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Tag: Joe Girardi

Blogs • Yankees

Jun 19, 2012

The Unsung Heroes of the Yankees’ Bullpen

The Yankees are getting big outs from unlikely arms, and their success has forced power rankings for the makeshift bullpen.

When I hear “Tuesday’s Gone” I think of Happy Gilmore. When I hear the word “magic” I think of Happy Gilmore shaking his caddy on the ground after clinching the Waterbury Open with Pilot’s “Magic ” playing in the background. With the way the Yankees’ bullpen has been performing, the only explanation is magic and because of it, I want to celebrate by shaking Joe Girardi while screaming, “Oh, ho, ho, it’s magic you knowwww! Never believe it’s not so!”

If you told me on the morning of Opening Day that on June 19 I would be writing about the Yankees bullpen currently featuring Rafael Soriano as the closer, Boone Logan and Cory Wade as setup men and Clay Rapada and Cody Eppley as middle relievers, well let’s just say I would be living in Europe and writing about Euro 2012. Luckily no one told me this was going to happen.

The Yankees are 41-25 and in first place in the AL East with the best record in the AL thanks to a 10-game winning streak, which this group of ragtag relievers (that’s the first and most likely the last time I have and will ever use “ragtag,” and you can thank Jack Edwards for putting that word into my vocabulary) has been a large part of. Sure, it’s easy to win games the way the Yankees did on Monday night when CC Sabathia pitched a complete game against the Braves (Side note: I forgot to start CC and R.A. Dickey, who pitched a one-hitter against the Orioles, on my fantasy team. Devastating.) But it’s not so easy to win games when Cody Eppley and Clay Rapada are being asked to serve as the middle relief bridge.

It’s crazy that right now I have confidence in everyone in the bullpen not named Freddy Garcia, but I don’t trust anyone in the bullpen not named David Robertson. And since David Robertson has become the must trustworthy Yankees reliever not named Mariano Rivera since 2007 Joba Chamberlain, I’m leaving him out of these power rankings that I have created to figure out the my personal bullpen pecking order. I’m also leaving out Rafael Soriano since he is now the closer and because he’s making $11 million this year, so he should be expected to get outs.

I have heard these ragtag (OK, there it is again) relievers called a lot of things over the last couple of weeks. Most of the things I have called them while yelling at games or shouting at my TV have been derogatory, but I have heard different forms of the word “hero” thrown around to describe this relief corps. Dwight Schrutte said, “A hero kills people, people that wish him harm. A hero is part human and part supernatural. A hero is born out of a childhood trauma, or out of a disaster, and must be avenged.” I don’t think that’s the type of hero that these guys are, so let’s go with “unsung” hero. And let’s go through the bullpen to figure out who should get the ball from top to bottom.

Number 48, Boone Logan, Number 48
I want to start this off by saying it’s effing scary that Boone Logan is the No. 1-ranked pitcher on any list I create. Oh yeah, Robertson and Soriano aren’t on this list. OK, I feel a little better.

If I make Boone Logan a mixtape that includes Chicago’s “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” do you think he will forgive me? Actually I don’t want him to forgive me. Because deep down I know that the Boone Logan I watched in 2010 and 2011 in key moments is just waiting for me to let my guard down before he ambushes me. He did it to me on Sept. 14, 2010 when I finally wrote an apology to him only to have him on that same day give up a go-ahead, three-run home run to Willy Aybar in Tampa Bay. So Boone, I’m manning up here to say I’m sorry. You don’t have to accept my apology or the mixtape, or the flowers or the fruit basket I am having sent to the Stadium on Tuesday night. Just go out there and keep putting up zeroes and that will be enough for me.

Number 53, Cory Wade, Number 53
Last Monday (June 11) was the one-year anniversary of the Rays releasing Cory Wade. I know what you’re thinking: Where was the party? Well, there wasn’t a party, but there should have been in either Cashman’s office or Girardi’s.

In 68 games and 67 2/3 innings with the Yankees, Wade has 60 strikeouts and 14 walks, a 2.39 ERA and a 1.020 WHIP. He has been prone to the home run (like he was on Saturday) with four allowed in 28 innings this year, but he’s gone from the scrap heap to the reliever “B” team to the reliever “A” team in a year. Thanks again, Tampa Bay!

Number 38, Cody Eppley, Number 38
In real life, Cody Eppley would have gotten sent down and David Phelps would have stayed with the Yankees. But this isn’t real life since Eppley is getting huge outs for the Yankees, and also because the Yankees needed Phelps to go back to the minors to get stretched out to be a starter again.

Eppley getting that double play on an 0-2 pitch last Wednesday against the Braves to preserve a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning with runners on first and third and one out is enough to buy him some time in my book in the even that he remembers he’s Cody Eppley and not Jeff Nelson. (Yes, I’m willing to forget that he gave up hits to two of three hitters he faced before the 6-4-3 double play.) How much time that double play will buy him has yet to be determined.

Number 39, Clay Rapada, Number 39
Clay Rapada has become my Pitching Whipping Boy for 2012 (Nick Swisher remains the Overall Whipping Boy) now that A.J. Burnett is pitching in Pittsburgh and Boone Logan has become (or rather been forced into being) a valuable part of the bullpen.

Entering this season, Rapada had appeared in 78 games with the Cubs, Tigers, Rangers and Orioles. He had a career 5.13 ERA in 52 2/3 innings with 32 walks. Everything about Rapada forced me into the lengthy “Nooooooooooooooo!” that Michael Scott used upon Toby’s return. I wanted the Yankees to have nothing to do with Rapada because I wanted to have nothing to do with him interfering with my baseball season and my summer. But because he throws a baseball using his left arm, (if you have watched Clay Rapada and you have a child and aren’t tying their right hand behind their back until they are 16 then you are doing whole parenting thing wrong) you just knew that Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi were going to find a spot for him on the roster.

Rapada has been goo… Rapada has been goo… He’s been… He’s been goo… OK, he’s been good. There, I said it. Are you happy now? He’s been better than I expected and lefties are just 7-for-46 (.152) against him. However, don’t let him fool you. He will blow up at some point in this season. Let’s just hope it isn’t in a big spot because it’s going to happen. I “Mark Messier guarantee” it’s going to happen.

Number 36, Freddy Garcia, Number 36
I hate to break it to the Freddy Garcia fans out there (if there any), but the 35-year-old righty no longer belongs on the Yankees. Sorry, Freddy and sorry to your fans.

Garcia came up huge in the 12th and 13th innings in Washington on Saturday to earn his first win since last September, but he owed that performance to Yankees fans. I still can’t get over the writers who cover the team tweeting about how Garcia is a “gamer” and sarcastically asking their followers if they still want Garcia off the team after his effort in extra innings? I guess they forgot about him giving up 19 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings in his four starts in April? Maybe they forgot that in those four starts he got pulled in the second inning twice (against Boston and Detroit) and the only reason the Yankees went 2-2 in his starts instead of 0-4 is because they came back against the Orioles on April 10 and erased a 9-1 deficit at Fenway Park on April 21? And how much of a “gamer” was Garcia when he lost Game 2 of the ALDS to the Tigers? Isn’t the postseason when a “gamer” shows up? (I understand what the Yankees got out of Garcia and Bartolo Colon last year was a replica of the lightning caught in a bottle with Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon in 2005, but let’s be serious.) So, to answer your question, yes, I still want Garcia off the team.

And I want Garcia gone because he doesn’t serve a purpose. He has become the long reliever/extra innings/mop-up duty man only because Rivera is out and Robertson has been hurt. Those are actually the roles for Eppley and Rapada, but their recent success and those same injuries have moved them into more important roles. The only thing Garcia presents out of the bullpen is a scary option for Joe Girardi to turn to when his other relievers need a rest.

The problem is there’s a good chance that Garcia will survive the season with the Yankees unless Eppley and Rapada keep getting the job done and Joba Chamberlain and David Aardsma can make healthy returns, and he will survive because he’s owed $4 million this year. If you don’t plan on eating a meal anytime soon, then think about this: Garcia will make $4 million this season and R.A. Dickey will only make $4.25 million.

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Blogs • Yankees

Jun 11, 2012

Subway Series Diary, Part I

It was a beautiful weekend full of winning as the Yankees swept the Mets at the Stadium in the first part of the Subway Series.

Meet the Mets, Meets the Mets, Step right up and greet the Mets! Bring your kiddies, bring your wife; Guaranteed to have the time of your life! Because the Mets are really sockin’ the ball; knocking those home runs over the … OK, I’ll stop.

What a weekend that was. A Subway Series sweep (the first for the Yankees since 2009 and the first in the Bronx since 2003), as the Yankees keep pace with the Rays while the Mets season is following the blueprint of Mets seasons since 2007.

I feel weird calling this a diary since I have never had a diary before. I remember in elementary school when we were forced to have a “journal” in one of those black-and-white Mead notebooks (FYI: Brian Monzo still uses one of those notebooks to keep contact information for guests for WFAN and NHL Live. Hey Monzo, it’s 2012. There are electronic devices to keep this information on.) The word diary makes me feel like a junior high school girl writing in a pink book with a pink pen that has a feather attached to the top of it, but luckily I can’t store this under my pillow or mattress. I couldn’t use “Retro Recap” like I do for other things since this isn’t a play-by-play blow of what happened at the Stadium. It’s more of, well, a diary.

FRIDAY
I was in the Stadium for this one and I actually thought Hiroki Kuroda was going to pitch a no-hitter. I might need to rethink my “Coin Flip Kuroda” nickname for Hiroki since he hasn’t been much of a coin flip lately. In his last three starts, he’s allowed 12 hits and two earned runs in 22 innings. He has caught fire along with Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova, and if CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte can just do what’s expected of them, the wins are going to start mounting even more than they have over the last 16 games.

I have seen my fair share of one-hitters, but I have never seen a no-hitter in person, and the Mets’ swings against Kuroda were that bad that it looked like we might be watching something special happen in the second start in a row for Johan Santana, except for the good guys.

I’m not sure how many games I have been at for back-to-back-to-back home runs, but I remember the Sheffield-Rodriguez-Matsui back-to-back-to-back home runs in that 13-run eighth inning in the epic comeback against Tampa Bay on June 21, 2005. I was in Fenway Park for Chase Wright to allow back-to-back-to-back-to-back bombs to Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek on April 22, 2007. And even though it wasn’t back-to-back-to-back or back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs, the three grand slams against the A’s at the Stadium on Aug. 25 last year were even better. My only wish on Friday night was that Raul Ibanez would have followed Andruw Jones’ blast for four straight to put a dent in the awful memory of Chase Wright’s night.

SATURDAY
Phil Hughes has to figure out this home run problem because it’s a problem. Hughes has now allowed at least one home run in all 12 of his starts this year (15 total), which projects out to 40 home runs if he makes 32 starts this season. Now the home runs he allowed on Saturday night were both solo shots and the Yankees were able to overcome them, but this can’t continue.

Do you remember the season when Jason Bay hit 36 home runs and 119 RBIs for the Red Sox and led the AL MVP conversation for a large part of the year? I’m not making it up. It really happened. I swear! How many times does a day does Bay think about what could have been had he accepted the Red Sox’ $60 million rather than the Mets’ $66 million? I’m going to set the over/under at 5.5 times per day. And while that $6 million does represent 10 percent more money, I don’t think what he has endured with the Mets has been worth it, and I think he would tell you the same thing. (Unless he likes his name being linked to the term “designated for assignment” and he likes sucking and losing, then maybe he will tell you it was worth the $6 million.)

Bay was a force in Boston. He hit 45 home runs and drove in 156 runs in 200 games with the Red Sox, he hit in the clutch and he produced instantly after being asked to fill the void left by Manny Ramirez. Bay peppered the Green Monster and killed the Yankees. I was sitting behind home plate at Fenway on April 24, 2009 when Bay hit a game-tying, two-run home run to dead center off Mariano Rivera. I feel like Bay in a Red Sox uniform on Saturday night, as the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning would have hit that first-pitch fastball from Rafael Soriano out. But in a Mets uniform, Bay just isn’t the same player. I’m glad 2009 Jason Bay no longer exists.

It’s hard to find people who enjoy the way Joe Buck and Tim McCarver call a game. I’m actually still searching to find one person. I don’t really enjoy their broadcasts, but Joe Buck’s voice does give any game a big-game feel to it whether or not you agree with the things he says or his lack of enthusiasm for major moments. Whenever you hear Buck’s voice it gives the game a playoff atmosphere and some extra juice. Tim McCarver, on the other hand, has become the Jason Bay of color commentating. McCarver calls people by the wrong names, and gives incorrect stats and facts all the time, which never surprises me. But even I couldn’t believe it when in the late innings on Saturday he said that he “thinks David Wright is a bigger threat than Andres Torres.” Really, Tim? Really? Well, in that case, I think high-definition TV is better than standard-definition TV.

SUNDAY
It was a big deal to me when the Yankees traded A.J. Burnett to the Pirates because I hated Burnett on the Yankees more than anyone. But I didn’t realize how much bigger of a deal it was going to be to not have him on the team than I do now. There wasn’t going to be enough room in my life for both Burnett and Nick Swisher to be on the Yankees, and there wasn’t going to be enough space for my anger (or tweets and the Internet has infinite space) had they both been on the team this season.

Nick Swisher can’t be serious, can he? Two on and no one out in the second inning, and he BUNTS against Jonathon Niese. Not only does he bunt, but he bunts into a force out at third base. Here are some questions I have about Swisher’s decision.

1. Why are you bunting in the second inning of a game you’re already trailing by three runs in?

2. The theory behind Swisher is that he doesn’t hit good/elite pitching, so why would he be giving himself up against Jonathon Niese who isn’t a front-end starter?

3. Nick Swisher isn’t good at playing fundamental baseball and he might have the lowest Baseball IQ in Major League Baseball. This isn’t the first time this has happened with Swisher. He once bunted, on his own, a runner from second over to third with one out already in the inning. So how has no one on the team told him to never bunt under any circumstance?

4. Andy Pettitte just gave up three runs. The Yankees follow that with a four-pitch walk from A-Rod and a single from Cano. Two on and no one out and Niese feeling the pressure of the Yankees’ lineup combined with trying to be the stopper of a losing streak and trying to prevent the sweep in front of a sold-out Yankee Stadium. Why would you let him off the hook and help him settle down and give away that first out? After Swisher’s bunt, Niese struck out Jones and Martin to end the inning. Why would you give away an out in that spot? Why?!?!

I have had it with Nick Swisher. Only a big hit in the postseason could change my feelings and opinion on him at this point, and we all know that’s not happening. And even though I like to have a good time with Michael Kay’s broadcasting techniques, I thoroughly enjoyed him taking subtle shots at Swisher about the bunt on Sunday.

Clay Rapada needs to stop pitching in high-leverage situations. Seriously, make it stop, Joe. Rapada is not good. It’s June 11 and he has made it over two months longer on this team than anyone originally thought. He has more walks (12) than (10) strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings, and I trust him less than I ever trusted Jose Veras. At what point do we decide that Rapada shouldn’t be pitching in high-leverage situations let alone be on the team? Or are we just waiting for him to implode and cost the Yankees in a big spot before we realize that he isn’t trustworthy? (How is there no better option than Rapada in the minors?) I know Sweeny Murti would tell me he is the 25th man on the roster (or 24th if you think Cody Eppley is the 25th), but the 25th man shouldn’t be trying to preserve a one-run lead in the late innings.

How awkward is the Joe Girardi-Terry Collins Dunkin’ Donuts commercial? I would feel more comfortable letting Rapada save a game against the Red Sox than I do watching that commercial. It makes the Joe Torre-Willie Randolph Subway commercial from a few years back seem normal. I hope Girardi enjoys that Dunkin Iced Caramel he’s sipping on.

I have gained a lot of confidence in Boone Logan. A year or two ago I wouldn’t have written that sentence if you had a gun to my head. Part of my confidence in Logan is because I don’t have a choice but to be confident in him. With Rivera and Robertson out, Logan (or Wade) has become the best reliever outside of Rafael Soriano. When you think about the Yankees’ RISP and bases-loaded issues coupled with the names that are running out of the bullpen in to hold leads, I would have thought they would be in the Red Sox’ position in the standings. (Let’s all take a second to laugh at the current state of the Red Sox.) But what is that line about not being able to predict something that some broadcasting duo always says?

What an amazing play by the fan in right field on Russell Martin’s two-run home run. Too many times do fans of the home crowd not give it their all to help their team, but the guy that made the catch from keeping the ball from going back on the field deserves some free tickets or some memorabilia or batting practice with the team on the next homestand. After seeing the replay, if that guy doesn’t make that catch they might only score one run, or worse, it could have been second and third with two outs.

There isn’t a Yankees fan that didn’t hear a Mets fan complain about Yankee Stadium being a “bandbox” and allowing “cheap home runs” over the weekend. Yankee Stadium was built for strikeout pitchers and power hitters and what do you know, the Yankees have created a team comprised of strikeout pitchers and power hitters? What an idea! What a concept! How come no one ever complains about the Green Monster or the Pesky Pole, or about Camden Yards, or about the height of the fences in the corners in Anaheim or the short fence in left field at Tropicana Field? I guess no one complains about those fields because at Yankee Stadium the hated dimensions are only present when the Yankees are hitting…

With all the talk over the weekend about how to “fix” the Subway Series (I don’t think it needs to be fixed), you’re certainly not going to get any Mets fans that want the Series to keep the same format. When you have to play six games against the Yankees every year, it’s probably not good for your postseason chances (if the Mets really do have postseason chances).  But on the flip side I enjoy the Series because it’s six games against the Mets, and that means wins, and I like wins, and wins get you to the postseason, so to me, the current format is perfect. I also like the Subway Series because I love what it’s about and I love creating more of a rivalry between the city’s two teams.

A sweep always feels good, but it feels even better when it comes against the Mets, and because of it I want to thank the Good Lord for making me a Yankee fan.

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Blogs • MLB

Jun 6, 2012

The All-Animosity Team

It’s time for the Third Annual All-Animosity Team, which consists of one player at each position, along with a starting pitcher, a closer and a manager from around the league.

Your team is up by one run in the eighth inning and the bases are loaded with two outs. Who is the last person you want to see coming to the plate?

Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Miguel Cabrera would be normal answers for non-Yankees fans, but ask a Yankees fan, and you might get Robert Andino, Carlos Pena or Howie Kendrick. Certain fans fear certain players differently, especially players on rival teams. I don’t feel confident when A-Rod is up against the Red Sox, but I have had Red Sox fans tell me they are scared when A-Rod is up. I could understand Derek Jeter or Robinson Cano (the most common answers), but A-Rod? If I ever get Mark Teixeira as an answer I might pass out.

Players that fan bases are scared of are usually also players that those fan bases hate. They are connected because usually hate players because of something they did to your team though there are times when you just hate a certain player because of who they are.

This brings us to the Third Annual All-Animosity Team, which consists of one player at each position, along with a starting pitcher, a closer and a manager from around the league. The standards to be considered for the team are simple and only one of the following three requirements needs to be met.

1. The person is a Yankee killer.

2. The person plays for the Red Sox.

3. I don’t like the person. (When I say, “I don’t like the person” or if I say, “I hate someone” I mean I don’t like the person who wears a uniform and plays or manages for a Major League Baseball team and not the actual person away from the game. I’m sure some of the people on this list are nice people. I’m glad we got that out of the way since I can already see Player X’s fan base in an uproar about me hating someone who does so much for the community.)

So, here is the 2012 All-Animosity Team with the winners from the previous years also listed.

C – Matt Wieters (2011 – Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 2010 – Jason Varitek)
Here are Wieters’ numbers against the Yankees this season.

14-for-30 (.467), 3 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBIs, .543 OBP, .767 SLG

The bad news is that the Orioles and Yankees still have to play 10 more games against each other this year. The worse news is that Wieters just turned 26 at the end of May. I have many, many, many more seasons of Wieters ruining summer nights for me.

1B – Adrian Gonzalez (2011 – Adrian Gonzalez, 2010 – Kevin Youkilis)
I really wanted to put Justin Morneau in this spot. Why? Well because Morneau is hitting .455/.571/1.273 against the Yankees this season with three home runs and four RBIs in just three games and 11 at-bats and he seems to hit three home runs in every series the Twins play at the Stadium. But Morneau never really stood a chance at making the team over Adrian Gonzalez.

Here are some quotes from Adrian Gonzalez following Game 162 of the 2011 season.

“We didn’t do a better job with the lead. I’m a firm believer that God has a plan and it wasn’t in his plan for us to move forward.”

“God didn’t have it in the cards for us.”

“We play too many night games on getaway days and get into places at 4 in the morning. This has been my toughest season physical because of that. We play a lot of night games on Sunday for television and those things take a lot out of you.”

“They can put the Padres on ESPN, too. The schedule really hurt us. Nobody is really reporting that.”

Forget that Gonzalez plays for the Red Sox. If you like the person who gave those excuses for the reason his team failed to make the playoffs then maybe you need to be on the All-Animosity Team of Life. If a Yankee had blamed the ALDS loss to the Tigers on anyone but themselves I would have turned into Nicolas Cage from any of these scenes.

2B – Dustin Pedroia (2011 – Dustin Pedroia, 2010 – Dustin Pedroia)
I hate to reuse what I wrote about Pedroia in this spot last year, but it still fits perfectly.

Pedroia is like Tom Brady for me. He has that winning instinct that you just don’t see all the time these days, he plays hard and he’s the type of guy you want on your team. But if I didn’t put him here again it would just be weird.

Even though I have a love/hate relationship with Pedroia and wish there was a way to get him on the Yankees while maintaining the same roster (Pedroia at second, Cano to third, A-Rod to DH, anyone?), if I didn’t put him on here people would think I like him, and that’s not the case.

3B – Robert Andino (2011 – Kevin Youkilis, 2010 – Chone Figgins)
(Note: Kevin Youkilis is the only player to make the All-Animosity Team at two different positions. This will likely be written on his All-Animosity Hall of Fame plaque.)

This is probably the only time Robert Andino will be viewed as a scarier hitter than Miguel Cabrera. Actually I know it will be the only time.

Andino is 10-for-27 against the Yankees in 2012, and it has a lot do with the fact that he crushes CC Sabathia (8-for-20, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBIs). Even though I don’t like Andino I will always have a special place for him in my heart for putting the dagger into the Red Sox’ 2011 season (or should I say the 1927 Yankees’ season?).

SS – Jose Reyes (2011 – Jose Reyes, 2010 – Jose Reyes)
I always look to the Red Sox roster before considering anyone else for any of the positions on this team, but when you have a shortstop platoon of Mike Aviles and Nick Punto, it’s hard to really hold any animosity toward them. In fact, I love the Red Sox’ idea of a shortstop platoon to create the superpower that is Mick Avunto. If I’m Ben Cherington, I give them both five-years deals. Why break up a good thing?

Mets fans were worried about Jose Reyes going to the Phillies and he ended up with another division rival in the Marlins. Do you remember hearing things like “The Mets have to re-sign Reyes!” and “I won’t watch a Mets game next year if Reyes leaves” from Mets fans last year? I do. But what happened when Reyes left the Mets for the Marlins and $106 million? The Mets became a likable team. They became a fun team to watch, even for someone like me who hates the Mets.

Jose Reyes was the face of what has gone wrong with the Mets since Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS and he needed to go despite Mets fans thinking he was part of the franchise’s solution rather than part of the problem. But I guess it’s hard to let go of a player Mets fans deemed “The Most Exciting Players in Baseball” even when that player requests to come out of the lineup to protect his batting title.

The season is a third of the way through and Reyes has no home runs and 12 RBIs in 247 plate appearances this season. But hey, Reyes was going to be the future of the Mets!

LF – Delmon Young (2011 – Delmon Young, 2010 – Manny Ramirez)
Delmon Young probably would have been taken off this list, but then he went and hit home runs in Games 1, 3 and 5 of the ALDS. I will never forget John Smoltz’s comment about watching out for a first-pitch fastball from Rafael Soriano to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning after the Yankees had just come back to tie the game with two runs off Verlander. That first-pitch fastball changed the series. I’m just glad David Robertson was sitting in the bullpen after not pitching in Games 1 or 2 and after being rested for the final two weeks of the regular season by Joe Girardi. Now that’s good managing.

CF – Josh Hamilton (2011 – B.J. Upton, 2010 – Vernon Wells)
I think I’m one of the only people that isn’t a Josh Hamilton fan. I get his whole “comeback” story, but if you’re a Yankees fan and you root for Hamilton maybe you forgot about these numbers from the 2010 ALCS.

7-for-20 (.350), 6 R, 1 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBIs, 3 SB, 8 BB, .536 OBP, 1.000 SLG

Do you still like him?

It’s insane that it’s June 6 and Hamilton has 21 HR and 58 RBIs after homering just 25 times in 121 games last year and 32 times in 133 games in his MVP year in 2010.

RF – Jose Bautista (2011 – Magglio Ordonez, 2010 – Magglio Ordonez)
The only way Magglio Ordonez wasn’t going to win this award was if he retired, and that’s what he did. On Sunday the Tigers had Magglio Ordonez Day and everyone was respectful and cheering and some of the Yankees took part in the pregame ceremony by sitting in the dugout and acknowledging the career. I watched the game from the couch and booed as if Ordonez was 50 feet from me in right field.

I have yet to find a Yankees fan that was sad to see A.J. Burnett get traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, but I’m pretty sure Jose Bautista wasn’t happy about Burnett’s departure from the AL East.

I don’t like Bautista because of what he does against the Yankees and what he does to any wager I place for or against the Blue Jays. If the Blue Jays are somehow in the race for the division down the stretch, I will have no choice but to bet on them every game to ensure that Jose Bautista does absolutely nothing.

SP – Josh Beckett (2011 – Josh Beckett, 2010 – Josh Beckett)
There’s no one who will ever take this award from Josh Beckett. If Jered Weaver drilled Derek Jeter and forced him to miss a significant amount of time he still wouldn’t be in the conversation even when you combine such a terrible act with his relation to Jeff Weaver. Now if Jered Weaver injured Jeter for a lengthy period of time and then upon Jeter’s return he injured him again for another lengthy period of time, then maybe we can talk about replacing Josh Beckett here.

The thing that takes the fun out of Beckett being my No. 1 Most Hated Athlete To Look At (which is completely separate from being on the All-Animosity Team) is that the city he plays for hates him. The same city he won a World Series for in 2007. Red Sox fans obviously want him to pitch well so the team wins when he starts, but at the same time they aren’t upset when he loses. It’s a beautiful thing.

CL – Jose Valverde (2011 – Jonathan Papelbon, 2010 – Jonathan Papelbon)
Goodbye, Jonathan Papelbon. It was fun (not really). Now it’s time to say “Hello” to Jose Valverde.

I don’t know if I will ever get over the fact that the Yankees faced him three times in the ALDS and didn’t get him to blow any of the three games. This ultimately led to the Yankees’ demise, well this along with the heart of the order’s inability to hit with runners in scoring position and failure to get the big hit, and CC Sabathia coming up short twice and Joe Girardi using Luis Ayala more than David Robertson.

There can’t be any fan base that likes Valverde aside from Tigers fans. There just can’t be. No one wants to see Valverde succeed with the amount of time he takes between pitches and his version of the Electric Slide that he does after successfully converting a save. But maybe other fan bases don’t hate him as much as Yankees fans because we’re used to seeing Mariano Rivera walk toward home plate and shake the catcher’s hand after a save rather than moonwalk across the mound or dance like your wild uncle at a wedding who hung out at the bar for the first three hours and is hearing “Call Me Maybe” for the first time.

Valverde’s perfect season of going 49-for-49 in save opportunities was hard to watch, but I’m glad he has come back to his old self in 2012 with a 4.64 ERA and 1.594 WHIP.

Manager – Bobby Valentine (2011 – Mike Scioscia, 2010 – Joe Maddon)
Did any other manager have a chance? In a league that boasts hipster Joe Maddon, the genius Mike Scioscia and Fidel Castro supporter Ozzie Guillen, it’s Bobby Valentine who stands alone.

Whether it’s Bobby V taking shots at the Yankees during spring training or having stories written about him building a fence in the offseason (I helped my dad build a deck last summer and no one wrote a story about me), or doing weekly spots on 1050 ESPN Radio in New York, or calling out Kevin Youkilis for really no reason or supporting Josh Beckett playing golf after missing a start due to a back problem, there’s always a reason to dislike Bobby.

I just want to take this time to thank the Red Sox ownership group for not letting their new general manager do his job and for going over his head and making Bobby Valentine their manager. Thank you.

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Blogs • Yankees

Jun 5, 2012

A Sunday with John and Suzyn

It’s always entertaining to listen to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman broadcast a Yankees game. But it’s even better when that game is the final game of an 11-day, nine-game road trip.

Last June with the Brewers at the Stadium for a three-game series, which the Yankees would sweep, I decided to listen to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman while I wrote down my thoughts from their broadcast. I have wanted to do it again since, but wasn’t sure when the time would be right. With the debut of this site and the Yankees wrapping up an 11-day, nine-game road trip, and figuring John and Suzyn would be at their “best,” Sunday seemed like the perfect time to do it again.

Here’s what transpired on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park…

TOP 1ST
If there’s ever a “You can’t predict baseball” matchup for John and Suzyn, this is it. Justin Verlander, the reigning AL MVP and Cy Young winner against Phil Hughes, the reigning The Only Reason We Still Believe He Is A Starter Is Because We Picked Him In The First Round Eight Years Ago winner. I have already sarcastically tweeted that I’m excited for this Phil Hughes start in my attempt at flipping this around Leon Black style from Curb Your Enthusiasm.

The last time I did this there wasn’t a single “You can’t predict baseball” reference. That would be like Phil Hughes making a start without giving up a home run. It just doesn’t happen. And if it happens again today it would be monumental. There’s no way you can pick two random games to listen to an entire broadcast from John and Suzyn and get a “You can’t predict baseball” no-no in back-to-back games nearly a year apart. It’s impossible.

I said it already, but I think it’s important to say again that is the last game of an 11-day, nine-game road trip for the Yankees and it’s a day game and a getaway day game following a devastating walk-off loss from about 14 hours ago. In other words, this has all of the makings of a recipe for disaster. Did I mention that it’s Phil Hughes against Justin Verlander?

Suzyn: “And as the Captain, Derek Jeter, steps up to the plate, stepping up to the microphone is the voice of the New York Yankees … here is John Sterling.”

John: “Well, Suzyn, I thank you.”

And before John can even give Verlander’s numbers…

John: “Swung on and hit in the air to right field and deep … back goes Boesch on the track at the wall … SHE’S GONE!  Oh, what a beginning! The captain homers the opposite way to right field on Verlander’s first pitch! The first-ball fastball he hit over the right field stands. El Capitan! He homers and the Yankees take a 1-0 lead! And Suzyn does that ever underscore about how you can’t predict baseball?”

Suzyn: “You cannot predict baseball!”

Well, that takes care of me worrying about not hearing “You can’t predict baseball.”

Justin Verlander might be the best pitcher on the planet, but he doesn’t really scare me as much as rookie lefties do against the Yankees or any pitcher making his Major League debut. I know that sounds crazy, but it’s true, and I bet I’m not the only one that thinks this way. The Yankees have now scored in the first inning in each of their last five games against Verlander and six of the last seven if you include the ALDS. If they can find a way to win today they will be 2-0 against Verlander this year. Give me Verlander over the 21-year-old lefty that looks like he’s 15 making his Major League debut on Sunday Night Baseball in Yankee Stadium any day of the week.

Curtis Granderson walks on four pitches and after the count goes to 1-2 on A-Rod and John gets into some more about predicting baseball…

“It’s funny … you can talk baseball … you can have the experts … you can have predictions … analyze it … I’d like to know the person who felt that Jeter would homer on the first pitch off Verlander.”

A-Rod walks, and the Yankees have first and second and no one out.

“Here’s Cano and the pitch is … in the dirt … it gets away from Santos! Well, runners at second and third and now if the Yankees make the right kind of outs they can actually take a 3-0 lead. I know he’s a tough pitcher … he’s the toughest!”

John gives a recap of what’s happened and then Suzyn corrects his previous call.

Suzyn: “And he just gave him a passed ball on that because that ball did not hit the dirt. That ball was bounced off of Santos’ glove … he’s not a great catcher.

John: “No…”

Wild pitch? Passed ball? In the dirt? Off a glove? Ah, who cares?

The inning ends with the Yankees leading 2-0. Hughes blew a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning in his last start, so I’m setting the over/under at 1.5 innings until the Tigers tie the game or take the lead, and once this happens, how badly will John and Suzyn cover for him? Then again, the Yankees lead 2-0 against Justin Verlander and I have already heard the word “predict” several times and we haven’t even played a full inning. Can it possibly get any better than this? Should I just turn the game off now?

BOTTOM 1ST
Four Sundays ago I did a retro recap of Hughes’ start against the Royals for WFAN.com in an attempt to find out if Hughes belongs in the rotation and to find out just what Phil Hughes is since he’s now in his sixth season in the majors, and no one really knows if he should be part of the rotation or the bullpen. Hughes pitched his first quality start of the year in that game and then went on a little run for a few weeks before the Angels embarrassed him in front of his family and friends last week. I hope I can have the same impact on the game I did four Sundays ago.

John introduces Phil Hughes and his numbers by saying Hughes “has pitched much better of late.” What? Is this real life? This is Hughes’ 11th start of the year. He has three quality starts so far, and in his last outing against the Angels he gave away a 3-0 lead in the first inning and allowed 11 hits and seven earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. But hey, he’s been much better of late!

Hughes retires Quintin Berry and Danny Worth.

“There are two away … here is Mag … I was going to say Magglio Ordonez. Here is Miguel Cabrera!”

I guess it’s hard to get on John for trying to activate Magglio Ordonez and hit him third in the Tigers lineup since he is at the park today and since Miguel and Magglio both begin with the letter “M.”

Cabrera walks and a passed ball allows him to move to second with two outs.

John: “Now first base is open, so you can pitch carefully to Fielder.”

I’m not sure that’s the best advice, John. This is Phil Hughes pitching, not CC Sabathia. I don’t think we want to be giving free passes in the first inning with the dangerous Yankee killer Delmon Young on deck. But Hughes has been “much better of late,” so what do I know?

Hughes retires Fielder to end the inning.

TOP 2ND
Nick Swisher singles to lead off the second inning bringing up Eric Chavez.

John: “Verlander deals… swung on and popped in the air to left … going back is Kelly … on the track … leaps … and he’s made another catch! Last night he robbed Teixeira of a homer … this time I’d say he robbed Chavez of a double! That ball went a lot further than I ever thought!”

I’ll say it went a lot further than being “popped in the air to left.”

It does feel like I’m using a cheat sheet by watching the game muted on YES while listening to John and Suzyn just to see how good of a job they are doing. (I’m sure Michael Kay wasn’t exactly all over that Chavez out either.) On a side note: Don Kelly reminds me of David Murphy.

The replay shows the ball clearly would have bounced and hit the wall, but that doesn’t stop Suzyn from saying, “I think that would have been a home run” despite her seeing the replay.

Russell Martin walks as the fifth Yankee to reach in the first two innings and Suzyn adds, “I cannot picture a game when I have seen Justin Verlander like this.” Since I’m giving out doppelgangers (I feel like Michael Kay talking about Paul Byrd as Kelsey Grammer and Jeff Niemann as Jeff Daniels) well Justin Verlander has always reminded me of Jason Lee. Stillwater, anyone? “Fever Dog!”

BOTTOM 2ND
Suzyn is giving her first scoreboard of the day, so I decided to go back to the last time I did this to see what I said about Suzyn and her scoreboards.

Suzyn is giving her first scoreboard update of the day. The best part of the scoreboard updates is that John clearly hates them. He hates that his broadcast gets hijacked momentarily and hates that he has to interrupt Suzyn to give the play-by-play. It breaks up his flow and his rhythm and I kind of agree. And maybe the scoreboards can be taken out of the broadcast? I know it would be like taking away someone’s lines in a play in that Suzyn’s airtime would be cut down significantly, but it’s 2011. I don’t think anyone is waiting for Suzyn’s scoreboard updates to find out scores from around the league.

Change “2011” to “2012” and I could have just reused that whole thing.

Phil Hughes has terrible body language when he throws a ball. It’s so noticeable and I can’t think of anyone acting that way after they miss their spot, and it looks ridiculous. A two-out hit against Hughes prevents us from seeing our first 1-2-3 inning of the game.

John: “Hey, there’s no question about Hughes’ arm. He began the season terribly and he has pitched much better in the last few weeks.”

Why does John feel the need to always build Hughes’ confidence and self-esteem? He can’t hear you, John! And there are a lot of questions about Hughes’ arm, mainly because of the way he has pitched this season. Was I the only one that watched Hughes pitch in Anaheim last Monday?

TOP 3RD
The Yankees take a 2-0 lead into the third and the first pitch to Granderson is a ball.

John: “He really can’t throw strike one … and this is Justin Verlander we’re talking about! It’s a funny game.”

The scoreboard screen has stopped working at Comerica Park and this can only mean chaos for John and Suzyn.

John: “We can’t give you a pitch count. That pitch count has stopped. We’ll find out later for you.”

Suzyn: “It said 39.”

John: “No, no … it started at 39.”

Suzyn: “Oh!”

John: “The pitch to A-Rod is low and the count is 2-0.”

Suzyn: “OK, 39 and it was 3 and 2 … and he struck him out…”

John: “Right, so that’s…”

Suzyn: “So that’s 45 … and two … 47…”

John: “The pitch is a strike. Also the scoreboard has stopped. I gotta find a different place for the count.”

Suzyn: “I guess you’re going to have to look at the monitor here.”

And then on the 3-1 pitch to A-Rod…

John: “And the pitch is swung on and lined to deep left … that ball is HIGH … it is FAR … IT IS GONE! Over the inner fence and over the original fence! Way up in the crowd … what a shot! An A-Bomb from A-Rod, and the Yankees take a 3-0 lead! And Suzyn you could hear the crack of the bat from up here … you can’t hit a ball a lot further except if you’re Miguel Cabrera.”

Suzyn: “No. That was the ninth homer of the year for Alex and … you knew for it … and Verlander knew as soon as he hit it also. You could see Don Kelly take a couple of steps to his left and Berry turn around, but that ball was gone from the second he it.”

Cano and Teixeira are retired, but the Yankees lead 3-0.

BOTTOM 3RD
John: “Our fervent wishes that the board would come back. It makes it somewhat tough.”

With one out, Berry lays down a bunt and is thrown out by Chavez in what might be the most accurate Sterling call in 15 years. He honestly couldn’t have done a better job on the play.

“The pitch … Berry bunts toward third … fielded by Chavez … throws … IN TIME for the out.”

Worth walks with two outs preventing the first 1-2-3 inning of the game and it brings up Miguel Cabrera or “CabrerA” as Sterling likes to say. Hughes gets him to fly out to right and it’s still 3-0 Yankees after three.

TOP 4TH
John: “You know one thing Suzyn, you gave the stat before … when they don’t hit a home run, the Yankees are 0-12. Well, they’ve hit two homers today.”

Suzyn “Right.”

John: “Hahahaha. We’ll see if that holds up.”

And…

John: “You know I think what bothers the Yankees and their followers … here is Verlander’s pitch … swung on and hit in the air to right … Boesch is back … in front of the track … and he makes the catch and there’s one away. I think what bothers, Suzyn, the Yankees and their followers and the broadcasters … look at this lineup against a righty when you have Ibanez, Swisher and Chavez … 6, 7 and 8 and the Yankees never hit or don’t hit much with the bases loaded or with men on base.”

Raul Ibanez flies out to lead off the inning.

John: “Hey, the scoreboard’s back.”

Suzyn: “Yes, it is.”

Swisher walks and Verlander is at 63 pitches with 33 balls and he has just 10 outs.

Chavez singles, but Russell Martin lines into a double play to Cabrera, and John reminds us, “That’s baseball though.”

BOTTOM 4TH
Hughes’ first pitch to Prince Fielder is a curveball that finds Fielder’s perfect stroke and then goes about as far as any home run at Comerica Park has gone to right field, and Fielder knows it as he slams down his bat and watches his work.

Suzyn: “Boy was there no doubt about that.”

Young grounds out and here’s Suzyn with the scoreboard update just in case you wanted to know that Nationals-Braves score.

Hughes bounces back to retire the next three after Fielder’s leadoff home run and keep the Yankees’ lead at 3-1.

John: “One run, one hit … the Fielder home run, which went so far it should count for two … at the end of four … 4-1 Yanks on the New York Yankees radio network driven by Jeep.”

TOP 5TH
More first-pitch balls from Verlander in the fifth…

John: “Of all things Verlander can’t throw strike 1 and he is a strike throwing machine.”

Granderson doubles with one out before A-Rod strikes out swinging. Cano comes up with Granderson on second and two outs, and on 3-2 pitch…

John: “Now Verlander deals … swung on and a high fly to right-center … Boesch … and Berry … and … that ball is … IN THE GAP! It falls in the gap! Granderson scores … here is Cano going to third … and the throw is … not in time! It gets by … but backed up by … now the ball went into the dugout and Cano is allowed to go home! So first of all, the long fly to right-center split Berry and Boesch and landed … and went to the wall. It was an easy triple for Cano … it’s 430 feet out there. The throw got by, so we’ll find out who the error is on. Two runs score. Give Cano an RBI .. and the Yankees now take a 5-1 lead.”

Teixeira grounds out, but I’m still in awe over the call on the Cano triple. Granted, I had the chance to see it on TV as it was happening and it was a little weird that Berry didn’t get to it, but nevertheless, that was an epic piece of broadcasting.

BOTTOM 5TH
I think it’s funny that Sterling says “error” the way you’re supposed you say “era.”

It’s time for the Daily News 5th and Roger Rubin joins the booth in place of Mark Feinsand.

Hughes walks Don Kelly to lead off the fifth inning. Kelly is currently in a 6-for-46 slump, so walking him to lead off an inning with a four-run lead is always a good idea.

John and Suzyn start asking Roger questions about the Yankees offense…

Roger: “You know it’s funny before the game a bunch of us were talking to Kevin Long about the team’s problems scoring with runners in scoring position and Derek [Jeter] was walking by and he was almost making fun of it. You know, ‘What’s wrong with us, Kevin? Tell us!'”

Suzyn: “Well, it would actually be nice if they figured out what’s wrong with them.”

Roger: “It would be. At one point Kevin say to Derek as he was walking back by a second time, ‘Derek, are we ever gonna score again?’ and Derek was like, ‘I don’t think so.’ Well, he took care of that one right there.”

John: “But, however, if people ask that question, they have a right to ask it because the percentages are so bad … men in scoring position and bases loaded.”

See this is what I love about John and Suzyn: they are Yankees fans and they don’t hide it. They want the Yankees to win the way the fans do and when the team plays poorly they want answers. The mood of the broadcast changes depending on the score of the game and the Yankees’ recent play, and if the Yankees are in the middle of a three-game losing streak you feel like you’re watching the game with your buddies complaining about the team. They don’t follow the game the way beat writers and reporters do, and they shouldn’t since they are the voices of the team on the radio and have to watch them for 162 games plus the playoffs. John and Suzyn should want and expect success from the team and they should be noticeably upset when they don’t get it. This is the Yankees radio network and not a national broadcast.

Santos hits into a double play that is turned by Jeter and Cano leading John to ask, “Have you ever see anyone cooler than Robbie Cano?”

Berry goes down looking and Hughes continues to look good (though I’m scared to type that since things can unravel quickly for the Phranchise).

TOP 6TH
John always reminds us that he owes a station break as if it’s a contest and he owes the listeners another chance to win. Now he might just be talking to the producer to let him know he’s aware that he stills need to do a 10-second station ID, but it always sounds like we let John borrow a station break and he has yet to return it.

Chavez singles on a soft fly ball to left, but that’s all the Yankees manage in the sixth.

BOTTOM 6TH
Suzyn tries to get her scoreboard updates in, but Hughes strikes out Worth and Cabrera swinging and Fielder grounds out for a perfect inning from Hughes.

If the first time I did something like this for Hughes led him to go on a mini run, and this game ends up being one in which he outpitches Verlander, does that mean I will have to do this for every Hughes start for the rest of the season? If it produces wins, I don’t have a problem with it.

TOP 7TH
John: “The 1-1 is lined toward right-center, and there’s a base hit! Jeterian? Haha! You bet! Inside-out swing and he lines it to right-center field.”

John talks about the tight AL East, and as bad as the Yankees have been they can head to the Stadium on Tuesday for a three-game series with Tampa Bay and trail in the division by just one game if they hold on today.

But John reminds us that, “Willie Stargell used to say, ‘The pennant race begins September 1.’” So, I guess the first five months of the season didn’t count back then either?

BOTTOM 7TH
A quiet frame from John and Suzyn as Hughes allows a two-out single to Jhonny Peralta before getting Kelly to pop out to end the inning. This has been Hughes’ best start of the season and with the chance to either finish at 6-3 on the road trip with a win, or 5-4 with a loss following Saturday night’ debacle, Hughes has done his job, which is rare.

TOP 8TH
Ibanez, Swisher and Chavez go down in order and I’m beginning to get the sense that John and Suzyn just want the last couple of innings of the last game of an 11-day road trip to go quickly. This road trip started back on the Yankees’ off day on May 24. That feels like forever ago.

TOP 9TH
John and Suzyn are talking about the players drafted ahead of Derek Jeter in 1992, which leads to a discussion about other great players passed over early in the draft, and the name of the player the Mets took first overall before Reggie Jackson in the 1966 draft has eluded them. John knows the player’s name was “Steve,” but can’t remember his last name. Keith Olbermann texts Suzyn to tell her it was Steve Chilcott.

Suzyn: “What a wonderful invention … texting.”

John: “Ha! I love E-ZPass and DVR myself.”

Suzyn: “Hahahaha! Well, the person that invented DVR and E-ZPass should be in some Hall of Fame.”

John: “Hahaha right! … Absolutely!”

Suzyn: “Somewhere…”

John then goes on to say that the Cross Bronx Expressway belongs in the Hall of Shame. I can’t disagree with him there.

After Martin’s leadoff double, Jeter, Granderson and A-Rod go down in order and John gets excited: “The Yankees are three outs away from a big win.”

BOTTOM 9TH
Phil Hughes is three outs away from his first complete game ever, unless you really want to count the rain-shortened six-inning complete game he threw.

He strikes out Cabrera to start the ninth and gets Fielder to ground out before Young singles. With Young on first and Hughes facing his last batter in Boesch, a fan runs on the field.

John: “And now someone runs on the field … no one pursues him … and he’s running out toward right field … and Swisher gives him a little high five … and now he runs to center field … now people start coming out on the field to get him … and now he runs toward the infield … brilliant … and finally he is apprehended and taken down. You know at first you think it’s funny and people laugh, etcetera, well, how do you know the guy isn’t crazy? How do you know he doesn’t have a weapon or a knife or something? So, the gentleman is handcuffed and led off … two outs, a runner at first and now Girardi trots out to make sure Hughes is OK.”

“And once again it’ll be a 2-2 to Boesch … Hughes is set at the chest … and the pitch … struck him out swinging! Ballgame over! Yankees win! Theeeeeeee Yankees win!”

The game ends in two hours and 39 minutes. Phil Hughes beat Justin Verlander, threw his first nine-inning complete game in the process and kept Miguel Cabrera in the park. The Yankees scored five runs against Verlander and A-Rod hit his second home run in three games. John and Suzyn talked about not being able to predict baseball after the first pitch of the game, and I got to hear John do play-by-play of a fan running on the field while trying to evade security. And on top of it all, the Yankees won the game and the series and finished their 11-day, nine-game road trip at 6-3. Forget Johan Santana’s no-hitter. This was a perfect game.

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Blogs • Yankees

Apr 9, 2012

Joe Girardi to Blame for Yankees’ Bad Start

It took just five Tampa Bay hitters and a bad weekend of baseball for the Season 3 premiere of my version of The Joe Girardi Show.

“It’s a long season.” “It’s just three games.” “It’s just 1.8518 percent of the season.” “It’s not that big of a deal.” These are the things I have been telling myself since Sunday afternoon as I try to make sense out of the Tragedy at the Trop.

I don’t know what that was this weekend in Tampa Bay. The Yankees’ vaunted offense failed to do anything with runners in scoring position. The Best Bullpen in Baseball blew a save (though I will never get upset with No. 42 about blowing a save), as the weakest members of the Best Bullpen in Baseball showed why they are the weakest members. And the stacked, new-look starting rotation put together this Chien-Ming Wang 2007 ALDS-like line: 16.1 IP, 21 H, 13 R, 11 ER, 9 BB, 14 K, 4 HR, 6.15 ERA, 1.840 WHIP.

I’m going to overreact to the three losses to open the season because that’s what I do. And when you’re baseball starved for six months and your most recent memory of Yankees baseball is Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher failing to get clutch hits in October, and it becomes your most recent Yankees baseball memory again in April, well I think you have a right to get upset.

I understand all the things I opened this column with about it just being three games, but I need to get my frustration out. I know the 1998 Yankees started their season 0-3 (and 1-4), but I’m pretty sure this team isn’t the ’98 Yankees. And I’m well aware of the Yankees-Kentucky basketball relationship and what it means to have the Wildcats as national champions. Right now none of that matters. The only thing that matters right now is that Ivan Nova and Freddy Garcia can’t put out this forest fire their manager started with the fifth hitter in the first inning of the 2012 season.

Starting in 2010, I did my own version of the The Joe Girardi Show whenever I felt there were questions for Joe Girardi that needed answers because I couldn’t fathom how someone could make such odd decisions, and the show continued for a second season in 2011. In the back of my mind I was secretly hoping my version of the show would be canceled for 2012, but I knew it wouldn’t be. Last season it took just five games (a disastrous loss in April against the Twins at the Stadium) for the first episode of the Show. This season it took just five Tampa Bay hitters for the Season 3 premiere.

Why did you intentionally walk Sean Rodriguez?
Mariano Rivera didn’t blow Opening Day. Joe Girardi did. Even though it was Rivera who blew the save in the bottom of the ninth in one of his annual April brain farts, it was Girardi who, in the first inning of the game, made a decision that might be the ultimate Joe Girardi Over-Managing Decision of 2012, and it happened about 15 minutes into the season.

CC Sabathia is the Yankees’ ace. He is in the top tier of starting pitchers in the majors, and Hal Steinbrenner is paying him $23 million in 2012 and essentially $646,470.88 per start (based on 34 starts) to be that ace. But apparently Sabathia, one of the game’s top lefties, can’t face Sean Rodriguez (career .229 hitter with 22 home runs in 908 at-bats) with runners on second and third and two outs in the first inning of the first game of the season. I’m well aware of Carlos Pena’s atrocious numbers against Sabathia (and lefties in general) and Rodriguez’s decent numbers against Sabathia and lefties, but there’s more to the situation on the field than what Joe Girardi’s trusty notebook tells him.

Sabathia hasn’t pitched like Midseason CC in any of his four season openers, including Friday. He usually struggles early in the season before going on an incredible run, and it was evident that his April struggles were with him early on Friday. Prior to Rodriguez, Sabathia had walked Desmond Jennings to open the inning, got Ben Zobrist to line out to center, gave up a single to Evan Longoria and got Jeff Keppinger to ground out to short. However, out of the 13 pitches he threw to these four hitters, seven of them were balls as his command appeared off. So, now instead of going after a weak No. 5 hitter, Girardi decides to put Rodriguez on base intentionally, giving Sabathia no wiggle room with a lack of command and a power-hitting lefty with a career average of 34 home runs per season at the plate. Once he got behind Pena 2-0 and then 3-1 and wasn’t locating pitches or getting a guy who will get himself out to swing, you just knew things weren’t going to end well with either the first run of the game being walked in or the worst possible thing, which ended up happening: the slam.

A lot of the outrage over the move was that Girardi shouldn’t be over-managing in the first inning of the first game of the season. I don’t like that argument because that means you’re saying it’s OK to over-mange later in the season, but just not right now. I hate that argument because Game 1 of the season is as important as Game 57 and Game 89 and Game 123 and Game 162. A game against the Rays on Opening Day is equally as important as a game against the Red Sox the middle of the summer. I never understood the idea that “It’s only April” or that “It’s early.” Sure a three-game losing streak in June sucks, but isn’t as publicized as one to open the season, but every game counts the same. Do you get additional wins or a better win percentage for winning games after the All-Star break than you do for winning games before it? And with the new wild-card system every game is that much more important unless you feel comfortable trusting Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher in a big spot in a single game because I don’t, and I don’t even trust them in a series.

Girardi should have never been at the mound talking to his ace in the first inning on Friday, and it’s not because of the inning of the game or because of which game it is in the season. It’s because it’s CC Sabathia, and CC Sabathia can get Sean Rodriguez out. And if he didn’t, it would have most likely been 2-0 instead of 4-0.

Why is Eduardo Nunez starting at shortstop in the second game of the season?
Yes, Derek Jeter is 37 and will be 38 in June. Yes, he will probably need more rest than usual and more time as the designated hitter this season than season’s past. But Jeter also just had the last SIX MONTHS off. THE LAST SIX MONTHS!

Nunez might be the worst infielder I have ever seen with the Yankees and they let Jason Giambi play first base in the 2000s as well as Johnny Damon. And Gary Sheffield even took over at third base and first base at times (after years in the outfield). It’s not like it’s July and he hasn’t played shortstop regularly for a few weeks and he can use the “not an everyday player” excuses for his blunder. Nunez is fresh off spring training and won’t be any more prepared to play the infield for the rest of the season than he is right now.

Sure, it’s only one error that cost the Yankees only one game, but how can the backup middle infielder on the team not be trustworthy on defense? If you can make an excuse for Nunez’s error that extended the inning, led to two Tampa Bay runs, forced Hiroki Kuroda to throw more pitches and caused fatigue for Kuroda then you would have to admit that fielding and throwing is clearly in Nunez’s head. No Yankees fan feels even remotely confident when the ball is hit to him (whether a routine play or not), and when it is, I get the same feeling I get when someone hands me a Jameson shot at the end of the night. There’s no telling what the result might be.

To top it off, Kuroda, a GROUNDBALL PITCHER, started the game, which was played on turf. So why would you elect to not have your best defensive infield on the field for a groundball pitcher?

If I ever find out the truth behind the Yankees/Mariners deal for Cliff Lee and find out that Nunez is indeed the player that held up the deal (this has been a rumor), I think I will go off the grid, move to the woods of Wyoming and live in solitude for the rest of my life.

Why did you leave Clay Rapada in to face Evan Longoria?
Let’s start with the simple fact that Clay Rapada shouldn’t be a Yankee. I don’t care if he’s the 25th man on the roster who made the team in the final hours of spring training. The team has the highest payroll in the league, and a minor league system. There’s no reason for Rapada to be on the team other than that he’s a lefty. The only good Rapada has done in three games as a Yankee and remind me that if I have a son, I will be tying his right arm behind his back until he is at least 16 to ensure that he throws lefty because if Rapada has taught us anything (other than that he doesn’t belong in MLB) is that if you can throw lefty there will always be a job for you in baseball.

Here’s Clay Rapada’s 2012 debut:

Picked off Reid Brignac to end the sixth.
Walked Carlos Pena (L).
Gave up double to Evan Longoria (R).
Gave up single to Matt Joyce (L).
Walked Ben Zobrist (L).
Got Luke Scott (L) to fly out.

Rapada faced four lefties and retired one and ends up getting touched up for two runs in 2/3 innings. What happens in the ninth? The Yankees score four runs thanks to a Nick Swisher “David Price is out of the game so it’s time to get to business” three-run home run. The Yankees lose 8-6. The difference? Rapada’s two earned runs. (I didn’t mean to pull Michael Kay’s “fallacy of the predetermined outcome” on you, but I did.)

Why did you let Boone Logan face Jeff Keppinger?
Cory Wade was warmed up, and the YES broadcast team told us this. So, if your right-handed non-“A” reliever is prepared to go in and face a righty then why is Logan still in the game? Did Girardi try to get through the inning with only Logan and it backfired? Yup. Does it seem like most of the time when Girardi pushes the wrong button, he doesn’t get bailed out? Yup.

If you’re going to micro-manage and over-manage every situation of every game during the season (which you are clearly going to do since you did it in the bottom of the first of Game 1 with your ACE) then why are changing your thought process now? If you’re going to stay with 16 in blackjack with the dealer showing a face card (even though it’s the wrong play) then you need to stay every time you are presented with that situation. Don’t stay one time because you have a feeling or a hunch that the dealer is going to bust, and don’t not do it another time because you have a feeling or hunch that you are going to hit for a 5 or lower. If Girardi is going to micro-manage the way CC Sabathia faces hitters then he better be prepared to do it with the two left-handed (and worst) relievers on the team.

In one of his answers to a postgame press conference question over the weekend, Joe Girardi answered with the phrase, “That’s baseball.” And yes, thing are always going to happen that you can’t control and can’t explain, but it doesn’t help when there isn’t a good explanation for the things you can control.

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