It's about time: Yankees are really ready to rumble

Are the New York Yankees really in it to win it? Finally, this team is acting like a playoff one – and so is Joe Girardi, who is finally making the moves you need to make if you want to see this team make it into October.

Aside from the Yankees’ great play as of late (they should have won all six games in this homestand so far if it weren’t for that bullpen implosion) a few other things give me hope:

Phil Hughes is knocked out of the starting rotation

Fortunately, the Phil Hughes Experience is coming to an end, which is good news for Yankee fans who actually want to see their team win and not be knocked out of the game by the second or third inning. Hughes is leading the league in one thing this season – the most games where he was knocked out before the end of the fifth inning!

It was shocking to me that Girardi had him start the game against the Chicago White Sox on Monday, given that pretty much every game is a must-win these days. Why put your team out of it by putting Hughes as the starting pitcher? Fortunately, the rain cooperated, and kept Hughes from finishing his start, which gave the Yankees the chance to put up that epic eight-run inning, the inning White Sox broadcaster Hawk Harrelson said was the worst he had ever announced.

Anyhow, David  (I nearly wrote Aubrey) Huff is starting against Boston this weekend, which at least gives the Yanks as good a chance as any to win. Hooray!

Mariano Rivera pitching in the eighth

I was also pleased last night to see that Mo was brought into the game in the eighth inning when David Robertson couldn’t get out of a jam. With so few games left, every single one is a must-win, and I am glad Girardi took action instead of watching the lead totally disappear. Besides, it’s not like the Yanks have to keep Rivera fresh for next year – this is it.

Joba Chamberlain being banished to Never-Never Land

I try to find good in every Yankee, but it is very hard with Joba these days. IMHO, he should have been DFAed after his trampoline disaster. You know what you need to know about Chamberlain as a person? Pretty much every single team and opposing player to face the Yankees this year has said or done something to honor Mariano Rivera, from all the gifts he had received, to the reaction of the players on both teams at the All-Star Game. Even Squawker Jon was on his feet when Mo came into a Yankee game we attended earlier this year as a sign of respect. 

Yet Joba gets into a squabble with Rivera in front of reporters, telling him not to shush him when he was being a loudmouth. It takes a special kind of jerk to be against Rivera, but that’s our Joba!

Anyhow, after Sunday’s debacle, when Joe Girardi actually thought it was a good idea to pitch him in a close game, I never want to see Chamberlain in a game for the Yankees again. Enough already. At the very least, it appears now that Girardi will not ever put him in an important situation again. Nor  should he.

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I will be at the game tonight, to see the first of the four Yankees-Red Sox games in the Bronx this weekend -- will watch the other three games on TV. This is the first time in a while that the games have any real buzz – partly due to the standings, and partly due to Ryan Dempster. Incidentally, if the Yanks win the World Series this year, should they cut Dempster a playoff share?

I am wondering if David Ortiz will gets plunked tonight. It will be interesting to see what happens!

Thoughts on Yankees-Red Sox, Jorge Posada, and Phil Hughes

Here are my belated thoughts on Sunday's game (didn't have time to write on Monday!):

Jorge Posada is no longer an everyday player, and it was long past time to do so. I've heard some grumbling from fans that the Yankees somehow disrepected him, but I completely disagree. (For one thing, I wish somebody would disrespect me by paying me $12 million a year!) And quite frankly, I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for Posada after his sit-down strike. Posada has had a great career, and been a beloved Yankee, but that snit fit was ridiculous.

Some fans think that he shouldn't have even been replaced as catcher, which I don't understand at all. Did they watch how Posada couldn't throw anybody out last year? Not to mention that the Yanks were worried he was going to have another concussion. Besides, he's nearly 40 -- how many catchers are successful at that age? Carlton Fisk, but that's about it.

Posada has had all year to get adjusted to being a designated hitter. He couldn't do it. That's baseball. And that's getting older. Putting a DH in the lineup every day who hits .230, and who hasn't shown power recently, isn't putting the best team on the field. So don't be surprised if Jesus Montero gets called up soon.

At any rate, if Posada weren't Posada, he would have been released from the team. The Yanks are showing him respect by keeping him on the team at all. Guess what? Players gets their chance to start in the majors because somebody thinks they will be better than their predecessor. If the Yankees had been sentimental about Joe Girardi's triple to win the 1996 World Series, Posada would never have gotten to start.

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Hearing the ESPN broadcasters go on and on about how wonderful the Red Sox are was thoroughly nauseating. Please, don't tell me that if I don't like Dustin Pedroia, I don't like baseball. It's insulting. Not to mention that the Sox got to have Curt Schilling representing them, while there was no pro-Yankee equivalent in the booth.

The only thing I agreed with regarding the broadcasters was Bobby Valentine talking about how the pitchers needed to speed things up. Enough already -- these Yankees-Red Sox games go on way too long.

Who didn't think that after Mariano Rivera blew the save, and Phil Hughes was coming in, that the Yankees were going to lose the game? I felt like the game was over right them. Sorry, I don't have much faith in Hughes this year. (And I still think Ivan Nova should have gotten to keep his spot in the rotation.)

What do you think? Tell us about it!

On Philip Humber, Phil Hughes, Breaking Up No-Hitters, and Booing After a Missed Pop-Up

Last night, when Chicago White Sox pitcher Phil Humber was in the seventh inning of a no-hit game against the Yankees, I tried to jinx him on Facebook by talking about it. And within 20 seconds (I am not kidding!), Alex Rodriguez got a hit to break up the no-hitter. It was the highlight of the evening for me! (Oh, and by the way, a friend pointed out that if Humber had succeeded in throwing a no-hitter, he would have been the seventh ex-Met to do so, with the Mets still never having a no-hitter of their own. I loved telling Squawker Jon that!)

Now, the not-so-fun stuff. After a setback Monday, Phil Hughes has a date with an MRI tube today. I don't understand why the Yankees have been so reticent about having Hughes checked out earlier. I wrote on April 9, after his second start, that he should get a medical exam. It's now April 26, and he's finally going to be checked out, weeks after being put on the disabled list. What was the holdup? Did the Yankees had to get a referral from their HMO or something?

I felt terrible for A.J. Burnett -- we had the Great A.J. last night, but the Yankees couldn't get any runs to help him.

There was something very weird that happened in the ninth inning, when Rafael Soriano was on the mound, that I thought would be a pretty big story. But I only saw it mentioned in a Wally Matthews ESPN blog entry, and at the end of a Star-Ledger game article. Alexi Ramirez hit a popup in the ninth inning. Soriano pointed and motioned, as if to say that he couldn't get it. Derek Jeter came charging in, but he wasn't quick enough catch the ball, which dropped to the ground.

And then the crowd booed. Yes, Yankee fans were booing! Now, it was unclear whether the fans were booing Jeter, or Soriano, or both, but Twitter and Facebook were all a-flutter last night over the incident. (Unless I missed it, the YES Network, of course, didn't get into discussing the booing, and didn't show the clip again in the postgame wrapup.) At any rate, I thought this would be a much bigger controversy, but it's downplayed in today's papers. Very strange.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Free Bartolo Colon! Time for Him to Take Phil Hughes' Place in the Rotation

Signing Bartolo Colon wasn't exactly a Brian Cashman move I was crazy about this winter, but the pitcher has actually shown some value so far this year. And given that he has had to come to the rescue for every single Phil Hughes start, I think it's time to put him in the rotation, and Hughes in the bullpen to work out his issues.

I don't think Hughes is afraid, or can't handle starting, or anything like that. He's built of pretty strong stuff. But the Yankees can't hope to have great walk-off wins like last night to salvage every Hughes debacle!

Going to Colon in the fifth was the right move last night, as Ed Valentine of Around the Empire noted. He said he was "shaking [his] head in disbelief" when Michael Kay thought the Yanks had too quick a hook with Hughes. You and me both, Ed!

Oh, and how about that play at the plate last night?

Loved that Nick Swisher hit the sac fly to give the Yankees the walkoff win. He seems to enjoy the pie thing more than any other Yankee.

Speaking of Swish, have you seen the commercial he has with Jonathan Papelbon for Norelco? The best part of it is that the ad plays off on Swish being likeable and amiable (even Squawker Jon digs him), but Papbelbon comes off as, um, kind of a jerk!



What do you think? Tell us about it!

Is It Time to Get Phil Hughes to a Doctor?

I am Officially Concerned about Phil Hughes. Because it's not just that he's had two bad starts, it's two bad starts and a very disappointing second half of 2010. Yes, yes, I know he won 18 games last year, but didn't , yesterday was an example of how it's silly to judge a player on that? John Lackey got the win, and Bartolo Colon the loss. Never mind that Colon was terrific, limiting the Sox to just two hits and one run over 4+ innings. And don't get me started on Boome Logan, the lefty specialist who can't seem to get lefties out so far this year.

It seems to me that a medical exam is in order for Hughes, given that his fastball has lost his speed. But the Yankees insist Hughes doesn't need that. I really don't see what the harm is in getting him checked out. It's not like when George Steinbrenner humiliated Reggie Jackson towards the end of his time in New York by making him get his eyes checked. I feel terrible for Hughes -- he looked upset on the mound, and sounded devastated after the game. It reminds me of when Chien-Ming Wang couldn't get it together a few years ago.

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I really wish the Yankees had been at least been able to hold off the Sox for one more game, just to ruin Boston's home opener. Alas, it was not to be.

It's funny, though, how the game was mostly overshadowed by the news that Manny Ramirez was retiring due to failing another PED test. Manny was one the greatest hitters I've ever seen. Watching him was like watching The Rock back in the day in pro wrestling. You either loved him, or loved to hate him, but either way, he was so entertaining, you couldn't not watch him! The most electrifying men in sports entertainment!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Yankees dominate Twins again, but Joe Girardi's son is bored by the whole thing

Last night's game didn't have a lot of suspense -- Phil Hughes looked flat-out dominant right from the beginning, and the Yankees' scoring five runs off Brian Duensing by the fourth inning didn't exactly leave a lot of doubt as to whether the Yankees would sweep the Twins.

It's easy to be all blase about the Yanks "only" winning the ALDS so far, especially after winning the 2009 World Series. However, I haven't forgotten how much trouble the Yanks had getting through that series in 2005 through 2007, even when they had inferior competition. Come to think of it, the Bombers haven't won an ALDS that didn't have the Twins as their opponent since 2001!

Two things I noticed last night after the game:

* The on-field celebration was extremely subdued. You might expect that if they clinched in Minnesota, but for a home field clinching, I've seen bigger excitement after a regular-season win against the Red Sox! Heck, I was there last year when they clinched the AL East, and the Yanks showed more emotion then. I wondered on Facebook if the quiet on-field celebration had something to do with Kendry Morales breaking his leg in a walkoff celebration, and Chris Coghlan tearing his ACL throwing a pie! Yeah, I get that winning the ALDS is just the first step for the Yankees, but it still seemed very quiet.

* Why the heck did Joe Girardi bring his obviously disinterested son, Dante, with him to the post-game presser? I haven't a kid be so openly bored and annoyed at being on camera since Rudy Giuliani's son acted up at his first inaugural! It was just painful to watch. It was impossible to pay attention to what Joe was saying, when his son was making a complete spectacle of himself. One Facebook friend noted,"I guess it doesn't matter what your parents do for a living, a kid is always going to think its boring." Heh!


What do you think? Tell us about it!

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Another day, another near no-hitter! Phil Hughes almost does it

I was exhausted last night, and went to bed early in last night's  West Coast game. So I missed all the drama about Phil Hughes pitching a no-hitter into the eighth inning.  Call me selfish, but I'm kind of glad that Hughes didn't pitch a no-hitter when I wasn't watching!

What a wacky way to end a no-hitter, though, with the ball bouncing off Hughes himself like that, and him  then not being able to find it. The pitcher said:

"To have it end that way is kind of a bummer. That's the game," Hughes said. "Yeah, frustrated. It's so hard to do, to throw a no-hitter. You don't get many opportunities to do it."

 If I had been up watching the game, I would have thrown something myself!

On the bright side, remember when Hughes' bid for a no-hitter against the Rangers ended with an injury? This was much better than that nightmare of a night!

Anyhow, at  least I'll get to watch today's game - it's on at 3:35 p.m., and not this late-night stuff.  Who knows - maybe CC will do something special!


If  you watched last night's game, tell us your thoughts!

Grrrrr - I'm still peeved about last night's game

You know, I actually would have felt better if the Yankees lost last night's game without them rallying to get the lead in the seventh. But to have them score six runs then, after being down 4-0, and then still lose makes it truly gut-wrenching.

But really, I don't blame Joe Girardi for the loss. I wrote in a piece for The Faster Times that Phil Hughes, Nick Swisher, and A.J. Burnett are my goats of the game. I note that Hughes has been terrible this postseason. And don't tell me he would have been better if he had started the seventh. He started the eighth in ALDS Game 2, and promptly gave up two runs to make the game 3-1.

Either Joe Girardi needs to bat Nick Swisher ninth, and move Melky Cabrera up, or he needs to bench Swisher. Because he's killed rally after rally in this series, most notably last night.

Now it's on to New York for Game 6. Attention Red Sox fans who are going nuts over this turn of events - the Yankees have beaten the Angels three times more than the Sox  have!

What do you think? Leave us a comment.

Is Phil Hughes the Phil of the Future for the Yankees bullpen?

Phil Hughes got his first career save last night. He's been so impressive in the bullpen this year, that it looks like he's going to be the setup guy for the rest of the year, a la 1996 Mariano Rivera. But should he stay in that spot for next year as well? Good question. It's something to think about.

The Yanks are on some streak - seven in a row - thanks in no small part to Hughes and the rest of the bullpen. And they've been so dominant as of late that they're even beating pitchers they haven't seen before, like New Jersey native Vin Mazzaro. Good stuff.

I had tickets to last night's game (it was the rescheduled rained out game from April), but I decided to use them for some other time, as I was worried about rain. Good thing I did - I wouldn't have wanted to wait out a 2 hour and 43 minute rain delay! But hey, I'm a wimp!

On the other hand, some brave kids got the time of their life at the game last night. As part of the Yankees HOPE week, the Bombers gave kids who suffer from Xeroderma Pigmentosum a night they'll never forget. The disease prevents sufferers from going out in sunlight. For last night's game, the Yankees put up Camp Sundown kids in the luxury suites, then threw a carnival for them on the field after the game.

A.J. Burnett talked about this to MLB.com:

"I have two kids, and it's kind of unfathomable to imagine what's going on with these kids," A.J. Burnett said. "I'd never heard of this disease before this week, and as soon as I heard about it, I signed up for it. They're going to take this one memory and I want to be a part of it. That's kind of flattering." ....

Burnett said that, to benefit Camp Sundown and XP research, he planned to put the Yankees' WWE belt -- distributed to the team-selected player of each game -- up for auction later this season.

My heart goes out to those kids, and to all the people honored in HOPE Week. The Yankees have done a tremendous job with these events.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

A.J. Burnett shows glimpses of greatness, and Phil Hughes is eighth inning guy

Squawker Jon royally mocked A.J. Burnett for saying after his Boston loss that he had a few "glimpses of greatness" this year.

Who's laughing now, especially after Burnett shut out the Mets twice? He has gone 3-1 since that Boston game, with the only loss being that heartbreaking one against Florida. In that timeframe, A.J. has given up only 3 runs. Sounds pretty great to me.

Yesterday was more of the same - in a good way - for Burnett. His only big mistake was the homer to Vernon Wells.

The season is half over, and Burnett has not turned into Carl Pavano. I think it's safe to finally buy that Burnett t-shirt I've been hankering for!

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Didn't get to see the whole game, but it was nice that the Yanks bounced right back after Thursday's loss.

As for Brian Bruney apparently losing his eighth inning spot, Joe Girardi needs to go with whoever will do the best job. And right now, Phil Hughes is the second-best reliever on the team after Mariano Rivera.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Mariano Rivera is honored, while Joba may be becoming 'boring'

Is Mariano Rivera the player most beloved by his peers throughout baseball? It sure sounds like it, especially given all the accolades Rivera received after getting his 500th save.

Heck, Squawker Jon's favorite Yankee - or, more to the point, the only Yankee he actually likes - is Mariano. That's saying something right there.

It was a nice touch for the Yanks to honor him by having him throw out the first pitch at Tuesday's game. He also got to throw out the last pitch, too, of course, in getting the save in the win.

In other news about Yankee pitchers, Joba Chamberlain did another of his nibbling outings. Yankee beat writer Peter Abraham declared that the pitcher has become "boring," writing:

He’s just sort of there. Joba is averaging roughly 5.1 innings per start, far too little. He pitches with no rhythm, he seems disinterested in challenging hitters until he has to and then afterward says the same things, about how he’s learning and how good he feels.

I don't necessarily disagree with this assessment. Not that I want Joba to be a starter, but his games seem to take forever. He seems to be like Steve Trachsel in his game speed!

On the other hand, how about that Phil Hughes in the bullpen? He's pretty electrifying there. Joe Girardi should have continued letting him pitch, instead of bringing Brian Bruney in for the eighth. Good thing the Yanks had some late-inning magic, or it could have been a bad loss.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Yuck! Yanks do nothing against Pavano, and Coke isn't it

Yesterday was one of the most frustrating Yankee games I've watched all year. And I'm still a little bit irked by the outcome. I complained to Squawker Jon last night about the loss, and he muttered something about how "you Yankee fans want to win every game." And that attitude is wrong, why exactly?

Losing is one thing, though, but the way the Yanks went about their business yesterday was very frustrating. First off, it was bad enough when the Yankees nearly lost to Carl Pavano the first time around this year. But that's understandable, I guess, given that they didn't know what he looked like pitching. Making him look like an ace for the second time this season? Unacceptable.

Speaking of American Idle, I read that Pavano said about his time with the Yankees, "I have no regrets." Of course he doesn't. He got $39.95 million for sitting on his (bruised) butt for four years. What could he possibly regret - whether he should have bought a Porsche or a Ferrari with his ill-gotten gains? Whether he should eat foie gras or caviar? Whether he should buy a mansion or a penthouse apartment? Sheesh.

While the Yanks weren't able to do anything against Pavano, they did tie the game off the Cleveland bullpen. But I had no faith that the Yanks would win after Jorge Posada hit into a double play. Part of the reason that play happened was because Brett Gardner, who misplayed a ball earlier in the game, ignored Joe Girardi's steal sign:

"They did want me to steal, and I didn't go. I should have. Another mistake," Gardner said.

Ya think?

You know how John Sterling always opines about how leadoff walks in late innings are so costly? He's right. And Phil Coke didn't just walk the leadoff batter, Trevor Crowe, in the ninth, he complained about the umpire's call, saying "I thought it was a strike." Not cool.

Dave Robertson wasn't any great shakes, either, giving up the winning hit to Jhonny Peralta. All in all, it wasn't exactly a red-letter day for the Yankees.

And to top it all off, my Squawker partner was up close at yesterday's Met game, breathing in all sorts of germs. Your Yankee-hating is nauseating enough, Jon; you'd better not make me literally sick as well!

The one bright side to yesterday's debacle was Chien-Ming Wang looking like himself. He pitched three lights-out innings, and looked much more impressive than starter Phil Hughes. Thank goodness for small favors.

What do you think about yesterday's loss? Leave us a comment!

Phil Hughes and Alex Rodriguez sparkle on Memorial Day

One of the good signs for the Yankees' current hot streak is that they're playing tough against good teams. As my Rangers' fan nephew has been telling me all season, the Rangers actually have a pretty decent team this year. Which made yesterday's 11-1 victory even more impressive.

Since it was Memorial Day, the Yanks and Rangers were both wearing those red hats to honor the troops. I appreciate the sentiment - especially since my brother just went back to Iraq for his third tour over there - but it still kind of confused me a little to see the Yankees wearing red, especially when red is a primary color in the Rangers' uniform!

Phil Hughes seems to have stepped up his game since it looked like he was about to have his last start in the rotation. Giving up zero runs and only three hits over eight innings in that bandbox of a ballpark is phenomenal, especially when Alex Rodriguez single-handedly had five hits of his own for the Yanks. And Hughes wanted to complete the game, so he didn't want to shake Joe Girardi's hand after the eighth inning.

Anyhow, it was good to see a blowout, after two nailbiter games in a row. Hopefully, the Yanks will beat up on the Rangers again today.

One other note - I was glad to hear that University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy threw a decent first pitch before the game. If he hadn't, Squawker Jon would mock me forever about my alma mater's QB not being able to throw!

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In other news, I read that Jonathan Papelbon threw a hissy fit - and a towel - Saturday when a photographer took a photo of him in the dugout after the reliever gave up that homer to Omir Santos. (Click here to see him throwing the towel.) What a baby.

If Papelbon wants to be left alone, maybe he could change places with former Red Sox closer Keith Foulke, who is trying to make a comeback with the Newark Bears. Foulke griped a lot, too, about being in the media fishbowl. But he's now so eager to come back to the majors that he says he'd "even play for the Yankees"!

Hmmm, now that Brian Bruney is on the DL for the second time, could I see Brian Cashman taking a flyer on Foulke? Absolutely. I hope he doesn't, though - the last thing the Yanks need is a pitcher who hates baseball!

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Glad I missed last night's debacle

Happy Mother's Day to all of our readers!

As for myself, I'm not feeling so hot. Maybe I do have Swan Flu. I was feeling really rundown yesterday afternoon, and took a nap just before the game started. I ended up sleeping for over 12 hours straight. I got up, read about the Yankees' lousy game, then fell asleep again for another five hours. Sheesh.

Given that the Yanks spit the bit last night, I'm not the least bit upset I missed the game. It sounds like it was a real nightmare. So much for building on the momentum from Friday's game.

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Farewell to Dom DiMaggio, who died this week. If you want to know more about him, check out David Halberstam's wonderful book Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship. Even this Yankee fan enjoyed reading about the friendship between Red Sox players DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, and Bobby Doerr.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!

Phil of the Future shows Yankees' future

Last night's game may only count as just one out of 162, but I still found it incredibly satisfying to watch. As Subway Squawkers reader Roger9 put it:

Finally, a night where we don't have to walk away in disgust. It all came together...young pitching, hitting...everything! Will it carry over and become infectious? Only time will tell.

Seeing Phil Hughes pitch so well was thrilling to watch. So was that 10-run inning! Loved seeing the look on Jose Molina's face after his grand slam - talk about looking happy to be there!

Finally, Phil of the Future ended up being Phil of the Present. And Mark Melancon looked pretty nifty as well. Oh, and A-Rod is getting closer to returning to the field. This is all great news for the Yankees, after a lousy week.

One question, though - what happened to Hughes' glasses? There was a whole to-do that he needed glasses last season. Is he wearing contacts now?

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I was thinking some more about the Yankees lowering ticket prices. I have to say that I find it delicious to see the front office humiliated into doing this. Does that make me a bad person?

Here's the thing - Randy Levine and Lonn Trost had such hubris. They somehow thought that they could get away with charging literally thousands of dollars more for their top tickets than any other team. This, during the worst economic times since the Great Depression. Talk about out of touch.

Today's New York Times talks about why the prices were lowered:

“It was starting to hurt the overall brand,” said Donny Deutsch, chairman of Deutsch Inc., an advertising agency, when asked about the original pricing strategy. “People start asking whether you care about the fans.”

Yep. Why is it that most baseball teams, including top draws like the Red Sox, Dodgers, and Cubs, noticed the economic climate six months ago, and instituted price freezes? Some teams, like the Giants, even lowered some of their prices this year.

Yet the Yanks kept on pushing their ridiculous ticket prices, acting like they were such great businessmen. They're not. It's not exactly surprising that the same front office who had between $300 and 500 million in cost overruns on the new stadium also butchered the ticket pricing. How is it that these folks get to keep their jobs?

While the ticket prices really should be lowered so that the average person can afford more of their seats, I do enjoy seeing Trost and Levine with egg on their faces. Heh.

What do you think? Leave us a comment!