Saturday, May 24, 2014

Yankees Interested In Venezuelan OF Antonio Arias


The New York Yankees are set to go ape crap crazy in this year's International signing period and have been linked to just about everyone in the market including Venezuelan outfielder Antonio Arias. Arias is currently 15 years old but will be 16 years old and eligible for signing when the new singing period opens up on July 2.

Arias is 6'2" and 170 lbs with plenty of time and room to grow physically. Arias is a good fielder who could stick in center field in the major leagues which makes him much more valuable. Arias is right handed and has not shown much power yet but with a mechanical fix or too he could absolutely begin to show some power.

No word on what kind of contract he would sign if he came to New York but as one of the youngest players in the field I wouldn't expect it to reach seven digits.

Wondering If Robinson Cano Is Missing Yankee Stadium


This meme got me wondering, is Robinson Cano missing Yankee Stadium and the short porch yet? Oh and winning but I wasn't going to mention that. Cano has two home runs this season and is being out homered by Brett Gardner among a plethora of other Yankees. Miss me yet?

Yankees rally in ninth to steal win from White Sox

Going into the ninth inning of today's 4-3 win, the Yankees looked terrible.

The struggling team, just 1-4 in their last five games coming in, had mustered just three hits through 8 frames off White Sox Starter John Danks, making Vidal Nuno's three-run, seven-inning outing irrelevant.

Still, they did have three outs to work with. I guess you could say they made the most of them.

After getting a man to second with two gone, New York's bats suddenly came to life in their final chance of the contest, rallying to tie thanks to an RBI Double from Alfonso Soriano, an RBI Single from Yangervis Solarte, a walk from Ichiro, and a bloop single from PH Brian McCann. 

At that point, the Sox and Pinstripes were even at 3, and, after a perfect bottom of the ninth from Dellin Betances and a solo home run from Jacoby Ellsbury in the tenth, the latter had somehow taken the lead.

The bottom of the tenth wasn't exactly stress free for the visitors, as David Robertson did give up a two-out single followed by a stolen base, but in the end, the eager-to-rebound closer got the job done, getting Gordan Beckham looking to clinch the W.

Was this victory necessarily pretty? No, but it was definitely fun. I guess you need to play bad sometimes in order to get things working.

Game Thread: Yankees vs. White Sox 5/24


The New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox will play their third game of this four game weekend set in Chicago this afternoon at US Cellular Field. The Yankees will send Vidal Nuno to the mound for the seventh time this season to face off with John Danks for the White Sox. The game will be played at 2:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

I apologize in advance but I will not be around for this game on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, or in the comments section of the site today. One of my friends is graduating High School and I will be there celebrating with him and his family. I plan on doing a lot of cooking, a lot of eating, and a lot of drinking afterwards, Coke of course.

See the Yankees lives by getting your Yankees tickets right here on the blog!!

Enjoy the game Yankees family and enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.

Still The Most Famous Thing John Danks Has Ever Done


So you throw with your left hand but you pick your nose with your right hand... can't predict baseball. 

Preview: New York Yankees vs. Chicago White Sox 5/24


The New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox will play the third game of their four game set in Chicago this week at US Cellular Field. The Yankees will send Vidal Nuno to the mound to face off with John Danks for the White Sox. The game will be played at 2:10 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

Nuno is making his seventh start this season after starting the year in the pen and the experiment does not look close to being over yet. Nuno is 1-1 with a 4.55 ERA and the Yankees have won three of his six starts this season. Nuno pitched six innings his last time out against Pittsburgh and held the Pirates to only two runs in a no decision.

Danks is coming off a loss in his last start as he gave up seven earned runs in 4.2 IP last time out against the Houston Astros. Let's hope that Danks shows up and not the one that tends to shut down the Yankees time and time again this afternoon.

Go Yankees!!

Robertson "tried to put a fastball down and away" on last pitch Friday

Obviously that didn't work.

After giving up a walk-off two-run home run to Adam Dunn in yesterday's ninth inning, Yankees Closer David Robertson was clearly upset. 

Robertson, who grabbed his head in frustration the second the ball came off the bat, had been ahead of Dunn 0-2, already the second time that happened in the frame.

Usually in those situations, Robertson would emerge victorious, but there, according to him, he just missed his spot.

The first time that's happened this season. 

“I was trying to put a fastball down and away,” the first-year closer told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News after blowing his first save of 2014. “I left it up in the zone, it cut right to his barrel and he put it 40 rows deep.”

While that moment was obviously frustrating, Robertson is still 9-for-10 in save opportunities this season, so, while he did make a mistake, he still appears to be doing a pretty good job succeeding Mariano.

Remember, around this time last year Rivera had a game just like this at Citi Field, proving that yes, this happens to everybody. No need to panic over it, even though it was pretty rough to watch. 

Can't Predict Baseball: Coveleski Goes 19 Innings

On this day in 1918 the Indians right handed pitcher Stan Coveleski throws 19 innings for the Tribe in a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds. Joe Wood's home run would be the game winner for the Indians. This is something that will absolutely never be approached, let alone matched, ever again.


Lail's Sixth Straight Win Sets RiverDogs Record
Modern Charleston record for consecutive winning appearances set by Brady Lail

HICKORY, NC - Brady Lail became the first Charleston RiverDogs pitcher to win six consecutive appearances since the RiverDogs became a New York Yankees affiliate, earning the win in a 6-3 Charleston victory over the Hickory Crawdads on Friday night at L.P. Frans Stadium in South Atlantic League action.
Charleston improved to 24-22 this season while evening this four-game series at one win each. Hickory has a 22-24 record after the loss. Lail's six straight winning outings is the best mark for any RiverDog dating back to Charleston's first year in the Yankees system in 2005, which is also when Minor League Baseball began regularly archiving statistics. Lail has seven total victories and is tied for the South Atlantic League lead in wins with Hagerstown's Nick Pivetta.
The Crawdads quickly threatened against Lail in the first inning. Hickory loaded the bases with a leadoff walk by Evan Van Hoosier and singles from Nick Vickerson and Joe Jackson. Charleston escaped the jam after a foul pop out and back-to-back strikeouts from Lail.
In the second inning, Hickory was able to convert its next scoring chance to grab a 1-0 lead. With one out, Jairo Beras got into scoring position with his fourth double in as many games. Van Hoosier put the Crawdads in front with a two-out single that scored Beras.
Charleston surged ahead of Hickory in the top of the fourth, taking a 3-1 lead. Cole Wiper induced a lineout before Aaron Judge doubled and Mike Ford singled to put runners on the corners. Miguel Andujar grounded into a force out and brought in Judge for the tying run. Gosuke Katoh followed with a go-ahead, two-run home run, his first home run of the season.
Another three-run rally in the fifth added to Charleston's advantage. Judge's one-out, bases-loaded single scored Kale Sumner and John Murphy, putting the RiverDogs up 5-1. After Hickory's Kevin Pucetas relieved Wiper, Ford greeted the new pitcher with a double that drove in Michael O'Neill to give the RiverDogs a 6-1 lead.
Lail allowed one run to the Crawdads in five solid frames. He also retired nine of the final ten batters that he faced, yielding a leadoff double to Kellin Deglan in the fourth with no other damage in that streak. Lail struck out five Crawdads and only gave up six hits along with a walk.
Philip Walby relieved Lail and stranded five runners in two scoreless innings before Hickory started a comeback in the bottom of the eighth. Vickerson batted against Chris Smith with two outs and runners on the corners when a passed ball allowed Deglan to score and cut the deficit to 6-2. Vickerson hit a single that plated Van Hoosier to get within 6-3. Smith did not allow any more runs through the end of the contest as the RiverDogs claimed the win.
With the victory, Lail has a 7-1 record this season. Wiper was charged with the loss and is 2-6.
COMING UP: Game three of this four-game series will feature Charleston RHP Rookie Davis (2-3, 4.58 ERA) and Hickory LHP Chad Bell (0-0, 3.00 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6pm. The RiverDogs follow this road stretch with an eight-game homestand at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park. Re-Opening Night is on tap for a May 27 doubleheader with the Greenville Drive at 6:05pm while Bark for Your Brew on June 1 at 3pm precedes the homestand finale against the Asheville Tourists at 5:05pm. Tickets may be purchased at the Riley Park Box Office, (843) 577-DOGS (3647) or on-line atwww.riverdogs.com. If fans cannot make it to the ballpark, they are encouraged to tune in to all the action this year both home and away worldwide on www.riverdogs.com and locally on 1250 WTMA, the new radio home for RiverDogs baseball.

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

Trenton Thunder Game Recap 5/23

Bleich Paces Thunder Win with Career-High 10 K

RICHMOND, VA - The Thunder used five runs in the final two innings to pull away from the Richmond Flying Squirrels 6-1 Friday night at The Diamond.

The game was 1-0 until the top of the 8th inning thanks to Rob Refsnyder's home run on the first pitch of the third inning against Squirrels' starting pitcher Ty Blach. That would be the only blemish against Blach in his six innings of work, but the lone run for Richmond came in the bottom of the 9th once Trenton had already staked themselves to a 6-1 lead.

Offensively, the Thunder offense was paced by Refsnyder's homer and Gary Sanchez' homer in the top of the 8th inning which pushed a 1-0 lead to 3-0 and made things more comfortable for the Thunder bullpen. Sanchez set a Double-A career-high with a 4-for-5 performance.

Thunder starting pitcher Jeremy Bleich matched his career-high with 7.0 innings pitched and set a career-high with 10 strikeouts over those seven shutout frames. He improves to 4-4 with the win and lowers his ERA to 3.47 on the season.

Pitching in relief of Bleich was LHP Tyler Webb who converted his first Double-A save with two innings of one-run ball. In the 8th inning, Webb struck out four batters which was the first time a Thunder pitcher had done that in five years, dating back to Jose Valdez pulling the trick on April 9, 2009 vs. Binghamton. Thunder pitching set a season-high with 15 strikeouts of Richmond batters.

The Thunder continue their seven-game road trip Saturday in Richmond, Va. against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. First pitch is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. start time with a 6:50 pre-game show that can be found streaming on 91.3 FM, the TuneIn Radio app and on www.trentonthunder.com.

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder. The original post can be seen HERE

Quick Hit: Kevin Long Opening His Dumb Ass Mouth Again


According to Mark Feinsand of the Daily News Kevin Long about broke his arm patting himself on the back after Jacoby Ellsbury got two hits on Wednesday in Chicago against the Cubs. Long claimed to have found a mechanical flaw in Ellsbury's game that he corrected leading to the two hits. If Long is to get all the credit for Ellbury's 2-6 day then he should also get the blame for how bad the Yankees offense has struggled this season, right?

Heading into play before last nights game:

Kelly Johnson .202 batting average
Brian McCann .223 batting average
Carlos Beltran .234 batting average
Alfonso Soriano .235 batting average

I can keep going but I think you get my point.... It's time to go K Long.


Kuroda doesn't get threw 5, Robertson surrenders walk-off homer as Yankees lose to White Sox Again

What a way to blow a game.

Despite getting a first inning three-run home run from Brian McCann and a two-run top of the seventh to retake the lead, the Yankees fell to the White Sox tonight in frustrating fashion, 6-5.

For most of this contest, the Bombers led by small margins, largely due to that line drive homer from McCann.

Still, they did eventually surrender those advantages, mainly because of a duo of errors by Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts that allowed the White Sox to pull within one.

In the bottom of the fifth, Chicago finally got to New York Starter Hiroki Kuroda, taking the lead on a two-run shot from Alexei Ramirez. Shortly afterwards, the struggling veteran was taken out after throwing his 100th pitch, failing to get the fifteenth out despite being charged with just two earned runs.

In their half of the seventh, the Yanks did find a way to take a 5-4 lead thanks to a wild pitch and an RBI Sac Fly from Jacoby Ellsbury, although, as you can see by the final score, it didn't last long, as Closer David Robertson went on to surrender a two-run walk-off homer to Adam Dunn that ended the game. 

The blown save, impressively, was Robertson's first of the year in ten tries, knocking the Yankees down to third place in the AL East.

This Day In New York Yankees History 5/24


On this day in 1936 the Yankees Tony Lazzeri becomes the first player in major league history to hit two grand slams in the same game when the Yankees beat up on the A's 25-2. The future Hall of Famer also established a new American League record in the game with 11 RBI's.


On this day in 1956 Mickey Mantle went off at the plate going 505 with an intentional walk in an 11-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Mantle would hit a home run and four singles in the game to go with his walk.


On this day in 1986 a drunk Billy Martin was fired as the co-host on Saturday Night Live after slurring his lines during a skit. The former Yankee manager sets fire to his dressing room at the end of show, the season finale for SNL.