Tagged: New York Mets
Rivalry reinvigorated: Subway Series interesting again
These past few days have been reminiscent of another era.
The old days of Roger Clemens beaning Mike Piazza in the head came to mind. I couldn’t get the image of Piazza standing up to Clemens after he chucked that hunk of broken bat at him during the 2000 World Series. Even my personal memory of attending the very first Subway Series at Yankee Stadium during the regular season in 1997 echoed through my brain. The battle for bragging rights in New York was on this past weekend.
And for the first time in quite a few years, this Yankee fan felt it.
Whether it was in the Poughkeepsie Journal newsroom, listening to sports talk radio in the car, or going on Facebook and Twitter, talk of the showdown between the Yankees and Mets in the Bronx this past weekend dominated my life. Mostly I was forced to listen to how the Mets had won 11 straight games entering the Subway Series, how they are currently the team to beat and how Matt Harvey is the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Believe me, I took it all.
What most folks who talked up the Mets might have overlooked was the fact that, prior to the Subway Series, the Yankees had won seven of 10 on the road. They had taken one from the Baltimore Orioles, swept the Tampa Bay Rays in three games and took three of four from the Detroit Tigers.
Perhaps the hot start the Mets got off to was more impressive, and thus they got a little more ink than the Yankees.
But there the Yankees were on Friday to remind everyone who they are. In particular, Mark Teixeira and Michael Pineda made their presence felt. Teixeira clubbed two home runs of Jacob deGrom, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, while Pineda tossed 7 2/3 strong innings, giving up one run to the Mets on five hits. Pineda also struck out seven and kept the ball around the plate, walking just one batter.
It brought the Mets’ winning streak to a screeching halt, though it didn’t stop the orange and blue loyalists from reminding the pinstripers that Harvey (excuse me, Jesus Christ) was starting the following day.
Yet, their yapping was backed up and Harvey delivered Saturday. The ace silenced the Yankee bats, giving up just two runs on five hits over 8 2/3 innings. Harvey struck out seven Yankees and walked two en route to his fourth win of the season, proving that yes, he has a bright future and is a bona fide stud.
That brought us to Sunday: The rubber game. The game that decided who got the bragging rights until September, when the Yankees and Mets hook up at Citi Field.
For the first time in a long time, I really wanted the Yankees to win this game. Not that I don’t want them to win any other games; in fact, I want them to win every game, like most passionate fans.
This one, however, I truly wanted. The voices of the trash talk that was spoken, posted and tweeted at me by Mets fans ringed over and over, almost as if they were taunting me. That feeling was only fueled when ESPN opened its broadcast with a shot of a Mets fan holding a sign that read “A-Rod wears Matt Harvey underwear.”
Cute. But, not really that creative. I’m almost certain I heard that one back in 2005, when Chuck Norris “Facts” were a thing.
Alex Rodriguez, me and the Yanks got the last laugh, as it was. Rodriguez homered off Mets starter Jonathan Niese, his 659th career tater, as he continues to creep up on Willie Mays for fourth place on Major League Baseball’s all-time home runs list. Rodriguez finished the series finale 2 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored.
Now, the Empire State Building is shining in Yankee colors because the Bombers took the series.
The feeling is great, I’ll admit — not just the feeling of the Yankees winning, but the feeling of caring about the Subway Series again. Getting caught up in the rivalry was, in a word, fun this weekend. It’s what baseball is all about.
Maybe the players got wrapped up in it, too. It’s possible. Rodriguez even told the press after the game, “The buzz was incredible. I just felt a lot of energy in the building. It was fun … To feel that energy, it was cool.”
Whomever the social media directors are for both clubs also got enveloped in the cross-town rivalry.
Which, if I’m not mistaken, is a first.
The Mets are a team that, for at least right now, is competitive. Like 2000, the year they captured the National League pennant and faced off with the Yankees in the World Series, they have good players. More specifically the Mets have solid, young pitchers, and the organization probably feels this is the time to turn it around and return to relevance.
I can say for sure, that’s how Mets fans feel, and in a lot of ways they have the right to feel that way.
At the same time, it’s still April and there are still 143 games remaining on the schedule. Plus, the Mets clearly have other facets of their game to work on. Case and point, their defense. A team usually cannot commit four errors in a game and expect to win.
I can only hope that when September rolls around and the Yankees go to Flushing, it’s just as competitive and the rivalry is once again at a peak.
Not to mention if both the Yanks (11-8) and Mets (14-5) are racing towards a division pennant or a playoff berth when they next meet, it’ll be even more riveting.
Twitter: @YankeeYapping
2olo 2hots
The Yankees are five games away from complete postseason elimination, yet have somehow hung in the AL Wild Card race just enough to have a microscopic chance at a run. Every player on the roster not named Derek Jeter, surely, would love to give The Captain one last go at some autumn baseball in New York.
While it doesn’t appear likely at the moment, and Jeter’s baseball career will probably end on enemy soil at Fenway Park a week from Sunday, last night the Yanks emerged walk-off winners for the eighth time this year, beating the Blue Jays 3-2.
Tied 2-2 in the ninth, Chris Young led off with a single to centerfield and was promptly lifted for Antoan Richardson. The speedy pinch-runner swiped second and moved to third on a Brett Gardner sac bunt. Chase Headley, who already had two walk-off hits under his belt as a Yankee this year, then delivered the death blow with a sharp liner past Adam Lind at first base for the win.
Headley may have notched the big hit in the ninth – and got to take the “Gardner Gatorade Cooler Challenge” so-to-speak – but the hit everyone buzzed about after the game was Jeter’s solo home run in the bottom of the sixth. It marked The Captain’s fourth round-tripper of the year, and his first bomb of 2014 at the big ballpark in the Bronx.
The fans were so amped up after Jeter’s long liner over the wall in left field that everyone on hand stood cheering, hoping he would come out for a curtain call and tip his cap.
Jeter would modestly say postgame, “Mac (Brian McCann) was in the middle of his at-bat, so I didn’t want to disrupt anyone’s hitting at the time.”
It was quite a nice way to begin Jeter’s last career homestand, but he isn’t even focused on the finality of it all, and basically said he just wants the Yankees to win out the rest of the way.
“I’m trying not to think about it being the last homestand,” Jeter added. “I’m going to go out there and play hard like I’ve done my entire career until there are no games left.”
The Captain might be trying not to think about the end, but in reality, last night we may have seen the final home run of his legendary career. Jeter has had plenty of significant helpings of
“mashed taters” (if you will) in his lifetime; World Series home runs, a home run in 2001 All-Star Game. He’s clubbed game-winning homers, and who could forget the pitch he sent into the left field bleachers at Yankee Stadium for his 3,000th hit that beautifully historic July Saturday in 2011.
Perhaps the most ironic aspect of it all: Jeter isn’t exactly, and was never, really, a home run hitter. Still, he will finish with 260 homers (barring another home run between now and Sept. 28) and 20 postseason homers – three of which were smacked in the Fall Classic.
Off the top of my head I was able to personally remember six games I’ve attended over the course of my fandom in which Jeter has homered. All of these homers I’ve seen Jeter hit live were solo home runs – or “2olo 2hots” – in the Bronx. What’s more, each homer tied the game, gave the Yankees a lead, or started them off on a rally.
Indulge me if you will, as I take a stroll down memory lane and share these Jeter home runs I have witnessed firsthand.
June 29, 2002 – vs. the New York Mets
It was a hot day at the beginning of summer ‘02, as well as the middle game of a Subway Series. Those pesky Mets brought some gusto with them to the Stadium that afternoon, and took a 1-0 lead on Ted Lilly in the first.
But into the box stepped Jeter, batting third that day. The Captain sent Al Leiter’s offering deep and gone to knot the time game up 1-1 right away.
Lilly however couldn’t keep his team in it. Mike Piazza, Vance Wilson and Mo Vaughn each hit homers of their own, and the Yankees didn’t muster much more offense, making this the only game the Yanks lost in which I beheld a Jeter home run.
Final: Mets 11, Yankees 2.
Jeter Home Run Total in 2002: 18
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June 21, 2005 – vs. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
This particular game was almost a lost cause. Randy Johnson made the start for the Yanks, and was fully expected to give the Devil Rays hell. That couldn’t have been further from what happened, as the likes of Damon Hollins, Jorge Cantu, Carl Crawford and Johnny Gomes turned the Big Unit into a small component.
Believe it or not, the Yankees trailed 10-2 in the fourth inning.
Yet, you can never count them out. Jeter kick started his boys in the sixth inning, knocking a solo homer off Chad Orvella, who was on in relief of washed up Tampa Bay starting pitcher Hideo Nomo.
The Yankees chopped it to 11-7 going into the bottom of the eighth and scored 13 (yes, 13!) runs in the bottom half of the frame, going on to win. Thirteen runs by the Yankees in a single inning of a game was indeed possible at one point in time, although it is hard to believe now, given the foibles of the offense these past two years.
Balls also left the yard that night off the bats of Gary Sheffield (who in fact smacked two homers that night), Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, and Jorge Posada.
Final: Yankees 20, Devils Rays 11.
Jeter Home Run Total in 2005: 19
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Aug. 2, 2006 – vs. Toronto Blue Jays
In a rather delicious dose of irony, Jeter had a chance to get back at Lilly in this game from the June 29, 2002 shellacking by the Mets’ hand. The Yankees had traded Lilly to Oakland after ’02 and in exchange were presented with Jeff Weaver (with Jeremy Bonderman ticketed for Detroit, because it was a three-way deal)…
But anyway, Jeter came up in the third inning and sent Lilly’s delivery out of the park, his eighth homer of ’06, to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead. They tacked on with more runs later; the additional offense highlighted by a Posada two-run homer in the sixth (also off Lilly) to run away with a win. A lights-out pitching performance by Chien-Ming Wang also contributed to the victory.
Final: Yankees 7, Blue Jays 2.
Jeter Home Run Total in 2006: 14
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April 22, 2009 – vs. Oakland A’s
Not only was this my first game live at the new Yankee Stadium, it was only the Yankees’ sixth game in the new house built by George Steinbrenner and company.
I guess it was only fitting The Captain offered me a fond memory of my first game across the street.
Jeter came up in the fourth inning and smacked a solo shot over the wall in right-center off Jason Anderson; his fourth home run of the young ‘09 season and his second in the new ballpark. His round-tripper gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead, but they didn’t win the game until the 14th inning, when Melky Cabrera sent everyone home happy with a walk-off bomb.
Cabrera also homered in the second inning, as did Matsui; the ball jumping off the bats that blustery day.
Final/14: Yankees 9, A’s 7.
Jeter Home Run Total in 2009: 18
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May 15, 2009 – vs. Minnesota Twins
Less than a month later I found myself back at the new Yankee Stadium to see the Bombers host the Twins. For the most part it was a battle, the Yanks and Twins trading blows. Justin Morneau homered. Joe Mauer homered. Minnesota led 3-0 going into the bottom of the fifth.
Enter Jeter.
The Captain blasted one off Francisco Liriano, cutting the Twinkies’ lead to 3-1. Gardner shocked everyone with an inside-the-park home run in the seventh, and Cabrera came through in the clutch with the game-winning hit, capping a three-run ninth to give the pinstripers a win.
The Yankees would go on to win the following two games against the Twins in walk-off fashion, and beat Minnesota in their final at-bat in Game 2 of the ALDS that October, by way of a Mark Teixeira walk-off homer.
But that night – the night that started it:
Final: Yankees 5, Twins 4.
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April 13, 2010 – vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
It was a day of celebration. Euphoria. Happiness. Rings.
A wonderful ceremony took place before the game; the Yankees being honored for what they had accomplished some five months earlier – beating the Philadelphia Phillies in the ’09 World Series. Jeter was given his fifth ring, while so many others around him were receiving only their first.
After the touching, sentimental moments the ceremony provided, the Yankees had a game to play. They grabbed an early 1-0 lead over the Halos. In the third inning Jeter came up and took Ervin Santana way out and gone for a solo homer, his first of the ’10 season.
Nick Johnson also homered, but how is this for a nod to the days of old:
Yes, Jeter homered. But Andy Pettitte started the game and recorded the win. Mariano Rivera saved Pettitte (his third save of the year to that point), and Posada went 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.
Talk about efficiency from the members of the “Core 4.”
Final: Yankees 7, Angels 5.
Jeter Home Run Total in 2010: 10
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How nice it was, sharing these special moments Jeter gave me.
What are some The Captain gave you…?
Russell Martin’s Greatest Hits
The Yankees got some good news this week and some bad news.
The good? Crafty veteran Andy Pettitte and the greatest closer of all-time Mariano Rivera will indeed be pitching in the Bronx next season, the Yanks inking one-year deals with both hurlers. Pettitte was signed for $12 million for 2013 while Rivera was locked up for $10 million.
For one more year, the Bronx Bombers will be treated with each pitcher’s services. Yes, good.
The bad news? The Yankees lost their starting catcher, Russell Martin, to free agency last night. Martin agreed to terms with the Pittsburgh Pirates; a deal worth two years, $17 million.
Just like that, the Bronx Bombers are without a viable starting catcher.
It was quite surprising the Yankees didn’t at least pursue Martin in free agency, coming off a year in which he set a career-high in home runs with 21. His batting average (.211) may have been the lowest of his career, but the subpar BA shouldn’t have completely ruined his chances of returning.
Last year Pettitte came back on a dime, only signing for $2.5 million. The 40-year-old lefty was injured most of last season with a fractured ankle, as was the 43-year-old Rivera – who as we all know tore his ACL shagging fly balls on the warning track in Kansas City in May.
Martin, only 29 (although will be 30 on Feb. 15), (in this writer’s opinion) should have, at the very least, been offered something. Perhaps the Yanks could have given Pettitte and Rivera a little less – being that they’ll only be around for one more year, anyway – and reached out to the catcher for a deal.
Now, along with the likelihood of right fielder Nick Swisher not making a comeback and the Yankees needing to fill the void in the corner outfield spot, they will now need to seek an everyday backstop – which they’ll most likely be hard-pressed to do.
Right now their options include signing A.J. Pierzynski, a 35-year-old (36 on Dec. 30) with a history of not being the “nicest kid in class,” so-to-speak; striking a deal with Mike Napoli, the 31-year-old free agent who put up numbers somewhat similar to Martin’s in 2012 (.224 BA, 24 HR, 56 RBI); or just using Chris Stewart, Francisco Cervelli, and/or Austin Romine in 2013.
Stewart served as Martin’s backup last season, mostly working as CC Sabathia’s personal catcher, while Cervelli spent almost the entire season in the minors – not to mention Cervelli has suffered a number of concussions over the course of his young career. Romine also has an injury history and has not played a full Triple-A season his entire career.
Now the course of action is up to the Yankees’ front office; a catcher possibly on the Yankees’ wish list. In the meantime, I’d like to look back on a few of Martin’s best moments in pinstripes. Although he was only a Bomber for two years, he provided the team with jolts and boosts to make them a better ballclub in 2011 and 2012.
A part of history
The Yankees were off to a poor start vs. Oakland on the afternoon of Aug. 25, 2011. They had given the A’s a 7-1 lead by the third inning, the day looking like a lost cause; a stinker.
But Martin came up with a plan.
In the fourth inning he cut the lead down to 7-2 with a solo home run. Robinson Cano followed in the fifth with a grand slam to chop the lead to 7-6. Then in the sixth, Martin came up with the bases chucked and did Cano one better, crushing a grand slam of his own for his second homer in the game, giving the Yankees a 10-7 lead.
You would think the grand ol’ day was over, but there was more to come.
After Martin added another run on an RBI single as part of a six run seventh, Curtis Granderson smacked the Yankees’ third grand slam of the game in the eighth, the Yankees going absolutely wild on the way to a 22-9 win over the A’s. It was the first time a team had homered with the bases loaded in a single game three times in MLB history.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Martin told the media when it was over. “This game has been played for a long time. Pretty much everything has already happened. I’m waiting to see who’s going to hit four – I don’t know if it’s ever going to happen, but we’ll see. Three is pretty cool.”
Helping spoil the centennial
On April 20 the Yankees visited Fenway Park, joining the Red Sox in celebrating 100 years at 4 Yawkey Way in Boston. After a rather bizarre toast by former Red Sox Kevin Millar and Pedro Martinez, the Yanks got to work, putting some runs on the board and halting the BoSox behind the stellar pitching of Ivan Nova.
The Yanks basically had the game in the bag during the top of the sixth, up 5-2, but Martin added a run for good measure. The catcher clobbered a pitch off Clay Buchholz over the Green Monster – and over the Sports Authority billboard – a solo home run to give the Yanks a 6-2 lead to finish off the Red Sox.
Martin had already earned his pinstripes as a Yankee in 2011 when, towards the end of the season after a Yankee win over Boston, he said,
“We enjoy giving the Red Sox a hard time!”
Winning with the bat – and the arm
Martin had a rough go of it the first half of the 2012 season, only batting .179 before the All-Star break. Manager Joe Girardi even pulled him aside and spoke to him about his struggles, hoping his pep talk might turn his fortunes around.
And in the first game back from the All-Star break, he proved the tables had in fact been turned.
Against the Angels at home on July 13, Martin knocked in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning RBI single. But his biggest contribution was yet to come.
With the Yanks leading 6-5 in the ninth, Howard Kendrick attempted to advance to second base on a ball in the dirt that almost got by Martin. But the catcher recovered nicely; picked up the ball and threw out Kendrick to end the game, propelling the Bombers to a win.
Sometimes it only takes one good game to give a player confidence going forward –and the solid effort certainly did give Martin confidence going into the second half of the season.
“I’m starting to feel a little bit better about myself,” he told the media afterward. “And that’s never a bad thing.”
A Twitter shout-out
This is more of a personal moment, but I’ll throw it in, nonetheless.
In April of 2011, Martin conducted a Twitter Q & A. Hoping to get some recognition, I sent him a tweet question. Little did I know he would respond to me! (Note: he answered me back when my handle was @OriginalAJ615)
(Follow me on Twitter @AJ_Martelli)
Walking off a hero
Twice this year, Martin made the most of clutch situations.
On June 10 after Rafael Soriano had blown a save vs. the Mets at home, Martin brought his big stick to the plate. Tied 4-4 in the ninth, he hammered a pitch off Jon Rauch deep to left field for a home run to not only lift the Yanks to a 5-4 victory over the Metropolitans, but a Subway Series sweep of their cross-town rivals.
Three months and 11 days later, it was the same story. This time however, vs. the Oakland A’s.
Tied 1-1 in the ninth on Sept. 21, Martin pounded another pitch to left; another solo, walk-off home run to beat the A’s 2-1 with one swing.
It’s safe to say Martin knew how to play the role of hero in 2012.
Leading the way in Game 1
The Yankees hadn’t beaten a team not named the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS since 2001, when they beat the A’s in five games. This year they were up against a familiar foe, the division rival Baltimore Orioles, in the first round of the playoffs, looking to finally quell a team other than the Twins in round one.
And it was Martin that set the table, playing a huge role in getting the Yanks out of the funk.
Knotted 2-2 in the ninth, the catcher broke the tie with a most impressive home run off Baltimore closer Jim Johnson, who had saved 51 games during the regular season – which led the majors. Martin’s round-tripper started a five-run rally for New York, as the Yanks went on to take Game 1 from the O’s, 7-2.
Yet it wasn’t just his offense that proved to be the difference.
Martin also made two remarkable plays on defense behind the plate in the fifth, preventing a pair of runs from coming in. It seemed he was just grateful to help the team win, no matter how.
“Whether I help the team win offensively or defensively,” he said, “I am happy.”
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On behalf of Yankee fans everywhere, THANK YOU RUSSELL for the two years of service.
Best of luck in Pittsburgh. Tell A.J. Burnett and Jeff Karstens we say hi.
Yes! Yes! Yes!
At the end of the first inning of last night’s Subway Series game, I sent out a specific tweet.
“I hope Robinson Cano blasts a 450’ homer off Johan. But that’s just me.”
Lo and behold, on the first pitch he saw in the second inning, Cano absolutely blasted Johan Santana’s offering over the right-centerfield wall, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. I then received a reply to that tweet:
Thanks, Kev.
Cano would go on to smack another two-run homer in the third, followed by a solo shot off the bat of Nick Swisher. Andruw Jones then came to the plate and clobbered yet another homer, as the Yanks went back-to-back-to-back in home runs, distancing themselves from the Mets.
The power surge led to a glorious 9-1 victory for the Yanks over the Mets, a great way to start off the weekend cross-town showdown.
During the game the Yes Network posed a tweet question, to which I responded:
Little did I know they would use my answer on their “Extra Innings” postgame show – the third time they have used one of my comments on their show!
Hosts Bob Lorenz and Jack Curry praised my insight.
Thanks again to YES for once again using one of my comments on TV. At this point, why don’t they just hire me as an analyst?
The Yanks, meanwhile, will play the second game of their Subway Series vs. the Mets tonight. Coming off his spectacular, complete game win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, Phil Hughes (5-5, 4.96 ERA) will toe the rubber for the Yanks, to be opposed by Dillon Gee (4-3, 4.48 ERA).
Good Luck, Bears
While the Yankees are Mets – and most baseball fans in New York – are gearing up for what’s expected to be a well-played Subway Series at Yankee Stadium this weekend, another team is preparing for a big day tomorrow.
The Briarcliff Bears, one of the local High School baseball teams I have covered this past season for my newspaper, is gunning for a state title. Last Wednesday the Bears won their section, beating Keio – a team that had beaten them 8-1 during the regular season – by a score of 5-0. (Ironically enough the Bears won their Section at Dutchess Stadium, the same Stadium I interned at…yeah, I had to throw that in).
Briarcliff went on to win its region and this weekend will compete in Binghamton for the Class B New York State title. The Bears from Section 1 will take on Albany Academy from Section 2 tomorrow morning. If they beat Albany, they play the winner of Fredonia (Section 6) and Oneonta (Section 4) later in the day for the state crown.
Best of luck, guys.
I had the pleasure of writing Briarcliff’s season preview back in March, and I covered the Bears multiple times this season – and each game of theirs I covered, they won.
At the beginning of the year on April 5, the Bears hosted their annual Diamond Classic tournament. They made the finals and routed rival Irvington 20-7, winning their own tournament for the first time since 2009.
Power-hitting senior third baseman John Fussell – who has received offers to play baseball next year at Wake Forest, UMass, and Virginia Tech – collected six hits throughout the Diamond Classic, including a home run. He took home the honor of tourney MVP.
“I’m proud and it’s a great way to start the year off,” Fussell said. “It’s a good feeling; I’ve been doing what I need to do so far and I hope I keep it up.”
Outfielder Spencer Kulman earned all-tournament honors, as he clubbed his first varsity level home run vs. Irvington. His teammates ran out of the dugout to congratulate him on his first round-tripper, and Kulman was just as happy with his feat.
“It was my first real home run,” he said. “I’ve had a couple in scrimmages the last two years, but it’s good to finally have one count and it was nice to have them come out for me; a good feeling.”
On May 18 the Bears once again won big, beating another rival, Pleasantville, 10-4. Briarcliff had lost to Pleasantville 2-1 two days earlier, but let out all their aggression in the fourth inning, plating nine runs.
Bears’ Head Coach John Consorti attributed the big fourth inning to some tweaking.
“I think we made a little bit of an adjustment in our at-bats,” he said. “Our at-bats were a little better, we were more patient, and we had more opportunity to use some of our speed on the bases, so it was a very positive inning.”
Lastly, on May 26, I covered their quarterfinal game vs. Putnam Valley, the second stop on the road to their Section title. The Bears, seeded at No. 1, had beaten Croton-Harmon 5-0 the day before in the opening round. Unlike a lot of their other games, however, the Bears didn’t win big.
Briarcliff squeaked by Putnam Valley, 3-2.
Bears’ senior pitcher Paul Henshaw had done a nice job shutting PV down the entire game. That is, until the last inning. Ahead 3-0 in the seventh, things got a little dicey for Henshaw, as he let up two runs with the tying run standing on third base with two outs.
But in the pressure-laden predicament, Henshaw remained calm. He got Tigers’ third baseman Chris Wright to ground out to first, as Briarcliff finished the ninth-seeded Tigers off.
Before Henshaw got Wright to ground out to end the game, Consorti made a visit to the mound. The coach talked to his ace, calming him down when the game was on the line.
“He told me to relax and keep doing my thing,” Henshaw said of the powwow. “He told me to bare down and I was able to regain my focus and keep doing what I was doing, which was jamming them inside.”
The Bears only led 2-0 going into the sixth inning, and Henshaw was saved by pinch-hitter Matt Pasternak – who lined an RBI single to left field to drive in Kulman in the frame. The decision to pinch hit paid dividends for Briarcliff, and Consorti was happy Pasternak came up big when he sent him to the plate.
“Well, it made me look good,” he said of the move. “Matt has more of a short swing and is a contact hitter, so I figured I’d give it a shot and it worked out pretty well.”
Overall, it was a lot of fun to be a small part of the Bears’ team this season. I can only hope they make it all the way and bring home a state title tomorrow.
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Other Congratulations
I’d also like to send a special shout out to the Byram Hills baseball team, another squad I was able to cover this year. The Bobcats were seeded at No. 9 and made it all the way to the Class A section finals. Unfortunately they lost to Harrison, but nonetheless, I’d say it’s very impressive for a nine seed to make it that far.
Byram Hills collected a playoff win at Beacon – a field I’m very familiar with. I made a lot of memories when I played summer ball for the town of Beacon and I’m glad they were able to make some memories there, too.
Although they didn’t win, congrats to Head Coach Scott Saunders, Andrew Slosberg, Scott Rose, and the rest of the Bobcats on a wonderful season. It was a lot of fun covering you guys this year.
(Photo Credit: LoHud, Examiner News, Google, Patch)
Consistently Inconsistent, Yanks overcome Jays
Tonight had a warm, fuzzy, nostalgic feeling; in a way it’s almost as if we were brought back to 2009, a year that the Yankees won the World Series. A year that wasn’t that long ago, yet right now seems it was ages ago.
The Yankees were 1-18 when trailing after eight innings coming into tonight’s game, and as fate would have it, they were down 4-3 in the ninth inning at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays in tonight’s game at home. It looked as if they would be 1-19, but the Yanks made up their minds: they weren’t losing.
Following a double by pinch-hitter Jorge Posada, Curtis Granderson came to the plate and came up with a clutch, two-out base hit to tie the game at four, bringing home Chris Dickerson, who pinch-ran for Posada.
Granderson promptly stole second base setting up the moment.
Mystique and aura made an appearance when Mark Teixeira stepped up to the plate and squeaked a hit past Jays’ first baseman Juan Rivera. The ball trickled into right field as Granderson made his way to the plate, giving the Yanks a 5-4 walk-off win over their division rivals.
A pie to the face for Teixeira and a win for the Bronx Bombers.
In the eighth inning the Yanks scored two runs, receiving an RBI double off the bat of Robinson Cano which plated Granderson. Russell Martin then singled to bring home Cano.
The Yanks got their first run in the third when Martin crushed a solo home run into the left field stands, his ninth of the season.
CC Sabathia did a nice job on the mound tonight, tossing a complete game to save a depleted bullpen (ask Rafael Soriano, who is going to see Dr. James Andrews and is now shut down indefinitely).
He gave up four earned runs on eight hits, walked one batter, and struck out three. Really the only blemish on his ledger was a 3-run fourth inning, but he retired the last 16 batters he faced.
Sabathia hasn’t been as overly dominant this year, but nonetheless is now 5-3 with an ERA of 3.17. His struggles have defined the Yankees’ play as of late:
Inconsistent.
It’s really not a stretch to say the Yanks have been playing very inconsistently lately. After dropping six games in a row – the longest losing streak since April of 2007 – they came alive with three consecutive wins. Then they lost one to the Mets, only to win their next two.
Following their Subway Series win, they dropped their series opener to the Blue Jays yesterday, only to win in their final at-bat tonight.
If that doesn’t define a hot-cold streak, I don’t know what does.
It’s easy to point out some of the losses that rest on the shoulders of the offense. The one that sticks out like a sore thumb is Friday May 20 vs. the Mets, a 2-1 loss. Freddy Garcia, the Yanks’ starter, gave his team a quality start: seven innings pitched, two earned runs on five hits, two walks and two Ks.
Not for nothing, it was a good outing. The offense on the other hand was a different story.
The Yanks left seven runners on base and were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Each time they had a chance to score, it somehow got away from them – and I will be the first to say the Mets’ pitching did a solid job of holding the Yankee hitters down. They knew the Yanks were scuffling in terms of scoring runs and took advantage.
My friend’s dad went as far as saying the Yankees made R.A. Dickey look like Bert Blyleven.
But other games, like yesterday’s 7-3 loss to Toronto, are more or less on the shoulders of the pitching. Bartolo Colon seemed to be cruising, despite surrendering a first inning home run to the Blue Jays’ version of Mickey Mantle, AKA Jose Bautista, MLB’s leading home run slugger.
Joey Bats took Colon deep in the first, but the Yanks recovered and tied the game at one in the fourth. However the Blue Jays exploded on Colon in the sixth, scoring five runs and putting the Yanks in a hole they were never able to climb out of.
Colon’s line: six innings pitched, six earned runs on seven hits, four walks and eight strikeouts.
Other than the eight Ks, it’s not a pretty sight.
The bottom line is, the Yanks collectively have to step up if they want to win it all this season, they way they did in 2009. The AL East is not going to be an easy division to claim and this three-horse race (among the Yanks, Rays, and Red Sox) could even become a four-horse race.
The Blue Jays are 24-24, only 2 ½ games out of first place. If they continue to keep their heads above water, and play the way they did against the Yanks yesterday night, they may have a shot to raise a few eyebrows and finish near the top of the division – not saying they will win the east, but at the very least, they could create problems for the Yankees as a spoiler team.
Heck, even Baltimore is only 3 ½ games out at 22-24, as they won their game over the Kansas City Royals tonight. This really could be anyone’s division to win if things keep going the way they are now.
But time will tell our division winner.
As for tonight…tonight reminded me of 2009. Only because the Yankees did not die when they had odds and numbers stacked against them. The ’09 Yanks recorded walk-off victory after walk-off victory, and it never mattered if they were down late in the game.
In a close game, you could not beat them in the late innings. And tonight, they were down in the late innings…and they didn’t get beat.
Tomorrow afternoon the Yanks will look to win the rubber game vs. Toronto and will get a much-needed day off on Thursday.
Garcia (2-4, 3.12 ERA) will gun for the win, opposed by Jo-Jo Reyes (0-3, 4.07 ERA).
The Mets: Where Careers Go to Die?
The Yankees are known as New York’s number one baseball team. The Bronx has seen 27 World Series titles and has a history of winning. Year after year the Yankees are in the hunt for the playoffs and they always have a shot at winning it all.
But on the other side of the city in Flushing, Queens, the Mets have not had an easy run these past few years. The last time the Mets won a Championship was 1986 and the last time they even came close to a World Championship was 2006. The so-called “Amazin’ Team” made it to the National League Championship Series and pushed the St. Louis Cardinals to a decisive Game Seven.
The Mets played their hearts out in that NLCS. That was evidenced by an incredible catch made by Endy Chavez in the final game. In the top of the sixth, Chavez tracked a fly ball (hit by Scott Rolen) to the left field wall at Shea Stadium. He leaped up, stuck his glove out over the wall, and brought the ball back into the park for an out.
He turned a two-run homer into a spectacular double play.
Tied 1-1 going into the ninth inning, the Cards took the lead. Yadier Molina swung his bat and delivered a tie-breaking two-run home run to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead. The Mets threatened in the bottom of the frame, World Series in sight.
What could have been the Mets’ dream season ended with Carlos Beltran staring blankly at a disgusting breaking ball thrown by Adam Wainwright.
Strike three called. Beltran out. NLCS over. Cardinals win.
From that called strike three and basically losing the pennant by one pitch, it seemed the Mets never recovered – despite a number of attempts to better themselves. The team from Flushing has gone in a downward spiral; a torturous period of bad luck and misfortune. It just seems as if black cloud has followed the team around since Chavez’s catch.
Following the sad ending in the ’06 NLCS, the Mets went out and got the best pitcher on the trading block. Then-General Manager Omar Minaya made an offer to the Minnesota Twins and the Mets gave up some prospects for ace and two-time American League Cy Young Award Winner (2004, 2006) Johan Santana.
As the Mets’ biggest off-season acquisition, Santana did not have a poor year in ’07 (15-13, 3.33 ERA) but he did lead the N.L. in home runs allowed with 33.
But the real story of the year wasn’t Santana. It was what has become known as “The Collapse.”
For most of the year, the Mets dominated the NL Eastern Division. Into the stretch, they played exceptionally well, as they were 21 games over .500 at 83-62 on Sept. 12.
As they say however, objects in the rearview mirror are closer than they appear – and the Phillies were not far behind the Mets.
Leading Philadelphia by seven games in the division – with only 12 games left to play – the Mets folded and lost six of their final seven games. In a deadlock for first place with Philly on the last day of the season, the Mets were beaten 8-1 by the Florida Marlins.
Meanwhile the Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 6-1 to win the NL East – the same NL East the Mets had a firm grasp on earlier that month. The Phillies were heading to the playoffs and the Mets were going home for the winter.
It couldn’t possibly get any worse for the Mets after 2007, right?
Not quite. After the ’07 collapse came the collapse of 2008.
Throughout ’08 the Mets had problems, as they fired manager Willie Randolph mid-season and they let go of Pitching Coach Rick Peterson. Jerry Manuel, a former Manager of the Year, took over. But even he couldn’t guide the bullpen in the right direction, as the Mets’ relievers failed them in big spots.
It once again came down to the Mets and the Marlins on the last day of the season.
If the Milwaukee Brewers lost and the Mets won, New York would have captured the NL Wild Card. If the Brew Crew won and the Mets lost, Milwaukee was in.
Lo and behold, the Mets lost 4-2 to Florida on Sept. 28 and the Brewers won, a tragic way to end the final regular season game at Shea Stadium. When it was all over and the meltdown was complete, the Mets of old came out for a postgame ceremony. Players like Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden were on hand to send off Shea Stadium in a nice way.
But to the fans, it felt more like a funeral than a celebration. Two years, two chances for a playoff appearance. And both times, the Mets came up just short at the last minute.
Since then there hasn’t been any room for a postseason collapse for the Mets, simply because they haven’t been in a playoff race following the ’08 meltdown. They attempted to fix their scuffling bullpen by signing closer Francisco Rodriguez prior to 2009. Yet even in trying to build the ‘pen, things didn’t work out.
Case in point: June 12, 2009.
Luis Castillo, a second baseman the Mets traded for in 2007, botched a pop-up that cost the Mets a game – and not just any game: a Subway Series game against their cross-town rivals, the Yankees.
With K-Rod on the mound, two outs, and the Mets leading 8-7 with two men on base, Alex Rodriguez swung and batted a popup behind second base. Castillo got underneath the ball and readied himself to catch it.
When the ball came down he closed his glove, only for it to pop right out and fall to the right field grass, like a piece of bread exploding out of a faulty toaster. Castillo, obviously without his wherewithal, failed to get either base runner out, throwing the ball to second base rather than home plate.
The Yankees scored two runs on the error and won the game 9-8.
It didn’t get any better for the Mets from there, as they ended their first season in Citi Field with a record of 70-92, good for fourth place in the NL East behind Philadelphia, Florida, and Atlanta.
After 2009 the Mets once again tried to land a big-name free agent. Left fielder Jason Bay, coming off a good year playing for the Boston Red Sox, was available and on Minaya’s radar. They signed him to be a power hitter in the middle of the lineup, hoping he would produce and drive in over 100 runs for the season.
Bay did anything but that.
He finished 2010 with a batting average of .259 and only hit six homers with 47 RBIs. It wasn’t exactly what the Mets had in mind, as he had hit 36 home runs with 119 RBIs in Boston the year before. He was also sidelined for a good portion of the year, as he sustained a concussion in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The unlucky outfielder smacked his head against the outfield wall while tracking down a fly ball.
Bay only played 95 games last year and began this season on the disabled list with a rib injury.
Beltran, who was another big-ticket free agent the Mets acquired, has also had a rash of injuries. He had surgery on his knee in January of 2010 and it sparked controversy. The Mets’ organization said the procedure was done without their consent and they stressed their disappointment in Beltran about not consulting them about it first.
Before the Mets signed Beltran before the 2005 season, he gave them – and every other team in baseball – a good reason to seek him out. The centerfielder had slugged 38 homers in ’04 for Kansas City and Houston, and put on quite a hitting show in the 2004 NLCS, which the Astros played against the Cardinals. In that NLCS, he crushed four homers, knocked in five runs, and hit .417.
In his first season with the Mets Beltran hit 16 homers, recorded 78 RBIs, and he averaged .266.
Not a bad season by any means, but certainly not what the Mets had hoped for. Beltran had one outstanding season for the Mets in 2006 – ironically the only season in recent years the Mets have been any good. In ’06 he clobbered 41 homers, registered 116 RBIs, and hit .275.
Statistically, Beltran’s power numbers have declined every year since ’06.
The offense has not been the only facet of the Mets’ game that has been suffering. Their pitching – namely the hurlers they signed to get the job done – have also betrayed them.
Like Beltran, Santana has had one standout year (2008; 16-7, 2.53 ERA) but other than that season, he has been rather ineffective. He has been hurt for three straight years going back to 2009 and at the end of last year he left his Sept. 2 start early and was ultimately shut down. Later that month he had surgery on his pitching shoulder.
This year Santana has yet to pitch and will not begin the 2011 season until end of June or early July.
K-Rod, who had set the all-time saves record in a single season (62 in 2008) before going to Flushing, has not done anything close to what he did while playing for the Los Angeles Angels. Rodriguez went 3-6 in his first year with the Mets and blew seven saves (35 saves in 42 opportunities). He also had a back injury in 2009, once again an unfortunate happening for a player the Mets put a lot of stock into.
This year K-Rod already has one blown save, but one win. Against the Marlins on Saturday, he blew what would have been his first save of the year. However the Mets rallied and bailed him out, scoring three runs in the tenth to beat the fish 6-4.
The day before on Opening Day, the Mets suffered their first loss of the year, a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Marlins. A person who works for SNY, the Mets’ cable network, played a clip from the TV show “Family Guy” that poked fun at how poor the Mets have played these past few years.
With all of the collapsing, the breaking down, the failure year after year, the injuries to the big stars, the question has to be asked: if you sign with the Mets, are you committing career suicide? No matter what they do, will they ever be contenders again? Is the team, which has basically been reduced to nothing more than a laughingstock, going to eventually turn things around?
This year, probably not. The Mets just do not have the pitching to go toe-to-toe with the Phillies and some of the other teams in the division, such as the Braves. Combine that with the lackluster run production the Mets showcase, they do not stand a chance.
Even though the Mets are failing, Stewie Griffin is poking fun at them, and the state of the team is seemingly in a state of flux, one thing remains constant: the fans.
Mets fans are very loyal. They know that they are doomed to watch their team fall down and never garner enough energy to pick themselves back up. Yet they still go out to Citi Field, and still root for players like Beltran, Santana, Bay, and K-Rod, and others like David Wright, Ike Davis, and Jose Reyes.
I don’t know how they put up with losing, but they do. I tip my (Yankee) cap to them all.
Yankee Yapping 