Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Pair of aces on the menu tonight as the Yankees and the Red Sox sqaure off in the Bronx. If the glass is half-empty for you Yankee fans, you are probably convinced that Mussina will suffer his first bad outing of the year tonight. If you are a Sox fan, you can only hope that Beckett feeds off of his first performance against the Yanks, and not how he pitched against Toronto recently. Course the Sox also hope that Mussina finally slips. Mikey Moose has been brilliant so far, every bit the ace of the staff. With the Yankees at less than full snuff he's more important that ever. It's a cool spring evening in New York. It should be a fun one.
Let's Go Yan-Kees.
Hey, folks, Cliff here, back from a birthday weekend getaway with a few quick roster notes.
The toxic twins, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi, are back in their usual spots at third and DH tonight, but Derek Jeter is riding pine due to being hit on the thumb by a pitch in yesterday's game. Melky moved up to hit second in Jeter's place and the hot-hitting Andy Phillips hits seventh ahead of right-fielder Bernie Williams and shortstop Miguel Cairo. Word is Mo is available tonight after the weekend off. Good stuff for the most part. Since Jeter's x-rays were negative we can hope it'll just be a one-day thing for him.
The Red Sox, meanwhile, have undergone a few changes since we last saw them, primarily getting Coco Crisp back in center and leading off, bouncing Kevin Youkilis down in the order, and losing Wily Mo Peña to the DL (though he was hurt and on the bench when these teams last met).
Here's how they look today. Note that Pythagorean record.
Boston Red Sox
2006 Record: 33-21 (.611)
2006 Pythagorean Record: 30-24 (.564)
Manager: Terry Francona
General Manager: Theo Epstein
Home Ballpark (2005 Park Factors): Fenway Park (101/101)
Who's Replacing Whom?
Current Roster
1B – Kevin Youkilis (R)
2B – Mark Loretta (R)
SS – Alex Gonzalez (R)
3B – Mike Lowell (R)
C – Jason Varitek (S)
RF – Trot Nixon (L)
CF – Coco Crisp (S)
LF – Manny Ramirez (R)
DH – David Ortiz (L)
Bench:
L – Alex Cora (IF)
L – Willie Harris (OF)
L – J.T. Snow (1B)
R - Doug Mirabelli (C)
Rotation:
R – Curt Schilling
R – Tim Wakefield
R – Matt Clement
R - Josh Pauley
R – Josh Beckett
Bullpen:
R – Jon Papelbon
R – Keith Foulke
R – Julian Tavarez
R – David Riske
R – Rudy Seanez
R – Manny Delcarmen
R - Jermaine Van Buren
15-day DL: R – Mike Timlin, R – Wily Mo Peña (CF), L – David Wells, L – Lenny DiNardo
Typical Lineup
S – Coco Crisp (CF)
R – Mark Loretta (2B)
L – David Ortiz (DH)
R – Manny Ramirez (LF)
S – Jason Varitek (C)
R – Mike Lowell (3B)
R – Kevin Youkilis (1B)
L – Trot Nixon (RF)
R – Alex Gonzalez (SS)
Johnny Damon CF
Melky Cabrera LF
Jason Giambi DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jorge Posada C
Robinson Cano 2B
Andy Phillips 1B
Bernie Williams RF
Miguel Cairo SS
Jeter's bruised thumb is keeping him out of the lineup for now, though he's trying to convince Torre to change his mind.
I wonder if Jeter will lobby his way into the lineup. We all know that Beckett wouldn't intentionally hit him - that's not the right way to play, now is it Josh?
http://www.lohud.com/blogs/lohudyankees.html
He also reports that Torre is impressed with KT. Maybe it will be T-Ball who gets sent down.
Now THAT is how to pitch to Ortiz.
Wow. That was some major league pitching right there...
Well that took care of the shut out.
Jete's didn't take batting practice. Might be out this entire series. Lets hope ARod and Jason don't get the shits.
You were right Cliff, you are right.
I for one am happy to be wrong that Melky & Andy weren't quite ready.
and on another note, if no one said anything, the quote of the Title of this thread is from RENT.
They're teeing off Beckett tonight...
Keep Beckett in.
It's not fair watching the Sox take advantage of our disabled team like this.
And what a fun night this is!
BTW: Look up Hanley's numbers. Good times all around!
1.1 innings for Beckett. Now time to knock around Van Buren.
I felt those homers from here
Classy yankee fans as always.
OK, Moose — 6 pitch inning and back to Beantown's bullpen...
Record with Sheffield: 19-11
Record with Matsui: 19-13
Record with Matsui and Sheffield: 14-10
Record without Matsui and Sheffield: 19-12
Seriously, he may be Wally Pipped.
I didn't see Melky on the 25-man, did you?
I'm not sure if it's a chemistry thing or a swing for the fences issue. Regardless, I'm enjoying watching good defense and clutch hits peppered with a few monster blasts.
I'd like to give Torre credit for that rbi double as well.
No more complaints or criticisms about the Yankees' farm system from Baseball Prospectus and company.
and how sweet it is... there is zero power outage... i have never been more happy with the yanks in the last cupla years
and nice game... hopefully a good series..
It is definitely reflected in their pitchers' numbers.
Whacking homers works against mediocre pitching, but it often fails against good pitching. We had no plan B when slugging didn't work. Now we do.
Melky for ROY?
and i remember we ran a ... routs count..
put one up for our HEROES..
Let's go Yan-keeeeeees
Well, apparently they aren't trying to get outs, so maybe he did bean him on purpose. There's Cano's power!
And some (most?) of our sluggers just don't have the other skills. They aren't fast, or their defense isn't good, or they can't bunt. While a contact hitter isn't likely to be in the Bigs if he doesn't have other skills.
I think we have a great balance of contact and power now. The sluggers aren't pressing as much, because they know if they get on base, there's a good chance someone will move them up. They don't feel like they have "hit a 5-run homer," as Kay likes to put it.
I've probably posted this quote before, but what the heck, I'll post it again. MIT mathematician Alan Natapoff on why the Pirates beat the Yankees in 1960:
"A champion should be able to win at least some of the tough, close contests by every means available--bunting, stealing, brilliant pitching, dazzling plays in the field--and not just smack home runs against second-best pitchers."
Natapoff argues that runs produced aren't what matters. Or why play the World Series at all? Why not just hand the prize to the team that has racked up the most runs during the season?
Now get some more batting practice in. Ruin the Sox bullpen for the next three games.
Call it my intuitive reaction. I remember when the Yankees played the White Sox last year, and they were tough games, not least because their OFers always seemed to chase down everything in the general zip code. Defense wins championships...so they say. Dunno what the stats show.
This would seem to be a good chance to let Mr. Smith go to the mound.
And yes, it should be Smith then Villone. Another ten runs for the Yanks, then it'll be ok for Erickson - on a batter by batter basis.
I can't say that with a straight face.
Hey, not for nuthin.
Game over.
Not bad, what with Jeter out and all....
Andy Phillips got the post game interview. That is so cool.
Seriously, with this guy and that guy having a man-crush on some prospect, it's cool to see someone who knows the organization — and the game — stick to their convictions. Kudos, Cliff.
Sorry to hear you'll be leaving The Banter for the scouting/development gig with the Yanks, but you've earned it ;-)
Go Yankeees!
"The Yankees have called up infielder Nick Green from Triple-A Columbus as insurance during Derek Jeter's absence with a sore thumb.
To make room on the roster, the Yanks will either send OF Kevin Thompson back to Columbus or release OF Terrence Long."
Please let it be T-Ball...
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