Yankees postgame notes after their win

It came out after this 8-3 win over the Rockies that Alex Rodriguez has been playing on a sore right knee since hurting it last Sunday night while running the bases against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Joe Girardi had a chance to pull him with a 6-0 lead after seven in this latest game, and he took advantage of it.


A-Rod might be hobbled a bit, but he hasn’t let it bother him at the plate. He knocked in three runs with two hits, so he now has at least one RBI in five straight games and 50 for the season. He’s batting .545 (12 for 22) in his last six, with at least one hit in each game, and .408 in his last 14.

”He comes to play every day, and that’s what great players do,” Girardi said. “You’ve got to find a way to fight through the little nicks that you have in the course of the season.”

CC Sabathia turned in another inspired performance in winning his third straight start and becoming the first pitcher in the majors to win 10 games – eight innings, one run, seven hits, one walk, nine Ks.

The lefty matched Chien-Ming Wang for the fastest to 50 wins among Yankees pitchers over these last 30 years. This was Sabathia’s 85th start in 2 1/2 seasons. He’s also the fifth Yankees pitcher in the last 60 years to win No. 50 and have fewer than 20 losses. This season, the Yankees have scored at least seven runs for him eight times. Also, he has gone at least seven innings 11 times in 17 starts, often taking the burden off a banged-up bullpen.

Yankees snapped their two-game skid and have won 11 of 15.

“I feel the past week we’ve been playing outstanding baseball,” Nick Swisher said.


The Yankees are up to a major-league-best 21-4 in day games as opposed to 23-27 at night.

“It’s probably a lot of luck,” Gardner said.  That is a really weird stat and I don't know what to make of it. 

Curtis Granderson scored two runs and leads the majors with 68. He has scored at least one time in seven straight games, which is one away from his career high. He’s also batting .295 in home games.  He is like a completely different players since changing his swing last season.  This season he is just on a tear though and it is fun to watch. 

Jorge Posada had a season-high-tying three hits and has now hit safely in 10 of his 11 starts, batting .405 over the span.  Ever since he sat out that one game he has been a different player.  I don't know if that helped him clear his mind or get everything off of his chest but whatever happened it worked.  I also think his son having surgery and being ok has helped. 

Nick Swisher went 2 for 3 with a sac fly and is now batting .315 in his last 27 games, raising his average from .204 to .245.  They needed Swisher to start hitting because he is a fun guy in the clubhouse but they couldn't have him batting 200. 

Sunday is Old-Timers’ Day. They will take batting practice starting at 10 a.m. The ceremonies begin at 11:30, followed by the Old-Timers’ game. The regularly scheduled games is down for 2:20.  It is always a fun day and Joe Torre, Bernie Williams and Lou Piniella will be making their first Old Timers appearances.  Torre was at Yankee Stadium for the unveiling of the Steinbrenner Monument but this will be the first real appearance for him as he will be announced and get a hand and all of that.  He last managed in 2007 with the Yankees and left in a not so good way, the organization and he have mended fences though and it should be a great day. 

Yankees lose to the Rockies as Giambi has a big night

The New York Yankees lost to the Colorado Rockies by the score of 4-2 tonight.  Jason Giambi made a return to the Bronx.  He played with the Yankees for seven seasons and was a crowd favorite.  He did get a nice ovation and then in his first at-bat launced a solo homerun deep into the right field bleachers.  Giambi is now 40 years old and limited to pinch hitting duty but in this series with the DH he gets to play all three games.  The Yankees will play three games against the Rockies and then after an off day play three against the Brewers. 

A.J. Burnett made the start for the Yankees.  Burnett didn't have his control and he wasn't very good but what has been a major difference from last year is he kept the Yankees in the game.  If this were last year he would of totally imploded been out of the game and the Yankees would of had no shot.  In this game he figured things out and finished strong and was able to pitch into the seventh inning.  Boone Logan had another strong outing as he gave up one hit in 1 1/3 innings.  He is their only lefty out of the bullpen right now and they need him to get out some lefties.  Luis Ayala finished off the game with 1 1/3 innings giving up one hit. 

The offense was all supplied by Alex Rodriguez.  He had an RBI double and a sacrifice fly.  Rodriguez is starting to really heat up once again.  His power numbers are a little down but I wouldn't be suprised to see him go on a streak soon where he hits five in a week.  Nick Swisher had a good night with a couple of hits, Curtis Granderson had three walks. 

The two teams will play game two of the their three game series on Saturday afternoon.  It will be C.C. Sabathia vs. Aaron Cook.  On paper this looks like a total mismatch where the Yankees should win setting up a rubber game on Sunday which is Old Timers Day.  Sunday should be an emotional day as Joe Torre will be back in the bronx for the first time since 2007 when he managed against Cleveland in the ALDS that they lost in four games.  Bernie Williams and Lou Piniella will also make their first Old Timers Day appearances. 

New York Yankees Home Opener vs Angels

The New York Yankees will play their home opener today against the Anaheim Angels. Gametime is at 1:00PM but for those of you there or watching on T.V. the festivities are set to begin at 12:15PM. The Yankees will receive their 2009 championship rings as well as raising their championship banner. There will be the normal introductions and first pitch thrown out by Bernie Williams. Whitey Ford and Yogi Berra will also take part in the ceremonies. There will be a flyover and maybe even challenger the Bald Eagle, I am not sure about that one. It will be a exciting day as even Hideki Matsui who is now with the Angels will be able to get his ring and take part in the festivities. Here are the pregame notes and lineups for the game. I will have much much more after the game and remember to check out http://www.worldnewsvine.com/ for my article on all of todays events. Robinson Cano has hit safely in each of the Yankees 6 games to start the season. He has a 363 batting average over the last 2 Aprils. He has been starting hot which is a good sign. He had a 237 career batting avg in April before the last 2 yrs. The Yankees are 70-36-1 in their home openers heading into today. They have won 11 of their last 12 only dropping last yrs home opener at the New Stadium. 5 time all star Bernie Williams will become the 9th former yankee to throw out the first pitch at a home opener. The Yankees annual homecoming dinner was last night and raised 1.3 million which is a alltime record. The Yankees became the 3rd team to win a world series in their first yr in a ballpark. The Boston Red Sox did it in 1912 and the Cardinals in 2006. CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett have pitched back to back 21 times since joining the Yankees and the team has only lost both games 1 time. The bullpen has been strong giving up 2 runs and 2 walks in their last 13 2/3 innings. They have gone 2-0 with a 1.32 era in that stretch. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Johnson(DH) Teixeira(1B) Rodriguez(3B) Cano(2B) Posada(C) Granderson(CF) Swisher(RF) Gardner(LF) Andy Pettitte makes the start, it is his 4th opening day start and he has gone 3-0 in the others. Ervin Santana will be on the mound for the Angels.

Busy day in Baseball

It has been a rather uneventful couple of weeks around the baseball world. We are drawing ever closer to spring training and the start of the baseball season and today the baseball world was very busy. Here are some of the transactions and rumors that took place today. Ben Sheets signed a 1 yr contract with the Oakland Athletics for 10 million plus incentives. Jim Thome signed a one year 1.5 million dollar deal with the Minnesota Twins. It also includes up to 750,000 in incentives. Xavier Nady is close to a deal with the Chicago Cubs. His deal is for 3.3 million with 2.05 million more in incentives for games played. The deal is pending a physical which isn't a foregone conclusion for him since he is coming off the second Tommy John surgery of his career. This affects the Yankees as they are looking for a right handed bat to play the outfield. Johan Santana of the New York Mets threw off a mound today for the first time since leaving a game last August and undergoing elbow surgery. He threw 35 pitches in 6 minutes and came through it fine. He said he feels good and will just be building up for opening day. Chad Jennings of the Journal News and the Lohud Yankees blog had some Yankee news tonight. Joe Girardi was in Times Square receiving the Bobby Murcer award from B.A.T which is the Baseball assistance team. He spoke about Johnny Damon and said he never believes something is completely shut until it is completely shut. He did say though with that said he doesn't see it happening. He can see Gardner in center and Granderson in left, he said he does see them as interchangeable. Joe Girardi also said that he feels good about Francisco Cervelli being the backup catcher. He said that he played at a very high level for them last year and learned a lot. He thinks he can handle the job. Joe Girardi said that Bernie Williams hasn't asked him about coming to spring training as a instructor but if he does he will consider it. I don't think there is any doubt that if he asks he will be there and he said on the radio the other day he would like to be in spring training. Joe Girardi brought the World Series trophy today to his daughter school. I can only imagine that being the show and tell, how cool is that. Brian Cashman via Brian Hoch said that Johnny Damon does not fit into his budget and he is not going to discuss Damon any further. It sure sounded like the door is slammed shut on Johnny but I still don't believe it until he signs somewhere else which I don't see happening. I think eventually they will work this out. I think it is both sides being bitter at the negotiating and using the media for leverage. The Yankees did add some outfield depth today when they traded minor league infielder Mitch Hilligos to the Texas Rangers for minor league outfielder Greg Golson. He has had 7 at bats in the major leagues without a hit. He is 24 years old and is considered a very toolsy player.

Yankees pound the Angels

The New York Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by the score of 10-1 to take a commanding 3 games to 1 lead in the ALCS. CC Sabathia pitching on 3 days rest was simply unbelievable. He is a horse and a true ace that is a throwback type of pitcher. He went 8 strong throwing only just over 100 pitches giving up 1 run on 5 hits with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. Chad Guadin finished the game off with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. CC Sabathia was signed in the offseason for a crazy amount of money that a lot of people felt the Yankees were bidding against themselves and went overboard but he is showing that he is worth every penny. CC Sabathia has been everything and more that the Yankees could of dreamed of. He has lost one game since July 28th including going 3-0 in the playoffs with a 1.19 era. The other hero is A-rod who has just become the player everyone has been waiting for. He had a single, double, homerun. He now has a rbi in 8 straight postseason games which ties him for the ML record. He also now is one homerun behind Bernie Williams for most in one postseason in Yankees history. He is batting over 400 with 5 homeruns and 11 rbi's in 7 postseason games. Derek Jeter had a couple more hits but Melky Cabrera had 3 hits to get back on track, Robinson Cano had a couple of hits and Johnny Damon had a couple of hits once again. The Yankees offense had been struggling but got back on track this evening. The only guy that really hasn't done anything is Nick Swisher. Jorge Posada had a strong game today also. The Yankees will now have tomorrow off and have A.J. Burnett on the mound to send them to the World Series on Thursday night against John Lackey. I wonder if Joe Girardi will sit Nick Swisher and put Brett Gardner in CF and Melky Cabrera in RF.

My day with Bernie Williams

Here I am meeting Bernie Williams today at a mall in New Jersey. He was a great guy, I thanked him for all the great memories and he said no problem man and shook my hand. This was a great thrill for me as Bernie is a class act and of course a great Yankee. I am happy that Bernie is able to have a successful second career, not too many people can have 2 careers like he did and has. Bernie Williams walked out the back employees door as this event was held at FYE and the crowd erupted and started chanting Bernie. I can't imagine what a thrill it is to still get that kind of support but all of these guys that won the 4 world titles have that although I would say Bernie is near the top in the support of the fans if not at the top now that Mattingly has moved on. I got his autograph and CD and will enjoy that. I hope you guys enjoy the picture of me and Bernie.

I'm getting nervous now-Yanks win again

The New York Yankees have now won 8 in a row and 17 of 19. They keep winning and of course some people are saying its because Arod is away LOL. The bottom line is if the Yankees are healthy and they pitch they will win, they have great pitching. I would like them to lose friday, not Saturday when I am there. They won today by a score of 8-5, they were winning 8-2 and one of the minor leaguers I don't know anything about gave up 3 runs in the 9th. CC Sabathia started and gave up 2 runs in 3 2/3 innings giving up 6 hits, he had 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. This was just a tuneup and he said he is ready for Monday when the season starts. Jose Veras pitched 1 1/3 innings, 1 hit, with 1 walk and 1 strikeout. Damaso Marte pitched a perfect inning and s did Brian Bruney who had a strikeout. Bruney has put it together lately after a rough start. Steven Jackson closed out the game getting the one batter out he faced. Mark Teixera was the offensive star going 3-3 with 3rbi. He stated he has loved working with Kevin Long and wished he could start the season tomorrow. He was on Michael Kay today and said they are having so much fun, working hard and they have the attitude if they continue to work hard and stay healthy then no one can beat them, its all up to them. Hideki Matsui was 2-3 with 2 rbi and a walk. He hit a 2 run homerun, Jorge Posada was 1-3. Robinson Cano was 1-2 with a walk, Nick Swisher was 1-1 with a rbi and Cody Ransom was 1-3 with a rbi. The Yankees may be on their way home now, im not sure what time the plane left. They will have a workout tomorrow from 1:10-3:10, gates open at 11:00am. The workout is not open to the public, members of the community and certain season ticket holders got tix for this event, also tomorrow they have the special ceremony with Bernie Williams at the Hard Rock Cafe in the Stadium. Check out the lohud yankees blog with Peter Abraham for reports at http://yankees.lhblogs.com/ I will have my report from the Stadium at some point on Saturday evening.

YES Network says YES

The Yes Network had a good night last night picking up 13 emmy awards. I am not going to go through the whole list but you can check it out on Peter Abrahams blog http://yankees.lhblogs.com he has all the names and what they won listed. This is the most they ever won and the most by a NY regional sports network. I didn't mention this earlier but on Thursday when the Yankees have their first workout at the New Stadium the Hard Rock Cafe will be opening up with Bernie Williams along with Ace Frehley(Kiss), Scott Ian and Frank Bello(Anthrax), Darryl "DMC" McDaniels(Run DMC), Anton Figg(Late Show Band). They will be signing Take Me Out to the ballgame along with students from the Bronx. There will be a celebratory guitar smash also, Bernies new CD will be released April 14, he has his performance with Bruce Springsteen on it, they performed Glory Days.

Audio from today: Bernie Williams

Here is a real treat, our old friend Bernie Williams speaking to the media at George M. Steinbrenner Field. It is really good to see him in a Yankees uniform again even if it is only for a couple of weeks. I also forgot to mention that Ken Griffey Jr. signed with the Seattle Mariners yesterday returning home. If Jr is clean his status will really be elevated as he is fifth on the all time HR list and if he stayed healthy would of surely broke the record. Audio from today: Bernie Williams Posted using ShareThis

Bern Baby Bern

Yes it is Bernie Williams, he is back well sort of. He will be with the Yankees until March 2 working out for the World Baseball Classic that he will be part of with Team Puerto Rico. It is great to see Bernie back in pinstripes and who knows if guys get hurt he may get a deal, no don't get too excited it isn't going to happen.