Game Thread: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 9/30

The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox continue their four game set this week inside Yankee Stadium with the third game of the series. The next to the last game, the time before the last time these two teams meet. The final countdown before the final countdown. The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound to face off with Wade Miley for the Red Sox. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

Click the Yankees Tickets link to get your playoff tickets, we’re less than a week away from the Wild Card Playoff Round in the Bronx. Also be sure to head over to Twitter, especially if you can’t make it to the Bronx to see the team live, and give @GreedyStripes a follow to interact with us and root on the Yankees during each and every Yankees game remaining this season.

Happy Tanaka Day! Go Yankees!

My Hypothetical Playoff Rosters – Pitching

Earlier today we went over my personal predictions for the AL Wild Card Game featuring the New York Yankees and likely, although unofficial at this time, the Houston Astros. I put together a roster of 14 positional players for this one-game series leaving me just 11 pitchers to choose from. Keep in mind, and I said this in the previous post, that this is who I would personally bring along and not who I think manager Joe Girardi will bring along. I am assuming the health of Masahiro Tanaka and assuming that the Yankees line him up for the game and I am taking a serious chance bringing only 11 pitchers. Keep in mind that the team can reset their rosters if and when they make it to the ALDS.

With that in mind here is the pitching staff that I bring along with me to the Bronx on October, 6:

I know some people are probably shaking their heads wondering what in the hell I am doing here but bear with me. Again, the Yankees can reset their rotation if they win this one game and in the first two games a combination of Luis Severino and Michael Pineda would start making them unavailable for the game even if it went to 20 innings who why waste a roster spot on them? Girardi has shown a trust and confidence in James Pazos as a LOOGY type reliever and has not shied away from using both Caleb Cotham and Branden Pinder when need be. You bring Adam Warren in for a potential inning of relief, the big three in Justin Wilson, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller and you bring in Chasen Shreve almost out of necessity. Finally you bring CC just in case the game goes to extra innings and you need multiple innings to save a bullpen.

That’s my roster, would you construct yours any differently? Leave your comments below in the comments section or head over to Twitter and let us know @GreedyStripes. 

Twitter Poll: Should the Yankees Celebrate?

@GreedyStripes Who cares what we think.We are not the ones out there grinding out 162 game season.

— Fredo Weiland (@islandofweiland) September 28, 2015

For the first time since the 2012 letdown and broken ankle by Derek Jeter the New York Yankees have reached the postseason (unofficially but you might as well say it's a done deal), hallelujah! The fact that New York would make the postseason brought up an interesting debate about whether the team should celebrate a Wild Card berth. Manager Joe Girardi stated that the Yankees would celebrate the accomplishment which kicked off our latest Twitter Poll, should the Yankees celebrate their Wild Card berth or shouldn’t they have?

There are two sides to every story including the side that says the team should NOT have celebrated the playoff berth. Some even said that making the playoffs as a Wild Card wasn’t even a playoff game. Well I hate to break it to you, yes it was, but here are the responses and their arguments against the celebrations:

@GreedyStripes nope, celebrate when you win the wild card game

— Gary Oak (@ScoopsHagenDaz) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes celebrate after winning the Wild Card game

— Eric Kabakoff (@erickabakoff) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes I don't think that they should celebrate until they've won the World Series; definitely not a wild card berth.

— Karen Mercury McCoy (@KarMerCoy) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes no. Win the wild card game and you can celebrate.

— stumpy300 (@nyyankeefan300) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes no. it's not the playoffs unless they win next tues

— Griffin Bruno (@griffin_bruno) September 28, 2015

Nope. It isn't even a playoff spot https://t.co/Fdbj0KIvfR

— Greg (@RealistSpeaking) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes I see the WC game like game 163, celebrating the opportunity to play 1 more game seems silly

— TheTriplePlay (@TheTriplePlay) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes No. Celebrate if they win the ALCS.

— Have Another Donut (@HavAnotherDonut) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes I'd prefer the Yankees celebrate if they win the wild card. Backs are still against the wall

— Kalind Patel (@NYCKNP) September 28, 2015

On the flip side you had the opinions, and surprisingly the opinions in the minority, which thought the Yankees should have celebrated the accomplishment:

@GreedyStripes yes absolutely. It is a long year and no guarantee they win the one and done playoff game. Have some fun.

— Jill Poock (@ejpoock) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes celebrate, brings the team together. Celebrate everything. They did in 09 #yankees

— S.I. Clipper (@S_I_Clipper) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes they should celebrate. Under the old format they would be directly into playoffs. No one's given them anything

— Gonzalo VH (@GonVH) September 28, 2015

@S_I_Clipper @GreedyStripes it's important to note achievements, Torre had them celebrate the wild card, why shouldn't Joe? Perfectly ok.

— Michael P. (@MichaelPawluk) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes I think they should. They had good season, starting with no much expectations & personaly gave me more good moments than bad.

— Cuki Georgiev (@cukara0) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes definitely. Long season, not easy journey to be one of best in MLB. No problem w. celebrating for few hours then back to biz

— Nat (@nturi1) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes they celebrate after each win right? Go for it.

— Alvaro Molina (@a_molinam) September 28, 2015

@GreedyStripes sure every other franchise would without question

— Steve (@stvngbsn) September 28, 2015

Say what you will about what the Yankees used to do, the World Series or bust mentality or the addition of a one-game playoff system for the two Wild Card teams. The Yankees didn’t pick the Wild Card system, they didn’t pick to share their profits or pay a luxury tax of 50% on every dollar spent over $178 million. The Yankees didn’t choose to see George Steinbrenner die and the team did not choose to see Hal Steinbrenner run the team in an entirely different, and fiscally responsible, manner. You can bet your ass the Houston Astros or whoever wins the 2^nd Wild Card will celebrate and you can bet than any of the 10 teams in the American League that don’t make the postseason in 2015 would have celebrated. It’s just my opinion but the Yankees should have celebrated and good for them for doing so. The 162 game schedule is a grind and the playoffs, whether it’s one game, three games or a five game series, is the reward. There are no trophies just for showing up in Major League Baseball so celebrate that you were better than the rest.

@GreedyStripes Absolutely not. Merely making the Playoffs is something for a small club to celebrate. You know, like the #Mets.

— Uncle Mike (@MichaelPacholek) September 28, 2015

To be involved in our next Twitter Poll head over and give @GreedyStripes a follow on the app. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox 9/30

The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will play in the penultimate game of their head-to-head season series tonight in the Bronx on Tanaka Day. The New York Yankees will welcome back their ace starting pitcher to the mound tonight as Masahiro Tanaka makes his first start since injuring his hamstring against the New York Mets. Opposing Tanaka will be Wade Miley for the Boston Red Sox. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

• Tanaka will make his first start since September 18 tonight after sustaining a Grade 1 hamstring strain. Tanaka tried to leg out a bunt against the New York Mets and suffered the injury that kept him out almost two weeks. Tanaka has one more tune up before the AL Wild Card start next week.

• Miley is coming into this start fresh off a loss where he gave up four runs. Miley started the game out strong throwing five innings of shutout baseball allowing just two hits before the train came off the tracks in the loss for Boston.

New York has one more game against the Boston Red Sox this season and one more home game during the regular season, that game comes tomorrow night inside Yankee Stadium. The season is winding down and we’re finally starting to get some clarity and assurances about the postseason, a postseason that will include the New York Yankees for the first time since 2012. All they have to do is win, Go Yankees!

My Hypothetical Playoff Rosters - Offense

The New York Yankees are all but officially in the postseason, albeit as a Wild Card team and likely not as an AL East Division champion, so it’s time to start thinking about who the Yankees will bring with them to the postseason. The Yankees have been playing with 39 players for much of the month of September including 14 relief pitchers in the bullpen but that all has to be dropped down to 25 before October 6^th. With this post we will focus on the offense and I will decide who I would bring, not who I think Joe Girardi will bring, with me back to the Bronx to play host to the Houston Astros, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or whoever wins the second Wild Card in the American League this season.

Here are my left-handed and right-handed breakdowns for the Wild Card Game:

*dependent on the health of Drew. If not Drew, insert Ackley.

With less than a week left in the regular season almost nothing is decided when it comes to the second Wild Card. It looks like the Astros are going to be able to hold off the rest of the pack but will they have to fight down on the last game of the season or will they secure a spot before the weekend? This is important because if the Astros have to use Dallas Keuchel on the final day of the season that would make him ineligible for the Wild Card game unless Houston wants to pitch him on just one day of rest.

I think we all know that Stephen Drew, Dustin Ackley or Brendan Ryan are starting and backing up in this game since Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman are making the decisions, for better or worse, but this is my roster. Noel is in there to steal a base late and pinch run for Carlos Beltran, Refsnyder is in there to hit lefties, Ackley is in there to hit righties and I think this offense leads the Yankees to an ALDS trip as long as the pitching holds up. Speaking of pitching we’ll cover the pitching in our next post. Stay tuned for that.

2014 Predictions on Point for 2015

When the New York Yankees were officially eliminated from playoff contention in 2014 I harnessed my full Yankees Wizard powers in a few predictions for the 2015 season. I will showcase two predictions specifically that absolutely came true.

BRING BACK TOO MANY DAMN HOME RUNS

And they did... and they are in the postseason. Click the link to read the article.

YANKEES WILL GET YOUNGER IN 2015

Greg Bird, Luis Severino, Rob Refsnyder, John Ryan Murphy, Slade Heathcott and the bullpen.

Scoreboard Watching: September 30, 2015

The New York Yankees have a huge week ahead of them. 10,000 wins in the franchise's history. Clinching a playoff berth for the first time in two seasons. Beating the Boston Red Sox? We hope so.

Wednesday, September 30

New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox

Toronto Blue Jays @ Baltimore Orioles

Houston Astros @ Seattle Mariners

Texas Rangers vs. Detroit Tigers

Minnesota Twins @ Cleveland Indians

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Oakland Athletics

Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins

This Day In New York Yankees History 9/30: Yankees Win 100 Games

On this day in 2004 the Yankees won their 100th game, something they have done in three straight seasons, and their seventh consecutive American League Eastern Division championship. The Yankees join only the Braves from 1997-1999, the Orioles from 1969-1971, and the A's from 1929-1931 as the fourth team to win 100 games in three straight seasons.



Also on this day in 1973 the Yankees played, and lost, their final game played at the old Yankees Stadium before George Steinbrenner had the field renovated. The 50 year old Cathedral of Baseball would take two years to renovate while the Yankees played their home games at Shea Stadium.


Also on this day in 1966 Roger Maris blasted a two run home run in his final at bat as a member of the New York Yankees. Maris would be traded to the St. Louis Cardinals after the season for utility man Charley Smith.


Also on this day in 1962 Mickey Mantle belted his 30th home run of the season off of the White Sox's Ray Herbet. This would be the Mick's eight consecutive season of hitting at least 30 home runs in a season. This was amazing considering Mantle missed a month of the season with a leg injury.


Finally on this day in 1927 Babe Ruth would break his own record for home runs in a single season when he hit his 60th of the season off of Senators starter Tom Zachary. In a side note Hall of Famer Walter Johnson would make his final appearance of his major league career when he pinch hit in this game.