Yankees Sweep Rangers & Andy Pettitte Is A Golden God

The Yankees may be tied with the Rays for the best record in baseball at 9-3. But there is no question as to which is the better team and sits atop the MLB power rankings. The Yankees are definitely a-number one, top of the list, kings of the hill and top of the heap. The sweep of the Rangers gives Yankees their fourth straight series win to start the season. The Bombers haven't done that since 1926. That's hard to believe I know, but it's true. This team is doing it all. They're pitching. They're hitting. They're playing solid defense. And they're doing it against the best of the bunch. They took 2 of 3 from Boston in Boston. 2 of 3 from Tampa in Tampa. 2 of 3 from their arch-nemesis the Angels in the Bronx. Then a sweep of Texas at home in the Boogie Down. Most baseball pundits think that the Yankees, Rays, and Red Sox are 3 of the best teams in baseball, with the Angels and Rangers being the top contenders in the AL West. Starting the season 9-3 against those teams has to have every Yankee fan excited. Any Yankee fan out there not excited?

The Yankees starting pitching absolutely dominated the Rangers. CC, A.J. and Andy combined to go 3-0, pitch 21 IP, while allowing 3 runs on 13 hits and 5 walks while whiffing 20. That's an ERA of 1.29. Hot damn! CC started it off and A.J. and Andy definitely kept the good times rolling. Pettitte was again awesome today. He was again vintage Pettitte. He struggled early but quickly figured out how to correct himself. We saw Andy do this quite a bit last year. He'd give up a few early runs, would settle down and pitch his tail off. Today was no different except he flat out dominated instead of just getting by. Pettitte has been lights out all season. Sure, he's allowed a fair amount of baserunners (WHIP coming into today was 1.42) but he's found ways to keep those guys from scoring. AP has now thrown 20 IP, has allowed 15 hits and 9 walks. His ERA is 1.35. That's awesome considering those stats came against the Red Sox, Angels and Rangers. Yeah, I'm jocking Andy's nuts right now. As I wrote in my last post, he's awesome.

I was a little surprised today's game was as close as it was. It didn't feel like a 5-2 win. The Yankees had a lot of baserunners today but only managed 5 runs. They weren't terribly efficient with RISP. They went 1-7 and left 10 guys on base. The game shouldn't have been as close as it was. I'm still puzzled how the Rangers only gave up 5 runs because Rich Harden was awful. It was nice to see Mark Teixeira hit his first longball of the season. That was long overdue. Tex is hitting the ball better but he's still struggling. If he can string together a few good games in a row I think that will turn things around. He's standing on the verge of getting it on.

Brett Gardner filled in very well at the top of the order (get well soon Derek). BG reached base 4 times today (2 singles, 1 walk, 1 HBP) and swiped 2 bases. It's hard to believe BG's OBP is up to .444 (assuming I did the math right). I love having Brett hit in the 9-spot. His ability to get on base and speed compliment the top of the order quite nicely. I know he's not an OBP machine but he does well for a guy in the 9-hole.

Jorge Posada is a beast. 'Nuff said.

If anyone was wondering why I didn't post after Saturday's win it's because I was holed up in a car dealership buying a minivan with the wife. I think we devoted about 9 hours to it. It was brutal. I didn't see any of the game, so I took the day off. The Yankees now embark on a west coast roadie and west coast trips and I don't get along. It's hard to stay up that late when you've got a 2.66 year old and a 1 year old that both wake up before 6:30am every day. Add a job to it and it's tough to stay up past 10. I usually make it to 11 or so for the west coast games. So I'm not sure what my level of blogging will be over the next few days. There will be something. I'm just not sure what. Thankfully it's just 2 late weekday games. Maybe I'll nut up and tough it up. Knowing me I probably will because I love me some Yankee baseball!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

The Definition Of Awesome

Look up the word awesome in the dictionary and you'll find the following definition: Andy Pettitte.

I'll be back to expand on that later. Gotta go spend time with the fam.

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

Robinson Cano Powers Yankees To 6-2 Win

Thanks to Mike D, I got to see the last 2 innings of tonight's Yankees/Angels game. He tipped me off to a website that was carrying the MLB.TV feed so I tuned in for the last 2 innings. I'm really hoping the website has the future My9 games on its site. I really thought the issue of the My9 games not being on TV here in Buffalo would have resolved itself by now, but no luck. Not for me anyway. DirectTV and TWC customers apparently get the games now. We FIOS customers are still out in the cold. So I didn't see much.

I'm especially ticked because I was really looking forward to seeing Phil Hughes pitch. From the little I gathered about his outing online (people's tweets during game), it wasn't the prettiest of outings. I can kind of tell that by looking at the box score. Phil threw 109 pitches in 5 innings of work. Not very economical. He walked 5 but had a decent strike-to-ball ratio (60.6%). He whiffed 6 so he got a lot of swings and misses. Allowing 3 hits and 2 earned in 5 innings of work isn't all that bad. But it sounds like his overall outing should be met with mixed reviews. I'm assuming there was some good and some bad. If anybody wants to share their opinion I'm all ears. I'm going to bring back a little something-something I did for Mike Mussina during his 20-win season. When Moose picked up the W, I busted out a Moose call, adding an extra "o" for every victory. So after his 20th it looked like "Moooooooooooooooooooose!" I'm going to do the same for Phil and break out with a "Hughes call" with 1 instance of the letter "u" per win. So today it's kind of lame since it's win #1: Hughes! I hope to add at least 19 more of those.

Didn't see any of the runs scored by the Yankees so can't say much about the offense. Robinson Cano is still on fire. He had 2 more pops today and knocked on 3. Just remember when he wins the 2010 AL MVP award that I predicted it before the season started. Can't imagine too many people did that. Here's a fun fact for you: Robbie has as many HRs (4) as David Ortiz has hits. That makes me laugh. Interesting Ortiz story: he's apparently getting sued by Jay-Z. As the story goes, Ortiz opened up a nightclub in the DR called it the "Forty/Forty Club." Jay-Z has a club in NYC called the "40/40 Club." Bam! Lawsuit! The rivalry runs deep.

I see Derek Jeter went deep for his 2nd HR of the season. I checked out the play-by-play and I'm not surprised that it was hit to RF. I don't think anybody in baseball has a sweeter "inside-out" swing than the Captain. It works rather well in the new Stadium.

Big up to Joba and Mo for picking up my fantasy team a hold and a save. Joba scares me a little. He lets too many guys on base (1.69 WHIP). Thank God the greatest closer in the history of baseball is not too far away. I know it's not Joba's fault the game turned into a save situation as DJ probably should have made that play, but still, bring that WHIP down my man.

The win tonight puts the Yanks record at 6-3. They've won each of the first 3 series and when you consider the opponents, it's impressive. The Rangers are up next and they're no slouch either. One could argue that the Red Sox, Rays, Angels, and Rangers are 4 of the best teams in the AL. If the Yankees can take at least 2 of 3 from Texas it should be obvious to everyone, not just us Yankee fans, that the Yankees are the team to beat.

To be the man, you've got to beat the man.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

My9 Means Some 2010 Yankees Baseball In Buffalo

For a 2011 update, please click here.

Here's an update on the My9 situation here in Buffalo. The situation being that the My9 games aren't carried on Buffalo TV. Well, some of you may be in luck. Here's where you may be able to find the games: Time Warner - check the local sports station (ch. 13). If it's not on there, check the other public access channels Direct TV- My buddy sent me a text and let me know he found a My9 game being broadcast on an Alternate YES channel. Check channel 633-1. (Hat tip to Koob) Verizon FIOS - no idea where to find the game. Want to know because this is what I have. (scroll down) Dish Network - does anyone even have Dish Network anymore? I have no clue. (scroll down) Hope that helps those of you looking for where to find the game. If anybody finds it on FIOS, drop me a line. I'll forever be in your debt. **Thanks to Mike D, the game can be seen online. He's not sure if this will work for all games, but it does tonight. He says it's rare to find baseball on this site, so don't get used to it. Here's the link, and beware of the popups (adult dating sites). J-Boogie

Son Of A *****...Yankees Games On My9 In Buffalo Suck Balls

**update on 4/15/10- click here for a more up-to-date post on My9 games in Buffalo

I just turned on my TV and flipped to the MLB Network because they're supposed to be carrying tonight's Yankees/Angels game. It wasn't listed on YES and I should have known that meant it was on My9, but I didn't put two and two together and I thought the MLB Network must have had exclusive rights to the game. Much to my disappointment, the MLB Network is showing the Reds/Marlins game. A visit to Yankees.com and I see that the game is on My9. Son of a *****!

It appears that we're going to have another season where when the game is on My9, the Buffalo market misses out. Quick refresher: the My9 games used to be carried on WNGS here in Buffalo. WNGS folded and the games went with them. When I talked to the local My9 affiliate last year they said they wanted to get the contract for this year. I guess that didn't work out because they're broadcasting the classic film, Robocop 2. Son of a *****!

I've gotten a few extra visits tonight from people looking for the game. Sorry gang, we're out of luck. I've flipped through all of the channels and the Yankees are nowhere to be found. There's a small chance that if you're a Time Warner subscriber that the game will show up on their local sports station. If you're DirectTV or Fios (like me), get used to it. As of now it looks like games on My9 means no Yankees games in Buffalo. I scanned through the schedule and it looks like there are 21 games on My9 this year. So it looks like we here in Buffalo will be missing 1/8 of the season. Son of a *****!

Hopefully there's a solution out there somewhere. Anybody got suggestions??

Peace, love and death to My9,

J-Boogie

Too Little Too Late For Yankees Offense In 5-3 Loss To Angels

I didn't get to see the game today. Correction. I got to see the 9th inning. I was hoping to see some pie, but instead I saw the Yankees go down 1-2-3. Next to games on My9, afternoon games are my least favorite type of Yankee games. I listen along at work but it's really tough to focus on and follow. Not to mention I can't really tweet about it. I had to leave a little early today to meet up with our realtor, so I did hear the 8th inning rally, which was as the title of this log suggests, too little too late.

The Yanks had their shot there in the 8th. Tying runs on base and the two hottest hitters coming up in Cano and Posada. Based on their hot starts I thought for sure one would come through. I was really hoping it'd be Cano because I thought it would signal the end of his troubles of hitting with RISP. Grounding into a fielder's choice? Not the way to get things done. Robbie still appears to be having trouble hitting in key situations this year. After today's game I think his average with RISP dropped to .222 and his average with runners on dropped to .231. It's hard to believe a guy hitting .382 would be that bad with runners on. I may have to start calling him Robbie The Rally Killer if he keeps it up. It's such a small sample size. I hope he turns it around.

It sounded like Joel Pineiro really dominated the Yankee hitters today. He allowed 5 hits and no walks while striking out 7. I'd call that a pretty good day. I don't really have any critique of his counterparts performance. Without seeing much of the game it's hard to really tell how Javy Vazquez did. It's really easy to go by a guy's pitching line when he dominates. Not so easy when it's a sub-par start. If anyone who saw the game wants to breakdown his performance for me I'd appreciate it. I'll hit up some of my favorite blogs to see what the general consensus but the more opinions the better, so feel free to lay it on me. All I can say is it's not good to have two of your team's three losses and have a 9.82 ERA to boot. I hope he turns it around.

Do I come off as disliking Nick Swisher? I know I call him the "Rally Killer" and all, but I really am rooting for him. I think my buddy Don disagrees. We had a little back and forth today via text messaging about Nick and I think he thinks I can't stand the guy, and that couldn't be further from the truth. The last thing I am going to do is root for a Yankee to fail. I've broken down Swish's numbers a few times on this site, justifying the moniker I've bestowed upon him. I haven't run into anyone yet that disagrees with the name, except for my buddy. I'm curious if there's anybody else out there. Now before anybody jumps all over me (I'm talking to you Don), let me say that I do like what Nick brings to the table. He's a great clubhouse guy. He's a great teammate. He helps the lineup by seeing a lot of pitches. I see great value in all of those things. But I also see value though in being able to bring runners home and Swish, as I've detailed many a time, doesn't do well in that aspect. Believe you me, I wish that wasn't the case. I really am pulling for him. I really do hope he does better in that area. I'm probably a little hypocritical for not jumping all over Cano like I do with Swish. I wonder why that is. I need to see a shrink I guess. Any theories from the armchair shrinks out there?

Tomorrow is a big day for me as I'm a really big Phil Hughes guy and he makes his first start of the season tomorrow night. I'm glad the Yankees named him the 5th starter. I see great things in his future. A good outing tomorrow would be a step in that direction. It would be nice to win another series and be 6-3 after facing arguably the 3 best teams in the American League. That's a start I can get behind.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Breaking News: Nick Swisher Didn't Kill The Rally

At work, got the game on the radio. Nick Swisher was up with Cano on 3rd and 2 outs in the 5th inning. I was all ready to blast a tweet via text calling Swisher the "Rally Killer" when all of a sudden a miracle happened. Swisher tripled in Cano to cut the Angels lead to 2-1. I was expecting the strikeout but I'll happily take the hit. I find no joy in calling Swish "The Rally Killer." But he has definitely killed his fair share of rallies.

Looking back at last year's stats and some of his career numbers, you can see how bad he was:

• Runners on: 50-203 (.246) w/.855 OPS
• RISP: 57-119 (.227) w/.741 OPS (.223 w/.780 OPS)
• RISP & 2 outs: 8-49 (.163) w/.583 OPS (career .218 w/.781 OPS)
• Bases loaded: 3-19 (.158) w/.491 OP (career .267 w/.894 OPS)

The season is young, but Nick has had killed a few rallies this year. Had Swish come up empty in his 5th inning AB, his average with RISP & 2 outs would have dropped to .200. But he didn't and now he's rocking a .400 average. I know it's a small sample size (5 ABs), but I hope he's turned the corner. He's going to have a lot of chances this year to knock in runs. I hope he improves on his performance from last year. I'd love nothing more than to stop calling him "The Rally Killer."

Yanks are now down 4-1. Ugh.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Yankees Open Things Up In Style With A Ring Ceremony And A 7-5 Win

What a day for the entire Yankees Universe! It was awesome to see the boys get their World Series rings today. It was awesome to see them cap it off with a win. It was a perfect day all around.

I am glad I took the day off so I could watch it live and not on tape. The pre-game show kicked off on YES at 11:30 and the opening highlight package gave me goosebumps. That didn't compare to the feelings I got from watching the Ring Ceremony. I had tears in my eyes by the end of it. It was awesome to see Hideki Matsui get his ring last and I thought it was very classy of the Yankees to run up to him and show him some love. I love too how they gave Matsui and Swisher bogus rings. Classic and very funny.

I said earlier in the week that it would have been better had the Red Sox been in town for this. Nothing beats showing the Sox up. I definitely don't feel that way now. I don't think the ceremony could have been any more perfect. Having Matsui there had a lot to do with it. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Andy Pettitte was awesome today. Vintage Pettitte. Andy looks to be in mid-season form already. He allowed his fair share of baserunners but kept them all from scoring. I wish I remembered this stat I heard the other day, but it went something like this: Pettitte had the highest WHIP (or maybe 3rd highest) of all SPs that won at least 14 games last year. You would think a guy that allows as many baserunners as Andy would have a higher ERA. But he doesn't and it's a testament to how good Andy really is. He got some pretty big outs today when he needed to. The bigget were his 5th inning popout of Abreu and the 6th inning DP of Kendrick. The game could have been a lot closer with another pitcher on the hill. Andy has been solid now thru his 1st 2 starts. 12 IP, 11 H, 6 BB, 10 K, 1 ER, 0.75 ERA. Not too shabby.

The game was great until the 9th inning. David Robertson imploded and made the game a lot closer than it was. That was ugly. But as we Yankees fans all know, it's hard to worry when you enter the 9th with a lead and Mariano is in the bullpen. Have no fear, Mighty Mo(use) is here. Mo came in and did what Mo does best. He K'd Torri Hunter and got Matsui to end the game on a pop out to Cano. Thank God for Marinao Rivera. He's the man.

The Yankees offense had a pretty good day. Any time you collectively pick up 13 hits and 9 walks it's a good day. Everyone who had a hit had more than one. Of the 3 guys that didn't have a hit, Swisher walked 3 times and Teixeira walked twice. If a walk is as good as a hit, big-up to those guys. Tex is really struggling. His oh-fer today dropped his average to .111 and he's now hitless in 6 of the Yankees 7 games. He'll be fine though. He struggles early every season and his stats always fill in line with what's on the back of his bubble gum card.

Posada, Granderson, and Cano are continuing to rake. Posada has been the biggest surprise to me. He's 3 hits today bumped his average up to .429. Jorge has 9 hits so far, 6 of which have been for extra bases (4 doubles and 2 HRs). He's also walked 6 times. He has to be seeing the ball really well.

Nick Johnson hit the Stadium's first HR this year. Nicky had a great day at the dish. NJ went 2-3 with 2 walks. Hopefully it's a sign of what to expect from Nick when he hits at home.

The only negative I can think of about the offense today is that they should have scored a few more runs. The offense is good enough that if they have 20+ guys reach base they should score more than 7 runs. They hit 5-16 with RISP today which isn't bad, but the outs definitely hurt. They ended up leaving 12 men on base and everybody came up empty at least once. It's not a big issue. It's more of a small critique.

You still have to be very pleased right now if you're a Yankee fan. The win moves the Yanks to 5-2 and that's impressive considering who they've played (Red Sox, Rays, and Angels). Javy Vazquez makes his 2nd start tomorrow and I really hope it's better than his first start. It's a 1:05pm start which means I'm going to miss the game. Stupid work. It's always getting in the way of the Yankees. Work also means no Twitter. Bummer. I'm not sure if I'm going to DVR the game or just follow along on Gamecast, or both. We'll see. I'm glad Thursday's game is a night game. Day games and I don't get along. Enjoy it.

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