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Aug

The Mark Teixeira Appreciation Thread

Posted by: Mike Axisa | Comments (116)

The Yankees had just tied the game when Johnny Damon sent a ball into the Yankees bullpen, and the new Stadium was pumped. While Victor Martinez had given the Red Sox the lead with a two-run jack in the prior half inning, the Bombers, behind Damon, quickly rebounded, and first year pinstriper Mark Teixeira stepped to the plate against the untouchable Dan Bard. The first pitch was a breaking ball that dropped in for strike one, but Tex wouldn’t let Bard get away with that again. He threw the same exact pitch and Tex hit a towering blast that landed deep into the right field stands. Order had been restored, and Mark Teixeira once again reminded all of us how lucky we are to have him on the Yankees.

Remember, Tex’s Yankee career didn’t start out so well. On the morning of May 13th he was hitting just .191-.328-.418, a far cry from the .308-.410-.552 he hit last season. Since then though, Tex has been a man on a mission. His .320-.403-.614 batting line is a better reflection of his talents, while his 29 homers lead the American League. He’s also second in the league with 83 RBI and tied with Adam Lind for the lead with 59 XBH. Teixeira has become a legitimate MVP candidate thanks to his gaudy stats and plethora of big hits.

Even though he started the year struggling at the plate, the one thing that never slumped was Tex’s defense. He’s been an All-World defender at first, whether he is ranging to his right to snare balls eying the outfield, leaping to grab balls hit over a mere mortals head, or scooping up throws from his fellow infielders. After watching Jason Giambi trip over his own feet for the last seven years, it’s been quite refreshing to watch an adept defender.

I was of the belief that the Yankees weren’t going to be able to sign Teixeira in the off-season. After dropping more than $250M in commitments to CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, I figured there wasn’t enough left in the piggy bank for Tex and that the season would start with Nick Swisher as the everyday first baseman. But the Steinbrenners found that extra $180M between the couch cushions and brought Tex home to the Bronx. And I couldn’t be any happier.

Categories : Players

Comments (116)

Aug

Pettitte, Yanks power past Halladay for 5-3 win

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (86)

The Yankees had a strange night against Roy Halladay. They worked him in the first, forcing him to throw 23 pitches in a two-run inning, which included an error by the man himself (though Millar got the credit, Doc kinda just dropped the ball). It was a rare early lead against Halladay, but he wasn’t about to give up much more. He rolled through the middle innings before wearing down at the end, surrendering three solo homers, which would be the difference in a 5-3 Yankees win.

After the first inning, Doc settled in, and that might be an understatement. After throwing 23 pitches in the first, Halladay finished all nine with just 103. This included seven pitches in the second, 16 in the third, 10 in the fourth, nine in the fifth, nine in the sixth, and five in the seventh. That left him with 89 pitches headed into the eighth, and for a guy who’s topped topped out at 133 this year that’s seemingly nothing.

Halladay looked strong again to start the eighth, retiring the first two hitters on five pitches. Then came Johnny Damon, who on the fifth pitch of the at bat hit one over the right field wall. Unlike his July Fourth jack, this was no cheapie, as it landed in the Yankees bullpen, extending the lead to 3-1. Mark Teixeira followed with a shot to right on the second pitch he saw, giving the Yankees a nice cushion. They’d need it.

Phil Hughes, who had come on for Pettitte with two on and two outs in the seventh, didn’t look his sharpest last night. Each of the five Jays he faced had two strikes, but three of them managed to foul a few off — ones that a few weeks ago Hughes would have blown by them. In total the Jays had seven two-strike fouls off Hughes, including four frustrating ones by Kevin Millar, who, like Adam Lind and Jose Bautista before him, struck out looking.

Yet Hughes did allow two hits in the eighth, which was enough for Girardi to call on Mo for another four-out save. That backfired, as he allowed a two-run double to Vernon Wells after going down 3-0 on him. That made it a one-run game, something you just don’t expect when staking Hughes and Mo to a three-run lead. Hideki Matsui made it a bit more comfortable with a first-pitch homer off Halladay in the ninth, but Mo made it interesting again in the ninth, putting men on first and third before closing the door.

Andy Pettitte did his job, though he seemed shaky at times. He didn’t throw a healthy number of strikes — 103 pitches, 57 strikes. It almost caught up to him in the fourth, when a single and two walks loaded the bases. That ended after a sac fly and a grounder to short, but it certainly cast some doubt on Pettitte’s ability to hold the lead. Yet he held on strong, pitching well until putting two runners on in the seventh, including a walk of Rod Barajas.

Another notable achievement for Pettitte was his six strikeouts in 6.2 IP. It marks the ninth time this season he’s struck out six or more. While his K rate isn’t quite where it was last year, it’s still at a good level for a 37-year-old who induces a lot of contact. Pettite has certainly gotten the job done lately, though, helping alleviate concerns about the back end of the rotation. Those concerns aren’t completely erased, of course, but a fairly effective Pettitte helps tremendously.

While this didn’t feel like an automatic loss before it started, the chances weren’t that great with Halladay on the mound. But the Yankees struck when they needed it most and prevailed despite a tough ending to the game. The Yanks guarantee their lead in the AL East at least one more day. That’s good news, as Sergio Mitre takes the mound tonight.

Categories : Game Stories

Comments (86)

Aug

Does Mark Teixeira prevent throwing errors?

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (135)

One major difference between this season and last is the Yankees improved defense. It seems that Robinson Cano is making plays on everything near him. Derek Jeter, as we’ve discussed, is experiencing a defensive renaissance. But most importantly, the Yankees have a real first baseman in Mark Teixeira. It seems that every night he makes a spectacular play, one that his predecessor, Jason Giambi, would not make. As I’ve said more times than I can count this season, it feels great to have a real first baseman.

In discussing the infield defense, many have lauded Teixeira for his ability to scoop bad throws and prevent throwing errors. That can be huge, as it helps out pitchers and helps the team get out of innings quicker. It saves an unknown number of runs, because who knows what happens if that runner is safe and the pitcher is throwing with men on. Teixeira, we can see, is excellent at scooping balls out of the dirt. Yet for all his defensive shortcomings, Giambi was rather proficient at this, too.

Just how proficient was he? John Dewan, publisher of The Fielding Bible, takes a look. In the new volume of TFB, he discusses Defensive Misplays and Good Fielding Plays. Once of those Good Fielding Plays is scooping a ball out of the dirt, so we can see how Giambi and Teixeira rate.

The numbers are a bit skewed, because Tex plays first far more than Giambi did during his tenure in New York. Based on the numbers, Tex has scooped 22 throws in 95 games started. Last year Giambi picked 29 in 112 games started. The difference is marginal: 0.23 scoops per game for Tex, 0.26 for Giambi. So really, there’s not that much of a difference in their abilities to scoop balls out of the dirt. Then again, this data assumes a few things, and then leaves out a few things.

First, we’re assuming that they would both face the same number of opportunities per game. This might or might not be true. Over the course of a 162-game season one would think that the data would even out, but that’s not always the case. For instance, if Jeter’s range was poorer while Giambi was around, he might have a hard time getting to a ball, thereby rushing the throw and forcing a scoop. This would give more opportunities to Giambi. So while he would have a slightly larger number of scoops total, he would probably have a worse percentage.

In fact, this does leave out missed scoops, data I’m sure is available with Defensive Misplays. How many balls did Giambi fail to scoop vs. Teixeira? Even more importantly, how many times did a throw take Giambi off the bag, where Teixeira would have stayed on? These are tough questions to answer even with available data. We know Giambi wasn’t a bad scooper, but it seems that Teixeira is a bit better.

Where Tex is most proficient, of course, is fielding grounders. As Dewan notes, Tex has saved his team 18 runs over the past two years by fielding grounders, while Giambi has cost his team that many runs, a 36-run swing. That’s almost four wins right there, which is significant because it’s just one aspect of defense. I don’t think many would argue that Tex’s ability to field grounders might bring the Yanks an additional two wins over the course of the season.

Categories : Defense

Comments (135)

Jul

Yanks win second straight pitchers’ duel to sweep Tigers

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (66)

The only thing better than a pitchers’ duel is having one on back-to-back days. Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia battled on Saturday, with Sabathia prevailing in a 2-1 Yankees victory. On Sunday Joba Chamberlain and Edwin Jackson each brought his best stuff, and again the Yankees found themselves on the heavy end of a 2-1 game. It was their third straight victory, sealing a sweep of the first-place Detroit Tigers.

Like Sabathia on Saturday, Joba ran into some trouble in the first inning, using 23 pitches and allowing two baserunners. Still, he allowed no damage. He rebounded a bit earlier than CC, though, using only 11 pitches to set the Tigers down in the second. Chamberlain would roll from there, his only blemish a solo home run to Clete Thomas. He even survived a first and third, one out, situation by getting Miguel Cabrera to pop up and Marcus Thames to strike out.

It was really the type of start we’ve expected of Joba all along. He tossed 107 pitches through six and two thirds, striking out eight and walking three (he also plunked Polanco). Sixty eight of those 107 pitches were strikes, for a solid 63.5% strike rate. He did it mostly with a fastball, throwing 71 of them, 20 curves, 12 sliders, and four changes. It was a decent mix of pitches especially because Joba, for the most part, kept his curve right around the zone.

Addressing the controversial subject, Joba’s velocity, he averaged just a hair under 93 with his fastball, but that’s a bit misleading. According to Gameday he was throwing mostly 91, 92 mph fastballs in the first three innings, touching 93 sometimes. Then Clete Thomas hit that homer to lead off the fourth, to which Joba reacted by ripping off 94, 95, 96 mph fastballs, topping out at just a hair under 97. It also seemed like he was a bit more conscious of his velocity, as he kept it down for eight and nine hitters Gerald Laird and Ramon Santiago, while ramping it up for Granderson and the heart of the order.

Joba had his best stuff today and showed us what he can do when he does. Now it’s a matter of repeating it. We’ve seen this a few times before from him this season, each time followed by mediocre or poor starts. He’s not going to have starts like this every time out, not at this point in his career. We can only hope that they become more frequent with time. It’s hard to remain patient when he pitches this well one game and gets bombed in another, but it’s part of a young pitcher’s development. And remember, as both Girardi and our friend Rebecca have mentioned, Joba is not an experienced pitcher. He’s had limited experience in the minors, and was basically thrown into the fire in New York. He still needs time to develop. Along the way we’re seeing glimpses of what can be.

On the offensive side, there wasn’t much to remark on. Both A-Rod and Teixeira did a good job of going down and getting a pitch they liked, each parking it beyond the wall, accounting for both Yankees runs. The Yankees had a few chances, five to be exact, with runners in scoring position, but they couldn’t get any of them home. Robinson Cano left three on the pond, grounding to first with Matsui on second in the fourth, and lining out to short with runners on second and third in the sixth. That last one was well hit and looked like it had a shot, but it landed in Santiago’s glove nonetheless.

Not only did the Yankees win all three games of the Tigers series, but all three were highly enjoyable. They were close all the way, and for the most part were pitchers’ affairs. We saw Phil Hughes plow through the Tigers, striking out eight in three innings of work. He laid a perfect bridge to Mo in two of the games, while Aceves took care of business on Saturday. It’s what happens when your starters go deep into games: you don’t need to call on David Robertson in a tight spot.

Next up is Baltimore, and the offense better be ready. Up first is rookie David Hernandez, who has been pretty decent lately, but then come Rich Hill and Jason Berken, both of whose ERAs suffer from hyperinflation. We also get our first look at Sergio Mitre on Tuesday.

Categories : Game Stories

Comments (66)

Jul

Tex, Hughes power Yanks to post-break win

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (49)

Storm clouds threatened the Bronx all night. In the hours leading up to the game, it looked as if the sky would release buckets of rain at any moment. As game time approached, the skies cleared a bit, but those rain clouds would come back later. The bad luck recipient was Joel Zumaya, who had to pitch the seventh as the skies opened up. Three batters later, the Yankees took the lead for good.

On double his normal rest, it was tough to expect the world from A.J. Burnett. Pitchers, we’re told, are creatures of habit. Pitch, rest four days, repeat. Still, he’d been a bright spot in a rotation which had been mired in shakiness for most of July, and the Yanks sure could have used a win to open the second half. It didn’t help, then, that Burnett allowed 11 baserunners through six innings. The good news was that he surrendered just three runs. Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera, and Mark Teixeira would take care of the rest.

Two performers stand out in last night’s contest. First is Phil Hughes. After Burnett exited, Hughes took over with authority. The 23-year-old righty pitched two full innings, holding the lead with a masterful performance. Despite three hits along the way, he recorded every out with three strikes. In a way, it was like Mariano in 1996. Starter goes six, Hughes comes on for two, and Mo finishes thing out.

The three of us at RAB are unabashed Hughes fans. Yes, we like all Yankees, especially the young guys. But there’s just something about Hughes. We’ve followed him through the minors. We’ve seen his bumps along the road. It feels great to finally see it all coming together. Yes, we’d rather see him in the starting rotation — it’s where the best pitchers on the team should be. That does not take away from what he’s accomplished, though. The man threw 75 percent strikes tonight, for Pete’s sake!

(No, I don’t think that the 40 pitches Hughes threw tonight is a way to transition him back to the rotation. I’ve come to grips with him being in the bullpen for the rest of the season. I don’t agree with it — even with Chien-Ming Wang healthy, Hughes stands to be one of the Yankees five best starters. But it’s become clear that the Yankees value him in the bullpen for the time being. So it goes.)

The other standout was none other than the $180 million man, Mark Teixeira. He was 3 for 5 on the night, but his hits came when it mattered. The first came in the first inning rally which netted a run, tying the game at one. The second came in the fifth, a single which turned into more when the ball bounced between Josh Anderson’s legs. That scored Damon, narrowing the gap to one.

The third and final hit couldn’t have been better timed. With two on and none out in the seventh, Teixeira took Joel Zumaya deep into the second deck in right, putting the Yankees ahead for good. It was almost as if you could feel the homer coming. Singleton had mentioned Zumaya’s struggles over the last few games, and as he said it you could see him struggling to throw the ball to the glove. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat and with a 3-1 count, Zumaya tried to get a 99 mph fastball down and in. It didn’t quite get there, and that was that.

The Yankees did have other opportunities throughout the night, but went 4 for 12 with runners in scoring position. That’s not great, but the Tigers went 1 for 12, and that was the difference. That and, of course, Zumaya’s recent woes.

Tomorrow promises to be a good one, as CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander square off in a rematch. You might remember last time, when Verlander scattered seven hits over as many innings, striking out nine. Sabathia pitched the whole game, eight innings, striking out seven. Doesn’t look like we’ll get rain, so enjoy the 1:05 start.

Categories : Game Stories

Comments (49)

Jul

First Half Review: Corner Infielders

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (67)

At 51-37, with the third best record in baseball, leading the Wild Card and just three games back in the AL East, the Yankees had a fine first half. Yet it was a tumultuous three months, wrought with streaks and injuries and strange trends, causing mass panic at times among Yankees fans. Over the extended All-Star Break, we’ll go over each position to see what went right, what went wrong, and how things look for the second half. First up we looked at the starting pitching, then relief pitchers. Now we’re onto the corner infielders.

The expectations

The corner infielders were supposed to anchor the 2009 Yankees. Even though everyone knew Alex Rodriguez would miss more than a month after hip surgery, the general expectation was for him and Teixeira to be the best 3-4 combo in the game. This wasn’t unreasonable. Alex might be the best hitter in the game (NPD), and Teixeira was coming off one of his best seasons and is right in the prime of his career.

There’s not much more to say about the expectations. They were supposed to be the best. At least once the calendar flipped from April to May.

The results

We’ve seen massive success from both players, but we’ve also seen them hit some pretty nasty slumps. Combined with A-Rod’s month-long absence, and it doesn’t add up to the best. They’re close, for sure. The following are the two best 3-4 combos in the league, based on the first half:

1. Ryan Braun – Prince Fielder
2. Joe Mauer – Justin Morneau

After that there are a number of third-place contenders. Alex and Tex are among them, along with Youkilis-Bay, Utley-Howard, and Pujols-Ludwick. So they’re not the best, but are certainly up there. Given Tex’s slumps and A-Rod’s absence and slump, that’s a pretty good place to be right now.

Mark Teixeira

It’s hard not to have high expectations for a guy who just signed an eight-year, $180 million contract. Yankees fans held Tex to such a high standard, in fact, that they started to boo him during his protracted April slump. That ended promptly upon A-Rod’s return, as Teixeira went on a tear.

What’s often overlooked in Teixeira’s early season woes is the tendinitis he suffered in his wrist. He sat out a few games early on, but with A-Rod already out of the lineup, the Yankees could ill afford to lose the other part of their 3-4 punch. We don’t know how much pain he played through, but considering the results through the first month, it would seem that the wrist bothered him more than he let on.

Teixeira’s season has been defined by streaks and slumps. From Opening Day through May 8, he hit just .192/.336/.384. This was both worse and longer than his normal slow starts. He more than made up for it over the next month, hitting .369/.447/.844 from May 9 through June 12. Since then, though, he’s had quite the power outage, hitting .245/.341/.327 from June 13 through the All-Star Break.

While Tex’s hot streak helped the Yanks surge through May, his power outage also hurt them as they struggled with the NL East. There’s little concern that this slump will continue into the second half. Teixeira’s a pro hitter, and we’ve seen him perform better in the second half over his career: .277/.368/.515 in the first half vs. .303/.390/.574 in the second half. Last year was even more pronounced: .271/.373/.484 in the first half, .366/.464/.656 in the second half.

Alex Rodriguez

For all the drama he brought leading up to the regular season, it’s been all about baseball for A-Rod since he returned in May. Well, except the bit with Kate Hudson. But we won’t hold America’s obsession against him.

A-Rod returned with a bang, drilling the first pitch he saw into the left-field stands at Camden Yards for a three-run blast. This put the Yanks ahead early, which was big coming off the team’s five-game losing streak, including four to Boston and Tampa Bay. He slipped a bit from that point, but found his stroke during the Minnesota series, hitting a walk-off homer that weekend.

From May 16 through June 7, we saw the A-Rod of old. He hit .289/.419/.618, helping the Yanks steamroll the competition. The only blemish in that period was losing two of three to Philly — though in that lone win Alex hit a game-tying home run off Brad Lidge.

Then came The Slump: .088/.262/.236 from June 8 through June 18. It might have been the worst 11 days of A-Rod’s career. It was decided at that point that he’d played far too often — he hadn’t missed a game since returning, and played all but two in the field — and would sit out the first two games of the Marlins series. That, it appears, did the trick. From June 21 through the ASB, A-Rod has hit .343/.483/.716. Again, the A-Rod of old.

Expectations for the second half

It looks like A-Rod is back. Teixeira is bound to come out of the little funk he’s been in lately. Basically, they’re in the same position as the starting pitchers. They haven’t quite hit expectations, but there’s still a good chance that they do in the second half.

Remember the first line of the introduction. The Yankees are in fine shape. That’s without a good portion of their roster performing to expectations. If they get typical second-half production out of both A-Rod and Teixeira, they’ll be right back on track, and could conceivably finish the season as that feared 3-4 combo the Yanks thought they were getting when they signed Tex.

Things are good for the corner infielders. The scariest part, for the rest of the league: They could be even better.

Categories : Offense

Comments (67)

Jul

The curiously slumping Mark Teixeira

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (63)

It seems like every time Mark Teixeira steps up to the plate someone mentions — whether on Twitter or on the broadcast — that he hasn’t hit a home run in X at bats. That number reached 107 plate appearances last night. While home runs are nice, they’re not the only thing a player can do to help his team. Problem is, the home run drought has masked a 107 plate appearance slump for Teixeira.

Tex’s season numbers still look good: .281/.387/.548. But over his last 104 plate appearances he’s been at .258/.365/.326, recording just six extra base hits, all doubles, over that span. It’s not as bad as his early-season woes, but for a guy with Teixeira’s numbers and ability it certainly represents a slump.

When Teixeira slumped through April and the beginning of May, then subsequently surged though the rest of the month, commentators claimed in hindsight that Teixeira was seeing more fastballs with A-Rod back in the lineup. Of course, that’s just made up. Teixeira did not see more fastballs upon A-Rod’s return. He actually saw a few more fastballs in April, while he was slumping. The media can’t blame A-Rod for Tex’s troubles this time around. The cleanup hitter sports a .270/.453/.556 line since Teixeira’s last home run.

Now that we’re aware of Tex’s slump beyond the home run drought, what happens? Nothing, likely. Joe Girardi isn’t going to switch A-Rod and Teixeira in the order, and he’s made that abundantly clear with his actions. The Yankees are 12-8 since his last homer, which is an excellent pace (about 97 wins if extrapolated). They’ll continue to play through it, hoping that he goes on another .360/.441/.824 run like he did from May 7 through the date of his last home run, June 12. He did, after all, hit .366/.464/.656 in the second half last year.

It is kind of curious, though, that Tex’s slump coincides with his power outage. Even in his 122 plate appearance slump to start the year he managed five homers and four doubles for a .384 SLG — against a .192 BA, leaving him with a .192 Iso-P, while in his latest slump his Iso-P is just .068. One has to wonder if there’s something else going on, but without anything to go on, all we can do is call this what it is — a slump.

Categories : Offense

Comments (63)

Jul

News roundup: Jim Leyritz, Mark Teixeira, Mo, sports media

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (25)

A few news items of note on an afternoon before a long weekend:

Another sad story comes our way concerning Jim Leyritz. The former Yankee and former MLB.com personality has been arrested on charges of domestic abuse. Leyritz’s ex-wife Karrie called the police after Jim, according to the Sun-Sentinel report, “dragged her out of bed, struck her twice and pushed her on the floor.” The Miami Herald has a different take on the situation. Leyritz’s lawyer denies the assault, and police say the former Mrs. Leyritz changed her story a few hours after initially reporting it to the police. Leyritz goes on trial Sept. 14 for his 2007 DUI arrest following an accident that left another driver dead.

At 11:59 p.m. this evening All Star Game balloting ends, and as of earlier this week, Mark Teixeira found himself just 40,000 votes behind Kevin Youkilis for the AL’s first base slot. Head on over to MLB.com to vote. Yankee fans can vote for Teixeira 25 times per e-mail address, and while you’re at it, vote for Ian Kinsler too. He’s holding onto a very slim lead over Dustin Pedroia.

Joe Posnanski has profiled Mariano Rivera. Do you need to know anything more about it? Just read the article.

From around the Yankee Blogosphere: Rebecca looks at some top MLBers who had success at AA. The Jesus Montero buzz is building. Fack Youk revisits Dave Righetti’s Independence Day no hitter and wonders what could have been if the Yanks hadn’t moved Righetti to the pen. Sound familiar?

Finally, for the sports journalism junkies among us, Harvard’ Nieman Journalism Lab just wrapped up a four-part series on the shifting media power in sports. With more teams forming regional sports networks, more leagues creating their own TV networks complete with allegedly unbiased news coverage and more blogs gaining readers every day as newspapers see their circulation numbers decline, the world of sports journalism is undergoing something of a paradigm shift. In the series at NJL, Justin Rice focuses mostly on baseball to explore how sports coverage has responded to and embraced the Internet and where sports media is going.

Categories : News

Comments (25)

Jun

Quick hits: Joe Girardi, Teixeira’s All Star chances

Posted by: Joseph Pawlikowski | Comments (38)

By Joe: No topic divides a fanbase quite like the debate over the franchise’s current manager. It takes some serious string of winning, a la Joe Torre in the late 90s, for a manager to get near universal approval. Joe Girardi has not come close to achieving that. Fans take issue with him for some reason or another; some legitimate, some a bit less than. Gary Armida, formerly of the excellent FullCountPitch.com and now writing for NY Baseball Digest, takes a look at the situation. He’s not a fan, so he’s a bit more detached. The conclusion is mostly positive, though Armida is not hesitant to point out the skipper’s flaws. His best line: “It’s time to let go of the Torre era and realize that there is a manager in place who has grown from mistakes and isn’t afraid to try new things.” As with most things Armida, I suggest a full read.

By Ben: With just 54 hours and 30 minutes left until All Star voting closes, Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis are locked in a close battle. While last week Teixeira had the lead, this week, the Red Sox’s first baseman — who actually manned third for the past week — has a slim 40,000-vote lead. To get Teixeira to St. Louis, Yankee fans will have to vote their requisite 25 times a day between now and Thursday night. Voting is here. Vote also for Ian Kinsler too. He leads Dustin Pedroia by 7000 votes. Unseating an undeserved Josh Hamilton would be a-OK with me too.

Categories : Asides

Comments (38)

Jun

Yanks’ protest denied; Teixeira leads in All Star voting

Posted by: Benjamin Kabak | Comments (35)

Just a few quick notes before the game thread: MLB has denied the Yanks’ protest of Sunday’s game. Joe Girardi filed a formal complaint with the league on Sunday after the Marlins messed up a double switch. The denial is unsurprising; I can’t pinpoint the exact date, but it’s been around two decades since the Commissioner upheld a protest.

In other news, Mark Teixeira leads AL first basemen in the All Star voting. After finding himsef 1300 votes behind Kevin Youkilis last week, the Yanks’ slugger now has a 35,632-vote cushion. While Joe Mauer has himself a comfortable lead, Jason Varitek is second, and 1,108,054 fans think Varitek is an All Star. Remember: This time it counts!

Categories : Asides

Comments (35)

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