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.
On triple plays and long odds
By · CommentsThe Yankees last turned a triple play during the waning months of the Johnson Administration. In the eighth inning of a game against the Twins on June 3, 1968, John Roseboro came up to the plate with two on and no out. He lined the pitch back to Dooley Womack, a name largely lost to baseball history. Womack threw to Bobby Cox at third to double off Tony Oliva, and Cox threw to Mickey Mantle, who was manning first base, to double off Bob Allison.
These days, if the Yanks turn a triple play, one lucky fan — if you count listening to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman lucky — will win $10,000 and a year of cable from Time Warner. But there’s a catch: The triple play must come in the third inning. The odds are, as you can imagine, not very high that someone will ever win this contest.
Nowadays, with the Yanks nearing elimination, the broadcast partners are struggling to keep their audiences. To that end, WCBS has been pimping their unlikely contests. Win $1,000,000 if someone throws a perfect game. Score $10K for that third inning triple play. Carl Bialik, the Numbers Guy at The Wall Street Journal, drilled down on those contests this week. He found that Time Warner has a 99.4 percent chance of never paying out the prize and that the Yanks had a 0.3 percent chance of tossing a perfect game.
But keep watching. Someone might win.
In yesterday’s New York Sun — which might close its doors at month’s end — Steven Goldman penned a gloomy article on the near future of the Yankees. The main idea of his post is highlighted in the above headline. According to Goldman, the Yankees will not be good in 2009.
The main argument is age. He notes that only one player currently under contract, Robinson Cano, is under 30. That’s never a good thing, though they do have control of Xavier Nady for one more year before he reaches free agency. Then you have to look at the players who are under contract. A-Rod is still a monster. Jeter could have a rebound year, but even if he doesn’t, he’s still a solid shortstop while at the plate. Jorge Posada should be back and healthy, supplying above-average performance for a catcher. Chien-Ming Wang can come back and win us another 19 games. Johnny Damon has been great this year, and hopefully he can eke out one more good year before hitting free agency.
There are a few IFs in the above paragraph, of course. More IFs circle around the pitching staff. Moose and Pettitte get the double IF: IF they come back, and IF they continue giving you quality innings. IF Joba Chamberlain can stay healthy and in the rotation for most of the season (Goldman has a few words on that). Then you move on to free agency. IF they sign CC Sabathia or Ben Sheets. IF they’re able to fill the center field hole. IF…the lost goes on.
So I can understand where Goldman is coming from. In a boatload of IFs, a few are bound to fall overboard. However, that doesn’t mean all hope is lost. The Yankees will have to be shrewd this off-season. They can’t afford to be sentimental. We’ll go over this in more depth as the season comes to a close.
