The Daily Yankeeland - 12/9

Word from the Boston Globe is that the Red Sox are showing interest in Andy Pettitte. The Red Sox actually offered the most money when Pettitte left the Astros in 2003, but the lefty wanted to "come home again". Well now Andy is playing hardball. Let's just say this. This isn't David Cone or David Wells. If you sign with Boston, don't ever expect to be treated the same way in NY again.

The Sox are also showing some interest in Carl Pavano. Don't worry Carl, we could care less what you do.

According to Mark Feinsand of the News, the Yankees are a preparing an offer to free agent, oft-injured pitcher, Ben Sheets. It's expected to be in the range of 2 years and $30 million. (We asked Peter Abraham about this on his live video chat this morning). Brian Cashman also confirmed that no offer has been made as of yet to Mark Teixeira.

Both the Yankees and Mets are asking for more public bonds to help finance their new ballparks.

In case you manage to get tickets to a game next year, here's the company that will be helping with guest services.

Ken Rosenthal says the Yankees are looking at Nick Punto as a utility player for the coming season.

A nice article from ESPN Magazine on Thurman Munson's old locker.

Share

Our Top 10 Stadium Moments

We'll say from 1968 - forward since that's when we started to become cognizant of what was going on. This was not easy and some of these are interchangeable.

10. June 17, 1978 - Ron Guidry strikes out 18 California Angels. The beginning of fans clapping when an opponent had 2 strikes.

9. ALCS Game 3 - Yankees ruin another Red Sox post-season. Aaron Boone becomes aligned with Bucky Dent.

8. September 24, 2001 - Yankee Stadium is the site of an inter-faith memorial for the tragic occurrences of 9/11.

7. July 4, 1983 - Dave Righetti throws a 4th of July no-hitter against the Red Sox. It's also George Steinbrenner's birthday. Game ends when Rags strikes out Wade Boggs for the third time.

6. August 6, 1979 - Bobby Murcer drives in 5 runs for his fallen brother Thurman Munson on the day of the Captain's funeral.

5. May 25, 1998 and July 18, 1999 - Perfect games by David Wells and David Cone.

4. 2001 Games 4 and 5 of the World Series - Unbelievable 9th inning comebacks on home runs by Tino Martinez and Scott Brosius.

3. 1996 World Series Game 6 - We finally had attained a World Series championship after 18 years.

2. 1977 World Series Game 6 - Reggie Jackson takes 3 swings and hits 3 home runs. The Yankees win their first World Series in 15 years.

1. 1976 ALCS Game 5 - Chris Chambliss finally gets us to the promised land with a dramatic home run.

Share

The Plaques

Share

Moose Throws Old Time Gem

Mike Mussina may be considered an old-timer by baseball standards, but yesterday he pitched a youthful masterpiece as the Yankees snapped their two game losing streak with an 8-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Mussina retired the last 17 men he faced, to earn his 14th win of the season, before a packed Yankee Stadium crowd, there to watch not only the game, but also the final Old-Timer's day festivities in the grand old park.

After a magnificent two hour show, featuring Hall of Fame members, Stadium favorites, surprises (Willie Randolph), and 72 old-timers in all, the Yankees sent the crowd home even happier after winning for just the second time in seven games.

On the 29th anniversary of the passing of Thurman Munson, it was appropriate that the Yankees catcher had a big day at the plate, and no- it was not Ivan Rodriguez. Jose Molina went 3-3 and hit his first home run of the season. He also scored three times and was in perfect sync all day with Mussina.

The Angels scored a pair of runs in the second inning when the Yankees failed to turn an inning-ending double play. With the bases loaded and one out, catcher Jeff Mathis bounced to Alex Rodriguez, who fired to second base to start a potential double play. But with Robinson Cano sitting out with a sore hand, Wilson Betemit, a stranger to the position, made a weak throw as Gary Matthews Jr. bore down on him. Jason Giambi not only couldn't scoop the one-hopper, but he batted it far enough away to allow a second run to cross home plate.

Betemit, who has been criticized right here often, quickly made up for his defensive lapse in the bottom of the second, hitting a 2-run home run off Jered Weaver to tie the game. The Yankees went ahead for good an inning later when Molina and Johnny Damon laced back to back singles. The Angels played back for the double play and that's exactly what they got when Jeter bounced into (yet another) twin-killing, with Molina scoring on the play. The red-hot Bobby Abreu then crushed his 15th home run of the season and his fourth in the last four games.

The story in this game, though, was Mussina. The 39-year-old baffled the Angels' hitters with his mix of speed and guile. He retired the side in order from the third through the seventh innings to earn his 264th career win. He now stands tied with Gus Weyhing for 38th on the all-time wins list. He needs two more wins to tie Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey, two Hall of Fame members.

The Yankees offense, so desperate for a run the night before, tacked on insurance runs in the fifth through seventh innings. In addition to Molina, Alex Rodriguez also went deep for the 24th time this season. Home run number 542 puts him six behind Mike Schmidt for 12th place on the career home run list.


News and Notes

It looked like it might be a long day for Mussina when home plate ump Joe West appeared to be squeezing him on tight pitches early in the game. We still wonder how West ever got re-hired after the umpire's strike. He's one of the worst in the game and is disliked by the players.

Molina has caught 21 of Mussina's 23 starts and there's no reason to think that Joe Girardi will change that combination.

Torii Hunter was placed on the bereavement list due to the death of his grandmother and will miss today's game as well.

Brian Bruney pitched the ninth inning, his first appearance since April 22.

August 2, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
LA Angels	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	3	0
NY Yankees	0	2	2	0	1	1	2	0	X		8	11	1

LA Angels	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Figgins, 3B	3	0	0	0	1	2	1	.278
Aybar, SS	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	.280
Teixeira, 1B	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.282
Guerrero, DH	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.282
Anderson, LF	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.284
Kendrick, 2B	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.333
Rivera, RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	.233
Matthews, CF	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	.228
Mathis, C	3	0	0	1	0	2	1	.218
Totals	30	2	3	1	4	8	9
BATTING 2B: Kendrick (24, Mussina). TB: Anderson; Kendrick 3. RBI: Mathis (37). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rivera. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING DP: 2 (Aybar-Kendrick-Teixeira 2).

LA Angels	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Weaver (L, 9-9)	5.0	8	6	6	1	5	4	4.37
Speier	1.1	3	2	2	1	1	0	4.89
O'Day	1.2	0	0	0	0	2	0	4.34

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, DH	3	1	1	0	1	1	0	.316
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	1	0	1	1	.282
Abreu, RF	4	1	1	2	0	1	1	.286
Rodriguez, A, 3B	4	1	2	1	0	2	1	.325
Giambi, 1B	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.252
1-Sexson, PR-1B	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.224
Nady, LF	3	1	1	0	0	0	1	.328
a-Christian, PH-LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.269
Betemit, 2B	4	1	2	2	0	2	0	.258
Cabrera, CF	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.246
Molina, C	3	3	3	1	0	0	0	.237
Totals	33	8	11	7	2	8	7
a-Popped out for Nady in the 8th. 1-Ran for Giambi in the 6th.
BATTING HR: Betemit (5, 2nd inning off Weaver, 1 on, 2 out), Abreu (15, 3rd inning off Weaver, 0 on, 2 out), Molina (1, 5th inning off Weaver, 0 on, 0 out), Rodriguez, A (24, 6th inning off Weaver, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Damon; Jeter; Abreu 4; Rodriguez, A 5; Nady; Betemit 5; Molina 6. RBI: Betemit 2 (17), Abreu 2 (75), Molina (12), Rodriguez, A (66), Jeter (50). 2-out RBI: Betemit 2; Abreu. GIDP: Jeter; Nady. Team LOB: 3. FIELDING E: Betemit (3, throw).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 14-7)	7.0	2	2	1	2	5	0	3.44
Veras	1.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	2.70
Bruney	1.0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1.46

Weaver pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.

Pitches-strikes: Weaver 99-70, Speier 28-18, O'Day 19-15,
Mussina 89-58, Veras 17-11, Bruney 20-11.
Ground outs-fly outs: Weaver 5-5, Speier 3-0, O'Day 1-2,
Mussina 11-5, Veras 0-0, Bruney 0-3.
Batters faced: Weaver 23, Speier 7, O'Day 5,
Mussina 25, Veras 4, Bruney 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Speier 1-0, O'Day 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Joe West. 1B: Ed Rapuano.
2B: Scott Barry. 3B: CB Bucknor.
Weather: 76 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 6 mph, R to L.
T: 2:42.
Att: 54,170.

Share

Old Timer's Day Festivities

The Yankees sent out a press release this morning, which PeteAbe courtiously printed out, updating the list of players attending tomorrow's Old-Timer's Day. Sadly, Bernie Williams is still not on the list, and Willie Randolph is not among the retirees either. And Lou Piniella and Don Mattingly will be busy managing and coaching. And its unfortunate that NYC firefighter and former Yankee, Frank Tepedino is nto among those listed.

The Hall of Fame Class: Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Reggie Jackson, Wade Boggs, Dave Winfield, and Goose Gossage.

The Widows: Arlene (Elston) Howard, Helen (Catfish) Hunter, Diane (Thurman) Munson, Jill (Billy) Martin, and Cora (Phil) Rizzuto. The sad/ironic part here is that it will be the 29th anniversary of Thurman Munson's death. Our thoughts, of course, will also be with Kay Murcer.

There will be at least one Yankee to represent every championship team since 1947. That includes 1996 team members that are at their first OT game. Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson, Pat Kelly, Graeme Lloyd, Ramiro Mendoza, Tim Raines, and Jimmy Key.

Other newbies include Rickey Henderson (who will join the Hall class one day), Al Leiter, David Wells, Mike Stanley, Dave Eiland, Buck Showalter, Jeff Torborg, Don Baylor, Wayne Tolleson (we can hear Ken Harrelson saying, "Tolly"), Tony Fernandez, and Aaron Small.

Here is the up to date list.

Jim Abbott
Luis Arroyo
Steve Balboni
Jesse Barfield
Don Baylor
Yogi Berra
Paul Blair
Johnny Blanchard
Ron Blomberg
Wade Boggs
Scott Bradley
Dr. Bobby Brown
Homer Bush
Andy Carey
Chris Chambliss
Horace Clarke
Jerry Coleman
David Cone
Ron Davis
Bucky Dent
Al Downing
Brian Doyle
Dave Eiland
Tony Fernandez
Ed Figueroa
Whitey Ford
Oscar Gamble
Joe Girardi
Rich “Goose” Gossage
Eli Grba
Ken Griffey, Sr.
Ron Guidry
Rickey Henderson
Arlene Howard (widow of Elston)
Helen Hunter (widow of Jim)
Reggie Jackson
Tommy John
Pat Kelly
Jimmy Key
Gene “Mickey” Klutts
Johnny Kucks
Don Larsen
Al Leiter
Graeme Lloyd
Hector Lopez
Kevin Maas
Jill Martin (widow of Billy)
Tino Martinez
Bobby Meacham
Ramiro Mendoza
Gene Michael
Rich Monteleone
Diana Munson (widow of Thurman)
Jeff Nelson
Graig Nettles
Paul O’Neill
Gil Patterson
Joe Pepitone
Tim Raines
Bobby Richardson
Mickey Rivers
Cora Rizzuto (widow of Phil)
Buck Showalter
Charlie Silvera
Bill “Moose” Skowron
Aaron Small
Luis Sojo
Mike Stanley
Darryl Strawberry
Wayne Tolleson
Jeff Torborg
Mike Torrez
Tom Tresh
Bob Turley
David Wells
Dave Winfield

Share

The Daily Yankeeland - 6/18

We're still up against since we're off tomorrow. Where will be? Yankee Stadium for the first time this year. WOooooooooooooHOooooooooooooo.

Al Aceves is blipping on our radar like crazy. The lefty the Yankees plucked from the Mexican League was outstanding at Tampa and has brought his 'A' game to 'AA' in Trenton. Last night he threw 1-hit ball over 8 innings in a 7-0 win over the Harrisburg Senators. Between the two stops, he's 6-3, 1.88 with a 5.5:1 strikeout to walk ration. Austin Jackson is getting his bat going too. He's had a pair of 7 RBI games this year. Last night he had to settle for 4 RBI, 3 of them coming on his 7th home run of the season. He's not hitting .283 with 33 walks and 45 RBI.

Willie Randolph will always be a Yankee at heart and that's maybe why a lot of us are even angrier at how his firing was handled by the Mets. Omar Minaya's interview with Mike and the Mad Dog yesterday is a must listen.

We're in the midst of reading Bobby Murcer's "Yankee for Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes ". It's a good read to pick up. Some good stories about Thurman, Sweet Lou, and the Scooter, among others.

Chien-Ming Wang told Mike Puma of the NY Post that he's confident he'll be back by September. From the Wanger's mouth to God's ears.

Share

A Night of Memories, Laughter, and Tears

The 27th annual Thurman Munson Award dinner was held last night at NYC's Marriot Marquis. The Yankees' Melky Cabrera and Alex Rodriguez were among the award winners. Proceeds from the dinner went to the AHRC New York City Foundation, which helps serve children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Thurman's widow Diane has helped to raise nearly $9 million for the foundation.

Some, such as the granddaughter Thurman never knew, were awestruck by his legacy. 12-yr old Madison was attending her first awards dinner.

"Is Grandpa really this loved in New York?" she asked her grandmother, Diana Munson.

Oh yes he was; still to this day. Amazingly, Diane Munson has never been to her late husband's locker in Yankee Stadium. With the Yankees moving across the street next season, that is about to change.

"To me, it's very touching," she said. "I want this to be a private moment in my life and in the lives of my children."

Another award recipient last night was Craig Biggio, the recently retired Houston Astro. A catcher, Biggio idolized Munson while growing up on Long Island, and attending Seton Hall University in NJ. When the Astros came to Yankee Stadium for an interleague game in 2004, Biggio made sure he stopped by The Captain's locker.

"The way that he played the game, his uniform was always dirty," Biggio said. "He truly was my hero growing up."

Melky and the Mets' David Wright weren't even born when Munson died, but both appreciated the magnitude of the evening.

"To be associated with Thurman and everything he did -- not only for New York, but everything off the field -- is just an incredible honor," Wright said. "I take a lot of pride in doing everything that I can in giving back to the New York fans.

Melky was also happy to still be in New York.

"I was a little worried about getting traded because I wanted to stay with my teammates. I'm really happy the trade didn't go through."

The Giants had a representative in Defensive End and Super Bowl champ Justin Tuck, who stopped by to express his good wishes.



Melky poses with the Knicks' Jamal Crawford, Diane Munson , and friends.








Sources - Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and Peter Abraham of the Journal News.

Share

Biggio Wins Munson Award

Craig Biggio grew up idolizing Thurman Munson, so it was appropriate that he win the Thurmon Munson Award for excellence in competition and philanthropic work within the community. Biggio retired after 20 years in the bigs, that included picking up his 3,000th hit this past season.

Joining Biggio in receiving awards are the Yankees Melky Cabrera, the Mets David Wright, Knicks guard Jamal Crawford and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. The awards will be presented at the 28th annual Thurman Munson Awards Dinner at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.

The AHRC New York City Foundation benefits from the event, with money going to assist children and adults with developmental disabilities.

photo courtesy of mlb.com

Share

Farewell to the Captain

With the Yankees playing a day game yesterday, the YES Network used the 9:00 time slot to show a game that will be forever burned into my brain. It was August 6, 1979, the day they buried the Yankees captain, Thurman Munson. Thurman had been killed 4 days earlier when his plane crashed while practicing touch and go landings at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport.

The days that followed were a blur for a 17-year old recent high school graduate from New Jersey. I still recall where I was when my best friend called me to tell me what had happened. I remember watching the news in disbelief. Imagine how you felt when you heard that Corey Lidle was tragically killed last year and multiply it times a million.

On August 6, Thurman Munson was laid to rest in front of family, friends, teammates, and opponents. The Yankees had to make the trek back to Yankee Stadium that night for a scheduled game with the Baltimore Orioles, some of which were at the funeral. George Steinbrenner had considered taking a forfeit. Billy Martin was inconsolable. But the Yankees made their way back in time and the game went on. The game was to be nationally televised on ABC, and Steinbrenner lifted the blackout restriction so that local audiences could see the game as well.

Watching the game last night brought back those days, but with time comes acceptance. Though it's still hard to believe he was gone at age 32 and that 28 years have passed. It was great seeing some of "my boys" back then. My favorite, of course, Bobby Murcer. Lou Piniella, Graig Nettles, Ron Guidry, Roy White, Chris Chambliss, Willie Randolph. And of course there was Bobby's heroics.

There was 3-run home run off of Dennis Martinez to cut the Orioles lead to 4-3 and then the game winning 2-run hit in the 9th off of Tippy Martinez. Billy Martin wasn't going to play Bobby, figuring that after eulogizing his friend and not getting much sleep for days, he wouldn't be up to it. But Bobby said that for some reason he felt energized. The rest is history.

The win brought temporary joy to an exhausted team and to its fan base. No one cared any more about the 1979 season. A bad season had just gotten a whole lot worse. The Captain will always be remembered.

...

On a lighter note, the game also brought back the memory of just how annoying Howard Cosell was. He had no business broadcasting anything, let alone baseball. He stepped all over his fellow announcers, in this case Keith Jackson and Don Drysdale, so that he could beat them to the punch. His repetitiveness was like combining Mike Francesa and Tim McCarver. To use his own words, he was a mockery.

photo courtesy of Thurman Munson - the official site

Share

Programming Alert - Yankees Classic

Maybe classic isn't the right word, more like sadly memorable. On Monday, the YES Network will show the Yankees-Orioles game from August 6, 1979. 28 years from the day that the Yankees took the field after burying their Captain, Thurman Munson.

It was an incredibly emotional game to watch back then, and I'm sure will be this time too. The show will air at 9 p.m. EDT.

Share