Yankees

I am a die hard Yankee fan. My earliest baseball memory is the 1960 World Series. That did not end too well. I enjoyed the 1961 Series much better as well as Roger Maris' chase of the home run record. In 1964, I made my first trip to Yankee Stadium with my Dad. I was nine. Mickey Mantle homered that day. But a Bobby Knopp grand slam was instrumental in the Los Angeles Angels 6-4 victory. Do you remember that scene in "City Slickers" when Billy Crystal's character was remembering the first time he went to Yankee Stadium with his dad and the Mick hit one out? As he said, it was a good day. My next game was an 8-1 win over the lowly Washington Senators. Tom Tresh, my favorite player at the time, homered in the victory.

I was at the doubleheader when Bobby Murcer hit four consecutive homers in a split with the Indians. Steve Hamilton struck out Tony Horton on his famous folly floater and Horton crawled back to the dugout on all fours. This is the old ballpark, a few years before it was refurbished. It was a gem (still is). But the old park had death valley in centerfield, reaching 463 feet in right center.

I love Yankee Stadium. I have fond remembrances of going to the old ballyard in the South Bronx as a kid. The cavernous Stadium had the monuments to the Yankee deity right on the field. The grass was a shade of green that I had never seen before. It would be sacrilegious for the Yankees ever to move from that spot on 161st Street. While they fixed the Stadium, we had to go to Shea Stadium to see the Yankees, it was not the same. Both at the old and new Stadium, we used to go when to the doubleheaders and spend the entire day watching the Yankees. Alas, there are few doubleheaders these days. I make a pilgrimage to the Stadium each year. I think my parents have figured out that my visits home in the Summer correspond to Yankee homestands.

When I lived in the Midwest, I make a journey each summer to see the Yankees play on the road. Normally, I would visit Chicago and/or Kansas City. Chicago is great, but the new Comiskey or whatever they call it these days, sucks. It is built for the non-baseball fan. And you are miles from the action. Kansas City has a beautiful park. It also has the Negro League museum and great barbecue. I have seen the Yankees in Milwaukee (remember when the Brewers were in the AL?), Cleveland (in Municipal Stadium and Jacob's Field), Detroit (in old Tiger Stadium), and Minnesota. I have also seen the Yankees in Oakland, seeing David Cone's return from his aneurysm, when he pitched 8 hitless innings. The only Oakland hit was a tainted one. Milwaukee was great. I had never seen tailgating for baseball. That would not happen in the South Bronx. Cleveland was a cavernous old stadium. When the Yankees were there, they would get decent crowds. Now that I am in Southern Georgia, I will have to venture to the Trop, the hideous Tropicana Field, home of the Devil Rays to see the Yankees.

1978 was my favorite baseball year. The Yankees caught the hated Red Sox and then beat them in a taut one game playoff. In the so-called Boston Massacre, the Yanks went into Beantown and won four straight, winning three of the games with big innings in the first or second frames. Though they fell behind the Dodgers two games to none, there was no doubt that this team would come back.

1996 was a great run for the Yankees. It had been almost two decades since the Yankees had won the World Series. The 1998 team was incredible, winning 114 games, then sweeping the Padres in the World Series. They showed up to play everyday. It is possible none of those players will make the Hall of Fame (Mariano Rivera is likely, if he stays healthy, maybe Derek Jeter, if he reverses a recent slide), but they played baseball like it was meant to be played: strong pitching, a good bullpen, good defense, and timely hitting). Beating the Mets in the World Series in 2000 was a great added bonus.

Here is the look of the ballpark these days:

Nothing is better these days than seeing the following in the 9th inning of a Yankee game:

Mo in the game to close it out.

The Yankees in 2007: The End in Sight?

Does Baseball End in September or October?

DECEMBER: Some thoughts on the off-season, as the Yankees get set to enter their version of a nuclear winter. To see some of my past ramblings about the Yankees, check out the time capsule.

This is the year for the Yankees. Are they going to win it all? No, this is the year they miss the playoffs for the first time since the strike season of 1994. Though they have the largest payroll, this is a deeply flawed team. They got significantly worse in the off-season, while Boston improved dramatically.

The Yankees would seem to have the offense, but it is an older offense. Derek Jeter was the true AL MVP. The record books will say Justin Morenau, probably the fourth best player ON HIS OWN TEAM. Jeter cannot be counted on to have the same kind of year. Robinson Cano almost won the batting title; he has to be expected to regress. Jorge Posada is getting older and will probably not have the same great numbers he had last year. Jason Giambi is a year older. Worse for the Yankees, they have decided to waste three roster spots on 1B. They do not want Giambi in the field. So, they got two dead bats to play, wasting 450 at bats. Hideki Matsui will probably have a good year. But there is no way that Bobby Abreu, Johnny Damon, and Melky Cabrera will duplicate their 2006 seasons. Only one Yankee can be expected to improve, Alex Rodriguez as he enters his contract year. The bench, besides Melky is terrible. Wil Nieves is the worst player in baseball. For some reason, the Yankees decide to hold spending on the backup catcher. It costs them a couple of games and wears down Posada.

The Yankee defense is not impressive. Matsui is average at best, as is Damon who cannot throw. Abreu is decent. The Yankees have a decent glove at 1B at the cost of any offense. Jeter and Rodriguez are average. Cano can be a butcher at 2B.

The Yankees are getting older by the moment. Getting Sheffield (instead of Guerrero) and Damon (instead of Beltran) have doomed the Yankees for the next five years.

But the real problem with the Yankees is their pitching or lack thereof. Chien Ming Wang was awesome on his way to finishing second in the Cy Young Award voting. But Wang is not likely to duplicate his season and starts the year on the DL. Andy Pettitte is back. Like the Damon and Sheffield signings, letting Pettitte go was shortsighted. For years, the Yankees have chased after THE pitcher who can win in New York: Randy Johnson? Javier Vasquez? Jose Contreras? No, no, and no. They had Pettitte in New York. He was a proven big game pitcher and they let him walk. Relying on Carl Pavano has been a gigantic mistake. He will not win even five games. He is the Tin Man, whose teammates question his heart. Mike Mussina is a shadow of his former self. He has lost velocity and the bite on his curve. He is now a .500 pitcher who will have a 4.50 plus ERA. The final piece of the rotation puzzle is Kei Igawa and he encapsulates the problems the Yankees face. Having lost the prime free agent from Japan, Daisuke Matsuzaka, the Yankees settled for a AA quality pitcher. If Igawa wins 10 games in his Yankee career, I will be shocked. He does not throw hard and he cannot locate his pitches. He walks lots of hitters. Someone got sold a bill of goods on this one. Two decent pitchers out of five is not the recipe for success.

The bullpen could be better this year, but I have my doubts. The Yankees have a number of hard throwers, but all of them were badly overworked last year. Brian Bruney and Scott Proctor will need to have big years. Kyle Farnsworth remains an enigma. Lefty Mike Myers was acquired to get David Ortiz out, but he is not consistent. And the great Rivera shows signs of being mortal.

The bottom line, the Yankees have the offense to win. But the current pitching staff will not get it done. Igawa and Pavano will not win 10 games between them. Moose is in rapid decline. The Yankees will need to get some arms from somewhere else. Where? If they are forced to bring Hughes, Chamberlain, or Kennedy up for an extended period, that will be a sign of trouble.

The Red Sox will win the division by 10 games. With the Tigers, Indians, Twins, and White Sox all quality teams, the Yankees will be hard pressed to make the playoffs. The Angels will win the West. The Yankees season depends on their ability to pummel Baltimore and Tampa Bay (and I do not think they will do that) and hope that the Indians, Twins, White Sox, and Tigers can beat up on another. I think the Yankees finish out of the money by 2-3 games.

The Red Sox to win the AL East and break the ten year Yankee domination. The Tigers are my pick to win the Central again. The Indians are my choice to get close and be the wild card and the Angels should own the West.

The rules of baseball say that the National League must have playoffs also. It is sad because the Yankees, Mariners, A’s, Twins, and maybe the Blue Jays would all make the playoffs in the AAA quality NL. The Mets are a case in point. The Mets have a solid offense, but question marks up and down the pitching staff. Pedro, Glavine, and El Duque? That would have been great in 1998, but it is almost ten years later. Still in the pitiful NL they are the favorites in the East. But in the playoffs, I do not like their pitching. The Brewers and Cubs will battle for the NL Central with the winner being close to .500. The Brewers will win if their pitching is healthy. In a league where even Jeff Suppan is good, the Brewers can be a force. I like the Cubs if their third or fourth starters come around. Zambrano and Lilly (who the Yankees should have singed instead of Igawa) are the best 1-2 punch in the division. Out West, the Dodgers are the favorites. They spent heavily on starting pitching. If Schmidt, Wolf, and Penny are healthy, they are the favorites to win the West and make the World Series. The guess here is that they will not be healthy. Thus, I like the Padres to do it again with Peavey, Young, Maddux, and Boomer. My guess is the wild card comes from the Dodgers, with the Diamondbacks a long shot if the Big Unit recovers and pitches well.

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