MY BASEBALL BIAS

PeteAbe, of the Lohud Yankee Blog, just posted some info concerning the postseason roster -

Here’s what we know:

• The Yankees plan to carry 11 pitchers
• Phil Hughes and Mike Mussina are in
• Joba, Mo, Farnsworth and Vizcaino are also on the roster
• That leaves two spots for four guys (Ohlendorf, Ramirez, Veras or Villone)
• For the bench, it seems Torre and coaches will most likely chose Shelley Duncan and Bronson Sardinha.

I think you have to go with Villone, a lefty, for one of the open bullpen spots and possibly Ohlendorf. I really like the way he’s been throwing the ball of late. You can’t really trust Edwar Ramirez, plus he can give up a lot of runs in a hurry, and Veras, although he’s pitched well, still scares me a bit. Good stuff, but I think Ohlendorf is the safer pick.

Offensively, I have no problems with Duncan and Sardinha. Power and speed are fine with me.

Here is tonight’s lineup as well, courtesy of Pete:

Cabrera CF
Betemit 3B
Abreu RF
Giambi DH
Cano 2B
Posada C
Duncan 1B
Sardinha LF
Gonzalez SS
Pettitte LHP (14-9, 3.81)

No Damon, Jeter, A-Rod or Matsui. Let’s hope they can get Giambi going.

Harold Z. (Just call me Hal) Steinbrenner

Press Release from the Yankees via Yankees.com:

The Board of Directors of Yankee Global Enterprises LLC announced today that Harold Z. (Hal) Steinbrenner has been elected as Chairman of the Board. Mr. Steinbrenner is the General Partner of the New York Yankees and served as a board member of Yankee Global Enterprises LLC, as well as its Executive Vice President and Treasurer. Mr. Steinbrenner is a member of the YES Board of Directors and serves as Chairman and CEO of Steinbrenner Hotel Properties.

Hal graduated from Williams College with a BA and received his MBA from the University of Florida.

The Board also announced that Felix Lopez, Senior Vice President of the New York Yankees has become a member of the Yankee Global Enterprises LLC Board of Directors.

And here is Hal’s statement on his new appointment:

“I am very honored to be elected Chairman of Yankee Global Enterprises LLC. “There are many exciting ventures that we’re considering, and I look forward to working hard to bring about success for our organization and for all Yankee fans.”

Would he consider selling the team and cash in big time?

TAKE THE POLL BELOW:

Yanks lose 10-9 to the Orioles in extra innings

Baltimore 10, NY Yankees 9
W: C. Bradford (4-7) L: E. Ramirez (1-1)

BOX SCORE

Mariano Rivera entered last nights game with a three-run lead against the lowly Orioles and couldn’t hold it. A Yankee friend of mine emailed me and asked, “Is there somethin’ wrong with Mo”? My reply to him was, “Are you kidding me? Have you even WATCHED Rivera pitch lately? He’s been dominate!”

And, for my friend’s benefit, here are the stats to back it up:

Since Sept. 9, and excluding last nights blip, here are Mo’s numbers -

8 Games
8.2 innings pitched
1 ER
6 Saves
7 Hits
10 SO
4 BB

In addition to those numbers, Rivera has regained that zip he once had on his fastball. Earlier on in the season, he was consistently around 92-93 on the gun. Recently, I’ve noticed that his velocity has increased considerably to between 94-96 MPH. That little extra umph can make a huge difference when he throws his cutter, especially to left-handed batters.

Now don’t get me wrong, last night’s ninth inning meltdown is nothing to be proud of (the events of which are layed out below) -

Nick Markakis: Ball, Strike looking, Ball, Markakis singled to center.
Miguel Tejada: Ball, Tejada lined out to third.
Kevin Millar: Strike looking, Millar hit by pitch, Markakis to second.
Melvin Mora: Strike looking, Foul, Foul, Foul, Ball, Ball, Mora flied out to right.
Ramon Hernandez: Strike looking, Hernandez singled to right, Markakis to third, Millar to second.
Jay Payton: Brandon Fahey ran for Ramon Hernandez, Ball, Foul, Ball, Payton tripled to deep right, Markakis, Millar and Fahey scored.
Scott Moore: Moore grounded out to first.

And neither Joe Torre or Mo seemed to be bothered much by the ninth inning -

“I’m not sure if he’ll make the (postseason) roster,” Torre joked.

“I’m OK. It wasn’t good enough. It was a lot of pitches. Location, I miss a lot, ” said Rivera.

So Mo is going to be OK. He’s the best post-season closer in the history of the game. If I were manager of the Yankees (keep dreaming), I wouldn’t even think twice about giving him the ball in the bottom of the ninth with the game on the line. He doesn’t get rattled, period.

As for the rest of the game, the bats continued to stay hot. Alex Rodriguez hit his 54th homer of the year and drove in four runs to give him 155 for the year, the first Yankee to do that since 1937. Johnny Damon (12) homered and is now hitting .313 for the month of September, a good sign for the Yankees heading into the playoffs. They need to stay hot if they plan on going deep in the postseason.

And I know the Yankees loss meant a division title for the Red Sox, but who cares! I think the Red Sox have the tougher match-up in the Division Series against the Angels, a team that gives it’s opposition fits trying to stifle their small-ball approach on the basepaths. The Yankees, on the other hand, face a Cleveland team that they’ve had a lot of success against this year, winning every game of their six meetings.

I, like you, can’t wait for next week, even if the Yankees lose the next two games to the Orioles while they rest their regulars.

Jose Molina and Jose Veras celebrate a 3-1 win over the D-Rays

Last night was “Put me in coach” night at Tropicana Field as the Yankees beat the Devil Rays 3-1. It was also a night where a few “firsts” happened for the Bombers:

1. Jose Veras saved his first game as a Yankee (second of his career) with a scoreless ninth.
2. Alberto Gonzalez, SS and Bronson Sardinha, RF received their first major hits. Both were singles.
3. and Joba Chamberlain pitched on consecutive nights for the first time this season.

The decision by Joe Torre and his staff to have Chamberlain pitch in back-to-back games is an interesting one. Obviously the “Joba Rules” have been altered a bit as they try to get him ready for the post-season and the club seems to be leaving no doubt in anyones mind that they plan on using him quite frequently. Just like the Tigers use of Joel Zumaya in ‘06 or how the Angels had Francisco Rodriquez setting up for Troy Percival in 2002, Chamberlain seems poised for exactly that “type” of role.

Many have wondered, including Yankee pitching coach Ron Guidry, just how Joba would feel about pitching on consecutive evenings -

“He’s always said that he could do it, and tonight was a great opportunity after clinching to give him a chance,” Guidry said. “I don’t think he was as sharp as he normally has been, but I think he did a good job. He got into trouble, he got out of trouble. That’s the mark of a good pitcher.”

Chamberlain, meanwhile, feels as strong as ever -

“It’s kind of interesting to see how your body reacts, and it was good. It’s been good all year,” Chamberlain said. “It came back great. My body felt good, so it was another test that, hopefully, I passed.”

Torre wanted to make it very clear that they continue to be very careful with their dominating rookie -

“He seemed fine. The first thing we checked was Joe Kerrigan in the bullpen to make sure that he had an easy time doing what he was doing, and there were no issues,” Torre said

All the Yankees want out of Chamberlain in the post-season is exactly what he has given them so far… PURE DOMINANCE. He’s allowed just one earned run in 23 2/3 innings, has a 0.38 ERA including 34 strikeouts and just 6 walks.

At the end of the day, he might just be what Mariano Rivera was to John Wetteland back in ‘96 when they utilized their “6-2-1″ strategy (6 innings of a starter, 2 of Mo and 1 of Wetteland) that helped the Yankees capture their first World Series Championship since 1978.

Don’t be surprised if history repeats itself in 2007.

The Reason Why the Yankees are in the Playoffs

Plain and simple, Alex Rodriguez.  When the Yankees needed a guy to step up, especially early on in the season, A-Rod was hitting bombs out of the park to win games that they had no business winning.   His production was consistent offensively and he played a superb, gold-glove third base all year long.  More importantly though, he was a leader and finally decided that he couldn’t please everyone.  He ran out every ground ball hard and came up with big hits when the Yankees needed them.  He’s not only the Yankees MVP but the AL MVP.  He now needs to channel all of it to the post-season.  If he can do that, I think the Yankees will have a great shot at winning their 27th World Championship.

They killed the Devil Rays by BTW, 12-4.

Bruney gives up a GS

Yanks lose 7-6 in 10 innings

The Yankees are now 8-8 against the Devil Rays this season. 8-8? Can someone tell me why in the hell they are 8-8 against one of the worst franchises in all of baseball? Not that the Yankees helped themselves any by starting Kei Igawa in place of an injured Roger Clemens then proceeded to scrap the bottom of the barrel for a few relievers to try and salvage a win and, oh by the way, CLINCH THE WILD CARD!

Some may blame Joe Torre, but what do you expect him to do when he has to start a guy like Igawa. I think everyone knew they weren’t going to get 8 solid innings out of him. His outing was typical - 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 BB and 2 K’s. His line looks pretty good, but trust me, he was hit hard.

A-Rod hit a grand slam and the bullpen stunk. Enough said. I’m too angry to write.

Welcome back, long lost monkey!

Pete Abe just posted over at his blog that Kei Igawa will start for Roger Clemens.

You remember Kei Igawa right? The man the Yankees bid 26 M for?

How does 2-3 with a 6.75 ERA sound against a much improved Devil Rays team that will no doubt be swinging the bats (they lead the American League in SO with 1,276)

In 62.2 innings pitched, Igawa has given up 15 homeruns.

No word yet whether or not he’ll pitch in the flying monkey suit.

Clemens WILL NOT pitch in this series against the D-Rays.

The kid tells us all we need to know. The Yankees win one more game and they clinch a spot in the postseason. What an amazing turnaround from 21-29.

Oh yeah… and Keith Law of ESPN, who said the Yankees wouldn’t make the playoffs… you can kiss my A**!

From the AP -

Major League Baseball set a record for total attendance and is on track to break its mark for average attendance.

With one week left in the regular season, MLB teams drew 76,215,082, the commissioner’s office said Monday, topping last year’s 76,042,787.

The average of 32,710 was up four percent from last year’s final average of 31,423 and on pace to top the record of 31,632 set in 1994 before a strike interrupted the season.

Great news for MLB and it’s fans. The sport is at an all-time in popularity. I hope it stays that way.

Before the Yankees boarded a bus this afternoon for their season ending road trip, the rookies got their annual hazing in grand fashion.  Joba was the Cowardly Lion, Phil Hughes ended up as the Tin Man, Shelly Duncan looked stellar as the Scarecrow and Ian Kennedy was downright hilarious as Dorothy.

Others making an appearance in costume were:

• Kei Igawa (Flying Monkey)
•  Edwar Ramirez (Wicked Witch)
• Matt DeSalvo (Lollipop Kid)
• Tyler Clippard (Monkey)
• Bronson Sardinha (Guard)
• Ross Ohlendorf (Guard)
• Alberto Gonzalez (Munchkin)

Here’s another great pic of Joba and Ian -

Great fun was had by all and it was nice to see the Yankees shake-off that phone-it-in loss to the Blue Jays just hours earlier.

Here is all you need to know about today’s games

1. The Yankees were shut down by Jesse Litsch, who started in place of A. J. Burnett (family issues back home)
2. The announced attendance was 53,281
3. This was a rescheduled match-up from an April 25th rainout.
4. Andy Pettitte, who started the game, summed it up best: “It definitely felt like a makeup game”.
5. Kyle Farnsworth pitched an inning of relief and didn’t give up a hit, a walk or a run!
6. Ross Ohlendorff pitched the ninth inning and consistently dialed it up into the mid to high 90’s.
7. A-Rod drove in the only run for the Yankees.

The Yankees are now 2 back of the Red Sox with 6 to play.

RED SOX: 92-64
YANKEES: 90-66

In the WILD CARD, the Yankees magic number is 2.

YANKEES: 90-66
TIGERS: 85-71

NEXT UP: 3 games in Tampa.