The Daily Yankeeland - 10/25

Time to catch up a little on our favorite band of underachievers. You can end the speculation that Larry Bowa might return to the Yankees as third base coach. He'll be staying on in with Joe Torre in LA as will Don Mattingly and the rest of the staff. There's still talk about Milwaukee's interim manager Dale Sveum taking the job, but as we have pointed out before, Sveum held the position and Boston and did not do a good job in the eyes of Red Sox fans.

Speaking of Milwaukee, rumors has it that Willie Randolph is interviewing for the job. Good luck Willie!

Darryl Strawberry had some sage words of advice for Joba Chamberlain after the latter's DUI arrest. If anyone has learned from experienced, it's the Straw man.

Congress is reviewing allegations that the Yankees improperly received funding for additional expenses in building the new Stadium. Randy Levine told Congress that the Yankees would have left town if not for the funding they received. Sure, Randy, go work on your perm.

It may just be rumor, but word is that the Yankees and Cubs may play an exhibition game in the new Stadium before the official opener.

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The Daily Yankeeland - 8/24

Newsday's Jim Baumbach sat down with the original "Boomer", Ronnie Blomberg.

The Boston Herald has a look at this week's Yankees-Red Sox series.

Bill Madden has a look at the AL's big surprises and a tough year for the Yankees.

The Post's George King spoke to Joe Girardi about Joba Chamberlain.

The Yankees go for the sweep today with Darrell Rasner facing Daniel Cabrera.

Larry Bowa still keeps an eye on Robinson Cano.

Joe Torre gets no glee from Yankees struggles.

The Orioles found their 100 millionth fan last night.

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Around the Horn - 4/3

Rich Harden and Jon Lester hooked up in a pitcher's duel in the A's-Red Sox series finale, but it was the A's bullpen that blinked first. David Ortiz had been 0-for the season before belting a 2-run HR off of Alan Embree in the 7th. Lester, Bryan Corey, and Manny Delcarmen combined on a 4-hitter in the 5-0 shutout.

The Rays have hopes of reaching .500 this season, but most of that will depend on their pitching. If last night was an indication they're in trouble. Starter Matt Garza and reliever Al Reyes blew a 6-3 lead to a weak Orioles team. Aubrey Huff homered and drove in 4 for the O's.

Seattle learned earlier in the day they would be without their closer J.J. Putz for at least 2 weeks due to mild costochondritis, an inflammation of the ribcage. For now, M's manager John McLaren is going with closer-by-committee, but last night one time Jays closer Miguel Batista finished off a 4-1 win with a scoreless ninth against the Texas Rangers.

Royals starter Brian Bannister was as good as it gets in a 4-0 win over the Detroit Tigers. Think the Mets could use the guy they mistakenly dealt for Ambiorix Burgos? Bannister is now 13-9, 3.71 in his 1 year and 1 start for the Royals.

Fausto Carmona walked 4 hitters in 7 innings, but the Indians starter pretty much picked up where he left off last season, limiting the White Sox to 1 run in the Tribe's 7-2 victory. Carmona lead the AL in inducing double play grounders last season and started off '08 with 3 more.

Nick Blackburn's wild pitch provided the only run in the Angels 1-0 win over the Twins. Blackburn was great, but Joe Saunders (8 IP) was even better as he and K-Rod combined on the shutout. Torii Hunter finally gave his old fans a treat with his first two hits of the season.

We picked Pedro Martinez to be our NL comeback player of the year, but we just know we are not a jinx like the Sports Illustrated cover (we think that's garbage anyway). Pedro was put on the DL with the hamstring he injured Tuesday night. He's expected to miss 4-6 weeks. The Mets took their frustration out on the Marlins last night in a 13-0 blow out.

Look at those Nats! The Washingtonians improved to 3-0 with a 1-0 blanking of the Phillies. Tim Redding went 7 innings and allowed 1 hit, the only hit the Phils would get on the night. Ryan Zimmerman hit his 2nd game winning home run of the season.

The Brewers pounded Ted Lilly and the Cubs 8-2 to improve to 2-0. Jeff Suppan picked up the win over the team many have picked to win the NL Central.

After a 72 minute rain delay the Giants finally got their first win, a 2-1 edging of the Dodgers. The Dodgers won't have 3rd Base coach Larry Bowa who was suspended 3 games for Tuesday night's ejection. Bowa is NOT happy!

It wasn't an important game, but there was Trevor Hoffman blowing another save for the Padres. After the Astros tied the game, Lance Berkman hit a game winning 3-run HR (Astros 9 Padres 6) off the all-time saves leader.

The Diamondbacks Brandon Lyon can empathize with Hoffman. He didn't retire any of the 3 Reds batters he faced in the 9th last night. The last one, Edwin Encarnacion, hit a walk-off 3-run HR to give the Reds a 6-5 win.

The Braves pounded the Pirates 10-2 for their first win of 2008. Pirates lefty reliever Damaso Marte was in much demand prior to the season. So far in 2 appearances he's allowed 6 runs and only recorded 2 outs.

The Cards picked up their first win too with an 8-3 win over the Rockies. Rick Ankiel, who heard off-season P.E.D. rumors, hit his 1st home run.

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Around the Horn - 4/2

Bad news for the Mets on just the 2nd day of season. Willie Randolph is expecting big things from Pedro Martinez this season, and he must have gotten a knot in his stomach last night when he saw Pedro pull up lame. Pedro was pitching ineffectively against the Florida Marlins when he pulled a hamstring muscle in the 4th inning. He'll go for an MRI today. The Mets rallied back from a 4-0 deficit before the Marlins won it in 10.

Joe Torre's Dodgers are a perfect 2-0 after defeating the San Francisco Giants for the 2nd straight night. The highlight of this one had nothing to do with the 3-2 score, hits or putouts. 3rd Base coach Larry Bowa and ump Ed Montague after Montague ordered Bowa to stay in the 3rd Base coach's box. A new rule is in effect this season that states the coaches must remain in the boxes. Except the rule was not enforced during spring training or in the Dodgers opener. Bowa got tossed and then tossed some tables in the clubhouse.

Brian Backe and Chris Young hooked up in a pitchers duel in the Houston Astros-San Diego Padres game. Scott Hairston's 2-run home run was the difference in the Pads 2-1 win.

No one would blame the St. Louis Cardinals for still being upset over the opening day washout when they had a 5-1 lead. Last night they could only manage a Yadier Molina home run in a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Opening in Japan gave Dice-K the rare opportunity of starting 2 of the Boston Red Sox first 3 games. Unlike his shaky opener against Oakland, Dice had the A's number last night, striking out 9 and allowing just 2 hits in 6.2 innings. Joe Blanton took the tough loss as the Red Sox prevailed 2-1. Kevin Youkilis tied Steve Garvey's MLB record with his 193rd straight game at 1st Base without an error.

The LA Angels won their first game, topping the Minnesota Twins 9-1. John Garland went 8 innings in his Angels debut and Vlad Guerrero had a 3 hit, 3 RBI night. Former Twin Torii Hunter went for the collar for the 2nd straight night.

"Win a Game with Josh Hamilton". The Rangers new outfielder became an instant hero in Arlington, Texas with a walk-off 2-run HR off of Mariners closer J.J. Putz. Putz blew only 2 save opps all of last year. Rangers set up man Joaquin Benoit had blown a 3-1 lead in the 8th. "The King", Felix Hernandez allowed just 1 unearned in his 7 inning start for the M's.

The Rays picked up Carl Crawford's $8.25 million option for the 2009 season and not surprisingly, declined the '09 option on Rocco Baldelli. The Rays also signed set up man Dan Wheeler to a 3-yr, $10.5 million deal.

A's outfielder Travis Buck got the golden sombrero last night and is 0-14 so far this season with 7 strikeouts.

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Torre Announced, Bowa Along for the Ride

Joe Torre was officially announced as the LA Dodgers manager earlier today. In a ceremony that took place in centerfield in Chavez Ravine, it was also announced that Don Mattingly and Larry Bowa will join Torre's coaching staff. It has not be determined if Mattingly will be hitting or bench coach, or if Bowa will be bench or 3rd Base coach.

"Wow! This has been wild here. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind for my wife Ali and me," Torre said. "You say goodbye to one prestigious organization and you say hello to another prestigious organization."

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Bowa Out of the Picture

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Manager John McLaren says he is "very close" to finalizing his coaching staff.

From all indications, Mel Stottlemyre will become the pitching coach, Eddie Rodriguez the first-base coach, Norm Charlton the bullpen coach, Jim Riggleman the bench coach, and probably Larry Bowa the third-base coach.

The Mariners are expected to name the entire staff when all the pieces are in place. As of Thursday night, all but one of the selections had been finalized.

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