Mother Nature spares Pawtucket
By · CommentsPeteAbe’s got the Fall Instructional League roster. That’s a mighty fine crop of catchers.
Conor Gillaspie, the 37th overall pick, is the first 2008 draftee to reach the majors. Not like the Giants have anything to lose, half their 40-man is dead weight anyway.
Triple-A Scranton‘s game was rained out. SWB leads Pawtucket 2-1 in the best-of-five series. Today’s game will be made up on Monday, if necessary. Scheduled starters Phil Hughes and Bartolo Colon will face off tomorrow in Game 4.
Double-A Trenton has advanced to the Eastern League Championship Series and was off today. They’ll take on Akron in the Finals, who beat Bowie 5-1 tonight to advance. Interestingly, the Thunder are going to skip over George Kontos & Chris Garcia, both of whom didn’t pitch in their first round sweep of Portland, and throw Eric Hacker in Game 1 of the Finals. He’ll have to face a 3-4-5 combo of Matt LaPorta, Travis Hafner & Wes Hodges when the series starts Tuesday.
High-A Tampa’s season is over, they did not qualify for the playoffs. The Fort Myers Miracle (Twins) will take on the Daytona Cubs in the Florida State League Championship Series.
Low-A Charleston’s season is over, they did not qualify for the playoffs. The Augusta Green Jackets (Giants) and West Virginia Power (Brewers) will play for the South Atlantic League Championship.
Short Season Staten Island‘s final regular season game was cancelled due to rain. They finished the year 49-26, the best record in the NY-Penn League. Brian Baisley set a new franchise record with a .336 batting average, surpassing Justin Snyder‘s .335 mark from last year. They’ll be taking on the Jamestown Jammers (Marlins) in the first round of the playoffs, best-of-three series. Looks like David Phelps will get the ball in Game 1 on Monday.
The Rookie GCL Yanks’ season is over. The GCL Phils won the league championship.
Game 142: Playing for pride
By · CommentsWith the late-inning implosion of the Rays’ bullpen earlier this evening, the Yankees find themselves tied for third place. A loss tonight would drop them into fourth place in the AL East. It would be the first time since 1992 that the Yanks are in fourth this late in the season.
Over the course of the evening, we’ve seen a few opinions emerge as to whether or not fourth place matters. Some people feel that if the Yanks aren’t going to make the playoffs — first place or wild card — then it doesn’t matter where they finish as long as it isn’t last. Others — including me — believe it to be a point of pride.
Sure, the $200-million Yankees are a big disappointment this year, but that doesn’t mean they should roll over and give up on the rest of the season. Their fans are still watching; we expect decent baseball. So the team should deliver. Plus, it’s better to win more games than anything else. While some cite the difference in draft picks, the Yanks aren’t going to land one of the top five picks no matter how poorly they do over their final three weeks of the season. I’d rather see them finish in third and land the 20th pick than finish in fourth and land the 18th pick.
To keep the Yankees in third place, Joe Girardi will painfully hand the ball off to Sidney Ponson. The only reason Ponson is starting tonight is because Al Aceves has to replace Darrell Rasner next week. Such are the state of things in September. As a Yankee, Ponson is 3-4 with a 6.22 ERA. Since winning on August 6, he’s 0-3 in 20.2 innings spanning four starts. He’s walked nine and struck out seven while pitching to an ERA of 7.40. I’m glad I’m leaving the house tonight before this game starts. It could be an ugly, ugly evening.
Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
A. Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Nady LF
Matsui DH
Cano 2B
I. Rodriguez C
Ponson P
Yankee Stadium send-off a legendary disappointment
By · CommentsFollowing up on my morning post about the non-sold out Mets-Phillies games comes more stadium shenanigans. Richard Sandomir in The Times writes about the Yankees haven’t really honored their legends during the final year at the Stadium.
Descendants of Babe Ruth, the man who built the house, and Mickey Mantle, for example, have wondered why the Yanks have neglected history. Peter Abraham notes growing discontent among Yankee fans who feel that the team hasn’t done much beyond the All Star Game to honor the building’s history. And a quick scan of the list of people who have pulled the countdown lever leaves me underwhelmed.
So with ten games left, the Yanks have one more homestand to send the stadium out in style. For a stadium, 1970s renovations or not, that has played to host to so much Yankee history and has been a part of New York’s sports, cultural and religious life since 1923, the building has gone largely unappreciated by the team this year, and I’m not holding my breath that this attitude will change before Sept. 21.
ByIt’s nearly impossible to find any affordable tickets for one of the final ten games at Yankee Stadium. But 13 miles away, the Mets can’t even sell out an important series against the Phillies. As mediocre as the Yankees are this year, at least the fans are still going to witness history in the making, and that’s more than we can say for the Mets and the Shea Faithful. · (19) ·
Damon Sublett is heading to Hawaii Winter Baseball after missing most of the season due to injury.
Triple-A Scranton (6-4 win over Pawtucket) SWB leads the best-of-five series 2-1 … Phil Hughes takes on Bartolo Colon in Game 4 tomorrow
Justin Christian, Juan Miranda, Shelley Duncan & Chris Stewart: all 1 for 4 – J-Chrizzle drew a walk & scored a run … Miranda doubled, drove in a run & K’ed … Shelley K’ed twice … Stewart committed an error on catcher’s interference
Bernie Castro: 0 for 4, 1 K
Juan Miranda: 1 for 4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
Ben Broussard: 3 for 3, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB
Matt Carson: 0 for 3, 2 R, 1 K – playing CF now that Melky’s back up
Eric Duncan: 1 for 3, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB – drove in the game winning runs with a 3-R jack … but it came in the 4th inning, so it doesn’t count because it wasn’t late in the game and therefore not clutch, right?
Nick Green: 2 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 K
The Ghost of Kei Igawa: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 10-7 GB/FB – 61 of 103 pitches were strikes (59.2%)
Steven Jackson: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 WP, 1-0 GB/FB
Scott Strickland: 1.1 IP, zeroes, 3 K, 1-0 GB/FB – now that’s how you slam the door in the playoffs
Game 141: Good thing Seattle’s known for its coffee
By · CommentsLast night’s game ended at roughly 10:30pm EST, then the Yanks had to board their charter for the longest possible flight in baseball. I’m guessing the team didn’t get to their hotel until about 7am EST this morning. That’s why they get paid the big bucks I suppose.
Don’t be surprised if they look a little flat tonight, especially with Brandon Morrow and his 98mph heat making his first career start for the M’s. Seattle sucks, but the Yanks are set-up to lose tonight.
1. Damon, CF
2. Jeter, SS
3. Abreu, RF
4. A-Rod, 3B
5. Giambi, 1B
6. Nady, LF
7. Matsui, DH
8. Cano, 2B
9. Molina, C
And on the mound, Andy Pettitte.
Notes: Darrell Rasner is out of the rotation, Al Aceves is in … after throwing only 43 pitches last night, I suspect Rasner will be available out of the pen as early as tomorrow, good thing considering Ponson’s starting … Wilson Betemit has three at-bats since August 15th, he’s basically useless now, no way he can do much of anything with all that rust …
Open Thread: What about Andy?
By · Comments
The Facts:
- Since July 31st, Andy Pettitte has a 7.02 ERA and has a 1.75 WHIP.
- Opponents are hitting .288-.337-.422-.756 off him this year, roughly equivalent to facing all Derek Jeters.
- Pettitte’s ERA at Yankee Stadium is nearly two runs higher than it is on the road this year.
- He’s 36 years old.
Is Pettitte falling off a cliff right before our eyes, or is he just in a rut? Either way, the Yanks will have to decide what to do with Andy next year. Given that he’s a Type-A free agent, offering him arbitration is a no brainer … or is it? Is he worth $16M a year?
What do you think, should the Yankees try to bring Andy Pettitte back next year (assuming he doesn’t retire)? Talk it out here while we wait for the West Coast game to start.
Knocking down the Stadium, carefully
By · CommentsIn six months, the Yankees and the City of New York will begin the soul-destroying and heart-wrenching process of tearing down Yankee Stadium. But they want to do it carefully. To that end, The New York Times’ City Room blog has a story on the looming destruction of the House that Ruth Built.
Writes Patrick McGeehan:
New York City is looking for demolition companies that think they can tear down Yankee Stadium without damaging any of the seats or other pieces that might be sold to collectors.
The razing of the famous ballpark is scheduled to start in March and last as long as a year, according to a solicitation form issued by the city’s Economic Development Corporation. The first stage of the demolition will involve salvaging all of the stadium seating as well as some large features like the white frieze that adorns the wall behind the bleachers and the 120-foot-tall bat-shaped boiler stack outside the main entrance.
City officials are still working out a plan with the Yankees for selling the parts of the stadium that belong to the city and memorabilia, like lockers and signs that belong to the team, said Andrew Brent, a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
It will be a sad, sad day when the demolition of Yankee Stadium begins.
