Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Pedro Martinez has lost the velocity of his fastball as his Hall of Fame career has progressed, but nothing else.
He still has arguably the best changeup in the game, and locates it, a 89 mile-per-hour fastball, and a snail-slow curve effectively. He has a whip-like delivery, which adds deception and puzzles the opposition as to what pitch is coming their way.
By mixing his pitches, with the ability to throw any pitch in any count, he keeps hitters guessing. Throughout his Hall of Fame career, opponents ...
The strategy when facing Pedro Martinez is always to just wait him out, get his pitch count up, then pounce on the relievers who take over for him in the seventh inning.
In the fourth, everything appeared to be going as planned, as Mark Teixeira's homer tied the game and the Yankees started getting better swings against the future Hall of Famer.
But in the sixth, the Phillies pitcher settled back down to strike out Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez swinging, and was one pitch away from striking out the side when Hideki Matsui golfed ...
The New York Yankees gave a reason why they are Pedro Martinez’s daddy.
Martinez pitched six innings giving up three runs in the 3-1 Game Two victory by the Yankees. Pedro allowed two solo homers, one to first baseman Mark Teixeira in the fourth and then another to Hideki Matsui in the sixth on a pitch that was practically in the dirt.
Teixeira, who was struggling in this postseason as of late, was 1-for-3 with the homer and a strikeout as he really lifted Yankee spirits with his bomb.
Matsui was 2-for-3 on ...
Wily. Deceptive. Vintage.
And I'm not talking about Pedro Martinez.
Just 24 hours removed from Cliff Lee's Game One masterclass, AJ Burnett pitched a gem of his own to send the Yankees to Citizens Bank Park with the series tied at 1-1.
The lesser-heralded half of the Yankees' offseason acquisitions allowed just one run on four hits and two walks, striking out nine in seven stunning innings to help New York to a 3-1 win in the Bronx.
The Phillies scored a run in the second inning, but the Yankees responded with solo home ...
An in-his-prime Cy Young Award winning pitcher was making the start in Game One of the World Series on the hill at Yankee Stadium (one of the few stadiums left that does not receive money for naming rights). He completely dominates the Bronx Bombers power laden lineup, and out dueled the Yankees ace left handed pitcher.
Having won the prior years World Series, his team was seeking to become the first National League team since the Big Red Machine in 1975-76 to repeat as a World Series Champions. The Yankees meanwhile, had not been ...
The year was 1995. I was 12-years old. And I fell in love for the first time.
Hard.
And anybody who was living in Seattle in the time can tell you who I fell for, because 1995 is perhaps the fondest year remembered in the modern Seattle era.
The Seattle Mariners were going to the playoffs for the first time and it wasn't easy. They came back from a 13-game, mid-August deficit (many of those wins coming through late-inning heroics) to force a 1-game playoff with the California Angels.
They were facing Mark Langston, ...
If you are a catcher prospect, please contact the New York Yankees today. Immediate position available. Looking for a regular catcher starting 2012. Maybe before.
This is an employment ad you will not find in The New York Times. The word is traveling around all Yankee Stadium.
Jorge Posada is not happy about being bumped for Game Two of the World Series. Once again, this postseason Manager Joe Girardi elected to use back-up catcher Jose Molina to be behind the plate for starter A.J. Burnett.
Things happens and no matter how the ...
Phil Hughes hasn't been his dominant self this postseason, as has been very well documented. So far, his line reads:
4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 6 K.
That works out to a .557 BABIP, but it's not like he's been giving up weakly hit balls. Thirty-five percent of the batted balls against him have been line drives. Usually, I wouldn't be worried over a few bad innings. I mean, it happens to everyone.
The numbers themselves would barely change Hughes' projections, but there has been concern over his mechanics recently. ...
On November 13, 2008, Brian Cashman made one of his rare very shrewd moves. He acquired 1B/OF Nick Swisher from the Chicago White Sox for two minor leaguers and utility man Wilson Betemit.
Swisher, a classic “Moneyball” type player (low average, high OBP, bad fielder), was coming off a down year with the White Sox in 2008. He hit .219 and White Sox GM Kenny Williams was quick to get rid of Swisher.
Cashman picked him up as low-risk, high-reward player.
Not only did Swisher have a nice come back year with ...
Year: 1996
Record: 53-109 (2nd most losses in franchise history)
Win %: .327
Win % Change: -90 from the year before
Run Differential: -320
Pythagorean Record: 56-106
AL Finish: 14th of 14 teams
Manager: Buddy Bell
Best Transaction: This one is arguably Randy Smith’s best move as GM of the Tigers, he sent pitcher Greg Gohr to the Angels for Damion Easley. Gohr was a bust with the Tigers and the Angels thought they could get him on track. Prior to coming to Detroit, Easley was a light-hitting 2B. Gohr kep up his poor performance, but Easley blossomed ...