Tagged: Mark Teixeira

2009 or 5 AD

If you look at your calendars you will clearly see the year we are in is 2009, or for “The sky is falling” Yankees fans, 5 AD.  That would be five years After Devastation. 
Last time I checked this year’s roster was a little different from the roster in 2004.  Last time I checked the starting pitching wasn’t as shaky as the San Andreas Fault.  Last time I checked the lineup was about as solid as its been in quite some time.  Last time I checked, I weighed 195 pounds.  I need to get back to the gym.
Look, I know as well as everyone else that the spector of 2004 popped into every Yankee fans head as soon as Nick Swisher’s pop out with the bases loaded was squeezed at shorstop on Thursday night.  The difference between 2004 and 2009 fans?  Pitching and defense. 
Mark Teixeira doesn’t have the numbers with his bat.  Although he has hit a walk off home run, and helped the Yankees claw their way back in Game 5 Thursday night with his bases clearing double in the 7th.  The intangible that Tex brings to this team more than his hitting right now, is his glove.  He has saved more than a handful of games during the regular season and a couple of post season games as well.  
Now the pitching.  Game 6 in 2004 you starter was Jon Lieber.  Game 6 in 2009 is Andy Pettitte.  Advantage 2009.  Game 7 if necessary your starter will be CC Sabathia.  Game 7 in 2004 was Kevin Brown with Javier Vasquez on deck.  Yuck. 
The bullpen has been unreliable as of late, but the thing you have to remember is, the Angels are a great team.  Phil Hughes will get big outs.  Joba Chamberlain will get big outs.  They got big outs all season long, and there time will come again in Game 6 and Game 7.
Sure the Yankees could have wrapped this up in four.  Sure the Yankees could have wrapped this up in five.  They didn’t.  We are here for a Game 6.  The past is the past. 
By the way, all you Yankee haters, and you know who you are, why not succumb?  Join the Darkside.  Resistance is futile.  Wait, that was Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Great, now I’ll have the Trekkies as well as everyone who hates the Yankees on my case.  Such is life.
Also for the non-believers 2009 playoffs (thanks for the research YES Research staff):

Yankees                                                                    Opponent

 

Wins                       6                                               2

Runs                     43 (5.4 /G)                                  23   (2.9 /G)

AVG                     .257 (76296)                              .241 (71295)

HR                          14                                               4

 

ERA                       2.52 (22 ER – 78.2 IP)                   4.60 (39 ER – 76.1 IP)

 

The Outlaw – Allan James Burnett

SOLID START
A.J. Burnett was absolutely lights out picking up Chien-Ming Wang once again. Burnett had a 2-0 lead and a no-hitter into the seventh. Then gave up his first hit, the shutout and the lead, all in the Rays’ half of the seventh.

He didn’t crumble after he gave up two runs. Joe Girardi didn’t even get anyone up in the bullpen. Burnett got out of the jam and the Yankees rewarded their starter with a run in their half of the eighth to go back out in front, 3-2. Burnett then worked a perfect eighth inning and his night was over. Eight innings, three hits, two runs, one walk, and nine strike outs. He is now 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA. 

Ladies and gentleman, children of all ages, so far in Yankeeland 2009, I give you your cure for Janet Jackson Disease: Mr. A.J. Burnett.

OFFENSE
Brett Gardner exploded Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Fla., (3-for-5, 2 2B, RBI). I’d like to reiterate my comfort level from my Homegrown Gardner blog from March 30:

“Gardner will be the Opening Day center fielder for Joe Girardi and the Yankees, and even though some “experts” aren’t comfortable with him being there, I am in a lazy boy with the fridge and a case of beer, and comfortable.”

Do they still make the recliners with the refrigerators? 

The top two guys in the lineup, Derek Jeter and Gardner, went 6-for-10 with four RBIs.  How about Swish at the dish? Nick Swisher was in the four hole and went 2-4 with a solo home run, his fourth of the year. Oh by the way, Swish is hitting .458. He thought it was heady to be hitting in the three hole with Mark Teixeira out of the lineup. I wonder how he felt hitting clean up? I’ll ask him Thursday when I am at the new Yankee Stadium for Opening Day.

Sleep well Yankee fans. See you for the Sprint at 1p.m. ET, then for Yankees Batting Practice today at 3 p.m. 

Janet Jackson Disease

No, the title has nothing to do with bras opening up without warning. It’s what I have been calling sports in the New York area since I was in high school. Janet Jackson disease is quite simply, “What Have You Done For Me Lately?” We all suffer from it, we can’t help it, and the only cure for this dreaded disease is winning.  

So, Yankee fans waking up today with the sniffles and a mild case of JJD, let me give you this advice…IT’S ONLY ONE GAME!

Peter Parker’s uncle Ben said it a long time ago, “With great power comes great responsibility.” It translates to the Yankees year in year out: with big contracts come big expectations. I get that, but what you have to get is these guys are human and baseball is a cyclical game.

Let me throw some numbers at you to prove my point. Last season, CC Sabathia started the year 1-5 with the Indians. Then in a stretch from June 10 until September 10 with Cleveland and Milwaukee, he went 12-0 in 18 starts. Even in the no-decisions he pitched well enough to win.  

Mark Teixeira went 0-for-4 and left five runners on base.  It wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. Big Tex is going to be the most popular Yankee since Paul O’Neill or Bernie Williams.

To help with the healing process Yankee fans, I give you this refrain from Daniel Powter’s song, “Bad Day”
 
Because you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don’t lie
You’re coming back down and you really don’t mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Read that 10 times, take a couple of Ibuprofen and tune in to Yankees Batting Practice Today, tomorrow night at 6 right here on YES. We’ll get through this ONE loss together.