Celebrating in style
What’s better than hitting a game-winning grand slam on your birthday? Nothing, apparently. Hideki Matsui said #34 was the best birthday yet, and the Yankees sure appreciated the gift — a sixth-inning grand slam off Joe Blanton that lifted them to a 4-1 victory.
No one needed it more than Andy Pettitte, who’s been chewing himself out every day since that disastrous Royals start. Even given the three-run lead, Pettitte admitted he was thinking negatively, along the lines of “Don’t give these runs back, you idiot!”
Not exactly constructive criticism, but hey, it worked. Pettitte had enough left that he thought he might even start the ninth inning with Eric Chavez, but that’s Mariano Rivera territory. Mo has now saved the Yankees’ last 10 road wins — and worked in five of the Yankees’ last six games.
I love the fact that the Japanese writers gave Matsui a cake – he
didn’t eat it – for his birthday. In Spring Training, some of the
Japanese press were offering Kei Igawa video games and CDs. The other
Yankees pitchers were getting jealous and started asking us for some
swag. Pete Abraham gave Brian Bruney a stick of gum and I offered Darrell Rasner my business card, but that was about all we could muster.
The Yankees are en route to Houston as I write this, and for us writers flying commercial, we’ve got a long way to go and a short time to get there. Let’s hope Joe Girardi keeps a nice pot of coffee boiling in the clubhouse at Minute Maid Park and offers a few styrofoam cups our way. It’s been fun out here on the West Coast but the friendly skies beckon.
Bryan Hoch
first off hats off to Matsui happy B-day nice job in with sacks packed!!!! Andy hell of a game i think we can take em in houston i hope jaba can go 7 strong!!!!!Well now the bad news cano i do think it is time to pack up and go back to AA ball because back in my day if you had over 100+ at bats and hitting in the low 200′s you get sent down!!! i would like to see A. gonzo get his shot !!!! all ball players go in to a slump here and there but only the great one’s come out of it!!!!!! i can see 0 of 20+ but cano is done send him down or trade his sorry butt!!!!! i did come up with a crazy trade i do not think it will happen but it would be cool if it did trade farnsworth and latroy to the mets for wagner he is a lefty set up for mo plus farnsworth and latroy go back to the N.L.!!!!!! Well lets hope this could be the boost the yankees need i will be praying for them just remember god is a yankees fan!!!!!!!Bryan hope all is well on the road and have a safe flight god bless you!!!!!
Great, 4-1, Victory For The Yankees …
Happy Birthday to Hideki Matsui, and thanks for the “grand slam” … Also, thanks to Andy Pettitte, for his great pitching performance in this game ! … Jimmy [27NYY] …
http://baseballtheyankeesandlife.mlblogs.com/
Good W last night. The next step must be to take 2 out of 3 against Houston. At least two. Chacon pitches tonight for the ‘stros, and we should be able to let him work. Take pitches and force him to throw som fastballs for strikes which should be hittable. Chacon is not a great pitcher so you should absolutely not help him get outs.
Hope Joba is on, relax and throwing strikes. Should be a fun game.
Btw. Shopping Hawkins? What would you get in return? A can of peanutbutter? Not much more than that
Good Job AP! no surprise from Godzilla. He’s been this year’s A-rod. Without him, we’re 4-6 games under .500.
Matt, you say it was a good decision by Crashman not going for Willis? I say it was TIHS luck!
Our pitching hasn’t impacted our season. Our offense has. Reread Chaz’s post from the last blog. Wang could be 10-1 right now. Pettitte could be 8-4. Moose EASILY has 10 or 11+ wins already. Perhaps Hughes and IPK might even have a couple. Rasner certainly has atleast on 1 more win. Take those stats ALONE and we’re 10 games above .500 right now! Matt’s right, Santana wouldn’t have done anything for us except maybe have a low ERA. At least not so far.
We are simply not playing fundamental baseball.
Good win for the team last night. Good to see Andy playing well, that will build up his confidence. At least with Andy going 8 then it helped rest the pen and we didnt see Farnsworth in the game. Happy Birthday Matsui that was a good present for the fans in the slam. Next stop Minute maid lets hope we can get a win over the awful Astros. Chamberlain against the Astros is going to be a good game, i think this will be his first win in the rotation.
Joba gets to hit tonight. i wonder if the Joba rules are in effect – ya know…he can only swing one time per at bat.
Ahh yes… makes me proud! I love wearing my Godzilwa jersey. Yes it’s spelled Godzilwa… I did it on purpose. I was going to do Godzirra but I didn’t want to offend our Asian brethren! Godzilwa is more like a kid that doesn’t pronounce too well yet saying it…
Oh no, there goes Tok-y-o, Go-Go Godzilwa! WeeeEeeEee
He picks up a bus and he throws it back down
As he wades through the buildings toward the center of town.
I hope we can put a string of wins together.
YES! Finally the Yanks are in the Dirty South, where we ‘drop it like it’s hot’ (just kidding). I’m on my way to H-Town here in awhile. I have a feeling Joba is going to pitch like a man on a mission today, what’s his pitch limit? 90-95 maybe? Good luck trying to contain Lance Berkman, he has gone on a tear recently. Anyways, Bryan, if you have any free time, pretty much any BBQ joint is good in TX, you can’t really get good BBQ in NY!
cano is the problem,,,,,think about it,,,,if he were to hit .300 pitchers would pitch diff. plus all the games we lost by a few runs, were his fault, imagine all those games where he would get hits,doubles, we would have won,
did he not cost us five games this year with his outs,,,,dont give me that .325 in may crap,,,he is .220 roberto mendoza or alvaro espinoza take your pick….but think about it,,,,if he would have won us FIVE games by his bat (hr or double or something) we would be fighting for first.
pedroia is superman and cano is bizzarro
i am on drugs now,,,,,
Cano’s problem is that he isn’t able to make adjustments at the plate. Opposing pitchers know he’ll eventually swing at whatever you throw him, as long as he thinks he can reach it. How many pitchers have started Cano with a first-pitch changeup this season? Hacking at everything isn’t going to work for him anymore. He’s going to have to find out how to be patient and swing at his pitch.
All of that said. The Yankees offensive troubles cannot be pinned on one guy. There really isn’t any Yankee I trust with a bat in his hand in a clutch situation right now, except for MAYBE Jason Giambi. Just because Cano is hitting 100 points under where he should be, doesn’t make him more at fault than any other guy. Baseball is a team sport.
South,
Read your last post. How can you say that we shouldn’t be worried about the offense? Are you seeing something that I’m not? Even with as horrid as our bullpen is, and how banged up our rotation is they have still gave us a chance to win in all but 12 games this season so far. Meanwhile, the offense has managed to squander 21 games. If you ask me, the biggest problem with the offense is that it’s clogged with too many lefties. Secondly, we don’t take advantage of this team’s speed in any way. Jeter, while aging, is still a fleet footed runner. Abreu, contrary to what we see in right field, is probably a better base stealer than Damon. Damon still has wheels. A-Rod was once a 40-40 guy, so he should be able to take a base here and there. Cabrera is no slouch on the basepaths, either. Couple all of that with the fact that Abreu, Damon, Posada, Jeter, and Cano rarely strike out, and we should be moving runners all over the place. Instead, we play like everyone is going to bang out 3 run jacks. It’s time to do something to shake up this lineup. I like this lineup:
Damon L
Jeter R
Matsui L
A-Rod R
Abreu L
Posada S
Giambi L
Cabrera S
Cano L
This lineup gives us the fewest lefties in a row, it puts the struggling Cano in the 9, it creates a “second lead off” from the 5 hole using Abreu to give Posada and Giambi RBI chances. Fire Girardi and make me skipper of this ballclub. I’ll have us scoring 6 runs per game for the rest of the year.
We are now 3-6 when scoring 4 runs! Woo Hoo!
YANKEES MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD June 12, 2008
Scranton/WB 4
Richmond (Braves) 5 (13)
W: C. Resop (1-0, 4.50); L: S. White (4-4, 5.68)
HR: RIC: S. Fasano (1).
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_06_12_swbaaa_ricaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb
Connecticut (Giants) 3
Trenton 0
W: J. Martinez (3-5, 1.90); L: J. Jones (8-2, 2.30); SV: K. Pichardo (2)
HR: CT: T. Ishikawa (8), D. Maroul (6).
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_06_12_nrwaax_treaax_1&t=g_box&did=milb
Tampa 5
St. Lucie (Mets) 4 (12)
W: J. Hovis (2-0, 2.03); L: C. Hoorelbeke (0-2, 3.48)
HR: None.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_06_12_tbyafa_sluafa_1&t=g_box&did=milb
Charleston 4
Rome (Braves) 3
W: C. Vacek (3-1, 1.47); L: Y. Castro (0-4, 6.92); SV: J. Ortiz (20)
HR: ROM: C. Lundahl (1).
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_06_12_crdafx_romafx_1&t=g_box&did=milb
You may also see http://www.yankeesdaily.com for details.
YANKEES MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD June 13, 2008
Scranton/WB
Richmond (Braves) 7p
———————————
Trenton
Reading (Phillies) 7:05p
———————————
Savannah (Mets) 7:05p
Charleston
———————————
You may also see http://www.yankeesdaily.com for details.
Another “washed up” starter is expected to become available, Esteban Loaiza. He never got much of a chance with the Yankees. Should we sign him to a minor league contract and assign him to the GCL Yankees who begin play on the 17th where he would be a veteran presence among the rookies? Can he muster enough to pitch middle relief?
And when will the speculation on the worth of C. C. Sabathia begin. Signing him as a FA alone would cost us our two best picks next year so it could cost us a Chamberlain and a Kennedy. Would we send the Indians anything for a two month rental and exclusive signing window? My thoughts? No and No! Keep our picks and prospects! Let Sabathia go to the NL like Santana!
I tell you this, Bob, Boston and New York passed on Johan. They will NOT pass on CC. He either going to be a Yankee or a Red Sox.
We need to take the plunge and get him. Whether we deal Kennedy and prospects this season, or give up 2 draft picks next season. CC is too good too pass up. Wang instantly becomes our Fausto.
Chaz,
I have no idea what Sabathia’s record is at Fenway or the Stadium. I would be more inclined to send someone now than give up the picks next year, but, some NL team will probably give up more.
His record against Boston isn’t that great (2-4 with a 3.91 era). However, his record vs. The east is AWESOME. CC is 21-8 with a 2.96 against Toronto, Boston, Baltimore, and Tampa combined. I’m sold. If Boston gets him, don’t worry! CC is 1-8 with a 6.16 era against the Yankees.
chaz, i agree w/ you, Girardi seriously needs to mix this linup around. But the linup you made would definitely not work. I don’t like where you put Giambi. Opposing teams will definitely take the chance w/ cabrera and intentionally walk giambi. Giambi, arod, and Matsui have to be together. But cano should be at the bottom of the linup.
Its very easy to blame Cano,,,
I Blame Cano.
They wouldn’t be walking Giambi with Posada and Abreu on base would they?
Damon L
Jeter R
Matsui L
A-Rod R
Posada S
Giambi L
Abreu L
Cabrera S
Cano L or my mother R
Fair enough though, swap Abreu and Giambi? What do you think?
Sabathia is 1-1 at Fenway with a 2.35 era in 3 starts.
Again, I want CC in pinstripes.
Giambi L
Cabrera S
Cano L or my mother R
Jeter R
Damon L
Matsui L
Posada S
A-Rod R
Abreu L
just for fun,,,,,relax dudes & dudettes and robbie the dud, its friday the 13th, and we are not that bad,,,once we get CC Sabatical and pray n play we will beat the az d-backs in the world series 2008, revenge from 2001 or 2003.
i balme cano (ver easy to do so, i am a big kid now…._)
I didn’t get a chance to check the game because I was watching the Fakers implode. That was one of the best games ever! Us fellow Yankees fans deserve props because even when our team sucks, we still sport the gear and represent. I live in the O.C. and have people tell me the Yankees suck all of the time. I’m not seeng that many gay Lakers’ flags on peoples’ cars today. This is awesome.
Estoban “I dont wear a black hat or play guitar” Loaixyzzyza doesn’t belong ANYWHERE NEAR us. I’m a WAY firm BEEN THERE DONE THAT in all but a select few cases. I wanted AP back and I was willing to give the Pedophile another chance but that’s it.
Again, Cano isn’t the problem in the lineup, it’s the offense as a whole. There are 9 innings in a game, and eight other hitters in this lineup, and Cano isn’t the only one who is getting paid the big bucks to produce results. Where’s the rest of the lineup during those close losses you spoke of? You win, and lose as a team, it’s not about just one hitter.
By matt_saiki@yahoo.com on June 13, 2008 3:43 PM
I agree, keep Loaiza away from this team. He was absolutely putrid with the Yanks when he pitched for them, perhaps the main reason why he didn’t get much of a chance? He has had only had one good year in the majors, and that was back in ’03 when he was with the White Sox going 21-9 2.90, one of only 2 seasons in his 13 year career where he finished a full season with an ERA under 4.00. His overall career stats are pretty mediocreas he has allowed far more hits than IP, and has an ERA near 5.00. Not the type of pitcher who will help this team at all.
Matt,
I’m only suggesting Loaiza at the Rookie level GCL. Worth a shot? BTW, the NPL starts the 17th and the GCL the 19th.
rcngolf,
I agree, the main reason for the team’s woes is the offense, even though they have the 6th highest BA in the majors they are only tied for 14th in runs scored, and tied for 7th highest SLG% in the majors, and tied for 11th for most HRs. Those stats just reflect the inconsistencies on offense, and really don’t tell the whole story. But you can’t deny the pitching which is now ranked 18th in the majors in ERA, given up the 12th most runs in the majors, 12th most hits in the majors, and pretty much in the middle of the pack in every other major pitching stat, hasn’t played played a major role as role. All those stats reflect where this team is record-wise. No the Yanks don’t have worst staff in the majors, but it also doesn’t have anything close to reflecting a staff that can get it anywhere close to the playoffs. If this team does make it to the playoffs, this staff isn’t going to shut anyone down, and can’t be relied on period. Lets not forget the rotation is at least a starter short. So yes, the pitching is just as big a reason for this team’s mediocrity as the hitting.As well as the lack of success on the part of Hughes, and Kennedy.
Yeah, the Boise Hawks (single a chicago cubs) are starting here in a few days. I’ll probably take my son to a few games this year.
Troy Percival came through here on his way up. I think Eduardo Perez too.
Robert,
Don’t really know if he is worth giving a shot. Right now this team has more talented (albeit inexperienced) pitchers who have better stuff that should be given consideration before him.
I swear sometimes Cano reminds me of the reincarnation of Alfonso Soriano. The guy swings at everything.
Matt how is the rotation 1 starter short?
1. Wang
2. PEDitte
3. Moose
4. Rasner
5. Chamberlain
Weird how we are in the middle of the pack offensively and middle of the pack in terms of pitching, and are at .500. Simply an above average team playing very average baseball.
I’m not denying that our pitching staff doesn’t need help. What I am denying is that we can’t win games with who we have throwing the ball. Matt, you said it yourself just a few posts ago. What would it matter if we had a guy like Johan in this rotation? He’d be sitting at .500 with a low era, BFD. He certainly would not be getting any run support. We could have a rotation of 5 hall of famers right now and it wouldn’t make a lick of difference. Losing a game 2-0 still counts as a LOSS. If we didn’t do anything to improve this pitching staff (which would be stupid), but the Yankees started scoring 5 runs per game (which they can); we would win 2 of 3 games from here to October. The playoffs would be another story, but we would at least get there.
Travers, Soriano swings at everything and hits 35 dingers per year. BIG difference. Same goes for Vlad.
I say if we win 2/3 games until the break, we are buyers at the break (Sabathia, Fuentes). If we are at .500 at the break, we are sellers (Damon, Matsui, Abreu, Giambi?, Moose?) . And we use the money we’re getting in 2009 to attack the free agent market like NEVER before. What say you guys?
Bryan,
I just read your article, “In Joba’s Heart, Dad Rules,” and I’d be remiss if I didn’t say what an excellent piece it was. You did a very good job not only locating the source of their close relationship, but also highlighting aspects of their life well worth people knowing and following, such as the respect that ex-inmates showed Harlan after release that mirrored the respect he showed them. As a father who adores his kids, such an article always reaches close to my heart. There’s nothing like the special bond that parents and kids have, and I can only hope that my two kids consider me in the same light that Joba does Harlan. As your article points out well, that does not necessarily mean that all is like the Cleavers from “Leave It To Beaver,” but rather that parents instill and enforce the right values in their kids about hard work, respect, and maximizing one’s abilities as a person, and doing one’s best to make those pay off in life.
Great stuff, Bryan.
http://heartlandpinstripes.wordpress.com/
I would just like to add to this blog that one of the greatest Yankees fans died today Mr. Tim Russert my heart goes out to his wife his son Luke his dad Russ and the rest of his close friends we are never going to be the same with out him Mr. Russert was a great hard working man and a great wonderfull person to watch on his shows on msnbc. This is a very sad day I will never forget Mr. Tim Russert!!!!
Chaz,
Idaho has two A Short Season teams! The Royals have an affiliate in Idaho City. How close is that?
If I jumped in the truck now, I could be there in 1.5 hours.
Cano is a problem! Cano is also part of the big problem. 1 for 16 in the last 4 games. Why not bench Cano and bring up Gonz, sending Dunc down. If were not going to play him he’ll be better off playing with SWB. Why do we keep benching our only consistent hitter to play BUTThead??.
In the last 3 games 3 HRs, 2 w/no one on base and thankfully our Sui swats one FOB. The fact remains we are just leaving too many runners on base. Joe has got to figure what needs to be done. Like playong some NL smallball, as Chaz has said we need to run more, we do have some speed.
“GO YANKEES!”
chaz,
My point was that the team’s current position can’t be solely blamed on a poor offense. This team has seen very little of a quality offense, or quality pitching. Of course the ideal situation is to have both, but it doesn’t have that. It has gotten very little of either. If this team had a quality pitching staff (rotation, and pen) that was capable of a solid start most of the time then it might get by with an inconsistent offense, most teams can. A good example of that are the A’s who are No.2 in team pitching with a 3.46 ERA, but have hit the 5th fewest HRs in the major leagues, and are tied for 7th worst team BA in the majors while in 2nd place in the AL West, a position nobody thought they would be in. Those numbers are far from great, but they are making the most of their opportunities. The Yankees are still basically short one pitcher since as Chamberlain is still an unknown as a starter. He has yet to go five innings in a start, and still has to prove he can put a quality start together. We still don’t know if Rasner can continue as he has as a starter over the long haul either. He has never pitched more than 50 innings in a season either. So that’s two unknowns in the rotation. I said that Santana wouldn’t make a difference with this current Yankee team, and I still stand by that as he hasn’t made a difference with the Mets, but if this team had a solid staff to go along with Santana, which again we don’t have, then the fact that this offense is so inconsistent wouldn’t be as unpalatable as it is now as good pitching always beats good hitting, and this team would be in a better situation. This team’s pitching staff isn’t as mediocre as it is because of the offense’s shortcomings.
In short, this team’s pitching staff has shortcomings which have also contributed to this team’s problems.
You also can’t expect this offense to drive in 5+ runs in almost every game, which it will pretty much would have to do with this pitching staff would be a lot to ask of it in its current situation.
YANKEES MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD June 13, 2008
Scranton/WB 9
Richmond (Braves) 3
W: A. Horne (2-0, 3.44); L: J. Rouwenhorst (6-5, 5.35)
HR: SWB: C. Ransom (9).
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_06_13_swbaaa_ricaaa_1&t=g_box&did=milb
Trenton 2
Reading (Phillies) 4
W: J. Durbin (1-3, 1.71); L: P. Coke (4-2, 3.03); SV: S. Walls (1)
HR: TRE: A. Jackson (4). REA: J. Hammond (2).
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=g_box&gid=2008_06_13_treaax_reaaax_1
Savannah (Mets) 5
Charleston 3
W: S. Moviel (6-7, 5.37); L: N. Castillo (6-4, 3.67); SV: S. Cheney (2)
HR: None.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_06_13_savafx_crdafx_1&t=g_box&did=milb
You may also see http://www.yankeesdaily.com for details.
I see where Dunc has been sent down and Gonz has been recalled. Dunc definitely needs the ABs..
“GO YANKEES!”