Monday, October 3, 2016

The AL & NL Wild Card Playoff Games Are Set!


Good evening ladies and gentleman and welcome to the final off day before the postseason begins for another year. The AL and NL Wild Card games are set and thankfully no 163rd games were played this season. The field is set and it will be the Toronto Blue Jays playing host to the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Wild Card Game while the National League game will showcase the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets.


Just as a reminder this is a one-game do-or-die game for all four teams so this should be fun. We will do game previews and game threads here on the blog for both Wild Card games but I can’t promise that for the rest of the postseason aside from the World Series.


So here we go, the second season begins here in about 24 hours. 

Most Popular Article of the Week: David Ortiz’s Letter to Yankees Fans


So I write a letter to David Ortiz this morning and by the afternoon we already have a response. Talk about service right? And only service you can get here at The Greedy Pinstripes mind you. I wish we had that much pull around the team and around baseball but instead I am referring to the article that Ortiz posted on the Derek Jeter owned Players Tribune where he wrote a letter to New York and the fans of the New York Yankees. To read the entire article head over to the Players Tribune and give it a read while I sample it for you here before tonight’s finale in the Bronx.

“The other day, one of my teammates comes over to me in the clubhouse and says, “Hey, you see what they’re gonna do to you in New York?”
I don’t know what he’s talking about.
I’m like, “What’s up? They gonna give me a pizza or something?”
He says, “Nah. Your last game, the fans are gonna pull their pants down.”
I’m like, “Nah, bro. Come on. Be serious.”
Then he shows me an article on his phone about some guy who’s trying to get everybody in Yankee Stadium to moon me.
This dude even made a whole website: moonbigpapi.com.
Bro.
Bro.
Come on.
Let me tell you something. If 50,000 people moon me, I promise you two things.
First, I’m gonna laugh so hard I might start crying.O
When the tears dry, I’m gonna step up to the plate and try to hit the ball all the way to the choo choo train. You gotta be careful. You guys don’t have Mariano no more, you know what I’m saying?
Listen, Yankee fans. I gotta admit something to you. And I’m serious about this. I got love for you.
It’s just a little bit of love, but I do.”


Okay. The fact that he’s seen MoonBigPapi.com and then plugged it on this post is absolutely amazing. I love it. So awesome. Carrying on.


“My mom did everything at home, and she still had side-jobs to get us extra money. In those days, you could buy clothes real cheap in CuraƧao, so she used to take shopping trips to the island. She would load up two suitcases full of dress clothes and bring them back to Santo Domingo to sell them to the workers at the hotel resorts.
It was a way to make a little bit of extra money. She would do whatever it took to make sure we were fine.
When I was playing Double A ball in ’97, I got her a visa to come to the States for the first time. It was just the two of us chilling in Connecticut for a few days. She got to visit New York City before she flew back home, and she was just so happy. Her dream, her whole life, was to give her kids an opportunity. New York City, to us, was like the capital of the world.
My mom died in a car accident in 2002, before I got to the Red Sox and really started having success in the big leagues. My life has turned out amazing, but the only thing I wish is that she could be here for all this. When I take the field at Yankee Stadium for the last time, she’s not gonna be there to see it. That’s kind of tough, to be honest with you. But I know she would be so proud that we made it to the top of the world.”

Many forget that Major League Baseball players are also human. This is not “just a kids game” to them. This is life and they have a life outside of it just like you or I. Moving on.

“When I was a kid, I used to tear the heads off my sister’s dolls and use them as baseballs. I’d steal a broomstick from my mom’s closet and hit the heads over this fence. Whoom, Barbie went flying into the sky.
I used to dream that I was hitting home runs at Yankee Stadium.
Nowadays, I hope the kids doing that same shit are dreaming they’re at Fenway.
Yankee fans, I got one final thing to tell you.
Thank you. For real. You pulled the best out of me.
When you boo me, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.
I’m not gonna lie to you. Sometimes I get outta bed in the morning, and it’s like, Damn. What happened? I got old. It takes me a long time to get my body ready for these games now. But I guarantee you this. When our bus pulls up to Yankee Stadium today, I’m gonna be ready to go. And when I hear you boo me, I’m gonna try to hit the ball over that white fence, all the way to the mother******* choo choo train.

Respect.”



Let’s hope not. 

ICYMI: Yankees Youth Movement Only Needs One More Thing….


Get your pitchforks out Yankees family, we’re about to have a bonfire and a pig roast because the New York Yankees and their newfound youth movement need just one more thing. A new manager. I know, I know, I’ve been one of the bigger Joe Girardi supporters during his tenure here in New York and while the binder, now turned iPad, has frustrated the hell out of me his bullpen management has been and remains to be one of the better bullpen management in Major League Baseball. The Yankees have the kids up now and nothing to play for yet players like Ronald Torreyes, Tyler Austin and others remain on the bench in big games. Why? Because Girardi needs to go, that’s why.


Before you bring up his Manager of the Year Award with like 17 players who couldn’t even legally buy beer yet in Miami let me stop you. First of all that was a long time ago and secondly that’s all he had at his disposal. Girardi does great with managing and managing young kids but he only does so when his hand is forced and the New York Yankees will never force his hand in my opinion. They will always have that veteran option either down in Triple-A or on the MLB roster “just in case.” The problem here is Girardi uses his “just in case” options far more than he should and it’s really, really annoying and frustrating to watch as a fan who is devoted to this rebuild.


I mean look at it this way. Brian Cashman traded away Carlos Beltran and that is the ONLY reason we saw Aaron Judge. Aaron Hicks got injured and that is the ONLY reason we saw Mason Williams. Ben Gamel was great for us yet the sample size is too small to really jump up and down about because he was hardly ever used leading to him being traded to the Seattle Mariners. He wasn’t even good enough in the Yankees eyes to use as a stolen base guy off the bench despite having comparable numbers to the guy they traded for, Eric Young Jr. of the Milwaukee Brewers, and gave his roster spot to in less at bats and opportunities. But Young is a veteran.


You know what the biggest problem is? Talent bails out Girardi more times than not and Wednesday night was the perfect example of that. On Tuesday night Tyler Austin has a three-hit game including a game winning home run so what does Girardi do in his infinite wisdom? Sits him the next day in lieu of Mark Teixeira. Sure, Teixeira hit the game winning walk-off grand slam in the game which stopped all the questions from the media after the game but what if he didn’t? What if that’s never an issue if Austin starts the game and the Yankees offense actually scores before the 9th inning?


Joe Girardi is just frustrating me right now and I just don’t think he is the right fit for this team anymore. Does that mean he’s a bad manager? No, hell no in fact, but I also don’t think he is going to be able to get out of his own way with the veterans still on this club. He may not be the manager for the youth movement, at least in my opinion.


Oh, and FREE REFSNYDER! You almost made it a prospects post without hearing about him.

Mark Teixeira's Goodbye from the Yankees


Mark Teixeira has officially retired from Major League Baseball with his final game coming yesterday afternoon in the Bronx. Here are a few videos courtesy of Yankees.com and the YES Network from the goodbye yesterday. Goo luck in all that you do, Mark!


Checking in with Alex Rodriguez


Alex Rodriguez retired earlier this season with the promise that he would become a special adviser for the team in the front office. While many wondered if this was an empty title and a media-related olive branch to the man who finished just shy of 700 home runs in his career it looks like that couldn't be the farthest thing from the case. Let's check in with the Yankees latest special adviser and the now retired Alex Rodriguez down in Tampa.

Alex is currently down in Tampa at the Yankees minor league complex working with prospects who have been assigned to the instructional league. The instructional league is kind of like spring training after the season and it gives prospects, for example prospects that were drafted this June, a little extra work before the offseason.

Young shortstops that the Yankees have sent to the instructional league this season include Jorge Mateo and Kyle Holder while Alex was also seen talking with first round pick Blake Rutherford and top prospect Clint Frazier over the final weekend of the 2016 regular season.

We've seen Alex work with Didi Gregorius when his start to his Yankees career didn't go as planned and many have applauded him for his work and mentor-ship with Yankees prospects so this can only be a good thing for the Yankees both in the now and in the future.

By the way, Alex will also return to FOX Sports as a postseason analyst so be sure to check that out all postseason long. Enjoy retirement Alex, it at least looks like you're staying busy and staying around the game so I'm sure that you are. Good luck!

Recapping 2016: The Major Injuries


The 2016 regular season is over and unfortunately there will be no playoffs for the Bronx Bombers this season despite the best efforts of the club in the second half. That's a shame if you ask me and while many are left searching for a reason why I would instead rather to just recap the season, chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.

Overall injuries hit the Yankees pretty hard but injuries hit every team. All-in-all the Yankees had a few key injuries that really hurt and we'll cover those here this morning as we recap the 2016 season.


2-1-16

Greg Bird has surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder missing the entire 2016 season.

4-12

Nick Rumbelow undergoes Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.

4-22

A major member of the Scranton Shuttle and the Yankees bullpen Branden Pinder undergoes Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2016 season and likely half of the 2017 season as well.

5-29

Dustin Ackley dives back into first base on a pickoff attempt and tears the labrum in his shoulder while also dislocating it. Season over.

7-2

Connor Mullee transferred to 60-day DL with numbness in his throwing hand.

8-10

Nathan Eovaldi learns he has a torn flexor tendon and torn ulnar collateral ligament resulting in two surgeries including the dreaded Tommy John surgery. 2016 over. 2017 over. Yankees tenure likely over.

9-2

Chad Green sprains his UCL and strains his flexor tendon. While the righty avoids the same surgeries that Nathan Eovaldi could not his season is over nonetheless.

9-13

Aaron Judge strains an oblique muscle and will miss the remainder of the season.

9-22

Masahiro Tanaka has a slight strain in his pitching forearm and misses the final two starts of the season.

These are just a few of the major injuries the Yankees dealt with in 2016. CC Sabathia had his obligatory trip to the DL with a lower leg injury, Mark Teixeira and Chase Headley both had injuries that avoided the disabled list and others. These are just some of the major ones, if I missed one leave it below in the comments.

This Day in New York Yankees History 10/3: Wild Card Winners


As we learned yesterday in this same series the New York Yankees and the Colorado Rockies became the first ever set of Wild Card winning teams when a fourth playoff team was added to the mix. On this day in 1995 the first American League and National League Division Series were played with the New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds, and the Atlanta Braves winning the first ever games.


Also on this day in 1947 in Game 4 of the World Series the Yankees pitcher Bill Bevens came within one out of pitching the first no-hitter in World Series history. Cookie Lavagetto of the Dodgers came up with two outs in the ninth to pinch hit for Eddie Stanky and hit a two out double. The Dodgers would miraculously come back to win the game 3-2.