The Hall Of Fame has four new members

The 2015 Hall Of Fame Class is one of the best as they elected four new members, three of them were first ballot.  John Smoltz, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and Craig Biggio are the newest members of the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York.  Last year Smoltz saw his teammates Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux go in on their first ballot and his manager Bobby Cox and now he joins them.  There really wasn't much issue with these guys.  The only controversy is why is Mike Piazza still not in.  He got a little bit closer getting close to 70 percent and he should be elected in next year but for now he waits. 

Randy Johnson is arguably  the best left handed pitcher to ever play the game.  He was big and intimidating and once he got under control he was just dominant.  He had two seasons with the Yankees which are here in my backyard and he won 17 games in both seasons but was never exactly what they thought.  If you can win 17 games two years in a row though and still be called a disappointment it pretty much shows just how good he really was.  He started with the Montreal Expos and then went to the Seattle Mariners and was very wild but once he harnassed that he was just lights out.  He had a career record of 303-166 with a 3.29 ERA and 4,875 strikeouts.  He was with the Expos his first two season in 1988 and 1989 and then with the Mariners for 9 full years and then in his 10th season with the Mariners was traded to the Houston Astros.  He spent six seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and helped them to one world series championship.  He spent two seasons with the New  York Yankees and then back to the Diamondbacks for a couple of seasons before finishing his career with the San Francisco Giants in 2009.  He was a 10X all star and five time Cy Young award winner.  He pitched a no-hitter and a perfect game. 

John Smoltz spend played for 21 seasons and spent all but one of them with the Atlanta Braves.  He spent his final season with the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.  He had a career record of 213-155 with a 3.33 ERA.  He struck out 3,084 and also had 154 career saves.  He was an 8X all star and won a world series in 1995.  He won one cy young award. 

Pedro Martinez played 18 seasons for five different teams.  He was an eight time all star, three time cy young award winner  and won a world series in 2004.  He has the lowest WHIP of any live ball era starting pitcher and his adjusted ERA+ is the best of any starting pitcher in MLB history.  He has the second highest winning percentage in modern baseball history.  He had a career record of 219-100 with a 2.93 ERA.  He had 3,154 career strikeouts and played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. 

Craig Biggio was the only position player to join these three pitchers in the Hall Of Fame class of 2015.  He played 20 seasons all of them for the Houston Astros.  Biggio finished with a career batting average of 281 and he had 3,060 career hits.  He had 291 career homeruns with 1,175 career RBI, he also had 414 career stolen bases.  He was a seven time all star and four time gold glove award winner.  He won five silver slugger awards. 

Phillies at Yankees-World Series Game 6

The New York Yankees take on the Philadelphia Phillies tonight at 7:57 on FOX. They are looking to close out their 27th title tonight with Andy Pettitte on the mound against Pedro Martinez. Andy is on 3 days rest for the first time in a couple of years and first time in a long time in the postseason. Pedro is on normal rest but has been on extended rest his first 2 playoff games. Here are the pregame notes and lineups via the Lohud Yankees Blog. I will be at the game tonight so I may not have postgame coverage at all and the notes here may be shorter then normal. This is only the second time in WS history that a team led 3-2 in the World Series after losing Game 1 at home, winning Game 2 and then winning Games 3 and 4 on the road and losing Game 5 on the road. The other team was the 1935 Tigers who ended up winning Game 6 at home against the Cubs. If the Yankees win this World Series would they be the team of the decade?? They would have won 2 titles, been to the World Series 2 other times, lost in the ALCS once. The Red Sox would be the closest competitor with 2 titles losing in the ALCS twice but they missed the playoffs 4 times to the Yankees 1 time last year. Chase Utley has 5 homeruns this series and 4 against lefties, I think they need to brush him back tonight or pitch around him. A-rod has 18 rbi's in the playoffs which is 4th most all-time, the record is 19 held by Sandy Alomar Jr. David Ortiz and Scott Spezio. Johnny Damon has been hot going 6 for his last 9, A-rod is heated up and Matsui has been hitting when he has played going 5 for 9. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Gardner(CF) No Phillies lineup yet but expect the same unless Victorino can't go.

Workout Day in the Bronx

The New York Yankees worked out at Yankee Stadium today. The Philadelphia Phillies took the day off. Shane Victorino is being listed as day to day although he is saying he will play tomorrow. Pedro Martinez is getting the start for the Phillies and was his ever entertaining self today in the press conference. He said usually people say good things about you when you die but they should say them about him now, he doesn't want to wait until he dies. He also said he will try his best as always but who knows how he will do tomorrow. You can hear his press conference on http://mlb.com. Andy Pettitte will get the ball on 3 days rest tomorrow for the Yankees, he hasn't pitched on short rest in 2 years and for his last 8 starts has been on long rest. The one thing you know about Andy Pettitte is he has guts and will give it his all, you will probably know early if he has it or not. If his control isn't good and he struggles early I wouldn't be shocked to see Chad Gaudin in the game, I do think the Yankees will hit Pedro this time around though. I know a lot of people are complaining about using A.J. Burnett on short rest in Game 5 instead of Gaudin but I just couldn't see giving away any game in the postseason and to me that is what you would of been doing. I know Andy is on short rest now but I still trust him to give 5 or 6 decent innings and the bats to do their job and you have the best weapon at the end of the game in MO, I can see him going 2+ innings tomorrow if need be. The Phillies don't have any idea of who to go to in the late innings as the Yankees have done damage to all of their big relievers. It should be an interesting night tomorrow. Joe Girardi did say in his press conference that he isn't sure who will start in RF. I would of though Nick Swisher since he has woke up a little from his slump but Jerry Hairston Jr. did play Game 2 against Pedro since he has hit him in the past and Eric Hinske is 8 for 30 in his career against Pedro. A.J. Burnett only threw 53 pitches so I am wondering if he will be in the pen tomorrow at all or only for a Game 7 and how he would or could be used?? This is another fascinating aspect of theese games. The Phillies have Cliff Lee available for a similar role since he will not start anymore games.

Yanks take Game 2

The Yankees lost last night by being dazzled by Cliff Lee. They answered back winning 3-1. A.J. Burnett pitched 7 strong innings giving up a run on 4 hits with 2 walks and 9 strikeouts. The only run scored also was a groundball that should of been handled by A-rod. Pedro Martinez was impressive himself but the Yankees remain his daddy's. He pitched 6 innings giving up 6 hits with 3 runs, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts. A.J. Burnett was the story of the game though as when the Yankees needed him most he really came up big. A.J. Burnett pitched his finest game of the postseason and biggest game of his career. Mariano compledted his second 2 inning save in a row. The Yankees were up 2-1 in the bottom of the 7th when they had first and second one out. Johnny Damon hit a ball that shorthopped Ryan Howard that the umpires called a double play because he caught it in the air but it bounced and that really could of changed the game. The umpires in this postseason have been so bad and something has to be done about this. The umpires in this World Series are supposed to be the best and most experienced and they still make a call like that. The Yankees got solo homeruns from Hideki Matsui and Mark Teixeira and a pinch hit rbi single from Jorge Posada. The Yankees would really like A-rod to get going in Philly as he is 0-7 in the World Series so far. I think the next game could be a big one for him as he will face Cole Hamels in a hitters ballpark. This should be a interesting game as I think the Yankees have the advantage but the hitters haven't really gotten going in this series and your just waiting for them to explode on both sides. I think the offense's may really get going in Citizens Bank Park, of course CC and Cliff Lee could be pitching Game 4 but we will see. I think the next game is a huge game as it will be a swing game. Andy Pettitte has come up huge in these kind of spots throughout his career and the Yankees will be leaning on him once more to come up BIG. The teams will have tomorrow off as they travel by train to Philly at least the Phillies are. I could see this series being decided by the bullpens and other then MO both teams have shaky bullpens and I must say Brad Lidge has been good also in the postseason.

Phillies at Yankees-World Series Game 2(Who's Your Daddy)

The New York Yankees will be looking to bounce back from a Game 1 loss last night. They were beaten 6-1 by Cliff Lee and the Phillies. Cliff Lee was just amazing twirling a complete game 6 hitter with 2 of those hits being in the 9th inning and he allowed one unearned run. The Yankees will be facing a old friend in Pedro Martinez. A.J. Burnett for the first time this postseason will be pitching with pressure as the Yankees are down in the series for the first time. The Yankees are now 24-16 all-time in World Series openers but in 8 of the previous 15 losses the Yankees have bounced back to win the series. Here are the pregame notes and lineups via the Journal News Lohud Yankees Blog and the Yankees media notes. A-rod went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts last night snapping a 9 game postseason hitting streak from this season and a 11 game run that dated back to 2007. The last time A-rod had struck out more then once in a game was Sept. 22nd against the Angels. A.J. Burnett when he has trouble it is in the beginning of the game. The first 15 pitches of games in the regular season opposing hitters had a 797 OPS against him which is the highest OPS of any 15 pitch increment up to 75 pitches. He also gave up 8 homeruns during that first increment. A.J. Burnett has a lot of pressure on him now and lets see how he responds, in his first two starts he was following a CC win. He has seemed to step up to big challenges but this is the biggest game of his career. He faced the Phillies on May 22nd and gave up one run in the first and two in the second. The Yankees scored an unearned run in the ninth inning last night which snapped a 17 inning scoreless streak for them in the World Series. That was the third longest streak in franchise history. The longest was 21 innings in 1921-22 followed by an 18 inning streak from Games 1-3 of the 2001 World Series. Cliff Lee's 10 strikeouts in Game 1 were the most by a pitcher in the World Series since Josh Beckett also had 10 in Game 3 of the 2003 World Series. Beckett of course who was with the Marlins at the time came back on 3 days rest and finished the Yankees in Game 6. Derek Jeter was the only Yankee that had success off of Lee last night getting 3 hits. He now has 42 hits in the World Series tying him with Elston Howard, Babe Ruth and Eddie Collins for 10th on the all-time list. It was Jeter's 4th career 3 hit game in the World Series and 3rd in his last 5 World Series games. The Yankees vs Pedro has been dramatic over the years but mostly its been even. Pedro is 11-11 with a 3.20 era lifetime in the regular season against the Yankees and was 8-5 with a 3.21 era in 18 career starts at the Old Stadium. He was 0-1 with a 5.40 era in 2 ALCS starts. He also had one of his best days at the Old Stadium when he allowed one hit and struck out 17 on Sept. 10, 1999. That was a long time ago and it isn't the same Pedro but he will be sure to provide plenty of drama with his presence. Who's Your Daddy will be ringing throughout the stadium tonight. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Cano(2B) Hairston(RF) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)

World Series workout Day

The Phillies announced that Pedro Martinez will start game 2 at Yankee Stadium. This should be a lot of fun, the whose your daddy chants will be back out in force. It is very interesting, i guess Pedro is a veteran and has pitched well but what does this say to Cole Hamels, obviously they don't trust him at all and don't feel good at all about him. CC vs Cliff Lee in game 1 is a great matchup although the Yankees know him well and have had success against him. This is a dangerous situation for the Phillies if they lose game 1 that the Yankees may just pound Pedro in game 2. The Yankees didn't announce their rotation past game 3 they will stick with CC, A.J. and Andy in that order but we don't know yet if they will use only three starters. It is believed that they may go back to CC and then use Gaudin for a game 5. If they only use 3 starters that would mean all of them have to pitch on 3 days rest. Joe Girardi also said today on WFAN that it isn't out of the question that Matsui could play the OF in the NL park. I just don't see how that is possible, he hasn't played there all year and do you really want to put him out there now? If you do that you have to move Damon to right or sit him which you don't want to do. Eric Hinske although it hasn't become official yet is going to replace Freddy Guzman on the roster according to Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman and others. The Yankees may also add an extra pitcher, Brian Bruney is the name you hear. I am sure there may be some audio later on the press conferences and some quotes.

Statement from the BOSS

“The Yankees’ enormous will to win, tremendous professionalism and great team spirit, backed by the best, most vocal and supportive fans have propelled us into the World Series. We’re looking forward to our 27th ring.” This came from the BOSS earlier today, he is planning on being at the Game on Wednesday night. Jay-Z will be performing Empire state of mind before Game 1 and Alicia Keys will be singing the National Anthem. I wonder who will throw out the first pitch, I am going with Yogi Berra or Whitey Ford. A non World Series or Yankees related item today but interesting is that Mark McGwire was hired as the Cardinals new hitting coach. There will be a lot of stuff coming from the Stadium tomorrow with the official media press conferences, I am guessing Charlie Manuel will name his Game 2 starter and I hope it is Pedro Martinez, I am guessing the Who's your Daddy? chants will be revving up.