Tag Archives: yankees

I wouldn’t have given away the Jeter ball, but that’s just me

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The headline to this post couldn’t be more to the point.

I’ve spent the past few days listening to various sports-talk programs debate whether or not New York Yankees fan Christian Lopez should have given Derek Jeter the home run ball that he caught for career hit No. 3,000 in exchange for a few nice seats and some memorabilia.

Lopez has been applauded for doing what he did, even though he could have sold the ball for big bucks. I heard one expert speculate the ball is worth $200,000 or more.

It was quite a gesture. Lopez reportedly has $100,000 in student loans still to pay off. Plus, the government plans to make him pay taxes for it, although a brewing company stepped in and offered to cover the tax expenses.

To each his/her own. If giving that ball to Jeter is what Lopez thought was the right thing to do, then so be it. He made a decision on his own, and I give him credit for that.

But it’s not the decision I would have made.

I realize that statement seems motivated by greed. And I suppose to some extent, that’s true.

I would be left imagining what a difference that money could have made to the lives of myself and other friends and family. I’m not talking about going out and spending lavishly on things that I don’t need. I’m talking about buying and paying off the necessities – a house, a car, etc. – in a fairly unstable economy.

I heard one of the pundits on “Pardon The Interruption” give Lopez credit because getting that ball was like, “Winning the lottery without buying a lottery ticket.” Well, that’s not really true. He did buy his way into that game, knowing there was a chance – albeit slim – that a ball like that could find him.

Why give a gift of charity like that to a multi-millionaire athlete? It’s not like Jeter and the New York Yankees don’t have the money to pay for what the ball is worth. After all, Jeter just signed a three-year, $51 million deal in the offseason. A couple hundred thousand dollars is chump change for Jeter and the Steinbrenner family.

Charity should go to those who need it, not to those who are among the top earners in society. Even if he doesn’t want the money, give the $200K to those who actually need it. Go the Robin Hood route.

The best advice I would have given Lopez if I was seated next to him when he caught that ball wasn’t whether or not he should give it to Jeter. I would have told him to wait a week or two. Let things play out. I wonder if that would have yielded a different outcome.

Interesting offseason in the Bronx

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Ran across a couple of pretty good stories on ESPN.com regarding the New York Yankees.

The first one is that GM Brian Cashman discouraged the Steinbrenners from signing Rafael Soriano to big bucks to be a set-up man, yet the ownership group did it anyway. The second one is about how the Yankees actually made a contract offer to free-agent pitcher Carl Pavano.

Let’s start with the Soriano deal. The dynamite reliever agreed to a three-year, $35 million contract with the Yankees within the last week. It includes opt-out clauses after each season, which seem unlikely to be exercised by him since he probably isn’t going to get a deal where he would get paid more than that.

Soriano saved 45 games with a 1.73 ERA last season for the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Pavano story is a little more surprising, though I think we can all agree that there’s no way Pavano would have accepted a one-year contract offer like the story says. I’m not sure why the Yankees even bothered with an offer like that, unless they felt Pavano wanted to come back to the Bronx and try and make things right. He was signed to a four-year lucrative offer by the Yankees earlier in his career, but those four injury-plagued years led to the Pavano contract being considered one of the worst in recent history. But he’s bounced back the last year-plus with the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins are expected to have an agreement in place with Pavano by Wednesday.

It’s been a pretty quiet offseason for the Yankees until the Soriano signing. And considering the Boston Red Sox added outfielder Carl Crawford and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, the AL East seems to have swung in the direction of Beantown.

Twins were missing more than just Cliff Lee

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When a team loses playoff game after playoff game after playoff game, it’s pretty tough to point a finger at just one player or thing and say, “That is what went wrong.”

Cliff Lee

Cliff Lee is being Cliff Lee again in this postseason. Associated Press photo

The Minnesota Twins will take a 12-game postseason losing streak into the offseason. Team meetings will start taking place in the next week or so, as management discusses what needs to be done.

The Texas Rangers keep on playing. They eliminated the New York Yankees on Friday in the American League Championship Series to earn their first-ever trip to the World Series.

And by securing that World Series berth in Game 6 on Friday, the Rangers were able to save their ace Cliff Lee for Game 1 of the World Series, which will take place Wednesday in either San Francisco or Philadelphia. The Giants and Phillies play Game 6 of the National League Championship Series tonight, with San Fran leading 3 games to 2.

Lee has been his usual self in this postseason. The free agent-to-be is setting himself up to be the most coveted player on the market this offseason, with apologies to Carl Crawford. Lee has started three times in these playoffs, allowing one run in 16 innings to Tampa, then pitching eight shutout innings against the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALCS. His K-to-BB ratio in the postseason is an incredible 34-to-1 in 24 innings!

Because of this, I’ve seen and heard no shortage of Twins fans on Facebook or Twitter or, can you believe, through verbal communication, saying how great Lee would have looked in a Twins uniform. There’s no doubt he would have. There’s no doubt he wins Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Yankees, a game that saw the Twins squander a three-run lead en route to a loss and an eventual three-game sweep at the hands of New York.

Lee’s presence would have made a huge difference. Maybe they should have paid the price, though I seem to remember at the time that the Twins were just a couple games above .500 when Texas acquired Lee from Seattle in a trade earlier this season.

I’m just not sure if Lee alone would have gotten the Twins to a World Series. The problems from this postseason and the ones before it go well beyond adding another starter, albeit a dominant one.

As I’ve stated before, the Twins have scored a total – a TOTAL! – of 20 runs in their last nine playoff games. To put that in perspective, the Rangers scored 18 runs in a two-game stretch against the Yankees in the ALCS.

I’ve also heard some say, “If Lee wins Game 1 against the Yankees, then the Twins will believe they can beat them.” I disagree with that.

First off, this is a big league team that consistently makes the playoffs. We’re talking about the Twins, not the Bad News Bears. If they don’t “believe” they can beat another team right now, there are some real problems there. These aren’t the little-engine-that-could Twins anymore. This team had a $100 million payroll this season.

Secondly, even if Lee’s presence gets them Game 1, you could argue that it would only mean the Twins believe they can beat the Yankees when Lee is pitching. When it’s Francisco Liriano or Brian Duensing starting, would they really have a different mentality?

The problem with that argument is you could argue until you’re blue in the face because you really don’t know what’s up with the Twins and their playoff woes. I’m just not sold that Lee’s inclusion alone would have been enough to change things.

Rangers fans: We feel your pain

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Very tough to watch Friday’s Game 1 of the ALCS, which saw the Texas Rangers blow a 5-0 lead en route to a loss to the New York Yankees.

Pretty familiar territory for Minnesota Twins fans, who saw their team in Game 1 of the ALDS blow a 3-0 lead with the very same ace on the mound for New York in CC Sabathia.

The Twins, of course, went on to get swept in the series, which ended a week ago. Not sure what the outcome of the Rangers-Yankees series will be, but as I blogged about earlier, losing the first two at home - which could happen Saturday afternoon – would be no way to get started.

It’s become apparent – if it wasn’t already – you just can’t take your foot off the accelerator when facing the Yankees. No lead is safe. Their lineup is that good, with All-Stars and former All-Stars up and down it, plus a couple on the bench as well.

But it does get lost in the shuffle that the bullpen has done a nice job. Joba Chamberlain has pitched much better now that he isn’t the eighth-inning guy. Lance Berkman may have homered in the Twins series, but you could argue the biggest move the Yankees made during the season was getting reliever Kerry Wood from Cleveland. Seems like the rest of their bullpen fell into place after that acquisition.

ALCS, NLCS preview time

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The American League Championship Series kicks off tonight, featuring two teams with very different histories.

Vlad Guerrero

Big Bad Vlad Guerrero is back, but will it be enough for the Texas Rangers? Associated Press photo

The New York Yankees are in the ALCS about as often as they aren’t in it. This is familiar territory for the Evil Empire.

The Texas Rangers hadn’t won a postseason series in franchise history prior to this year. They have never been to the ALCS.

The NLCS has the two-time defending NL champion Philadelphia Phillies facing the Barry Bonds-less San Francisco Giants.

I’m really looking forward to this series, which kicks off Saturday. Outstanding pitching matchups to watch.

I’m happy to say I did pretty good with my ALDS picks. I came within a game of getting all four of the LDS winners right, but Texas took Game 5 from Tampa Bay.

Time for some LCS picks:

  • ALCS: Yankees vs. Rangers. The Rangers have a balanced roster and, for once, a pretty solid pitching staff. Combine that with home-field advantage, and I could see why a lot of people would like the Rangers here. I don’t. They’re in a tough spot right away in Game 1, where the Yankees can “steal” home field if CC Sabathia out-pitches C.J. Wilson tonight. I’d have to think he will. Then, it’s Phil Hughes vs. Colby Lewis in Game 2, with the Rangers avoiding getting swept in the first two games before going to Yankee Stadium. The series just doesn’t shape up well from the get-go. I know Cliff Lee will pitch twice in this series regardless if it goes seven games, but I’m sure Texas would have rather had their ace going in Games 1 and 5. But the five-game series with Tampa was a detriment. Yankees in 5.
  • NLCS: Giants vs. Phillies. I’ve liked the Giants in the NL West all season long. The offense isn’t anything to write home about, but that pitching staff is potent. Facing San Fran is an equally potent staff in Philly. Look at these matchups: Game 1 is SF’s Tim Lincecum vs. Philly’s Roy Halladay; Game 2 is SF’s Jonathan Sanchez vs. Philly’s Roy Oswalt; Game 3 is SF’s Matt Cain vs. Philly’s Cole Hamels, etc. It doesn’t get much better than this. I’m not too quick to dismiss the Giants offense. Rookie catcher Buster Posey is a man-child. Aubrey Huff has resurrected his career. Cody Ross had a nice NLDS. Andres Torres … well, I didn’t know who he was before this year, but he’s been great hitting leadoff. Philly has plenty of firepower too, with familiar household names Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins. I said Yankees vs. Giants in the World Series before the LDS series started, and I’m sticking to it. Giants aces out-pitch Phillies, and San Fran gets just enough offense. Anyone else think it’s easier to root for the Giants now that Bonds isn’t there? Giants in 7

So there you have it. Feel free to drop your predictions in the comments section.

Gardy, TK are tough to compare

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Now that Minnesota Twins fans have had nearly a week to get over yet another disappointing postseason finish, the cries for the firing of manager Ron Gardenhire – who is still my pick for AL Manager of the Year – appear to have quieted to more of a mumble.

Tom Kelly

Tom Kelly won a pair of titles as Twins manager. He also had the good fortune of not having to deal with the current Yankees.

Occasionally, I’ve heard people – many of whom are friends – in the last few days try to compare these Twins to those 1987 and 1991 squads that brought so much joy to fans in the upper Midwest. Was this year’s team lacking a Kirby Puckett or a Frank Viola or a Jack Morris? Yes. Do these playoff struggles prove that Tom Kelly was a superior manager to Gardy? Maybe. But to think that it does is to ignore the fact that the late 1980s and early 1990s were a completely different era than today’s brand of baseball and its economics.

There’s no questioning TK’s success at the helm of the Twins, especially when he was given veteran players. Yes, young players during his later years wilted under his intense attention to detail. But veteran players seemed to thrive. And he took over a second-division team and turned them into champs in just one year in 1987. And he always had that same look on his face. The guy never smiled. And the image of him with that cigar in his mouth after getting his last contract as manager has always stuck with me. I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for the guy. Basically, he managed the Twins for the first 15  years that I was a fan of the team. I grew up knowing nothing but TK’s brand of baseball.

One of my favorite resources for baseball on the Web is the USA Today salary database, which is linked at the right. It stores all MLB salary information dating back to 1988, which was one year after the Twins’ first championship. Let’s take a look at 1988, for example.

The Yankees that year had the biggest payroll in MLB with about $18 million. Just like this year, the Twins were in the top half of baseball, ranking 11th with $12 million. It’s hard to believe 20 years ago that team payrolls were roughly 10 percent of what they are today, but they were.

Here’s some more numbers I put together, via baseballreference.com. The following are the New York Yankees’ winning percentages for the last 50 years, broken down into five-year increments (I know that’s a pretty arbitrary way to break it down, but whatever):

  • 1961-1965: 485 wins-324 losses, .599 winning percentage
  • 1966-1970: 398-408, .494
  • 1971-1975: 413-388, .515
  • 1976-1980: 489-317, .607
  • 1981-1985: 413-341, .548
  • 1986-1990: 405-403, .501
  • 1991-1995: 384-359, .517
  • 1996-2000: 487-322, .602
  • 2001-2005: 495-312, .613
  • 2006-2010: 498-332, .590

You can draw two conclusions here. 1. The Yankees have been a wildly successful franchise in the last 50 years and throughout their existence, really. 2. The last 15 years is the most dominant stretch they’ve had since the late 1940s through the early 1960s, when the Yankees went to the World Series 15 times in 18 years.

I don’t mean to use these numbers as an excuse, though by saying that probably suggests that, well, I guess I am making an excuse. Nor am I trying to diminish the team’s accomplishments from 1987 and 1991. They proved those two years to be the best team in baseball. I’m merely arguing now that doing so is much tougher.

Take 1987 again, for example. Here’s the Game 1 lineup the Detroit Tigers sent out against the Twins: 2B Whitaker, DH Madlock, LF Gibson, SS Trammell, RF Herndon, CF Lemon, 1B Evans, 3B Brookens, C Heath.

No offense to Alan Trammell – who was a Hall of Fame-caliber player – but if he were on the Yankees this year, it’s safe to say he hits in the bottom third of the order, not hitting clean-up.

I completely understand how frustrating the playoff struggles can be for Twins fans. But to compare the Twins of the 2000s to that of 1987 and 1991 simply doesn’t do Gardenhire or the team any justice. The Twins had great teams during that time, but they also had the good fortune of not having to deal with the Yankee Machine that exists today.

The Future Was Then

Does anyone else remember the “Turn Ahead the Clock” jerseys about 10 years ago? I found a picture of the Twins one while looking for a Tom Kelly photo.

As Adam Sandler used to say, “Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one?”

Twins locked in familiar October setting, and a must-see video

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October in these parts means a lot of things. The air is cooling (though not lately for some reason). The leaves are falling. And the Minnesota Twins are losing.

For the 12th consecutive playoff game, the Twins lost. That’s one short of the big league record. And Saturday’s loss not only extended an incredible streak, but it ended a season so full of anticipation.

A season that started with a new stadium and a payroll reaching new heights ended much like many previous seasons for the Twins, and that’s by losing a first-round playoff series to the hated New York Yankees.

Let’s forget about how that happened again for one second, and instead focus on what the Twins can do to change it. I mean, at some point, you start to wonder if there’s something wrong with that clubhouse. Twelve straight postseason losses.

Do you replace manager Ron Gardenhire, who might win AL Manager of the Year, yet I’ve heard a few people suggest firing him? Is it time to gut the roster pretty significantly and try to get some different pieces? What can be done?

Or are you willing to accept that the 12 straight playoff losses are coincidental? Are they simply the result of bad luck combined with teams that were overmatched?

But it’s not like the Twins are the Minnesota Timberwolves of the late-1990s. That team was frequently overmatched in its playoff series and I don’t think they ever lost a series I thought they should have won.

These Twins and the ones in 2006 got swept, and both teams had home-field advantage. The 2006 Twins were red-hot entering the playoffs only to lose three straight to an inferior Oakland A’s team.

While the 2006 loss may have been the most inexplicable, the 2010 sweep has to be the most disappointing. The bump in payroll was supposed to transform the Twins from the “Little Engine That Could” into a legitimate World Series threat. The bar was raised this year, and the team failed to rise to the occasion.

I really don’t know what can be done. To me, firing Gardy would be like when the Wolves let go of Flip Saunders. I hated that decision at the time, and look at how far that franchise has fallen since his dismissal. People can be upset, but things could be a lot worse.

But at the same time, every MLB team’s goal is to win the World Series. And if there’s a culture within the clubhouse that’s preventing that from happening, then something has to change. Because let’s face it, if  you’re going to win the World Series, you’re probably going to have to win three games against the Evil Empire. They’re not going away. Teams with $200 million payrolls rarely do.

Finally, I leave you with a must-see video. From the guy that brought you Ric Flair, I give you the intro video that Alaska-Fairbanks uses prior to its men’s hockey games. It’s epic. Check it out.

Proof of a Yankee curse? You be the judge

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There’s no shortage of good stories to read from last night’s Game 2 of the American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins. The Yankees defeated the Twins 5-2, taking a 2-0 lead in the series. NY can complete the sweep Saturday night at Yankee Stadium.

Mark Teixeira

New York Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira is among a few players who hurts the Twins even more now that he's in New York. Associated Press photo

But let’s get back on topic. I’ve spent some time wondering what could explain the Twins playoff troubles. I mean, 11 straight playoff losses – eight straight to the Yankees – is hard to explain. There’s no shortage of finger-pointing going on.

Do the Twins choke? Or are they cursed? Or are they simply never good enough to win these games? Even if they aren’t, you’d think in 11 games – no matter how overmatched you are – you’d win one, right? And even choke artists should be able to pull one game out, right?

So the most rational explanation has to be some sort of Yankee curse. OK, it probably isn’t. But I wanted to see how certain Yankees players perform against the Twins, and if those numbers against the Twins were better when they were in pinstripes than with other teams.

The three easy players to look at are CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. Those were the “Big Three” free agents signed by the Yankees prior to last season’s World Series run. Do those three players perform better against the Twins as Yankees than they did with other teams? Let’s see.

CC Sabathia

  • Career against Twins (including playoffs): 30 starts, 15-8, 3.04 ERA, 204 1/3 IP, 186 hits allowed
  • Career against Twins since joining Yankees (including playoffs): 3 starts, 3-0, 2.29 ERA, 19 2/3 IP, 16 hits allowed

A.J. Burnett

  • Career against Twins (including playoffs): 9 starts, 3-1, 3.04 ERA, 56 2/3 IP, 47 hits allowed
  • Career against Twins since joining Yankees (including playoffs): 4 starts, 2-0, 2.05 ERA, 30 2/3 IP, 26 hits allowed

Mark Teixeira

  • Career against Twins (including playoffs): 59 games, .362 BA, 18 HR, 49 RBI
  • Career against Twins since joining Yankees (including playoffs): 13 games, .444, 5 HR, 15 RBI

First of all, these guys were killing the Twins before joining the Yankees. Secondly, they are doing that even moreso since going to New York.

Key hit continues to evade Twins in postseason

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One of these playoff games, the Minnesota Twins offense has to bust out, doesn’t it?

Danny Valencia

Danny Valencia and the Minnesota Twins offense continue to struggle with men on base. Associated Press photo

The Twins continued to struggle – notably with runners in scoring position – in a loss to the New York Yankees on Thursday in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.

Minnesota is now 0-for-10 with RISP in the series. And this comes one year after leaving 32 on base in getting swept in three games by the Yankees in the 2009 ALDS.

Blame whatever you want to blame. But the Twins have now lost 11 consecutive playoff games dating back to 2004. In their last eight playoff games, the Twins have scored the paltry sum of just 19 runs. That’s less than 2.5 per game, if math isn’t your thing.

The offense has been a little better in this series, but that’s only because the bar was set so low in previous ones.

It’s hard to pinpoint what the problem is. It certainly hasn’t helped that 2006 AL MVP Justin Morneau has missed the last five playoff games dating back two seasons, first with a back injury and now with a concussion.

But considering this is a more veteran team than last season’s, I figured some of these problems would go away.

Twins starting pitcher Carl Pavano has had better days. He gave up four runs on 10 hits in six innings. But he managed to keep the Twins offense in the game against a pretty tough lineup. But once again, it wasn’t enough.

Thoughts on ALDS Game 1

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I attended last night’s Yankees-Twins playoff game, which was the first postseason game in the history of Target Field. The Yankees took Game 1 of the American League Division Series to get a 1-0 lead in the best-of-5 series.

The two teams didn’t do me any favors. I had decided prior to the game that I would drive back to Fargo-Moorhead right afterwards, and with the game going about four hours I didn’t make it back until close to 4 a.m. (construction north of Maple Grove contributed to that as well).

Anyway, a few thoughts on yet another Twins’ loss to the Yankees:

  • First off, if a team gets a 3-0 lead against CC Sabathia, they have to find a way to win that game. Considering it was Sabathia, I’m not surprised the Twins lost. But I do feel like if you hand your No. 1 starter in the postseason – Francisco Liriano – a 3-0 lead, that game has to be won.
  • I agreed with almost all of Twins manager Ron Gardenhire’s decisions last night. The one that really bothered me was leaving Liriano in to face Curtis Granderson. I realize Granderson was 4-for-22 lifetime against Liriano, but it was pretty obvious with the pitch count where it was that Liriano was having trouble staying in front of hitters. And I said that before he gave up the go-ahead two-run triple. I heard Gardy say on the radio after the game that Liriano “deserved the opportunity” to get Granderson out. If he had said, “I thought Liriano gave us the best chance to win,” I could live with that. But he “deserved” it? I don’t know. I think the 24 other guys in the clubhouse deserved the opportunity to be put in the best position to win the game. If you think that’s Liriano, then fine. The calls to fire Gardy – and I heard them Wednesday – are insane. For all I know, he could have brought Jose Mijares in, and Mijares would have given up that triple. It’s easy to criticize baseball managers, since the sport is based entirely on failure (the best hitters get hits 3 out of 10 times, etc.). Just saying if it was me, I’d have pulled Liriano.
  • It’s worth noting that Liriano pitched extremely well in the first five innings. He had some trouble falling behind hitters in the second and third innings but at one point retired 10 in a row. He hit the wall in the sixth, though.
  • I was pretty surprised with the crowd last night, and I heard a couple of callers call in to the postgame and say the same thing. I expected things to be a little more raucous. The only times fans really got into the game were after Michael Cuddyer’s two-run homer and after Orlando Hudson’s great first-to-third baserunning play on the Joe Mauer groundout. After watching the two other playoff games Wednesday, Target Field felt more like Tampa Bay and less like Philadelphia.
  • How great was Hudson’s baserunning play? After a postseason hampered by bad baserunning last year, I’m sure Twins fans had to enjoy that one.
  • At the end of the day, the Yankees made the most of their scoring chances and the Twins didn’t. By my count, Minnesota left eight runners on base in the final four innings. And in three of those four innings, the first two hitters got out. Pretty tough to put together two-out rallies together. The Twins will need to get “ducks on the pond” a little sooner than that tonight if they want to even this series before heading to the Bronx.