Meet Darryl Strawberry & Charlie Hayes

Wanted to pass this along. I wish I lived in NYC!

Darryl Strawberry and Charlie Hayes Host NEW ERA IN BASEBALL

Southern Hospitality Celebrates a new era in Baseball. Hosted by 1986 Mets World Series Champion/1998 Yankees World Series Champion Darryl Strawberry and 1996 Yankees World Series champion Charlie Hayes

Celebrating the Opening of Citi Field and The New Yankee Stadium14 HD TVs
1 Large Projection Screen
$3 Coors Light Drafts
$3 Absolut Flavored Shots Wednesday April 15th
7pm Southern Hospitality NYC1460 Second Avenue (between 76th and 77th sts)New York, NY 10021

For more information email us info@southernhospitalitybbq.com

http://www.southernhospitalitybbq.com/

If you go, enjoy.

J-Boogie

I Need My My9!!

update on 4/15/10- click here for a more up-to-date post

Ok, I'm sitting here in front of the TV looking for the Yankees/Rays game and I can't find it. According to my online FIOS channel guide, I have the channel that it's carried on. According to the guide on my TV, I don't have the Chaney. It's a local channel too so I have no reason not to have it. I am on hold with FIOS tech support and I'm hoping they someone can give me my Yankees! If they don't carry the channel I am going to be seriously ticked. I wouldn't get to see any of the games on My9.

Cross your fingers that they come through. 1-0 Yanks in bottom of 2nd. Wish I could see it.

J-Boogie

Nick Swisher Did What?

I was so disgusted with last night's Yankee game that I didn't make it through the whole thing. They were down 8-0 before I even blinked. It didn't help that I had a monster headache, had puked earlier in the day, and because 24 was on either. I flipped back and forth during commercials and it never got any better. The headache knocked me out before the game was over. As I was driving to work this morning they were talking about the game on XM. They mentioned that Nick Swisher pitched an inning? I said to myself, "Nick Swisher did what?" I got to work, knocked a few tasks out, and then started reading about Swisher's outing. I am so pissed I missed it. It sounds like he had a lot of fun with it. Rolling the ball to the dugout after picking up a strikeout. Hilarious. I was going to set up the DVR to record the replay but forgot, so now I'll have to check YouTube for it. I'm sure it'll be there, if it's not already. I am loving me some Nicky Swish right about now.

Chien-Ming Wang on the other hand, I have no love for him at this time. God he was awful. I don't think I've ever seen him pitch worse. He manged to last 1 inning. That's right. 1 inning. WTF! Wang has made 2 starts this year and has 4.2 IPs under his belt. His WHIP is 4.5 and opposing hitters are hitting 600 off of him. Unreal. I'm kind of shocked really. Wang has always been a pretty solid pitcher. He may be bad 1 day, but he usually figures out whatever is wrong, and he's good to go. The only other time in his career (not counting the 2007 postseason) he's lost back-to-back starts was at the very beginning of the 2007 season, when he lost the first 2 starts of the season. He finished 2007 with a W-L record of 19-7. Granted, he didn't start out nearly as bad, but all is not lost with Wang. He'll be fine. He just needs to figure out what's wrong and fix it.

I didn't get to see much of Sunday's game against the Royals. We decided to put our house on the market and I spent pretty much all of Sunday taking care of things to get it ready. I did get to listen to the bottom of the 8th forward. We got home from Home Depot right when the bottom of the 8th started. We had to lay some mulch down in the front yard. I turned the game on, cranked up the volume, and opened the windows so I could hear the action. Next thing I know, I'm hearing Phil Coke blow the save. Considering the Yanks were doing fine without me watching, and then blew it as soon as I turned the game on, I'll take the hit for the loss. I'm a superstitious cat at times and while I know it's not really my fault, I'll take the hit. Sorry guys. That one is on me.

You think the Yanks are regretting their decision not to carry a long-man? I'll admit it. I definitely thought they'd be fine without one. I never would have predicted that CMW would have been so bad. They definitely could have used a guy to throw 4-5 innings after each of his 2 starts. Instead, they use Albaladejo for 3, Edwar for 2, and Coke for 1 (but on back-to-back days). They definitely could use a long RP. I wouldn't be surprised if they made a move soon. Hopefully, A.J. Burnett goes deep into the game tonight. They can't afford to have a guy throw less than 6 after Wang's outing last night. So A.J., it's on you. Get the job done.

Peace, love, and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

CC On Cruise Control, Yanks Win 3rd Straight

It's been a pretty hectic day here. The wife and I decided to try and buy a new house. Baby #2 will be here by the end of the month and we've kind of outgrown our little starter home. It kind of all started pretty suddenly (yesterday afternoon) and next thing I know I'm writing a deposit check. So I spent most of the day dealing with that. In preparation to sell our dilapidated POS, my buddy Jeff came over to help fix some minor things, and that took me away from most of the Yankee game. I had it on in the background and could most of it, but it didn't have my undivided attention. So this post will be on the short side.

Nicky Swish = awesome. I heard his triple. I saw his HR. I also saw his post game interview with Kim Jones. I love his energy and enthusiasm.

CC Sabathia = awesome. He did better than Alex and I predicted. I think he did better than anyone predicted. It was pretty much the exact opposite of his 1st start. I think we're going to see many more games like this from CC. He's worth every but of that contract.

Cody Ransom = not awesome. He's there more for his glove than his bat. Problem is his glove hasn't been that great. I'm telling you, the Yanks should package Melky and Nady and find a 3B. I really thought Cody would fill in admirably and was the best choice. Now? Not so much. I hope Alex comes back real soon.

Mark Teixeira = injured? What's that all about? I saw Swisher batting 3rd and I was like, huh? Apparently he has tendinitis. He can't comfortably swing from the right side of the plate, but can from the left. Interesting. Hope it doesn't materialize into anything serious.

Jorge Posada = What a welcome sight! He's been tearing the cover off the ball. If on;y we had that bat last year. Stay gold Pony Boy, err, I mean, stay healthy Jorge.

Joba makes his debut tomorrow. Should be a good one! Enjoy.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Pettitte Brilliant, Pitches Yanks Past Royals 4-1

Hey ho what do you know? Yankees win. The Yankees win. Andy Pettitte pitched a brilliant game today. The Royals really couldn't touch him. 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 6 Ks. Good stuff. He very well could have pitched a shutout if not for Nick Swisher's fielding blunder. Nick has to catch that ball. And he definitely has to make a better throw than he did. That was horrible. Andy Pettitte as the Yankees 4th starter? I kind of like it. Is he the best 4th starter in the game? Yeah, he probably is. He should do very well this year assuming he continues to match up against inferior starters, like Sir Sidney Ponson.

Speaking of Sidney, how did the Yankees not hammer him? I was driving home from work, listening to the first inning on the radio. They jumped all over him in the 1st but could never quite deliver the knockout punch. Props to Sidney for hanging in there. While I'm talking about the Royals, can anyone tell me how Kyle Farnsworth pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out the side? Where was that when he was with the Yankees? I so wanted to see them bomb him.

Robbie Cano equals hot. Cody Ransom equals not. Robbie, who always starts out slow, is off to the best start of his career. As a comparison, through his 1st 4 games in 2005, Cano was 2 for 14 with zero walks. In '06, he was 3 for 16 with zero walks. In '07, he was 7 for 18 with no walks. In '08, he was 1 for 15 with no walks. After today's game, Robbie is 8 for 14 with 4 walks. Talk about unexpected. I love it. Cody Ransom on the other hand, yeah, he blows. I thought he'd be doing better than 1 for 14. And what the heck was he (and Nicky Swish for that matter) doing running for 3rd on a ball hit in front of him? Isn't that like one of the 1st you things you learn when it comes to running the bases? If the ball is hit in front of you, don't go? If I were Brian Cashman, I'd be out looking for something else. Package Nady and Melky for a 3B. Should be easy to do., right? Get on it Cash and get well soon Alex.

It looks like Brian Bruney is the 8th inning guy. I'm a big fan of that move, especially if he pitches like he did tonight. The bridge to Mariano just got a little stronger. Mariano was typical Mariano. He should have pitched a 1-2-3 9th if not for a misplay by Cano. How was that not an error? The pen has now thrown 10 scoreless innings. I'm expecting big things from those guys.

I'll end this post with a reminder: don't forget that tomorrow is Global Yankees Jersey Day. In short, wear a Yankees jersey tomorrow. Let's make it happen.

CC makes start #2 tomorrow. I'm looking for him to bounce back. I'm hoping for 6 and a third, 7 hits, 2 ER, 8 Ks. I definitely don't want to see a repeat performance of his first start.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Some Pre-Game Yankee News & Notes

Looking at the press notes for today's game and thought I'd pass a few tidbits along:

• According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Yanks' current 9 game road trip is the longest season opening road trip in franchise history
• Ramiro Pena became the 1st Yankee to record a hit in his 1st career plate appearance since Andy Cannizaro did it on 9/8/06, coincidentally in Baltimore
• Over the last 2 games, Yankees relievers have combined to pitch 8 straight hitless and scoreless innings
• According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Nick Swisher became the 1st player to drive in 4-or-more runs in his 1st career start as a Yankee since Roger Maris did it back on 4/19/60. The Bureau also notes that Swisher became just the second Yankee in franchise history to record 5-or-more RBI within his 1st 3 games as a Yankee. The 1st to accomplish that was Bob Tillman.
• Tomorrow is Mark Teixeira's birthday

The notes also list how the current Yankee lineup has performed against Royals' SP Sidney Ponson:

• Melky: 0-3
• Cano: 2-7 w/ 1 HR
• Damon: 18-52 (.346) w/ 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 8 BB, and 2 K
• Jeter: 29-77 (.377) w/ 3 2B, 5 HR, 5 BB, and 9 K
• Matsui: 9-27 (.333) w/ 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 BB, and 2 K
• Posada: 16-53 (.302) w/3 2B, 1 HR, 7 BB, and 12 K
• Ransom: 1-3 (.333)
• Teixeira: 8-15 (.533) w/ 1 2B, 1 BB, and 1 K

Those 8 are a combined 83 for 237, which works out to a .350 average. For their careers, the Yankees as a team against KC are a combined 508 for 1655 (.307). Molina (.299), Matsui (.254), Nady (.250) and Swisher (.245) are the only ones with averages below .300.

Andy Pettitte is a career 7-2 at KC in 10 career starts, allowing 75 hits in 70 innings, posting an ERA of 3.34. For their careers, the current Royals hitters are a combined 38 for 128 (.297) against AP, hitting him for 9 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 8 BB, and 27 K.

On paper, this should be an easy one, right? It looks like the KC hitters have the potential to get to Andy, but the Yankees offense should easily be able to make up for that if he falters at all. The Yankees pretty much own Ponson and I see no reason why they won't hit him hard today. If only the games were played on paper. Watch Sir Sidney pitch a no-hitter.

Enjoy the game!

J-Boogie

Bombers Bounce Back Behind Burnett, Blast Birds 11-2

It figures that the first Yankee win of the season comes on a game I don't watch. Day games are always rough for me as it falls right during my least favorite activity, work. Thankfully, I can listen to the games on XM Radio. I'd be lost without my XM. I don't know how any baseball fan can go without one. It's always tough to listen to games at work. Between meetings, questions from the staff and whatnot, it's tough to pay attention to every pitch. Today was a good day though as I had no meetings and my underlings, save a few questions here and there, pretty much left me alone. I caught a pretty good portion of the game and loved what I heard.

A.J. Burnett pretty much cruised and gave the Yankees what they desperately needed. He ran into a little bit of trouble but was able to get out of trouble when it mattered. I'm really high on Burnett. I think he has the potential to win 20+ games while leading the league in Ks. I think he'll be that good for the Yanks, assuming of course the days of him being injury prone are behind him. I would have liked to have seen him gone a little deeper in the game, but his pitch count ran up, which often happens with strikeout pitchers. I was impressed that he kept the free passes to a minimum and was able to consistently throw strikes, something Wang and Sabathia couldn't do in their outings. Way to man up. Fingers crossed that the rest of the guys in the rotation follow suit.

How great was the bullpen today? Phil Coke, Brian Bruney, Jose Veras, and the legendary Mariano Rivera combined for 3.2 perfect innings. Now that's what I expected from these guys. In my 2009 predictions, I predicted that Mo would have a perfect season. He won't blow any saves and will have an ERA under 1.00. Today's game wasn't a save situation but Mo was typical Mo, 3 up 3 down, ball game over, Yankees win, the Yankees win. The offense made sure of that.

The offense busted out in a big way today, scoring 11 runs on 13 hits. Every starter reached base safely except for Jeter and Damon. What are the odds that the Yankees would score 11 runs and neither of those 2 reach base to set the table? Weird, I know. It was nice to see Mark Teixeira have a good game at the plate. On my way home from work I was listening to the Michael Kay show. They were talking about Teixeira's 9th inning double in yesterday's game and how it was great for him to get that first hit/RBI out of the way. They discussed how that hit was, and I'm paraphrasing, a catalyst for better things. I couldn't agree with that more. I know the season is young and Teixiera is historically a slow starter. I'm not necessarily thinking that his 2-5 game today means he's going to go 2-for-5 everyday, but it's a start, something to build on. I think things for Mark will be easier now that he's gotten his crappy 2 starts out of the way. Knock on wood.

I also have to knock on wood that Robbie Cano stays hot. He is off to a great start which is so uncharacteristically Robbie. I know it's 3 games and I shouldn't get excited, but he's 6 for 11 thru the first 3 games and what I like the most is that he's walked 3 times. One of the things I like least about Cano is that he doesn't draw enough walks. 3 walks in 3 games. Works for me.

All in favor of starting Nick Swisher over Xavier Nady raise your hand? Nicky Swish had a huge game today. Don't get me wrong, he's not the answer. I still don't think he should be the everyday outfielder, but I'd take him over Nady everyday. I think Nady is highly overrated. I've been especially sour on Nady since he gave up and allowed himself to get tagged out without even attempting to get in a rundown the other day. I don't want to see that from any of these guys. I hope somebody got on him about that. It's unacceptable in my book. The radio call of Swisher's HR today made it sound like he had some help from a fan. They made it sound like the ball was an easy catch and was pretty much in the fielder's glove until the fan made a barehanded snag. Nice. I wrote the other day after it happened to Damon that things like that are part of baseball and that the Yankees would get that break someday. Who knew it would be two games later?

So the 1st win of the season is under their belts and we can all breathe a little sigh of relief. It's weird to say that the 3rd game of the season is a big game but today's game was big. Getting swept by the Orioles would not have been good. It wouldn't have been the end of the world. The '98 Yankees started out 0-3 and we all know how that season ended. Regardless, the first win is out of the way and that takes a little pressure off the team. The Yanks are off to KC and it's Andy Pettitte's turn to take the mound. Sidney Ponson gets the ball for the Royals and that kind of makes me laugh. I think the Yanks are going to light him up. I'll be very disappointed if they don't get him for at least 6 runs. If they don't hit him, and hit him hard, I'll be shocked. It's Sidney Ponson for crying out loud.

R.I.P. Nick Adenhart,

J-Boogie

Second Verse Same As The First

Another game, another horrible outing by a Yankee starter. Tonight's loss against the Orioles was like a remix of the Opening Day loss. You know, it was pretty much the same song but had a few little differences. The problem here is it's a bad song. One I personally don't want to hear again.

The starting pitching was again awful. Chien-Ming Wang, in his first start since June of last year, was brutal. His sinker wasn't sinking and the Orioles offense made him pay, chasing him after just 3.2 innings. They were hitting him hard too. He didn't do himself any favors either. He walked three and only threw 40 of his 73 pitches for strikes. I know it's the 2nd game of the season. I know it was Wang's first start, but these guys need to be better. The Yankees, for my money, have the best rotation in all of baseball. You wouldn't know that after watching the first 2 games. In the 1st 2 games, CC and Wang have combined for 8 IPs, allowing 13 runs, on 17 hits and 8 walks. That works out to an ERA of 14.62. Yikes. They haven't whiffed a batter, which is really surprising. It's on A.J. Burnett to end this little funk. I hope the decision not to carry a long reliever doesn't turn out to bite them in the ass.

Mark Teixeira was again awful. I know he stroked an RBI double in the 9th, but for all intents and purposes, he's 1 for 10 this year. I can't give him credit for his walk in the opener. That was one of the worst strike 3 calls I've ever seen. His 3 infield popouts were embarrassing. I got a text message from my buddy Tom after his 7th inning K. It read, "Teixeira is terrible." While I agree, he won't be for long. Teixeira is a notorious slow starter. It's widely known that he is horrible in April. He'll be fine. At least he got his 1st hit out of the way and picked up his 1st RBI. It can only go up from here.

I'm really pleased with the hit starts by Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon. They're getting the job done by getting on base. Jeter reached base 3 times, including his dinger in the 9th. Damon reached base twice. If only the big boppers behind them would get going. Teixeira and Matsui are a combined 2 for 19 with 3 RBI. Man, I miss A-Rod.

As I mentioned above, it's on A.J. Burnett to get things going tomorrow. I'm expecting big things from Burnett. I think he's going to have one heck of a year and a win in his first start will hopefully get the ball rolling. Since it's a 1:35 start, I'll be at work so I'll miss the TV broadcast, but will definitely have it on my XM Radio. I love the fact that the season has started, but I hate the fact that they play so many day games in April. Not counting weekends, they have 6 day games in April. I took the day off for the home opener, but I'll likely have to catch the other 5 on the radio. Hopefully, I have no meetings scheduled. Stupid work, always getting in the way.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

A Drunken Joba

When I logged out of my hotmail account today, I was redirected to MSN.com. I scrolled won the page and a headline caught my eye: Report: Yankee dissed Yogi in DUI video. What?

Haven't seen it yet, but apparently there's a video of Joba Chamberlain's DUI arrest. In the video, Joba reportedly "disses" Yogi Berra, saying, "He might not be as tall as the front of your car." He also reportedly takes a shot at New York drivers, saying, "The biggest thing that I've noticed driving here and there is if you let somebody in they open the window and say 'Thank you. In New York, they might hit you. Yeah, it's a joke."

Now again, I haven't see the video myself. According to the article, it was uncovered by The Smoking Gun. I can't get to their site at work so I'm not sure if it's on their site, or if it's just a rehash of what they reportedly saw, or were told is, on the video. Until I see it for myself and see the context his comments were made in, I can't really comment on it. At face value, nothing in the report bothers me. NY drivers aren't known to be the friendliest drivers out there. The comment Joba reportedly made about them not saying thanks for letting them in is shared by a large number of people. And as for Yogi, I doubt Joba was "dissing" him. I have to think that Joba didn't say that out of the blue and it was something that somehow came up in conversation. Yogi didn't seem to mind. According to the article, Dave Kaplan, a spokesperson for Yogi, told Newsday, "He just totally laughed it off. He said it was all in fun. There was no offense taken whatsoever."

If anyone has seen the video, or has been to The Smoking Gun to check it out, let me know. My initial thought is that this is just the media attempting to make a story out of nothing. I doubt this will have any effect on Joba or the team whatsoever.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Sabathia Is Awful As Yanks Lose Opener 10-5

I had such high hopes for today's games. I thought CC would cruise. I thought Mark Teixeira would get off to a hot start. I was wrong on both counts.

CC Sabathia was awful today. He had no command of his fastball and his control was questionable on many of his pitches. He finished with 96 pitches, only 50 were strikes. That's not a good ball-to-strike ratio. I don't know if it was first game jitters but he has to be better. 4.1 innings from our 161 million dollar ace is not acceptable. I wrote earlier today that I understood why the Yankees didn't keep a long man on the pitching staff. The arms in the rotation, except for Joba, are all capable of throwing 7 innings each and every game. CC didn't do anything to prove my point today. He's lucky tomorrow is an off day.

The other big acquisition, Mark Teixeira, had a pretty crappy regular season debut. 0-4 with a walk. And that's only because the umpire must have blinked. It should have been oh-fer-five with 2 Ks. I know Teixeira is a slow starter but I expected him to do better than an oh-fer in his first game. Ugh.

I really hate those Mohegan Sun commercials. Almost as much as I hate Michael Kay. Kay uttered one of the stupidest things he's ever said in the 8th inning, "Coke delivers free and easy." You could tell Ken Singleton thought it was dumb. I loved Kenny's reply, "That's a refreshing thought." I love a good Coke reference as much as the next guy, but Michael Kay just makes them sound so bad. And in typical Kay fashion, he put the jinx on Coke. He makes that stupid remark and Coke gets taken deep. Coincidence? Sure, but it's fun to blame others. Tough break for Coke there in the eighth. That ball was probably caught if not for the fans. But that's baseball. The Yanks will get that break someday.

The bullpen wasn't a strength for the Yanks today. I thought once CC left that if the pen could hold the Os to 6 runs, then the Yanks offense would pick CC up. The Brian Bruney of old showed up tonight, walking 2. The pitching today was suspect. It needs to be better. It reminder me a lot of the Yankees pitching from the last few years. The SPs go less than 5, the bullpen implodes, you get the picture. The pitching staff is supposed to be their strong suit now. Today it was far from it.

It was nice to see Jorge Posada take one deep. His bat was sorely missed last year and it'll be a huge boost to have him around. Same goes for Hideki Matusi. The Yankees lost a lot of production last year with those 2 out of action. If those 2 can stay healthy, the Yankees offense could do great things. While I'm talking about Jorge, what was up with his failure to apply a tag on Melvin Mora? He received the ball from Brett Gardner in plenty of time to slap on a tag, but it didn't even look like he made an attempt. He's real lucky the umpire was screened and called Mora out. He looked safe to me.

I really like having Brett Gardner hitting 9th and Jeter hitting leadoff. The run they manufactured in the 3rd inning was nice. I can see that happening a lot this year. Whether it's a hit-and-run or Gardner making a steal attempt. It's going to result in some extra runs. I really like the flow of the lineup. Every other hitter hits from a different side of the plate. That's going to give opposing manager's fits. Take the 7th inning of tonight's game for example. The Os used 3 RPs in that inning alone. Burn through the bullpen and eventually you'll get to the underbelly. If only Xavier Nady didn't ground into a DP. I know he had an RBI double, but I am not a Nady guy. He's overrated. Is it me or does he look slower than molasses out there in RF? I'm not sure if it was his baserunning blunder in the 6th that killed that rally or if it was Rob Thomson's fault. I don't like though how X just stood there and let himself get tagged out. You never know if the other team will make a mistake. I don't like seeing anyone just give up like that.

Jeter had a pretty solid day at the plate. I fully expected him to bring Pena home in the 8th. I've grown accustomed to Jeter coming through in the clutch. I was surprised when he didn't.

I hate to say this but I miss A-Rod. I know Cody Ransom isn't even close to Alex in terms of talent, even without the steroids, but Cody's strength is his glove and he tanked it with that tonight. He should have easily made that play on Mora's grounder and turned it into a DP. 2 runs came around to score. Cody can't be doing that.

I hope the Orioles, and the rest of MLB for that matter, have a policy where anyone that interferes with a ball in play get bounced from the park immediately. If they're season ticket holders, revoke their tickets. I'm tired of seeing these douches reaching out for shots down the line. I would have been ticked had the umpires held Cano at third on Nady's double. I hoped they bounced that guy. What a jerkwad. Thankfully it didn't matter.

So the Yanks drop the season opener. It's not much to worry about. I'm just surprised at how poorly they played. Sabathia was disappointing. He was really bad. He needs to be much better. He'll find that groove. Tomorrow is an off day and Wednesday night we get the return of Chien-Ming Wang. I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully, he fares better than CC.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie