Thursday, March 27, 2014

Yankees HOPE Week Announced


Every year the New York Yankees organization has HOPE Week during a long home stand in the middle of the season and this year it will be June 16-20. The Yankees will honor Quantum Leap Farm this year, an organization that serves people with mental and physical disabilities in the Florida area by providing "therapeutic equestrian programs. The special ceremony will be held tomorrow before the game with the Miami Marlins down at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Yet another reason why YES should be carrying the game tomorrow night but what do I know, either way I look forward to HOPE Week like I do every season. HOPE Week makes me more and more proud to be a Yankee fan.

Opening Day Roster To Be Finalized Tomorrow


Tomorrow is the day that Joe Girardi and the Yankees brass will make their Opening Day roster decisions, a day that should be full of tough decisions for the Yankees. Who will win the last two bench spots, Eduardo Nunez, Dean Anna, or Yangervis Solarte? Who will get the last two bullpen slots, Dellin Betances, Cesar Cabral, Shane Greene, Vidal Nuno, or Matt Daley? Will the Yankees brass shock the world and go in another direction not listed here? I guess we find out tomorrow before the Yankees host the Miami Marlins in a spring training game.

Jonny Gomes Is Talking Again & Is Still An Idiot


Jonny Gomes is talking again to the media and is still showing his ignorance and lack of baseball knowledge. No actually scratch that, I won't be politically correct here because he hasn't since being a fifth outfielder on a World Series team and thinking his crap doesn't stink, he is an idiot. Jonny Gomes says that Grady Sizemore is just as good as Jacoby Ellsbury, bitter much?

If we were having this discussion a few years ago, sure, Sizemore was just as good. Hell Sizemore may have been better than Ellsbury outside of his MVP type season in 2011. How can you say someone who has not played in two seasons and battled injuries for countless seasons before that is better than someone in his prime? Say what?

Here is the exact quote from Gomes in case you were wondering:

"It's borderline unfair that we have the option to save money and replace a 30-30 guy with a 30-30 guy," Gomes said of Sizemore, who signed a $750,000 base contract with the Red Sox, taking over for Ellsbury, who signed a seven-year, $153 million contract with the Yankees.

"Whoa," Gomes said. "You're not supposed to do that. You're not supposed to lose your leadoff center fielder and get one back just as good. Nothing on Ells, but ..."

FYI Jonny but Sizemore hasn't been a 30-30 guy since 2008, his only time. He may be back and finally healthy but it was six years ago and he has played 210 games in the five seasons since. Down boy, you sound as dumb as you look right now. 


New York Yankees Spring Training News & Notes 3/27


Jacoby Ellsbury worked out but did not play in a minor league game today. The plan is to have him play Friday and Saturday in hopes of having him ready for Opening Day on Tuesday.

Zoilo Almonte, Scott Sizemore, and Russ Canzler have been assigned to minor league camps and will not make the Opening Day roster. With Almonte going down the Yankees apparently have found no suitors for Ichiro Suzuki in a trade making him safe, for now.

Seven pitchers were also optioned to minor league camps today with Preston Claiborne going to AAA, Chris Leroux, David Herndon, Jim Miller, Yoshinori Tateyama, Danny Burawa, and Fred Lewis were assigned to minor league camps.

With basically two bullpen roster spots up for grabs the remaining men vying for them are Dellin Betances (lock in my opinion), Cesar Cabral, Vidal Nuno, Matt Daley, and Shane Greene. I think the other spot could go to Daley who has pitched his butt off this spring but should go to Cabral or Nuno.

Chad Jennings with the assignments from the day:

Batting practice groups in Tampa:
Group 1: Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Derek Jeter, Alfonso Soriano
Group 2: Francisco Cervelli, Brett Gardner, Kelly Johnson
· Today’s second string: C Jose Gil, 1B Corban Joseph, SS Carmen Angelini, LF Ben Gamel, CF Antoan Richardson (other positions have no backup listed)
· Today’s scheduled relievers: Cesar Cabral, Fred Lewis, David Phelps, Vidal Nuno, Adam Warren, Dellin Betances

Sabathia dominant again as Yankees bounce back to beat Pirates, 4-2

CC Sabathia threw 4 shutout innings (stretching his current scoreless streak to 17 frames) and Eduardo Nunez, Ichiro Suzuki, and Zoilo Almonte each hit RBI Singles today as the Yankees ended their 3-game losing streak with a road win over the Pirates, 4-2. With this W, CC has now won each of his last 3 starts, helping him finish the spring with a solid 3-1 record. 

Anyway, some other notable pitching performances this afternoon came from Adam Warren, who threw a scoreless inning, Vidal Nuno, who retired all three guys he faced, and David Phelps, who gave up 2 earned runs while getting just two outs. So yea, besides Phelps I'd say today went pretty well. The offense scored a bunch early and CC, well, was CC. 

Cliff Mapes, The Last Yankee To Wear #3


We have the best Twitter followers in the world, you guys are always up for a conversation, you're always respectful, and always just generally enjoyable to chat with every day. One of our followers, @BostonRandy, is apparently a fan of our Yankee Stadium Legacy countdown we have been doing for almost 100 days now and asked if we would do a part about Cliff Mapes. Cliff Mapes, for those who don't already know, was the last to wear the #3 for the New York Yankees, not Babe Ruth. Mapes wore a couple other notable Yankees jerseys numbers switching to the #13 currently occupied by Alex Rodriguez after the #3 was retired to honor The Babe and even donned the #7 before a trade in 1951 season allowed Mickey Mantle to take the number. Mapes is the last member of the New York Yankees to wear both Mickey's and Ruth's number, quite the accomplishment.

Mapes did some other notable things during his five season career with the New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, and Detroit Tigers. Mapes was originally drafted by the Cleveland Indians but never played for them and ended up being a Rule 5 Draft selection for the Yankees before the 1946 season. Mapes was called up in time to win his first World Series, and the first of five consecutive for the Yankees, in 1949. Mapes only saw one game in the 1950 World Series after leading the team in strikeouts for the second straight season and saw his numbers decline more before becoming a member of the St. Louis Browns on July 31, 1951.

Mapes was not long for the game after his time with New York and played his final game of his career on September 28, 1952. Mapes passed away at age 74 in 1996 and will always be remembered as the last Yankee to wear #3, thank you Randy Clemens for reminding us all of that.




New York Yankees @ Pittsburgh Pirates 3/27


The New York Yankees will travel to Bradenton this afternoon to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the latest spring training game in the Grapefruit League. CC Sabathia will be on the mound for the Yankees in a game that will be televised at 1:05 pm ET on the YES Network, MLB TV, and MLB Network on a delay. Enjoy the day Yankees fans.

2014 Major League Baseball Standings Predictions


Just in time for the 2014 season to begin I wanted to put it on paper my predictions for the divisional races. I don't really know why I put myself through this as I am rarely correct on these things but I enjoy doing them, I guess the accuracy percentage doesn't matter that much. Right, wrong, or indifferent here are my predictions, what are yours? Leave your thoughts in the comment box and let's get the discussion going. FYI don't worry about calling me an idiot, I can take it :)

AL EAST:

New York Yankees (99- 63)
Boston Red Sox (94-68)
Tampa Bay Rays (90-72)
Toronto Blue Jays (81-81)
Baltimore Orioles (80-82)

AL CENTRAL:

Detroit Tigers (100-62)
Cleveland Indians (92-70)
Minnesota Twins (89-73)
Kansas City Royals (82-80)
Chicago White Sox (75-87)


AL WEST:

Texas Rangers (95-67)
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (91-71)
Seattle Mariners (88-74)
Oakland Athletics (86-76)
Houston Astros (70-92)

NL EAST:

Atlanta Braves (97-65)
Washington Nationals (95-67)
Philadelphia Phillies (84-78)
New York Mets (80-82)
Miami Marlins (72-90)

NL CENTRAL:

Pittsburgh Pirates (94-68)
St. Louis Cardinals (92-70)
Cincinnati Reds (86-76)
Chicago Cubs (83-81)
Milwaukee Brewers (80-84)

NL WEST:

Los Angeles Dodgers (100-62)
Arizona Diamondbacks (91-71)
San Francisco Giants (84-78)
San Diego Padres (81-81)
Colorado Rockies (69- 93)

Looks like the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians will win the two Wild Cards in the American League and the St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals will make it for the National League. The playoffs would be stacked this season with really all the best teams making the cut.

Yankee Stadium Legacy: #5 Waite Hoyt


Waite Hoyt was a rock in the New York Yankees rotation during the 1920's ranking fifth in the Major Leagues in wins for the decade. Hoyt finished with a 157-98 record for the Yankees from 1921-1930. While a member of the 1927 Yankees, who were known for their hitting more than their pitching, Hoyt won 22 games only to follow it up with a career high 23 victories in 1928.

5 days until Yankees Opening Day

Quick Hit: Whoever Made This Picture Should Be Shot


Whoever made this picture should be shot. Maybe just in a knee cap, I don't want anyone to die, but they should feel pain, real pain. This is disgusting. Enjoy the day Yankees fans and no worries, CC is still ours.

This Day In New York Yankees History 3/27


On this day in 2008 at the start of spring training Hidek Matsui made a wager with his teammates on who would be the first to get married. What Matsui did not tell his fellow Yankees players was he already had plans to wed in a few weeks time. Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu agreed to pay off their bet after Matsui married his wife on a Yankees off day.