Game 155: Two to go

September 20, 2008 by Benjamin Kabak 166 Comments

It’s the last day game in the stories history of Yankee Stadium. In 40 minutes, the Yanks will take the field on the House that Ruth Built for the last time under the sun. It is a bittersweet moment, to be sure.

Al Aceves draws the start today for the Yanks. In his last Yankee Stadium start, he held the White Sox to two runs on five hits and a walk over six innings. He is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 20 innings this year. Facing him will be Brian Burres, 7-9 with a 6.32 ERA.

Damon CF
Jeter DH
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Nady LF
Cano 2B
Ransom SS
Moeller C

Aceves P

Final Game Notes: The Biz of Baseball has the complete rundown of the ESPN TV coverage scheduled for tomorrow. If you can’t make it to the stadium for the farewell game, there are plenty of tributes to watch on the Worldwide Leader.

Photo Credit: The new Yankee Stadium by Librado Romero for The New York Times.

Andy In Sunny Daytona

I guess people will have no doubt where they are next year. Are they putting signing up every 10 feet?
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  I, personally, enjoy the blue YANKEE STADIUM sign directly over the gold YANKEE STADIUM sign.
  - Andy In Sunny Daytona
    
    Maybe they can have a plane circle with another YANKEE STADIUM sign.
Ivan

wow just two days until the end of the current yankee stadium. It feels so surreal.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  Yeah I know. It’s sad, but I’m enjoying it too. The Stadium will be gone, but the memories will last a lifetime.
Andy In Sunny Daytona

Did you read Sheff’s comments after the fight yesterday? He sure is tough after the fact.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  Those blows he took to the head must of done some damage. Carmona kicked his ass about as much as you can in a baseball fight.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Haha. The Mexican Gangster with a web gem.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  I blame Cano for being out of position.
  - Andy In Sunny Daytona
    
    How did he get an unassisted double play?
    - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
      
      The batter popped the bunt up, Aceves dove and caught it on the fly in front of the mound. Then he literally ran, or should I say jogged, the ball all the way to second to get Roberts who just stood at third.
      - Chip
        
        I doubt that one has happened before
  - Mike Pop
    
    lol
Ivan

Nice play from Cano.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Heh, Aceves recorded all 3 putouts. I can’t imagine many other pitchers have done that.
- Chip
  
  I’ve seen three grounders to the right side where the pitcher covered in a row, don’t remember who it was though
- Andy In Sunny Daytona
  
  Did Michael Kay say he tied a major league record?
  - Manimal
    
    he always says that. “he tied a major league record held by many” He just meant 3 put outs in an inning.
    - Andy In Sunny Daytona
      
      Yeah, I know. He ALWAYS says that shit.
Ivan

I still marvel at the story when Babe Ruth told a sick little kid he would hit 2HR’s for him and he did just that.

How many athletes would make a promise like that.
- Andy In Sunny Daytona
  
  Kramer made the promise to a kid that Paul O’Neill would do it, and he almost did.
  - Ivan
    
    I remember that episode.
- Chip
  
  Joba would tell a kid he was going to strike out 20 and then strike out 21 while pitching with two bloody socks and still manage to save a kitten out of a tree after the game. He’s that good
- Manimal
  
  I remember Thome doing something like that for a sick kid in a hospital.
Andy In Sunny Daytona

Melky promised a little kid this morning that he would get an at-bat. Fingers crossed, or that boy is history.
Mike Pop

I dont get why BG aint playing
- Manimal
  
  He did too good yesturday.
Mike Pop

What would it take to get Adam Jones lol
- Andy In Sunny Daytona
  
  Melky and IPK.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  Erik Bedard with a bum shoulder apparently. Hey, maybe we could substitute Pettitte!
Mike Pop

yo mike would you consider signing Milton Bradley to a 2 or 3 yr deal to replace Giambis production in the lineup? Or is Milton the type of guy who might not be able to handle New York
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  Earlier in the year I would have said yes, but now I say no. He just can’t stay healthy, even though he’s primarily been a DH this year. Plus is OPS is nearly 300 points lower on the road than it is at home, so Arlington’s been kind to him.
  - Mike Pop
    
    What could the yankees seriously get in return for Damon.. A solid prospect or 2 with potential to help the team in 09 or jus some salary relief and some throw in guys
    - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
      
      Man, I have no idea what his value is now. I guess it’s as high as it can be right now, he’s only got 1 more year on his deal and he’s been very productive this year. I’m not sure what team’s would need a player like him anyway. Maybe Colorado or Houston?
      - Mike Pop
        
        Atlanta I would think would be interested but I dont know what we would want from them or could realistically get
Manimal

Aceves pitch count is rising pretty fast, calm down big guy.
- Andy In Sunny Daytona
  
  It’s amazing what you can do when you just throw strikes. (Ian, Phil cough, cough)
  - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
    
    cough DiceK cough
    - Andy In Sunny Daytona
      
      I don’t give a shit what Dice K does. I want just want our young pitchers to just go throw strikes. Stop nibbling.
    - whozat
      
      I can’t believe that he’s managed to succeed this year while walking so very many guys. I know you can get away with walks if you strike out a lot of guys, but that’s been ridiculous.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

That was a redic catch by Jones. He was all sorts of contorted at the end of that one.
- Manimal
  
  I agree, thats the sort of stuff that separate A-Jax and Jones.
  - whozat
    
    Also, the fact that Jones is older and has been playing full-time baseball longer.
    - pat
      
      i think he meant they were comparable not that jones is better than jackson
Ivan

I think this team really is not gonna look too different next season.
- Mike Pop
  
  Depends on who is running the show… If it is Hank and not Cashman I think alot of new players will be around
  - Ivan
    
    Understanable.
    
    To me, unless there gonna make a big trade, alot of the players are staying put which isn’t bad cuz alot of the talent is here like Cashman said. Just a couple of tweaks.
- pat
  
  This will have been one of our “worst ” seasons in a long time and we’re still gonna end up with like 87 wins or so. The team doesnt have to look THAT different to be back in contention for the playoffs next yr.
Chip

Good to see Lester falling back to Earth
- Ivan
  
  That’s a little Harsh. Lester is pretty damn good.
Mike Pop

Michael Kay is a stat machine !!! or its that guy sitting next to him hehe
giselle

i like aceves. what are the odds he makes the starting rotation next april?

actually, who do you see as the starting 5 next season?

sabathia
wang
pettitte
joba
hughes

aceves/kennedy in the wings?
- pat
  
  at this point id say alfredo is more “guaranteed” a spot than hughes or ipk
  - Ivan
    
    IPK last season pitch great at the end of 07 and we all know what happen.
  - Ivan
    
    And Aceves is not as good as IPK.
    - pat
      
      yarrr this be true matey we’ll just have to see
      - Andy In Sunny Daytona
        
        A day late Pat.
        
        pat
        
        its always talk like a pirate day in my house, and in my hearrrrt
  - giselle
    
    i’m not so sure… the yankees will remember how they gave kennedy a spot on the rotation based on his september performance and we all know how that turned out.
    
    i doubt they’d make that mistake twice.
- Mike Pop
  
  Honestly I see Cashman leaving because of Hank and that group he is planning to put together and I see a rotation of either Sabathia Wang Joba Burnett/Sheets Hughes or Wang Joba Burnett Sheets Hughes
Mike Pop

The funny thing with the Yanks is that we cant rebuild ya know.. Really the only guys we could trade off is Damon Matsui noone else we could trade if we were trying to “rebuild” or noone else could really be traded like Po, Jeter, Arod
- http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/02_01/burressDM0402_468x305.jpg Nady Nation
  
  That is funny. It’s also funny that people wanna entirely blow up a team that will finish the season around 15 games over .500. Makes sense to me
  - Mike Pop
    
    O ya i know its so ridic all my buddies are like we gotta rebuild try to get Elvis and Votto jus get what you can for Arod pitching and young talent wins rings lol
Ivan

Eating Subway sandwitches are great man.
- giselle
  
  i love the spicy italian sub. its one of their $5 footlongs, too. damn good sandwich.
  - Ivan
    
    I love the oven toasted chicken and bacon sandwitch.
  - pat
    
    those 5 dollar footlong sub commercials are very sexually suggestive
Tom Swift

Thanks on link to the ESPN coverage. Will be filling up tapes tomorrow, for sure.

Also found a nice hommage to the Stadium’s send off at BizofBaseball.com:

http://www.bizofbaseball.com/i.....;Itemid=41
Mike Pop

I’d rather try to use Aceves as a trade chip than Hughes.. Aceves success this year in the minors and majors could turn some teams on to him kinda like Kennedy las year with the Johan deal.. Man id love to see Votto or Chris Davis in a Yankee Uni but obviously wed have to give up alot more than we would like to… Aceves Kennedy and Miranda for one of them ? haha
- giselle
  
  aceves could be a good trade chip while his stock is high, but based on the small ML experience i doubt he’d bring back a lot of talent. no first rounders, anyway.
- pat
  
  haha yea I wish, I dont think davis is goin anywhurrrr. texas likes him alot. We actually drafted him outta HS but obviously he didnt sign… damn
- Ivan
  
  The only way you can get those 1st basemen if you include Hughes in that deal, and if Im gonna trade Hughes I want a much better player.
  - Mike Pop
    
    Oh yea cause Votto and Davis dont have the upside to be a top 5 first baseman in the league someday
    - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
      
      I think Ivan means someone that plays a more premium position. Votto and Davis have the potential to be very good players, but if you’re traded a potential frontline guy like Hughes, I want someone who plays a more difficult position.
    - Ivan
      
      And Davis and Votta suck at 1st Base. Plus, I don’t think Votta is that great. Again, like Mike said, wouldn’t you wanna trade Hughes for a up the middle player.
      - Mike Pop
        
        Like a Grady Sizemore eh
        
        Ivan
        
        right.
Mike Pop

Imagine if Texiera went back to the Rangers like they had a deal worked out lol just for them to get some talent and than they use Davis as a trade chip or w.e.. WOuld the MLB look into that ?
giselle

hahah michael kay’s right. there’s not a drop of sweat on aceves’ face. that’s a little odd…
Mike Pop

Did Volquez have alot of MLB experience before he was traded for Hamilton ?
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  About 80 innings worth spread over 3 seasons. Had a 7.45 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP over that time too.
  - Ivan
    
    Another example of why you don’t give up on young talented arms.
  - Steve
    
    “Had a 7.45 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP”
    
    Sort of like what Hughes and IPK had this year, huh?
    - http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
      
      BUT BUT BUT WE MUST TRADE THEM111!!onehundredeleven! They can never be good.
- whozat
  
  Yes. He’d been in the bigs for part of three seasons. He also sucked in that MLB duty. That was a swap of risky talent for risky talent. It worked out for both, but could easily have fallen apart on one of the two teams.
Ivan

It would be nice if the yanks put a couple runs up on the board for Aceves.
- pat
  
  dude i was just thinking that like cut the kid a break u bastards score some runs this game is fugly
Pedro

Somebody please explain how a pitcher who was banned to the ‘pen because he sucks, can come into Yankee Stadium on it’s second to last game and absolutely dominate the Yankees’ “A lineup”?
- whozat
  
  Chad Moeller and Cody Ransom are in the A lineup?
  - Pedro
    
    Moeller is no worse than Pudge or Molina with the bat, and Ranson is comparable to any other bat we bring from the bench.
    - whozat
      
      There shouldn’t be any bench bats in your ‘A’ lineup.
      
      And, if Moeller (a third string catcher) is as good a bat as any of your other catchers, then that’s kind of an indictment of the ‘A’ lineup more than anything else.
    - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
      
      Except that he has a .250 OPS over the last few weeks.
- pat
  
  i dunno if ud consider moeller and handsome cody ransom ur A lineup
Pedro

And that was like the 100th popup by Yankees’ batters today.
- Andy In Sunny Daytona
  
  Sounds like they are getting under the ball. Maybe if they “square up” the ball they will hit it better. I’m no Charlie Lau though.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  The Yanks are getting under more balls than a midget hooker.
  - pat
    
    HAHAHAHA
  - Andy In Sunny Daytona
    
    clever
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

This has been a pretty boring game, not for nothing. The highlight was Bob Sheppard pulling the lever.
whozat

If they lose a game in which they got 6 shutout innings from their starter, facing a guy with an ERA near 7…
- pat
  
  it wouldnt have been the first time this season….?
Andy In Sunny Daytona

Keep hope alive! This is where they score the runs.
- Andy In Sunny Daytona
  
  or not
  - Andy In Sunny Daytona
    
    It’s good to know that the bottom half of the inning lasted 4 minutes.
pat

im watchin on gamecast online are they bringing in a reliever?
- pat
  
  never mind
  - Chip
    
    Well I guess he didn’t look very good last inning so why not take him out and keep his confidence high? Maybe we’ll have another Humberto sighting!
    - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
      
      I doubt Girardi would use him in a tight game, but I hope he makes an appearance.
Ivan

At what age you consider that it’s time to leave ya parent’s house?
- Chip
  
  2 years ago?
  - Ivan
    
    I ask that question cuz a woman can stay at her parents crib and it’s a not a huge problem but a guy does it, forget about it.
    - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
      
      Heh, I hear ya. I was out at 18 and haven’t looked back.
- giselle
  
  whenever you’re ready.
  
  kids leave between 18-22 years old, depending on whether they went to college and still “technically” lived at home. but a lot of my friends (college grads) work full-time and live at home cause it allows them to save a lot of money.
  
  its funny, cause in other countries (dominican republic, italy, etc) young adults dont move out until they get married. so its perfectly normal to see a 30+ yr old man or woman living with his/her parents.
Chip

I honestly don’t remember the last time I saw a game with this many flyouts
Andy In Sunny Daytona

A-Rod will go deep.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  I’ll take the single.
pat

arod is such a stat padder with that single there
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

CC Burres doin’ his thing.
Ivan

Exciting game eh.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  I just want this game to end so I can play NHL 09 already.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Sheesh, Burres is only at 91 pitches too. He’ll be back out for the 8th.
- Ivan
  
  Only the yanks could make Burres look like Cliff Lee.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Wow, Bobby’s making quite the case to be resigned, he came within 5 feet of the wall on that one.
- Andy In Sunny Daytona
  
  I tell you what I give Gardner a bunch of shit, but I absolutely loved that play last night. I loved his nonchalant throw back to the infield. I’m sure that he was hurting, smacking into the wall, but it was cool as hell to see it.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

For the love of God score a run!!!
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Kay hasn’t been nearly as annoying the past few days. I’ll give the man this, whenever there’s a big moment or something special happening, he handles it well.
- Pedro
  
  I know I’m the minority here, but I actually don’t have a problem with Kay. I think he’s way better to listen to than most of MLB announcers out there.
Ivan

Rivera is gonna have a season where he’s probably gonna pitch 70IP with less than 10BB’s.
- Ivan
  
  Make the arguement this is Mo’s second best season of his career.
Ivan

Im calling it, Walk-off Homer from Derek Jeter.
Andy In Sunny Daytona

Arod with an Abomb. Print it, book it, buy it.
Ivan

Fuck!!!
Pedro

Always the O’s. Hate those bastards.
whozat

was that as high and tight as it looked on gameday?
- Pedro
  
  yes
  - whozat
    
    where’d it hit him?
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  Yeah, got him on the left wrist.
  - whozat
    
    well…at least he’ll have the offseason to heal.
    - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
      
      True, but look how long it took Delgado’s wrist to feel right after breaking it in the last game of the year last season.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Brett Gardner makes shit happen.
- whozat
  
  yeah, sorta…I mean, all it did was make it so Abreu saw nothing good to hit.
Andy In Sunny Daytona

Little G steals 2nd, 3rd and home.
Ivan

Yankees haven’t had a dude this fast since Homer Bush.
whozat

do you steal third here? Gardner scores easily on a solid single anyway…
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Let’s go A-Rod. Put one in the seats for the haters.
Ivan

You see that A-Rod, that a diss to ya man. You go out there and park that baseball in the next burrough.
Ivan

Well….he legged out that one.
whozat

JUST GET A SAC FLY, JASON!!!
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Steal home Brett. Walker’s got a slow delivery, and he throws lots of junky breaking balls. Do it man, do it.
Ivan

lets go Giambi.
giselle

BG should steal home for the win.
mike pop

If Jeteer cant play tomorrow im calling for a lynching of trevor miller
Ivan

Alright Cano do ya thing.
mike pop

CaNO WALKS OFF ON ORIOLES ALL THE TIME
Ivan

And He does.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

Thaaaaaaaa Yankees WIN!!!
mike pop

I LOVE THE YAANKS !!lol
mike pop

If only we played this good all year
Ivan

I thought Pete Abe said they were not gonna try hard and they were on vacation.
http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.

The Yanks just won’t die this year. Elimination put off another day.
mike pop

ICWT In Cano we trust
Ivan

Yankees win, Thaaaaaaaaaaaa YANKEES Wiiin!!!
Pedro

Any news on Jeter?
mike pop

lol elimination put off another day
Andy In Sunny Daytona

See? Wasn’t that more exciting than a 10-3 snorer?
mike pop

Those highlights had me tearing a bit lol