2 1/2 Weeks to Tampa...

The Yankees’ Migration to Florida Begins…

When the calendar page turns next Friday, we will enter a month WITH Yankees baseball for the first time since last October. It may not be “real games” but we’re getting the band together again in Tampa, FL and the Yankees will be playing their first organized exhibition game in less than a month when they travel to JetBlue Park in Fort Myers on Saturday, February 23rd to take on the bullpen-challenged Boston Red Sox.

I don’t know about you but I am ready to see the guys at Steinbrenner Field and watching the navy blue spring jerseys in full force.  

Before pitchers and catchers report to camp in roughly two and a half weeks, I’d really like to see the Yankees formally introduce their off-season acquisitions in a press conference at Yankee Stadium. It doesn’t appear it is going to happen but I always loved it when the Yankees held press conferences at the Stadium followed by photo sessions down on the often snow-covered field. It seems like ages ago when the Yankees acquired James Paxton, yet we’ve only heard his voice in interviews. Most of us have yet to see the smile on his face and the Big Maple tattoo on his arm as he talks about the excitement of being a Yankee.

Photo Credit: The Seattle Times (Ken Lambert)

If I owned the Yankees, I’d pull Paxton, Troy Tulowitzki, DJ LeMahieu, and Adam Ottavino to New York before they head to Tampa. Heck, Ottavino is already there so it would save Hal Steinbrenner some money.  

Nice post yesterday by Bryan Van Dusen entitled “Bryce Harper Will Be a Yankee”.  It’s worth checking out if you haven’t already done so. The way the market is playing out seems to be opening the possibility that Harper could find his way to Yankee Stadium. While I’ve long been a Manny Machado guy, I don’t really see the fit with Manny anymore given the infield acquisitions and the optimism Didi Gregorious could be back sooner than expected. Will there be a mid-summer “acquisition” better than Didi? I don’t think so. But as Bryan outlined yesterday, Harper fits the Yankees so many ways. I am sure they’ve heard the words of the newest Yankees talk about the reasons they joined the team. The theme of of an organization that wants to win every year resonates as does the lifelong dreams of wearing the famed Pinstripes. We know Bryce desires to be a Yankee. Hal Steinbrenner can make it happen and provide Yankee fans with one of the greatest young players in the game today (to go with our collection of other great young players).  

Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated

The Boston Red Sox are seemingly hamstrung by their payroll. Not that I want the Yankees to be in a similar position, but the time to strike is now. Show no mercy. I want a roster that ensures the Red Sox are the team battling for Wild Card position this season and not the Yankees. The weakest position on the team, in my opinion, is left field. Brett Gardner is simply no longer the player he once was. Getting old sucks. I have no trust in Clint Frazier’s ability to stay healthy until he proves that he can. Jacoby Ellsbury? Please. Bring Bryce Harper to New York. His presence would help the other guys in the lineup and he’d deflect pressure off guys like Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez. 

If the market moves in the Yankees’ favor and they do sign Harper for less than original estimates, it will be one of Brian Cashman’s best moves in his Yankees career. Bryce Harper, New York Yankees. It sounds so right (or should I say ‘so lefty’?). Works for me. Let J.A. Happ pick out a new number. I hope he has that problem.  

Staying with the “it’s just money” theme, the Yankees got a good idea what it might take to retain CF Aaron Hicks when the Los Angeles Dodgers signed oft-injured CF A.J. Pollock to a five-year, $60 million contract this week. Hicks, if he can stay healthy this season, figures to command an equal if not greater deal. I probably wish Estevan Florial was closer to The Show but the Yankees will have some tough choices next off-season with Hicks, Didi Gregorius and Dellin Betances.  

It’s great to see the finalization of Adam Ottavino’s three-year contract. I am really excited about his presence on this year’s team. I wanted Ottavino to wear Number 0 but I understood the concerns of those who didn’t want the Yankees to issue a number that has never been worn in the history of the franchise. In the end, I am glad the Yankees made the decision to allow Otto to wear his number. I know many wanted Number 2 to be the last single digit worn but there’s no disrespect with Otto continuing the tradition of single digits. I was a little surprised when the Yankees retired Joe Torre’s Number 6. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the manager and I loved the championships he brought to the organization, but it’s not like he played on the field with number 6 and it’s not necessarily a number we strongly associate with him. I get retiring Casey Stengel’s number but honestly I think retiring numbers should be reserved for players, especially when the organization has so many retired numbers. Aaron Boone managed 162 regular season games last year plus the Wild Card game and ALDS, yet we could probably count on one hand the number of times we actually saw his number. Boone could win the next five consecutive World Series but I wouldn’t retire Number 17. The recognition should be for the players, not the coaching staff. Players have a greater effect on the success of a manager than the manager has on the players. The point is, Number 6 should still be in circulation, and Otto’s number 0 should not be the last single digit.

Well, since Number 6 is retired, I do think they should honor Roy White and give him equal credit for the number in the way Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra share the retirement of Number 8. Roy White was such a huge and consistent part of the Yankees in the early years of my fandom. The lifetime Yank deserves his day in the sun at Yankee Stadium, and recognition with a plaque in Monument Park. White played 15 years for the Yankees from 1965 through 1979. He was always overshadowed by the bigger names but he was the consummate professional and the glue on so many of those great Yankee teams. Maybe his numbers did not warrant the sole retirement of his number but he deserves credit for it as much as Joe Torre in a shared capacity, in my opinion.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Speaking of retired numbers, it will be interesting to see if the Yankees take Number 35 out of circulation now that Mike Mussina has been elected to the Hall of Fame. I was pleased to see Mussina make the HOF but he was never a lock to make it in my opinion. There are certainly a number of players who are equally deserving, or maybe even more so, that have never gotten the call. Nevertheless, I am proud of Mussina’s accomplishment. I had felt he should go into the Hall of Fame with his Orioles cap but I was pleased with his decision to go in with no logo like fellow Hall of Famer Roy “Doc” Halladay who was equally great on two teams (same as Moose).  

Mariano Rivera. What else can you say? The first man unanimously selected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame. There is no one better deserving of the honor and recognition.  We were privileged to see one of the game’s greatest and the best to ever play his position for so many years at Yankee Stadium. Growing up, I always thought how cool it would have been to see Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle (in his prime) play. As it stands today, I am glad I was able to see guys like Thurman Munson, Don Mattingly, Derek Jeter, and the Sandman. It makes up for never having seen the earlier legends. Congratulations Mo! You were one of a kind and we may never see someone of your greatness again. It was our pleasure to watch you.

Lastly, I was disappointed to see Al Leiter’s departure from the YES Network. I get his reasons for stepping down (to spend more time with his family and mentor his 18-year-old son Jack who will most likely be seen on Major League mounds in about a half decade or so). I was glad to hear Al will continue to appear on MLB Network but his voice will be sorely missed in the YES Network broadcast booth.  

I am excited that Baseball is right around the corner. After next weekend (the Super Bowl), all eyes will turn to America’s greatest game. Well, maybe not basketball fans and March Madness, but for the rest of us, the dawn of the 2019 season is on the horizon. Can’t wait.

As always, Go Yankees!

Remembering Game Five of the 2000 Subway World Series

The 2000 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the New York Mets facing off in the World Series for the first time in their history. This was the first Subway Series since 1956 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees faced off. Let's take the time to remember Game 5 of the 2000 World Series.

In a rematch of the Game 1 pitchers duel Andy Pettitte took the mound for the Yankees and faced off against the Mets ace Al Leiter. Bernie Williams would get the scoring going with a solo home run in the top of the 2nd inning giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. The Mets would respond by getting two unearned runs across the board in the bottom of the 2nd and would keep that lead until the 6th inning when Derek Jeter hit a game tying home run. Heading into the 9th inning the game was tied a 2-2 each when Luis Sojo hit an RBI single off of Al Leiter to give the Yankees the lead and an errant throw that ended up in the Yankees dugout allowed a 4th run to score giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead going to the bottom of the 9th. Mike Piazza would come up in the 9th as the tying run in the 9th and hit a deep fly ball to center field that would find Bernie Williams glove and that would get the Yankees their third consecutive World Series victory. Mike Stanton would get the victory and Al Leiter would take the loss while Mariano Rivera notched his second save of the World Series in the clinching game.


This would be the Yankees 26th World Series victory overall and fourth in five years cementing the dynasty.

Remembering Game One of the 2000 Subway World Series

The 2000 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the New York Mets facing off in the World Series for the first time in their history. This was the first Subway Series since 1956 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees faced off. Let's take the time to remember Game 1 of the 2000 World Series.

The Yankees sent Andy Pettitte to the mound to face off against the Mets Al Leiter on a very important date in baseball history, October 21st. This was the day that Carlton Fisk hit his home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series and on the same day the Philadelphia Phillies won their first World Series on this day in 1980. Both starting pitchers had shut outs going into the 6th inning until David Justice knocked a two run double to put the Yankees up 2-0. Andy Pettitte would quickly lose the lead in the 7th after hit after hit off the savvy lefty including an Edgardo Alfonzo hit to give the Mets the 3-2 lead. Chuck Knoblauch would have a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th inning off Mets closer Armando Benitez to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Jose Vizcaino would be the unlikeliest of heroes when he would knock in Tino Martinez with his fourth hit of the game to give the Yankees a 4-3 victory and a 1-0 lead in the Subway World Series. Mike Stanton would get the win and Mets pitcher Turk Wendell would take the loss.

Remembering Game Five of the 2000 Subway World Series

The 2000 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the New York Mets facing off in the World Series for the first time in their history. This was the first Subway Series since 1956 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees faced off. Let's take the time to remember Game 5 of the 2000 World Series.

In a rematch of the Game 1 pitchers duel Andy Pettitte took the mound for the Yankees and faced off against the Mets ace Al Leiter. Bernie Williams would get the scoring going with a solo home run in the top of the 2nd inning giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. The Mets would respond by getting two unearned runs across the board in the bottom of the 2nd and would keep that lead until the 6th inning when Derek Jeter hit a game tying home run. Heading into the 9th inning the game was tied a 2-2 each when Luis Sojo hit an RBI single off of Al Leiter to give the Yankees the lead and an errant throw that ended up in the Yankees dugout allowed a 4th run to score giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead going to the bottom of the 9th. Mike Piazza would come up in the 9th as the tying run in the 9th and hit a deep fly ball to center field that would find Bernie Williams glove and that would get the Yankees their third consecutive World Series victory. Mike Stanton would get the victory and Al Leiter would take the loss while Mariano Rivera notched his second save of the World Series in the clinching game.


This would be the Yankees 26th World Series victory overall and fourth in five years cementing the dynasty.

Remembering Game One of the 2000 Subway World Series

The 2000 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the New York Mets facing off in the World Series for the first time in their history. This was the first Subway Series since 1956 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees faced off. Let's take the time to remember Game 1 of the 2000 World Series.

The Yankees sent Andy Pettitte to the mound to face off against the Mets Al Leiter on a very important date in baseball history, October 21st. This was the day that Carlton Fisk hit his home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series and on the same day the Philadelphia Phillies won their first World Series on this day in 1980. Both starting pitchers had shut outs going into the 6th inning until David Justice knocked a two run double to put the Yankees up 2-0. Andy Pettitte would quickly lose the lead in the 7th after hit after hit off the savvy lefty including an Edgardo Alfonzo hit to give the Mets the 3-2 lead. Chuck Knoblauch would have a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th inning off Mets closer Armando Benitez to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Jose Vizcaino would be the unlikeliest of heroes when he would knock in Tino Martinez with his fourth hit of the game to give the Yankees a 4-3 victory and a 1-0 lead in the Subway World Series. Mike Stanton would get the win and Mets pitcher Turk Wendell would take the loss.

Quick Hit: The 2017 WPIX Channel 11 TV Schedule

The New York Yankees will return to WPIX Channel 11 once again this season when they aren’t on the YES Network for another 21 games in 2017. Here is the 21 game schedule for the Yankees on WPIX as they return to the channel for the third season. It’s worth mentioning that PIX11 will also produce pre-game specials for each primetime Yankees game this season which should be fun.

The YES Network’s Michael Kay, David Cone, John Flaherty, Al Leiter, Meredith Marakovits, Paul O’Neill, Ken Singleton and Ryan Ruocco will cover the games for PIX11 this season. 

Patience, Young Grasshopper…

Credit:  AP

I admit that I am the old guy on this site.  I grew up in the era when George Steinbrenner was King.  If you wanted the best baseball player, you went and bought him.  The impulsive side of me loved those days.  Who didn’t want an All-Star at every position?  But there was a price to be paid. 

I loved Billy Martin as Yankees manager.  I was excited with every hiring and devastated with every firing.  Managers, General Managers, and Pitching Coaches seemed to change more often than Lady Gaga’s outfits and hairstyles.  Maybe I’ve always been able to adapt well to change because that was my childhood.  There were no constants in New York other than The Boss ruled supreme. 

I became a Yankees fan on December 31, 1974.  It’s a day that I’ll never forget.  I had grown up rooting for the Oakland A’s and their collection of characters.  My favorite pitcher was Jim “Catfish” Hunter.  The earliest books I remember reading were about baseball.  I think the very first biography I read was about Ty Cobb, but it was a subsequent biography I encountered about the legendary Lou Gehrig that laid the foundation for a lifetime of Pinstripe Passion.  So, it seemed meant to be when Catfish Hunter became a free agent and signed with the Yankees on New Year’s Eve, 1974.  That day, I went with him to New York and I’ve never looked back.

When the Yankees took the field on April 8, 1975, they were my team.  Looking back at the Opening Day lineup, it seems so long ago:

2B-Sandy Alomar

LF-Lou Piniella

CF-Bobby Bonds

RF-Ron Blomberg

3B-Graig Nettles

DH-Ed Herrmann

1B-Chris Chambliss

C-Thurman Munson

SS-Jim Mason

SP-Doc Medich

The Yankees lost that day, 5-3 to the Cleveland Indians.  They finished third for the year with a record of 83-77, 12 games behind the Boston Red Sox.  By the end of the season, Billy Martin had taken over as the Yankees manager (for his first time).  It was a great time to be a Yankees fan and you could sense that something bigger was developing after a decade of apathy under CBS ownership.  By this time, Steinbrenner had owned the Yankees for a couple of years but his influence was starting to grow.  I’ve always loved the quote by then Yankees minority owner (and later Houston Astros owner) John McMullen when he said “There is nothing in life quite so limited as being a limited partner of George Steinbrenner”. 

However, the Yankees desire to field the best collection of players came at a heavy cost.  It was hard to watch a talented young pitcher named Doug Drabek get traded to the Pittsburgh in 1986 (for Rick Rhoden) and later win the NL Cy Young Award for the Pirates.  It was hard to watch young slugger Jay Buhner crush minor league pitching, only to get traded to the Seattle Mariners for a long and productive career (for the forgettable Ken Phelps).   It was hard to watch Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff get traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for a marginal reliever named Dale Murray.  I loved when Al Leiter first came up.  There were growing pains associated with a young starter, but you could tell that he was going to be a good one.  Yet, he ended up getting sent away to Toronto for Jesse Barfield.  Leiter would go on to win three World Series championships with other clubs.

This list goes on and on, but it is very difficult to get excited about young prospects, only to watch them flourish in other organizations. 

I’ve read the blog comments that the Yankees need to get creative.  I couldn’t agree more.  A few years ago, the Boston Red Sox looked like they were saddled with age and bad contracts.  Then, in one trade late in the 2012 season, they eliminated the contracts of Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, and Carl Crawford.  It doesn’t really matter what they got in return.  The trade freed valuable dollars and put the Red Sox on the path they are on today with one of the better teams in baseball.  When they needed a frontline ace (Chris Sale), they traded their best hitting prospect, Yoan Moncada, perhaps the best prospect in all of baseball, and their best pitching prospect, Michael Kopech, who looks to be a future ace.  Time will tell if this move backfires, but they are doing something. 

I want to win now.  But the realist in me recognizes that it is not yet our time.  The moves today must set up the team for success in 2018 and 2019.  There can be no short-sighted moves.  Many teams load up for the chance at single championships.  If the Yankees play their cards right, it could set the team up for another multiple run.  We may never see a run like the 90’s (or 50’s) again, but try telling the New England Patriots that parity has been achieved in the NFL. 

I am in favor of making the necessary (and creative) moves necessary to build sustained success.  But for the quick fix?  Those days are behind me.

Remembering Game Five of the 2000 Subway World Series

The 2000 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the New York Mets facing off in the World Series for the first time in their history. This was the first Subway Series since 1956 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees faced off. Let's take the time to remember Game 5 of the 2000 World Series.

In a rematch of the Game 1 pitchers duel Andy Pettitte took the mound for the Yankees and faced off against the Mets ace Al Leiter. Bernie Williams would get the scoring going with a solo home run in the top of the 2nd inning giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. The Mets would respond by getting two unearned runs across the board in the bottom of the 2nd and would keep that lead until the 6th inning when Derek Jeter hit a game tying home run. Heading into the 9th inning the game was tied a 2-2 each when Luis Sojo hit an RBI single off of Al Leiter to give the Yankees the lead and an errant throw that ended up in the Yankees dugout allowed a 4th run to score giving the Yankees a 4-2 lead going to the bottom of the 9th. Mike Piazza would come up in the 9th as the tying run in the 9th and hit a deep fly ball to center field that would find Bernie Williams glove and that would get the Yankees their third consecutive World Series victory. Mike Stanton would get the victory and Al Leiter would take the loss while Mariano Rivera notched his second save of the World Series in the clinching game.


This would be the Yankees 26th World Series victory overall and fourth in five years cementing the dynasty.

Remembering Game One of the 2000 Subway World Series

The 2000 World Series featured the New York Yankees and the New York Mets facing off in the World Series for the first time in their history. This was the first Subway Series since 1956 when the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees faced off. Let's take the time to remember Game 1 of the 2000 World Series.

The Yankees sent Andy Pettitte to the mound to face off against the Mets Al Leiter on a very important date in baseball history, October 21st. This was the day that Carlton Fisk hit his home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series and on the same day the Philadelphia Phillies won their first World Series on this day in 1980. Both starting pitchers had shut outs going into the 6th inning until David Justice knocked a two run double to put the Yankees up 2-0. Andy Pettitte would quickly lose the lead in the 7th after hit after hit off the savvy lefty including an Edgardo Alfonzo hit to give the Mets the 3-2 lead. Chuck Knoblauch would have a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th inning off Mets closer Armando Benitez to tie the game and send it to extra innings. Jose Vizcaino would be the unlikeliest of heroes when he would knock in Tino Martinez with his fourth hit of the game to give the Yankees a 4-3 victory and a 1-0 lead in the Subway World Series. Mike Stanton would get the win and Mets pitcher Turk Wendell would take the loss.

Every Uniform Number Tells A Different Story

I usually don't frequent ESPN due to their, in my opinion, anti Yankees bias and some of the most obvious homerism in all of sports but this article about uniform numbers was too well written to pass up. Diane Firstman of ESPN.com gave us a few news and notes about the history of uniform numbers and it's an absolutely fascinating read that I think everyone should check out in it's entirety. Below I will map out the Yankees based achievements from the article, enjoy!

Chris Britton in 2008 was one of many players to wear four different uniform numbers in one season with the same team when the Yankees reliever wore #'s 38, 39, 47, and 63.

The most different players wearing the same number in Major League history is  67 different New York Yankees wearing the #26.

The Yankees had seven different players wear the #28 in 1989 with Al Leiter, Dale Mohoric, Dave Eiland, Hal Morris, Hensley Meulens, Jesse Barfield, and Marcus Lawton.

Also these numbers have never been worn by any team, ever. #'s 80, 86, 89, 90, and 92.