Tag: New York Yankees

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MLB General

The Full Count: Who is Gary Bennett?


1. Take a walk: Who is Gary Bennett? Most people besides Cardinals fans have no idea. But for one weekend, Bennett has captured the baseball world with his performance. After hitting a walk-off single and driving in both Cardinals runs in their 2-1 win on Saturday, he followed that up with an even more impressive performance. With the game tied 6-6 in the bottom of the ninth yesterday, Bennett hit a walk off rand slam that capped a Cardinals sweep of the Cubs. The career backup catcher helped win two games as the Reds lost two, giving St. Louis a three game lead in the division. Here are two interesting tidbits about the NL Central: every team in the division has a three game streak going of some sort (either winning or losing), and the bottom three teams in the division have each allowed exactly 666 runs.

2. Seeing double: Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams are arguably the greatest Yankees from their 98-01 three peat. And yesterday they did something as a duo that they had never done before. Both Jeter and Williams homered twice against the Angels on Sunday as the Yankees won easily 11-8. Williams had his first multi-homer game of the season and drove in 6 RBIs. Jeter continued his incredible success this season with his two blasts and three runs. Both Williams and Robinson Cano went 4-5 on the day as the Yankees extended their divisional dominance. They lead by 6.5 with one week left before September.

3. Rebound: Mark Buehrle needed a good start. His ERA had inflated to almost 5 after multiple bad performances since the All Star break. But yesterday Buehrle finally got what he needed: a win. He allowed one run in 7 innings against the Twins for his 11th victory this year. He has 11 losses, however, and his ERA is still over six since the break. But he gave the White Sox a win in their last game of the series against Minnesota, though they still remain a half-game back of the Twins. The Tigers also won yesterday, meaning the White Sox remain 5.5 back.

4. Logjam atop the NL Wildcard: Cincinatti, which looked like they could even challenge for the division title, lost 3 in a row over the weekend to the Giants leaving them in danger of being caught in the wildcard race. The Padres did not help themselves by going 1-2 over the weekend and remain 1/2 game back. Meanwhile, the Phillies were rained out on Sunday but remain 1 game back after splitting the first two with the Mets. And of course, don’t count out San Francisco, who have moved to within 2 games. Should be a photo finish.

5. Let’s hope he doesn’t throw a bat: The Devils Rays are expected to call up Delmon Young from the minors on Tuesday. Just this April, Delmon was suspended 50 games for throwing a bat at an umpire after he disagreed with a call. The Rays find themselves with an open roster spot after Jonny Gomes hit the DL and sent Ty Wigginton down to Triple-A. They are trying to determine if Young can be their everyday rightfielder next season.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Mets vs Cardinals as good as advertised



Bill Clinton approves this series

1. NLCS Preview?: In possibly the best overall matchup possible between National League teams, the Cardinals took on the Mets last night in Flushing. The result was better than anyone could have even anticipated, as the best offensive players for each side really took off. Albert Pujols hit a 3-run homerun in the third and followed it up with a fourth-inning grand slam. His 2 homeruns and 7 RBIs gave him 38 and 105 for the year, and he completely carried his team’s offense for the night. For the Mets, Carlos Delgado hit two blasts of his own, including a towering grand slam that gave him 400 career homeruns. But the Cardinals were still winning 7-6 heading into the 9th inning. That’s when Carlos Beltran stepped up. The slugger, who was 0-4 going into the inning, hit a walk off two run homerun to win the game for New York. It was one of the best games of the year in the NL, and there are still two games to go in this series.

2. NL West Showdown: We can’t believe we’re saying this after months of NL West bashing, but there is actually a watchable series in the division. The Dodgers are taking on the Padres in a battle of the top two teams in the West. So far, the Padres have absolutely dominated the season series over the division leader. They have taken 10 of 13 from LA, including a 1-0 win last night. Jake Peavy pitched a great game to continue his recent success, while Mike Piazza drove in the only run of the night. Peavy has had one of the more puzzling seasons of any pitcher. While he is third in the league in strikeouts and has a good 1.23 WHIP, Peavy owns an awful 7-12 record. That’s due in part to poor run support, and in part to Peavy’s underwhelming 4.35 ERA. But he won last night as the Padres won their third in a row to close the gap between them and the Dodgers to two games.

3. Next step: division lead: With the Cardinals loss, all the Reds needed to do was win to put them one game back of the division leaders. They did more than that. Cincy annihilated the Astros 14-0, crushing them in every way possible. Offensively they put up 4 runs in the second and 8 in the third. Brandon Phillips started the scoring with a solo shot, while Scott Hatteberg and Adam Dunn tacked on two more homers. Then Kyle Lohse, who had been simply awful before being traded from the Twins to the Reds this year, pitched his fourth straight quality start with 8 shutout innings. His masterpiece gave Lohse his first win as a Red and his ERA is now 1.65 with the team. Now at 66-60, Cincinnati is one game back of St. Louis and has the same amount of victories as the Cardinals. They are closing in on the team that has won two straight Central division titles.

4. AL Roundup: There were plenty of events in the AL yesterday as well. The Seattle Mariners ended an 11 game win streak with a 6-5 defeat of the Yankees. Adrian Beltre hit a walk-off homer, his second of the night and 15th of the year. The Red Sox continued their poor play with a 4-3 loss to the Angels, keeping them 6.5 back of the Yankees. Also, Kenny Rogers pitched 7 shutout innings for the Tigers as they beat the White Sox again, 4-0. Marcus Thames continued the Detroit tradition this year of unknown players stepping up, with a homer, a triple, and 3 RBIs. And finally, the Blue Jays improved after last night’s embarrassment, defeating the Athletics 4-3 as AJ Burnett won his 4th consecutive start. Fortunately, Jays manager John Gibbons didn’t challenge Burnett to a fight for the 3 runs he allowed.

5. Winning games, losing money: While the Yankees continue to spend, spend, and spend some more on free agents, few people think about whether the team has the funds to support their gigantic $200 million payroll. Well here’s the answer: they don’t. Yankees GM Brian Cashman (what a name!) reported yesterday that despite all the money the team is making, they are still losing money due to revenue sharing. Last year they made the most money in baseball with $277 million in revenue, but still lost $50 million overall. Perhaps this isn’t a good time to remember their $1 billion-plus new stadium that the team has to finance in part.

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New York Yankees

August 23 in Sports History: Ruth jacks em one last time


In 1942: While it is known that Babe Ruth hit his final three home runs in Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, it wasn’t the last time he thrilled fans with a few long balls. Batting against fellow Hall of Famer and legendary pitcher Walter Johnson, Ruth hit two into the stands to thrill the Yankee Stadium crowd one more time. The at-bats were part of pre-game festivities for charity; and Ruth, Johnson and 69,000 fans helped contribute $80,000 for Army-Navy relief during the war. The Yankees and Senators then split a doubleheader.

In 2005 (on August 20): San Francisco 49er’s offensive lineman Thomas Herrion collapsed and died in the locker room following a preseason game in Denver against the Broncos. The 330-pound rookie from Utah was on the field for the 49ers final drive of the game (14 plays), and was administered oxygen immediately afterward. During a team prayer in the locker room, Herrion slumped over and was immediately given first-aid. He was pronounced dead three hours later. An autopsy later determined that the cause of death was heart disease. He was 23.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Yankees show em who’s boss


1. One-sided rivalry: Everyone said the Yankees-Red Sox series would tell us a lot about where these two clubs stand. And it has. The Yankees are clearly much better than the Red Sox. New York over Boston was the result all weekend as the Yankees won 4 games in 3 days. This series has showed just how good the Bronx Bombers are: they have scored 47 runs in the four games, including three double-digit games to get the series rolling. Last night the result was 8-5 in 10 innings of Sunday Night Baseball, and the game was decided by their bullpens rather than the Schilling-Mussina pitching matchup. Derek Jeter hit an RBI single off Jonathan Papelbon in the 9th to tie up the game, while Jason Giambi and Jorge Posada homered in the 10th to win the game. Giambi’s homer gave him 2 on the day as he drove in 5 runs. David Ortiz hit his 44th homer of the season for the Red Sox and Manny Ramirez hit his 100th RBI. But it wasn’t enough as the Yankees extended their divisional lead to 5.5 games.

2. The wins keep on comin’: If Roy Halladay can do anything, it’s win ballgames. While no NL pitcher has even won 14 games, Halladay captured his 16th of the year yesterday. He was perfect through five innings but eventually allowed two runs as the Blue Jays defeated the Orioles. He is now 16-3 on the season, giving him a league-leading win percentage in addition to his second-best WHIP and innings pitched totals. Could Halladay win 20 games and a Cy Young? He’ll have to defeat this next guy to do that:

3. It’s easy to be dominant: Or at least it is for Johan Santana. The pitcher won his 6th consecutive decision last night as the Twins beat up on the ChiSox. It was his 15th win of the season as he allowed just one run in 7 innings. He now leads the American League in ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts, and WHIP and could capture his second career Cy Young award. It will be a great duel to the finish between him and Halladay, but as of now Johan is leading. He ranks better than Roy at everything but wins and, as described last week, is an animal down the stretch. The Twins won the 20th game in a row he started at the Metrodome, a modern record according to ESPN.com. The Twins took the series and now are just one game back from Chicago in the divisional and Wild Card races. This one could get nasty down the stretch.

4. No signs of fading: The Cincinnati Reds have held the NL Wild Card lead for a long time, and despite increased challengers they keep on winning. Yesterday they topped the Pirates 5-1 in front of their home crowd, as Aaron Harang easily shut down the opposing offense. Harang struck out 9 and allowed just a solo Jason Bay homerun to Pittsburgh while winning his 13th game of the year. That ties him with multiple players for the National League lead. Adam Dunn (37) and Scott Hatteberg (12) both homered in the third to give the home team an early cushion. Dunn is now only 3 away from his third consecutive 40-homerun season and has been a machine for the Reds in every offense category but batting average, strangely enough. Cincy now has a two-game WC lead and is only two games back of the division-leading Cardinals. The Astros, at 7.5 back, have yet to make a push.

5. Pitching problems: Pitcher after pitcher has gone down recently. The A’s and Reds will face bullpen problems over the next few weeks, as both Huston Street and Eddie Guadardo will be put on the DL. Street was feeling groin pain and will be temporarily replaced by Ron Flores, who was called up from Triple-A and has already had three stints with the A’s this season. Guadardo, who had saved 8 of 10 chances since being acquired by Cincy, was also put on the 15 day list and has forearm problems. But both those pitchers got off easily compared to Tom Glavine. He is being examined for a blood clot and could either return next week or miss the rest of the season. The Mets could be without their top two starters, Glavine and the 15-day DL Pedro Martinez, for a while.

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MLB General

August 2 in Sports History: Thurman Munson dies in plane crash


In 1979: New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson was killed when the single-engine plane he was learning to fly crashed in Canton, OH. Munson, the clubhouse leader of an outstanding Yankee team that had won back-to-back World Series titles, was 32. He was a seven-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner and won the 1970 A.L. Rookie of the Year award and the 1976 A.L. MVP. He was a career .292 hitter, but hit .356 in 30 postseason games. A memorial service would be held the next night at Yankee Stadium vs. the Orioles, with 51,151 fans attending. It was the largest crowd of the season.

In 1921: The eight Chicago White Sox players accused of throwing the 1919 World Series are acquitted by a jury in Chicago. According to trial accounts, the jurors hoisted the “Black Sox” on their shoulders as they left the courtroom. Newly appointed Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis would have none of it, and the very next day he banned Buck Weaver, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Chick Gandil, Happy Felsch, Lefty Williams, Swede Risberg and Fred McMullin from baseball for life. Weaver and Jackson (although he earlier confessed to it) contended that they were not in on the fix; and despite their best efforts to be reinstated, they never again played a big league game.

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MLB General

The Full Count: White Sox keep spiralling down


1. Another Brick in the Wall: Going into their series against the Twins, the White Sox enjoyed a three-game lead over the team. But now that the series is over, that lead has disappeared. The Twins did what they needed to do, sweeping three close games to tie the defending World Champs for second place in the venerable Central. For the White Sox and pitcher Mark Buehrle, winning has just been harder to come by recently. The White Sox have gone just 2-9 since the All Star break, with Buehrle going 0-3 with an 11.15 ERA in that span. Since the end of June, Buehrle has gone 0-5 and seen his ERA inflate from 3.22 to 4.89. Now they have lost what once seemed like an insurmountable Wild Card lead, and the Sox are 8.5 back of Detroit. Conversely, Minnesota cannot seem to lose a game. Could the White Sox, universally considered the best team in baseball about a month ago, miss the playoffs? It’s possible.

2. Back in Business: With the numerous injuries, struggles, and poor play that the Yankees have experienced this season, many thought that this would be the year that they miss the playoffs. Well, if the season ended today, the Bronx Bombers would be in the postseason. With a win yesterday, the Yankees swept the Rangers and moved into first place in the American League Wild Card standings. They can thank Jason Giambi, who broke out of a 4-32 slump with a game-winning homer. Giambi has struggled hugely this month, with a .195 average and .727 OPS. But last night he stepped up in a crucial situation, homering off Akinori Otsuka in the ninth. The Yankees scored 6 of their 8 runs in the last two innings, and the Rangers could not keep up despite all of their key players having excellent games. New York is now 1.5 back of Boston and a half game ahead of Chicago for the division and Wild Card leads, respectively.

3. Ready to collide: The Mets and Braves have not met since Atlanta became one of the NL’s hottest ballclubs. But on Friday, the teams will start a three-game series that could turn the Mets’ longstanding double-digit lead into an 8-game lead should the Braves take the series. But more importantly for New York, the series will finally mark the return of Pedro Martinez, who has missed nearly a month. Pedro, who has a 3.45 ERA and 7-4 record this year, will pitch on Friday in his returning start. This series is huge for the Braves, who won last night against the Marlins and are fighting multiple teams for the Wild Card. Currently they are 4.5 games back of Cincy and in fourth place, but we all know how quickly things can change in the crazy National League this season.

4. It’s good to share: The LA Angels and Oakland A’s have now shared the AL West lead for three days now. The teams have coordinated winning and losing, and last night was a good night for both teams. Despite Bartolo Colon leaving after one inning due to injury, the Angels crushed the D-Rays 15-6 in an offensive outburst. They produced so well that they moved up to 10th in both OPS and runs in the AL. That’s not saying much until you consider that Oakland is below them in both categories. How could two of the AL’s worst offensive teams be co-leading a division? The answer is pitching, and both teams are solid in that aspect. The A’s pitching was showcased last night when they nearly blanked the tough Boston offense. Dan Haren allowed the only run of the night and Huston Street continued his scoreless July. He has recorded two saves and two wins in a month in which his ERA has plummeted almost a point. Both teams stand at 52-49.

5. Ring my Belle: Albert Belle, the former Indians slugger who hit almost 400 homeruns in his career, has joined the extensive list of pro athletes in jail recently. Belle pleaded guilty to stalking his girlfriend and could face a 3-month jail sentence. Belle had apparently attached a GPS system to his girlfriend’s car and threatened her. (Insert your own Cincinnati Bengals-in-jail reference here).

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New York Yankees

Johnny Damon’s agent can suck it

You’d think Johnny Damon would have more things to worry about than a woman selling “Damon Sucks” bibs on ebay. (Like what the hell is going on inside A-Rod’s head.) But recently his agency, Scott Boras Corp, (currently neck and neck with Drew Rosenhaus for biggest asshole agent) decided to file a complaint against a woman selling Damon Sucks bibs on ebay.

The woman selling the bibs, Ann Sylvia, fought back with the argument that he couldn’t prove that she didn’t mean other players like Damon Hollins. Boras Corp attorney Lubner made a compromise — she couldn’t use “Johnny”, “Boston”, Red Sox”, “New York” or “Yankees” in the listing.

So the long and short of it is that Damon’s agents are a bunch of jackasses and this woman now gets a lot of free publicity for her ebay items. Good work, Lubner. Your christmas bonus this year will be a bib.

Links:

[Fox Sports]: Internet baby gear hits nerve with Damon

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MLB General

July 13 in Sports History: the saga of Carl Mays

In 1919: Pitcher Carl Mays of the Boston Red Sox abruptly left the field during a game at Chicago in protest of what he thought was a lack of support in the field from his teammates. He refused to pitch again for the Red Sox. This caused a major controversy in baseball and would set off a course of history that would change the game. First, Mays was traded to the Yankees (right before another famous Boston player), but league president Ban Johnson would not let him play. The Yankees were able to get a court order allowing him to play, thus eroding Johnson’s power. This would be a main reason (along with the Black Sox scandal) for the need for a commissioner the following season. As a member of the Yankees the following year, Mays – a known spitballer and very unpopular player – would throw a pitch that would hit Cleveland’s Ray Chapman, which Chapman would die from. The spitball, although not directly blamed for Chapman’s death, would be outlawed the following year.

In 1999: Ted Williams is honored before the Fenway Park faithful in a touching ceremony before the All-Star Game in Boston. Teddy Ballgame was carted around the field and doffed his cap (finally) to the adoring fans before meeting with the All-Stars from both leagues. Williams, always known as surly with the Boston crowd, is moved to tears by the tribute and thoroughly enjoyed talking hitting with the players. The spontaneous and poignant moment delayed the game’s start by 15 minutes. In the game, Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez struck out the first four batters and five of the six he faced in a 4-1 AL victory. He would become only the second player in All-Star history to win MVP honors in his home park (Sandy Alomar did it in Cleveland in 1997).

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MLB General

Johnny Damon used to smoke pot… still a babe hound

The latest issue of Men’s Journal really explains a lot about Johnny Damon. Damon said that he used to smoke pot and that “it’s part of life, it’s natural, it’s from the earth”. Damon claims he no longer smokes pot because “you have to grow up some time.”

He said his dad was pretty tolerant of it and that his dad told him, “If you ever want to experiment with anything, let me know. He smoked a little bit, so he said just let him know.” So the lesson to be learned here is this: if you smoke pot with you son, he will grow up to be a professional baseball player. Or are we reading this all wrong?

Furthermore, Damon rubs it in all our faces when he tells Men’s Journal that girls still come up to him all the time and that he turned down a pair of female fans. Oh… Johnny Damon is too good for a threesome. Well F him. We’re going back to smoking some pot.

Links:
[NY Daily News]: From the grass at home
to Yankee Stadium

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MLB General

The Full Count: No birthday present for George

1. Happy Birthday, Boss: George Steinbrenner celebrated his 76th birthday last night. So did the Yankees’ opponent, the Indians. Cleveland’s offense came alive for a 19-1 bashing of New York, the second-most runs scored by any team in a game this season. Travis Hafner demonstrated why he should be on the All Star team by crushing 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. Catcher Victor Martinez, one of the league’s most underrated players, went 5-6 and drove in 3. Six Indians had 2 or more hits, and six also had 2 or more RBIs. Shawn Chacon took the bulk of the beating for the Yankees by allowing 7 runs in less than 2 innings. The Indians also featured some good pitching in the rout: Jake Westbrook went 7 innings and allowed no earned runs. Cleveland is no stranger to blowing out the Yankees; in August 2004 they crushed them 22-0.

2. Tying it up: The Blue Jays have been creeping up on the Yankees for almost two months now, and they finally tied them in the standings yesterday. Roy Halladay, the Blue Jays’ All Star pitcher, became the first AL starter to reach 11 wins on the year. Halladay worked 7.2 scoreless innings to capture what eventually became a 3-2 win over the Rangers. That’s because BJ Ryan almost blew the game in the 9th inning. Ryan, whose ERA has been well below 1 for most of the season, allowed 2 runs in the ninth but escaped with the save. Both the Blue Jays and the Yanks are now 4 games back of the Red Sox in the East, and that’s with Boston losing yesterday. Meanwhile, the Rangers fell to 42-42 but are still in 2nd place in the awful AL West division.

3. Make it 17: Jose Contreras, the AL’s likely starter in the All Star game, remained undefeated with one of his best outings in a while yesterday. Contreras, who posted a 6.21 ERA in June but escaped 3-0, worked 6.2 scoreless innings last night to improve to 9-0. Contreras needed little run support but he got plenty of it; the White Sox offense blew up the Orioles for 13 runs. Paul Konerko hit his 21st homer of the season as every Sox starter scored a run and got a hit. At 54-29, Chicago remains 1.5 back of the Tigers for the AL Central lead.

4. A three-way tie: The NL West has been the most competitive division in the majors ever since the season started. Teams move in and out of first very quickly in this division, in which currently all 5 teams are separated by just 3.5 games. Right now three teams are tied for the lead: the Rockies, the Padres, and the Dodgers (43-40 each). The Giants are just a half game back, while the struggling Diamondbacks are bringing up the rear. The division could be called the NL’s best or worst depending on how you look at it. While all teams are close, the 43-40 mark is the worst in the majors for any division leader. Which team should emerge from this mess? We’ll take the Dodgers, whose offense surprisingly leads the NL in runs scored.

5. LLLLLLima time!!!: In one of the most entertaining stories possible, the Mets recalled Jose Lima from AAA. Lima, who posted an 8.79 ERA in three starts earlier this year, will look to further the Mets’ recent struggles. Or maybe not, considering his 3.86 ERA in seven starts in the minors. Either way, we’ll get to say “Lima Time” one more time.