Double Plays, Walks And Wild Pitches Do In Yankees

The Yankees lost what I think was a very winnable ball game tonight. It was frustrating to watch and there really isn't a whole lot to say about it. It was a sloppy game to say the least.

The Yankees tied a record tonight and unfortunately that's not good. They grounded into 6, count 'em 6, double plays. Talk about rally killers. Hat tip to Matt Harrison for inducing so many DPs. If you can induce that many you're doing something right.

Ivan Nova was well, Ivan Nova. Did alright early but then the wheels fell off around the 5th inning, which pretty much happens in most of his starts. I didn't think he started too poorly but popular opinion said he was a little less than decent. In his 4.1 innings he allowed 4 hits, 5 walks, 1 HBP and a wild pitch. That's not going to get it done. Nova needs to be better, much better.

I'm a little concerned about the Yankees rotation. Phil Hughes hasn't been effective at all and is now on the DL with a dead arm. I didn't know ineffectiveness was a reason to DL a guy. Everyone has maintained Phil's not hurt so I'm not sure how they pulled that off, but whatever, it works. Phil's DL stint means Bartolo Colon now moves into the rotation. That's a move I'm a fan of. Bartolo has pitched well this season and he can easily slide into the starter role. But I'm not sold on him just yet. And we haven't even seen Freddy Garcia yet. Right now the Yankees have 2 reliable SPs and that's all dependent on A.J. Burnett continuing to pitch well. I have confidence in CC Sabathia and that's about it. I'm worried about everybody else, to varying degrees.

The positive tonight was the bullpen. 4.2 innings of hitless/scoreless ball. The highlight was the debut of Lance Pendleton. He faced 9 batters and retired them all. The kid looked good and I was impressed. But it's 3 innings. I'm not ready to crown him the second coming of Mariano Rivera just yet. Who am I kidding? There will never be a second coming of Mariano Rivera. Best there is, was, and ever will be. He's God.

Congrats to Curtis Granderson for hitting his 3rd HR and banking another $20 for his charity. I think we're up to $65. At this rate Curtis is going to break my bank. He's on pace to take $600+ from me. If anyone is wondering what I'm talking about, every time Curtis goes deep, I donate $$$ to his charity, the Grand Kids Foundation. If you're interested in donating along with me, please feel free to do so. If you're ever curious about how much is getting donated, just check out the total in the upper left. To learn more about the "pledge drive" click here.

The Red Sox just lost, again. They're now 2-10. Talk about pathetic. Wow. They're terrible.

Freddy Garcia makes his first start of the season tomorrow. There's rain in the forecast. Wouldn't that be something if he got skipped again? Weather is supposed to be bad so it could happen. 1:05pm start. Hope they play.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Doing It For The "Grand Kids"

Hey everyone. We're less than 2 days away from the start of the 2011 MLB season. I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday the 2010 season ended. Time certainly does fly. Thank God for that. I must again apologize for my long absence. I'm finding it very tough to find the time to blog with 3 little ones at home. It's very tough. Now that the season is starting I hope to ramp it up a little more. Which brings me to this.....


Some of you may remember from last year that I tried to organize a Yankee fan fundraiser to benefit Nick Swisher's charity, Swishes Wishes. In short, every time Nick hit a home run, we added money to his total. 12 of us combined to donate $41 for every HR, with a little extra thrown in. If everyone lived up to their pledge and sent in their donation (it was on the honor system) then his charity received $1249. Not too shabby. I want to do the same thing this year for Curtis Granderson's Grand Kids Foundation.


Per the site, donations to the Grand Kids Foundation will go towards grants to schools nationwide to help fund educational field trips, art initiatives, science initiatives and the increasing need for foreign language software. The foundation also supports inner city baseball programs through equipment donations. Seems like a great cause.


If you want to contribute, please let me know. I'm going to again track the overall amount on the blog and I'd love to add all pledge amounts to the total (see upper left of blog). I encourage you to participate as it's for a good cause, but no one should feel as if they have to. the more the merrier. I also have no part in collecting any money. It's on the honor system. I am just spreading the word and drumming up support.


My pledge is this: For every HR Curtis hits I will donate $15 to his charity.


I'm looking to donate about $300-400 to his charity. He hit 24 bombs last year so that would have resulted in a $360 donation. Nobody should feel they have to match me. Last year we had people pledge $3 per HR. No amount is too small. If anyone wants to make a pledge, which again you'll be responsible for sending in, please let me know. Just drop me a comment, a tweet, or shoot me an e-mail (see upper left). Again, the more the merrier and no amount is too small.


Thanks in advance. I appreciate it.


Peace, love & Pinstripes,


J-Boogie

Swish's Wishes Giving Campaign Update

As I'm sure you know, if you're a regular blog reader, a couple of us Yankee fans got together this season to donate some money to Nick Swisher's charity, Swish's Wishes. Basically, every time Nick went deep, his charity earned some money. It worked out to be $41 per HR, and we also kicked in some extra for his appearance in the HR Derby. I'm happy to report that altogether our total contribution came out to $1249!! If you're interested in seeing a more detailed breakdown, you can see it in the upper left.

Hopefully, everybody comes through on their promise to send his charity the money. It's totally on the honor system. I sent my portion off this morning through my work's annual giving campaign. It would have been real nice if Nick's charity was eligible for an employer match but it wasn't.

I did want to take a second to thank everyone that pledged to donate. Thanks Dan, Conor, Conor's Dad, Chris, Mike D, Elyse, Danny Mac & Fernando. I again appreciate you stepping up and donating along with me. Much appreciated. Thanks again. If you need the info on where to send the donation, you can find it here.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Swisher's Walkoff Propels Yankees To Victory

Didn't get to see or hear any of the game today. I got to check here and there and when I last looked they were down 2-1 during the 7th inning stretch. I got back to my desk right after 4pm and was happily surprised to see that they came back and won 3-2. That put a smile on my face. That smile got bigger when I saw that they won on a walkoff. It got bigger when I saw it was a walkoff HR. It got even bigger when I saw that Swisher hit the winning shot. That HR puts us past the $1000 mark in the Swish's Wishes charity drive. The total pledged, which is based on $38 per HR plus a little more, is now up to $1036. Way to go Nicky Swish.

In looking at the box score, I'm assuming the story of the day is pitching. It looks like Ivan Nova had a nice outing. It would have been a great outing if not for the one bad pitch to Matt Wieters. All in all I'm impressed by his line. I especially like the strike-to-ball ratio. 61 strikes on 90 pitches = 65.93% strikes thrown. Pretty nice in my book.

Also, it looks like the bullpen deserves some love. Robertson, Logan and Joba combined for 3 hiteless/scoreless innings. That kept it close, which let the offense do its thing. Well done guys.

Knock another game off the magic # to clinch a playoff spot. The magic # is now 15 to eliminate the White Sox and 14 to eliminate the Red Sox. Tonight is a win-win for the Yankees as the Red Sox play the Rays. Either the Yankees go another game up on the Rays or get 1 step closer to eliminating the Red Sox. It would be a perfect night if the White Sox lost as well. Dare to dream.

Off day tomorrow and then a 9-game roadie. Now the real fun begins. It's crunch time and from here on out it's pretty much tough game after tough game. 3 with Texas, 7 with Tampa, 6 with Boston, 3 with Toronto, and 3 with the much-improved Orioles. Talk about a tough stretch. I think the Yanks will be up to the task.

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

Robinson Cano Is The Man, Yankees Clip Rays 5-4

I called it before the season started and I'm sticking with it: Robinson Cano will be the 2010 AL MVP. If the season ended now, would he be? Probably not. But there's a lot of season left and when the dust settles, Robbie will be the MVP. Monster night at the plate tonight for Robbie. 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and the game winning HR off Rafael Soriano in the 9th. Tonight's game ball goes to Robbie. No doubt about it. Cano is on a little mini-tear. He's homered in 3 of the last 4 games and he's 9 for 21 (.429) over the last 5. 7 of his 9 hits have gone for extra bases. Mark my words folks, Robbie will be the MVP.

Not a lot of hits tonight by the Yankees offense but what they did hit they hit hard. 6 hits in total, 3 doubles and 3 HRs. The balls were flying tonight and they were flying far. Joyce's HR was a blast. Teixiera hit a bomb of his own. The chicks tonight must have been going bonkers. Swisher's HR now gives him 20 on the year. The updated pledge amount for Nick's charity, Swish's Wishes, is $808. New to the blog and wondering what I'm talking about? A couple of us Yankee bloggers have gotten together to donate to Nick's charity. Every time Nick goes deep we pledge to donate $38. Want more info? Care to join us? Feel free to drop me a line and I'll give you the info.

Not the best debut for Lance Berkman. My buddy tweeted to me before the game, "F**k Lance Berkman." Not sure what that's all about. As for his debut, it's one game. I'm not going to put much stock in it.

Not Javy Vazquez's best outing of the season but he wasn't bad. David Robertson is making a serious push to be the setup man. He looked impressive tonight. Real impressive. Mariano, as expected, was awesome. He's having arguably the best season of his career. Like a fine wine he's getting better with age. Give that man a multi-year deal already. I have no doubt in my mind that Mo could pitch well into his 50s. He's the G.O.A.T. and he's only getting better.

Big win tonight. The win puts the lead in the East back to 2 and it guarantees that the Yankees leave Tampa in 1st place. The big man goes tomorrow. The odds of a Yankee win are very high when CC gets the ball. A win tomorrow would be mighty nice. So would an A-Rod HR for that matter. I thought for use he'd hit one while they were in Tampa. Alex always seems to hit the ball well when they play in the Trop. I'm calling #600 tomorrow. Hope it happens.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Pitching Leads Yanks To 3-2 Victory Over Indians

I got to catch the last 3.2 innings of tonight's Yankees game. By the time I put the kids to bed the game was pretty much over. Who knew an MLB game could be 2/3 of the way done in 1.5 hours? I almost turned the game off within minutes of turning it on. I didn't even have it on 3 minutes before the Indians took a 2-1 lead. I'm a firm believer in jinxes and was thinking i might be causing some bad mojo. Since tomorrow night's game is on My9, which Verizon FiOS doesn't carry, I stuck with it. Thanks to Curtis Granderson for getting me off the hook.

Javy Vazquez is putting together a nice little season. He's been pretty good in his last 10 starts. JV is 6-2 in those starts with an ERA of 3.05. That's pretty darn good if you ask me. I never would have guessed that he would have bounced back as well as he has. Great outing tonight.

I'm not sure how you felt about the 8th inning but I was very happy not to see Joba Chamberlain in the game. He's way too unreliable and it's evident that the Yankees think so too. David Robertson came up big getting the DP. D-Rob hasn't exactly been awesome this season but he's on a nice roll. He hasn't allowed a run in his last 8 outings. He's got a pretty nice line in those games too: 8.1 IP, 5 H, 3 BB, 11 K. Pretty sweet. He's definitely the most reliable RP right now, outside of Mariano that is. Mo is just awesome, isn't he? I had no idea his ERA is as low as it is. His scoreless inning tonight dropped it to a microscopic 0.96. Wow. He's the greatest closer of all-time hands down. They should change the name of the "save" to the "mariano." I think I'm going to start a campaign for MLB to do that. Mo now has 21 marianos on the season. I like the sound of that.

Not much offense tonight but what they got came in a big way. Nick Swisher went deep for HR #18. That HR added another $38 to the Swish's Wishes pledge drive. We're up to $732 raised for Nick's charity. Want more info on what I'm talking about? Click here. The deathblow tonight came from Curtis Granderson. Curtis has found a little power stroke. 3 HRs in the last 2 games for CG. Hopefully that's a sign of more to come from the Grandyman. His overall numbers leave a lot to be desired.

A-Rod is still stuck on 599 HRs. I predict he'll hit #600 tomorrow. Namely because I won't be watching thanks to My9 and Verizon FiOS. Things like that always happen when I can't watch so I fully expect it to happen tomorrow night. If I'm lucky maybe ESPN or the MLB Network will have live cut-ins. I can only be so lucky. If they happen to then I'm sure the HR will come before I get the kids to bed. That's just how it goes.

Another no-no tonight. Unreal. Congrats to Matt Garza.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

We Now Return You To Your Regularly Scheduled Programming

Greetings friends and fellow Yankees fans. Long time no talk. I hope you've all been well. I've been doing much better. Life is still crazy, and is about to get crazier, but I'm managing. The reason it's getting crazier is because in a few short weeks, the wife and I will be having our 3rd child (it's a girl) and we'll also be moving into our new home (building new). Both are scheduled to "arrive" within a day of each other. Tack onto that a 3-year old and a 16-month old and you've got sheer pandemonium. I love it.

I must apologize for the extended absence. I really needed the downtime. I did a little blog maintenance here and there. Namely I updated the Swish's Wishes donation total. See upper left. The pledge drive is up to $618. For those new to the site or if you just plum forgot, a couple of us Yankee fans got together and are donating money to Nick Swisher's charity. In a nutshell, for every HR Swisher hits, we're donating $38 to his charity, Swish's Wishes. Want more info? Click here and you'll find it. If you're interested in donating along with us you're more than welcome.

The other big thing I've been doing, and this has been a giant pain in the rump, is I've been deleting all of the spam comments being left by our "friends" in the Far East. It go so bad I had to pseudo-moderate the comments. Any comments left on posts older than 7 days get moderated. I may have to shorten that now that I'm going to be more active. Message to you a-holes: don't waste your time posting spam links in the comments. They'll be deleted pretty quickly. Take that shizzle somewhere else.

I've got a lot of catching up to do as it relates to the Yankees. I've been paying attention but not as closely as I'd like to be. I did post a few blogs recently. I talked about the busted Cliff Lee trade and about the untimely passing of the great George Steinbrenner. Man that still kind of stings. The Boss will certainly be missed. As will Bob Sheppard. RIP.

I'm going to rush through the rest of the catching-up and start fresh tomorrow. Here goes:

• The team is 56-32 and has the best record in all of baseball. They're 8-2 over their last 10, 2 games up on the Rays and 5.5 up on the Red Sox. Not a bad way to come out of the All-star break.
• The starting rotation has for the most part been outstanding this season. They're the biggest reason they're doing so well in my opinion. Hughes, Pettitte and Sabathia could all possibly win 20 games. How nutty would that be? All 3 have exceeded my expectations, especially Phil Hughes. Err, I mean Huuuuuuuuuuughes! Why did I use the letter U 11 times, you ask? He gets 1 U for every W. 11 wins equals 11 Us. I did the same thing for Mike Mussina when he won 20. I've always been a big Hughes guy and figured I'd carry on the tradition. It's insane how good that trio of pitchers has been this year. I'll expand more on them I'm sure as they make their next starts.
• Javy Vazquez is hitting his stride. Finally!
• Robinson Cano (my pre-season MVP pick) has cooled down a little but still kicking some ass.
• Mark Teixeira is finally coming around. His streak happened to start right after I traded him in a computer baseball league I'm in. You're welcome.
• A-Rod may not be hitting it out of the park at his normal rate but he;s driving people in. He'll still finish with 30 HR.
• Nick Swisher is not the rally killer he used to be.
• Joba Chamberlain sucks.
• Mariano Rivera is super-human. He has to be, right?
• The rest of the bullpen needs work and upgrading it should be the main focus at the trade deadline.

And there you have it. It's not as in-depth and as detailed as I'd like it to be, but at least it's something. The plan is to ramp up the blog again. I'm going to do my best to post daily but I make no promises. I may miss something here or there but there definitely won't be any long layoffs. At least that's not the plan. When baby #3 shows up I may be singing a different tune. What did I get myself into?

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Offense Backs Up A Dominant Phil Hughes In 12-3 Drubbing Of White Sox

Phil Hughes kicked some major butt today and picked up his 3rd win of the season. And you know what that means? Time for a Hughes call: Huuughes! Wondering what that is? Allow me to explain. I'm a big Mike Mussina fan. I'm a card carrying member of his fan club and also run a fan site called Elect Mike Mussina (hasn't been updated in a while but still has some solid info). During Moose's last season, every time he picked up a W, I shouted Moose, and added an extra O for every win. So the final Moose call went a little something like this: "Moooooooooooooooooooose!" Take my word for it. There are 20 Os. I'm also a big Hughes guy so who better than to carry forward the tradition than him. Sao say it loud and say it proud, "Huuughes!" I'm still bummed that there aren't 4 Us in there (thanks a lot Yankee bullpen) but that's for an older blog.

So, anybody still think Joba should be the 5th starter? Didn't think so. I've always maintained that Hughes is the better pitcher. He always was and he always will be. Joba is a decent pitcher but I think his meteoric rise to fame hurt his ability to pitch as effectively as he did in his debut season. I mean, how many players with 1-2 months of major league service time under their belt have t-shirts bearing their name and number sold in a Dick's Sporting Goods along side the likes of Jeter and A-Rod? Oooh ooh oooh Mr. Boogie, I can answer this one. Yes Horseshack? None. Bingo.

It's great to see Philly boy finally coming into his own. And he isn't just coming into his own. He is pitching like he's one of the best in the game. I mean, look at these numbers through his 1st 4 starts: 25 IP, 10 hits, 12 walks, 24 K, and 4 ER. 10 hits in 25 innings? Are you freaking kidding me? Un-fricking-real. The walks are a little on the high side but when you don't give up many hits, they usually don't impact you that much. With his 7 scoreless IP today, his ERA dropped to 1.44 and his WHIP dipped to 0.88. Again, are you freaking kidding me? Sorry, I have to bust out another one. Huuughes! I know it's early. I know it's only 4 starts. But how can you not be this excited?

He Mark Teixeira! Thanks for finally showing up! What is it about the month of April that makes Tex suck so bad. The calendar has turned and so has Teixeira. I know 2 games isn't a huge sample but I'm taking it as a sign of what's to come. He's now 6-9 this month with 3 RBI. His batting average has jumped 53 percentage points. Welcome to the party Mark. Good to see ya.

The bulk of the Yankees offense ripped it today. Brett Gardner went deep. Cano hit his 9th HR and picked up 3 RBI. (MVP! MVP! MVP!) Swisher went 3-4 with his 4th HR, and 2nd in 2 days. Even Nick Johnson had a hit and 2 RBI. 7 guys had hits. 8 guys scored runs. 6 guys picked up at least 1 RBI. Any day you score 12 runs on 16 hits is a good day.

Swisher's HR added another $37 to the Swish's Wishes fundraiser. According to the tally in the upper left section of the blog, we're now up to $188 pledged to Swish's Wishes. If you want to get on board, drop me a line. No amount is too small and the more the merrier.

Rumors are swirling that A-Rod is hurt with a bum knee. The Yankees are flat out denying it. Cashman, Girardi, and Alex have all said it's nothing other than a little stiffness. I can't imagine for the life of me why the Yankees would lie about Alex's condition. There's really no reason to. They'd look pretty stupid of they made those comments and then he took a trip to the DL or sat out a few games. Girardi even went as far as to say A-Rod would be in Monday's lineup. Makes no sense to believe the reports out there that it's anything more than a minor inconvenience.

Next up on the schedule: the Orioles, who are fresh off a 3 game sweep of the Red Sox. Insert gut-busting laughter here. If I had more time I expand a little on how bad the Red Sox are but nobody needs me to point out the incredibly obvious. Burn. CC Sabathia vs. Jeremy Guthrie. First pitch = 7:05. Hopefully I'll be in front of my TV at some point with the game turned on. Wish me luck.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Hey, Ho, Javy Got To Go (And Some Other Random Stuff)

If you're sick and tired of Javy Vazquez raise your hand! This act is getting very tired. He's now made 5 starts this season and he's thrown a grand total of 23 innings. He's bad, very very bad. I didn't get to see much of the game today. It's been a very busy time here. On top of working 11-12 hours per day, we're in the middle of moving out of our house. I spent all day packing and moving stuff. I didn't experience any of the good today for the Yankees, only the bad. I saw Vazquez give up his 5 runs and I heard Robertson and Marte give up the other 2 as I was in the car. All I saw/heard of the Yankees was the first run they scored. Considering all of the bad and none of the good happened on my watch, maybe it was my fault?

I'd have to think that Vazquez will get better. He does know how to pitch. He's proved that in the past. Maybe pitching in NY is a different animal and he just won't cut it. Whatever it is, he and Eiland need to figure it out and they need to do it fast. He could have really used a good start in front of the home crowd today. Instead he sucked major balls. I didn't get to see his exit. I'm assuming the fans gave him the proper sendoff. But again, Javy has shown he knows how to pitch. He has it in him. I just hope he finds that pitcher sooner rather than later.

The Yankees bullpen is turning out to be one of their biggest weaknesses. It would have been nice if Robertson and Marte would have done their jobs. Nothing irritates me more than seeing the "lefty specialist" come in with one specific job to do and then not do it. Friggin' Marte.

I saw a replay of Curtis Granderson hurting his groin while running the bases. That looked painful. As expected he's been placed on the DL. Something tells me Curtis is going to miss some time. I think he'll definitely be out more than 15 days but I'm hoping I'm wrong. I'll play armchair manager for a second here. If I'm Girardi, Gardner becomes my everyday CF and I platoon Winn and Thames. I really like having BG at the bottom of the order. I've said that before. I think having him turn the lineup over is perfect.

Congrats to Nick Swisher for hitting his 3rd HR of the season. The HR added $37 to our fundraiser. For those not in the know, a bunch of us Yankee fans have gotten together to donate money to Nick's charity, Swish's Wishes. We're basically donating $37 for every HR he hits. The total is now up to $151. I know, $37*3 is not $151. Someone ponied up a flat donation of $40. If you're interested in donating along with us, let me know and I'll add you to the tally (see upper left). Keep it going Swish. We want you to take our money.

Sorry for not blogging after Friday's victory. Truth of the matter is I was asleep before 9pm. Yeah, it's sad. I know. But getting up at 5 all week really took it's toll on me. I did have the fortune of seeing Jeter tie the game with a HR. I must have fallen asleep with the game on because Michael Kay's call of his triple woke me up. It was a nice way to cap off the month of April. Jeter finished the month with 4 HRs, the same number that A-Rod and Teixeira combined to hit. He finished the month with 18 RBI, 5 less than Teixeira and A-Rod combined for. He had 31 hits and a .330 average. He had 1 less hit than A-Rod and Tex combined. That's amazing to me. The RBI stat is staggering considering Jeter hits leadoff. Unreal.

Not sure how much of the game I'll get to catch tomorrow. More packing is on the docket. There's always something else to move. If I didn't have to work such ridiculous hours during the week it'd be a little easier, but what can you do? Gotta pay the bills.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Nothing Is Worse Than Staying Up Until 1:30 Just To Watch The Yankees Lose

Today's the day first my son's 1st birthday party. The wife is out preparing and the little one is sleeping. I have about 10 minutes or so to crank out a blog entry before I have to move onto my next task. If I'm not getting it at work, I'm getting it at home. Anyway.....

The Yanks took it on the chin last night. It was one of those games that were both boring and exciting at the same time, if that makes sense. I couldn't wait for it to end but that had more to do with being exhausted and knowing I'd be lucky to get 5 hours of sleep (ended up with 4.5). A.J. Burnett wasn't exactly good last night. But he did what a SP is supposed to do and that's keep his team in the game and put them in a position to win. In my estimation he did that so I can't call it a bad outing. He definitely battled his was through 6-plus innings. I was surprised he lasted as long as he did. He threw want too may balls. About 57% of his pitches were strikes which isn't all that great. He got hit pretty hard too. But again, he had the team in a position to win so I don't view the outing as bad as it could have been. I think what drove me most nuts about his start was that as soon as he had the lead he gave it up. I hate seeing that.

Mark Teixeira's collision with the Angels' catcher was a nasty hit. I think it was a clean play but I think it shouldn't have happened. I'm sure a lot of it had to do with getting hit but again, clean play. Plays at the plate always run that risk and I don't think it was a blatant attempt to injure the catcher.

Joba Joba Joba. That was painful to watch. I can't decide if it would be more painful to watch as a SP or RP. I'm glad he's in the pen and I think he'll turn out to be an above-average RP, but last night I could do without. He got hammered and ended up taking the loss. I think it's safe to say that Kendry Morales owns JC. Morales is now 5-7 against him in his career. Put that in the the little playbook Joe. Remember that. I'm not saying to let the #s dictate the decision, but just remember it.

Nick Swisher hit his 2nd HR of he season. If you're new to the blog or just plum forgot, a few of us Yankee fans have gotten together to donate $$ to Nick Swisher's charity, Swish's Wishes. Basically, every HR Nick hits earns money for the charity. We're up to $37 per HR and also have a flat donation of $40 added to the mix, so the current amount that's going to the charity is $114. There's a "tracker" in the upper left sidebar that's updated with the total. Check if out if you feel inclined to look. Also, we'd love it if we could get more support. Drop me a line or leave a comment if you're interested and I'll add you to it. As you can see, no amount is too small. We've got as little as $2 per HR being donated. Anything and everything helps.

The game today is at 4:10pm on Fox. First pitch is about 30 minutes after the start of my son's party so I'll probably miss all of it. Andy Pettitte has been rock solid all season. I think he'll have a good start. Enjoy the game.

I went over my allotted time by about 15 minutes. Don't tell my wife.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Swish's Wishes Giving Campaign Update

Just wanted to throw out a quick update on the giving campaign some Yankee fans are doing for Nick Swisher's charity, Swish's Wishes. So far, we've pledged to give $37 to Swish's Wishes for every home run hit by Nick Swisher. There's also a flat donation going to the charity for $40, so the current grand total pledged is $77! The total is being tracked in the upper left. Thanks to Fernando, Chris, Dan, Conor, Conor's Dad, Mike and Elyse for chipping in.

If anyone out there wants to join us, please let me know via comment. No amount is too small and every pledge is appreciated. It's for a good cause. We hope you join us.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Take 2 Of 3 From Rays Behind A.J. Burnett

How can you not be excited if you're a Yankee fan? I know it's early. I know that the season is only 6 games old. But to take 2 of 3 in both Boston and Tampa? That's something to be excited about. The Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays are widely thought of as the 3 best teams in baseball. The Yankees went into Fenway and took 2 of 3 from the Sox. The Yankees went into Tampa and took 2 of 3 from the Rays. How can you not feel good about the team's start if you're a Yankee fan? It's pretty clear right now who's on top of the hill. But again, it's early. Things could change. But again, how can you not be excited about how the season has started?

Today's game didn't start out too hot. A.J. Burnett had an awful 1st inning and it looked like the bad version of A.J. Burnett was pitching. All things considered, I was very happy that the Rays only scored twice in the 1st. Personally, I think it was a bad bit of managing by Joe Maddon. The 1st 2 guys each singled and stole 2nd. Why would you have your 3-hitter sacrifice himself? You have a 1-run lead, a runner on 2nd, and one of your best hitters at the plate. That was the time to go for the jugular, not give up an out. Maybe if it were later in the game but not in the 1st inning. But I'm glad they did. Thanks for that Mr. Maddon.

After the 1st inning, A.J. had a somewhat easy-go of things. He retired 10 straight after the 1st inning. When Upton reached in the 4th, A.J. picked him off. When Burrell reached in the 5th, he got doubled off on the fly out to Granderson. While I'm on the subject of that play, I don't see why Burrell took a hard slide back into 1st. Supposedly he wanted to get hit by the ball. Whatever. If you ask me it was bush league. Moving on. It wasn't by any means Burnett's most dominant outing, but it worked. His control was off. Only 53% of his pitches were strikes. He walked 3 and only whiffed 1. Last year he almost struck out 1 an inning (195K in 207 IP). His control was definitely lacking today. But a win is a win. He didn't have his best stuff but he kept the Rays from scoring. And that's what good pitchers do. They find a way to get things done when their stuff isn't there.

I missed part of Joba pitching in the 8th inning. It was my brother in-law's birthday and we were in transit to his house. I missed the leadoff single and the RBI triple. It doesn't come off as the best of outings, but I guess the silver lining is that he stranded Crawford on 3rd. I'll let this one slide. Luck for JC the Yanks had a 7-2 lead.

I said this before the season started and I'll say it again. I'm really digging this lineup. There's just so much talent in it it's scary. If you knew that through the 1st 6 games that Nick Johnson would be hitting .136, Mark Teixeira would be hitting .125, and A-Rod would be hitting .259 with no hoime runs, you'd be foolish to think that the Yankees would be 4-2. It'll be really scary when those guys get hot and everything is running on all cylinders. Thankfully, the rest of the lineup is pretty much raking. Cano = .360. Posada = .353. Granderson = .348. Swisher = .333. Gardner = .294. Jeter = .286. As you can see the team is rocking 5 thru 9. They definitely deserve a lot of kudos for what they've done so far. I'd go as far as saying they're carrying the lineup.

Congrats to Nick Swisher for hitting his 1st HR and earning some bank for his charity, Swish's Wishes. If you're a regular reader you know a bunch of us are donating money to Nick's charity every time he goes yard. If you want to see an up-to-date tally, it's located in the upper left. If you'd like to join in on the fun and want some more info, check out this post. Now on the flip side, Nick needs to start hitting the ball when it counts. If you're a regular reader, then you've probably seen me call him "The Rally Killer." The RK made another appearance today. He came up in the 2nd with 2 out and Granderson on 2nd and he struck out swinging on 3 pitches. He came up in the 2nd with 2 out and runners on 1st and 2nd and he fouled out. In the 6th he grounded out with 1 down and Granderson on 2nd. That time however Granderson moved to 3rd and then scored on a wild pitch. It doesn't go down as a hit with RISP but I'll take the productive out. I really don't like calling Swish "The Rally Killer." But he kills rallies. The numbers don't lie.

The first road trip is in the books and so far so good. Now it's time for the real fun. Tuesday is the home opener and it's time for the boys to get their rings. Tuesday should be a pretty good time. I'm glad I took the day off. It all won't be fun and games as there is still a game to play. Those pesky Angels are coming to town. Wow. Who makes this schedule? Open on the road against the Red Sox and Rays. Open up at home against the Angels and Rangers. Talk about tough. It doesn't let up either. After the Rangers they have a 9 game roadie which includes make a trip to the west coast. The Yankees' schedule in April is definitely not a walk in the park. It's off to a great start and after beating the Sox and Rays, I'm confident they'll make it through it just fine. If you think I'm wrong, let me know.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Booogie

The Yankees Head North, ST Is Officially Over

Spring Training is finally over and all I can say is Thank God! I usually enjoy ST for the most part. This year though was quite the downer. There weren't enough games on TV for my liking. When they were on they were either day games or replays (couldn't get into them). It didn't help either that my two little boys commanded so much attention when the games were on. Ah the joys of parenthood. It's going to get really fun for me in August when baby #3 rolls around. I'll have 3 kids 3 and under. Yikes. What have I gotten myself into?

According to the countdown clock over at Yankees.com we're about 21 hours and 49 minutes away from the first pitch of the 2010 season. Yankees v. Red Sox on ESPN. Talk about kicking things off with a bang. If only the game were in the Bronx and not in that toilet known as Fenway Park. It would have been nice to see the boys get their rings with those A-holes in town but what can you do? I'm just glad baseball is back. Life just got a whole lot better.

As I predicted yesterday I'm expecting big things from the Yankees this year. 1)Robbie Cano = MVP. 2)CC Sabathia = Cy Young. 3)Yankees = 28 time World Champs. Yeah that's right. Robbie Cano for MVP. I really think Robbie is going to have a monster year. I wouldn't be surprised if he wins the batting title, finished top 5 in RBI, and wins the Gold Glove. He's more than capable of pulling off all 3, especially hitting 5th in the Yankees' lineup. The key is of course going to be his ability to hit with RISP. If you're hitting 5th in the Yankees lineup you can't hit .207 with an OPS of .574 with RISP like RC did last year. I'm thinking Robbie will hit much closer to his career average of .306 in those key situations. Mark my words, Robinson will be the MVP. You heard it here first.

The key to any successful season is staying healthy. The Yankees escaped ST with no real injuries. There were some bumps and bruises along the way but nothing major. Everyone looks to be ready for the opener. I'm feeling pretty good about the team. The lineup, as I've previously discussed, is perfect. The rotation, with Phil Hughes as the 5th starter, is very much to my liking and is again, one of the best in baseball. The bullpen, with Mariano Rivera as the closer and Joba as the setup man, is solid. I see no reason to think the Yankees can't and won't repeat as champions.

Lastly, I again want to encourage everyone to join me in donating money to Nick Swisher's charity, Swish's Wishes. For every HR Nick hits this year I'm going to donate $10 to his charity. Thankfully, I'm not alone in this. A few of my Yankee blogger compadres are joining in. Dan (from Bronx Baseball Daily and WasWatching), Conor (from 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba) and Fernando (from Respect Jeter's Gangster) are all taking part. As I wrote a few weeks ago, if you want to contribute, please let us know. We're (hopefully) going to track the overall amount on our respective blogs and we'd love to add your pledge amount to the total. We encourage you to participate as it's for a good cause, but no one should feel as if they have to. the more the merrier. If not, no harm no foul.

21 hours and 13 minutes to go......

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Nick Swisher's Charity "Swish's Wishes" Gets Some Love

A week or so ago I blogged about how I wanted to donate to a Yankee-affiliated charity this year. I have decided to donate to Nick Swisher's charity, Swish's Wishes, which is, according to their website, dedicated to enriching lives and lifting the spirits of children who are facing vital health issues while providing care, comfort and support through the most difficult of times. Seems like a great cause.

My pledge is this: For every HR Nick Swisher hits I will donate $10 to his charity.

Thankfully, I am not alone in this call to action. Dan (from Bronx Baseball Daily and Was Watching) and Conor (from 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba) have stepped up to the plate to donate as well. We would sincerely appreciate it if you joined us in our mission to raise money for Nick's charity. No donation is too small. How much you'd donate is personal preference. Personally, I'm looking to donate between $200-300, which is how I came up with $10 per HR. Nick hit 29 dingers last year so it would have been $290 had I done this last year.

If you want to contribute, please let us know. We're (hopefully) going to track the overall amount on our respective blogs and we'd love to add your pledge amount to the total. We encourage you to participate as it's for a good cause, but no one should feel as if they have to. the more the merrier.

Dan, Conor and I thank you for your time.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Help Me Help The Yankees (Or One Of Their Players) Help Someone Else

One of the things I wanted to do this year is to donate to a Yankee-affiliated charity. By Yankee-affiliated charity I mean one of the player's official foundations, or maybe even the Yankee Universe fund. I'm going to tie the size of the donation into a statistical achievement for the player whose charity I pick. Or a team stat if I go with the Yankees Universe). I'd donate x amount of dollars per achievement. For example, if I chose CC Sabathia's PitCCh In Foundation, I might donate $10 per every win CC picks up, or $1 for every strikeout. Picking up what I'm picking down?

I do need your help though. I want to make sure I have a comprehensive list of the player's official charities. I did some Google searches and found some, but didn't break my neck searching so I'm sure there are more. The ones I found were:

1. Derek Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation (I couldn't find how to donate so not sure they accept donations)
2. The Jorge Posada Foundation (provides families and children affected by Craniosynostosis with emotional support and financial assistance)
3. CC Sabathia's PitCCh In Foundation (enriching the lives of inner city youth by working to raise self-esteem through education and athletic activities)
4. Nick Swisher's Swish's Wishes (dedicated to enriching lives and lifting the spirits of children who are facing vital health issues while providing care, comfort and support through the most difficult of times)
5. Curtis Granderson's Grand Kids Foundation (Donations to the Grand Kids Foundation will go towards purchasing school supplies for needy families/kids, books and supplies for schools which do not get the funding they always need, establishing baseball programs as well as providing equipment and facilities in some of Michigan 's inner cities and eventually a scholarship program for graduating high school seniors)
6. Yankees Universe - (donated to the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. The proceeds will go to support pediatric cancer research and care, helping to contribute to advances in the treatment of children with cancer)

I'm leaning a little bit towards chossing Swisher's charity but am on the fence about it.

I saw that Mariano Rivera has one but I couldn't find a website. I found a website for the A-Rod Family Foundation but it looked like it hadn't been updated in 3 years. If anybody has information about their charities or any others, please share the info. I would sincerely appreciate it.

Lastly, I encourage everyone out there that reads this post to play along and contribute. I think it would be pretty cool if we drummed up some dough for one of their charities. I'm not made of money so I'm not planning on dropping any major cash on this. I was thinking of something between 200-300 dollars. When it comes to donating, I think there is no such thing as a small amount so I hope some people decide to take part. I am e-mailing some of my fellow Yankee bloggers to see if this can be a little bigger than just me. I think it would be pretty cool if a bunch of us connected to give to the same charity. I think we could do a lot of good.

I'll be revisiting this topic several times throughout Spring Training and the regular season. I'll update the post as I get new info and I'll definitely be updating the dollar figure as it changes. If anyone decides to donate along with me, I encourage you to share that with me.

Thanks for your time and help. It is appreciated.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie