07/09: All-Star Game Lineup
Posted by: Patrick
Bryan Hoch has the ASG lineups. Jeter will hit 2nd and A-Rod will hit 4th.
Posted by: Patrick
Tony Gicas has a recap of Joba's performance at yesterday's Futures Game. He threw 1 inning and, after walking the first guy and allowing a single to score said guy, he retired the next two batters he faced. One by strike out (strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play) and one on a line drive to the first baseman.
Meanwhile, Tyler Kepner has this quote from Roger Clemens on Joba:
Meanwhile, Tyler Kepner has this quote from Roger Clemens on Joba:
“He’s a good kid,” Clemens said of Chamberlain. “There’s four or five of those young kids that got it going on pretty well. The more I was around, the more they relaxed and asked me some pointed questions. He’s got good stuff."
Posted by: David
The Yankees got three run homers from Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez to crush the Angels 12-0 on Sunday afternoon at the Stadium. A-Rod started it off with a bloop RBI single to left center and Matsui followed later with a three run home run to post a four spot in the first inning.
Chien-Ming Wang pitched 6 1/3 solid, scoreless innings and the bullpen followed with 2 2/3 scoreless as well.
Robinson Cano's shot made it 7-0 and A-Rod's league leading 30th made it 10-0. Miguel Cairo added a two run pinch hit double for the last of the Yankee scoring.
With the win, the Yankees moved to within 10 games of the Boston Red Sox at the All-Star Break. The Yankees will resume action on Thursday night in Tampa Bay vs. the Devil Rays.
Chien-Ming Wang pitched 6 1/3 solid, scoreless innings and the bullpen followed with 2 2/3 scoreless as well.
Robinson Cano's shot made it 7-0 and A-Rod's league leading 30th made it 10-0. Miguel Cairo added a two run pinch hit double for the last of the Yankee scoring.
With the win, the Yankees moved to within 10 games of the Boston Red Sox at the All-Star Break. The Yankees will resume action on Thursday night in Tampa Bay vs. the Devil Rays.
07/09: To Each Their Own
Posted by: James
Adam Foster over at Top Prospect, which happens to be one of my favorite sites, checks in from the Futures Game. He has posted some interesting tidbits, one of the more interesting ones being about Joba:
Heh...and ouch.
The clubhouse was an art show of tattoos. Collin Balester had his MySpace name "Ballllllly Sta®" tattooed on his arm. Cameron Maybin and Colby Rasmus had MLB logos on their biceps. Joba Chamberlain had a few tattoos of his own, too, but he had a much more attention-grabbing display going on.
Both of Chamberlain's nipples had tape covering them. Whittleman shouted across the room, "I still can't believe you did that!"
Apparently, Chamberlain had decided to get his nipples pierced for fun not long ago.
Both of Chamberlain's nipples had tape covering them. Whittleman shouted across the room, "I still can't believe you did that!"
Apparently, Chamberlain had decided to get his nipples pierced for fun not long ago.
Heh...and ouch.
07/08: At the Break
Posted by: Patrick
Thanks to the Tigers sweeping the Sox (and us taking 2 out of 3 from the Angels), we head into the break at an even 10 games back of the Red Sox. The Indians also lost, giving us a gain in the Wild Card standings, where we now sit at 8.5 games.
Posted by: Patrick
ESPN's 8 week miniseries on the 1977 Yankees, The Bronx is Burning, premiers tomorrow at 10:00 PM. Who's watching it? Me and my brother plan to do so. For whatever it may or may not be worth, it's a dramatic miniseries on the Yankees and we're Yankees fans... so, I'm looking forward to it. Plus, it's got the sneaky guy!
Apparently, Reggie isn't too happy about it (via Steve).
Apparently, Reggie isn't too happy about it (via Steve).
07/08: Interviews With Jeter and Mo
Posted by: Patrick
Steve Serby has a good, long interview with Derek Jeter.
Meanwhile, Peter Abraham has an interview with Mo, asking questions suggested by readers of his blog.
Funny thing, this actually crossed my mind last night as I watched K-Rod scream at the sky after he finished the game. It looked like he was none too pleased with the sky. And, honestly, the thought crossed my mind "I'm glad Mo doesn't do that." A fist pump, cool. But, all of that stuff... whatever.
Q: Jorge told me recently that you asked his wife, Laura, to fix you up?
A: She’s always telling me that she hopes I find someone soon, so I told her, “Don’t be afraid to hook me up.”
Q: Has she yet?
A: No, not yet; still waiting.
Q: Does your cologne help you with the ladies?
A: (Laugh) Apparently not ... ’cause I’m going to Jorge’s wife, right?
A: She’s always telling me that she hopes I find someone soon, so I told her, “Don’t be afraid to hook me up.”
Q: Has she yet?
A: No, not yet; still waiting.
Q: Does your cologne help you with the ladies?
A: (Laugh) Apparently not ... ’cause I’m going to Jorge’s wife, right?
Meanwhile, Peter Abraham has an interview with Mo, asking questions suggested by readers of his blog.
Seth: There are other closers that are extremely excitable like K-Rod and Papelbon. You’re more calm. What do you think is better?
Mariano Rivera: “Well, i don’t know, everybody has their own thing. I think it works for them … but personally I don’t like it. Personally I don’t like it. Personally, I like to give the respect to every hitter. Because every hitter feels like they’re insulted when they do all that kind of stuff. That’s their business and I do not care. But I prefer to stay the way I am.”
Mariano Rivera: “Well, i don’t know, everybody has their own thing. I think it works for them … but personally I don’t like it. Personally I don’t like it. Personally, I like to give the respect to every hitter. Because every hitter feels like they’re insulted when they do all that kind of stuff. That’s their business and I do not care. But I prefer to stay the way I am.”
Funny thing, this actually crossed my mind last night as I watched K-Rod scream at the sky after he finished the game. It looked like he was none too pleased with the sky. And, honestly, the thought crossed my mind "I'm glad Mo doesn't do that." A fist pump, cool. But, all of that stuff... whatever.
Posted by: Patrick
MLB.com reports that A-Rod will play in the All-Star Game.
"The game is about the fans, and to get that many votes, you feel like you have the responsibility to go out and play," Rodriguez said.
Posted by: Patrick
I only watched the final half of the 13th inning. Down a run, Cano grounded out to start it off. Cairo came up with a big hit with 1 out and immediately stole second, getting right under Orlando Cabrera's tag. F-Rod then made a wild pitch (he looked pretty bad in the 13th), allowing Cairo to take 3rd. Johnny Damon worked a walk to make it 1st and 3rd for Melky. I don't really care what happened up to this point - Melky needs to just put a ball in the air here. Man on 3rd, 1 out. You have to score that guy. He doesn't and makes a terrible cut on a ball that hits the ground and he's out. It was ugly to watch. And it capped off a really ugly day for Melky where he went 1 for 6 with 5 (FIVE!) strikeouts, tying a Yankee record. Derek Jeter came up with 2 outs and put a ball up the middle, but Orlando Cabrera was in position to field it and ran to second to just beat Damon to the bag for the 3rd out. There goes our chance to go in with a winning record at the midway point.
Our defense put up 5 errors - 3 of which were committed by Miguel Cairo. Remarkably, the first 4 errors didn't help any runs to score. But, you keep making errors and eventually, they're going to get you. Cairo had a good day offensively (2 for 5, 2 stolen bases), but a terrible day with the glove. His final error helped the final run to be scored, making it an unearned run on Luis Vizcaino.
The other Angels run was scored way back, 10 innings ago, in the 3rd. We wasted an incredible start by the Rocket, who matched John Lackey all the way. Both pitchers threw 8 innings and allowed 5 hits and 1 run. Lackey had 11 K's and no walks (to Clemens 3 and 1). Mo came in and pitched 2 scoreless innings and Kyle Farnsworth pitched one after that. Scot Shields threw 3 scoreless for the Angels. After that, Vizcaino entered and pitched a scoreless 12th. He might have been able to get out of the 13th without the error, but who knows - he did allow a double to start the inning. Meanwhile, F-Rod pitched 2 scoreless to end it. Like I said, he didn't look good in the 13th, but he got out of it.
4 Yankees (Damon, Jeter, A-Rod and Cano) went hitless. Matsui was 1 for 4 with 1 run, a walk and a stolen base. Posada was 2 for 5 and Abreu was 1 for 5 with 1 RBI.
Our record in 1 run games is now 6-14. Tomorrow, we'll finish up the first half with Wang (8-4, 3.58) going against Ervin Santana (5-9, 5.35).
Our defense put up 5 errors - 3 of which were committed by Miguel Cairo. Remarkably, the first 4 errors didn't help any runs to score. But, you keep making errors and eventually, they're going to get you. Cairo had a good day offensively (2 for 5, 2 stolen bases), but a terrible day with the glove. His final error helped the final run to be scored, making it an unearned run on Luis Vizcaino.
The other Angels run was scored way back, 10 innings ago, in the 3rd. We wasted an incredible start by the Rocket, who matched John Lackey all the way. Both pitchers threw 8 innings and allowed 5 hits and 1 run. Lackey had 11 K's and no walks (to Clemens 3 and 1). Mo came in and pitched 2 scoreless innings and Kyle Farnsworth pitched one after that. Scot Shields threw 3 scoreless for the Angels. After that, Vizcaino entered and pitched a scoreless 12th. He might have been able to get out of the 13th without the error, but who knows - he did allow a double to start the inning. Meanwhile, F-Rod pitched 2 scoreless to end it. Like I said, he didn't look good in the 13th, but he got out of it.
4 Yankees (Damon, Jeter, A-Rod and Cano) went hitless. Matsui was 1 for 4 with 1 run, a walk and a stolen base. Posada was 2 for 5 and Abreu was 1 for 5 with 1 RBI.
Our record in 1 run games is now 6-14. Tomorrow, we'll finish up the first half with Wang (8-4, 3.58) going against Ervin Santana (5-9, 5.35).
07/07: El Leche
Posted by: James
Last year, while Melky Cabrera ended up with a fine line (100 OPS+), he had one 21 game stretch in the season where he was just putrid (.190/.281/.253/.534). The Yankees stuck with him then and from his OPS low point on June 26th, 2006, he went .295/.370/.429/.799 for the rest of the season (88 games).
Fast forward to this season when Melky Cabrera started off the season with a 22 game stretch that was even worse than his bad stretch in 2006 (.190/.235/.203/.438). However, since May 1st, which was the last time his BA was under .200 for the season, here's the line over the last 51 games: .320/.381/.477/.858.
Is he going to hit like that for the rest of the season? Nah, probably not...but looking at how he finished off the 2006 season, any dropoff shouldn't be as drastic as some people might expect. El Leche might only be 23 (24 in a month) but this guy definitely belongs in the majors.
Fast forward to this season when Melky Cabrera started off the season with a 22 game stretch that was even worse than his bad stretch in 2006 (.190/.235/.203/.438). However, since May 1st, which was the last time his BA was under .200 for the season, here's the line over the last 51 games: .320/.381/.477/.858.
Is he going to hit like that for the rest of the season? Nah, probably not...but looking at how he finished off the 2006 season, any dropoff shouldn't be as drastic as some people might expect. El Leche might only be 23 (24 in a month) but this guy definitely belongs in the majors.
