As the regular season comes to a close for 28 of the 30 teams, we at IIATMS thought it’d be fun to remember some of our favorite Yanks moment(s) of the year. There are obviously many, many moments we could reminisce about, but we’ll lay out a few and feel free to add your own.
My favorite moment was one that combined surprise, euphoria and goofiness, layered on top of what was likely the worst defeat of 2009 for our crosstown rivals. And given how awful 2009 was for the Mets, this was a doozy.
I’ll simply remember it as: “He dropped the ball!“
Date: June 15, 2009
Location: Yankee Stadium
Situation: Bottom of the 9th, two outs. Jeter on 2nd, courtesy of a one-out single, SB, strike-out by Damon.
Select View Full Post to continue reading.
We won’t know who the Yankees will be facing in the playoffs until sometime this evening, and so while my analytical keyboard is stopped up by uncertainty, I’ll take this opportunity to look back at my favorite moment from a season filled with incredible moments.
Mariano Rivera has appeared in 992 games in his storied major league career, for a total of 1206.1 innings, 4349 total batters faced and 560 saves (these totals including his lengthy postseason resume). He’s got 1098 strikeouts to just 272 unintentional walks, and he’s watched a grand total of 62 balls leave the yard on his watch, good for a HR rate of 0.46 per 9 innings.
So we can all agree, Mariano Rivera has been around a long time, and most all of the accolades he’s had a chance to accrue, he has (this without quibbling over MVPs/CY Youngs, which are pretty much unattainable by relievers).
Yet this year the greatest reliever in history ever managed to add a new first to his resume this year, and he did it in style (did we expect anything less?).
Select View Full Post to continue reading.
Friends, it is will enormous pleasure that I can finally share the news that has had me on pins and needles for the last few weeks:
It’s About The Money, Stupid has been selected by Rob Neyer and ESPN to be a charter member of what will be a new blog network on ESPN.com known as ESPN.com‘s SweetSpot Blog Network! IIATMS has the distinct honor of being the sole blog representing the New York Yankees in this network throughout the 2009 Playoffs, and hopefully into 2010 and beyond.
The network is set to “officially” launch on Monday, October 5th, but we’ve been given permission to share the news today.
When I started this blog in December 2007, I had a fairly modest goal: Get ten people who I didn’t know to regularly come back and read what I had to say. And now, today, I have been called up from the minors to have a cup of coffee with the big club. Absolutely mind-blowing. When I started, as awkward as a newborn fawn, ARod had just re-signed with the Yankees, following an equally awkward opt-out during the 2007 World Series. During a debate with a friend about why he’d come back to the Yanks after having a miserable three years in New York, my answer was “It’s about the money, stupid. It’s always about the money, even when they say it’s not. It always is.” And the blog was born.
My mission statement, if you will, has always been to deliver the most unbiased view of the Yankees around. Like any good mission statement, it’s not something that’s readily achievable, but something to strive for. You will not find blatant homerism here. I hold the organization to the strictest of standards and will not hold back any criticisms of the ownership, management or the players if their actions warrant. I’m a Jeter fan, but I am also not above calling him out or being critical. Same goes for any other player wearing pinstripes, or working for them.
Select View Full Post to view more.
Even with a loss today, Detroit has a two game cushion on Minnesota with three left to play for each club. Technically, Minnesota could pull even or surpass the Tigers, but with such little time left, that would be unlikely. Assuming that New York will open post-season play against Detroit, I thought it would be appropriate to chronicle a few of the bigger bats featured in the Tiger lineup.
Two seasons ago, Magglio Ordonez was one of the best players in baseball. He was nearly nine wins above replacement, leading the league in hitting with a .363 average. He was third in the league in wOBA with a .438 mark, and also played outstanding defense in right field (18.3 UZR/150.) Had Alex Rodriguez picked any other time to have an other worldly season, Ordonez would have taken home the MVP award.
But this year, Ordonez has fallen on harder times. All three of his slash stat lines are down, most significantly his slugging. His slugging percentage has fallen from a lofty .595 in ’07 to a pedestrian .407 in 2009, and he hit as many home runs in 2007 as he has the past two seasons combined. This is largely due to a change in Ordonez’s batted ball profile. This season, over 51% of the balls Ordonez has put in play have been on the ground, nearly seven percent higher than his previous high as a Tiger. The extra grounders have caused his fly balls to decrease, consequently resulting in a major power outage. I can’t explain why this happened. Even though he has always hit more grounders than flies, a shift of this magnitude in one season is very rare: a career forty-four percent ground ball hitter does not normally see a seven percent increase in that department. Perhaps it is a sign of his bat slowing down a bit, but if that was a case, I would expect a more dramatic increase in strike outs, and that’s not evident. It appears that for whatever reason, be it age, fatigue, bat speed, or a flaw in his swing, Magglio is not a power hitter right now.
This is useful to consider for the upcoming series. A thirty-five year old ground ball hitter in the middle of a lineup is a serious double play threat. Since Ordonez also shows a noticeable platoon split, (.338/.401/.486 against southpaws, .281/.351/.370 against righties) manager Joe Girardi might have the perfect opportunity to use platooning to his advantage with regards to Ordonez. To sum up, the Tigers have some bats to worry about. Ordonez should not be one of them, particularly if there is a righty on the hill for the Bombers. Magglio is still a useful player, but not the difference maker he was just a couple years ago.
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=248&position=OF
http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2007&month=0
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/5889/splits;_ylt=AudbfLmrh5l71l3oBIy9JPyFCLcF
Tampa Bay Rays: 82-76, 3rd in the AL East.
Pitching match-ups:
Game 1: CC Sabathia vs. David Price
Game 2: Andy Pettitte vs. Jeff Niemann
Game 3: A.J. Burnett vs. Wade Davis
Hitting:
Team wOBA: .343. 4th in MLB, 4th in the AL. Tampa Bay won’t be playing deep into October this season, but the offense certainly isn’t to blame. Evan Longoria has had an excellent sophomore season, bashing thirty-two home runs to go along witha a .379 weighted on base average. Left fielder Carl Crawford is not far behind Longoria in offensive production, with a wOBA of .368 to go along with sixty stolen bases. It’s hard to believe that neither of those established stars are in the top two in wOBA for their lineup: Those honors go to Ben Zobrist (.401) and Jason Bartlett (.386.) B.J. Upton and Dioner Navarro have slumped for the Rays this year, but nonetheless, this is an excellent offense that will be among the league’s best for years to come.
Select View Full Post to continue reading.
This from a convoluted source*, but a fascinating video of Joe Mauer apparently tipping pitches to Jason Kubel
(video after the jump)
While at the Yanks game last night, I was chatting with my co-writer here Will about the latest long-form article about the sublime Mo Rivera in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.
We were remarking how spoiled we are as fans to have a guy like Mo, every year, to rely on. He took over the full time closer role after Wetteland’s departure in 1997, after serving as uber-set-up guy in 1996. And since then, he’s been just incredible, as a player, a person, etc. I can’t think of anyone, in almost any job, who has done their job better for longer, except maybe Warren Buffett. Surely no one in the game of baseball.
Will noted that this could simply be a recycled article, updated every year for the latest round of brilliance. Hard to disagree on that one, too. He also noted that the inevitable “what will the Yanks do when Mo’s done?” stories are sure to follow. Except Mo hasn’t shown any sign of slowing down, has he?
Nonetheless, Tom Verducci is an excellent writer and this is surely worth a read.
And continued to happen while Rivera warmed up one late-June night in the bullpen at Tiger Stadium. The baseball, as if defaced, would not fly straight. New York bullpen catcher Mike Borzello had never seen Rivera throw like this before, and it made him nervous. “In the old Detroit stadium the bullpen was on the field,” says Borzello, now the Dodgers’ bullpen catcher. “So if you missed the ball, they would have to stop the game. And there’s nothing more embarrassing than that. He started throwing these cutters. Immediately I checked the ball. Is the ball scuffed? What is going on here?
Select View Full Post to continue reading.
One has to wonder how much this will linger into 2010 and beyond:
New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes has a new tear in the injured right hamstring that sidelined him for most of this season.
[...]
The Mets say Reyes felt discomfort in the hamstring while running during his rehabilitation work Tuesday at a training facility on Long Island.
Wow, the bad news just keeps on coming…
Select View Full Post to continue reading.
The Yankees needed to see another good outing by Joba, but instead were disappointed by his performance. Despite being cleared to go 100 pitches, Joba only made it through 3.2 innings before the bullpen had to take over. With the chance to sweep their second straight series, the Yankees failed to close out the Royals, losing 4-3.
Joba showed a lack of control early, walking Tug Hulett and Billy Butler in the first. Brayan Pena singled to left, scoring Hulett, before Joba battled back and finished off the next two batters. Derek Jeter started the Yankees’ side of the inning by driving a solo shot into centerfield, tying the score at 1-1. Joba loaded the bases in the second, but was able to get out of trouble without giving up a run.
The Royals took the lead in the third when Alberto Callapso doubled to right. Mark Teahen sent a hard grounder towards first base, but it took a strange hop, right over the head of Mark Teixeira and into right for a RBI single. Josh Anderson started the fourth inning off with a single and stole second base. Mitch Maier sac bunted Anderson over to third and Joba walked Billy Butler, before giving up a single to Pena, scoring Anderson and ending Joba’s night, with the Royals holding the 3-1 lead.
Select View Full Post to continue reading.
