Another week, another slate of games for Yankees first baseman Greg Bird down in the Arizona Fall League with the Scottsdale Scorpions. Bird is still healthy, knock on wood, and he's hitting home runs now alongside future teammates Gleyber Torres and others. This is all a great sign statistically and in the fact that Bird is still healthy. Keep it going Greg!
Photo and stats courtesy of MLB.com and their Arizona Fall League tab.
On this day in 2009 Alex Rodriguez hit a long fly ball in right field at Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia that resulted in being the first instant replay call in World Series history. Originally the fly ball was called a double but the play was overturned and ruled a home run in the Yankees favor. If you can remember back that far this was the ball that hit the camera on the fence in right field and bounced back into the field of play.
Also on this day in 1957 Yogi Berra ruffled a few feathers when he admitted that the Yankees returned money to their players from fines collected in the Copacabana fight. Players like Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, and Moose Skowron to name a few were involved in a brawl while celebrating Billy Martin's 29th birthday in May. This obviously garnered some unwanted publicity for the storied New York Yankees franchise so the fines handed down were supposed to calm the waters until Yogi blew the lid off of the whole ordeal.
Gary Sanchez had a hell of a season in 2016. Not only did he do well in Triple-A this season but he also came up to the Major Leagues and took the league by storm hitting home run after home run after home run. Sanchez became the quickest player in MLB history to hit 19 home runs and had 20 home runs in just about a third of the MLB season. It was simply amazing so let's relive that all over again... shall we?
Major League Baseball has released their finalists for the American League and National League Gold Glove Awards and one Yankee made an appearance, Brett Gardner. Here is your complete list including Gardner in the outfield. Also check out a game saving catch from Gardner during the 2016 season. Enjoy!
The New York Yankees made a couple of minor league signings this week according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. One was for an oft-injured but uber talented pitcher named Jose Pena and another will be the focus of our Meet a Prospect series this afternoon, Matt Wivinis.
Wivinis went undrafted out of Eastern Illinois University before hooking up with the Evansville Otters of the Independent Baseball League. Wivinis is a starting pitcher by trade but pitched out of the bullpen some for the Otters during the regular season posting nice strikeout numbers overall.
This is more than just a "fill out your roster" type signing for the Yankees in my opinion. With the World Series still going on and the winter ahead of us the Yankees must see something in Wivinis that others teams haven't yet. Maybe it's his durability or his impressive strikeout numbers but either way the deal is now official.
Wivinis finished the regular season with a 4-0 record and 1.52 ERA in 39.2 innings with 43 K's while he pushed in the postseason posting a 2-1 record with a 3.92 ERA in 18 innings as a member of the Otters. Welcome to the family Matt!
It's the most... wonderful time... of the year. No, not Christmas, although you couldn't tell that if you have been to a Wal Mart this week, but it's the time of the year where a bunch of post-season top prospects lists begin getting released and Baseball America usually starts it off. Well BA has released their list and while I can't give you the write ups, they are behind a pay wall, I can give you the complete list and let you guys fight it out on the comments section. So without further ado, let the fighting begin.
This morning on our daily "This Day in Yankees History" post we learned that it was on this day in 2007 that the New York Yankees said goodbye to manager Joe Torre and hello to manager Joe Girardi. It's never easy replacing a legend and Girardi had big shoes to fill from Mr. Torre so let's see how he has done as a manager of the New York Yankees and let's see if the Yankees made the right decision. (Spoiler alert, they did).
Games managed: 1458
Wins/Losses: 819 - 639
First Place Finishes: 3
World Series Wins: 1
Missed Playoffs: 4
Total Season: 9
Binders: 1
Fans Annoyed: Too many to count
On this day in 2007 the New York Yankees signed manager Joe Girardi to a three year deal worth $7,500,000 to replace longtime manager Joe Torre. Girardi was coming off of a Manager of the Year award with the Miami Marlins in 2006 and beat out coaches Don Mattingly and Tony Pena for the job. Girardi would be the Yankees 42nd manager in their storied history.
Also on this day in 2001 President George W. Bush became the eight President to attend a World Series game and the first since Dwight D. Eisenhower to throw out a ceremonial first pitch. This all obviously came on the heels of the September 11th terrorists attacks. Bush brought the nation back together with his thumbs up and his perfect strike off the mound. 'Merica!
On this day in 2009 Derek Jeter would win the Roberto Clemente Award which is given to the player who best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, and community involvement. Jeter would be the 3rd Yankees to ever win the award, Ron Guidry and Don Baylor the other two, and would join 13 Hall of Fame players with the award.
Also on this day in 1991 the Yankees hired Buck Showalter to replace Stump Merrill as the Yankees manager. In four seasons, including the strike shortened 1994 season, Buck would compile a 313-268 (.539) record as a 36 year old manager. Buck would win the American League Manager of the Year Award and the AL East title in 1994 and would lead the Yankees to the playoffs in the first Wild Card series in 1995.
Finally on this day in 1920 the Yankees hired ex-Boston Red Sox manager Ed Barrow to be their General Manager. Over the next quarter of a century the Yankees would see 14 American League pennants and 10 World Series Championships while Barrow would see a Hall of Fame induction.
