Is 40 The New 27 For The Yankees?

In the end, it was Mariano Rivera on the mound as his teammates rushed after him to celebrate the Yankees' 2009 Pennant. Rivera pitching to Posada in the ninth inning of a series clincher. How fitting. The scene was reminiscent of the glory days. A decade ago when it seem legit that Derek Jeter may someday have 10 rings.

And there was Rivera, Posada, Jeter and Andy Pettitte, the "Core 4." Flashbacks of the late '90s, when they were all much younger. Wow! Has it been that long? Was I really 24 years old the last time the Yankees won a World Series. At the time, a Yankees Championship was taken for granted. It was another page in the calender. When Halloween rolled around, the Yankees had just finished another parade down 5th Avenue.

But nearly 10 years later, the Core 4 are still performing like champions. And last night, they got one final step closer.

The ALCS against the Angles, the Yankees got the monkey off their back, in so many ways. The Angels had owned the Yankees since 2002, both in the regular season and again in the postseason. The Yankees haven't been to the World Series since 2003.

The Yankees defeated the Angels 4-2 in a drama filled series with Games 2 and 3 going extra innings. But what will be remembered most, was how Joe Girardi managed games. But now it's all said and done, and Girardi in his first postseason as a manager, is 7-2. Not too shabby considering the Yankees swept the hottest team in baseball going into the playoffs, the Twins, and needed only 6 games to finish off one of the best teams in baseball, the Angels.

It's the postseason, it's New York, every move is greatly dissected by people who hadn't played the game for at least 20 years, or probably never of played the game at all. Girardi never panic button. He managed every game of the series like he did every game of the year. He managed the way that won his team 103 games.

Nobody criticized Girardi until after the fact. The middle relief, which was a huge part of the team's success, failed a couple of times against the Angels. You're in a championship series. You're playing a great team, you can't win em all. After Game 3, Girardi said if a manager never made a mistake, his team would win a 162 games.

Everytime Girardi went to the bullpen, he was criticized. He was criticized when he didn't go to the bullpen. It's the Playoffs, what manager doesn't dig deep into his bullpen for the best possible matchup?

He was first questioned in last night's game during the bottome of the 4th. And yet this was the inning the Yankees came to life and scored 3 runs to take over the game. With runners on first and second, no one out and the 9 hole hitter at the plate. Conventional wisdom calls for a bunt in this situation. That's exactly what Girardi did with Melky Cabrera, and it worked perfectly. The Yankees had the tying and go ahead runs in scoring position with one out and the leadoff hitter coming to the plate.

Yes, Melky was batting over .400 for the series, but if anything, that just meant he wasn't due for a hit. No one would have been surprised to seem him hit into a double play in and kill the inning. Girardi did what every other professional manager would have done. And it paid off.

By the time the 8th inning came around, the NY media were praising Girardi. He went with his best weapon, Rivera, to seal the deal, and that paid off. The bottom of the 8th, he called two sacrifice bunts on consecutive batters. How did that turn out? Pure genius, huh.

And don't forget it was Girardi's call to go with a 3 man rotation. Does anyone praise that move? No.

And Joe Torre will be watching from home.

So now it's on! The 2 best teams in baseball will play for all the marbles. The way it should be.

It's cheesecake vs. cheese steak. Broadway vs. Broad Street. C.C. Sabathia vs. Cliff Lee, that's gotta hurt Cleveland.

Some notes for the World Series.

Derek Jeter has played in 132 postseason games, the entire Phillies franchised has played a total of 83 postseason games.

The Yankees led the league with 244 homeruns. The Phillies were tied for second with 224 homeruns. So expect the long ball.

The Yankees batted .283 for the season, the Phillies .258.

I'm taking the Yankees in 6.

Yankees Still Rolling, Set MLB Record

On a night where Joba Chamberlain had the best game of his career, the first place New York Yankees set a MLB record. That record? 18 straight games without an error. During that span, the Yankees are 14-4.

A big part of that record can be credited to Mark Teixeira. Not only does Teixeira bring consistency at the plate, by he also brings a gold glove to first base. The Yankees really haven't had a solid first baseman since Tino Martinez.

While exorcising the demons from the 2007 playoff "bug game" in Cleveland, Joba returned to the scene of the crime and Progressive Field was littered with birds and the infamous midges.

Chamberlain got to work right away retiring the first 11 Cleveland batters he faced. Joba also had the longest outing of his career pitching 8 innings. For the night, Joba gave up 2 runs, 4 hits, 5 K's and 2 walks. He also hit 97 mph as he approached 100 pitches.

But the biggest play of the game was Joba's defense. With runners on first and second and nobody out, Kelly Shoppach bunted a ball that popped up toward the third base line. Joba quickly jumped off the mound and made a full body dive to catch and ball and land on his stomach. Joba got back up and fired the ball to second for the double play. After the play, Joba did his signature fist pump. It was an amazing play!

Mariano Rivera came on and worked a perfect ninth for his 11th save and the Yankees have now won 15 of the last 19. The scary thing? This team is only getting better.

Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to 15 games and has upped his average to .311. Guess he's washed up. Teixeira also extended his hit streak to 14 games.

A-Rod After 17 Games

It has already been noted, after A-Rod's 5-5 day, his batting averaged mushroomed from .189 to .259.

In 17 games back, the Yankees are 13-4 with A-Rod. A-Rod has 17 RBI's and only 15 hits. 7 of his hits have left the field. And he's nearly drew as many walks as hits with 13 BB's.

And as for the Yankees's 19 hit parade yesterday, not one of them went the yard! Does that say something about the new Yankee stadium?

Ameriquest Field in Arlington is second in the AL to Yankee Stadium in homeruns per game. There have been 87 homeruns in the new Yankee Stadium, 3.78 a game in 24 games.

Ameriquest Field is averaging 2.90 homeruns a game, 61 total in 21 games...Hmmm....

Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon are all batting over .300. You know it's just a matter of time before A-Rod and Mark Teixeira are there. And even the washed up Derek Jeter is currently batting .284 with a 9 game hit streak.

And the Yankees have also set a franchise record with 12 consecutive games without an error. I guess everyone's right when they say Jeter's defense is poor and he's losing his range at SS.

After Horrible Start, Yankees Still 7-6

How the NY Yankees are 7-6 is quite amazing considering their start. They've been blown out of games, most recently the 22-4 home loss to the Indians. They've given up 10 or more runs in 5 of 13 games. Of course all of this has been without A-Rod, Mark Teixeira had a wrist injury, Hideki Matsui had fluid drained from his knee, and Xavier Nady is banged up.

So where do we begin?

Chien-Ming Wang has been the biggest disappointment by far. This is a guy who nearly won the Cy Young a couple of years ago. Wang has been horrendous, which is even an understatement. I'm not sure if Wang has pitched more than three innings in a game. Through 3 starts, here is Wang's line:
34.5 ERA!, 6 innings pitched, 23 hits, 23 earned runs, 6 BB and only 2 K's.

Holy crap! The Yankees have lost 6 games, 3 of them coming in Wang's three starts. But you know what, no matter how bad you get beat in one game, it's just one game.

So Wang gets skipped in the rotation this week. That's a start. The Yankees are going to need more help in the starting rotation. How does Pedro Martinez in pinstripes sound? Right now, not bad.

The Yankees and many others have not given up on Phil Hughes, myself included. I just don't think they're ready to call him up just yet. But expect him in the starting rotation real soon.

Of course the Yankees are really hurting in the bullpen. But you also have to take in account the high number of innings the bullpen has pitched. Heck, when Wang starts, the bullpen has been expected to pitch basically the entire game.

Demaso Marte has been horrible with an ERA sitting at 21.00! Boy, how does that Xavier Nady/Marte trade sound now? The Yankees could have easily picked up Jason Bay instead of Nady. Bay is a much better overall player and has a greater track record than Nady. And of course the Red Sox quickly jumped on Bay after Brian Cashman failed to cash in on that deal. Once again, Theo Epstein got the better of Cashman on that deal.

And who was involved in that Yankees/Pirates trade last summer? The Yankees sent Ross Ohlendorf to the Pirates. All Ohlendorf did yesterday was blank the hottest team in baseball, the Florida Marlins, pitching 7 innings of 2 hit shutout baseball.

In Marte's defense, the left was basically brought in to put out big time left handers like David Ortiz.

The bullpen issues thus far leads me to this...Joba.

Joba Chamberlain is more of a threat in the bullpen. Coming out of the bullpen, he can hold down the 7th and 8th innings and is the perfect setup for the Yankees most lethal weapon, Mariano Rivera. Also, the Yankees can use Joba 4 to 5 times a week.

The lone bright spot in the Yanks' bullpen has been Brian Bruney with a 2.57 ERA.

But so far, the trusty Yankee veterans have kept the team together. Andy Pettitte has looked good. Captain Derek Jeter has already won two games with a homerun. Jorge Posada won the game on Sunday. And Rivera has been unhittable.

Robinson Cano is notorious for starting slow and finishing strong, has come out his year on fire, batting .388.

And Nick Swisher is already a fan favorite batting .333 and his 4 homeruns leads the team. And oh, he's also pitched one inning with one strikeout and a 0.00 ERA.

So we'll see if Wang can get back to what he's capable of and wait for A-Rod's return. If the Yankees can keep their heads above water, they're still one of the most dangerous teams in baseball.

And there's a little series this weekend at Fenway Park.

Derek Jeter And Roger Clemens At Missouri/Texas Game

Roger Clemens is still a hit at his Alma Mater. Clemens showed up on the UT sideline Saturday night with special guest Derek Jeter. Clemens had no problem taking pictures and signing autographs with the fan friendly Longhorns' fans. Jeter did pose for a few pictures, but I didn't see him signing any autographs.

They did leave the game early, but who didn't. And I'm sure they wanted to catch Game 6 of the ALCS.

It was kind of an unusual duo. They're former teammates and all, but you would think Jeter would want nothing to do with Roger's negative light. Jeter has always been a class act and Clemens needs all the positive energy for his image.

Maybe the strangest aspect of the scene was instead of playing October baseball, Jeter and Clemens were on the sideline of a college football game.

By the way, Clemens' physical appearance was huge. Unless I misremebered, he's obviously not stopped his hard core workout program and what ever else he and his wife do under the table.

Game Over

"Babe Ruth opened it...Mariano closed it."

I couldn't think of a better way to phrase it.

Sunday night was probably the most emotional night for me when it comes to sports. Watching the final game at Yankee Stadium brought chills and tears.

I still can't believe they played a final game at the Cathedral of all sports.

It was bittersweet with the final game being played in the regular season. No October baseball for the finale.



After 13 consecutive postseason trips, Yankees have failed to make the playoffs. Many storied franchises, like the Cincinnati Reds, haven't made the playoffs 13 times in their entire history. The last time the Yankees were not in the postseason, Sammy Sosa had 69 career homeruns.

Living in NYC, I was so fortunate to have been able to spend a good portion of my time at Yankee Stadium. It was my second home in New York. It will always have a huge place in my heart. I don't even know if I'll be able to watch the Yankees' home opener next year.

For 85 years sports history was made inside Yankee Stadium-some of the biggest moments in all of sports. The greatest athletes have played in Yankee Stadium. And most of all, the best fans in all of sports have embraced the Yankee tradition.

The Yankees sold out! There was no structural damage to Yankee Stadium. The organization sold out to greed. They wanted more money, as if they already didn't have enough. Next year, the Yankees will move across the street into the house that greed built. It will be a place for the wealthy, the type of people who don't even care to sit down and watch a nine inning game. The new stadium will be somewhat of an amusement park.

That's a huge slap in the face to the greatest sports franchise ever.

Derek Jeter's post game speech was a class act. Did you expect anything less from Mister Class Act himself? He thanked the fans most of all, calling them the greatest in all of sports. He was dead on. He told them to bring the memories from the old stadium across the street to the new one.

The only problem, I bet most of these loyal fans will not be able to afford to attend the amount of games they're accustomed to.

As for Jeter? He is one of the best all around baseball players in this era. The last couple of years many consider him over rated. For anyone to call Jeter over rated is pure jealousy. The guy has batted over .400 this September. He will probably bat at least .300 for the tenth time in his career.

Not many have shined brighter on the biggest stage than Jeter. Don't hate on him. People love to hate Jeter because he's everything any man wished he could be. He's a winner. He's good looking. He's dated countless celebrity babes. He's never cast a negative shadow.

It was great to see all the old time Yankees in attendance during the pregame ceremony. To hear Bob Sheppard's voice over the PA, the abundance of camera flashes that came with every pitch, seeing the entire stadium filled to capacity nearly an hour after the final out.

Yankee Stadium was more than something special. It was a landmark, it was a home, it was and is now history. Tearing down Yankee Stadium is absurd. It's like tearing down the Brooklyn Bridge or Statue of Liberty.


And it was epic to see Mariano Rivera walk out of the bullpen one last time. That may be the single lasting memory I will always keep close to my heart. That walk is impossible to be duplicated. Rivera walking in from the bullpen just will not seem right in the new stadium.

No one can take the memories and history away. However, history does not move across the street. History will remain in the same spot that will someday become an everyday city park.

So after 85 years, the greatest show on Broadway closed the curtain for good.

Final Homerun: Jose Molina
Final RBI: Robinson Cano
Final Hit: Jason Giambi
Final Winning Pitcher: Andy Pettitte
Final Out: Brian Roberts
Last Pitcher on the mound: Mariano Rivera

RIP 2008 Yankees

When showing the AL East and Wild Card race, ESPN can now take the NY Yankees off the graphic. It's safe to say the Yankees' 2008 season is officially over. If losing 2 of 3 over the weekend against the lowly Mariners wasn't the final kick in the crotch, last night's 12-1 stinker was the raising of the white flag.

For die hard Yankees' fans, you really have to believe in Yankees magic and the fact that just less than a year ago the Colorado Rockies went on an improbable streak.

The Yankees have 18 games left, 10 against the Angels, White Sox and Red Sox. After tonight, those will be the 3 division leaders in the AL.

New York stands at 76-68. 10 games out of first, 9.5 back of the Wild Card. You would figure the Yankees would have to win at least 92 games to have any shot at the post season. So they need to finish the season 16-2!

Let's face it, that's not going to happen. Not with New York's starting pitching.

The injuries combined with the tough schedule the final two months finally kept the Yankees from playing October baseball for the first time since 1995.

The final 54 games of the season, the Yankees had 28 games against Boston, Tampa, Chicago, Anaheim and Minnesota-teams with legitimate postseason opportunities.

You can't blame Joe Girardi, he did a great job.

The injuries were far severe. In June, ace Chien-Ming Wang was lost for the season, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy were hurt and failed to live up to their expectations. All this forced the Yankees to quickly move Joba Chamberlain to the starting rotation, which really wasn't a horrible idea. The Yankees just hit the panic button and rushed Joba into the rotation.

Joba went down. The Yankees had to find starting pitching from the likes of Sidney Ponson and Carl Pavano.

Maybe the biggest blow to the Yankees was Jorge Posada going down. The catcher may be the most important position in baseball. They see the game better than anyone else on the field. Without Posada behind the plate calling games, the pitching staff had no chance.

A-Rod, Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon all spent a considerable amount of time on the DL.

If I were to blame anyone, it would be GM Brian Cashman. Since the end of 2001, Cashman has created a team full of washed up, overpriced ball players with absolutely no team chemistry. I could go down the line each year, but let's just do this season.

Since the acquisition of Jason Giambi, the Yankees have not had a decent fielding first baseman. Recently Cashman has gone after the likes of Wilson Betemit and this year Richie Sexson. Richie freakin Sexson! The guy may be the number one reason why the Seattle Mariners had such a dismal season. I don't think he lasted more than a month in pinstripes and never saw his average rise above .225.

What was wrong with Mark Teixeira! They guy only hits .300, has won a gold glove, is
in the prime of his career and the typical player you would want to lock up long term.
New York badly needed another catcher so of course Cashman trades Kyle Farnsworth for Pudge Rodriquez, another high paid, at the end of his career player. Cashman could have easily gone after Benjie Molina in San Francisco and reunited him with his brother Jose. With Joba out of the bullpen, the Yankees really could not afford to lose anyone else from the pen.


Bringing in Xavier Nady may have been Cashman's best move of the year, but even that trade was skeptical. Nady had always been a NL guy and now it's quite obvious that Jason Bay would have been the better choice. Theo Epstein gets another over BC.

Starting pitching was questionable for the Yankees coming into the season. The Yankees failed to pull the trigger on the Johan Santana deal, and now, that looks like the biggest off season move that didn't happen for the Yankees. The Yanks were to give up Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano and Phil Hughes. Cabrera finished the season in Triple A, Cano got off to his patented horrific start and Hughes was gone by May.

Even so, Cashman didn't make a move for C.C. Sabathia or Jarrod Washburn. Instead he relied on another one of his bombs, Carl Pavano. Epstein 2, Cashman 0. (Remember Boston got Josh Beckett and New York Pavano.

Now even deusche bag Curt Schilling feels he needs to voice his opinion on the Yankees and New Yorkers in general.

"The euphoria in New York is palpable," Schilling said. "The Yankees suck this year and they are bitter and mad and making excuses over that. Now they got Tom going down so New York's excited. It's unfortunate, but when you crawl to the top of the pile you will have people trying to knock you down."

Give it up Schilling! The New York Giants beat Brady and the Patriots. And if you haven't noticed, the NY Mets are leading their division. Not all New Yorkers are Yankees's fans.

Schilling hasn't shut up about New York since the 2001 World Series when asked about the mystique and aura of Yankee Stadium and Schilling replied, "Mystique and Aura? Aren't those strippers?" We all know what ensued in Games 3, 4, and 5.

Now Yankees' fans will root for the Tampa Rays to win the division and Boston to falter. Of course the reality is vice versa.

The only thing Yankees fans have to look forward to now: Derek Jeter breaking the all time hit mark at Yankee Stadium, Mike Mussina gunning for 20 wins for the first time of his career, the Yankees finishing off the rest of the season strong and not finishing in fourth place of the division.

And the final game ever at Yankee Stadium, Sunday, September 21 on ESPN.

Derek Jeter And Letterman's Top 10

Like most of baseball fans, I missed Derek Jeter's appearance on David Letterman Tuesday night.

From Yankee Stadium, Jeter gave the Top 10 Perks of Being an All Star.

Definitely worth a look.

Yankees Sweep Astros In Houston

My biggest highlight since I've lived in Houston was this past weekend when the NY Yankees visited Minute Maid Park for a weekend interleague series. The weekend was filled with mostly positives, the lone negative being the Yankees possibly losing ace Chien-Ming Wang for the season.

Yankees fans shouldn't keep their heads down. Mussina got his 10th win of the season on Saturday, Joba pitched 6 strong innings on Friday, Andy Pettitte is Andy Pettitte and Darrell Rasner continues to pitch solid.



And a 3 game sweep in Houston put New York 4 games above .500 (37-33) and now 5 1/2 behind Boston. With all that being said, the Yanks as of now are minus a 5th slinger. Rumors already developing about the possibility of landing Cleveland pitcher C.C. Sabathia.

Back to the weekend. Friday night's game I had great seats, 5 rows behind the Yankees' on deck circle. Combine that with Nebraska native, flame thrower Joba Chamberlain making his third start and even Rudy Giuliani throwing out the first pitch, and you know it was set to be a memorable night. All this happening on Friday the 13th.

Still not quite sure why Giuliani made the trip all the way to Houston, maybe to strike some oil deal (no pun intended). Giuliani sat behind home plate with Astros' owner Drayton McLane. Rudy never hesitated to sign an autograph or pose for pictures.



The weather was also a sweltering 96 degrees all weekend, but never mind, Minute Maid Park had the roof closed in the AC blasting. Honestly, it must cost $5 million to cool that park down.

Friday's game was a total pitcher's duel. Not surprising with Joba on the mound, but the Stros' countering with former Yankee Shawn Chacon! This happened to be the one in every ten starts where Chacon actually looks good. Chacon limited the Yankees to just 3 hits in 6 1/3. But his pitch count reached the triple digits and he was pulled. In 2005 and 2006, Chacon actually looked decent in New York going 12-6 in his brief stay in pinstripes.

Watching Joba that close up was awesome! Yeah, he may not have his control down, reminiscent of "Wild Thing" Vaughn from Major League, but you can tell this guy will dominate the Majors for many years to come.

Chamberlain finished throwing 6 innings, allowing 6 hits, only 2 K's, and walking 4. Joba had 89 pitches and Girardi said he would have left him in another inning if he hadn't been forced to pinch hit 4 Joba in the 7th.

Being played in a National League Park, Joba was forced to hit, going 0-2 and striking out his first time up. This was the only time Joba looked out of character.
After striking out Brad Ausmus to end the 6th, Joba even did a fist pump.

Sitting so close to the Yanks' on deck circle, I was able to give all of them my vocal support. Especially Joba, Yelling "Go Huskers", "Nebraska represent", "Go Big Red", etc. And everytime, Joba turned around, smiled at me and tipped his helmet. What a fuckin stud. I later found out that Joba hears similar chants every park he goes to. Husker Nation baby!

Astros' manager Cecil Cooper tried to take advantage on Joba's windup by being aggressive on the base paths. The Astros stole 4 bases but were also thrown out a franchise record 4 times.



With the game tied 1-1 in the top of the 8th, Captain Derek Jeter led off with a tie breaking, game winning solo shot opposite field. Sweet! It was Jeter's 199th career homerun and after the game, Jeter had 259 career interleague hits, a MLB record.

The only other downer of the series was Mariano Rivera not appearing in any game. 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, I looked out at the Yankee bullpen expecting to see one of my all time favorite Yankees stroll out with his patented, intimidating walk to close it out. Who did I see? Kyle Farnsworth! What a buzz kill. Apparently Rivera had pitched in 5 of the last 6 games for New York so Girardi gave him the night off.

Farnsworth closed it out and the Yankees took game 1, 2-1.



Saturday night's game, Mike Mussina gave up a three run homer to Carlos Lee in the first inning, but that was pretty much it. Moose got his 10th win of the year, and the Yankees won 8-4.

Sunday, my girlfriend and I spent Father's Day at Series Finale. The Yankees bat's were in full effected crushing the Astro's 13-0. Arod hit his 12th homer of the year, a moon shot to deep left. Of course, this was also the game Wang injured himself running the bases.

The only time Houston poised any threat was the bottom of third, two outs and runners at the corners. Miguel Tejada ripped one down the left field line and ARod (who probably muffs the play 9 times out of 10) made a dazzling play to rob Tejada and the Astros. Of course on such an exciting play like that, my emotions may have got the best of me and I immediatley jumped up and yelled. That was followed by a few fans telling me to Shh! and don't be so loud. WTF? I know I was in the opposing team's ballpark, but come on! Did I mention that at least 25% of the fans were wearing Yankees paraphernalia?

Astro's fans tell their own fans to "sit down, you're in the way," with the bases loaded and Lance "Big Puma" Berkman up at the plate. Weak!

Enjoy the pictures!

I'll start out with the Giambi Girls at Minute Maid Park.