Time For The Second Season

I love this time of the year. October is by far my favorite month. Nothing beats baseball's second season, the postseason. It's truly the most exciting time of the year.

I don't know about you but I for one am very happy that the Yankees finished the season as the wild card winner. I think they're better off facing the Twins than the Rangers in the ALDS. I kind of wrote about this in my last entry and with the regular season now over it makes a little sense to revisit it.

The main reason I prefer the Yankees facing the Twins is simple and it can be explained in 2 words: Cliff Lee. Had the Yankees won the East they'd be hosting the Rangers and would undoubtedly face Cliff Lee in game 1. Cliff Lee is a stud and a much better pitcher outside of Texas. Pitching in Yankee Stadium would greatly benefit Lee as Yankee Stadium plays to LHPs. The Yankees know this and that's one of the major reasons they tried to trade for him before the deadline and it's one of the biggest reasons the Yankees will go hard after Lee once the free agent market opens. It would have been tough to beat him in game 1. Real tough.

I would assume, if the Rangers were smart, that they would have started C.J. Wilson, another LHP, in game 2. The Yankees have struggled mightily in recent weeks, losing something like 9 straight games against LH starters. I say something like because I don't know the actual number. I recall hearing the stat on the radio before the last series with Boston and I'm too lazy to look it up. Anyway, point is, facing 2 decent LHPs in Yankee Stadium in a short series could be a death sentence.

I personally think the Yankees match-up much better with the Twins. They're pitching staff isn't as strong and they'll avoid facing the tough lefty, Francisco Liriano, in Yankee Stadium. I also think the Yankees are in a good position to break up their two LHPs. If the Yankees were at home to start the ALDS it would make perfect sense to start Sabathia in game 1 and Pettitte in game 2. Again, Yankee Stadium plays to LHPs. I think they would have shot themselves in the foot if they started Pettitte in game 3 had they hosted Texas. The right move now in my opinion is to start CC in game 1 and Phil Hughes in game 2. Hughes has pitched much better on the road this year and I think he'll fare rather well pitching in Target Field. Pettitte should start game 3.

The game four starter is the big question mark. Here's how I would play it. If the Yankees are up 2-1, I'd start A.J. Burnett. I don't think you can let A.J. pitch in a big game. If the Yankees were down 2-1 or tied 2-2 I'd struggle to give the ball to Burnett. If they're down 2-1 I think they need to bring CC back on short rest. The only hiccup in that plan is that they then probably need to bring Hughes back on short rest to start game 5. That's the only roadbump in my plan. Not sure I want to see them go down that road but I think it makes the most sense. I wouldn't want A.J. to pitch and I'm not sure how I feel about Pettitte pitching on short rest based on how he finished out the season. I could live with Hughes in game 5. Hopefully, it doesn't go that far.

Another plus to facing the Twins is that they don't run that much. The Twins had 68 stolen bases on the year compared to 123 for the Rangers. The Yankees ranked dead last in the AL in caught stealing percentage, stopping only 15% of would-be base-stealers. If the Twins were smart they'd run all over Posada and Cervelli. But it doesn't look like it's part if their game. Advantage Yankees.

Another thing working in the Yankees' favor is that Justin Morneau is out for the playoffs. That's pretty big. The Twins' lineup is definitely not the same without him. On the flip side, Josh Hamilton just came off the DL and returned to the Rangers' lineup. Hamilton, had he played all season, would probably win the AL MVP award. Anytime you don't have to face him, you win.

I definitely like the Yankees chances in the ALDS. They've owned the Twins in the postseason and I expect them to get past them again. If only we didn't have to wait 46 hours to get it started.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Super Nova Leads Yankees To 2-1 Victory Over White Sox

I haven't checked out any other Yankees sites yet but I'll bet that I'm not the only one who's going with "Super Nova." I don't really want to but it's been a long week and the brain is running on empty. But let's face it, he has been a little "super" in hist 1st 2 starts. So it works.

The name of the game today was pitching and the charge was led by Nova. He looked pretty sharp in my book. 66% of his pitches were strikes. Great K/BB ratio @ 7:1. Well done rook. Congrats on your 1st big league win. There's been some chatter in the last few days about the Yankees possibly changing up the rotation based on the sub-par performances of certain pitchers (talking 'bout you A.J.). It looks like they're staying with the current rotation but they could very easily switch things up. Personally, I wouldn't move A.J. out just yet. The guy has good stuff. I think his problem is more mental than anything else. I'd like to think he'll figure it out. Anyway, it's a little crazy to think that we're headed into September and the Yankees rotation features guys named Nova and Moseley. What's crazier is that right now they're 2 of their better starters. I hope they keep it going.

Major props to the bullpen for shutting things down. Nice little rebound from last night. The pen really has been pitching rather well in recent weeks. I'm going with Saturday's meltdown as an anomaly and not reality. They got it done today. Even with his nice string of games I still get crazy nervous whenever Joba takes the hill. I don't think I'll ever shake that feeling. He's got a lot of work to do to earn my faith in him back. He's on the right track but he's got a ways to go. Something hit me about Joba today and tell me if you agree or think I'm totally wrong. Doesn't he kind of look like the Hideki "The Fat Toad" Irabu? I think they could pass for half-brothers of something. Again, brain is fried from a long week so maybe I'm wrong.

Not a lot of offense today. Crazy that Francisco Cervelli went 4-4. Never thought I'd see that happen. Cisco has had some ups and downs this year but I do think he's suitable as a backup catcher. Problem is that because of Jorge Posada he's a little more than a backup. I think I expect more from him since he sees more action than the average backup but he really does have some value. If he played less I don't think people would be as critical of him.

What has gotten into Marcus Thames? He had one hell of a road trip. He saw action in 5 games, had 8 hits in 17 AB (.471), hit 1 2B, 4 HRs and knocked in 8. To be honest I'm surprised he's still with the team. I thought for sure the Yankees would have released him back in May or so. So glad he's proved me wrong. He's been rather productive in a limited role.

I'm really surprised at Jeter's numbers. I would have thought they'd be much higher especially in a "walk year." His .270/.336/.384 are well behind his career averages of .315/.385/.454. Not counting 1995 when he appeared in 15 games, they're the lowest averages of his career by far. He's never hit below .291, never had an OBP below .352, and never had a SLG below .408. Very un-Jeterlike. I'm not sure what to make it of it. I wouldn't think his skills would drop off that much from last season. Here's hoping he has a great September.

The win today was nice because it means that they'll either keep pace with Tampa for the division and have 7 losses at hand on the Red Sox for the wild card, or they'll be 1 up on Tampa and 6 losses up on the Red Sox. Quite frankly either outcome works for me but I'd prefer that Tampa win. I'll take the playoff spot ASAP. A Red Sox loss would put the Yankees 7 up in the loss column with 32 to play. Same distance the Sox were back 19 games ago. 19 games have rolled off the schedule and the Sox at best will have gained one game on the Yanks. That wont get it done. Making up that ground could be done but let's face it the Sox would have to go one a historic September run and the Yankees would have to have a historic September collapse. You don't need a magic 8-ball to tell you that outcome is unlikely. It's currently 10:10pm and a check of the scoreboard says that the Rays are ahead 4-3 at the 7th inning stretch. That works. Hope to see that outcome hold true when I check in the morning. For now, it's off to bed.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Well That Just Sucked

Tonight's Yankee game was the first one I got to see from start to finish in a long time. And just my luck, it was a stinker. A.J. Burnett was again beyond brutal. A.J.'s inconsistency is really puzzling. He'll go on a roll and then make a total 180. Just look at his ERA for example. It was 3.28 after his start on 5/30. It went up after each of his next 5 starts and was at 5.25 on 6/26. It went down to 4.52, then up to 4.93, then down to 4.66, and it now sits at 5.17. His record on the year now sits at 9-12. He needs to straighten things out. The ups and downs need to stop. It's obvious that A.J. knows how to pitch. He has pretty damn good stuff. Someone needs to figure out how to harness it.

I'm hoping as the calendar turns from August to September, A.J.'s fortunes change with it. A.J. made 5 starts in August and the Yankees lost all 5 of those games. To be fair to A.J. he did pitch fairly well in 2 of those games but the bottom line is that he lost 4 of the 5 starts. The same thing happened last season. He went 0-4 in 6 August starts last year. This can't happen. His performance tonight is unacceptable. Just think, he's signed for another 3 years.

It was just an ugly game. Very sloppy. Francisco Cervelli is quickly playing his way out of everyone's good graces. His average is down to .240. He's made 10 errors. Tonight he was on the receiving end of 3 wild pitches. He's got to be better but it's becoming evident that he's not a major league catcher. I can totally see his playing time decrease significantly once the rosters expand. Jesus Montero anyone?

Only positive from tonight was Nick Swisher hitting his 23rd HR. It kind of made up for the God-awful throw to the plate. anyway, the HR adds more money to Swish's Wishes charity fundraiser. That puts the total up to $922. It's not too late to donate if anyone is interested. Basically what's happening is a bunch of us are pledging to donate money to his charity. Every time he goes deep, it's $ in his charity's pocket. Right now every Swisher HR earns his charity $38. Want more info? Click here.

While I was tweeting tonight I noticed some Yankees fans pulling for the Red Sox to beat the Rays. I'm rooting for the opposite. I'd rather have more distance between the Yankees and the team 2nd in the wild card standings than I would the Yankees and the Rays for the division. All I care about is that the Yankees get a ticket to the show. It doesn't matter to me if it's as the division winner or as the wild card. You can't win it all if you're not playing in October. While winning the division is the goal, I'll be happy if they end up finishing 2nd to Tampa Bay. Red Sox losses equal one step closer to getting their ticket to the postseason punched.

CC, aka the Big Man, goes tomorrow. He's on fire. Pay attention Burnett. He'll show you how it's done.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Offense Backs Up CC In 8-3 Win Over Orioles

Watched most of the game on fast forward tonight. The fam took me out for dinner figuring it would be a nice stress reliever. We didn't get back until the 2nd inning so I totally missed the Yanks score their first 2 runs. I DVR'd the game from the 2nd inning on and finally got caught up for the top of the 7th. It's been a struggle for me to start watching at first pitch. My kids start getting for bed around 7 and are down for the count by 8pm. We're in the process of getting our house packed up for our move and that took me away from watching until about 9:15 or so. It's interesting watching a game on FF. I usually stop it if something big happens. I stopped it quite a bit tonight as the Yankees poured on the runs. Love seeing that.

The bottom half of the Yankees order continues to impress. Not counting Posada, everyone 5-9 had a multi-hit game. Cano through Gardner combined to go 11-23. I talked yesterday about the mini-tears that Robbie Cano and Nick Swisher are on, each being 6 games long. You can now make that 7 games. Cano went 2-5 with a home run and Swisher went 3-5 with 2 runs and 2 ribbies. Cano is having a monster April. My prediction that he'll be the 2010 AL MVP is looking pretty good, eh? I can't believe he's hitting .390. I always knew Robbie was a good hitter. I didn't realize he was that good.

I see Posada is listed as day-to-day after being hit-by-a-pitch in the 2nd. I hope it's nothing serious and it doesn't sound like it is. If it happens to be, I'm glad we have Francisco Cervelli to fill in. He's having a phenomenal April. Maybe his oversized helmet has special powers? I can't help myself. Whenever I see him I say, "Gazooooo."

The top of the order had a better night tonight (4-17) than they did yesterday (1-18), but they're still under-performing. It's been the same story all year. Nick Johnson and Mark Teixeira are dragging ass right now. Johnson at least gets on base but his average (.143) and his SLG % (.232) leave a lot to be desired. And what's up with all the Ks? I thought Nick had this great eye. He's now walked 20 times and whiffed 20 times. Last year in 104 AB with the Marlins, Johnson struck out 18 times. He's got 20 in 56 AB this year. In his career, Nick strikes out once every 4.79 ABs. This year, it's once every 2.8 AB. Improvement needed. Just think for an extra million they could have resigned Hideki Matsui (.284/.359/.506).

CC Sabathia wasn't sharp tonight but still pitched pretty well. He gave up 11 hits and 2 walks but only gave up 3 runs. When you allow that many baserunners you're asking for trouble, unless of course you're a top-tier pitcher like CC. The best pitchers have an uncanny ability to get out of big spots. He got a big 2-out K to get out of a jam in the 1st. He got a big DP to end the 5th and another DP in the 7th. CC battled tonight and came out relatively unscathed.

One more tomorrow in Baltimore and then it's back home to the Bronx. A win tomorrow and the Yanks will return home with a 14-7 record. A loss will leave them at 13-8. Either way it was a pretty great month for the Yanks. They played a pretty tough schedule, complete with a west coast roadie and only 6 home games. A 13-8 start wouldn't be too shabby. But why settle for that? 14-7 would be so much better.

I'm so tired.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Carsten In Charge: CC Dominates The Rangers In A Rain-Shortened Complete Game

I think I'm adjusting well to watching the Yankees while having 2 kids under 3 at home (soon to be 3 kids 3 and under). I thought it was going to be tough since they get ready for bed between 7-8 every night. I've gotten my routine down. I DVR the game while hanging with the kids (bath followed by some Handy Manny or Special Agent Oso). They turn in and and I turn on. I fast forward thru the game (on the slowest speed) making sure to stop and watch any key spots. It's not ideal for me but it works. Like CC pitching to Cervelli, I hope it keeps working.

CC is pitching like it's mid-August. Remember last year when he went 9-0 in his last 11 starts? Yeah, he's that good right now. I know. I know. It's been 3 starts but you can't deny that the big man is locked in. He pitched 6 dominant innings tonight and if the game didn't called I have no doubt he would have gone the distance as he finished with 73 pitches. His control tonight was downright remarkable. Personally, I think a great strike-to-ball ratio is anything above 65%. CC threw 58 of his 73 pitches for strikes. For those of you that are mathematically challenged, I'll be your hook-up. 79.5% of CC's pitches were strikes. Yeah, you read that right. 79.5%! I don't think I've ever seen anyone throw such a high percentage of strikes. It definitely looked like CC's game plan tonight was to attack the strike zone. Mission accomplished. CC finished with 9 Ks. That's a lot of swings and misses. I know he allowed 3 hits but for the most part he was unhittable.

I'm in favor of having CC always throw to Francisco Cervelli. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it. CC's last 2 outings, both with Cervelli as his catcher, were pretty darn close to perfect. I'm sure CC would do just as well with Posada. I'm sure he'd do just as well as if he were pitching to me because he's that good. Bottom line for me: don't mess with the mojo.

Derek Jeter and Robbie Cano both stayed hot and both are now rocking 10 game hitting streaks. It's the first time in the team's storied history that 2 teammates have opened the season with hitting streaks that long. They show no signs of slowing either.

Mark Teixeira on the other hand? Yeah he's not so hot. He's sitting on 3 hits. What's really sad is his 3 hits were back-to-back-to-back and they all came in the same game. He started the season 0-17 and he's now 0 for his last 16. His 0-17 was the longest hitless streak of his career. He's 1 AB away from tying that mark, 1 week after he set it. Ouch. There's no 2 ways about it: Tex sucks right now. After 10 games last year he was hitting .206 (7-34) with an .878 OPS. After 10 games this year he's hitting .083 (3-36) and an OPS of .394. Wow. And we thought he struggled last year. Somebody needs a slumpbuster.

The game might have been rain-shortened but there's no question that the Yankees would have won had it gone the distance. The win puts the record at 7-3 which again, is pretty darn impressive considering the teams they've played so far. It's your turn A.J. Keep the good times rolling.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Breaking Down The Postseason

The ALDS kicks off a little less than a week from now. The big unanswered questions left are who will the Yankees play, which series will they take, and who will be on the playoff roster? Let me address those one-by-one:

1)Who will the Yankees play? The smart money is on Detroit as they're up 2 with 3 to play. I'd much rather see the Yankees play the Twins though, purely because in a short series, Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Rick Porcello could easily beat you. I think they match up better against the Twins pitchers. The Tigers offense however isn't on par with the Twins. The Tigers OPS is about 19 points lower than that of the Twins. The Yankee pitchers would obviously fare better against a weaker lineup. I guess it doesn't really matter which team the face. I think there are pluses and minuses for both and the Yanks match up well either way. But if pitching wins championships, I guess I'll skip Verlander thank you very much. What would be ideal would be if the AL Central came down to the final day. Justin Verlander's turn is Sunday I think. If they're tied or if it's a 1-game playoff, the Yanks would see him later in the series or possibly on short rest.

2)Which series will the Yankees take? Since the Yankees have the best record, they get the choice of which ALDS schedule they want. They can take ALDS series A, which has games on 10/7, 10/9, 10/11, 10/12, and 10/14 or ALDS series B which has games on 10/8, 10/9, 10/11, 10/12, and 10/14. It's thought to be advantageous to take ALDS series A because of the added off-day. I agree with that. If the Yankees choose ALDS series A, they will be able to go with a 3-man rotation and still have guys pitch on regular rest. CC pitches tonight and would pitch again on 10/7, which gives him 5 days rest. He could come back and pitch game 4 on 5 days rest. If the Yankees played in ALDS series B, CC would start game 1 on 6 days rest and would pitch game 4 on 4 days rest. Andy Pettitte is slated to pitch game 2. He would be lined up to pitch game 5 in ALDS series A and would only pitch game 5 in ALDS series B if Sabathia pitched game 4 on short rest. It's advantageous to the Yankees to keep guys on regular rest. But if there is anyone who can pitch on 4 days rest, it's CC Sabathia. I don't think there's any advantage in taking ALDS series B. Series A keeps the rotation at 3 (no Joba or Gaudin) and everyone pitches on regular rest. It also frees up a roster spot since only 3 SPs are needed. An extra hitter could be key. Series A also means A-Rod can get some extra rest.

3)Who will be on the playoff roster? As I mentioned above, if the Yankees take ALDS series A they'll only need 3 SPs. That would allow them to carry an extra hitter on the roster. I think there are several players who are a given so let's just get them out of the way:

• Hitters: Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Brett Gardner, Eric Hinske, Jose Molina and Jerry Hairston, Jr.
• Pitchers: CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, A.J. Burnett, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Hughes, Mariano Rivera

Those 19 guys are definitely a given. The breakdown right there is 13 hitters and 6 pitchers. I think the team would be best off if they carried 10 pitchers. The choices are Joba Chamberlain, Chad Gaudin, Phil Coke, David Robertson, Brian Bruney, Damaso Marte. You have to have a lefty and Phil Coke gets the nod over Damaso Marte. I don't see them carrying both Chad Gaudin and Joba Chamberlain. I'm not sure that either would make the ALDS roster. Both are candidates to start in the ALCS. I think if you put one in the pen, you're committing him to the pen for the duration of the playoffs. If the Yankees want Joba to start, I think Gaudin doesn't make the playoff roster for any series. Personally, I'd prefer to see Guadin get a start in the ALCS and Joba to join the pen for the playoffs. Joba was electrifying as a RP. I think the Yankees would have a lights-out back of the bullpen with Joba, Hughes, and Mariano. I leave Gaudin off for the ALDS and throw Joba in the pen (for the entire playoffs). Bruney and Robertson get the final 2 spots. So spots 7-10 go to Bruney, Coke, Robertson and Chamberlain,

13 hitters and 10 pitchers leaves 2 open spots. The choices to round out the offense for my money are Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena, and Freddy Guzman. It makes sense to carry a 3rd catcher. If the team faces a lefty, they could sit Matsui and DH Posada. The 3rd catcher would allow them to make a defensive substitution late if need be. For that reason, I'd put Cervelli on the roster. Which brings me to Ramiro Pena and Freddy Guzman for the last spot. Whoever gets this spot is going to see little playing time. In my opinion, this guy's role would probably be as a pinch-runner. Guzman is definitely quicker than Pena. I've got to go with Freddy.

Here is my roster for the ALDS:

• Hitters: Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Brett Gardner, Eric Hinske, Jose Molina, Jerry Hairston, Jr., Francisco Cervelli and Freddy Guzman
• Pitchers: CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, A.J. Burnett, Alfredo Aceves, Phil Coke, Brian Bruney, David Robertson, Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Mariano Rivera

When the ALCS rolls around, I add Gaudin to the roster and take Guzman or Cervelli off. I'm not sure which I prefer. Guzman would be nice to have as a pinch runner against the weak-armed Red Sox. Yeah, I think I keep Guzman either way.

There you have it. What do you think? What changes would you make? I think no matter how it gets sliced the team is going to have a great shot to win it all. I'm liking their chances.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Posada's Suspension Propels Yanks To 5-4 Walkoff Win

Thank you Jorge Posothead. Your stupidity has paid off. If Posada wasn't serving a 3 game suspension, Francisco Cervelli wouldn't have been in the ballgame. If Cervelli wasn't in the ballgame, maybe the Yanks don't win this game. Who knows? What's done is done. It is what it is. And what it is, is a 5-4 Yankee walkoff victory. That was a classic ending. I absolutely loved Cervelli's reaction. I loved how excited he looked sprinting to first base. I loved how he turned first and kept running. I love the arms raised in triumph reaction he had to the pie in the face. The kid has great energy. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow within the organization. I love the kid.

Before I move on to the game itself, I wanted to talk a little bit more about Posada. He was originally fined 4 games, which in my opinion, was far less than I expected. Most pitchers get 6 games (reduced to 5 after appeal) for allegedly throwing at a guy. Posada incited a brawl and got 4 games. He got off easy, especially since they dropped the suspension to 3 games since he didn't appeal. Jorge would have missed today's game anyway because he had a stiff neck, which was from his role in the melee. He's lucky that's all that happened. I mentioned earlier that I thought someone was in a bench-clearing brawl and ended up getting hurt and missing the season. I couldn't remember who it was when I wrote the post but I remembered it later on. It was Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee. He was in a BCB with the Yanks and ended up missing the season because he got hurt. Point is, things can happen. I like seeing the fire and the team standing up for each other, but there's a time for it. When you're the best team in MLB, that time isn't with 3 weeks left in the season. Jorge should know better. now back to your regularly scheduled programming.....

Chad Gaudin pitched better than I thought he would. I thought he was going to get rocked. I'm very pleased with his outing. If I'm running things, I put Gaudin in the 5th spot over Sergio Mitre. I don't prefer either one really, but if my choice is Gaudin or Mitre, I'm taking Gaudin. He's been the better pitcher.

Props to the bullpen for shutting things down. Except for Brian Bruney. Bruney has actually been decent lately. He had a 0.87 ERA in August and until tonight, he had a 2.45 ERA in September. I can see why Girardi went to him but Bruney makes me nervous every time he pitches. I don't like that. Phil Hughes on the other hand? Hakuna matata my friends. Hakuna matata. It was an impressive 1-2-2 8th for Phil. Hughes has been great as a reliever. I'd argue that he and Mariano Rivera might just be the best back-of-the-bullpen tandem in the game right now. If you disagree, let me know.

Big night again for Hideki Matsui. Godzilla had the big knock in the 8th. He picked up 3 RBI tonight and that brings his September ribbie total to 13. 13 RBI in 13 games. Not bad. I had a good feeling about the game as soon as Brett Gardner reached base in the 9th. You just knew he was stealing 2nd. It wasn't a question of if. It was a question of when. I really wanted to see Jeter drive him home. I really want to see the Captain take a pie to the face. Part of me wonders if A.J. would be scared to do it. It is Derek Jeter after all. But you know he'd do it. He'd have to. I hope we see it before the year is out. It was their 14th walkoff win of the year and that leads MLB. You can never count this team out. They've won 94 games for a reason.

Not sure if anyone out there caught the end of the Sox/Angels game. What a travesty! That was some horrible umpiring right there. First of all Nick Green went around. He knew it. the Angels knew it. Everyone knew it. Except the umpires. A few pitches later, Green channeled his inner Carlos Beltran and watched strike 3. The ump though, for reasons unbeknownst to everyone, called the pitch ball four which forced in the tying run. It was a horrendous call. I was watching the MLB Network's coverage of it and the entire in-studio crew thought it was strike 3. The umps handed that game to the Red Sox on a silver platter. Whatever.

The Yankee win drops the magic # to 11. The Rangers lost so the magic # for a playoff spot is down to 4. I think it's safe to say they've got a playoff spot wrapped up. The team has an off day tomorrow and the action resumes Friday night out in Seattle. The win tonight should definitely make the off day and the flight much more enjoyable. I know it will for me. Enjoy the off day.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Rout Twins 10-2 & Thoughts On Roy Halladay

I didn't get to see last night's blowout victory over the Twins because the game was on My9. I did get to listen to most of it on the radio but was preoccupied with some other things, but I did hear all the good parts. I was very pleased with the outcome and loved what I heard. The offense hammered the Twins pitching. 10 runs on 16 hits and 7 walks is a pretty good day. I'd expect them to score more runs seeing that they went 7 for 17 with RISP and had 23 baserunners, but 10 runs is nothing to scoff at. Only 3 of the 16 hits went for extra bases. I hope the team takes a lesson away from that. You don't need to constantly swing for the fences and the 5-run homer to score runs and win games. Singles get the job done too. Every starter had at least 1 hit and every starter except for Damon and Jeter had at least 1 RBI. It was a total team effort. I was particularly impressed with the bottom of the order. Cano, Gardner and Cervelli combined to go 7-for-14 with 6 RBI and 5 runs scored. The trio also had the Yankees 3 extra-base hits. Not a bad day for those guys. Cano finally picked up a hit with RISP, so his 0-21 streak w/RISP has ended. Girardi wisely moved him back down in the order. CC Sabathia was again gold. I'm sure it helped pitching with a lead from the get-go. It was a great outing from the staff ace.

There's been a lot of chatter lately about Roy Halladay being traded. The Jays know that they're not contending anytime soon. Their rotation has been decimated by injuries. Their 8 games back and trailing 3 powerhouses. They're not catching up. Halladay's contract is up at the end of 2010 and there's no chance they resign him. Halladay obviously wants to win and that's not going to happen in Toronto. If I had to put money it, I'd say his departure from Toronto is all but imminent. He's being dealt. It's going to happen. The Jays would be foolish to not try and get something for Doc before he bolts.

The question is where will he go and what will it take to get him? I think the Yankees will be in the mix, largely because they have to be. You don't at least inquire about what it will take to get Halladay. They also need to make sure he doesn't go to Boston. There's a school of thought that the Jays won't trade Halladay within the division. I don't think that matters really. It'd be nice for the Jays not to have to do that but they should take the best that they can get. If that comes from the AL East, the Jays make the deal. I think we'll hear a lot of talk from Brian Cashman that the Yankees aren't in the mix. Cash has said all season that his goal is to lower the payroll. Trading for Halladay would surely increase it. Disregard anything you hear from Cash. He said the same thing about signing Mark Teixeira and look where he ended up. If it makes sense, Cash will do it.

Halladay to the Yankees would make them heavy favorites to win the East and move deep into the playoffs. Those extra home games means extra revenue. As the old adage goes, you have to spend money to make money. It's only a bust if the Yankees fail to make the playoffs or win in the playoffs. That could happen. We've seen it before. But you don't get the chance if you're not there. With Doc on the roster, the odds of October baseball in the Bronx is high. Really high.

So what would it take to get Halladay? If Halladay were to remain a Blue Jay thru 2010 and leave for another team, the Jays are going to end up with 2 first round draft picks. That's your jumping off point. Any team that deals for Halladay is going to have to pony up 2 highly valued prospects. The Yankees have some of those. The question is, will they part with any? If they want Halladay, they're going to have to. I think the Jays would ask for Austin Jackson and either Jesus Montero or Austin Romine. I think the Yanks can afford to part ways with one of the catching prospects, assuming of course their plan is to not turn one into a DH. If the plan is for them to remain catchers, they can afford to part with one. In addition to Romine and Montero, there's also Francisco Cervelli. 3 catchers for 2 positions. There won't be enough room at the inn.


In addition to the two prospects, it's going to take a young major league ready pitcher with ace potential. The Yanks have that in Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. I think one of them have to go if the Yanks were to pull a deal off. Personally, I'd prefer to see the Yankees keep Hughes over Joba. I've always said that when their careers are said and done, Hughes will have had the better career. I've never been a huge Joba guy. I like him. I think he's the skills. I'm worried about the mental makeup. His meteoric rise to stardom in NY has obviously gone to his head. I think he got way too big way too soon and he's not ready for it. The same thing that created him, Jobamania, could also kill him. Hughes seems much more grounded and he definitely has a better head on his shoulders. If one must go, I'd prefer to keep Hughes.

I'm sure in addition to that, the Jays will want one more major league ready talent, or possibly 2 B-level prospects. That's the wild card. I've read that the Jays want a SS. Would Ramiro Pena fit the bill? Maybe they'd want another pitching prospect, say Zach McCallister. There's not going to be a lot of opportunity to join the Yankees rotation in the coming years. The Yankees could be inclined to part with a young starter or two. Who they would trade would probably be dictated by the Jays.

So in my estimation, if the Yankees were to make a deal for Halladay, they'd be looking at dealing Austin Jackson, Romine/Montero, Hughes/Joba plus 1 or 2 other guys. If that's the deal, I'm not sure what I do. I think it's a lot to give up. I remember when the Yankees were in discussion for Johan Santana and I didn't want them to do it and they were rumored to be giving up less than that. I'm not sure what I think now. Joba is floundering. Hughes hasn't yet matured. Wang is injured and has been ineffective. CC and A.J. are in the fold. Maybe bringing in Doc makes sense. If Cashman can get creative and make something sensible happen, then I say go for it. I don't think though that what I came up with above is sensible.

Come July 31, when the smoke clears, I don't think Halladay will be wearing Pinstripes. I also don't think he'll end up in Beantown. I'd be happy with that outcome. I think in the end the price will be too rich for the Yankees' blood. I know the Phillies are jonesing for a starter and I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up there.

Imagine a rotation headlined by Sabathia, Burnett, and Halladay. I get giddy at the thought.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

CC and BG Shine As Yanks Trounce Mets 9-1 In Subway Series Round 2 Opener

Forgive me for not posting about last night's game like I said I was. My lunch break kind of got away from me. But here it is in a nutshell: Andy Pettitte sucked and he's lucky the offense showed up for him. Moving on....

CC Sabathia = the man! He was absolutely dominant today. He threw 7 innings, 6 of them were perfect. He was on all night. His control was excellent, no walks and his strike-to-ball ratio was exceptional (67 strikes-32 balls). I think it's safe to say that any issues he was having with his bicep are of no concern. CC has been awesome lately, worth every penny that the Yankees are paying him. Over his last 10 starts, CC is 6-1, throwing 70 innings, allowing 49 hits, 16 walks, and has an ERA of 2.70. He's gone at least 7 innings in 9 of those starts and the one he didn't was the game he left early with the injury. It's very telling in my opinion that Francisco Cervelli caught him tonight. There's no good reason why Posada didn't catch him tonight. Maybe it has something to with the fact that CC throws so much better to Cervelli. CC's hot streak started 10 games ago. He pitched a 4-0 CG shutout. His catcher? Francisco Cervelli. Over his last 10 starts, Cervelli has his been his battery mate 7 times. CC is 4-1 in those starts. His ERA to Cervelli is 2.33 with a WHIP of 0.89. With Posada, he's 2-0, with an ERA of 3.94 and a WHIP of 1.06. On the year to Posada, CC is 3-1 with an ERA of 4.46 and a WHIP of 1.39. You make the call.

On most nights I'd say give that WWE championship belt to CC, but not tonight. I'd give it to Brett Gardner. Holy cow what a night BG had. Brett went 5-for-6 with 3 singles, a triple, a home run, a stolen base, 3 runs scored and 2 RBI. Oh what a night. Gardner's average on the season is now above .300. His OBP is now around .375. How can the Yankees not start this guy based on how he's playing? He's earned the spot if you ask me. I just looked at his splits and I understand not playing him against LHPs. But he is absolutely tearing it up against RHPs, hitting .314 with an OBP around .380ish. Sorry Melky, but take a seat. Or Nick Swisher. Either one.

Is A-Rod back? The last 2 games would certainly suggest that. You can tell he's hitting the ball well because he's hitting a lot up the middle and a lot to right-center. Alex is 4-for-7 with 2 HR and 6 RBI over these last 2 games. Oh yeah, add 4 walks to that. The Yankees really need Alex to play like Alex. We all saw how Mark Teixeira took off once Alex returned. Tex has cooled off a little bit and it's no surprise his cool streak has coincided with Alex's cold streak. Now that Alex is heating up, Teixeira should see better pitches. I'm looking for Mark to go on a tear soon also.

That makes 28 runs for the offense over the last 3 games. That's impressive. I am still concerned about the hitting with RISP. They might have scored 9 runs tonight but they were 3-for-14 with RISP. That's not good. You don't normally win a lot of games when you hit that poorly with runners in scoring position. They're 11-for-45 (.244) with RISP over the last 3 games. I'd like to see a little more efficiency when it comes to hitting with RISP. Heck, 2 more hits with RISP over the last 3 would have bumped that average to .288. Those 2 hits could make a big difference.

That makes 3 straight for the Yanks. I'd like to say the ship has been righted, but I'm still a win or two away from that. The good news is the Yankees are familiar with the next 2 starters they face, Tim Redding and Livan Hernandez. Redding was once a Yankee, he says while laughing his ass off. He made 1 start, pitched 1 inning, giving up 6 runs. They've faced Livan 6 times and they've pretty much battered him around. I don't want to say the Yanks will sweep this series, but it's not out of the cards. Hopefully, the Yankees can stay healthy. It sounds like there's a flu bug going 'round the clubhouse. It claimed the Captain as a victim tonight. I hope they can get past that without anybody else getting it.

Lastly, Xavier Nady is done for the year and he'll probably miss all of next year also. I've never been a big Nady guy but that sucks. I don't like seeing anybody go down like that. It's too bad, Brian Cashman couldn't deal him before the season started. Oh well. Get well soon X.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yanks Offense Rears Its Head in 8-4 Win Over Braves

Finally, the Yankees score some runs. Finally, the Yankees win. I didn't think they had much of a chance going into the game tonight. They struggled against the Braves' starter and only got things going once he got knocked out of the game. But hey, I'll take it. A win is a win is a win.

Joba looked pretty damn good. It's the 1st time this year that he didn't walk anyone. I know he didn't walk a guy in the game he left in the 1st when he got hit, but I'm not counting that. Good velocity. Outstanding strike-to-ball ratio (68 strikes, 31 balls). I think we can all agree now that Joba should never go back to the bullpen. He is so much more valuable to the team as a starter. His curveball was nasty today. Absolutely filthy.

Brian Bruney has had better outings. Perhaps he was knocking off some rust.

It took a while but the Yankees offense finally showed up. Francisco Cervelli kicked things off with his 1st ML HR. I really like having Cisco around. The Yankees would be wise to keep him on the roster when Jose Molina comes back. I'd also like to see him get a few more starts, but that's not going to happen. His post game interview with Kim Jones had me laughing. Her reminds me of the goalie from Slap Shot, except without the beard.

Mariano Rivera in a word: legend. The guy hasn't pitched since June 16th and what's he do? Mo comes in and nails down a 4-out save, whiffing all 4 hitters he faced. I was dying when he stepped up to the plate in the 9th. That was hilarious. He put a pretty good swing on the ball. The team seemed to have fun with that. It's something like that that could be a turning point. It kind of breaks the tension. Winning didn't hurt either.

I'm not overly excited by the 8 run output. They only went 2-for-9 with RISP. They could have been a lot more effective at the dish. I wonder how they would have fared had Joba not lined a shot off of Kawakami? They need to pull of a decent string of games offensively before I'll get excited. Tonight was a start in the right direction. Do it again tomorrow and I'll be pleased.

Is it possible that Joe Girardi's ejection sparked the team? Possibly. If so, imagine what effect firing him might have? Right now, about 50.1% of me is a Girardi supporter. They could can him and I wouldn't care. I can see both sides of it. Kevin Long on the other hand? Dump him.

The series finishes tomorrow. Derek Lowe is going for the Braves and I'm kind of relieved. It seems like it's been forever since the Yankees faced someone they're seen before. They've been struggling against the newbies and seeing an old friend might jump start things. I'm hoping it does anyway.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Jorge Posada: Is It Time To Pass The Torch?

As I was watching yesterday's 15-0 beatdown of the Mets, I started wondering if A.J. Burnett would have pitched as well as he did if Jorge Posada were his battery mate instead of Francisco Cervelli. I've heard and read a lot of things over the years about Posada as a catcher. My impression of Jorge is that not everyone is a fan of his ability to call a game. Chalk me up as one of those people. I don't think it's a coincidence that Mike Mussina won 20 games when he primarily pitched to Jose Molina. Randy Johnson pretty much preferred anyone to Posada, using John Flaherty or Kelly Stinnett as his personal catcher. So as I sat and watched Burnett put up 7 scoreless, I decided to pull some stats from this year to see if I was off base. The stats I put together were a little surprising. I'm pretty sure that the numbers are accurate. I did my best to check and double check it for accuracy.Take a look:

Yankees record by starting catcher:

• Jorge Posada: 15-11 (.577)
• Jose Molina: 5-8 (.385)
• Kevin Cash: 5-2 (.714)
• Francisco Cervelli: 11-6 (.647)

The team is definitely winning more with Cervelli behind the dish. Over 162 games, that would work out to about 12 more wins. I also looked at who was the "catcher of record," meaning who was behind the plate when the team won or lost to see if that changed anything:

• Jorge Posada: 16-13 (.552)
• Jose Molina: 4-7 (.364)
• Kevin Cash: 6-3 (.667)
• Francisco Cervelli: 10-4 (.714)

Cervelli's winning percentage is the only one that increased, meaning more game where he starts are lost when the back-up catcher comes in. I also broke down each catcher's record by who got the win, a starter or reliever:

• Jorge Posada: 9-10 rotation/6-1 bullpen
• Jose Molina: 3-3 rotation/2-5 bullpen
• Kevin Cash: 3-2 rotation/2-0 bullpen
• Francisco Cervelli: 7-1 rotation/4-5 bullpen

I find it very interesting that the starters have a losing record with Jorge Posada. Cervelli's record is outstanding with the rotation. Considering how bad the Yankee bullpen has been, I'm surprised that Posada's record when it comes to the pen is so good. I'm taking the guy that kicks ass with the rotation. Cervelli's record with the SPs is pretty impressive. The next set of stats I looked at go a little hand-in-hand with each other. I looked at how many runs per game the Yankees scored based on who was the starting catcher, and what the catcher's ERA was. The catcher's ERA is based on the team's ERA only for when that catcher is catching:

• Jorge Posada: 5.58 runs per game/cERA of 6.44 (career = 4.44)
• Jose Molina: 5.38 runs per game/cERA of 3.66
• Kevin Cash: 6.14 runs per game/cERA of 3.49
• Francisco Cervelli: 6 runs per game/cERA of 4.18

I was shocked to see that the team scores fewer runs per game with Posada catching than with Cervelli or Cash. I made sure to triple-check that to make sure it was correct. Posada's cERA is absolutely horrendous. It's 2+ runs higher than the next closest. I know that some of that has to do with Jorge catching Wang's 1st 3 starts. If you toss those 3 starts out, Posada's cERA is till ridiculously high at 5.70. Posada is the only one whose cERA is higher than the runs scored per game. His cERa has also climbed every year since 2006. The cERA alone is enough for me to consider other options. Posada is just not getting it done this year. I'm not sure how much of that has to do with catching new pitchers, but if it is, those guys aren't going anywhere.

The last stat I looked at was the percentage of runners they throw out stealing:

• Jorge Posada: 31.91% of runner caught (career = 28.6%)
• Jose Molina: 23.53% of runners caught (career = 40.5%)
• Kevin Cash: 18.18% of runners caught (career = 32.1%)
• Francisco Cervelli: 37.5% of runners caught (career = 35.3%)

Posada has never been thought of has having a great arm. Maybe in his younger days, but not anymore, especially after going thru his recent injury issues. Speed is becoming a very big part of the game. The Rays lead all of baseball with 105 stolen bases. The Red Sox have the 4th highest number of stolen bases in the AL with 47. Teams are going to be better suited by having a catcher with a good arm behind the plate, especially in the AL East. Cervelli has a leg up on the competition.

I also took a really quick glance at Posada and Cervelli's zone rating, range factor, and fielding percentage. Cervelli's fielding percentage is higher (.993 to .986). Cervelli's zone rating is higher (3.179 to 3.121). Cervelli's range factor is higher (7.93 to 7.90). Cervelli has Posada pretty much beat up and down when it comes to catching. The only thing Jorge has on Cervelli is his bat. No question about that. But is having Jorge's bat in the lineup providing a huge impact? According to their runs/game, it's not. It's also evident that the added offense is only making up for the inferior catching.

And that was pretty much how I spent my Sunday night. I asked in the title of this post, is it time for Jorge to pass the torch? It's evident to me that the team is better off with Cervelli catching. The numbers to me bear that out. Now I know it's not a large sample size and Cervelli doesn't have a lot of time in the majors under his belt, but Cervelli has Jorge beat pretty much up and down the line. Unfortunately, Cervelli playing full-time is probably not in the cards. I have to think once Jose Molina comes back that Cervelli is on his way to Trenton or Scranton. That's a shame. He's playing better than anyone the Yankees have. I understand their hands are tied because it's not like they can just throw Posada at DH. It's something the Yankees need to consider, if not now, for the future. Maybe they can find somebody to unload Matsui on? It would allow Posada to DH more.

The Yankee bullpen is atrocious right now. The team is better off when the SPs go deep into games. Right now the guy getting it done with the SPs is Cervelli. His winning percentage is high. His cERA is pretty good. He cuts down more runners. He's flat out the best option the Yankees have right now. They say pitching and defense wins championships. Right now, I'd take Cervelli over Posada. He's getting the job done. If not in a full-time role, maybe in some kind of a platoon with Posada. What say you? Am I off my rocker?

I wonder who the Yankee pitchers prefer?

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Joba Goes 4, Needs To Go More, Yanks Lose 7-3

Due to the super long rain delay last night, I didn't get to listen to the whole game. I had it on my XM and I think I fell asleep sometime around the 4th inning. The Yanks were down 3-0. Within about 48 seconds of waking up, I was on my laptop checking the score. 7-3 Rangers. Bummer. I pulled up the box score expecting to see that the Yanks were down 7-0 and scored 3 late runs. I was surprised to see they tied things up but then blew it. Since I didn't see the game I don't have a lot to say about it. Here are some quickies:

• Joba needs to be better than he was. 4 innings isn't going to cut it. I get that he was possibly thrown off by the long rain delay, but he's pitching at the highest level and he should be able to deal with that. He threw 84 pitches, 46 for strikes, which is 54.8% of his pitches. That's not good. Joba needs to throw more strikes and stay in the game longer. The Yankee bullpen isn't good and the Yankee starters need to go as deep as possible.
• 9 hits plus 4 walks plus 5 stolen bases shouldn't equal 3 runs. Not an efficient night at the plate. 3 DPs and 2 for 12 with RISP won't get it done. Those games will happen. You just hope when it does that the pitcher keeps it close.
• Anybody know why Girardi went to Aceves and not Wang? I like Aceves and all but he pitched the night before and I'm confused why Wang wasn't the go-to guy? Girardi has made some very questionable moves lately. It's easy to second guess him on this one because it didn't work out. I know Chien-Ming has been far from good this season, but I thought he was going to be the long-man with Hughes pitching well. I'm puzzled by the move, but I get it. I don't necessarily think it was the wrong call. I just wonder why he didn't go to Wang.
• I liked the lineup last night. I liked seeing Swisher in the 8 hole. If he's going to continue to walk and not hit, that's where he needs to be. He's not knocking in the runs. He came up short yesterday in his 2 big chances. He whiffed with a runner on 2nd and nobody out in the 6th. An inning later, he grounded into an inning-ending DP with the bases loaded. I would almost prefer to see Swisher bat 9th, especially in games when Cervelli starts. His does get on base and that will benefit the guys at the top of the order. Cervelli is doing pretty well at the dish and I think could knock in a few. He's knocked on 4 in 40 ABS, batting at the bottom of the order. Swish has knocked in 8 in 67 ABs batting closer to the middle. Cisco's average is 78 points higher than Swisher's. What can it hurt? The only hiccup in the plan is the severity of Melky's injury. Hopefully, he just misses 1 game. If it's longer, you almost have to bat Swisher 7th as you can't really bat Cervelli or Gardner in the 7 spot. We'll see.

A.J. Burnett goes tonight and he really needs to come up big. He's winless in his last 7 starts. He really needs to get things going. Here's something I heard today that really makes me sad. CC Sabathia leads the Yankees with 4 wins. Carl Pavano has 5 under his belt. I think I just vomited in my mouth.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

The Francisco Cervelli Story

Got an e-mail from the guys at Bleacher Report. Their senior Yankees writer has written a great piece on Francisco Cervelli and I wanted to share the link. Cervelli has been a great addition to the Yanks since filling in for Posada and Molina. He calls a good game and hasn't been too bad with the stick either. I said I'd be happy if he hit .260. He's rocking a .306 average. Cisco is doing a great job and is definitely, as the article calls him, an unsung hero.

Give it a read. Enjoy.

J-Boogie

Wrapping Up The Jays Series, Yanks Take 2 Of 3

Forgive me for not blogging yesterday. The reason I didn't was two-fold. Wednesday night co-ed softball began. We won 13-12 in extra innings. I chipped in with a 4-4 night with a HR. Not bad. The second reason was that after the game I headed down to Coca-Cola Field, home of the Buffalo Bisons, AAA affiliate of the Mets. The reason I went there was to try and get Tommy Hanson's autograph. I got there at about the 7th inning and as luck would have it, Hanson was charting pitches behind home plate. I hit him up in between innings and he hooked me up with 2 signed balls. Thanks Tommy. I appreciate it.

I caught a little of Wednesday's game on the radio and saw bits-and-pieces of it when I got home. It sounded like Pettitte labored thru his 6 innings. At one point I heard Sterling mention Andy had a pitch total of around 75 pitches and if my memory serves me correctly it was in the 4th inning. I was worried that he'd get knocked out after 5 and the bullpen would blow things up. I was pleasantly surprised when I later heard he lasted 6 full innings. I looked at Andy's stats and while he only gave up 2 runs, it looked like he had some control issues, walking 4 and throwing only about 60% of his pitches for strikes. It's not a bad strike percentage, but I like something closer to 70%. Andy has been somewhat decent this year. I am a little worried about his recent control issues. He's walked 4 guys in 3 of his last 4 outings and has failed to make it past the 6 inning mark. He walked a total of 2 guys in his 1st 3 starts and lasted at least 7 innings in all 3 starts. I took a glance at his game logs for last season and he only walked 4 guys once. He needs to cut down on the free passes. If he can do that, he'll be golden.

CC Sabathia was good tonight. That's 2 solid outings in a row. Like Pettitte, CC had some minor control problems but was able to get himself out of it without incurring any major damage. The 7th inning was huge. Tied at 2 with the go-ahead run at 3rd with 1 out and he gets John McDonald swinging and gets Aaron Hill to ground out 1 batter later. CC is finally pitching like we need him too. The ERA is down to 3.70. His ERA wasn't that low last year until after his 20th start of the season. CC will prove to be worth every penny. I'd make a prediction but I'm leery about doing that because I thought Mo was going to finish the year with an ERA under 1. Mo has a lot of work to do to accomplish that. If anyone can do it, Mo can.

The offense is still disappointing me. They were 1-8 with RISP tonight and were 6-13 with RISP on Wednesday. I'm not a fan of the inconsistency. It seems like there are more nights when they are 1 for 8 and they're better than that. Mark Teixeira continues to annoy me. Is it me or does he pop out a lot? We're almost 20% done with the season and he's barely hitting over 200. He is not having a good year. Now if history has taught us anything about Mark Teixeira is that he gets better as the season moves along. This is by far the worst start of his career. If he can keep the average above 200, it would have taken 30 games this year to sustain an average above 200. Last season it took 14 games for Mark to keep his average above 200. In 2007, it took him 16 games. He was never below 200 in 2006. It was 9 games in 2005 and 19 in 2004. His worst start prior to this year was his rookie season (2003) when it took 22 games for him to get his average above 200. He finished that season with an average of .259, a career low. I think we're going to be lucky if Teixeira finishes the year with an average that high. He's 3 for his last 8 (.375) and 5 for his last 19 (.263). Hopefully he's turned the corner. An ohfer-3 night tomorrow and he's back below the Mendoza line. Come on. Get on the mark Teixeira. I hate John Sterling.

Johnny Damon is on fire. He may have only been 1-5 tonight but he was 5-14 (.357) for the series. JD has put together a nice 10 game hitting streak, going 18 for 45 (.400) w/ 13 extra base hits, 5 of which were dingers. He's hot.

Francisco Cervelli has also impressed me so far. I said the other day I'd be happy if he hit 260. I know 6 games is not that big of a sample size but he's now hitting .316. The kid is filling in nicely.

A-Rod has been pretty blah since his return. Throw out the HR he hit on the first pitch of his first plate appearance and he's got 2 hits in 2o at-bats. The Yankees 3 and 4 hitters are brutal right now.

Taking 2 of 3 on the road from the best team in the AL is an encouraging sign. The only East opponent the Jays had faced prior to this series was the lowly Orioles. Now that they are getting into the best of the division they'll begin to fade. The Yanks, after winning the last 2 series, are back to square at 17-17, 4.5 games back but only 3 in the loss column. All things considered, that's pretty good. Tomorrow they open up a 10 game homestand. 4 games against the Twins. 3 against the Orioles and 3 against the Phillies. They just need to go out and try to win each series. A 7-3, or even 6-4, homestand would be a step in the right direction. So it shall be. So it shall come to pass.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

A-Rod Returns With A Bang And CC Stops The Losing Streak

Back in the win column. What a nice place to be.

Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez on hitting a 3-run home run on the first pitch he saw this season. I don't think it's possible to script a better start for Alex. HR on the first pitch. The game-winning RBI. Nice. I hope this is a sign of good things to come. My favorite part about it was watching the guys on the bench get all giddy. A-Rod's dinger could provide the spark to kick this team into high gear. Welcome back Alex!

Congratulations to CC Sabathia for taking the ball and not giving it off to anyone else. A complete game shutout! Now that's what I'm talking about! I couldn't be happier that the bullpen got the night off. His velocity was kicking. His control was on. 70% of his pitches were strikes. That's an awesome stat. CC's ERA is now a very very respectable 3.94. CC's heating up baby. CC is heating up.

Congratulations to Francisco Cervelli on picking up his 1st major league hit. Hopefully there are a lot more of those to follow. You're the man for the time being. Hit .250-.265 and I'll be happy.

Congratulations to Mark Teixeira for striking out 3 times. He has now struck out 22 times in 99 at-bats. Last year as an Angel, he struck out 23 times in 193 at-bats. I was hoping that the return of A-Rod would mean better pitches for Teixeira and he'd be racking up multi-hit game after multi-hit game. I guess that streak will have to wait for another day.

Keep it going Phil. Keep it going.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie