Walk Off Warriors Strike Again

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

This time it was Juan Miranda who got pied. With two outs and the game tied in the ninth, Miranda singled off our old friend Kyle Farnsworthless's leg, scoring Eric Hinske to win the game. David Robertson pitched .2 of an inning striking out a batter, getting ready and healthy for the postseason. A.J. Burnett also showed he is getting ready for the postseason as well, pitching his fourth consecutive solid start, going 6.1 innings while striking out eight. Mark Teixeira tied Carlos Pena for the AL home run lead with his 39th home run and Nick Swisher added his 28th home run of the season. It was the teams 102nd win and 15th walk off of the season. Their secondmost since 1943 when the Yankees had 17 walk-offs.

This team is ready for the playoffs. It's just a matter of finding out who we are going to play. Tigers still lead the Twins by 2 games after splitting a doubleheader yesterday.

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Little Big League: Yankees 8 Royals 2

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

WP:Gaudin (6-10)
LP: Hochevar (7-12)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: This can easily go to Robinson Cano, but let's give it to the guy who hit his first career home-run: Ramiro Pena. Pena hit a solo home run in the 5ht inning to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

PLAY/TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Here is where Cano will get his credit. Cano's grand slam in the 7th inning gave the Yankees an 8-2 lead and put the Royals down. It was his second career grand slam.

GAME NOTES:
--Cano's grand slam was also his 25th home-run of the year,making him the fifth Yankee with at elast 25 home runs this year, setting a franchise record.
--Chad Gaudin really wants to pitch in Ocotber and Girardi will have to make a tough decision on which pitchers he will carry. If David Robertson is healthy, he will be on the roster, and possibly Marte if Girardi wants another lefty. Personally, I think Gaudin is more valuable in a 7-game series and he will be left off for the first round, but will be added for the ALCS should the Yankees reach that point.
--Yeah the title isn't a song, it's a movie, but I have practice in a half an hour so I have to make this quick. Besides it's the perfect headline considering it was basically the AAA Yankees beating up on the MLB Royals.

Tonight:
A.J. Burnett pitches tonight, so hopefully this will be a nice tune-up start for him before heading into the playoffs. But I know all Yankees fans are more interested in the doubleheader going on right now between the Twins and Tigers. As I type this the game is tied 1-1 in the top of the sixth. Tonight the pitching matchup is Brian Duensing vs Justin Verlander...I think I speak for all Yankee fans when I say we'd rather see the Twins win the Central. That's it for now.

SEE YA until tonight.

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Royals head to Bronx to face (Scranton) Yankees

Monday, September 28, 2009

Lineups via PeteAbe

YANKEES (100-56)
Gardner CF
Cabrera RF
Damon LF
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Hinske 3B
Miranda 1B
Cervelli C
Pena SS

Pitching: RHP Chad Gaudin (1-0, 3.71).

ROYALS (64-92)
Maier LF
Betancourt SS
Butler 1B
Jacobs DH
Callaspo 2B
Teahen RF
Olivo C
Gordon 3B
Anderson CF

Pitching: RHP Luke Hochevar (7-11, 5.98).

TIME/TV: 7:05, YES.

Weather Update:

Empire State of Mind: That was the planned headline for the game when the Yankees clinched home-field advantage, but since it happened the same day they clinched, we went with Wake Me Up When September Ends.

Lineup Notes:Girardi is taking full advantage of having everything clinched by resting Jeter, A-Rod, Teixeira, Matsui, Swisher, and giving Posada a half-day off. Cano is obviously in there, because it must be written into his contract that he has to play every inning of every game as he rarely gets a day off and is almost never taken out when the game is out of hand.




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Why the Yankees will, and won't, win the World Series


Now that the business of clinching the AL East is taken care of, we can officially look ahead to the playoffs. I figured I'd get a quick run down on the reasons the Yanks will win, and some of the problems they're going to need to overcome.

Reasons they get trophy #27:

  1. The offense: The Yankees rank first in the the league in runs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and home runs, and is 2nd in batting average, and 7th in stolen bases. Also, they own the third-best stolen base conversion percentage with 81%.
  2. The bullpen: The development of this bullpen from the mess it was in April and May is Girardi's most important effect on this team this season. The addition of Hughes to the mix solidified the bridge to Mo. On the year, including the part where the 'pen was largely ineffective, it has recorded a 39-16 record with a 4.01 ERA while logging 491.2 innings. The relievers also have a combined .232 batting average against, good for second in the majors.
  3. Ability to come back: The bullpen has been a huge factor in holding opponents scoreless in later innings, allowing the offense to work it's magic to bring 49 comeback wins, including 14 pie-in-the-face-inducing walk off wins. It may be cliché, but this team is never out of a game. If you win 100 games, and 49 of them are comeback wins, even I can do that math, that's 49% or almost half of their wins.
  4. Their first round opponent: While anything can happen in a short series, the Yankees have owned both the Tigers and the Twins this season. They swept the Twins in 7 games while going 5-1 against Detroit. Those two teams start a four-game set tonight that will decide who wins the AL Central and faces the Yankees in the ALDS.
Reasons they won't win:
  1. The starting pitching: Behind CC, there are some question marks in the starting rotation. Burnett has been inconsistent of late, going 2-5 since August 1st, with an ERA of 5.42 over that span. The Yankees are 5-6 in his last 11 starts. While Pettitte had an amazing month of August, he is still 37 and has thrown almost 200 innings. While he put most of the concerns about his shoulder to rest during his outing against the Angels, it could still be a concern. Then, of course, there is Joba, who stepped up Friday night against the Red Sox. The main problem with him has been consistency, and the amount of rest he gets between starts. If the Yankees skip him in the first round, will he be ready to go for Game 4 should they reach the ALCS?
  2. Girardi: While the skipper did a fantastic job this season, this will be his first postseason as manager. He obviously was part of the playoffs as a player and coach, it's going to be a completely different experience going in as the manager. Will he now which buttons to push at the right time?
  3. The pressure: Since the Yankees haven't won a World Series since 2000, the pressure is all on this team to bring the title back to the Bronx. Will they be able to handle it?
  4. Post-season performance of key players: We all know about A-Rod's struggles in the post-season, including how he has only 7 hits in his last 13 playoff games. CC Sabathia has not fared much better, with a 2-3 record and a 7.92 ERA. This will also be AJ Burnett's first playoff experience, so three of the most important pieces to the puzzle will be eyed very closely throughout the postseason.
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Wake Me up When September Ends

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Red Sox 2 8 0
Yankees 4 10 1

WP:Pettitte (14-7)
LP: Byrd (1-3)
S: Rivera (44)

PLAYER OF THE GAME: There was no real stand-out performance by a player, so this will go to the skipper Joe Girardi. Today, he clinched his first division title, and took the first step to reaching his real mission, the World Series Championship.

ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 10:  (FILE PHOTO)  Bench...Image by Getty Images via Daylife


PLAY OF THE GAME: Melky Cabrera's home run in the 3rd inning that cut Boston's lead in in half.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME:
Hideki Matsui's 2-run single in the 6th inning that gave the Yanks the lead.

GAME NOTES:
  • This is the 16th division title in Yankees history. For those of you that don't know, they haven't crowned division titles for the entire history of Major League Baseball, so that's why that number might seem low.
  • Now there are three goals for the rest of the season: 1) Stay healthy 2) rest the regulars and 3) Line up the rotation.
  • I don't want to sound cocky, but if I were you, I wouldn't spend the money on the AL East Division Champion hat and t-shirt, because this team is destined for great things.
SEE YA!

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GAME 156: Yankees vs Red Sox

YANKEES (99-56)
Jeter SS
Gardner CF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera LF
Molina C

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (13-7, 4.15).

RED SOX (91-63)
Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Bay LF
Youkilis 1B
Ortiz DH
Lowell 3B
Drew RF
Varitek C
Gonzalez SS

Pitching: RHP Paul Byrd (1-2, 6.04).

For the Division: The Yankees magic number is down to 1. A win today and they can break out the champagne to celebrate their 100th victory and AL East divisional title. It makes it that much more sweeter that they can do it to complete a sweep of the Red Sox.


Dominating the Sox: The Yankees have won 6 straight home games against the Red Sox, the most since 2001. They have won 7 of their last 8 against them and have closed the season series from 8-0 to 9-8.

It is raining in the Bronx but they will play this game because there is simply no other time to make it up. The Yankees need to be careful if they play in poor conditions to make sure nobody gets hurt. At this point staying healthy should be the number one priority for the players and a game in these conditions puts that at risk.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I'll probably be watching football today, but if FOX shows the Pats over the Giants here in Hamden, CT, I'll probably be watching the Yankees and try and get in some updates.

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99 Red Balloons

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Red Sox 0 2 1
Yankees 3 7 0

WP: Sabathia (19-7)
LP: Matsuzaka (3-6)
S: Rivera (43)

Description unavailableImage by chris.ptacek via Flickr


PLAYER OF THE GAME: CC Sabathia. The lefty went 7, while striking out 8 and surrendering only one hit in a dominating effort.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Melky Cabrera's catch against the wall on ball hit by Jed Lowrie in the third inning. It carried a lot farther than Sabathia thought it would, but Cabrera was able to snag it as he crashed into the center field wall.

TURNING OF THE GAME: Robinson Cano's home run. It got the Yanks on the board and was all the run support CC needed.

GAME NOTES:
  • CC has been been worth every last penny so far this season. With the win today, he becomes the first 19-game winner in the majors. He last lost a game on July 28 against the Rays (when I believe John made a comment about the Yankees trading for Halladay because CC was "no ace"). He is 9-0 since and has gone at least 7 innings in 10 of his last 11 starts, and the Yankees are 11-0 in those starts.
  • Robinson Cano sure is having a good bounce-back season after a disappointing campaign last year. His numbers in several categories, a .321 batting average, 24 home runs, 80 RBI's, a .352 on-base percentage, and slugging at a .519 clip are much improved over the .271, 14, 72, .305, and .410 from 2008.
  • The Yankees only stole 2 bases today off of Victor Martinez, instead of the 7 they stole last night off of Captain Varitek. Brett Gardner proved his worth off the bench when he took 2nd base on a pitch in the dirt, stole 3rd base, and then, to borrow a Michael Kay line, got himself into, and out of, a pickle.
  • This is win number 99 for the Yankees, and the Magic Number for the division is 1. The Bombers can try to win clinch the division and reach the century mark behind Andy Pettitte tomorrow afternoon.
  • My Syracuse Orange defeated the Maine Black Bears 41-24, despite two onside kick recoveries and two successful fake punts by Maine. If the season ended today, we'd be Bowl Eligible, with a 2-2 record. Unfortunately, it doesn't and the undefeated South Florida Bulls come to the Dome next weekend.
TOMORROW:
Paul Byrd vs. Andy Pettitte
Red Sox vs Yankees, 1:05 PM

SEE YA!

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GAME 155: Yankees vs Red Sox

YANKEES (98-56 First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (18-7, 3.31).

RED SOX (91-62 Second Place AL East)Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez C
Youkilis 1B
Lowell 3B
Ortiz DH
Baldelli RF
Lowrie SS
Anderson LF
Pitching: Daisuke Matsuzaka

My Have the Tides Turned: After starting the season 0-8 against the Red Sox, the Yankees are 7-1 in their last 8 meetings and trail the season series 9-7. They lead the Red Sox by 6.5 games and the magic number to clinch the division is 3.

Home Sweet Home: The Yankees are 27-7 at home since the All-Star Break and are 53-23 at home, the best in the majors.

Cruise Control Sabathia: In Sabathia's last 10 starts, he is 8-0 with a 2.24 ERA. He has given up 55 hits and 17 walks and struck out 77 in his last 72.1 innings pitched. He leads the AL in wins and has thrown himself into the Cy Young discussion. In other words, he's earning his paycheck.


Notes on the Enemy: Victor Martinez enters today with a 24-game hitting streak. David Roidtiz has homered in 3 straight games and has the most home-runs in the majors since June 6.

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Runnin' Wild

Friday, September 25, 2009

Red Sox 5
Yankees 9

WP:Chamberlain (9-6)
LP: Lester (14-8)



PLAYER OF THE
GAME: Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod homered, drove in four runs, and stole three bases in the 9-5 victory over the Red Sox. That was probably one of his most imressive games as a Yankee.

PLAY OF THE GAME: Safe to say it was A-Rod's home run to put them up 3-0 early.

TURNING POINT: Jon Lester having to leave the game in the third inning after a line drive hit him in the left leg. The Yankees were rolling at that point, but he's a good enough pitcher to get out of a jam and keep the score at 4-0 at the worst. Once he left, it seemed like it was a sure enough victory for the Bombers.

GAME NOTES
-Joba looked much, much, much better. That was a big step forward and I am sure a confident booster. He went 6 innings gave up 3 runs on 5 hits on only 81 pitches. He also stuck out 5 batters.
-Jon Lester had X_Rays on his left knee and they came back negative. He is listed as day-to-day. If the Red Sox lost him it would be a huge loss for them, but unfortunately for us, but fortunately for them, he is fine.
-The Yankees stole 7 bases off Captain Varitek. Varitek also is batting an outstanding .208 with 14 home runs...but don't you dare criticize him because he calls great games! (I'm am mocking Red Sox fans in case you can't tell).

Tommmorow...err, Today

CC Sabathia vs Daisuke Matsuzaka 4:10 ET Yankee Stadium

See Ya!

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Battle in the Bronx

YANKEES (97-56)

<span class=Joba Chamberlain on May 17, 2008" style="border: medium none ; display: block;" height="248" width="300">Image via Wikipedia


Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Cabrera CF

Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-6, 4.73).

RED SOX (91-61)

Jon LesterImage via Wikipedia


Ellsbury CF
Pedroia 2B
Martinez 1B
Youkilis 3B
Ortiz DH
Bay LF
Drew RF
Varitek C
Gonzalez SS

Pitching: LHP Jon Lester (14-7, 3.33).

TIME/TV: 7:05, My9, MLB Network.

High Five!: The magic number for the Yankees is 5, which means the Yankees can clinch the division with a sweep of the Red Sox this weekend.

They're due: The Yankees have never beaten Lester in his career as he is 3-0 with a 1.9o ERA. I'd like the Yankees to put an 8 spot on him today so I don't have to listen to people tell me he is one of the best lefty pitchers in the game, as in better than CC or Johan.

Chance to tie it up: Right now, the Red Sox lead the season series 9-6, so a sweep also means the two teams will tie the series. While it may be insignificant, just think back to the Yanks starting 0-8 against the Sawks and see how far they've come.

Joba's time to shine: Joba, whether he thinks so or not, has struggled the past couple of starts. He could really prove a lot of things to a lot of people, most importantly Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman, with a big start tonight.

Win it for Nathan!: If you haven't seen this story yet, click here to get caught up. I want this teacher to have to wear a paper bag over his head when he goes to school next week.

Blog Updates: I will be (forced to be) at a Shen Wei Dance Performance as part of the program for Syracuse freshman. I will of course be sneaking looks at the score, but may miss a large portion of the game. I am unaware of John's schedule, but we'll try to get something up for this one.

Enjoy the Game

UPDATE 7:15: John here, I'm forced to watch the game on NESN, and I want to say, they are actually making a good point about Joba. That if they were to limit his innings like this it should have been done earlier in the season rather than heading into the playoffs. Because now he is taking steps backwards, which I agree wholeheartedly with.


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Red Sox fan teacher in Central New York harasses Yankee fan student


Being in Syracuse, I get more news from the Central New York Area than anywhere else, and one of my roommates brought this story to my attention.

Nathan Jones, a fourth grade student (keep that in mind A FOURTH GRADER!) at Van Buren Elementary School was forced to turn his Yankee T-Shirt inside out for the entire day because his teacher is a Red Sox fan, besides being a (insert descriptive adjective here) jerk.

Nathan was then teased by 5th graders and other students for the rest of the day because his CC Sabathia shirt was inside out. After the parents filed a complaint to the school principle, the issue was apparently resolved. The article did not disclose the punishment for the teacher, Peter Addabbo, who has Red Sox paraphernalia in his classroom, according to the article.

While doing some research on the Internet (isn't Google great?) I found Addabbo's school-hosted website, where he can put assignments and tell the parents what the students are doing in class. NOWHERE does he mention, between Math, Social Studies, Lunch, and Recess, humiliating, bullying and harassing his students.

I'm not vindictive or stupid (what if there's someone else with the same name) enough to link to it, but Google-ing his name may or may not bring up a possible Facebook page.

This instantly reminded me of a similar (but even more ridiculous) story from 2006. (Yeah, I wish I could remember important things from 3 years ago, but no, I remember things like this). This one involves a Steelers fan teacher and a Broncos fan student.

But I think this story is a rallying point for the weekend. Let's say the Yankees sweep the Red Sox, clinch the AL East, and reach 100 wins, all while putting a dent in Boston's wild-card lead. Little Nathan would be able to walk into his class Monday (or Tuesday depending on the holiday schedule) wearing an authentic Yankee Jersey (which the Yankees should send him if they hear about the story) and basically flip his teacher off.

Let's win this one for Nathan!

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Lucky Town

Wednesday, September 23, 2009


I'm going to put off doing my home work for a little while so I can get a blog post in for what is a huge win for the Yankees.

First of all, the win gives the Yanks the series win in Anaheim, the first time they've done that since in forever.

Second, it gives the Yankees a 6.5 game lead over the Angels for home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Third, the Yankees lowered their Magic Number to 5 to clinch the division. Now, if the Royals can finish off the sweep (yes, you read correctly the SWEEP) of the Red Sox, it will be 4.

Fifth, AJ Burnett finally remembered how to not give up a boatload of runs. He went 5.2 innings, which could be better, but he struck out 11 and walked 3 so that drove his pitch count up. The most important thing is he only allowed 2 runs after the Bombers had already spotted him 3. Now if Joba can get back on track we might be a little more confident about the starting rotation headed into the playoffs.

Sixth, Robinson Cano finally got a hit with runners in scoring position! (It's the end of the world as we know it, but I feel fine). His two-out, 2-run single in the fourth inning was the difference in the game.

Seventh, Ian Kennedey returned to the mound after having surgery to remove an aneurysm earlier this season. He pitched a scoreless inning where he walked two (which can be expected in an appearance like that, especially in your home town) and struck out one.

Other notes (Not big enough or related enough to the game to get a number):

  • Jorge Posada's x-ray on his right foot came back negative. He fouled a ball of his foot last night and did not play in today's game. Girardi said Posada may not play Friday against the Red Sox.
  • Boston is up 6-2 over the Royals in the sixth inning, so the magic number may stay at 5 heading into a 3-game Battle in the Bronx. I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but how sweet would it be if the Yanks swept the series to clinch the division and reach 100 wins against the Sox? I can't say I expect that to happen, but it would be amazing.
  • Happy Birthday to the "other" Boss, Bruce Springsteen, who's song Lucky Town came off the 1992 album of the same name.

We'll try to get something out to you tomorrow, so until then...

SEE YA!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I take that SEE YA! back, I just noticed we are at 98 fans on our Facebook page. Come on people, just two of you need to become a fan for us to reach 100. (Well technically 4 of you do, because John and I are already fans, but that's just semantics)

What would do if I said the 99th and 100th fans get fabulous prizes?

If you answered "Call Jim a big, fat liar," you're correct. While we don't have prizes, imagine the pride you'll feel knowing you became our 100th fan.
Or you could just do it to make John and I feel good, that works for us.

We're also on Twitter (because at this point who isn't?). @KaysSuccessors is where you can find us.

Ok, I'm sure this time...

SEE YA!
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California Dreamin'

YANKEES (96-56)
Jeter SS
Hairston 3B
Teixeira 1B
Matsui DH
Duncan RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera LF
Gardner CF
Molina C

Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (11-9, 4.22).

ANGELS (90-61)
Figgins 3B
Aybar SS
Abreu RF
Hunter CF
Morales 1B
Rivera LF
Kendrick 2B
Matthews RF
Napoli C

Pitching: LHP Scott Kazmir (9-8, 5.08).

TIME/TV: 3:35, YES.

Sorry for the late post, sometimes that "going to class" thing gets in the way of the important things.

So the Yankees FINALLY won a game in LA with a sac fly by A-Rod in the 9th inning. And right now it is 0-0 in the 4th inning in a match up of Scott Kazmir and AJ Burnett. The Yankees also clinched a playoff spot.

UPDATE 4:50: This isn't like a Yankees Classic right because I didn't think Cano got hits with runners in scoring position anymore.

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Back in Black

The Yankees are officially back in the playoffs! Yes, I know this is very late and that there is currently a game going on in the fourth inning right now. But we've been very busy and these West Coast games during school just make things more difficult. The Yankees magic number is 6 as they are tied 0-0 in the top of the 4th against the Angels at the time of this post.

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Can we please win a game in LA. PLEASE!

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

YANKEES (95-56)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Gardner CF

Pitching: RHP Chad Gaudin (1-0 3.68).

ANGELS (90-60)
Figgins 3B
Izturis 2B
Abreu RF
Guerrero DH
Hunter CF
Morales 1B
Rivera LF
Aybar SS
Mathis C

Pitching: vs. RHP Ervin Santana (7-8, 5.43).

TIME/TV: 10:05, MY9/MLB Network.

Do you believe in magic, in Greinke's heart?: Zach Greinke is currently shutting down the Red Sox as the Royals are ahead 5-0 in the 5th inning. If the Red Sox lose, the Yankees magic number will drop to 7.

Maybe it's the time difference: The Yankees are 0-4 in Angel Stadium of this season. This is the main reason why the Yankees need to secure home-field advantage.

UPDATE 10:12: So Syracuse doesn't have MY9, it has MY43. While I have an MLB.TV subscription, it says I can't watch because I'm in the Yankees home television market, despite the fact that the game isn't on TV here. So right now I'm listening to a stream of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman from the Lowe's Broadcast booth. ( I just increased the value of Lowe's sponsorship by 0.000001% by mentioning it on the blog.)

The Yankees can clinch a playoff spot with a win or a Texas loss. Texas is tied 0-0 with Oakland in the 1st inning.

UPDATE 10:30: I am now updated on the personal lives of a couple of members of the Yankees family, thanks to Jon and Suzyn. Hunter Gardner, the son of Brett, enjoys the swimming pool and Ken Singelton is now a grandfather.

And I give Michael Kay crap for going off topic this early in the game? My apologies, Michael.

UPDATE 10:34: A picture says a thousand words.

UPDATE 10:50: IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR...... IT IS GONE. It's an Arodian home run.

Ok, that makes Jetarian sound good.

UPDATE 11:14: So apparently there is some gimmick where the Yankees and Red Sox radio announcers switch for an inning in one of the upcoming games.

I can only imagine the possibilities for this with TV.

And leave it to Jeter to steal second after picking up his 200th hit of the season.

UPDATE 11:50: Here we go again. Can Mo go 4 tonight?

UPDATE 11:57: So Sterling takes the place of Kay with the broadcaster jinx. They were just talking about how Gaudin deserved to be the 4th starter in the playoffs before this inning unfolded.

And he's also picking up in the "beating the dead horse" department, as he keeps mentioning how Swisher went to the wrong side of the foul pole on Figgins's home run.

I might just see the Yankees through this inning and then head off to bed, cause sleep is at a premium these days.

UPDATE 12:19: Having not been able to watch this inning, I haven't had a complete nervous breakdown yet. But I'm getting close.

UPDATE 12:25: THANK YOU A-ROD!

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We Now Turn to Chad Gaudin

I have to be in class in 10 minutes so I'll keep this short and sweet. The Yankees lost 5-2 to the Angels yesterday, in Anaheim, making them 0-4 their this season. They are 5-18 in the last five seasons. They lead the Angels for home-field by 4.5 games and the Red Sox by 5 games in the division. Boston gets to face CY Young candidate Zack Greinke tonight, while the Yankees send out Chad Gaudin against Ervin Santana to try and win a game against the Angels. A win or rangers loss wraps up a playoff spot for the Yankees, but if have to face the Angels in the ALCS, home-field advantage will play a huge role in the series, hence why these next two games are important.

As for the good news, Andy Pettitte did look good going 6 innings surrendering 3 runs. Too bad the Yankees offense couldn't muster anything up.

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Game 151: Yankees at Angels

Monday, September 21, 2009

YANKEES (95-55)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Swisher RF
Posada DH
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C

Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (13-6, 4.14).

ANGELS (89-60)

Pitching: LHP Joe Saunders (13-7, 4.75).

TIME/TV: 10:05, YES.

It's the Bottom of the first inning and it's already 2-0 Angels, this is a bad sign.

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Game 150: Yankees at Mariners

Sunday, September 20, 2009

YANKEES (95-54)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Cabrera RF
Gardner CF

Pitching: RHP Joba Chamberlain (8-5, 4.39).

MARINERS (77-72)
Suzuki RF
Gutierrez CF
Lopez 2B
Griffey Jr. DH
Beltre 3B
Hall LF
Carp 1B
Moore C
Wilson SS

Pitching: RHP Ian Snell (4-2, 4.86).

TIME/TV: 4:10, YES.

Our apologies for not getting a post up last night. We had a "failure to communicate" and dropped the ball on that one.

Key thing: Magic number is 9 and Boston is up 8-2 over Baltimore, so the Yanks need to win if they are going to lower that number.

And last night Doug Marrone and the Syracuse Orange picked up their first season with a 37-34 win over Northwestern at the Carrier Dome.

Now, I've got a lot of work to do before the Giants-Cowboys game tonight, so enjoy the game. I'll be keeping one eye on the score and will post if something big happens.


UPDATE 5:04: Well Joba is apparently doing his best impersonation of a batting practice pitcher. It's a safe bet that this is the last update of the night.


Let's just hope the Giants can beat the crap out of Tony Romo and make me feel a little better.
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GAME 148: Yankees at Mariners

Friday, September 18, 2009

Lineups from PeteAbe, who only has two weeks left covering the Yankees.

YANKEES (94-53 First Place AL East)
Jeter SS
Damon LF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui DH
Swisher RF
Cano 2B
Cabrera CF
Molina C
Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (11-9, 4.33).

MARINERS (76-71 Third Place AL West)
Ichiro RF
Gutierrez CF
Lopez 2B
Griffey Jr. DH
Beltre 3B
Hall LF
Hannahan 1B
Johnson C
Wilson SS
Pitching: RHP Felix Hernandez (15-5, 2.52).
TIME/TV: 10:10, YES.

Will The Real A.J. Please Stand Up? In his 11 wins, Burnett has a 1.71 ERA. In his 9 losses, Burnett has a 7.09 ERA. Which one shows up tonight? More importantly, which one shows up in the postseason?
Mo'in Em Down: Mariano Rivera has given up 1 earned run, 15 hits and 32 strikeouts in his last 33 innings. The Yankees have won all those games.
West Coast Warriors: They Yankees are 20-12 against teams from the AL West.

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Raging Against the Machine: My take on ESPN's claim

Earlier this week, ESPN started a debate about whether Boston in the 2000's or Los Angeles in the 1980's had a better sports decade. While I know why ESPN picked these two cities (they are the locations of their two main studios), I am here to make the case for New York in the 1990's.

I am going to follow the same format as David Schoenfield did in his article.

Winning is everything:
I decided to include the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils into this data. Before anyone jumps down my throat, hear this: East Rutherford, New Jersey, where the Devils and Nets played at the time(the Devils have since moved) is 7 miles from Midtown Manhattan. Foxboro, Massachusetts, where the NE Patriots play, is 22 miles away. And if you want to be a stickler about the name, the New York Giants and New York Jets both play in New Jersey, and the Patriots aren't called the Boston Patriots, they are the New England Patriots.

Table

Team

Titles

Winning Percentage

Playoffs

.500+

New York Knicks

0

0.617

10

9

New York Yankees

3

0.548

5₁,₂

7

New York Giants

1

0.522

3

4

New Jersey Devils

2

0.510

9

10

New York Mets

0

0.494

1₂

4

New York Rangers

1

0.485

6

5

New Jersey Nets

0

0.418

4

3

New York Jets

0

0.406

2

2

New York Islanders

0

0.355

2

1


7

0.483888889

36

43.48389


1- Yankees were 1st place in the AL East at the end of the strike-shortened 1994 season
2- Teams were 3rd best in league in a seaon before Wild Card (4 of Red Sox 5 playoff appearances were Wild Card births)

New York finished with more championships (7 to 6) , and Boston finished with a much better winning percentage (.588 to .480). If you take the best team from each sport for New York, as Boston only has four teams, the championships become tied (6 to 6) and New York closes the gap dramatically in winning percentage (now .588 to .549)

For percentage of playoff seasons, New York comes in at 40% as a whole and 55% with the 4 best teams. .500 or better season break down as 50% for the whole and 75% for the best teams.

Signature Moment

In New York sports, there is never a shortage of signature moments. From the Giants winning the Super Bowl in the biggest sporting event since the start of the Gulf War, to Chad Curtis catching the final out of the 99 World Series and everything in between. There are just so many to choose from. You have Dwight Gooden, who overcame drug and alcohol problems to pitch a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium. Then there's the image of Wade Boggs riding the police horse around Yankee Stadium after the 1996 World Series. It's probably got to be the breaking of the only Curse New York has ever had, when the Rangers won the Stanly Cup in 1994 after failing to win one since 1940.

Hall of Fame Careers
These are just the ones we could come up with, and we don't have a research department.

Hockey:
Wayne Gretzky
Mark Messier
Brian Leetch

Baseball:
Derek Jeter
Mariano Rivera
Mike Piazza
Rickey Henderson
Jorge Posada (borderline, probably not, but borderline)
John Franco (borderline, he won't make it until Lee Smith makes it.)

Football:
Michael Strahan
Curtis Martin
Vinny Testeverde (borderline, but he's the 6th on the All-time passing yards list behind Farve, Marino, Elway, Moon, and Tarkenton)
Lawrence Taylor

Basketball:
Patrick Ewing
Alan Houston (he seems borderline, but the NBA isn't really our thing, so we're undecided)
Mark Jackson (first time on ballot will be next year)


Greatest Individual Achievement
There are two different types of individual achievements: the ones that can happen on any given day, and the ones that take a career to achieve. In the 90's, New York had both.

The Holy Grail of pitching in baseball is the perfect game. Every pitcher dreams of one day throwing one. While the Mets have not had one since their inception (not even a no-hitter for that matter), the Yankees had 2 in the 90's. In 1998 David Wells blanked the Minnesota Twins and a year later David Cone threw his against the Montreal Expos.

"The Great One", Wayne Gretzky ended his career with the New York Rangers. In his final season, Gretzky set the goal scoring record by passing Gorie Howe. This man was such a great player, they altered the words of the national anthems for him at his final game.

Coaching Titan
There are two men that defined how to coach in their sport in the 90's. The first was Bill Parcells, first with the Giants, then with the Jets. Parcells's "coaching tree" would fill numerous head coaching vacancies around the league. One member of that tree is the hooded, classless, Bill Bellicheat from NE and the current Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.

Then there was Joe Torre. Torre could somehow have George Steinbrennar as his boss, manage the biggest team in professional sports in the largest media market in the world and still maintain an emotionless expression at all times. He overcame the "Clueless Joe" headline, to take the Yankees to 3 World Series before the end of the decade, including the 125-win season in 1998, which is the best baseball team to ever step on the diamond.

Memorable Brawl
This one will go to New York, without even an argument. The brawl between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks is one of the most memorable of all time. The picture of Jeff Van Gundy clinging to Alonzo Mourning's legs will live on long after he will.


Dramatic Playoff Comeback
The 1996 Yankees were just supposed to be happy to be there. They were playing the Atlanta Braves, with the big three of John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine. After getting embarrassed in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium, the Yanks went on to lose the second game at home as well. Down 2-0 and heading to Atlanta, "Joe Cool," as Torre was called, supposedly said to Steinbrennar, "We'll win three in Atlanta and come back home and clinch it in 6." Steinbrennar didn't believe him, but that's what they did. The entire series turned on Jim Leyritz's shocking 3-run home run off of Mark Wohlers. Some could say the dynasty was born on that swing. Even Joe Buck raised his voice a little for the home run call.


So that's the New York side of the debate. I feel it's a pretty good argument. What about you guys? Leave a comment, send an email (MichaelKaysSuccessors@yahoo.com) , tweet at us, write on our Facebook page, whatever, just let us know. We want to hear from you.

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The owners, operators, and writers of the Michael Kay's Successors blog are in no way sponsored, endorsed or affiliated with the New York Yankees or the aforementioned Michael Kay. Because if they were, we'd be on World Series championship #39 by now.

Also, anything written about broadcaster/on-air personalities is all in good fun and meant to be taken as a joke.


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