I’m watching the Twins-Tigers game, and Peter Gammons just did an advertisement for the iPhone disguised as a story on Justin Verlander’s trip to the Apple Store on Friday night. Just when you thought ESPN couldn’t get any worse…
I hate inning/pitch counts
Tomorrow kicks off the international player signing period, so get ready for the next wave of unbelievably overpaid and overhyped prospects!
Triple-A Scranton (12-1 win over Ottawa)
Justin Christian: 4 for 6, 3 R, 2 3B, 4 RBI, 1 SBÂ – 12 for 38 with 11 runs scored since being promoted
Juan Franica: 1 for 6, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K
Kevin Reese: 3 for 5, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K – 11 RBI in his last 9 games
Shelley Duncan: 1 for 6, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K – 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 HR & 13 RBI in his last 11 games
Angel Chavez: 2 for 6, 1 R, 1 3B
Andy Cannizaro: 1 for 3, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K
Omir Santos: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB
Raul Chavez: 3 for 5, 2 R, 1 K – played 1B today after manning 3B in 3Â of his last 4 games
Steven White: 8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HB, 1 E (missed catch) – 19 baserunners in last 20.1 IP
Despite all his rage, he lives in a big batting cage
This story in the sports section of The New York Times may just be one of the oddest things I’ve read in a while. Angels outfielder Reggie Willits and his wife and son live in a batting cage. I kid you not. Check it out.
Edwar Ramirez promoted, but it’s the wrong move
The Yankees have promoted 26-year-old right-handed reliever Edwar Ramirez from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and he will report today to provide support for a bullpen that has been wretched.
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To make room for Ramirez, the Yankees are expected to send infielder Chris Basak down to Scranton.
Between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton, Edwar’s thrown 43.1 innings, allowing only 19 hits and 3 earned runs while striking out 80. Yes, 80 strikeouts in 43.1 IP. He’s been beyond stellar this year, and the call-up is well deserved, but here’s the problem: it’s thw wrong move.
The Yanks have a lot of good young pitchers…like a whole lot
Triple-A Scranton (2-0 win over Ottawa)
Justin Christian: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 SB
Juan Francia: 2 for 4, 1 RBI
Shelley Duncan: 1 for 4 – in other news, Andy Phillips went hitless…again
Eric Duncan & Bronson Sardinha: both 0 for 4
Raul Chavez: 2 for 3, 1 2B – played third…no really!
Chase Wright: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HB, 12-6 GB/FB
Chris Britton: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K – in other news, the Yanks bullpen gave up 4 hits, 3 walks and 3 runs in 2.2 IP…
We won’t really rock you
Today, as I enjoyed the nice weather from the upper deck at Yankee Stadium, I watched what could be the low point of this season. After a disastrous 1-7 road trip, the Yanks came home to win on Friday but were one-hit today by Chad Gaudin.
The one hit was a groundball single up the middle by Johnny Damon. It wasn’t a pretty display, and there is nothing new to say about this game. We know Mike Myers is ineffective; we know that Kei Igawa gives up home runs like it’s nobody’s business.
But while the Yankees struggle, it was good to hear that the Yankee scoreboard operators still have hope. In the bottom of the 8th with one out, the Yanks mounted their own “rally” of the game. This “rally” game with one out when Rich Harden, rehabbing his arm by coming out of the bullpen, walked Andy Phillips and Johnny Damon.
As Derek Jeter walked to the plate, the A’s had a short pow-wow on the mound. The scoreboard operator played the ever-popular Queen song “We Will Rock You.” I can’t help but chuckle at that display. The Yankees aren’t rockin’ anyone these days. Their one hit barely made it out of the infield, and up to that point, that had hit just five balls out of the infield.
The Yankees offense: pathetic. The Yankees scoreboard operators: ironically funny.
The Kyle Konundrum
What good is a win without a little controversy? After a long wait — seven days, to be exact — the Yanks finally won a game as they, powered by three A-Rod hits, narrowly beat the A’s 2-1.
Mike Mussina pitched 7 strong innings against a team struggling as much as the Yanks were, and Mariano Rivera closed out the final 1.1 innings with 3 K’s to nail down his 10th save of the year. But what happened in between Moose’s departure and Rivera’s arrival was the story of the game.
To start the 8th inning, Joe Torre went with his typical game plan. Now, keep in mind that this game plan has worked approximately three times this year. That’s right; just three times this season, Farnsworth has worked 1-2-3 innings. As you can guess, tonight was not one of them.