This Day In New York Yankees History 8/23: Joe Torre Passes Casey Stengel

What a coincidence, or maybe it wasn't, that the New York Yankees would hold Joe Torre day at Yankee Stadium this afternoon in the Bronx. Conveniently, because I don't tend to believe in coincidences, Joe Torre passed Casey Stengel for second place on the Yankees all-time managerial wins list on this day in 2007. The victory was Torre's 1,150th win as a Yankees manager.

In case you were wondering Joe McCarthy still holds the all-time Yankees managerial wins record with 1,460 wins in 16 seasons as the Yankees manager.

Also on this day in 2003 the Yankees honored another great from the past when they held Ron Guidry Day at Yankee Stadium. Guidry's #49 uniform was retired after Louisiana Lightning spent his entire career with New York posting a 170-90 record and being co-captain of the club with Willie Randolph. Guidry also received a plaque in Monument Park in his honor on this day.

Finally on this day in 1958 the Yankees Whitey Ford ended Nellie Fox's consecutive games streak without a strikeout. Fox had gone 98 straight games without striking out before Ford rung him up in a 7-1 victory for the White Sox.

Yankees Rally From Early 3-0 Deficit to Win Opener Over White Sox

Shane Greene surrendered just three earned runs in 5+ innings and Martin Prado won the game with a single in the ninth tonight as the Yankees won a thriller over the White Sox, 4-3, in the series opener at Yankee Stadium.

In this one's top of the first, surprisingly, the red-hot Greene surrendered two hits and a Jose Abreu three-run homer, appearing to end things before the Yanks even got to the plate.

Fortunetaly, though, that unaffordable scenario didn't end up coming to fruition, with desperate New York slowing rallying throughout when Prado launched a two-run shot in the third and Jacoby Ellsbury contributed an RBI Double in the fifth. 

Then in the bottom of the ninth, long after John Danks (5 IP, 3 ER) had been removed and the Yankees had failed to cross home again in that fifth frame, the Yanks excitedly finished off the contest when Prado hit the aforementioned single off Chicago Reliever Daniel Webb, an event that happened with the bases loaded.

No, it wasn't a deep drive to the wall, but yes, it was a hard grounder that got through the infield, something that interestingly gave David Robertson the W while also moving New York to within 3 of the second wild card spot.

8/22 Yankees Open Game Thread vs. Chicago White Sox

Welcome to tonight’s open thread for the game between the New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox as the two teams start a three game set this week at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will send Shane Greene to the mound and will face off with the White Sox John Danks. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on the MY9, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with WFAN.

The Yankees are home all weekend so be sure to grab a pair of Yankees tickets for this weekend and see the home team and Derek Jeter live. Also please follow @GreedyStripes on Twitter and Like our page on Facebook by searching for The Greedy Pinstripes.

It’s an open thread so feel free to hit up the comments section of the site and chat with other Yankees fans across the country. Enjoy the game Yankees family and enjoy the rest of your evening. Go Yankees!

Yankees' Hitters Held Meeting, "Cleared the Air" Before Yesterday's Win

Ever since they beat Trevor Bauer and the Indians back on August 8, it's been clear to us all that the Yankees haven't been their usual selves.

In the 10 games following that fun-to-watch blowout, as you probably already know, the Yanks have gone just 3-7, dropping them from 1/2 to 4 games out in the AL Wild Card Standings.

Now obviously, that stat isn't one to brag about, although we can at least seek comfort in that the team is trying to fix their problems, with starting left fielder Brett Gardner saying yesterday that the players held a meeting before shutting out the Astros.

"We just had a little meeting this morning and talked about some things, kind of cleared the air," Gardner told ESPN New York's Wallace Matthews. "A lot of guys talked. It was good." 

Unfortunetaly, no exact details of the Yankees' recent get-together have been revealed yet, but considering New York's bats did pick things up a little in yesterday's finale against Houston you have to think that it affected something.

Yes, that something may just prove temporary, but either way it seems certain that any kind of improvement today would be accepted by the fans, as the games are legitamately starting to run out for this underachieving club. 

Rusney Castillo Off Yankees Board, Signs w/ Boston

Who didn't see this one coming? Rusney Castillo will not be a member of the New York Yankees but will instead sign with the Boston Red Sox. Castillo got a seven year deal worth a rumored $72.5 million in guaranteed money from Boston. This is really a six year deal as the 2014 season counts as one of the seven years and will keep Castillo in Boston through the 2020 season, or his age 33 season. The Red Sox saved some money on the luxury tax by technically making this a seven year deal with a small base salary for 2014.

Castillo will have a limited no trade clause and will earn a pro-rated amount of the $500 K league minimum salary for the rest of 2014. Boston has out smarted the Yankees once again. Go figure.

8/22 Yankees Game Preview vs. Chicago White Sox

The New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox start a three game set tonight at Yankee Stadium in the first of a three game set in the Bronx this weekend. Tonight the Yankees will send Shane Greene to the mound to face off with the White Sox John Danks. The game will be played at 7:05 pm ET and can be seen on MY9, MLB TV, and can be heard on the radio with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on WFAN.

Greene is coming off a start in which he allowed just two runs in six innings of work against the Tampa Bay Rays down in Tropicana Field. Greene struck out a career high 10 batters in that start and allowed just one walk in the Yankees victory.

Danks is coming off easily his best start of the second half of 2014 in which he allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings of work against the Toronto Blue Jays. Danks is 1-2 with a 8.37 ERA in the second half this season. 

The Yankees are back home so come see the team live as NewYork makes their run at the postseason by grabbing some Yankees tickets fromthe blog. We don’t charge any kind of hidden fees or shipping costs to makealready cheap tickets even cheaper for you the fan. CLICK ME.

Go Yankees!!

Make Sure Stephen Drew Doesn’t Touch a Bat Again This Season

Just a quick rant type post this Friday afternoon to get going, can the Yankees make sure that Stephen Drew never touches a bat again in a Yankee uniform? If so that would be great, thanks. Drew has added nothing, and I mean nothing, offensively to this team and has somehow found a way to be a downgrade over Brian Roberts on the offensive side of the ball. You have Martin Prado who can play more than adequately at second base defensively and seemingly his bat has come to life. Ichiro Suzuki hasn’t been Ichiro Suzuki with the bat lately but riding the pine may have gave him a second wind.

Even with Ichiro struggling and basically being a singles hitter at this point in his career he may still be a better option than Drew. At least Ichiro doesn’t consistently give away at bats and gets on base when he can. Drew… Drew is what Drew was when we acquired him unfortunately. Brian Cashman tried to ride a hot streak and catch lightning in a bottle and it didn’t work, it happens.

You don’t have to keep compounding the problem by throwing him back out there night after night, in the seventh spot no less. It really pisses me off to see a Francisco Cervelli or a Prado hitting behind Drew in the lineup. If you have this fascination with Drew like Joe Girardi seemingly has then at least bat him ninth and put the best lineup you can on the field.

It’s late, really late, and the team cannot afford to have the bat in Drew’s hand one more time this season or it’s over…

The New York Yankees Season Is Over

Hello friend, Mr. Optimism here with a change of scenery. The Yankees season is over, it’s done. I’ve already written my apology letter to Derek Jeter for sending him out on these terms and the Yankees continue to put the nails in their own coffin. New York struggles to beat teams like the Houston Astros, seriously? The team can’t score past the fifth inning, can’t manufacture a run, have tons of speed and don’t steal bases enough (death stare at Brett Gardner), and the team wastes great pitching performance after great pitching performance. Even if the team did make the playoffs by some miracle they aren’t getting past the ALDS, write it down.

The Yankees have 38 games left including this afternoon’s game and the schedule seemed favorable after the All Star Break. The Yankees played the majority of their games at home and played against AL East foes and struggling teams like the Astros, White Sox, Rangers, Red Sox, etc. The Yankees have not taken advantage of this soft schedule like playoff teams tend to do and have gone basically .500 the whole way. There is an old saying that my friend Patrick (little p patrick not Patrick) taught me and that’s that .500 teams don’t make up ground in the standings.

I don’t like to be all doom and gloom and I didn’t want to put a damper on your day but I had to get this out and off my chest. I’m saddened, I’m frustrated, and I can’t hold it in any longer. This team is going nowhere this season and that really breaks my heart. Maybe I have too much invested into this team I don’t know.

Let’s win one today and bring my hopes back up, shall we?

My Apology Letter to Derek Jeter

I unfortunately had to write one of these for both Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera last year and I feel compelled to do so once again for Derek Jeter. I’m sorry.

I’m sorry that George Steinbrenner passed away and left the team to his sons who know nothing about the game of baseball. I’m sorry that the Yankees flirted with the idea of cutting payroll and getting under the luxury tax that set us back a few seasons. I’m sorry you’re spending your final season on a mediocre team that spent right at $500 million this offseason and still is likely to fall under the 85 wins that the 2013 Yankees won.

This team does not have the heart, will, and determination that a lot of the teams you have been on and led and that is no fault of your own. You WANT to be out on the field every day where others take days off like they’re getting paid for them anyway. You WANT to win where others just simply expect to win not knowing that this is not enough by itself.

I’m sorry Jete and I will reiterate this when the Yankees are eliminated this season. Even if you can lead the charge into the postseason I cannot see this team running the table. Too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Do me one favor Jete, not that you owe me anything, make sure the door hits Kevin Long on the ass when you leave.

Sincerely,

Daniel Burch

P.S. I sure could use a gift basket. Go Yankees!

Six Man Rotation For September?

With the Yankees getting back both David Phelps and Masahiro Tanaka, barring any setbacks anyway, in September does New York have too much pitching to continue to throw out a five man rotation? Would a six man rotation work for the Yankees? In short, yes.

You want to give as much rest to Hiroki Kuroda as you can after two consecutive breakdowns at the end of the season due to fatigue. You want to give as much rest to Masahiro Tanaka as you can so you don't push that elbow and torn ulnar collateral ligament too far too fast. You don't want to toy with David Phelps like the Yankees did with Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain and move him from the rotation, to the bullpen and back again. At the same time you don't want to take starts away from your pitchers that are pitching effectively in Shane Greene, Brandon McCarthy, and Michael Pineda. While Pineda might not be hurt by throwing every sixth day instead of fifth with his recent run of injuries you still want that ball in his hand every fifth day.

The part of the team that is helped the most though by this idea is the bullpen. Presumably a pitcher with five days rest instead of four will be able to go longer into games and that pitcher should be fresher, more effective, and have more control and command than usual. More Pineda, Phelps, and Tanaka innings means less innings on Adam Warren and Dellin Betances which can only help.

Let's look at what the Yankees could do in September with the rotation. Just for fun let's assume everyone is back and ready on September 1. I know this isn't realistic but with no definitive dates for a Tanaka or Phelps return at this point it's the best I could do. In parenthesis next to the pitchers name I will put the numbers of days rest he will be pitching on. See below:

9/2: Boston Red Sox vs. Shane Greene (4)
9/3: Boston Red Sox vs. David Phelps (-)
9/4: Boston Red Sox vs.  Hiroki Kuroda (5)
9/5: Kansas City Royals vs. Michael Pineda (5)
9/6: Kansas City Royals vs. Brandon McCarthy (5)
9/7: Kansas City Royals vs. Masahiro Tanaka (-)
9/9: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Shane Greene (6)
9/10: Tampa Bay Rays vs. David Phelps (6)
9/11: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Hiroki Kuroda (6)
9/12: Michael Pineda (6) @ Baltimore Orioles Game 1
9/12: Brandon McCarthy (5) @ Baltimore Orioles Game 2
9/13: Masahiro Tanaka (5) @ Baltimore Orioles
9/14: Shane Greene (4) @ Baltimore Orioles
9/15: David Phelps (4) @ Tampa Bay Rays
9/16: Hiroki Kuroda (4) @ Tampa Bay Rays
9/17: Michael Pineda (4) @ Tampa Bay Rays
9/18: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Brandon McCarthy (5)
9/19: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Masahiro Tanaka (5)
9/20: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Shane Greene (5)
9/21: Toronto Blue Jays vs. David Phelps (5)
9/22: Baltimore Orioles vs. Hiroki Kuroda (5)
9/23: Baltimore Orioles vs. Michael Pineda (5)
9/24: Baltimore Orioles vs. Brandon McCarthy (5)
9/25: Baltimore Orioles vs. Masahiro Tanaka (5)
9/26: Shane Greene (5) @ Boston Red Sox
9/27: David Phelps (5) @ Boston Red Sox
9/28: Hiroki Kuroda (5) @ Boston Red Sox

Obviously you can play around a little with that last game of the season and still be in a great position if the Yankees are in the postseason hunt. You could start Michael Pineda on four days rest for the last game of the seasons and still have Brandon McCarthy available in a potential play in game. You would have Masahiro Tanaka either way for a potential Wild Card Game and a well rested Hiroki Kuroda for any potential ALDS. It looks good on paper but you have to get there first.