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The Twilight Dawning 2nd Annual Yankees Baseball Awards

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That’s TWI-D (Twilight Dawning) not TWIB (This week in Baseball)

Here’s the roll of honour:

Batter of the Year 2009: Derek Jeter
Pitcher of the Year 2009: C.C. Sabathia

Bench player of the Year 2009: Ramiro Pena
Relief Pitcher of the Year 2009: A three-way tie:

David Robertson – Mariano Rivera – Alfredo Aceves

For the record, here are the total points gained:

Batters

 

Derek Jeter                  8

Alex Rodriguez           5

Robinson Cano           4

Jorge Posada               3

Hideki Matsui             2

Melky Cabrera            2

Johnny Damon            2

Mark Teixeira              1

Brett Gardner              -1

Xavier Nady               -1

Nick Swisher               -2 

 

Bench

 

Ramiro Pena                4

Francisco Cervelli       3

Jerry Hairston jr          1

Juan Miranda              1

Kevin Cash                 -1

Cody Ransom             -2

Eric Hinske                 -2

Shelley Duncan           -2

Freddy Guzman          -2

Angel Berroa               -2

Jose Molina                 -3

           


Pitchers


C.C. Sabathia              6

David Robertson         5

Mariano Rivera           5

Alfredo Aceves           5

Andy Pettitte              3

Joba Chamberlain        3

Phil Hughes                 1

Mark Melancon           1

Phil Coke                    1

Chad Gaudin              1

A.J. Burnett                0

Damaso Marte             0

Brett Tomko                0

Brian Bruney               -1

Jose Veras                   -1

Sergio Mitre                -1

Ian Kennedy               -1

Jonathan Albaladejo   -2

Chien-Ming Wang      -2

Anthony Claggett       -2

Edwar Ramirez           -3

The way that is calculated favours those players that are consistent. Teixeira’s awful April and October explains why he might have ranked lower than on other season summaries. Other than I think it’s pretty reflective.

 

Coming Soon – The Twilight Dawning Baseball Awards 2009

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Last year we did something fun called the "Twilight Dawning Baseball Awards". I thought it was worth repeating.

Basically, any New York Yankee who got a positive mention in one of my monthly baseball reports scores a point. Any Yankee who gets a negative mention loses a point. Any player who ranked as a good surprise in a report also scores a mark and anyone who was noted as bad surprise also loses a point.

We total up the marks and award the best batter, best pitcher, best bench player and best reliever with a mention in my column – what more could they want!

It also enables me to have a jumping off point to get the baseball discussion running until the new season starts.

Just for the record, the 2008 winners were:

Batter – Alex Rodriguez
Pitcher – Mike Mussina
Bench – Wilson Betemit
Reliever – Mariano Rivera

Mussina, seeing this award as the peak of his career, retired and obviously can’t repeat. Betemit left the Yankees and signed on with the White Sox. Failing to capitalise on the momentum given to any career by the prestigious Twilight Dawning award, he lasted until June in the majors for Chicago before being assigned to Triple-A. For 2010, he has signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals. A clear sign that a TWI-D* will make your career for you – and to think he was just a journeyman infielder before I brought him to the attention of my readers.

So can either A-Rod or Mo repeat? Do they want to?

All will be revealed.

* The TWI-D (Twilight dawning) awards are not associated with the TWIB (This week in Baseball) awards or any other less prestigious prize.

New York Yankees – The Bombers in October / November. Part 4 of 4

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If the Yankees were to win the World Series or even get there, they were going to have to rely heavily on their starting rotation. The problem was that by the time of the ALCS, the Yankees effectively had a three-man rotation. Sabathia, Burnett, Pettitte and…………..
This meant that those three guys could not slip up and Rivera had to be as solid as ever and some how or other they had to keep a tight bridge in the late innings before they got to Mo. It couldn’t happen could it…… A round of applause for the Yankees’ pitching.

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – October (American League Championship Series)
Name GP GS GF IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA
Marte, Damaso 3 0 0 1.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Coke, Phil 2 0 0 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 .500
Robertson, David 2 0 1 2.0 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 0.00 .143
Gaudin, Chad 1 0 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Sabathia, CC 2 2 0 16.0 9 2 2 3 12 2 0 0 1.13 .161
Rivera, Mariano 5 0 3 7.0 3 1 1 2 4 0 0 2 1.29 .125
Pettitte, Andy 2 2 0 12.2 14 4 4 2 8 1 0 0 2.84 .298
Hughes, Phil 3 0 0 2.2 4 1 1 1 3 0 1 0 3.38 .308
Chamberlain, Joba 4 0 0 1.2 5 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 5.40 .556
Burnett, AJ 2 2 0 12.1 11 8 8 5 7 0 0 0 5.84 .234
Aceves, Alfredo 2 0 1 1.1 3 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 13.50 .600
28 6 6 58.2 51 19 19 18 38 4 2 2 2.91 .236
New York Yankees – Pitching (World Series)
Name GP GS GF IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA
Marte, Damaso 4 0 0 2.2 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Rivera, Mariano 4 0 4 5.1 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 2 0.00 .167
Robertson, David 2 0 0 2.1 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0.00 .222
Aceves, Alfredo 1 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 .143
Chamberlain, Joba 3 0 0 3.0 2 1 1 1 4 1 0 0 3.00 .182
Sabathia, CC 2 2 0 13.2 11 5 5 6 12 0 1 0 3.29 .216
Pettitte, Andy 2 2 0 11.2 9 7 7 8 10 2 0 0 5.40 .225
Burnett, AJ 2 2 0 9.0 8 7 7 6 11 1 1 0 7.00 .235
Coke, Phil 2 0 1 1.1 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 13.50 .500
Hughes, Phil 3 0 1 1.2 2 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 16.20 .333
Bruney, Brian 1 0 0 0.1 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 54.00 .750
26 6 6 53.0 44 27 27 26 50 4 2 2 4.58 .227


Positives

David Robertson. Robertson is beginning to impress as a reliever and can be an important part of the Yankees’ bullpen in 2010. He had some injuries to contend with during the latter part of the season but again in the ALCS and WS, he was everything he could have been.

CC Sabathia. Sabathia was great in the American League Championship Series and then so-so in the World Series. He averaged 8 innings a game in the ALCS and earned the win in both games. In the World Series, he was not as strong but still came out with a better ERA than his two fellow starters.

Mariano Rivera. Rivera was seldom called on to pitch more than one innings during the regular series. In the post-season as confidence in Hughes and Chamberlain was at its lowest, Rivera was pressed into pitching 7 innings in 5 appearances in the ALCS and 5.1 in 4 appearances in the World Series. He earned 4 saves and achieved a miniscule ERA. One day he will retire and what will poor Yankees do then…..?

Andy Pettitte. Andy was not everything he could have been in the last two sections of the season but he did enough. He took 3 wins in 4 starts and the other game was a no decision. That’ll do.

Negatives

AJ Burnett. Burnett wasn’t as good as he needed to be in the Championship Series and World Series but somehow he managed to finish with only one loss. We couldn’t really afford this with only 3 starters but somehow we got away with it.

Phil Hughes. Hughes really needed to bounce back after the American League Division series and truth be told, he did a little better in the ALCS but close examination of the video and the statistics suggests he was lucky and his performance in the World Series confirmed this.
His OBP didn’t rise a lot but his ERA ballooned to over 16. Will the real Phil Hughes please stand up?

Brian Bruney. A mixed season saw Bruney left off the ALDS and ALCS rosters only to be recalled for the World Series. He made one appearance. He got one out and gave up 3 hits and two runs. Last chance gone.

Surprises

Damaso Marte. 7 appearances, 4 innings, no hits, no runs, no walks. There were times this season when Marte looked like he was at the end of his time with the Yankees. His work for them in 2008 had not matched his C.V. and when he was fit in 2009, he was uneven and inconsistent at best but when it really mattered he came up with the goods. We would however like a whole season of these kind of performances.

Alfredo Aceves. Aceves was disappointing in the Championship Series but bounced back in the World Series where his 2 innings in one appearance was virtually spotless…… as did…….

Joba Chamberlain with 3 innings in 3 appearances which was more important for what it wasn’t than what it was. It wasn’t a performance to match Marte but it was so much better than Chamberlain had been for several weeks and that gives hope for the future.

New York Yankees – The Bombers in October / November. Part 3 of 4

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The Yankees’ bats badly needed to recover if they were to continue the winning streak they had begun against the Twins. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim looked far more formidable opponents not least their outfield which had been partially imported from the New York Yankees where Bobby Abreu and Juan Rivera would no doubt make their presence felt. As it worked out, the batting lineup did just that against LA before hitting a partial lull against the Phillies in the Fall Classic.

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – October (AL Championship Series)
Name G AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG OBP
Gardner, Brett 6 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .667 .667 .667
Hairston Jr., Jerry 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500
Rodriguez, Alex 6 21 6 9 6 2 0 3 8 3 0 1 1 .429 .952 .567
Cabrera, Melky 6 23 3 9 4 2 0 0 3 6 2 0 0 .391 .478 .462
Molina, Jose 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333
Damon, Johnny 6 30 4 9 5 1 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 .300 .533 .323
Cano, Robinson 6 23 4 6 4 1 2 0 4 3 0 0 0 .261 .478 .414
Jeter, Derek 6 27 5 7 2 0 0 2 6 5 0 0 0 .259 .481 .394
Matsui, Hideki 6 21 1 5 3 1 0 0 5 4 0 0 0 .238 .286 .385
Teixeira, Mark 6 27 2 6 4 1 0 0 3 8 0 1 0 .222 .259 .290
Posada, Jorge 6 20 3 4 1 1 0 1 5 5 0 0 1 .200 .400 .360
Swisher, Nick 6 20 2 3 0 0 0 0 3 7 1 0 0 .150 .150 .292
Cervelli, Francisco 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Guzman, Freddy 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
222 33 62 29 9 2 8 38 47 4 2 2 .279 .446 .389

New York Yankees – Batting (World Series)
Name G AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SB BA SLG OBP
Matsui, Hideki 6 13 3 8 8 1 0 3 1 3 0 .615 1.385 .643
Jeter, Derek 6 27 5 11 1 3 0 0 1 6 0 .407 .519 .429
Damon, Johnny 6 22 6 8 4 2 0 0 3 3 3 .364 .455 .440
Pettitte, Andy 2 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .333 .333 .333
Posada, Jorge 6 19 1 5 5 1 0 0 2 7 0 .263 .316 .318
Rodriguez, Alex 6 20 5 5 6 3 0 1 3 8 1 .250 .550 .423
Hairston Jr., Jerry 3 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .167 .167 .167
Cabrera, Melky 4 13 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 .154 .154 .154
Teixeira, Mark 6 22 5 3 3 1 0 1 2 8 0 .136 .318 .296
Cano, Robinson 6 22 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 5 0 .136 .136 .130
Swisher, Nick 5 15 3 2 1 1 0 1 4 4 0 .133 .400 .316
Gardner, Brett 5 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 .000 .000 .000
Molina, Jose 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .333
Burnett, AJ 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 .000 .000
Sabathia, CC 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 .000 .000 .000
Hinske, Eric 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 – – 1.000
198 32 49 30 12 0 6 18 56 4 .247 .399 .326

Positives

Hideki Matsui. Whilst it was a trifle generous to make Matsui World Series MVP – perhaps Jeter with twice as many at-bats and a strong performance in the field might have been a more logical choice – there is no question that after a quiet Division series and Championship series, his bat suddenly came to life. He contributed 4 extra base hits including three home runs. I still think this might have been a good point for him to retire and go out on a high but we will see what next season brings.

Derek Jeter. An indifferent series against the Angels gave way to a strong performance against the Phillies which made Jeter the most likely Yankee in the considerations for the AL MVP. After Matsui and A-Rod, he was even third in slugging during the World Series bringing a grand culmination to a truly impressive season.

Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod was outstanding in the ALCS and added a home run in a quieter World Series. He has silenced his critics who looked askance at his post-season stats prior to this year. He is still open to criticism in a whole host of other areas but one apparent flaw is dealt with.

Johnny Damon. After a quiet series against the Twins, Damon came up with the goods throughout the rest of the way. Two home runs against the Angels and then a .440 OBP against the Phillies were amongst the highlights here and are strong reasons whilst the Yankees are still unable to shake the notion that they might pay the money and bring him back for 2010.

Melky Cabrera. Cabrera had a great series against the Angels. Injuring himself during the series against the Phillies means that we will never know if he could have continued this in the World Series and what difference that might have made to his future with the Yankees. His .462 OBP and 9 hits against the Angels ought to have been argument enough to keep him as a desired member of the staff for next year.

Negatives

Mark Teixeira. Teixeira didn’t bounce back after a poor series agains the Twins – in fact, if anything his struggles became worse. .222 and .136 with 1 home run was not the form he delivered for the majority of the regular season and the question mark about post-season performance which hung around Rodriguez for so long will now pass to him.

Freddy Guzman. The only reason to carry Guzman on the ALCS roster was because Girardi was going to make him run. Consequently, the Angels were ready for him and the move negated itself. He’s a one trick pony who should have been left at home.

Nick Swisher. Swisher was another who did not rebound after a weak ALDS. His World Series performance was a little better in that he produced some power but as much as it is difficult not to like the guy and wish him well, it is hard to understand why the Yankees seem so set on him as the everyday right fielder next year.

Surprises

Brett Gardner. Gardner doesn’t take his chances. He began the season with Girardi describing him as the everyday centrefielder. He played his way out of that one and handed it back to Melky. He had a strong ALCS and when Cabrera got injured he had every opportunity to take the position by the scruff of the neck and at least make a memorable contribution that would stick in the management’s thoughts. It didn’t happen.

Jerry Hairston. Hairston produced .250 across the two series in what was not an easy role. He has been some distance ahead of Hinske as someone to bring off the bench since the two of them arrived

Andy Pettitte. Way to go, Pettitte, for being the only pitcher to produce a hit during the games in Philadelphia and for managing to turn it in to a run!

New York Yankees – The Bombers in October / November. Part 2 of 4

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The Yankees last three games of the regular season saw their pitchers deliver a combined ERA of nearly 5. Time would show that in the ALDS most of the big bats would fall silently. In short, they needed their pitchers to wake up and quickly.

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – October (Regular season)
Name GP GS GF IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA
Chamberlain, Joba 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Marte, Damaso 1 0 1 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Rivera, Mariano 1 0 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Coke, Phil 2 0 0 1.2 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0.00 .167
Bruney, Brian 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Aceves, Alfredo 1 0 0 2.1 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Gaudin, Chad 1 0 1 1.1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0.00 .200
Burnett, AJ 1 1 0 5.0 7 2 1 1 3 1 0 0 1.80 .318
Robertson, David 2 0 0 2.0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 4.50 .250
Pettitte, Andy 1 1 0 4.1 6 5 3 4 1 0 1 0 6.23 .316
Albaladejo, Jonathan 1 0 0 1.1 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 13.50 .429
Hughes, Phil 2 0 0 0.2 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 13.50 .600
Sabathia, CC 1 1 0 2.2 8 9 5 5 3 0 1 0 16.88 .500
16 3 3 25.0 31 20 13 11 21 1 2 0 4.68 .292

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – October (American League Division Series)
Name GP GS GF IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA
Robertson, David 1 0 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 .250
Rivera, Mariano 3 0 2 3.2 4 0 0 1 7 0 0 1 0.00 .267
Aceves, Alfredo 1 0 0 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0.00 .250
Chamberlain, Joba 3 0 0 1.2 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 .286
Coke, Phil 2 0 0 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Sabathia, CC 1 1 0 6.2 8 2 1 0 8 1 0 0 1.35 .296
Pettitte, Andy 1 1 0 6.1 3 1 1 1 7 1 0 0 1.42 .136
Burnett, AJ 1 1 0 6.0 3 1 1 5 6 0 0 0 1.50 .150
Hughes, Phil 3 0 0 2.0 5 2 2 1 3 0 0 0 9.00 .500
16 3 3 29.0 27 6 5 9 34 3 0 1 1.55 .243

Positives

Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain is a conundrum. Chamberlain is an  enigma, a riddle. Just a week earlier I’d sat in my seat at Yankee Stadium and wondered f this guy could throw a strike. In his last game of the regular season, he let no-one get on base. In 3 appearances in the 3 games of the ALDS, he wasn’t quite as dominating but no-one reached home. This is Chamberlain back in the bullpen where, of course, the Yankees brass will not leave him.

Mariano Rivera. He also played in one of the last games of the regular season and all three of the ALDS games. He also gave up no runs and let few get on base. The difference is that no-one, least of all this writer, was surprised.

Phil Coke. Coke has had a mixed second season in the pinstripes but there was nothing mixed about these performances. He played two of the last three games of the regular season. He gave up one hit and nobody scored. In the ALDS, the only difference was that in his two appearances he didn’t allow a hit.

Alfredo Aceves. Aceves achieved a lot of wins during the regular season (I can’t remember anybody who achieved nearly as many from a season spent mainly in relief since the days of Lee Guetterman – and that seems almost a lifetime ago in all kinds of ways). No wins during these two snapshots but two appearances, three and a third innings, four strikeouts, one walk, one hit, no runs. If he isn’t the long reliever in 2010, we are going to have to find someone truly special to stand in his stead.

AJ Burnett. Burnett only produced 11 innings across his last league appearance and his first post-season appearance but he did almost everything else right.

Negatives

Phil Hughes. You have to look pretty hard to find disappointing pitching for the Yankees during the ALDS but there is one obvious candidate. Hughes spent the post-season struggling and he looked just as bad during the last few days of the regular season. For most of the season he looked like he had finally found a role he could be consistent in at the Major League level (not that the Yankees were going to leave him there!) but at the last fences he fell apart completely. In less than 3 innings across 5 games, he allowed 9 men to get on base and he was depending on others to make sure only three of them scored.

Jonathan Albaladejo. Too often during the last two seasons, Albaladejo has lost his place on the Major League roster when everyone was available without doing anything wrong. If he had any chance of making the Division Series roster then he blew it completely with his last appearance, allowing 4 men to get on base (2 scoring) across 1.1 innings.

Surprises

Brian Bruney. Bruney was another who didn’t make the roster for the Division Series but in his case the decision followed one of his best appearances of the season. He had a very patchy year and it was his own fault that his name wasn’t already pencilled in but he must have sensed at this point that he was unlikely to return to the Bronx in 2010.

CC Sabathia. There hasn’t been much that is negative to say about CC’s first season as a Yankee but his final regular season appearance was horrible. Those of us who could count had already calculated that the Yankees didn’t want any situations in the playoffs where they would need to call on more than 3 of their rotation. The thought that their no. 1 guy was going to fall apart at the last moment was too much to bear. Thankfully, Sabathia was "business as usual" by the time the first playoff series began.

David Robertson. Given the periods during the season when Robertson was out of the reckoning, there were those who were surprised to see him facing the Twins at all. That his first ever post-season appearance saw him come into the game with the scores tied and that (despite one wobble) he closed the game out with the win suggests that this guy has what it takes to be a fixture in the Yankees bullpen.

Andy Pettitte. Pettitte was another to step up to the mark and deliver the goods in the ALDS despite a poor performance in the last week of the season. Don’t know why I think this is surprising, he’s been doing it for years!!

New York Yankees – The Bombers in October / November. Part 1 of 4

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The Yankees last few games of the regular season were ones to be got through and hope for a minimum of injuries. The Division Series is tricky simply because being only five games long, it can be argued that the team who have had to play right down to the wire to qualify quite often go into game 1 with the highest level of momentum. However, this year despite the Yankees bats falling quiet , there were to be no upsets and the Twins were seen off in three games.

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – October (Regular Season)
Name G AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG OBP
Pena, Ramiro 3 4 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .500 .500
Rodriguez, Alex 2 7 2 3 7 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 .429 1.286 .429
Damon, Johnny 2 8 1 3 3 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 .375 .625 .375
Cabrera, Melky 2 6 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333
Miranda, Juan 3 3 2 1 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 .333 1.333 .333
Gardner, Brett 3 7 3 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2 .286 .286 .375
Hairston Jr., Jerry 3 7 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286 .286 .444
Jeter, Derek 2 7 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .286 .286 .286
Molina, Jose 2 8 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 .250 .375 .250
Guzman, Freddy 3 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .250 .250 .250
Cano, Robinson 3 9 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .222 .222 .222
Matsui, Hideki 2 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .167 .167 .167
Teixeira, Mark 3 6 1 1 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 .167 .167 .444
Hinske, Eric 3 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 .167 .167 .286
Posada, Jorge 2 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .143 .143 .143
Swisher, Nick 3 7 2 1 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 .143 .286 .455
Duncan, Shelley 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
Cervelli, Francisco 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
106 17 27 16 4 0 3 8 23 0 0 4 .255 .377 .325

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – October (American League Division Series)
Name G AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG OBP
Rodriguez, Alex 3 11 4 5 6 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 0 .455 1.000 .500
Jeter, Derek 3 10 4 4 2 2 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 .400 .900 .538
Posada, Jorge 3 11 1 4 2 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 .364 .636 .364
Matsui, Hideki 3 9 1 2 2 0 0 1 3 3 0 0 0 .222 .556 .417
Cabrera, Melky 3 12 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 .167 .167 .167
Cano, Robinson 3 12 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .167 .167 .167
Teixeira, Mark 3 12 3 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 .167 .417 .231
Damon, Johnny 3 12 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 0 .083 .083 .154
Swisher, Nick 3 12 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 .083 .167 .083
Molina, Jose 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
102 15 23 15 3 0 6 9 22 0 0 0 .225 .431 .288


Positives

Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez has hardly had the easiest season although much of the damage has been self-inflicted in one way or another. It also needs to be noted that of all the Yankees’ big names, he is the one who has most often fallen flat when it comes to these big occasions. How delightful then to see him hitting for average in games 160, 161 and 162 when the outcome didn’t matter and adding some much needed power when the ALDS came along.

Derek Jeter. Jeter, on the other hand, has been just what the sport needed all season. A great sportsman who produces consistently and is concerned about character and appearance. 2 doubles, 1 home run, 3 walks. As the Yankees had to scratch out runs Jeter was just the guy to help them achieve that goal.

Jorge Posada. Posada was quiet in the latter days of the season but he did what needed to be done in the post-season albeit by sparking a little controversy along the way.

Juan Miranda. Miranda was never going to be on the post-season roster but he used the opportunities that he got at the end of the regular season to further his ambition of being part of that squad in 2010. Just as he did at the close of 2008, he was able to bring both hitting-for-average and power to some rather lacklustre team performances.

Negatives

Nick Swisher. Swisher is obviously a good clubhouse presence but he is also just about the streakiest player in the major leagues at this time and late October saw his bat fall very quiet once again.

Mark Teixeira. Teixeira has had a great season with the bat and defensively but in late October he went back to the form that he had shown in April.

Robinson Cano. Cano was one more who began to slumber as the season drew to a close and couldn’t be woken by the crowds of the ALDS.

Shelley Duncan. Another who was never going to play a part in the post-season but who had once last stab to make it as a Yankee after a good season at AAA. Expect his two at-bats against Tampa to be his last as a Yankee.

Surprises

Ramiro Pena. Pena’s reward for the two hits in his last four at-bats of the season was to be left off the post-season roster just as his continually impressive play in the regular season so him demoted to AAA. Go figure……

Eric Hinske. Hinske on the other hand who looked over-matched most of the season would be included in the roster to face the Twins but never got off the bench. Useful selection.

Francisco Cervelli. And whilst I’m moaning at the Yankees failure to give opportunities to youth, let’s not forget Cervelli who has a future with the Yankees and …….

Jose Molina. ……..who does not. Cashman and Girardi went with Molina. No disrespect to Jose who has done a very good job backing up Posada during his time with the Yankees but that time is over and Cervelli needs to be tested in the big situation.

Trying to catch up

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I still haven’t got my baseball analyses for October and the post-season up on the site. They have appeared elsewhere but I’m going to try and get them transcribed and up on the blog prior to New Year.

Meanwhile, it seems like the Yankees are not content to sit on their laurels. They’ve re-signed Andy Pettitte and failed to re-sign their World Series MVP Hideki Matsui (now with the Angels). They’ve brought in Curtis Granderson for centrefield and starting pitcher Javier Vazquez is going to be given a second go around. Meanwhile, relief pitchers, Phil Coke, Ian Kennedy and Mike Dunn are gone as part of those trades as are prospects Austin Jackson and Arodys Vizcaino. Brian Bruney has gone from last season’s strongest team (Yankees) to last season’s weakest (Nationals). Most significantly, for my money, the Vazquez trade sees Melky Cabrera heading in the opposite direction and preparing to pull on a Braves shirt next year. Cabrera bounced back from a horrible 2008 campaign and I think the Yankees are significantly under-rating him.

Along Came…… Alice

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Alice Cooper

The Theatre of Death Tour 2009

Hammersmith Apollo

6th December 2009

A couple of years ago I did an interview with Alice Cooper when he was touring the UK promoting an autobiographical volume “Golf Monster” which taught me more about that game with the stick, the little ball and the hole than I’ll ever need to know. As a consequence, I was invited to write a little promotional material for his SPV release “Along Came A Spider” which is for my money the best album he has made for several years and one of the best of his career. After that there was talk of touring the album which came to nothing and in its place, Alice has been touring a show called “Theatre of Death” which finally reached London this weekend.

“Theatre of Death” is essentially a Greatest Hits show with the added visual attraction that Alice dies five times during the course of the show. Support for the tour is Manraze. Manraze feature Phil Collen from Def Leppard and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols and certainly have the fire and panache to carry off a great visual show but on this evidence, they just don’t have the songs. If you were going to return home after the show with memories of any of the choruses, they were certainly going to come from Alice’s portion of the night and not from Manraze.

Alice’s set was being filmed for a prospective future DVD release and he showed that, like him or hate him, he is still the consummate showman. Tonight he was given a lethal injection from a huge comedy syringe, he was hung by the neck until dead, he was executed by guillotine and died in a magician’s sword trick or two but still came back to thrill the audience with a full-blooded encore of “Schools Out”.

The songs ran the whole gamut of his career from his first group of albums through his commercial rebirth with “Poison” to “Vengeance is Mine” from the recent “Along Came A Spider” record I mentioned.

However, that song aside the set was light on songs from his most recent albums and this is the downside of playing the hits. The commercial market for singles from someone like Alice is dead and so while the albums continue to sell well you’re unlikely to see him locking horns with Lady GaGa in the UK Top 40 singles chart anytime soon. If I was selecting Alice’s set I would choose more material from the new album, from “Last Temptation”, from “Brutal Planet” but it is a small complaint when we have just a rich smorgasbord in front of us.

And it is the visuals with Alice that will keep you coming back for more. He goes through more costume changes than anyone in the rock world this side of Stevie Nicks. He waves a sabre at the crowd, unloads “Alice” dollars in their direction and throws out necklaces of “Dirty Diamonds”. That he manages to do all this without hardly missing a beat is truly a feat of energy and stagecraft. Alice is not going to see 50 again but he is lean and has enough momentum to carry him for the beginning of the show to the end and then some.

Vincent Furnier with his golf club and his Bible has, thankfully, cleaned up his act, but Alice is still the reprobate villain of the stage we know and love and long may he run.

Past or Present…… Tense

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Gary Numan

The Pleasure Principle Tour 2009

The Junction, Cambridge

1st December 2009

Numan has decided to perform “The Pleasure Principle” album as it was, back in the day, in 1979. Out comes the skinny tie and digital synthesizers with patches to emulate the sounds produced by the analog models that were used on an album that has become highly esteemed in recent years. In 1979, Gary Numan was disparaged by the critics. Now they love him.

When Numan toured two previous classic albums – Telekon and Replicas – he updated the sound of those albums to fit his current style. This time there is no such tampering but there will be a second set featuring songs which are not from The Pleasure Principle and those songs will be presented in Gary’s current modus operandi. It will be interesting to see which wins – the new against the old – not only artistically but in the view of the crowd.

The Junction is a fairly bog standard rock venue. Standing only. Cramped. Dark. Your shoes keep sticking to the floor where drink has been spilled on a previous night and little effort has been made to clear up. The sound reproduction is good but the stage is small. This, in itself,is a problem. Numan is jammed behind a keyboard for most of this first set and reproducing the old keyboard sounds on the modern synths takes little effort on the part of the band. All very static. This used to work in the old days on huge stages with vast light shows. It is a testimony to the ability of this band that they still manage to hold your attention.

The songs are well performed but the performance is rather sedentary and there is a great sound but not much to watch. The set list has its brave moments, not too many acts would open their show with two instrumentals. The second of these is “Airlane” which heralds an in-order run through of the album. High points? “M.E.” and the seldom performed “Conversation”. On “Tracks”, Numan blows the lyric completely. During “Asylum” the stage is rearranged for the second half. Once the table that Numan’s keyboard is stood upon is taken away and Chris McCormack straps on his electric guitar the whole feel of the show changes.

Whether because he is now able to perform in his preferred style or whether because being out from behind the keyboard frees him, Numan is now much more energetic and moves around the stage with poise, mystery and momentum.

The first song in this section of this set is the yet unreleased “The Fall” which bodes well for forthcoming releases. “Halo”, “Jagged” and “Haunted” from recent albums are all performed well but it is ironic that the high points of the second half are a storming “Down in the Park” and a version of “Are ‘Friends’ Electric” which alternates between a gentle piano-like sound and thunderous keyboards and guitars. There is clear evidence that whatever the quality and energy of his performance, Numan’s songwriting is no longer what it once was. Too often his recent lyrics address his dislike of religion and playing on this one lyrical note can soon become tired whatever your own views. In this regard using a burning cross on his video screen – an image with racial and Ku Klux Klan overtones as well as religious ones – was not exactly his most sensitive decision.

Aside from this the visual elements of the show work well and the show builds towards a dynamic conclusion with “We Are So Fragile” (old) and “A Prayer From the Unborn” (fairly new). Ironically, the restricted movements of the first half giving way to the torrent of activity of the second gives the illusion of a build in energy which works well. In reality, both halves of the show work well in their own way and the performance is a huge success.

This is likely to be the last of these album-revisited tours that Numan will do. It is hard to see him performing the excellent “Dance” album with the current configuration of his band. The last model of combining the old and the new has worked well and will hopefully bring some of his old audience to a greater appreciation of the newer material and performance style. Hopefully, they won’t notice the falling away of the songwriting content as much as this reviewer does. But that is something only Gary can address and the increasing gap between his studio albums suggests he is not close to finding an answer..…….