twilightdawning

A writer's thoughts – mainly about music, sport and theatre. Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, live shows, New York Yankees

The New York Yankees – September Update – Truths revealed in the rain

Posted on September 28, 2015 by twilightdawning

What: The New York Yankees vs the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays

When: 7th September to 13th September 2015

Where: Yankee Stadium, New York, New York

Stood outside Yankee Stadium on the 10th of September as the rain begins to gently fall, you realise that perhaps this is not going to go to plan. When the series with the Orioles had opened and a Yankees win meant that the lead that Toronto had in the American League East was cut back to half a game, the world seemed filled with optimism. Even when Baltimore took the next two games, things hadn’t seemed so bad – results elsewhere had gone in the Yankees favour. And after all, one and a half games behind doesn’t look so bad when the team ahead of you is just about to arrive in town for four games and anything could happen.

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Changes in the City That Never Sleeps

Posted on September 19, 2015 by twilightdawning

What: New York Yankees versus Tampa Bay Rays

Where: Yankee Stadium, New York, New York, USA

When: September 4 to 6, 2015

New York City is one of my favourite places in the world. London, Whitby (UK not Canada), Stratford-upon-Avon and New York are the places I love and not necessarily in that order. Being back there is always a good thing.

They call it the City That Never Sleeps and you can see why. But I guess in a city that never sleeps then sometimes changes seem to happen at double the speed. Some of my favourite things about this city are gone forever.

There was Mickey Mantle’s restaurant on 59th Street and its mashed potatoes and chicken. It’s not there are any more. There was the food and idiosyncratic shopping at the South Street Seaport. It’s been demolished. Of course, there was the old Yankee Stadium which you will look for in vain. It’s a long time gone. It’s not only Joe DiMaggio who we must ask where he is gone, some other favourites are gone too.

I first caught the baseball bug in the mid 80s but it was the mid 90s before I journeyed to New York to sit in that old Stadium that Ruth built. Then there was a players’ strike but like them I was to be back the following year. 1995.

1995. The year that a still developing centre-fielder called Bernie Williams was joined in the majors by four more developing stars. Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. Somebody told me a few days ago that the New York Yankees buy their success. That’s fine rhetoric and oft repeated but the evidence won’t bear it. The Yankees are at their strongest when their farm system is at its strongest – whether it be the “Core Four” of 1995 or the debuts of Mantle, DiMaggio, Gehrig or Munson. Growing internal greats has always worked out best.

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A Staten Island State of Mind

Posted on September 10, 2015 by twilightdawning

Where: The Ballpark at St George, Staten Island, New York

When: 3rd September 2015

What: Tri-City Valleycats vs Staten Island Yankees

The current season’s issue of “Playball!”, the Staten Island Yankees’ matchday programme shows photos of several former SI Yanks who have made it to the minors. There have been more than the 8 listed there (I recall one, Jason Anderson – there may have been others) but the truth is not many. Contrary to its probable intention, it got me reflecting during the game on how hard it is for these young men to make it to the top in their chosen sporting career. Or truth be told, anywhere near the top.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in August (2015)

Posted on September 7, 2015 by twilightdawning

So whilst the bats were labouring the New York Yankees really needed the pitchers to pick up the slack. As it worked out their ERA was only marginally worse – 3.70 to 3.83 but the lack of batting left them with only a 14-14 record on the month which left the field wide open for the Toronto Blue Jays to steal the lead in the American League East which they were quite happy to do. Lurking behind the stats were impressive months for Masahiro Tanaka and Adam Warren particularly but let’s see what the rest of the picture reveals:

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in August (2015)

Posted on September 2, 2015 by twilightdawning

Let’s consider some figures:

.275

.274

.249

.240

What do they represent? Well, unsurprisingly for this column, they represent the monthly team batting averages for the New York Yankees for every month prior to August. The top one on the list is July, the bottom is April. June and May come inbetween and reveal the way that the Yankees’ batting had improved every month this season – that is until August, the month when their batting performance fell apart. Let’s see where the disaster had its roots:

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in July (2015)

Posted on August 6, 2015 by twilightdawning

The Yankees showed a significant improvement in their pitching in July and if we combine that with their great batting form it is easy to see why they went from 15-12 in June to 17-7 in July. Having Andrew Miller back from injury certainly helped and the trio of Dellin Betances, Justin Wilson and Chasen Shreve delivered more than could be expected of them during the month. The team’s ERA fell to below 4 compared to the 133 run produced in those 24 games. It is not hard to see how so many games ended in the “Wins” column.

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in July (2015)

Posted on August 1, 2015 by twilightdawning

In June, the New York Yankees’ bats caught fire, rising from a .249 team monthly batting average to .273. In July, against all expectations, they managed to maintain that and take it a little further with small gains in batting, slugging and on-base average.

Across the team, the bats are giving the pitchers that little extra breathing space and run support, resulting in a 17-7 month and a six-game lead in the American League East.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in June (2015)

Posted on July 10, 2015 by twilightdawning

The Yankees pitching has been in a steady decline all season. In April, the average ERA of the team’s pitchers was 3.23 with a WHIP of 1.16. In May, that ERA was up to 4.38 and the WHIP was 1.33. In June, the WHIP was exactly the same but the ERA was up again to 4.48.

The bullpen kept the team rolling in April but was overused. In May it had begun to creak. By June some key players were injured but thankfully the batting had improved enough to keep the team alive – but they have used more relief pitchers prior to roster expansion than in any season in the team’s history. For a team at the head, or near to the head of the division, times are proving hard.

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The New York Yankees – The Batters in June (2015)

Posted on July 7, 2015 by twilightdawning

At the end of May, the Yankees were tied for first place in the American League East. By the 9th of June they were 2.5 games clear at the head of that table. By the 23rd, they were 2 games behind. As June turned into July, they were poised to take the lead in the division again.

June was a mixed month for the New York Yankees. June was a very streaky month for the New York Yankees.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in May (2015)

Posted on June 4, 2015 by twilightdawning

May in the pitching ranks of the New York Yankees went pretty much the way of April. Most of the starters struggled – Michael Pineda was the obvious exception. The bullpen began to look tired: the inevitable result of overuse, caused by sub-standard starting.

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