Results tagged ‘ Mariano Rivera ’
Pettitte retires
Andy Pettitte has officially announced his retirement from the game of baseball. With that announcement, a generation of Yankee fans this morning will have heavy hearts but fond memories of #46, a pitcher who in 1995 was skinny and looked lost on the mound. Seriously, who would have thought that this skinny kid from Louisiana would be part of the backbone of a Yankee dynasty that started the very next season in 1996. Although Pettitte wasn’t an overpowering pitcher, he was a smart pitcher and his ability to throw that 12 to 6 curveball along with a devestating cutter made him a very successful pitcher, especially when it counted most during the post-season. I guess we have to thank Jimmy Key once again for the aneurysm in his pitching elbow, because with out it the door wouldn’t have opened for Andy and Mariano that 95 season.
As for the PED issue…
Andy Pettitte should be forgiven for his use of PED’s. The reason is simple, he admitted it when presented with the fact. Didn’t try to hide the facts and said the reason for it was to help his team. The fact that he was truthful about it, instead of telling some half truth, or just avoiding the issue all together is enough for me to forgive Andy. Although I don’t believe he has the numbers to be in the Hall of Fame, if he is considered, I hope the Baseball Writers can also forgive Andy as I have done and strickly view his career based on the good things he did on the mound.
I don’t want Cliff Lee.
As a Yankees fan, let me say this once and for all: I don’t want the Yankees to sign Cliff Lee. The reason why I feel this way is that the Yankees, with Lee, will continue to be a team that is old and falling behind their American League competition in youth and talent. Lee will no doubt contribute to the Yankees in the short term and give them another legitimate innings pitcher. However, whatever short term success there is with a guy like Lee in the rotation, the Yankees in my humble opinion will hurt their long term plans. In five years, Cliff Lee will be 37 or 38 years old. Whatever he has accomplished since 2007 thanks to his skills will probably be lost by 2015. More over, three of the Yankees “Core Four”, the foundation that built the late 1990′s dynasty, and the 2009 Championship team are diminishing in skill. Only Mariano Rivera continues to be productive. But Jeter, Pettitte and Posada are looking older and playing like it. As I wrote before, Jeter’s range at short is clearly diminishing. The fact that he was award a Gold Glove fails to account for the fact that MLB scouts last season saw his actual defensive skills short of what is expected by an average shortstop. Once again, the Texas Rangers believed they could hit and run and bunt their way on because Jeter, Posada and A-Rod have lost a step. Instead of wasting valueable resources on Lee, the Yankees should do more to get younger.
I know that patience with getting younger runs thin in New York. But remember, the Yankees built their championships, not on high priced free agents, but on the drafting of solid talent like Jeter, Posada, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera and by the signing of solid role players like Paul O’Neill, Scott Brosius, Chuck Knoblauch, etc. I think the Yankees should return to that model instead of wasting $400 million in free agency every two years.
Yankees swept in Texas.
And what an unbelievable turn of events for the Yankees after their walk off win on Wednesday against the Orioles. It wasn’t as if the Rangers dominated the Yankees this weekend, it was more of the Yankees being their own worst enemies. I don’t have the numbers of the series, but in 2 of the three games, the Yankees left over 32 runners on base. The problem this Yankee team faced last year, even though they won the World Series, was their inability to hit in the clutch, especially with runners in scoring position. So far this year, the Yankees have done a good job at hitting in those situations, but this weekend they were right down abysmal. And give credit to the Rangers, they found a way to win all three games this weekend. The first game, it took over million relievers (I kid, but it seemed like a million) to keep the Yankees off the scoreboard. On Saturday night, after the Yankees rallied to take the lead, the Rangers came back in the bottom of the 9th and rallied against Mo, something they have done already this year, and won the game. And today, with Cliff Lee on the mound, after falling behind one run, the Rangers rallied and won the game.
And the way the won the game was amazing. After falling behind 1-0, Elvis Andrus (who had a good series this weekend) led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk. As it is always the case in baseball, the leadoff walk usually leads to a run, and in this case, the walk to Andrus led to the Rangers tying the game. After stealing second, Andrus moved to third on a fly ball by Michael Young, and came on to score on a fielder’s choice off the bat of David Murphy. So, Mosley, who pitched rather well today, unfortunately gave up the lead after the Yankees got a hard earned run against Cliff Lee. Once the Rangers tied the game, there was no chance for the Yankees to win. In the top of the 7th, Lee had a one, two, three easy inning and now in the bottom of that inning, another lead off walk, this time to Kinsler, and the Rangers rallied to score 3 runs. Like the manufactured run by Andrus, Kinsler sparked the rally by going from first to third on two fly ball outs. And it was his run that sparked the rally that finished the Yankees.
What the Yankees need to do the next few weeks is to get healthy, and thank the Red Sox for not making the AL East a three team race. The Yankees will be in the playoffs, so the series in Tampa tomorrow is not as important as it would have been had Boston kept itself healthy. Another important thing is that the Rangers did not face the Yankees two best pitchers this year. CC did not pitch in this series, and Pettitte is still out with an injury. If both these teams meet again in the playoffs, and if Pettitte is healthy, the Yankees will have the advantage.
Yankees face Torre for the first time after bitter end
The weekend series in LA between the Yankees and Dodgers is big for one reason and one reason only: It represents an opportunity for both the Yankee organization and Joe Torre to mend fences after a bitter end to Torre’s managerial career in New York. Torre’s last season with the Yankees ended in disappointment, not only for the organization and Torre, but for millions of Yankees fan that had only witness success ever since Torre came into the organization in the bitter winter of 95-96.
In many ways, Joe Torre was the final piece to the puzzle that would be responsible for 4 World Series Championships in five years, six trips to the World Series in eight years and the skyrocketting success of the Yankee brand not just in baseball, but outside of the game. Torre was able to take the homegrown Yankee talent that had come up through the organization in the early 1990′s and was able to win with them. In a way, it was Torre’s presence in the organization that brought out the best in Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada.
More importantly, Torre placed his trust in a player that has become the face of the Yankees franchise since 1996; a player that the powers that be in the organization felt was not ready for the Majors. That player is the current Yankees captain Derek Jeter. Torre’s ability to not only help these young players, which are now part of the “core four”, but to also work with the veterans that were brought in before the 96 season, produced the 1996 Yankee championship that launched the late 1990′s dynasty.
However, after the painful loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2001 World Series, the organization began to take a different course, as the organization began to bring in high priced free agents. In the process, the foundation that was laid in the early 1990′s began to crack. Along with those cracks, the organization’s relationship with Joe Torre also began to change. From what I can see, the lowest point of Torre’s managerial career in New York came in ’06, when he batted A-Rod in the 8th spot during the Yankees/Tigers playoff series. Torre definately wrote off A-Rod, and had no faith in him in that series. That move was certainly not handled well by Torre, and probably ruffle some feathers within the organization.
After that disaster, it was clear that Torre’s days with the organization were numbered and unfortnately came to an end the very next year. I know that some fans, like the organization, have bitter feelings toward’s Torre. As a friend of mine said a few days ago, as we talked about this weekend’s series, Joe Torre wouldn’t have been the manager had Buck Showalter brought in Mariano Rivera to relieve David Cone in game 5 of the ’95 ALDS. Of course, that is unfair, no one can know for sure what would had happened had Showalter made that move. But what is clear is that Torre won with the Yankees, taking them to the playoffs every year of his stint. What is more amazing is that a Torre managed team hasn’t missed going to the playoffs in the last 14 years.
The point is simple, Torre was a big part of the Yankees success in the late 90′s and early 2000′s, and both he and the organization must mend ways and move on from the bitterness that was the result of the contract negotiations.
Escape from Arizona.
The Yankees were lucky to win last night’s game, let’s be serious. They had every opportunity to put the game away early, and blew all of them by making boneheaded baserunning mistakes that would drive any manager, or any fan, insane. Dontrelle Willis, who clearly has lost his ability to be a MLB pitcher, was no where near the plate last night, walked 7 batters, and all the Yankees could do is just score 2 runs off him. The much maligned D-Backs bullpen, actually pitched well for most part, while the Yankee bullpen, in this instance, Mr. Marte, gave up a run after the Yankees tided the score at 4 in the top of the 6th.
The sloppiness and the ugliness of this game could have cost the Yankees a golden opportunity to increase their lead in the American League East, as both the Red Sox and Rays lost their respective games. But after the fifth inning, after Robinson Cano’s lineout that resulted in a double play, it was possible to think about the Yankees losing a series to the struggling D-Backs. Even worse, Javier Vazquez looked bad last night. Just like Willis, Mr. Vazquez couldn’t find the plate if his life depended on it. It could be that he just had one bad game, but Vazquez reverted back to his early season form, and that isn’t good news for the Yankees. Of course, it could be just one bad game, but I’m not encouraged by Vazquez’s performance last night.
But despite the sloppiness, and bad pitching, the Yankees rallied and took the lead, and in the process showed why they are the favorite to win the East. Not only did their big guns managed to get on base, but produced runs in the clutch. After both Jeter and Swisher got on base, Teixeira moved them to scoring position, and A-Rod drove in Jeter with a sac-fly. In the top of the 10th, Curtis Granderson gives the Yankees the lead with a solo homerun, and Mo comes in, manages to make the game interesting, but finishes off the D-Backs to earn the win.
Mo reasons why the Yankees will win the East:
It is rather simple really. The Yankees will in the AL East because of Mo. Let us compare and contrast Mo with another closer in the division. In Colorado last night, the Red Sox had a one run lead heading to the bottom of the 9th at Coors Field against the Rockies. Their closer Jonathan Papelbon comes into the game to try and nail down a win for the Red Sox. Win for the Sox right? ah no. Papelbon surrenders a leadoff homerun, allows a single, gets a quick out, then allows the game winning homerun to Jason Giambi, ball game over..Red Sox lose. On the other hand, Mo comes into the game, gets out of the 9th inning, the Yankees take the lead in the 10th, and in the bottom of the frame Mo allows: a single, double, and intentional walk. Yankees are in trouble right? no. Rivera proceeds to get a foul out, pop out and strike out, Yankees win…nuff said!
Under protest
The last four innings of last night’s game between the Red Sox and Yankees was played under protest, as the Yankees felt that the Sox staff took Josh Beckett (who was dreadful again last night) out of the game last night without informing the umpire that he was hurt. Under rule 8.03, a pitcher is only allowed one minute, or eight warm up pitches before the beginning of each inning, unless there is an injury at which time the umpire-in-chief (that would be the home plate umpire) shall give the pitcher ample time to warm up.
I think Girardi has a point in raising this issue if Beckett was indeed taken out for another reason other than an injury. But this protest, like other protests in the past (except the Royals protest of the pine tar on George Brett’s bat) will likely be dismissed. If anything, I think Girardi should have protest the way his bullpen has been performing the last three games because it has been downright abysmal. This bullpen once again blew the lead, which was, like Monday night’s game, 5 runs.
Joba Chamberlain…
I still believe that Joba Chamberlain should stay in the bullpen and be the heir apparent to Mariano Rivera as the Yankees closer, but his performance on Sunday and last night has shaken my confidence in Chamberlain to get the job done when it matters most. Last night Joba was incredibly wild; he had a hard time finding the strike zone and as a result, what was a 5 run lead heading into the top of the 8th, was down to one run by the end of the half inning. That type of performance is unacceptable and now, I think, there should be serious questions about Joba’s role with the Yankees in the days and weeks to come, especially if he continues his poor play.
As for Mariano Rivera..
I’m not going to be tough on Rivera because frankly, his defense let him down. There was absolutely no reason for Rivera to throw 24 pitches and give up a double to Jeremy Hermida in the 9th. Marcus Themes’s error made the difference in that inning. I know this type of reasoning leads to the fallacy of the predetermine outcome, so let me say that I don’t believe that Rivera could have gotten out of the inning had Themes made the catch; however, when a defense makes a pitcher work harder than he has to, clutch hits like Hermida’s will happen.
Rivera did his job, the defense let him down.
As for the Red Sox..
Frankly I don’t want to praise them, ugh. But they did battle in both games and you have to give them credit. After Monday night’s devestating loss, the Red Sox could have simply mailed it in last night, but they didn’t. The Red Sox might be at .500 at the moment, but sooner or later their play will improve and they will be in the playoff hunt in the summer. If the Blue Jays continue to play well, this American League East could be a tight race to the finish if the Rays hit a speed bump on the road (that ain’t gonna happen) and wouldn’t that be great?!
Angels take game 3, and Phillies rally to win!
The best words that can describe the Angels victory yesterday afternoon against the Yankees are these: Situational Hitting. So far this post-season, the Yankees have been very dependent on the homerun, all the while failing to manufacture runs by the doing the little things that good teams do to win. Twice yesterday afternoon the Yankees had runners on third and first with 1 out in the inning, and they twice failed to get that run from third. In the 8th, the Yankees had runners on first and second, and again failed to move the runners into scoring position and failed to drive in the run from second. The bottom of the Yankees lineup was absolutely dreadful in key situations. Nick Swisher and Melkey Cabrera failed, absolutely failed to drive in the run from third in the 2nd and 4th innings. Robinson Cano failed to move the runners on first and second with no one out. These are two situations in which the Yankees should have manufactured a run. Instead the Yankees manufactured runs bia the homerun, smacking four solo blasts. The Angels on the other hand got the job done in key situations. After Howie Kendrick got the Angels on the board with a solo blast in the fifth, Vladimir Guerrero blasted a game tying two run homerun with 2 outs in the sixth. In the 7th, Howie Kendrick blasted a triple off Joba, pinch hitter Maicer Itzturis didn’t waste any time in getting a sac-fly to drive in Kendrick to give the Angels a 4-3 lead. After the Yankees tied it, the Angels wasted several opportunities to win it, especially in the 10th with the bases loaded and no outs; but in the 11th, with two outs, Kendrick gets a single to get on base and attempts to steal 2nd when Jeff Mathis hits his second consecutive double, this one to win the game.
I guess the good news for the Yankees is that their pitching was good enough to keep them in the game all afternoon long. Andy Pettitte pitched good enough to win, but unfortunately made two mistakes, one to Kendrick that woke up the Angels and the other to the aging, yet lethal, Vladimir Guerrero. Otherwise, Pettitte pitched an effective 6.1 innings of 3 run baseball, hitting his spots with his curveball and keeping the Angels off balance for most of the afternoon with his cut fastball. Aside from Aceves and Chamberlain, the bullpen kept the Yankees in the game, but was again overused. The pitching star for the Yankees bullpen was Mariano Rivera who bore down the Angels bases loaded threat to get out of the jam. Rivera’s post season ERA this year is 0.
Angels bullpen also got the job done. Jered Weaver started the game for the Angels, and unfortunately served 3 homers to the Yankees. Unlike his last start against the Red Sox, this time Weaver was ordinary and pitched 5 innings, allowing 5 hits, 3 homeruns 3 earned runs. The bullpen on the other hand pitched 6 innings of 2 hit baseball. The only mistake was the homerun Kevin Jepsen allowed.
Thumbs up to….
…Howie Kendrick, the Yankee killer woke the Angels from their slumber and got them rolling in the 5th inning with a blast to left field. He also tripled to score the first go ahead run for the Angels in the afternoon, and got on base to score the winning run. Kendrick was 3-for-5, with 3 run scored and 1 RBI.
Thumbs up to Jeff Mathis. The light hitting catcher, with an average of .211 during the regular season, came up big twice by hitting two doubles. The first double set up a potential game winning rally that failed in the 10th. In the 11th, Mathis hit another double, this time driving in Kendrick.
Thumps up to Alex Rodriguez. He is getting the job done this post season, and for the third time during these playoffs, Alex Rodriguez hits a homerun when the count was 3-1. Without A-Rod in the lineup, the Yankees would be home right now watching the playoffs. Instead A-Rod has been clutch.
Thumbs up to Derek Jeter who hit his 20th post season home run. Of course, this stat is a little misleading, because the person behind Jeter, Mickey Mantle, hit 18 World Series homeruns. But nevertheless, 20 homeruns in post-season play is impressive.
Thumbs down to…
….Bobby Abreu. I mean what was he thinking stopping in between second and third after he got a double? Abreu who is a smart and very good ballplayer, basically the Angels MVP, ran his team out of a potential rally in the 8th. As a baseball fan, it is disappointing to see so many mental errors being committed this post-season.
Thumbs down to Joe Giradi. In game 2, Giradi overmanaged and overused his bullpen. Luckily for Giradi the Angels bailed him out. In game 3 however, Giradi’s overmanaging clearly cost the Yankees the game. Why take out Demaso Marte, a lefty and bring in your other lefty just to get one out? Why take Robertson out of the game, with 2 outs and bring in Aceves? Clearly the moment was too much for Giradi and he overplayed his hand.
Phillies Rally
Like the Angels win yesterday, the Phillies win can also be summed up in a few words and these are: Situational Hitting. The Phillies were down to their last at-bat and with a 1-1 count, Jimmy Rollins hits a 2 run double that splits the right field gap giving the Phillies the 5-4 victory. Unfortunately, I missed the game and only saw the highlights, but like the Angels, the Phillies win because one of their hitters got the job done in a key situation in the game and was clutch. Good teams in the post-season manufacture runs with 2 outs. When teams failed to do that, they usually wind up losing.
Thumbs up to….
….Jimmy Rollins, his walk off double has the Phillies one win away from going back to their 2nd consecutive World Series.
Thumbs up to Ryan Howard, whose 2 run homer in the first inning of last night’s ballgame tied him with Lou Gherig for consecutive post season games with an RBI(8 games). Of course, the stat is also misleading because Gherig did it in the World Series. Nevertheless, Ryan Howard is getting the job done and he is the reason why the Phillies are a game away from winning the National League championship.
Thumbs down to…
….Jonathan Broxton. All you had to do was get one more out. Instead of having the NLCS tied at two games, Broxton’s mistake to Rollins has the Phillies knocking on the World Series door..
Yankees are in trouble.
So many things to say about this team, I just don’t know where to start. As I sit here writing this, the skies have once again opened delivering its deluge on the city and the new stadium. It is as if the ghosts of Yankee greats are crying from the heavens above saying “what hath the new stadium wroth.” What it has brought this team has been nothing but losing. The Yankees have failed to bring that home field advantage from the old stadium right into their new one. If dropping 22 runs against the Indians wasn’t bad enough, the Red Sox had to add to the misery I’m feeling with this team and the new stadium. I’m frankly already sick of it. First, let me acknowledge a painful fact; The Red Sox..that’s right, the hated Boston Red Sox are better than the Yankees on the field and off the field. While the Yankees went out and spent almost $400 billion on free agents, the Red Sox spent about $12 billion and have gotten their money’s worth. Unlike the Yankees, the Sox can hit, drive in players from scoring position, steal bases, steal home, and find those role players that are necessary to win championships. Trade that Yankee Killer Manny Ramirez (who has been suspended by the way) and substitute him with the new Yankee Killer Jason Bay. It was truly pathetic to see this Red Sox team dominate the Yankees in all facets of the game , it makes me sick to write about it.
Then the Rays come to town
And things stay the same. They can’t get timely hits with men in scoring position. Except for Teixeira’s double last night, the Yankees situational hitting was terrible. It’s as if the Yankees find ways to lose games rather than finding ways on how to win these games. After Teixeira’s double, I was confident the Yankees were about to find a way to win the game. Unfortunately, the terrible bullpen once again gave the game away. Maybe it was a good thing that I was sick these past few days and listened to game on the radio, because if I had to see these games, I would have puked my insides right out.
Joba Chamberlain..
After giving up 4 runs which included a home run by the new Yankee killer, Joba settled down and pitched a very good game. However, if he continues his inconsistency, then maybe Joba should be in the bullpen. Remember when Rivera came up with the team in 1995, as a starter he was very inconsistent. At times he was good, other times he was terrible. It wasn’t until game 2 of the 95 ALDS that the legend of Rivera was born, and that came thanks to his move to the bullpen. If Joba doesn’t start pitching with consistency, then maybe he should move to the pen and help bolster up what truly is a terrible group.
David Veloz
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