Bookworm

Tigers 4, Yankees 2

"Sabathia pitched well enough to win, but the offense was helpless against Verlander, the Tigers’ revitalized ace. He struck out nine with no walks, permitting no runners past second in his first victory this season. “This is one of those games where he beat us, that’s the bottom line,” said Derek Jeter, who rarely praises a pitcher so emphatically. “There are games throughout the year where you felt like you lost it, actually. But he was better than us. He deserved to win today.” Verlander carved up the Yankees with biting curveballs and fastballs up to 99 miles an hour. It is a speed few starters can reach, even Sabathia, though he pumped 96 m.p.h. and was far more aggressive than he has usually been this season. “He pitched a great game,” Sabathia said of Verlander, “and I was trying to match him.” [NYTimes.com]

Orioles 10, Yankees 5 - Rough Start for Sabathia as Yanks Fall to Orioles - NYTimes.com

"An eight-year veteran, Sabathia had never thrown two wild pitches in the same inning until his first inning as a Yankee. It was his first start in 110 without a strikeout. And while durability is his hallmark, Sabathia seemed to pick up where he left off last October." [NYTimes.com]

It would have been nice for the team to win its first game with Sabathia on the mound.  Oh, well.  161 more games to go in the season!

Pettitte not happy with Yankees right now

1. Pettitte believes that the Yankees should display more appreciation for all that he has done for them. 2. While the Yankees are asking that Pettitte take a pay cut, the team clearly is not hurting financially, given its large investments in Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. 3. Pettitte thinks that his 2008 season wasn't as bad as the Yankees are making it out to be. [Newsday.com]

Regarding #1: The Yankees have expressed their appreciation, both in the form of verbal acknowledgment over the years, and in the form of millions of dollars and multiple contracts. It's possible that Pettitte is still upset about not getting more money with his first contract (see Joel Sherman's Birth of a Dynasty) and the fact that the Yankees didn't making signing him a priority before he left to play in Houston.  Regarding #2: Baseball is a business.  If they can save a few million dollars, they're going to do so.  Regarding #3: Pettitte signed a one year deal for $16 million and did not tell the team what would be coming out in the Mitchell Report.  In 2008, he had a 14-14 record.  So first he was deliberately disingenuous, and then he didn't have a great year. 

Pettitte was a huge piece of the Yankees' success in the last championship run from 1996-2000 and the team shouldn't have let him go to Houston.  I've admired him as a player for his ability to pitch under pressure and hated to see him leave.  I own some of his baseball cards.  I'm a fan. 

I wouldn't mind seeing Pettitte come back, as good lefties are few and far between and he's shown the ability to be a real workhorse in the past.  But he should seriously just take whatever multi-million dollar salary they're offering at this point before the offer takes another nose dive.

Mr. Pettitte, if you publicly state that you will either play for the Yankees or retire and the Yankees offer you millions of dollars to play. . . and you go play for another team?  Then it's hard not call you a hypocrite. 

Jeter provides Moment of the Year | MLB.com: News

Jeter provides Moment of the Year | MLB.com: News

"For all of us up here, it's a huge honor to put this uniform on every day and come out here and play," he opened, pausing as Rivera and Jason Giambi shifted uncomfortably alongside him. Brushing his left hand across the brim of his cap, Jeter looked past the flickering cameras and continued. "And every member of this organization, past and present, has been calling this place home for 85 years," he said. "There's a lot of tradition, a lot of history and a lot of memories. Now, the great thing about memories is, you're able to pass it along from generation to generation. "And although things are going to change next year, we're going to move across the street, there are a few things with the New York Yankees that never change -- its pride, its tradition and, most of all, we have the greatest fans in the world." With that came a great roar and television cameras showed former New York mayor and self-proclaimed No. 1 Yankees fan Rudy Giuliani clapping from the front row. The smiling players waved their caps. "We're relying on you," Jeter concluded, "to take the memories from this stadium and add them to the new memories that come to the new Yankee Stadium, and continue to pass them on from generation to generation. "On behalf of this entire organization, we want to take this moment to salute you, the greatest fans in the world."

O'Neill always felt at home at Cathedral

Yankees.com: News.

"O'Neill is the only player in history to have played on the winning side of three perfect games, and two of them were at Yankee Stadium, by David Wells on May 17, 1998, and by David Cone on July 18, 1999. The other was by the Reds' Tom Browning Sept. 16, 1988, at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium."

It's Been a Long Time

Yankees' empire crumbles in 2008 - MLB - Yahoo! Sports.

"The Yankees haven’t been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention since Sept. 27, 1993, when Bill Clinton was a first-year president and gasoline averaged about $1.13 per gallon. New York’s regulars then included Mike Stanley and Pat Kelly along with a young Bernie Williams, Don Mattingly, Paul O’Neill and Wade Boggs. Derek Jeter was a 19-year-old playing at Greensboro in the Class A South Atlantic League, teammate of a 22-year-old starting pitcher named Mariano Rivera. Andy Pettitte was 21 and spent most of the year at Prince William of the Class A Carolina League, where he pitched to Jorge Posada, a 22-year-old catcher."

Derek Jeter's favorite Stadium moment: Winning 1996 World Series

"It's really tough to pick just one memory, that's the best way to put it," Jeter says. "If I have to do it, it's winning in '96. Anytime you win it all at home, it's pretty special. And the first one stands out because, well, it's the first time you did it." [NY Daily News]

First use of instant replay in baseball history

MLB - Yahoo! Sports:

"Alex Rodriguez made major league history by agreeing with an umpire. The New York Yankees third baseman, a lightning rod for headlines on and off the field throughout his career, saw his ninth-inning home run Wednesday night the same way as third base umpire Brian Runge. So did baseball’s instant replay system. Rodriguez’s long blast down the left field line was upheld in baseball’s first use of video to review boundary calls, and the Yankees beat the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays 8-4."

Matsui might be out for the season

"The 34-year-old Matsui was having a stellar season prior to his injury, hitting .323 with seven homers and 34 RBI in 69 games. But he may not be able to return for the Yankees, who also have been without outfielder Johnny Damon. Matsui, for his part, did not sound optimistic, referring to the injury as similar to a right knee ailment which needed operation in the offseason. That surgery required months of rehabilitation and another procedure likely would place him out of the lineup for the remainder of the campaign." [Yahoo! Sports]

It reminds you a bit of car repairs.  Sometimes you can fix one side and not the other and get a bit more mileage out of the unrepaired part, but eventually it will have to be repaired or replaced.

Rest in peace, Bobby, and God Bless You

"Bobby Murcer, a personable, popular five-time All-Star who went on to a successful broadcasting career with the New York Yankees, died Saturday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 62." [YESNetwork.com: News]

"Michael Kay:  I have never in my life met a famous person more down to earth and more real than Bobby Murcer. He was my idol growing up, and he lived up to everything a young man could dream his idol could be. To get a chance to work with him was one of the great joys of my career. I miss him already and I'll miss him always. God got a good man in Bobby today." [Yes Network]