Bronx Bombers?

[ndebord]

Well, are they bombers or are they aging has beens?

I watched Shef in the 7th inning yesterday and cringed. Angels up 4-1, Yankees at bat, bases full with walked Yankees and one out. Mighty Shef comes to bat and promptly hits into a double play. Game effectively over and the Yankees are now 1-3 with two more games in Anaheim.

<Sigh>

Boston 3 1
Baltimore 2 2
TampaBay 2 2
Toronto 2 2
NYYankees 1 3

[Judy G. Russell]

Maybe they're bombers, instead of Bombers... but c'mon... it's only four games into the season.

[ndebord]

Maybe they're bombers, instead of Bombers... but c'mon... it's only four games into the season.

Judy,

Not so many years ago, the Yankees used to own the West Coast teams. Now the refrain "Whose your Daddy" means the Angels and the A's.

[Judy G. Russell]

Johnson is looking decent tonight... but even he can't win games without some help from the bats...

[ndebord]

Johnson is looking decent tonight... but even he can't win games without some help from the bats...

Judy,

Angels 3, Yankees 2. The Yankees are now 1-4 on this road trip and it ain't over yet.

Johnson was decent, went the distance, but came up on the losing end of the stick. FWIW, A-Rod stunk...again. Only Jeter and Matsui done good.

Boston 4 1 .800
Toronto 3 2 .600
Baltimore 2 3 .400
TampaBay 2 3 .400
NYYankees 1 4 .200

[Judy G. Russell]

Angels 3, Yankees 2. The Yankees are now 1-4 on this road trip and it ain't over yet.What is it about the Yankees and the beginning of the season??? They did this same sort of thing last year...

[ndebord]

What is it about the Yankees and the beginning of the season??? They did this same sort of thing last year...

Judy,

I wish they'd focus less on being the Bronx Bombers and more on little ball. They lost the tight games and won the blowouts (15-2 and 10-1). Today it was Mussina tossing a gem and winning 10-1. All those players who couldn't move a runner over a base or two hit great today with 3 home runs and lots of doubles. Maybe it was just season opener blahs...we'll see. back home to the Bronx for 3 games with the Royals, which can't hurt. (knock on wood)

The good news is Rivera got work and tossed a scoreless 9th, giving up on hit.

[Judy G. Russell]

I was thinking this evening how nice it would be if they would skip the 15- and 10-run days, and just concentrate on getting four runs every game. You know how many games we would win with four runs every time? Sigh...

[ndebord]

I was thinking this evening how nice it would be if they would skip the 15- and 10-run days, and just concentrate on getting four runs every game. You know how many games we would win with four runs every time? Sigh...

Judy,

Makes that FIVE runs and I'm on board with you. (Wang and Chacon gave up 4 each I believe.) The good news is that Musina has bounced back and Johnson looks comfortable and can pitch into late innings.

[ndebord]

Well, the Yankees have now reached .500 (4-4). It may be the lowly Royals, but the hitting is good, the relievers are good and the starters are typical early season (mediocre to bad for the 3 and 4 starters and good for the 1 and 2 guys).

Chacon and Wang are still struggling, but then both are control pitchers at heart. Johnson makes my heart warm and Mussina gives me angina, but both are doing really good imo and it should be a very interesting year for the Bronx Bombers!

[Judy G. Russell]

it should be a very interesting year for the Bronx Bombers!Please. Don't you know that "may you live in interesting times" is a curse???

[ndebord]

Please. Don't you know that "may you live in interesting times" is a curse???

Judy,

So my wife tells me.

;-)

[Judy G. Russell]

And, as usual, your wife is right.

[ndebord]

And, as usual, your wife is right.

Judy,

A-hemmm...

<g>

[ndebord]

Judy,

Well it is a sweep. Yankees 9, Royals 3. Johnson only goes 5 innings, but the bullpen done good.

Yankees are now 5-4. Let's see how they do back on the road again now.

[ndebord]

Yeah....finally Beantown lost a game!

Tampa Bay 5, Boston 1 and Wakefield was the loser.

<happy grin>

[Judy G. Russell]

Don't get cocky. They're still ahead of us!

[ndebord]

Don't get cocky. They're still ahead of us!

Judy,

They sure are and it galls the heck out of me.

:-)

[Judy G. Russell]

it galls the heck out of me.I keep trying to tell myself it's early in the season...

[ndebord]

I keep trying to tell myself it's early in the season...

Judy,

Torre said it best the other day when he kind of recalled the 1996 season and how the "team" played little ball all the time. This team still doesn't feel like a team and so they bomb away and win or just plain bomb by swinging (and missing) for the fences.

[Judy G. Russell]

There's also a little matter of pitching. Consistent, first-class pitching.

[ndebord]

There's also a little matter of pitching. Consistent, first-class pitching.

Judy,

Yes. Johnson is old, so it will take time (and warm weather too) for him to get consistent!

Mussina is amazing this year, and thank God for it.

Chacon worries me, but it is early.

Wong yesterday looked good in that he got 14 ground ball outs to 1 fly ball out, but in the crunch, he faltered TWICE. It could be the sophmore jinx or just rookie nerves. Torre said he is not worried.

Who knows about Pavano or Wright?

Bottom line, the Yankee pitching staff is going to need time to shake the kinks out and we won't know if it is good or bad until mid-May at the earliest. The problem being, the rest of the division is going gang busters and we could be way back by mid-May.

Meanwhile the Bombers hitting is madly inconsistent. Home Runs or Nada or so it seems.

[ndebord]

the Yankees are 7-0 in day games and 1-8 at night.

<go figure>

[Mike Landi]

the Yankees are 7-0 in day games and 1-8 at night.

<go figure>

..and they were bombers today, at least Mr. Giambi was. Did you see his second HR? How far would that have gone if the facing of the upper deck was not in the way?

[ndebord]

..and they were bombers today, at least Mr. Giambi was. Did you see his second HR? How far would that have gone if the facing of the upper deck was not in the way?

Mike,

Out of the park for sure. No if only Giambi would give up the ghost on playing first base and let Phillips or that other guy play there...

Meanwhile, today Mussina was fabulous!

Yankees 9, Tampa Bay 1.

Mussina wins his 3rd game of the season and goes 6 innings, giving up only one run. Even better, this new, revamped bullpen went 3 scoreless innings.

7th Inning: Sturtze 1.0 innings, no runs, no hits!

8th Inning: Villone, 1.0 innings, no runs, 1 hit!!

9th Inning: Proctor closed it out, no runs, no hits!!!

[Judy G. Russell]

Mussina looked terrific. And it was nice to see the boys win one at night!

[Mike Landi]

Mike,

Out of the park for sure. No if only Giambi would give up the ghost on playing first base and let Phillips or that other guy play there...


I think that is slowly sinking in. Giambi is playing well this year, even if he is DH. It think he has to accept that he will be a tremendous DH, and no a 1B. I love the way he is hitting now. HRs, yes, but also line drive hits it the clutch. What's his on base %? Over .500?

Meanwhile, today Mussina was fabulous!

Yankees 9, Tampa Bay 1.

Mussina wins his 3rd game of the season and goes 6 innings, giving up only one run. Even better, this new, revamped bullpen went 3 scoreless innings.


Moose was hitting 92 on the radar gun, but he also was "pitching". If he can hit 92 and change speeds and planes....Wow!

[ndebord]

I think that is slowly sinking in. Giambi is playing well this year, even if he is DH. It think he has to accept that he will be a tremendous DH, and no a 1B. I love the way he is hitting now. HRs, yes, but also line drive hits it the clutch. What's his on base %? Over .500?



Moose was hitting 92 on the radar gun, but he also was "pitching". If he can hit 92 and change speeds and planes....Wow!

Mike,

Moose talked about how he was pitching in a intersquad game, just to keep his every 5th day schedule going and had to pitch to Posada, who promptly smoked his circle change. After the game, he talked to Posada and asked him how come he was able to hit what Moose thought was a great pitch. Posada said he saw the hand coming out of the glove and how Moose was holding the ball and knew it was a circle change. Moose said in all his years in the game, nobody else told him about that "tell" and his response was to slightly change his grip on his change, so nobody could tell what was coming out of the glove.

An unintended consequence was the change now reached the plate and the bottom dropped out of it. Before the pitch kind of slid sideways. Moose says the new grip is incredible he'd never have known about it if he had not faced Posada that day!

[ndebord]

Mike,

Tampa 4, Yankees 2.

The Yankees wasted a strong start by Chien-Ming Wang and fell to 1-9 when scoring fewer than six runs.

Either bombers or nada, it seems for this bunch. They don't seem to have the intestinal fortitude to win the close ones. And Mo's act is getting old. He needs an offspeed pitch. At his age, they are no longer fooled all the time by his vaunted cut fastball.

In the 6th and 7th innings, the Yankees stranded a lot of baserunners. I just wonder about their ability to play small ball anymore.

[ndebord]

There's also a little matter of pitching. Consistent, first-class pitching.

Judy,

The pitching is coming together and the hitters, maybe..

Shawn Chacon (3-1) won tonight over Tampa Bay 4-1. Yankees take 2 out of 3!

Chacon went 6.1 innings and gave up just one run and 4 hits.

The bullpen came through big time tonight, with Mo bouncing back from a horrible outing.

Myers 1 inning, no runs, 1 hit
Farnsworth 1 inning, noruns, 1 hit
Sturze faced one batter and gave up a hit
Mo 1 inning, no hits and no runs

Meanwhile at AAA, Small went 7 innings, giving up 2 runs and 9 hits. Close to returning to the Yankees!

[Judy G. Russell]

They sure did look better last night. And taking two out of three is good.

[ndebord]

They sure did look better last night. And taking two out of three is good.

Judy,

There sure did and the pitching, up and down the line, is looking rather DEEP! Which is a good thing. And that thing about Mussina's change, if it is as important as I think it is, and if Moose's elbow is healthy, this could be his best year yet as a Yankee!

<VBG>

[ndebord]

Judy,

Well, another series and a loss to start it off.

Toronto 7, Yankees 2

5 innings, 6 hits and 4 runs. Wright definitely ain't Wrighteous.

The good news is our number five pitcher went up against the ace of the Toronto Blue Jays, Halladay.

<sigh>

[Judy G. Russell]

Wright definitely ain't Wrighteous.He's definitely wrongteous...

[ndebord]

He's definitely wrongteous...

Judy,

Well there is hope. Torre defended Wright, saying that being out of the lineup left him out of shape and not quite game ready, the implication being that he is only a couple games away from being sharp. Sure hope he is wright <wicked grin>! As Pavano is a month away at this point and nobody ready in the minors to come up to the Show.

In the relief corp, Sturtze is not looking too good. Anybody got a clue as to why he is doing so poorly this Spring?

[Mike Landi]

Sturtze is not looking too good. Anybody got a clue as to why he is doing so poorly this Spring?

Mental. He did not start well and now is pressing. Torre knows this and (remember, he was a catcher) will work with him.

[Judy G. Russell]

Well there is hope.After an outing like today, I'd say so...

[ndebord]

Mental. He did not start well and now is pressing. Torre knows this and (remember, he was a catcher) will work with him.

Mike,

Well, Moose was magnificient again tonight. 7 hits, 7 ks, 1 run and the Yankees win 4-1. Farnworth did 1 2/3 innings and Mo 1 1/3 of no run ball. Nice.

[Mike Landi]

and Giambi hit another one, and Damon was on fire.

ONWARD TO BOSTON! <g>

[Judy G. Russell]

and Giambi hit another one, and Damon was on fire.

ONWARD TO BOSTON! <g>What a difference a few days makes:


2006 MLB STANDINGS
American League
East W L Pct GB Home Road Last 10 Streak
Yankees 13 10 .565 -- 9-3 4-7 7-3 Won 2
Red Sox 14 11 .560 -- 6-4 8-7 3-7 Lost 1
Blue Jays 12 11 .522 1 8-6 4-5 5-5 Lost 2
Orioles 13 13 .500 1.5 8-8 5-5 4-6 Lost 2
Devil Rays 11 14 .440 3 6-4 5-10 4-6 Won 1

[ndebord]

What a difference a few days makes:


2006 MLB STANDINGS
American League
East W L Pct GB Home Road Last 10 Streak
Yankees 13 10 .565 -- 9-3 4-7 7-3 Won 2
Red Sox 14 11 .560 -- 6-4 8-7 3-7 Lost 1
Blue Jays 12 11 .522 1 8-6 4-5 5-5 Lost 2
Orioles 13 13 .500 1.5 8-8 5-5 4-6 Lost 2
Devil Rays 11 14 .440 3 6-4 5-10 4-6 Won 1



Judy,

What a marvelous few days. The Bosox have been on a slide for a week, so let's see how they do at home against us. They were so good before they went South. We won't see Schilling so that is good and did you see how that kid Kaz from Tampa Bay beat him so he wouldn't tie the Babe's record of 5-0 wins at the beginning of a season?

<g>

[Judy G. Russell]

Don't get too cocky about Boston's slide. They're coming up with Wakefield, and we rarely do well against him!

[ndebord]

Don't get too cocky about Boston's slide. They're coming up with Wakefield, and we rarely do well against him!

Judy,

Beantown 7, Bombers 3

Sigh. Well the 2 W's did well: Wang & Wakefield, but our bullpen was ill-used IMO. First time back from the disabled list and Small did great for 2 innings. The problem was they brought him back out for a third inning and it all went south from there. Farnsworth I think should have been in there for the 8th inning.

[Judy G. Russell]

I couldn't for the life of me figure why they put Small in for a third inning...

[ndebord]

I couldn't for the life of me figure why they put Small in for a third inning...

Judy,

You have, I think, two choices. 1) Torre has always had a slow hook to my mind and/or 2) A rookie Pitching Coach.

<shrug>

Final thought about Small. I just looked back at his record last year, and despite the conventional wisdom that he can be a starter, a spot starter or a relief pitcher, it is hard to argue with his record last year 10-0. I'd like to see him in the rotation.

[Judy G. Russell]

Once Small gets back up to speed, he could be a great starter.

[Mike Landi]

I think the weather had a big part of Joe's decision. The weather Monday was brutal.

[ndebord]

I think the weather had a big part of Joe's decision. The weather Monday was brutal.

Mike,

Perhaps, but I am not convinced that the first time out after the disabled list is the time to put a pitcher out there for 3 innings.

[Mike Landi]

You may be right, but then again, maybe Joe wanted to see what Aaron had and how healthy he is.

How about Wright last night? One bad pitch for a HR (and a terrible start in the 1st), then good. Is he back or was that a lucky start?

[ndebord]

You may be right, but then again, maybe Joe wanted to see what Aaron had and how healthy he is.

How about Wright last night? One bad pitch for a HR (and a terrible start in the 1st), then good. Is he back or was that a lucky start?

Mike,

Wright looks healthy! And he pitched good, so we can hope he is the 5th starter! Remember, that this is his chance to be a winner for the 3rd time in his career. He was a winning fireballer, then he had that great season down South and now he has a chance to do it again in NYC. We'll see.

<g>

[Mike Landi]

I still want to see him face a team like Boston or Toronto, but you're right, it looks promising.

[Judy G. Russell]

Is he back or was that a lucky start?I ain't buying it yet...

[ndebord]

I ain't buying it yet...


Judy,

It's either Wright or Pavano.



<sigh>

[Judy G. Russell]

It's either Wright or Pavano. <sigh><sigh> is right. With as much as we're paying for talent, how come we ain't got better pitchers???

[Mike Landi]

Wanna pay for Clemens?

[Judy G. Russell]

Wanna pay for Clemens?We should never have let him go...

[ndebord]

We should never have let him go...

Judy,

That was when the hubris of The Principal Owner was at its peak. A poisoned well and Clemens was sincere in his retirement (then). Now, it looks like he'll be back in Houston one more time and we will have to make due with what we have, which, knock on wood, doesn't look terrible, if not overpowering.

Look at Johnson tonight. Not overpowering, even ordinary, but the Yankees win 10-5. The encouraging sign was one I read from one of the stories tonight.

"The Yankees have trailed in each of their last 10 games, but have rallied to win seven of them."

That is a lot better than the Yankees of last year.

[Judy G. Russell]

Look at Johnson tonight. Not overpowering, even ordinary, but the Yankees win 10-5. The encouraging sign was one I read from one of the stories tonight. "The Yankees have trailed in each of their last 10 games, but have rallied to win seven of them." That is a lot better than the Yankees of last year.Yeah, that's true... but it'd be so much less anxiety-generating if we could LEAD in a few games too!!!

[Mike Landi]

I don't like this falling behind stuff. It puts a lot of pressure on the 'pen.

[ndebord]

Yeah, that's true... but it'd be so much less anxiety-generating if we could LEAD in a few games too!!!

Judy,

Yes. I'd like to see more of the dominating Bombers, not sputtering.

But it is early and the pack hasn't spread out yet in the standings.

[ndebord]

I don't like this falling behind stuff. It puts a lot of pressure on the 'pen.


Mike,

Texas was good to us. Wang wins and the Yankees are now in first place!

Yankees 18-11, .621
Boston 19-12 .613

[Mike Landi]

Not bad at all! Sweep in Texas and now the Evil Red Nation heads into the Bronx. Should be an interesting series. (Hopefully, Randy Johnson, the Dominate, will show up!)

[Judy G. Russell]

I don't like this falling behind stuff. It puts a lot of pressure on the 'pen.And we do not need pressure on the bullpen, especially not this early in the season.

[Mike Landi]

I agree; however, Scott Procter looks good!

[Judy G. Russell]

Scott Procter looks good!That he does. Let's hope he continues to do so!

[ndebord]

That he does. Let's hope he continues to do so!

Judy,

Proctor looks great (and Sturtze looks off). It is early though, so we will see.

[Judy G. Russell]

It is early though, so we will see.I just wish we could be at the start of a season, even a start that seems good, without worrying about the pitching.

[ndebord]

I just wish we could be at the start of a season, even a start that seems good, without worrying about the pitching.

Judy,

After watching now for awhile, I'm strangely confident in this team. All the pitchers (with the exception of Small) that came up unexpectedly last year and did great are doing good this year too. With Mussina, Chacon, Wong doing well. With hope that Johnson can get over his slump and with Wright possibily showing up this year, things look good. Particularly when you think that the bullpen is better by far.

Meanwhile tonight was sweet for the Yankees!

Schilling (5-2) gave up eight hits and a season-high six runs in five innings, his shortest outing this year.

Moose started badly, giving up a 2-run homer to Ortiz, but finished well, going 6 2/3s with Proctor taking on the role of Sturtze (going back that would be Mendoza, Stanton and Nelson) with 1 1/3 innings of no hits and no runs leading up to a perfect 9th inning for the Sandman.

Our ace beat their ace and our bullpen is looking good.

Aside. Torre said that Small was weak and not in game shape and that he just needed time to recover from his stint on the disabled list. Sure hope that is a "true thing."

[Judy G. Russell]

This last game was sweet indeed... but it doesn't quite make up for the night before.

[ndebord]

This last game was sweet indeed... but it doesn't quite make up for the night before.


Judy,

No, but Johnson is struggling and it is early and it was cold and boy do I hope he ain't done.