Tommy's Gotta Go! The times they are a-changin in the Meadowlands

A quick note before we get started: the title of this post is a nod to the song "Scotty Doesn't Know" that was featured heavily in the highly underrated comedy Euro Trip.  Sung by the actual band Lustra, the ditty is heard multiple times in the movie with Matt Damon as the lead singer.  It is a truly awesome song that features, in its closing moments, a line of Scotty's Gotta Go! that I think works well here in the head coaching context of the New York Football Giants.

In 2007, the Giants lost their first two games by a combined 32 points and nearly started 0-3, save for a last second comeback on the road in Washington.  That win was the start of a six-game winning streak that rescued the Giants' season.  Head coach Tom Coughlin ended up leading the team to three straight playoff road wins (including a gutsy battle on the literally frozen tundra of Lambeau Field) and a most unexpected Super Bowl title by taking down the then-undefeated New England Patriots with a little help from an overpowering D-line and a ridiculous heave-and-catch by Eli Manning and David Tyree.

The key to that season?  Coughlin's personal turnaround.  Going into that season, Tommy C had a reputation for being an old-school hardass who worked his players relentlessly during OTAs, minicamp, and weekly practices.  He was no-nonsense and verbally abused his own guys frequently.  He didn't tolerate laziness or sloppy play.  How miserable was this man?  Nine months after winning Super Bowl 42, Coughlin was still voted the head coach that NFL players would least like to play for...by a whopping 5% margin over runner-up and noted cheater Bill Belichick!

But Coughlin realized that after the Week 3 comeback in DC, he needed to change his ways.  He had lost the confidence of his players and the team just wasn't playing up to its potential.  He saw a sign of improvement and he took advantage by loosening up, taking the edge off, and letting his players play.  The more hands-off he became, the better the Giants did on the field.  Less was more, and suddenly Coughlin was back in control of a winning team.

But there are problems once again in 2010.  Coughlin has lost control of his team and the G-men are floundering.  What's wrong and how do we fix it?

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Connecticut Whale logo unveiled

Howard Baldwin, the former owner of the Hartford Whalers and current head of Whalers Sports & Entertainment, recently took over the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack, the minor league team affiliated with and owned by the NHL's New York Rangers.  Baldwin is going to run the business operations of the club.  His first move as head honcho was to rename and essentially rebrand the team as part of his ongoing efforts to bring NHL hockey (and specifically the Hartford Whalers) back to the Hartbeat.

The result, ladies and gentlemen, is that midway through the upcoming season, the Hartford Wolf Pack will become the Connecticut Whale.  And just yesterday at around 6:00 p.m. EST, the team unveiled the new logo and color scheme for the Whale:

Readers, I am interested in your thoughts about this new look.  Personally, I think it is terrible.  It looks like it was designed by a high school sophomore who was playing around with an outdated and illegally downloaded version of photoshop.  The "C" could not be more generic.  The logo also fails at transforming the peaceful whale into a fearsome hockey player (perhaps this is why the original Hartford Whalers logo featured only the tail rather than a full whale).  Speaking of the whale tail, it is the only homage to the original NHL logo, and it is tucked away in the bottom right-hand corner!  The entire image, in my eyes, is typical minor league garbage.  It is plain and boring.  Just look at the font used for the team name....I cannot detect even a whiff of style or flair.

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TiqIQ Giants Ticket Preview: Giants vs. Bears

Here at NYaT, we're always looking for smart partnerships to bring better coverage to you, the reader. During this football season we'll be working with TiqIQ to help you find great tickets on the secondary market to the New York Giants. They'll give you a breakdown of the prices per section for the Giants home games so you can make an informed decision when you go to get tickets.

TiqIQ's slogan is "Tickets Meet Intelligence" and if you're looking to procure tickets on the secondary market, you need a tool like this to make sure you're getting the most bang for your buck. River Ave Blues partnered with TiqIQ back in July to bring you the information you needed on Yankees tickets and now we're working to make sure you are up-to-date on tickets for Big Blue as they battle in their first season of New Meadowlands Stadium. Here's a preview of what this Sunday's big match-up between the Chicago Bears and New York Giants looks like:

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Picking the Final 6 Spots on the Yankees Postseason Roster

Finally. Last night the Yankees clinched a playoff spot which guaranteed something many of us thought was guaranteed weeks ago: the Yankees will be playing postseason baseball yet again. But while the Yankees status in the postseason in certain, what is not as certain is who will be on that postseason roster. With the number of players dropping back down to 25, the Yankees will have to make some important decisions out of the 40 players they currently have on the roster.

Will Austin Kearns join Curtis Granderson on the playoff roster? (Star-Ledger)

As I see it, the Yankees have 19 players locked up. Position players who are locks: Francisco Cervelli, Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Brett Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, Marcus Thames and Lance Berkman. Pitchers who are locks: CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, Kerry Wood, Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson, Boone Logan, and, of course, Mariano Rivera*.  So that leaves 6 spots to fill. Let's look at the pros and cons of each candidate.

*For the record, my postseason rotation would be Sabathia, Pettitte, Hughes and pray for rain. The Yankees seem like long shots to get home-field advantage and I rather Pettitte pitch on the road. I also rather lessen the amount of innings that Hughes will throw in the playoffs, if possible. I don't see an issue bringing back either of the lefties on short rest. And the Yankees have lined up their pitching to go like this so don't be surprised if this is the final verdict (Christina Kahrl of Baseball Prospectus explains further and Larry of Yankeeist has even more). If they need a fourth starter (which the Yankees probably will), though...well, I'll explain later.

Austin Kearns

Why they should pick him: Kearns is the one veteran non-catcher the Yankees have and he has the versatility to play every outfield position. He has a little pop and is decent enough defensively that if someone were to go out, he could hold his own in a start. And with Nick Swisher's gimpy knee, Kearns starting is a forseeable event, especially since Joe Girardi would have to drink an entire case of Avion before he'd ever consider putting Marcus Thames in the outfield in a big spot.
 
Why he could be left off: Kearns has gotten on base at a decent enough clip for the Yankees (.360) but his power has been zapped (5 extra-base hits and 7 RBI in 111 PAs for a very rough 0.95 ISO). Kearns UZR numbers have gone down every season and this season he rates out a negative fielder meaning that he would be a backup who doesn't run or play the field exceptionally well. Since he hit a home run on August 22nd, he's hitting .185/.333/.185 with zero extra-base hits and one measly RBI--yet 3 GIDPs and 23 Ks. He also has a sore left elbow.

Verdict:

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September Record Doesn't Predict a Team's October Success

Momentum. More than anything else, it seems that when October comes around that momentum plays a big deal about who is going to finish on top and win the World Series. A hot starter, a hot hitter, a hot bullpen. We all tend to think that a team needs to be hot down the stretch to win the World Series. Sure there's a few teams that can turn it up when they really need to, but most teams feed off the games before, right? Well looking at the Yankees' recent history as well as the history of other World Series winners, your record in the last month of the season may not be as important towards determining your fate in October as you think.

History says Joe Girardi doesn't need to pray for playoff success in 2010 (NYDN)

The reason I did this quick study was because of the 2010 Yankees. "Limping" towards the playoffs (literally, with guys like Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher actually limping), the Yanks are 11-13 so far in September after having the best record in baseball for the first five months of the season. So how much does this poor September record affect their chances of excelling in October? Let's take a look.

Part of this is certainly the size of the sample and there are a million other factors at work here including the fact that the playoffs in baseball are usually little better than a crap shoot. But looking back at the Yankees teams that have either won the World Series or failed to do so since 1995, it seems that September/October record doesn't always equate success. Here are the September/October regular season record of those Yankees teams that failed to win the World Series recently: 

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PHEW

Juan Miranda celebrates the walk-off with the Yankees (Star-Ledger)

Deep exhale, Yankees fans. The Yankees will play at least a 163rd game in 2010. It wasn't easy. It wasn't pretty. But the Yankees got the win tonight against the Red Sox. Phew

View from the Seats: New Meadowlands

Here at New Meadowlands Stadium for the New York Football Giants vs. the Tennessee Titans. So far, we've seen a battle with the Titans ahead 19-10.

But like many other times in the game, the G-men are driving now, with 1st down on the 44. I'm in section 104 today with Jay, Ben, Glenn, Sarah, and Elissa so we've got a full blog crew at the new stadium (more about the new, enormous place later). Big Blue needs a score here after 3 bad turnovers in this game. Giants ball here and they're driving.

-Andrew

You Can Get With This Or You Can Get With That: Week 3

Last week we had our first guest post from our Fantasy Football expert, Ben. We're going to try to make this a weekly occurrence so here is post #2. Ben was mostly dead on last week (save for Jay Cutler) nailing LeSean McCoy, Donovan McNabb, Ahmad Bradshaw and Louis Murphy. Here's what he says for your fantasy team in Week 3:

Flacco is no longer playing the Jets or Bengals so get with him in Week 3 (FOX News)

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Get with Joe Flacco not with Jay Cutler.

I know I got burned on my Cutler blast week, but I’m happy to go double or nothing. Cutler and the Bears have another stiff test with the capable Green Bay Defense. The Pack has only given up 270 passing yards over the first two games and played a big part in the highly touted Kevin Kolb losing his starting gig. Clay Matthews has emerged as one of the premier pass rushing outside line backers and Jay Cutler will be fighting for his life again this week. The Packers also have the ball-hawking Woodson at cornerback, and while he’s getting up there in years, he still has some game left. There are going to be ups and downs for Cutler in Mike Martz’s high risk offense, and this week I think we are poised for a down.

Joe Flacco is coming off of a very bad game against a tough Bengals secondary. This week, however, he gets what should be an easier opponent with the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have not given up many passing yards either, but their two opponents (Tampa Bay and Kansas City) have not exactly tested the Brown’s young secondary. Flacco is still building chemistry with his new passing weapons, and I think he will get better as the season goes on. Last year, Baltimore was one of the best teams at using the screen pass. I think this week they get back to it to build Flacco’s confidence after last week, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ray Rice take one of those to the house.

Get with Clinton Portis not with Jahvid Best.

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View from the Seats

The view from the seats tonight comes from 332B as the Yankees took a big game from the Tampa Bay Rays. Tonight was an exciting game and I was here with a large crew including Ben Kabak from River Ave Blues. Despite a 5-0 first inning lead, this game never felt totally safe. Phil Hughes walked too many hitters and felt compelled to nibble too often with two strikes. With two strikes, Hughes was unable to finish many guys which ran his pitch count way up.

But the Yankees offense came alive with each member of the starting lineup getting a hit, none bigger than Robinson Cano's bit two out triple to extend the Yankees lead. Joba Chamberlain provided some tense moments as well but came away with the save tonight.

Tonight was a cold--and very windy--night at the Stadium, and the game felt like an October affair. And although the crowd was, on a whole, pretty dead from the cold, we had an entertaining fan in front of us telling Carl Crawford how much he sucked over and over again. Another big win for the Yanks as they move up 2.5 in the division and put their magic number to clinch at playoff spot at 3.


-Andrew

Yankees Chasing Numbers: The Hitters

A few of the Yankees chasing special milestone numbers in the last weeks of the season (thanks to Baseball-Reference's Play Index for a lot of the help on this):

Robinson Cano can join some impressive company in 2010 (ESPN)

Robinson Cano (.323, 99 runs, 187 hits, 28 HR, 102 RBI, 13 IBB).

If Cano reaches 100 runs, 200 hits, 30 HR and 110 RBIs (and he's on pace for each mark), he would become the third Yankee to do so after Lou Gehrig (7 times), Babe Ruth (3 times), Don Mattingly (twice) and Joe DiMaggio (once). Cano would also become only the third Yankee middle infielder to hit 30 HR after Alfonso Soriano (twice) and Joe Gordon (once). The only Yankees with an average of at least .323 and 30 HR: Babe Ruth (11 times), Lou Gehrig (9 times), Joe DiMaggio (5 times), Don Mattingly (3 times), and Mickey Mantle (twice). Cano's 13 intentional walks are tied for 9th best for a Yankee, one more ties him for 6th, two more ties him for 5th and 4 more would tie him for 4th. A 200-hit season would make him the first Yankee second baseman with more than one 200-hit season and would join Derek Jeter as the only other Yankee middle infielder with multiple 200-hit seasons..

Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson (30 HR, 28 HR, 26 HR, 25 HR, and 21 HR respectively)

If somehow 4 players finishes with 30 home runs, it would be the first time that 4 Yankees have hit 30 HR in the same year. The Yankees have had 3 players hit 30+ HR in one season 4 different times: 1941 and 2003, 2004 and 2005. Right now the Yankees have 4 players with 25 HR, tying them for second on the all-time list with the 1938 Yankees. If Granderson can hit 4 more home runs, they would tie the 2009 team which also had 5 players hit 25+ HR.

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Trivia Tuesday: Mariano Rivera Edition

 Rivera reading the newly unveiled George Steinbrenner monument (Star-Ledger)

Mariano Rivera has seemed so superhuman in his career moving his cutter all around the plate that fans are shocked when he blows a save like he did Sunday against the Orioles. That was the first time in Mo's career that he's blown two saves in September or later (and his fourth blown save this season). Rivera has surprisingly struggled against the Orioles in his career with a 7-8 record and 3.12 ERA in 121.1 innings. Rivera has pitched against all 29 other Major League teams but only has an ERA of 3.00 or worse against 6 of them. The Orioles are one team but can you name the other 5?

Bonus Question: Most people know that Trevor Hoffman, Mariano Rivera and Lee Smith are 1-2-3 on the career saves list. But can you name the other 7 pitchers to make up the top 10 (extra bonus points for order)?

Put your answers in the comments below. We'll review the correct answers later today. Good luck!

An Up-And-Down Day in New York Sports

A quick rundown of how yesterday went in New York sports:

The Orioles walk-off was a "trending down" yesterday (Star-Ledger)

Chicago Bears at Dallas Cowboys: A 1 PM game ends very well for Giants fans as the Dallas Cowboys disappoint the home crowd and fall to 0-2, despite holding the Bears to 38 rushing yards (2.0 yards per rush). Jay Cutler goes 21 of 29 for 277 yards and 3 TDs and puts up a 136.7 QB rating on the Cowboys who blew two leads in the game and committed 3 turnovers. Trending up

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Tampa Bay Rays: Scott Kazmir won for the first time in six weeks and beat his former team. The Angels have been dead for a month and a half but found a way to win the first series any team has won in St. Pete since mid-June. Even better, potential playoff starter, Jeff Niemann lasted just 4 1/3 innings and has an ERA of 14 since returning from a shoulder injury. Could the Yankees take advantage and move 1.5 games up? Trending up.

New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles: Nope. A 3-1 lead evaporates in the 8th and 9th inning as Luke Scott and the Orioles come back against the Yankees and win the game in extra innings, denying the Yankees a much-needed sweep. This occurs on a day when Tampa Bay loses which makes the loss even more devastating to the Yankee faithful. Worse yet, the Yankees had bases loaded and only one out in extras when Lance Berkman rapped into a GIDP. The Yankees woes with runners on continued as they lost a golden opportunity to gain another game on Tampa. Trending down.

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The Derek Jeter Outrage and the Morality Police

Being busy at work means that it takes me a while to weigh in on topics recently, but the outrage over the Derek Jeter hit-by-pitch "incident" ("HBP-gate"?) was worth waiting to comment on. Like the Mariano Rivera "spitting on the ball" video in the ALCS last season, any chance to take down Jeter or Rivera are blown completely out of proportion (the media loves the "aha" moments). But the vitriol over this latest Jeter incident was extremely, well, disturbing. Baseball--in sports in general--are not won by the nice guys in search of a gentleman's game; those games are won by those who go the extra inch and do what it takes to succeed. And usually we applaud our players for doing that: the Derek Jeter flip play or his hustle to first base on every ground ball are repeated over and over again when people mark him as a True Yankee. So it seems incongruous (to me at least) to laud our players for doing everything they can to win and then we blast them when it offends our morality.

Derek Jeter's "acting" bothered many (NYT)

But such is the ways of the "Morality Police." We seem to have no problem with catchers who frame pitches, middle infielders who don't actually touch second on a double play, first baseman who go to throw the ball around the horn when they know the guy is safe on the bang-bang play at first, or outfielders who feign like they're going to catch the ball to get a runner to hold up a bit on first on a sure double to stop him from scoring. But hey, the home plate umpire says Derek Jeter is hit by a pitch and he sells it by hopping around in the box for a while and suddenly he's a desperate cheater. Jeez, no wonder criminals are all wearing Yankee hats (Slate wonderfully calls bogus on that).

ESPN's Rob Neyer says to indict baseball rather than Jeter. Why does anyone need to be indicted (except maybe the lack of Instant Replay)? Does a hitter who gets a favorable ball call from an ump when he bails out of the way even though it's never going to hit him have to get up and say to the ump: "you know what, that was nowhere close to me"? No. How about an outfielder who tries to sell a liner he knows he obviously trapped? Not a chance. But hey, Derek Jeter's dramatics were "over the line". People are killing Jeter for not getting on base (and rightfully so) and now that he finds his way there through a little embellishment of his own, people are suddenly up in arms? It was bad acting and, really, probably not going to help Jeter's re-election campaign for Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year".

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A Look at NFL Spreads: Week 2

Here's Week 2's spreads that I'm working with before we start Week 2 in the NFL (again, home team is in caps):

FAVORITE	PTS	UNDERDOG
JETS	PK	Patriots
COLTS	5 1/2	Giants
BROWNS	3	Chiefs
PACKERS	13 1/2	Bills
BENGALS	PK	Ravens
TITANS	5 1/2	Steelers
Eagles	3 1/2	LIONS
COWBOYS	9	Bears
PANTHERS	6	Bucs
FALCONS	7	Cardinals
VIKINGS	5 1/2	Dolphins
RAIDERS	4	Rams
BRONCOS	3 1/2	Seahawks
Texans	3	REDSKINS
CHARGERS	8 1/2	Jaguars
Saints	4 1/2	49ERS

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Guest Post: You Can Get With This, Or You Can Get With That

"Who the heck is Arian Foster?" was a question I asked during my first fantasy football draft this season. I'm probably going to finish in the Top 3 of each of my five fantasy baseball leagues, but when it comes to fantasy football, I'm behind the curve. Thankfully, we have a guest post of someone who is a lot more skilled. Ben is a Cornell graduate, Yankees and Giants fan, and was a contributor on the hilarious The Ultimate Hatelist. He also is my cousin so the gene pool is correct for fantasy sports. Here's Ben with some great advice on who to go with (and who to go without) this weekend in fantasy football:
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Get with Donovan McNabb not Jay Cutler

Expect some dazed looks from Cutler on Sunday (ChicagoBreakingSports)

It’s going to be a long Sunday for Jay and the Bears against a talented Cowboys team looking to recover from a tough Week 1 loss. The Cowboys are a very good pass rushing team. They have probably the best pass rushing linebacker in the league in Demarcus Ware who will be attacking Cutler’s blind side and Spencer is no slouch coming from the other end. Jay Ratliff is also a disruptive force coming up the middle from the nose tackle with his quick jumps off the snap. The Cowboys’ corners, Newman and Jenkins, are talented and physical. On the other side of the ball, the Bears passing game is still adjusting to the Mike Martz system and their best weapon (Arashmahoweveryousayhislastname) had a little case of the dropsies last week. Matt Forte had 150 yards receiving last week, most of which came on an 89 yard score. I doubt that happens in consecutive weeks. Cutler will get some yards, but he will also throw some of his patented interceptions under pressure.

McNabb, on the other hand, will have more success. Houston’s one man pass rush of Super Mario Williams was effective against Peyton Manning in week one, but look for the more mobile and physical Mcnabb to move in and out of the pocket to give himself time to make plays down the field. The Texans lost their best cover corner, Dunta Robinson, to free agency last year, and with Brian Cushing’s suspension the Redskins’ talented tight end combo will have an easier time getting open.

Get with LeSean McCoy not Ahmad Bradshaw

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The Yankees Bullpen Since the All-Star Break

The Yankees bullpen--beset by bad luck, injuries and just inconsistent pitching--looked awful at the All-Star break. Sure Mariano Rivera was still "The Great Mariano", but the mythological "Bridge to Mariano" looked like it could collapse at any second. But when the All-Star break ended something clicked with the relievers and with the acquisition of Kerry Wood, the Yankees bullpen has looked great since then. Let's take a look at the relievers (and their workload since the Texas series started):

The Yankees "Bridge to Mariano" has gotten stronger since Break (NYDN)

Kerry Wood As a Yankee: 2-0, 6 holds, 0.44 ERA in 20.2 innings with 24 K (to 11 BB), .480 OPS against, 1.190 WPA (Win Probability Added according to Baseball-Reference).

Wood gave up a home run to Toronto's Aaron Hill in his second outing in Pinstripes and has not been scored on since. In fact, that's the only time a run has crossed the plate while Wood as he has inherited 8 runners and none of those have scored either. In September he's allowed 4 baserunners out of the 28 batters he's faced. Oh, and that home run he gave up to Hill was the only extra base hit he's given up in to the 83 batters he's faced as a Yankee. Recent workload (calculated since September 10th): 4 games, 14 batters faced, 50 pitches.

Boone Logan Since A-S Break: 1-0, 7 holds, 0.98 ERA in 18.1 innings with 23 K (to 6 BB), .519 OPS against, 0.397 WPA.

The amazing part is that Logan gave up a run right after the All-Star break on a home-run and a run last night--but none in between, a streak that spanned 25 outings. If you take away those two outings as well, he's been good at not allowing inherited runners to score, only allowed 13% of his 15 to cross home. Logan's biggest problem has been when he hasn't been used against lefties (as shown last night) but as a lefty specialist, he's been deadly holding lefties to a .174/.269/.203 line with one extra base hit in 78 PAs. Recent workload: 4 games, 9 batters faced, 36 pitches.

David RobertsonSince A-S Break: 2-1, 8 holds, 1 save, 1.50 ERA in 24 innings with 31 K (to 12 BB), .575 OPS against, 1.253 WPA.

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Last Night Felt Like 2010's "He Dropped The Ball" Game

Every World Series champion goes through a slump at some point in the season and the 2009 New York Yankees were no exception. In the middle of June, the Yankees looked like they were going to have it rough after they lost three three straight at Boston and fell 2 games behind the Red Sox. The Mets came into town and on Friday, June 12. The Yankees, desperately needing a win, were up 7-6 in the 7th when Phil Coke blew the lead and then fell behind in the 8th when Mariano Rivera gave up an RBI double to David Wright. With two outs and Derek Jeter at 2nd, the Mets elected to intentionally walk Mark Teixeira (remember Red Sox Owner John Henry's BS about the Mark Teixeira curse--dubbed the "MT Curse"?) and have Francisco Rodriguez go after Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod had a 3-1 count but on the 5th pitched he popped the ball up to second and the game looked over...

Crawford made the third out at third base--a cardinal sin (St. Pete Times)

...until Luis Castillo, trying to casually catch the ball with one hand, dropped the ball. A heads-up Mark Teixeira raced around the bases from first and scored on the play.  "HE DROPPED THE BALL!" was a play that Yankees fans would remember the rest of the season and the Yankee win seemed to be a big turning point.

The Yankees would lose 9 of 13 during this stretch but a win on a miscue helped to make sure the bleeding wasn't worse.

Last night felt a lot like the "he dropped the ball" game. A back-and-forth affair in a high-scoring, "must-win game" that ended on a cardinal sin. Castillo's was that he didn't use two hands to catch the ball and it fell. Last night, Carl Crawford made the final out at 3rd base on a laser beam of a throw from Greg Golson. One of the most exciting plays in baseball (a fast runner vs. an outfielder's arm) ended the game and propelled the Yankees back into 1st place.

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Trivia Tuesday: Drabek Edition

Tomorrow, 22-year-old Blue Jays prospect Kyle Drabek will make his Major League debut for the Toronto Blue Jays. While Drabek is excited for the start, the Blue Jays are certainly excited to be seeing the top prospect they received for Roy Halladay make his debut.

Drabek is the son of Doug Drabek, a Cy Young winner and who made his Major League debut in 1986 for the Yankees at age 23. Doug Drabek was traded to the Yankees in 1984 as a prospect and after a year of pitching for the Yankees, was traded from their team to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Can you name the name main player that Drabek was traded to the Yankees for and the one that the Yankees received in return for dealing him?

Bonus Question: In 1994, Doug Drabek came in 4th in NL Cy Young voting. The AL Cy Young vote featured 5 guys on the ballot who at some point in their career were Yankees. Can you name those 5 players?

Put your answers in the comments below (without cheating and going to Baseball-Reference). Good luck. Correct answers will be revealed later

NYaT's Football Predictions: Part 1

The other three NYaT pickers picked their Super Bowl independently and all three picked Ravens-Packers. Amazing. Here's the rest of part one of our NFL picks for the NYaT male authors:

	Jay	Ben	Ari	Andrew
NFC East	Cowboys	Eagles	Giants	Cowboys
NFC North	Packers	Packers	Packers	Packers
NFC South	Saints	Saints	Saints	Saints
NFC West	49ers	Cardinals	49ers	49ers
NFC Wild Card	Giants	Giants		Giants
NFC Wild Card	Falcons	Falcons	Falcons	Vikings
AFC East	Jets	Jets	Jets	Patriots
AFC North	Ravens	Bengals	Ravens	Ravens
AFC South	Colts	Colts	Colts	Colts
AFC West	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers	Chargers
AFC Wild Card	Patriots	Patriots	Texans	Jets
AFC Wild Card	Bengals	Ravens		Titans
NFC Super Bowl	Packers	Packers	Packers	Saints
AFC Super Bowl	Ravens	Ravens	Ravens	Colts

The Yankees Will Have to Go Without Marte and Aceves in 2010

Two important members of the 2009 World Series Championship team will not be back for the 2010 team. From the New York Daily News' Peter Botte:

Hughes will have his next start skipped due to innings limits (LoHud)

Phil Hughes will be skipped one start in the Yankees rotation to limit his innings, Joe Girardi said before Wednesday's series finale against Baltimore. Dustin Moseley will start Sunday in Texas, and Hughes will return to the rotation next Wednesday in Tampa.

Also, Girardi said Alfredo Aceves (back) will not return this season, and Damaso Marte (shoulder) will "probably not" be back in 2010.

The first bit of news is not surprising. Hughes is currently on pace for about 181 regular season innings which would probably be too many for him if he was also asked to start in the playoffs. Although Hughes almost certainly slots in as a start in the playoffs, it probably wouldn't hurt to give his arm some rest. Since they first skipped a start for Hughes in late June after Hughes was 10-1, Hughes is 6-6 in 13 starts (73 innings) since with a 5.55 ERA, 15 HR allowed and an .833 OPS against. Although the track record for skipping Hughes' starts hasn't been great, the results he's put up since June haven't been consistently stellar either so this makes a ton of sense.

The Aceves and Marte news is not great for the Yankees, though they seemed to be resigned to move on without them before this news came down today. Marte has not been a great regular season pitcher for the Yankees but his pitching in the playoffs last year was a big reason they won the World Series (5.2 innings of no-hit ball in the ALCS and World Series). Amazingly, Marte pitched in 30 games for the Yankees in 2010 (the last being on July 7th) which is tied with CC Sabathia for the 4th most on the team behind Joba Chamberlain (60 games), Mariano Rivera (52), David Robertson (52), and Boone Logan (39). The last guy on that list, Logan, is the reason the Yankees can probably be OK with Marte being out. Logan has stepped up in a big way to solidify the lefty specialist role in the bullpen (lefties hitting .194 vs. Logan with one XBH in 70 PAs).

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A Look at NFL Spreads: Week 1

It's that time of year again: football is here. With it comes fantasy football and survivor pools (also known as suicide pools). The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article yesterday about why not to pick against Oakland in your suicide pool and ESPN's Chad Millman Blog had a good article about how to make your survivor league harder.

But while I do both fantasy and survivor/suicide, I am also in a spread league which is my favorite (and most agonizing) time of football season (besides the Giants, of course--which is also my favorite and most agonizing time of football season). Each week we pick every game against the spread, with two games counting double as "best bets". The person with the most points at the end of the week, wins the week and there are prizes for overall picking at the end of the year.

So as I started to do last year, I'm going to put those spreads up on the blog. Let us know in the comments which two would be your "Best Bets" and other games you feel pretty comfortable about. While I play for money in my pick'em league, we'll find out who is truly the guru of the spread league here at NYaT (team in CAPS is the home team).

FAVORITE	PTS	UNDERDOG
GIANTS	7	Panthers
Dolphins	3	BILLS
Falcons	2 1/2	STEELERS
BEARS	6	Lions
PATRIOTS	4 1/2	Bengals
BUCS	3	Browns
JAGUARS	2 1/2	Broncos
Colts	2	TEXANS
TITANS	6	Raiders
Packers	3	EAGLES
49ers	3	SEAHAWKS
Cardinals	4	RAMS
Cowboys	3 1/2	REDSKINS
JETS	2 1/2	Ravens
Chargers	5	CHIEFS

Trivia Tuesday: 100 RBI Yankee Edition

Alex Rodriguez's home run yesterday gave him 100 RBIs for a 14th straight season which was a new Major League record. A-Rod has had 100 RBIs in each of his 7 seasons in Pinstripes, which ties him for 4th best on the Yankee list in amount of RBI seasons. There have been 10 other Yankees who have had at least 5 seasons of 100 RBIs while in Pinstripes--can you name them?

Bonus Question: Derek Jeter got his 150th hit on Monday which was his 15th straight season with 150 hits. That ties the third longest streak in history and makes him one of 5 players with 150+ hits in 15 straight seasons. Who are the other 4?

Put your answers below in the comments. I will reveal the correct answers later. Good luck!

View from the Seats: View from the Suite

Today, for a change of pace, I'm not at a New York sporting event, but at a White Sox vs. Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Want to give a big H/T to Elissa for the seats (and a big shout out to Kids In Crisis).

The picture is an action shot of Mark Buehrle picking off Darnell McDonald in the first inning. It's a beautiful day here in Boston and although I'm not sure I would call this park a "beautiful little bandbox", it's a fun place to watch a game (as long as you're not behind a pole or in an otherwise obstructed or broken seat). The sightlines are usually pretty good and you have a much better sense of how well-hit a ball is off the bat (especially compared to Yankee Stadium). And the suites here on the EMC level are a lot of fun with good food and drinks.

It's not been so much fun these days for the BoSox as they have fallen 10 games behind the Yankees and, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, only had a little over a 4% chance of making the playoffs coming into today. The ChiSox swept a double header yesterday (both 3-1) and go for the hammer this afternoon. Checking in on a Sunday afternoon from an unusually quiet Fenway Park.


-Andrew

Summer TV Review: The Beginning of the End for Don Draper

If you tuned into the television on Sunday night, you may have watched Mad Men win its third consecutive Emmy for best drama. If you also tuned into Mad Men, you saw Don Draper win an award for a television commercial that he produced. Mad Men beat out several good competitors to win the award and deservedly so, but not in the same clear cut fashion in which it did so over the past two years. Like the show with which his name is eponymous, Don Draper showed us that time at the top may be limited, if not already expired.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I think the quality of Mad Men has gone down as some have. In fact I think it's better than ever and it has done an incredible job showing the change in times from the early-1960s to the mid-1960s. Yes, I've heard the stories that Matthew Weiner is conceited and obnoxious (as evident from Sunday night when he began his second acceptance speech with "Where was I...") and like Don Draper and his television show, it's possible he's not aware that his competition has improved. It's a strange analogy that many seem to be making. However, I don't see as rapid a fall in the future for Mad Men as I do for Don Draper.

In this week's episode, Don and his colleagues are awarded a CLIO Award for their work on the Glo-Coat Commercial. Don, Roger, Pete, and Joan attend the even but Peggy is conspicuously absent, depite having played quite a big role in putting the commercial together. Nevertheless, Don takes most of the credit for SCDP's success and gives little to Peggy. Rather, he berates Peggy for not having come up with copy for their new Vick's account and forces her to work under the direction of their new chauvinistic and cocky art director, Rizzo.

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The Yankee Clipper: Going For A Sweep (and Poll Results)

The Yankees have notched 5 Ws in a row and going for a 4-game sweep of the lowly Oakland Athletics today at the Stadium. Since the beginning of July, the Yankees have only lost 3 series (two vs. Toronto and one vs. Tampa) and the Yankees now sit by themselves in 1st place, a season-high 33 games over .500 at 83-50. How did we get here and where do the Yankees go from here?

Jorge Posada's strike out from last night looked a bit outside (BrooksBaseball)

1. The Yankees rotation concerns are really nothing new. Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues wrote a whole post about it, but I've been saying it for weeks: the 2010 team looks a lot like 2009. This statement was true for both 2009 and 2010: A.J. Burnett went 0-4 in August with an ugly ERA and questions were raised about his ability to pitch in October. Well last night we saw Good A.J., also known as the guy who won every Game 2 for the Yankees last year. So the Yankees will have to hope for a Good A.J. the rest of the way, a healthy Andy Pettitte, and someone else (Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes, or Javier Vazquez) step up and contribute. This is not to say that the rotation shouldn't be a concern for the Yankees, but just that the Yankees had the same issues and much less depth last year and they figure out how to bring home a World Series. Moshe Mandel at TYU takes an early gander at the postseason rotation. I think a lot of that will be in flux as September performances take shape. Brien @ IIATMS takes stock of the rotation.
2. Robinson Cano: MVP? We'll have to look at this a bit more, but I wanted to throw it out there. Josh Hamilton is kicking Cano's ass in WAR on FanGraphs, but leads all AL hitters in WAR in Baseball-Reference. As ESPN Stats and Info blog wrote yesterday, Cano's best time of year is just starting so te best may be yet to come (though it's hard to imagine him being better than his ridiculous April). YES' Jack Curry writes that Cano is showing the maturity and talent of an MVP. Detroit has fallen off so Miguel Cabrera will be hard-pressed to win (unless he miraculously takes the AL Triple Crown) and Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford will probably split votes for their teams. The Yankees' other two of NoMass' Three Amigos (Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher) don't figure to take away too many votes from Cano. I think it comes down to Hamilton and Cano and Cano's position may make it a close race.
3. What will be the price tag on Derek Jeter?

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Stretch Drive Previews: The AL Central

We started in the AL East and now we head to the American League Central for our Stretch Drive Previews series. This is a division which has had two pennant winner in the past dozen years (the 2005 White Sox and the 2006 Tigers)  and has only captured the Wild Card once (2006 when Detroit and Minnesota both made it). An AL Central playoff team has played the AL East in the playoffs each of the last 7 years, advancing only in 2005 and 2006. With that in mind, let's take a look at the September outlooks for the AL Central teams (% slashes per team are division/wild card/overall playoffs):

Rk	Tm	W	L	W-L%	GB	Strk	R	RA	Rdiff	pythWL	Home	Road	1Run	≥.500	<.500	last10	last20	last30
1	MIN	76	56	.576	---	W 1	4.8	4.0	0.8	77-55	41-22	35-34	24-20	28-27	48-29	5-5	13-7	20-10
2	CHW	72	60	.545	4.0	W 2	4.8	4.2	0.6	74-58	38-27	34-33	21-21	22-29	50-31	6-4	9-11	14-16
3	DET	65	67	.492	11.0	L 1	4.5	4.6	-0.1	65-67	43-25	22-42	14-20	26-40	39-27	6-4	11-9	13-17
4	KCR	56	76	.424	20.0	W 1	4.1	5.3	-1.2	51-81	30-34	26-42	25-25	28-44	28-32	4-6	9-11	14-16
5	CLE	53	79	.402	23.0	L 3	4.0	4.9	-0.9	54-78	29-38	24-41	19-17	31-45	22-34	3-7	6-14	11-19
	Avg	64	67	.488			4.4	4.6		64-67	36-29	28-38	20-20	27-37	37-30	4-5	9-10	14-15

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/1/2010.

Minnesota Twins (85.9% / 0.2% / 86.1% chance of making the playoffs according to coolstandings.com, 89.4% / 0.1% / 89.6% chances according to Baseball Prospectus, and 86.6% / <.1% / 86.7% according to PECOTA)

Will the addition of Manny Ramirez make a difference in this race? (CBC)

Last year Minnesota tracked down Detroit at the very end of the season to stage one of the greatest end-of-season comebacks in the Wild Card era. This year, it's Minnesota who tries not to collapse and give up their AL Central lead. While the Red Sox, Phillies and others have been praised for their play despite injuries, the Twins may be even more reslient. They lost All-Star closer Joe Nathan before the season even started and have had 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau for only 81 games (though he amazingly still is tied for the team lead in HR). And yet they're cruising right along in the AL Central. Part of that certainly has to do with a starting pitching staff anchored by Carl Pavano (15-10, 3.52 ERA, 3.73 FIP, 3.94 xFIP) and Francisco Liriano (12-7, 3.41 ERA, 2.31 FIP, 3.01 xFIP, 9.72 K/9) and really good defense. But a lot of credit has to go to the depth of the lineup which has forged ahead and put together the 3rd highest wOBA and Runs Above Average (according to FanGraphs) in the majors behind only the Yankees and Red Sox. This is impressive in what has been a pitching-friendly, home-run-suppressing Target Field (where they play Texas, Oakland, and Toronto--their three out-of-division opponents the rest of the way).

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This week in Where Are They Now? sluggers edition: Travis Hafner

Photo Credit: ESPN

Once upon a time in MLB, there was a tremendous slugger named Travis Hafner.  Remember him?  He's the guy who averaged .296/.410/.567 with 32 HR and 108 RBI from 2004-2007 with the Cleveland Indians.  In those four years, he finished in the top-10 in MVP voting twice (2005 and 2006), WAR once (6.2 in 2006), ISO twice (2005 and 2006, when he lead the league with .350), and OPS thrice (.993 in 2004, 1.003 in 2005, 1.097 in 2006).

So Hafner could hit, hit for power, and get on base.  A bona fide superstar.  Seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?

Hafner, who was nicknamed Pronk (a portmanteau of Project, which he was in the minor leagues, and Donkey, which is what he ran like), had his own cheering section in Jacobs Field named Pronkville.  He also had his own candy bar and beef jerky.  Meanwhile, on the field, in 2006 he became the only player in MLB history to hit 5 grand slams before the All Star Break.  He later tied Don Mattingly's record of 6 grand slams in one season.  The question is...what happened to him?  Why has he only played in 246 games over the past three seasons?  And why is this former superstar hitting .279/.378/.448 in 2010??

The company answer is injuries.  In 2008, when Hafner played in only 57 games, he posted a career-low .628 OPS.  At least one blog has posited that he was never quite the same after breaking his hand on a C.J. Wilson beanball.  The same blog offered other theories: Hafner was distracted by family illness and slowed by lingering shoulder soreness.  (That shoulder soreness is still bothering him -- Hafner was placed on the DL on 8/3/10 for the same exact problem.)

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