ByJoe Girardi irked a few Yankees earlier this year when he banned unhealthy food from the post-game spread. Ever looking for edge, Mike Mussina made a deal: When Moose reaches 10 wins, the ice cream returns. Well, Mussina won his tenth game on the road, and the ice cream is back. Once Moose reached 12 wins, the donuts can return, and 15 wins will bring back the candy. If that’s what’s keeping Moose dealin’ this year, maybe the Yanks should have tried this sooner. · (14) ·
Ajax does it again, SI season begins
By · CommentsUpdate: Jesus Montero finished second behind Hagerstown’s Michael Burgess in the Sally League HR Derby. Montero hit 11 homers total.
Triple-A Scranton (4-3 loss to Norfolk)
Brett Gardner: 1 for 5, 2 K – 5 for his last 24
Justin Christian: 3 for 5, 1 R, 1 2B – 15 for his last 35 (.429)
Cody Ransom, Juan Miranda, Nick Green & Chris Stewart: all 1 for 4 – Miranda drove in a run & K’ed … Green hit a solo shot & K’ed thrice … Stewart doubled, scored a run & K’ed
Shelley Duncan: 0 for 0, 4 BB, 1 SB – picked off second … still hitless in his return to the minors, but at least he brings spark and energy … he’s put the ball in play just twice since going back down
Jason Lane: 0 for 4, 3 K
The Ghost of Kei Igawa: 7 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 9-9 GB/FB – 61 of 90 pitches were strikes (67.8%)
Scott Strickland: 1 IP, zeroes, 1 K
Heath Phillips: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K – opponents are hitting .310 off him
Game 71: Rock out with Wang out
By · CommentsWhile the Yanks won’t feel the effects of Chien-Ming Wang‘s absence until Saturday, this is their first official game without him. Hence the mildly inappropriate title.
Couple of notes from PeteAbe (because you haven’t seen his game thread yet, right?). Dan Giese is official for Saturday. If he can give us a couple of decent starts — six or seven innings, three or four runs each time out — it’ll be tough to complain. Ian Kennedy won’t be up anytime soon, at least not in time for the Mets doubleheader a week from Friday. The time in AAA will do him good. Yes, I just said that.
Apparently, Brian Cashman is intrigued by the hot start of Trenton righty Al Aceves. He’s not exactly young; eight months younger than yours truly. But he’s dealing in Trenton right now, having walked just three guys in 36 innings, striking out 29, and sporting an even 2.00 ERA. Cashman, though, said he’d need at least a little time at Scranton before the Yanks will consider him. Does that mean he’ll be promoted soon?
Good find from Mike. John Moores, owner of the Padres, has taken his entire staff to New York so they can experience the old Stadium before it is no more. Sounds like a boss I’d like to work for.
And finally, your lineups:
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Jason Giambi, 1B
7. Jorge Posada, C
8. Robinson Cano, 2B
9. Melky Cabrera, CF
And on the mound, number forty-six, Andy Pettitte.
ByJust wanted to mention that you can check out Short Season Staten Island kick off their season against the Brooklyn Cyclones tonight on SNY. The game is at Coney Island’s beautiful KeySpan Park, with first pitch set for 7pm. Man, I can’t tell you how much I’m hoping Pat Venditte pitches. Two innings out of the bullpen, say 4 RHB and 2 LHB would be just perfect. (h/t to commentor JohnC)
Update: Sorry all, looks like the game isn’t on. That’s what I get for not confirming the info before posting it. Thursday’s Yanks-Cyclones game will be on SNY though, at least that’s why my DVR tells me. Again, sorry about that. Feel free to call me an idiot in the comment. · (15) ·
ByHal Steinbrenner told Yankee reports that he was “shocked” by the Mets’ firing of Willie Randolph. Call it inept; call it embarrassing; one thing it ain’t is shocking. Meanwhile, Hal says that, once the firing blows over, the Yanks will figure out how to honor Willie this year. “Willie’s been a Yankee for a lot of years and he’s a great man,” the younger Steinbrenner said. “We need to let all the dust settle and see what happens here and go from there.” · (21) ·
What Hank said
By · CommentsWhen I first posted my instant analysis on Chien-Ming Wang‘s injury on Sunday afternoon, I pointed my finger at the inanities of Interleague Play. The marketing gimmick, I argued before getting refuted by the commenters here, unnecessarily puts American League pitchers at risk. While these athletes are in fine shape, they aren’t used to the act of running the bases. It’s not one of the five tools for nothing.
While it’s hard to argue that Wang’s injury was directly a result of Interleague Play and his running the bases, it was only the second time in his professional career that Chien-Ming Wang found himself on base. That is not a comforting thought for anyone relying on the health of the Yankees ace. As luck would have it, the Yanks caught a very bad break, and Wang finds himself out until, by all indications, at least September.
While Yankee fans are being surprisingly stoic about this spin of the wheel of fortune, the Big Mouth of the Yankees, Hank Steinbrenner himself, had a few ridiculous choice words for the rules of the Senior Circuit. Said Hank:
“My only message is simple: The National League needs to join the 21st century. They need to grow up and join the 21st century. I’ve got my pitchers running the bases, and one of them gets hurt. He’s going to be out. I don’t like that, and it’s about time they address it. That was a rule from the 1800s…
“This is always a concern of American League teams when their pitchers have to run the bases and they’re not used to doing it. It’s not just us. It’s everybody. It probably should be a concern for National League owners, general managers and managers when their pitchers run the bases. Pitchers have enough to do without having to do that.”
Setting aside the fact that the DH is from 1973, and pitchers used to bat in both leagues for decades prior to that, Hank, through the bluster, does raise something of a point. When Major League teams invest so heavily in pitching and pay through the nose for guys at the top of the game, all General Managers must cringe in agony every time one of their hurlers takes a big hack or winds up on base. Whether or not that’s good for the game is another matter.
For Hank, this is just more of the same. He likes to sound off, and it doesn’t impact anything other than the number of papers sold in New York, the ratings of the FAN and the general perception of Steinbrenner in the eyes of everyone else.
From a practical matter, the Yankees are going to have to proceed carefully. As foot guru Dr. Philip Kwong told BP’s Will Carroll today, the Yankees have to make sure Wang’s injury is 100 percent healed before he does anything else because the risk of chronic injury is very high. Carroll speculates that the Yanks’ record will dictate how they rehab their young ace, and I would be surprised to see Wang pitch again this season. He’s just that important next year.
The injury was horrendously bad luck, and we can harbor resentment toward the NL. Maybe it’s time to revisit that age-old DH debate or maybe not. But one thing is for sure: Hank Steinbrenner makes for great copy.
ByRick Peterson is currently jobless, and I’m not sure he’ll land a full-time gig before the end of the season. He’ll still be paid by the Wilpons, so you might as well sit back and enjoy the free money. That is, unless another team has use for you.
Is it outlandish to think the Yankees could do some good by hiring Peterson to work with Kei Igawa and Phil Hughes during his rehab? I think it would be a decent investment. If Peterson can do with Igawa half of what he did with Oliver Perez, I’d be more than satisfied. Plus, if Phil really is having mechanical issues, as is the popular theory, Peterson might be able to help out in that regard, too.
Or maybe the Giants will hand him a sack with a dollar sign painted on it so he can get back to working with Barry Zito. · (23) ·
ByDespite his early season struggles and his being overshadowed by Joba, Phil Hughes is still very much a part of the Yankees’ futures plans. As Brian Cashman tells Tyler Kepner over on the Bats blog, the Yanks still consider Hughes an untouchable. While Hughes won’t return to the Bronx until early August, the Yanks weren’t about to trade Phil for Johan Santana, and they won’t part with him to land C.C. Sabathia. So all you haters are just going to have to deal for a little longer. · (44) ·
ByDespite winning three of four games and seemingly turning things around a bit, Willie Randolph got the ax this morning. The Mets finally fired Willie and his two of his coaches. Perhaps the Yanks can find a spot for the man shouldering all too much of the blame for the Mets’ poor play this year. · (72) ·
