One of our loyal readers, Eric, asked if David Ortiz's start this year looked similar to Carlos Delgado's last year. Both were sluggers were started off extremely slow but Carlos Delgado found himself again in an MVP-like manner. Let's look at both sluggers' Aprils and Mays.
Split G GS PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB ROE BAbip tOPS+ sOPS+ April/March 22 22 100 87 10 20 7 1 0 12 0 1 8 22 .230 .290 .333 .623 29 1 1 0 4 0 1 .290 119 64 May 23 23 103 86 5 12 5 0 1 6 0 0 15 25 .140 .282 .233 .514 20 3 2 0 0 1 0 .183 81 40
While their Marchs and Aprils look similar, their Mays couldn't look more different. And even in the March/April, Delgado just seemed more unlucky (.216 BAbip to Big Papi's .290 BAbip) than anything else. And by May, Carlos Delgado already had shown signs of taking off while David Ortiz continues to struggle. Big Papi actually went down across the board from April to May.
So while Carlos Delgado has supposedly called David Ortiz to tell him not to worry about his start to this season, his 2008 doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what's been going on with Big Papi
The Joba-to-the-'pen debate is one I wage quite often with co-workers and friends (and once in a while with my dad). There is a lot of passion on both sides. The argument from the other side (I'm for Joba staying at the rotation) is that Mariano Rivera was a great set up man in 1996 and Joba can be like that in 2009 (or so they say). I say that the saying is "starting pitching wins championships"...not "middle relief wins championships". But there are no stats involved in that argument. So I wanted to find some stats to back up my argument and in a series of posts I'll be trying to anaylze which is really more important and where Joba should be in 2009.
I decided to look at the World Series participants for every year since 2003 and their respective bullpens. I examined bullpen ERA and blown saves put my findings on a Google Docs spreadsheet so you can see my findings. There is a little caveat for these findings: if a team was tied in ranks, I just used the best rank possible so these stats are actually skewed against my argument.
The average major league rank for American League participant's bullpen ERA is 10th and for the National League was 9th. Only one team out of the 12 was first in the league in bullpen ERA, while 7 out of the 12 were 10+ in their rankings. That means that less than half the World Series participants for the past 6 years were in the top third of the league in bullpen ERA.
For blown saves, the average American League participant was 6th and the National League was 9th. While one major league team was ranked first in this one as well, only 3 teams were ranked 10+.
So it seems that this is a more important statistic than bullpen ERA, a stat that certainly gets skewed in blowout games, and the Yankees have had a few of those on the losing end. In fact, if you take out the 14 earned runs they gave up in the ridiculous 22-4 blowout against the Indians, the Yankees bullpen goes from ranking towards the bottom of the league to ranking right in the middle.
And the Yankees are 4th in the American League with only 5 blown saves (Mariano Rivera has one of those). In fact, if you look back at many of the Yankee losses this season, a set-up man couldn't have helped (and if you take into account Girardi's mismanagement in the bullpen, it's even less). If you consider that even the great Joba would blow one once in a while, you're talking about maybe one or two more wins for the Yankees this season if he's in the bullpen. And since he's won two as a starting pitcher, that stat is cancelled out.
Tomorrow I'll look at the other side of things: how important having good starters are at winning championships.
I think one of the most impressive things the Yankees have done this season so far has been this streak of 16 games without an error. Granted, you can't get charged with an error if you never get to a ball (paging Derek Jeter) and an error is still a decision made by the official scorer...but this is quite impressive. They're one game away from tying the major league record set by the 2006 Red Sox--which is amazing to me...there's been many good defensive teams and many years of baseball and the fact that 17 games without an error is a record is a shock to me.
The most impressive part of this is that the Yankees have been tremendously subpar defensively in past seasons. By the end of last year they had a starting lineup with Xavier Nady in LF (average at best), Johnny Damon in CF (speedy but poor defender and extremely poor arm), Bobby Abreu in RF (decent arm, but subpar fielder), Jason Giambi at 1B (subpar), Robinson Cano at 2B (below average to above average depending on how he felt), Derek Jeter (poor defender), A-Rod (average, but good arm), and Jorge Posada (average at best).
This year Brian Cashman wanted to improve the defense of his team and he certainly did so. Swisher is an upgrade in RF, Melky/Gardner in CF (and Gardner is one of the top 3 defensive CFs in the league), Teixeira at 1B (who could win some Gold while with the Yanks and saves errors from the other infielders), and an improved bench of plus defenders in whoever is not starting in CF (who can play all 3 OF positions) and Ramiro Pena (who can play all infield positions).
The problem with errors is that not only do they sometimes end up in unearned runs, but they also make your pitcher throw more pitches. And when you make your starters throw more pitches, it hurts your team in ways not shown in the boxscore. This is especially important in the Yankees bandbox in the Bronx because extra pitches means greater chances someone will hit the ball out of the park.
I'm not taking anything away from what the Yankees starters have done the past few weeks, but the starting pitching looks better because of the good defense. I'm not sure how long this errorless streak is going to last, but it's because of increased focus on improving the defense this year that it was even possible.
I received this e-mail recently and wanted to forward it along. A good cause and a great time to help out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Andrew
I thought you would be interested in helping out The FreshAir Fund by posting a mention of this exciting news on No You're A Towel. The FreshAir Fund received a tremendous offer by some very generous donors. Any gift given from now until June 30th will be matched dollar-for-dollar.
We are also still in need of hosts for this summer. Host families open their hearts and home to a child to give a freshair experience that these children never forget.
Everyone knows that the NBA is excellent at marketing itself. MLB lags a bit behind (quick - who's currently leading the league in HR? It's Adrian Gonzalez. 8 out of 10 fans couldn't pick him out of a lineup), the NFL's players wear freaking masks, and the NHL....hahahaha.
As many expected, this year's NBA playoffs have been fantastic. Ratings are up over last year and the games have been consistently close and exciting to watch. Cleveland is poised to tie Orlando at 3 games apiece, setting up what would be a hell of a Game 7. Imagine the resulting LeBron-Kobe matchup in the finals. Someone please get David Stern a new pair of shorts.
This is all good news for the NBA. The bad news? Sometimes, when it recognizes a golden opportunity, the league goes a little over the top with its marketing ploys. Which provides plenty of fodder for YouTube spoofers. Without further ado, here are some of the best items... (H/T Devin)
Watching the end of the game on YES and the MPH on the radar hasn't reached above 90. I guess it's not a problem since he has two Ks so far. But that's not good...
Looks like everyone is trying to find ways to reuse (though I would hope these are new) Who stands and looks at a pair of men's briefs and says hmmmm....I can make me a nice summer top from these!!
I don't know what's more disturbing - this image or that my mom sent it to me!
I thought it was nice that a bunch of the Yankees went last night to the Cavs/Magic playoff game last night. CC Sabathia, Robinson Cano, Mariano Rivera, A-Rod, Brett Gardner, Brian Bruney, Joba Chamberlain and Brett Tomko were among the attendees. But Brett Tomko--of all people--has a connection to the Cavaliers that I just learned about while skimming through this MLB.com article: "Tomko's father, Jerry, gave the Cavaliers their nickname when he trumped more than 11,000 entries in a write-in contest in the Cleveland Plain Dealer back in 1970. Jerry Tomko's winning entry read in part, 'The name Cleveland Cavaliers represents a group of daring, fearless men whose life's pact was never surrender, no matter what the odds.'"
More from Pinstripe Posts: "Tomko's dad also drew the original logo, saber and all. Now, the right-hander has been working behind the scenes to try to get his dad a token of championship hardware if the Cavaliers win it all. Why not? It's a great name, and a great story." I have to say, that's a pretty cool connection. The Cavs (read: LeBron James) certainly did not surrender last night. And for all we know they may have been called the Banana Slugs, the Dirtbags, the Chokers, or, my alma mater, the Judges if it hadn't been for Brett Tomko's dad.
On Wednesday night, Roy Hallady pitched 7 innings for the Toronto Blue Jays. He's gone at least 7 innings in every one of his 11 starts this year. So Baseball-Reference wanted to find out how close he was to the record for most starts with 7+ IP to start a season (I believe just post-1954). Well, he's really far away (will get to that in a second).
In the past 20 seasons, only Roger Clemens (14 in 1992) and Curt Schilling (13 in 2001) have had more, while Bill Wegman (1992), Kevin Brown (1993), Curt Schilling (1998) and Pedro Martinez (2000) all had 11.
But the leader on this list? Bob Gibson's incredible 1968 season where he had 34 starts to start the season with 7+ IP. You may say that sounds like a whole season. Well you would be right. From B-R: Those 34 starts to start the season with 7 IP? Those were all of his starts that year. Yeah, that’s right…the guy threw at least 7 innings in every start. In fact, he completed 28 of those 34 games (and also won the Cy Young, MVP, ERA and strikeout titles, and threw 13 shutouts.)
Wow. You'll probably never see anything like that ever again.
As I said in looking back at the non-trade of Melky Cabrera for Mike Cameron, sometimes the best trades are the ones not made. And when they're not, they're certainly fun to analyze and look back on. One trade the Yankees should be thankful that was not made last year was the acquisition of Jarrod Washburn.
As Jon Heyman wrote at the time, this was a strict "salary dump" situation, where the Yankees would take on the rest of Washburn's salary, which included $10.35 million for 2009. Other versions of the deal included Kei Igawa on the Yankees side and Jose Vidro on the Seattle Mariners. When Washburn pitched well in July (2.67 ERA and 1.158 WHIP), Seattle balked and asked the Yankees to include a good prospect in the deal as well. Unwilling to eat the salary and give up a prospect, the deal with kaput. It looked at the time like the Mariners had made a bad decision: they weren't expected to contend this year and they could have used the salary relief.
Well, according to Baseball-Reference, Washburn went 0-5 in August with a 5.45 ERA, with a WHIP of 1.529 and a 20/15 K/BB ratio (which looked good compared to how he pitched in May with an OPS against of .975). In September/October of last year he pitched one inning.
This year he's returned somewhat to form (3.45 ERA, 1.203 WHIP), but his team is currently 6 games out of first in the AL West and one of the worst teams in the American League. Furthermore, The News Tribune reports that Washburn is back on the free agent market.
What makes this even sweeter for the Yankees is that they figured that instead of bringing Pettitte back for $16 million, they'd pay $10.35 million for Washburn for 2009 (and maybe more if he demanded extra incentive to waive his no-trade clause). Well, the market went south and the Yankees ended up bringing back Pettitte for $5.5 million. So in the end, the Yankees made out pretty well while the Mariners are still trying to get rid of Washburn.
I wanted to do a quick recap of my first trip to Citi Field. Had a little teaser here with some pictures. In the end, the Mets rallied to tie the game and won it in the 10th on a walk-off walk (shades of Kenny Rogers). The Mets played one of the worst games you can play and still win, but that's the sign of a good team: being able to take a day where you're off and put together a win. They got some help from the Braves who were 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and who walked home the winning run, but a win is a win.
What I really wanted to recap was my experience of Citi Field. It couldn't be any different than New Yankee Stadium (NYS). Like night and day. In every aspect. NYS is almost an homage to a team that has been in the Bronx for a century. Citi Field is an homage to another team: the Brooklyn Dodgers. Amazingly, I couldn't find anything having to do with the Mets until I got to the Danny Meyer area "Taste of the City". And that's no place by the field. Yankee Stadium seems almost like a Cooperstown towards its past. Citi Field seems to pretend, as Mookie Wilson says in this NBC Sports article, that 1986 didn't happen. They seem to just want to erase all their history. The Yankees may not have done a good job with Monument Park, but the Mets put their championship banners, as Mets Police reveals, out of sight. The colors of Citi Field are green and black. The Mets colors are orange and blue. How exactly does that work?
The parks also play tremendously differently. At Citi Field, the key for pitchers is just to continue to throw fastballs away because it is so hard to hit a homerun out of that park. They will set records with the amount of triples there and the pitchers will be very happy, but I don't think they'll ever be much offense. That's opposed to the ballpark/bandbox/Little League Field in the Bronx which plays like Coors Field East. With Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes out of the Mets lineup currently and their offensive power somewhat depleted, the park playing big for them may actually play into their favor.
The architecture couldn't be more different, either. NYS is built almost like a cathedral and seems to follow one, constant design which harks back to the old days of the Old Yankee Stadium. Citi Field is a mishmosh (maybe a clusterfuck) of different designs. The Mets took nothing from Shea Stadium, instead they borrowed from Ebbets Field (outer design), PNC Park (bridge), US Cellular (seats in right field wall), Fenway Park (the right field roof), Camden Yards (many aspects) and a lot of other parks.. There's a group of suites here, a group eating area there, a glass enclosed restaurant here, a right field porch there. I'm not saying that it doesn't look nice or have a great feel, but I'm saying it just feels like a lot of different people wanted different things and compromised by putting them all in. Also, all the seats face home plate, which didn't really seem to be a huge convenience (actually made the cupholder placement more difficult). But the biggest problem with the seats was the obstructed view--you couldn't see left field and no place on the ticket did it mention that you had obstructed views. Oh...and the fact that like it's replacement, Citi Field wasn't filled and was quiet for most of the game.
The one place that Citi Field has a distinct advantage over NYS is in the food offerings and the prices. Ticket prices for all sections seem to be less in Flushing which is a nice change from the overcharging going on in the Bronx. Once you get into the ballpark, things seem to be about 15%-25% cheaper as well, with a much better selection. Taste of the City, a group of Danny Meyer restaurants, trumps anything that NYS brings out there. While I love the garlic fries at NYS, Citi Field has Pom Frites. NYS has Johnny Rockets; Citi Field has Shake Shack. I live across from Carl's Steaks and down the street from Brother Jimmy's and they're great, but I think the Mets just got more creative with their new ballpark's food offerings. The biggest difference is in the beer selection. Brooklyn Brewery came up with specialty beers for all the different food stands and they're $7.50 each (I believe). I went to El Verano Taqueria for food and the beer and enjoyed the Brooklyn Sabroso Ale. And they have Big Apple Brews (and I believe Sixpoint is in the works as well).
While on line at El Verano Taqueria, I heard the biggest cheer of the entire game. All of a sudden someone came running into the area and yelled "there's a streaker!!!". Well I have to say I'm disappointed I missed the first Citi Field streaker but was happy to know that Deadspin (video) and the New York Post (photos) could show me what I "missed" in person. It ends up that the streaker, according to Deadspin, won't be back at Citi Field ever again, so I may have missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (I think I'll be OK).
Overall, Citi Field was an enjoyable experience, although much different from New Yankee Stadium. I'm heading back in August and look forward to trying out some more of the food options. And hoping that unlike the game I went to, the Big Apple actually gets to rise!
Nomar Garciaparra's assignment to the disabled list is his 13th in his career -- which is not the most among active players. The current leaders, according to David Bearman of ESPN Information and Statistics:
Doug Brocail, Houston, 14 Nomar Garciaparra, 13 John Smoltz, Boston, 13 Troy Percival, Tampa Bay, 13
The kicker, of course, is that all four of those players are currently on the disabled list.
When reading this, I thought about former Yankee Rondell White. Or, as I liked to call him RonDL White (and who I just found out is the son-in-law of Mets manager, Jerry Manuel).
When Bernie Williams threatened to sign elsewhere as a free agent, the Yankees had a contract agreement in place with Albert Belle. To replace Bernie in CF, the Yankees had looked at many options, most popular of which was Rondell White, as Buster Olney--then a reporter for the New York Times--wrote in 1998. Why Rondell White? Because he had told Montreal General Manager Jim Beattie to trade him to the Yankees. What was the package discussed? Ricky Ledee, Mike Lowell and maybe a pitcher according to the New York Daily News. In the end, Belle reneged on the agreement, fearful of the scrutiny of playing in New York, and Bernie Williams decided to resign with the Yankees, leaving Rondell White on the Expos.
But in 2002, the Yankees, who had coveted White, signed him as a free agent. They must really coveted White because between 1996-2001, he was on the disabled list 8 times (and that's not counting days off where he needed a few days because of injury). But he stayed healthy most of that 2002 season (probably because of increased steroids and HGH use as the Mitchell Report revealed) which was a shame for the Yankees because his line of
240/
.288/
.378 was one of the worst of his career.
After the 2005 season, the Minnesota Twins signed White despite the fact he had now made it 9 trips to the DL in 13 seasons and had only played 97 games due to injury the year before for the Detroit Tigers. And here's how the rest of his career looked like according to Sportsnet:
Aug 7, 2007: Missed 6 games (right hamstring injury). Aug 6, 2007: Right hamstring injury, day-to-day. Jul 22, 2007: Missed 93 games (right calf injury). Apr 9, 2007: Right calf injury, 15-day DL. Dec 20, 2006: Re-signed by the Minnesota Twins to a one-year contract. Sep 27, 2006: Missed 2 games (hamstring). Sep 25, 2006: Hamstring, day-to-day. Aug 24, 2006: Missed 13 games (hamstring). Aug 11, 2006: Hamstring, 15-day DL. Aug 10, 2006: Hamstring, day-to-day. Aug 7, 2006: Missed 7 games (hamstring). Aug 6, 2006: Hamstring, day-to-day. Jul 16, 2006: Missed 22 games (shoulder injury). Jun 30, 2006: Shoulder injury, 15-day DL (retroactive to Jun 18). Jun 28, 2006: Shoulder injury, day-to-day.
So, in total, that's 12 DL trips in the 15 season career of Rondell White. Ouch.
It's been a long time. Let's hope they can stay here. They now have three games against the second-worst team in the American League, the Cleveland Indians (despite having won three straight). Keep the momentum alive, boys!
Just asking...are all those "Joba-to-the-'pen" folks advocating "Wang-to-the-'pen" now?
Just asking...is Girardi making Chien-Ming Wang into his setup man with Brian Bruney out?
Just asking...when is it a good idea to take a perennial 19-game winner and waste him away in blowout games?
Just asking...what are Angel Berroa and Jose Veras still doing on this team (especially now with NO backup outfielders)?
Just asking...why is AJ Burnett so inconsistent?
Just asking...why do some Yankee broadcasts not have a play-by-play guy? I actually really like Flaherty and Singleton but neither guy is a play-by-play and they've been stuck in a booth together in Texas for 3 games
Just asking...do you see what speed does for a team? Gardner dropping down a bunt proved to be a big play in blowing this game wide open
Just asking...can the Yankees keep up this momentum? We'll see as they head to Cleveland tomorrow...
Just was looking through my Twitter and saw this from Ausiello:
EWAusielloFiles Breaking: Freddie Prinze Jr. clocks in on new season of 24 as head of CTU field ops Cole.
Let me be the first to say "huh?". The Jeanane Garofalo as Janice experiment didn't really work this year and so Freddie Prinze Jr. is going to bring more to 24? Allow me to be a little skeptical.
One new show addition I am intrigued by, John Lithgow as a serial killer on Dexter (according to Ausiello as well). In my head, he does the deliciously evil much better than Freddie Prinze Jr. does head of CTU field operations.
According to Baseball-Reference, the 2008 Mets became just the 7th team to have four players on their team appear in 159+ games in the same season (the other 6 came 1961-1968). That stat does not say much for durability the following season, though, since those four players are Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes. This year the Mets have played 45 games and while David Wright has appeared in all 45, Carlos Beltran has appeared in 44 and is out until at least Friday, Jose Reyes has played in 36 and is on the DL, and Carlos Delgado has played in 26 and is out a good chunk of the summer.
Markus Naslund did something you don't see often in sports: he walked away to help his team. It was something that went unnoticed, even among NHL and Rangers fans. The Rangers are a cap-strapped team, held hostage by Glen Sather's mismanagement, dolling out multimillion dollar contracts to aging veterans signed by Cablevision. They were killed by those signings this year, unable to sign or make trades for the scorer they needed (such as Mats Sundin). And they are going to be hurt by those signings going forward. Markus Naslund's contract was going to be one of those. He was signed for two years, $8 million. All guaranteed money. By the end of last year, his age and declining skills caught up to him and he was mostly rendered a useless cog in the Rangers offense-less machine. By the time the playoffs hit, he was hurting the team but with his salary, the Rangers had no choice but to continue to run him out there.
"But," as Arthur Staple wrote in Newsday, "Naslund took the dignified way out after 15 seasons, saving the Rangers $4 million in cap space for next season. There's no telling what Glen Sather will do with that money, but Naslund turned it down because he didn't earn it."
And reading over that article this past week, my thoughts went to Hideki Matsui. The man who apologized in 2006 when his large consecutive game streak which stretched back to his early days in Japan came to and end and he couldn't help the team for months because of injury. Matsui returned to form and health in 2007 and posted another Godzilla-like season, but the past two seasons have been injury-filled. Last year he only got 337 ABs. He went into the offseason knowing his knees are shot and he was probably going to be unable to run or play the field.
But he came back this year. Maybe he felt a duty to the Yankees to come back and help the team. He came here to win World Series rings and besides a trip there in 2003, he's been shut out from that goal. He may have wanted one more go at it. And when he's been in the lineup the past few years, they've been able to use his bat. Despite his problems last year, his
.294/
.370/
.424 line was nothing to sneeze at.
Yet some part of me thinks he may just have been better going out on last year's note. The Yankees right now can use his bat, though his inability to play the field is troublesome for a team that's already thin on the bench. But Matsui is a shell of the player he was. For his career with RISP his line is
.297/
.379/
.466;
this season he's
.212/
.386/
.273. And that's where they seem to miss him most.
And watching this happen to Matsui, I wonder what happens to Derek Jeter. After next season he's a free agent and I can't see the Steinbrenner family letting him go play anyplace else. Which means they'll give Jeter a long-term deal to stay here and get his 3000th hit in Pinstripes (and be the first Yankee player to do so). Will he swallow his pride and allow the Yankees to move him off of short, a position he is far too weak at now, but one that he takes so much pride in playing? And when he feels like he's not earning his salary anymore, when he's not helping the team and when his time here is up, will he walk away from all the money to help the team? That will be the true test of the Captain. To see if he can act as selflessly as Markus Naslund did.
I have to say I love these SNY commercials. Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal takes a look at how the commercial spots have taken a faux sports store and sold local rivalries for a channel that most people (including me) just think of as a Mets only channel. I'm just interested in the humor so I've listed them in the order of their funniness.
1. Lessons Learned. It keeps on getting better and better until the lesson learned about the cups near the bathroom. Amazing. The first one I saw and the best one to date.
2. Keith Day. Gotta love the mustache and Keith does a great job in this spot. Strange for a spot that's trying to be universal New York spots to use a Mets personality, but Keith was on Seinfeld, so it's all good.
3. Cable guy. Seems very similar at the beginning to the Verizon Fios commercials but this is just so much more funny. Interesting that it's pretty Mets-centric like the last one, but it seems to drive the point home they're trying to make about SNY.
4. Charades. The weakest of the four commercials, but still funny. The charade for the Devil is pretty awesome.
Starting 9 (5/26/09) Have a lot of links to get on the blog that have just been sitting around so I figured it was time for Spring Cleaning and I will try to do them in as orderly a way as possible (it's mostly Yankees stuff until after #4).
1. I've had a lot of opinions on New Yankees Stadium (NYS) piling up so here they are: Formerly of Deadspin, now of New York Magazine, Will Leitch talks about the Yankees' unrealistic self-image. New Stadium Insider reveals that Standing Room tickets won't go on sale for either NY team anytime soon. Deadspin has more on Lonn Trost wanting to keep us "smelly riff-raff" away from the rich folk and Scott Proctor's Arm goes over the entire Trost/writers exchange. The Yankees website goes over the Legends Seats features and amenities, this is a Flickr photo of the controversial moat, and Was Watching chimes in that they're O..K with the NYS Legends Suite Moat. The Wall Street Journal looks at the "ugly start" for NYS, The New York Post recounts Peter Gammons calling NYS "one of the biggest jokes in baseball", Scott Proctor's Arm has a great in-depth look at the Metro-North station, and a non-Yankee fan tries to beat the Yanks with his stomach for TIME magazine. River Ave Blues uses some Accuweather reporting to declare we may not be witnessing the true homerun power of NYS just yet (scary). Lastly, The Onion gets in on the fun saying that the slashed Yankees ticket prices now allow for lesser nobility to attend the games.
2. I've been saying for a while now that the secondary market is the place to go for Yankees ticket (or Mets tickets for that matter). Was Watching agreed and the New York Times chimed in as well. I think with the team playing as well as it is and the weather getting warmer that this will begin to correct itself again. I don't think that people will pay for $90 face in the middle section of the stadium during the week unless the Red Sox are playing (and maybe not even then), but I think that people will start seeing a little more return for their tickets. But I still would highly recommend NOT buying tickets from the Yankees and/or at face. Wait until the day before and snatch up some cheap tickets on StubHub, Craigslist or eBay.
3. Happy birthday to Freddy Sez! According to Fack Youk, Fred Schuman turned 84 on Saturday. The first time I ever got to bang Freddy's pan was at the All Star Cafe (now non-existent) in New York City while the Yankees played the Orioles in Baltimore during the 1996 ALCS. I hit the pan and Darryl Strawberry hit one over the rightfield fence and Freddy gave me a big smile. I'm glad he's moved over to NYS because it wouldn't be the same without that sound. Also, this is the first I've heard of a "Freddy Sez Story" from NoMas so I'm excited to watch tonight.
4. A few things from the Old Yankee Stadium (OLS) and other Yankees news. This is pretty awesome. From the long-lost ESPN Page 3, the 2004 Yankees at-bat songs (I love the description for Ruben Sierra). I'm shocked to learn from CNBC's Darren Rovell that sales of OLS seats have been brisk. Not that I wouldn't want one, but in this economy, people have that type of disposable income to spend? Past A Diving Jeter may need to rethink the name of the blog. The New York Times on Phil Coke's sleepless night (funny story). River Ave Blues looks at the Damon-Jeter switch and if it's worked so far. Sliding Into Home looks at Rob Neyer's suggestion to put Phil Hughes in the bullpen (I disagree with this). New York Daily News' Mark Feinsand on Melky and a few other NYS topics. Newsday on Austin Jackson's progression. MLBTradeRumors on possible relief acquisitions for the Yankees. Baseball Musings on Francisco Cervelli. Peter Abraham can't believe the Yankees have set a franchise record with 12 straight errorless games (me neither). And Slate on why the Yankees won't have to worry about all those bad contracts after 2012 (just kidding).
5. I have no clue why more teams don't try to pick up players in the Rule 5 draft. Looking back at this MLB.com article from December of the best players draft since 1990, you see names like Johan Santana, Josh Hamilton, Dan Uggla, Joakim Soria and Shane Victorino. Looking at Wikipedia, names like Roberto Clemente, Bobby Bonilla and George Bell. So why don't more teams just take a flyer on a guy and hope he pans out? I understand you need to put him on your major league roster, but even if you don't, it's a small amount of money invested. Also, many teams expose guys for Rule 5 that they don't want anyways so you may get to keep a guy even if you don't have room on the active roster for him or can make a small deal with the other team. Just seems like an easy way to find good talent to me.
6. People I dislike: First Cal Ripken and think he's a pretty selfish guy so hearing this about him from Shysterball's Craig Calcattera on NBC's Circling The Bases is not surprising. Will go more into him someday. Next, is Jonathan Papelbon, who, as Subway Squawkers points out, was a real crybaby after getting hit with a blown save against the Mets. If Joba did that, the world would go crazy. Lastly is Curt Schilling who talks on his blog, 38 Pitches, about Manny Ramirez's suspension (curious his thoughts on the SCOTUS nominee announced today with his feelings about the strike and his large Republican leanings). One thing I do agree with him about is that everyone in the past 10 years played with someone on something. According to Baseball-Reference's Oracle, Manny Ramirez played with 438 players with two in the Hall of Fame (with more to come). Jose Canseco played with 537 players, with 6 already in the Hall of Fame. Each player won 2 World Series. Do you really want to take away all those World Series rings and Hall of Fame trophies?
7. Dan Le Beatard writes about Jim Leyritz and this has certainly turned into a sad, sad story. Joel Sherman has some great points in his 3 Up today and it sounds like the Mets did as little planning with backups at SS as the Yankees did with backups at C, even though both positions had players known for being injured at times. Shysterball also looks into the SCOTUS nominee today.
8. Two more related to baseball notes: The Big Lead on no Red Sox games for former teacher accused of child porn possession. Also, an awesome job recreating Mordecai Brown's delivery in this video (H/T Rob Neyer). That is AWESOME!
9. A few non-baseball items: Bill Simmons loves hockey (!!!!). Is Stephen Curry to the Knicks sealed with a promise as The Big Lead reports? Chad Johnson has yet another name according to Yahoo! Sports (H/T Sarah). Lastly, from Busted Coverage, it seems that Australia has a problem with rugby players and 19-year-old female group sex (why?).
Sometimes it's as much fun analyzing trades that weren't as trades that did occur. One that had almost seemed a done deal in the offseason and fell apart due to money concerns was Melky Cabrera for Mike Cameron. Let's take a look:
Melky Cabrera: .
323/
.368/
.481,
OPS+
121, 10 BB/19 K, 5 HR and 20 RBIs in 133 ABs
Mike Cameron
.285/.
382/
.543, OPS+
140, 25 BB/33 K, 9 HR and 22 RBIs in 151 ABs
It is a small sample size to be able to tell much of a difference. According to FanGraphs, Mike Cameron is a much better fielding CF than Melky. Melky has come up in some huge spots for the Yankees, getting late, clutch hits to win games. And Cameron has helped a young Milwaukee team defy those who thought they would fail without CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets to first place in the NL Central.
But Mike Cameron makes $10 million this season and is 36 while Melky Cabrera makes $1.4 million and is 24. I think both guys will fall back to their career numbers, and at times the Yankees will feel that they could have used Mike Cameron, but not trading for Cameron meant they felt comfortable brining Pettitte back and I rather Pettitte/Melky (and some Brett Gardner in CF) than Mike Cameron. Also, falling back to career numbers could lead to a lot of strikeouts for Mike Cameron who is 5th among active players in strikeouts. I may not feel the same way in September (especially if Melky falls off like he did last year), but I think that the 2009 Yankees--and beyond--are better off not having made that trade.
I was sitting at my desk at work with Bloomberg TV running in the background. I heard breaking news that President Barack Obama was going to name Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee for the Supreme Court. Why do baseball fans care about Sonia Sotomayor? Well not only did she grow up in a Bronx housing project just three miles from Yankee Stadium, and not only does she supposedly slip off to the ballpark once in a while to catch an afternoon game, but, as the New York Times wrote in 1995, on March 31st, 1995, after a strike had cancelled the World Series the previous year, she had "the fate of major league baseball thrust upon her."
And as the New York Times wrote recently, she became revered for her role in ending the player's strike by ruling against the owners and in favor of the players, saying that the owners were trying to subvert the labor system. They declared her a "baseball savior", with The Philadelphia Inquirer saying that she had joined "the ranks of Joe DiMaggio, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson and Ted Williams" and the Chicago Sun-Times saying she had emerged as one of the most inspiring figures in the history of the sport.
Although many have forgotten her role in ending the player's strike, her 15 minutes of fame (which was actually how long she took to issue an injunction that broke the deadlock in the baseball strike) have not been forgotten by all. Let's hope that there are bigger issues for her to tackle in the Supreme Court, but for one day in 1995, Sotomayor helped save the game that I love.
Randy Winn leads all active players (or players on a 2009 major league roster) with 1,494 games without a postseason appearance. There are 9 other active players with 1,000 games played without a postseason appearance: can you name them?
Ernie Banks leads all players who made the Hall Of Fame but never made a postseason with 2,528 games played. 10 other players made the Hall Of Fame but never played in the postseason: can you name them?
(will be impressed if you can name 5 of each question)
From Baseball-Reference.com (and why you don't sign guys past 33 to long-term deals...). An interesting list to say the least. You have two of the most famous players in the history of the game (the Babe and Stan the Man), two mid-90s warriors (O'Neill and Galarraga), two steroid players (Palmeiro and Sheffield), and now Raul Ibanez (who is working on his best season currently). A-Rod just reached 33, but as a Yankee fan, I hope he too is on this list in a few years.
Just 7 players have gotten at least 100 RBI in each season at ages 34, 35, and 36:
"Have they ever lost before?" "Basketball? No, they sure haven't." "It just feels wrong, that's all." "Maybe that's where they get that saying, 'You can't win 'em all.'" "That's a good point, Ralph. They do have that saying." -Pleasantville
That quote from the movie Pleasantville sort of sums up my feeling right about now. Another well pitched game from the Yankees starters and bullpen. Another weak hitting effort until the 9th. Another come-from-behind in the 9th with a blown save for the opposing closer.
Just this time it ended up in a loss. Some may second guess Joe Girardi for taking out Robinson Cano for Ramiro Pena, but the truth is that the Yankees needed to score that third run to score and you can't worry about the consequences if that spot comes up again in the game (and it looked like it wouldn't). The Yankees had chances to win it in the 9th and 10th and couldn't muster a baserunner with the bottom part of their lineup in the 11th. Maybe the mistake was pitch hitting for Cervelli since he's a .300 hitter. Swisher's bat could have been used to pitch hit later on for somone like Pena. But that may be nit-picking.
Who is looking great? Melky Cabrera and Jose Veras. Melky came up with another huge hit for the Yankees and looks like he took his demotion at the end of last season and losing out on the starting job this year personally and has done a great job coming back. Jose Veras was horrendous in the Yankees bullpen for most of the season, but after almost being demoted recently (Edwar Ramirez was sent down instead of Veras being released) and realizing he was on his last legs, he's come back with a vengence recently.
Who is not looking great? A-Rod and Hideki Matsui. A-Rod is a true three outcome player now: homerun, walk or strikeout. But thankfully a lot of those homeruns have been in big spots. Matsui just looks lost at the plate and you wonder if those knees are bothering him again. If Nady comes back soon, it may pay to put Matsui on the bench for a while to rest those knees.
Regardless, I think this was the best Yankee homestand in a while and maybe their most exciting ever. They never really went down without a fight and they showed that no matter the closer, they were never done until that last out. Remember, Lidge never blew a save last year in the regular season or post season. So to do what the Yankees did to him on two consecutive days--even if only one ended up in a win and even if he may not be the same Brad Lidge this season--is still quite impressive. Let's hope they keep up this momentum as they head on the road.
Figured I'd try and get a few new segments on this blog including "Stat of the Day". This one is a scary one, from New York Post's Joel Sherman (via Twitter):
Yankees staff ERA with Posada catching: 7.71. Even without Wang's horror show it is still 6.45.
Joel Sherman wrote today in the New York Post all about how Posada should be the DH for the Yankees, especially going forward. While I don't disagree with him, the Yankees have a true problem: too many DHs and not good enough options at catcher.
This year the Yankees have Matsui (who can't play the field at all), Xavier Nady (who may be able to return but unable to play the field), Nick Swisher (who, while in no way a liability in right, would probably be better at DH), A-Rod (who needs a day off every once in a while to rest that hip), Damon (who looks absolutely lost in left field this season at times), and Jeter (who should probably be making his way to at least a part-time DH role).
That's a lot of guys for one spot. Next year, Matsui, Nady and Damon come off the books, but the Yankees still have a dilemma as to where Jeter plays. He seems like he's lost yet another step at shortstop and needs to get moved to another position. There's no way to tell if he could be a successful outfielder, so DH may be the place for him. And A-Rod will be a year older next year so he'll need a rest every once in a while there too.
I love the Teixeira signing in many ways, but they'll wish at some point they had that first base slot open. But maybe the goal next year will be to split DH 50/50 with Posada and Jeter. With both on the wrong side of 30 (at least in baseball years), they need all the time off in the field that they can get to keep their bodies from breaking down. That's if you can get those two, who are very prideful guys who feel they should always be in the field, to agree to DH, which is a whole 'nother story...
This video of one news team's reaction to LeBron James' game winning shot is awesome. Not only is the reaction of the people in the picture great, but you can see some random guy jumping up and down in the background (check out the top right of the video at the end). From ESPN.com (so funny): A Cleveland news team was in a glass case of emotion -- until Bron's shot. What came next is the stuff of legend.
One of the big knocks on the Yankees coming into this season was that they even though they were improved from last year, they were a poor defensive team. Well one of the things they've done during this amazing streak they've been on is play good defense. Even with the lack of errors, they still don't always play great defense (Derek Jeter is a prime example). But they've made some great plays (including Teixeira today) and have found a way to make all the routine ones.
And, for all those who doubted him, Mark Teixeira is not only playing great defense and making great plays, but he's saving errors from the other infielders as well. He may not be as good as Don Mattingly, but if he isn't, he's close.
I leave you with this tidbit, some praise for the Yanks - they have gone 10 straight games without an error, the longest current errorless streak in the majors and third longest this season. The last boot came on May 13 in Toronto. It’s the team’s longest streak since 1995. You win when you catch and throw, too - Yanks are 9-1 over that span and 22-5 this season.
Good job by the Yankees. Let's hope they keep it up.
I think I would agree with Sam Borden of LoHud that this may have been the greatest Yankees homestand ever.
Consider this day-by-day:
May 15 vs MIN: Brett Gardner hits inside-the-park home run and ninth-inning triple, then scores winning run on Melky Cabrera’s two-run walkoff single. May 16 vs MIN: A-Rod gets his first hit at new Yankee Stadium with game-winning two-run homer in the 11th inning. May 17 vs MIN: Johnny Damon gives Yankees third-straight game-ending hit with 10th-inning home run to win it. Yankees clubhouse chefs put rush order on more whipped cream. May 18 vs MIN: Mark Teixeira homers from both sides of the plate and the Yankees reverse their magic, scoring six in the first inning instead of rallying late. May 19 vs BAL: A-Rod and Teixeira homer again and Yanks score seven runs in the seventh inning to turn a tight game into a laugher. May 20 vs BAL: Yankees hit three homers in a row in the second inning and blast Baltimore to back Phil Hughes. As games on this homestand go, a pretty boring night. May 21 vs BAL: Joba Chamberlain goes down two batters into the game after being hit by a comebacker, but the Yankees bullpen doesn’t break and they win again, their ninth in a row. May 22 vs PHI: Jimmy Rollins homers on the very first pitch of the game and the Yankees don’t recover, finally losing. May 23 vs PHI: Back to old reliable – the walkoff. Down two in the ninth, A-Rod hits a two-run homer to tie it; Melky Cabrera drives in Robinson Cano with the winner moments later.
So, to sum up: That’s eight games, seven wins, four walkoffs. Oh, and by the way, the pitching match-up for today’s homestand finale is CC Sabathia vs. Cole Hamels. Not a bad stretch of baseball, right?
Not bad at all. They were a few outs from losing this series to the Phillies but now are one win away from their fifth series win a row. Looking back at the Yankees schedule, they've only lost two series of more than two games: the first series of the season against the Orioles and the April series in Boston.
The most wins on this homestand? Alfredo Aceves with 3 followed by Jose Veras with 2.
Amazingly, although I had gone to 10 Yankees games this season, I only attended one of these. But I can say I saw Jorge Posada's walkoff a few weeks back that started this turnaround for the Yankees and A-Rod's first hit at the new Yankee Stadium, a game winning two-run homer that really got this streak going. This team truly believes that they can come back against anyone. Although I'd love to see them win 10-3 more often, I like to see that they have fight in them and don't quit. That's the mark of champions.
There was a wild scene outside the Mets New York Mets ' clubhouse after tonight's 3-2 win over the Red Sox when closer Frankie Rodriguez collapsed from back spasms and required medical attention.
Rodriguez suffered the back spasms -- the first of his career, he said -- while running in pregame warmups and was unavailable to pitch the ninth inning.
The Mets gave K-Rod muscle relaxers, but he collapsed shortly after trying to leave the clubhouse under his own power. Rodriguez started weeping from the pain after being helped into a golf cart, and a stretcher and EMTs were called to the scene.
Team officials then closed the gate in front of Rodriguez, preventing reporters for further observing the scene.
The Mets later said Rodriguez was taken to a local hospital by ambulance but offered no further update on his condition.
Great job by the Yankees there. Right before the win, I sent a message to Ari, a Mets fan, saying "Lidge's slider is crazy. Only way the Yankees get to him, is if he leaves a fastball up and then they need to crush one out".
And what happened? A-Rod hit one out (after a HUGE walk by Damon).
And Melky followed (after Cano reached base and stole second) with another walk-off hit. Cano and Melky got pies in the face (and Susyn Waldman got some on her as well). Great win by the Yankees.
"Can they win one 10-3?" my dad asked. "I love these wins, but they need a no-doubter once in a while."
I agree. Also happy tomorrow's broadcast is not on Fox. They were horrible today. Besides having Buck and McCarver who are horrible as it is. They found the wrong John Mayberry on his son's first homerun, they didn't turn on Ken Rosenthal's mic, and many other errors. Someone is getting fired there.
Another great win for the Yankees. As I said in my last post, they can use the homerun and the way the park plays small to their advantage, but they can't rely on it. And what did they do, they drew their walks and stole their bases, but they used the small park to their advantage and got the big single when it counted. Great, great win. Now let's go Mets!
The Yankees biggest problem with their park may not be the home runs they give up, but the home runs they hit. Sounds strange? Let me explain. The problem with hitting so many home runs is that teams get homer happy, especially when they fall behind. The Yankees thus far this season have seemed to live and die on the big hits. And if they want to win going forward, it can't continue. Sure, they can use the big blast from their powerful lineup every once in a while, but the problem is that when they've gotten behind this season, you can see the batters all aiming for the fences and not working at-bats like they do so well.
This also seems to happen against bad/inexperienced pitchers. Through 5 innings against J.A. Happ today, the Yankees only mustered one run and only made Happ throw 60 pitches.
The Yankees during their winning streak were hitting a fair share of homeruns, but were working in walks, singles, doubles, and even triples. They moved over runners and did the little things they needed to do to win. They didn't jump out of their skin every time up and the patient at bats not only meant they drew walks, but it also meant they got into the weak bellies of the opposing bullpens early in the game where they did serious damage. To win, the Yankees need to continue to do that.
Buster Olney seemed to echo my thoughts this morning:
• I mentioned in Friday's blog that while the Yankees certainly don't want their park to play like a bandbox in future years, the way the park plays might actually be in the Yankees' favor this year, because generally speaking, the staff has power pitchers and the team's lineup is powerful. But you do wonder if the Yankees' lineup will become so accustomed to generating runs via home runs that it will grow stagnant on the road, the way the Red Sox teams of the late '70s seemed to; when the home runs stopped coming for those Boston teams, their one-dimensional offense seemed to sputter.
Let's hope the Yankees don't become a one-dimensional offense.
Today marks the debut of the New Yankee Stadium Metro North stop. The stop is located at 153th Street near the old Yankee Stadium. Service will run on the New Haven, Harlem, and Hudson lines. The station cost $91 million to build -- a lot of money, but the question is, was it worth it?
Metro North expects "up to 10,000 fans to pass through the station on game days." I think that is a generous estimate. Consider that the New Yankee Stadium seats fewer than 50,000 fans. 30,000 or more fans will arrive from Manhattan and other boroughs via the B, D, or 4 subway trains. Perhaps another 8,000 fans will drive from New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island, and Westchester/Rockland counties (cars/buses/limos/etc). And another few thousand fans will take alternate transportation to the B/D/4 subways, such as LIRR to Grand Central and NJ Transit to Port Authority/Penn Station.
My theory is this: why would fans want to use this decidedly consumer-unfriendly service? How is this not consumer-friendly, you ask? Allow me to explain...
First, the new Metro North stop is not near the New Yankee Stadium. It's near the Old Yankee Stadium, though MTS promises the walk is ten minutes or less. I repeat: unlike the subway platform, which runs directly adjacent to the NYS, the brand-new, $91 million Metro North stop is approximately 10 minutes from the NYS. It is unclear why they didn't build it closer.
Second, the Harlem and New Haven lines only offer direct service to the New Yankee Stadium on weekends and holidays. This means that on weekdays, New Haven line riders must still go to the 125th-Harlem stop and wait for a shuttle from Grand Central to the Stadium. Of course, shuttles returning to Manhattan after weekday games do not stop at 125th-Harlem, so fans wishing to return to Connecticut on the New Haven line must ride all the way to Grand Central after the game to return home on Metro North (H/T Scott Proctor's Arm). (Note: the Hudson line offers direct service to all games. Great for them, but why only the Hudson?)
Third, Metro North has increased fares. Connecticut travelers will pay $1 more than the ticket price of traveling to Grand Central Terminal during peak hours -- and 75 cents during off-peak periods, which includes weekends.
Fourth, there won't be many Metro North trains. Let's take weekend games (1:05 start) as an example. Following the game, there are 5 trains returning on the New Haven line. They leave at 4:27, 4:37, 4:42, 4:55, and 4:56. Only three of those trains travel beyond Stamford. Let's say a third of Metro-North's estimate of 10,000 fans using the service are traveling on this line. That's 3,000 fans for 5 trains. Could get pretty crowded, which is precisely the opposite of the intended result. What's the difference between a crowded 4-train and a crowded Metro-North train, really?
Here is what I imagine will happen. On days where direct service is not offered to the new Metro North stop, fans will take other Metro North trains to the 125th-Harlem stop. Rather than waiting for a shuttle from Grand Central to the New Yankee Stadium, fans will walk two blocks and take the 4 train, which drops passengers 100 feet from the Stadium. Think about it: why walk 10 minutes from the Metro North stop when you can walk 2 blocks from the 4 train?
And since there are many weekday games that will not offer direct service, this scenario will occur frequently. Too frequently, given the $91 million investment that was supposed to reduce the occurrence of this scenario. The 4 train is still the best option.
And even when there is direct service, how many fans will use it? Metro North tickets are more expensive to the new Stadium, there aren't many trains, and they will likely be crowded. After the game, for example, just take the 4-train to Harlem-125th and wait for a less-crowded Metro North train there. The cost of a subway ride will be halfway offset by the increased cost of a Metro North ticket, anyway.
Any thoughts about whether this $91 million station was worth it?
Chris Ford, the former head basketball coach at Brandeis and current Sixers scout, has interviewed for the vacant Philadelphia 76ers head coaching job. Ford coached at Brandeis University for two seasons, 2001-02 and 2002-03. (He also racked up 311 professional wins, by the way, in his ten-year NBA head coaching career, including stints with the Celtics, Bucks, and Clippers.) Ford left Brandeis in 2003 to coach the Sixers on an interim basis. Apparently, five years as an anonymous scout has given Ford the itch to coach again. Philadelphia, which fired Maurice Cheeks mid-season, wants to make a move before the draft since interim coach Tony DiLeo, who led the 76ers to the playoffs this season, intends to return to the front office.
Former Nets executive Ed Stefanski, now the Sixers GM, really wanted to interview Villanova head coach Jay Wright. And who could blame him or the team -- Wright is a master motivator who is also excellent at developing young talent. He'd be perfect for the job. But Wright declined consideration, saying Villanova is "where I want to be." Apparently, a small suburban campus is a "better fit" than getting a big pay raise on a big stage in a huge sports town like Philly. Hmmm.
Anyway, the Sixers are also interviewing ex-Wizards coach Eddie Jordan, Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis, and Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey.
But seriously, Thibodeau is the guy Philadelphia should really hire since Wright is unavailable. He's a defensive expert who would do wonders for a team that allowed opponents to shoot a better FG% than it did, and also gave up more turnovers that it forced. In a relatively weak Eastern Conference, a coach like Thibodeau could turn the Sixers into a more serious contender, much like Thibodeau beefed up the Celtics' defense to the extent that the team won a title. Of course, Philly doesn't have a Big Three, but since defense wins championships, hiring this guy is a good start.
Or Stefanski could just re-hire Ford. That's what I would do. Three cheers for Brandeis!
While stuck in some brutal Memorial Day traffic this afternoon, I snapped this picture on the Hutchinson Parkway in New York. Some might conclude that this young couple from Ontario wanted to proclaim their love of South Park for all drivers to see. I disagree. It's quite obvious that our readership has finally blossomed north of the border. Thanks for the shoutout, Canada.
Click on the photo to enlarge and read the license plate.
Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions. Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"? Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff. Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly. Dr Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Dr. Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes... Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave! Dr. Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!
Those quotes from Ghostbusters remind me of the current feeling today as Yankees fans and Mets fans will both be rooting for the other team for a weekend. Although usually enemies, fans of the Yanks and the Metropolitains will actually be forgoing their dislike for the Subway rivals and rooting hard for them to crush their divisional foes.
The Yankees play host to the defending World Series champion Phillies in their brand new ballpark in the Bronx. The Yankees have won 9 in a row and the Phillies have won 6 of 7. If you think the New Yankee Stadium is a bandbox, just wait until you see what happens for this series with the homerun power on both sides.
In Boston, the Yankees will be rooting on the New York Mets as they head to Fenway Park in a rematch of the 1986 World Series. It's been 69 innings since the Mets had a homerun and they'll try to end that streak this weekend.
Santana vs. Dice-K. Cole Hamels vs. CC Sabathia. This should be a fun weekend to open interleague play. And while I'll be rooting on my Yankees, I'll also be echoing WFAN: "Let's Go Mets...F-A-N...doo doo doo!" Should be a fun weekend
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