Friday, June 27, 2014

Nuno Finally Pitches Well in 6-0 Win Over Red Sox

Going into tonight's opener against the arch-rival Red Sox, many people questioned Joe Girardi's decision to start Vidal Nuno.

The 26-year-old lefty, 1-4 with a 5.88 ERA before the contest began, had given up 14 earned runs in his last two outings, causing some to prefer just letting Masahiro Tanaka go after the team's day off. 

Fortunetaly, Girardi didn't listen to those critics, sticking with a plan that eventually let Nuno toss a scoreless 5.2 frames, helping the Yankees win easily 6-0.

To start off the contest, Nuno did walk Red Sox Right Fielder Brock Holt, his only real moment of weakness on the night, as the youngster ended up surrendering just 2 hits to lower his ERA to 5.42.

On the offensive side of things, #57 also got a pretty good amount of run support, with the Yanks taking an early lead in the bottom of the first when the red-hot Mark Teixeira drove home Derek Jeter with a Sac Fly to left. 

Later on in the third, the inconsistent Bombers' bats would really break the game open, thanks to Kelly Johnson making everything a lot less stressful with a two-run home run to deep right-center and Brett Gardner immediately following that with a solo shot of his own, putting Boston's Brandon Workman (7 IP, 4 ER) in an nearly-inescapable hole.

Still, that message apparently never reached Bombers Catcher Brian McCann, who tacked on another pair in the eighth with a blast to the right-field porch.

The upper-decker from McCann, his first since last Wednesday, was his ninth of the season, and his third already against the Red Sox. 

Overall in 2014, the Pinstripes Backstop has quietly dominated Boston's pitching staff, hitting an impressive .392 (11-for-28) in the clubs' eight meetings, five of which have taken place in the veteran's home of the Bronx.

Game Thread: Yankees vs. Red Sox 6/27


Welcome to tonight's open thread and game thread! The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will play the latest edition of the rivalry, this time in a three game set in Yankee Stadium this weekend. The first game will have Vidal Nuno pitching for the Yankees against Brandon Workman for the Red Sox. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

It's not too late to grab your Yankees tickets for tonight's game, the Saturday night game on Fox, or the Sunday night game on ESPN. See your Yankees live before it's too late by grabbing some tickets right HERE on TGP. You can also follow @GreedyStripes on Twitter and search for The Greedy Pinstripes on Facebook to chat with us during the game. Or you can leave comments in the comments section and interact with Yankees fans across the country.

Enjoy the game Yankees family and enjoy the rest of your evening and weekend.

The Red Sox and Three Game Winning Streaks... Meme


True, at least up to date this season. All this trash talking may be a reverse jinx, only time will tell. Enjoy the game Yankees family and let's sweep those Sox so David Ortiz has something to complain about.

I've Got Til 5! - The Cast of Major League

I didn't write a post for this column last week, so to make up for it I'm giving you an extra long version of I've Got Til 5!. And for that post I think I came up with a pretty cool subject.

If you haven't seen the movie Major League I have one thing to say...

"Why the hell not?!?!"

That was the situation my girlfriend was in until a few nights ago. I guess that was partially my fault, since... as a baseball fan... I should have made sure she'd seen this masterpiece of cinema. I mean, it has everything... comedy, drama, great acting, original story, and it's about baseball. The Yankees are the villains in this movie, even though it came out in 1989 and that season the Bombers finished the season 14.5 games behind the American League East Champion Toronto Blue Jays (note: the Indians were 16 games out of 1st). And you know what? That's okay with me. As you all should know... I've come to embrace the "Evil Empire" moniker.

While watching the movie I started to wonder what happened to the actors after Major League came out, and after taking a look decided to share some things with you.


Jake Taylor - Tom Berenger

Along with the "not horrible" Major League II, Berenger was in the very cool movie Training Day. He also had small parts in Born on the Fourth of July, Cheers, Inception, and other movies and TV shows I've never heard of or know little about. I should note that his knees seemed to be okay in these other acting appearances.

Tom Berenger has actually been married four times, and has a total of six children.


Ricky Vaughn - Charlie Sheen

Other than the Charlie Harper character (he should have worn an Indians jersey with the number "99" on the back instead of the bowling shirt), best known from the TV show Two and a Half Men, he's done little since leaving Spin City in 2002 (note: I loved that show). After Major League Sheen did play Aramis in the 1993 version of The Three Muskateers (love) and worked with his brother in a little movie called Men At Work.

I think you guys have seen or read about the exploits of the man with tiger's blood running through his veins.


Roger Dorn - Corbin Bernsen

Corbin Bernsen was a busy man after Major League, acting in 174 more TV shows and movies (five of them have yet to be released). Unfortunately, except for the Major League sequels, none of the TV shows or movies he was in stands out. Even with all that work, he didn't risk injury or the displacement of his house.

Bernsen has over 8,000 snow globes, giving him one of the largest snow globe collections in the world.


Rachel Phelps - Margaret Whitton

Other than Major League II, I haven't heard of any of the other movies and TV shows she's acted in. But due to her exploits as the owner of the Indians I don't think many places were willing to give her a job.

But it doesn't matter how successful her acting career has been, because she's a Yankees fan!


Lou Brown - James Gammon

James Gammon made appearances in Grey's Anatomy, Monk, Crossing Jordan, Nash Bridges, Point Break, Natural Born Killers (thumbs up), and Wyatt Earp (thumbs up). Sam Shepard, best known for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Chuck Yeager in the film The Right Stuff, considered Gammon one of the best actors alive.

Sadly, the former Indians manager passed away in July of 2010.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Gammon.


Lynn Wells - Rene Russo

I don't know how she could have thought about marrying that lawyer over Jack freakin' Taylor, but she did make some good decisions by appearing in movies like Thor 1 & 2, Lethal Weapon 3 & 4, Ransom, and Tin Cup (big thumbs up).

She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter.


Willie Mays Hayes - Wesley Snipes

Along with having been the star of the Blade series, Snipes will be in the new The Expendables movie coming out later this year. He probably didn't take any steroids for the roll, but his character Bobby Rayburn in the movie The Fan (with Robert De Niro) reminded me of Barry Bonds. Snipes acted in a number of good movies, along with To Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, Murder at 1600, US Marshalls, Demolition Man, Rising Sun, White Men Can't Jump, and the list goes on.

Snipes' apartment was destroyed by the collapse of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers during the September 11 attacks. Luckily, he was on the West Coast at the time.

Charlie Donovan - Charles Cyphers

Charlie Cypers may not have acted in any big movies since Major League, but he's appeared in JAG, ER, Seinfeld, The George Wendt Show, The George Carlin Show, Murder She Wrote, and Jake and the Fatman.


Eddie Harris - Chelcie Ross

Chelcie Ross probably didn't need any Crisco, Bardol, Vagisil, or snot for any of his acting performances after Major League. I don't know many of the shows or movies he was in after Major League, but his performance as Senator Baynard in The Last Boy Scout was pretty darn good, and I'm a big fan of that flick.

Ross actually served in Vietnam as an officer in the Air Force.


Pedro Cerrano - Dennis Haysbert

While he did make some acting appearances in shows and movies like 24 and Mr. Baseball, a lot of the work Haysbert has done since Major League was in voice-acting, including doing so in video games like Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Call of Duty: Finest Hour, and 24: The Game. And he's got six more acting roles coming up .

Even though Haysbert was offered numerous athletic scholarships, he chose to pursue acting.


Pepper Leach - Andy Romano

Romano may not have been in any blockbusters since he was an assistant coach for the Indians in Major League, but he was in the movie Pump Up the Volume, and that's pretty damn cool.


Harry Doyle - Bob Uecker

If you loved his commentary for the Indians then you can still hear Mr. Uecker announcing Milwaukee Brewers games on the radio on WTMJ. He was actually inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame in 2011.

Bob hosted two different general sports shows called Bob Uecker's Wacky World of Sports (later became The Lighter Side of Sports with Mike Golic) and Bob Uecker's War of the Stars. He even made a few appearances in the WWF, including being the ring announcer for Hulk Hogan vs. Andre The Giant at Wrestlemania 3 in front of over 93,000 fans at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan.

But I'll always remember his role in the show Mr. Belvedere, and it's theme song will run through my head...

6/27 Yankees Game Preview vs. Boston Red Sox


The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will renew their rivalry once again this weekend for three games at Yankee Stadium. The first game will be tonight and will showcase Vidal Nuno for the Yankees facing off with the Red Sox Brandon Workman. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Nuno has not won a game since June 7th for the Yankees and enters tonight on a two game losing streak. Nuno went 6.1 innings in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles but was once again too home run friendly to bring him a victory for the home team. Nuno will look to turn his June around before it's too late tonight at home, where he has struggled all season.

Workman is replacing the struggling and injured Felix Doubront in the rotation for Boston as the Red Sox look for any kind of lightning in a bottle. Workman has pitched will this season for the Red Sox, a trend I hope the Yankees can turn around tonight.

Get your Yankees tickets while the Red Sox are in town this weekend right HERE on the blog with no fees and free shipping through Ticket Monster.

Go Yankees!!

Anonymous AL Scout Not Confident Beltran and McCann Will Get Better

Since they were signed to deals totaling $130 million this offseason, it's been obvious to us all that Yankees DH Carlos Beltran and Catcher Brian McCann haven't produced to their full potential. 

The two veterans, 37 and 30, respectively, have hit just .218 and .223 so far in 2014, numbers much lower than their career averages of .282 and .274.

To most MLB fans, the duo's sudden drop in contributions has been surprising, something an anonymous AL scout apparently doesn't agree with, arguing that the Yanks made the signings without considering the risks involved. 

“Let’s face it,” the scout recently told the NYDN's John Harper, “as good as Beltran was in St. Louis, the Yankees took a chance on him at his age, with his injury history. And I think we all overlooked some age-and-injury slippage with McCann the last couple of years. They could both have big second halves, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

While it is true that McCann's stats have weakened in recent years, it was logically expected that Yankee Stadium's short right field would help him increase his power, as he is a lefty who rarely goes the other way. 

As for Beltran, his .296, 24-homer performance last season was something the Bombers arguably had to take a chance on, even if he is getting old, an occurrence that hasn't seemed to effect him yet in his big-league career.

Yankees Sign Undrafted OF Adam Kirsch


The New York Yankees are filling their farm system with a ton of undrafted talent and the latest is Texas Tech's outfielder Adam Kirsch. Kirsch has become the fifth player of that Texas Tech team to be signed and/or drafted this season, a very impressive stat when you think about it. Kirsch led the Red Raiders with a .360 average in eight NCAA tournament games this season and will report to the Tampa Yankees on Monday.

Kirsch, a college senior, only played one season at Tech and put up a .307 average with 37 runs, 21 doubles, three triples, 10 home runs, and 51 RBI. Kirsch also hit 500 (4-8) in the College World Series this season and instantly becomes an intriguing bat to keep your eye on this summer.

Just a quick FYI, the last player the Yankees drafted and signed from Texas Tech was Jeff Karstens in 2003.

Derek Jeter and The 39/40 Club


No, not the same kind club that guys like Alfonso Soriano, Jose Canseco, Barry Bonds, or Alex Rodriguez are a part of, although that was the 40/40 club, the 39/40 club will be a team made up solely of players 39 years or older. This was obviously made just for fun, so enjoy! Could this team even win a game in the majors this year? You decide.

1B: Jason Giambi
2B: John McDonald
SS: Derek Jeter
3B: Alex Rodriguez probably lied about his age AND did steroids so we will put him here since nobody else meets the criteria and you probably need another reason to hate him.
C: Jose Molina
OF: Raul Ibanez
OF: Ichiro Suzuki
OF: Bobby Abreu

SP: Bartolo Colon
SP: Hiroki Kuroda
SP: RA Dickey

RP: Joe Nathan
RP: Koji Uehara
CP: LaTroy Hawkins

Quick Hit: Watch Jeter Age 20 Years In 20 Seconds


If they say a picture is worth 1,000 words then how many do I have to type for this awesome picture? This is Derek Jeter aging before our eyes from his rookie season to his 40th birthday, basically 20 years in 20 seconds.

This Day In New York Yankees History 6/27


On this day in 1972 Wade Blasingame made his last start of his career and his first career start for the New York Yankees. The Tigers would hit three consecutive home runs in the first inning when Aurelio Rodriguez, Al Kaline, and Willie Horton went deep. The Tigers would beat the Yankees 5-2.