Tag Archives: baseball

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.

Yankees on the threshold

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After last night’s win, the Yankees are just one win away from another World Series. I’ll be posting my regular October updates in the next few days but this particular position really required an additional few lines.
The trio of starters that we have HAD to depend on through the playoffs have seen us through. Sabathia, Burnett and Pettitte have been solid and, at best, outstanding. The bullpen has been both a great strength and a great weakness. Rivera has been everything we know that he is. Hughes such a dependable presence during the regular season has been quite dreadful.
There have been sterling performances from Jeter, Rodriguez, Damon, Posada and little wrong elsewhere.

I think it’ll go to six games but the Phillies will have to be tremendous to turn it around now.

September in the Bronx – Part 2 – The Pitchers

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The Yankees have benefited from some great pitching performances and some consistent pitchers this year. Who were the main heroes and the late season culprits?

New York Yankees – Pitching – Month – September
Name GP GS GF IP H RA ER BB SO W L Sv ERA OBA
Coke, Phil 10 0 2 5.2 1 1 0 2 5 0 0 1 0.00 .059
Robertson, David 4 0 0 3.2 1 0 0 2 6 0 0 0 0.00 .083
Kennedy, Ian 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0.00 .000
Sabathia, CC 5 5 0 35.0 20 6 5 13 36 4 0 0 1.29 .167
Hughes, Phil 12 0 2 12.2 6 3 2 3 16 3 0 2 1.42 .143
Rivera, Mariano 11 0 11 10.2 8 2 2 3 10 2 1 7 1.69 .211
Albaladejo, Jonathan 9 0 2 7.1 9 3 2 3 3 1 0 0 2.45 .310
Aceves, Alfredo 7 0 1 14.1 11 5 4 4 13 1 0 0 2.51 .208
Bruney, Brian 11 0 1 8.2 8 3 3 6 7 1 0 0 3.12 .242
Towers, Josh 2 0 2 5.1 6 3 2 1 2 0 0 0 3.38 .273
Gaudin, Chad 5 5 0 26.2 27 11 11 10 18 1 0 0 3.71 .265
Burnett, AJ 6 6 0 37.1 39 18 17 16 39 2 1 0 4.10 .262
Pettitte, Andy 4 4 0 23.0 21 12 12 13 15 2 1 0 4.70 .244
Melancon, Mark 4 0 0 5.0 6 3 3 4 3 0 0 0 5.40 .300
Dunn, Michael 4 0 3 4.0 3 3 3 5 5 0 0 0 6.75 .200
Chamberlain, Joba 6 6 0 22.2 31 19 18 11 17 1 2 0 7.15 .320
Ramirez, Edwar 5 0 2 4.2 7 4 4 3 6 0 0 0 7.71 .350
Marte, Damaso 10 0 1 5.0 6 5 5 2 4 1 2 0 9.00 .300
Mitre, Sergio 4 2 1 15.0 21 18 16 4 12 0 2 0 9.60 .309
120 28 28 247.2 231 119 109 107 218 19 9 10 3.96 .244

Positives

Phil Coke. Coke has not looked the pitcher who made his entry on to the major league stage in 2008. He has, however, usually provided an adequate performance and has frequently been better than that. In September, he started to look again like the pitcher we had seen back in the previous season and when he wasn’t that good, he looked like the luckiest pitcher in the major leagues. It is not a bad combination if you can pull it off.

C.C. Sabathia. With the expection of an abysmal performance against Tampa Bay in the last few days of the season (which fell in October), Sabathia looked every bit a 20-game winner. That defeat left him stuck on 19. Four of those came in September and a 1.29 ERA over 35 innings is quite an achievement.

Phil Hughes. Hughes has become a consummate relief pitcher in 2009 which is why the Yankees are thinking of converting him into a starter in 2010!! Less than 2 runs every nine innings, less than 1 walk every four innings. Great performances.

Alfredo Aceves. Aceves has had a great time of it in 2009. He was left off the opening day roster but since he made it, there has been no looking back and September was as good as every other  month of the season.

Negatives

Sergio Mitre. Mitre was the fifth starter for the last few months of the season. His performance in September was so bad that he took away any chance he had of making the playoff roster. A 9.60 ERA for the month, a visible lack of confidence and the highest OBA on the side. Great finish!

Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain, at times, has looked like he was growing into a great starter. For most of September, he didn’t look like he should ever be allowed to start again. At times, he looked like he couldn’t throw strikes and when he did manage one, it generally ended up in a gap in the outfield. Back to Plan A, I think.

Edwar Ramirez. At the start of the year, Ramirez looked like a fixture in the 2009 Yankees bullpen. By mid-season, he was gone. At the roster expansion point, he returned. He didn’t look any better and his time with the Yankees should be at an end now.

Damaso Marte. He looked a much better possibility after returning from injury than he had before he was injured. Second in the pecking order amongst left-handed specialists – behind Coke but looking more reliable than late season call-up, Mike Dunn – Marte, suddenly fell apart again late in the month.

Surprises

Ian Kennedy. I don’t know what was more surprising. Was it that Kennedy made it back to the Majors in 2009? Or was it that he got out of his one appearance with a 0.00 ERA. Put simply, he was awful in that game.

David Robertson. Robertson was another pitcher who managed to get ahead of the timetable and return to the team before season’s end. That was where the similarity with Kennedy ended. He threw well. He threw strikes. He occasionally got in to a jam but he usually managed to get himself out of the problems. Sadly, because of Chamberlain’s redirection to the bullpen, he is unlikely to get many innings in the playoffs.

Brian Bruney. He had a good month, on the whole, in September, and it was somewhat surprising that he didn’t make the roster for the first round of the playoffs. He pitched with conviction but his uneven season was too much for him to overcome.

Chad Gaudin. If the Yankees need a 4th starter in the playoffs, it is likely to be Gaudin which in and of itself suggests how much of a surprise Gaudin has been over the last few weeks. He has shown a gritty determination to keep the Bombers in the game and produced some goos innings without ever been overpowering.

September in the Bronx – part 1- the Batters

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Well, here we are in October, the R/Sox crashed out of the playoffs in three straight games and I still haven’t published my summary of September for the Yankees.
As I anticipated the two L.A. teams are going to be the ones that the Yankees need to worry about – what ammunition do they have to overcome them, once they have dispensed with the Twins?

New York Yankees – Batting – Month – September
Name G AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SH SF SB BA SLG OBP
Cervelli, Francisco 14 14 3 7 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 .571 .500
Cano, Robinson 28 100 15 35 13 9 0 4 7 15 0 2 1 .350 .560 .391
Teixeira, Mark 26 102 21 35 20 8 3 7 8 23 0 2 0 .343 .686 .395
Jeter, Derek 26 100 13 34 6 2 0 1 19 22 2 0 7 .340 .390 .450
Posada, Jorge 18 59 11 20 18 3 0 5 10 17 0 0 0 .339 .644 .435
Rodriguez, Alex 25 89 14 30 23 5 0 5 10 19 0 2 5 .337 .562 .396
Miranda, Juan 5 6 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333
Matsui, Hideki 24 80 13 26 18 0 0 5 14 13 0 0 0 .325 .513 .426
Pena, Ramiro 13 17 3 5 2 1 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 .294 .529 .294
Cabrera, Melky 28 87 10 25 18 5 0 2 7 8 0 0 2 .287 .414 .361
Swisher, Nick 24 88 19 23 12 7 0 7 15 19 0 0 0 .261 .580 .369
Gardner, Brett 20 41 9 10 3 2 0 0 2 8 1 0 4 .244 .293 .295
Damon, Johnny 22 81 13 19 5 4 0 0 14 16 1 0 2 .235 .284 .347
Duncan, Shelley 8 13 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 .231 .231 .231
Hinske, Eric 15 28 4 6 4 0 0 2 4 7 0 1 1 .214 .429 .303
Molina, Jose 15 35 1 6 2 0 0 0 5 6 0 0 0 .171 .171 .275
Hairston Jr., Jerry 18 28 4 4 1 2 0 0 4 3 1 0 0 .143 .214 .250
Guzman, Freddy 7 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 .000 .000 .000
970 154 290 151 49 3 39 119 186 5 8 25 .299 .476 .377

Positives

Robinson Cano. As I mentioned in the reports of the individual games, Cano has made tremendous progress this season. No longer the guy who was lazy in the field last season or the guy with the lacklustre batting average. He led the team in September in hits and doubles and defensively having him and Teixeira in the field means that we compare with anyone on that side of the park.

Mark Teixeira. Speaking of Teixeira, another great month for him. It’s interesting that the press still like to talk about his standard of offensive performance in April, attributing it to the lack of A-Rod’s threat behind him in the lineup which is nonsensical. Better to concentrate on the fact that since then he has been so consistent and always put up great stats and been a leader in clutch situations. In September, he led the team in at bats, runs, RBIs, triples, home runs and slugging. I think he’s done enough to gain credit in his own right.

Derek Jeter. In September, Jeter had another .340 month and led the team in walks. He has not had a down period all year. He is also much improved in the field – although I don’t think he deserved a large part of the negative criticism he took last year.

Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez continues to get into his stride and this has, so far, continued into the post-season. It has been a slow progression for him but he’s finally got there.

Negatives

Jerry Hairston, jr. Hairston has, by contrast, been cooling down each week since since he arrived in the Bronx. On one hand, this makes it very easy to decide who to choose to start at third base but leaves us going into the post-season without having anyone on the bench that we would particularly want to call on to fill that spot in an emergency. Ramiro Pena has been a consistent and capable utility guy for the other infield spots but first, Ransom and now Hairston and Hinske have offered very little offensively and played only adequately in the third base corner.

Jose Molina. If I was to choose a Yankee catcher on the basis of power and experience, I would go with Posada. If my choice was guided by defensive ability and the need to grow through more playing time then Cervelli is my guy. Molina’s .171 with no power in September means that Molina might count himself lucky to be on the post-season roster. If it wasn’t for the questions about the Burnett-Posada tandem then I would have left him off and given Cervelli the extra time.

Eric Hinske. See the comments on Hairston. Hinske brings the potential for a little more sporadic power but not much else.

Shelley Duncan. Duncan’s great season at Scranton gave him one more chance in the majors for the Yankees ………. and he didn’t even begin to take it. 13 at bats, 3 hits is not too bad but you’re looking for this guy to hit for power and he just hasn’t done it in this limited role. The Yankees can either choose to give him the option to become a career minor leaguer or release him to try his fortune elsewhere.

Surprises

Johnny Damon. Damon needs to finish hot if he is to persuade the Yankees to let him return in 2010. He is a sub-par left-fielder and really needs to keep up his average if he is to be back in that role next year. A mere .235 with no home runs was not the way he wanted to go in September. He needs a big post-season.

Freddy Guzman. Guzman was a surprise addition to the roster in late August and immediately, Girardi was talking about him having a role in the playoffs. He didn’t make the first round of the playoffs and a series against the Angels would seem to offer him the best chance of a call up. But to be honest is baserunning in late September was predictable and too often he found himself in problems.

Brett Gardner. Gardner didn’t really deliver in September. He is significantly behind Cabrera for the centrefield starting role and his baserunning hasn’t been as aggressive and Jeter and Guzman have looked the main threats in that category. Given that he went into the season as the favoured man for CF and that Girardi said he had no plans to platoon, this must be regarded as a severe setback for him.

Francisco Cervelli. Cervelli has proved himself again and again this season. He is a capable guy with the tools of ignorance but it is ability to hit for average at the major league level that is the big surprise and which is the big lift for him and which is beginning to look like it is no fluke. Mostly as a late innings replacement in September, not an easy role, he has managed six singles and a double in fourteen at-bats which for me means that he should see a big increase in opportunities next year and that he should move up the pecking order for the catching role, even if that means saying goodbye to Molina who has served us well over the last few years.

In New York – Third Game

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September 30th 2009
Yankees Vs Kansas City Royals
@ Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Joba rules! We’ve lived with them for the last two seasons. Designed to ensure that the young pitcher of the New York Yankees develops into the star we all KNOW that he can be. Mmmm…….  Tonight after lots of late season restrictions the training wheels came off and Chamberlain was given his head to show what he could do in a game on which nothing depended. And we all sat there and squirmed……. And hoped that this was just another off night and tried to avoid the conclusion that they’ll never make a starter out of this guy. But, trust me, this was dreadful.

Joba Chamberlain pitched 3 and 2/3 innings for 3 runs, and even more worryingly 7 hits and 4 walks. He couldn’t find the strike zone and I would have to say that he was lucky to get off so lightly. He was replaced before the end of the 4th inning by Alfredo Aceves. Now this guy didn’t make the rotation back on opening day and has never really been considered as an option for the starting rotation in 2009 but tonight he looked like twice the pitcher that Joba appeared to be. Aceves pitched two innings and if it wasn’t for the fact that the Yankees’ bats had gone to sleep, we would have been right back in it.

Of the batters, only Jeter produced anything of note. Two hits, one a home run and also a walk before he was lifted for Jerry Hairston in the late innings for a game the Yankees didn’t seem to think they could win but in which they were only one run behind.

The late innings relievers, Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera were as overpowering and untouchable as they have been for most of the season but the Royals’ bullpen was just as effective and the Yankees ran out losers, 4-3.

So the last home game of the stand raised more questions than answers and Chamberlain hoping that he could some way edge onto the post-season roster and re-gain some of the ground he has lost.