Wanted: 8th Inning Guy

Joba gives up a grand slam in a 1-0 game where Javier Vazquez pitched brilliantly in a pitcher's duel with Felix Hernandez. But thanks to Joba, King Felix goes the distance and pitches another complete game victory to beat the Yankees, striking out the side (with some help from the umpire) in the ninth inning.

Who should be out 8th inning guy? Because this guy aint working.

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Game 87 Yankees at Mariners

Yankees
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Colin Curtis RF
Brett Gardner LF
RHP Javier Vazquez

Mariners
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chone Figgins 2B
Russell Branyan DH
Jose Lopez 3B
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Justin Smoak 1B
Michael Saunders LF
Rob Johnson C
Jack Wilson SS
RHP Felix Hernandez

Stacking Lefties: Joe Girardi is batting three lefties in a row tonight. Girardi usually likes to split them up.
The Only King I Know: King Felix Hernandez is on the mound tonight. In his last appearance against the Bombers he absolutely dominated them pitching a complete game two-hit shutout.
YES3D: Tonight's game will be the first MLB game to be broadcasted in 3D. Who has a 3D TV anyway, and do you really have to wear stupid glasses to watch that tv?

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What To Do About the All Star Game?

Ty Wigginton, Omar Infante, Jason Heyward, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Matt Capps, Fausto Carmona, Yadier Molina, Jose Reyes.

Joey Votto, Kevin Youkilis, Paul Konerko, Heath Bell, Matt Latos, Felix Hernandez, Jered Weaver, Andy Pettitte, Mike Pelfrey, Jamie Garcia, Miguel Olivo, Billy Wagner.

The difference between the two sets of names you see is that one group is on the All Star team and the others were left off. Obviously, regardless of how you select All-Stars, there will be some snubbed, but wow was it pathetic this year.

How in the world can you justify having Omar Infante on the team over first half NL MVP Joey Votto? And how can Ty Wigginton, who returned back to earth after a superb first six weeks, make the team over both Paul Konerko (who is tied for second in the AL with 20 HR) and Kevin Youkilis? (who leads the league in runs, is third in OBP, and also has 17 HR and a first half MVP candidate).

Then you have CC Sabathia and Fausto Carmona, who are both having good seasons, chosen over the likes of Andy Pettitte, Jered Weaver, and Felix Hernandez, who are all having great seasons.

The NL roster does not have a single pitcher from the San Diego Padres, who lead the majors in ERA. Meanwhile they have Matt Capps who has allowed 25 more hits this season than Billy Wagner, who was left off.

And even though this is a Yankees blog, we still recognize Alex Rodriguez has not had the greatest first half of a season and Youkilis and Konerko may be more deserving.

Due to injuries, the new rule where pitchers starting the Sunday before the All Star game cannot be eligible to pitch in the game, and the fans voting in the last roster spot, there will be some additions to each team. But in the meantime, if this game is going to "count," what can MLB do to fix it?

My first proposition is to eliminate the fan voting. I know many fans enjoy the voting even I like doing it, but it's become a joke over the last few years. The fans can't be dependable to put the best team on the field. Yadier Molina should not be the starting catcher over Brian McCann. Chase Utley has been injured and underperforming all year, and Jason Heyward's been hurt most of the season as well, and they are starting. Mark Teixeira was almost selected to the team and he's been a major disappointment this season. If it counts, then the fans shouldn't be voting, because it's just a popularity contest with the fans.

I also think they should eliminate the rule that every team needs to be represented. A lot of times this is the reason why players are snubbed. The Wigginton instead of Konerko/Youkilis is Evidence A. And maybe you can make a case Matt Latos or Heath Bell could be represented over the Pirates' Evan Meek (although he's having an excellent season as well). Basically, many players' hard work is not being recognized because they have to take someone else just to represent each team.

By fixing these two things, I think it is the right step in the direction of fixing the All Star Game. The game is meant to have the best players in the league playing against each other for home-field advantage in the World Series, and if the best players aren't out there, then it loses some of its integrity.

But hey, at least they didn't select Stephen Strasburg, who only has six starts in the majors. Imagine how much more ticked off Mike Pelfrey, Jamie Garcia, Mat Latos, Heath Bell, Billy Wagner, and Clayton Kershaw would be?

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Game 78: Yankees vs Mariners

Yankees
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada C
Curtis Granderson CF
Brett Gardner LF
Ramiro Pena 3B
LHP CC Sabathia

Mariners
Ichiro Suzuki RF
Chone Figgins 2B
Milton Bradley DH
Jose Lopez 3B
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Josh Wilson SS
Josh Bard C
Michael Saunders LF
LHP Ryan Rowland-Smith

No King in NY: No, not King James. The Yankees will be relieved to see King Felix oback in the dugout today after he dominated them last night. Instead they will be delighted to see Ryan Rowland-Smith, and is 1-7 record and a 6.18 ERA.
Carsten Charles in Charge: In the month of June Sabathia went 5-0 with a 2.19 ERA and 35 strikeouts. He looks to carry that over into July today.
Vote Swisher: Nick Swisher is having an amazing season and the All-Star voting ends tonight at midnight. Help vote Nick Swisher in because Girardi may not choose him in fear of being accused of taking his own players over others more deserving. Only thing is Swisher is deserving! So vote Swisher!

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Yanks Take Back-to-Back Ace Kickings

Two games. Two aces. Two losses. The Seattle Mariners put Cliff "Yankee Killer" Lee and "King" Felix Hernandez on the mound in back-to-back games and the Yankees faltered in each to back-to-back complete-game efforts. Lee dominated everyone but Nick Swisher Tuesday in a 7-4 loss while Hernandez absolutely dominated the Yankees, pitching a complete-game shutout and striking out 11 batters while only allowing two hits.

Many can look at these games and complain about the Yankees offense, but this is how Seattle drew it up in the beginning of the season, that Lee and Hernandez would be a dominant duo, however, it is just the second time they've followed one another with victories this season.

What is a little alarming is the fact that the Yankees have given up seven runs the last two games to an inept Mariners offense. Phil Hughes had the extra rest and you could use that as an excuse and Javier Vazquez didn't pitch awful, but he did not pitch well either. And the bullpen did not help as they were unable to stop the bleeding and keep the Yankees in the game.

These past two games are the type of games where you want CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte on the mound, the guys who can go toe-to-toe with the opposing pitchers. But tomorrow things will be back to normal as the Yankees have the upperhand in the mismatch of Sabathia versus Ryan Rowland-Smith.

All in all, not to fret, things will return to normalcy tomorrow.

Note: The last time the Yankees lost back-to-back games to pitchers throwing complete games was in April of 2000 when Chris Carpenter and Kelvim Escobar defeated the Yankees as members of the Toronto Blue Jays.

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Who Will Be the Best in 2010?

We are a day away from the Yankees and Red Sox squaring off at Fenway Park to open the 2010 season. Throughout the week we have been giving you our projections of the Yankees lineup and predictions of teams throughout the league, including our playoff predictions. Today we will conclude our season preview with our award predictions. We've made some bold predictions, some safe predictions, and some biased predictions (hey, what do you expect?). Here are our regular season award predictions:


AL MVP
Mark Teixeira NYY

NL MVP
Albert Pujols STL(it's his to lose)

AL CY Young

Felix Hernandez SEA

NL CY Young

Roy Halladay PHI

AL Rookie of the Year

Austin Jackson DET

NL Rookie of the Year

Jason Heyward ATL

AL Manager of the Year

Don Wakamatsu SEA

NL Manager of the Year

Bruce Bochy SFG


If I get just one of these predictions right I'll be happy. The 2010 season is now upon us, hopefully it ends the same way as 2009...enjoy.

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