Archive for the ‘Yankees’ Category

Yankees-Tigers ALDS Game 2 Quick Reaction

Posted: October 3, 2011 by Keith Stone in baseball, Detroit Tigers, MLB, MLB Playoffs, Yankees
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Tigers 5, Yankees 3. Series tied 1-1

This was a tough one. Garcia pitched well. Scherzer pitched well. It came down to Cabrera’s cheap home run and Jeter making a bad error. It bothers me that A-Rod is getting booed. The Yanks got like three hits in the first eight innings and he’s banged up. He proved he doesn’t have a problem with the playoffs. Booing isn’t going to help. I really thought they were going to win it at the end. The turning point in the ninth ended up being Andruw Jones’s bullet into right field. If that drops, the Yankees are up 2-0.

So, it’s a best-of-three series now. CC vs. Verlander. You’d have to give CC the nod. He’s used to pitching with short rest. Nothing bothers him. Fuck, he probably just ate like 50 buffalo wings while watching the late football games and he’s still going to be ready to go. If he’s not, it’s A.J. on Tuesday. I’d dare say that Game 3 is a must-win for the Yankees.

Yankees-Tigers ALDS Game 1 Quick Reaction

Posted: October 2, 2011 by Keith Stone in baseball, Detroit Tigers, MLB, MLB Playoffs, Yankees
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Yankees 9, Tigers 3. Yankees lead series 1-0

Robbie Cano, dontcha know!?!?!?!?!! Well, the Yanks won a game that Verlander started. I guess you can’t really complain about the rain delay now. Ivan Nova went out there and did the best he could have done. Part of me was thinking he should have come out earlier so he wouldn’t be gassed if they need him for Game 5, but it’s probably just as well that he saved the bullpen a lot of work. I was pissed Mo came in, but three pitches is nothing. It would not have been good if he actually had to do something. Fister was good, but the lineup did what they always do. They wear opposing pitchers down, and then strike. Cano killed it. He would have had two home runs if the guy in the first row caught the ball that hit the top of the wall. It was like reverse Bartman. Hopefully, Garcia can keep it close and the Yanks take care of Scherzer like they did Fister. Game 1 doesn’t mean anything if the Tigers take Game 2.

Reign Delay

Posted: October 1, 2011 by Keith Stone in baseball, Detroit Tigers, MLB, MLB Playoffs, Yankees
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My head hurts deciding whether the postponement of Game 1 is a good thing. CC was dealing, but ultimately the fact that Verlander only got to pitch an inning has to be an advantage. The Yanks really worked him in that inning, though. I wonder if he would have recovered later in the game? I guess we’ll never know. Fister isn’t exactly a slouch either. At the same time, as much as you don’t want to see Verlander, you don’t want to win the lucky way. You want to face the best the other team has to offer and kick their ass.

CC is a beast and will be fine going in Game 3, but Verlander isn’t a short rest guy. The question now is who’s going to pitch in Game 4 for the Yankees. Looks like it might be some sort of A.J. Burnett-Phil Hughes combo. Let’s hope it doesn’t get that far.

The Toilet Series

Posted: September 30, 2011 by Keith Stone in baseball, Detroit Tigers, MLB, MLB Playoffs, Yankees
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I hate these best-of-five series. One weird game and the entire season could go down the toilet. The Yanks only won two more games than the Tigers. How is five games enough to determine which is the superior team? As you can tell, I’m a little nervous. I think this series could go either way. Facing Verlander twice is scary. He can win this series all by himself. For that reason, Game 1 is going to have more importance than usual.

In the end, that’s probably what everything is going to come down to: whether the Yanks can get a win off Verlander. He’s great but the Yankee lineup is deeper than ever. They’re going to have to take advantage of every opportunity and make Verlander work in every at-bat to get him out of the game as soon as possible. That’s the Yankees’ specialty. And if anyone can keep up with Verlander, CC can. As good as Verlander pitched this year, he’s still not as dangerous as Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee but you don’t want to face any shutdown pitcher in the first round.

I feel pretty comfortable with Nova going in Game 2 but Freddy Garcia is going to be an adventure. It’s a shame that Phil Hughes never got it going this year. Using Posada as DH is questionable as well but Girardi can’t be afraid to switch him out if he struggles. The Bombers have the experience, but in the playoffs, pitching is king.

Prediction: Yankees in 4

Remember This?

Posted: September 29, 2011 by Keith Stone in baseball, MLB, Yankees
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Just for fun, here’s the Yankees’ season preview I wrote back in March. Sorry for not being completely accurate with the projected finish:

After failing to get Cliff Lee or any significant free agents this offseason, a sense of negativity has permeated the Yankees as they head into the 2011 season. Compounded with the signings of Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez by Boston, expectations are tempered compared to years past. However, the Bombers lost no players of note besides the aging Andy Pettitte. You would think that the Yankees were a .500 team last year, BUT THEY FUCKING WON 95 GAMES AND CAME TWO WINS AWAY FROM THE WORLD SERIES!

Expectations shouldn’t be any lower than last year when the Yanks were the defending champs and expected to repeat. They led the AL East for most of the year and only lost out to Tampa Bay at the end because they didn’t want to play Texas in the playoffs.

The strength of the Yankees lineup has always been the ability to wear the opponent out. It’s relentless. Having Curtis Granderson batting in the 8-hole is an enormous fucking luxury. By being patient and working every at-bat, starting pitchers are gassed by the time they reach the seventh inning stretch and then it’s time to pounce. It’s the same in 2011.

If anything, the lineup should be even stronger this year. Alex Rodriguez is healthy for the first time in years and Derek Jeter is out to prove that he isn’t washed up. Robbie Cano, Nick Swisher, and Brett Gardner are all young guys coming off career years and will continue to improve. Russell Martin at catcher is the only question mark, but he should be an upgrade defensively over Jorge Posada, and Jesus Montero is waiting in the wings if it doesn’t work out.

Yankee fans are spoiled by this embarrassment of riches. If there’s one position where the player is below average, it’s not good enough and the entire team is awful. It’s OK to have one or two subpar players. The Yankees won the World Series with Ricky Ledee playing left field. Half the guys on the Giants last year couldn’t even hold A-Rod’s jock. That’s Cameron Diaz’s job anyway.

Everyone makes a big deal about the pitching staff with Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia as the 4- and 5-starters, but as long as CC is your ace, you can’t complain. He’s still one of the top pitchers in the majors and Phil Hughes was having a great season last year until he wore down. Keep in mind, he’s only 24 years old and won 18 games. A.J. Burnett sucked last year, but hopefully he and his pie-throwing skills will bounce back.

The Yankees always seem to have a surprise in the rotation. Aaron Small anybody? If Nova and Garcia can pitch well, 15 wins isn’t out of the question. And if they can’t cut it, Felix Hernandez and Francisco Liriano are already being mentioned in trade talks. The bullpen should be stronger with the addition of Rafael Soriano. With Joba working the seventh, the Yanks can hopefully shorten games to 6 innings, which will take the strain off the starters.

The past two seasons in the American League, it has only taken 90 and 88 wins to clinch a Wild Card berth, respectively. Barring injury, the Yankees should eclipse that number. Tampa Bay is weaker after losing Crawford and Soriano, and Minnesota, Texas, Detroit, Chicago and Oakland don’t exactly spread fear in Hank Steinbrenner’s heart. He’d be chain-smoking either way. Trust me.

The Red Sox will once again be the main rival, the way it should be. They did improve but Youkilis and PED-roia are coming off major injuries and the pitching staff is weaker than the Yankees. Buchholz is overrated. Beckett is old. Lackey is fat. They should win 90 games as well but they’re not the huge favorites that everyone is making them out to be.

For once, the Red Sox made all the noise over the winter, but as we’ve learned, it’s not pomp and circumstance that wins championships. It will be nice to have all the pressure on another team this year and fly under the radar. Don’t sleep on the Yankees.

Projected finish: 96-66, first in AL East

Glen Sather vs. Brian Cashman: Who Ya Got?

Posted: September 28, 2011 by Keith Stone in baseball, BOSTON SUCKS, Brian Cashman, Glen Sather, hockey, MLB, NHL, Philly sucks, Rangers, Who Ya Got?, Yankees
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The past week has been big for New York GM’s. At an announcement in Philadelphia for the upcoming Winter Classic between the Rangers and Flyers, Glen Sather was a one-man show. Doing his best to to channel Gary Peyton and Miss Cleo, he declared that not only would the Blueshirts win the Winter Classic, but would win the Stanley Cup. To rub it in Philly’s fat craw even more, he also threw in that the Yankees would win the World Series. In case you’re keeping track at home, this is the first ever cross-sports Title guarantee. I loved it but next time, how about a little love for the G-Men?


Over in the Bronx, Brian Cashman revealed that although he wined and dined Carl Crawford in the offseason, he had no desire to sign the outfielder. He was just driving his price up for the Red Sox. Cashman said, “Everybody kept writing Crawford, Crawford, Crawford, Crawford. And I was like, ‘I feel like we’ve got Carl Crawford in Brett Gardner, except he costs more than $100 million less.” The Sox eventually signed the .255 hitter for the GDP of a mid-size nation. That’s real moneyball, people. Then, although I cannot confirm this, I like to think he was the one that leaked the news to TMZ that John Lackey was getting a divorce from his cancer-stricken wife. Who does he think he is, Larry David? Lackey received a text message from a member of the media before his start in a losing effort, which doesn’t look like it helped in Boston’s last gasp for the playoffs. It was all Brian Cashman! He has proven how devious he can be!

These are two scheming, genius General Managers, but there’s only one question to ask: Who Ya Got?

Tom Cabral, Man’s Man

Posted: September 25, 2011 by Keith Stone in baseball, BOSTON SUCKS, Man's Man, MLB, Sox, Yankees
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Erik Bedard was preparing to pitch on Tuesday for the Red Sox when he was served with papers for a child support case by Tom Cabral, a Yankees fan. Cabral used the opportunity to not only do his job but help his favorite team; he wore a Yankees shirt while doing the deed. Bedard couldn’t even manage to get out of the third inning that night, giving up four runs and hastening Boston’s September collapse.

I’m not surprised somebody on the Sox would be having legal problems, especially something having to do with paying child support, but what a genius move by Cabral. He served Bedard at Fenway Park a few hours before his start! He was like, “You’re a bad dad and your team is an embarrassing piece of garbage. Good luck on your start tonight!” There was no chance he was going to win.

Of course, Bedard’s babymama didn’t even have his address so Fenway was the only place to find him.  What is this, Kentucky? Actually, yes, this chick was from Kentucky. Stay classy, Boston. Your playoff hopes are resting partially on the shoulder of a hick who is trying to run out on his child support. For proving once again that the Yankees have the smartest fans in baseball, Tom Cabral, you are a man’s man.

NY Post

Yanks Rule the East (Again)

Posted: September 22, 2011 by Keith Stone in baseball, champagne, MLB, Yankees
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As I predicted in March, another baseball season is coming to an end with Boston’s faces up the Yankees’ asses. The Red Sox can continue to choke the season away all they want, Captain Jeter is kicking it old school spraying champagne on Kim Jones with no goggles. It was another great day for the Bombers, who pieced together a doubleheader sweep of the Devil Rays using approximately 46 pitchers in the first game and then in the best moment of the season, having Jorge Posada drive in the game-winning runs as a pinch hitter in the second game. The Yankees are finally getting healthy and should clinch home field throughout the AL playoffs in a few days. The opportunity to rest will be vital. There are still questions about the pitching rotation but it looks like Ivan Nova is stepping up and will be a solid choice to go after CC. The postseason starts next week…

Go Yanks (But Only By 3 Or Fewer Runs)

Posted: September 20, 2011 by Keith Stone in baseball, Mariano Rivera, MLB, Yankees
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I went to the Yanks game and saw Mo Rivera pick up save #602. Kind of a fun, weird game. On the one hand, there was a ton of anticipation in the air knowing that the record might get broken. On the other hand, the Yanks needed to be up by 1-3 runs by the ninth inning. With A.J. Burnett and the immortal Scott Diamond on the mound, it seemed like a longshot either way. Luckily, both pitchers were equally shitty, the Yanks carried a 6-4 lead into the ninth, and history was made. I’ve never rooted against the Yanks to win but only by a few runs. Not too fun. In the eighth, I was happy that they got a few runners on base and then actively pulled against them, but only for that half-inning. Bizarre.

I’ve always thought the save is overrated but Mariano is so humble, that the accolades don’t get on my nerves as they might if it was another closer. The save might be a bogus stat but coming in when the game is on the line and having ice water in your veins to lock down the game is something special. Mo has that. He couldn’t be as great as he is without his teammates, but it sure isn’t bad to have the greatest closer of all-time coming out of the bullpen to lock down a big game. If anything, this record celebrates his longevity and the fact that he’s been so great for so long is legit. Mickey Rooney is jealous.

Selig, Selig Go Away

Posted: September 7, 2011 by Keith Stone in baseball, Bud Selig, MLB, rain, Yankees
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Last night’s Yankees game started after 11PM because of the rain. Apparently, Bud Selig told the team around 5PM that the game was going to be played no matter what. It’s ridiculous. They’ve been hit hard by the rain this year. Instead of having four September off days like originally planned, they’re down to one. That’s a big deal for a team looking to make a run in the playoffs.

Push these games to the end of the season if they need to be played. You’re risking injury by playing in the rain and ending games at 2AM isn’t good for the fans and gets the players out of rhythm. Luckily, the Yanks won but you don’t want an important loss to occur because it’s passed Mariano Rivera’s bedtime. It seems like Selig and MLB never use common sense when it comes to anything whether it’s games taking five hours or banning videos on YouTube. Add this to the list.

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