Opening Night/Day 2010

So the Yankees, as the 2009 world champions, have the honor of being one of the teams featured for Opening Night. Of course they're facing the Red Sox. How could they not? Luckily I have had other sports teams to turn my attention to (football, college basketball, & hockey) during the offseason, but now baseball is back in 4 days!!! I am so excited for the season to start and for the Yankees to defend their title. Expect more updates in May (I get out of school May 7, go to Pittsburgh the 13th or somewhere around there and will be back the 17th or so).

Let's go yankees!!

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!

All-Star Game; A Look Ahead

The final All-star game at Yankee Stadium was last night. The pre-game ceremony was awesome. It was really funny when they called out Papelbon's name and all you could hear were boo's. And then of course a standing ovation for Mariano Rivera - how it should be. Then they had HOFers all stand at their positions and then the All-star starter was called out - really, really cool. They interviewed Yogi Berra during the game and he seems like the coolest dude ever.

The game itself started out well - it was pretty much a pitcher's duel with only a few players getting on base. Then Ervin Santana gave up a solo homer to Matt Holliday. Later, in the 8th inning Papelbon gave up a single, Navarro screwed up a throw to 2nd to try to catch a runner and they made it to 3rd. After that they scored on a sac fly. It was hilarious listening to the Bleacher Creatures shout out "mariano!" and "overrated!" Serves the asshole right. Later, JD Drew hit a game-tying 2 run hr. Out of all of the Red Sox, I am glad it was him who hit it. I know I, as well as all of the other Yankee fans, were very angry when we saw K-Rod in for the 9th. He gave up a lead-off walk then got 1 out and was taken out for Mo :D. Mo was great, as usual. He even got out of a jam in the 10th with runners on 1st and 3rd. The game continued...and continued...and continued. There was one point where the AL had the bases loaded and got 0 runs in. It was so sad. But it finally ended in the 15th when Michael Young hit a walk-off sac fly.

Credit: Lohud Blogs

Overall, the ASG was really great, especially at Yankee Stadium. The game obviously went on way too long. If it ended in the 10th, as it should have giving Mo the win, that would've been fine. Terry Francona did a good job managing (though he got people off the bench early so our entire bullpen and players were pretty depleted by the end of the night) and acted very classy regarding the Yankees. He took ARod and Jeter out in the middle of the innings so the fans could give them an ovation. Jeter got his "Der-ek Je-ter!" chant :). And bringing in Mo for 1 2/3 inning was nice as well :).

The Yankees start the 2nd half on Friday against the Oakland A's. This is, unfortunately, my last day of free MLB.TV :(. Booo. I really hope the Yankees pick it up. They may have ended better than last season's first half with a record of 50-45 but I don't feel like the team is playing with any real purpose or passion for the game. Andy Pettite bluntly put it: "We stink right now for the most part. As a team we've kind of stunk it up lately" Derek Jeter has the best quote as saying the Yankees are consistently inconsistent. It sums up the entire team. The only players who have been consistent for us are Johnny Damon, Arod, Giambi, and Mussina. Damon's out with a shoulder injury (and will hopefully be back next week!!!). Arod hasn't been spectacular but he's been effective, even with the whole Madonna drama. Giambi has been great this year. Mussina has really shone this year. The pitching hasn't been terrible this year. I feel comfortable with Mussina, Pettite, and Joba pitching. The 4 and 5 starters? Er, not so much. Hey Darrell Rasner, you kind of stink lately (minus his last start - he battled through that game). Sidney Ponson, you're not seriously going to be on our team the rest of the year. We need someone to fill those spots.

The offense sucks...pretty much. With our line-up we should be scoring a ton more runs. Nobody really cares though, that's the sad part. Robbie Cano is finally heating up though. Melky's breaking out of his slump..a little bit. Brett Gardner is trying - he's gotten quality at-bats in and they're starting to pay off. Hey even Jose Molina is hitting singles and doubles and recently he's had some long at-bats of 5 or more pitches. But if they're going to get anywhere their offense needs to wake up and get going, along with some more solid pitching.

Upcoming Schedule:
7/18-7/20 vs. Oakland A's ; Home
7/21-7/23 vs. Minnesota Twins ; Home
7/25-7/27 vs. Boston Red Sox ; Away
7/28-7/30 vs. Baltimore Orioles ; Home

Yankees Red Sox Rivalry; Opinion on the ASG

Last night's game is too good not to write about. It started out very well. Joba was awesome last night, right from the start, you could tell he was focused. It was the first time I'd seen him pitch live, tho not in person unfortunately, so it was sweet to see what he could do. I was impressed, he wasn't just constantly blowing fastballs by everyone, as sweet as that was to see. He ran into trouble during the 5th inning when there were two runners on, and Youkilis scored on a wild pitch by Joba to tie the game (after an ARod homerun to left field). After that, there were 2 outs, with 2 runners on, and Joba got bitchslapped by the umpires when they called a no-swing on Ellsbury. That was fucking bullshit to the max, he swung through the zone, it was so fucking obvious. That pissed me off because it would have ended the inning, instead it loaded the bases and then Pedroia came up and hit a dinky two-run single. If there's any player I can't stand on the Red Sox, it's a three way tie between Pedroia, Manny, and Youkilis. He's such a bitchy little player, I can't stand him. What makes it worse is that he can hit, too.

Anyway, so it was 3-1 at this point and I felt the despair creeping in. It was already the 5th inning and the Yankees were hopelessly flailing at Wakefield's knuckleballs. They had managed 1 hit off of him, an Arod blast off a pitch that was left up. But then in the 6th inning Giradi came out and bitched out the awful home plate umpire, Laz Diaz. It was about damn time, his strike zone was complete BS. He called an awful pitch for a strike on Molina that looked way up and in. Molina just stared at him like he was crazy. Then he called a strike on Gardner that was way out of the zone. IT was awesome seeing Giradi get so close to Laz Diaz and he was so angry, too. Throughout the game the players just glared at the umpire on some of his BS calls. Even yesterday, Moose was so pissed at the other home plate umpire for some of his calls on him. So Giradi obviously got ejected. After he got ejected, Gardner hit the next pitch he saw right up the middle. Jeter singled after that, allowing Gardner to race home and bring the score to within one. Then in the 7th, we got the offense rolling again. Arod hit a leadoff single (it was funny cuz he just reached out to get it and popped it into right field..not something you see too often from him). Then with 1 out, Hip Hip got a hit as well. After that Robbie was up and hit a game-tying triple!!!!!! It was SO AWESOME. There was some debate about Hip Hip touching third base, but he did, tho just barely. It sucked when Melky hit a high chopper back towards second base and Robbie was called out at home with 1 out. It was a pretty bad play there.

So the game ended up tied at 4-4 (Dave Robertson gave up a run in the 7th). Krazy Kyle came out to pitch the 8th and did awesome, I was happy about that. I'll admit I was nervous as hell when he came out in a tie game. He did his job, getting the 3-4-5 hitters out. Then in the 8th inning, Gardner hit a pitch that squirted over 3rd base and TOTALLY BOUNCED IN FAIR TERRITORY, but it was called foul. That was fucking BS as well, it clearly bounced in the line, it looked like it might've hit Lowell's glove, too. It would've been a lead-off single, or maybe even a double. Instead, we failed. In the 9th, Mo came in. I was scared, I'll admit. Mo tends to do worse in tie games, instead of a game he's trying to save. Casey led off with a single, so I was like shit. Crisp hit a sac bunt to advance Casey to second. Then Varitek came in as a pinch-hitter...yea uh right? He sucks. Idk if he was meant to, but he got Casey to third. So now there's a runner on 3rd, with 2 outs. Then Manny comes in, oh boy. He struck out looking on THREE PITCHES. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. All of Mo's pitches were just placed perfectly. He came in a pitched a perfect 10th, too, after we failed to score in the 9th. Then, bottom 10, Robbie Cano led off with a nice single. Melky sac bunted him to 2nd (he was really close to being safe at 1st, too). Betemit came in to pinch-hit for Molina and failed, swinging at the last pitch. So now, with 2 outs, Brett Gardner comes up. OK, not exactly the guy you'd want in a tie game in extra innings with 2 outs and a runner on 2nd. I had faith though, I like this guy a lot. He showed he is patient at the plate, not swinging at every pitch he sees, or hitting the first pitch. He got robbed of a few hits, and when he did get on base, he stole 2nd (and once 3rd). It was funny because at this point, he had more steals than hits in the Majors. He was facing Papelbon, ugh, right. He was patient though, and fouled off a ton of fastballs. Then in the 8th pitch of the at-bat, he hit a dribbler up the middle. Cora got there just in time. He was on the ground, so he would have had to get up and throw it hard to 1st, which he could've possibly gotten Gardner out, but he is quite speedy. Instead it bounced off Cora's glove and Pedroia couldn't recover it and Gardner, for the second game in a row, delivered the game-winning RBI!!!! I was so happy for him!

The All-Star Teams were announced yesterday. Um, I'm just a slight bit irritated that there are SEVEN Red Sox players on the team. That's a bit much. They have Manny, Pedroia, and Youkilis starting. I don't think Manny is deserving just because of his terrible defense, but of course his offense is good. He has been in a bit of a slump lately. Pedroia did not deserve it over Ian Kinsler. The stats prove it. Just because Pedroia has a high batting avg since June, doesn't mean anything.

Kinsler:
Batting Avg (86 games): .332
OBP: .391
SLG: .545
He has 23 stolen bases, 14 hr, 53 rbis, and 79 runs.

Pedroia:
Batting Avg (89 games): .312
OBP: .355
SLG: .458
He has 9 stolen bases, 9 hr, 41 rbis, and 60 runs.

The stats prove Kinsler is much better at 2nd base. People counter with, well then why did Jeter make it over Young? I'll admit, Jeter's stats aren't as good compared with Young, but can anyone honestly imagine the final ASG at Yankee Stadium without Jeter starting? It's a poor excuse, but it's not like the Yankee players won every single position. They have three guys on the team..THREE. I am hoping Giambi makes it in for the final vote. He's been awesome this season. Tho, unfortunately, Jermaine Dye might make it, or Evan Longoria (haha can't get over that name). I think it was a disgrace that the players voted Varitek into the ASG. He's been downright terrible offensively this season. I saw a stat last night that since May? I believe he's had an avg of .130! I think, if anything, it's for his presence, not his offensive capabilities. Anyway, it should be a good ASG..I've always liked it just because you're able to see the best players in the AL and the NL face off in the same stadium. It's rare to see something like that, which is why I enjoy it. This post is super long, so I'm going to stop blabbing.

Field Trip.......to Dairyland!

Sigh! I'm FREAKING EXHAUSTED!!!!! I woke up at 6 AM, which is very earlyyyyyy. My parents and I left at the lovely hour of 7:15 and headed east towards Wisconsin. It was snowing/raining and there wasn't a lot of people on the road. After the llong drive, I realized how much I dislike trucks! They're so annoying especially when they pass you and spray your car with dirty stuff from the road! Well, my parents and I made it there alive, after a good 4 hours of driving, probably more. I was forced to drive the entire way (in my car tho, so i had complete control over the radio). Let me just say, Appleton IS SO FREAKING CONFUSING! The roads are set up so oddly and oh god. I had to parallel park in downtown Appleton, which was not fun. We got some Subway then headed over to Lawrence. Uh there was ONE other person on my tour, so it was my mom, dad, me, a guy from Madison and his mom. It was SO awkward!!!!!! Then it started to snow hard on our tour which sucked and it was cold and my hair was soaking afterwards.

We finally left around 3, but our little direction thing (omg totally blanking on the word) screwed us up so it took us an extra 30 min to find the highway. For the first time, I got pissed at this dumb Wisconsin driver. They were going slow (speed limit was basically 65 mph the entire time) so I went into the left lane and then passed them and went in the right lane, THEN they sped up, went in the left lane, got in front of me AND WENT SLOW! i was like you're the stupidest person ever! Then this other time, this guy was passing me too, then he cut RIGHT in frotn of me (nobody else was around and i mean NOBODY) and splashed water all over my car. My dad was like "what an idiot". Haha my dad & I bonded on this trip,w e made fun of everything. They called one highway..highway "x" then there was highway "xx". We went through the "first city" of wisconsin and the "most friendly wisconsin town" too. I also saw a HORSE & BUGGY cross the HIGHWAY. it was SOOO FUNNY!!! Then we saw a sign for "Chubby's".......a gentlemen's club which looked like a LOG CABIN! Oh boyl, what an eventful trip! P.S NEVER DRIVE ACROSS THE ENTIRETY OF WISCONSIN, IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOO BORING AND FULL OF FIELDS AND FARMS. Cruise control was my friend<3 I just cruised around 70 mph most of the way back so it was super nice, but wtf there were cops all around with their radar guns..theyre stupid.

In the sports world:

-YANKEES BEAT THE RED SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They were up 7-0 after 2 innings, and eventually won 8-4.
-WILD WON!!!! They beat the Avs and we're in first for now! It was such an important win!
-Uconn women are #1 seed for NCAA tourney and Uconn men are #4 seed for NCAA tourney as well!

Spring is Coming

I am excited for multiple reasons:

1) Phil Hughes is pitching in the Yankees Spring Training game today against the Twins and it's on TV. If you can't do the math, I get to see Phil Hughes pitch!!!! I think I saw him pitch a few times last year, but it's rare when you're stuck out here in MN. Oh, & I hate the Rays (minus garza and bartlett) because they ALREADY injured one of the Yankees' prospects! 22-year old catcher, Francisco Cerelli, has a fracture in his right wrist and is going to be out 8-10 weeks. Honestly, do the Rays have to play dirty ball already? It's SPRING TRAINING! You don't injure players during spring training ! Carl Crawford already slid in really hard in their game last Wednesday against Houston. Nobody's going to feel sorry for them anymore if they play dirty. I mean, I know they're trying hard and all, but it's just a spring training game. /end rant.
2) The Sharks play the Wild today! OK, technically that's probably really bad for the Wild who are struggling, and the Sharks who are not (8 wins in a row). But I'll get to see, in High-Definition, Devin, Torrey, Matt, and Marc-Edouard! Woohoo! P.S. Happy Birthday Brent Burns!
3) This Friday is SPRING BREAK & THE SWARM GAME!!!! 2 blissful weeks without school and warm(er) weather. We don't even have lacrosse practice on Friday, so Elise and I can get to the Swarm game early and get our free bobble-head. Excellent. Friday will be so much fun. But it still sucks that the Swarm have lost 3 in a row now. Bummer.


Well, that's my exciting news for the day. I bet you all got really excited about what's coming up today and the rest of the week, too. I should probably head out to get my lacrosse equipment because I have a busy day ahead -> 12 PM = Yankees game 3PM=Wild game. In between= english project (4-5 page creative paper).