While the Yanks are on the road tonight, fans in the city can still gather to watch the game. The Yankees are hosting the second annual Pinstripes in the Park gathering in Bryant Park tonight. The grounds — between 40th and 42nd Sts. on Sixth Ave. — open at 5 p.m and so do the beer gardens. Also set to appear are Al Leiter, Graig Nettles, Bucky Dent and Mike Torrez. It gets crowded so get there early if you want to watch the Yankees lose play on the big screen in the park.
A note on the guest columns
I’m not sure about you guys, but I’m enjoying the guest columns so far. There’s a certain angle they’re taking that we don’t normally have here at RAB. So I’d like to keep it going. If you have an idea, pitch it to me (the email address is on the left). We’ll talk through the idea, and see if we can work something out.
Here’s the important note, though. If you have sent me a guest column and have not heard back from me, please email me and let me know. I plan on running one from Mr. Bill tomorrow. So him excluded, if you have emailed me a completed piece, or if we were exchanging ideas and communication cut off, let me know. We’ll get the ball rolling again.
No one feels worse than LaTroy Hawkins
LaTroy wasn’t too happy with this performance last night. Gee, I wonder why. “It was just bad,” he said after the game. “I didn’t do the job, plain and simple. I’m embarrassed. It would be one thing if I made good pitches, but I didn’t. I made terrible pitches.” Meanwhile, Mark Feinsand notes that there are recent historical comparisons should the Yanks opt to release Hawkins soon. Both Paul Quantrill and Mike Stanton — making a combined $7 million — were let go at the end of June 2005. I guess that gives J.B. Cox, Mark Melancon or someone else about a month to make an impression in the minors.
More musings on last night’s loss
When the eleventh inning rolled around last night with the Yanks clinging to a one-run lead, the Yanks could have turned to Joba for the save. By stretching him out at the big league level, the Yanks have some flexibility with regards to his usage. That Joe Girardi opted to go to LaTroy Hawkins instead isn’t some testament to his stubbornness. Rather, Girardi knew Kennedy was hurt, and outside of Joba, the other option for Kennedy’s next scheduled spot would be Kei Igawa. What would you do there?
Meanwhile, last night’s game showed not the impact of transitioning Joba into the rotation but rather the impact of an early-season pitching injury. Had Brian Bruney not hurt himself earlier in the year, the entire tenor of that game – and many others this month – changes. Bruney is sometimes the forgotten man, but losing him hurt.
Why tonight’s loss supports moving Joba to the starting rotation
On the surface, tonight’s utterly pathetic 11-inning loss to the Orioles doesn’t do much to buffer the Yanks’ case that Joba Chamberlain should be given a shot at the starting rotation. When the game turned into a extra innings death match, the Yanks had to turn to LaTroy Hawkins, and surprising no one, Hawkins promptly blew the game (with an assist from Derek Jeter).
In the morning, the papers are sure to have a field day with this one. For the second day in a row, a pitcher not named Joba Chamberlain came into and blew a close game in late innings. Not so coincidentally, that pitcher’s name on both days happened to be LaTroy Hawkins. Had Joba — the erstwhile seventh member of the bullpen — been in the pen, the argument goes, the Yanks wouldn’t have needed LaTroy. Never mind that Joba would have pitched much earlier in the game, and that Hawkins probably would have throwing in the 11th anyway. That requires too much conjecture.
But counterintuitively to the knee-jerk Joba reaction is the fact that this game is a prime example of why Joba Chamberlain should be starting. Right now, it’s clear that we just don’t know what to expect out of Ian Kennedy. He became the first Yankee rookie in decades to record zero wins over his first eight starts to begin a season, and a lat injury will, according to Joe Girardi’s post-game show, send him to the disabled list.
The Yanks scored eight runs tonight, and by any stretch, that should be enough to win the game. Staked to a four-run lead, Kennedy couldn’t hold down the fort. Ross Ohlendorf, very effective for one inning and very terrible beyond that (notice a pattern?), didn’t hold his four run lead either.
So enter Joba Chamberlain in the starting rotation. With Joba in the starting rotation taking Kennedy’s place — a nearly foregone conclusion considering the off-day on Thursday — the Yanks wouldn’t need a pitcher of Joba’s caliber for the back end of the game because that pitcher would ideally be giving them six or seven innings of baseball without allowing eight runs to score.
By the time Hawkins came in to predictably blow the game tonight, the point would have been moot. With better starting pitcher, the Yanks wouldn’t have been in the 11th inning scrambling for an arm.
Game Notes: I have to believe that Chris Britton, J.B. Cox and Mark Melancon will all soon be ahead of LaTroy Hawkins on the depth chart. If Britton isn’t, then someone on the Yanks should explain why. He’s no worse than Hawkins…Derek Jeter did not seem to be in this game tonight. He got picked off second with A-Rod up; he couldn’t get down a bunt; and that throw to the plate in the 11th ended up being costly as Aubrey Huff moved up to third base. Not the best stretch of games for Jeter in May this year. I wonder what’s up with him.
Giese roughed up; Melancon cruises
Triple-A Scranton (9-8 win over Pawtucket)
Brett Gardner & Jason Lane: both 1 for 3 – Gardner walked twice, swiped three bags, scored two runs & K’ed … Lane doubled, walked & scored 3 runs
Alberto Gonzalez: 0 for 5
Ben Broussard: 3 for 4, 3 R, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB – helluva first impression I’d say
Cody Ransom: 2 for 5, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K
Justin Christian: 1 or 5, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 K – 29 RBI in 37 games this year after 48 RBI in 105 games last year
Bernie Castro: 1 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS
Dan Giese: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 HB, 2-5 GB/FB – he allowed only 6 earned runs in the 53.1 IP he threw this season prior to this game
David Robertson: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – 18 of 34 pitches were strikes (52.9%) … he’s walked 10 batters in 13 IP with Scranton … he’s not ready for a call-up, so chill with that
Heath Phillips: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
JB Cox: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Billy Traber: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 3-1 GB/FB – retired 4 of the 5 LHB he faced
Scott Patterson: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Hell has frozen over
While the Yankees and the Orioles are slugging it out in Baltimore and Jorge Posada is going through rehab in Extended Spring Training, the AP reports that pigs are flying Carl Pavano has thrown 35 pitches off of a half-mound. And he did it without injuring himself. What are the odds that Pavano wins the game that clinches the AL East for the Yanks this year?