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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Game 37: Yankees vs. Twins

Yankees

Derek Jeter DH

Brett Gardner CF

Mark Teixeira 1B

Alex Rodriguez 3B

Robinson Cano 2B

Jorge Posada C

Marcus Thames RF

Randy Winn LF

Ramiro Pena SS

Sergio Mitre RHP

Twins

Denard Span CF

Orlando Hudson 2B

Joe Mauer C

Justin Morneau 1B

Michael Cuddyer RF

Jim Thome DH

Jason Kubel LF

Alexi Casilla SS

Matt Tolbert 3B

Nick Blackburn RHP

Notes:

• Swisher is getting the day off against a righty becuase his bicep bothers him swinging left-handed.
• I'm freaking out right now because the YES Network is showing Center Stage, despite the Channel guide saying it should be showing Yankee baseball. THe game is on TBS as well, but that's blacked out. So I'm scrambling to figure out whats going on.
  

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5 days until Opening Day

The Yanks are just fine tuning some things before Sunday's opener, and here's some links to some interesting stories out of the Grapefruit League as camp winds down.

• CC Sabathia made his final spring training start today against the Braves, but it didn't go well. But he feels ready to go for the Opener at Boston.
  
• Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte pitched in his first Major League Spring Training game today. He threw 1 1/3 innings, giving up one run on two hits. And the Yankees liked what they saw.
• Big Tex's elbow is feeling better after treatment.
• For our readers in Central New York, the YES Network signed a live-streaming agreement with Time Warner Cable.
• Gold-Medal Winner Michael Johnson talked to the team today, saying, "You have to try to keep that hunger," Johnson said. "That's the most important challenge facing the entire team. How do you stay hungry and go out there this year with the same type of drive, determination and motivation last year that helped them be successful?"

Make sure you check back tomorrow for our projections on the Infielders and Catchers.

And make sure you vote on our poll on the right before the game on Sunday.

SEE YA!

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I Don't Want to Miss a Thing: Yanks win classic game

Angels 3 8 2
Yankees 4 13 3

WP: Robertson
LP: Santana

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Alex Rodriguez. He has gotten the Playoff (Rally) Monkey off his back and now is beating it to a pulp. (Don't come after me PETA.) He only had one hit, but it was a big one as it tied the game in the 11th inning after the Angels had gone ahead. After another right-center field home run to tie the game, it's almost to the point where we expect this from A-Rod.

TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Just another a great moment this postseason gave the Yankees and the fans the feeling that we were going to win this game.

PLAY OF THE GAME: While it may have been an anti-climactic way to end the game, the error that allowed Jerry Harriston, Jr. to score was obviously the most important play of the game.

GAME NOTES:

• I can only imagine the scene at Yankee Stadium after that game. I'm sure it was worth the pneumonia John probably caught after sitting in the cold for 5 straight hours.
• With a game like this, it's a huge lift for the Yankees and a bit of a downer for the Angels. But as the saying goes, momentum stops with the next games starting pitcher. So it's up to Andy to stay the course with a solid start on Monday (which is tomorrow now).
  
• The Yankees pitchers stranded 16 runners on base and the bullpen allowed 5 hits and only one run in 6.2 innings of work.
• If you take a step back from the excitement of this game, it was pretty sloppy defensively and both offenses wasted a lot of opportunities. The teams combined for 5 errors and 28 runners left on base. It's not exactly clean baseball but, in the Yankees case, a win is a win is a win.
• Even though it didn't matter in the outcome of the game, the Aybar play was the right call. I HATE the neighborhood play. There are ways to touch the base, protect yourself, and get rid of the ball. If Little Leaguers and High Schoolers can do it, why can't Major Leaguers?
  
• The game lasted 5 hours and 10 minutes. Just for something to compare that to, the Yankees-Red Sox 15 inning game lasted 5 hours and 33 minutes.
  
• Two thoughts from watching the YES Network post-game show: 1) Only Michael Kay could wear that hat and get away with it. 2) Great, now we get to listen to Mike Francesa yell at the people who call into his show on Sunday mornings, too.
  
• And I think this was probably the best pie from AJ. He had the element of surprise going for him because no one knew who he was going to pie. He could have gone for Melky or A-Rod, but decided to go for Harriston.
• Photo from ESPN.com
  

NEXT GAME:
Game 3 ALCS:
Yankees at Angels
Monday 4 PM ET (which means I will be sprinting back to my dorm from class)
Pettitte vs. Kazmir

SEE YA!

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Michael Kayisms: Fallacy of the Predetermined Outcome

We are continuing our segment on the weird things that Michael Kay says (over and over and over and over again). In the first post, John wrote about whether the Yankees have a "rally in their bones" or not.

Now, I'm here to tell you if I believe in the "fallacy of the predetermined outcome."

First of all, there is no such thing as the fallacy of the predetermined outcome (FPO), Kay just made it up. But did I really need to tell you that?

The definition of the FPO, according to Kay (considering he made it up, who else is going to define it?). For ease, I'm going to use a somewhat recent example to explain:
In the game on July 6, Derek Jeter was incorrectly called out trying to steal third base. The next batter got a hit. It would be natural to say, "Oh, if the umpire hadn't screwed up, Jeter would have scored on that hit!" Then Kay will say, "only if you believe in the FPO," because, if Jeter had been on third, the pitcher may have pitched the next batter differently and he wouldn't have gotten a hit.

The problem is, you can't "believe" in a fallacy. I'm going to use a philosophical example here so stay with me. A philosophical skeptic believes that there can be no absolute truth, that truth is relative and is different for everyone. But that means that no one can be wrong. Then, I could say there are absolute truths, and, based on the logic of a skeptic, I am right. That is the fallacy of the skeptic. (See, I actually did pay attention in my Western Civilization class). You can be a skeptic (or a predetermined outcomer) but there is the fallacy of each. You cannot believe in the fallacy, it's there or it isn't there.

So, the point is, Michael Kay isn't Socrates. He does have the whole "the only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing" thing down, but he still should not philosophize on-air.

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Game 85: Yankees at Twins

YANKEES (50-34)
Jeter SS,
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez DH
Posada C
Cano 2B
Cabrera LF
Ransom 3B
Gardner CF

Pitching: RHP Alfredo Aceves (5-1, 2.02).

TWINS (43-42)
Span CF
Tolbert 2B
Mauer DH
Morneau 1B
Kubel LF
Cuddyer RF
Buscher 3B
Redmond C
Punto SS

Pitching: LHP Francisco Liriano (4-8, 5.49).

TIME/TV: 1:10 p.m., YES

So Long: This will be the Yankees final game at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, as it is closing next year. You'd know this if you watch the YES Network, because they have showed the "Countdown to Starry Nights" at least 3 times a game.

Ace in the hole: Aceves fills in for Chien-Mien Wang today as he makes his first start of the season.

Phil 'er up: Phil Hughes has been dominant since moving to the bullpen. He has pitched 15.2 innings over 11 appearances in the bullpen and has only given up 7 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, and recorded 16 strikeouts.

Listless Liriano: Francisco Liriano has not been the same dominant pitcher since he had Tommy John Surgery.

UPDATE 1:31: Good to see A-Rod feels good enough to steal second off the lefty here. And it was a good idea that Girardi DHed him today instead of having play another day on the artificial turf.

UPDATE 2:09: That Yankees on YES computer thing is such a ripoff. So you can't watch games at the beach, ever hear of a radio?

UPDATE 2:22: It seems that every ball is hit hard against Liriano. He's not fooling anyone on the Yankees right now.

UPDATE 2:45: Uh, this isn't looking good.

UPDATE 2:52: There's something you haven't seen in almost a month, as Big Tex lets go a Big Fly.

UPDATE 3:49: The fact that David Cone even knows who the Jonas Brothers are pisses me off.

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