25 Thoughts and Observations on May
1. To call this season "'68 redux" may be doing it a disservice. After all, only one perfect game was thrown that year; we saw two this past month. I suppose A-Rod can't question Dallas Braden's credentials any more. As for Halladay, nothing he does surprises me. Every time he takes the mound, we're truly witnessing greatness.
2. His first name could be Bob or Tom, and America would still know Ubaldo Jimenez's name after the month he just had. He started May with an ERA ...
Catching on a daily basis isn't easy. Not even if you're an exuberant 24-year-old named Francisco Cervelli.
Cervelli's zeal for the game of baseball helped propel him to a scorching start to 2010—the backup-turned-starter held a .400 batting average through 20 games played on May 17—but he's not an energizer bunny.
As of May 17, Cervelli had started in 14 of the Yankees' last 22 games as Jorge Posada nursed a calf injury. His eight days off provided enough rest for the catcher to continue to produce at a consistent level.
Then, Posada ...
Final
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Cleveland
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N.Y. Yankees «
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11 18 0
WP: A. Pettitte (7-1) LP: M. Talbot (6-4)
Andy Pettitte and the Yankees rolled over the Indians yesterday in the Bronx, taking the series finale 11-2.
Pettitte had another impressive start, holding Cleveland to a run on four hits over seven very strong innings. ...
(Triple-A) Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (30-21) lost to Durham (29-22) 9-1
Box Score - Recap
Batting
Greg Golson, CF: 1-for-5Eduardo Nunez, SS: 2-for-3, 2B, BB, RDavid Winfree, 1B: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI (28)Jon Weber, DH: 0-for-3, BBJesus Montero, C: 0-for-3, BB - now batting .229Colin Curtis, LF: 1-for-4Reid Gorecki, RF: 0-for-3, BB
Pitching
Ivan Nova (L, 2-2): 5 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (4.11 ERA)Mark Melancon: 1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K (2.89 ERA)Kei Igawa: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 ...
It was inevitable that the guy often described as "Mr. Potential" and "Future Great" would reach the point in his career where people have finally recognized that he's a legitimate superstar.
Robinson Cano is 27-years-old and is already establishing himself as one of the best players in the American League.
Along with Miguel Cabrera and Justin Morneau, Cano should be one of the front-runners for the AL MVP award. And considering how Chase Utley and Dustin Pedroia are both having somewhat off years, Cano can now reasonably be considered as one ...
Here are the times it's happened:
Today: Indians walked Tex to load the bases for A-Rod. He then hits another grand slam extending the Yankees lead from 2-1 to 6-1.
5/14/10: Twins walk A-Rod to load the bases and Alex turns a 4-3 deficit into a 7-4 lead with a grand slam.
10/4/09: Tampa's Andy Sonnanstine walked Tex to load the bases in the top of the sixth. A-Rod then launched his second homer of the inning to cap off a 10-run rally by the Yanks.
9/22/09: Angels reliever Darren Oliver walks Tex to ...
From Wayne Coffey (hat-tip to Was Watching):
"I am worried about my hitting, but not that much," Montero says in front of his locker in the PNC Field clubhouse. Not even five minutes later, he says, "I'm not upset that I'm not hitting. I'm still the same guy...trying to hit the ball hard every single time." ..."I have been working every single day in the cage," Jesus Montero says. "This is baseball; slumps will happen. I am working really hard to get out of it."
Yankees senior VP of baseball operations ...
It seems like when there's one milestone for New York Yankees' superstar, Alex Rodriguez, to achieve, another one is waiting to be accomplished right after that.
On May 14th, A-Rod passed Frank Robinson on the all-time home run list by hitting his 587th home run.
On May 17th, he hit a game-tying home run against the Red Sox that put him in the top 20 of the all-time RBI list.
There has also been a discussion about him needing only one more stolen base to become the seventh member of the elite 300-300 ...
This Week in Yankees History: May 30-June 5
May 30
1884: Former Yankees shortstop Rube Oldring (1905, 1916) is born. Rube hit .267 in 51 games for the Yankees with two tours with the team.
1894: Former Yankees pitcher Al Mamaux (1924) is born. On July 12, 1924, Al was purchased by the Yankees from Reading (International League). He went 1—1 in 14 games in 1924.
1902: Former Yankees pitcher Louis McEvoy (1930-1931) is born. Lou went 1—3 in 34 games with four saves in two seasons for the Yankees.
1912: After a ...
Andy Pettitte has indeed been dandy for the Yankees this season and continues to defy father time.
The same 24-year-old kid who went 21-8 and finished second in Cy Young voting in 1996 is still dominating here in 2010. The only difference is that he is now 38 years old, in his 16th season, and on the brink of retirement.
Andy has gone 7-1 with a 2.48 ERA this season, making him the best pitcher in the AL through the first two months of the season thus far.
His last two outings have been ...