MAKE IT OR BRAKE IT FOR JOBA AND THE YANX

I hate to use one of the most overused cliche of the century as the title of the post but its true.
The New York Yankees 2008 campaign is hanging in the balance this week. while they are only two and a half games back from a playoff spot with 50 some odd games left remaining you could rationally say their in great shape. Every year the Yankees stage some sort of major push and why should this year be any different?
The answer to that is simple. This season an already shallow rotation is in Limbo of losing by far its greatest weapon. Joba Chamberlain currently is getting a "second opinion" by none other than Dr James Andrews. If the Doc gives any sort of negative opinion you could call it a season for young Mr Chamberlain.
The Yankees will never recover from losing two aces in one season (Wang and Joba) unless Carl Pavano and Phil Hughes come riding in on their White horses to save the day. We all know Carl will probably hurt himself getting on the horse.( so we could count that theory out.)
In addition to all this going on the Yankees just started a crucial 10 game road trip out on the wrong foot going o and 2 in heart breaking fashion. We can ill afford to lose any more ground and the starters better start going deeper than 5 cause our over taxed bullpen is starting to get exposed.
Lets right this ship and pray all goes well for Joba. If all doesn't go well and Joba is hurt you could kiss this season goodbye.

Bye Bye Birdie

In another stunning move, Brian "the dealer" Cashman raped another team in a late night trade yesterday. Somehow he convinced the Houston Astros to take Latroy "The Hawk whose really more like a pigeon" Hawkins off our back s and even got a minor leaguer in return!

Even if Matt Cusik never reaches High-A ball this trade will be considered a fleecing. The fact that the Cashmoney was able to to get a living, breathing, moving person should put him in the running for some sort of Nobel Prize. Hell I woulda traded him for 10 bats if someone offered them...

There are about 5 more hours until the trade deadline, I'm looking forward to seeing what else we could put together.

-The Ghost of SAMIAM

Another Great Trade

The reason there was no post from the ghost over the recent trade of tabata+throw-ins for damaso marté and xavier nady was 2 fold. 1: I was busy haunting the dreams of Met fans for not being able to get Manny. 2: the biggest idiot of all time (Steve Phillips) who singly handed crushed the mets franchise proclaimed "the yankees need bulpen help and can not be contenders without added arms". The fact that the Yankees then got Marté really upset me because any normal person with common sense knew the bullpen was fine, and because nothing good will ever come from listening to a belligerent fool such as Phillips.

I was hoping deep inside of my ghost body that Ca$hman added to a point of strength (the bullpen) in order to help spin off a relief arm while their stocks were high for another piece (catcher or SP) to fill out our club. TODAY IS THE DAY CA$HMAN MADE THAT KEY ADDITIONAL MOVE. Cashman has just taken advantage of 2 hot months of Kyle Freakin Farnsworth and traded him back to the Tigers for Ivan Pudge Rodriguez.

While obviously he is not the same pudge from 10 yrs ago, this acquisition takes Molina's bat (which is worse than McLovin's ;) ;) ) out of the lineup and gives us another legit righthanded hitter to balance out the lineup. While only 2 weeks ago the bottom half of the order read Cano, Melky, Molina, Gardner/Christian (all basically automatic outs at the time), it now looks like Cano, Nady, Pudge, Melky (only 1 automatic out).

Is this tade a direct result of being held to practically 4 runs over almost 3 full games (the past 3 losses with exception to last night loss to the O's where we finally scored a few runs late in the game)? I would assume so... Am I happy? Hell yes! This organization is looking to do everything in its power to make a serious and deep run into and through the playoffs. The only place of concern left on this team is the 4th & 5th starters positions, and if cash doesn't make a move to shore it up, that only means he has faith in IPK/Aceves/Hughes/Wang to come back and take over their roster spots. Lemme tell ya, after the past week of trades, I trust this guy.

Everyone, please feel free to post your opinions. One more thought: is cash making these moves to save his job???-The Ghost of samiam

TIME TO MAKE UP SOME GROUND

Today we approach game one of yet another epic Yankee Red Sox series in a match-up for the ages. Josh Beckett vs the "Phenom" Joba Chamberlain.
This three game set could do wonders for the hobbled Bronx Bombers. Coming of a six game win streak, is just the perfect way to enter this three game set of such high magnitude.
The Bosox got lucky by the timing of Poppy's return. Especially now that Manny was just bit by the injury bug himself. (or was he ?!?!?!)
This series to me is a litmus test for the Yankee bullpen. A bullpen which is firing on all cylinders (including Farnsworth). If they impress against this lineup on such a high stage, then bullpen help via the trade market is just not necessary. If they falter, then bring on Fuentes and co...
I'm very curious to see how this team responds on a whole. In my opinion, this series is really a good way to see if we are October bound. Cm-on boys, lets tear them another one!

Holy Cano! It's 5 in a row!

Last night I came to SAMIAM in a dream and we had a lengthy discussion. Of the many topics we spoke about (the ghost being overrated in softball, met fan's ignorance, if their same ignorance led to bliss etc.), the hilight of the conversation was how pleasurable it is to watch a Yankee game when they score and win (which has been happening a lot more often as of the ASB).

I dare to say this a game or two too early but Yankees bats have awoken and the bronx bombers are back (even w/o posada and matsui). The starting pitching has been great with exception to the 4th and 5th starters who have somehow managed to get out of trouble, eat enough innings, and help the team pick up some wins (what more can you ask for?). The relief has been nothing short of stellar! When the Yanks have a lead, the game is essentially over after the 6th inning as Veras, FarnsWORTH (I never thought i would take out the worthless from his name), edwar, and mo rivera just don't give up runs anymore.

Life is good as a Yankee fan... For all the Mets fans that read the blog, all I can say is I really thought with Billy Wagner down you guys would be able to win some close, tough, in-division games yet the Mets still manage to blow a lead in the 9th last night and put a smile on my face.

-El Fantasma (ghost) de SAMIAM

SAM I AM SPORTS BLOG UPDATE

Let me take this opportunity to welcome myself back to the blog.......
OK, now that I got that out of the way, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to this character who calls himself -The Ghost.
I think your doing a fine job and I hope the fan base feels the same way. I will try ( if time permits me to do so) to periodically drop in a post every now and then. Its good to be back.

-SAM I AM

And the second half begins...

Tonight the yankees start the 2nd half of the 2008 missing 2 starting OF's and 3 SP's, including the ace of the team, from the projected opening day lineup. Practically every single starter went down for a period of time in the first half with the exception of Cano (who maybe needed the time off the most to find his old self), Pettite, Moose and Abreu. Miraculously the Yankees find themselves just 6 games out of 1st place in the division. If they turn it up the season can easily be ours, and with the way the pitching and bullpen performed in the first half all we need is to score a few runs every now and then to win. Lets be clear, an avg run of 5 in a row and then fall back to mediocrity isn't gonna cut it...We need to start scorching like the weather thats hitting us in NY now, we need to scorch like dare I say, give me a minute im having a hard time typing this as my finger are reluctant to hit the keys, the mets...gulp! I was going to throw myself off the blog for that, but I will make up for it by saying the mets are paying Johan $137 million for an 8-7 record at the break...Here's hoping the yankees can put something together against the second toughest remaining schedule for the second half of the season (although most of those tough teams we are fighting with in the Wild Card and division race so they are high impact games)

-The ghost

I can't help dreaming about next season in the new stadium

Although I was only able to catch the first 3 innings of last nights allstar game because I was catching a flight from DFW to EWR, I had a few epiphanies while sitting in the airport sportsbar that I feel must be shared:
1. Great pitching really does shut down great hitting

2. The Yankees must sign Sheets and/or Sabathia, whichever one the Brewers can not afford to sign.

3. Top priority number 2 of the off-season should be signing Texeira (behind signing the fallen Brewers).

Evident by last night's all-star game, there is no greater asset to a team then great pitching; after all great pitching wins championships right? In 30 total innings pitched, the all-star pitchers held the hitters to 6 earned runs, and 1 of those six runs were given up by billy wagner who is awful in situations that are actually important! By following point #2 in the off-season, the yankees would have a rotation that would sport: Wang and his strike-out badass self, Ben Sheets who made AL hitters look stupid last night, Joba the ace in training, Pettite the reliable vet and TRUE YANKEE, and Philip J. Hughes the prospect who inexplicably has lost favour in the eyes of many yankee fans dispite being just 21 and being ranked THE TOP PITCHING PROSPECT IN ALL OF BASEBALL (I didn't count matsuzaka as a prospect that year) when he was just 20 years of age and the last year he was eligible to be considered a prospect. To all of you downers on Phil Hughes I say go hump a tree this guy is the real deal just give him a little time! That rotation has the ability to win 85 games just between the starters!!! Having Phillip J. Hughes as your 5th starter??? not normal.

Second objective of the utmost priority in the off-season is to sign Mark Texeira. That gives the Yanks another masher from the right side, an all-star studded infield, and a class act that is a switch hitter. This platoon garbage @ 1B has gone on long enough (almost every year Giambi has been with the team) and must come to an end. This will let Matsui be the everyday DH and we can have some stability in the lineup for a welcomed change. I must add again how important it is to having him able to bat righty so its not just A-rod, Posada, and Jeter playing when opponents throw out a LHP.

After signing one or both of Milwaukee's aces, we won't really need most of the plethora of SP prospect that we have just dwelling in the minors. Take a bunch of decent-above avg arms (Listed in order of who I would like to jettison: Kennedy, Marquez, Horne, McCutchen, McAllister, Brackman, Betances) and trade it in for an above avg outfield prospect THAT CAN ACTUALLY HIT A BASEBALL. We already have 5 amazing starters in our hypothetical rotation so we can afford to give up a few arms for the cause to add QUALITY youth to the lineup. Who to trade for? Honestly, I don't know other teams prospects but I know its much harder to come by quality pitchers then hitters so it shouldn't be so hard to make a deal. To give a little more of a picture, I am thinking like a Garza for Delmon Young type of deal that went down last summer, except we would probably have to give up more then one pitcher.

THE BULLPEN IS AMAZING AND ONLY STANDS TO GET BETTER. Within the next year the yanks should be adding Melancon, Cox, Sanchez, and Bruney to an already stacked bullpen. Life is good when you have a lead after 6 innings again...

Stop the Melky mistake and let Abreu go. With damon in LF, our newly aquired OF talent through a trade, and Gardner/Christian holding down fort until Ajax is ready for a ML call up (which Keith Law believes could be as soon as the middle of '09) we now have an above avg. outfield!

The beauty of this plan is not only does it make the yanks younger and better, but they are feasable goals and don't require to much work to get done. If you disagree with any of the ideas above you can comment in the comment box or just throw your opinions in the garbage, whichever is easiest for you.

P.S. --> Yes I did say we should trade some prospects because the sign of a good organization is its ability to use their farm system to improve the big league club. Sometimes this means using the prospect to fill the holes in the majors and sometimes it means pawning off those prospects that are deemed "expendable" to fill a larger hole on the big league team.

-The Ghost of SAMIAM

SHOW UP or BLOW UP

As you get excited about the Yankees 2 game sweep of the Rays at THE stadium, I warn you sit back down and prepare for a long journey ahead of us. With 71 games left, the streaky Bronx Bombers have plenty of time left to play with your emotions, while twisting and turning your heart in all sorts of directions.

Is it possible that the Yankees use this series as a springboard to launch them into the race for the division crown (as they did last year right before the all-star break)? YES. Is it likely? I'm not so sure.
The Yankees currently have: Matsui, Damon, Hughes, Bruney, and Wang on the DL; IPK somewhere in the minors; Posada who can't catch on consecutive days (he has been the DH for the past 3 games forcing Molina's horrible bat into the lineup); Brett Gardner and Melky in their lineup that flat-out CAN'T HIT A LICK; an aging Jeter and Abreu posting wayyy below career stats; a 1B that believes his mustache and a thong bring him good luck; and the only $30 Million Man with a divorce hanging over his head . Now with all that stacked up against them, I believe its pretty remarkable that they are still this close to the ML leading RAYS.

Unless the Yankees find ponce de leon's fountain of youth, it will be extremely hard for them to overcome these injuries and the ineffectiveness of certain players.

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, there is still plenty of time for the Yankees to SHOW UP (i.e. the 2007 rockies) or BLOW UP (i.e. 2007 METS)

Here's to finishing on top and not on the bottom!

-The Ghost of SAMIAM

And with the 90th game there came a ghost

Hello to you and a good day unto all!
To redeem the yankees from this .500 hell SAMIAM in the flesh has resurrected me, The Ghost. I'm gonna keep this one short, but beware because the blog is back and so are the Yankees! Hank, have no fear, your $200 million team is about to reappear.

-The Ghost of SAMIAM

FORGIVE ME

I don't know how to say this, but I'm sorry. I know its simply inexcusable for not posting in what seems like forever. So I just hope all of you could just accept my apology.
For what its worth, I haven't really had a chance to be in front of a computer for some time now. Due to the fact that I do not own a laptop (donations are accepted).
One thing I'll tell you, I do have what to say on Wang , Willy and the rest of the sports world etc...
Just hang tight and hopefully for the sake of normality I'll keep posting on a regular basis.

JASON'S JOLT SHOULD PROPEL THE YANKEES

The Yankees do have their share of problems. If its not the inconsistent bullpen its the lack of speed on the bench . Oh, I forgot to mention that our ace is winless since the turn of the century and Pettitte is just plain old mediocre.

You can look at yesterdays game and look at all of the flaws . You could say Farnsworth is just not the answer (which is the truth) You could say this team just lacks fundamentals which Cano pointed out when he couldn't drop down a simple bunt .

You could say allot of things.

But I'm saying this:

After yesterdays epic pinch hit two out mammoth walk off blast that came on an 0-2 count off the bat of Jason Giambi, I think the Yanks are taking a turn for the better. It was one of those season changing things that every mediocre team hopes and waits for.

As Yankee fans we must relish in the fact that Moose is just , for a lack of a better term "Great". If not for Mussinas Renaissance who knows how deep in the cellar we would be. I'm not sure we could expect this kind of performance throughout the rest of the season but anything close I think will be enough.

Wang will get back into form ( I hope) and I expect some sort of contribution from the Hughes and Kennedy tandem but for now that spot in the rotation is looking mighty fine thanks to Rasner.

That leaves the rest of the work load on the shoulders of Andy Pettitte and Unfairly on Joba. I say the Yanks are in pretty good shape. Even with this aside for Mo , unstable pen.

Although the offense started to percolate the minute A-rod was inserted back into the lineup we really owe allot of the credit to Johnny Damon and His resurgence. Now that Posada's back, Forget about it.

As the weather warms. Ironically so do the Yanks. Lets just hope they don't follow that pattern once October rolls along.

JOBA DOBA "DO"N'T

In what felt like a world series atmosphere, where flash bulbs were blinding as Joba dealt his first pitch of his career as a starter. I myself for a moment lost sight of all the problems the Yankees are having.
I couldn't help but envision what Joba (hopefully) turns out to be.
Although the runs that were scored against him were some of the softest runs imaginable between the walks the balk the past ball and the error. Joba was as wild as we have ever seen him.
Truth is, could you blame him? This was supposed to be a part of the "plan" .
But it wasn't just any plain old start. This turned out to be one of the biggest events that Yankee stadium has hosted in the past few years. Which really isn't all that fair for young Joba. This wildness that Joba displayed was solely based on nerves and will surely not be the case in his next start which is slated to be against the lowly Royals.
I think its safe to say that the current bullpen the Yankees have will not exactly be in tact in say...two months from now. And unless Mark Melancon is ready sooner than expected, its imminent that a move must be done( Brian Fuentes anybody?)

LOOKING BACK AT JOBA THE RELIEVER

Now that we are turning the page on Joba the "reliever", I would like to take a quick look back at his brief career as the set up man.
We all know he was just flat out dominant, but I think we fail to realize how dominant he was.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/c/chambjo03.shtml

After taking a look at the numbers, It really gets you thinking... Should Joba still be in the pen and continue to be groomed to be the next closer? The answer to that is NO!!!!

I am getting very frustrated by the fact that these so called "Baseball" experts" say he should be kept in the pen. If I keep on hearing these ignoramus rants every time Farnsworth blows a lead in the eighth all I have to say is there was a reason Joba replaced Kyle in the first place. The reason was he flat out SUCKED. This isn't the first time Farns blew it, this has been happening since the day they signed him. I place most of the blame on a combination of Girardi and Cashman. Girardi should know that Farns is unreliable just by following this team last year as a broadcaster and should be mixing and matching with Edwar and company.

If your going to ask me why I blame Cash??? That's simple, if the plan was to start Joba from the get go, then why didn't he bring in a suitable replacement to start the season. Don't go off telling me that he had confidence in Hawkins , Farns And Bruney when the season started cause that's just a lie. A deal should have been made (and still should be) for a quality bullpen arm with the bevy of prospects that the yanx have.
One more point I would like to make is if we get quality starts from quality starters and the starters don't blow numerous leads in the same game we wouldn't even be having this discussion. Which is why we need Joba to be a quality STARTER.
I'm looking forward to a START of a new career.

Juiced Sports Blogs 100 most Valuable Sports Blogs

Recently , I came across a post on the Juiced Sports Blog which lists the 100 most valuable sports blogs (http://juicedsportsblog.com/2008/05/top-100-valuable-sportsblogs.html).
Since The Sam I Am sports blog is powered by Blogger it doesn't qualify.

Hopefully one of these days I will get around to actually getting MY site ( www.samiamsports.com ) up and running. When that day comes, look out Blogging world cause I'm gonna be on top. ( I wish ).

SAM I AM

LETS GET IT STARTED!!!

Joba Chamberlain is on the fast track to being the newest member of the Yankees rotation. To be quite frank, I couldnt be more thrilled.

Going into last nights game, the plan was to have Joba throw around the 50 or so pitch mark . With that being said, I dont know what took so long to put him in the game. I know Pettitte was coasting and looked like the Andy of old , but still a plan is a plan.
Then after Joba was just flat out dominant in striking out two in the eighth, there is no reason to bring in Mariano. Especially if he was supposed to throw a certain amount of pitches. Just because it was a save situation , it doesn't mean you must use the closer.?.?.?
Its not like the Yankees put in Mo in place of Farnsworth. In that case I would agree with you.

In the situation the Yankees were in last night where Joba is supposedly building up stamina and arm strength you not supposed to take him out. (Was Joe not confident that Joba could have finished the game?.) Joba did finish his pitches in the pen , but as we all know in game pitching is allot more effective than a bullpen session. I think Girardi lost sight of the greater good and succumbed to good 'oll managerial pressure.

You guys are probably thinking that I'm nitpicking at a solid Yankee win and your probably right , but this was on my head and I had to vent. Oh By the way Giambi is a monster. No matter how many times he gets written off he always bounces back .

SOME THOUGHTS ON NOT TRADING IPK THIS PAST OFF SEASON

I know there is nothing we could do about it now. But its very frustrating to see Kennedy go out their start after start and not get the job done. Its not like I didn't say this in the past, the Yankees had a golden opportunity to trade IPK this past off season. His trade value was through the roof and higher than it ever will be again. Hind sight vision is always 20/20 but its not like I'm changing my views on this topic, (you could go look through my previous posts.)
I'm not even going to delve into the Johan Possibilities but we could have definitely gotten something better than what we are getting now.
I pray that this kid over the course of time turns out to be at least half of what he was advertised but as of right now, my hair is turning gray.

ITS ABOUT TIME

Last night was a special night in Yankee universe.
Not only did the offense wake up from its season long slumber ( thanks to the greatest "regular season " player of all time.)
Darell Rasner put together his third consecutive stellar outing.
You got to love this guys attacking the strike zone approach. Ian Kennedy has allot to learn from Rasner. For whatever the reason being, Rasner gets no love whatsoever. I think its safe to say that he earned himself at least a few more starts and the respect from all that are a fan of the Yankees.
The Yankee offense was fueled by A-rod and his HR and two Doubles (should have been two HR'S) . Note that this was the third Blown HR call since Saturday. For all of you who think some sort of instant replay should be installed into base ball I highly recommend you read this -http://samiamsports.blogspot.com/2007/11/instant-replay.html.
I may not like the guy (due to his post season woes) but there is no way around the fact that he definitely helps out this lineup enormously. His presence alone changes the way the opposing pitcher pitches to everybody else.

The main storyline in this 8 - 0 drubbing took place in the 8th and 9th inning.
Joba Chamberlain , took his first steps in being transformed into a starter. Over the past few months , throughout baseball this topic was a wee bit controversial. Whomever thinks that your supposed to keep a dominant pitcher in the bullpen and only let him pitch 80 innings instead of 200 innings , I dont know how to put this but I think your a fool.
You don't see the Red Sox plucking Beckett out of the rotation and making him the eighth inning guy. You dont see the Padres making Peavy the most dominant reliever in the game etc....
It just doesn't make sense. I am really glad the Yankees are sticking to "the plan". I just dont like that he didn't start the season in this role. It risks too many injuries. Just ask the Phillies about Brett Myers.
Anyways, I'm back.... (Its allot easier to write about a Yankee's win than yet another listless performance.) Hopefully This win is a sign of things to come.

ALMOST FAMOUS

In my head I was already planning the press conference, the questions from all the beat reporters. The scrutiny that I was probably going to be sick of after the initial 2 weeks of fame.

The Glamour the glitz and the publicity that this very blog would be finally getting.

I had stumbled on what I lead to believe a gold mine at the time , but it just turned out to be something "pretty cool".

A friend of mine that has no clue whats so ever about anything that has to do with baseball was in the airport. He was waiting by the luggage carousal for his bags. Then suddenly he saw his suitcase come tumbling down on the other end of the conveyor belt. With no time to waste , he sprinted towards that direction to go fetch his belongings. In the process , he left behind his "Carry on" on the floor.

On his way back , he accidentally retrieved the wrong Carry on. His bag and the one that he picked up were almost identical.

It wasn't until that evening where he learned that the bag wasn't his. After a long and tiring flight, he was in no mood to sort things out. He opted to wait till the next morning.

When the time came where he actually looked through the contents of the bag , he came to the conclusion that it belonged to some ball player.

The contents in the bag were as follows. 1) Cell phone 2) Two sets of keys 3)Some sort of pain killers 4) A baseball cap with a name and number embroidered into the back 5) (Here's the kicker) Some sort of injecting substance.

Even being the Baseball ignoramus that he is, my friend knew that there was something just not right about an injecting like substance. Naturally, he calls none other than myself.

After carefully listening to this story , impatiently I blurted out the million dollar question.....WHO??????

Searching his mind for the right name was like pulling teeth. So I said , at least narrow it down and give me a team name. Without hesitation he said it was "a guy on the Red Sox".

When I heard that my eyes lit up brighter than the the lights of a menorah or the lights on a Christmas tree.

I started naming the roster one by one. I listed all of the High profile players and even the scrubs but to no avail. I started to give up hope and thought it was some sort of mistake. I searched my mind to the deep end and back then out of nowhere I blurted out Julian Tavarez???

His response was priceless. " YEAH THAT'S THE GUY".

In a heartbeat, I was in his office to examine the goods with my own eyes. Like he said , it was all there. When I got my hands on the vile I read and re read all the ingredients. It was like Chinese to me. So I did what any sane man would do. I Googled it. Here is the link of what I came up with. http://www.americanregent.com/PDF_For_Products/Cyanocobalamin%20IN0031%20Rev.%201-03.pdf

I learned it was nothing but a lame B-12 shot. The stuff the Clemens claimed he took. It is perfectly legal.

Now I'm stuck with stuff that I have to somehow return. In case you were wondering, my friend kept the cell phone and master reset it.

My plans of submitting this story and having my fifteen minutes of fame were foiled.

I "almost" tarnished the Red Sox organization and the two recent titles which they have nabbed.

But as the saying goes " ALMOST DOESN'T COUNT"

BEWARE OF THE SUNSHINE STATE

As I look at my calendar I see that we are approaching mid May. At this point in Both the Yankees and Mets Season its fair to say that they both have their share of problems. The Yankees Problems have been mainly the injury bug . But you have to expect that out of an older team. The Mets Problem has just been the excessive use of their bullpen. While the Yanks have been hovering around the .500 mark and the Mets have been a few games over. You will have a hard time arguing with me if I said that Both NY teams will be right in the thick of things once September rolls around.
The Mets are currently in 2nd place in the NL East to the Florida Marlins who are currently surging with their core of young guys with an astounding 23 and 14 record.
The Yankees are currently tied in third place with the O's, 4 games behind the Bosox but the real shocker is that the Rays are right there with a 21 and 16 record.
I will ask you this. Are the teams from the Sunshine State for real???
In my opinion , the Rays are legit. With a solid young core of young pitching with Kazmir Shields and Garza with the veteran bullpen help that Dan Wheeler and Troy Percival bring to the table along with this dynamic group of young talented position players throughout the line up there is no reason to believe they aren't for real. The only way the Rays wont be there at the end of the day is if they get the "Dee
r in headlight syndrome".
If not this year then for sure sometime in the near future. Beware AL East . Its not only the Yankees and Red Sox anymore.
As for the Fish , I dont think they can keep it up. But A five hundred finish isn't out of the question.

FROM HERO TO ZERO

One year ago today Roger Clemens made his famous appearance in the Steinbrenner's box. Like a dream come true to all Yankee fans. Whether he liked it or not, On that day Clemens tagged himself as the savior of a team who's future at the time was looking bleak.

I myself was ecstatic and thrilled from this news.
Even though Roger didn't necessarily put up the numbers that we all expected him to , I think we could all agree that he gave the Yanks the spark that was lacking and played an integral part in the Yankee playoff push.

Exactly one year later, Clemens is amongst the laughing stock in America. All of his Hall Of Fame credentials mean absolutely nothing.
Now the face of steroids is suddenly the face of the Rocket and no longer Ba"roid" Bonds.
You cant even go two minutes without hearing about another women saying they enjoyed the Rockets company in more ways than you could imagine.
Roger Clemens has done the unimaginable. In just one year he has made a transformation from American Icon to American Idiot.

I will always remember that Clemens played a vital part in the 99-00 championship teams, but its still hard to look at the guy with half the respect that his presence once commanded.

One thing will never change though, I will always see him as the guy who tried to literally kill Piazza on more than one occasion. If you ask me, no matter what a guy does after that , he always will be a true Yankee icon.

All kidding aside. In just one year. Roger Clemens has gone from "HERO TO ZERO".

APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS

In essence, the Yankees have been more or less a .500 ball club throughout the first month and change of the season. Im not just stating the obvious just because their 17-16 record indicates they are. I am looking at this team as a whole.

The Starting pitching asides for Wang and this rejuvenated Mussina, has been either inconsistent(Pettitte) or just down right lousy (IPK , and a "hurt" Hughes)

If not for the Dominance from the back end of what I think the best one two punch in the game (Joba and Mo) The bullpen has been suspect to say the least.
With the loss of the emerging Bruney, the Yankees are forced to rely upon the ticking time bomb in Kyle Farnsworth . Latroy Hawkins is having a hard time competing for the mop up role with the premature disappointment of the Yankees bullpen Ross Ohlendorf. I like what I'm seeing from Albaladejo and I'm also glad to see Edwar get another shot. But still, this bullpen over the last few years has just been mind boggling. For some reason the Yankees (and the rest of the league) cant find that formula they once had in there most recent dynasty with exception to guys like Gordon and most recently Vizcaino.

The most frustrating of all is the Yankee offense. Granted A-rod and Posada are shelved for a while. It just doesnt make sense to me that Guys like Giambi , Cano , Jeter and Damon couldnt hit a lick for the most of the early stages of the season.
I'm glad to see that Jeter and Damon have decided to wake up over the past few days but Cano and Giambi are no where to be found. (pop fly HR's aren't included)

If it weren't for the Matsui and Abreu doing what they are supposed to be doing and this Fluke season (I hope I'm wrong) out of the "Melk" Man, The Yankee offense would be in the cellar.

The Bench has been OK . Ensberg has been filling in adequately at best for A-rod and Duncan hasn't been getting the Ab's he was slotted for when the season started. The Catcher situation has been a mess with the loss of our first and second stringers.

If You look at everything at a whole , It doesnt good.
This is the exact reason why I think we are in good shape. Considering all the problems the Yankees have went through and they are only three games out of first. I think we are in pretty good shape.
I'm confident the Bullpen is going to start to take shape and this rotation is going to work itself out. The hitting WILL start to hit.
When the Yankees start clicking on all cylinders they will be a force to be recon with.
Just remember, April showers bring May Flowers.

NOT "PHIL"IN GOOD?

According to Kat Obrien of News day this "oblique strain" that has Hughes shelved for at least a month is lejit. http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/blog/2008/04/hughes_to_the_dl.html

All I have to say is the Yankees are FULL OF IT.
You can't really blame the Yankees though. This whole situation is a little embarrassing .

If it is really an injury, than Phil Hughes was placed on the DL two years in a row with two separate injuries.
Injury prone ??? I sure hope not.

This morning Boomer Esiason said that in the NFL when Qbs complain about miscelaneos injuries such as hamstrings, obliques etc... Most of the time the real problem is the shoulder , but they dont want to publicize an injury such as that. I pray that this isnt the case for our ("so called") future.

(Special thanks to Max S for the Boomer info)

WHERE HAVE YOU GONE PHILLY PHRANCHISE???

I would like to start this post by saying that in no way shape or form am I writing off Phil Hughes. That would just be irrational and stupid.
At the same time its not fair to look at the other side of the coin. Phil Hughes has just been Awful. There is no way to defend the young hurler, he's just been putrid.
I don't think the answer is to send him down to the minors that would just not look good on the Yankees part and in my opinion stunt his growth. If this is done you can hardly blame them especially because he is burning the pen and we have Rasner who is just tearing apart AAA and just won the honors of International League Pitcher Of the Week.
The Yankees have to live there decision of not parting with Hughes for Johan. That point is moot and its not fun to beet a dead horse. We have to just live with Phil and his (what I hope to be) growing pains.
For what its worth, Greg Maddux at this point of his career sucked as well (www.baseball-reference.com/m/maddugr01.shtml) and for your information wasn't that great either (http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/santajo02.shtml)

ANEMIC OFFENSE MANAGES TO SPLIT

It just doesn't make sense to me that an offensive juggernaut such as the Yankees have struggled this badly to this point of the season. It mainly is due in part to the fact that All Star second baseman Robby Cano is batting a measly .153 with 5 RBIs and just one HR. Whats also not helping is that our one time capn clutch has turned into capn Double play. I know that Giambi has 5 hrs but other than that his numbers are close to pathetic. Abreu is doing just ok, and if it weren't for that mini hot streak that Damon had last week his numbers would be in the pits as well. The only Yankee that is having an acceptable year thus far is Hideky Matsui.
If there ever was a time for these players to step it up, now would be a good time, mainly because we are down our starting catcher and starting third baseman who just so happen to be arguably the best at there position.

In game one Pettitte was just not effective and Traber continued to disappoint. The only positive to take out of that game was Alabadejo started making strides toward filling in for Bruney who unfortunately is probably lost for the year.

In game two, IPK was ok. He definitely was better than what we saw but that's really not saying much. The Hawk and Farnsworth put up zeros. But Rockin Ross Ohelendorf was in effect punching his ticket to triple a. A good reason why they didnt win is because the offense was no where to be found.

In game three, Wang was just brilliant. What really got me pumped was those gaudy strike out total of 9 in just 7 innings. Suddenly Wang has become a strike out pitcher thanks to his new and improved breaking "stuff". If it weren't for Melkys blast to left that just cleared the fence, the Yanx would have been shutout.
While I'm talking Melky, I must say I am truly shocked and surprised with the production we are getting out of him. I didnt see melky hitting more than 12 HR this year. The theme of the year in my eyes isn't the ineffectiveness of the youngsters. I think its the ineffectiveness of the offense.

In game Four, Moose once again put together a solid start. That's two in a row since Hank called him out. Mussina gave up a pair of runs in
A Yankee rally which consisted of one ball that left the infield. I know the Yanks will take any offense they could get these days. I was very happy with what I saw out of Alabadejo and out of Krazy Kyle.

Overall, this series had more negatives than positives. The loss of Po and Bruney along with Alex reaggravating the quad injury hurts allot.
Lets hope the yanks could get their offense started at the expense of the Detroit pitching staff.

LEARNING FROM HIS MISTAKES

Last night The Skipper faced the same decision which ultimately got him fired in Florida.
When Joe let Josh Johnson come back after a rain delay which ended up landing Johnson on the DL and later getting Elbow surgery. You could have bet your bottom dollar that Joe wasn't going to let Philly Phranchise back into a game with a rain delay that lasted over 40 minutes.
Girardy has let that incident change the way he managed already twice in the early stages of the season. One that I have already pointed out is when IPK was the scheduled starter but because of the threat of rain Bruney started instead and last night as well.
Sometimes you must lose the battle in order to win the war. I give major props to Girardy for the decision he made.
The Yankees ended up taking 2 out of 3 and I am satisfied with that.
Joba proved to the world that he is human. Its like when Mo gives up a run , everybody says" is Mariano finished?". For all those that said that Joba is best suited for the pen because in his second inning of work he was hittable are just not smart. Joba is a starter and that's final.

FASTEST TO 50 SINCE THE DOC AND THE GATOR

I would like to take this moment to welcome myself back from my brief hiatus from the blogging community.
Instead of doing what I promised in the previous post by recapping the last few series's and adding my two cents in I will just skip to the present day.

Last night Chien-Ming Wang literally battled his way through a game where his slider was just not working and he had to get by with his other pitches. This start in my eyes was a confidence booster in the eyes of myself and probably every supporter of the men in pinstripes. We have seen in the past that when one of Wang's pitches aren't working, he gets disoriented and ends up in the showers before the fifth inning. Last night Chien-Ming struck out five and wiggled himself out of some major jams. By giving up just 3 runs and surrendering 10 hits over six I think its safe to say he came out as unscathed as possible.
Wang probably treated Abreu to a steak dinner after last nights game after Abreu kind of was responsible for the W. Bobby hit an opposite field grand salami which put the yanks ahead for good .
Later Joba saved Traber and Bruney's butt's by doing what he does best. Joba didn't really make a good case for Hank last night to be a starter because I dont think any Yankee over the last 7-8 years besides for Mo and maybe Gordon could have done that. To top things off Damon hit a three run shot to officially cap off a Home run happy game where the Yanks were afraid of the loss of A-rods bat.

Lets take a look at the Accomplishments that Wang has achieved in his young and very successful career. By earning the win in last nights match-up not only did Wang improve his record to a sterling 4 and 0. Chien has won his 50th career win in only 85 career starts . This is an astonishing feat. He is the fastest to that plateau since Doc Gooden who did it in 85 with the Mets in just 82 starts. This feat was also done by former Yankee great and Wang's former pitching coach Ron Guidry.

I dont know why Wang doesn't get the credit that he is due. Maybe its the language barrier or maybe its because every one sees Wang as a regular season pitcher only. But I dont think that's the case because it never stopped people from loving A-Rod.
The media and the public for some reason don't see that he has more wins than every pitcher in the game over the last three seasons. He also leads the majors in that time span in allowing fewest Home Runs per Nine innings. Wang is also amongst the league leaders in ground ball outs.
I love this guy, Even before he introduced this new change-up to his repertoire which should start giving him a decent strike out total and shut up some critics. Along with being an innings eater he also is a damn good defensive pitcher and should be earning himself a gold glove some time in the near future.
I would also like to point out to you that Wang actually pitched a very solid game in the playoffs. In 2005 vs the Angels , Wang through 6 2/3 innings yielded just one earned run. The Yankees ended up losing that game and the series.
All I'm saying is its about time Wang gets the respect he deserves.

SAM I AM SPORTS BLOG UPDATE

ATTENTION FELLOW BLOGGERS:

I will be taking a few days off and I will not be able to post until Monday.
Hopefully , I will recap the Mini Boston series along with the Orioles series.


SAM I AM

IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO

The Yankees have just completed the first sweep of the year . Granted It was just a two game set , but it was a sweep non the less.



In game one I was extremely pleased with the way Kennedy bounced back with such a solid effort after getting hit pretty hard by Tampa in the first go round.

The offense started to percolate and I think the warmer climate of the dome in st peters-burg had a lot to do with it. Johnny Damon had himself a monster night with 2 hits 3 RBIs and a HR. Jeter after his 6 game layoff got himself going by also adding 2 hits and 2 rbis. Morgan Ensberg Did his best impression of Jeff Bagwell with that exaggerated crouch and hit a dinger also Bagwell like by taking the ball deep, into the left Field seats. Arod joined the HR party and added 3 other hits .
This game once a laugher, suddenly turned into a disaster. IPK took a liner off the hip . The Yankees then, precautionary gave Ian the hook. At that point it didn't make that big of a difference. One of the solid parts of the Yanks early this year is the bullpen right? That didnt prove to be the case. Billy Traber gave up a long ball on what I thought was a pretty good pitch. Girardi elected to go with Bruney to hold the Rays in check. Aside for Joba and Mo, Bruney has been the most effective and productive arm out of the pen. Brian kind of had himself a bit of a rough outing by giving up two bombs to blow the lead. Then Girardi did something which I think spoke volumes by letting him finish the inning then later go with him to start the eighth. By doing this Girardi must have been sending a message to Farnsworth and at the same time showing tremendous confidence in Bruney even after his lapse.

Robinson Cano delivered a mammoth blast Lenny Harris style. What impressed me most was when Cano was on his way back to the dugout after he touched them all he was greeted by non other than the person he pinched hit for Alberto Gonzalez. The Yanks showed good character and grit to win a game that they blew a 6 run lead. Oh by the way just in case anybody forgot. Mariano is the best closer in the game (still).

After coming off a roller coaster ride in game one of the series. Andy Pettitte needed to give the Yanx a solid outing.
That is exactly what he did. In the early stages of the game Pettitte was getting hit harder than a piniata at 6 year old's birthday party. As the game progressed so did Andy's "stuff". The cutter started to bite more and his curve (which Andy hasn't been using ) had allot more tilt to it.
The offense of the night was provided by the suddenly sizzling hot Jeter (just in time for the Boston series)and the new Devil Ray killer Matsui. Abreu helped with a RBI single as well.
To me, When I saw Kyle Farnsworth have an effortless 8Th was either a really good thing or the complete opposite. If Kyle can consistently string good outing after good outing then suddenly gains trust in Girardi I see this as a really bad thing. why may you ask? Because I simply don't trust him. He will implode sooner or later. Obviously I Hope I'm wrong. If Kyle finally succeeds and be what he is supposed to be it could be the difference in a Yankee championship. But to tell you the truth ....it ain't happening.
In the Ninth , Mo was just Mo.
The Yankees strung two games together and hopefully this momentum will carry them through the Bosox series.

ANOTHER AVG JOE?

When Joe Girardi took the helm as the new Yankee skipper I was under the assumption that this Joe would be different.
In the first week of the season, we were already seeing some noticeable changes.
Myself , along with many other Yankee fans were getting excited that finally the small ball aspect of the game was being implemented into a system that hasn't seen it since the early days of the other Joe (Torre) era.
As the First round of the heavyweight match up between the sox and the Yanx has come to an end , I must say I am extremely disappointed with Mr. Girardi and in my mind he has taken a giant step backwards.

In Game one of the series Wang was making an early bid for the Cy young Award by improving his Numbers to 3 and 0 with a spectacular ERA of 1.23 and came within inches of pitching a no no. Bobby Abreu must be taken to a shrink for his fear of walls, its downright frustrating.
But overall , the Yanks have yet to get the hitting going. If it weren't for Cy Wang , game one would have been a disaster.

In Game two, is where I start to get pissed at The manager. The game was moving right along until a situation arouse. Manny Ramirez is up. A.K.A. The Yankee Killer and the Yankees had many choices but inevitably Joe made the poorest one possible. I know hindsight vision is always 20-20, but when he made the choice of leaving Moose in just because he said Moose said so in a mound visit made no sense what so ever. especially when you have Joba Freaking Chamberlain waiting in the pen. Plus , in his last At bat the ball Manny hit off moose landed somewhere in Kansas.
He also could have walked him, First base was open. It is so frustrating to watch the Ghost of Joe Torre lurk in the Yankee dugout. This decision lead to to the Yankee loss.

Game Three wasn't one to write home about.
I'm not going to take the easy approach and bash Philly Phranchise. His stuff was off the charts he just couldn't locate. These sorts of growing pains are expected and I am willing to experience for the greater good. But what I will not stand for is watching the manager mismanage. A classic "Joe Torre" blunder took place last night in a crucial part of the game. Johnny Damon had first and second with nobody out late in the game down by three. I was screaming at the T.V BUNT!!!!!! Then A thought crossed my mind..."what am I worried about. Of course hes going to bunt. Torre is gone, we got Girardi now. To my dismay , Damon was swinging. He swung himself right into a double play. My blood started to boil . What pushed me over the top was when I saw Krazy Kyle coming out to pitch. I felt like Girardi threw in the towel.
This series was very take able and I think Girardi just simply dropped the ball. Girardi better start reminding me why the Yankees hired him and why Torre was let go. Otherwise its all of the same once the post season hits...

TREADING WATER AT .500

The Yankees just wrapped up a series with The Royals and managed to salvage the final game.
This series was not, picture perfect. Especially when the team ops going into the series was under a hundred and only marginally improved . If it weren't for the final game of the series who knows where it would be.

The series opener was down right ugly. Philly Phranchise had no control over most of his pitches and was arguably topping out (depends on who's gun you go by) at 91 mph.
I know the conditions were wet and once it heats up His velocity will be around 94, but still , It definitely raises my eyebrows.
The bullpen was handed the ball early and Ohly didnt look that great either. Traber and the Hawk wasnt that bad though.
The main concern in that game wasnt the ineffectiveness of the Young pitching it was Jorge Posada complaining of a dead arm. At the end of the day it was nothing to prove my point Posada hit a Home run Two days later.
Another Issue the Yankees encountered was the same bugaboo the Yanks Have been having since the start of the year. They Cant Hit a lick. Arod didnt help matters by taking the sombrero by striking out 4 times.

Game two was filled with speculation of rain and a delay that never came. Bruney started and continued his 2008 dominance. Farnsworth(less) did what he does best , he blew it.
IPK ended up coming in to the game but never got comfortable and he gave up some runs.
But again all of this negativity would have been avoided if the Yankees would Hit the damn ball. Instead , the teams season slump carried on and the Yankees briefly dropped under .500

Its hard to say that only ten games in there could be a must win game, but the Yankees desperately needed a win.
Behind the very strong pitching of Andy Pettitte along with the continued dominance of Joba and Mo backed up by a sudden power surge of the Jeterless Yankees . Suddenly everything in Yankee land is back to normal.
Its no secret that Im not a fan of Melky but when he leads the charge offensively , I must keep my mouth shut.
It was good to see Arod and Posada go back to back (and belly to belly) to officially cap off a much needed win. Especially going into Fenway to start a bloody battle that wont end till October.
Round one Fight.........

GIRARDI'S SILENCE ALMOST SPOKE VOLUMES

Listening to the start of last night's game on the radio with Susan and John on my way back home from work was more or less like every other Yankee pregame show. Until the bullpen door in Kansas city opened.

Instead of the scheduled starter which so happened to be one of the Yankee young guns Ian Patrick Kennedy, out came ....Brian Bruney????



The confusion that took place in that broadcasting booth last night was priceless. Neither the incompetent Susan or the clueless voice of John Sterling had any idea what was going on.

I couldn't help but think to myself that if Torre was still the sheriff in town not only would the media know about it the night before somehow my in laws who don't even know who plays third for the bombers would find out . What I'm trying to say is that Torre wasn't to great at keeping secrets and it gave the opponents a competitive edge and gave them ample time to adjust their game plan.



But with Girardi running the show, not even the beloved Yankee announcers were given the heads up. This is the way things should be done.



Let me explain to you Girardi's reasoning.

A couple of seasons ago Josh Johnson was on the mound for fish. After a rain delay which was over an hour long Girardi opted to throw him back out there. this decision inevitably was the end of Joe in Florida because the outcome was elbow surgery for Johnson. Although Josh denied it had anything to do with it , it was quite obvious he was just saving his skippers hide.



With this story forever looming and haunting Girardi's past, he did NOT want it to happen again . Especially with one of the Yankees prized young prospects.

The simple decision that could have been made was let Ian start. Then once the delay (which never happened) came then start the pen.

The forecast showed that the rain was a sure bet .It did come, except there wasn't a delay.



Through the first four innings, the master plan was looking like roses. Until Krazy Kyle went out for another inning. Maybe Torre was right by not letting him throw more than one frame at a time. Another glitch in the plan was Kennedy never got comfortable coming out of the pen. He even let everybody know about it by telling the media afterwords.
Another way of avoiding this whole mess was for the Yankees to HIT.
I'm very confident that The Yankees will straiten up whatever problems they are experiencing. Girardi will go through some growing pains and learn the hard way. But at the end of the day, I think we are going to be fine...

A STRAINING SPLIT WITH A SILVER LINING

The Yankees have just split a 4 game series with the new and improved Rays. Considering they dropped the first two, I'll take it.

In this series there were a few bright spots along with a couple of un encouraging tidbits. Lets dissect what took place starting with game one.

IPK was roughed up due to control issues. If Ian isn't hitting his spots hes as good as Igawa. I'm sure he will bounce back though. That really was the theme of the game. A bright spot in the loss was for a couple of innings the Yankee bats decided to wake up but as soon as they turned on they were shut down.

In the second game, I was holding my breath before the first pitch was thrown. I simply didnt know how Pettitte would respond to the whole Mitchell report thing. If it weren't for on big mistake pitch to Gomes, Pettitte overall pitched decently. The 2 runs he aloud in the third were unearned. I am extremely confident that Andy will deliver a solid effort on almost every start he makes.
I didn't expect Giambi to come up gimpy until mid June but I guess I was wrong. Although its nothing to be majorly concerned about, its never good to see a guy like Giambi with previous leg injuries coming up a little lame in the groin area.
On the bright side, Brian Bruney is looking as sexy as ever. He's throwing strikes .....(Its a miracle)
Game three got me more reved up than ever. Aside for the Yankees early struggles at the plate , this game was flawless. Wang implemented his new out pitch the " Change up " and oh boy did it pay off. If Wang can continue to successfully throw his braking stuff for strikes along with his nasty sinking fastball , there is no telling what hes capable of. Already his strike out totals were reflected by his new approach. by striking out 6 in 6 plus innings.
But to me the most important thing that took place that day was when Joba toed the rubber with runners on the corners instead of throwing his dynamite fastball he threw a knee buckling curve ball . Reminding us all that Joba Will be a dominant starter. Just as the crowd was astonished with the good old uncle charlie, he got them up in a frenzy with an eye popping 101 mph Fastball. It didn't seem possible, but when Joba struck out Aybar with his unfathomable slider the crowd was as loud as ever and there wasnt a care in the world for anybody who followed the men in pinstripes.
The Offense in that game was provided by a towering blast off the bat of a rejuvenated Matsui. When this game was closed out by the hall of famer all was right in Yankee land.

The series Finale to me was the most important of all for more reasons than one. Starting with something I thought I would never see. Mike Mussina actually adjusted. By throwing allot less so called fastballs and going with a bevy of breaking junk. This slow slower and slowest mindset is one that could actually work. I said it before and I'll say it again, Mike Mussina is the best 4-5 starter in the league.
When the Captain left the game early with a quad strain it sent concern through everybody's head. Since when does Derek pull himself out of a game? We must wait a couple of days to see the extent of this injury. Based on reports , I don't think DJ will land himself on the DL, But if its a decent amount of time would the Yankees consider moving Arod to short and Ensberg to third? If I was manager i would. It definitely is better than just slotting betimit at short . The line up would be deeper . But I know Girardi doesn't have the balls to do that. It would turn the clubhouse into a zoo, but it would make for some good media...

Series outlook
---------------
The good- Bobby Abreau and Hideki Matsui are both looking great. Brian Bruney is on his game. Between Wang , Moose , Joba and Mo the pitching is looking in midseason form.

The Bad- Farnsworthless still sucks and Hawkins is off to horrific start even though they both looked OK last night. The offense has yet to click but I'm sure they will get it together one of these days.

The Ugly- Jeter and Giambi both left with leg injuries . Lets hope that Girardi's extreme running programs don't backfire. Kennedy is making that Johan trade stand out. He better get his act together.


Next up Kc......

EVEN THE BIRDS????

The story I'm about to tell you is 100 percent true. It happened sometime last week and for whatever reason being, it didn't get the press it deserved.

A young 8Th grade girl was taking a tour of Fenway park.
Suddenly she was attacked by a RED tailed hawk. Already this is a strange occur of events. But wait, it gets even weirder. This girls name was ALEXa RODRIGUEZ. Its got to be a coincidence right? But hold on theirs more. She was 13 years old........which is Alex Rodriguez's jersey number................If you just got the chills your not alone , because this story really freaked me out.
Is this a bad omen for A-Rod this year? What will transpire this season at Fenway park between A-Rod and the Sox? Or are even the birds in Fenway Drunk college frat boys trying to pick a fight with whoever they see ;)
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/04/hawk_nest_remov.html

JUST 3 IN, & I'M BEGGINING TO GRIN

The Yankees Just wrapped up one of the most encouraging season openers that I could have dreamed for. If your asking yourself why, well then let me explain.

Over the past few years , I think you could make the case that Torre was the kind of manager that just sat back and waited for the "3 run homer" . This mentality wasn't entirely his fault. The Yankees Brass decided that they would like to go with " The Allstar Team " rather than a really good baseball team. I think you could make Giambi the poster boy for this movement.
Torre got so used to the big boppers winning games for him , his managerial abilities and tactics took a back seat then eventually began to deteriorate. This kind of outlook could work in the regular season. But in the Post season , it just doesn't make the cut.

As we enter the "new" Joe era, changes have already begun to take place. It all started with spring training. Where players ( even the veterans ) took place in hardcore workout regimes and actually did break a sweat. Girardi implemented the small ball style of play which is very beneficial in one run games ( Playoff games ).

Usually when these kind of reports take place , its all a bunch of bull crap. Once the season starts players revert back to their old ways and the whole spring training shpeel is up.
But this year even though its only 3 games in , all arrows are pointing that they actually mean business.

In game one , In a solid pitching match up between (unbelievably underrated Wang vs the heralded Doc Haliday) proved to be as good as advertised. Wang kept the ball low, and the only mistakes he made were low in the zone, which is a great sign. The yanks struck early and wasted no time to get on the board.
With the combination of a solid start from Wang and great relief from a back end of a bullpen that can go up against just about anybody and on plus of that we get timeley hitting from the Fielding star of the game Melky, with a shot that barley cleared the fence . That was the recipe for a victory and will be a recipe for success throughout the season.
I was extremely giddy when the opener came to a close.

Game two, The moose was as loose as your gonna see him in his old age.
I'll take that kind of performance from the moose every start of the year. Bottom line is, Mussina is a pretty good 4Th or 5Th starter. If he gets the run support he eventually will get with the bombers he should win at least 10 games this season. And I'm fine with that. In the other dugout was a Blue Jays club finally watching the huge contract that they threw at Burnett pay off. I think Burnett will finally have the season that everybody is waiting for and he will actually stay on the field and make at least 30 starts. Burnett simply out pitched the Moose, simple as that.

Game three, was a text book Yankee win.
I don't know how Hughes was baffling hitters with an 89 mph fastball . Lets just hope that it will get faster because sooner or later in this league that will get hit. But other than that I have zero complaints. His breaking stuff was downright filthy and he got the strikeout when it was needed. Another encouraging sign was Billy Traber striking out a tough hitter in Overbay then Bruney shutting the door in the 7Th, this made Girardi's bullpen final cuts out spring look like all the right decisions . I know its extremely early, but its very important for this young team to have a good first month. Confidence is a big factor here. We can not under any circumstances have a start like we had last season and expect to over come it.

Girardi's mindset of small ball won us this series. This is a great sign for the Yankees and the right way to win one run games. I'm pretty sure the Yankees will improve upon last years bellow .500 record in one run games and Girardi is the sole reason.

SAM I AM SPORTS BLOG UPDATE

ATTENTION FELLOW BLOGGER'S

This will be my first time covering the baseball season on this blog. So I thought it would be the right thing to do by telling you all ( my mini but loyal fan base) the way it will be done.
I will not cover each game individually, but I will cover a series on a whole. Either a series preview or a series recap.
Occasionally if something extraordinary happens I will write a little piece on it.
I will also sprinkle in an article every so often on just about anything if something is on my mind. This can range from anywhere in the sports department.
If you have any suggestions or any changes on how things are run around here, I'm all ears. After-all I do this for YOU guys.

SAM I AM

WHO ARE YOU FOOLING?

A day after the the festivities of the final home opener at the stadium being postponed by rain, Is a day that America has come to cherish and savor. That day is non other than April Fools day.
Around the country Americans are pranking their friends and getting away with it with the magic words "April Fools".
In light of this day, My favorite website, River Ave Blues (better known as RAB) . Have posted an April Fools prank by saying that Pettitte will be sidelined for 6 to 8 weeks and Kei Igawa will be taking his place.
http://riveraveblues.com/2008/04/01/with-pettitte-out-6-8-weeks-igawa-to-join-rotation-2454/
Naturally myself and every other of the thousands of the daily readers cringed to say the least. Rumors have it that some people that didn't get around to finishing the post and were still under the impression that these false rumors were true have done things I fear to mention on this blog...
Although this was done in jest, it was not a laughing matter. I believe that when you say something untrue , it brings a jinx upon that person.
Hours after that writeup was written. News out of Yankees camp stated that "Andy Pettitte will miss his scheduled start and his time table of returning is unknown". Buster olnley on ESPN NEWS said he may miss up to 6 starts and that the Yankees Are in an early hole to start the season.
I know that the folks over at RAB meant well , but come on..... I place the blame on them alone.

Oh by the way........... APRIL FOOLS
(In case you need me to explain, RAB did write that up but everything after I made up and had fun doing so)

YANKEES VS METS : BENCH

We have finally arrived to opening day. The grueling off season has mercifully come to an end. Now we can Enjoy a game that we all love, at that is the game of Baseball.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my viewers, without you guys and gals , this blog wouldn't be possible. Thank you all for making my off season a tolerable one.

This will be my first season covering the Yankees on the blog. I'm looking forward to everything that's in store for me and I am honored to make your Yankee coverage as enjoyable as it possibly can.

We still have some unfinished business to attend to. So before the clock strikes One and Four and the Yankees and Mets seasons begin. Let me get to it.

A little over a month ago, I started a Yankee Vs Mets position by position debate. With the help of My friend Abie (A.K.A. Pecker) we more or less got this done.

The Only category in which I did not have a writeup for was the Bench (sorry for not getting this done sooner. I really was strapped for time, but no excuses)


The Yankee Bench is very deep.

Mollina is a top notch backup catcher. He definitely can start on at least ten teams in Baseball.

Shelley Duncan is a great guy to have on your bench. He's got pop and can play both corner outfield spots decently.

I love Morgan Ensberg. I was a huge fan of his on Houston and Picking him up this offseason was so uncashman like . He makes this bench that much better.

Wilson Betemit is extremely versatile. He plays every single position in the infield to an average to above average.

The Yankees are missing that speedster off the bench. They almost brought Gardner on board , but they decided against it due in large part of stunting his growth by rotting on the bench.

Remember I said this, The Yankee bench today will look allot different in October.
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At backup catcher the Mets have a guy who's avg. a homer per 10.5 at bats last season. I was so happy that he stayed and wasn't offered a big contract somewhere else .This guy can start for at least 2/3 of baseball and is a good defensive catcher I am a little skeptical of schneider and would not be surprised if castro was the starter by mid season. He probably will just face all lefty pitchers now so calling him a backup may be an insult.
As for the rest of the bench, the Mets fill every need except the big power bat hopefully they will allow castro to PH a little so he can bring that pop of the bench.The Mets have the speedy backup outfielders in Angel Pagan and Endy Chavez ,with pagan starting in place of Alou. I believe this can strengthen him when he comes off the bench later in the year. Endy needs no description..also Brady Clark is OK but he will prob be gone when alou is healthy .
Backing up the infield. Is Marlon Anderson probably the Lenny Harris of this generation last year in 69 Ab's he had 25 RBI and a BA of 319.Also in the infield is Damion Easley who when he was healthy last year hit a couple of big homers late in games.One guy on the roster now, is Raul Casanova as backup catcher he has a lill pop but I don't think anyone knows what to expect from him. This bench is a huge upgrade from where it was least season , especially now that we don't Have Julio Franco.

(Bottom line, Its not fair to compare an Al Bench to an Nl Bench. Is part of what the difference in the leagues are. But the Mets do fill more of their needs in their bench. They are missing the power bat but if you want that hit they have the guys it takes to get it.
On the other side of town, The Yanks have the power but lack the ability of getting that hit and don't have that speedster off the bench.)

FINAL OUTCOME
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First Base -Mets
Second Base- Yankees
Short Stop- Reluctantly Yankees but very skeptical ( Jeter will probably have the better year but Reyes has the potential to be GREAT. )
Third Base- Yankees without question
Catcher- Yankees (Yanks win this in a laugher)
Center Field- Mets (In a landslide)
Right Field-Yankees (Church is unproven and Abreu is on his walk year)
Left Field-Yankees (Alou cant stay on the field)
Starting Pitching-Mets (Half the Yankee rotation is unproven and the other half is an injury waiting to happen.)
Bullpen-Yankees
Bench- Mets

YANKEES VS METS : BULLPEN

The Yankee bullpen, I believe consists of a lot more talent than the mainstream media leads to believe.

The Yankees made it clear before going into spring that Mariano, Farnsworth(less) and Hawkins were locks in the pen without even throwing a pitch.

Mariano is a no brainer. I'm not even going to waste my time . He's the best of all time period. Hawkins is somewhat of an interesting case. For so many years Hawkins was a high strike out kind of guy who disappointed clubs that were sold on his "pure stuff". Everybody thinks that they can change a guy and more often than not it doesn't work. The exception to this rule took place when Latroy stepped foot into Colorado. What formally was know as a pitchers nightmare (pre humidor days) Is now somewhat of a pitchers park. I guess the thought of Coors field with or without the humidor scared some sense into the Hawk. By making a complete turn around in his approach to getting outs. Hawkins has turned into a ground ball inducing machine. With occasionally sprinkling in a strike out here and there. I don't know why, but I have a good feeling about Hawkins this season.
Kyle Farnsworth in my eyes is a steaming pile of Sh*t.... I don't think I have to elaborate much. I'm sick and tired of holding my breath every time he the ball leaves his hand. I dont give a damn that he could light up the gun, it don't mean diddly squat if your ineffective.
We all know what Joba "the reliever" is capable of. one word describes his game..."untouchable" . Although I am against what the Yankees are doing with him, it does give them ample time to find a suitable replacement for the eighth inning role .

I'll use this as a Segway to make the case for the rest of this young and extremely talented bullpen. In my opinion this is the deepest the Yankee bullpen has ever been since I could remember. But the problem is that these guys are unproven or unheard of. I would like to highlight a few names that I think will make a HUGE impact on this team if its this year or even the future.

Not everybody is as high on Ohlendorf as I am, I think this kid is a stud. His mid to upper 90's moving fastball to compliment his filthy sinker makes me drool. Mark my words, Ohly will make the decision of moving Joba to the rotation a lot easier.

We know what we have in Brian Bruney. When he has decent control of his 97 MPH fastball he's lights out. I think the key to his success is not to over use him and keep him fresh.

Another guy who we briefly got a chance to get a look at late last year was Jose Veras. Although his stats by any means don't impress you(9.1 IP 7 K 6 R), it was only a small sample on this guy and I think he could be a decent releiver.

Edwar Ramirez's change up is arguably in the top 5 of the game. His only problem is his fastball tops out at around 90 MPH which means he desperately relies on location. When Edwar is on he is simply unhittable. But when he cant locate it is the extreme opposite.

A move that went under the radar this off season was the acquisition of Jon Albadejo. This kid throws a wicked slider and a dominant fastball and has from what I hear a really funky delivery where he hides the ball till the last second. Scouts praise his approach of "come right at you " mentality. Give it some time but he will be a mainstay in this pen for years to com.

I'm starting to get the impression that the Yankees just don't like Chris Briton(maybe cause he's fat). All he's done in his brief opportunities in the Majors with Baltimore and New york was pitch well. He gets no love for whatever reason, but sooner or later (I hope ) we will get to see what this guy is really made of.

Journey man Scott Paterson has been piling up some ridiculous numbers in the Yankee Minor league systems. He is turning some heads in spring and might land himself in the Bronx if he keeps it up.

Billy Traber was added to the 40 man roster as of last week, Maybe this ends the yanks desperate search of a lefty out of the pen. I myself am of the school of thought that its better to have the quality arms over the lefty. Just because hes a lefty it doesn't mean your any good. Just look at Sean Henn and Kei Igawa.

The long relief job will be given to Jeff Karstens , Igawa or Darrel Rasner. Karstens could hold his own and has surprising moxie. Rasner has pretty good stuff but is lacking the heater. On the other hand Igawa Is pure CRAP. Due to the fact that Karstens left a game recently with tightness and Igawa was ....well Igawa. It looks like that leaves the job to Rasner. I'm definitely OK with that.

The Bronx born Humberto Sánchez has been recovering from Tommy John since last season. He is listed as a starter, but when he comes back I see the Yankees trying to convert him into a Dominant reliever. The Same Go's for Andrew Brackman.

I am failing to mention names like Mark Meloncon, Heath Phillips, Dan Mccutchen etc... Which also have a lot of upside. But , I don't want to go through the entire farm system.

Overall the Yankee Bullpen (or future bullpen) is stacked with live arms that could throw pure heat. I'm not saying they will all pan out and turn to the next Papelbon(or should I say Joba) But its a sigh of relief to see there is a light at the end of the bullpen tunnel.
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Entering the 08' season the Mets bullpen looks better then it did last year.
with Duaner Sanchez finally available and the addition of Matt Wise, I believe that the mets will compete for one of the better bullpens in baseball.
Like they were last year before the collapse.
CL - Billy Wagner - last year wagner saved 34 of 39 games his pre all star game era was 1.64.
One stat that sticks out is that since and including 05' (min. 100 innings) Billy has the 2nd best era vs the NL and he is 2nd to only Johan santana. Another interesting stat is that last year his era from pitches 1 threw 15 was 0.00.
This shows that he is not prone to giving up a hr and is dominant when he is on and in more then half his GP he threw 15 or less pitches.
One interesting guy is Aaron Heilman there are times where he looks like the dominant setup man but throughout the year has also shown that he is the guy that gave up the GW HR to Molina in game 7 of the nlcs .I believe that with duaner sanchez both of them can strengthen the chain leading up to billy wagner.
Scott Schoeneweis - one stat that sticks out is that away from shea he pitched much better then when he was at shea the thing with him is that last year he pitched the entire year with a leg injury hopefully now that it has healed he can throw the ball better.
Jorge Sosa - this guy has the goods to be a starter in this league an working as the long man in the bullpen is the perfect role for him now. He has a good fastball that can hit over 95 mph...last year he went from long man to middle reliever and now that willie has told him his job I believe that he can show glimpses of how he pitched in Atlanta where he went 13-3 with a 2.55 era
Pedro Feliciano - last year in 64 IP he gave up 47 hits and had 61 K with a era at 3. good stats for a guy that will probably face lefties Ryan Howard, chase utley,brian mccan and nick johnson 19 times a yr (each).
Matt Wise - he put up ok numbers last year..and I expect about the same this year around a 4.50 era. I dont think he is an important part of the bullpen more of a guy that will pitch if Mets need to stretch their bullpen either if heilman needs a day off or if a starter doesn't go 6 innings.
Joe Smith - After giving up no runs in his first 21 plus innings last year...Joe ended up with a 3.45 era while striking out 45 in 44 innings he is the righty specialist as he proved this getting pujols out twice and even a rod out a couple of times he will probably have same role this year.
Overall last year even with the collapse the mets put up a better era then the yankees last year Mets under 4 era and yanks at 4.35 I believe that with a healthy Duaner Sanchez and the collapse behind them and with willie inserting roles in the bullpen something that wasn't there last year, the mets bullpen will be one of the best in baseball. Compare that to a rookie heavy bullpen of the yankees and I think the Mets take this one .Also important to note is that the yankee bullpen will be taxed heavily due to the young pitchers that have a limit on their innings and in the beginning of the season dont expect more then 5 innings out of Hughes Kennedy or Mussina..and with an injured pettitte...this spells disaster for a young yankee bullpen...I love joba on the bullpen and Mariano is the greatest but there are more innings in a game then the final 2...METS WIN!

(Abie makes some strong points but I beleive he is too high on the Mets BP and Too low on the Yanx BP. He also is bringing ERA stats and he is failing to notice that the Mets are playing in a crappy National League and the Yankees are playing in an offensive heavy AL. I'm going to have to disagree with him and go with this young tallented yankee bullpen over a Mets bullpen thats comming of a bad year.)

OUTCOME
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First Base -Mets
Second Base- Yankees
Short Stop- Reluctantly Yankees but very skeptical ( Jeter will probably have the better year but Reyes has the potential to be GREAT. )
Third Base- Yankees without question
Catcher- Yankees (Yanks win this in a laugher)
Center Field- Mets (In a landslide)
Right Field-Yankees (Church is unproven and Abreu is on his walk year)
Left Field-Yankees (Alou cant stay on the field)
Starting Pitching-Mets (Half the Yankee rotation is unproven and the other half is an injury waiting to happen.)
Bullpen-Yankees

YANKEES VS METS: STARTING PITCHING

By passing on Johan Santana this past off season, the Yankees sent the baseball world a message loud and clear, that they are going to try and win through a way they have been shying away from for a while now. That is to stick with the kids, and trust the farm system .

Personally, I thought it was a very questionable move to say the least, but I hope to G-D that it pays off. I still am very skeptical on Hughes and company. We see it happen so often that young phenom pitchers turn out to be busts. Johan is a proven dominant lefty ace. But lets not get into this argument. The topic at hand is the New York Yankees starting pitching TODAY.

With out getting into stats(because I gave my stat predictions already. http://samiamsports.blogspot.com/2008/01/sam-i-ams-yankee-stat-predictions.html)
I'm going to give you a basic overview on the Yankee rotation.

40 Chien-Ming Wang
46 Andy Pettitte
34 Phil Hughes
36 Ian Kennedy
35 Mike Mussina
(62 Joba Chamberlain )

This starting 5/6 has question marks all over it. Especially with the Innings cap situation

Wang and Pettitte are the only two certainties in this "rotation of question marks".Year after year we get more or less the same kind of production and we know what we could expect from them.

After that , your guess is as good as mine.
Hughes definitely has the moxie and the make up of a major leaguer, but what can we really expect from a guy that hasn't pitched a full season in the majors and is coming off an injury riddled rookie year?
It wouldn't be fair to get on Phil's case if he has an average season . We must give this kid at least a year or two to develop.
Then we have the same story with IPK, although in the few major league outings last year Kennedy shinned. We cant expect the world from this kid either.
Mike Mussina is an aging vet that hasn't figured out that his fastball decreased 7-8 MPH since his prime. For a guy that's supposed to smart, sure isn't showing it. Since moose got that 2 year extension (probably one of the dumbest moves in Cashman's tenure) he hasn't proved that he can adapt to where his stuff is NOW.
Finally , We have the Joba situation. I strongly disagree with the Yankees on putting him in the pen to start the season. Its just an excuse to have a stop gap until they figure out what they have. Reason being... they are mortified, and rightfully so. But its not an excuse to tamper with what could be " the best next pitcher in baseball ".

The up side is definitely there , but your fooling yourself if you want to tell me that these guys are going to be instant stars.
As a big Yankee fan, I'm wouldn't be surprised if this year is kind of like a rebuilding /win now kind of season (Meaning to say , the Yankee organization wont be pissed if they fall short yet again). If the pitching isn't up to par, The offense will for sure carry them anywhere near playoff contention.
Gun to my head...I say they make it with this staff(obviously barring major injuries). Just because Joba will be a starter( I hope).
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Here's the Mets side:

With the acquisition of Johan Santana the Mets rotation is #1 in NYit looks like this:Johan SantanaJohn MaineOliver PerezPedro MartinezMike Pelfrey(El Duque)I put Pedro 4th because I believe that both oliver and maine will have better records than him this year as well as more starts...Johan Santana needs no description, he is the best pitcher in baseball and his numbers can only go up going from the AL to the NL.I dont think I need to say anything further on him.Oliver Perez and John Maine's numbers both have gotten better since they came over to the mets they were both 15-10 last year in an up and down kind of year. Through the first 4 months of the year, both of their ERA's were around 3 and then ended off at 3.56 and 3.91. They both continue to improve and I am looking at more wins out of each of them this year. Oliver Perez is part of a small class of lefties that can throw 95 mph and higher.Seeing how Pedro pitched last season. You can be confident that he will put up good numbers this year as well. He probably will only get 23-27 starts this season I Just pray his arm doesnt fall off this year.Unlike alot of people I am extremely high on Mike Pelfrey.I believe he is brandon Webb in the making. He has a great sinking fastball that will make hitters pound the ball in the ground. Once he gains more confidence he will show how good he can be at this level.In his first 4 starts last september he went 3-0 with a 3.48 ERA including a gem that knocked the braves out of the playoffs. One number that jumps off the page is that his ERA on a 0-0 count is 45.00 but all other counts is just a 0.00. I dont know if thats a typo, but thats amazing. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7807/situational;_ylt=AiaHPttzwp6.kct8JwmBTVmFCLcFSo it seems to me that he just has to work on his first pitch selection and he'll be fine...Also el Duque, I have no clue what to expect from him but the mets were 16-8 in his 24 starts last season. So while he is injury prone, I feel comfortable if hes the 6th starter that can come in when pedro or any other pitcher needs a rest...I think the mets win this hands down....individually:Mets win #1Mets win #2- Because Andy was 15-9 140k and 4.05 era and either maine or perz had better ERA and at least 35-40 more k's, and pettitte has this whole steroid scandal and maine and perez are entering their prime and andy is turning 36 in june. Andy's whip is 1.43 maine's whip 1.27Mets win #3Mets win #4#5, you can argue Kennedy vs Pelfrey , but like I said Pelfrey showed you at the end of last year he can pitch and Kennedy in my opinion should have been traded this offseason because his value will never be that high again...

OUTCOME
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First Base -Mets

Second Base- Yankees

Short Stop- Reluctantly Yankees but very skeptical ( Jeter will probably have the better year but Reyes has the potential to be GREAT. )

Third Base- Yankees without question

Catcher- Yankees (Yanks win this in a laugher)

Center Field- Mets (In a landslide)

Right Field-Yankees (Church is unproven and Abreu is on his walk year)

Left Field-Yankees (Alou cant stay on the field)

Starting Pitching-Mets (Half the Yankee rotation is unproven and the other half is an injury waiting to happen.)