Who are the greatest Yankees--continued

The next in my series of the greatest Yankee players I have ever seen is third baseman. It is pretty much a no brainer as A-Rod is generally considered, for the last few years, to be the best player in the game. So, it would be silly to try to build up any suspense. But it would be a failure on my part to not mention some of the great third sackers I have seen in pinstripes. There have been duds like Rich McKinney, Celerino Sanchez, and Gerry Kenney, but the team has also had some superstars. Graig Nettles, who anchored the hot corner for 11 seasons from 1973 until 1983, was easily the equivalent of Brooks Robinson with the glove, and his performance in Series play against the Dodgers was the stuff of highlight films. And he was no slouch with his bat. Stats don't tell the whole story. Yes, he led the league in 76 and was second in 77 in home runs hitting 32 and 37 respectively. Things were different back in the 70's. But he was a streak hitter. While his lifetime average was only .248, and his best year he hit .276, I can remember him going on streaks where he would lead the team with game winning hits for about a 2 week period. He would wear out pitchers, and belt a bunch of homers and drive in runs like crazy. Then he was back to being one of the greatest fielding 3rd baseman in the game. Back in his hayday, many baseball fans would debate whether Graig or Brooks was the better fielder.
But no way A-Rod isn't the greatest. While Nettles was the better fielder, A-Rod is a force with the bat. He's got 2 MVP awards in his last 3 seasons with the Yanks.



Go Yankees

All-Star Game today

Will the AL go for the 12th straight years without a loss?

You'd think the games would be pretty even, but the AL just seems to spank the NL regularly.

I added a link for Tommy's Blogging Baseball site. Very knowledgeable guy, and a big NL fan. Be sure to check him out.

By the way, a recent post by Tommy was about the All-Star game and the fact that it's minus Ken Griffey. This got me to thinkng about All-Stars from when I was a kid, along with the purpose of the game. Despite all the hype, "Now it counts" or whatever the tag line was, no, the game doesn't matter. Big deal, team gets home field advantage.

Throw all the stats you want at me concerning home field advantage, but realisically I don't think it's that huge a deal.

In fact, I just did an unscientific study. I used simple hashmarks,and to be truthful, I may have mnissed one or two, but, here's what I came up with: Home field advantage is over rated at the post season level. In the last 100 years or so, 36 Series have gone to 7 games. The visiting team won 17 of those series. Not exactly a significant percentage. Even if I missed a couple, it still isn't significant.

So, the game is good marketing, bad information.

Back to Tommy's point: where the hell is Griffey? Mays, Mantle, and every star played well beyond their All Star caliber playing days. So what? They deserved to be at the game. It's an exhibition game. An no one is a better representative of the game than Griffey. He should have been added to the team.



Go Yankees

The latest A-Rod and Madonna news

I remember when ballplayers played ball, and singers sang. I miss those days.

It has been announced that A-Rod's wife (Cynthia or C- Rod?) is asking for a divorce today. Implications are that she has had enough. A-Rod has developed a bit of a reputation as a playa lately, and hanging with Madonna is just, well, weird.

Madonna claims they are just friends and her marriage to Mr. Madonna is just fine.

More rumors: A-Rod is busy sharing Friday night suppers with Madonna as part of Kabala, which is a religious experience. C-Rod is busy hanging out with Lenny Kravitz at his mansion in Paris.

The Yankees, back in the 70's-80's were known as the Bronx Zoo. A-Rod is doing everything to resurrect that moniker.
Hey Alex, how about toning down your crazy personal life and maybe doing something about that 9 game lead the Rays have over the Yankees?

Just sayin'.

Go Yankees

At the half way point

Things have not been going well for the squad. Injuries have just decimated them. At just a bit over .500 and 5.5 games behind the Rays, well, things are not looking great. But the guys still have time. Some of the disabled pitchers should be returning soon.

From www.mlb.com

Injured rookies Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are also making incremental progress. Kennedy (lat strain) was scheduled to make his second rehab start on Saturday for Class A Tampa, while Hughes (fractured rib) is expected to begin pitching in games in three weeks, putting his timetable for a Major League return in seven to eight weeks.
Additionally, right-hander Chris Britton (pulled rib-cage muscle) was scheduled to pitch in a Minor League game on Tuesday, having thrown two bullpen sessions already. Brian Bruney (right foot) was to throw one more bullpen session on Tuesday before resuming game action. He is expected to rejoin the Yankees' bullpen shortly after the All-Star break.

So, things may be looking up soon. By the way, what is interesting is that in the past, the Yankees have had an old staff, and lots of injuries. This year, they went younger, and the old timers, Pettitte and Moose are relatively injury free. Just when I think I have this figured out, along comes a season like this.

Which reminds me. Tampa Bay has the best record in baseball. This is one of the signs of the Apocolypse.

Go Yankees

Yanks seek vengeance against Pirates

Yup. That is how they have been previewing this series against the Bucs. The Yankees are finally getting a chance to make up for their defeat in the 1960 World Series. They do this all the time. The one bad part of interleague play is the stupid talk as if teams that last played nearly 50 years ago have some sort of connection to the teams that meet today. Doesn't matter than none of the players are still around, and none of the players on the field today were even alive in 1960. Some knucklehead somewhere thinks this is important. For the baseball history buff: Pirates won game 7as light hitting (138 career HR .260 avg. in 17 seasons) Bill Mazeroski hit a walk off home run.



Go Yankees

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