2	9
Victor Martinez DH	24	0.227	0.292	0.545	2	3
Ryan Raburn LF	18	0.176	0.222	0.294	0	3
Jhonny Peralta SS	15	0.083	0.267	0.167	0	0
Brandon Inge 3B	61	0.151	0.262	0.208	1	2
Alex Avila C	1	1.000	1.000	1.000	0	0
Total	213	0.269	0.328	0.500	9	35

Yankees vs. Tigers
Season: 2011	Season: 2010	Season: 2009	All-Time
TIED: 0-0	TIED: 4-4	NYY: 5-1	NYY: 1039-923

Random Notes:

Magglio Ordonez’ 17 RBIs are tied for the most by any player versus C.C. Sabathia. Torii Hunter also has the same amount.
The Yankees are 2-3 in home openers against the Detroit Tigers.
Derek Jeter is making his 15th Opening Day start, tying Bill Dickey for second most in franchise history. Mickey Mantle is the leader with 18.
Jeter is also one hit behind Al Simmons for 35th place on the all-time list.
With a home run, Jorge Posada can join Babe Ruth with five on Opening Day, the most in franchise history.

Posted in Baseball, Game Preview, MLB, Yankees | Leave a Comment »

Opening Day Flashback to the Early 1990s: When Hope Didn’t Spring Eternal

March 31, 2011 by William Juliano

For a few years in the 1990s, Opening Day wasn’t exactly a time of new hope and great expectations for Yankees fans. Younger followers of the team probably can’t fathom the idea of a season beginning with the Yankees staring down the barrel of last place, but such was the case two decades ago.

Considering the team’s extended run of success, it’s easy to lose perspective, which for today’s Yankee fan means overlooking a potent offense, deep bullpen and rotation fronted by a genuine ace to instead fret about the fifth starter. However, 20 years ago, the team’s Opening Day pitcher was a fifth starter, and it only went down hill from there.

TYA has a nice breakdown of the Yankees’ last 20 opening day games. Included on the list is a three year period in which the Yankees trotted out the likes of Dave LaPoint, Tim Leary and Scott Sanderson for the first game of the season. Clearly, optimism is a relative term.

Thanks in large part to a new young manager named Buck Showalter, 1992 would be the last time the Yankees started a year without a reasonable expectation for success. This year, Showalter will try to work the same magic for the Baltimore Orioles, who have suffered through an extended period of futility that makes the Yankees’ previous drought seem like a small island in the ocean.

So, in case you’ve forgotten what it was like to get ready for a season of discontent, here’s a friendly reminder from Dewayne Staats.

Posted in Baseball, Baseball History, MLB, Yankee History, Yankees | Tagged Opening Day | Leave a Comment »

New York Yankees Opening Day Facts and Figures

March 31, 2011 by William Juliano

Opening Day is always a joyous occasion, but if Jorge Posada’s afternoon is tinged with a touch of remorse, it’ll be easy to understand. For the first time in 12 years, Posada will be watching the first pitch of the season from the dugout instead of catching it behind the plate.

With Posada’s string of consecutive Opening Day starts at the same position coming to an end at 11, Bill Dickey can now rest easy because the Hall of Fame catcher’s franchise record of 14 is safe for the foreseeable future. Posada’s installation as the DH also prevented the Yankees from fielding the exact same starting nine on consecutive Opening Days for the first time ever, dating back to 1919.

If not for a strained thigh muscle in 2001, Jeter would be making history with his 16th consecutive Opening Day start at the same position. Instead, he’ll have to settle for matching Dickey for the second most Opening Day starts with 15. If Jeter cracks the lineup in each season of his new deal, the Captain would match Mickey Mantle’s franchise record of 18. Whether he can do that playing short stop remains to be seen, but it’s worth noting that the Mick’s last two openers came at first base.

Listed below is an assortment of team and player Opening Day facts and figures to keep you busy until the start of this afternoon’s game.

Yankees Opening Day Starters, 1919-2010

Most Opening Day Starts		Most Common Opening Day Lineup
Players	G	Po	Player	G
Mickey Mantle	18	C	Bill Dickey	15
Bill Dickey	15	1B	Lou Gehrig	14
Lou Gehrig	14	2B	Willie Randolph	13
Derek Jeter	14	SS	Derek Jeter	14
Bernie Williams	14	3B	Graig Nettles	11
Willie Randolph	13	LF	Roy White	9
Babe Ruth	13	CF	Mickey Mantle	13
Yogi Berra	12	RF	Hank Bauer	8
Graig Nettles	11	SP	Whitey Ford	7
Jorge Posada	11	SP	Ron Guidry	7
Phil Rizzuto	11	SP	Mel Stottlemyre	7

Source: Baseball-reference.com

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Posted in Baseball, Baseball History, MLB, Yankees | Tagged Opening Day | 1 Comment »

Uppity: A Baseball Career Remembered in Black and White

March 30, 2011 by William Juliano

During his over 40 years in the game of baseball, Bill White was a successful player, broadcaster and executive. Now, you can add author to the list.

“Uppity: My Untold Story About the Games People Play” is due out on April 1, an ironic date considering White earned the reputation of being nobody’s fool. As a college educated black man playing throughout the segregated south in the minors and then in St. Louis as a big leaguer, White’s career began in the early days of integration, continued with him becoming the first black man to hold a full-time broadcasting position and then culminated with him blazing another trail as the first minority to be appointed to a major executive position in major league baseball.

This afternoon, White joined WFAN’s Mike Francessa in the studio for an hour to promote his book, which focuses on the obstacles he had to overcome during his career. In his discussion with Francessa, White mentioned that his main motivation for writing the book was to educate people, but mostly modern players, about the how far the game of baseball has come since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.

For perspective, when White broke into the big leagues segregation was still rampant, especially in the south and during spring training. After playing his first game, one newspaper headline read “No Jittery Big-Time Debut for Giants’ Negro Rookie”. Even though he debuted nine years after Robinson, black players in White’s era were still expected to keep a low profile. As the book describes, that was apparently the one thing White could not do.

Bill White, 22-year old New York Giants rookie, is a somber young man who refused to be nervous over his first appearance in a major league lineup.” – AP, May 8, 1956

Most Yankees fans who are over 30 years old have some memory of White on the air, either doing radio for WMCA, WINS or WABC or TV for WPIX. If George Steinbrenner had his way, however, White could have left a different stamp on the team. In his interview with Francessa, White stated that the Boss once offered him the job of General Manager. Considering the job security of that position compared to his broadcast role, White obviously made the right choice.

Posted in Baseball, Baseball History, Books, MLB, Yankees | Tagged Bill White | 1 Comment »

2011 Season Preview and Predictions

March 30, 2011 by William Juliano

Another season is upon us, and so too is the time for predictions. Listed below are my forecasts for the regular season standings as well as the major award winners. In addition, a capsule for each team is provided below. For what it’s worth, the Captain’s Blog did a pretty good job predicting the standings last year, so feel free to take these prognostications to Vegas. Just don’t send me the bill at the end of September.

AL East	W	L	NL East	W	L
Yankees	94	68	Phillies	93	69
Red Sox	91	71	Braves	90	72
Rays	84	78	Marlins	84	78
Blue Jays	82	80	Mets	74	88
Orioles	76	86	Nationals	68	94

AL Central	W	L	NL Central	W	L
White Sox	91	71	Cubs	89	73
Twins	87	75	Brewers	87	75
Tigers	80	82	Cardinals	83	79
Indians	76	86	Reds	82	80
Royals	60	102	Astros	70	92
			Pirates	67	95

AL West	W	L	NL West	W	L
Angels	88	74	Giants	90	72
As	85	77	Rockies	84	78
Rangers	83	79	Dodgers	81	81
Mariners	65	97	Padres	77	85
			Dbacks	69	93

ALCS: Yankees over White Sox
NLCS: Phillies over Braves
World Series: Yankees over Phillies

AL Cy Young: David Price
NL Cy Young: Josh Johnson

AL MVP: Alex Rodriguez
NL MVP: Prince Fielder

AL ROY: Kyle Drabek
NL ROY: Domonic Brown

American League East

Yankees: A lot has been made of the uncertainty in the backend of the Yankees’ rotation, but dire assessments made on that basis seem to ignore that the team had 68 games started by a pitcher with an ERA+ of 86 or lower…and still managed to win 95 games Last year, the team led all of baseball with a wOBA of .347, despite off years from Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, all of whom could rebound in 2011. If Curtis Granderson is able to build on his second half resurgence and Brett Gardner continues to evolve as an offensive player, the combination of a dynamic offense and deep bullpen should be more than enough to keep the Yankees atop the East.

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Posted in Baseball, Mets, MLB, Predictions, Red Sox, Yankees | 4 Comments »

Was Branch Rickey the Father of Sabermetrics?

March 28, 2011 by William Juliano

Branch Rickey was always considered to be a man well ahead of his time. The former GM of the Cardinals, Dodgers and Pirates is best known for being an instrumental figure in breaking baseball’s color barrier, but he is also credited with such innovations as developing the minor league farm system and pioneering advancements in equipment. And now, perhaps to the consternation of modern day purists, it appears as if he was also the father of sabermetrics.

Over the weekend, The Good Phight, a Phillies blog on the SB*Nation network, featured intriguing excerpts from a LIFE magazine article about Rickey’s statistical proclivities (“Goodby to Some Old Baseball Ideas”, published on August 2, 1954). The Good Phight does an excellent job juxtaposing some modern examples of reactionary baseball thinking against the lucid, progressive thoughts of Rickey that were uttered over 50 years ago. Apparently, the same resistance to change that existed in Rickey’s era continues to this day. I guess the more things change, they really do stay the same.

President Branch Rickey is quietly patting himself on the back because of a new Rickey idea: that of sending a statistician along with the club on its final western road trip to tabulate every pitch made for and against the Bums.” – Frank Eck, Associated Press, September 23, 1947

That Rickey was involved in advanced statistical analysis isn’t surprising. As the LIFE article mentions, he was widely regarded as “the first executive to see the value of using baseball statistics in putting together and running his teams”. While GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers, this realization inspired Rickey to hire a full-time statistician named Allan Roth in 1947. Only 26 years old at the time, the Montreal-born Roth was charged with recording every conceivable piece of data pertaining to the team and then synthesizing it into relevant strategy.

Roth is the figure filbert brought in by Branch Rickey to record every possible statistic on Dodger players almost down to the total drops of perspiration per nine inning game”. – Steve Snider, United Press, December 28, 1950

Rickey hired Allan Roth as a fulltime statistician in 1947 (Photo: Life).

Based on Roth’s findings, Rickey began to espouse ideas that were revolutionary in baseball circles. The most profound was probably the notion that a player’s performance was impacted by (left hand and right hand) splits, but Rickey was also one of the first of his era to vocally suggest that metrics such as batting average and fielding percentage were highly overrated, and in some instances, meaningless. Such statements cause resentment even today, so just imagine how Rickey’s contemporaries must have felt?

Interestingly, Rickey’s statistical revolution not only impacted his own industry, but it left a mark on the publishing realm as well. Just in time for the 1949 season, a newspaper called the Daily Baseball Form was launched. Much like today’s fantasy baseball-inspired websites, such as Baseball Prospectus and Fangraphs, the new publication was geared toward those inclined to place a wager, but its volume of statistics eventually made it a universal resource.

Daily Baseball Form records are as complete as Branch Rickey’s statistics…For instance, if Joe Panhandle is going today, and the Braves got to him in the seventh and eighth innings of his last two starts, it is suggested that a good manager will have the boys wait him out in the early innings.” – Harry Grayson, NEA Sports Editor, April 29, 1949

We’ve gone off the beaten path a bit, but let’s jump back to the LIFE article. As we’ve established, there really is nothing surprising about the idea that Rickey was an early day sabermetrician. In fact, the most astounding thing is how little so many associated with the game have evolved. Having said that, the level of sophistication revealed in the article is certainly eye opening.