Opening Day Pain

Yesterday, the day started out well enough with some nice opening day ceremonies, and the first at bat, and Jeter had the Babe's bat at home plate. As a joke he picked it up and pretended to get in the batter's box.
The bat was then sent to the dugout, and so many Yankees swung it like little awestruck kids. The bat then was packed up and sent back to Cooperstown.

The game, what can be said when my team gets spanked 10-2?

CC pitched well, but the pitch count got high and he left in the 6th. He held the Indians to 1 run, and the 'pen, for the second time in the last week, fell apart.

Posada hit the first HR in the new Stadium, and damon got the first hit (a single in the first)

Joba is on the mound today.

One nice thing before the game today, on YES, they did a tribute to Bob Shepherd, long time Yankee announcer. His first game was April 17th, 1951, and they had him recreate the lineup announcement.

And, what a lineup!

Loaded with HoF teammates Rizzuto, Mantle, DiMaggio, and Berra. That's something that isn't seen today.



Go Yankees

Yankees come north after successful spring

The Yankees finished spring training with the best record (22-10-1) in the Grapefruit League.

The biggest surprise of the spring may have been Brett Gardner's emergence as the newest star in the Yankees Galaxy. His strong spring showing earned him the honor of being the 2009 recipient of the James P. Dawson Award.
He also will be the starting CF on Opening Day, edging out Melky Cabrera.

The speedy 25-year-old Gardner batted .390 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 7RBIs and 5 stolen bases in 24 games.

The power numbers were surprising, as he had a reputation of being a singles hitter.

So, will he be the next great Yankee CF, following in the footsteps of Mantle, Murcer, DiMaggio, and Williams, or just a guy who had a great spring?

Only time will tell.

Go Yankees

MLBN is awesome

My cable company actually added a channel that I can watch and like, Major League Baseball Network.

What they do is provide coverage from other networks, so yesterday, I saw a game from NESN, and I passed up a White Sox game, and a Mets game. Spring training games generally hold little interest beyond about the 3rd inning, because who cares about the guys that will probably never make it to the majors, unless it is my team. But the programming looks to be solid, with shows about some of the great World Series games in history, Today will feature the '61 with Mantle and Maris and the '63 with Ford against Koufax. The '59 Gogo Sox will also be on as they take on the '59 Dodgers.
This channel will probably be a favorite all season long. I do like that they will show games from other networks, so we should get a chance to see and hear some of the legendary hometown announcing teams.


Go Yankees

Kevin Youkilis--super punk

Man up, Kevin Youkilis.

I realize that you are not the best and the brightest, but even a dunderhead like you should recognize that Chamberlain, hell, no pitcher, is going to throw at you in the 7th inning of a 1-0 game.

These games are important as the Yankees are breathing down the Sox necks. Are you so freakin stupid as to think he's going to intentionally put you on base with the game on the line?
Nice strikeout after that, by the way. And could you cry to the first base umpire just a little more?

Yeah, that's what Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle, HankAaron, and all the great players did if the ball came close. They cried to the umpire at first base.

Good thing you play today. If you played back in the 60's and 70's, Gibson, Drysdale, or any of a number of pitchers would have planted it in your ribs and then dared you to even look at the mound.

You big pussy.

He'd hit his mama if she crowded the plate

Go Yankees

Yankee bats are coming alive

A-Rod, Giambi and Posada all belted homers in yesterday's battle with the Royals. This is the team I expected, one with power, and the ability to put up a lot of runs in a hurry. So, I'm pretty happy about that. The staff is ailing, though. While it may have been Andy Pettitte's worst game in years, if the pen wasn't in such disarray, he would have been gone long before the Guillen grand slam.
Today, Joba takes the hill in his second start. I'm not sure how many pitches he is scheduled to throw, but it is pretty damned stupid to announce it before the game like they did last time.
Melky Cabrera is becoming one of my favorites. He seems to get lost in the shuffle, and yet, his upside is so tremendous. It's hard to believe he is only 23 and this is only his 3rd year as a full time player. His predecessor in center, Bernie Williams, was sent to the minors at age 23.
I know Melky's name was bandied about over the winter in trade talks, but I firmly believe he will be, one day, mentioned in the same way other great former Yankee players are-- joining Mickey, Joe D., Bernie, and Bobby Murcer as legendary players who have patrolled centerfield in the Bronx.



Go Yankees