X-Man Avoids the Knife

Wrote this for Baseball Digest.

Jon Heyman of SI.com is reporting that Xavier Nady has a partially torn ligament in his right elbow, but will avoid possible season ending surgery.

The Yankees had Nady undergo several MRI and CT scans to determine the exact cause of pain he began to experience during a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on April 14.

Nady will rehab the elbow for the next several weeks and hopes to return to the Yankees in mid- to late May.

Did someone clone Sandy Koufax?

We saw this on ESPN last night and it's on most of the news services today. Florida high school pitcher Patrick Schuster set a state record when he pitched his fourth no-hitter last night. Oh, let us clarify this a little more. It was his fourth STRAIGHT no-hitter.

You read that correctly - 4 straight no-no's.

"I was trying so hard not to think about it. I told my outfielders the last two innings, 'Please, just come in. I don't want to give up a bloop hit. That would be the worst way to end it.' I'm still on cloud nine right now."

The New Port Richey resident has signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Florida, but that could all go out the window after this June's amateur draft. High school games are seven innings long and the left-handed Schuster, whose fastball is in the low 90's, has struck out 60 batters in those 28 innings. That means 71% of the opposing batters didn't even put the ball in play when facing Schuster and J. W. Mitchell High School.

Among those who held the previous record is former Yankee Sam Millitello.

Yankees and A's to try again tonight

The weather is warmer than Monday, but the skies aren't looking much better. Heavy rains and cold weather canceled Monday's series opener between the Yankees and Oakland A's, and tonight's game could be a wash out too.

Monday's starters, Dana Eveland and Andy Pettitte, have been pushed back to today, with Brett Anderson and CC Sabathia moved to Wednesday. Last night's weather also had an impact on this weekend's series with the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park.

Joe Girardi, correctly, decided to skip Chien-Ming Wang's turn since all of his starters will have proper rest and will still be pitching on schedule. Joba Chamberlain will open the series in Boston on Friday, followed by Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett.

The Red Sox are doing something very cool this weekend. A lifelong Red Sox fan, and we mean LIFELONG, is getting the chance to be a bat boy during batting practice. Arthur Giddon is getting to live out a dream at age 100.

Brian Bruney told the YES Networks' Kim Jones that he thinks he knows why Wang is struggling. Bruney didn't trust his right (plant) foot when he came back from his own Lysfranc injury and he struggled until he did find that trust. Bruney believes Wang is going through the same thing. Hopefully Girardi, Dave Eiland, and Gene Monahan are on the same page.

One Oakland Athletic that is happy to be back in NYC is Jason Giambi. He told the DailyNews' Sean Brennan just how much he missed the Big Apple and how he is looking forward to playing in the new park.

"It's gorgeous, I mean it's gigantic but it's like, gorgeous," Giambi said of his first impressions of the new Yankee Stadium. "I'm sure it's like when people first walked into the Titanic, when they first walked into that place. I mean it's enormous. I was excited to come back and see the new Stadium. It's an incredible place."

Giambi was told of the new stadium's apparent penchant for giving up homers, especially to right field. And even though he would like to launch his first homer of the season at the new Stadium, Giambi misses something even more than the inviting right field porch.

"The biggest thing I miss is (the Bleacher Creatures') roll call," Giambi said of the tradition that has carried across the street. "There's no doubt about it, it's the best thing in baseball."

The Biz of Baseball reports that YES and Cablevision are close to a new deal that will keep YES on the cable giant for years. YES' contract expired on March 31, but Cablevision has continued to air the station while negotiations took place. Please no repeats of 2001-2002 bargaining (arguing).

Give me more Spoon

As we sat in the grandstand on Sunday, I wondered aloud, "Where the spoon man? Where's Freddy?" It occurred to me that we were well into the game and I had not heard the familiar sound of large metal spoon hitting frying pan.

New York Magazine has my answer.

Over the weekend, unofficial fan mascot Freddy Schuman (better known as Freddy “Sez,” of colorful sign-and-frying-pan fame) was denied entry to Yankee Stadium.

Freddy was there for opening day, but apparently the new Gestapo-like security regime has their heads up their asses. Freddy is part of the Stadium. The Steinbrenner boys better straighten this out immediately!


photo courtesy of NY Magazine

Our First Trip to the New Yankee Stadium

The day had finally arrived. April 19, 2009, our first trip to the new Yankee Stadium. After flip flopping on whether to drive or take the train, we opted to drive in. We departed for the Bronx early, well aware the parking situation could be a mess.

We had received the Yankees propaganda guide in the mail. You know the one, the slickly made booklet that tells everything about the Stadium, tickets, food, booze, etc..as well as a map of the available parking. It comes in handy.

For over 30 years, my friends and family have always parked in the garage on River Ave. between 162nd and 164th streets. The parking garage is now right on the other side of center field. Which means, you guessed it, the "normal" fan can no longer park there. Permit parking only. We were glad we got in early (11:08 am) since it took a half-hour to get a parking space (River Ave. was very congested with traffic).

We cursed and moved along down the road towards the old permit parking garage at 153rd and River. We laughed as we saw the lot across the street that advertised valet parking for $32. Valet? To pull your car up 10 feet. Nice work if you can get it.

The Yankees have made a huge mistake with the garage on 153rd. You do not pay as you drive in. You get a small card, which you use to pay in one of the several machines inside the parking facility. That's no problem, but there's a big problem when you go to leave. You have to put the card into a machine to get the gate to open. Which means you have to wait and wait and wait while everyone in front of you performs this task. We left well after the game ended on Sunday and the line to leave was still wrapped up to the second level of the deck.

The outside of the old Stadium suddenly looked just that, old. Graffiti has already begun to appear on the walls and the old ticket booths looked particularly lonely.

It felt a bit surreal to walk past the new Babe Ruth Plaza and up the stairs to the new Stadium. As soon as you walk through the doors, you are bombarded with noise. Mainly fans talking with one another, but also the sound of Yankees history being plated out on one of the large screens in the Great Hall. In this case, it was the Mickey Mantle Yankeeography. Very appropriate for the first trip.

The Great Hall is set up nicely. Plenty of room for people to mill about and lots of history hanging from the walls. Escalators, stairs, and elevators get you to where you want to go. In this case it was the main concourse. This is what really told you that while you were still in Kansas, Toto, the Steinbrenner of Oz had been busy.

The concourse, for the most part is spacious. A major change is that it no longer smells like urine. The ability to see out on to the field as you move about is a big plus that was already a feature of most newer stadiums.

The new videoboard is overwhelming in size and the clarity is amazing. During the game it also displayed the miles per hour for each pitch and the pitch count for each hurler. A display board to the left of the big screen showed the lineups and batter info, while a display screen on the right showed the out of town scores. It is difficult at times to pick out this information between the, what seems like hundreds, of commercial advertisements. The ads are also all over the outfield walls. We're really against this look. It's great for minor league games or spring training, but ads on the outfield walls in the majors is horrid.

Unfortunately, Monument Park was closed. We'd heard the complaints that it looked like it was hastily put together and we wanted to check it out for ourselves. The sign leading to the area is also a bit misleading. It says Mohegan Sun Bar on the same sign, so there were people (we were only fooled for a minute) in line for the bar that thought they were in line for Monument Park.

We shook our heads in disgust/amazement at the blind spots in the outfield bleachers, which otherwise would have been fantastic. It's about time that the "Creatures" finally got to roam around the rest of the park. We like the touches of putting the retired numbers and World Series winning years on the bleacher's walls, but they should have made them larger, or at least in some way, more visible.

It was time to get something to eat and head upstairs. The new food court is great, though the prices are as you would expect. Hamburger, hot dog (just a normal sized one), large fries, 2 sodas, $32. Yeah, that's sticker shock. Mrs. MM and I had a great Italian meal the night before that was only $26. Be prepared to spend $9 on a beer. We can only imagine what the hard liquor costs (it does concern us that the availability of hard liquor could lead to more unruly fans).

The seats in the lower levels are cushioned and roomy. Plenty of leg room as advertised. The same can't be said for the upper deck (grandstand) seats. The seats are a little bigger than across the street, but the leg room is the same. The biggest improvement upstairs is the gradual slope going up the stairs. No more steep climbs up and down.

The sight lines are great upstairs. It used to be you couldn't really see the right field corner if you were sitting behind home plate, but with the new layout you can. We didn't walk around the upper deck, but it looks like the view would be good from anywhere. The grandstand also has the best priced seats outside of the bleachers.

It didn't take long for the new outfield layout to come into play. Jorge Posada's seventh inning home run turned out to be the first home run to go under video review in the new place. Flashback to 1996 when Jeffrey Maier interfered with Derek Jeter's fly ball. The Yankees no longer allowed fans to stand at the edge of the right and left field walls during the game. Seats were far enough back that a fan could not interfere. That's no longer the case and it only took four games for it to become a controversial part of the game. We're for raising the walls rather than pushing the fans further back.

Seeing the old facade/frieze line the top of the Stadium was great. A throwback look indeed. That and the field level scoreboards are the only retro looking things inside the Stadium itself. This is a retro looking stadium from the outside and a very modern facility inside.

After the game we stopped in the new Yankee Museum. It's great and a must see. Memorabilia from all eras of Yankees baseball is included. It's a shame it's not larger. Just think of all they could have done with it had they created a separate building, say as part of a remaining structure across the street. But what is included is wonderful.

Bats and jerseys from Babe Ruth, Joe D., Mickey Mantle, the Scooter, Reggie Jackson, and Bernie Williams. World Series trophies from the last six championships. Statues of Don Larsen and Yogi Berra that are separated by a wall of autographed baseballs from everyone that has been associated with Yankees baseball.

For fans who began watching the team in the late 1960's/early 1970's, the most memorable of the memorabilia may be Thurman Munson's locker. It was taken from the clubhouse across the street and given a permanent home in the museum. You can't help but feel a tinge of sadness in see his jersey, cap, and bat sitting there waiting for him. We certainly did

We we took one last look around as we walked downstairs to exit. In doing so we were reminded that the security/ushers can still be a pain in the ass. We noticed someone in the outfield with young kids. We realized it was Andy Pettitte pitching to one of his sons. We were quickly reminded that the "stadium is closed" and we were to leave. Put your own epitaph here.

All in all though a very good day. Yankees won, Mariano finished up, traffic to the GWB. Just like it's supposed to be.

Rain out theater

Tonight's game between the Yankees and Oakland A's has been postponed due to the weather. No make up date has been announced. Presumably, Andy Pettitte will stay face Dana Eveland tomorrow, but we'll see.

With Thursday's off day, the Yankees should definitely skip Chien-Ming Wang's turn in the rotation against Boston. Move A.J. Burnett to Saturday and bring Pettitte back on Sunday.

The Wanger's Tale of Woe

Here's my recap of today's debacle for Baseball Digest.

Browns score 3 touchdowns…Wait a minute

April 18th, 2009

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: Anthony Claggett • Asdrubel Cabrera • chien-ming wang • Cleveland Indians • Fausto Carmona • Grady Sizemore • Mark DeRosa • Mark Teixeira • New York Yankees • Yankees recap 4/17/09

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Cleveland	0	14	1	1	4	0	0	1	1		22	25	1
NY Yankees	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0		4	7	1

WP - Carmona (1-2) LP - Wang (0-3)
HR - Hafner (4), V. Martinez (4), DeRosa (3), Sizemore (4), A. Cabrera (1), Choo (2), Teixeira (3), M. Cabrera (2)

Anyone who thought that the Yankees were embarrassed in their home opener couldn’t have known that today’s game would be far worse. The Cleveland Indians clobbered Chien-Ming Wang and Anthony Claggett to the tune of 14 runs in the second inning and went on to a 22-4 win.

It was the Yankees’ most lopsided loss since the Indians beat them in Cleveland, 19-1, on July 4, 2006. It was the worst loss at home since the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Yankees, 19-6, just 25 days later on July 29.

The biggest concern, of course, is figuring out what has gone wrong with Chien-Ming Wang. He was the Yankees’ most consistent pitcher for the last three seasons, compiling a 46-15 (.754) record along the way. After two horrendous outings that saw his ERA skyrocket to 28.93, Joe Girardi and Dave Eiland hoped that Wang’s side work would pay off today, and for a very short time it appeared as if it had.

Wang breezed through the first inning, and Mark Teixeira gave the Yankees a quick 2-0 lead in the home half of the first with his third home run of the year against Indians’ starter Fausto Carmona. But the game quickly unraveled for Wang in the second inning.

Travis Hafner led off with a harmless squibber for an infield single. It would be the last softly hit ball in the inning. Jhonny Peralta followed with a single to left and left-handed hitter Shin-Soo Choo proved the baseball doesn’t take off only toward right field in the new stadium. Choo hit a long 3-run home run to left-center for a 3-2 Indians lead.

Wang retired Ryan Garko, but Ben Francisco followed with a double. Asdrubel Cabrera singled him in and back to back doubles by Grady Sizemore and Mark DeRosa increased the lead to 6-2. Girardi stuck with Wang in the hope that he could work his way out of further trouble. But a wild pitch and an RBI single by Victor Martinez drove Wang from the game to a chorus of boos (and maybe booze). Wang’s ERA actually increased to a mind boggling 34.50 (Sending fantasy owners into a tizzy).

Claggett, who was making his major league debut, fared no better. He allowed eight runs (and allowed an inherited runner to score) on nine hits over the next inning and two-thirds. His contribution to the second inning included a grand slam by Asdrubel Cabrera followed by a Sizemore solo shot. The game was only one and one-half innings old and the Yankees were already down 14-2.

The rest of the game couldn’t go fast enough, but unfortunately for the remaining fans, it took nearly four hours (3:49) to complete. The Indians hit six home runs in all and DeRosa and Cabrera combined for 11 RBI. The only other highlight for the Yankees was a 2-run home run by Melky Cabrera, who had also homered on Friday.

Game Notes

The Yankees will look for a split of the four game series on Sunday (1:05 pm EDT) when A.J. Burnett (2-0, 2.70) faces old nemesis (Possibly the only time in history a nemesis was a teammate), and newly goateed, Carl Pavano (0-2, 16.71).

The three home games have produced 17 home runs, nine by the Indians and eight by the Yankees.

Chien-Ming Wang’s three game losing streak is the longest of his career.

Wang tries to get back on track

Chien-Ming Wang and Fausto Carmona are two hard throwing sinker ball pitchers. Wang had consecutive 19-win seasons before a torn Lysfranc prematurely ended his 2008 season.

Carmona was one of the keys to the Cleveland Indians near American League pennant in 2007 when he won 19 games. Last season he struggled to an 8-7, 5.44 mark and remarkably, walked 70 batters in just 120 innings.

2009 has not been good to either pitcher. Wang has struggled like never before, going 0-2 with an unfathomable 28.93 ERA. Carmona hasn't been much better. He is also 0-2 and has a 9.00 ERA. He's also walked six batters in 10 innings.

Both pitchers have tried to make adjustments in their throw sessions, in the hope of getting back to the mid-90s sinker that has made them so successful. The Yankees hope Wang is the only one who figures it out today.

Miranda back to Scranton
Juan Miranda in New York lasted all of one game. The Yankees sent him back to Scranton and recalled right-handed reliever Anthony Claggett.

Lineups

Indians

CF Sizemore
3B DeRosa
C V. Martinez
DH Hafner
SS Peralta
RF Choo
1B Garko
LF Francisco
2B A. Cabrera

Yankees

SS Jeter
DH Damon
1B Teixeira
RF Swisher
C Posada
2B Cano
LF Cabrera
CF Gardner
3B Pena

Would you just watch the hair

Kudos to The Big Lead for posting this new ad with Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods, and Roger Federer spoofing Saturday Night Fever. We were rolling last night watching it.

We still say though - Roger Federer? Other than Mad Dog Russo, who cares?

Claggett on the Way

Chad Jennings is reporting that Scranton reliever Anthony Claggett (Hey Anthony, you still haven't seen back the answers to the Q & A we were doing) has been recalled by the Yankees. No word on the move at the big league level to make room.

Joe Girardi has already ruled out putting Hideki Matsui on the DL, so that would mean one of the Yankees pitchers will either be demoted or DL'ed.

We have to wonder if Damaso Marte is 100% healthy. He's been God awful this season and if you recall he pitched in the WBC with tightness in his upper back/shoulder area. He didn't tell anyone about it and you wonder if something is bothering him now.

Congratulations to another call up, Dan Giese. One of the nicest guys around was recalled by the Oakland A's last night and is in Toronto to face the Blue Jays.

Who's on First?

There a lot of firsts being established at the new Yankee Stadium in the season opening series. We'll try to keep track of a bunch of them, at least until it gets to monetenous.

First Hit
Johnny Damon Game 1

First Home Run
Jorge Posada Game 1
Catchers seem to have a thing about the first or last home run in the variations of Yankee Stadium. Cleveland catcher Duke Sims hit the last home run in 1973 prior to the renovation and Jose Molina hit the last home run across the street.

First Back to Back Home Runs
Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira Game 1

First Grand Slam
Grady Sizemore, Cle Game 1

First Double
Ben Francisco, Cle Game 1

First Yankees Double
Nick Swisher Game 1

First Game Winning RBI
Kelly Shoppach, Cle Game 1

First Yankees Game Winning RBI
Derek Jeter Game 2

First Strikeout - Batter and Pitcher
Victor Martinez, Cle, CC Sabathia Game 1

First Walk
Grady Sizemore, Cle Game 1

First Yankees Walk
Hideki Matsui Game 1

First Hit by Pitch
Mark Teixeira Game 1

First Run Scored
Ben Francisco, Cle Game 1

First Yankees Run Scored
Jorge Posada Game 1

First Winning Pitcher
Cliff Lee, Cle Game 1

First Yankees winning pitcher
Brian Bruney Game 2

First Losing Pitcher
Jose Veras Game 1

First Save
Mariano Rivera Game 2

First Error
Tony Graffanino, Cle Game 1

First Yankees Error
Cody Ransom, Game 1

First to Hit into Double Play
Victor Martinez, Cle Game 1

Threw out Ceremonial First Pitch
Yogi Berra, Game 1

First 3-hit Game
Robinson Cano, Jhonny Peralta, Cle Game 1

First Caught Stealing
Grady Sizemore, Cle Game 1

First Stolen Base
Johnny Damon Game 2

First Umpire Crew
HP--Tom Hallion. 1B--Phil Cuzzi. 2B--Ed Hickox. 3B--Jerry Crawford.

First Wild Pitch
Cliff Lee, Cle Game 1

Jeter and Yankees Fly Solo

The players and fans are still getting used to the new Yankee Stadium, but one thing has already been established. Baseballs fly out of the park to right field. The Yankees hit five, count 'em five, solo home runs to right field this afternoon to overcome a poor outing by Joba Chamberlain and beat the Cleveland Indians 6-5 for their first win in the new digs.

The game winning run was knocked in, appropriately, by Derek Jeter, who hit the last of the Yankees long balls. Mariano Rivera picked up his third save after striking out Grady Sizemore and Mark DeRosa with two men on base.

Chamberlain was ineffective, walking five batters in 4.2 innings and was charged with all five Indians runs. But unlike opening day, the bullpen was solid and shut down the Indians the rest of the game.

The Yankees once again had trouble getting a clutch hit with men on base, but had no problem going yard. Down 1-0 on a DeRosa home run, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira hit back to back jacks to right off of starter Anthony Reyes in the third inning to put the Yankees up 2-1.

Tied 2-2, after Chamberlain walked two batters and gave up an RBI single to Ben Francisco, Melky Cabrera homered off the facing of the upper deck in right for a 3-2 lead after four innings. But Chamberlain ran out of rope in the fifth.

With his pitch count quickly rising, Chamberlain walked the nine hitter, Asdrubel Cabrera to start the fifth. Back to back singles by Sizemore and DeRosa tied the game and a wild pitch moved them both into scoring position. Victor Martinez's sacrifice fly gave the Indians a 4-3 and two batters later Ryan Garko sent Joba to the showers with an RBI double.

Robinson Cano homered off of Zach Jackson in the sixth and the Yankees tied the game in the seventh when Vinny Chulk threw away Teixeira's grounder, allowing Damon to score from first base.

Game Notes

Derek Jeter's home run was his 209th, tieing him with Jason Giambi for 10th place on the all-time list.

Brian Bruney struck out Travis Hafner to give him six consecutive strikes out over three appearances. Bruney retired the side in order in the eighth an added a strike out of Shin-Soo Choo.

	Final		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		R		H		E
	Cleveland	1	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	5	9	1
	NY Yankees	0	0	2	1	0	1	1	1	X	6	8	0
WP: B. Bruney (2-0) S: M. Rivera (3) LP: J. Lewis (1-1)

Robertson down, Miranda up

David Robertson did his job yesterday, throwing two scoreless innings in the Yankees opening day loss. He was rewarded with a demotion back to Scranton. First baseman Juan Miranda, who has been red hot, was recalled.

Best Pitch of Opening Day

photo courtesy of Reuters