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.

Mariano and the mess in the bullpen. The good, the bad and the ugly so far

When the Yankees began there quest for championship 28, many believed that they had a close to flawless team. Why would anyone feel other wise? They had just come off a championship season, the rotation was stacked with aces with the addition of Javier Vazquez, they still had pop in the line up and added an all star center fielder in Curtis Granderson, and the bullpen had Joba and Mo. Well the rotation has held up, the hitting has been held together by the fabulous season of Robinson Cano and the bullpen still has Mo and Joba but a lot of question marks other then that.

Mariano Rivera might be having another outstanding season at the age of 40, but outside of that there has not been much to smile about when you look to the bullpen below the bleacher creatures in right field. Coming into this season, for the first time since 2006 when Kyle Farnsworth was with the team the team what they though was a legit set up man to Rivera. To bad someone forgot tell Joba Chamberlain he was not suppose to pitch like Farnsworth. Although Joba does deserve his share of blame for why the bullpen has been so shakey, he is not the only reason. David Robertson has not had the same season that he did last year, Alfredo Aceves and Sergio Mitre have both spent alot of time on the DL and Chan Ho Park is better at giving fans diarrhea then he is at getting batters out.

The Good: So lets start by saying the Rivera is not included in this mess of a bullpen. Mo has been remarkable this season at the age of 40 and has show no signs of slowing down. Just last week Rivera went two innings twice to pick up victory's for the Yankees. The other bright spot has to be that Damaso Marte has played his role as the Lefty perfectly. Lefty batters against Marte this season have been batting just .162 and rightys just .211. The only issue has been his lack of control and Girardi has only used him in situational spots often only pitching to a batter or two. Marte is not the only Lefty out in the pen, Boone Logan who was acquired in the Melky Cabrera - Javier Vazquez, has had an up and down season..literally. Logan has spent time with the big club and also down in AAA, in fact he was just sent down again to make room for Dustin Moseley. Logan has had a decent season with a 3.93 ERA mostly in mop up duty. The knock on Logan is that lefties hit .280 against him and has 12 walks in 18.1 innings. Boone has shown promise at time and i believe the Yanks shouldnt give up so quick on a 25 year old Lefty who can throw 95 MPH at times.

The Bad: This season has not been as kind to David Robertson and Alfredo Aceves as 2009 was. Both this season were expected to be large role players in getting the ball to Mo, Robertson has done an awful job at that so far and Aceves has spent much of the season on the DL. Robertson last season started of slow like this season but then picked it up mid way through the season and made what was already an above average bullpen great. This season he once again started out slow but has not improved like he did last season. The strike outs are still there this season but the control is not, with 15 walks in 26.1 innings. Robertson also has give up 34 hits and has the highest WHIP on the team at 1.861 . What scares me is that last season Robertson had become so reliable down the stretch before being sidelined for a bit with elbow stiffness. With the way he has pitched this season you must hope that the elbow is not bothering him in any way and that with just a few good outing Robertson can gain the confidence he had last season. Before Fridays game in which Robertson gave up four earned runs, he had only allowed one run in 9.1 innings.

Alfredo Aceves was last seasons unsung hero. Picking up the slack last season when the rest of the arms in the pen needed rest or a starter threw to many pitches. Ace was able to get himself 10 victories, only losing one game while totaling 84 important innings. Aceves showed his versatility with being able to pitch more then a single inning and was able to get batters out from both sides of the plate while throwing strikes. This season the Mexican born pitcher seemed to have picked up right where he had left off when a back injury sprung up. At first it looked like a bulging disk in his back and was not expected back for the rest of the season. But it would later be down graded to a back strain and is expected to return into action some time following the all star break.

Sergio Mitre aka "The Meat Tray" had been having himself a solid season and once Aceves went down was expected to fill that role. But Mitre also went down with a strained oblique muscle. This may seem like a tough choice to say he has been under the bad, but it has not been for his performance which has been good on the field. It is for getting injured at a time when the Yankees needed him (I am not saying he wants to be injured, just bad luck). Mitre is expected back sometime following the all star break and has started rehabbing in single A.

The Ugly : Any time a pitcher is expected to be the set up man, there is alot of responsibility and expectations. Especially when you are setting up the greatest closer and last years young set up man did a fantastic job. Joba Chamberlain this year has been inconsistent at best. At the start of the season Joba looked like he belonged in the role, but as the season has gone on he has been hot and cold. It seems like Joba's biggest issue is location, there have been to many games in which Chamberlain has fired a fastball right down the pipe and give up a hit. Sure Joba hasn't allowed too many walks and has only given up one home run, but he has blown two saves and lost three games. Maybe its the fact that Joba burst onto the scene in 2007 and had immediate success in the bullpen, and was talked about as Rivera's successor. Maybe it is because the Yankees have messed with him and have juggled him between the rotation and bullpen and restricted him with silly innings limitations. It could also be that there have been whispers by scouts that he does not have the best work ethic. Joba also this season has had his biggest struggles at home pitching to a 8.59 ERA. All of these issues are the reason that come the trade deadline I would like Brian Cashman to pursue someone that could possibly take Chamberlain's place so the eighth inning isn't so rocky.

By now many Yankee fans have seen the famous Chan Ho Park diarrhea clip (If you haven't just type that into youtube). Many fans can relate since when Park comes into the game, they too have a bowel movement. In late February when Park was signed to add insurance the Yankees bullpen, I liked the move and felt it was the rich getting richer. Now that Park has pitched to an evil 6.66 ERA, the move now looks as if Park robbed the rich of there money. Park did not start out on the right foot with Yankee fans when on opening night he gave up a go ahead home run in Boston. Park would then go on the DL and miss a little over a month of action. Once Park came back he struggled and has continued to do so since. Recently Park has made some improvements, but has been getting killed when he pitches over one inning. On a side note if you have ever gone early to the ballpark and watched batting practice you would know that Park is nice guy who is constantly kidding around with the fans.

With the trade deadline approaching later this month, I would hope the Cashman could work some magic and add another arm to the pen. If that does not happen the only thing Yankee fans can hope is that the pitchers start to straighten out thier problems on there own.

A-Rod countdown to 600 : Career Homer 595

With the Yankees tied at 2-2 with the Mariners in the Eight inning Alex Rodriguez connected for a go ahead home that would give the Yankees a 4-2 win. Making A-Rod five homers away from 600. One thing that the Al pal may remember about this homer is that he though it was a walk off. "I thought I hit a much bigger home run than I actually hit,'' Rodriguez said. "I looked over at A.J. [Burnett] and [Andy] Pettitte in the dugout and they weren't moving. That's when I kinda started to figure we had one more half-inning to play. It was pretty embarrassing.''

This day in Yankees History : July 1st 2004

Many Yankee fans would like to forget the 2004 season all together. The end result was not what any team would ever want, losing to your rival in embarrassing fashion. The Yankees did win there division that season, finishing before the Sox. But on this date six years ago, there was another great Yankee moment in the Yanks-Sox rivalry.

On warm summer night in the Bronx, the Yanks were looking for a sweep of the Red Sox. In the first two games of the series the Yankees won behind great pitching and timely hitting, but the final game would have everything you could ever ask for in a baseball game.

The night started with Pedro Martinez on the mound for Boston and rookie Brad Halsey pitching for the Yanks. When ever Pedro was on the mound facing the Yanks you knew there would be heat coming from his arm and from the fans in the stand who hated him. This game would be no different. In the first inning Martinez would hit Gary Sheffield with a pitch after Sheff stepped out of the box calling for time while Pedro was in his whined up. Sheffield would yell at Pedro on his way to first base after getting plunked as Pedro stood there looking at him.

The Yanks would get on the board first behind a long two run home run by Tony Clark in the bottom of the second. Jorge Posada would also add to the lead in the fifth inning when he hit a solo shot off Martinez to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead. The Red Sox would get back into the game with a two run home run by Yankee killer Manny Ramirez cutting the lead to one. The Sox would tie the game in the seventh when a run scored on a double play ball. The score would remain the same until the 13th inning.

The Bombers had there chance in the bottom of the 9th inning when they had the bases loaded with one out and could not get anyone across. This would be a trend for the next few innings, in the 10th the Yankees had two runners on that they were never able to score the go ahead run. In the 12th inning once again the Yankees had the bases loaded again with one out, and could not score a single run.

The game was already a memorable game game would soon become a classic. With runners on second and third  for the Red Sox with 2 outs in the 12 inning Derek Jeter would show why he is a winner. Trot Nixon came to bat and hit a pop up behind third/ short left field. Jeter running full speed made the catch , took a step and with his momentum went flying into the stands. As his teammates and trainers rushed toward him, Jeter appeared from the stands bloody and bruised, but was able to walk off the field on his own. With Jeter batting second in the bottom of the inning, manager Joe Torre pinch hit for him with Jason Giambi. 

With Jeter out of the game in the top of the 13th, Alex Rodriguez would have to play shortstop and Gary Sheffield would be forced to play third base, a position he hadn't played since 1993. Manny Ramirez would once again smash another home run, this time against Tanyon Sturtze to give the Bosox there first lead of the game.

The Yanks had there last chance in  the bottom of the 13th inning, Posada and Clark made two quick outs before Ruben Sierra singled. Miguel Cario who came into the game in the top of the 10th and had already hit a triple would tie the game for the Yankees with a two out double that scored Sierra. Earlier in the game, Bernie Williams had been the DH but following Jeter leaving the game was forced to play the field, causing the Yanks to lose the DH. Tanyon Sturtze was due up but Torre went to his bench and called upon current Yes Network broadcaster John Flaherty. Flaherty hit a deep fly ball to left field that would score Cairo from second base and give the Yankees unbelievable win.

The Yankees would have an 8 1/2 game lead over Boston and never looked back. During this game every single bench player was used on both teams except Nomar Garciaparra. Garciaparra claimed to have had an ankle injury and could not play, instead he sat on the bench while all of his teammates stood on the top step of the dugout. Nomar not playing looked even worse when Derek Jeter, dove into the stands to make an incredible play. Jeter showed how no matter the situation he would do anything to win, including risking his body, while Garciaparra was afraid of injury.

This game can still be watched on Yankee Classics on the YES Network. Even if you are someone who doesn't like to watch old games this is a must watch, and cant even be described to its fullest in a post. I think that Michael Kay said it the best following the game winning hit by Flaherty "This is one of the greatest games you will ever see."

Yankees Vs Mariners Series Notes

Following a complete game pitched by possible future Yankee Cliff Lee last night, the bombers look to rebound against the lowly Mariners in these next two games. The task does not get any easier for the Yanks as they face Felix Hernandez tonight at the stadium.

Javier Vazquez will be on the mound for the Yanks agianst Felix. Vazquez has had a great month of June so far (3-1 3.00 ERA) following a horrible start to the season. Earlier this season Yankee fans were quick to kick Javy to the curb and wanted him traded. Since his struggle he has become a vital part of the Yankees rotation. With A.J Burnett struggling, and limiting the innings pitched by Phil Hughes, Vazquez has picked up his game and looked like the pitcher that they traded for.

Felix Hernandez will oppose Vazquez tonight. King Felix has faced the Yankees five times in his career and has a 2-3 record with a 4.59 ERA. So the Yankees have had there share of success against him, including Robinson Cano (.385 1 HR) and Curtis Granderson (.360 1HR).

If the Yanks win tonight's match up it would give them a greater opportunity to win the series, because on Thursday CC Sabathia takes the ball for them. CC would be facing Ryan Rowland Smith who has struggled this season 1-7 6.18 ERA. Sabathia has been dominant in his last three starts going 3-0 1.57 ERA, his dominance was felt last Friday by the Dodgers who were held to four hits over eight innings. Sabathia will look for his sixth straight win against a Mariners club who struggles to score runs. CC will have to look out for Franklin Gutierrez who has hit .444,1 HR against Sabathia in his career.

Quick Hits

• The Yankees will be playing in four straight 1:05pm starts, starting Thursday.
• Last season the Yankees played the Blue Jays on the July 4th weekend, the series before them they played the Mariners at home. The same as this season.
• All Star voting ends Thursday night
• Francisco Cervelli must be glad June is over , he hit just .190 this month

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.