Monday, April 9, 2012

Reminder : Free Yankees Tickets Giveaway

Just a friendly reminder Yankees fans that this opportunity to get free Yankees tickets plus the Yankee bag full of goodies ends tomorrow. 4/10 so go ahead and sign up now for a chance to win. I would love it if a Greedy Pinstripes fan won it!


Also remember if you follow them on twitter and like them on facebook you get two more opportunities to win so why not right? Do it, Do it now!



Who Wants Free Yankees Tickets?

One of our latest partners and friends, Metro Commuter Network (MCN), is offering up a chance for one lucky Greedy Pinstripes reader to win a pair of Yankees tickets for the game against the Angels on April 13th PLUS  free Yankees themed gift basket. In the basket you get the two Yankees tickets, valued at $350, one matted and framed print of the original Yankee Stadium one XL official Yankee T SHirt, one official Yankees baseball hat, one sport bottle, and one tote bag. All pictured below!





Of course these guys are not going to just GIVE you the tickets, you are going to have to work for it a little. For everyone that goes to the website, http://metrocommuternetwork.com/, and signs up for an account gets one free entry. For two free additional entries you can go to their FACEBOOK page and "like" them and you can also go to their TWITTER page and follow them for the other entries.

The contest starts at 12:00 AM ET on April 4th (today.... now) and ends at 11:00 pm ET on April 10th so I would suggest all to go ahead and sign up now while reading this so you do not forget and let this opportunity pass you by. On April 10th one lucky Greedy Pinstripes reader will win the tickets and be notified by email so make sure you are using a real email address and not a fake one. Good luck to everyone and I am officially jealous of who ever wins!

Yankees @ Orioles 4/9/12

UPDATE:

The Yankees jumped on the board early in the first inning when Mark Teixeira had a rbi single to put the Yankees ahead 1-0 and put the Orioles playing from behind for the first time this season. The lead would be short lived as Orioles Catcher Matt Weiters hit a solo home run to tie the ball game at 1 off of Ivan Nova.

The Yankees got some insurance runs in the top of the 4th inning as Russell Martin had an rbi single, Derek Jeter had an rbi double, and a Eduardo Nunez sac fly accounted for 3 innings. Brian Matusz was made work all night throwing well into the 90 pitch count in the 4th inning.

Andruw Jones added a solo shot in the top of the 6th inning to extend the Yankees lead to 5-1. Gardner added an insurance run with a single in the top of the 7th inning to make it 6-1. Ivan Nova now has a 13 start win streak in the regular season dating back to the 2011 regular season. The best news is that Nova looked a lot more like the Nova we fell in love with last season and less like the Nova that struggled in spring.

These same two teams go at it again tomorrow, same time, same place.







Tonight at Camden Yards the Yankees and Ivan Nova will take on the 3-0 Orioles and Brian Matusz. Here are the lineups for the Yankees.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez DH
Mark Teixeira 1B
Curtis Granderson CF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez 3B

Exclusive Interview With Mitch Hilligoss

The Greedy Pinstripes got their first exclusive interview and it was with former Yankees farm hand Mitch Hilligoss. While I know that he is no longer with the Yankees I still wanted to interview him because he was one of my favorite Yankees prospects in his time here and I wanted to see what it was like to be a Yankees minor leaguer. He was more then happy to do the interview and was very prompt with his response and I personally thank him for that. Here is the interview. 



TGP: Was your dream as a child always to be a baseball player? If not then what did you want to be when you grew up?

MH:  I always wanted to play baseball. of course when you start off you never say hey i want to be exactly this or that. i was like any other kid. i just played and had fun. i live on a farm so i always thought i would stay close to my roots growing up. 




TGP: What team did you root for growing up as a kid?

MH:   I grew up a Cardinal fan and was a huge Ozzie Smith fan. I loved to watch him play shortstop.




TGP: Your biggest inspiration when it came to baseball?


MH:  That was definitely my parents. They were the ones that knew when to push or knew when to calm me down. They were always there through thick and thin, and they logged a lot of miles watching ballgames haha.




TGP: Favorite moment as a Yankees prospect?

MH:   Its hard to pick a favorite moment as a Yankee. There are so many really. I mean from the people you meet and the history of the organization. But if you would pin me down to one it had to be the 2007 Charleston Riverdogs team and when I had the 38 game hitting streak.



TGP: Who was the best prospect in the Yankees system that you ever played with?

MH:   In the Yankees organization, wow, there were a lot. A lot of guys you would sit there and think this guy is unreal what he can do. Probably the 2 best were Austin Romine and Jesus Montero. Pitcher wise David Robertson was pretty much unhittable in the SAL league.





TGP: Do you keep in touch with any other current or former Yankees prospects or coaches?

MH:  Oh absolutely I keep in touch with guys and coaches. Now as we get farther apart and farther away from the game its harder, there are a lot of guys I still try to keep in touch with and a few coaches. They were the ones that made it fun. That is what makes minor league baseball special, the people.





TGP: Hardest part of being a prospect?

MH:  Hardest part is sometimes you know you are not performing. And I’ve been on both sides. You have a pressure of an organization, but more importantly you want to live up to expectations.





TGP: Coming out of college and in your early Yankees career you were a short stop but moved to third base. Was that an organizational decision? Was it based on size? Maybe as a way to climb the organizational ladder faster?

MH:  Well, that was the best option for all of us. They try to fit you where they think you can perform the best and where they will need help in the future. That decision was discussed way before draft day. A lot goes down before draft day.





TGP: Were you disappointed when you were traded to Texas for outfielder Greg Golson?

MH:  No, I was not disappointed. I was excited to get a fresh start. I was excited but at the same time it was starting over. From learning names, coaches, and new philosophy. It was tough, but something I enjoyed really.





TGP: Will you try and continue your baseball career after your release from Texas this December? Do you have any plans for life after baseball?

MH:  I think I’m done. I think it’s time. I would have liked to make it one more year, but it just didn’t happen. I have plans after baseball. Nothing in concrete, but I have ideas. We’ll have to see how they all unfold.





TGP: Most famous person in your cell phone?

MH:  My most famous person is probably Austin Jackson, but he probably doesn’t have the same number he gave me years ago haha.





TGP: Most embarrassing song/artist in your ipod?

MH:  haha, Donna Lewis, I Love You Always Forever. There is a story behind it from my first spring training. Everytime I have it on shuffle and I hear it, it takes me back to then.





Thank you again to Mitch for taking the time to do this interview, even though we only started this blog in January of 2012. We really do appreciate it and hope you, the fans, enjoyed the interview as much as I did.

Are They Too Old?

"What? No! I'm not too old for this job. I am too senile for it though."

While looking around at various blogs, to see just how many Yankee fans were overreacting to the Yankees terrible start to the season, I ran across a question that many Yankees fans have heard time and time again... "are they too old?" My immediate reaction was "no", but I decided to do a bit of research to see if I was right.

Instead of looking at the whole team, I wanted to concentrate on the regular position players. First of all, pitchers can be serviceable longer than position players. I mean, just look at the fact that Jamie Moyer is back in MLB at age 49. Heck, right here on the Yanks Andy Pettitte, who will turn 40 in June, is trying to make a comeback. So I'm skipping over the fact that Hiroki Kuroda turned 37 in February, and Freddy Garcia will be 36 in October. On that note, I'm also not counting the bench. These guys aren't looked at to play many innings anyway, so I see no reason to worry about them being older. On top of that, nobody on the bench is signed beyond this season either.

Derek Jeter is getting up there at age 37 (turns 38 in June), but his performance this season doesn't concern me. When it comes to Derek I'm more concerned about the last/next two years of his contract (assuming he takes the player option for 2014), especially being the starting shortstop. Derek's had a healthy career through 2010 (averaging 152 games/year during 15 full seasons), but after 131 games in 2011 (he only DHed in 10 of those games), how long before he'll need to DH or sit the bench for 50 or so games?

The only other player whose age concerns me is Alex Rodriguez. Alex is currently 36 years old (37 in July), which isn't exactly "ancient". But seeing as how he missed 63 games last season, mainly due to knee surgery in July, I tend to think he's more apt to play in 137 games a season like he did in 2010, rather than 158 games like he did in 2007. Actually, even 137 games a season could be pushing it, as that'll likely be the maximum number of games he appears in this season. Just imagine how many games he'll play per season at ages 39-41... the last three seasons he's under contract.

After those two we have Mark Teixeira, who'll turn 32 in a few days. I'm not worried about him at all at this point. He's averaged 157 games played the last three seasons, and I expect that to continue for a couple more years. Even in the last two seasons of his contract I think he can play in 130+ games a year. Of course it helps that he's a first basemen, and first basemen don't have to endure the rigors of the other 7 positions on the diamond.

The rest of the regular position players are either on a one year deals (Raul Ibanez), or are 31 or less. And they all could be out the door within the next year or two.

But how do they compare to other teams? To find out I made a spreadsheet using the Yankees and five other "top" teams in the American League. By "top" I mean the teams favored to be in the postseason this year. I only used the AL due to them having the DH, which can skew team's average ages when compared to National League rosters, as many DHs (like Raul Ibanez, David Ortiz, and Michael Young) are older players that shouldn't be playing the field anymore (*cough*Ibanez*cough*).

*For argument's sake I used Raul Ibanez instead of Andruw Jones at DH, since Raul is older. Not to mention that Raul will likely get more plate appearances than Andruw, seeing as how there are more right-handed pitchers in MLB, and that's who Raul is going to face.

So the Yankees, when compared to other "top" AL teams, are the oldest. I was hoping that it would turn out they weren't the oldest, and I could rub it in the faces of people that like to talk about the "aging Yankees". But I proved myself wrong, and instead must continue putting up with the comments. Although, I don't think it should be a big concern at all. After all, the Yankees are still favored by many to not only make the playoffs again, but to win the whole thing. We'll see if I'm singing a new tune come 2015, or if Brian Cashman can install some youth into the lineup.