Switch Pitcher

If he makes it to the majors, his baseball card will be the first ever with this designation. Bats B; Throws B.
Pat Venditte, of the Staten Island Yankees single A affiliate is a switch pitcher. And he throws well with both arms. He uses a custom glove that is ambidextrous.


AP photo

In last night's game, Pat faced a switch hitter, though, who refused to commit. The game was delayed for a while as the pitcher and batter went back and forth, responding to each other. Eventually, the umpires made the batter, Ralph Henriquez, commit. He batted right-handed, and struck out.

If Pat makes it to the majors, it will be an interesting situation, as they will have to make a rule just for him.


http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spjim155728089jun15,0,2025908.story

In other Yankee news, Joba pitched well enough to get the win, giving up just one run on 4 hits. Unfortunately, the Yankees didn't take the lead until after he was removed from the game. Joba looked absolutely dominent when he had to be. Could he step into the role as the Yankees ace? It's too early to tell, but it appears the first member of Generation Trey is ready to come to the forefront.

Go Yankees

Looking at the disabled list

The team has had so many injuries to the pitching staff, I forgot a bunch of them.

Here's the updated list:
Jonathan Albaladejo
Chris Britton
Brian Bruney
Ian Kennedy
Humberto Sanchez
Phil Hughes
Jeff Karstens
And, believe it or not, one of the worst signings ever, Carl Pavano, is still on the team, and is on the injured list.
Got a couple more, but they weren't even on the 40 man roster.

I don't remember seeing a staff so decimated, long-term, by injuries.

Go Yankees

Wang out until September

This just reminds me of the video boxing game (may have been called Punch Out) where one can hear the announcer say "Body Blow." That's what I feel like with this news. The staff is reeling. The number 3 pitcher, Hughes, has been out most of the year. Number 5 pitcher Kennedy is out. Now number 1 is going down. Things are looking down in the Bronx. How many teams could lose 60% of their starting staff for most of the year, and have a chance?

Looking crosstown, the Mets out-Steinbrennered the Yankees. They did something in a manner even worse than George at his worst. They fired Willie Randolph. Talk about bad timing. They did it after a win, and after the beginning of a road trip. They easily could have done it before the team left for LA. They could have done it before Willie had his post game press conference, and talked of the positive move toward the future as the team won 3 of 4. Totally classless move, Mets.

Hank Steinbrenner, obviously upset that the Mets got the back page of the Daily News, is now carrying on about Wang'sd injury. He is blaming it on the lack of the DH in the NL. Come on, Hank, he was running the bases. When I was younger, even I could run the bases without getting injured.

It was a freak injury. Shut up.

Go Yankees

Some More All-Time Team Members

Today, I wanted to have a look at the men who work around the keystone.

Second Base: The Yankees have never been known for great second basemen.
But that doesn't mean they haven't had some good ones since Poosh 'em Up Tony Lazzeri back in the '20's.
Horace Clarke was a decent player with good speed, and an ok glove. Hoss was good for around 20 doubles, and as many stolen bases along with a .256 average. These numbers are pretty poor by today's standards, but not that bad for the mid-60's. In 1968, Yastremski led the league with a .301 average, so .256 wasn't terrible. The league leader in doubles would hit 35 or so, and 40 HR would be enough to challenge for the HR title. But Horace isn't my guy.
Second is a tough choice because of these two guys, Willie Randolph, and Robinson Cano. It's hard to pick Cano because he only is in his 4th year. But he already has as many HR as Randolph hit in his 18 yr. career. He doesn't have the speed of Willie, who stole over 250 bases in his career. But this is a different Yankee team. This is a team built on power. Cano doesn't get the green light very often. Randolph has 2 rings as a player, again, it is hard to pick Cano over him. With the glove, they are both terrific.
What it comes down to is this: if I were going to start a team today, and had the choice of either player (pretending each was in their playing days, of course,) who would I choose, the man with the solid numbers in the bank, or the relative newbie with the upside?
I'm going with the kid. He has just shown so much in such a short time that I believe in a few short years, he will be considered as possibly the greatest Yankee second baseman of all time.


Shortstop: This is as close to a no-brainer as I can get. Gene Michael, master of the hidden ball trick? He was a really great (and tricky) fielder, but he was a .229 hitter with no power. But I did meet him and get his autograph at a charity basketball game over 30 years ago, so that did help raise him up in my assessment. He was a good guy.
Bucky Dent (Bucky F'ing Dent for my Red Sox readers) was a nice ballplayer who hit one of the biggest homeruns in Yankee history. It was one of the biggest in baseball history for that matter. He was a nice player who came up big in some big situations. He had a decent average in postseason play. He hit .349 in 2 World Series, both of which were won by the Yankees.

But my choice is the human highlight reel, Derek Jeter. The Captain (seems to be a theme) is possibly the greaytest Yankee shortstop of all-time, and he is most likely heading to the Hall of Fame as a first ballot inductee in about 10 years or so. Whether it is Jeter flying in the stands like Superman to snag a fly ball, or making a great play to nab an Oakland runner at the plate, or even belting a home run to win a playoff game, he has been right in the middle of every big event since he came to the team in 1995. It is more than a coincidence that the team has made the playoffs every year since his first full season in 1996.




Go Yankees

Wang injured

During the Yankees big 6th inning rally against Houston, Wang was injured as he ran the bases. Early reports say he has hurt his right foot.

Yankees are blowing out the 'Stros, and Wang was pitching a shutout at the time.

AL Pitchers just aren't use to running the bases.

More to come.

Go Yankees

Tiger Woods charges to lead in US Open

Happy Father's Day to me!

It's a major sports watching day.

Mets game starts at 1:00, Yankees start at 2:00, and Tiger Woods seeks his 14th major at 3:00 at Torrey Pines in California.

I watched Tiger play the back 9 and come charging back, not just to get in contention, but to take the lead. And everyone knows Tiger is nearly unbeatable when he is in the lead going into the final day.

His knee is in bad shape. He grimaced with nearly every hard shot. But again, those back 9. It was described as a lifetime highlight reel for most golfers.
An eagle on the 13th, and another on the 18th put him in the lead. For good measure, he made a miraculous birdie on the 17th. That chip shot in the 17th was so phenomenal. I watched Tiger's face, because he thought he screwed it up, but the ball one-hopped right into the cup. It appeared to hit the stick. Words just can't describe it.



Meanwhile, the Yankees have been playing well. They are finally 3 games over .500, and looking good. Mussina, who was all but written off in spring training is tied for the league lead in victories with 10. This is his 17th straight year with double digit wins. He will most likely make the All-Star team. Don't forget to vote for position players in the online poll, BTW.

Go Yankees

Greatest Yankees of all-time

With all the current attention being paid to the Yankees as this is the last year at the storied ballpark, I wanted to do my list of all-time Yankees players.

I'll do a couple positions a day for the next few days.

I'm going to limit it to just players I have seen. While I attended my first game in 1961, I really hardly remember anything except seeing Whitey Ford on the mound against the Red Sox, and that Maris or Mantle homered. Yankees won 13-2. But everything else is just a blur.

While, technically, I did see Mantle and some of the players from the glory days of the 1950's play, I hardly could say I have any true memory of them.

So, for all practical purposes, this list would just use players from the mid-1960's up until today. Players I saw and appreciated.

I'll start at catcher. The Yankees have been blessed with several great catchers in their history. Dickey and Berra, are among the best ever, both enshrined in Cooperstown. While Jorge Posada has been one of the best catchers in the AL since he broke in, and he definately fits in among some of the greatest Yankee catchers to ever put on the "Tools of Ignorance," he's not my guy. Add to that the simple fact I'm a huge fan, and he would be a shoe-in. But sorry. My guy is, was, and always will be the Captain, Thurman Munson. His .292 career average and his 113 dingers pale in comparison to Posada, but he was the heart of the Yankees, and led them to 2 World Championships (1977-78,) and an AL Championship (1976.) Munson was great at throwing out would be outbase-stealers. He didn't have the greatest arm, but his release made up for that. During his career, Carlton Fisk (HOF) and he were considered the best at their positions. Thurman deserves to be alongside Fisk in the Hall.
I can remember when rumors circulated that the Yankees were looking to make a trade for Johnny Bench (generally considered to be the best catcher ever.) When reporters asked Thurman what he thought of the deal, he said, "That's great, What position will he be playing?"

Munson was that cocky guy winning teams need.



Next is First Base. This is a little easier to call. For some reason, the Yankees, throughout history, have not been blessed with many great first sackers. Sure, Gehrig handled the job for a while, but through the 50's and 60's and much of the 70's the position had no really great players. Moose Skowron and Danny Cater were nice ballplayers, but no one ever mentions Hall of Fame and their names in the same sentence. Chris Chambliss? Again, a very good player, known for a clutch HR against KC, but just not my all-time guy.

Don Mattingly, aka Donnie Baseball, is my choice. OK, not exactly a stretch.

While his career numbers are respectable, injuries seriously hurt his chance for Cooperstown. Over 400 doubles, coupled with 200+ homers and a .307 average may have put him in the running. But he lost at least 3-4 seasons due to his relatively early retirement (age 34) and who knows how much more he would have accomplished if he hadn't missed at least 30 games in parts of 4 seasons in his prime. Keep in mind that he had some trouble even when he played, due to back problems. We could almost double all those numbers if he remained healthy.
And he was known as a great fielder, saving the infielders many errors over the years.

Two choices, both captains, get the nod.

More to come.





Go Yankees