WS Game 1 goes to KC in 14, 5-4.

If the rest of the World Series is as good as Game 1, we’ll have a great one. An inside-the-park HR (first since 1929), a HR in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, a 14-inning, 5-4 KC win. Wow.

Kansas City won Game 1 5-4 in 14 innings over the Mets. Game 2 is tonight. deGrom vs. Cueto. May the best hair win.

Apparently Derek Jeter is now engaged to model Hannah Davis.

C Gary Sanchez has been raking in the Arizona Fall League. 8 games, has hit in all 8, 5 HR.

Sorry for the late postings. Overtime, computer problems, and now sick.

Sorry, again. I should add that the Royals’ starter lost his father before the game and didn’t find out until after he was removed from the game.

Game 67. A-Rod’s 3000th is a HR as Yanks win 7-2.

Alex Rodriguez joined the 3000 hit club in style, becoming the third player to have his 3000th hit be a home run, following Wade Boggs and Derek Jeter.

Meanwhile, Adam Warren made a strong statement to stay in the rotation. The Yanks will have a difficult decision to make when Ivan Nova is ready to come back. How do you pull your #3 starter and send him to the bullpen?

Before the game, the Yanks made some moves. They DL’d Sergio Santos after just two appearances as a Yankee with elbow inflammation. They also sent Chris Martin down to AAA. To replace them, they brought back Brandon Pinder (poor guy has been a yo-yo this season) and brought up Bryan Mitchell.

The Yanks beat Detroit 7-2, went to 37-30 on the season and stayed one game behind the surprising and resilient Rays.

A-Rod hit the first pitch he saw last night for a home run to RCF. Hit #3000 was HR #13 on the season and #667 of his career.

Warren gave up two runs in the second to put the Tigers up 2-1, but Didi Gregorius tied it in the bottom of the second with a HR (3).

In the bottom of the fifth, Brett Gardner’s two-run HR (7) put the Yanks up 4-2. Gardner went 4 for 5 for the evening, scored two runs and drove in three.

A nice play by John Ryan Murphy on a tag at the plate saved the Yanks a run.

The Yanks broke it open late,. scoring two in the seventh on a WP (the ball didn’t get far away, and Gardner’s speed let him score, great play by Gardy) and a Teixeira single.

Gardner’s single in the eighth made it 7-2, the final score.

Warren pitched 8 strong innings. It’ll be hard to remove him from the rotation. Should they?

Also, considering the way Pinder has pitched, maybe he should stay instead of being yo-yo’d?

Warren 8 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 0 walks and 7 K. (W, 5-4, 3.62)
Pinder 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 0 K. 1.93.

Today’s game is a night game. It’s Old-Timer’s Day and the Yankees will be honoring Willie Randolph with a plaque in Monument Park.

Game 44. Yanks fall to .500.

Sorry for the late post. I was at last night’s game and got home around 2 a.m.

As a result, there will be NO minor league report from Sunday’s games.

On a night when Bernie Williams’ #51 was retired, and Derek Jeter made his first trip back to Yankee Stadium since his retirement, the Yanks continued their funk, losing their tenth game in their last eleven (sixth in a row) to fall to 22-22, even .500. They remain in 2nd place in what is so far a weak AL East, 1 1/2 games back.

The ingredients for a loss were as follows: mental and physical lapses in the field (2B Jose Pirela), a starting pitcher who couldn’t give you five innings (Capuano), an offense that for the fourth time in eleven games gave you two runs in the first inning and nothing thereafter, and a bullpen that let a close game slip away.

Jose Pirela made a mental mistake on the first play of the game, and the batter almost reached because Pirela was too lackadaisical in fielding a ground ball. The play was only called an out upon review. Pirela then booted the next ball. When Prince Fielder doubled to score the run, it appeared as if there was a play at the plate, but Pirela’s throw home on the relay wasn’t good. Pirela was only charged with one error, but had made three bad plays, and Texas had an unearned run.

The Yanks got two in the first when Gardner (who has been slumping badly…down to .279, .196 since May 9)  reached on an error, then Headley singled. Gardner however, was thrown out at third on Headley’s single. Maybe it was a case of over-aggressiveness, of someone trying to make things happen while his team is in the midst of a losing streak, but there you have it. A-Rod singled, and after a ground out that moved up the runners, McCann singled in two runs to make it 2-1 Yankees.

But in the second, on a 2-2 pitch with two out and a runner on, Capuano gave up a 2-run HR that hit the top of the wall and bounced over. One strike away from getting out of the inning and …. …. I suspect Capuano, who in two starts has given a total of 7 1/3 innings, will be the one pulled when Tanaka or Nova become ready. The Yanks need a starter who’ll give more innings than Capuano has provided so far.

It remained that way, 3-2, for a while, but the Yanks’ offense (minus Beltran, who has the flu, the slumping Young (.240, 2 for his last 28, played CF and Garrett Jones was in RF)) couldn’t do anything and the Yanks’ bullpen gave up two in the seventh to seal their doom.

It is a good thing Girardi has some job security. I’m blaming none of this on him, it’s the players, but it may be a good thing if he (or Hal Steinbrenner, who was there for the Bernie ceremony) ripped into the players after the game. Hal, especially, should pull a page from his dad’s playbook. Losing ten out of eleven is not acceptable. A lesser manager than Girardi may be on the hot seat. But these players need to be held accountable, especially with some of the bad mental errors they are currently making out there.

It doesn’t get any easier. The defending AL champion Royals are in now, and the Yanks are heading west soon.

They have gone from 21-12 to 22-22. That should be a wake up call to tell them to pull their heads out of their you-know-where’s.

The good news is that in a weak division so far, losing ten out of eleven—even this early—hasn’t buried them. There is time to right the ship, and it needs to be done now.

Capuano (L, 0-2, 7.36) 4 1/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 8 H, 0 walks, 4 K.
Shreve 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 walk and 0 K. 3.00
Wilson 1/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 walks and 0 K. 5.79.
Betances 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 0 K. 0.00
Carpenter 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 walks and 0 K. 5.19.
Miller 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 2 K. 0.93.

I was kind of hoping, but didn’t get, the MLB debut of Jacob Lindgren, who was brought up yesterday. Brandon Pinder was sent down after having thrown 48 pitches on Saturday.

Game 27. Yanks hold on to win, 6-3.

Good to see some bats come alive. For even with the Yanks at 17-10, it has been the pitching carrying them. For going into tonight’s game, if you took out Ellsbury, Gardner and Young, the rest of the team was hitting .211. Over the long haul, that won’t do.

The key so far is that when the guys hitting with low batting averages got their hits, they have made them count. For even though they have had few hits, the hits they HAVE had have been doubles or homers. Batting average is overrated. The key is OPS…. on base percentage + slugging average.

Here is an example. After tonight’s game, Mark Teixeira has just 18 hits right now but 15 are for extra bases. A-Rod has 20 hits, 11 for extra bases. Stephen Drew 13 hits, 7 for extra bases. Carlos Beltran hasn’t homered in some 14o at bats, but of his 16 hits, 9 are for extra bases. That’s making your hits count. Over half of your hits are for extra bases.

Don’t get me wrong. I want the batting average to go up. But at least the hits they are getting are DAMAGING hits.

The Yanks got two in the first tonight on a double by A-Rod. After tonight’s game, he is still at only .227. But 1/6th of the way into the season, he does have 6 HR and 16 RBI…. a pace for 36 HR and 96 RBI. Would you take 36/96 even if the batting average is .227? Or would you rather, instead of .227-36-96, have .265-18-65? Runs win ballgames.

Ellsbury drove in a run in the third to make it 3-0.

How about Mark Teixeira, who hit a 2-run HR in the fifth inning tonight? After tonight’s game, he is hitting just .205, but has 10 HR and 22 RBI. That is a pace for 60 HR, 132 RBI. Forget about the .205 for now. Would you take 60 and 132?

The AL MVP (non-pitcher) with the lowest batting average is Roger Maris. .269 in 1961 when he had 61 HR and 141 RBI. If Teix continues on this pace, .205-60-132, would he get MVP despite the low batting average? If so, he’d shatter Maris’ mark.

The setup guys have been great. Ellsbury has only 4 RBI in 27 games because the guys in front of him (Drew .167 and Gregorious .215) have not been getting on base. But Ellsbury got 3 hits tonight to raise him to .358. Talk about setting the table! He has 11 SB. The #2 hitter, Gardner, is currently at .309. So they are setting the table.

No offense to Derek Jeter, but Ellsbury and Gardner should have been 1-2 last year and Jeter, who ended his final season at .256, should have been dropped to 8th in the lineup. The Yanks were not going to disrespect the legend, however.

Up 6-0 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Yanks didn’t make it easy. Michael Pineda cruised through 8, but instead of letting Pineda pitch the 9th, Girardi went to the bullpen and they almost blew it. Toronto scored 3 in the bottom of the 9th to cut it to 6-3. The last out was made with the tying run at the plate.

Pineda (W, 4-0, 2.97) 8 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 1 walk and 6 K.

Carpenter 2/3 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 1 walk and 0 K. 5.23.

Miller (11th save) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 walk and 0 K. 0.00.

Minors report tomorrow morning. (Actually later this morning).

Odds and Ends.

Some odds and ends.

I saw an article that stated that according to insiders, Manager Joe Girardi did broach the subject of dropping Derek Jeter down in the batting order last season. Jeter hit just .256-4-50, OPS+ just 75 in his final season. The idea was shot down by upper management, and apparently Jeter wouldn’t go for moving him out of the #2 slot in the order either. Girardi knew that to do so would open a can of worms, so before it even hit the media, he apparently went through upper management and possibly Jeter himself. Would dropping Jeter have benefitted the Yanks? Possibly. Enough to make the playoffs? Possibly not. Enough to make the playoffs and soothe Jeter’s ego? Possibly not. But it’s interesting to note that the idea of dropping Derek (where to? 8? 9?) was considered.

Jason Giambi retired. He was with the Yanks from 2002-2008, hitting 209 of his 440 HR as a Yankee. Giambi, 44, hit 440 HR in his career, hit .277 with an excellent OPS+ of 139, won an MVP award with the A’s in 2000, was runner-up in 2001, and is one of five Yankees with back-to-back 40 HR seasons (2002 and 2003). He hit two homers off of Pedro Martinez in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. He won’t make the HOF however, because of his admitted PED usage and BALCO connection. It’s said he is a great teammate, and Terry Francona, manager of the Indians (Giambi’s most recent team) states that Giambi is a “manager in waiting.” His 162 g. average was .277-32-103, OPS+ 139, with 98 walks.

Alex Rodriguez issued a written “apology.” Really, I don’t want to hear it. Who believes anything he says or does anymore? He’s exhausted all credibility. Really, A-Rod, shut up and play. Show us you have something, if anything, left. It’s noted that he was suspended for all of 2014. What’s forgotten is that he played in only 44 games in 2013 and even then looked on the downside.

The Yanks signed Jared Burton to a minor league deal. The righty reliever is 33 and went 3-5, 4.36, ERA+ 91 in 2014 for the Twins with three saves. For his career he is 18-19, 3.44, 10 saves, ERA+ 123.  A depth move. He was 3-2 with a superb 2.18 ERA (ERA+ 189) and five saves for the Twins in 2012.

When I get time (I’ve been doing my taxes, need to do other family members taxes, working (of course) and …. well, shoveling snow and freezing my ass off…) I want to look at the future. I expect the Yanks to tread water for a while, but to me, the 2020 team could be interesting. Players (top prospects) would be in their primes (providing they prove MLB caliber players and aren’t traded away), old guys like CC, Teix, Beltran and A-Rod gone (maybe McCann as well)….it could be interesting to look at what could be the Yankee future. Stay tuned. Hopefully when Yoan Moncada signs (before the end of this month) I can include him on that 2020 future team I want to write about. Will the Yanks fork over the $$$$ to land Moncada?

Surprises in Division Series, Jeter Rumors, and Yanks hands tied

We’ll start with the Division Series. The Royals and Orioles are both in the driver’s seat, up 2-0 in a best of five, with two thrilling wins yesterday.

KC won its third straight extra-inning postseason game, setting a postseason record, by scoring 3 in the top of the 11th to defeat the Angels, 4-1. While Mike Moustakas had the HR in the 11th inning of Game 1, this time it was Eric Hosmer with the big blow.

I like the way KC plays. Not only that, although I admire Trout and Pujols, I can’t root for the Angels. I’m tired of seeing Mike Scioscia bitching all the time about balls and strikes. I admire Scioscia as a manager and think he’s one of the best in the game, but he (and when he was managing, Bobby Cox) are two of the biggest dugout whiners and crybabies I’ve ever seen.

Meanwhile, Baltimore, down 6-3 in the bottom of the 8th, scored 4 in that inning and went on to win 7-6. Delmon Young, who while with Detroit was the ALCS MVP in 2012 against the Yankees, got revenge on his old team with a bases-loaded double. I have to admit, I have a soft spot for seeing Buck Showalter do well (as well as Donnie Mattingly with the Dodgers).

In the NLDS, a shocker. You expected a pitching duel between Clayton Kershaw and Adam Wainwright. The Dodgers knocked out Wainwright in taking a 6-1 lead. But then Kershaw, 21-3, 1.77 in the regular season, lost it. St. Louis got one in the sixth and 8 in the seventh and hung on for a 10-9 comeback victory in Game 1 of the NLDS. The Cardinals’ mastery of Kershaw goes back to last year’s postseason. They have his number, or maybe Kershaw is tipping his pitches and only St. Louis knows how?

In the other NLDS, the SF Giants won Game 1, 3-2 over the Washington Nationals.

Some great, great games in this postseason so far.

There was a good article I read about the Yankees noting how they really are hamstrung in trying to improve the team for 2015. Yes, you’d like to improve the offense, but how when players are tied up into long-term deals, are declining and have no-trade clauses? Or, if you CAN trade them, you won’t get equal value or will have to eat much of their expensive contracts? McCann, Teix, A-Rod, Beltran, Gardner, Ellsbury, CC… all these guys are signed up for 2015 AND BEYOND. (Also, younger guys like Tanaka are, but Tanaka is a different story…). Which means these guys have to improve on 2014’s performances. You are stuck with them. For some guys who are aging, you have to wonder if they EVER will get back to what they once were. And that is a problem.

There are rumors that Derek Jeter has a big to-do this weekend. Some call it a retirement party. Others say he’s getting married to Hannah Davis. If it IS a wedding, it’s on short notice, since Derek really, if things would have gone right, would be having an off-day today in the middle of playing in the Division Series. In another words, the original plan was for him to be playing ON the field and not OFF of it. We’ll wait for confirmation on that wedding rumor.

Division Series/Jeter’s new venture.

Derek Jeter didn’t waste any time opening up a new venture. The Players’ Tribune will be a digital media site in which players take stories directly to the people, eliminating the middle man (or woman) of the media.

The ALDS started yesterday. Baltimore destroyed Detroit 12-3, while Kardiac KC did it in extra innings again, defeating the Angels 3-2 in 11.

The NLDS starts today. The two Game 1’s of the NLDS, combined with two Game 2’s of the ALDS mean wall to wall baseball today, weather permitting.