THE PEAKS AND VALLEYS OF BASEBALL

Teams have up and down seasons. Players go through ups and downs during the season and even during a game. There was a great example of the peaks and valleys of baseball today during the Yankee game.

Andy Pettitte started the game and gave up three runs (two earned) in the second inning and appeared to be headed for a bad outing. He went on to go six innings and only gave up those three initial runs. Unfortunately, he left after the sixth when he caught a bouncing comeback ball with his bare hand. Looks as though Andy will be ok, with only some swelling in his pitching hand.

The offense were stymied by the Mets starter Jonathon Neise during the first six innings. They were unable to score any runs until the seventh inning, when an error and a homerun by Russell Martin scored two. The Yankees were able to pull ahead in the bottom of the eighth and it appeared Yankees had the win in sight. However, the Yankees de facto closer, Rafael Soriano, gave up back to back doubles in the top of the ninth and the Mets had the game tied. Boone Logan came out and got the remaining outs needed to keep the score 4-4 for the Yankee offense in the bottom of the ninth. With one swing of the bat, Russell Martin hit his second home of the day and the just like that, the game was over - Yankees win.

Ironically, two players who had a big impact on the game were Mark Teixeira and the aforementioned Martin. Ironic because these two have been struggling for a good part of this season.

The Yankees have had their share of ups and downs throughout the first part of the season-but what team doesn't. Peaks and valleys are just a part of baseball. The hope is, like the game today, you finish on a peak.

As usual, GO YANKEES!

WELCOME BACK MATSUI AND PETTITTE PREPARED

Hideki Matsui was the Yankees 2009 World Series MVP. Since departing the team, he has been an Anaheim Angel and an Oakland A. Upon his return to Yankee Stadium with each of those teams, he was greeted with cheers and applause from the Yankee fans. Well today, Matsui comes back again to Yankee Stadium. This time as a Tampa Bay Rays player.

Matsui being with the Rays changes things just a little. The Rays are, of course, in our division unlike his two previous teams. In addition, the Rays currently have a 1.5 game advantage over the Yankees for first place. However, keeping all that in mind, I still expect Hideki to receive the same warm welcome he enjoyed previously from the Yankee faithful. So, let me be the first to say Welcome Back Hideki Matsui!

Now, as for our guys, we have Andy going to the hill tonight. He has already said he is prepared to face this first place Rays team, including Matsui. He knows he was a little roughed up in his last outing, giving up too many home runs for his liking. I think we will see an even more determinded Andy Pettitte tonight.

The bats seemed to have started getting hot again. RISP still seems to be a problem and tonight they face "Big Game" James Shields. But you never know what will happen. That's why you can't predict baseball!

As usual, GO YANKEES!

FREE SPEECH AND BASEBALL

Free speech and baseball do not always go hand in hand.  Lately, baseball umpires have come under fire by many over blown calls and quick ejections in the game.  Apparently, the commissioner, Bud Selig has reached out to at least one of those in the media who have made their voices heard and he may not be done yet.


Ken "Hawk"  Harrelson, long time White Sox announcer went on a tirade recently over the quick ejection of a White Sox pitcher and their manager. Recently,  White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana was tossed from the game after a seemingly retaliatory pitch in the direction of Ben Zobrist of the Rays. White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski was plunked the previous inning, but no warnings were made. Harrelson went on to say about he incident:


"What are you doing? He threw him out of the ballgame, you've got to be bleepin' me! What in the hell are you doing? What are you doing Wegner? You got to be kidding me. That is so bad that is absolutely brutal. That is unbelievable. I'll tell you what, they have got to start making guys be accountable. That is totally absurd. Here's an umpire in the American League that knows nothing about the game of baseball. They have got to do something about this. They have got some guys in this league that have no business umpiring. They have no business umpiring because they don't know what the game of baseball is about."


Whether you agree with Hawk or not and regardless about how you may feel about the man, he is still entitled to his opinion. 


A few days later, Bud Selig contacted Hawk and let him know he was not pleased by what he said and scolded the announcer.  Harrelson has since said he left a voice mail message of apology for the umpire.  Hawk said he thought about it later and realized he was wrong.  Wrong?  About what?  The umpire DID give the pitcher a quick hook.  That wasn't untrue.  The rest was Harrelson's OPINION.  Are those associated with baseball no longer entitled to their opinion? My guess is he was pressured by the owners of the White Sox to fall on his sword.   


Umpires in general are much quicker than years ago to throw a manager, coach or player out when they express their feelings about any call during a game.  Case in point during last night's Yankee game.  The home plate umpire went over to the Yankee dugout staring at the hitting coach, Kevin Long.  Long has some words during the game, from the dugout, about the umpires calls of balls and strikes.  When the ump stared in at Long, he asked him "what are you looking at?" That five word sentence got Long ejected, followed by manager Joe Girardi who came out and let the umpire have a piece of his mind about what had just taken place with Long.  Years ago, the rule of thumb was if you cursed at the umpire, you were tossed. (actually it was one specific word that started with an F and ended with a UCK). After the game, Joe was still mad.  He told reporters later that he questions what the umpire Bob Davidson was trying to do.  Some think it was to show players and coaches anything you say in the dugout will not be tolerated.  Umm, this is still America right? So now no one is allowed to voice their opinion during a game?  Keep in mind, this same umpire was just coming off being suspended for "repeated violations of the Office of the Commissioner's standards for situation handling".  Let me translate, he was suspended for being an asshole. Clearly the punishment didn't work because as we saw last night, he's still an asshole. 


During the post game show on YES, Ken Singleton, also weighed in on the incident.  He also questioned the motives of the umpires to today.  Wonder if Kenny got his call from Bud yet?


This still is the land of the free and home of the brave, right?  We are reminded of that during every baseball game, when they sing the National Anthem and America the Beautiful.  Maybe the umpires should start listening to the words of those two songs.


I'll let you know if Bud Selig contacts me on the off chance he were to read this (which I am 1000% certain will not happen).  If he does, I have two words for Bud.  The first word starts with an F....well you get the point.

SOMEWHERE "THE KID" IS SMILING..

On July 18, 1999 David Cone threw a perfect game for the Yankees. It was Yogi Berra Day and he and Don Larson threw out and caught the ceremonial first pitch. The number 8 (Yogi's number with the Yankees) was painted on the field on both the first and third base sides, forming an 88. After the game, David Cone discovered he threw 88 pitches to get that perfect game that day. Cone always felt It was a sign for sure it was meant to be. Tonight, number 8 once again was shinning down on a no-hitter - this time for the Mets.

Gary Carter, lost his battle with cancer this year. "The Kid", as he was known, was beloved by so many Mets fans and players. He spent 4 years as the Mets catcher and was remembered for his smile and positive attitude on and off the field. No one would have loved the Mets getting their first no-hitter in franchise history more than Carter. Well, Johan Santana got the no-hitter tonight by striking out 8 batters. In addition, the offense helped his cause by scoring 8 runs off 8 hits. Gary Carter wore number 8 during his time in Flushing Queens. Somewhere "The Kid" is smiling that great broad smile of his down on Citi Field.

Johan Santana is coming back this season after having not pitched the entire 2011 season due shoulder surgery in 2010. He just wanted to pitch well for his team. Tonight, he "no" doubt did just that. Johan was the perfect guy to acheive this more than anyone.

I am so happy for the Mets and their fans. It's never easy to root season after season for a team that has struggled for as long as the Mets have. But that's what fans do. 

Congratulations to Johan and the Mets. You have made the city of NY proud and Yankee fans, like myself, are so happy for your historic acheivement.

SOMETIMES IT'S BETTER TO BE LUCKY THAN GOOD

The Yankees left LA 1.5 games out of first, thanks to a win against the Angels and both the Rays and Orioles losing. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

The pitching last night was so-so at best. Nova pitched 6.2 innings, giving up 5 runs. The Yankees, for their part, scored 5 runs in the the 3rd and found one more in the 6th to edge out the Angels and avoid being swept. Soriano got the save - it wasn't pretty but it was still a save. Nova wasn't awful; but he didn't make it look easy. He looked liked he was struggling the entire time he was on the mound. Unlike some, I am not giving up on Nova. He is not the phenom everyone was calling him last year, but he is still a good pitcher and is navigating towards his role as a starter in his sophmore year in the majors. He will find his way.

It's now on to Detroit. I refuse to give up on this team or anyone on it. The Yankees can be frustrating and at times maddening; and at other times uplifting and exciting to watch. The one thing they are always is - MY team.

As usual, GO YANKEES!

PUJOLS HOT - YANKEES NOT

So much for the epic fail of Albert Pujols. "The Machine" apparently found his swing just in time for the Yankees to come to town. Albert went 2 for 4, one of which, was a 2 run homerun.

The Yankees, for their part, made life easy for the previously struggling Angels, by only scoring 1 run on 9 hits the entire game. Once again, the Yankees are back to failing to get hits with runners in scoring position. The two steps forward the team collectively took during their previous 5 wins over KC and Oakland, appear to have been followed by three steps back over these last two games in LA.

Through all this, there is one slightly bright spot, which is Baltimore and Tampa have also lost their last two. So, the Yankees remain in 3rd place and two and a half games out of first. However, right behind them is Toronto and Boston. The AL east is looking like a pretty tight race for first as we head into June.

Ivan Nova goes to the mound to tonight. The Yankees really need to try to salvage a win tonight before they head to Detroit. Hopefully, the Yankees can cool down Pujols and get hot again.

As usual, GO YANKEES!

LOOKING FOR PETTITTE MAGIC

Someone on Twitter last night asked if  it was possible to have a pitching rotation of Sabathia, Pettitte, Sabathia Pettitte with Kuroda thrown in.  I smiled.  Because I wondered if Andy thought that his coming back would make this big of an impact on the Yankees and their fans.  If he didn’t – he should now.

Expecting Andy to win every one of his games, the rest of the season is as unlikely as the above suggested rotation (obviously).  But as Yogi Berra said:

Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.

Some of the mental aspect of the game is how the team and the fans perceive what you can do.  Everyone is looking for Andy to turn the page on the loss the Yankees suffered last night.  Yes, Phil Hughes struggled, but the Yankees offense did it’s best to counter the tattooing the Angels gave Phil.  Of course it wasn’t totally all Hughes.  Yes, he gave up 7 runs.  But Epply gave up the other (actually Phelps gave it up, but the run was charged to Epply).  Had that stupid run not be given up, the Yankees MAY have won that game last night.   Instead of an ugly loss, it would have been a not-so-pretty win.

Some may say that at age 39 (almost 40) it isn’t fair to put the burden of getting wins after a loss.  But what people may forget, a few seasons ago that is exactly what Andy was known for.  What I also know from personal experience, the older you get, the better you are at taking on responsibility.   I am not saying that Andy will win, but he knows what they are looking at him to do and he is absolutely up to the challenge – both physically and definitely mentally.  The Yankees need a little magic and Pettitte is the magician.

As usual, GO YANKEES!