Saturday, March 29, 2014

Charleston Opening Night To Showcase Parade


Opening Night to Feature Charleston's Charm; Pregame Parade
Charlie T. RiverDog Plans to Have Spectacular Entrance for the First Game of the Season presented by South Carolina's Future Scholar 529 Program

CHARLESTONSC - New York Yankees Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra reportedly said that he loves home openers, whether they are at home or away.
There's no doubting that he'd love the home opener for the Charleston RiverDogs, the Class A affiliate of the 27-time World Series Champions Yankees.
The RiverDogs opens the 2014 season on Monday, April 7, at 7:05 pm at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park against the rival Greenville Drive.
"Opening Night is always a big night for us as it also signals the unofficial beginning of Spring and another fun-filled season of RiverDogs Baseball," said General Manager Dave Echols. "This is one game that we don't hold back because we want to make a good first impression."
Fans, whether local or visiting from out of town, will enjoy the Opening Night festivities as the club features the city of Charleston and its charm.
Opening Night will feature a grand pregame parade that wraps around the outfield warning track that will highlight many staples of Charleston including the College of Charleston cheerleaders, the North Charleston High School marching band, the South Carolina Stingrays' mascot Cool Ray, The Citadel Bulldogs' mascot Spike, zoo animals, the lads from the Holy City Beard and Moustache Society, and a quite few others one wouldn't expect to see on a baseball field. Santa and many creatively decorated floats are expected to join in on the fun as well. As the parade concludes, the 2014 RiverDogs will be introduced to the home crowd when they enter the stadium on horse-drawn carriages.
On-hand to perform the Star Spangled Banner will be national recording artist, former American Idolcontestant, and local star Elise Testone. Also, just like in many years past, Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. - the ballpark's namesake - will throw the ceremonial first pitch.
But the pregame highlight will be the arrival and introduction of loveable mascot Charlie T. RiverDog, who will have a welcoming like none other. Fans will want to keep an eye on the sky for this one.
Since the Greenville Drive will be our opening week guests, it begins the "Battle of the Palmetto State" rivalry series presented by Spinx. The winner of the season-long battle will receive the Rivalry Championship Trophy, and with it goes the bragging rights as the state's best Sally League representative.
Fans will also enjoy $1 hot dogs and $1 beers, courtesy of Coors.
The first 5,000 fans that pass through the Riley Park gates will receive a 2014 magnet schedule compliments of South Carolina's Future Scholar 529 Program.
Plus, The Joe's brand new, state of the art videoboard and scoreboard will both make their RiverDogs debuts, and be on display for everyone to enjoy for the very first time during a professional baseball game.

Being posted with permission from the Charleston Riverdogs organization. The original article can be seen HERE

Breaking: Should The Yankees Sign Vin Mazzaro?

It's not often that a relief pitcher the caliber of Vin Mazzaro becomes available, should the Yankees take advantage of this after he was designated for assignment? Mazzaro was the casualty of a deep bullpen and a 40 man roster crunch caused by first basemen Travis Ishikawa.

Mazzaro pitched to a 2.81 ERA last season in 71.2 IP and followed it up this spring with a 3.97 ERA in 11.1 IP.

I think the better question is would Mazzaro be better than David Phelps, Adam Warren, Vidal Nuno, or any of the other men we have in our bullpen not named Matt Thornton? I'm not so sure when you factor in the National League to American League transition. If this happened a month or two ago I think it is a foregone conclusion that Mazzaro is in pinstripes but now, I am not so sure.

Yangervis Solarte Gets Final Roster Spot, Nunez To AAA


Yangervis Solarte has made the Opening Day roster and will be added to the 25 man roster, Eduardo Nunez is headed down to AAA to start the 2014 season. The Yankees do not have to make the 40 man roster move until sometime Tuesday so stay tuned on how the Yankees will give Solarte a 40 man roster spot.

Masahiro Tanaka Named Yankees Rookie of the Spring


Leave your opinions at the door on whether Masahiro Tanaka should be eligible for any kind of rookie considerations, including the Rookie of the Year Award. Tanaka is eligible, everyone who has come over from Japan before him has been eligible, and anyone in the foreseeable future will be eligible if they come over from Japan, Cuban, China, etc.

With that said the New York Yankees have named Masahiro Tanaka as their rookie of the spring after signing him to a $155 million contract this winter. The James P. Dawson Award is given annually to the top rookie in Yankees camp and Tanaka is the 2014 recipient. Below is a list of the recipient winners since 2001:

2001…Alfonso Soriano 2B
· 2002…Nick Johnson 1B
· 2003…Hideki Matsui OF
· 2004…Bubba Crosby OF
· 2005…Andy Phillips INF
· 2006…Eric Duncan INF
· 2007…Kei Igawa P
· 2008…Shelley Duncan INF/OF
· 2009…Brett Gardner OF
· 2010…Jon Weber OF
· 2011…Manny Banuelos P
· 2012…David Phelps P
· 2013…Vidal Nuno P
· 2014…Masahiro Tanaka P

New York Yankees Spring Training Is Over


With the final spring training game of the season rained out the New York Yankees spring training camp is officially over. Here are the last spring training news and notes for the 2014 season. From here on out it's all business, the games start counting on Tuesday.

The Yankees honored Derek Jeter in a pre-game ceremony only to cancel the final game of the spring just minutes later. Bizarre, either way Jeter's spring training career is over.

New York Yankees vs. Miami Marlins 3/29


This is it, the final tuneup before the games actually start counting. The New York Yankees will host the Miami Marlins at George M. Steinbrenner Field down in Tampa in the final spring training game in 2014. Ivan Nova will be on the mound for his final tuneup before his start on Thursday against the Houston Astros. The game will be televised at 1:05 pm ET on the YES Network and MLB TV. Enjoy the day and the rest of your weekend Yankees family.

New York Yankees Spring Training News & Notes 3/29


These are the early notes, we may do another one later after the game:

Brendan Ryan will be eligible to come off the DL after just eight days into the season but the Yankees do not seem to think he will be ready. Ryan had 10 at bats before he went down with an oblique injury and will basically have to do spring training all over again meaning that the Dean Anna, Yangervis Solarte, and Eduardo Nunez competition will mean much more when it's resolved.

As we reported last night Anna has made the Opening Day roster while Solarte and Nunez have been told not to pack their bags and bring them with them today. A decision could be made today, it could be tomorrow, or it could be as late as Monday. Anna is expected to give Derek Jeter days off against right handed pitching since he is a left handed bat.

Rule 5 Draft pick Tommy Kahnle has made the Colorado Rockies 25 man roster and will not be returned to New York, not yet anyway.

Vidal Nuno made the team over Cesar Cabral due to versatility. With the Yankees playing in 13 straight games to start the season the Yankees would rather have guys who can throw multiple innings, not one batter or one inning type guys.

Jacoby Ellsbury is expected to play today in the final spring training game against the Miami Marlins.




Yankee Stadium Legacy: #3 Lou Gehrig


Lou Gehrig started his famous games played streak in 1925 and took the field in every Yankees game for the next 13 years. The final game of his 2,130 consecutive games played stretch came at Yankee Stadium on April, 30 193. Gehrig had a dedication to his teammates, the New York Yankees franchise, and to the game of baseball and it's fans and really helped enhance the Yankee pride reputation.

We are a Babe Ruth, 3 days away, from Yankees Opening Day. Cliff Mapes wore #3 too in case you forgot.

Quick Hit: Yankees Pen Will Help The Rotation


The New York Yankees should have zero problems keeping the likes of Hiroki Kuroda, CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, and Michael Pineda fresh and well rested this season after the bullpen announcements. The Yankees basically have three long men in the pen that are also capable of pitching in middle relief.

There is absolutely no reason to run Kuroda out there for more than seven innings a start, no reason to let CC go much over the 100 pitch mark per game, no reason to let Tanaka get wore down in August and September, and no reason that Pineda should not be in the rotation all season long, innings limit or not.

The Yankees bullpen, on paper of course, is deep and versatile and should really help out the starting rotation. Barring injuries or bad performance the pen should never be tired or overused either which is always a good thing over the course of a season, ask anybody. I really love the way this bullpen was constructed, my only beef is having Thornton in it but what can you do.

I feel better and better about the 2014 New York Yankees the more we inch closer to Opening Day.

This Day In New York Yankees History 3/29


On this day in 1948 the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox played an exceptionally long exhibition game that went 17 innings, unheard of nowadays. The game still ended in a 2-2 tie in a four hour and two minute game. The Yankees scored a run in each of the bottom of the ninth and tenth innings to keep the game tied and moving along. New York had the winning run at third base in the bottom of the 17th inning but Frank Crosetti attempted a bunt to squeeze the runner home and failed.


On this day in 1975 the Yankees released Mel Stottlemyre after he tore his rotator cuff. Mel finished with a 164-139 record and a 2.97 ERA with 40 shutouts before he became New York's pitching coach.


On this day in 2009 the Evil Empire struck again as they placed a permanent September 11 memorial at the entrance of George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees Spring Training home in Tampa, Florida. The tribute showcased a foundation in the shape of the Pentagon that supported two towers made from steel from the World Trade Center that was placed on a grassy spot representing where United Flight 93 was hijacked and flown into the Earth in Pennsylvania. The Red Sox did nothing.