Yankees Lose, Baseball Is Back, Bigger Post Coming Tomorrow

I'm torn right now. I want to stay up and blog about tonight's Opening Night loss to the Red Sox but it's past midnight and my 2 year old is going to wake up sometime between 5:30-6am. I'm running on fumes as it is as I spent all weekend painting my garage. I spent about 6 hours Saturday scraping paint off the garage. I spent 2 hours today scraping more paint and about 5 hours painting it. My right forearm is killing me and I'm dying to go to sleep. I was hoping this game would end around 11 but was not surprised that it took 4 hours. It wouldn't be a Yankees/Red Sox game if it didn't take that long. So much for speeding up games, eh MLB?

So I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully around my lunchtime, with a more detailed post on the game. I will leave you with this. Even though the Yankees lost, all is good. Baseball is back. Life couldn't be much better.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Donating To Nick Swisher's Charity

I just wanted to post one final reminder about the little charity pledge drive I'm trying to do this year for Nick Swisher's charity, Swish's Wishes. It doesn't look like the page on Nick's site is working but the charity is 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. How can you not want to donate to that?

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. 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. 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 (see upper left) 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, Fernando and I thank you for your time.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

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

2010 Predictions

It's that time of year again. It's time to make a fool of myself with my predictions for the upcoming season. It'll be fun to look back on these in October/November to see how things played out. Feel free to chirp in with comments or post predictions of your own:

AL East:

1. New York Yankees 97-65
2. Boston Red Sox 93-69 *wild card
3. Tampa Bay Rays 88-74
4. Baltimore Orioles 77-85
5. Toronto Blue Jays 67-95

Al Central:

1. Chicago White Sox 88-74
2. Minnesota Twins 84-78
3. Detroit Tigers 82-80
4. Cleveland Indians 78-84
5. Kansas City Royals 76-86

AL West:

1. Texas Rangers 93-69
2. LA Angels 90-72
3. Seattle Mariners 85-77
4. Oakland A's 74-88

NL East:

1. Philadelphia Phillies 93-69
2. Atlanta Braves 88-74 *wild card
3. Florida Marlins 82-80
4. New York Mets 80-82
5. Washington Nationals 77-85

NL Central:

1. St. Louis Cardinals 88-74
2. Chicago Cubs 84-78
3. Milwaukee Brewers 84-78
4. Houston Astros 81-81
5. Cincinnati Reds 78-84
6. Pittsburgh Pirates 69-93

NL West:

1. LA Dodgers 94-68
2. Arizona Diamondbacks 88-74
3. San Francisco Giants 84-78
4. Colorado Rockies 80-82
5. San Diego Padres 69-93

Playoffs:

1. ALDS: Yankees over White Sox in 4, Rangers over Red Sox in 5
2. NLDS: Braves over Dodgers in 5, Cardinals over Phillies in 5
3. ALCS: Yankees over Rangers in 6, Braves over Cardinals in 5
4. World Series: Put #28 on the board - Yankees over Braves in 6

As the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair would say," to be the man you gotta beat the man." I see no reason why the Yanks won't repeat.

Post season awards:

1. AL MVP: Robinson Cano
2. NL MVP: Ryan Howard
3. AL Cy Young: CC Sabathia
4. NY Cy Young: Chris Carpenter
5. AL ROY: Brian Matusz
6. NL ROY: Jason Heyward
7. AL Manager of the Year: Joe Girardi
8. NL Manager of the Year: Joe Torre

Other predictions:

1. The AL will continue its All-Star game dominance beating the NL yet again
2. There will be 1 no hitter and 1 perfect game

Feel free to share your thoughts or post your own predictions.

2 days til first pitch!!

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Some Spring Training Spring Cleaning

I must apologize to all of the people who've sent me links to share and whatnot over the past few weeks/months. I've been meaning to post them but due to a combination of things, mainly I'm lazy, I lost sight of it. Better late than never though. Enjoy.

Some of you may remember a post I did last year about a group called Nine More Outs. To recap, Nine More Outs is a group of 3 buddies (Mike, Scott, Dave) that are touring every MLB stadium posing as the team's biggest fans. Last year they kicked off their tour by visiting the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Their latest installment takes the boys to Pittsburgh. Here's a link to their trailer. Or you can watch it below. Enjoy.



Stalking Steve Phillips has some interesting posts on some Yankee related topics. Johnny Damon, Goose Gossage, and Roger Maris.

Check out the Yankees Roll Call show over at Joecastello.com.

Again, sorry for guys for taking so long on getting these links up.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

The Yankees Name Their 5th Starter And The Winner By TKO Is......

According to Chad over at the Lohud Yankees Blog the Yankees have named Phil Hughes as the team's 5th starter. I for one applaud that decision. That shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who keeps up with this blog frequently. I've always been a Hughes guy. I'm glad he'll be the one getting the ball every 5th day. I like Joba (sort of) and I think he'd do fine as a starter, but if there's one spot open and 2 to choose from, I'm going with Phil. Good call by the Yanks.

More on this later. I am not able to dive into the details while at work. I'm sure this is going to be a point of debate and discussion by Yankee fans everywhere. Let the games begin.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Phil Hughes Vs. Joba Chamberlain: Round 4

Sorry I'm a few days late on this but better late than never. The battle for the 5th spot in the rotation continued on Monday when both Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain pitched. Hughes faced the Phillies while Joba pitched in an intra-squad game. I didn't get to see any of the action, so I'm going off the box scores and the observations of those in the know.

On the surface, Joba picked this round up. Hughes got sacked with the loss against the Phillies, allowing 4 earned runs in 4.1 IP. He gave up 3 HRs, one being a walkoff. Joba had a much better line, throwing 5 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 6 hits. The best part of Joba's line was that 64% of his pitches went for strikes. That's a pretty good strike-to-ball ratio. He allowed only 1 walk so his control seemed to be there.

Now if you dig a little deeper into Hughes' outing, you'll find that it wasn't as bad as it reads in the box score. According to Chad Jennings at the Lohud Yankees blog, the wind was blowing out at the ballpark. Chad's thoughts were that 2 of the HRs, one of which was the game winner, were probably aided by the wind. Scratch those 2 hits from the box score and Phil's final line improves dramatically: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 6 K. Not too shabby. The K total on its own is pretty impressive. Phil's always had a pretty good K/9 #. Last year he whiffed 96 in 86 IP, which is more than 1 per inning. The swing-and-a-miss for strike 3 is going to get him out of some jams I'd imagine.

Chad's blog entry also features quotes from both Hughes and Girardi. Both were extremely pleased with Phil's outing. Girardi thought it was Hughes' best outing of the spring. Phil "felt really good with all of his pitches" and he also felt that his changeups were "the best changeups" he's ever thrown. Their thoughts on his outing certainly make it out to be a positive one. There's definitely more to the story that what was in the box score.

Joba's outing was another step in the right direction. After 2 awful outings, JC has kicked up his game and strung together 2 straight solid outings. From reading Chad's blow-by-blow of the game, I would definitely call it Joba's best outing of the spring. As I mentioned above, 64% of his pitches went for strikes. For me, anything above 60% is a solid strike-to-ball ratio. One of the things I look at in the spring from pitchers is their control. Joba's getting better with it. He's progressing which is what I want to see start over start.

Despite the thoughts by Phil and Girardi, I have to give round 4 to Joba. He's getting better with each outing and this one was his best so far. That's got to count for something. I now have Hughes with a slight edge on my scorecard. I though Phil clearly won rounds 1 and 2. I thought round 3 could have gone either way. I called it a draw. I could have given it to Joba based on his improvement. I could have given it to Hughes because at the time he had the better spring. If I add round 4 to the mix, I still give Hughes the slight overall edge. I do think Hughes is the better choice for the 5th spot. I think they should both start but if it has to come down to one over the other, I'm going with Phil. I've always maintained that in my estimation he's the better pitcher. I see no reason to change that opinion. I also think that if one has to be at the back end of the bullpen, Joba is better suited for that. He has more of the "closer mindset" and I think while both would do well in that role, Joba will do better.

The battle for the 5th spot in the rotation did pick up a casualty this week. The Yankees possibly released Chad Gaudin, who was "in the mix" for the 5th starter spot. If true, then there were 4. In addition to the previously discussed Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, there's Alfredo Aceves and Sergio Mitre. Aceves and Mitre have had decent springs but there's no way that either is seriously in the mix for the 5 spot. I'd be shocked if either were named the 5th starter. There are only 11 days left until the season starts so a decision on who the 5th man will be should be coming soon, possibly as early as tomorrow, or so some people think. I think the Yankees know who they're going with. I personally hope it's Phil Hughes.

Who do you think they'll go with?

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

A-Rod Is Shuffling Off To Buffalo

One of my in-laws neighbors had a crazy thing happen to them today. They had a baby and it was delivered on one of the major roadways here in Buffalo. I guess the little bugger didn't want to wait until they got to the hospital. Anyway, the story was supposed to be on the news tonight. Not wanting to wait for the broadcast, I went to the station's website to see if they had a story about it. I couldn't find it but another headline caught my eye. It read, "Alex Rodriguez In Buffalo." What what what? A-Rod is going to be in my hometown? What what what? I knew the chances of him being here on leisure were extremely remote considering the start of the regular season is drawing near. So what could he be here for?

The article didn't have much to it but it did link to a bigger article in the NY Times. Long story short, Alex is coming to town to meet with the investigators looking into Dr. Anthony Galea, the Canadian doctor who allegedly has dabbled in prescribing HGH to people. I did not know that the investigation was based out of Buffalo. Very cool. Alex is scheduled to meet with the investigators on Friday. Knowing me, if I wasn't working, I'd probably hang around the attorney's offices all day trying to get an autograph.

Thankfully I'm working so I won't be that guy. I'm sure somebody will be stalking him. There's always one.

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie

Catch "The Lineup" On MSG

Sorry for the lack of posts these last few days. It's hard to write something when you don't get to see much of the action. Plan tonight is to write a post about Phil/Joba but that will depend on the free time the family gives me. I wanted to pass along 1 piece of information you might find of interest.

The MSG Network is debuting a new series tonight called "The Lineup." The premise of the show is to determine the best baseball players in the city of New York's history. That should be interesting and worth checking out. The show debuts tonight @ 10:30 ET. Here's some more info from a press release (sounds like someone can win a signed baseball by Don Mattingly):

“The Lineup: New York’s All-Time Best Baseball Players,” a new original series and interactive fantasy game that will determine the best baseball players in the history of New York, premier tonight on MSG Network with “Catchers,” the first of ten weekly episodes. Each 30-minute episode of “The Lineup” will present a number of nominees for consideration at each position, from the Yankees, Mets, New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, with one episode dedicated to the best New York manager of all-time. MSG’s Fran Healy will host a panel, consisting of Hall of Fame Mets catcher Gary Carter, former Yankee bullpen ace Sparky Lyle, New York Magazine contributing editor and baseball aficionado Will Leitch, and executive vice president of the Elias Sports Bureau Steve Hirdt. The panel will whittle down a larger list of players from each position and determine the top five from each spot on the diamond. By the end of each episode, they will crown the top player at each position and name him to the official “Lineup” card.

With an interactive fantasy game launched in conjunction with the on-air program and hosted on MSG.com/lineup, viewers can see how they stack up against The Lineup's experts. Fans will try to predict the five players who will be nominated each week and ultimately who will be selected as the starter in the final “Lineup.” Participants will receive points for each correct pick and will be eligible for weekly prizes such as signed memorabilia from baseball greats like Don Mattingly, Joe Torre, Reggie Jackson and Derek Jeter. At the end of the series, the participant with the most points will win a Grand Prize. The site will also feature chats for fans to interact and debate each position, quizzes about the nominated players, photo and video galleries, and player statistics for fans to comb through before making their picks.

The first episode of The Lineup airs TONIGHT, Tuesday, March 23rd at 10:30 p.m. ET on MSG Network. Head over to MSG.com/lineup and make your picks for the best catcher in NY baseball history and enter for your chance to win this week's signed baseball by Don Mattingly!

Enjoy. 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