Silent bats

It was not the best time I have ever had at the ball park, however it was better than a day at work.

~~ Rangers 2, Yankees 0 ~~

The day started with Kasey and me fighting over tickets. Both of us wanted D-Rob, she won. At Yankees Stadium it was sunscreen day so we got free packets of sunscreen and a skin check from a dermatologist. All the doctor who checked me said was I had pretty legs. Than after that I didn’t put on the sunscreen and ended up with a sunburn. In my defense, we weren’t sitting in the sun, but there must have been enough of a reflection off the concrete and I got burned.

The Replacement Yankees were playing, besides Phil Hughes pitching, Robbie playing third, Gardner and Ichiro in the outfield, I can’t tell you who was playing.

We saw a stellar pitching performance. Phil only gave up 4 hits and 2 runs. Actually we saw two stellar pitching performances, the better one by Derek Holland. What we didn’t see was any defensive output by the Yankees. It was like they had forgotten how to swing a bat. In fact the Yankees didn’t even drive up his pitch count, which is one of their strengths, drive up pitch counts, get into the bullpen, Holland threw 92 pitches. It was a shut-out, not a no-hitter but just as bad.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

Game 78
Yankees 42-36 (0.538)

King Felix versus David Phelps

A discussion on the last game in Seattle, King Felix and his court, turkey legs, bases loaded jams and strike-outs.

~~ Yankees 2, Mariners 1 ~~

About the turkey legs, first I have to tell you about the court. There is a section in the ball park where all the King Felix fans sit and they have these yellow squares of paper with “K” on them. Whenever Felix pitches a chef comes out to that section with a turkey leg and people take bites out of it. Yes I’m serious.

First inning with the bases loaded, Ichiro strikes out and makes the 3rd out.

My notes: Gardner on fire, 7 game hitting streak, always a threat to run, he steals second.
Hafner walks.
Wells walks. Bases loaded ~ two outs, Ichiro up. King Felix struggling with his control. Felix strikes out Ichiro. Yankees leave bases loaded.

David Phelps picks off Bay at first.

Jayson Nix on first (5 game hitting streak), Nix steals second (Shoppach is worse than Stewart? Who would have thunk it?)
Stewart with a bunt base hit, Jayson Nix on third.
Gardner with a single to center field, Nix scores.
Robinson Cano GIDP.

Sorry I got distracted, it is now 1-1 and the top of the third. Teixeira is up. Now he’s out.

David Phelps has walked three batters so far. That’s a batter per inning.
Double play ends the inning.

NYY 1, SEA 1

4th Inning:
1-2-3 inning for Hernandez and David Phelps

5th Inning
Gardner with a double (8th hit in this series, 8-15), left on base.

Bottom of the 5th:
Broken bat ~ Nix to Teixeira, 1 out
Hard hit to Cano, 2 outs
Strike out. David’s fourth of the game.

Sixth inning:
Vernon Wells reaches on a throwing error by shortstop Brendan Ryan. And he is left there.

Bottom of the sixth:
Boone Logan warming in the pen, Phelps at 93 pitches, Strike-out, 1 out
Lines out to Ichiro, 2 outs
Strike-out. 3 outs. Six strike outs for David Phelps.

Seventh inning:
Felix with 7 strikeouts.

Side-note: O’s 10, TB 7

Boone Logan in for David Phelps
Ichiro drops it, in foul territory. (Love you, Raul ♡ , now be a good boy and swing and miss)
Shoppach grounds into a 5-3 out at first.
Yowzer, 2 strike-outs for Logan.

Charlie Furbush in for Felix Hernandez
Eighth inning:
Cano hit by pitch. Advances to second on a wild pitch.
3rd strikeout for Mark Teixeira. Good job swinging at a ball Mark. 😦
Hafner pops out in foul territory.
Wells in now, come on baby! Just put it in play no out, just put it in play no out, just put it in play no out, just put it in play no out, just put it in play no out, just put it in play no out, just put it in play outs.

David Robertson in for Logan
Ken (or AL) jinxed them. Lead-off double for Mariners.
Sacrifice bunt. Runner on 3rd. 1 out
Strike-out Jason Bay. Hat trick for Bay? Huh? 2 outs.
Swing and a miss, freakin’ LOVE D-Rob. David “H” Robertson. The H is for Houdini or Heart-attack, whichever you prefer.

Ninth inning:
Yoervis Medina in for Seattle.
Ichiro walks. And he takes great care with his bat.
Nix sacrifice bunt, Ichiro to second.
Chris Stewart with a big 2-out hit, throw is not in time, Ichiro scores, Stewart fist pumps when he gets to second. Yankees in the lead.
Oliver Perez in for Seattle, Gardner up at bat. He has had a great afternoon, 3 for 4. Hit a home run Gardy! I guess I have to settle for a base hit. Runners on the corners, Robbie is up. Home run Robbie! And he walks. Mark is up now. Strikes out, golden sombrero for Tex. 3 outs.

Bottom of the ninth:
Mariano Rivera in for the Yankees
Lead off walk
Double play (Mark is soooo good, can you say ‘Gold Glove’?
Walk to Raul (Mo has seen his late game power)
Base hit. Who do these Mariners think they are? Getting hits against Mo.
Pop-out to left field. Yankees win 2-1.

Since the game was tied until the ninth inning, neither starting pitcher gets the win.
Pitching Decisions
Winning Pitcher
David Robertson

Losing Pitcher
Yoervis Medina

Save
Mariano Rivera – 23 SV

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

Game 63
Yankees 37-26 (0.587)

Breaking the streak

Yankees have lost two in a row, the last game to the Blue Jays, Nova was pitching and the score was 4-8. Then the first game with the Rays, Sabathia was on the mound and the score was 1-5. Phil Hughes gets the ball tonight.

~~ Yankees 4, Rays 3 ~~

Hughes did not give up any home runs tonight. That does not mean I have changed his nick name. He is still a fly ball pitcher, but he managed to keep the balls in the park this time. In fact the only home run in this game was hit off of Mariano Rivera.

Tampa scored first in the first inning, then in the fourth the Yankees tied the game. After a rather rough first inning Phil settled down, he even had a 4 pitch inning. That was pretty sweet. In the third inning, Jennings got caught stealing twice. Robot Umps anyone? The Rays scored again in the 7th making the score 2-1. Which was upsetting, then the Yankees tied it again in the 8th, in the ninth with the bases loaded Ichiro brought in 2 runs. Which was a good thing because that jerk Longorio hit a home run off Mariano. But that was all they got, Yankees win.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

Game 19
Yankees 11-8 (0.579)

My favorite game
Played by my favorite boys
Win or lose my team

Game 2 in Cleveland

Rather sad in a way, how the Indians kind of didn’t show up for this game. Indian fever only lasts for 24 hours.

~~ Yankees 14, Indians 1 ~~

Andy Pettitte was dominant again and this game the bats really woke up. Everyone who said Cashman was making desperate purchases or was either taking too many pain pills or fell on his head can go eat their words.

First lets talk about Pettitte, his line: 7IP, 5H, 1ER, 3BB, 3K’s and 1HR. His ERA is still pretty minuscule, 1.20. He gave up the only run in the game a home run to Cabrera.

On the offense side, Cano was back at it hitting 2 for 4 with 5 RBI. 2 of those RBI were the result of a home run in the 4th off Carrasco. Ichiro also hit a home run off Carrasco who only lasted 3 2/3 inning, being thrown out in the 4th after Youkilis got hit by pitch. It was rather weird, the umpire tossed the ball back and threw the pitcher out, the pitcher who came in, Brett Myers, is a starting pitcher and was scheduled to start tomorrow. His next at bat Youkilis hit a 2-run home run, he has also hit safely in every game this season. Also hitting home runs were Overbay and Boesch. Home runs accounted for 8 of the 14 runs.

The three new guys, Hafner, Wells and Youkilis have so far this season hit 6 home runs, got 16 RBI and have a combined batting average of .360, yes that is a ‘small sample size’, still it shows what I have been saying all along, the Yankees can turn it around. They are now a .500 team and in second place. They win tomorrow they will have won the series and then can relax a bit. Except I don’t want them too. Let’s face it. Winning is fun.

In other news the Yankees have re-signed Clay Rapada, part of me says “WHY?” Yankees want another lefty in the pen. Ugh, O.K.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

Game 8
Yankees 4-4 (0.500)

ALDS GAME 2

~~ Yankees 2, Orioles 3 ~~
ALDS: Yankees 1, Orioles 1

Live blogging: The Orioles game is currently in rain delay, estimated start time: 8:45 P.M.

Cards pasted the Nationals. Cardinals 12, Nationals 4

Play Ball!!
Top 1:
Jeter singles to center field; Wei-Yin Chen is throwing fast balls, Ichiro reaches on an error; 2 on, no outs; Alex hits into a double play, a weird double play (second baseman caught the line drive, then tossed to second, Alex and Derek out). Robbie hits into the corner, Ichiro comes home, avoids the tag by Matt Wieters. Nick Swisher out at first.

Bottom 1:
Fly ball to left, one out; 2nd batter grounds out to Cano, two out; 3rd batter strikes out. 1-2-3 inning for Andy. Yankees 1, Orioles 0

Top 2:
Baltimore fans boo Teixeira, he pops out to first baseman; Russell fly ball center field; Curtis strikes out.

Bottom 2:
Pop out to Robinson Cano; Ground out third base to first; Strike out. Yankees 1, Orioles 0

Top 3:
Eduardo Nunez is the DH, (WHAT? Nunez DHing?) Pops out 3rd base; Jeter strikes out looking, but he doesn’t agree, is muttering as he walks back to the dug-out; Ichiro singles; Alex singles, runners at first and second; Cano grounds out to the pitcher.

Bottom 3:
Fly out to left field; Jeter to Mark; #9 batter breaks bat, ball drops before Curtis, 1st hit for the Orioles; McLouth in a single to center field, runners on first and second. This is vintage Andy, get into trouble – gets out of trouble. Walks batter, bases loaded and a power hitter coming up. Base hit to right field, two runs score. Baltimore in the lead by one run. Base hit, bases loaded again, bad base running by Baltimore; pop-out to Cano. Yankees 1, Orioles 2

Top 4:
Swisher swings out; Lined up the middle, base hit for Teixeira; Russell walks; Base hit for Curtis, bases are now loaded with one out. Nunez pops out; Jeter hits the ball to the third baseman. RISP FAIL. Ugh.

Bottom 4:
Base hit, bad throw by Jeter and Mark has to jump for it; Strike out; Ball hit to A-Rod gets the runner out at second. Hit to Cano, get the runner at second, again. Yankees 1, Orioles 2

Top 5:
Now it is time for the Yankees to get some runs. Ichiro thrown out at first; A-Rod flies out to center field; Robbie thrown out at first. The inning took about as long to play as it took me to type this. 4 pitches, that is disgusting.

Bottom 5:
McLouth reaches on an error; Hardy called out on strikes; Davis hits a fly ball to Curtis; Adam Jones hits a fly ball to Swisher, who catches it. Yankees 1, Orioles 2

Top 6:
Swisher grounds out; Mark flies out to left field; Base hit for Russell, scratch that, reached on an error; Granderson pops up and out.

Bottom 6:
Weiters get a double; Reynolds smokes it, Weiters scores; Thome strikes out; Machado hits it to Andy, who turns and throws it to 2nd, then Robbie throws on to Mark. That was pretty boss of Andy. Yankees 1, Orioles 3

Top 7:
Nunez leads off with a double (cause he runs fast like bunny, or the road runner, or whatever); Jeter hits the ball over Hardy’s head and Nunez scores; Ichiro hits the ball to Hardy and Jeter is out at second, but Ichiro makes it to first;

Chen’s night is done, Darren O’Day comes in to face Alex Rodriguez. Alex strikes out, Ichiro steals second;

My router crapped out right here, to recap the Orioles brought in a new pitcher, Cano was walked and Swisher hit a fly ball to make the last out.

Bottom 7:
1-2-3 inning Yankees 2, Orioles 3

Top 8:
Teixeira gets on first; Russell strikes out looking on a ball off the plate 😦 ; Curtis strikes out; Nunez pops out.

Bottom 8:
Davis hits over Andy’s head, over 2nd base and he gets on first.

New pitcher for the Yankees. David Robertson – fields the ball and gets Jones at first, runner advances to second; Weiters grounds out to first. Reynolds swings at the air. Yankees 2, Orioles 3

Top 9:
Jim Johnson is in for the Orioles.
Jeter grounds out; Ichiro grounds out. One more out and it’s the end for the Yankees. Alex strikes out. Yankees lose.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

ALDS GAME 1

~~ Yankees 7, Orioles 2 ~~

Up until the ninth inning the 9th inning this game was a pitcher’s duel, CC Sabathia pitched 8.2 innings and gave up 2 runs, David Robertson got the final out with 4 pitches. Jason Hammel also gave up two runs but he only pitched 5.2 innings. Considering he had knee surgery, was on the D.L. and hasn’t pitched in a month, that was rather impressive. The game was tied in the top of the 4th and the O’s kept the Yankees to the 2 runs they had already scored. Jim Johnson, the Orioles closer came in for the ninth, his numbers for 2012 are steller, 51 saves out of 54 save opportunities. He didn’t so good this game, Russell Martin hit a home run, then the Yankees started playing, “And you get a hit and you get a hit …. “, Ibanez, Jeter, Ichiro, he strikes out Alex, then Robbie gets a hit. Jim Johnson got one strike out, the Yankees got 4 runs, 5 if you count the unearned one.

Tomorrow, (actually in a few minutes, I tend to travel back in time when I’m blogging about games) Andy Pettitte takes the mound for the Yankees, we are confident, we trust Andy, if you wonder why:

Tonight marks Andy Pettitte’s 43rd #postseason start, which is nearly 5 times as many appearances as entire O’s staff entering ALDS (9).

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) October 8, 2012

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

The longest game

Not the longest game ever, but —->

At 5 hours, 43 minutes, this was the #Yankees‘ longest ballgame since battling the Twins for 5 hours, 45 minutes in 2002.

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 23, 2012

The last game I had tickets for was to be played on Tuesday, September 18, however it was rained out. Kasey was coming up to go with me but fortunately the game was called before she left, early the next day she got on the train, we had big plans for the day. Unfortunately I was sick and we ended up watching the game in my apartment.

Part of the reason I was so upset was this was Andy Pettitte’s first day back from the D.L. I really wanted to see him pitch, instead I had to settle for watching him on the little screen. At least the Yankees beat the Blue Jays.

Later in the week Tom sent me a message asking if I wanted to go to the game Saturday, I said that since I had missed the game Wednesday, of course we all know I would have gone regardless. Kasey was in the city and made her request for me to text her game highlights. I took my phone but didn’t bother with my charger since, I was just going to a game, wouldn’t need my charger.

~~ Yankees 10, Athletics 9 ~~

As the saying goes, famous last words. We get to our seats, which actually weren’t our seats. For a Saturday day game the stadium was rather empty. Tom and Mike were in the right section, but not in the right row, well all right, I can be flexible. Tom is busy scouting out new seats for next season’s tickets. He still wants the Audi Club and Mohegan Sun Sports Bar, and I think he is staying in the Grandstand, but he wants seats closer to home plate. We sat in those seats for a while. It didn’t seem like long, but longer then Nova stayed in the game. Stephen Drew hit a home run in the third inning and Nova’s day was done. It didn’t seem too bad, after all the Yankees were still a run ahead, but the A’s were continuing to hit and the Yankees were not, by the 4th inning the game was tied. Then the Yankees broke the tie, then the A’s tied it again. After testing out the seats in section 419, which Tom liked the section but not the row he picked, we went to the Audi club. Because the game had gone on so long they had stopped serving beer in the concession stands, I was still texting Kasey, my text read, “Tied game, again.” Kasey’s reply was, “I hate Oakland!” We get to the 9th inning, still tied. Then the 10th, the 11th, Tom and Mike left for Yonkers. I stayed. I was looking out from the windows across to the bleachers and the right field seats, it looked like a steady exodus of people from the stadium.

Top of the 13th, Freddy was in his 3rd inning and boom, boom, boom, 3 home runs by Oakland scoring 4 runs. Some Oakland fans started cheering, Michael Kay and Tino and Ken started talking about what this loss would mean to the Yankees during the middle of the inning. Then the Yankees came up to bat.

Ichiro starts off with a single, then Alex hits a single, then Robbie takes his turn and also hits a single. A’s bring in a new pitcher, who promptly throws the ball to the wall behind home plate and home comes Ichiro. Nunez brings Alex home with a sacrifice fly, that’s two runs and 1 out. Raul comes up to bat, the same Raul that has been slumping, that some people are saying is too old to play everyday, the same Raul that broke the tie in the 5th with a home run and I thought they were were showing a replay of that home run, I thought they were continuously showing it, but the Audi club was getting loud, and the A’s fans were rather quiet. Home run #17 for Raul Ibanez to tie the game again. Cory Wade comes in and pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 14th.

Chavez get on first and is replaced by Pinch-runner Melky Mesa, he was brought up for his speed so this makes sense. It is his major league debut. Jeter bunts, and then Ichiro is walked. I hit the table and snarled, “Cowards!” The girls next to me just laughed. Oh and by this time my phone was dead as the Red Sox’s chance of going to the post season, so much for not needing my charger. The summary from MLB.com says

Alex Rodriguez singles on a line drive to center fielder Yoenis Cespedes. Melky Mesa to 3rd. Ichiro Suzuki to 2nd.

What this rather dry sentence does not tell you is the reason Melky Mesa went to third and didn’t score was because he missed the base. He ran right over it and never touched it. Someone said, ‘Rookie mistake’, uh duh! He is a rookie, but a worse mistake would have been for him to go home and been called out. So he went back to third, looking very dejected, and the next play he was out at home. I felt really bad for him, as they showed him dragging his feet across to the dugout. No high fives for him, he might get a base in his locker and he will always be remembered as the runner who missed 3rd base.

And then, Eduardo Nunez reaches on a fielding error by first baseman Brandon Moss. Ichiro Suzuki scores. An error, the first baseman dropped the ball and Ichiro ran in and scored the winning run. He was very happy, had a big grin and hugged, whoever was at the base when he ran in. Probably Nick. Nick likes to be in the middle of everything. Make an error against the Yankees and you will pay, in this case it was with the game. Yankees win, everybody is happy.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

One of my problems with writing posts

Is deciding on a title, first I was going to use HIROK HIROK HIROK, then I thought, well it was Hiroki and Ichiro, so maybe IT WAS A NIGHT FOR THE JAPS …. but then I thought either of those titles could be considered offensive, and I don’t want to offend anyone, so I didn’t use either. Obviously.

~~ Yankees 4, Red Sox 1 ~~

So what can I say about Kuroda and Ichiro that hasn’t already been said? I was thinking this game would be a win for the Yankees, mainly because Kuroda was pitching. It’s kind of the thing I say about C.C., if he’s pitching you have a better than even chance it’ll be a win. Of course C.C. is on the D.L. along with Andy so we are now relying on Kuroda, Phelps and Garcia. Hughes is rather hit or miss right now, but I have faith, he will come through for us. Nova is also a pitcher that needs seasoning and experience. I also think he will go on to great things for us.

Yankees just need to keep moving forward, keep winning games and go all the way.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees have been made aware

First lets go to Tuesday night, as I was lounging around my apartment doing this and that in my comfy Modell’s socks, the brightly colored ones with the black leopard spots on them. Kasey sent me a text about our boys hitting, they were up 5 runs in the 1st inning. So I turned on the TV only to see the O’s start hitting Nova, hard. I went in the bathroom thinking, “Nova will get out of this”, only to hear Michael Kay say, “It’s a grand slam for Chris Davis!” Really Chris? You had to hit your first grand slam against the Yankees? I’m not superstitious, which is why I was wearing ORANGE socks, when I looked down at my feet and started thinking my feet looked like Orioles, I tore them off and threw them in the garbage.

It didn’t help. Those 5 runs were the only runs the Yankees scored. The O’s however, after scoring 7 in the second inning went on to score 4 more.

~~ Yankees 12, Orioles 3 ~~

This day started early with breakfast at Kasey and my favorite breakfast place in the city. Then some shopping, then heading up to the Bronx, she wanted to get a Joba shirt, mainly to annoy her husband, and to support Bald Vinny. Then on to the game, at which point someone tweeted me that I would bring the Yankees a win. Kasey scoffed, ‘Didn’t help last Saturday.’

So the Yankees started out slow with 2 runs, then 2 more runs, Phil was aces, only one run for the O’s in the second inning. Then came the 3rd inning. 1 run, 2 runs, 3 runs, and then the bases are loaded, and Cano is fouling off pitches, taking that walk around the plate and then, don’t you know? Robinson Cano loves me. GRAND SLAM

Phil Hughes did not give up a home run this game. He was ‘dreamy'(a statement that lead to an interesting Twitter convo, what do you think of the Twitter handle, “BSBH_Foxx”?). There was a new guy in playing first base, Casey McGehee from the Pirates. Joba came in the top of the 7th, to thunderous applause. He pitched 1 and 2/3 innings and gave up 2 runs. He needs to get used to being back in the Bigs. He’ll come around. Ichiro Suzuki IS a spider monkey, where I was sitting I could see the left field wall and he went straight up that wall and snagged a fly ball. He also has a nice ….. walk, yeah that’s my story.

End of the day, Yankees are still number one and Orioles are still NOT.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛

Free baseball at Safeco field ~ May 28

~~Mariners 5, Yankees 4~~

As I type this the Yankees and Mariners just finished the 10^th inning and the score is tied 4-4. I’m not going into the details of the game, I know I don’t do very well with play by play so I will just skip it. This week has been a very shitty week for me, I broke my phone on Monday and the insurance company sent me the wrong one as a replacement. I have it all packed up to return because I haven’t been able to get a hold anyone at the insurance company that can help me. I am fully expecting them to completely fuck things up and charge me all kinds of money for restocking etc. My next phone is not going to be an iPhone. I definitely don’t deserve nice things. On to the game, which is making me doubly sad since I was already in a pissy mood when it started.

Teixeira hit home run number 15, that’s $225 total for his charity.

Chris Dickerson takes over for Nick Swisher at first plate (running).

Dickerson was trying to steal second when Gardner hit the ball, so he was able to get to second, no double play. 2 outs, Jeter is up. 3 outs, Dickerson is stranded.

Seattle catcher dove into first base and totally cut up his face. Not smart, they are playing hard, want to end this game.

Ayala struck out batter number 2. Fielded the next hit, throw to Cano was in time. Jeter throws to Mark for the last out.

Top of the 12^th: 2:12 a.m.: Granderson up at bat, Mariners have a new catcher. Granderson flies out, this field is too big, bring in the center field wall so Yankees can win and I can go to bed. Nope, Yankees go 1-2-3. I might have to go to bed and post an update tomorrow.

heh, Ichiro is 0-6

Mariano is in, I’m going to bed.

~~ Questo è tutto, dice la principessa ~~ 😛