The "Nitty Gritty" Yankee Teams of the Late 90s

Last night I got into a discussion with a few friends about baseball. The discussion moved at one point to the Joe Torre teams of the late 90s. I had mentioned how on base percentage was, in my opinion, the most important statistic to measure a team's offensive efficiency--though I mentioned a hollow OBP without power was worthless. I was trying to explain weighted on base average (or wOBA, a category that Dave Cameron of FanGraphs does much better and Alex Remington of Big League Stew adds to) when one of my friends piped up and said that the the offense of those 90s Torre teams were built less on OBP and more on taking pitches and their nitty, gritty mentality. Although I think that pitches per plate appearance has a good deal to do with OBP (more pitches seen usually means patience, more pitches wears out the pitcher and causes them to throw more balls, etc.), I thought that this idea that these Yankee teams didn't win because of OBP and wOBA was false. It turns out I was right.

I think most of this misconception lies in the fact that OBP wasn't exactly a mainstream topic before 2003 when Michael Lewis' Moneyball hit the scene. The truth is that teams were thinking about this before that time, but like good organizations do, they decided not to share that trade secret with others. If you take a look at those Yankee teams, you remember Paul O'Neill's warrior-like ABs, but you forget how they ended many times: with him jogging to first base. Using FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference (and a 50 PA minimum), here was what those Yankee teams looked like:

"The Warror" did more than just foul off pitches (Yankee Yapping)

1995
I add this one in just to show when the change occurred. Obviously, this was not a Torre team (Buck Showalter ran the show), but some of the seeds of Torre teams were planted. The 1995 Yankee team put up a .357 OBP which was good for 2nd in the American League. But the OBP was pretty empty of power. Although they had 280 doubles (2nd in the AL), they had only 122 HR (12th out of 14). Paul O'Neill had 22, Bernie Williams 18, Mike Stanley 18...and no one else had more than 7. The starting infield of Don Mattingly, Pat Kelly, Tony Fernandez, and Wade Boggs accumulated 21 combined. While Paul O'Neill (.387 OBP, .388 wOBA), Bernie Williams (.392 OBP, .385 wOBA), and Wade Boggs (.412 OBP, .373 wOBA) carried the offense, Dion James (.317 wOBA), Luis Polonia (.304), Tony Fernandez (.296), and Pat Kelly (.293) all were black holes. The team made the playoffs as the first American League Wild Card but they were disposed of in a tough 5-game loss in the American League Division Series to the Seattle Mariners.

1996
In 1996, the Yankees got rid of most of the dead weight from the 1995 lineup. They replaced Dion James with Tim Raines (.383 OBP/.377 wOBA), Luis Polonia with Ruben Rivera (.381/.368), Tony Fernandez with Derek Jeter (.370/.353), and Pat Kelly with Mariano Duncan (.352/.364). The team OBP ticked up to .360 and the hitting improved even further when they swapped Ruben Sierra for Cecil Fielder mid-season. Paul O'Neill continued to be a force in the Yankees lineup, walking 15.5% of the time and putting up a .411 OBP. The team gave way too many PAs (219) to Andy Fox (probably the worst Yankee hitter of the past 20 years that they've given that many PAs to) and Gerald Williams was never the answer in left, but this team was able to win the World Series because of those improvements it made.

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Yanks Win Classic Torre-esque Game...With Torre In The Other Dugout

If any three things epitomized the Joe Torre era with the New York Yankees, they were clutch starting pitching, brilliant relief pitching, and gritty hitting. Andy Pettitte failed to provide the first of those two elements last night and Joba Chamberlain turned in another shaky outing, but the Yankees' win last night could easily be categorized as a Torre orchestrated victory...except for the fact that Torre was in other dugout.

In a ninth inning reminiscent of so many that we had seen before during the last Yankee Dynasty (see 2000 World Series games 1 and 5, 1996 World Series Game 4, etc), the Yankees were able to manufacture four runs in the ninth inning against one of the premiere closers in the National League. Once the big hitters loaded the bases, it was two relatively unknown rookies who gave the Yankees a chance for their biggest win of the year.

Like so many games that the Yankees won under Joe Torre, the team put their faith in Chad Huffman and Colin Curtis, two players with less than a handful of at bats between the two of them. Huffman has bounced around the minors for a few years and Curtis, in a much larger battle than his at bat against Jonathan Broxton last night, defeated the demons of testicular cancer. With the bases loaded, Huffman drove in two runs with an RBI single (his third career hit), putting runners on first and third with one out with Curtis coming to the plate.

Curtis, who had only been called up earlier this week, had an a bat that would make you think he had played the game for over a decade. Much like Paul O'Neill's at bat off of Armando Benitez in game one of the 2000 World Series, Curtis fouled off pitch after pitch from the flame throwing Broxton. Finally, on the tenth pitch, he hit grounder to first base. James Loney, normally an excellent fielding first baseman, stepped on first and instead of throwing to second base for a potential game ending double-play, he threw home to try to catch the speedy Curtis Granderson. Granderson, who took off on contact, beat the wide throw to the plate to tie the game.

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The Yankee Clipper: The Game That Ain't Got No Alibi

Last night's Yankees game against the Diamondbacks was U-G-L-Y. No doubt about that one. The Yankees were gifted opportunities because of a plethora of walks and some basehits but they weren't able to turn them into runs due to baserunning errors, great defensive plays by Arizona, GIDPs or just bad "clutch" hitting. It was a game the Yankees had no business winning...but good teams win games like that and they gained a game on Tampa Bay and Boston. Let's look back at the week that was in Yankee land:

1. An Ugly Game, Indeed. Bronx Banter's Emma Span has a title that knocks mine out of the park (and has some good suggestions at the bottom. The key stat: 10 hits and 13 walks for the Yankees. Yowza! Joe Pawlikowski from FanGraphs writes about Derek Jeter's propensity to hit into double plays (which he did twice last night and the team did 5 times!). Jay from Fack Youk has many more of the gory details. But the New York Times' Ben Shpigel put it best: "The first inning of the Yankees’ game against Arizona on Wednesday night included five walks, four hits, three runs, two base-running blunders, two caught stealings and one wild pitch, and the mayhem was only starting. To the exasperation of both managers, an evening of ragged baseball and mediocre pitching dragged on and on at Chase Field, all the way into the ninth inning and beyond."
2. Mariano Rivera Walked A Tightrope...and Won. Bases loaded. No one out. One-run lead. And on the mound where his most replayed, most famous, and most scarring collapse occurred. But is there a man you would rather have on the mound than Mariano Rivera. After most of us on the East Coast had gone to bed, the Sandman sent the D-Backs to bed with a pop up, a pop up and a strikeout. Goodnight. LoHud's Chad Jennings writes about Mo's long and strange night but it went beyond that. It reminded all of us how good Mariano has been at the Houdini act for so long and Mark Simon of ESPN reviews Mariano's best. It will be a sad, sad day when this man decides to hang it up. As Joe Pawlikowski writes for River Ave Blues, we should thank Mo. The same with Andy Pettitte who Bobby Valentine wrote about on Tuesday.
3. I Think They Can Still Play Better. After reading this blog post from Rebecca of This Purist Bleeds Pinstripes, I can see I'm not the only one. This year they're 45-27 through their first 72 games with the best run differential in baseball (last year they had 40 wins and were 4 games out of first). The last time they had more wins through 72 games was 2004 (46). Although the Yankees have been getting great production from certain parts they've been getting less than expected from the top 4 in their Opening Day lineup considering Derek Jeter is nowhere near last year's numbers, Nick Johnson occupies the DL, Mark Teixeira has not figured out April has ended and Alex Rodriguez looks like a less-powerful version of himself. That doesn't even begin to factor in a sub-par bullpen, Curtis Granderson's struggles, Jorge's injury, a bad start for CC Sabathia, or the fact that A.J. Burnett has been awful lately and, as Matt Imbrogno of TYU writes, his K-rate has begun to disappear thanks to a lack of a good out pitch. So I think this team still has room to improve. Scary as that is for the rest of the American League. 
4. Patience At The Plate From An Unlikely Source. Quick, who leads the Major Leagues in pitches per plate appearance? It's not Mr. Three-And-Two, Nick Swisher. It's not the AL batting leader, Robinson Cano. It's not Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, A-Rod, or Posada. It's Brett freaking Gardner. And how about this stat from ESPN's TMI blog: Brett Gardner leads the majors with 4.53 pitches per plate appearance. That would be the highest average since Rickey Henderson’s 4.55 in 1997. After a 4-4 night on Monday and going 2-5 last night, Gardner is now 11th in the AL in hitting (.322), 4th in SB (24), 6th in runs (49), and 5th in OBP (.402). Not too shabby for the guy most people thought was nothing but a fourth outfielder. 

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24 Recap: You Down With EMP?

Now that was a lot better, wasn’t it? Sure there are plot holes bigger than New York City potholes and a sideplot dangerously close to Worst.Sideplot.Ever. status. But we finally have some action and some intrigue and something to look forward to as the season progresses. My hope coming into this episode is that 24 would find a way to salvage their last (my hope anyways, despite reports to the contrary) season with a furious finish. Well, while it’s certainly not great, we’re seeing glimmers that at least we’ll end this show on a bang. But before we get that far ahead of ourselves, we had a bang of our own this episode: welcome back EMP!

Getting the [Electromagnetic] Pulse

24 is not the first to use the EMP. Ocean’s 11 did it with Don Cheadle. And in 24’s 4th season, with Habib Marwan as a threat, and Jack and Paul Raines (Audrey’s ex) hot on their trail, a corporation (McLennen-Forster) set off an EMP to destroy all their own files*. So while I was surprised to see it again, I wasn’t shocked. And this time, the EMP was actually used by terrorists instead of some corporate execs trying to avoid a slap on the wrist.

*Side Note: Then the corporation took the impending blackout as a chance to send a private militia after Jack and Paul which resulted in Jack having his one nice moment with Islamic people in the first 6 seasons of the show (when he had to take over their ammunition shop to cover from the militia). It also resulted in Paul getting shot and Audrey ridiculously switching allegiances from Jack to Paul even though Paul had been stalking her life since the separation (and refusing to give in to a divorce) and Jack and her had fallen deeply in love—and Jack had just risked his life by going solo against a base full of terrorists and blown them all up to save Audrey and her father. Audrey, you are an ungrateful bitch.

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Stat of the Day: The Curse of the Weaver Brothers

History is on the Yankees side! Coming into 2009, teams were 0-3 in a playoff series in which a Weaver brother (Jeff or Jered) came into a game in relief. Did their luck change this year?

Let's review, shall we?

• 2002 ALDS - Jeff Weaver comes into Games 2 and 3 in relief for the New York Yankees and the Yankees lose both games en route to losing the series 3-1 to the then Anaheim Angels. Jeff Weaver gives up 7 baserunners and gets 8 outs.

• 2003 World Series - Jeff Weaver is summoned to face the Marlins, obviously inspiring so much confidence in Joe Torre that he leaves Mariano Rivera, the greatest playoff pitcher of all time, in the bullpen (even Joe Girardi would shake his head at that move). Weaver comes into the 11th inning of Game 4 and gets the first three batters he sees. In the 12th inning, Jeff Weaver throws a 3-2 pitch to light-hitting (at least not when steroid-enhanced) Alex Gonzalez who hits one over the wall to end the game. The Yankees would lose the series in 6.

• 2008 ALDS - Jered Weaver would try to reverse the trend his brother set with the Yankees. He came into Game 3 and pitched two innings of shutout ball in relief to get the win--the only win the Angels would experience that series as they lost to the Red Sox 3-1.

• 2009 NLDS -Jeff Weaver came into a playoff game this year in relief as well. His manager? Joe Torre! This man loves to use Jeff Weaver in relief! Weaver pitched well over 1.1 innings and was credited with the win. The Dodgers actually won the series, breaking the Weaver Brothers (sounds like a company, no?) streak. They would, however, fall in the next round. 

• 2009 ALCS - Jered Weaver came on in Game 5 to pitch one dominant shoutout inning of relief. For some reason, Mike Scioscia, infected by Joe Girardi's overmanger-itis, decided to take out a rolling Weaver for the Angels' shaky closer, Brian Fuentes. Scioscia had so much faith in Fuentes, he issued the first ever bases-empty intentional walk in a run-run game in the 9th inning. Fuentes would escape a bases-loaded, full-count jam to get out of it, but if the Angels lost, Scioscia would have been second-guessed (again). But with the Weaver Brothers' playoff history, could you blame him for his move? 

This current series has a yet-undermined outcome. Will the past Weaver Brothers history rear it's ugly head? Did Jeff and Joe Torre reuniting in Los Angeles and challenging the curse of the Weaver Brothers finally break the spell? Does the Rally Monkey have a say? We shall find out...

A Few Sports Thoughts Before Bed

-Derek Jeter just turned 35. I feel old. I was in 5th grade when he made his major league debut. Happy birthday to the Captain. No active player has earned more rings or had more beautiful women than Jetes has had.

-Jorge Posada's wife is hot (another picture on the right)! Nice job, Jorgie! You really juiced that one!

-Our poll is now closed. 60% wanted Chien-Ming Wang in the starting rotation, 30% wanted him out and 10% said one more start. The only good news for him is that Citi Field is cavernous.

-Jeff Bennett = Kevin Brown.
-Geovany Soto = Michael Phelps

-I'm sorry I didn't mention the U.S. Soccer win over Spain earlier, but the truth is that I don't care that much about soccer. It's never really caught on in my life. I watched the World Cup once when my family first got High Definition television and saw the infamous headbutt. After that, I haven't cared much at all. But, regardless, this win was awesome. The New York Times declares it "Miracle On Grass".

-On the Knicks roster: Darko Milicic, Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas
-Not on the Knicks roster: Quentin Richardson, Stephen Curry and Ricky Rubio
-Not happy with the Knicks draftday: Knicks fans (I, personally, don't care. It's all about next summer)

-I knew Juan Pierre wasn't that good. From Fangraphs:

April 8 - May 28: 133 PA, .407/.470/.542 May 29 - June 24: 107 PA, .232/.276/.283

Joe Torre and the Dodgers should be glad Manny is coming back soon.

-Which MJ was greater in the '80s and '90s? Michael Jackson or Michael Jordan? And who had the weirder career move: Jordan to baseball or Jackson to Lisa-Marie?

Bullpen Use Needs Work

I don't mean to pick on Jose Veras all the time. It seems like he's the culprit too often. But I think part of the problem has to do with the manager's use of the bullpen. It's hard to fault Joe Girardi now when the Yankees are doing well, but I think it's better to look at it during these times then when things are going poorly and there's a lot more blame to go around.

I first started thinking about this when River Ave Blues recommended rethinking usage patterns for the bullpen. The one advantage the Yankees have had over other teams is that they've had Mariano Rivera in the 'pen since 1995. Since 1997, he's been their closer meaning that they've just had to find a way to fill the innings before him.

Now there are two strategies to go along with it. The first I'll call "Joe Torre's Scott Proctor Special". It's the manager who takes one hot guy and rides him until his arm falls off. Like literally. Look at what happened to the Yankees bullpen under Torre: every one of those guys got rode until he couldn't pitch anymore (Proctor, Sturtze, Gordon, Quantrill, Karsay, Vizcaino, etc.). But everyone knows their role, their inning, and when they can be counted on to come into the game. This works because you're always going with the hot hand and the guy you can trust. It doesn't work because eventually he's going to run out of gas.

The second strategy is the "Joe Maddon Mix-and-Match" strategy of managing the bullpen. It employs no set role from long relief to middle relief to set up men to closer. It's all based on matchups. Lefty comes up, there will be a LOOGY, righty comes up, the opposite. If a hitter has too much success against one pitcher, you pull him for another he doesn't have so much sucess against. This works because you put people into situations they're comfortable in and you play towards the numbers. This doesn't work because no one feels trusted, too much pitching changes kills a team, and when you need a big out, you have no one to turn to besides your stat book.

I think Joe Girardi finds himself in between those two Joes. Sometimes he'll ride a guy (Bruney, Coke, JA). Sometimes he'll mix and match until you're ill (when he had Marte and Coke as two lefties in the bullpen). Sometimes he likes to define roles. Sometimes he'll just give everyone a different role depending on the game (Phil Coke has closed games, been a long reliever, a short reliever, a lefty specialist, a set-up man and a mop-up guy). This is not necessarily a problem, but it hasn't worked so far (cue those Joba-to-the-'pen-solves-all-your-problems crazies). And I think it makes it hard to really rely on anyone to get the job done because they don't know their role from game-to-game. Some guys like Alfredo Aceves (and Ramiro Mendoza in the past) can thrive on that. But most guys--especially young guys--can't.

The other issue I have with Girardi's bullpen use so far is that he's too conventional with the Great Mariano. Joel Sherman wrote--and I agree with him--that you can't leave your best pitcher in the bullpen. The Yankees lost a World Series game in 2003 because Joe Torre wanted to stick by the book and not use his closer unless he had a lead because it was a road game. I thought Girardi would be different, but the exact same thing happened the other day.

Again, this is being nitpicky beacuse the team has been so good, but with teams like Boston and Tampa coming up, these types of things will become even more important and Girardi's bullpen maintenance and use will be put to the test.