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Game 24: White Sox vs. Yankees

May 2, 2010 by William Juliano

In the early going, Phil Hughes has been thrust into the odd position of being a stopper on a 15-8 ball club. You see, Hughes spot in the rotation has followed Javier Vazquez, which for the third time in his four starts means he is being called upon to help the team rebound from a loss. Perhaps even more significantly, a greater premium has been placed on Hughes being able to give enough innings to help out a bullpen depleted by Vazquez’ early exits. That particularly holds true in today’s rubber game against the White Sox as both Alfredo Aceves and Sergio Mitre will likely be unavailable in today’s game. To help compensate for the short staff, Mark Melancon has been recalled from Scranton, where he was pitching to a 1.76 ERA in 15 1/3 innings (15 strikeouts and 1.17 WHIP). Still, the Yankees will hope that Hughes can efficiently navigate the White Sox lineup to avoid having to over extend the relief corps once again.

Melancon’s promotion was made possible by yesterday’s groin injury to Curtis Granderson. The temporary recall of a reliever leaves the outfield and the bench exposed for the time being, meaning the Yankees will be somewhat short handed until a reinforcement is found. Granderson’s absence, which is expected to last at least a month, also significantly weakens the defense, especially if Marcus Thames is asked to play a lot of LF. Despite early season struggles, Granderson’s injury also leaves a void in the lineup, evidenced today by a bottom of the order that now features Thames, Gardner and Pena, who is giving Alex Rodriquez a day off at 3B.

With the uncertainty surrounding Vazquez’ spot in the rotation and Granderson’s injury, the Yankees are facing their first period of real adversity. Guys like Mark Teixeira and Nick Johnson, in particular, will need to pick up some of the slack on offense. Today’s game will be an interesting first look at how they, and the team, respond.

vs. Mark Buehrle PA BA OBP SLG HR RBI
Derek Jeter SS 33 0.375 0.375 0.563 1 4
Nick Johnson 1B 10 0.375 0.500 0.875 1 2
Mark Teixeira DH 40 0.316 0.350 0.500 1 7
Nick Swisher RF 26 0.421 0.560 0.474 0 1
Robinson Cano 2B 9 0.333 0.333 0.444 0 0
Jorge Posada C 19 0.167 0.158 0.222 0 5
Marcus Thames DH 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Brett Gardner CF 2 0.500 0.500 0.500 0 0
Ramiro Pena 3B 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Total 139 0.333 0.374 0.492 3 19
             
vs. Phil Hughes PA BA OBP SLG HR RBI
Mark Kotsay RF 2 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Gordon Beckham 2B 2 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Andruw Jones CF 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Paul Konerko 1B 6 0.333 0.333 0.333 0 0
Mark Teahen 3B 5 0.600 0.600 1.000 0 2
Carlos Quentin DH 1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
A.J. Pierzynski C 4 0.250 0.250 0.250 0 0
Alexei Ramirez SS 2 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Juan Pierre LF 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Total 22 0.273 0.273 0.364 0 2

 

Yankees vs. White Sox    
Season: 2010 Season: 2009 Season: 2008 All-Time
TIED: 1-1 NYY: 4-3 NYY: 5-2 NYY: 1044-824
  • Yesterday, Derek Jeter become the Yankees all time leader in plate appearances. Jeter has stepped to the plate as a Yankee 9,913 times, surpassing Mickey Mantle’s total of 9,909. Jeter is also bearing down on Mantle’s franchise mark for most games. He is currently four games away from tying that mark.
  • Jeter also remains one double away from passing Don Matting for sole possession of third place on the all-time Yankee list.
  • Mark Buehrle is 1-6 against the Yankees in his career. His only victory occurred on April 10, 2004. Since then he has been winless in six starts against the Yankees.
  • Mark Teixeira bid farewell to April with two hits and RBI to start the month of May. Texeira’s career splits in April are 235/.342/.411, versus 295/.378/.547 in May.
  • Despite having considerable success against Hughes (.974 OPS in 17 PAs), Alexis Rios is not in the starting lineup.
  • The Yankees and White Sox have played 8 straight games decided by 1 or 2 runs.

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Granderson’s Groin Leaves Gap In Yankees Outfield

May 1, 2010 by William Juliano

Will Colin Curtis soon be roaming LF at Yankee Stadium?

Update: Curtis Granderson has been diagnosed with a grade II groin pull strain. According to sportsinjuryclinic.net, a grade II strain is a moderate tear that can involve anywhere from 10% to 90% of adductor muscle  fibers. The injury ensures that Granderson will miss at least 15 games, although as much as a month is possible.

In the sixth inning of today’s game, Curtis Granderson pulled up lame while running from first to third on Brett Gardner’s single. Although the results of an MRI are still pending, early indications are that a DL stint is forthcoming.

Although he had been struggling, losing Granderson not only weakens the lineup, but also compromises the defense. Because Randy Winn’s roll on the team has almost been reduced to observer status, Thames is the likely choice to play LF. The defensive fallout from that move could be considerable. Regardless of the revised alignment, the Yankees will need to call up a reinforcement.

Greg Golson and Chad Huffman are the only two outfielders in the minors who are currently on the 40-man roster. Both right-handed hitters have been struggling, however. In 59 PAs, Huffman has a line of .204/.232/.436, while Golson is hitting .275/.296/.478 in 71 PAs. Golson, who has limited major league experience, also adds an element of speed as well as more experience in centerfield.

Should the Yankees decide that Granderson’s absence will be long enough to warrant an addition to the 40-man, two other likely candidates for a promotion are Scranton’s David Winfree and Colin Curtis.

Curtis, a lefty like Granderson, has been one of Scranton’s more productive early season hitters. In 67 PAs, he is hitting .339/.434/.441.  Curtis has also been playing mostly LF, another factor that could be in his favor. Unfortunately for Curtis, on April 29, he was placed on the 7-day minor league disabled list with an ankle injury. If the Yankees decide to promote a bullpen arm before addressing their outfield situation, Curtis could return to action in time to gain the promotion. If not, Winfree, a right-handed batter and right fielder, could get the nod. In 77 PAs, Winfree is hitting 300/.350/.486.

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Javy Struggles Again; Girardi’s Bullpen Bungling Sinks Comeback

May 1, 2010 by William Juliano

Things continue to get worse for Javier Vazquez, who now has 4 of the Yankees 8 losses.

What started as a referendum on Javier Vazquez ended with even more questions about the curious managing of Joe Girardi. Despite a stirring sixth inning comeback, Javy’s poor pitching and Girardi’s managerial blunders were eventually too much for the Yankees overcome.

After retiring the first two batters of the game, Vazquez surrendered a HR to long-time nemesis Andruw Jones. The long ball was Jones’ sixth career blast against the Yankees righty (a seventh would be forthcoming). As has been a pattern with Vazquez, Javy allowed the blast to force him out of the strike zone. He walked the next batter on four pitches and then in the second essentially loaded the bases because of his unwillingness to challenge the White Sox hitters. Vazquez was able to wiggle out of that jam with only one run, but in the third Jones belted his second HR of the game. The Yankees tried to scratch back with one run in the third, but Vazquez gave that back and more in the fourth when he surrendered a two run HR to Mark Kotsay. Vazquez wouldn’t retire another batter in the inning, but was spared further damage by Sergio Mitre’s fine relief appearance.

Despite the gloom surrounding another miserable effort by Vazquez, the Yankees rallied for a run in the fifth and four in the sixth. The uprising in the sixth was capped off by a two run HR by Nick Swisher, his first of the season at Yankee Stadium. During the rally, the Yankees did get a bad break when Curtis Granderson was forced to leave the game with a groin pull. Granderson left the Stadium to undergo an MRI, so a DL stint is most likely on the horizon.

Despite all of the frustration from Vazquez’ awful performance and Granderson’s injury, the Yankees still had a 6-5 lead. At that point, however, Girardi started the wheels of over management that eventually doomed the game. Just as he did on Tuesday in Baltimore, Girardi lifted an effective pitcher to go with the struggling duo of Dave Robertson and Damaso Marte. Even worse, he had Robertson intentionally walk the go-ahead runner to set up a Marte versus Pierzynski matchup. So, not only did Girardi fall into the same left-on-left trap, but this time he actually created it. Pierzynski’s two-run double ensured that Girardi paid the price for his folly. Continue Reading »

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Jeter Jolts White Sox; Yankees Win Series Opener

May 1, 2010 by William Juliano

Andy Pettitte’s evening began with two well placed bloopers by Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham, which was a little disconcerting considering that everything this season seemed to be falling just right for the Yankees’ lefty. A hanging slider to Paul Konerko confirmed that change in karma, as the major league’s home run leader upped his total to 11.

Derek Jeter prepares to turn a 95mph fastball from Matt Thornton into a game winning triple (Photo: Getty Images).

In the bottom of the first, the Yankees immediately jumped on Sox’ starter Freddy Garcia. Alex Rodriquez ripped an RBI double that snapped a 0-19 drought, and then Robinson Cano followed with a rocket single past second base that plated another run. With Arod on third and Cano on first, Nick Swisher slashed a groundball toward first base. Konerko tagged the bag and then fired to second to nab a sliding Cano. The putout occurred before Arod had a chance to cross home, so the tying run was nullified. Had Cano simply stopped in the baseline, the run would have counted and the game would have been knotted at three. After the inning, first base coach Mick Kelleher had a quick conversation with Cano, who then immediately realized the mistake he had made. As Jeter trotted out to his position, he gave Cano a consoling gesture.

Another mental error in the top of the second inning allowed the White Sox to add a fourth run. With runners on first and second and no outs, Alexei Ramirez hit a one hopper to Arod, who missed an attempted tag of Donny Lucy as he crossed in the base path. Arod did force Pierre at second, but failing to get the lead runner or immediately go for two made the eventual sacrifice fly possible. Continue Reading »

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The Yankees Are Coming: The American League Invasion of New York

April 30, 2010 by William Juliano

On April 30, the Yankees celebrate the anniversary of their first home game in the city of New York. Since that debut in 1903, the Yankees have inarguably become the most dominant, powerful franchise in all of American sports. So, it’s hard to fathom that this mighty franchise was once an orphan ballclub, rendered homeless and nameless by the corrupt and cut throat politics of the city it hoped to win over.

From the onset, American League founder Ban Johnson had his eyes on New York.

For the first two years of its existence, the Yankees actually resided in Baltimore as the Orioles. The team was part of the newly created American League, established by lifelong baseball-man Byron Bancroft “Ban” Johnson as an alternative to the long-established National League. In its first two seasons, the new league enjoyed many successes. It was able to lure significant top talent from the National League, which had imposed a salary cap on individual players, and achieved instant profitability. However, there was one area in which the league was not successful: it could not place a team in New York.

Johnson knew that in order for the American League to truly stand on equal footing, it must have a team in New York. Easier said than done. At the time, New York was run by a Tammany Hall, a political organization that gave new meaning to corruption. Tammany controlled everything in New York: real estate, finance, labor, prostitution, gambling…and, yes, baseball. Unfortunately for Johnson, Andrew Freedman, the owner of the National League’s New York Giants and one of the city’s wealthiest men, was a long standing Tammany man.

New York City Police Chief “Big” Bill Devery assumed co-ownership of the new American League team.

Andrew Freedman had tried to stop Johnson from creating a new baseball league, but failed. He then tried to organize the National League owners in order to prevent the AL’s raid on its players. Freedman failed again. Finally, he conspired with former Baltimore Orioles player/manager/owner John McGraw to sabotage that franchise, but even this nefarious plan fell by the wayside. Then, in December 1902, Johnson was able to negotiate a peace settlement with the National League that granted him a concession to move the Orioles to New York.  What’s more, Freedman exited baseball by selling his share of the Giants to John T. Brush. Finally, it looked like Johnson had won out over Freedman. Or so it seemed.

Freedman may have been out of the picture, but he was still pulling strings behind the scenes. Even though he could not thwart Johnson’s ability to establish the American League, he could damn well keep him out of New York. With the help of his Tammany buddies, Freedman locked up every parcel of real estate from 155th Street down that was sufficient for a ballpark. The political wrangling left the Orioles without a place to play, rendering Johnson’s hard fought concession from the National League worthless.

For months, Johnson scrambled to find the Orioles a new home in New York. Every time he thought a location had been secured, Freedman blocked his path. The search went on for months, but in the meantime, Johnson stocked the New York Americans, as they were being called, with stars like Clark Griffith, Wee Willie Keeler, Jack Chesbro and Jess Tannehill.

Pool King Frank Farrell controlled a gambling syndicate before taking co-ownership of the Yankees.

By the time Johnson’s orphans assembled in Atlanta, Georgia for Spring Training, the team still did not have home. Grumblings from the players began to emerge, including requests for contractual release. Faced with this mounting pressure, Johnson was forced to cave into a rival Tammany syndicate that was pushing a rocky plot of land located way uptown in Washington Heights.

Around the clock construction was needed to clear the rocky land that would be the home of the new ballpark. While that was going on, two men would secretly emerge as the co-owners of the new franchise: Big Bill Devery, the former police chief of New York City before being removed from office by the legislature, and pool room king Frank Farrell. Both Devery and Farrell were heavily involved in Tammany’s activities and had garnered reputations that would make any hustler blush. Now, with American League baseball about to debut in New York, the pair had pulled off the ultimate coup. Continue Reading »

Posted in Baseball, Baseball History, MLB, Yankee History, Yankees | 5 Comments »

Cano Can Two

April 29, 2010 by William Juliano

Cano heads home on the first of his two round trippers (Photo: Getty Images).

It takes a scalding hot hitter to overshadow a pitcher who throws 8 shutout innings, but that’s exactly what Robinson Cano did tonight in Baltimore. Cano belted out three more hits, including 2HRs and a double, to raise his average to .407. Incredibly, Cano’s most spectacular contribution wasn’t at the plate, but in the field. Leading off the third inning, Nolan Reimold grounded a ball up the middle that seemed destined for centerfield. Cano ranged behind the second base bag to glove the ball and then in one motion fired it across the infield to Mark Teixeira for the out. The combination grab and throw was a play likely beyond the ability of every other second baseman in the game.

AJ Burnett was the beneficiary of Cano’s hot bat and slick glove. With the sharp break on the curve still eluding him, Burnett once again relied on pinpoint control of his power fastball to keep the Orioles off the board. In addition to premium velocity that topped out at 97mph, Burnett’s ability to locate (77 of Burnett’s 117 pitches were strikes) allowed the right hander to last 8 innings while only giving up three hits and one walk.

In defeat, Brian Matusz threw a solid ballgame, but lacked the sharpness of his previous starts. The young lefty scattered nine hits over six innings, but managed to limit the damage on a night when he didn’t have his best stuff. The main culprits for Matusz were Cano and Thames, who combined went 5-6 with 2 RBIs against him. The other run was driven in by an Alex Rodriquez sacrifice fly in the first inning that followed a single by Jeter and double by Teixeira.

  • With the victory, AJ Burnett pushed his record to 3-0 for the first time in his career.
  • Derek Jeter’s first inning hit and run scored were the first of each surrendered by Matusz in the first inning.
  • Cano’s fourth inning HR was the first extra base hit surrendered by Brian Matusz to a left handed batter all season. It also extended the Yankees record HR streak at Camden Yards to 17 games.
  • Jeter’s fifth inning single was number 2,775 for his career, moving him past Andre Dawson and into a tie with Ken Griffey Jr. (who is still active) for 45th place in baseball history.
  • For the second time this season and sixth time in his career, Robinson Cano belted 2 HRs in one game. Both of the homeruns came against lefty pitchers, giving Cano five of his eight long balls against southpaws.
  • With his 3 for 3 night, Marcus Thames pushed his average to .588, which includes 10 hits in 16 ABs against left handers.
  • Nick Swisher’s hitless night snapped a personal 10-game hitting streak at Camden Yards that dated back to April 6, 2009.
  • Despite it not being a save situation, Mariano Rivera closed out the game in the ninth. Rivera had not pitched since last Wednesday, April 21 in Oakland.

Posted in Game Recap, MLB, Yankees | 2 Comments »

Game 21: Yankees vs. Orioles

April 29, 2010 by William Juliano

Tonight’s rubber game in Baltimore brings to an end one of the Yankees longest road stands of the season (they have another nine game swing in September). With a win, the Yankees would not only get back into the business of winning series, but also return home with a winning road trip. In order to accomplish both goals, the Yankees will need another strong outing from AJ Burnett, who looks to start the season at 3-0 for the first time in his career.

The Yankees lineup, which is without Jorge Posada and Nick Johnson, will go up against Orioles rookie Brian Matusz, the #4 pick overall in the 2008 draft. Matusz is still a rookie because the Orioles intentionally pulled the plug on his 2009 season with 44 2/3 innings, 1/3 shy of the cutoff for rookie eligibility. Among his handful of starts from the 2009 season, Matusz matched up against and beat AJ Burnett on September 12. In the game, Matusz yielded only four hits in seven innings.

Francisco Cervelli gets another start as Posada is still feeling the effects of being hit by a Jeremy Guthrie pitch the night before. Another changed to the lineup involves Marcus Thames taking over the DH slot from Nick Johnson. By keeping him out of the field, Girardi seems to have finally realized that Thames poor defense mitigates the benefits of his right bat against lefties. Filling Johnson’s #2 slot in the lineup is Nick Swisher. Girardi has previously batted Swisher second, but the latter’s prolific numbers at Camden Yards make the move particularly appropriate.

 

 

vs. Brian Matusz PA BA OBP SLG HR RBI
Derek Jeter SS 4 1.000 0.250 0.250 0 0
Nick Swisher RF 3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Mark Teixeira 1B 3 0.000 0.500 0.333 0 0
Alex Rodriguez 3B 3 0.000 0.333 0.333 0 0
Robinson Cano 2B 3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Marcus Thames DH 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Curtis Granderson CF 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Francisco Cervelli C 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Brett Gardner LF 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Total 16 0.200 0.188 0.267 0 0
             
vs. AJ Burnett PA BA OBP SLG HR RBI
Adam Jones CF 23 0.227 0.227 0.455 1 4
Nick Markakis RF 38 0.314 0.342 0.371 0 3
Matt Wieters C 6 0.000 0.167 0.000 0 0
Miguel Tejeda 3B 17 0.333 0.412 0.333 0 1
Luke Scott DH 19 0.400 0.526 0.933 2 4
Ty Wiggington 2B 27 0.217 0.333 0.435 1 3
Ryan Hughes 1B 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0 0
Nolan Reimold LF 6 0.750 0.833 1.500 1 1
Cesar Izturis SS 16 0.133 0.188 0.200 0 0
Total 152 0.276 0.342 0.455 5 16
Yankees vs. Orioles    
Season: 2010 Season: 2009 Season: 2008 All-Time
TIED: 1-1 NYY: 13-5 NYY: 11-7 NYY: 1223-839
  • AJ Burnett is 9-2 lifetime against the Orioles, but with 5.23 ERA. At Camden Yards, he is 4-0 with a 4.75 ERA.
  • With a double, Derek Jeter will pass Don Mattingly for third place on the Yankees all-time list. An additional base hit will also catapult him past Andre Dawson and into a tie with Ken Griffey Jr. (who is still active) for 45th place in baseball history.
  • Alex Rodriquez remains stuck on 585 HRs. His next long ball will move him into a tie with Frank Robinson for seventh place all-time.
  • Mariano Rivera needs two strikeouts to tie Roger Clemens for 10th place (1,012) in franchise history.
  • Last night, the Yankees set a Camden Yards record for visiting teams by homering in 16 straight games.
  • Nick Swisher has the highest OPS (1.247) by a visiting player at Camden Yards.

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