One-time Yankees’ OF Gerald Williams dies from cancer, age 55.

On Twitter today, Yankees’ legend and Marlins’ CEO Derek Jeter posted a mournful tribute to one of his best friends, one-time Yankees’ OF Gerald Williams, who passed away today from cancer at the age of 55.

Williams, the “other” Williams OF who came up to the Yankees in the early 1990s (and no relation to Bernie, who became an All-Star whose #51 is retired by the Yankees) played for the Yankees from 1992-1996, the Brewers from 1996-1997, the Braves 1998-1999, the Devil Rays (as they were known then) 2000-2001, back with the Yankees 2001-2002, the Marlins 2003, and the Mets 2004-2005.

Williams made a superb catch to preserve Dwight Gooden’s no-hitter in May, 1996.

Williams hit .255 in his career with 85 HR and 106 SB, OPS+ 82 (100 is average). His 162 game average was .255-12-51, 15 SB. He stole 23 bases in 1997 and hit 21 HR with 89 RBI in 2000.

From 1995-2001 he averaged 128 games a season, and .261-10-46 with 13 SB, OPS+ 84.

In 26 postseason games, he hit .217-0-5, and stole 5 bases.

Game 158. Jays edge Yanks, 6-5. 4 games left and 4 team WC scramble.

Yankees’ ace Gerrit Cole didn’t have it last night as the Yankees’ 7-game winning streak was snapped by Toronto, 6-5.

A few starts ago, Cole had to leave the game early with tightness in his hamstring. The Yanks have not said anything since, but Cole hasn’t been the same since. I wonder if there is a correlation, and if it is still bothering him. Cole could be forced to start Sunday on three days rest if the Yankees need to win Sunday to make the postseason.

It is a 4-team scramble for the two wild card spots. Oakland has been eliminated.

Wild Card Standings:

YANKEES 90-68 — top wild card for now, four games to go
Boston 89-69 -1 2nd wild card for now
Seattle 89-70 – 1 1/2 just 1/2 game behind Boston
Toronto 88-70 -2 1 game behind Boston

By the way, Houston still hasn’t clinched the AL West. Their magic # is 1 over Seattle. And how would you like to be San Francisco or the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West? 104 wins for SF, 102 for LAD so far. One will have to host a one-game, sudden-death wild card game despite winning more than 100 games!

If the Yanks do make the postseason, here is hoping no one on the Yanks does what P Devin Williams of Milwaukee did in celebrating. He punched a wall and broke his throwing hand. No postseason for him, and a big loss for the Brew Crew.

Bo Bichette has killed the Yanks this year, hitting seven HR. Last night he hit two in Toronto’s win.

Cole gave up a 2-run HR in the first inning to Marcus Semien. Semien’s 44th HR of the season set a new record for second basemen in a season.

Cole gave up a run in the second. Bichette hit his first HR of the game in the third. After three, it was 4-0, Toronto.

With two out in the top of the fifth, the Yanks got two runs when Gleyber Torres doubled, Gio Urshela singled in Torres, and Brett Gardner doubled in Urshela. Torres was the first Yankee to reach base.

Cole gave up another run in the fifth, and on one double, wasn’t helped by his defense, especially Joey Gallo. 5-2, Toronto.

The Yanks got a run in the top of the sixth to cut it to 5-3. D.J. LeMahieu led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a SF by Aaron Judge.

The Yankees tied it at five in the top of the seventh, but not without injury cost. Gallo led off the inning by getting HBP and had to leave the game later. Torres singled. After an out, Luke Voit PH and struck out but on a WP, both runners advanced, and Voit got injured. Kyle Higashioka singled to tie the game.

Gallo had to go for x-rays, and had to be PH for in the ninth inning. No word yet. Voit may be day-to-day.

In the bottom of the eighth, Bichette hit his second HR of the game, this one off reliever and losing pitcher Clay Holmes, and it was the game-winning blow. 6-5 Toronto.

Before the game, Jonathan Loaisiga activated of the IL, and Andrew Heaney optioned down.

Torres 3 hits
Higashioka 2 RBI


Cole 6 IP, 5 R, 9 H, 0 W, 6 K. Gave up 2 HR. 3.23
Loaisiga 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 2.22
Holmes (L, 8-4) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.71 (Pit/NYY stats).

Ex-Yankee Stan Williams passes away at age 84

Stan Williams, considered one of the meanest pitchers because of his tendency to throw inside and hit people, has passed away at the age of 84.

Williams pitched for the Dodgers (1958-1962), Yankees (1963-1964), Indians (1965, 1967-1969), Twins (1970-1971), Cardinals (1971) and Red Sox (1972).

He won a WS ring with the Dodgers in 1959. The Yankees won AL pennants both years he was there, and the 1970 Twins won the AL West. Later, Williams returned to the postseason as a pitching coach, getting another WS ring with the 1990 Reds.

A 2x All-Star, Williams’ best years were 1960-1962 with the Dodgers, 1968 with Cleveland, and 1970 with the Twins, when he went 10-1, 1.99 and 15 saves in relief.

With the 1963 Yankees, Williams was 9-8, 3.21. He was 1-5, 3.84 in 1964.

He went 109-94 in his career, with 42 saves and an ERA of 3.48 (ERA+ 108). His 162 game average was 11-9, 3.48.

In 4 postseason games, he was 0-0, pitching 11 scoreless innings, including 3 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts in the 1963 WS for the Yankees.

As a hitter he hit .118 with 5 HR.

Awards given out. MVP tonight.

It’s awards season for MLB, and the final awards for MVP go out tonight. AL MVP is the only one in which a Yankee may win, since D.J. LeMahieu has been announced as one of the top three finalists.

If LeMahieu does win, he will be the first Yankee to win the MVP since A-Rod* in 2007.

Other award winners:

NL Rookie of the Year: Devin Williams, Milwaukee relief pitcher
AL Rookie of the Year: Kyle Lewis, Seattle CF

NL Manager of the Year: Yankees Legend Don Mattingly, Miami.
AL Manager of the Year: Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash

NL Cy Young Award: Trevor Bauer, Cincinnati (currently a free agent)
AL Cy Young Award: Shane Bieber, Cleveland.

The Yankees’ Gerrit Cole finished 4th for the AL CYA.

Game 59. Yanks rout Marlins, 11-4.

It looks as if D.J. LeMahieu will lead the majors in batting average, and become the first person since 1902 to win batting titles in both leagues (Ed Delahanty). Luke Voit, meanwhile, will wind up leading the majors in HR. The last time teammates did that was in 1959, when Henry Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit .355 and teammate Eddie Mathews had 46 HR.

Both LeMahieu and Voit led the Yanks (33-26) to an 11-4 win over the Marlins yesterday. Heading into today’s final game of the regular season, the Yanks still don’t know if they will be the #5 or #8 seed or who they will play. Heading into today’s game, the Yanks are the #5 and would go to Chicago to play the White Sox. That all could change today, however.

Rookie Deivi Garcia got the win, giving up four runs in 6 2/3 innings. He didn’t seem to pitch badly. The Marlins got what seemed a bunch of bloopers and bleeders off him for three runs in the third, and Adam Ottavino let an inherited runner score in the seventh before closing out that inning.

Down 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth, the Yankees tied it up. With one out, Gary Sanchez walked and Tyler Wade hit his third HR of the year, a 2-run shot, to make it 3-2. It had been 190 at bats since a Yankee homered, a surprisingly long stretch for this power-laden team. After another out, Aaron Judge walked and scored when Giancarlo Stanton doubled.

The Yanks exploded for seven runs in the sixth to put the game out of reach. Gio Urshela walked and Aaron Hicks made it 5-3 with his sixth HR of the season. Clint Frazier was HBP, stole second, and Sanchez walked. Wade, who had homered in his previous at bat, laid down a sac bunt to move the runners up. It was the first and only sac bunt for the Yankees all year long. LeMahieu doubled in two runs to make it 7-3. After an out, Stanton walked, then Voit hit a 3-run HR, his 22nd of the season, and it was 10-3 Yankees.

After the Marlins made it 10-4 in the top of the seventh, the Yanks came right back with a run in the bottom half of the inning. Hicks singled, and one out later, Sanchez walked. After another out, LeMahieu singled to drive in Hicks.

LeMahieu 4 hits, 3 RBI .359 leads majors
Voit 3-run HR (22 HR leads majors)
Hicks 2 hits, 2 RBI, 2-run HR (6)
Wade 2-run HR (3)

Garcia (W, 3-2, 4.98) 6 2/3 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 1 W, 7 K.
Ottavino 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 5.89
Yajure 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 4 K. 1.29

LeMahieu first Yankee to win batting title since Bernie Williams (1998).

Voit first Yankee to win HR title since Judge (2017).

KC wins Super Bowl LIV, 31-20.

The San Francisco 49ers had a 20-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the comeback kids, the Kansas City Chiefs, outscored the 49ers 21-0 in the fourth quarter to win Super Bowl LIV (54 for those of you who hate the roman numerals), 31-20.

The Chiefs overcame 10 point deficits in each of their postseason victories.

It is the second Super Bowl win for the Chiefs, who were playing in their first Super Bowl in 50 years. They lost Super Bowl I 35-10 to Green Bay, and won Super Bowl IV 23-7 over Minnesota.

KC QB Patrick Mahomes was named the Super Bowl MVP. He was OK, 26 for 42, 286 yards, 2 TDs but also 2 picks. I think Damien Williams (17 carries, 104 yards) or Tyreek Hill (9 catches, 105 yards) may have been a better choice, though.

For Andy Reid, a Super Bowl title after 21 years of being a NFL head coach (14 years with the Eagles, 7 with the Chiefs).

Minor League Report.

AAA: AAA All-Star Game. The International League lost to the PCL, 12-7. CF Mason Williams, once a Yankee, was 1 for 2. Brandon Drury would have been here, but was with the Yanks recently. Cody Carroll pitched one scoreless inning, striking out two.

AA: Eastern League All-Star game. Finished in a 4-4 tie. Trenton’s reps: LF Trey Amburgey 1 for 3, double, rbi. 3B Mandy Alvarez 0 for 2. Mets’ prospect DH Tim Tebow was 1 for 4 with a double. Trenton’s James Reeves 1/3 IP, got his man. Caleb Frare 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. Gave up a HR.

High A: Tampa (46-43) lost 2-1. LF Isiah Gilliam 3 hits, RBI.

Whitlock 7 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 2 W, 8 K.  1.90
Wivinis (L, 1-2, 2.31) 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K.

Low A:   Charleston (45-41) lost 6-0. 2B Oswaldo Cabrera 2 hits.

D. Garcia (L,1-3, 4.44) 4 1/3 IP, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 H, 4 W, 6 K. Gave up 2 HR.
Ramos 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 2 K.  3.60
DeCarr 2 IP, 1 R,   2 H, 1 W, 2 K.  5.14
A. Severino 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K.  2.81

Game 152. Yanks win, Didi sets Yankees HR record for SS, tragedy averted, thankfully.

Before we get into the game, I must mention something that happened during this afternoon’s game that fortunately, did not turn into a tragedy.

In the middle of the game, Todd Frazier lined a ball into the stands where it struck a girl in the face. The girl, sitting in the box seats, had to be removed from the game on a stretcher, and rushed by ambulance to a hospital. Players on the field from both teams were in tears because of what happened.

Thankfully, it appears that the girl will be OK.

The girl is 2 years old.

Which raises questions. Should a 2 year old be sitting in box seats? Should you sell tickets to someone who will be sitting in box seats with a two year old or should they be required to take seats further away from the playing field?

Should protective netting be expanded to go all the way up the first and third base lines?

Should the parents be bringing a two-year old to the Stadium in the first place?

This could have been a tragedy. It wasn’t. But these questions need to be addressed. Thankfully, what could have been much worse didn’t happen.

Luis Severino was off. The Twins got three in the top of the third off off Seve, and it was a 46 pitch inning for him. Credit must be given to Joe Mauer, who had a 13-pitch at bat vs. Severino that resulted in a bases-loaded RBI single for a run. It appeared to take everything out of Severino.

The Yanks got it right back in the bottom of the third on back-to-back HRs by Judge (45) and Sanchez (32). The two-run HR by Judge put him over 100 RBI for the season.

It’s also important to remember that Sanchez missed 3-4 weeks at the beginning of the year due to injury.

Judge became the third rookie in history to have 100 walks, runs scored and RBI in a season. The others were Ted Williams in 1939 and Al Rosen in 1950.

He also became the fourth Yankee with 100 RBI in his rookie season, after Tony Lazzeri, Joe DiMaggio and Hideki Matsui.

There was talk about Rosen on the Yankees’ broadcast today. It was mentioned that Rosen broke in in 1947. But Rosen got in 7 games in 1947, 5 in 1948 and 23 in 1949. So he was still a “rookie” in 1950, not having met the criteria for not being a rookie.

In the fourth, the Yanks broke the game open, scoring six runs. With one out, the red-hot Ellsbury (finally over that concussion?) tripled. After a walk, Bird hit his second double of the game to make it 4-3. Gardner singled to make it 5-3. After Judge struck out for the second out, Sanchez singled, 6-3.

Didi Gregorius then hit a 3-run HR (25) to make it 9-3. With the HR, Didi set a new single season record for most HR in a season by a Yankees’ SS, breaking Jeter’s 1999 mark of 24.

In the fifth, Holliday singled and Ellsbury walked. This is where Frazier lined that ball off that poor child’s face. He flied out. Holliday moving up. A WP had Holliday scoring to make it 10-3 and moving Ellsbury to second. Bird singled Ellsbury to third, Gardner was HBP to load the bases, and Judge hit a SF, 11-3.

Gardner 2 hits, RBI.
Judge HR (45) 3 RBI. Topped 100 RBI for the season.
Sanchez 3 hits, 2 RBI, HR (32).
Gregorius HR (25), 3 RBI. Yankees’ record for HR in a season by a SS.
Ellsbury 3 hits.
Bird 3 hits, RBI.

Severino 3 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 1 W, 3 K. 3.03.
Shreve (W, 4-1, 3.71) 3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 3 K. Great job.
Heller 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 1.50
German 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 4 K. 2.84

I am really impressed by what German has shown so far.

The Angels are playing as I write this. But the Yanks magic numbers for being the host wild card team and for making the playoffs at all are both 4.

Quick note: Boxer Jake LaMotta died at the age of 95. He was the subject of the movie Raging Bull, which won Robert De Niro a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of LaMotta.

Minor League Report. SWB and Trenton both lose Game 1 of their Finals series.

AAA: SWB lost Game 1 of its International League Championship Series, 6-0. They only got 3 hits all night long, two by CF Mason Williams.

Herrera (L) 4 2/3 IP, 4 R, 6 IP, 0 W, 2 K
Mantiply 1 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 W, 0 K.
Feyereisen 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 1 K.
Frare 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Pena 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.

AA: Trenton lost Game 1 of the Eastern League Finals, 2-1. SS Thairo Estrada 2 hits, RBI. 2 hits RF Jeff Hendrix and CF Rashad Crawford.

Tate (L) 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 W, 3 K.
Mesa 2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 W, 2 K.
Reeves 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K.
Schwaab 1/3 IP, 0 R,   0 H, 0 W, 0 K.

Minor League Report. Trenton advances, Charleston eliminated.

AAA: SWB took a two games to one lead over Lehigh Valley (Phillies’ affiliate) with a 6-1 win Saturday. 2B Donovan Solano 3 hits, 2 RBI. LF Billy McKinney a 2-run HR. CF Mason Williams 2 hits.

Lail (Win) 6 IP, 1 R, 7 H, 1 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Gomez 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K.
Coshow 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K.

AA: Trenton won 9-1 to take the series three games to one over Binghamton. They advance to the Eastern League Championship Series, where they will play Altoona (Pirates’ affiliate).

RF Jeff Hendrix and SS Thairo Estrada each had 3 hits and 2 RBI.

Carter (winner) 6 1/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 5 K.
Espinal 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Tarpley 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K.

Low A: The Charleston Riverdogs season is over after they were eliminated in the third and deciding game of their semifinals against Greenville, 5-0. Charleston got just four hits in the game.

Green (L) 5 1/3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 1 W, 3 K.
Trieglaff 2 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 W, 3 K.
Wivinis  2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.