Bronx, N.Y., September 25, 2009 — If the aim of the game of baseball is to have your team’s pitchers throw more pitches than the other team’s, then the Red Sox walloped the Yankees Friday night. Keyed by a superb start by Joba Chamberlain, who got through the first three frames on just 36 throws, and 86 to pitch through the sixth, the Yanks beat the visiting Sox 9-5. Even though his first-pitch strikes ratio was poor (11 of 24), Joba didn’t walk a batter until the sixth, struck out five, and didn’t allow a hit or baserunner until Victor Martinez homered to right center with one down in the fourth. Chamberlain’s fastball reached 95, but he was getting strikes with his high-70s curve, his 85-mph signature slider, and a mid-eighties change of pace as well. Continue reading
Category Archives: Regular season
The Thrill Is Back
Bronx, N.Y., September 16, 2009 — The skies threatened all night Wednesday in Yankee Stadium, something that could not be said for the home team. Once the Yanks grabbed a 2-0, first-inning lead on a Mark Teixeira double and Hideki Matsui’s single, the offense produced all of a single and a hit by pitch over the next five frames, as Toronto tied the game, then took a 4-2 lead. But the crowd was not fooled; they’ve seen this team come back before. Continue reading
In a Nick of Time
Bronx, N.Y., September 8, 2009 — There was a pretty weary bunch of concession people and ushers manning their stations in Yankee Stadium Tuesday night. Coming off a lengthy day/night Labor Day doubleheader, to a man (and woman) they were hoping for a brisk contest. You got the feeling, then, that they were just as disappointed as the Yankee players and fans when Jason Bartlett tied the game 2-2 on a home run off Phil Hughes on the first pitch of the eighth inning. And, one assumes, they were just as happy as the team and the paying crowd when Nick Swisher sent us all home with his second home run of the night in the bottom of the ninth. Continue reading
Drives Me Crazy
Bronx, N.Y., September 7, 2009 — Before game two of the Yankees/Rays doubleheader in the Bronx Monday night, the scoreboard was brandishing this quote from recent Yankee hero Paul O’Neill: “You play the game to win the game, and not to worry about what’s on the back of the baseball card at the end of the year.” And of course, Paul is right. The sight of Chris Richard playing first base for Tampa late in the game that followed got me thinking. With all the madness swirling around the Yankee fourth starter and his new “rules,” and all the adulation the Yankee shortstop has been receiving, you can forget about what’s important. The Yankees won. They had taken the opener, and with the 11-1 thrashing in the second game, they swept two. Two wins, that’s the thing that’s important. Except when it isn’t. Continue reading
FrankenYankees
Bronx, N.Y., August 30, 2009 — All around Yankee land, I’m sure there are a host of mildly disgruntled fans (how angry can you be with the best record in baseball?) patting themselves on the back smugly, opining that they were right all along. After all, if young Joba Chamberlain is to be sent out to the mound to pitch only three frames and toss the rock a mere 35 times, what is the difference from what he would have been doing had he been retained in the bullpen setup role so many of the rooting horde wanted for him? Thus is the state of things in the Bronx, where coming off a 5-1 homestand following up on a 7-3 road trip, the pinstriped passionate would rather talk about player decisions than revel in another win, this one an 8-3 drubbing of the White Sox that completed a three-game sweep. Continue reading
[Long] Fly in the Ointment
Bronx, N.Y., August 28, 2009 — Despite a stellar though short career playing on baseball’s biggest stage, young Robbie Cano appeared to be on the way to another of “those” nights in a rainy Yankee Stadium. Possessed of a solid glove and stellar arm, the Bombers’ second sacker fields his position and turns the dp as well as anyone. He is possessed of a sweet, line-drive swing to all fields, and his .313 ba going in give him an offensive number unmatched by anyone in Pinstripes this side of mvp candidate Derek Jeter. But. There’s a new-fangled number on a 2009 boxscore, pretty far down the line. It comes after doubles, triples, home runs, times at bat, rbi’s. Right after two-out rbi’s. “Runners left in scoring position, 2 out.” After nine innings, three players had made this ignominious list: Chicago’s Alex Rios, 1, Yankee Nick Swisher 1. And Robbie Cano 4. Continue reading
Jorge, Hairston Hurt Holland
Bronx, N.Y., August 26, 2009 — Yankee veteran southpaw Andy Pettitte outdueled his much younger lefthanded counterpart, Derek Holland, Wednesday night in a 9-2 win over Texas in Yankee Stadium. Despite the fact that the Yanks jumped in front in this one early, the contest was in doubt much of the game, particularly given the 10-run comeback the Rangers had put up following an early Yankee lead on Tuesday. Continue reading
CC the Noun, and the Verb
Bronx, N.Y., August 8, 2009 — It was only fitting that titular Yankee ace CC Sabathia got the ball in the Bronx Saturday in Game Three of four against the Red Sox. The Yanks had just beaten the Sox two straight in games that couldn’t have been more different. They won Thursday, and drove John Smoltz out of Boston, perhaps even out of baseball, but certainly from the America League, with a bombastic 13-7, four-hour lathering. A day later in a game approaching six hours, they beat Boston 2-0 in 15, in a game where if the phrase “playoff atmosphere” didn’t fit like a baseball glove, it was only because this was better than most playoff baseball. Continue reading
Girardi Pens a Win
Bronx, N.Y., July 26, 2009 — The Yankees completed a 9-1 homestand Sunday afternoon with a 7-5 win over the Oakland A’s. Fifth starter Sergio Mitre gave them a decent five innings, and the bullpen copped the win after an early glitch. All nine starters on offense had at least one hit, with third base sub Cody Ransom pitching in with two doubles. Continue reading
Yankees Are on a Roll
Bronx, N.Y., July 22, 2009 — Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. A promising Yankee team spends a long weekend on the West Coast and loses big time. Suddenly, a season filled with hope is on the brink of ruin. If you’re thinking I’m talking about a week and a half ago, and the three-game sweep by the Angels, think again. The Bombers went 1-4 to start the 1998 season in California, then came home and won 113 and lost 44 the rest of the way. Continue reading