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Upcoming Schedule

League Championship Series NLDS on FOX; ALDS on TBS

Wed 10/15 Phi @ LAD 8:22
NLCS G5 (Hamels v Billingsley)
Thu 10/16 TBR @ BOS 8:07
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PHI 3, LAD 1
TBR 3, BOS 1

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BOS 3, LAA 1
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PHI 3, MIL 1
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Lasting Yankee Stadium Memories
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Lords of the Realm
Around the League
Information Overload
The Professionals
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Suggested Reading
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Alex:
Strikes and Gutters: A Year with the Coen Brothers: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
My 20 Favorite Hip Hop Albums
Greatest Singles from Hip Hop's Golden Era (1986-1994)
Ten Neglected Hip Hop Classics

Cliff:
Tin Ear
Pazz & Jop ballots: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003 (post), 2002, 2001
Clem Snide
Eminem
Sleater-Kinney

Bronx Banter Interviews
Excerpts

Juicing the Game by Howard Bryant Part 1 Part 2
Forging Genius by Steven Goldman Part 1 Part 2
How About That! by Stephen Borelli
The Crowd Sounds Happy by Nicholas Dawidoff
The Last Nine Innings by Charles Euchner
Clemente by David Maraniss
The Soul of Baseball by Joe Posnanaski
Glenn Stout and Richard A. Johnson:
Yankee Century: Part 1 Part 2
Red Sox Century: 1 2 3 4
The Dodgers: 120 Years of Dodgers Baseball

Players

Major Leauge Roster:

Infielders:
J. Giambi BR BP E MLB
R. Cano BR BP E MLB
D. Jeter BR BP E MLB
A. Rodriguez BR BP E MLB
W. Betemit BR BP E MLB mi
C. Ransom BR BP E MLB mi
J. Miranda BR BC mi

Outfielders:
B. Abreu BR BP E MLB
J. Damon BR BP E MLB
X. Nady BR BP E MLB
H. Matsui BR BP E MLB mi
B. Gardner BR E MLB mi
M. Cabrera BR BP E MLB mi

Catchers:
I. Rodriguez BR BP E MLB
J. Molina BR BP E MLB
C. Moeller BR BP E MLB mi
F. Cervelli BR BC mi

Starting Pitchers:
M. Mussina BR BP BC E
A. Pettitte (L) BR BP BC E
P. Hughes BR BP BC E mi
C. Pavano BR BP BC E mi
A. Aceves BR E mi

Relief Pitchers:
M. Rivera BR BP BC E
J. Chamberlain BR BP BC E
D. Marte (L) BR BP BC E
J. Veras BR BP BC E mi
E. Ramirez BR BP BC E mi
B. Bruney BR BP BC E mi
D. Giese BR BP BC E mi
C. Britton BR BP BC E mi
P. Coke (L) BR BC E mi
D. Rasner BR BP BC E mi
S. Ponson BR BP BC E mi
D. Robertson BR BC E mi
H. Sanchez BC mi

15-day DL:
C. Wang BR BP BC E
60-day DL:
J. Posada BR BP E MLB
J. Albaladejo BR BP BC E mi
A. Brackman BC

Coaches:
J. Girardi (Mgr) BR BP BC
R. Thomson (Bench) BC
Kevin Long (Hit) BR
D. Eiland (Pitch) BR BP BC
B. Meacham (3B) BR BP BC
T. Peña (1B) BR BP BC
M. Harkey (Pen) BR BP BC

40-man Roster:
AAA
S. Duncan BR BP E MLB mi
J. Christian BR BP E MLB mi
I. Kennedy BR BP BC E mi
C. Wright (L) BR BP BC E mi
J. Marquez BR BC mi

Designated for Assignment:
B. Traber (L) BR BP BC E mi

Select Minor Leaguers:

AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees:
B. Castro BR mi DL
C. Basak BR BP BC E MLB mi
E. Duncan BC mi
N. Green BR mi
B. Broussard BR mi
M. Carson BC mi
C. Stewart BR BP E MLB mi
J. Brown BC mi DL
K. Igawa (L) BR BP BC E JB mi
M. Melancon BC mi
J.B. Cox BC mi
S. Strickland BR BC mi
S. Jackson BC mi
E. Milton BR BC mi DL
V. Zambrano BR BC mi DL

AA Trenton Thunder:
K. Russo BR mi
R. Peña BC mi DL
C. Malec BC mi
M. Vechionacci BC mi DL
A. Jackson BC mi
C. Curtis BC mi
E. Gonzalez BR mi
P.J. Pilittere BC mi
J. Jones BC mi
G. Kontos BC mi
J. Nuñez BC mi
B. Smith BC mi DL
A. Claggett BC mi
O. Perez BR BC mi
M. Gardner BC mi
K. Whelan BC mi
W. Arias (L) BC mi

A Tampa Yankees:
E. Nuñez BC mi
C.J. Henry BC mi DL
T. Battle BC mi
K. Anson BC mi
J. Gil BC mi
A. Horne BC mi DL
Z. McAllister BC mi
W. De La Rosa (L) BC mi
C. Garcia BC mi

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:
J. Snyder BC mi
M. Cusick BC mi
B. Suttle BC mi
A. Romine BC mi
J. Montero BC mi
D. Betances BC mi
J. Heredia BC mi
J. Ortiz BC mi
C. Heyer BC mi

Low-A Staten Island Yankees:
D. Adams mi
P. Venditte mi

Rookie Gulf Coast Yankees:
C. Joseph mi
C. Smith mi
K. Higashioka mi

Key:
BR = Baseball-Reference
BP = Baseball Prospectus
BC = Baseball Cube (past mL stats)
mi = MiLB.com (current mL stats)
E = ESPN (current splits, game logs)
MLB = MLB.com hit charts
JB = Japanese Baseball.com

The Recently Departed

2008 Yankees:
R. Sexson BR BP E MLB
M. Ensberg BR BP E MLB CLE mL
A. Gonzalez BR BP E MLB mi WAS
K. Farnsworth BR BP BC E DET
L. Hawkins BR BP BC E HOU
S. Patterson BR BC mi SD

Nady/Marte Trade:
J. Tabata BC mi
J. Karstens BR BP BC E mi
R. Ohlendorf BR BP BC E
D. McCutchen BC mi

2008 Campers/mLers:
C. Woodward BR BP BC E MLB PHI mL
J. Lane BR mi BOS mL
G. Porter BC mi WAS mL
J.D. Closser BR mi SD mL
S. Henn (L) BR BP BC E mi SD
H. Phillips (L) BR BC mi TB mL
S. White BR BC mi

2007 Yankees:
J. Torre (Mgr) BR BP BC LAD
D. Mientkiewicz BR BP BC E MLB PIT
A. Phillips BR BP BC E MLB mi CIN
J. Phelps BR BP BC E MLB STL
M. Cairo BR BP BC E MLB SEA
K. Thompson BR BP BC E MLB mi PIT
B. Sardinha BC mi SEA mL
W. Nieves BR BP BC E MLB WAS
R. Clemens BR BP BC E mi
T. Clippard BR BP BC E mi WAS
L. Vizcaino BR BP BC E COL $7.5m/2yrs
M. DeSalvo BR BP BC E mi ATL mL
M. Myers (L) BR BP BC E LAD mL
R. Villone (L) BR BP BC E mi STL
S. Proctor BR BP BC E LAD
J. Brower BR BP BC E mi CIN mL
C. Bean BR BP BC E mi ATL mL

2007 Campers and mLers:
E. Durazo BR BP BC E MLB mi
A. Cannizaro BR BP BC E MLB mi TB mL
A. Chavez BR BP BC E MLB mi LAD mL
K. Reese BR BP BC E MLB mi
R. Chavez BR BP BC E MLB mi PIT mL
O. Santos BC mi BAL mL
T. Pratt BR BP BC E MLB
T.J. Beam BR BP BC E mi PIT mL
B. Kozlowski (L) BR BP BC E mi Japan

Molina Trade:
J. Kennard BC mi

Abreu Trade
M. Smith (L) BR BP BC E mi PHI
C. Monasterios BC mi PHI
J. Sanchez mi PHI

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Yankee Panky #52: Under the Radar
2008-05-31 05:50
by Will Weiss

Take the Mets' struggles, add the Willie Randolph-SportsNet NY "Will he be fired" drama, and for good measure, bring Joe Torre's return to New York into the mix, and you have a recipe for keeping Yankee news relatively quiet for a week. The big news, and rightfully so, is Ian Kennedy's timely placement on the disabled list, which paves the way for Joba Chamberlain to mosey into the rotation Tuesday night in Toronto. Despite everyone, including me, espousing what they believe Joba's role is best suited to be, this shift was inevitable. Given the dilapidated state of the rotation, he could very well become the most reliable arm in the quintet.

Mark Feinsand, in this morning's editions of the Daily News, wrote that Joba should not be treated as a savior. He's right, and so is Joe Girardi, who is no magician at concealing his disdain for the hype.

"It doesn't matter what I say," Girardi told reporters. "Every time he came out of the bullpen people expected him not to give up a run. When there is a lot of hype around you it's hard to control people's expectations, and I understand that."

This means LaTroy Hawkins must figure out how to get people out in the seventh inning, provided Joe Girardi wants to enlist the former Cub tandem and disreputable law firm of Hawkins and Farnsworth to preserve leads in crunchtime.

I'm curious to see how things develop in terms of coverage, pressure from Steinbrenners the Younger, depending on Joba's success.

One thing that we as fans and not-so-casual observers can agree upon: the rotation needs an anchor, and at this point, why not Joba?

SPEAKING OF UNDER THE RADAR …
The Yankees signed Ben Broussard to a minor league deal, a note which slipped through the transaction wire cracks and went largely unreported by the beat generation.

Former YES compatriot Glenn Giangrande has the Boogie Down:

 

We've seen the Yankees stockpile veterans for depth purposes the past few years — Hideo Nomo, Erubiel Durazo, and Carlos Peña come to mind, though some people might only remember Peña and not for what he did in the organization, but for three other reasons: he never got called up, he hit a big walk-off home run for his native Red Sox after he was cut loose, and then he "blossomed" into the hitter he had been expected to be with Tampa Bay. Of course, he's an average killer this year, but 40 home runs remain in reach. I compare him to Durazo, another signee who never saw pinstripes, because he's a veteran who is who he is, unlike Peña, who was still underdeveloped when he was under the Yankees' umbrella.

So will we see Broussard? If he tears it up at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, then yes. Wilson Betemit and Shelley Duncan should be on watch. Even though he's a lefty while Betemit and Duncan are switch and righty hitters, respectively, he's a first baseman by trade with a little bit of outfield experience. If he can be an upgrade at the plate, so be it.

GOOFY STUFF
Two years ago, Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon began a mustache-growing trend that, while it had no hope of rivaling the late-1970s/early '80s teams, invoked some fun into a typically stodgy clubhouse. Now, Giambi is growing the 'stache again, leading Newsday's Kat O'Brien to write a Samsonesque feature in today's edition. To this point, I recall a conversation my father and I had several years ago, during one of Giambi's first seasons in New York. It was near the beginning of the time teams imposed the shift on Giambi and he tried to macho his way through it. Giambi, looking odd with the clean look, appeared out of place, prompting this gem from Dad: "He needs to grow the goatee. They should let him grow it. He'll probably hit. It's a stupid rule they have."

AND MORE GOOFY STUFF …
As an addendum to Alex Belth's post of Tyler Kepner's Bats entry, Jack Curry, one of the best in the biz, recounts a story from Mariano Duncan on Joe Torre's managerial skill. Remember, let's not confuse "game tactician" with "managerial skill." Read it, observe it. Respect Mr. Torre. Until someone comes along and masters the "zaniness," as Curry puts it, the comparisons will not cease.

Until next week …

Comments
2008-05-31 12:19:08
1.   Eirias
When does anyone expect one of the Yankees' AAA relievers to be called up (Cox, Patterson, et al. 2008)?
2008-05-31 13:23:31
2.   rbj
I expect to see Joba struggle at times, particularly later in games when batters have seen him a couple of times and once he's been through the league. It's the same with any other pitcher so I won't get upset. Just part of the learning curve.
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