Number Two's Plus More Amazing Hacker-Gate News

During Saturday’s NY Yankees-Oakland Athletics game, a 4-3 loss, announcers Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill wondered aloud why Yanks manager Joe Girardi removed pitcher A.J. Burnett in the sixth inning after he had loaded the bases with two outs. After all, they bantered, Burnett is your number two pitcher. Why wouldn’t you let him work his way out of the trouble he himself created?

What Yankee team have they been watching this year (or last year, for that matter)? Burnett might be their second highest paid starter, but he has not shown he is their number two pitcher when on the mound. If the playoffs were to begin today, Burnett would be my fourth starter, behind C.C. Sabathia, Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon. (Burnett’s record and steadiness last year were so suspect he didn’t even pitch in the playoffs.)

This year Burnett is 8-8 with a 4.21 ERA.; Garcia is 8-7 with a 3.21 ERA; Colon 7-6 with a 3.29. Clearly the team has a better chance of winning when a pitcher gives up fewer runs per nine innings. I’d even pitch Ivan Nova over Burnett. Though currently in the minor leagues, Nova posted an 8-4 record and a 4.12 ERA before being sent down to accommodate Phil Hughes’ return from the disabled list.


More on Number 2: Yankee fans griped earlier this week on sports radio about Derek Jeter’s lack of pressure hitting. They demanded his demotion from the lead-off or number two spot in the batting order, citing his failure in the Tampa Bay series to repeatedly knock in runs in critical situations.

It’s true, Jeter is not the same clutch hitter of his youth. Compared to other lead-off hitters in baseball, he’s smack-dab in the middle when you look at batting average, runs batted in, runs scored and on-base percentage. Hardly any crazed Yankee fan can accept mediocrity.

But let’s not forget that baseball is a nine-man game. In two out of the last four contests, one run losses to Tampa Bay and Oakland, Jeter had three important late inning hits his teammates failed to convert into runs. Against the Rays he doubled into left center field but was stranded. Against the A’s he twice got into scoring position, first by doubling in the 7th inning and then by singling, stealing second and tagging up to third in the 9th. Jeter’s value has always been as a table setter. The Yankee captain, who wears #2 on his uniform, did his job, but baseball is a quirky game. The Yanks who scored 17 runs Friday night barely mustered 3 on Saturday afternoon. All too often, individual accomplishments are wasted by the inefficiency of your teammates. In today’s game, Jeter knocked in an important seventh run in the bottom of the eighth.

Bottom line: Over the long haul, Jeter remains a positive force high up in the batting order, whether first or second.

Bases Loaded: I finally heard an announcer give the record of a pitcher facing the bases loaded. In today’s Yanks-A’s game, Michael Kay noted batters hit .250 against Mariano Rivera in such situations, as the incomparable reliever tried to close out his 25th save of the season against the stubborn Athletics. Josh Willingham promptly singled to left to narrow the Yankee lead to 7-5. Mo and the Yanks escaped with a victory despite the next batter’s scalding line drive because it fortuitously went directly to Mark Teixeira who stepped on first to double-up Willingham for a game-ending double play. It was Rivera’s 15th consecutive year with at least 25 saves.


Hacker-Gate Update: It’s not baseball-related, but I couldn’t wait to post this. Last week I commented how Hacker-Gate had similarities to Watergate (http://nosocksneededanymore.blogspot.com/2011/07/murdoch-most-vile.html). Maybe I was stretching a little, but the comparison continues to be bizarrely appropriate.

Word came Friday about the firing of another Murdoch editor because of the hacking scandal. If you haven’t heard or read about it, you might not believe your eyes. His name—Matt Nixson!!! (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/21/matt-nixson-news-of-the-world-the-sun)

Don’t you just love the way the British spell their names? Hacker-Gate's Andrew Coulson vs. Watergate's Chuck Colson. Matt Nixson vs. Richard Nixon. Is there a Deane waiting in the wings?

Baby, It's Cold Outside, But Let's Play Ball

Baseball season officially started today and with it came the regrettable return of an annual staple of the national pasttime—articles about the cold conditions in ballparks in the northern portion of the country.

Why do ballplayers and sportswriters make a big deal about the weather at the start of the season? Yes, it’s cold and often damp. But is it any different than weather in the fall, and isn’t it the point of the first 162 games to determine who will play in chilly, windy October when the championship is on the line?

So please, spare us all those stories. The only people who have a right to complain are the fans in the stands who must endure pseudo-frostbite conditions in March and April (while players sit on heated benches and can retreat into heated locker rooms between innings) for what too often are casual games. The results may be just as important statistically as late September contests, but it’s hard to convince most people early season games are the same as pennant race games. Maybe it’s residual heat left over from the summer, but it just seems fans are warmer in October than they are in March/April, even if the temperature is the same.

Now to highlights of the Yankees-Tigers Game, a 6-3 New York victory:

Derek Jeter’s contribution to the dialogue (let’s not call it a debate) about his efficiency as a shortstop showed up in the second inning when he failed to corral a hot shot to his left by Victor Martinez. It was ruled a hit, but Jeter’s inability to snare the one hopper and turn a double play set up the Tigers for their first run. On the other hand, Jeter later made one of his signature plays to his right, going deep in the hole, jumping in the air while turning to throw a strike to Robinson Cano to force a runner at second;

The Yanks weren’t sure Curtis Granderson would be healthy enough to be on the opening day roster. They’re glad he was as he played an all-star caliber game. The center fielder made a diving catch in the first inning, an over-the-head grab in the ninth, and a game-winning, lead-off, second-deck home run in the seventh. It was Granderson’s third consecutive opening day homer, the last two with the Yanks, the first with the Tigers;

A perennial slow starter, Mark Teixeira hit a three-run home run. Yanks are hoping Tex will not go into his typical April-May slump;

Teixeira’s blast gave C.C. Sabathia a 2-run lead but twice he couldn’t shut down Detroit, allowing the Tigers to tie the score before he was forced to retire from the mound after the sixth inning because of a high pitch count. Last year C.C. had trouble protecting multiple-run leads;

Russell Martin made an auspicious start as the new Yankee catcher. He had a hit and showed speed on the base paths by stealing third base and in a later inning scoring his second run tagging up from third on a shallow line drive by Jeter;

Cano won a Gold Glove award last year but made a senseless error covering first base on a bunt attempt, the miscue eventually allowing the Tigers to score their third run that tied the score and denied Sabathia a shot at a win;

The Yankees bullpen may well determine how far the team goes this year. Today it was spotless. Joba Chamberlain, Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera pitched no-hit ball in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings. It’s a long season. But today was exactly what the manager ordered;

Is baseball, or at least the Yankees, on an austerity program? In years’ past at the end of every half-inning the player catching the ball would throw it into the stands. But several times I thought I saw players bringing the ball back to the dugout.

(Editor's note: Don't worry. I won't be chronicling every Yankees game this year.)