(AP)

The 2005 Yankees were a run prevention disaster. They had what was arguably the worst defense in modern baseball history, and their starting rotation was such a wreck (thanks to the Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, and Kevin Brown injuries) that Brian Cashman traded the overworked Paul Quantrill to the Padres for replacement level arms Tim Redding and Darrell May in early-June. They simply needed innings.

May, 33 at the time, started for the Yankees a week after the trade, giving up seven runs in 4.1 IP to the Indians. Redding, then just 27, started against the Red Sox in Fenway Park about a week after that. To say it went poorly would be an understatement. He faced eleven total batters and eight reached base, four on walks and two on extra base hits. The Sox had already scored three runs when they had the bases loaded with no outs in the second. May came in to replace Redding and allowed all three inherited runners to score, and then some. The duo combined to allow a dozen runs in 3.2 IP. They faced 28 total batters, and 17 of them reached base. The Yanks went on to lose 17-1. Here’s the box score if you want to relive that nightmare.

Redding — who turns 34 today — was banished to the minor leagues after the game and never threw another pitch for the Yankees. May suffered the same fate, except he never pitching in the big leagues again. The pitching situation looked gloomy earlier this offseason, but it was never 2005 bad. The Yankees have a stable of viable young starters in Triple-A, meaning the emergency trades to fill rotation spots with the Reddings and Mays of the world are a thing of the past.

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Here’s tonight’s open thread. None of the hockey or basketball locals are playing tonight, but I’m sure you’ll find a way to entertain yourself. The Walking Dead comes back, and I guess I’ll give it another chance after the stellar finale last year. Anyway, talk about whatever you like. Have at it.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Tim Redding

(Photo via LIFE.com with a hat tip to Brooklyn Ed)

The name Scott Pose might not ring a bell, and no one would blame you if it didn’t. He’s most notable for being the very first batter in Florida Marlins history, hitting leadoff and playing center field for the expansion franchise during their first ever game in 1993. He reached base on an error by the second baseman in at at-bat.

Pose only played in 15 games for the Fish that year, toiling away in Triple-A until he resurfaced with the Yankees in 1997. He went up and down a few times, helping fill out the bench when Tim Raines, Bernie Williams, and some others battled through minor injuries. In 54 games (18 starts) and 96 plate appearances with the Yankees, Pose hit .218/.292/.264 with three steals. While with Triple-A Columbus in 1997 and 1998, he hit a combined .300/.377/.415 with 60 steals in 190 games.

Today is Pose’s 45th birthday, and he’s been out of baseball for about ten years now. The majority of his big league career (202 games and 353 plate appearances) came with the Royals (133 games and 214 plate appearances) after his short stint in pinstripes. Pose is a forgotten Yankee, but he’s a former big leaguer, and that alone is one hell of an accomplishment.

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Here is tonight’s open thread. The three hockey locals already played, but both the Knicks and Nets are in action tonight. I’ve heard something about Linsanity over the last few days that sounds intriguing. Anyway, talk about whatever you like here. go nuts.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Scott Pose

In case you missed Robinson Cano‘s appearance on Jay Leno’s show last night, here’s the video. He played a game of Yankees trivia with Denzel Washington, and … I won’t tell what happened. Just watch.

When you’re done with that, use this as your open thread. Both the Knicks and Nets are playing tonight, but you can talk about whatever you like here. Enjoy.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Denzel vs. Robbie

Mulholland, 30 at the time, was coming off an All-Star season in Philadelphia that saw him pitch to a 3.25 ERA in 191 IP. He’d thrown at least 180 IP in each of the previous four seasons, and there was talk about a multi-year contract immediately after the trade since he was due to become a free agent after the season. The Yankees beat Mulholland in arbitration ($3.35M vs. $4.05M) but didn’t sign him long-term. That turned out to be a very good decision.

In his first two starts, Mulholland allowed a dozen runs in just nine total innings. He allowed at least four runs in his nine first starts and in 12 of his first 13. By the All-Star break, he’d thrown 115 IP with a 6.65 ERA, a 1.57 WHIP, and a 1.8 HR/9. Batters were hitting .309/.358/.551 off him. Then-manager Buck Showalter moved him into the bullpen after the break, but five appearances later the season ended due to the strike. All told, the Yankees got 120.2 IP out of Mulholland, who posted a 6.49 ERA. None of three players they gave up toget him turned into anything great — Jordan was the bench of the bunch, spending seven years as a utility infielder — but the trade turned out to be a disaster.

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Here is your open thread for the night. All three hockey locals are in action, and later on tonight you can catch Robinson Cano on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (11:35pm ET on NBC). You folks know how these things go, so have at it.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Terry Mulholland

(AP)

Everyone wants to make a name for themselves during the course of their lives, creating some kind of legacy that at least friends and family will remember them by. Baseball players are in the public eye and leave much bigger legacies than regular schmucks you like and me, and if they’re lucky enough that legacy will be a positive one. Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Reggie Jackson, Aaron Boone, David Cone, Bernie Williams … we’ll remember those guys for all the good they did in pinstripes for many, many years to come. Chase Wright isn’t so lucky.

Unless you’re a new Yankees fans, I mean you started following the team within the last year or two, there’s only one way to remember Chase Wright. April 27th, 2007, third inning. The Yankees were up three-zip on the Red Sox at Fenway Park thanks to Jason Giambi, who doubled in a pair in the first inning and singled in another run in the third. Wright started the bottom of the inning by getting Kevin Youkilis to fly out to the warning track in right, an ominous sign. David Ortiz then lined out to left for the second out. That’s when it happened.

2-1 pitch to Manny Ramirez: homer to to left-center
1-2 pitch to J.D. Drew: homer to right-center
1-1 pitch to Mike Lowell: homer to left
1-0 pitch to Jason Varitek: homer to left

Within the span of 13 pitches, Wright had surrendered four consecutive homeruns to turn a 3-0 lead into a 4-3 deficit. He struck out Wily Mo Pena to end the inning, then was replaced by Colter Bean (!) to start the fourth. The Yankees went on to lose 7-6. Wright was send back to Double-A Trenton after the game, then threw two innings during his September callup. He spent the next season in the minors, then was traded to the Brewers for Eric Fryer (who was later traded to the Pirates for Eric Hinske) before the 2009 season.

Wright hasn’t been back to the big leagues since that September callup in 2007, instead toiling around in the minors with rather hideous results: 5.39 ERA in 386.2 IP with the Brewers. Today is his 29th birthday, and unless Wright makes some significant adjustments, he’ll never return to the big leagues and those four homers in Fenway will remain his legacy. Harsh.

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Here is your open thread. The only local clubs in action tonight are the Knicks and Nets, but you can use this thread to talk about whatever you want. Go nuts.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Chase Wright

(Photo via MainLineAutographs.com)

We’ve seen a lot of left-handed pitchers come through the Bronx over the last 15 years or so, but few of them had the pedigree of Donovan Osborne. He was the 13th overall pick back in 1990, twice rated a top 100 prospect by Baseball America (#42 in 1991 and #35 in 1992), and was the Cardinals’ Opening Day starter in 1999. Osborne made just six starts that year due to injury, and was out of baseball entirely until 2002. He appeared in eleven games for the Cubs in 2002, got hurt again, and missed all of 2003. The Yankees rolled the dice and signed him to a minor league contract on this date in 2004.

Unsurprisingly, Osborne was pretty terrible for the Yankees. He made the team out of Spring Training as a reliever, spending time as both a lefty specialist and mop-up man in April. Injuries and ineffectiveness forced him into the rotation in mid-May, which resulted in a pair of clunkers against the Mariners (6 R in 1.1 IP then 6 R in 5 IP). The Yankees had enough by then, releasing Osborne about a week later. In two starts and seven relief appearances with the team, he allowed 16 runs and 32 baserunners in 17.2 IP. He never pitched in the big leagues again.

Osborne was a forgettable Yankee, but I will always remember him for one thing: he wore #46. Remember, this was 2004, so Andy Pettitte had just fled for the Astros. The team reissued his number immediately, and that always struck me as disrespectful. Then again, George Steinbrenner always seemed to be trying to trade Pettitte through the late-90s and early-2000s, so I guess Andy was used to it by then.

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Here is tonight’s open thread. All three hockey locals are in action, plus the final game of the Caribbean Series is on ESPN3.com and ESPN Deportes. The Dominican Republic already clinched the series title, so tonight’s game is meaningless. Talk about that stuff or anything else you want here. Have at it.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Donovan Osborne

Wickman never looked back after that, and in 1994 he was Buck Showalter’s workhorse setup man. He threw 70 innings in relief and led the league with 53 appearances (remember, they only played 113 games because of the strike), pitching to a 3.09 ERA. Wickman struggled a bit in 1996 — 4.67 ERA in 79 IP across 58 appearances — before being traded to the Brewers for Graeme Lloyd. Lloyd helped the Yankees to the World Series later that year while Wickman settled in and had a long, productive career as a late-inning reliever.

Today is Wickman’s 43rd birthday, and I’m going to use this as an opportunity to tell you about our plans for Old School Week. Joe kicked things off with his Charlie Hayes post this morning, and during the rest of the week we’re going to focus the majority of our content on the good ol’ days, meaning the 80′s and 90′s. Maybe the 70′s and early-2000′s as well, who knows. I figure we’ve sufficiently covered the pitching staff, the DH candidates, all the important stuff with the current team, so this was a good week to get nostalgic. Hope you enjoy.

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Here is tonight’s open thread. The Knicks and Nets are playing tonight, plus there’s a Caribbean Series game on ESPN Deportes/ESPN3.com. Talk about whatever you like here.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Bob Wickman

Will Eli Manning's permanent dumb face save the day? (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

I’m a Jets fan, but I can’t imagine not rooting for the Giants today. I guess it helps that I’m not the biggest football fan in the world — so my allegiance isn’t ironclad — but ultimately it comes down to the New York thing. I mean, if the Mets and Red Sox were in the World Series, would you not be rooting for those fellas from Flushing? This isn’t any different. New York vs. Boston, Eli vs. Brady … doesn’t take much to back the G-Men today. Lets go Gi-Ants.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Super Bowl XLVI Open Thread

The Yankees were busy trolling the “it would be a great move if it was 2003!” crowd at this time last offseason, and one year ago today they signed Eric Chavez to a minor league contract with an invite to Spring Training. He went on to win the backup corner infielder’s job with a strong showing in camp, and had an up-and-down regular season that featured little power, some big hits, injury, and surprisingly excellent defense given his history of back and shoulder problems. The Yankees could still bring him back for that very same role in 2012, though I have to think it would be another minor league deal. They can’t guarantee him anything given his frailty.

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Here is your open thread for the night. The Knicks and Nets are playing each other, and the Islanders are also in action. The Caribbean Series will be on ESPN Deportes and ESPN3.com as well, in case you’re in serious need of a baseball fix. Mighty Matt DeSalvo and Randy Keisler were opposing starters in yesterday’s game, just to give you an idea of the talent pool (failed prospects, org. players, etc.). But still, it’s baseball. Use the thread to talk about whatever’s on your mind.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Eric Chavez

I remember hating the move when it happening, but one year ago today the Yankees signed Freddy Garcia off the scrap heap. The deal worked out better than anyone could have expected, as Freddy gave the team 146.2 IP of 3.62 ERA and 4.12 FIP pitching. The ERA was about 14% better than league average, the FIP just about exactly league average. Sweaty Freddy helped the Yankees survive what was supposed to be a pitching disaster, and all it earned him was a chance to be the fifth starter this season. Guy gets no respect [/Dangerfield].

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Here is your open thread for the night. The Islanders, Knicks, and Nets are all playing tonight, but you folks know what to do here. Go nuts.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Sweaty Freddy