Checking in from Motown
This is one of those strange evenings where the Yankees are playing on ESPN, and yours truly is already in the next city on the schedule. Detroit.
The past two games have been exhausting for the players. And probably some viewers. Not sure if you tuned in, given the beautiful weather and the fact that YES didn’t have the Saturday game, but A.J.’s postgame was pretty compelling. He was upset with himself about pitch selection at critical moments – including the Varitek home run – and blamed solely himself, not Posada. (Actually, he was upset with himself, period. Pitch selection was a contributing factor.) He lines up to face the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium a week from Tuesday. That will be an intriguing start.
Not surprisingly, Damon is out of the lineup after getting beaten up yesterday by the scoreboard on the Lowell double.
Yikes! The Red Sox’s numbers against Pettitte are scary. And the Yankees need about eight innings from Andy.
In the short term, it seems the Sox are better with Youkilis and Lowell than they would have been with Teixeira and Youkilis. If Alex can come back from hip surgery the way Lowell has, the Yankees will be thrilled.
I find Pedroia incredibly likable. I just do.
The Yankees will be a very tired group when they play the Tigers at 7 p.m. tomorrow. And no, no one’s looking for sympathy. It’s just the way it is.
In hindsight, I wish I’d asked Buck and McCarver what they ate before the FOX broadcast yesterday. Can you imagine how that question would have gone over?
Today’s flight from Newark to Detroit (yes, I stopped in Jersey) might have been one of the most annoying in history. The two guys behind me were gabbing like women – we can say that – for the entire two hours. About every single person who works in their office. About the one guy’s carpal tunnel syndrome, which is exacerbated by his having very small hands. (Fella, you might want to keep that to yourself.) About how the carpal-tunnel guy burned his hand when he accidentally picked up a cast iron skillet from the stove, and he treated it with cold water then ice. On and on and on.
Something tells me our friend, Pete Abraham, is going to have a very interesting travel night/morning. Let’s hope he blogs about it. (Of course he’ll blog about it! He blogs 34 times a day!)
The Kimberly Jones Blog 
I totally agree about Pedroia. I think he seems cool and he’s definitely fun to watch-I love how hard he plays. I think it’s cool that even though you cover the Yankees, you like other players too (I’m that way too). I’ve been a Yanks fan for a long time, but I actually think the Red Sox are a fun team to watch-they seem to have really good chemistry. Sorry if that angers yankee fans.
Hope you’re enjoying Detroit=)
pedroia is a great player. and most of the players on the redsoxs are. they are a great team with a lot of heart, something the yankees dont have. since 2004 they have been terrible hitting with risp and most of the teams that have won have been good at that. also yankees missed clutch pitching somthing already lacking this year (except for couple starts by burnett and petittite). money doesnt win anything.
I think as a Yankee fan you really have to respect the Red Sox and the way they play the game the right way. I certainly didn’t expect this sweep this weekend. How about the way Ellsbury stole home? That was crazy and totally unexpected. Any idea when the last time someone stole home against the Yankees was? I thought Manny stole home against the Yankees once when he was with Boston. Is there a record of that anywhere and can you confirm if my memory is correct? It would be interesting to hear about that on the pregame.
I hope you interview Mark Melancon for the pregame. I couldn’t imagine being him, getting called up to the majors for the first time and being thrust into the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry right away. He did pitch great, which is one bright spot. Is it me or does his stuff seem a lot like Mariano’s? Maybe it was the way he had that broken bat grounder right back to him and how he seemed to pitch to contact but kept them off balance. I’d love to hear more about Melancon.
I think as a Yankee fan you really have to respect the Red Sox and the way they play the game the right way. I certainly didn’t expect this sweep this weekend. How about the way Ellsbury stole home? That was crazy and totally unexpected. Any idea when the last time someone stole home against the Yankees was? I thought Manny stole home against the Yankees once when he was with Boston. Is there a record of that anywhere and can you confirm if my memory is correct? It would be interesting to hear about that on the pregame.
I hope you interview Mark Melancon for the pregame. I couldn’t imagine being him, getting called up to the majors for the first time and being thrust into the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry right away. He did pitch great, which is one bright spot. Is it me or does his stuff seem a lot like Mariano’s? Maybe it was the way he had that broken bat grounder right back to him and how he seemed to pitch to contact but kept them off balance. I’d love to hear more about Melancon.
The Yankees owe me a bottle of advil. My boss is a die hard met fan that takes great pleasure in dishing out Yankee shortcomings. The Yanks being swepted by the Sox couldn’t make him any more irritating. But he is still getting over his office makeover where while he was on vacation, his met shrined office was replaced with Yankee penants, photos, along with a nice big poster of Jeter, along with a border around the molding by the ceiling of “the facade” wallpaper which took a bit of time to put up. The office looked awesome for a yankee fan, but unfortunite for the die hard met fan. The reaction was priceless. Glad you had some entertainment on your flight, KIm, and good luck in Detroit.
KIM I AM A YANKEE FAN FROM PHILA AND WATCHING THE YANKEES OVER THE PAST 18 GAMES IS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED THEY NEED TO STRAITEN OUT THE BULLPEN NOT WITH EXPENSIVE GUYS BUT GUYS WHO ARE KNOW THERE ROLES LIKE IN 96 YOU CAN SEE THERE LINEUP IS GETTING OLD COMPARED TO THE REDSOX AND RAYS I ALSO THINK MOLINA SHOULD CATCH BURNETT AND THE YANKS SHOULD START DEVELOPING THERE TALENT LIKE OTHER CLUBS IF GIRARDI DOESNT HAVE A GOOD FIRST HALF I THINK HE MAY BE GONE
I agree with rachsal13…the Yanks don’t have HEART. Everyone keeps asking the question ‘What do the Yankees need in the bullpen?’ Or, ‘ Where can the Yankees get another bat?’ Well those aren’t the problems. The problem is that the Yankees don’t have a ‘winning way’ about them, and haven’t for a long time. Instead, the players who are here and who they sign feel a sense of ‘entitlement’ to winning. They sign for big money and somehow believe….like so many Yankee fans….that dollars equates to championships. Until they start structuring their team around real fire breathers like Paul O’Neill and Tino Martinez used to be, and have a BONAFIED setup man for Rivera…like Rivera USED to be for Wetteland, and get some CLUTCH hitters who actually give a damn if they fail in clutch situations, then they will remain the overpaid, mediocre team they currently are. Everyone is waiting for A-Rod to come back, and as a Yankee fan, I am too. But A-Rod alone is not the answer to the Yankee woes. All of the Yankee shortcomings were stripped bare this past weekend in Boston. SUre…Boston is a hot team right now. But let’s just face it…Boston is a BETTER team right now than the Yankees are OR WILL BE at anytime this year. From pitching to hitting, the Beantowners are just plain BETTER. I hate saying that..I can actually feel the bile rise in my throat…but it’s just true. Girardi and the Yankee braintrust better start huddling up NOW and figure a way to right this sinking ship. Because unless they can find a way to compete with Boston, they are going nowhere in the AL EAST.
Please everyone, step away from the ledge. I think out of any of the recent Yankee teams, this years in particular shows the most heart. They’ve come back several times so far this season (including Saturday), where the last few seasons they seemed to pack it in after 6 or 7 innings. Sure Friday night could have been different if Bruney hadn’t been injured. And I’m sure if we give Burnett a 6 run lead any other time, that it’s safe, but just because it happened this weekend, it’s magnified.
Yes the Sox have a good team and when you win 10 in a room, it’s easy to say they have heart. But I believe we’re going to see a much stronger Yankee team this year with just as much if not more heart.
I respect Pedroia’s game, liking him might be a bit of a stretch but since he’s Jeter’s new BFF you liking him too isn’t surprising.
Kim: that’s the main virtue of a little music player and earphones, to drown out annoying seatmates!
I think this current team has a lot of heart. Just because they lost 3 games to Boston doesn’t mean they don’t have heart. Every series against the Red Sox is like a chess match, these two teams are so evenly matched and can easily counter each others moves. I think all the new guys have a lot of heart. Swisher is a breath of fresh air and brings that great energy of his. Burnett went in and did his job right away, can’t really criticize him too much for Saturday’s loss. Sabathia hasn’t been overpowering but has given the team a chance to win. Teixeira just needs to start hitting and there will be more offense, even hitting .218 his OBP is .380 so getting that average up should put his OBP over .400.
The biggest problem offensively has been that a third of the lineup hasn’t been hitting. Teixeira’s hitting .218, the three headed stopgap of Ransom/Pena/Berroa has hit for a combined .174, and Gardner is hitting .220 with only 3 walks, he needs to start getting on base to do the damage he’s capable of.
I think the pitching should right itself. Hughes coming up to pitch in place of Wang can breed competition between Joba and Hughes. The thing about the bullpen is it’s early and Girardi still needs to figure out where guys fit best and what their roles are. Bruney going down doesn’t help since he was the most consistent besides Mo. There are so many options and a lot of guys they can traffic between the majors and Scranton depending on performance.
Hi kim.
another great post. the RS are playing the way the Yankees of the late 90s – 01 did, like a team that refuses to give up or lose. The Yankees back then refused to lose, they refused to give up and left it all on the field. This team needs to start acting like a team and they`re coach needs to act like a coach. Put joba in the pen and call up Hughes. Tough luck if Joba wants to start, hes better in the pen. Have a fun in Detroit. Hopefull the Yanks can turn it around.
Well famattjr….all I can say is think back to the late 90’s Yankee teams and remember that when the Yanks had the lead after 7 nnings, they didn’t LOSE. This team isn’t a patch to any of those teams. And it was obvious to anyone who had an open mind that the Red Sox were the better team on that field this past weekend. Even with the bad hip and the hip surgery, Lowell found a way to drive in 6 runs against us. THAT is heart…THAT is desire…>THAT is clutch.
Hi Kim, you were right. Pete blogged about his great night… 😉
Before getting too hysterical, or madly in love with the Sox, you might want to listen to WEEI in Boston — where the major topics of conversation are that Beckett pitched like crap on Saturday, Dice-K’s shoulder is shot, Ortiz still has no homers, and what happens when Youkilis is no longer hitting .489? They won 10 in a row, and kudos to them, but they still haven’t managed to catch the Jays … just keep pace with them … so maybe we should be talking about how good the Jays are, not the Sox? The Boston press knows full well that they could have and should have lost two out of three, and that the Sox have their own problems (hey, they were 2-6 before this streak, remember, and getting spanked by Oakland).
The problem with the Yankees comes down to lack of focus. Posada tells Pettite to watch Ellsbury, and Pettite ignores it; Burnett KNOWS he shouldn’t thow a first pitch fastball to Varitek, but throws it anyway; no one is THINKING. And of course it doesn’t help that the entire bottom third of the order can’t hit, so even if Robbie or Posada get on, there’s no one to drive them in.
I don’t despise these Red Sox like the “idiot sox” from 2003-2004. These ones have some class. Only ones I really hate are Beckett-Papelbon-Youkilis
KIm, You’re too young to remember the early days of one Pete Rose, but Pedroia reminds me of a young Rose—aggressive, intense, good all around game—AND a nasty temper with, as he demonstrtaed Sunday, a limited vocabulary, using the F word several times on camera—oh well, everyone can’t be like Jeter!!!
blumimlb…Point taken. BUT, the Yankees don’t look like a team that has any fire OR chemistry. None. To win, you have to have that.
It definitely seems like Pedroia is a cool guy. He swings the bat so hard everytime he’s up and it doesn’t seem like he ever takes a play off. His consistently dirty uniform backs that up. He is a character guy who seems to loosen people up and bring them together. If I was building a team from scratch, he is no doubt the first person I would draft. (I swear to god I AM NOT A RED SOX FAN!!!!!!)
farshtey,
The Blue Jays are about to come back down to earth. They just lost Ricky Romero to the DL, their rookie pitcher that was throwing well with a 1.71 ERA, he has strained right oblique. They also lost BJ Ryan to the DL with a sore left shoulder/back. The reason the Jays are leading the AL East is because they have yet to play an AL East team thus far in the season. They should really be in worse shape given that they have 6 pitchers and a catcher on the DL.
Whats up with the Rays? Not that I’m sorry to see them at the bottom and 5 games under .500, but weren’t they supposed to be on top with the Yankees and Red Sox? Maybe the division still needs to shake itself out.
LOL jays are about to come down to earth just like the rays did last year???. keep listening to mike francessa LOL, he was wrong about the rays last year and wrong about the jays this year, just like most ppl. only thing that can effect the jays is injuries. sabathia’s proformance today was great i must say, he steped up, but ohhh what you see here???, yankees not hitting with risp. these loser hitters will never hit with risp all losers except cano and jete.
i do think burnett is a big game pitcher,and there is something wrong with joba he isnt the same anymore. its not the fact that he is a starter now. his pitches are slower since his injury last year.