Results tagged ‘ AL East ’
The Weekend That Was…And The Week That MUST Be
Before I go into a much overdue entry about what took place in Yankeeland this past weekend, I have to send out some much deserved thanks and appreciations. A big thank you to Joe Riccio and his girlfriend Ash for having my wife and I over this weekend to partake in his live fantasy football draft. We had a wonderful time, and you both were great hosts, so thank you again!
Now, back to what has taken place, and what could be by Friday night’s matchup in the Bronx against the Blue Jays. Friday night opened in Baltimore, with the Yankees coming off of a severe whipping at the hands of the Blue Jays, to finish the first leg of their roadtrip at 1-2. Moose Mussina pitched well enough to win his 17th game en route to his first career 20-win season, but couldn’t get the run support he needed. The bullpen pitched extremely well, scoring more towards the end of the game, and the Yankees took a much needed game 1 of the three game set against the Orioles.
Saturday witnessed the much maligned return of Carl Pavano to the Yankees’ rotation, pitch 5 deent innings, and get his first win in well over a year. This coming in just his 20th appearance as a Yankee since signing his 4-year, $40 mil contract before the 2005 season. As I have questioned in earlier entries, is Pavano back because he is a free agent and wants to prove he can still pitch at the major league level? Or is he pitching out of guilt, in an attempt to save his reputation not only with his teammates, but anybody around baseball along with fans who believe he committed armed (or should I say disarmed) robbery? Bobby Abreu along with Robinson Cano continue to hit when the Yankees needed them both, and Hideki “Godzilla” Matsui drove in his 500th career run in the major leagues. Rivera came on for the second straight game to notch his 30th save in 31 chances this season.
Then came Sunday…the Yankees smelled blood in the water, knowing that a dent had been made in the AL Wild Card standings with the Angels handling the Twins over the weekend, Darrell Rasner showed his worst outing of the season, not making it through the 4th inning. Fortunately for the Bombers, O’s starter Daniel Cabrera didn’t fare much better, helping get the Yankees out to an early 7-2 lead. Before the ink was dry in the scorebook, Baltimore began to pound Rasner, helping him to an early exit, and the next 4 Yankee relievers got belted just as easily. To the Yankees’ advantage, they have the legendary Rivera, who came on and recorded his third save of the series, slamming the door after Robinson Cano drove in the winning run after Baltimore tied the score at 7 late in the contest. For all of the poor pitching, shoddy defense, and patterned bad baseball, the Yankees escaped Baltimore with a must have sweep in the series.
Heading into a well deserved day off on Monday, the Yankees are now only 9 1/2 games back in the east behind Tampa, and are 5 1/2 back before the start of the massive three-game set with the Red Sox in the Bronx. Suffering from numbness in his arm and pitching hand, the Red Sox have decided to pass on Josh Beckett Tuesday night in the series opener, opting instead to activate knuckleballer Tim Wakefield off of the 15-day DL to face Andy Pettitte.
Wednesday will see newly acquired Paul Byrd take the hill against Sidney Ponson. Both pitchers coming off of less than impressive starts their last time out.Byrd flat out shut down the Yankees last October, and we can only hope that it was an aberration at best. Byrd is a nice upgrade over Clay Bucholtz who is now back in Double-A Portland less than a year since throwing his no-no and keeping the Red Sox from getting Johan Santana from the Twinkies. This last outing by Ponson was truly his first TERRIBLE performance during his second stint in pinstripes.
The series finale is a matchup of season aces in Jon Lester and Mike Mussina. Moose will attempt to get back on track after struggling against his former team in Baltimore. Worse than Moose’s last outing was that of Jon Lester, who failed to make it through the 3rd inning against Toronto. The Blue Jays beat on Lester like a rented mule, en route to a double digit loss by the Red Sox.
What does all of this mean for the Yankees? It means that anything short of taking 2 of 3 from Boston in the Bronx will basically make the remainder of the regular season meaningless. If the Yankees take 1 of 3, and then welcome in Toronto, they will be suffering the usual Red Sox letdown, and could find themselves swept by the Jays come Sunday afternoon. This is the week the Yankees either put their stamp on the standings, and inform the rest of the American League that they are indeed in this thing until the bitter end, or come September 1st, it will be time to give the kids the entire month to get their collective feet wet at the big league level and prepare for next season. These next five to seven days will decide whether or not the 2008 Yankees will see yet another postseason, get on a roll, which could take them to their 27th and final World Series title to close out the House that Ruth Built. I know, I know, I am thinking if luck, and the ball bounces the right way, how things could be, but as I have said many times before…stranger things have happened.
Winning the World Series isn’t always about who the best team in the regular season is, but rather which team treats the month of September as if every game was a win or go home situation. Not because teams have wanted to in the past, but because they HAVE to. Look at last year’s Rockies…the ’02 Angels that shocked the Yankees, and yes, one could even say the ’03 Marlins, led by current Red Sox Beckett and Mike Lowell. Momentum is everything, and if the Yankees can find a way to break off a string of say 30 wins in their last 34, for once they could be the hot team heading into October…a place that has had many magical memories for this Yankees’ franchise over the last dozen or so years. Check back in later today and I am positive I will have plenty more to discuss as the next incarnation of the greatest rivalry in sports is about to get underway yet again.
As always, take care of yourself, be good, and take care of your buddy next to ya!
Familiar Feelings…
You ever get that feeling, when something isn’t going so great, whether it be in life or in sports, that you have felt that feeling before? Perhaps you think getting past that feeling, and doing what you have to do to make things right will eliminate ever having that bad feeling again? With the whipping that the Yankees took last night, perhaps this is that sinking feeling that we have collectively been waiting for since the end of the 2001 World Series, which is the end date that ESPN’s Buster Olney labelled as “The Night the Dynasty Died.”
Perhaps he was right. Maybe Olney knew something that we in Yankeeland did not-that the Yankees were simply treading water since the Diamondbacks conceivably ended our proud dynasty. From that day forward, familiar and comfortable names such as O’Neill, Tino, Brosius and the like left our lips, only to be tucked away into the good memories of our mind. Since then, we have become familiar with Mondesi, Sheffield, Abreu, Weaver, Ventura, Giambi, Damon and a whole other cast of characters that still don’t get it. Perhaps they never will. As we said good bye to team guys, and said hello to stat compilers, the Yankees have been stuck on 26 World Series titles, with no more seemingly to be in the immediate future. All this, while Boston has won 2, the Angels 1, and probably a second this fall, the Marlins 1, the Cardinals 1, and even the White Sox 1. And what do these teams have, that all of Mr. Steinbrenner’s money on the face of the earth can’t buy? Character…not characters, character, and a deeper desire to win rings rather than MVP trophies and stat leaderboard categories.
The Blue Jays are hungry, the Yankees are gluttons. The Blue Jays are tired of mediocrity, the Yankees are satisfied with the current result. Blue Jays management made dugout changes with the hopes of saving this season, and building for next year. The Yankees’ management doesn’t have a clue. And with that, another double digit beating, making it the Bombers’ worst of the season. Ponson looked like he did the first time around in pinstripes. The offense was dead yet again, despite Hideki Matsui’s 3-run blast, which was too little, too late. The defense was once again questionable, showing little range or arm ability in the outfield. Is it going to mean a fourth place finish for the Yankees as an organization to wake up and smell the fact that it is not the late 1990s anymore?
Tonight the Yankees start the second leg of their current road trip against yet another AL East foe that has something to prove. The Orioles feel they are on the verge within the next season or so of becoming the next Tampa Bay Rays, while the Yankees continue to get older and more complacent with each passing day. If wholesale changes are not made in the Bronx during the winter of 2008 and early 2009, come October of 2009, they could find themselves in a place that only a year ago would have seemed unthinkable. The place? Dead last in the AL East. Everyone in the division is getting younger and better. All while the Yankees just sit. Father time forgives nobody, including the boys in the pinstripes. Don’t be shocked if last night’s humiliating defeat up North is only the first sign of the wheels coming completely off this big, bloated bigrig with a $200 mil+ payroll. Why you might ask? Carl Pavano for one. Mr. Injury himself is getting the nod from Girardi after I blogged that Victor Zambrano actually earned the shot.
I’ve had these feelings before…with the Yankees, with personal relationships, with employers, etc. The feeling that the end is near, that regardless of how badly you want things to work out, regardless of whatever personal sacrifices you are willing to make to correct the issues at hand, that no matter what you can think, feel or do, it is going to end badly. For the foreseeable future in the Bronx, that is exactly how I feel.
I will be back on later tonight to discuss the opener against Baltimore, and preview the nightmare that will become Carl Pavano on Saturday.
As always, take care of yourself, be good, and take care of your buddy next to ya!
Pitching Woes…Pitching Answers…& Joba…What Now?
The Yankees and Andy Pettitte laid another egg last night, making the casual baseball observer feel as if the Texas Rangers were actually the Anaheim Angels-meaning the best team in baseball. This is not the way to start a crucial road trip, one in which the Yankees can either gain ground on both Boston and Tampa, or by the time they get back to the Bronx, Toronto could replace them as the team chasing the American League Wild Card. I will get back to their Texas performance thus far later in this entry.
As for the problems, it appears as Joba Chamberlain makes his way down the Carl Pavano Highway to Dr. James Andrews, the Yankees need to quit feeling sorry for themselves, accept the fact that Joba could and probably will be lost for an extended period of time, and look at some possibilities to revamp the starting rotation before their regular season becomes irrelevant in 2008.
According to a New York Post Blog the Mets have the inside track amongst the 12 teams who witnessed free agent starter Freddie Garcia workout yesterday at the University of Miami. Reports state that Garcia topped out around 87 mph on his fastball, and that both his curveball and slider looked sharp. This is the time when Brian Cashman must overpay for what could be a season saving stopgap measure. Garcia is a career 6-2 in 11 postseason starts, and has proven himself in big game, pressure situations. Garcia’s agent stated that Freddie would be ready for a return to the majors around the 1st of September.
We can’t forget about Eric Milton. He too is rehabbing, having thrown a simulated game on July 29th, and reported no pain in his surgically repaired elbow, and like Garcia, could be ready for a September return. Okay, so I bet you are asking, what do the Yankees do between now and September 1st? Ahh, good question grasshoppers. I am not one to throw out problems without having done my research. The following could and should be considered for the remainder of August…afterall, what do the Yankees have to lose other than the rest of this season?
First and foremost, Girardi and Cashman should wholeheartedly forget about using both Dan Giese and Darrell Rasner for the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation. They both have pitched poorly in their opportunities, Giese out of the bullpen and Rasner in spot duty. The following prospects in my opinion, have earned their shot with the big club. If management ignores these young arms, then what good is a farm system…I mean really!
1.Kei Igawa. Before you start laughing, consider this much: Igawa has pitched plenty of innings this season throughout the Yankees minor league system. As of this entry, Igawa is 12-5 with a 3.39 ERA. His advantage: he is left-handed, which is custom built for Yankee Stadium. His disadvantage: he has taken plenty of lumps, both from big league hitters and from the white hot spotlight of the New York City media.
2. Jason Jones. Who? The big right hander is 11-5 with a 3.03 ERA at Double A Trenton. Yes, it is a big jump from Trenton to the Bronx, but the Yankees seemed not to have any problem doing the same thing with Chamberlain, Hughes and Kennedy. Why not give the kid a shot?
3. Chase Wright. A familiar name to most Yankee fans, Wright has served in the spot start big league-back-to-the-minor league role before. Wright knows the pressure of pitching in the Big Apple, won’t be intimidated by a late season, pennant chase call up, and is currently 8-2 with a 2.96 ERA for Trenton.
4. Phil Coke. This guy could be a dream for Madison Avenue advertising firms, as Coke could be it-if given a chance. At Trenton, Coke is 9-4 with a 2.51 ERA.
So Yankee fans, before you jump off the bridge, and call this season a bust, know that the farm has capabale arms, arms and names that might not be as sexy and popular as the Big Three of Chamberlain, Hughes and Kennedy, but capable nevertheless. Perhaps that has been the problem with this Yankee team all along. Maybe reputation has replaced common sense for a franchise that once prided themselves on performance over public image. Don’t get me wrong, every Yankee fan can appreciate what Reggie brought to the table, and Jeter and A-Rod these days. Unfortunately, injuries and poor performances don’t win World Series titles, but they sure look good in their uniforms and on their respective commercials.
Back to last night’s performance (or lack thereof). When this Yankee team is dependent on a .210 hitter to hit a game-tying grand slam to get their sorry butts back in the game, something is seriously wrong. Andy Pettitte, who has historically been lights out after August 1st, looked old and disinterested at best. 5 earned in 5 innings isn’t going to help keep a bullpen fresh for what is turning into a very long road trip already. With another choked away opportunity last night, the Yankees fell 6 1/2 games back in the AL East, and only have the 6th best record in the American League. The last time I looked, only 1 non-division winner gets to play in October. Over the last couple of days, for the first time in a very long time, I am mentally preparing myself for a postseason without the Bombers. It’s that sick in the stomach, almost ”can’t wait for the season to be over” type nightmare. What it comes down to and what it will come down to over the next 8 road games for this Yankees’ team, is poop or get off the pot. Quit playing games with our collective hearts and minds. If you don’t care, quit making us in Yankeeland believe that we should-at least for the remainder of this season.
As always, take care of yourself, be good, and take care of your buddy next to ya. I will be checking back in later tonight after Game #3 of the series, as Sidney Ponson returns to the team who cut him loose over character issues. If that happened to be the case throughout the Yankee clubhouse, how do you cut 25 guys?
Like Sands Through the Hourglass, So are the Days of the Yankees’ Life
Growing up as a multi-sport athlete, my father instilled in me, that regardless of the outcome on the scoreboard, I should always play balls to the wall until the contest came to an end. Often times while he and I would be going over game film, or watching games on television-regardless of the sport, sometimes we would watch as the star of the sport, or the game’s highlighted player would pull up lame or get injured. My father had a term for this, and it is one in which I still often label players I watch today…He coined the term “loser’s limp”. Simply stated, once winning was no longer an option, or the pressure got to be too much, players simply fold or create an injury to avoid competition. Monday night in Arlington, I firmly believe that is what occurred with Yankees’ starting pitcher Joba Chamberlain. He was struggling with his control most of the game, and the Ranger hitters weren’t fooled often by what he was throwing. After losing yet another hitter to a full count walk, Joba grabbed his shoulder (remember, Girardi was coming to give him the hook anyway). What easier way to save face and some embarrassment than to come out injured rather than for no other reason than he simply sucked?
Let’s assume for a split second that Chamberlain is legitimately injured with a shoulder strain, how important does Freddie Garcia’s open scout workout later today now become to the Yankees? If Chamberlain is out for any extended period of time, rest assured the Yankees will get something for the wasted contract they handed Carl Pavano-even if it means he reinjures himself. At this point, if Girardi blows Pavano’s arm up to the point of no longer being able to ever pitch again, call it even for robbing the Bombers of $40 mil for nothing. Absolutely nothing. The Yankees announced Dan Giese will be taking over Darrell Rasner’s spot in the rotation. Why? He has pitched like cow flop too. How about perhaps giving someone down on the farm who has busted his butt all season the shot to prove himself? Why not? Because that would make way too much sense in a season that so far, has had very little if any.
I was one of the loudest critics of Girardi, Cashman, and the Steinbrenners when they cried like little babies that Chamberlain needed to be inserted into the starting rotation. Why? Again, Chamberlain was worth more several days a week that perhaps one start a week. Not since the Rivera-Wetteland setup have the Yankees had a more dominating duo at the back end of the bullpen. Why would they have kept that intact? Because it simply made too much sense. And if Chamberlain is indeed injured for an extended period of time, Girardi has repeated his performance of burning out young arms, just like he did in Florida with the Marlins. Hughes, Kennedy, and now Chamberlain-all injured!
With Tampa Bay continuing to give the rest of the division opportunities to catch them, and the Red Sox now seeing that Jason Bay is not Manny Ramirez, the Yankees continue to shoot themselves in the foot. Why can’t the Yankees hammer a reliever such as Jamey Wright right out of Arlington? Why did it come down to Damaso Marte (another guy struggling with his control Monday night) giving up a walkoff jimmy jack salami to Marlon Byrd of all people? These are the games that wouldbe playoff teams know they have to win and find ways to win. Instead, the standings stay the same, as one more day comes off the calender as the end of the regular season looms only eight weeks away. At this rate, the Bombers will indeed miss the playoffs, and the Yankees have absolutely nobody to blame, except themselves.
Perhaps Girardi before the game tomorrow instead of having the team take batting practice should have them all sit down in the clubhouse and watch the Wizard of Oz? Why? Because at least the tinman knows he doesn’t have a heart, and searches for a way to get one. Perhaps the Yankees can take a lesson, look into the mirror and see that the ablility is there, and that all of us in Yankeeland, when they continue to fail only see a 25-man version of “loser’s limp.”
I will check back in later today, and as always, be good, take care of yourselves, and take care of your buddy next to ya!
Enough Already
Okay, so it’s 1:45 a.m. on the left coast, it is still 100 degrees in Sin City, and I am waiting for the nightly update on my 3 fantasy league’s daily stats that it seems like these days help keep me somewhat sane. While I am waiting, I just watched the Yankees/Angels highlights (more like lowlights for Yankee fans), and I began to get warm under the collar once again, as I watched the masacre firsthand a handful of hours earlier. My rant begins….NOW!
Andy Pettitte, who historically speaking, has won almost 72% of his starts throughout his career after the All-Star break looked more like recent Yankee acquisition, Victor Zambrano than he did a two-time 20 game winner, four-time World Series champion, and big game winner since he came to New York in 1995. In 5.1 innings, Pettitte gave up 9 earned runs as the Halos hit three, three-run homers in the opening game of the highly important 4 game set in the Bronx. This type of lackadaisical performance has me rethinking my plans to attend the Yankees/Angels series in Anaheim next weekend. Why the hell would I drive four hours to watch an impotent offense, one filled with what appears to be old, overpaid, underachieving sluggers who I am pretty sure could use a candy bowl full of greenies, and some HGH or better (Yes, I am talking to you Jason Giambi!)?
After a night like last night’s game, and what I read about A-Rod, it reminds me of a bumper sticker that my wife saw and still gets the occasional chuckle from: “A-Rod is an A-Hole.” For the reigning MVP, he sure isn’t proving to me why he was worth $27.5 mil over the next decade. How many rings has he helped deliver? Better yet, how many have Abreu, Cano, Giambi, Matsui, Nady, Damon, or Melky helped deliver? Oh that’s right-ZERO!!!!!!
I was telling my wife (as she was rolling her eyes as I went on another one of my Yankee rants), that I miss the Paul O’Neills, the Scott Brosius’, and the Tino Martinezs of years gone by. Why? Simply stated, because they were more concerned about adding another ring to their collective fingers than they were adding numbers to their contracts and stat sheets. It was about the interlocking NY on the front of the jersey, and not the misplaced numeral on the back. I understand now why Derek Jeter looks disinterested at best this season. He knows what all of us Yankee fans were late in picking up…this team is a collection of has beens and bums, not a collection of guys whose talent as a unit far outweighed their worth as individuals.
This Yankee squad takes me back to my childhood of the 1980s. One in which Donnie Baseball (http://www.inductdonnie.com) was the heart and soul, and beared the brunt of no chance to win a World Series his entire career. Teams during the 80s that on paper should have won the division at least half of the years during the decade, but rather watched Billy Martin come and go, watched Lou Piniella hone his skills that would help lead other teams to glory, and watched an owner make a horse’s *** of himself.
It may not be the same cast of characters, but this team has that same feel. The feeling that you know they should be performing, wiping the opposition off the field by crushing them to death, batting around at least once per game, but yet this Yankees squad did not get their first hit off of Angels starter Jon Garland until the 4th inning last night. By that time, the Yankees were already down 6-0, and I don’t care how good you are (except perhaps the ’04 and ’07 Red Sox) can come back regularly down that many runs too often. The names on the lineup card look impressive enough, but ENOUGH ALREADY!! I sit and watch each hitter come and go, inning after inning, and it makes me want to throw up in my mouth.
If the Yankees continue to lack offense, then score 13, then struggle to score for more extended periods of time, as I have stated before, it doesn’t matter who the hell Brian Cashman brings in, or how emotionally tied Joe Girardi gets to them, this team is going to miss the postseason for the first time in almost a decade and a half. Perhaps it is the wakeup call that the powers that be running this franchise need to finally crack the whip, clean house (Cashman, Girardi, the coaching staff, the has been prima donna players), and start rebuilding and retooling for another dynasty. The embarrassment of missing the playoffs with this kind of payroll will be more than either of the Steinbrenner boys can mentally handle going into the offseason. If Yankee fans think the Bronx was a zoo during the late 70s and early 80s, let a $200 mil+ payroll fall flat on its face and finish 3rd or 4th in their division. A whole new era of Yankees baseball will begin the day after the regular season ends this year, and games such as the one I witnessed last night could be the fuel that helps get this fire started.
Thanks for checking in, be sure to comment, and I am sure I will be back on here later today as more developments occur within Yankeeland and the rest of the baseball world.
Girardi: AL Manager of the Year? Don’t Fool Yourself
Here we are again for another ranting from the guy who sits by in the heat of Las Vegas, watching as precious time and opportunities continue to slip through the collective hands of the Yankees yet again. Sure, it was great that New York invaded Fenway and took the first two games, but they reverted back to the first half Yankees for the series finale Sunday night.
ESPN Baseball Analyst and Resident Hall of Famer Peter Gammons went on and on (as he usually does) about what a wonderful job Yankee skipper Joe Girardi has done under the glaring lights of the Big Apple. Get off your knees Peter, we the Yankee Universe aren’t buying the piles of flop you are selling. As I pointed out in an earlier blog with prime examples, Girardi has been anything but Manager of the Year material. Sure, Cashman handed him inexperienced youthful pitching, which everyone knew wouldn’t last. Sure, the Yankees have been hit with the age and injury bugs this year, but don’t ever forget that Girardi has made some pretty piss poor decisions regarding in-game strategy and Sunday night’s ***-beating at the hands of the Red Sox is just the latest example as to why Girardi should not have been hired in the first place, and how he should be let go when…yes I said when the Yankees miss the post season for the first time since 1995.
During the customary ESPN managerial dugout interview, Girardi was asked about Sidney Ponson’s performance. Golden Joe simply stated “He’ll be fine once he gets his sinker down.” Nonsense. Anybody watching that game at that moment knew that Ponson was cooked from the first inning on. The Red Sox tag teamed Ponson, and wouldn’t let him off the mat. I am not sure what game Girardi was watching, but it sure as hell wasn’t the one the rest of Yankeeland was viewing.
Given, the Yankees’ blew several opportunities with RISP, but had Girardi made the pitching change when it was still a competitive game, perhaps the outcome might have been different. And enough about doughboy John Miller (by the way, change your shirt, you wear the same one every week) continuing to harp on the fact that a double play wasn’t turned in the first inning on a ball hit by Kevin Youkilis. Had Jeter simply hustled rather than ditty bopped (as he has done most of the season), he could’ve taken the double play himself as he has done dozens of times before. He let the grounder get to him rather than charging the ball and turning the deuce unassisted.
The Yankees had a golden opportunity to send a message not only to Boston, but to the rest of the American League, that this second half Yankees team would not beat themselves, would not cower down to the blown 3-0 ALCS mental block, and stick the dagger in the BoSox and gain the momentum heading into the final nine weeks of the season. Instead the Red Sox and their ongoing soap opera walks away thinking the first two games were an aberration. Great job Girardi.
The Orioles are next on the schedule, with staff ace Mike Mussina taking the ball later this evening. Hopefully this latest stumble on the Bombers part does not send them into a tailspin they can’t recover from. The O’s have owned the Yanks recently in B-Town, but this is no time to fall into the norms of the past. It is time to out talent the low lifes of the AL East, and the rest of the American League, and either win a wild card, or handle the division. Right now, their fate is still in their own hands, but father time is tick tick ticking away.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back on soon!
mlblogswestcoastyankees
Recent Comments