The first pitch of the last opening day at the current Yankee Stadium. It was Chien-Ming Wang delivering a strike to David Eckstein. The Yankees won the game 3-2, Wang beat Roy Halladay and Mariano “Enter Sandman” earned his first save of the 2008 season.
Add Comment April 3rd, 2008 at 05:37pm Cesium
[New York. April 2, 2008.] The 2008 baseball season has finally begun. Let me reminder all baseball fans which team in the Northeast is truly the ‘home grown’ team. If you listen to those who hate the Yankees (both on the street and in print), you will often hear that they are “bought,” yet, when you actually look at the rosters, it paints a different picture. As compared to the Red Sox, the Yankees have twice as many players that are considered “Home Grown Talent” (a.k.a. HGT). The Mets have even fewer HGTs — only three “everyday” players are home grown (only two of which have any real impact).
The “everyday” players I pulled were (i) the starting 8 fielders (for the AL teams I used the better of the first baseman and designated hitter as the first baseman), (ii) the five starting pitchers, (iii) the closer and (iv) the set-up man — for a total of 15 “everyday” players. I pulled this list from the actually players that have the job, irrespective of whether they are injured (e.g., Shilling is still a starting pitcher for the Red Sox, or is he?).
After crunching the numbers — at the start of the season — the Red Sox are 5/15 (33%), the Mets are 3/15 (20%) and the Yankees are 10/15 (67%). Again, the masses and the media are incorrect!
Boston Red Sox
C Jason Varitek (HGT)
1B David Ortiz
2B Dustin Pedroia (HGT)
3B Mike Lowell
SS Julio Lugo
LF Manny Ramirez
CF Jacoby Ellsbury (HGT)
RF J.D. Drew
SP Josh Beckett
SP Curt Shilling
SP Daisuke Matsuzaka
SP Tim Wakefield
SP Jon Lester (HGT)
ST Hideki Okajima
CL Jonathan Papelbon (HGT)
Red Sox Home Grown Talent — 5/15 (33%)
I give the Red Sox credit. At least they are trying to build from within while they continue to be one of the best teams in the American League. They have filled holes with quality minor league talent (Ellsbury, et al.) and have not sold off their future for another arm. Beckett and Dice-K will probably keep them rolling in the near future and Pedroia and Ellsbury look like stars. They even boast an HGT player that has spent his entire career with the team — Jason Varitek (although not drafted by the Red Sox, he is playing his 11th season with the squad). Although, 33% is still pretty pathetic, considering the way they won the 2004 World Series, this is an improvement.
New York Mets
C Brian Schnieder
1B Carlos Delgado
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright (HGT)
SS Jose Reyes (HGT)
LF Moises Alou
CF Carlos Beltran
RF Shawn Green
SP Johan Santana
SP Pedro Martinez
SP Oliver Perez
SP John Maine
SP Orlando Hernandez
ST Aaron Heilman (HGT)
CL Billy Wagner
Mets Home Grown Talent — 3/15 (20%)
The Mets are now down to three home grown players. It is simply ironic that it is usually the Mets supporters in New York that claim the Yankees “buy” their teams. Looking at this roster — the top 15 starters on the Mets — it is reprehensible that only three of them come from the Mets system. In fact, if you remove their setup-man Heilman – who really has not won that role yet – the Mets would have only two home grown players playing every day. That must be hard to swallow for a Mets fan, but, I assume, if they win it all this year, those same fans will forget all about it. As a side note, I will admit that the Mets have done a great job buying talent. Santana and Beltran are at the top of their respective positions. on the other hand, some of their minor moves and the older players purchased may come back to bite them. At least they did not bring in Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown. At the end of the day, the Mets have put together the best lineup and staff in the National League (assuming they stay healthy) and regardless how they do it, they are still a top contender.
New York Yankees
C Jorge Posada (HGT)
1B Jason Giambi
2B Robinson Cano (HGT)
3B Alex Rodriguez
SS Derek Jeter (HGT)
LF Johhny Damon
CF Melky Cabrera (HGT)
RF Bobby Abreu
SP Chien-Ming Wang (HGT)
SP Andy Pettitte (HGT)
SP Mike Mussina
SP Phil Hughes (HGT)
SP Ian Kennedy (HGT)
RP Joba Chamberlain (HGT)
CL Mariano Rivera (HGT)
Yankees Home Grown Talent — 10/15 (67%)
It is pretty amazing to think they hold a HGT of 67% considering their reputation. They may have a huge salary, but there is something to be said for rewarding players with big contracts that you developed in your own system. Few teams in the league can say that — and it impresses me that the Yankees are one of them. Ten of the Yankees fifteen starters are from the Yankees system. As compared to their rival Red Sox (who have only 5) and their New York counterpart (who have only 3), it is pretty impressive to see the Yankees continue to stockpile the youth on their roster. Looking back to this winter (although, Yankees fans may regret it), when we held on to the kids and passed on Santana, we really showed baseball which teams ‘buy’ their teams and which teams ‘develop’ their teams.
As a disclaimer, I happen to be a Yankees fan. I despise the Red Sox and remain cautious with the Mets. I have changed my idea of what Home Grown Talent is from last year and begin this season with the following definition — an HGT is a player that is (a) drafted by their team or (b) played in the minor leagues for that team, and (c) currently plays for that team. Yes, there are holes in that logic, but until someone falls through the crack, no sense in developing a more detailed formula.
Add Comment April 2nd, 2008 at 11:34am Cesium
[New York. September 13, 2007.] I have to admit, after years of hearing about how the Yankees “buy” their teams and have no “home grown talent,” I started to believe it. My response was always — what about Jeter and Posada, and Mariano and Pettitte, and now, Cano and Cabrera — and I thought I had a good argument. A good argument indeed!
After looking around the league, I realized very few competitive teams have a lot of Home Grown Talent, otherwise known as ‘HGT’ (not HGH)! In fact, the two largest groups of fans I see day-today (and find myself arguing with) sponsor teams that have a really palty HGT on their current teams. In fact, the Red Sox have only an HGT of 25%, and the Mets have only three really HGT players on their team.
Before I give you my analysis, let me first explain how I came to my results. First, I consider, any “current” player that was either (i) drafted by the team or (ii) played their entire career with only that team. Then, I looked to each teams’ “top twenty” players, eight starting fielders, three other batters (a DH or bench player, an infield and outfield bench player), the five starting pitchers, three top relievers and the closer. If a starting player was recently injured, they remained on this list. The Red Sox, Mets and Yankees top-twenty players and their HGT status are listed below:
Boston Red Sox
C Jason Varitek (HGT)
1B Kevin Youkilis (HGT)
2B Dustin Pedroia (HGT)
3B Mike Lowell
SS Julio Lugo
LF Manny Ramirez
RF Coco Crisp
CF J.D. Drew
DH David Ortiz
IN Alex Cora
OF Eric Hinske
P1 Josh Beckett
P2 Curt Shilling
P3 Daisuke Matsuzaka
P4 Tim Wakefield
P5 Jon Lester (HGT)
RP Mike Timlin
RP Hideki Okajima
RP Eric Gagne
CL Jonathan Papelbon (HGT)
HGT — 5/20 (25%)
The Boston Red Sox have five home grown players of their top twenty players. That is not too impressive. At least the Sox can boast that five of their top-twenty have been on the team for at least seven seasons (Manny, Ortiz, Timlin, Wakefield and Varitek), although, only one of them is an HGT. (Yankees’ fans out there — remind yourself that four of the five current HGT’s were not on the 2004 Red Sox, nor were there any other HGT’s on that team.)
New York Mets
C Paul LoDuca
1B Carlos Delgado
2B Luis Castillo
3B David Wright (HGT)
SS Jose Reyes (HGT)
LF Moises Alou
CF Carlos Beltran
RF Shawn Green
OF Lastings Milledge (HGT)
OF Ruben Gotay
IN Endy Chavez
P1 Tom Glavine
P2 Orlando Hernandez
P3 Pedro Martinez
P4 John Maine
P5 Oliver Perez
RP Jorge Sosa
RP Guillermo Mota
RP Aaron Heilman (HGT)
CL Billy Wagner
HGT — 4/20 (20%)
The Mets offer a only four home grown players in their top twenty. To make matters worse, of these twenty top players, not one of them has been on the Mets for more than three seasons. In fact, their entire top-twenty has turned over since their 2000 World Series appearance. To their credit, they were in need of a rebuild after 2000, but, I wish they would start give time to some minor league youth over the Glavine, Green and Delgados…
New York Yankees
C Jorge Posada (HGT)
1B Jason Giambi
2B Robinson Cano (HGT)
3B Alex Rodriguez
SS Derek Jeter (HGT)
LF Hideki Matsui
CF Melky Cabrera (HGT)
RF Bobby Abreu
DH Johnny Damon
IN Andy Phillips (HGT)
OF Shelley Duncan (HGT)
P1 Chien-Ming Wang (HGT)
P2 Andy Pettitte (HGT)
P3 Roger Clemens
P4 Phil Hughes (HGT)
P5 Ian Kennedy (HGT)
RP Edwar Ramirez (HGT)
RP Luis Vizcaino
RP Joba Chamberlain (HGT)
CL Mariano Rivera (HGT)
HGT — 13/20 (65%)
Remarkably, 65% of the Yankees top twenty are home grown. I still find it amazing that people can insult any team that has so much quality youth — not to mention that half of the veterans are HGT’s (who are being compensated accordingly). Posada, Jeter, Pettitte and Mariano have all played for the Yankees for at least eight seasons and were a large part of the Yankees’ dynasty in the late 1990’s. You could argue that Mussina and Farnsworth belong on this list, but after the last few months — Kennedy and Ramirez appear to have taken their roles.
After crunching the numbers, it looks like the Yanks (with 65%) have more home grown talent than the Mets (20%) and Red Sox (25%) combined! The Sox may have two HGT’s in their rotation, but the Yanks have four (while the Mets offer their fans zero). Obviously, the more HGTs you throw out there, the less likely you are to be successful “today,” but it has to feel pretty good right now to know that during the next few years we will be watching our veterans (who we’ve know for a long time) play with our next generation of Yankees. Of course, it never hurts to bring in a non-HGT MVP. But in all honesty, last year, many fans would have reversed that trade and brought Soriano back to the Bronx. Luckily, Cashman was not listening.
Add Comment September 13th, 2007 at 01:03pm Cesium
[New York. September 10, 2007.] So, interleague play is long gone and it is time to crunch the numbers — as expected, the American League is the better conference. The numbers just do not lie. Although, I have to admit, the American League East surprised me with a total .500 winning percentage against the National League. I guess it does not help when Tampa Bay and Baltimore could not get out of their own way.
In the end, the American League won 137 of the total 252 interleague games. That results in a .544 winning percentage – and this sample is the equivalent of over a season and a half for any one team. If you pull out the Devil Rays, the Orioles and the White Sox (the bottom of the AL), the rest of the America League played at a .606 pace against the National League. In fact, taking out those three AL teams and not one of the other AL teams (the other 11 teams) had a losing record in interleague play. That includes last place Texas (11-7) and a Kansas City (10-8) team that is currently 18 games under .500.
A summary of each teams final interleague record is as follows:
American League [137-115] (.544)
AL East
Boston 12-6
Yankees 10-8
Toronto 10-8
Tampa Bay 7-11
Baltimore 6-12
AL Central
Detroit 14-4
Minnesota 11-7
Cleveland 9-9
Kansas City 10-8
White Sox 4-14
AL West
Los Angeles 14-4
Texas 11-7
Oakland 10-8
Seattle 9-9
National League [115-137] (.456)
NL East
Mets 8-7
Atlanta 8-7
Florida 9-9
Washington 9-9
Philadelphia 4-11
NL Central
Cubs 8-4
Milwaukee 8-7
Houston 9-9
St. Louis 6-9
Cincinnati 7-11
Pittsburgh 5-10
NL West
Colorado 10-8
Arizona 8-7
San Diego 6-9
Los Angeles 5-10
San Francisco 5-10
An interesting fact — if you look at only the current four playoff teams and the top two teams trailing in the wild card standings (as of September 9, 2007), the six such AL teams (Sox, Yanks, Angels, Indians, Tigers and Seattle) finished 68-40 (.630) and the six such NL teams (Mets, Phils, Brewers, ‘Backs, Padres and LA) finished 43-47 (.478) in interleague play. That does not lend towards another NL World Champion, but of course, not of that really matters in a quick seven-game series in late October.
1 comment September 10th, 2007 at 05:15pm Cesium
Yankees 2007 — Games 70-142
Tuesday June 19, 2007 - Saturday September 8, 2007
(Record: 35-32 / 80-62)
Most of the League
[New York. September 9, 2007.] Seventy-three games later and the Yankees finally turned their season around. After a season low 37-41 record (about two weeks after I dropped this column), the Yankees heated up in July — did not look back — and are now eighteen games over five-hundred (do you now understand why I dropped the column?)…
Season low — July 1st (37-41)
Season best - September 8th (80-62)
Between July 1st and September 8th — 43-21 (.672)
Three Stars
#3. Andy Pettitte - Basically saved the pitching staff in the second half. You can’t take anything away from Wang — but Andy really was the heart of this turnaround.
#2. Jorge Posada - Even at his age, he never cooled off.
#1. Alex Rodriguez - At last check, 51 home runs and also league highs in runs and RBIs. He even has 20+ stolen bases. Can you say MVP?
Add Comment September 9th, 2007 at 08:45pm Cesium
Yankees 2007 — Game 69
Sunday June 17, 2007 at 8:05 p.m.
(Record: 35-32)
New York Mets
[New York. June 19, 2007.] The Yankees offense (and Wang) carried the Yanks to a victory in the rubber game of this series against the Mets. Wang pitched great and the Yankees continued to tee-off against their opposing pitchers – this time it was their old friend El Duque.
Mets 000 000 101 [2 6 0]
Yankees 221 010 02X [8 11 0]
WP: C. Wang (7-4)
LP: O. Hernandez (3-3)
Home Runs: Alex Rodriguez (27); Johnny Damon (4); Jorge Posada (9)
Three Stars
#3. Johnny Damon - I feel like it has been a while since I called on Johnny for a star. He deserves this one with his two hits — including two RBIs and a home run.
#2. Chien-Ming Wang - Another excellent start for the Yankees ground-ball specialist.
#1. Alex Rodriguez - After Alex’s early home run, it just looked like a win for the Yanks.
Add Comment June 19th, 2007 at 01:10pm Cesium
Yankees 2007 — Game 68
Saturday June 16, 2007 at 1:05 p.m.
(Record: 34-32)
New York Mets
[New York. June 19, 2007.] It did not take long for the Yankees to start hiting again. They pounded Glavine and the other Mets pitchers — scoring 11 runs on 15 hits.
Mets 111 200 012 [8 14 1]
Yankees 022 222 01X [11 15 0]
WP: L. Vizcaino (3-1)
LP: T. Glavine (5-5)
Home Runs: Ruben Gotay (3); Alex Rodriguez (26); Ramon Castro (4); Derek Jeter (5)
Three Stars
#3. Robinson Cano- Robby appears to be hitting the ball well again. Two hits tonight and his average is hovering around .275. He needs to get that back over .300.
#2. Alex Rodriguez - Truly, Alex does not have a problem hitting well in a big game. Two more hits, another home run and even a stolen base.
#1. Derek Jeter - Four hits, a home run and two key RBIs. Jeter carried the Yankees offense in this win over the Mets.
Add Comment June 19th, 2007 at 01:04pm Cesium
Yankees 2007 — Game 67
Friday June 15, 2007 at 7:05 p.m.
(Record: 33-32)
New York Mets
[New York. June 19, 2007.] What happened to the Bats? Roger pitched a great game — allowing only two runs, but the Yankees were shut down by a wild Perez and lost for the first time in a while — 2-0.
Mets 001 010 000 [2 7 0]
Yankees 000 000 000 [0 5 0]
WP: O. Perez (7-5)
LP: R. Clemens (1-1)
S: B. Wagner (15)
Home Runs: Jose Reyes (3)
Three Stars
#3. Miguel Cairo - Cairo was one of only two Yankees not to strike out in this game. Yes, he is the third star.
#2. Detek Jeter - Derek was the only Yankee with two hits — and, other than Cairo, was the only Yankee not to strike out. In a game like this, that’s a second star!
#1. Roger Clemens - Another Yankees pitcher with the number one star. Too bad this one was in a losing game. Roger pitched unexpectingly well — striking out 8 in 6 1/3 innings — as he worked through some jams and only allowed two runs to the Mets. Unfortunately he was out-pitched.
Add Comment June 19th, 2007 at 12:56pm Cesium
Yankees 2007 — Game 66
Thursday June 14, 2007 at 1:05 p.m.
(Record: 33-31)
Arizona Diamondbacks
[New York. June 19, 2007.] Pettitte follows Mussina and Wang’s performances with a brilliant outing of his own. The Yanks beat the Diamondbacks 7-1 this time and have now won nine in a row. Some may say the Diamondbacks are a weak team — but compared to the other teams in that conference, they were considered the elite.
Arizona 010 000 000 [1 5 3]
Yankees 202 000 30X [7 12 1]
WP: A. Pettitte (4-4)
LP: D. Davis (4-8)
Home Runs: None
Three Stars
#3. Hideki Matsui - Hideki continues to hit and help the Yankees win. He connected for three hits and three RBIs as the Yankees blew past the Diamondbacks.
#2. Alex Rodriguez - Another monster game for Alex — this time without the long ball. He had three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs.
#1. Andy Pettitte - Andy brought his ERA down to 2.93 after pitching eight innings and surrendering only 4 hits and 1 run. He is finally at .500 — with his unfair 4-4 record.
Add Comment June 19th, 2007 at 12:49pm Cesium
Yankees 2007 — Game 65
Wednesday June 13, 2007 at 7:05 p.m.
(Record: 32-31)
Arizona Diamondbacks
[New York. June 19, 2007.] Mussina follows Chien-Ming’s excellent outing with one of his own. The Yanks beat the Diamondbacks 7-2 and win their eighth straight game.
Arizona 010 001 000 [2 7 0]
Yankees 012 400 00X [7 10 0]
WP: M. Mussina (3-3)
LP: L. Hernandez (5-4)
Home Runs: Jorge Posada (8); Alex Rodriguez (25) Hideki Matsui (7); Conor Jackson (5)
Three Stars
#3. Hideki Matsui - Hideki had two hits, three RBIs and a home run.
#2. Alex Rodriguez - Alex also had two hits, three RBIs and a home run (his 25th).
#1. Mike Mussina - Mike pitched 7 2/3 innings and only allowed six hits (no walks) and two runs. Hopefully he is hitting his stride.
Add Comment June 19th, 2007 at 12:43pm Cesium
Yankees 2007 — Game 64
Tuesday June 12, 2007 at 7:05 p.m.
(Record: 31-31)
Arizona Diamondbacks
[New York. June 19, 2007.] Chien-Ming Wang gave the Yankees another stellar performance and Bobby Abreu gave Wang all the offense he would need in hitting a first-inning three-run homne run. The Yankees won this one 4-1 and hit the .500 mark.
Arizona 000 100 000 [1 7 2]
Yankees 300 000 10X [4 5 0]
WP: C. Wang (6-4)
LP: B. Webb (6-4)
S: M. Rivera (8)
Home Runs: Bobby Abreu (4); Chad Tracy (2)
Three Stars
#3. Mariano Rivera - A perfect ninth to notch the save. There will hopefully be more of these to pad Mariano’s awful stats.
#2. Chien-Ming Wang - Wang is starting to looking like the Yankee ace.
#1. Bobby Abreu - A huge first inning home run off one of the best pitchers in the National League guided the Yankees to the victory.
Add Comment June 19th, 2007 at 12:37pm Cesium
[New York. June 11, 2007.] We just finished our first weekend of the “real” interleague matchups. Last month, we were greeted with the “rivalry” interleague matchups. So, shall we start the debate as to which Major League Baseball Conference is superior? These two interleague weekends have given us 84 total interleague games. Luckily, there were no postponements. Each of the 14 American League teams played in two series (6 total games each). Since there are 16 National League teams, 10 played 6 games and the other 4 played in only 3 each (remember, those four had to play each other to keep it all even). To preempt any arguments about where the games were played — there were 42 games played in National League parks and 42 games in American.
In those 84 games so far, the American League won over 60% of the games. To be exact, the American League was 51-33 (.607) in those games, thus, the National League was 33-51 (.393). Even though interleague play has only just begun, these numbers appear to be consistent with the overall power of the leagues. But for the Mets, it is hard to imagine any of the other National League teams consistently beating any of the American League power-houses (the Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers, Indians, Angels, etc.). And those Mets, they just lost two out of three against the Tigers. That series puts the two leagues in perspective. The Mets shut out Detroit in game one with an amazing outing by their number five starter, Jorge Sosa. But, when they sent their top two starters out there in the next two games, they lost both, surrendering 23 total runs in those two games.
A summary of each teams current record, along with their interleague record, is as follows:
American League [51-33] (.607)
AL East
Boston 40-22 (.645) 4-2
Yankees 30-31 (.492) 4-2
Toronto 30-32 (.484) 3-3
Baltimore 29-34 (.460) 3-3
Tampa Bay 28-33 (.459) 2-4
AL Central
Cleveland 37-24 (.607) 3-3
Detroit 36-26 (.581) 5-1
Minnesota 30-31 (.492) 3-3
White Sox 27-32 (.458) 2-4
Kansas City 24-40 (.375) 4-2
AL West
Los Angeles 40-24 (.625) 5-1
Seattle 33-26 (.559) 4-2
Oakland 34-28 (.548) 5-1
Texas 23-40 (.365) 4-2
National League [33-51] (.393)
NL East
Mets 36-25 (.590) 3-3
Atlanta 35-29 (.547) 1-2
Philadelphia 32-31 (.508) 3-3
Florida 31-33 (.484) 4-2
Washington 26-37 (.413) 3-3
NL Central
Milwaukee 34-29 (.540) 2-4
St. Louis 27-33 (.450) 1-5
Cubs 27-34 (.443) 2-1
Houston 26-36 (.419) 3-3
Pittsburgh 26-37 (.413) 0-3
Cincinnati 25-39 (.391) 3-3
NL West
San Diego 36-26 (.581) 2-4
Arizona 37-27 (.578) 1-2
Los Angeles 35-28 (.556) 1-5
Colorado 31-32 (.492) 3-3
San Francisco 28-34 (.452) 1-5
We will be back after the next set of interleague games to discuss. I know St. Louis fans will argue that their team won the World Series, but that was a seven game series. The data above gives us the analysis of 84 games thus far. And trust me, I wish the National League would win 60%, so long as my American League team was in the 40%…
Add Comment June 11th, 2007 at 03:53pm Cesium
Yankees 2007 — Game 63
Sunday June 10, 2007 at 1:05 p.m.
(Record: 30-31)
Pittsburgh Pirates
[New York. June 11, 2007.] Clippard was hit hard, but the Yankees offense, especially Bobby and Alex, made his rough start forgettable. It was good to see Chacon again. He run with the Yanks was a good memory. They the Yanks went out and knocked him around.
Pittsburgh 020 400 000 [6 9 0]
Yankees 302 302 30X [13 14 0]
WP: S. Henn (2-0)
LP: S. Chacon (2-1)
Home Runs: Alex Rodriguez 2 (24)
Three Stars
#3. Sean Henn - Henn relieved Clippard and stopped the bleeding. He allowed the Yankees’ offense to take over and earned a win with his effort.
#2. Alex Rodriguez - Alex hit another two home runs (he now has 24) and carried the Yankees to another victory.
#1. Bobby Abreu - Bobby rolled out four hits in four at-bats (and also walked once) and drove in three runs. He looks to be in the third spot indefinitely.
Add Comment June 11th, 2007 at 03:38pm Cesium
Yankees 2007 — Game 62
Saturday June 9, 2007 at 1:05 p.m.
(Record: 29-31)
Pittsburgh Pirates
[New York. June 11, 2007.] The Rocket is back. Roger pushed the Yankees to their fifth straight win. Yankee fans can only hope they have this Roger ever five days. A critic would say that there is no real hope until Roger faces a real offense — but this is his fourth tune-up start and he looked good.
Pittsburgh 100 200 000 [3 6 2]
Yankees 300 012 21X [9 11 0]
WP: R. Clemens (1-0)
LP: P. Maholm (2-9)
Home Runs: None
Three Stars
#3. Bobby Abreu - Bobby was two for four, stole a base, walked, had an RBI and a run scored — all without striking out. That sounds like the Abreu of late last year.
#2. Robinson Cano - Cano continues to earn starts but then fall back to mediocrity. This could be a sign.
#1. Roger Clemens - Of course. A quality start. That’s all the Yankees ask of Roger and he delivered for the first time (in his first start) this season.
Add Comment June 11th, 2007 at 03:34pm Cesium
Yankees 2007 — Game 61
Friday June 8, 2007 at 7:05 p.m.
(Record: 28-31)
Pittsburgh Pirates
[New York. June 10, 2007.] After Melky misplayed the ball in center, giving Duffy an inside-the-park home run and the Pirates a 4-2 lead, the game looked to be lost. What the Yankees finally showed then was a little fight. In the end, the Yankees won 5-4 with a walk-off infield single and pulled within 3 games of .500.
Pittsburgh 010 010 200 0 [4 11 0]
Yankees 000 002 200 1 [5 12 0]
WP: M. Rivera (2-3)
LP: M. Capps (3-3)
Home Runs: Xavier Nagy (10); Hideki Matsui (6); Chris Duffy (3)
Three Stars
#3. Hideki Matsui - Matsui’s two-run home run in the sixth was big in that it showed that the Yankees could actually hit on this night. The 2-2 tie he brought the Yankees back to would not last, but the home run ignited the Yankees bats which pulled out this 5-4 game.
#2. Derek Jeter - Who else would you expect to hit a bases-loaded, one-out, bottom-of-the-tenth walk-off single?
#1. Mariano Rivera - The good old days — Mariano pitched more than an inning (two actually) to earn the win in this Yankees walk-off victory.
Add Comment June 10th, 2007 at 09:41pm Cesium
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