Andy Pettitte comes out of retirement

Words can't describe how happy I am right now. Some info on the deal is it is a minor league deal worth $2.5  million.

Things to watch for in Spring Training

Hughes,CC and Burnett

Ah the green grass, the crack of the bat and the fresh breeze of a new season starting. No that is not happening in New York yet, but rather in Tampa, Florida where the Yankees pitchers and catchers report tomorrow. With a new season, it brings new questions and things to look for..

The battle for the back end of the rotation: The sky began falling once the Phillies swooped in and signed Cliff Lee, and then completely fell just last week when Andy Pettitte announced his retirement. The pitching rotation starts out strong with workhorse CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes and AJ Burnett. But that is followed by a pair of question marks. The main candidates include Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Ivan Nova, and Sergio Mitre along with many rookie long shots.
My prediction before a single pitch is thrown is that the last two starters are Freddy Garcia and Ivan Nova.

Montero, Cervelli and Posada

Who's behind the plate? In Gran Torino Clint Eastwood often muttered "Get off my lawn", one of these days I'm expecting Jorge Posada to tell the young catchers to get out from behind his plate. The proud catcher has been told that he will be DHing this season although he insists that he could still catch if he wanted to. The Yanks have top prospect Jesus Montero lined up for the job but are afraid to rush him, Cashman signed Russel Martin this off season and has said on numerous occasions that he will be the starter, and you cant forget about Francisco Cervelli.

My prediction is that Yankee fans will have to wait to see Jesus Montero later in the season, Russell Martin will gain the starting job with Cervelli as his back up.

Eric Chavez in better
and healthier days.

Who's benched: Normally being benched is a bad thing, but in spring training the chance to win a job as a bench player is the goal of many young players and aging veterans. Last season the bombers had Ramiro Pena, Austin Kearns and Marcus Thames as the main stays coming off the bench. The only one of those returning is Ramiro Pena and his job is no longer secure. Former World Series villain Andruw Jones was signed to a guaranteed deal so one spot on the bench is already filled. To fill the infield spot include Pena, Eduardo Nunez, Eric Chavez and Ronnie Belliard. The first two are more defense oriented and can play multiple infield spots while Chavez and Bellaird are the more famous players, but are known for their bat and aren't as versatile. If the Yanks wanna carry two outfielders instead of two infielders then Greg Golsen and Justin Maxwell could earn a job, but both are long shots.

My prediction is that Ramiro Pena and Ronnie Belliard join Andruw Jones as the main bench guys. I would love to see Eric Chavez get a shot, but the injury risk is too large.

The invited: I have called this off season "The year of the minor league deal" since Brian Cashman was handing these out like it was Halloween. Each season teams invite minor league and major league players players to spring training on a non guaranteed contract. Once in spring training the players battle for any available jobs, the losers of those competitions are either released or sent to the minor leagues. Some noticeable names on the list are former big leaguers Mark Prior, Neal Cotts, and Luis Ayala. Will any of them make the team? Yeah, except that team is the Scranton Yankees.

Big game Andy Pettitte calls it quits

A sad moment for Yankees fans today as Andy Pettitte calls it quits, saying he will no longer pitch. The press conference seen on the YES Network today, allowed Pettitte to remark on his career. Here are some of the things that Pettitte had to say.

• “When I left Arlington Stadium at the end of last year, I thought that I was done.”
• “I’m ready to pitch in Spring Training. My arm feels great. My body feels great...but my heart’s not where I need it to be.”
• Pettitte told Cashman on Jan. 9 that he would “seriously start considering” pitching again. He did nothing before that.
•  “A lot of this started last year when I hurt myself.” referring to last season when he hurt is groin in July.
• “Never say never” on the prospect of pitching in 2012.
• “has not had any effect, I mean zero, on my decision. I would never let that interfere with a life decision.” talking about the Roger Clemens trial.
• “I’ve never considered myself a Hall of Famer.”
• Pettitte on the Yanks not getting Cliff Lee. “When they didn’t get him, I felt a huge obligation...That’s why I started working out. I felt I owed it to this team.”

Thanks for all the memories Andy, the term "true Yankee" is often thrown around, but when you look at Andy Pettitte,you realize he is a true Yankee.

Yankees offseason update: Jeter, Pettitte, Cliff Lee & Cano in the MVP ballot

After a rather quiet start to the off season today the Yankees managed to grab a few headlines today. Lets run through a few of the latest updates.

• At first reports surfaced that the Yankees were going to offer Kerry Wood and Javier Vazquez arbitration. But after further reports, it looks as if the Yanks are going to just offer it to Javy, with the understanding that Vazquez would deny it, that way the Yanks could get a draft pick.
• Reports surfaced a few weeks ago that Andy Pettitte was leaning towards retirement, but it now looks as if he is leaning towards coming back for one final season with the bombers. This would be great news for the Yanks if they could lock up Andy, then they would just need one more pitcher Cliff Lee to finish off the rotation.
• It looked as if the pursuit for Cliff Lee had finally got under way with rumors that the Yanks had offered 6 years $140 million. But after reports from the NY Daily News, no such offer has been made yet. That would have been alot of money for the first known offer, for a guy that is going to be 32 and has only been an elite pitcher since 2008. For the whole scoop check out MLB Trade Rumors.

• The discussions between Derek Jeter and the Yanks have gotten off to a rocky start, and even has Brian Cashman questioning if Jeter wants to remain in the Bronx. I know I had never expected the negotiations to go like this, but both sides are wrong. The Yankees shouldn't be playing such hardball with a player that has helped elevate the franchise over the last 15 years. They should look at all the ways hes helped bolster the franchise name, and how much more he will in the future as an ambassador of the Yankees and of the game of baseball. Jeter is the face of the franchise and will be for the rest of his life. On the other hand Jeter also should do the right thing and put his ego aside and just sign a reduced deal. It would look better on him, and he would still have the chance to make millions on endorsements.
• Robbie Cano finished third in the AL MVP voting. I understand that he may not have been first but Miguel Cabrera even finished before him. Its called Most Valuable Player for a reason, how much value does Miguel Cabrera have for a team that wasn't close to making the playoffs? Cano carried the Yanks at times during the season, but I've said it all along the real MVP for the Yankees should be CC Sabathia.

Yanks heading to Texas, but will it rain on their parade?

When Mariano got Elvis Andrus to pop up to Lance Berkman, it signaled that the Yankees were not done just yet. Game six would be set for Friday evening in Arlington,Texas, Phil Hughes would be on the mound for the Yanks while Colby Lewis would be going for the home team. But looking at the forecast from Weather.com , they are expecting scattered thunder storms on both Friday and Saturday.

So what does this mean for the ALCS ? Well the Saturday forecast looks much worse then Friday, but if the game is rained out of Friday and game six is going to take place Saturday, who will be starting? Of course the Yankees and Rangers could go with Hughes and Lewis who were scheduled to go, but they would both have the option of then bringing back Cliff Lee and Andy Pettitte, both on normal rest. If they were to elected to go with Lee and Pettitte, then Sabathia would be available for the Yankees on three days rest. The Rangers could go with CJ Wilson on three days rest, or go with Lewis, who by then would not have pitched for eight days.

The rain outs would benefit the Yankees, only if the games were to be rained out before hand oppose to the game being called in the middle of a game. Even though Hughes has pitched well against the Rangers in his career, the no brainier is to go with Pettitte and Sabathia. For the Rangers, its a tougher choice, do they want to send Lee out in game six and hope that they end the ALCS that night? Because if that is the case, its a risky choice, if the Yankees were to win against Lee then suddenly the Rangers are up against the wall. The series would be tied at three a piece but the Rangers would be relying on Wilson on three days rest, coming off a shaky start or Colby Lewis who would be pitching the biggest game of his career.

Of course this is all hypothetical, the worst case for either team would be if the game was to start and then a long rain delay was to effect the game, especially if it is in the mid point of the game (3-5 innings).

Yankee Stadium Experience : Yanks vs Rangers ALCS Game 3

I had gotten these tickets in the partial plan holders pre-sale, at the time it would have been game one of the series, but once the Yankees lost the AL East it became game three. Andy Pettitte would be facing Cliff Lee in a classic pitching, the starters lived up to expectations but the bullpen let it all slip away. More on that in a bit.

But lets start out by saying that earlier in the week I had been looking on google for shortcuts to get to the 161st street garage. I finally though I found a short cut, and it may have been but we passed the exit and took a quick tour of the Bronx. After that we finally made it to the parking garage, practically three hours early and it was already crowded, even with the parking cost $40.

It was my first playoff game since the 2003 ALCS game two, but unlike back then when they were very strict with security they hardly looked in my bag prior to game three. It was strange to see the teams taking batting practice in the dark, but the stadium look beautiful and there was a buzz around the park.

I wandered out to the bleachers and realized that the TBS crew were doing the pre-game show from the bleachers (section 239 to be exact). At one point Dennis Eckersley was standing five feet away and nobody approached him. That cant be said of David Wells who was getting cheers from the fans that began to surround the small make shift studio.

The temperature was really starting to drop, and the October feel became stronger as game time was becoming closer. Once the Rangers finished up there portion of batting practice, I headed towards the upper deck to my seats, but I could see that on field level the Lobel's line stretched for at least three or four sections, totally insane.

The crowd wasn't even in its seats, when player introductions began. Of course Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte got the largest ovations, but Robinson Cano also got a large ovation from the crowd. The introductions never get old, but my favorite intros would have to be for Opening Day and the World Series. Tino Martinez threw out the first pitch to another loud ovation and just like that baseball was set to be under way.

The Yankees did hold a nice moment of silence for Freddy Sez, and showed him on the video screen. The crowd began to chant "Freddy ! Freddy !"

Prior to the game I predicted that the Yankees would win the game 3-2, I was correct about the Rangers having two for most of the night, but the final score was no where near my prediction. Andy Pettitte looked locked in the first inning, until he gave up a hit to Michael Young. The next batter was Josh Hamiltion, and he took a pitch and hit a Yankee Stadium home run, right over the right field fence. Just like that the air was sucked out of the crowd and the Yankees were down 2-0.

Cliff Lee came out and shut down the Yankees the entire night, I like that the Yankees were making him throw some pitches and fouled off a lot of tough pitches but the result was always the same, Lee was just too unhittable. The Yankees didn't have a hit for the longest time, and had only one chance all night to score. That was when Brett Gardner got a hit with no outs, stole second and was left stranded at third.

Much has been made about the crowd at the new Yankee Stadium, not being as loud. But on this night the fans had nothing to get excited about. The few times that the fans were into the game Cliff Lee sat them down, along with the Yankees. The worst part was that when the Yankees went down in the bottom of the eighth, and with the score at 2-0 some fans began to leave. Maybe those fans had the right idea since the Yankees would give up six more runs to turn the game into a laughter.

Auxilary Press Box in sections 406 and 407.

The move not to bring Mariano Rivera in the ninth, befuddled me. It was just a 2-0 game and  Cliff Lee was up to 118 pitches, so the Rangers would be going to closer Neftali Feliz. The Yankees had impressive at bats against Feliz in game two and had come back against him earlier in the season. But instead of using Mo, Girardi went to Boone Logan and David Robertson who got hit hard. The night ended with Sergio Mitre on the mound, never a good sign. Once the inning was over it was 8-0 Texas and many fans had departed.

The Yanks will have to hope from a good start from AJ Burnett tonight, or else they put themselves in a tough spot. I still have alot of faith in Burnett, but the Rangers have out played the Yankees in every one of these games, except for one inning and that was in game one when the Yankees came from behind.

Since last week I was unable to buy tickets to any of the World Series games, this looks to be my final trip to Yankee Stadium in 2010. Thank you for reading about my Yankee Stadium experiences, this season but make sure to keep reading about other Yankee related posts. Until 2011, as Michael Kay would say "see ya!"

2010 ALDS review : Yankees over Twins in 3

Last night the Yankees finished off the Twins, and are one more step closer towards the goal of as always, winning the World Series. But the Yankees will need to continue to play the way they did against the Twins, since they will have a tough match up in either the Rays or Rangers. But before we move on to the next series, lets review the last one.


The Good

• Curtis Granderson had a nice three games going 5-11 (.455) while driving in three runs. Granderson had a clutch triple in game one and seemed to be in the middle of a few rallies.
• He only hit .286 but Derek Jeter, had good at bats and hit the ball hard a few times, just right at the fielders.
• Lance Berkman was irrationally disliked by Yankee fans because he got off to a slow start but in game 2, had a pair of clutch hits.
• The hitting in general was great, it was a team effort all around, and all players contributed. Only one batter hit below .273, and that was Brett Gardner (.200)
• What happened to those question marks behind CC Sabathia ? Andy and Hughes came up big for the Yankees. Hughes was lights out in game three, pitching seven shut out innings , while Pettitte gave seven strong innings of two run ball in game two.
• Mariano Rivera is just so good, doesn't matter that he struggled in September.

The Bad

• It is hard to find issues when the Yankees just outplayed the Twins, but their excellent play could come back to burn them. The Yankees now have to wait six days between games, of course rest is always a plus, and the Yanks can set the rotation, but they were playing great baseball and never want to see the momentum broken up.
• CC struggled on a few extra days rest, of course I have the most faith in Sabathia , but he will have to wait an awful long time again before his next start.
• Kerry Wood looked shaky in the bullpen. His command is always an issue, but he did give up a few hits. The only thing I was upset about in game three was that Girardi brought him into a 6-1 game, and then Wood struggled. The last thing they want to do is hurt his confidence after he was so good.
• Joba Chamberlain didn't pitch in a single game,and I cant even remember him warming up once. David Robertson only pitched .2 innings.

Yankees sweep the Twins away, move on to ALCS

After winning the first two games of the series on the road the Yankees came home to a loud crowd Saturday night and finished off the Twins.

Much was made about the question marks in the Yankees rotation following CC Sabathia. Well ironically, Sabathia struggled in his first start, but was still able to pitch well enough to earn himself a victory, but Pettitte and Hughes out pitched him.

The Yanks bats contributed, in all three victories. Derek Jeter looked to be back to old October form, while Curtis Granderson had a nice series in his Yankees playoff debut.

The Yankees will now have to wait six days until they play again Friday night, when they will be the visiting team.
Make sure you check back tomorrow as the ALDS report card will be released to wrap up the series. Until then just eight more victories until the Yankees accomplish the mission for title 28.

Round one resurgence : Two down one to go

The Twins would once again score first, but the Yankees would be the team that would once again have the last laugh. In game two of the 2010 ALDS the Yankees sent Andy Pettitte to the mound. The start was surrounded by question marks, he had three starts since his return from the DL and had an ERA of 6.75. But Andy showed up once again in the big stage, pitching seven inning while giving up just two runs.

Curtis Granderson had a productive night going 3-4 while Lance Berkman had two clutch hits. His first was an absolute Lazar to left center that left the yard and gave the Yankees the lead. His second clutch hit would come with the score tied at two, Berkman stepped to the plate, and after a question pitch that was called a ball , Berkman slashed a double to left center to score Jorge Posada.

Its great to see Berkman who had struggled during his time with the Yankees this season come through in clutch spots in the Postseason. Fans had been losing patients in the switch hitter, but with a few postseason hits all can be quieted.

Pettitte on the other hand showed that he is healthy and still able to get the job done when it mattered. This game was significant for the Yanks since they are unsure what they are about to get out of Phil Hughes when they return home for game 3. It also locks up the fact that if the Yankees do advance that they know that they will have at least to pitchers they can rely on. With the victory tonight Andy has a total of 19 Postseason wins, and although people may argue that he has done it over three rounds of playoffs it is still an impressive stat.

So who is tonight's player of the game in the Yankees 5-2 win ? Well it would've easy to say Andy Pettitte, but Lance Berkman also deserves credit for getting a pair of go ahead hits. They both deserve credit for the Yanks victory so they are the co-players of the game.

Yankee Stadium Experience : Yankees vs Red Sox 9-24-2010

It had been a few weeks since I was at Yankee Stadium.Class has started back up, along with working I have been pretty busy, but a Yanks vs Sox match up could not keep me away. I had bought tickets for this game all the way back in March, when tickets went on sale to the general public so I wasn't sitting in my usual seats, but instead in 434B a.k.a the last section in the left field upper deck.

While driving down River Ave I took a picture of what was once a parking lot, that has been turned into a park. The parking lot use to be right across from the old stadium, but now it would be considered a longer walk. Some may remember this lot because it was very small (possibly a private lot) and along the back wall was a mural that included Mantle,Ruth, Munson and many other Yankee greats.

What once was a parking lot is now a playground.

After my friend and I parked we walked around River Ave a bit looking at the shops, I had been looking for a Paul O'Neill shirt. After looking at a poorly done knock off, I choose to buy a shirt from bleacher creature Bald Vinny.

It was almost 5pm and the gates to the stadium were soon going to be opening, the lines to get in were absolutely ridiculous, so long you have thought the playoffs had began already. But before we went in we went into the McDonald's across the street. I had never been inside, but it is one of , if not the cleanest McDonald's I had ever been in.

Eventually we went into the stadium, the entire season I have brought in a small drawstring backpack with water and a few snacks and security never even checked the bag. This time the guard went all out searching, maybe cause the Red Sox were in town.

As I wandered around to gate 2, I noticed they got rid of the clearance stand and the kiddie cart and speed pitch were back. My friend Jerry did the speed pitch and hit 62 MPH (while throwing his arm out, but in his defense I have hit against him before and I believe he could throw a bit harder). Apparently if you hit a certain MPH they give you a prize and he won a 2009 World Series lanyard and a poster that was out dated mentioning 26 rings. It should be noted that gate 2, was an absolute ghost town, even the employees looked really bored.

Before we hiked to our seats we walked around each level. After visiting the stadium so many times you see things and hear about them but never actually try/ visit them. In this case it was the team store on the main level. I never bother to go into the team stores cause they are often over crowded and over priced. The coolest thing was that I had never realized that the store looked above the entrance to gate 4.

All the walking around worked up an appetite, so I purchased nachos from Wholly Guacamole for $8.50 (how warped am I that I consider that reasonable ?). The seats weren't that bad even though we were very far away from the action. Seemed like the crowd was going to be sparse since 10 minutes before game time, there were plenty of empty seats but when the game began they filled up.



Annoying Red Sox fan

Just from walking around it didn't seem like many Red Sox fans were around, maybe because they realize that their team stinks ? That their season is over ? Or Mets fans realized that this season they couldn't turn into Red Sox fans. But of course where I was sitting I had to deal with two of the most Red Sox creatures alive (they don't deserve to be called people). One was an annoying woman behind me that screamed over everything that happened, and the other was a guy who was wearing a Ortiz jersey and had a red mohawk. More on them in a bit.



I had been excited to see Andy Pettitte face Josh Beckett but soon that excitement turned to anger once the Red Sox started to tee off on Andy, while the Yankees struggled to hit Beckett early. The Yankees were down, but after back to back homers by Tex and A-Rod the crowd began to get back into the game. Swisher would also add a two run shot to close the gap to 10-5. The worst part was that the fans attempted to do the wave at one point.

Once A-Rod hit his second homer of the night to pass Sammy Sosa on the all time list, it began to get a bit crazy in my section. The entire night the Red Sox fan with the mohawk had been obnoxious and yelling, some fans were yelling back at him but it never got too bad. Eventually one female Yankees fan had enough of him and decided to throw a soda in his face, the Sox fan threw his right back at her. She was kicked out, he got to stay. It should be known that security did have to call him over at least five times during the game to tell him to stop. He was eventually tossed in the ninth inning, but the annoying lady behind me was still around.



Mohawk Red Sox fan getting tossed



The Yankees rally fell short in the ninth even with Tex hitting a solo shot to make it 10-8 and Cano coming up as the tying run.



Just a few quick things, Tex now comes up to "Good Vibration" by Marky Mark. I liked it better when he came up to "I wanna rock". Another thing is why in the world do they still have Nick Johnson in the match game and in the videos they play on the scoreboard. They show Rocky getting pumped and then Nick Johnson ? Talk about complete opposites.

The next time I will be at the stadium will be for the ALDS. Thanks for reading.

Yankees notes : who's hot/not , pitching match ups & postseason presale

The bombers have just a game and a half lead in the division with just four home games left during the regular season. The Yanks and Rays have lived up to the expectation of a race till the end, and tonight it gets even better. CC Sabathia and David Price will be on the hill, two potential Cy Young award winners battling for the division. Last Monday the pair of lefties faced off and each proved why they each deserve consideration for the award, throwing a combined 16 innings and allowing just five hits combined. So expect a pitchers dual tonight at the stadium. The Yankees win and the lead goes back up to 2 1/2 games but if they lost it will be just 1/2 game with nine games remaining.The Yankees magic number to clinch a playoff birth is three.        

The pitching match ups for the final Yankees vs Red Sox series in the Bronx for 2010 :

Friday 7:05 YES Network: Andy Pettitte (11-2) vs Josh Becket (5-5).

Pettitte will make his first start at home since suffering the groin injury in July. While Josh Beckett, who has been beat up by the Yankees over his career (except in the 2003 World Series) attempts to prevent the Yankees from clinching a playoff birth.  Beckett has a career 6.23 ERA against the Yankees and needs to watch out for Robinson Cano who has hit .341 against him along with three homers.

Saturday 4:05 Fox : Jon Lester(18-8) vs Ivan Nova (1-0).
Looks like a mismatch for the Yankees who will go with the inexperienced Nova. Nova has pitched well the first two times through the line up and then hits a bump in the road. Lester on the other hand never hits bumps against the Yanks (5-1 3.63 ERA ). Cano (.227), Posada (.231) and Nick Swisher (.133) all had had their struggles with Lester over their career. This one looks like a win for the BoSox.

Sunday 8:05 ESPN : Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-6) vs Phil Hughes (17-8)
You know its a Yankees-Red Sox weekend when Fox and ESPN each have a game that they are airing, even if the Red Sox are out of it. The Yanks have hit Dice-k hard (ERA 6.31) but the Red Sox have done the same to Hughes (5.81) , so expect a slug fest for the final regular season home game.

Who's hot
Curtis Granderson may be only hitting .256 but his four home runs and 12 RBI have helped the bombers beat up on the Rays in the first two games of the series. Curtis also has drawn seven walks.

Shh don't look now but Derek Jeter has an 11 game hit streak and over that time is hitting .357. So much for Jeter being finished for his career, the hot streak comes at the perfect time. Lets hope he can keep this up during the post season.

Could Cano pick a better time to continue his hot hitting ? Over his last 10 games hitting .350, while driving in nine. Josh Hamilton has been sidelined since September 4th, suddenly Cano could really make a fight for why he should be MVP.


Who's not
Tex has been battling injuries since the end of August and it has shown hitting just .176 during this month with out a home run.

Austin Kearns had looked like a great pick up when he first came over for Cleveland but recently has cooled off , hitting just .214 and battling a few nagging injuries.

Last thing don't forget that if you are a Yankees partial season ticket plan holder that the pre-sale is tomorrow starting at 10:00 AM. Your password for the sale can be found in you Yankees account manager page.

Yankees Quick Hits : Hughes, Pettitte and a quick glance at the upcoming roadtrip

The Yankees start a road trip tonight in Texas against the Rangers. This is going to be one of the toughest road trips of the season for the bombers, they have just a 2.5 game lead in the AL East and will have to face the Rays,Rangers and the Orioles all on the road.

• Phil Hughes since the All Star break hasn't pitched well going 5-5 with a 5.47 ERA. His innings limit for this season look to be safe, but if the Yankees can they should think of giving him a start off.

• Andy Pettitte pitched four scoreless inning Thursday night in his first rehab start in Trenton. Pettitte didn't suffer any set backs, always a good sign. It has not been said what the next step will be for Pettitte but I would think that he would only need another rehab start and then he could be back with the team.
• Brett Gardner has 40 steals this season, the last Yankees player to steal 40 bases was Alfonso Soriano in 2002.
• Damaso Marte and Alfredo Aceves will not return this season, Joe Girardi announced. Both played large roles in 2009, Marte was great in the 2009 Postseason , while Aceves was a crutial part of the bullpen and was one of the reasons the Yanks made the playoffs.
• Derek Jeter claims he doesn't care what his batting average is as long as the Yankees keep winning. But it is strange to see the captain hitting just .262. Over his last ten games Jeter is hitting just .125 . Through the first two months of the season Jeter's average was at .302 , but in June he hit .243  and that trend continued. In July he hit .245 , August .239 and so far in September just .172

A-Rod could be looking at a DL stint

Just when Alex Rodriguez had returned to the line up Friday night, he left once again. A-Rod had been recovering from a left calf strain but after one at bat in the Yanks 6-0 loss to the Mariners, Rodriguez was taken out of the game. After the game Joe Girardi said that a DL stint is possible.

This has been one of the most difficult seasons for A-Rod with all the injuries, and comes at a hard time for the Yankees who have become a mess with the amount of injuries. Since A-Rod has been out of the line up the Yankees have done their best, but if you look back to last season when Alex missed the first month and a half the Yanks struggled a lot during that time. Even though A-Rod wasn't having his best season he was still a league leader in RBI's.

Any extended amount of time with Andy Pettitte (Groin) , Alex Rodriguez and Nick Johnson on the DL is going to hurt the Yankees a lot during time in which they only have a slim small game lead over the Rays. But if the Yanks are willing to take a wild card slot then this all could be a blessing in disguise. What I mean is that since the Yankees are an older team, it could lead to having two of their most important pieces healthy during October.

My Thoughts on the Yankees Catching Rotation

When the season opened up Jorge Posada was going to be asked to shoulder the load at the catchers spot, even though he would be turning 39. So far this season it has not worked out that way. Posada has had a few injuries including a broken bone in his foot from a foul ball, along with two separate knee injuries, one from getting hit by a pitch and the more recent was a cyst behind the knee. With all the injuries Francisco Cervelli has played alot more then expected.

Early in the season Cervelli was on fire, especially with runners in scoring position. Many called for Cervelli to become the everyday catcher and for Posada to DH every day. Well since mid-May Cervelli has been hitting under .200 and has only thrown at 14% of base stealer's.

Posada on the other hand hasn't thrown many more runners out (17%) but has hit much better then Cervelli. Posada this season just hasn't stayed healthy enough to catch every day, and has been streaky with the bat.

Girardi recently announced that he was going to have a catching rotation. At first I liked the idea for the main fact that it would give Posada rest and he could heal all his nagging injuries, and he could still DH when he wasn't catching because Posada's bat is useful in the line up. It also meant that Cervelli would play less, I firmly believe that Cervelli is a great asset to the club for his emotion and enthusiasm he brings but when he plays often the league figures him out. This season once the league figured out Cervelli it was down hill.

During a session with the media, Joe Girardi announced that he planned to have Cervelli catch A.J Burnett and Javier Vazquez. Posada would catch Dustin Moseley,(Andy Pettitte when he comes back),Phil Hughes and CC Sabathia. That would be how the catching rotation would work, based on rotating on what pitcher was pitching.

Sure the rotation may help the Yankees at this  time but come October this could be a disaster. I'm sure most remember last postseason when Burnett had to have Jose Molina as his personal catcher, and Posada had to sit. Well the same thing this season, in the postseason what will Girardi do ? It doesn't make any sense to have Cervelli in the line up if he cant hit, and isn't a huge defensive upgrade over Posada. With this catching rotation, it is creating personal catchers for the pitching staff. Then come playoff time and Burnett or Vazquez are pitching to Posada and getting lit up because they had not gotten to work with him during the regular season, who/what is to blame? It would have to be Girardi and his catching rotation.

Yankees in the All Star Game

Last night was the 2010 All Star game out in Anaheim. The Yanks sent eight players to represent, all of which got booed by the Angels fans. So lets take a look at how each of the bombers did.

Derek Jeter hit second, and started at short stop. Jeter was 1 for 2 with a walk and a strike out. Jeter almost got hit twice and had to do his typical lung to get out of the way. Of course the balls thrown near him were close to his hands, causing me to plead with the TV to take him out before he gets hurt. Jeter left the game in the 6th inning, to allow for Elvis Andrus to get time at short.

Robinson Cano was the Yankee to be in the starting line up. Cano played second base and hit 8th in the line up, the first time he had hit 8th since 2008. Cano seemed to struggle a bit in the field, possibly due to the weird shadow pattern that was in the infield, but got the American League their lone run with a sac fly.

Nick Swisher pinch hit for Ty Wiggington in his lone at bat and struck out. Swish did hit four home runs in the home run derby the night before but did not make it past the first round.

Andy Pettitte pitched the third inning and showed why he deserved to make the all star squad. Pettitte struck out two batters, in his one inning of work, the same amount that Ubaldo Jimenez and David Price combined for in four total innings.

Phil Hughes was thrilled to be invited to the all star game in Anaheim, close to where he grew up. Following his pitching performance I'm unsure if he is still as thrilled. Hughes gave up two runs and two hits in just 1/3 of an inning. Hughes got the loss in the game even though it was Matt Thornton who gave up the hit that caused Hughes base runners to score. The real reason Hughes only was able to pitch that 1/3 of an inning is cause of the innings limit (Relax I'm just joking about that).

The other Yanks never got into the game, Mariano Rivera pulled out due to injury, CC Sabathia was not available to pitch because he had pitched on Sunday, and Alex Rodriguez was on the bench when the National League recorded their first victory since 1996. Many fans were curious to know why A-Rod was not used as a pinch hitter in the last inning to try and tie the game for the AL. But it was later found out that Alex had a sore thumb and was only going to be used in an emergency. A-Rod was the only player that did not get into the game.

The National League won the game, so they will have home field advantage in the World Series. So if the Yankees plan to make the series again and win it in front of their home crowd they will have to win in four or five. This years game seemed to go real quick, but was kinda on the boring side. The introduction and the whole ceremonies took longer then the first four innings. Lets hope the MLB can get that right next year since the game itself did not start till 8:52pm. Next year the game will be held in Arizona, and should be controversial with the new laws Arizona has put into effect.

Quick Hits : Yanks vs A's edition. Braden,Pettitte and the YES broadcast

Just a few quick notes

•  If you were hoping for a A-Rod - Dallas Braden dust up, your going to have to wait till Oakland heads to the stadium in late August, Braden is on the DL and was not scheduled to pitch anyways
• John Flaherty and Ken Singleton are announcing this west coast trip, no Bob Lorenz in studio and Jack Curry will be taking Kim Jones' on field reporter job. So expect alot of blandness and bad calls from Singleton and Flash, and make you you notice Singleton's favorite saying "Look out !", I know it gives me a chuckle every time.
• This is the Yankees last trip out west for the regular season.
• Andy Pettitte was officially announced as part of the AL All Star roster once it was made official that Clay Buchholz would not be attending due to injury.
• Brett Gardner is batting lead off and Derek Jeter is hitting second tonight (I have been calling for this for a while)
• Robinson Cano has been struggling a bit in his last 10 games hitting just .194. Cano hasn't had an off day in a while if my memory is correct. Maybe its time for him to get a day off.
• Another Yankee struggling has been Curtis Granderson who has quietly been having a poor season. In his last 10 games he is batting .189, and this past home stand was 3-22.
• Derek Jeter has not driven in a run since June 12th against Houston when he hit two home runs.
• Yesterday was the second walk off victory by the bombers this season, something that many fans got use to last season. Marcus Thames has gotten both walk off hits/pies this season.

Yankees in the mid summer classic

So earlier today the All Star teams were announced, the Yankees as always were well represented. Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano were voted in by the fans. CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez were both choosen by Joe Girardi to make the club.Mariano Rivera and Phil Hughes were selected by their fellow players. Nick Swisher may also join his teammates, he is up for the final vote for the final roster spot.

One player that deserves to go and was not listen above is Andy Pettitte. At first like many fans, I was outraged to think that Pettitte may not make the team especially since he hasnt gone since 2001 and is having his best season since 2005. But if you look further into it there maybe a good reason why Girardi did not select Pettitte. CC Sabathia was selected but will not be able to compete in the mid summer classic because he is currently scheduled is the Sunday before the All Star game,under the new MLB rules a pitcher who pitches the last day before the break can not throw in the game. So Girardi is really adding CC to the All Star team so he will get recogonized as an All Star in his native California, but will still have the chance to add Andy to the roster as well. Girardi will get two chances to make the right choice of his own lefty pitcher. A side from CC pitching Sunday, Clay Buchholz of the Red Sox is injured, and cant take part. Their are three options that come off the top of my head that Girardi can take and thats Jered Weaver,Andy Pettitte, and Francisco Liriano.

As for the rest of the bombers to make the game Cano and Jeter will start the game since they were voted in by the fans. Cano is having a monster year and deserves to be at the game, if Cano keeps this pace up he could be in the MVP talks. Jeter isnt having his best season, but has always been a fan favorite and got the vote due to a weak field of Shortstops.

Phil Hughes and CC both have 10 wins and deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments.I was a little more suprised that CC was choosen but as i mentioned earlier I think that it was a way for Girardi to get both Pettitte and CC recognized as All Stars. For Hughes it will be a nice home coming since he grew up not far from Anaheim. Hughes has recently cooled of a little, but after the hot start still deserves to be amongst the best.

Mariano Rivera has reached that platau in his career were he should be allowed to be in the game no matter what. The god father of closers is having another great season and was an easy choice to make yet another apperance in the mid summer classic. Rivera has the respect of the rest of the league, well maybe outside of Jonathan Papelbon who in 2008 felt he should have been the closer instead Mo (Papelbon was not selected this year). Papelbon later said he was misquoted and apologized.

The one selection that was unexpected was Alex Rodriguez who was selected by Joe Girardi. A-Rod has been having a nice season but has not showed the power numbers that many fans are use to seeing. What suprised me more about this choice is that Girardi already has Evan Longoria as his starter and Adrian Beltre was voted in by his fellow players, so why add another third baseman ? Along with just a few weeks ago Rodriguez was battling a hip injury on the same hip that was oporated on last season. So why risk the chance of injury and leave A-Rod home to get some rest and not have to deal with any baseball activitys.

Nick Swisher may also join the rest of the pinstriped bunch and is up for the final vote on MLB.com. Swisher is up against tough competetion with favorites, Kevin Youklils and Paul Konerko along with Michael Young and Delmon Young (No relation). A few reasons to vote for Swish  is because he already has produced a funny video that has him holding a surf board and wearing beach cloths (Can be found on Yankees.com). Swisher also is like a big kid, you always know hes having a good time while playing the game of baseball and will enjoy himself being selected but if you watch the Yankees you would already know that.

The All Star game this year will be held in an American League stadium in Anaheim and while MLB claims that it counts there are still players such as Omar Infante and Evan Meek who make the game because they have to represent a team.The American League has not lost a game since 1996 and look to give the Yankees err i mean American League the chance chance to once again receive home field advantage in the World Series.

Mark Teixeira 2010 All Star? NO WAY

This may be a little late but like they say better late then never. When the 2010 All Star game voting started the Leader at first base was none other then Mark Teixeira. Shocking considering the slugging superstar was hitting around the Mendoza line.

The All Star game may be a game for the fans who want to see there favorite players in the game, but make sure the player deserves it. Even as Teixeira heated up a bit there is no reason for him to be in the mid summer classic. Sure some players may take it as a joke, but the game means something (As the MLB slogan for the game the past 7 years has been " This time it counts"). By giving Tex a pass to the mid summer classic, this is leaving a more deserving player off the roster. Luckily the fans seem to be getting this one right. During the latest voting Justin Morneau over took Tex, and should deserving go. Comparing the stats for this season is a win for the Twins first bagger who's hitting .350/15/49 compared to Tex's .230/13/48. So even though Mark's HRs and RBI are there the average is not and Tex hasn't come up big for the Yanks this year.

But don't worry Yankee fans, Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano seem to have there plane tickets already stamped for Anaheim with Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and Phil Hughes not too far behind.