This Day In New York Yankees History 4/18

On this day in 1923 the Yankees new $2.5 million ballpark was opened in style as Babe Ruth hit the first home run of the parks history. This is where the term "The House That Ruth Built" first started when referring to the original Yankees Stadium. This was the first ballpark to have three decks which sold over 72,000 Yankees tickets on this day. The Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1 beating the Sox hurler Howard Ehmke.

On this day in 1929 the Yankees became the second team to wear numbers on their uniforms when their Opening Day game was postponed due to rain. The Indians became the first team to wear numbers on their jerseys thanks to Mother Nature. New York assigned their numbers by where you hit in the lineup. Earle Combs wore #1, Mark Koenig #2, Babe Ruth #3, Lou Gehrig #4, Bob Meusel #5, Tony Lazzeri #6, Leo Durocher #7, Johnny Grabowski #8, Benny Bengough #9, and Bill Dickey #10.

On this day in 1972 for the first time in the Yankees storied franchise they played a night game on Opening Day in Yankee Stadium. The Yankees beat the Brewers 3-0 behind a gem by Steve Kline.

On this day in 1978 Reggie Jackson deceived Indians pitcher Tippy Martinez when Reggie pretended to get angered by getting a sign from third base coach Dick Howser. It was well known that Reggie had the green light in 3-0 counts but pretended to be forced to take a pitch. Martinez threw a fastball right down the middle and Reggie slugged the ball into the bleachers and gave the Yankees a 4-3 walk off victory. 

Sabathia, offense overpower Rays in 10-2 win

CC Sabathia gave up just 1 earned run in 7 innings and the defense turned a 5-4-3 triple play in the bottom of the second tonight as the Yankees stunned David Price and the Rays in St. Petersburg, 10-2. In those 7 frames, Sabathia wasn't necessarily dominant, as he surrendered 7 hits while getting a lot of balls hit hard off him, but since those line drives rarely turned into runs I guess it's tough to complain about this outing. 

Anyway, the Yanks offense attacked early and often in this one, scoring 4 times in the first two innings thanks to 2 RBI Triples from Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian Roberts and 2 RBI Singles from Brian McCann and Derek Jeter. Later on, McCann, Ellsbury, and Roberts, along with Alfonso Soriano, struck again, collecting a Solo Home Run, a Sac Fly, a run-scoring single, and another Solo shot respectively to make this contest a blowout. 

Besides those guys, Yangervis Solarte and Scott Sizemore also contributed to this W, going 3-for-5 with a 2-run Shot (the first of his career) and 1-for-3 with a double. After that double, Sizemore scored easily on the triple by Roberts, giving the Pinstripes an early 2-0 lead.

Yankees Turn A Triple Play

The New York Yankees have turned a triple play tonight in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays! The Rays had runners on first and second with nobody out when a sharp line drive was hit to the third basemen Yangervis Solarte. Solarte stepped on the bag and threw to the second basemen Brian Roberts who stepped on the bag and threw to the first basemen Scott Sizemore to complete the triple play.

CC Sabathia was on the mound, if you remember correctly he was on the mound for the last Yankees triple play as well... Kind of cool.

Game Thread: Yankees @ Rays 4/17

The New York Yankees have been home for the last nine games and are headed back out on the road tonight as they travel to Tropicana Field to take on the Tampa Bay Rays for the first of four games this weekend. The Yankees will send their big man CC Sabathia to the mound to face off with David Price for the Rays, a matchup of the aces of the staffs. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET on the YES Network, on the computer with MLB TV, and on the radio with WFAN.

Join the discussion on twitter by following @GreedyStripes or by dropping us a line in the comments box of the site. You can also bid points on whether the Yankees will win or lose every single game if you take part in our mega prediction game. You can also get your Yankees tickets for this  game and all Yankees games, home or away, right here on The Greedy Pinstripes so keep that in mind as well.

Enjoy the game Yankees family and enjoy the rest of your night.

Hoping For The Return Of "Fat" CC.... Meme

"Please Eat Me... Please?" - Cap'n Crunch

New York Yankees Injury Updates 4/17

Mark Teixeira played three innings in an extended spring training game today playing in three innings and walking twice while striking out once. No problems were reported with the hamstring or the wrist and seems ready to go for Sunday's game at the Tampa Bay Rays.

David Robertson threw 25 pitches off the mound for the first time since his groin injury and came through everything fine. Robertson is on track to come off the disabled list on Tuesday when the Yankees are in Boston, perfect timing. D Rob is scheduled to throw in a minor league game on Saturday and take Sunday and Monday off before coming back to the big club.

Brian Roberts is back from his back injury and is in the lineup tonight for the Yankees. Roberts and his career .313 average against David Price is obviously healed enough to make the start tonight, great news.

Preview: New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Rays 4/17

The New York Yankees head out on the road to their home away from home, well one of them anyway, when they take on the Tampa Bay Rays in a four game set at Tropicana Field. Tonight we will see each teams ace on the mound as CC Sabathia takes the rubber for the Yankees and will face off with David Price for the Rays. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET on the YES Network, on the computer with MLB TV, and on the radio with WFAN.

CC Sabathia proved once again that he was susceptible to the big inning as he took a loss on the chin to the Boston Red Sox last time out. The Yankees could have easily swept that series if CC bends but didn't break in that 6th inning against Boston. CC is the only Yankees pitcher with multiple losses this season and he deserved both of them unfortunately.

David Price held the Reds to one run on four hits and a walk while striking out 10 batters in 8.1 IP in his last start as he flirted with having the first shutout of the season. Price is 2-0 on the young season and once again looking to lead the Rays to the top of the American League East division.

Go Yankees!!

Fender Now Sells MLB Licensed Team Guitars

Some people are fans of both Major League Baseball and plucking on a guitar, well if that is you then today is your lucky day. Fender, the very popular guitar company, is now selling official MLB licensed team guitars for all your favorite MLB teams. For the low, low price of $799 you can have a standard stratocaster Fender New York Yankees guitar of your very own.

I don't play the guitar and honestly I have never had the passion to even want to try but that guitar is cool and I think I must have one.

Stephen Drew & Kendrys Morales Wouldn't Help Much

It is common knowledge that the Yankees infield was a major concern and question mark coming into the season due to not only production but age and health. Well two weeks in the Yankees infield has taken a big hit with the DL stint for Mark Teixeira and the missed games for Brian Roberts and Derek Jeter and the fans are screaming for the signings of Stephen Drew and Kendrys Morales and I am over here wondering why. I am not overly confident that they will help much, if at all.

The first thing that needs to be said is neither of these guys have had a spring training or competed in any games this season. They are both working out at the Scott Boras complex but that can only get you so far and nothing can replace real games and live competition. Ervin Santana signed late in spring training and did not make his first start until April 9, going on almost two weeks into the season. You have to figure that Drew and Morales would need at least two weeks just to be ready to get into a game.

In two weeks time Mark Teixeira would be back so the need for Kendrys Morales would be little to none. He is a first basemen or a DH and we would have that on the team already. Now while I am not above getting greedy and having an All Star a every position, even the bench, I am against giving up a draft pick for a glorified bench player. Kelly Johnson has also filled in well enough to be considered a legit first basemen back up option.

Drew could play second base and could be our shortstop next season when Derek Jeter retires, sure, but I am not entirely sure how much better he would be. Brian Roberts is struggling but is a switch hitter and plays a good enough defense to make up for a slow start, a slow start I don't expect to last all season if healthy. Drew adds yet another left handed bat to the Yankee lineup and is only a career .264 hitter while Roberts is a career .278 hitter. Roberts is hurt a lot, I get that, but so is Drew. Drew has played in over 100 games once in the last three seasons, and that was last years 124 game campaign, so he is not the poster child for durability himself either.

The most important thing, in my opinion, to this whole situation is a Drew signing takes at bats away from Dean Anna and Yangervis Solarte. The Yankees don't need Drew, they have infield depth in the minor leagues and on the bench, and I am not sure he would even be nice to have. He's a name, he's not the type of player we need. Neither is Morales so I hope that New York passes on both.

Quick Hit: What Will Boston Fans Whine About Now

The Boston Red Sox organization and players may have not made a big stink about Michael Pineda and Pine Tar Gate but their fans did, especially on Twitter. I heard many ignorant ramblings that basically said that Pineda was only good because of the pine tar and that Boston would have won had Pineda not cheated. While they are entitled to their opinion it doesn't necessarily make them right, especially when MLB players former and current are saying that pine tar does NOTHING to affect the pitches and the pitcher. You grip the ball better just like you use pine tar to grip the bat better. Anyway, I digress...

What will Boston fans complain about now after Pineda dominated the Chicago Cubs last night? The Cubs don't have the offense that Boston has, that's a given, but they are still a Major League team capable of scoring runs at any time. Oh yeah, the Yankees still have Alex Rodriguez. Carry on.