YOUR 2009 WORLD CHAMPIONS...THE NEW YORK YANKEES!

Yes, the Yankees won the World Series for the 27th time on November 5th! I couldn't be more happy. However, work has been piling up so I don't have time to do an in-depth update about the series. Expect one over Thanksgiving break though.

Way to suck offense

Dear Yankees,

Cliff Lee is not THAT good. Not shutout-complete game-in-the-world-series good. (Well, I assume complete game, it's not over yet). He is not as magnificent as the loser duo of McCarver & Buck are salivating over. Wow, he made two nonchalant plays, that's great. I'm sure no pitcher has done that before. Your weak hacks at him were more than disappointing. Your standing there and seeing 3 pitches didn't help either. Suffice it to say, the 50,000+ fans at the stadium tonight probably want their money back. CC did a phenomenal job despite a shaky start. He gave up 2 runs. TWO! And you couldn't even get a runner to 3rd. If you don't break out tomorrow, you're going to have a bunch of angry fans. So please note that you should WORK THE COUNT, ADVANCE RUNNERS WHEN THEY'RE ON BASE, and in general DON'T SUCK. You can't count on the pitcher ALL the time, like the ALCS. CC isn't going to be downright unhittable every game he pitches. Oh and Phil Hughes, please stop sucking, thanks!

Sincerely,
a very upset fan

WORLD SERIES 2009

The Yankees are baaaaack! Back in the World Series, that is. First time since 2003. I am beyond excited for this team. Surprisingly I was very calm in last night's game -- pissed at first that the Yankees forgot how to hit with RISP, but happy once they took the lead. My stomach wasn't in knots like it was in other games. Maybe it's because I've been lacking sleep all weekend. Anyway, what a great series! For once the Yankees beat the Angels. CC got the MVP award. I thought ARod deserved it, but whatever they were both amazing in the series.

Up next is the defending World Champ Phillies. Their fans are really annoying, it's going to be tough listening to the crowd in game 3, 4 & maybe 5. The teams are also both similar -- power hitting, good pitching, hitter-friendly parks. It will be another good series though. I'm so ready for it to start tomorrow (only because I have a psych exam tonight and the Wild game is on national tv). Let's do this Yanks!

Playoffs? Check. AL East? Check

I guess the Yankees decided to take my letter seriously :) Everything I asked of them, they did! Including Joba having a great start against the Red Sox. We just won't remember the fact that he sucked last night against the Royals of all teams. In one game the Yankees a) got 100 wins b) clinched the AL East c) tied up the season series against the Red Sox. BTW, the Red Sox are the only team to win the first eight games of a season series and lose the series. HAHHH. I was happy they swept the Red Sox because then I got to see them celebrate on tv :) On ESPN, nevertheless. And the Red Sox are now reeling going into the postseason - they have lost six straight matching their season high. And sucks for them that they clinched a playoff spot because the Rangers lost. (Ok the Yanks clinched because the Rangers lost but they at least won their game that night).

So the final series of the season is against the Rays. The only thing the Yanks are concerned with is a) having CC win 20 games (ok it's not necessary but it would be really nice) b) making sure Robertson is ok to pitch in the postseason and at least for me c) making their record even more gaudy :) OH and d) figuring out who the heck they're gonna play in the ALDS. The Twins, sadly, only split the series against Detroit :( So now they have to sweep the Royals and hope the Tigers get swept by the Chisox. The Twins ARE playing the Royals, but they're also facing Greinke who they lost to just a week ago. GOOO TWINS!

The Postseason begins on Oct 7th for the Yanks (assuming they choose the first series, which they prob will so they can skip Joba's start). CC is taking the mound for the important first game of the series which will be in the Bronx. LET'S GO YANKEES!!!!

A Letter to the Team

Dear New York Yankees,

Please clinch your playoff spot. It's no fun losing two of three to the Orioles and two of three to the Mariners. Oh, and it really sucks to keep losing in Anaheim. Please find a way to win because there's a pretty good possibility that you will have to play the Angels in the playoffs. Or maybe us Yankee fans will have to root for the team we never want to root for. Ever. Getting homefield advantage throughout the playoffs would really just be the whipped cream on top of the sundae. Not the cherry, no. The whipped cream is more important. Don't you guys want to celebrate?! There will be no champagne if you keep sucking. Losing the series to the Angels will suck. Losing to Boston will suck as well. So please remember that it's pretty crucial to get hits with runners in scoring position. Oh and Joba? Yeah sorry you freaking SUCK. What the hell happened to the pitcher after the all-star break? Or shall I say the few games after the break? Sergio Mitre, you suck, too. Gaudin, you're ok. Burnett, please please please pitch well in the playoffs. Bruney, you suck, too. And so do you Albaladejo. So now that that's all out, let's get to the end of the season. Let's clinch a playoff spot, win the division, get homefield advantage and celebrate. Pitch well, hit well, and it'll all be ok.

Love,
a disgruntled Yankee fan

P.S. I really really really dislike the Angels. So please beat them.

2,722

Thought I'd send out a quick update congratulating Derek Jeter on passing Lou Gehrig on the Yankees all-time hits list with his 2,722 hit. It gave me goosebumps seeing the ball roll past the 1st baseman and Jeter reaching safely on 1st. It's a great time to be a Yankees fan, and an honor to see such a great player and person breaking these records cleanly. Jeter is one of those all-time Yankee greats and it's been amazing seeing him play all these years. While everyone else got to see Gehrig play, we get to see Jeter play.

Today the Yankees hope to spare themselves embarrassment by avoiding a sweep by the lowly Orioles. CC takes the mound and will surely pitch better than Burnett and hopefully our offense decides to show up. The Yanks have a 7.5 lead in the division, but lead the Angels by only 5 games in the race for the best record and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. Tomorrow the Yankees play one game against the Angels that was rained out and then play 2 games against Toronto.

Keep the wins coming!!

August drags on

I've been failing at everything online lately, including this blog. To be honest, I haven't really been paying close attention to the Yankees since the Boston series. Good thing I decided to update my blog right now instead of getting the mail since it just started downpouring. Anyway...it's not like the Yankees have been playing poorly which would clearly indicate my lack of interest, I guess I've just been preoccupied with college coming up so soon...like next week. The Yankees swept the Red Sox (Boston Massacre '09 - 4-game sweep in NY, Boston Massacre '06 - 5-game sweep in NY) which was faaaabulous! The epic 15-inning game and the come-from-behind win that Sunday were my favorite games of the series. Yanks went on to win 2 of 3 from the Jays, 3 of 4 from the Mariners, and 2 of 3 from the A's. In between there was a 2-game losing streak, the first this month. Oh yeah, and forgot to mention the Yankees are ahead by 7 games (6.5 if the Sox win tonight).

Yanks start a 3-game series at Fenway on Fri night. Pettite vs. Penny, Burnett vs. Tazawa, and Sabathia vs. Beckett. The last game should be a really good one, which I hope the Yankees win! I guess this series will have me really interested in baseball again, especially since 2 games are on TV. Expect a better update next time?

On another note, Torrii Hunter commented on his blog about how he thinks the West is better than the East now. I don't think that's necessarily true for the AL West. I mean, maybe the East is better just slightly. The Yankees have the best record in baseball (76-45) and they have good pitching, good offense, and depth. I'll admit I don't really follow the Angels (mostly cuz i really dislike them) but from what I've heard, they really don't have great pitching, it is their offense that wins them games. The Yankees offense wins them games, too, but they've also won a lot of close games. Plus the AL West only has 4 teams, not 5. The A's are the only team who has a below .500 record and even then the Mariners are only 4 games above .500. The Red Sox and Tampa are both above .500. So I think it's pretty even between the AL West and East teams, but I thinkt he Rays are better than the Mariners. That's just my 2 cents. I won't go into the NL West and East because I don't really follow them, but I do know the NL West has some good pitching.

Red Sox - Yankees: Round 3

0-8

8 games where the Red Sox have stripped the Yankees of their pride. It's not acceptable for any team to be 0-8 against a division rival. The Yanks weren't great when they played them in April. They still weren't great in May. But they were better in June and still lost. But now they are one of the hottest teams in baseball (probably besides the Angels & Dodgers) with the 2nd-best record in baseball. There is no excuse now to lose to the Red Sox in the Bronx.

Clearly I jinxed the Yankees in my last post (yes, I'm one of those superstitious sports fans) by gushing over how good they were. Ok, so they took 2 of 3 from the Rays. That's very good. But then they lost 3 in a row to the CHISOX! C'mon! I know they're a good team (and have been beating up on the Angels who the Yanks can't beat to save their lives), but man they played HORRIBLY! Sloppy defense, no offense, bad pitching. Luckily I was out of town without TV or internet (except on my phone to check the final scores) so I didn't have to suffer through that series. Funny thing is, when I was driving back to Minnesota from Pennsylvania, our GPS system took us a different way through Chicago. We went through the city (and AWFUL traffic on a Sunday) and I got to see U.S. Cellular Field where the Yanks were playing. Since then, however, they have won 3 in a row (saving themselves from embarassment by winning 1 game in the 4-game series against the chisox). They've got the momentum and they know how to pitch and hit at Yankee Stadium.

Peter Abraham, the Yankees beatwriter, has a good breakdown of the two teams and who is stronger at what positions (including the managers): Read it Here

I'm predicting (& I usually never predict) that the Yankees will split the series.

Joba vs. Smoltz - Joba. He's been great lately and Smoltz has not, sporting a 7 ERA. And they're in the Bronx.

Sabathia vs. Buchholz - Sabathia. He hasn't been brilliant lately, but he's gotten the job done.

Burnett vs. Beckett -Beckett. Burnett has been good, but he's sucked against the Red Sox. In fact, it was after he turned in a total sucky outing against the Sux that he turned it around. But Beckett's too damn good. Damn him, I really dislike him.

Pettite vs. Lester - Lester. Pettite's pitched well as of late, but once again Lester is too damn good. And he is usually great against the Yankees. This is the one matchup I'm not sure of - the Yanks could potentially win this game if they can get some hits off of Lester and if Pettite pitches like he did last game (outdueling the Doc). It would be wonderful if the Yanks could take 3 of 4.

Let's do this Yanks!

Let the Good Times Roll...

All I have to say is....

I'm lovin' the Yanks right now!!!!!!

Record Since the All-Star break: 10-1
Record Overall: 61-38 (2nd best in majors)

Total team effort ... great starting pitching, timely offense, and a SOLID bullpen.

Only worries? Coke, Hughes, and Mo can't pitch everyday for us. Mitre isn't gonna cut it for us as the #5 starter the rest of the season (true, he has done his job, but he has been giving up wayyy too many hits & allowing teams an opportunity to get back into the game). And worst news of all? Gardner is going to be out AT LEAST a month (he says) because of a broken finger. No speed on the basepaths now or range in the outfield.

That being said....BRING IT ON!

Upcoming matchups:

7/27-7/29: Yankees @ Rays
7/30-8/2: Yankees @ Chisox
8/4-8/5: Yankees @ Jays
8/6-8/9: Red Sox @ Yankees

Yanks gotta play the Red Sox TWO times next month! 4-game series in the Bronx (AFTER a 9-game road trip and they don't even get a day off to travel) and a 3-game series at Fenway.

And the 2nd half begins

Derek Jeter's Throw
To all the people who think Jeter's declining, doesn't have a great range, or whatever, WATCH THAT! Damn, that was a magnificient throw.

The Yanks have started the All-Star Break off right by taking its first 2 games against the Central-leading Tigers. Yes, they have finally beat a 1st place team! and Nick Swisher made a smart play on the basepaths! Maybe they read my blog ;) If they continue to follow the goals I set for them, Joba should probably pitch well tomorrow :) Of course he's facing Edwin Jackson. But the Yankees have faced 2 good pitchers (French & Verlander) so far this series. They came from behind last night. Trailing 3-2 in the 7th inning, the Yankees rallied to take a 5-3 lead on a Teixeira homer. It was launched into the upper deck in right field - a no-doubter on a 98-mph fastball on a 3-1 count. Hughes came in the 7th inning, relieving Burnett who battled through 6 innings (5 bb?! EEK!), and went 2 innings, striking out 6. Mo closed it out.

Today, CC Sabathia was far from sharp (what's with him failing in day games?!) but once again our starting pitcher battled through 2 shaky first innings and lasted 7 innings, giving up 5 hits and 0 runs. While CC wasn't his sharpest, he gave everyone what they wanted - a pitcher's duel. Facing Verlander, the Yanks only managed 3 hits through 6 innings against him (2 were hits by Jeter) until ARod came through in the 7th and launched one - barely - over the right field wall. Verlander looked at ARod sarcastically, not able to believe that what looked to be a flyball, turned out to be a homerun. But hey, maybe he shouldn't have given up a single & double to Cano & Swisher which led to an infield single by Melky. That put his team out of the game, and Melky's single proved to be very important, when Thames barely got one out of the park in the 8th inning. Mo came in for his 2nd save in as many days.

I missed the homerun derby, though I heard it wasn't as great as the one at Yankee stadium - well what could top Hamilton's performance?! I watched the All-star game though and was happy to see the Yanks contribute! Jeter got hit by a pitch (grrr!), reached on a fielder's choice, and then grounded out in his last at-bat (robbed by pujols). He did get 2 runs for the AL. Tex went 0-for-3...he reached on an error by Pujols and in his last-at bat was robbed of a hit by Pujols. Man, he really didn't like the Yanks lol. Papelbon got the win, even though he so didn't deserve it (damn you baseball stats!) because Crawford saved his butt by making a spectacular leaping catch to snag a ball that was going out of the park (and would've given the NL the lead). The next batter almost hit one out, too. Mo closed it out for the AL (who was up 4-3) and got his 4th save in an All-star game - a new record. It was pretty cool seeing President Obama throw out the first pitch (even though Pujols saved him from embarrassment by just catching the ball before it dropped in the dirt). And he stayed faithful to his team - the Chisox - by wearing a Sox jacket. And it was really cool hearing him discuss baseball in the booth. It was a lot more fun than listening tot he Fox announcers.

Anyway I wrote a lot more than I expected. Gonna watch the game on TV tomorrow and hope the Yanks win!

All Star Game 2009

So the All-star break has just begun and the players get a few days off before the 2nd half begins on Thursday (for some teams). The Yankees ended the 1st half of the season by getting swept by the Angels. Yup. The Angels who were without Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero. They had leads in all 3 games and saw all of those leads get swept away. Let's not recount the embarrassment that was this weekend.

New York Yankees' Goals for the 2nd Half of the Season:

1. Actually beat Boston for once. The Yankees CAN compete with the Red Sox and are just as good as them. There's a reason the two teams have flip flopped between 1st and 2nd place and are generally only a few games apart. The Yanks will not go 0-18 against them. Or I really hope not....
2. Beat good teams! Or at least 1st place teams. Of course they've shown they can't even beat terrible teams like the Nationals. They're going to be facing the Rays a lot the rest of the season and will be seeing the Red Sox 8 more times. They also see the White Sox, Tigers, Mariners, Rangers, and the Angels.
3. Nick Swisher needs to stop making dumb plays on the basepaths. You're not Brett Gardner. The same could be said for other players on the team as well.
4. Johnny Damon needs to get back into the swing of things. Jeter's been known to get lead-off singles and it'd be great if Johnny could move him over (whether it's a sacrifice or a base hit).
5. ARod should get his days off. We know what he starts to look like when he doesn't. He should be refreshed after the break, or maybe not if he's gonna party hard with Kate Hudson.
6. Brian Bruney needs to start pitching well. Phil Hughes has taken over his spot as the 8th inning guy, or at least the go-to guy when the Yanks need someone they can trust in a tough spot (if it's not the 9th inning, or the 8th with less than 2 outs).
7. Joba needs to start pitching well, too. His crap starts are just unacceptable. The least he could do is get to the 6th inning. FYI, you have the stuff to be a great starting pitcher, but you choose to nibble around the strike zone and lose guys on 0-2 counts. YOU ARE NOT PITCHING AS WELL AS YOU THINK YOU ARE.
8. While AJ & CC have been great as of late (maybe not CC against the Angels, but I wasn't watching the game, so I wouldn't really know), but the rest of our rotation? Eeek! Step it up guys. Hey, maybe we'll see Sergio Mitre!

Well, that's all I could think of so far. & with that being said, a recap of the 1st half of the season written by Mark Feisand of the Daily News:

* They are 0-8 against the Red Sox.

* Chien-Ming Wang is 1-6 and on the DL for a second time.

* Brian Bruney missed 40 games over two DL stints and hasn’t found his groove since he returned.

* Joba Chamberlain has been erratic every five days.

* Mark Teixeira hit .190 in April and went 95 at-bats without a home run in June/July.

* Alex Rodriguez missed a month after hip surgery.

* His replacement, Cody Ransom, then went on the DL himself, leaving third-base to scrappy minor-leaguer Ramiro Pena and aging 31-year-old Angel Berroa until A-Rod came back.

* Jorge Posada (22 games) and Jose Molina (54 games) have both been on the DL, leaving catching duties to Double-A call-up Francisco Cervelli and journeyman Kevin Cash.

* Robinson Cano went about two weeks without an RBI and hasn’t hit with guys on base all year.

* Xavier Nady played for a week before blowing out his elbow.

* Andy Pettitte’s ERA at Yankee Stadium is almost 6.00.

* Damaso Marte pitched terribly and has been out with a bum shoulder since April.

* Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras stunk and were sent down/released.

* The Yankees are 51-34 and tied for first place in the American League East.

*****NOTE: This was before the series against the Angels.

With that being said, I'm excited to watch the homerun derby and the all-star game. If only it didn't count. They should really follow the NHL on this one. The team with the better record should get home-field advantage. Whatever. I'm also happy Pedroia isn't going to be the 2nd baseman. It's a bummer he had to leave because of a family emergency though :-\. Oh well, there are still a ton of red sox players on the roster, ughhh. Go AL!

5 more games before the all-star break

The Yankees took 3 of 4 from the Jays and last night took the opening game in the Twins series. It was the first time the Yanks came to town this season, so I was very excited to see the 2009 Yankees in person! They won the game 10-2 on 16 hits and 7 solid innings from CC Sabathia. He only gave up 1 run, a solo hr, and only 3 hits. It was nice to see him rebound from a poor start his last time out. And I was very happy to see him pitching well, as I was in attendance. As for the offense, they worked the count against Baker and got some hits and drove in runs. While some of the hits in the early going were little bloopers, flares, and broken-bat hits, they got it done, loading the bases a few times. The key to their offense was their 2-out hits with RISP.

Recap of the Scoring:

1st inning: Jeter lead-off single, K Damon, Tex single, ARod popup, RBI Single Matsui, K Swisher.
2nd inning: Cano lead-off single, infield single Gardner, deep sac fly Cervelli, popup Jeter, infield hit Damon, RBI single Tex, K ARod
4th inning: Cervelli lead-off single, walk Jeter, walk Damon, pop-up Tex, deeeeeeeep sac fly ARod, walk Matsui, walk Swisher, groundout Cano.
6th inning: Tex single, walk Arod, walk Swisher, single Cano, triple Gardner, double Cervelli.

All around, it was a team effort. The bottom of the lineup was excellent. I'm bummed Cervelli is being sent down because he had a great game. But now we have Posada and Molina catching, and Molina is one of the best back-up catchers. We'll see Cervelli soon, I'm sure of it :). And we're a very fortunate team to have him in the minors.

I think the highlight of the game was when Arod was robbed of a grand slam. Man, that thing was going out and everyone knew it, too. However, Gomez made a great catch and if he hadn't caught it, it was out because his glove was over the fence. Funny thing is, I said after ARod's first at-bat that he would hit one out that night. If it weren't for Gomez, that would've been true and it would've crushed every Twins fan in the dome because the game would've been 7-1 at that point. And it would've shut up their damn booing, too. At least that didn't matter too much as the offense kept pouring it on and were relentless. It sucked because Matsui almost hit one out, too, but it was caught. Next time, they shouldn't aim for dead center (408 ft).

It sucks that I had to go to the game with all Twins fans. Luckily I was next to a father and son who were Yankee fans. The son was so cute and had a Jeter jersey on, awww!! We both were so bummed about the Arod and Matsui should've-been-homeruns. Plus, there were a lot of Yanks fans in the building. There were definitely some loud cheers when they scored :). Man, those Yankees sure are sell-outs. They have fans everywhere. and man, Jeter is such a sell-out too. I mean appearing in his 10th all-star game? Clearly him getting the most votes in the AL means he's a sell-out and is a terrible shortstop. Scratch that, the whole organization is a sell-out because they know how to spend their money and get the best players and even have great young players in their farm system who are playing in the majors this year and are greatly helping the team out. And those 26 world championships? What a farce! Boo the Yankees for being rich because they know how to build a team and have the best fans in baseball. Hahahah, some people need to learn how to NOT be jealous.

Anyway, it was a great game and my record for games now moves to 4-0!!! Woohooo!!!

4/9/07: 8-2 W (WP: Pavano - Yeah, I know, I can't believe he actually had a quality start and was actually pitching for the Yanks lol)

5/30/08: 6-5 W (WP: Moose)

8/12/08: 9-6 W, 12 innings (WP: Veras - Mo blew his save :( )

7/7/09: 10-2 W (WP: CC Sabathia)

Tonight AJ Burnett faces Glen Perkins. Hopefully AJ will stay hot as well as the offense. Thursday, since CMW is on the DL....AGAIN!, Alfredo Aceves takes his spot. He will face rookie Anthony Swarzak. This is a game I'm not sure the Yanks will win. Aceves has made only 4 career starts, but was great in almost all of them and it was down the stretch, too. However, while I'm only a little worried about how he will pitch, I'm more worried about the offense facing Swarzak, a pitcher t hey've never seen before. We all know how those games go *rolls eyes*. Then they have to face the Angels. Ughhhh. The Angels are a much better team this time around (just like the Twins) but the Yanks always suck against them. I'm hoping that will change and they can take this series and then the series against the Angels before the all-star break. Btw, Congrats to Mo, Jeter, and Tex for making the team!

500, 501, 502, 503...

Happy 4th of July!

*Today is the 70th anniversary of the great Lou Gehrig's speech. "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth" - one of the most famous lines. The Yankees honored him by wearing "4ALS" patches, a #4 on 1st base, and reciting lines from his speech. They also donated $25,000 to the ALS Association of Greater NY.
*The Yankees had lost 3 in a row and 5 of their last 7 before their win against Atlanta in the second game of the series. It was sparked by Joe Girardi arguing with the 1st base umpire after he said Gardner was picked off 1st base (when clearly he was SAFE!). That sparked the Yankees as Cervelli hit his first major league homerun and the rest of the offense woke up. It also sparked them to a 7-game winning streak (a series win against Atlanta, a sweep of the Mets, and a series win against the mariners).


*Sunday night the game was on ESPN, so I was able to see Mo get his 500th save!!!! :) Congrats to him. It was just as awesome seeing him come up to the plate and work a bases loaded, 2 out walk to drive in a run and get his first major league rbi. Thanks, K-Rod.
*CC had a terrible last start (6 runs on 10 hits) against the Mariners. I'm hoping that he rebounds from that and has a great start next game because that's the game I am going to! I'm so freaking excited. Considering I saw Moose pitch the two games I went to last year and Carl Pavano the year before that, it's going to be great seeing one of the Yankees best pitchers this year and one of the newest. The Yankees have to face Scott Baker who struggled with his pitch count last time out, but only gave up a run. Of course, they were facing the Royals. He's 2-0, 1.50 against the Yankees, so I'm hoping they'll work his pitch count and get some runs off of him. I would love to see a series opening win from the Yanks.
*The Yankees pitching has been great and the offense has scored just enough runs to get some wins. It would be nice to see that continue over this 4-game series with the Jays as well as the series against the Twins.

GO YANKS!!!!

Wake Up, Yankees

While the weather in Minnesota is heating up, the Yankees are going the opposite direction. Over the past 12 games, this team has been very disappointing. Losing two series in a row to the NATIONALS and the MARLINS? Dear god, how embarrassing. Despite the Nationals actually being a very good offensive team, which is probably overshadowed by their terrible record, their pitching and defense is terrible. That's why they've only won 20 games. Sure, one of their starting pitchers pitched a good game and it's good to give credit when it's due, but seriously Yankees? And the 2nd game against the Marlins, they faced a very good pitcher. But they had runners on in the 9th against their bullpen and could've won the game, but they failed. Same with the game last night. Maybe if Brett Tomko hadn't come in and given up those homers, they could've had a better chance. Maybe if they didn't make those errors, they could've been closer.


If the Yankees want to stay in the hunt for 1st place in the division, they need to play better baseball than this. Their starting pitchers have been very good as of late (Burnett the other day? Outdueled, but still did very well). And the Yankees lineup pays them back with a poor effort at the plate and not coming through when they should. The bullpen hasn't been bad either. It's not cool for a lineup to slump all at the same time. Hopefully the Yankees can turn it around against the Braves (who are a team that has hot/cold offense - they lead the majors in runs scored w/ 2 outs and have the best batting avg with the bases loaded). They better turn it around because they've had the opportunity to play crappy NL teams and haven't capitalized like the Red Sox, Jays, or Rays have.

Yankees Take Subway Series Round 1 in Bronx

Lots to talk about....first off, the Yankees game today:

* NYY- 15 NYM - 0. I was going to go on a big rant about how angry the Yankees were making me this past week and weekend, but today they kind of did everything they were supposed to. They worked the count, got hits, got hits with risp, and for once knocked the opposing pitcher out of the game early. It wasn't our pitcher at 50 pitches in the 3rd inning for once, but the opponents! What a concept. AJ Burnett bounced back from an awful last outing and looked great the first 2 innings. He ran into some trouble in the 3rd, but worked hard and got two batters looking and Jeter caught a hard-hit ball right at him and AJ escaped a bases loaded, no out jam. Jeter was 4-for-4 today and Cervelli got 3 hits of his own. Cano and Matsui homered. The big thing was that Santana, who was previously 3-0 against the Yanks, gave up a career-high nine runs.

*Friday night's game was a memorable one. Down 8-7 in the bottom of the 9th inning, Jeter got a 1-out hit, stole 2nd, Tex walked, and of course ARod came up with 2 outs and risp. On a 3-1 count, he popped out and threw his bat down in frustration. Castillo got under the ball, it fell into his glove.....then out. Castillo fell to the ground and threw to 2nd but it was too late as Tex slid home safe. The Yankees won 9-8 and celebrated yet another walk-off in in an unusual way.

*If we could forget the Boston series ever occurred, that would be GREAT! :)

*CMW is on the hook as he turned in another poor outing this past week. I feel for him, I really do. I'm a huge fan of his, but Yankee fans are impatient and can't stand to see him go out there for 2 innings or less and give up hit after hit. The difference in his last start was that we saw great stuff from him at times and his velocity was up and his sinker was sinking. He hasn't suddenly lost his pitching ability, he just has no confidence out on the mound. I really hope he can turn it around during his next start against the Nationals, or we're going to be seeing more of Phil Hughes.

*The big juicy gossip is the brewing feud between Mets pitcher K-Rod and Yanks pitcher Brian Bruney who is set to rejoin the team on Tuesday. After K-Rod blew the game on Fri, Bruney was happy to see it happen to him. To sum up his quotes, he basically dislikes K-Rod's antics on the mound - how he celebrates like he threw a perfect game every save he makes - basically. While I'm a fan of pitchers celebrating, K-Rod's act IS tiring. You're a closer for crying out loud, you don't need to jump around pumping your fist after facing the bottom 3 of a lineup against a crap team (as one example, lol). I don't expect them to just not show any emotion like Rivera, who just happens to be a class act on the mound, but dont' act like a complete ass celebrating like you just won the lottery - that means you too Papelbon! Anyway, K-Rod responded saying don't go through the media to say things like that and I don't know who you are so I'm not going to even be affected by your comments. Would you like to eat your words, K-Rod? Today before the Yankees game, K-Rod went over to Bruney yelling at him and trying to start a fight. He had to be held back by his teammates while Bruney just stood there as CC and AJ rushed to his defense. If a nobody pitcher's words really didn't affect you, then why did you try to start a fight with him? K-Rod is such an idiot. Here's to hoping he blows more games for the Mets this year and to Bruney setting up even more saves for Mo :) Oh, and I know K-Rod said Bruney should say these kinds of things to his face, but what is he going to do? Walk up to him, tap him on the shoulder, and say "Excuse me? Francisco Rodriguez? I'm Brian Bruney, 8th inning set-up man for the Yankees and I just wanted to let you know that I think you're an embarrassment to MLB and your celebrations on the mound are completely unecessary. Ok, bye!" Get over yourself, K-Rod.

* The MLB 09 draft was this past week. The Yanks top 5 picks were:
-CF Zachary/Slade Heathcott from Texas High School
-Catcher John Murphy from the Pendleton School
-RHP Adam Warren from UNC Chapel Hill
-RHP Caleb Cotham from Vanderbilt
-3B Robert Lyerly from UNC Charlotte
They took a lot of pitchers and stocked up on some left-handed pitchers. They mostly stuck with college players.

The All-Star game selections is on July 5th, so keep voting! I also found a site that is trying to get Swisher into the all-star game this season as a write-in, so check it out. VOTE SWISHER

Who will be #1?

The 1st place Yankees took both series this past week against the Rangers and the Rays, losing only one game in each series. They now go on to face the Red Sox at Fenway, hoping to finally win a game against them this season. They're 0-5 so far, but they're also a very different team this time around. Apparently it's raining in the Boston area, so we'll see if a game gets in tonight (which I hope it will!). If you want to catch one of the games on t.v. (and don't have YES, NESN, or MLB.tv), wednesday and thursday night's games are being aired on ESPN and MLBnetwork.



Tonight @ 8:10 ET....
A.J. Burnett (4-2, 4.69) faces off against Josh Beckett (6-2, 4.09) - both are coming off one of their best starts of the season.
Tomorrow @ 8:10 ET....
Chien-Ming Wang (0-3, 14.46) hopes to improve from his last start against Tim Wakefield (7-3, 4.50) who has become Boston's new ace this season thanks to early struggles by Beckett
Thursday @ 8:10 ET....
CC Sabathia (5-3, 3.56) takes on the Red Sox for the first time this season and as a new Yankee facing Brad Penny (5-2, 5.85)

It should be a good series as the two top teams in the AL East fight for 1st place in the division early on in the season. Over the past week or so, they've been alternating between 1st and 2nd with the Yankees gaining a full game on them thanks to yesterday's win coming into the series. An interesting fact I learned last night while watching the Yankees game on tv is that the Red Sox, Yankees, Rays, and Blue Jays' pitchers lead the AL in strikeouts. That's pretty crazy and shows you how competitive this division really is. The Red Sox were 1st then the Yankees and I forget if it was the Jays or Rays after them.

Also, don't forget to vote for your favorite players to make it into the All-Star game on July 14th in St. Louis! Jeter and Longoria are in a tight battle for the most votes in the AL, while Tex has overtaken 1st place for 1st base. Go to mlb.com to cast your vote up to 25 times.
Another thing, the MLB draft is starting tonight. If you're interested MLBnetwork and MLB.tv are showing the 1st round of drafts. Anyone who has been following baseball headlines know that Strasburg is expected to be the #1 overall pick and will be playing for the Nationals. The question is, how much money will he get?

Diving/Bellyflopping 101

Reason #500978 Why Jonathan Papelbon is a Complete Douche

It's also another reason to have that much more respect for a guy like Mariano Rivera. I understand why Papelbon would be angry, but don't be such an idiot. Of course someone like that will never learn. It really stings much worse when you serve up a homerun ball to a back-up catcher...ouch! My favorite quote of the article?

"He knew I was shooting him, and he didn't say a word," Causi said. "A true champion realizes you got to take the good with the bad." Talking about Mariano Rivera blowing a save earlier in the season against the rival Red Sox.

Anyway, enough about the idiots in baseball. Onto the Yankees! They've won 15 of their last 19 games, including taking 3 out of the 4 in Cleveland while battling rain, disgusting insects called midges, and flocks of seagulls. If I was a fan, I would run for cover in fear that the midges would attack me and eat the flesh off of me, and that the seagulls would poop all over me. As someone said on the 161st and River site, Cleveland is a landfill! Yesterday's game was a great one. Joba pitched a career high 8 innings, giving up 4 hits and only 2 runs, while striking out 5. He finally got over his 1st inning problems and was hitting 94-95 in the first inning. By the 7th and 8th innings, he was hitting 97! This is the Joba we all know and love. Because of that showing, he really should go into the bullpen....Hahaha! *Sarcasm*

Other game notes:

-Jeter collected his 2600th hit in yesterday's game. He needs to score one more run to hit 1500. Just amazing, those numbers.
-The Yankees drew a season-high 11 walks from the Cleveland pitchers, including 8 over two innings. They really could've made their pitchers pay and the game could've been a blowout, but they wasted a few opportunities, but made it count in the 7th inning.
-The Yanks set a new MLB record for playing 18 consecutive games without an error! They beat the previous record of 17 games set by the Red Sox in 2006. They are 14-4 in this stretch of errorless games.
-Joba made a webgem play during the 5th inning. The Indians had two runners on with no outs when Shoppach bunted. The ball popped up in between homeplate and 3rd base and Joba charged toward it. Like everyone else, I was expecting it to fall and have the bases be loaded. However, Joba dove and literally was suspended in the air for a few seconds before bellyflopping and somehow catching the ball. Jorge ran towards him, pointing towards second where Garko had strayed a little too far from the bag. Joba made the throw to complete the doubleplay. He followed the play with a fist pump and cheer. Maybe Aubrey Huff should do that the next time he catches a bunt popup."It looked like he was going into a swimming pool," said Andy Pettitte, who led the guffaws from the Yankees' bench. (source: Bryan Hoch, mlb.com)

A link to the amazing play.

The Yankees will hopefully continue with their great pitching, defense, and offense as they return home to face the 1st place Rangers followed by the Rays. Let's go Yanks!!!

10-game homestand; 7-game road trip

That 10-game homestand was something special with 4 walk-off wins. Saturday afternoon, the Yankees scored 3 runs off of closer Brad Lidge to win 5-4 against the Phillies. ARod hit a game-tying 2 run homerun to right. Cano followed with a single and a stolen base and Melky's done what he has done for 2 other games this season: he won it for the team. In yesterday's game, Melky tied it in the 9th, but they couldn't get anything out of the rest of the inning. In the 10th, they had a great opportunity with runners on 1st and 2nd and no outs, but wasted that and it came back to haunt them. However, today was a great game for the Yankees. ARod went 5-for-5 with 4 rbis (none of his hits were homeruns). Tex was good as well and his average has risen to .273. But the highlight of the day was Phil Hughes' pitching performance. He went 8 innings, striking out 6, and only giving up 3 hits. He's been doing well (except for one performance) since he was called up to replace CMW. CMW is staying in the bullpen, and I think it's a good idea since our young pitchers have been doing well.

The Yanks went 8-2 on their homestand (2 losses to the Phillies) and now they begin a 7-game road trip (3 @ Texas & 4 @ Cleveland). Their offense is looking like it should be with the dangerous Jeter, Damon, Tex, ARod, and Cano all batting in a row. CC is continuing to heat up, Joba and Phil are doing well, Burnett's been struggling a little, and Andy's done pretty well.

We got a scare during Joba's last start when he left the game in the 1st after getting hit on the knee by a line drive. He starts tomorrow though, and hopefully will show no ill effects of the hit. Bruney's still experiencing pain and was put on the 15-day DL again, which sucks for the Yankees. Phil Coke has turned into the 8th-inning man. Nady, Molina, Posada, and Ransom are rehabbing in Tampa. Hopefully we will see Posada back in the lineup soon and he can provide more power to our lineup with his offensive abilities.

Thanks to the 8-2 homestand, the Yankees are in 2nd place in the AL East, 1 game behind the Boston Red Sox and a 1/2 game up on the Jays. Keep it up, Yanks!

Sweeping Their Way Forward

How about that? A 6-game winning streak, including a 4-game sweep of the Twins. The Yankees are finally above .500. The weekend series proved to everyone that the Yankees are not a stiff, old team. They've gotten players who love to play baseball (Nick Swisher, Teixeira) and a group of young guys who can invigorate the rest of their team with their energy. Would you see a Yankee pitcher a few years ago shoving a pie in a player's face during an interview after a walk-off win? Cervelli, Cabrera, Gardner, and Pena have stepped in during a time of injuries for the Yankees and are really helping out defensively, as well as offensively. It's great to see.

Wang has made a couple of starts down in Scranton. The only concern is his velocity, but the good thing is his sinker is staying down. Bruney should be rejoining the team soon, and I hope Veras or Ramirez is gone after this! They seriously give me heart attacks when they're out on the mound.. Jorgie should be ready in time for the Texas series which is next week, which will be a big boost offensively, too. It's amazing what Cervelli's done in his time here...his first time catching CC and CC throws a complete game shutout.

The homestand continues with the Yankees facing the ever-pesky Orioles. CC tries to get his first win at the stadium tonight and follow up his last game against them (a no-hitter, perhaps? Haha!). Then they end the 10-game homestand with a series against World Champion Phillies. Let's go Yanks!!!

Are the Pieces Falling into Place Yet?

Where to start? How about with the Yankees' 4-game winning streak? They're just coming off two consecutive walk-off victories - one in the 9th and one in the 11th. Last night, after returning home from my school's musical, I was fortunate enough to be in time to see the 9th inning. Brett Gardner was close to another inside-the-park homerun, but unfortunately he slipped when he was coming off 1st base, yet he still made it into a triple. Tex, slowly coming out of his major slump, got the ball past a diving Twins player to score Gardner. Matsui proceeded to strike out on a pitch he shouldn't have swung at, and Swisher grounded out after a great play by Morneau. ARod showed his continued patience at the plate despite not hitting well at all, and drew his 4th walk of the game. 2 outs and runners on 1st and 2nd, the next batter was going to be very important. Of course it's Robinson Cano, but they decide to intentionally walk him. Melky's up next and the fans are chanting his name. The first pitch he sees, he swings at and it drops in between Span and Gomez, two of the fastest outfielders. It was exhilirating! It's too bad I missed the game, it sounded like a great one. Hughes didn't pitch his greatest, but the bullpen picked him up. Damon got thrown out for arguing balls & strikes (and I can't blame him!!! That ump was AWFUL - after seeing those 2 terrible called strikes on Arod in the 9th). Tex got pissed that Gomez was running inside the 1st baseline twice and Girardi got really mad, too. I like that Girardi sticks up for his players and isn't afraid to go out and get angry.

Once again, after coming home from volunteering, I was able to catch the top of the 11th inning. Aceves did a nice job. Once I realized Mauer & Morneau were up the next inning, I just knew we needed to win. They've been enjoying hitting in the new Yankee stadium. Tex was AWESOME this game! It seems he's finally coming out of his slump - and just in time, too! He went 4-for-4 today with a 3-run hr and the game-tying single in the 8th. He worked a leadoff walk and Arod went up to the plate. I was hoping SO badly that he would win the game, just to show the fans and every other baseball fan that despite all the drama he brings to the clubhouse, he can still play baseball and win a game for his team. It all came true with the smack of the bat on an 0-1 pitch. He smashed it into the left field stands and the crowd went crazy.

Despite the Yankees' four-game winning streak, Tampa Bay and Toronto are still winning their games. Tampa Bay is 2 games behind the Yankees and Toronto is 4.5 games ahead. The Yanks, however, are 2 games behind the Red Sox. Go M's! Tomorrow the Yankees have Burnett on the mound facing Kevin Slowey, a solid pitcher who could be trouble for the Yankees. I don't think my heart or stomach can take another game like the last two! Bring on the offense, great defense, and solid pitching!

Just a few more things I wanna get out before I end this increasingly long post....
There's been talk about the Yankees, their losing ways, and their age. In the Star Tribune on Friday, it was all about how the Yankees just look plain OLD, and this is attributing to their injuries and inconsistencies. While I do agree the core players of the Yankees are aging and this does contribute to some of their injuries, I don't think you can say just because the Yankees aren't as youthful as the Rays or the Twins, it doesn't mean they still can't play baseball at a high level like they have in the past. There are plenty of teams with a lot of players over the age of 30. Jeter will always be the guy you want at the plate with a runner on 2nd and 2 outs with the game on the line. You can almost always count on ARod to be the slugger he always is (NOT ON STEROIDS!). You can count on Jorge to come up in a pinch. Matsui still knows how to slug one in the seats and come up big. And Damon's one of the Yankees' hottest hitters. They're all over 30 years old. They're the guys who are going to be consistent and the ones you lean on when the team's not doing its best. They're veterans at this game and know it better than any of the younger guys. Besides them, the Yankees have guys like the speedy Brett Gardner, the gun of an arm Melky, the electrifying Robinson Cano, and more players in the system. Pena stepped it up while Jeter was out for a few games and when ARod was rehabbing, and even flashed some leather. Brett went 3-for-3 in Friday night's game after stepping in for the ejected Damon. He legged out an inside-the-park homerun and got a leadoff triple in the 9th. He threw a guy out in the Toronto game, keeping the game close. Melky's gotten two walk-offs already this year. Robinson Cano went on an 18-game hitting streak and has improved so much from last year - from patience at the plate to clutch hitting to great defensive plays. Joba has been a solid starter. They do have young guys waiting in AA and AAA like Austin Jackson. For more on the youth within the Yankees this season is a preview for the game tomorrow: Read Here

And while articles have been saying the Yankees can't use injuries as an excuse for poor game performances because teams like the Jays and Red Sox are winning despite their injuries. While I mostly agree with this because I don't like using injuries as excuses, it's kind of hard to win a lot of games when 40% of your core players are on the DL (this was when ARod hadn't returned yet). They've put out lineups this year that look more like their AAA's team lineup. It's tough when you lose your 8th inning set up man. Or one of your starters who's been winning 18 games a season. Or when you lose TWO catchers, your regular, everyday one and your backup one. It's tough when Jeter's out of the lineup, or slugger Matsui. It's tough when your 1st baseman is off to one of his slowest starts ever and is basically an automatic out. It's tough when your 3rd baseman is out and who provides key balance to the lineup. It's hard to say that the Jays and Red Sox have ALL of these problems. And the Yankees players have been out for WEEKS (minus Jeter and Matsui). Having Big Papi in a slump is like losing ARod or having Tex slumping. Dice-K wasn't doing as bad as CMW (heck, noone was!). The one injury I can't argue with is Youk because that's a big blow to the Sox. Pedroia only missed 2 games. As for the Jays, they have injuries to their pitching staff, but their offense is so hot, they don't need to care as much about pitching. It was just a frustrating article to read because the Yankees have/had REALLY tough injuries to deal with. You can't really compare them to the other AL East teams' injuries. But in the end, it's no excuse, it's just a frustrating factor in another frustrating season.

The State of the Yankees

If the Yankees lose tonight, I'm pretty sure there's going to be a revolt in New York, with everyone demanding Girardi's head on a platter. I'm not even close to that stage yet. While it was embarrassing for the Yankees to get swept this past weekend, there's still a ton of season left. Nobody could predict Mariano giving up a 2-run homerun in the 9th on Friday, nor could they predict that two bad no-call strikes could lead to Burnett imploding, or that Jacoby Ellsbury would steal home with the bases loaded and 2 outs in a tie game. But that's baseball. The good thing? It's only April. If this was happening in August, Yankee fans would be a little worried.

The Negatives:

-The Yankees' rotation's ERA is the AL - 6.26. However, CMW's ERA is 34.50, CC's is 4.81, and Burnett's shot up to 5.47 after Saturday. Andy's is only 2.96 and Joba's is only 3.94. If CC brings that down, you take CMW out of the mix, and Burnett's goes down after the next start, their pitching isn't that terrible. I know a lot of people say "don't exclude CMW, he is part of this team" but seriously? Mechanical issues for a sinker pitcher = gruesome ERA.
-Like last year, the team forgets how to hit with RISP some games. Usually with 2 outs, too.
-Brian Bruney, CMW, ARod, Cody Ransom, and Nady are all on the DL. Brian Bruney was our 8th inning set-up man who was doing very well = MAJOR blow to the team. He should be back in 2 weeks or so. Ransom was playing 3rd base for Arod and his injury appears to be serious. He's very athletic and good defensively, so now we're stuck with Berroa/Pena. Nady means our bench is a player short, but Swisher has stepped up.
-The Yankees forget to hit against rookie pitchers and need to learn to take pitches against them. Also, when a pitcher's struggling, they need to hit them hard, not just get 2 runs out of them and give up.

The Positives:

-The Yankees are 18 games into the season. There's still time for this team to get its act together, get healthy, and play well.
-Robinson Cano is HOT! He has a .373 batting average. Nick Swisher knows how to get on base, even if his batting avg has dropped drastically. (.400 OBS). Jeter still knows how to hit, too. (.299 batting avg, 23 hits, five behind Cano)
-ARod will be back in a few weeks, bringing more offense to this team and better defense at 3rd.
-Tex is a notoriously slow starter, let's give him a little time. Besides, isn't he SO much better at 1st base than Giambi?
-Matsui, after getting fluid drained from his knees, is doing much better at the plate/running the bases.

While it's hard to deal with injuries, this team has absolutely no excuse for not trying to win games. With their lineup, they can score a lot of runs and they need to back up their pitchers who are pitching well (like Andy last night). CC, Burnett, and Joba are not going to pitch horribly every game.

LET'S GO YANKEES!

Winning is fun.

After being embarrassed on Saturday afternoon, the Yankees have won 3 straight. I watched Saturday's game because I was able to, and after that, I was wishing they hadn't shown it on national tv! But the game was on Sunday, too. So I was happy to see them win. They won 7-3 thanks to a Hip Hip Jorge 2-run hr. It was a controversial one and was reviewed by the umpires. They ruled it a homerun and said there was no fan interference. The TBS announcers couldn't get over it. They kept bringing up how the fans interfered by sticking their glove and hands out, making it impossible for Crowe to catch it. Even if the fans hadn't been there, Crowe might not have been able to catch it and it was obvious it was getting out of the park.

Monday's game against the A's was postponed, meaning CMW's next start against Boston will be skipped. Yesterday the Yankees backed up Andy's solid start by winning 5-3. Today the Yankees played in cold, wet weather - it didn't look pleasant out there. According to the headline on SI.com, CC Sabathia was getting "rocked" by the A's. From what I could tell on Gameday, he got into a few tight spots throughout, but it was when Giraridi kept him in the 7th inning that things fell apart. He was over 100 pitches (which is normal for him, but it was a tight game) and he gave up the lead. However, the Yankees' bullpen was up to the task, throwing 7.1 scoreless innings (that's what we want to see more of this season - especially from Jose Veras - he was outstanding. After a shaky first inning, he was a strike machine afterwards). The Yankees' offense FINALLY came through, after stranding runners on base the previous inning. The Melkman delivered, showing why he should still be on this team. I've always been a Melky fan, but after last season, I was happy to see Brett get the centerfield job. We'll see.

Tomorrow is the Yankees' day off, followed by a three-game series against the division rival Red Sox. Joba, Burnett, and Andy are scheduled to pitch. Lester and Beckett for the Red Sox. The third pitcher is unknown. The last two games will be televised nationally on Fox and ESPN.

Seriously Cleveland?

If there's going to be one team I'm going to hate this year (besides the Red Sox and the Angels), it's going to be the Cleveland Indians. Without getting into the gritty details of the game that is STILL not over, I'd just like to say the new stadium is kind of ridiculous. There have been a bajillion homeruns at the new stadium (6 total in yesterday's game). Right field seems to be the place to hit them.

The thing that pisses me off about this game is that the Indians still are trying offensively. You'd think a 14-run inning would be enough for them, but no. They keep hitting and hitting and hitting. It's the 5th inning and Eric Wedge has finally decided to take some guys out, well, Grady Sizemore at least.

I can't wait for tomorrow's game when it's Burnett pitching and we're facing Carl Pavano. I would LOVE to kick his ass. The Indians think they're the shit now just because they've gotten a lot of runs in 2 games. They're still the team that started the season 1-7 and are still only going to be 4-8. Oh and right, IT'S ONLY APRIL. They got to face a struggling pitcher in Wang and a guy who made his major league debut.

Burnett, us Yankee fans are begging you, dominate the Indians tomorrow!

And pitching for the New York Yankees...

You may be asking yourself, did the Yankees call someone up to go to the bullpen? But no, ladies and gentlemen, that is Nick Swisher, first baseman/outfielder and now relief pitcher...for one game at least. Swisher is one crazy mofo. It's true, I disliked him when he was on the A's and the White Sox. But now that he is a Yankee, i have to like him, just a little. After appearing in the last 10 games, Swisher has really started to grow on me. He's the clubhouse's unofficial DJ, which I think the Yankees need. They have the reputation of being stiff, not-gonna-have-fun players. But Swisher can liven the place up. His batting avg has dropped to .371 (oh no!), but he's hit 4 homeruns and has 11 rbi. While many people have been up in arms about Swisher smiling on the mound, I thought it was ok. I mean, he was pitching in a 5-15 game, and he was just having a good time out there. He allowed the first 2 men on base, but then pitched out of the jam, striking out Gabe Kaplar with one of his 70-80 mph pitches. If a first baseman pitching a scoreless inning in a blowout game doesn't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will. The one thing I really dislike about the Rays fans (besides their incessant use of the freakin' cowbell) is that they're not classy fans at all. Most Yankee fans are and you'll even find some classy Red Sox fans (those who know the game well and are loyal to their team -- aka: did not become a fan after '04). The Rays were up 12-3 in the game when they started a "Yankees Suck" chant. Oh, that was very creative. I wonder where they came up with that one. First of all, the Yankees are used to this. Second of all, they, of all people, should not be chanting that when 1) they're blowing out the team and 2) THEY HAVEN'T EVER WON A WORLD SERIES. They can go win 26 world series, then chant that. Or first, why don't they win the actual series against them rather than one game? While I like the actual Rays players (like BJ Upton, Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza), their fans need to shove their cockiness aside after one good season.

Anyway, the Yankees record thus far is 5-4 and they're 3rd in the division behind *gasp* the Jays and O's. WTF? The Jays aren't as surprising as the O's though. The Jays have great pitching (well, even though they lost Burnett) and their offense has been scorching - what they were missing last season. The Red Sox are off to one of their worst starts since 1996 (YAY!) and the Yankees are struggling with stringing more than 2 wins in a row. They should've swept the Royals, but didn't. However, they have won 2 series in a row, and hopefully they'll win the 4-game series against the Indians this weekend. They're 1-1 so far. They lost just an awful home opener yesterday. CC didn't pitch as well as he should have. He gave up 1 run, but only made it through 5 2/3 innings, throwing a ton of pitches (122). Joba pitched pretty well in today's game, but needs to work on limiting how many pitches he throws in the innings. He only made it through 4.2 innings today. Luckily the Yankee bats were eager to hit homeruns and Jeter was able to capitalize on that in the 8th inning.

Andy Pettite and AJ Burnett have been absolutely phenemonal for the Yankees. (1-0, 2.51 - bruney got the win in his 2nd start, thanks to a come-from-behind victory and 2-0, 2.70 respectively). Burnett threw a no-hitter into the 7th against the Rays, gave up 2 runs in the inning, but his teammates backed him up by rallying for the win.

I'm anxious to see the rest of the rotation pick it up, especially Wang. CC had a terrible first game, a muchhh better second game, and a so-so game yesterday. Wang's been just awful, let's not even get into his ERA. And Joba's been pretty good. His teammates let him down after a solid start against the Royals - the bullpen coughed it up. What every Yankee fan has feared about the bullpen is coming true. They were very good at the start, but over the past few games have not been so good. Bruney's been the only one who has been really good. Mo, too, it goes without saying. Jose Veras makes me nervous everytime he goes out there & Marte, too. Phil Coke was solid in spring training, not so much in the regular season. Edwar is okay - he has his good days, and his not-so-good days.

Chien-Ming Wang (0-2, 28.93) vs. Fausto Carmona (0-2, 9.00) tomorrow on Fox at 3:40ET.

It's Baaaaack!

Baseball season has officially begun tonight. The 2008 World Champion Phillies are facing off against the Atlanta Braves. Right now, the Phils are down 0-4 in the 5th inning.

Friday night and Saturday afternoon the Yankees played their final two exhibition games of the spring against the Chicago Cubs, which many would like to see as the matchup in the World Series. The Yankees christened the new stadium with two wins, outscoring the Cubs 17-5, and hitting seven homeruns. The weather was not very pleasant on Friday night, but at least it held up so they were able to play. After waiting to see the new stadium, I would be upset if they had to cancel the game. The stadium looks similar to the old one, except for that massive screen out in center field. Wow! It's weird to think there's no real history yet at the stadium. Hopefully that will change this season.

Tomorrow, the Yankees begin their season on the road at Camden Yards against a pesky Orioles team. The game will be on ESPN at 4:05 ET. CC Sabathia starts it off against Jeremy Guthrie. GO YANKEES!!

11 days & counting...

That's right. 11 more days until opening day! I've been waiting for this for many months now. Actually, ever since Sept. 28. The Yankees 2009 season looks promising and the AL East race is going to be very tight. It's no longer a competition between the Yankees and Red Sox, it's a competition between the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays. Everyone's saying that the AL East is the best division in baseball, even with the Blue Jays and Orioles, who can present problems to the top 3 teams in the East.

The Yankees have looked good in spring training. They even won nine in a row and had a win last night against the Red Sox, 7-1. What's most promising though is seeing CC and Burnett fitting in fine and even becoming good friends with Joba Chamberlain. Another thing that's good to see is Jorge Posada throwing out guys like Jacoby Ellsbury. Also, Mo's been pretty good in spring training as well. He's faced 13 hitters and retired 12 as well as throwing 30 strikes/43 pitches. Last night, Burnett and Wakefield put on a show, posting similar lines. Burnett lasted 5.2 innings, gave up 3 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, and struck out 4. Wakefield lasted 5.2 innings as well, gave up 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts. It's good to see Burnett doing well, let's just hope he keeps it up in the regular season.

The Yankees begin the season on the road, facing Baltimore, Kansas City, and Tampa Bay. The first games at Baltimore and Kansas City are their home openers. Then on April 16, it's the Yankees Home Opener versus Cleveland. I was upset I wouldn't be able to see the game because I live in MN, and I don't have MLB.tv or the Extra Innings package, but I saw today that MLB Network will be airing it! It's during the afternoon, when I'll be at school and will be just a couple hours after I give my senior speech. But that's what Tivo is for! I can't wait to see the new stadium. Well, here's to counting down the rest of the days until baseball season officially begins.

A-rod, A-Fraud, A-roid, etc.

Unless you've been living under a rock this past weekend, everyone knows that Alex Rodriguez, 3rd baseman for the New York Yankees, took steroids in 2003. 4 Sources confirmed that Arod had tested positive for testosterone and Primobolan in the random testing in 2003. Somehow it got leaked that Arod was one of 104 players who tested positive for steroids, even though it was supposed to be an anonymous survey. We all see how well that worked out. Everyone's been talking about this now. Various responses include "I always knew he was taking steroids!" or "I don't believe it. Arod never took steroids." Well, it's now been confirmed that he was taking them from 2001 to 2003.

He says, "When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure," Rodriguez said. "I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me, and I needed to perform -- and perform at a high level -- every day." He even apologized, "I'm sorry for that time, I'm sorry to my fans, I'm sorry to my fans in Texas. It wasn't until then that I ever thought about substances of any kind. Since then, I've proved to myself and to everyone that I don't need any of that."

Here are some thoughts...

-First off, I was really disappointed when I heard the news. Arod's always been a big guy and a great player, but I, as well as many others I'm sure, just assumed he was a really hard worker. Well, he still is a hard worker and still has loads of talent, but he also got a little help.
-While some people are rejoicing over this news (mainly Red Sox fans, and other Yankee haters), I think it's silly to rejoice. If Manny Ramirez or Kevin Youkilis or Big Papi had tested positive for steroids, I wouldn't be ecstatic. It's a sad day when a baseball player tests positive for performance-enhancing drugs because it just ruins the sport. It especially sucks when one of baseball's most talented players admits to using steroids.
-What I want to know is why this survey was leaked. The players were assured it would be confidential and nobody would know the results.
-I'm happy Arod admitted that he did use steroids - he saved some of his dignity and satisfied those who were still willing to support him. I, for one, forgive him for using them. I'll never look at him the same way again, but he's a Yankee and I'm a Yankee fan and I want to see him do well - just not on steroids.

Meanwhile, pitchers and catchers report this Friday and the first exhibition game is on February 25. I'm so excited for baseball season, even with all of this drama surrounding Arod!

Random Sports Update

While baseball players prepare to play in the World Baseball Classic, or start to pack up for Spring Training in Florida or Arizona, many other sports are in full swing.

The Superbowl is next Sunday, wooh! Although my favorite team didn't make it (and should have) because of dumb rules, I'm going to watch the Steelers and Cardinals face off. Unlike most people outside the state of Pennsylvania, I'm going to be rooting for the Steelers. Being in Pittsburgh on a Sunday during football season, I've seen how dedicated the fans are to their team. It's a rarity to see someone who is not wearing some Steelers paraphenalia or black or yellow item of clothing on a Sunday. Plus, with some family members living in Pittsburgh, it's almost a sin not to root for their team, isn't it? ;)

The Australian Open is going into its 2nd week, with some of the quarterfinal match-ups being finalized. (7) Andy Roddick is playing (3) Novak Djokovic. (2) Federer is playing (8) Juan Del Potro, after winning 3 straight sets after being down by 2 sets to none. Ivanovic, Jankovic, and Venus all lost on the women's side early on. And anyone who thinks tennis is boring didn't see the article about the chair fight that broke out between Bosnian and Serbian tennis fans after the Delic/Djokovic match.

No men's college basketball team is going to be undefeated this season. Wake Forest fell to Virginia Tech last week to be the last team to not have a loss. A lot of people thought UNC would be undefeated this year, but they lost to BC. Last night UConn defeated Notre Dame to end their 45-game win streak at home (and most in the nation). UConn has lost once, to then-seeded #8 Georgetown on Dec. 29. Big East play sucks this year because almost everyone in the Big East is in the Top 25. So UConn and the other teams in the Big East are facing a ranked opponent almost every game! Of course it makes for interesting games since all of them are really good. As for the UConn women, they're still #1 at 19-0. They made their case for staying #1 when they faced #2UNC who was 17-0, same as UConn at the time. Then UConn went out and beat them 88-58. They faced Cincy last night and were up 39-7 at halftime, and eventually won 65-34.

So yep that's what's been going on outside of the baseball world recently.

81 days until Yankees Home Opener :)

Big Spending in the Offseason

You know what I'm sick of hearing about? How baseball should get a salary cap because the Yankees are spending way too much. There was an article in the Star Tribune today (Minnesota newspaper) talking about the salary cap and the Yankees spending $423.5 million on three players. Patrick Reusse, the author of the article says: "And for all this, it wouldn't be a shock if what the Yankees get is another third-place finish in the AL East behind Tampa Bay and Boston. We can all hope that -- and that's what makes baseball so grand:If our favorite club is an also-ran, we have a team to root for just as intently in whoever is playing the Yankees."

I also read a great blog entry talking about the salary cap: Gametime's Blog. Everything they say is true, and Yankee haters may deny the accusations, but they're true. Yes, the Yankees have A LOT of money and they spend A LOT of money. But you're honestly telling me the Tampa Bay Rays or the Minnesota Twins, as examples, would NOT spend any money on big free agents if they had just as much money as the Yankees? Come on! The Tampa Bay Rays have had to rely on their number 1 draft picks to create a team, as well as their farm system. It has certainly paid off for them (see: Last season's World Series), but they've had to have so much patience and many years of being last place in the AL East. That does NOT work for the Yankees (see: last year...Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes). They tried it and it didn't work out for them which is why they went on a shopping spree in the market this season. Yankee fans and Yankee players WANT to win and NEED to win, just like every other team, but Yankee fans' expectations are MUCH greater. If the World Series is not won and the Yankees are not in the playoffs EVERY year, many fans are very upset. Losing is not acceptable for this team, especially when they have the potential to be a great team.

Last year disappointed many fans, but the off-season has brightened many fan's outlooks for next year. They're moving into a new stadium, have new players who look great in pinstripes, and fans know Captain Derek Jeter does not want another inconsistent season like last year. While every anti-Yankee fan is complaining this off-season, every Yankee fan is still in shock that they got three of the biggest free agents this off-season. I for one was shocked that we ended up getting Teixeria, I wasn't really expecting it, especially since we got Nick Swisher, but I'm not complaining. But this off-season, the Yankees organization showed that what they were focusing on was pitching. We lost Mike Mussina, a first time 20-game winner, and don't know if we're getting veteran southpaw Andy Pettite back. But if this team won 89 games last season and scored 789 runs with pitchers like Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson, imagine what they'll be like next year with C.C Sabathia, Chien-Ming Wang, AJ Burnett, Joba Chamberlain, and Andy Pettite/Aceves/Kennedy/Hughes. That's assuming they all stay healthy (a very big assumption, but the rotation sure looks a lot better than last year). The offense went to sleep last season, but they've scored 1,000 runs before and with Teixeria in the lineup, they'll definitely get more runs in. A-Rod also had an "off" season last year (35 hrs, 103 rbi). We had injuries to key players (Wang, Joba, Matsui, Posada, Kennedy, Hughes) as well that really ruined the season.

But the main point of this post is to show how irritated I am with this nonsense about a salary cap in baseball and the Yankees single-handedly ruining the economy. The only reason these things are being brought up is because people are jealous. It's as simple as that. Everyone's complaining about the Yankees spending so much, but laugh that they haven't won a world series since 2000. Why should you care then that they're spending so much on new players? Obviously they're just going to get 3rd place in the AL East again because clearly the Red Sox and the Rays are the superior teams in the division. It's not like the Yankees have been dominating every team the last 7 years. If they were, I'd get why people would be so upset with their spending. But the thing is, the Yankees haven't been winning world series year after year, so everyone who isn't a Yankee fan should stop caring about what players they get and how much they spend to get them. Personally I think the AL East will be a very tight 3-team race next year. Obviously spending tons of money isn't going to guarantee you a World Series win, but you have to start off somewhere. My final point: Everyone cares about the Yankees' offseason because they're scared that they just might get #27 next year.


(Note: I'd also like to say that while the Yankees spend so much money, it doesn't mean I approve. Of course I want my favorite team to get the best players out there (and the ones they need to win championships), but the money players make (in almost every sport, but mostly baseball and football) is absurd. However, I don't see how a salary cap will really do much.Like Gametime said in their blog, it will just force players to go to certain teams where they will get their market value, and it won't necessarily mean they enjoy playing for that team. But this is baseball, and I love the Yankees for their passion for the sport and their willingness to do anything it takes to win and make the fans happy. I also respect and appreciate the fans that follow them who truly know, love, and understand the sport.)