Game 25: Frankie’s Back
ByThe Gus era ended too soon, at least for me. But I guess if you’re taking away a Gus, you could do worse than bringing in a Frankie. Mr. Cervelli gets his first start of the season today after missing the first four or five weeks with a broken foot. Oh yes, there will be fist pumps. Here’s the starting nine…
Derek Jeter, SS
Curtis Granderson, CF
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nick Swisher, RF
Jorge Posada, DH
Brett Gardner, LF
Frankie Cervelli, C
Ivan Nova, SP
The game starts a little after 1pm ET and can be see on YES locally or TBS nationally. Enjoy the game.
Programming Note: There will be a feature on 2009 first rounder Slade Heathcott during the pregame show, so check it out. He’s killing the ball for Low-A Charleston right now (.370/.453/.630).






I’m looking forward to this game. Great to see Cervelli back.
Yea we got rid of a catcher who doesn’t hit and replaced him with a catcher who hits lightly. Anyone else not really that excited for Cervelli to be back?
Complaining about the backup catcher? Really? That’s what it’s come to? Complaining about a guy making the league minimum and only seeing action once a week? Pathetic
i thought it was a refreshing break from the ‘bench jeter’ screams.
Excuse me, but I believe that’s “patetic”…
How can anyone not pull for Slade after an interview like that.
ahhh i missed the feature of slade =/ anybbody think itll be online later??
same here. Juuuuuust missed it
I really look forward to Nova’s starts.
Love that feature. A hard worker who idolizes Josh Hamilton. Gotta love that. Just keep that shoulder healthy, he should be one of the top three Yankees prospects next season.
What is his ceiling?
I kind of hate when games are on national TV cause then I have to choose between watching on the big screen, but with national announcers, or watching on my computer, but with YES announcers.
Which to choose….
You could always mute the tv with the call of Sterling and Suzyn….thats waht I do
Why would you subject yourself to Suzyn Waldman? Are you a masochist or something?
Just an aside before the game starts; looks like Vazquez really was cooked last year.
http://www.fangraphs.com/stats.....position=P
So much for the “He can’t handle NY,” “He’s an NL pitcher” narratives.
Those narratives don’t stop. I’ve heard people still saying both those things. Then arguing that NY destroyed him last year and that is why he is no longer a good NL pitcher.
In his first stint as a Yankee in 2004, Vazquez was one of the rare significant Yankee additions to succeed in his first month with the team, unlike Clemens, Giambi, Tino, Sheffieled, and others. So I never thought the pressure of NY was the causative factor in his underperformance. He was hurt in the second half of 2004, and in 2010, his stuff was significantly diminished from 2009.
Please don’t repeat this.
In his first stint as a Yankee in 2004, Vazquez was one of the rare significant Yankee additions to succeed in his first month with the team, unlike Clemens, Giambi, Tino, Sheffieled, and others. So I never thought the pressure of NY was the causative factor in his underperformance. He was hurt in the second half of 2004, and in 2010, his stuff was significantly diminished from 2009.
Giambi hit .282/.378/.456 in his first month with the Yankees.
Really? I guess the my memory of the impact of the HR v. the Twins skewed my perception.
People say he didn’t become a True Yankee (TM) until this game:
http://www.baseball-reference......5170.shtml
I like this face of Cervelli:
http://riveraveblues.com/wp-co.....043334.jpg
The helmet might be even better than his Teix face.
Nova just dethroned the “King”
Uh…Paulie? El Duque meant king?
Great jump.
Granderson’s got some wheeeels.
Yay Grandy.
Grandy woooooow
Does is seem like Kay says “put a star next to that one” after every great play?
I just tip my cap to Bautista now. What a beast. I won’t even call him a Yankee killer…he’s just a baseball killer.
Wait, Robinson Cano having a better year than Grandy and A-rod and Martin? What?
Eh, Cano’s first on the team in bWAR and tied for 2nd in fWAR. That’s not an outlandish thing to say.
Laziest .320/.340/.639/.979 ever.
It’s scary how good he has become.
Ok that bit about Flash not really remembering him was kind of fantastic.
Looks like the lifting paid off.
Never lift weights in the offseason again Teix.
Wooohoo a Teix message!
TEX!!!!
Teix’s face is priceless on the slo-mo
Way to go Tex.
Fences need to be pushed back
/Boston-media-complex’d
Let’s just make ‘em ridiculously tall. And green.
and have a ridiculous foul pole that is ‘pesky’
Or turn one third of the field into a 36 ft high barricade.
Now that’s a ballpark.
The rats add charm.
Is it too early to say #toomanyhomers?
bunt/home run ratio is way too low
Wow those umpires have had TERRIBLE strike zones in this series
Wow, that’s unfortunate.
Jeez…
Nova’s leaving everything up. This won’t end well if it continues.
So it is written…
so it shall be
Home runs like that always seem pure luck to me. They’re like pop flies blown just fair
That was certainly a strike on 3-0.
This morning I needed to replace the Panda on my fantasy team, looked at Lind, but passed. Darn you Adam Lind.
the 299 ft home run (exaggeration, i know) really pisses you off.
How highly regarded is David Cooper?
He’s not, really. Former first rounder, fizzled quickly, had a big year in 2010 in a league he was a) too old for, and b) repeating.
Thanks.
Well, he has a pretty hot girlfriend.
So there’s that.
she looks like his moms.
A little lucky with BABIP.
BAbip’s dickin us around today.
Actually, it’s karma for Bautista’s line drive.
How is Nova looking? No so great?
That would be my estimation. Erratic command…HR he gave up was lucky but I would expect him to get hit around today if he continues pitching the way he is. Also,
Nova – 0 swings and misses
Litsch – 5 swings and misses
whatz up with the empty seats?
Nova’s faced ten batters: one walk, one strike, eight balls hit in the air.
Uh oh.
How does Litsch look? Much better?
Stupid blackout…
The O’Neill chicken thing = hilarious.
MOTHERFUCKER.
ok. calmed down.
He looked like a goalie using his glove hand to make a save.
Now Litsch is just pissing me off. I won’t say it’s because he’s a ginger, but I won’t say it’s not.
So you’re the guy who’s passing on Dalton…
IETC
I’m sure every player would be comfortable with a low OBP while being paid 20 million for the next 4 years.
Nova has very little if anything at all today.
FISTPUMP
Wow, one of the worst pitchouts I’ve ever seen.
And an even worse throw.
Yeah just really ugly on both sides.
that pitch out was terrible
Nova can’t even throw a pitch out correctly.
Yikes.
Why is it that the Yankees can’t seem to stop anyone’s running game?
The fistpumps.
What kind of “fistpumps” are we talking here?
Keep your filthy comments to yourself!
With Andy gone I don’t think anyone checks the runners nearly as much as he did.
They are 2nd best in the AL in stolen bases allowed.
It’s the Blue Jays. Their scouting reports have been outstanding. Making the Yankees look silly. Plus any time you get to face AJ you get a chance to run a lot.
It’s never good when Jack Curry’s report is over before an out is recorded…
our pitchers fundamentals like pitch out, throwing to second to start a double play, are horrible.
Are they really worse than other teams?
predictably, yes…. except for ?
You watch all the other teams to know that their ‘fundamentals’ are all much better than the Yankees?
most… and honestly, that is not the point because I don’t root for the other teams. So their moments of ineptness are of little value. The Yankees, however, have a level of expectation that when not met it easily failure. #iswhatitis.
Tigers. World Series.
Not sure what that means. #outofcontext
My bad. Was referencing the terrible pitcher fielding by the Tigers in their WS appearance a few years back. I comparison, our pitchers don’t look bad at all.
Unintentional intentional walk to Bautista here?
Brush. Him. Back.
Latahz, Millwood.
jose batista = Juan Gonzalez
Gonzalez never ever walked. Bautista always did that, even in the minors.
controlling the running game….low priority
fucking bullshit
Fuck Rajai Davis.
If only the Yankees could play small ball like that!!!!!11111!
having their way with the base paths.
Gardner better be going.
to early for BG #cured?
Yea. Still needs to get a few more hits, and stop taking so many 3rd strikes.
No bunt. Just steal second.
Sigh.
Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
Uggg STEAL A BASE!
oh god, kill me.
FREE OUTS, HERE! GET YOUR FREE OUTS!
I actually approve of that bunt.
If Gardner just stole 2nd than Cervelli could’ve bunted him to 3rd
I get it with Cervelli at the plate (kind of), but not with Gardner on first. Give him a pitch to steal second at least.
Yeah, really. Gardner advances to second on pretty much anything but a weak pop-up or a K.
aren’t you almost wasting a sac bunt when you have gardner on first?
HE’S LEARNING
I just had this horrible nightmare. The Yankees sac bunted in the third inning after Gardner was walked on four pitches.
I’m only listening. Can someone explain to me joy Brett didn’t score.
He’s suffering from a shortage of Grit lately.
He was held up.
YOU GET NOTHING!
#rispfail
Hmmmm…
Four pitch walk… best base-stealer on the team at first… have the guy who just came back from a broken foot bunt!!
This has been another installment of Pearls of Wisdom with Joe Girardi.
Avoided the DP. Not so dumb, really. If you think Girardi is stupid, you are sadly misinformed. He’s human, but he’s not anywhere close to stupid.
The bunt is dumb when the fastest runner on the team is on first base and the pitcher just threw four pitches nowhere remotely close to the strike zone (he then proceeded to hit Jeter afterwards as well).
I would certainly agree that it woulda been nice for Cervelli to work the count a little bit, at least see if Litsch has relocated the zone, I just get a little irked at the use of the word “dumb.” Everybody here seems to think they’re smarter than the people that play the game because they’ve read “Moneyball” and spend crazy amounts of time on Baseball Reference .com. I’d just appreciate it if you said you don’t agree with decision and stop insulting people who clearly know what they’re doing. OK? And eat your vegetables, young man!
In a surprising turn of events, the bunt did not work.
It set up that entire inning for failure.
Well, that inning was all kinds of awesome.
i don’t even…
Most predictable DP ever
Sure glad we gave them that free out.
Is it me, or doesn’t it feel like a lot of our recent DPs have come with someone on third with less than two outs?
I’m sure its just confirmation bias, but it certainly sucks.
I have a feeling like our DP’s have all had something to do with a bunt.
Somehow I just knew that Teix was going to DP.
this has the makings of Friday’s game all over it…
Another reason why the bunt was dumb.
And they didn’t send Gardner around third on Grandy’s hit because…
It was a groundball hit, went right to Bautista who has a good arm, he was able to charge the ball and could have uncorked it.
Played it safe against Bautista’s arm.
I know, but since Gardner was running on the play because it was a grounder I feel he would’ve beat Bautista’s throw.
Esteban says:
May 1, 2011 at 2:05 pm
You watch all the other teams to know that their ‘fundamentals’ are all much better than the Yankees?
As pitchers.
RK TEAM GP E FPCT A PO TC
29 NY Yankees 24 3 .880 16 6 25
30 Detroit 27 6 .860 26 11 43
Go on.
LEAGUE AVERAGES GP E FPCT A PO TC
American League 27 3 .934 29 12 44
National League 27 3 .951 33 17 52
MLB 27 3 .943 31 15 49
Paulie always hated it when he found out what women had teeth.
Gosh, I hate bunts. I hate them. I hate them so much.
So dumb, so dumb, so dumb, so…
Irrational. Get some reason in yo soul, boy! (or girl). And stop quoting the Bed Intruder Song!
There are some isolated instances where bunting makes sense. Most of the time, it is just a bad idea. Again, bunting reduces run expectancy.
I’m guessing Rod Carew for the trivia answer.
I agree.
A-Rod’s slowed down a bit since the oblique injury eh?
I blame Jeter.
I’m having trouble forgiving Tex for that DP. Need to move on…
Blame Javy.
I’d like to. I will try it. I just wish he’d taken a few pitches. He seemed to be in a hurry to squash my hopes!
Gingers are just the worst.
Annoyance.
so it’s gonna be one of those games…
Unbelievable. It’s a DP fest today.
Sometimes watching the Yankee players run is like watching an entire game in slow motion.
I hate the DP.
Again, can someone tell me if the Yanks do it more than anyone, because it seems like it. That’s just anecdotal though.
Cardinals led the league acoupla days ago.
Coming into today they’d hit into 30. Angels and Rangers have hit into 31.
The Yankees are fourth in MLB with 30, but the three teams ahead of them have each played three more games.
http://www.baseball-reference......ting.shtml
props for finding that so fast. I FAILED.
Does anyone know how much DP’s the yankees have this season?
Nova’s not pitching that great, but the offense isn’t helping him so far either.
* Mini-rant that is totally pointless since I know the vast majority of people here agree with me*
Seriously, why do people still bunt so often? I will concede that there are indeed a few, isolated scenarios where bunting makes sense (E.g. Tie game in the bottom of the ninth where the value of scoring exactly one run is immense and you also have the right combo of hitter/baserunner). But people bunt so often in other situations, its mind boggling.
Further, there have been so many recent analyses and studies that have shown pretty conclusively that bunting is usually a TERRIBLE idea. Yet teams still do it and the mainstream sports media still gives them props for doing so. I feel like I am taking crazy pills. I mean, its like they are all apart of the same huge flat earth society and the rest of us are just left to mutter “Fuck the heck?” to each other.
The only explanation I can think of is that they all think there is something so noble, so morally superior about the bunt (and small ball in general) that any evidence to the contrary must either be ignored or unabashedly refuted.
I blame the legacy of the dead ball era. Then the bunt made more sense.
Modern baseball is a game tainted by greedy assholes who cheat and lie. We like to believe that this is a modern invention, like the home run.
Deep within our minds, the home run and the asshole are inexorably connected. After all, look at the people who hit a lot of them. Ruth, Mantle, Williams, Bonds and A-Rod and others are generally either drunk or mean or both.
So we figure, “if we stop hitting home runs, we’ll purify this gentlemen’s game of wit and speed”, in complete ignorance of a man named Ty Cobb.
The bunt is merely secondary. By bringing the bunt in, we bring in an obsolete element of the game that we long for.
But it’s just dumb.
Because the National League is awesome and DHes, and home runs, are eviiiiiiiiil.
I don;t see that there’s all that much bunting. It still takes people completely by surprise. When it works we all love it. Have a nice day and don’t smoke or do drugs to excess!
But Freddy’s Mom, the point is it that bunts reduce your run expectancy in any given inning. (You might see a *slight* increase in your odds of scoring one run, but the total number of runs you can expect to score in that inning is lower when you bunt than when you don’t bunt). So, the odds are, it will not “work” as well as not bunting.
Pretty much any bunting outside of the ninth inning of a tie game is too much bunting. I rarely, if ever, love it.
What’s up with the tiny little Rajai Davis ‘stache?
Fistpump!!!
Yay Frankie.
Has Cervelli always worn #17? Could have sworn he was #20something.
B-ref says #29 last year
http://www.baseball-reference......fr01.shtml
There we go, thanks.
They gave 29 to Soriano and gave Cervelli 17 instead. Poor guy didn’t even get dinner out of it or anything, they just took it.
It’s because Soriano is a jerk and bad in the clubhouse.
/Media’d
it’s because the Yankees don’t value grit
/Boston-Media-Complex’d
Soriano can’t afford to take Frankie out to dinner. His salary for the next two years isn’t guaranteed.
(cue uncontrollable laughter)
He wore #29 last year, but Soriano took that.
Bautista is a bigger tool than Beckett and Braden combined. yes or no? I’m going with yes.
Nah. Bautista is a little bitch, but what Braden did last year was really really really really really douchey.
What’s wrong with Bautista? Besides being really really good at hitting baseballs.
He came off as very Ortiz-like in that sequence.
Jeez, looking at those team DP stats was fairly interesting for the overall league averages.
The NL is hitting .252/.320/.389 and the AL is hitting .249/.319/.394.
Granted it’s still very early but last year the league averages were higher come the end of the year. And last year was “The Year of the Pitcher.”
Alright, time to SCORE
Not for nothing but the pitch inside to Bautista in the video retrospective made me laugh. Nova is soooo gangster.
Honestly, I loathe Bautista. That video is one of my faves.
Nova hasn’t looked his best today, but he’s been pretty good at getting out of jams and keeping the damage minimal.
Hip Hip!
I figured out why Jorge was struggling. He was on my fantasy team. You’re welcome, he’s never going to get out again.
Wow, I can’t remeber ever seeing Jorge run that fast.
The Yankees have a replacement for Posada if he doesn’t hit. We really don’t have one for Jeter, so he’s more of a concern.
Nunez is going to replace them both. At the same time.
Gardner looking not terrible.
wow look at gardner swining on a 3-1 count at ball four..and getting a hit!
Gardner looking good lately. Awesome.
Bunt, no?
Go Gardner! He is has looked so much better this series. Hopefully this means he is coming around.
Oh, no. What is Girardi going to do here.
Nice to see Gardner with a patient at bat, seeing a pitch he likes and driving it out to shallow right. Let’s see if he can swipe a bag before this thing is over.
Brett Gardner, bigtime pull hitter?
Gardner is back. Getting walks and hits. Just the way we like him. Now if only he steals more aggressively and cervelli doesn’t bunt the first pitch…
Gardner has looked sooooooo much better these last few games
I’ll take it
Steal third.
Small ball!!!
Cervelli – two pitches, two outs.
The sad part is Michael Kay was serious about bunting Cervelli to “stay out of the double play”, as if he’s a pitcher at the plate. smh
He’s fast.
why would escobar do that?
According to Brian Butterfield he’s a gold glover
Panicked. bad play in giving up the sure out.
The most productive ground out to SS from Jeter all year.
Wow…I thought he had him though.
Jeter gets credited for Escobar’s blunder.
I’ll take it.
Oops. Fielder’s choice.
that was pretty dumb, Gardner scores on a base hit anyway
Unless it’s hit to Bautista.
This game’s actually pretty entertaining.
What is that scored?
Fielder’s Choice with no out associated, I believe.
Maybe Gardy yelled “Ha” on his way past and confused Escobar.
Ha!
2 Players on my Fantasy Team this week:
Player A: 3 R 2 HR 4 RBI 0 SB 5BB .286 AVG 1.090 OPS
Player B: 5 R 2 HR 3 RBI 1 SB 5 BB .545 AVG 1.869 OPS
GUESS WHO?
B is Gardner.
THE GRANDYMAN CAN!!!!! Man, is he having a hell of a year or what?
daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa grandy man can!
The Grandy Man. Whoa.
So much for small ball.
I know, but Grandy killed the rally.
Knew we should’ve cut him when we had the chance. SMH
Granderson smallballed the shit out of that.
That’s double secret small ball.
GRANDY!
Why have an Anderson, when you can have a GRANDerson?
John Sterling, is that you?
And that’s why you give him the green light even though Tex has 5 grand slams and A-Rod has 22.
no bunts = good things happen
Just wait til we pull out the fake bunts. We’ll massacre them.
#butcherboyhomeruns
Homers since August 14, 2010:
Jose Bautista 27
Troy Tulowitzki 23
Curtis Granderson 22
Albert Pujols 20
but, but… AJax and IPK!
Ajax is one strikeout shy of having twice as many strikeouts as hits.
The best part about that inning: no bunting.
ARod looks awful lately
Now if only Seattle can give Felix some run support….
6th inning uh oh
You know you have depth problems when juan Riveria is your 5th hitter.
err, Juan Rivera
…and he squares to bunt.
Good boy Nova.
Good job, Nova.
Let’s get some runs and alleviate the need to use the Formula. Would love to see some more of the Carlisle and Pendleton show.
i want to see Nova go into the 7th again today. His stuff isn’t as sharp as last time but Toronto has a better offense at the moment than the CWS and Nova is doing well. Might as well have him practice getting through the order more because if Girardi never lets him, he will never learn.
Nova, to 7.2 and beyond!
let’s just get to 6.2, lol
My bad. *facepalm*
He’s tired. Pitching waaay up.
the 6.1 wall
You’re already, Ivan.
I didn’t have Nova throwing ANY changeups today. Weird.
Another quality start from Nova. It wasn’t pretty but I’ll take 6.1 innings and 2 runs from my #4 any day.
Nova gets a pint of Turkey Hill. On me.
I give Nova some respect for how hard he fought today. He will break the 7.0 barrier before too long.
LOL Jenks.
lmao!
Why was he left in there so long?
Patience, Daniel-san.
Jenkum.
Rajai needs to just get hurt again already. Fucking steals are so annoying
No fastballs please
Don’t walk him, fastball down the middle.
Dammit.
Fuck, it’s Boone.
time for the Boone Logan Experience
Angels tied it up at five going into the sixth. Nice to see they decided to stop bending over for AL East teams.
Don’t worry, they’ll still find a way.
they took out Bautista?
I hope he injured himself and will be on the DL for like 10 years.
Ditto. With something awesome like a torn glut.
Torn beard.
Ftw.
B0o0o0o0oo0o0ne. I still hate you though.
Boone-ninja.
hahaha holy crap that was smooth
Boone planned that.
Holy shit, like a boss.
That needs to be a gif very very soon.
Wasn’t it Cliff Lee that made that same play against us?
Logan’s been fine since the first week of the season.
Just saying.
anyone else having problems with MLV.tv … this sucks
*MLB.tv
So do people still want to cut an appendage from Gardner?
Why did Litch even start that inning?
Enjoying the return of Gardy.
Gardner has been successful once in his last five SB attempts. Completely inexcusable.
So does TBS have a back-up game? I just checked in to see the Yankee game (as expected) is blacked out, but wondering why they don’t show the back-up game? Or is there not one?
lol @ Gardner trying to evade the tag with that dome.
The trials and tribulations of a base stealer: The Brett Gardner Story.
Or more aptly titled, Bonk’s Adventure.
LOL Jeter
Another hit for Jeter!
Oh.
I really wanna see Jeter score after reaching on a strikeout.
Well, at least he got on base.
FACT: Jeter’s 2000th hit was a swinging bunt to 3rd.
is it still a FACT if you don’t write FACT, though…
Is that still a question even if you don’t use a question mark?
My favorite part of today’s game was when Flaherty admitted that he’s an alcoholic.
Oh boy, here we go. Soriano time.
Gardy flashing the leather today. Soriano really worries me with all the hard-hit fly balls he gives up.
They put the StubHub ad behind home plate? everyone knows Soriano doesn’t like to pitch with the StubHub ad in front of him
Stop being surprised, Kay. It’s the media that’s made up the story about Soriano having to adjust to not being a closer.
actually, it was Soriano. Read his quotes.
This guy is allergic to 1-2-3 innings.
At least he got the job done.
He prefers the 1-2-4 innings.
Soriano’s ERA is 0.00 in May
#glasshalffull
Papelbum in against Seattle.
Sadly he’s been pitching well this year. And has the first out already.
Kay just wanted to say “armpit.”
Unrelated, but is anyone else having a problem with MLB.tv. If I try to watch the game in reduced-screen mode, it shoves the picture into the upper-lefthand corner, obscuring about half the picture. I have to go to full-screen to see the picture, which is a problem, because I can’t toggle between screens. This only started this year.
Is Mo available today?
No. Today is his day of rest, his off day.
His “Sabbath” if you will.
YOU FUCKING LIAR!!!!
I was just teasing.
lol
A hit would be nice, Alex.
Oh bugger.
Geez, A-Rod has really come back down to earth.
OMG WHERE IS CANO
He tweaked his oblique, after reaching over to check on his pulled hamstring, which he got after tearing his achilles tendon.
Or I don’t know.
Ah, the old Carl Pavano move.
Uh oh, i hope nothings wrong with Robbie
Don’t we all hope that?
I dont know what you hope and don’t hope about…
That was strike three dammit
Joaquin Benoit sucking again. Good stuff.
When’d Mo lose the socks?
Does is seem like they’re using Jack Curry more this year? I’m fine with that.
Ichiro just dropped a ball in right after the Sox.
Love me some Granderson. He genuinely seems like a great guy.
He’s actually a murderer.
gawd, I hate Boston.
So do we all.
After the 1st round of the NHL playoffs my hatred for Boston has grown even more.
The Red Sox are crowding around Carl Crawford celebrating a walk-off hit.
Rarely do I see something so revolting
The Red Sox in general are revolting
The Red Sox are crowding around Carl Crawford
Rarely do I see something so revolting
Fixed.
The Red Sox
Rarely do I see something so revolting
Fixed again.