And so we come to the third part of our survey and the offensive players who are currently on the 40-man roster……. those who have stayed, those who have arrived and those we might meet for the first time:
The Yankees have some crucial spots to fill in 2014 as their two leading pitchers retire and a number of others head elsewhere. Here we list all the arms who contributed, good or bad, in 2013:
What: Richard II by William Shakespeare
Where: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon
When: November 2013
Richard II is not Shakespeare’s best known play. In fact, nobody I spoke to prior to seeing the current production could tell me the whole plot and storyline.
David Tennant is probably the UK’s best known Shakespearean actor. He has achieved this status not for his work on Shakespeare’s plays but because he is an extraordinarily well-known actor who also performs in Shakespeare. His fame comes primarily from his role as Dr Who – even within that role, within the last few days, he was voted the nation’s most popular Doctor.
(A meditation on Mariano Rivera, Cooperstown and a tenuous link with Bruce Springsteen)
It’s June of 2011 and we’re sitting in a diner in Cooperstown, New York, waiting for our orders to be served when “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” by Bruce Springsteen begins to play on the jukebox. Now this is a song I’ve listened to a thousand times but this afternoon, it seems so right and seems to capture exactly the spirit of our trip across New York State.
The Yankees depended a lot upon their bullpen in 2013. One of the things that was surprising in September was that those who had performed so well until then began to fall apart but, thankfully, a new group of relief pitchers came up from the minors to take up the slack. Let’s see who benefitted from the roster expansion and who needed to be bailed out…..
The New York Yankees have had substantial problems in 2013 both with their batting and their pitching. If we add this into the amazingly high number of injuries they have suffered throughout the season, it is so surprising that they stayed in contention for a wild card place until the last week of the season. They cannot possibly suffer as many injuries next year. There should be huge plaudits to the management team for keeping them in the reckoning so long. All of this makes it very apparent why the owners and general manager were keen to make sure Joe Girardi was offered a new contract ASAP and why they can look forward to 2014 with some optimism. Nevertheless, it is true that in the last month of the season, only two players who played in the majority of the games batted over .250. Let’s look at that final month……….
The Yankees have seen most of the season through with two strong starters, three weak starters and a good bullpen. That remained the same in August but the names were shuffled around……
The Yankees had a better month in August going 16-12 over the 28 games they played. Improvements in batting and pitching and some notable returns kept them in the frame for a wildcard and a possible backdoor entrance into the post-season…..
In July, the starters and some of the relievers continued to struggle. Thankfully, the Yankees have Rivera and Robertson to pull them through in the tight games……
After going fast out of the gate in April, the Yankees had fallen off the pace. July was another disappointing month – only achieving a 14-12 record in the period. However, some of the guys with the bats began to step up and produce so maybe there was the promise of a better August…….
twilightdawning 