It's still February and wins and losses don't really matter.
But in their first exhibition game of the year, the Yankees beat South Florida 11-4. The Yankee offense was led by Posada, who went 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs, and Alex Rodriguez, who went 1 for 1 with 3 RBIs. Twelve different Yankees had a hit, and none struck out.
The pitching line looked like this:
Chamberlain- 2 0 0 0 0 2
Kennedy- 2 1 0 0 0 2
Hughes- 1 0 0 0 0 2
Igawa- 1 1 4 4 2 2
Marquez- 1 0 0 0 0 0
Horne- 1 0 0 0 0 1
Wright- 1 0 0 0 0 1
Only a guy like Igawa can give up one hit and four runs. Igawa walked the number nine hitter on a college team when the Yankees were up 9-0. It's clear his control is not where it should be, and his lack of ability to get hitters out doesn't make him a viable pitcher at this point. He frustrated Yankee fans and coaches last year, and he's continuing to do so in 2008. Clearly, some kinks need to be worked out.
Other than Igawa, every pitcher is homegrown, and every pitcher pitched extremely well. Take out Igawa and the pitchers combined to give up just one hit in eight innings. Chamberlain, Hughes, and Kennedy were dominant, and Marquez, Horne, and Wright made some good pitches to get outs. This performance just adds to the potential the Yankees' young pitchers have for the season.
Next week will be the first televised Spring Training game, and in 31 days, Yankee baseball will officially be back.
Foxsports.com is reporting that Mariano Rivera will throw off a bullpen Friday and pitch in his first Spring Training game next Wednesday. This is nothing new for Rivera, who takes his time and makes his own schedule in February and March.
"There's no rush for Mariano, just like every spring. Mo knows exactly what he's doing with his body. No one knows his body better than he does. He just takes it slow," said Girardi.
The Yankees open their exhibition season tomorrow against South Florida. As Tino Martinez noted, the game is huge not only for preparation but also for recruitment.
In non-Yankee news, the Red Sox visited the White House yesterday to be honored for winning the World Series.
Here were some things George Bush had to say:
"We welcome Japan's Dice-K here to the south lawn. His press corps is bigger than mine. And we both have trouble answering questions in English."
"And how about Jonathan Papelbon? Thanks for wearing pants."
"Manny Ramirez isn't here. I guess his grandmother died again."
"I do want to quote (Manny Ramirez). He said, 'When you don't feel good, and you still get hits, that's when you know you're a bad man.' I don't know what that means. But if bad man means good hitter, he's a really bad man, because he was clutch in the World Series."
"So Tim Wakefield's battery mate is Doug Mirabelli. Mine is the Vice President."
Um, how many months till November?
Well, we're getting there. Blog favorite Scott Proctor's Arm linked the site on his blog roll.
Most blogs use the blogspot web address, but if this blog has proven anything, it's that vox is up there with the best of them. Nowhere else can you post videos and pictures like you can here, so it's pretty cool that we're getting some recognition.
The Yankees played their first intrasquad game today at Legends/Steinbrenner Field. The teams were split up into the Geese and the Gators, honoring pitchers Goose Gossage and Ron Guidry.
The Geese's lineup had: Melky Cabrera, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Jorge Posada, Shelley Duncan, Morgan Ensberg, Wilson Betemit, Jason Lane, and Jose Tabata.
The Gators' lineup had: Johnny Damon, Jose Molina, MVP Bobby Abreu, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, Cody Ransom, Nick Green, Chris Woodward, and Brett Gardner.
The Geese won 6-2.
Mike Mussina and Jeff Karstens were the teams' respective starters. Other pitchers included Scott Patterson, Austin Jackson, Billy Traber, Edwar Ramirez, Ross Ohlendorf, Darrel Rasner, Dan McCutchen, Sean Henn, Jonathan Albaladejo, and Mark Melancon (pronounced me-LAN-sun, not melon-cone).
The Yankees committed seven errors and issued eight walks, but most of these were committed by the youngsters. I get the feeling that Girardi isn't being too harsh on the players' mistakes at this stage of the season; instead, he's using players' mishaps as learning experiences.
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Meanwhile, Roger Clemens is back in the news. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is now seeking an investigation with the Justice Department into whether Clemens committed perjury at the latest steroids hearing. Today, foxsports.com cleverly titled one of their articles "Feeling the Heat" in discussing the Clemens situation.
The article basically had one quote that summed it all up: "Yes, Roger still deserves his presumption of innocence. But the more Clemens talks, the more that presumption looks as small as a resin bag."
This saga won't be over soon, but the new season will do a lot in overshadowing new testimonies and letters and blah blah blah.
Brian Bruney, who pitched well down the stretch in 2006 but struggled out of the bullpen last year, had this to say about Torre yesterday:
"With Torre - and I'm not trying to bad-mouth anybody - sometimes you would go out there and try to be so good because you were scared of doing bad. You can't pitch like that. (Joe) Girardi understands that you make mistakes - and I'm going to make them."
Girardi seems to sending a positive message throughout camp. He isn't an intimidating figure, but he is getting a lot out of his players.
Bruney added that he hated coming to the ballpark last year and barely spoke with Ron Guidry. Now, Bruney says, he has formed a good relationship with pitching coach Dave Eiland.
Obviously, the Yankee bullpen needs as many solid arms as they can find. If Bruney learns trust his stuff and stays within the strike zone, he can be a formidable force out of the bullpen.
Yesterday, I offered 20 predictions for the American League. Now, here are 20 for the National League:
- Aaron Harang will win the Cy Young and become the first pitcher since Bob Welch to win 25 games in a season.
- Chase Utley will win the MVP, marking the third straight year a Phillie has won the award.
- Jay Bruce of the Reds will win Rookie of the Year.
- The Mets will win the east, the Cubs will win the central, the Diamondbacks will win the west, and the Phillies will win the Wild Card.
- Aaron Harang, Dan Haren, and Johan Santana will all win over 20 games.
- Hanley Ramirez will win the batting title with a .372 mark. Utley will finish second with a .362 clip.
- The Mets will beat the Cubs and the Diamondbacks will beat the Phillies in the NLDS.
- The Mets will win the pennant but lose to the Yankees in the World Series in 5 games.
- The Pirates will have a losing season for the 16th straight year.
- Ryan Howard will eclipse 50 home runs but strike out over 220 times.
- Billy Wagner will set a major-league record with 58 saves. He will also blow 10.
- Three Braves pitchers will win 15 games: John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, and old friend Mike Hampton.
- The Nationals will finish above .500; in fact, every team in the N.L. East will finish above .500 except for the Marlins.
- Roger Clemens will pitch at some point for the Houston Astros.
- Albert Pujols will hit .300-30-100 just like he has in every single year of his career.
- Micah Owings will hit ten home runs and slug over .700.
- The Rockies will finish under .500, marking the third straight year that the NL pennant winner will finish under .500 the year after they went to the World Series.
- The Los Angeles Dodgers will have the best record by the All Star break, and everyone will criticize the Yankee front office for not keeping Torre. The Dodgers will then collapse in the second half, barely managing 80 wins.
- The Padres rotation will combine for an ERA in the low 3's, but they will fail to hit .250 as a team.
- The Giants will be the only N.L. team to lose 100 games. In fact, they'll lose 110.
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I came across an interesting trivia question today. First person to e-mail me or comment the correct answer wins a prize! The question is:
Who has thrown the most pitches since 2001?
After much deliberation, I have decided to make a few predictions for the 2008 season.
Here are 20 predictions specifically for the American League:
- Bobby Abreu will have a breakout year and take home the MVP.
- Two Yankee pitchers will be in the top 5 for Cy Young voting, but the Angels' John Lackey will take it home.
- Joba Chamberlain will be Rookie of the Year.
- The Yankees will win the east, the Tigers will win the central, the Angels will win the west, and the Red Sox will win the Wild Card.
- The Yankees and Red Sox will meet in the ALCS and the Yankees will pull it out with another walkoff win in Game 7.
- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays will win more than 75 games.
- The Yankees, Red Sox, and Blue Jays will all win more than 90 games.
- The Tigers will have the league's best record with 105 wins. The Yankees will be second with 98.
- Two teams will lose 100 games: the Orioles and the A's.
- K-Rod will lead the league in saves with 50; Rivera will be second with 49.
- Miguel Cabrera will lead the league in home runs with 47. A-Rod will be second with 45, David Ortiz third with 44, and Bobby Abreu fourth with 40.
- Grady Sizemore will win the batting title with a .350 average. Abreu, Jeter, and Cabrera will follow respectively with averages of .342, .339, and .333.
- Joba Chamberlain will go on and off between the bullpen and the rotation, and his final season ERA will be under 2.
- Alex Rodriguez will hit over .300 in the playoffs and contribute a game winning home run in the ALDS against the Angels.
- The Royals will surprise everyone by being ten games over .500 by the All Star break but will slowly fade away as the season ends.
- Joe Girardi will be Manager of the Year.
- Three pitchers will win 20 games: John Lackey, Chien-Ming Wang, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.
- Managers Bob Geren (Oakland) and Ron Washington (Texas) will be fired by the end of the season.
- The Chicago White Sox will have more home runs than any team, but they will fail to reach .500.
- There will be a game in which two teams score more than twenty runs.
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As you can see, I'm predicting a big year for Bobby Abreu. Is there a reason? No. It's just something that I feel will happen.
Just a few notes to get you through your day:
- Bob Sheppard recently signed a two-year extension to resume his role as public address announcer at Yankee Stadium. This contract will bring Sheppard into the new Yankee Stadium, which opens next year. It's amazing that Sheppard, who is 97, has managed to hang around for nearly 60 years. He has announced names like DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Guidry, and Jeter. I think he's made it pretty clear: he is not leaving until they pin the nail on his coffin. Sheppard won't return until June of this year because he is still recovering from his pneumonia, which caused him to miss last year's ALDS.
- Have you seen the prank the Phillies pulled on pitcher Kyle Kendrick? If you haven't, you have to see it. It's one of the best pranks I have ever seen.
- Joe Girardi had this to say about how he envisions his bullpen: "Obviously you'd love to have a left-hander, maybe two left-handers if possible. You think about a long-relief role and you think about some sixth and seventh-inning guys. I think it's important to have (a lefty) but obviously if that's not one of your best arms, you're just not going to take one to take one." The Yankees only have a handful of left-handers in camp outside of Andy Pettitte: Billy Traber, Sean Henn, Kei Igawa, and Heath Phillips.
- Mariano Rivera will not throw batting practice sessions; according to Girardi, "We don't try to reinvent it for him. He paces himself. He knows what he needs to do to be ready by March 31." Rivera is the only pitcher not adhering to the pitching schedules created by the coaching staff. But at this point, it's clear that Rivera has earned that right.
- Even at age 44, Randy Johnson, now a member of the Diamondbacks, is hoping to have a solid year. "He came out throwing bullets," said manager Bob Melvin.
- The Yogi Berra Museum in New Jersey has removed a Roger Clemens Yankees jersey from display in response to recent steroid and HGH allegations. This is just the first of a series of moves that has hurt the value of Clemens collectibles; according to the New York Post, one of his rookie baseball cards sold on eBay for less than 10% of its initial asking price.
- This weekend, the Marlins held tryouts for the Manatees, a dance team of men with "big bellies with the biggest jiggle." I'm not joking.
Well, I am back from Florida.
I managed to visit the Reds' and Yankees' complexes. Let me start with the Reds.
I arrived at the Reds' stadium at about 9:30 in the morning. It's located in Bradenton, about five miles from where I was staying in Siesta Key. The players were supposed to arrive at 9:45, but it turns out that on this day, they wouldn't start until 10:30. Suffice to say, me and about 100 other people angrily waited in the parking lot for another hour.
When the players arrived, the security guards and merchandise vendors were all very pleasant. An old lady set up a stand selling baseballs, hats, and other various items, and the players practiced at about three fields located adjacent to the actual stadium. It was pretty neat to walk around and get pretty close to the players.
The practices were not all that different from the practices I can remember from when I went to baseball camp. For fielding, a pitching machine would shoot balls really high in the air and the fielders would have to run to get it. Then the players took infield and batting practice, but the groundballs and pitches were slow enough so that I would be able to hit/field them. It was definitely a laid-back atmosphere.
At one point, Ken Griffey, Adam Dunn, leadoff hitter Norris Hopper, and top prospect Jay Bruce were sitting on a bench drinking gatorade. One of the coaches yelled at them and told them to do something. It was funny to see a future hall of famer take orders from a random 60-year old coach.
Later, a few of the players walked around and gave out autographs. Griffey was one of many who refused to give autographs, even though only about 150 people were there. I managed to get autographs from Aaron Harang, Johnny Cueto, Jon Coutlangus, and new manager Dusty Baker. One fan told Dusty, "You know, you looked better in a Cubs uniform." Dusty was not amused.
Harang was the only one that stayed around and signed an autograph for everyone who wanted one. He also posed for some pictures, so that was pretty cool. Harang is one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball; in the N.L., only Jake Peavy has had more strikeouts the last two years than Harang.
Overall, I left the Reds feeling content to see some players and get a few autographs.
Then came the Yankees. The next morning, we drove an hour and a half to Tampa and arrived at Legends Field at 10. The players were doing some
stretching while the coaching staff was walking around and talking to each other. The stands at Legends Field were about half full, which meant that about 5,000 people were there. After stretching, the players did some infield and outfield practice. Tino Martinez hit grounders to Shelley Duncan and Jason Giambi at first while Goose Gossage roamed the outfield shagging for any balls that got by. A-Rod and Nick Green took some grounders at third while Alberto Gonzalez, Wilson Betemit, and about five other minor leaguers took grounders from second and short. Jeter and Cano were on another field.
Shelley looked solid at first, and Giambi had to backhand a lot of grounders because he could not get to them. Wilson Betemit looked awful at second; a lot of easy groundballs were booted.
One of the things I noticed was how hands-on new third-base coach Bobby Meacham was. He consulted each player on their fielding and running and seemed very assertive. Meacham used to play second base for the Yankees.
Afterwards, the players took some BP. Shelley Duncan, Jorge Posada, and a lot of minor leaguers took some swings before A-Rod arrived. He was greeted with a standing ovation when he took the batters box. He proceeded to hit about five home runs on six pitches; one of them hit the scoreboard out in left-center field. That's close to 500 feet away.
Some media people were on hand too. Joel Sherman, Sweeny Murti, and Peter Abraham were all talking with the players and with each other in front of the dugout. There were just too many people to go over and say hi to Peter Abraham, who runs one of the best Yankee blogs out there.
When BP ended, I managed to get a great spot on the right field line
because, as the security guard said, players were going to come up for autographs. I anxiously waited, until some guy came out of the dugout and said that no one was signing autographs today, so we had to go home. The crowd booed and threw stuff at him and the security guards had to intervene. It was not pretty, and a lot people, including myself, left without an autograph. It was unfortunate to say the least, especially since Shelley Duncan had promised the fans an autograph (in between a grounder, he shouted "In a minute, I promise" when a fan asked for an autograph).
Overall, the Yankees looked like a team with a mission. They went about their work with much more effort and determination than the Reds did, and the players looked in good condition. It was a fun time.
