When the Yankees signed pitcher Kei Igawa to a 23 million dollar contract, they didn’t envision the left-hander spending the length of his contract in Triple-A Scranton. With time running out, the Yankees are taking another direction to find a use for Igawa: the bullpen.
With the idea of using Igawa as a possible left-handed specialist, he will now begin the transition from starter (where he’s arguably been very good in Scranton) to the bullpen. It’s a switch we’ve seen happen in Scranton before. It wasn’t that long ago that Joba ...
If you're a Yankee fan, there was plenty to be excited about following Wednesday's 2-1 rubber-game win against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Curtis Granderson looks like a stud. Mo was Mo. The bullpen put it together. Nick Johnson didn't get hurt.
On balance, it was a successful beginning to the championship defense.
But ironically, it would be comments by longtime umpire Joe West that provided the biggest headline after the season's first series was through.
"They're the two clubs that don't try to pick up the pace," said West, the chief ...
We all knew what to expect when the New York Yankees headed up to Boston to face the Red Sox in the Opening Series of 2010.
The games would be long, exciting, hard-fought battles.
Those expectations were met.
Along the way, the Yankees taught us a few things.
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This is a much larger issue than simply Yankees-Red Sox, of course. The issue is that the pace of baseball is apparently too slow and the need to decision to establish rules to speed the game up.
Umpire Joe West should take this idea and apply it to his country singing. Talk about painfully slow and dull. But I digress. We need to quit trying to find fault with the game.
West pointed out that the play during the Yankees-Red Sox games have been “embarrassing” and a “disgrace to baseball.”
Well, Cowboy Joe, ...
When the Yankees got Curtis Granderson in the winter, some people weren't totally sold on the center fielder.
"He only hit .249 and he can't hit lefties and he strikes out too much," were some of the things I heard about why trading for Granderson wasn't a good move.
After this past series with the Red Sox, I'm sure most of those critics will be silenced.
One of the most common things heard about new players is having them "earn their pinstripes." The way Granderson played this past series, he's earned them.
In his ...
Rammy Manuel has rooted for the Los Angeles Dodgers since he came to the United States. He is too young to have seen Bill Bevens' one-hitter in the 1947 World Series, but his father used to talk about that game whenever Rammy mentioned the New York Yankees, the one team that the elder Manuel really didn't like.
My father was at Ebbets Field on Oct. 4, 1947 to see the fourth game of the ...
Brett Gardner used his speed in the New York Yankees 3-1 victory over the hated Boston Red Sox last night.
Gardner did not get a hit in three at bats in the final game of the opening series of 2010 season.
But in the top of the 10th inning, Gardner worked a one out walk against BoSox close, Jonathon Papelbon. Papelbon paid a great deal of attention to Gardner taking his lead off first and threw to first over and over again. Papelbon's concentration on Gardner may have led to his inattention ...
The New York Yankees won two out of three in their opening series.
It was against the Boston Red Sox.
In Fenway Park.
That's AWESOME.
That's because the Bronx Bombers will have no tougher opposition in the American League East with the possible exception of the Tampa Bay Rays.
And probably no tougher opposition elsewhere in the entire American League, with the possible exception of the Los Angeles Angels.
And those Angels no longer have John Lackey because Lackey was pitching last night for Boston. And his team lost. (He earned a no decision.)
The Rays still ...
One big series gone, many more to go.
This opening series was a great one for the Yankees, taking two of three from the Red Sox at Fenway.
Many good efforts went into this series, but the one that seemed to stand out to me was Curtis Granderson's.
First off, his first at-bat as a Yankee was an absolute bomb into the bullpens at Fenway.
He also made a couple of excellent plays in the outfield, one of which included him looking over the shoulder and catching the ball while running into the wall.
All ...
Curtis Granderson’s leadoff home run in the top of the tenth inning off of Jonathan Papelbon broke a 1-1 tie, as New York won their second straight with a 3-1 victory over Boston Wednesday night at Fenway Park.
New York took two out of three from Boston after losing the first eight meetings to the Red Sox last season. Chan Ho Park (1-1) pitched three scoreless innings for the win while Papelbon (0-1) suffered the loss. Granderson greeted Papelbon in the tenth inning with a home run into the ...