Yanks sign Hafner

It hasn’t been announced officially yet, but the Yankees have signed Travis Hafner, formerly of the Indians, to be their lefty-hitting DH.

Hafner still has a good bat….when he plays, that is. This could be a good move for the Yanks, if Hafner can stay healthy.

The problem is, Hafner hasn’t been healthy for a while. Hafner, who finished top-10 in the MVP voting in 2005 and 2006, hasn’t played the field since 2007 and only once since 2007 has played in 100 games in a season.

Last year, Hafner hit .228-12-34 in just 66 games. His OPS+ was 121. For his career, he is a .278 hitter with 201 HR and an OPS+ of 137.

From 2004-2007 he averaged .296-32-108, OPS+ 156. But that was so long ago.

Meanwhile, Earl Williams, a C-1B-3B for the Braves, Orioles, Expos and A’s in the 1970s died at the age of 64. He was the 1971 NL ROY when he hit 33 HR for Atlanta. He hit .247 in his career (1970-1977) with 138 HR. An average year for him would have been about .246-20-65, OPS+ 105.

I never got into the X games. The death yesterday of a snowmobiler is why. I mean, why? Why do somersaults at God knows what speed on a snowmobile? To me, the X games are just reckless.

I’ll be rooting for SF on Sunday. I can’t root for Ray Lewis.

Update: The Hafner deal is $2mm, 1 yr., + incentives. Hafner will turn 36 in June.

Brother vs. Brother

You wonder how their parents will handle it.

John and Jim Harbaugh will be coaching against each other in the Super Bowl since each of the brothers coached their respective teams to wins in today’s AFC and NFC title games.

Ravens vs. 49ers it is. I think the 49ers will be about a 4-pt. favorite from what I saw.

I’ll be rooting for the 49ers, even though if the 49ers win, they’ll tie my Steelers for most SB victories with six.

I just can’t root for Ray Lewis.

As for Atlanta, they blew a big lead last week vs. Seattle and got away with it. Not this time as they blew a 17-0 early lead.

Forgetting the past.

I can’t root for Ray Lewis or the Ravens. First of all, I’m a Steelers’ fan. But mostly, I can’t root for Ray Lewis because of this (from Wikipedia):

Murder trial

Following a Super Bowl XXXIV party in Atlanta on January 31, 2000, a fight broke out between Lewis and his companions and another group of people, resulting in the stabbing deaths of Jacinth Baker and Richard Lollar. Lewis and two companions, Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting, were questioned by Atlanta police, and 11 days later the three men were indicted on murder and aggravated-assault charges. The white suit Lewis was wearing the night of the killings has never been found. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard alleged the blood-stained suit was dumped in a garbage bin outside a fast food restaurant.^[36]

Lewis’ attorneys, Don Samuel and Ed Garland, of the Atlanta law firm Garland, Samuel & Loeb, negotiated a plea agreement with Howard, where the murder charges against Lewis were dismissed in exchange for his testimony against Oakley and Sweeting, and his guilty plea to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice.^[12] Lewis admitted he gave a misleading statement to police on the morning after the killings. Superior Court Judge Alice D. Bonner sentenced Lewis to 12 months’ probation, the maximum sentence for a first-time offender,^[37] and he was fined $250,000 by the NFL, which was believed to be the highest fine levied against an NFL player for an infraction not involving substance abuse.^[38] Under the terms of the sentence, Lewis could not use drugs or alcohol during the duration of the probation.

Oakley and Sweeting were acquitted of the charges in June 2000.^[39] No other suspects have ever been arrested for the crime.

The following year, Lewis was named Super Bowl XXXV MVP. However, the signature phrase “I’m going to Disney World!” was given instead to quarterback Trent Dilfer.

On April 29, 2004, Lewis reached a settlement with four-year-old India Lollar, born months after the death of her father Richard, pre-empting a scheduled civil proceeding. Lewis also reached an undisclosed settlement with Baker’s family.^[39]

 

Now Lewis may have tried to make amends since, and may have been a good citizen since. I can’t answer that.

What I wonder about is his degree of culpability in what happened. Should Lewis have gone to jail? Did he commit murder or manslaughter?

What I don’t wonder about is this:  that the Ray Lewis farewell tour media suck-up disgusts me.

The kissing up that the media is doing disgusts me completely. It’s one thing to call him the greatest middle linebacker ever. Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t.

But ask yourself, outside of what you just read, have ANY of the media that is currently sucking up to Lewis and kissing his ass in his final games mentioned ANYTHING about what happened those many years ago? Has any media outlet mentioned it at all?

That’s what disgusts me. There are two sides of the coin here.

Praise Lewis for his football career, but don’t forget his involvement, whether major or minor, in the deaths of two people.

The minors today

AAA: SWB won 7-5. Jorge Vazquez’ 2-run HR in the 8th broke a 5-5 tie. He had 3 rbi on the day. Jordan Parraz had a 2-run HR. Jesus Montero had 2 hits (4 for 10 for the season). 2 hits for Ramiro Pena. Adam Warren gave up 3 runs in 4 2/3 IP. W to Andrew Sisco with two scoreless innings. Kevin Whelan the scoreless 9th for the save.

AA:  Dellin Betances took a loss, 5-0. Betances gave up 4 R, 1 ER in 4 2/3 IP. 5 H, 2 walks, just 1 K. Trenton had only 4 hits, one by Romine (.188). Brad Suttle with a double.

High A: Tampa lost 5-2.  2 hits, double, RBI for Luke Murton. 4 R, 2 ER in 4 IP for Jose Ramirez. Another scoreless inning for Mark Prior, one walk.

Low A: Charleston lost 11-4.  Slade Heathcott had 3 hits, 2 doubles, 1 RBI. Gary Sanchez (.250) 1 fo 4, double. 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI for Kelvin Castro. Kramer Sneed 4 R, 2 ER in 3 1/3. Fred Lewis 3 R, all unearned, in 1 IP. Richard Martinez 4 R in 1 IP.    

2010 WS Game 3. Home cooking. Texas wins 4-2, now down 2 games to 1.

Colby Lewis went 7 2/3, and the Rangers rode the home cooking to a 4-2 win to cut the Giants lead in the Series to two games to one.

Mitch Moreland hit a three-run HR and Josh Hamilton a solo HR for the Texas runs. SF got HRs by Cody Ross and Andres Torres.

SF’s Pat Burrell took the golden sombrero.

  

Rangers win AL pennant.

It turns out that the Yankees did have to worry about a pitcher with the initials C.L.

Only not THAT C.L.

Yes, Cliff Lee was waiting had the series gone to a seventh game, but Colby Lewis made sure it did not go there.

For the second time in the series, Lewis beat Phil Hughes, and with the 6-1 win, Texas advances to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.

Some may criticize Hughes for losing two ALCS games, but even had he pitched a gem last night, it would most likely would have gone for naught. Lewis pitched eight innings and gave up just 1 run on 3 hits. Feliz finished up with a 1-2-3 9th.

1 run. 3 hits. Lee couldn’t have done much better himself. The question will be who Lee goes to next year, but even if he does go to the Yanks, the bigger question for the Yankees in 2011 is more advanced age.

What are they to do with Posada, who turns 40 next August in the last year of his deal? What kind of deals do you now give Jeter (37 next summer), Rivera (41 in a little over a month) and Girardi? What about Pettitte (39 next summer) or A-Rod (36 next summer). Age is becoming a big factor with key players.

As for Hughes, he went four decent innings before it all fell apart in the fifth. Hughes gave up a run in the first on a leadoff double by Andrus, who later scored on a Bad Vlad groundout.

The Yankees tied it in the fifth when A-Rod doubled, went to third on a flyball and scored on a wild pitch. Actually, it looked like the WP hit Swisher. Such was the Yanks’ night. They got what appeared to be a gift and still nothing. Posada did double after Swisher grounded out (it wouldn’t have scored Alex), but Thames struck out. That was the only Yankee rally of the game.

Given the tie, Hughes gave it back, and with two out. After a leadoff single to Moreland, Hughes got the next two batters out. No problem, right?

Um, wrong. In Game 4, the Yanks intentionally walked Murphy and Molina, the next hitter, hit a 3-run HR that basically decided the game. Here, the Yanks intentionally walked Hamilton (who was named the ALCS MVP). Vlad Guerrero then lived up to his “Bad Vlad” nickname with a two-run double that proved to be the game-winning hit.

Hughes, one batter from going 5 innings and giving up one run, was taken out. Whereupon David Robertson immediately gave up a two-run HR to Nelson Cruz. 5-1 and all hope basically gone.

Hughes went 4 2/3, 4 R, 4 H, 4 walks and 3 K. 0-2, 11.42 for the ALCS. Like I wrote above, some will blame him for the ALCS loss, but it was a team effort. No hitting. Just three hits in Game 6. Only two in Game 3. Whoever scouts for the Rangers did an excellent job and the Rangers executed that plan perfectly.

Hughes is just 24, and hopefully this is a learning experience for him. Without him, the Yanks don’t make the playoffs. He was expected to be the fifth starter. He wound up with 18 wins, second on the team. The disappointments were Burnett and Vazquez. Burnett went 10-15, 5.26 and didn’t pitch in the ALDS. Then he lost his ALCS start. As for Vazquez, 10-10, 5.32 and he wasn’t even on the postseason roster.

After Robertson got out of the fifth (1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, ALCS ERA 20.25), Wood went two innings and gave up the final run of the game in the seventh on a sac fly. 2 IP for Wood, 1 R, 1 H, 2 walks and 0 K. Rivera finished up, a token of respect more than anything else. The great Rivera continued his postseason mastery with a 1-2-3 inning, meaningless as it was. Still, it lowered his postseason ERA from 0.714 to 0.709 (either way, it still rounds off to 0.71).

There weren’t many good numbers for the Yanks in the ALCS. They were two-hit in one game, three-hit in another. Cano wound up 8 for 23, .348, with 4 HR and 5 RBI.

Gardner was 3 for 17, .176, 1 RBI. Jeter 6 for 26, .231, 1 RBI, 7 K. A-Rod 4 for 21, .190, 2 RBI. He was caught looking to end the Yankees season. Teixeira was 0 for 14 before he got hurt. Swisher was 2 for 22 in the ALCS. For the year, including the ALCS, Swisher was 5 for 51 vs. Texas, Teixeira 4 for 38. That’s .098 for Swisher for the year vs. the Rangers, and .105 for Teixeira. Thames was 2 for 16 in the ALCS, 7 strikeouts. The team BA? .201.

Hughes was 0-2, 11.42. Burnett 0-1, 7.50. Logan 27.00. Robertson 20.25. Mitre 10.13. Heck, even CC was 1-0, 6.30.

Andy was 0-1, 2.57. Was his gutty game 3 loss to Lee his last game?

Joba 2.70. Moseley 1-0, 0.00 (and you may ask why, after a good Game 1 performance, wasn’t he used again?). Mo of course had a 0.00, but only one save. Wood a 1.50. Team ERA 6.58.

6.58 ERA. BA .201. That sums it up.

Tonight, SF tries to eliminate the Phils. SF is up 3 games to 2.

Mo’s contract is up. You don’t know if Andy will be back, and you assume Mo is returning, but Mo does turn 41 in five weeks. What if he decides that this is it?

I admit, I wasn’t thinking of that when he pitched the 8th last night. That I may be seeing him for the last time.  

Perish the thought.    

 

Game 2. Hughes tries to come up huge. Many Yankees haven’t seen Lewis.

After the big comeback win for the Yanks in Game 1, you wonder how a team without a lot of playoff experience, like the Rangers, will respond.

But then you remember that this is a team that, up 2-0, lost both games at home in the ALDS, only to win Game 5 on the road to advance. It was (and is) the only series in baseball history in which the road team won every game.

Yankees fans hope Phil Hughes continues a couple of trends. Each of Hughes games vs. Texas was in Texas. 3 g., 2 starts. 2-0, 0.00. 13 K in 15 1/3 IP. Just three hits allowed.

Current Rangers are a combined 2 for 38 vs. Hughes. Of course, you never know, but it is a trend we hope continues today.

On 9/26, Hughes gave up 1 R in 6 IP vs. Boston. He pitched a scoreless inning of relief vs. Boston on 10/2, then seven shutout innings against the Twins in game 3 of the ALDS. One run in his last 14 IP with just seven hits allowed.

No offense to Andy Pettitte and his 19 postseason wins, but Cliff Lee can get the Rangers back in this series in a hurry in Game 3. Best for the Yanks to go back to NY up 2-0 rather than even at 1-1 with the possibility of Lee giving the Rangers and edge. Still in all, there is no one I’d rather have going against Lee than the experienced Pettitte.

I do hope (being someone who never roots for Philadelphia) that Hughes is the ONLY Phil to win today.

The lineup has no changes from the ALDS lineup. The same against a righty pitcher as then. Here are the stats vs. Colby Lewis. It isn’t much.

Jeter SS 3 for 5 with 2 HR and 3 RBI
Granderson CF
Teixeira 1B
Alex 3B
Cano 2B
Swisher RF
Posada C  0 for 6
Berkman DH 0 For 7
Gardner LF

That is it. No one else has faced Lewis, who was 12-13, 3.72 this year. Lewis is 0-2, 6.89 vs. the Yankees in his career. He did not face the Yankees this year. Wonder why the record vs. the Yankees but almost no one above has seen him? All three games that Lewis has faced the Yankees were in 2003.(Berkman faced Lewis while in Houston.)

Note Jeter’s stats from those 2003 meetings. Interesting. Now, remember that Derek has left the yard just ONCE since June 12th of this year.  

Here is hoping that the Yankees take
the bloom off the Yellow Rose of Texas.

One piece of NBA news. I see that Larry Siegfried, the Celtics’ guard of the 1960s, has passed away at the age of 71.