Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox 4/12

Good morning Yankees family. Tonight the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox will finish off their three-game set inside Fenway Park with a third consecutive exciting pitching matchup. We have seen Severino v Sale and we have seen Tanaka v Price, and tonight we will all hopefully be entertained by the pitching matchup of Sonny Gray v Rick Porcello. On most teams these two starters would be the respective aces on their teams, but in New York and Boston they are 3^rd and 4^th starters which goes to show you just how deep these two rosters really are. This rivalry has been renewed and it should be fun to watch for a long, long time.

Gray earned his first victory of the season last time out when he took the ball against the Baltimore Orioles. In the start Gray allowed three runs on four hits in six innings, but Gray will have to be much better than that to beat Boston tonight inside Fenway Park. During Gray’s career the Yankees right-hander has posted a 1-4 record with a 4.93 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox including an 0-2 record and a 6.75 ERA inside Fenway Park. Wicked bad.

Porcello is off to a strong start here in 2018 and will look to keep that going tonight against the Yankees. Porcello is already 2-0 on the young season, albeit against weaker opponents than the Yankees on paper, and will look to make that 3-0 tonight in Fenway. Porcello has made 18 career starts against the Yankees and owns an 8-8 record with a 3.27 ERA against the Bronx Bombers.

The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET inside Fenway Park in Boston and can be seen on the YES Network, NESN and MLB Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Enjoy the game, leave Boston with a win, and go Yankees!

Hello… Don’t Feed the Troll

Good morning everyone. Enjoy your stay, and don’t feed the trolls. I am not going to name names here because I am not going to give them the glory and the attention they so want and need, but I am going to rant here just for a second. I was checking Twitter Tuesday afternoon before the game and what I saw was not only disgusting, it was infuriating. This was coming from professional writers with blue checks by their names as well, something that I have always hoped and dreamed for on Twitter and something that I would take very seriously if the opportunity were ever to arise.

Red Sox writers and fans were blatantly trolling and baiting Yankees fans before the game. That’s fine I guess, it’s part of sports and if you guys want to do that, you do you. I am not innocent and couldn’t say with a straight face that I have never done it. What irked me the most was, and again this is coming from professionals and not just your every day run-of-the-mill fan, the bragging about “owning” the Yankees fan base and basing their success of their Twitter account and work by how upset they make Yankees fans. It just wasn’t cool and was a bit unprofessional if you ask me.

I will cut up with Red Sox fans, Mets fans, hell I have been known to give a Yankees fan or two crap when they give up on their team or trash talk just for the sake of trash talk. Trash talk is trash talk and it is a huge part of sports fandom, but when you seemingly get off and gloat about it as a professional writer… well you’re just embarrassing yourself and everyone who wants to be you. Everyone who wants the blue check by their name. Everyone who wants the recognition, the respect and the subsequent “power” that comes along with your position as a writer. Instead, you use that power to troll Yankees fans, and in a disgusting and vulgar way which goes above and beyond the norm of “trash talking.”

Yankees fans, don’t feed the troll. They aren’t worth the effort, and as of Tuesday they aren’t worth the follow either. Have fun in your little part of the world, and I’ll enjoy mine. Mindless trolling and projections never got anyone anywhere though, and I hope you stumble upon this and remember that.

Less rants, more love. Kari, I love you. Thank you for being you, thank you for being mine and thank you for being my own personal troll (had to keep this on topic you know… because I am professional and stuff). I love you and I am going to marry you one day. You remember that.

Enjoy your day everyone.

This Day in New York Yankees History 4/12: Pope on a Rope Soap

On this day in 2008 the Yankees Low A affiliate, the Charleston Riverdogs, commemorate the first visit of Benedict XVI to the United States with a Pope on a Rope Night promotion. The first 1,000 fans received a soap figurine which looked like the Holy Father.

Also on this day in 1953 Mickey Mantle was informed via the public address announcer that Mickey Mantle had just became a father. Mickey Mantle Jr. was the first of four sons by Mickey and Merlyn. Here is the Brooklyn Dodgers announcement at Ebbets Field: "Mickey doesn't know it yet but he has just become the father of an eight-pounds, twelve ounce baby boy."

Also on this day in 1935 the Yankees named Lou Gehrig the fifth captain in their history. The then 33 year old first baseman joined Hal Chase(1912), Roger Peckinpaugh (1914-1921), Babe Ruth( six days in 1922), and Everett Scott(1922-1925).

Finally on this day in 1931 former Chicago Cubs Joe McCarthy made his managerial debut for the New York Yankees. The future Hall of Fame manager, who has the most wins of any manager in Yankees history with 1,460, saw eight pennants and seven World Series titles during his 16 years in the Bronx.

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox 4/11/18

And just like that it is game time in historic Fenway Park as the Boston Red Sox play host to the New York Yankees in the second of their three-game set. The first game last night was a battle of the aces as Luis Severino and Chris Sale faced off head-to-head and tonight is another potential matchup of aces as the Yankees send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound to square off against David Price for the Red Sox. The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET inside Fenway Park in Boston and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11 and MLB Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app or by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast with legendary John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us Facebook, The Greedy Pinstripes, to follow along with us and the team all season long. Enjoy the game renew the rivalry with a victory and Go Yankees!!

A Yankees Day in the Life: Aaron Judge

We have only released one of these Yankees Day in the Life posts and the view counter went crazy on it. Now while I am not sure if that was because it was showcasing the life of Didi Gregorius, because the post is new and unique because you don’t see things like this on any other site, or if it was a combination of the two but with that said I wanted to get another one out there as soon as I could. Today we will follow around Aaron Judge and see what it is like to be in his shoes for a day. Enjoy the post and if you like these and want to see more be sure to show your support in the comments section or on twitter by sending @GreedyStripes a tweet.

Enjoy, and get ready for tonight’s game.

ORIGINS: Justus Sheffield

Another day and another ORIGINS story here on the blog, this time we will be showcasing young Yankees left-handed starter Justus Sheffield. We are receiving great feedback from these posts on the site, on the view counter and on Twitter and such so we will continue rolling them out as often as we can. Enjoy!

SPECULATION: The Didi Gregorius Extension is Coming

The New York Yankees positioned themselves this winter to get under the luxury tax threshold for a few reasons. Obviously, the main reason is because Yankees principal owner Hal Steinbrenner is a cheap bastard and a coupon clipper, but another reason is because of the financial gains the Yankees would enjoy if they are able to stay under the luxury tax threshold for the entirety of the 2018 season. The Yankees would no longer have a tax levied on every dollar they spent via trades and on the free agency market and the team would no longer be penalized for going over the cap if they were to sign a free agent who recently declined a qualifying offer. The final reason the team wanted to get under the luxury tax threshold, and maybe the most important reason for many Yankees fans, is so the team can go absolutely crazy spending money after the 2018 season, both on potential free agents like Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, but also to keep a few of their own in the Bronx for the rest of their careers.

New York is going to spend their money in 2019 just like they do every single offseason, but this offseason we may see a few more players locked up that are currently employed by the team and less players being added via free agency. I am talking about players like Sonny Gray and specifically Didi Gregorius, who I think will receive a contract extension barring any production or health concerns that arise during the 2018 season. Didi is set to hit free agency for the first time in his career after his last arbitration eligible season in 2019, so New York has one year beyond the current 2018 campaign to get Didi locked up long-term.

Didi is possibly the best pure hitter on the team, yes, I realize what I just said and it wouldn’t be the first time I have been killed on the internet for saying so, and is also a stellar defender at shortstop. Didi is a key guy in the clubhouse and he probably owns the best Twitter account on the team, which shouldn’t count for anything but it does for me anyway. It shows his character and it shows his willingness and ability to relate to his fans, something that is not always so easy in a huge market like New York.

The Yankees will extend Didi after the season once the financial restrictions are gone and the resets have begun, just be patient. It doesn’t matter if Manny Machado is about to hit free agency and it doesn’t matter if he grew up idolizing the Yankees, it is not a given that he will sign here and honestly, I’d prefer Didi anyway. Sue me, unbookmark the site and burn me at the stake. I stand by my words and I stand by my feelings. I’d rather see the Yankees allocate that money into their starting staff while keeping Didi rather than having another surplus and luxury of infielders. Sorry, not sorry.

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox 4/11/18

Rivalry renewed. Now while some publications were seemingly worried about the New York Yankees heading into Bean Town at the “worst possible time” I was not one of them. It is generally teams like the Red Sox that make you bring your best because you know you will have to in order to beat them, and the Yankees will look to do that once again tonight against a familiar foe to the Yankees faithful. The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound looking for some Red Sox blood while Boston will counter with our old friend and comrade David Price. I love beating David Price maybe more than any other starter in the league, so make it happen.

Tanaka is coming into this start fresh off a loss to the Baltimore Orioles where the Yankees right-hander allowed three runs in 6.1 innings of work. Tanaka won his first start of the season against the Toronto Blue Jays allowing just one run on three hits in six innings of work and will have to pitch like that again tonight in Fenway if he wants his second victory of the young season.

Price on the other hand has been spectacular for the Red Sox in his two starts this season and has yet to allow an earned run in 14 innings of work here in 2018. That ends tonight, because the New York Yankees offense is not on the same level as the offense Price has faced twice thus far this season in the Tampa Bay Rays. Price has a career 15-11 record against the Yankees in 37 starts including a 4.36 ERA, but a lot of that success came early on in his career and not lately.

The game will be played at 7:10 pm ET inside Fenway Park and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11 in New York and MLB Network for all those displaced and out of the Yankees market. You can also follow along with the game using MLB TV, the MLB At-Bat app or by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Enjoy the game, David Price sucks, and Go Yankees!!

Hello… Giancarlo Gets a Second Home Run Call

Well, he has to actually make contact for us to all hear it, but I digress. When John Sterling revealed his home run call for Giancarlo Stanton in his first at-bat as a Yankee the call was met with a bag of mixed reviews. When I say a bag of mixed reviews, I really mean that everyone hated it. “Giancarlo, non si puo de stoparlo! It is a Stantonian home run” was the call, and while it wasn’t even grammatically correct, it left much to be desired by the Yankees fans, if I may speak for us all.

Have no fear Yankees fans for Sterling has reportedly come up with a second home run call for Giancarlo, according to an interview with the New York Post. Sterling will now sing, saying, “Non dimenticar… that ball sure traveled far.”

WOMP WOMP WOMP

“Non Dimenticar” was written for the 1951 movie, “Anna,” which was later recorded and sang by Nat King Cole in 1958. “Non Dimenticar” means “Do not forget” in Italian. I say again…

WOMP WOMP WOMP

While these home run calls are not great or even “okay” by any stretch of the imagination, we my dear will always be. Ups, downs, highs, lows, and even when things get a little sideways… we will always be okay. I love you, and I hope everyone has a great day.

This Day in New York Yankees History 4/11: Bob Sheppard Takes a Vacation Day

On this day in 2006 Bob Sheppard misses his first Yankee Stadium home opener since 1951 due to a hip injury he suffered the day before at his home. The injury wouldn't keep Sheppard out long as Bob was back for the next Yankees home stand behind the microphone.


Also on this day in 1954 the New York Yankees traded two minor league players with right handed pitcher Mel Wright to the St. Louis Cardinals for 38 year old right fielder Enos Slaughter. While Slaughter would head to the Hall of Fame when his playing career was done he would only hit .239 in 79 games for the Yankees. Bill Virdon, one of the prospects in the deal, would win the Rookie of the Year Award in St. Louis in 1956.