Weather, Yanks foggy at Fenway
There is nothing like a 53-degree, misty, foggy evening on June 9 in Boston, is there? Really, it’s a shock that they’re even playing this game, given the weather forecast.
Imagine that, the weather folks were wrong. At least about the intensity of the rain.
Tomko, who is from San Diego, sat in the dugout for a while during the pre-game rain and said he loves days like this. Go figure.
Extra heat: Hughes’ velocity reached 95 last night in a perfectly executed inning of relief. The adrenaline is different coming in as a reliever — Mariano and Coke agreed on that point — and it helped that Hughes was working on seven days rest.
Pettitte said Hughes’ fastball had movement similar to Mariano’s. Hughes smiled when told that and said, “It’s good to have anything compared to him.”
Hughes’ attitude and approach have been tremendous since he was removed from the rotation and his veteran teammates have noticed.
The Yankees will have a decision to make soon on Hughes. He is their sixth starter, and they have no one in Triple A they would want to make a start should they need a spot starter, or a starter for any duration.
Therefore, they need Hughes to be available in a pinch as a starter. If he continues to impress out of the pen, that becomes a tougher decision. Obviously.
What about Wang? And that makes Wang’s start tomorrow night very important and pretty darn intriguing, given the competition. Wang told us before the game he believes he is ready for the Red Sox and that his last outing was a confidence-builder; he was in fine form through 50 or so pitches.
Wang and his wife are expected their first child any day. He said he’s excited but also nervous. You get the feeling Wang has had a lot on his mind in recent weeks.
New York vs. Boston: The Yankees have surpassed the Red Sox in one ultra-important area this season — the quality of press dining. The Yankees really stepped it up in the new stadium, adding a bunch of culinary options on a nightly basis, unbelievable desserts (which, thankfully, do not tempt us) and now the soft-serve ice cream (which does).
Boston always offers pizza and soup, so it continues to trump the Yankees in those areas. And has Red Sox logos on its dinner plates and napkins. The Yankees go with plastic plates and plain brown napkins.
Anyway, in a strange coincidence, the Boston press dining room featured roast beef, mashed potatoes and broccoli tonight, just as the Yankees press dining room did last night. Maybe the Red Sox are now scouting opposing dining rooms.
So, the guys ate dinner in the dining room while we were fulfilling post-game responsibilities from the dugout.
Or at least two of them did.
“Popcorn and coffee,” Flaherty said, when asked his dinner selections. “I didn’t get invited to dinner.”
“I had prime rib and broccoli,” Kay said. “And a slice of pizza. And I ate the crust! And two cups of hot tea.”
(He loves when we write about him.)
“Prime rib and broccoli,” Kenny reported. “But, I added mashed potatoes.”
By the way, Kenny is the one who usually is in the gym by 7 a.m. He can eat what he wants.
Kay kash: Speaking of the gym, we saw Kay there around 11:30 this morning. (The gym, which is adjacent to the hotel, costs $15 per day. It’s unclear whether that is a reimbursable expense at the YES Network.) He was finishing up on the stationary bike. After his workout and presumably a shower, Kay got his hair cut in the salon next to the gym: $50 cut, $20 tip. He must’ve really, uh, liked his hairdresser.
The Kimberly Jones Blog 
Kim,
What is it like when the Yankee press come to Boston? Is it a hostile environment or just like any other city you visit?
How about that Ortiz home run? Not a good time for him to decide to start hitting. As a baseball fan its sad to see a guy like that just have his ability to hit fall of a cliff. Lets just hope he doesn’t do much damage in the rest of the series.
It would be nice for Robertson to get some more opportunities out of the pen. His 1.85 ERA, 1.345 K/IP, and .621 H/IP lead Yankee relievers. Not to mention he has yet to allow a HR. Does Girardi plan to use him in more important situations?
The only other positive I can take out of that game was Veras had 2 IP without a walk, only problem was the HR. It it weren’t fot the HR and HBP you could say his control was improving.
Hey, you should interview that Accuweather guy that was on during the pregame. He’s a freak.
Kay is daring. I wouldn’t get a haircut in Boston. Check the back of his head. The hairdresser might have shaved a big B back there.
Kim, what in the mammoth is wrong with A.J. Burnett?? Well, here’s my opinion at this point. HE CANNOT PITCH YET!!!! It is frickin UNREAL that he is getting paid 16M a year, to perform like he is. Girardi shouldn’t be trying to take the blame for last nights loss against Boston. Girardi needs to be saying “I don’t know what the **** is wrong with Burnett”. If A.J. Burnett was getting paid for his performance thus far….he would be getting a welfare check. Look at what he has done so far this year. NOT impressive for a millionare. Pull A.J out, slide Swisher in. He couldn’t do ANY worse than A.J. has done this year. So it couldnt hurt. And after last nights game against Boston, the Yankees are seriously gonna follow up that dismal performance with Wang?? (Extreme laughter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) What a frickin JOKE!!!!! So far this year, Girardi has had his head up something when it comes to his starters. Go ahead Joe……pretend like everything is JUST FINE. (Laughter). He has to be internally EXTREMELY EMBARRASED with his starters right now. But he won’t show any spine and make tough decisions. WANG Tonight???? REALLY???? (Laughter). Pettitte sucks just as bad, but Girardi switched Pettitte with A.J. for the start last night in Boston. WHY??? I would rather have had Pettitte pitch Boston last night. Yankee fans were excited when they aqcuired CC and A.J. But right now…..something needs to happen. CC …..about a 6 out of 10. A.J….I wouldnt flatter him with a 1. And Girardi is just playing this HUMILIATING loss last night against Boston (which, oh….by the way is the 6TH LOSS IN A ROW AGAINST BOSTON THIS YEAR!!!) like it was a loss against arizona or something. Does it mean anything to him?? Because he needs to change something, and fast, if he wants to make the post season. There is a common denominator here since the previous 13 years in a row when the Yankees made the post season.
Kevin – Upstate NY
Hey!! It doesn’t matter that Burnett stunk up the joint last night. Because as BAD as he was…Beckett was that GOOD. The Yanks couldn’t touch that guy last night…..even if they were swinging aluminum bats the score would have been 7 – 0.
Here’s the deal on the Yankees…Just as HITTING is contagious, so is NOT hitting. They Yanks all came down with the ‘WHIFF’ virus last night. Hopefully tonight they will be over it.
Michael Kay….it’s always interesting to know what he’s eating. I’ve got the feeling that Kay pilferred Flaherty’s invitation to dinner and maybe went through twice. How many revolutions did Kay do on that stationary bike Kimmie? 3? Maybe 4? Well, at least he’s trying.
How come Jeter looks so nervous when you interview him Kimmie? Does the Captain have a thing for our Ms. Jones? Enquiring minds want to know!!
Jeter did look nervous and he looked so young too….like a kid. Maybe he’s just afraid of the questions that you might ask…lol.
Love the Innerviews….you do a great job with them. Here’s hoping we can win the series like we have so many times before after losing one game. I have faith in CM ….hope he pitches like the old Wanger tonight….the one who WINS in Fenway.
Go Yankees 2009 !!!
i agree! jetes looked totally nervous! very weird. Also, I would die if i saw him get pied. That would have to be one of my fav yankee moments ever 😉
Kim,
I had a real problem with the strike zone when Yanks were batting and pitching, the last two nights. It may be subtle but it is most effective. The walks and the count have both “bean” largely in favor of Boston.
Meanwhile, when the Red Sox pitchers are on the mound, the strike zone expands. It reminds me of the last Bosox championship year, when Cleveland, in the ALCS, could only get a strike called if it hit a Red Sox bat!
How do we formally complain???
Thanks, from #1 Yankee in Ohio…..