Baseball Toaster: Bronx Banter : Igawash

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Igawash

2008-02-29 14:41

by Cliff Corcoran

In their exhibition warmup for the exhibition season, the Yankees stomped the University of South Florida 11-4 in a game that wasn't even as close as that score would suggest.

Lineup:

L - Johnny Damon (LF)
R - Derek Jeter (SS)
L - Bobby Abreu (RF)
R - Alex Rodriguez (3B)
L - Jason Giambi (1B)
S - Jorge Posasa (C)
L - Robinson Cano (2B)
R - Shelley Duncan (DH)
S - Melky Cabrera (CF)

Pitchers: Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, Kei Igawa, Jeff Marquez, Alan Horne, Chase Wright

Subs: Morgan Ensberg (1B), Nick Green (2B), Bernie Castro (2B), Alberto Gonzalez (SS), Cody Ransom (3B), Austin Romine (C), Colin Curtis (RF), Austin Jackson (CF), Justin Christian (LF), Juan Miranda (DH)

Opposition: A college team using wood bats for the first time.

Big Hits: Jorge Posada went 2 for 4 with a double and a two-RBI triple. Colin Curtis went 1 for 3 with a double. Those were the only extra-base hits by the Yankees, who reached base 23 times but didn't strike out all game. Melky Cabrera was 2 for 2 with a sac fly. Bobby Abreu was 1 for 1 with two walks.

Who Pitched Well: Everyone but Igawa. The other four Yankee pitchers combined for this line: 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, the lone hit against that group was a base hit up the middle off Kennedy. Marquez got all three of his outs on groundballs. Horne got his three on two grounders and a K. Kennedy got three outs on the ground, two by K, and just one in the air. Hughes struck out the first two batters he faced on a total of eight pitches. Ed Price says Hughes looked the sharpest of the Big Three.

Who Didn't: Kei Igawa's lone inning of work went: fly out, walk, wild pitch, walk, HBP, grand slam, K, K. Per Peter Abraham, pinch-hitter Eric Baumann, who hit the grand slam, had struck out in his only two previous at bats this season, "was also swinging a wood bat and missed the 2006 and 2007 seasons with a shoulder injury." Pete also points out that the walk that started the USF rally was a five-pitch walk to the ninth-place hitter in a college lineup with the Yankees leading 9-0.

Nice Plays: Colin Curtis made a sliding catch in right to end Hughes' inning of work.

Ouchies: Derek Jeter was hit near the left elbow with a pitch in the first inning, but stayed in the game and singled in his next at-bat.

More: Pete Abe's play-by-play of the first 5 1/3 innings. Anthony McCarron (sitting in for Mark Feinsand) takes the action a few batters further up to the salami of Igawa (read from bottom up). Tyler Kepner reports these other recent finals of MLB vs. College action:

Red Sox 24, Boston College 0
Red Sox 15, Northeastern 0
Nationals 15, Georgetown 0
Cardinals 15, St. Louis U. 0
Pirates 5, Manatee C.C. 0
Braves 8, U. of Georgia 1

I'm tickled that the closest game was between the Pirates and a Community College. Nonetheless, four times as many runs were scored off Igawa in his one inning of work today than were scored by the college teams in the other 62 innings we've accounted for. Igawa should be proud. Finally, for trivia fans, Bryan Hoch has the lineup from the last game between the Yanks and USF.

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Comments

2008-02-29 16:14:34

1. BleedingPinstripes

Igawa is pretty terrible.

2008-02-29 16:43:26

2. rilkefan

0 "Igawa should be proud."

Ok, he's not a good pitcher - but going all Mattpat11 doesn't help.

2008-02-29 17:26:20

3. wsporter

One putrid inning against FSU does not a season make or something like that anyway. How about we promise each other not to get shrill till sometime in March? :-)

2008-02-29 17:55:44

4. weeping for brunnhilde

Poor Igawa.

Poor man.

And for his part, Derek should have charged the mound.

2008-02-29 17:56:55

5. weeping for brunnhilde

3 No, it doesn't, but nor does it look too good.

College kids, man.

Poor Igawa.

2008-02-29 18:25:05

6. wsporter

5 Ah he was wild and hung a slider to a twitchy kid first time out, poop happens. I suppose he's destined for Yankee ignominy if he's not already there but I'm in no hurry to stage the execution. Hell, I'm just happy they're playing ball again.

2008-02-29 18:28:40

7. Rich

I'm psyched about the young pitchers, particularly Hughes.

2008-02-29 18:37:04

8. Shaun P

3 MFD, if we should temper our criticism of Igawa because it was college kids not used to wood bats - and just one inning - then perhaps we should temper our praise of the young pitchers as well?

Nah, screw it. Its awesome that the kid pitchers rocked. Igawa though, sheesh.

2008-02-29 18:55:17

9. murphy

pirates ONLY beat a community college 5-0? sheesh. that's saaaaad. i dont' care if it's the first game of the year for those cats. in real life, i am damn near a socialist when it comes to economics - couldn't get much lefter; but on the baseball diamond, i gotta ask: is this what revenue sharing gets us?

2008-02-29 18:55:38

10. wsporter

8 MFD I think so. It's sweet that we played the college kids today but I don't think it means all that much in the scheme of things. I'd also say it didn't mean much if the first one was against another MLB team.

It is awesome but it is February.

2008-02-29 18:56:37

11. markp

On one hand, it was his first inning of the spring, etc, etc,
On the other, walking the #9 hitter and another, a wild pitch, a hit batter and a salami to a college kid with 2 Ks in 2 ABs all
season...

Giambi playing 1B was the best part of the game for me. Girardi has said he wants Giambi on the field, and it looks like he's serious.

2008-02-29 19:30:05

12. Just fair

Igawa. The kei to Suck-cess. Sorrry. I couldnt't help myself.

2008-02-29 19:32:29

13. Just fair

Make that that couldn't help myself. Or could not help myself for that matter. Yeesh.

2008-02-29 20:14:35

14. Cliff Corcoran

You know, the only reason I really got on Igawa in this post was because I saw it coming (see the end of my lineup post). To me, a player truly achieves greatness when he meets even the most absurd expectations, like Alex Rodriguez did last April. The same is true on the other end of the spectrum. When you expect the worst and get it, I don't care when it happens or who the opponent is, that's as low as it gets.

That said, yeah, this game was the most meaningless contest the Yanks will play all year, but it's the first inter-squad game they played all year and I'm starved for some actual baseball action, which is exactly why I write up every spring training game in this fashion and will continue to. But note that I'm not offering up extensive game analysis as I do during the regular season. In that sense, form is function here.

2008-02-29 20:33:03

15. OldYanksFan

Iggy Ignominy?

2008-02-29 20:44:11

16. Shaun P

14 "I'm starved for some actual baseball action"

Here, here! Sunday can't come soon enough!

------------------------

Which do you expect more:

Igawa pitching horribly?

Pavano trying to pitch and getting hurt?

That is a tough question to answer.

(Speaking of Carl - anyone else play Yahoo fantasy baseball, and notice that, somehow, they rank Pavano 362 out of almost 1000 players? What are they using to determine those rankings, drunk monkeys tossing darts?)

2008-02-29 21:37:14

17. Cliff Corcoran

16 Igawa. I don't expect Pavano to try to pitch.

2008-02-29 21:51:29

18. Chyll Will

16 When I tried to answer that question, the cursor turned into a rainbow-pinwheel and cycled for a half-an-hour...

2008-02-29 22:46:20

19. weeping for brunnhilde

Wow, baseball, baseball!

I'm starting to get giddy!

Is there really really really a game on Sunday?

A new and unplayed game, on the television?

Nah, it'll probably get snowed out.

Or floods or hurricanes or whatever the hell they have down there.

2008-03-01 00:14:56

20. Mattpat11

2 I assure you that wasn't what I was thinking about Kei Igawa.

2008-03-01 00:32:40

21. Mattpat11

And Posada hit a triple? Any word on the status of the outfielder that obviously suffered some kind of debilitating injury?

2008-03-01 05:26:22

22. The Mick 536

Have you no shame, Carl Pavano? Does he suit up for the game? Is he on the field? If so, does anyone sit with him. I want to see a video tape replay of the car accident.

As for the Janks, I, too, have no patience with Igawa, especially with his two countrymen doing so well with the Sox. I gave at the ballpark last year.

Check out Its Only A Game for a nice piece on WC Heinz. And, if time permits, read the baseball parts of the book.

2008-03-01 06:59:29

23. weeping for brunnhilde

21 Heh heheh heh.

2008-03-01 07:23:48

24. ms october

hank really is everywhere - he's in espn the mag (i know, i know, i'm an insider).
some of my favorite quotes are the ones that have to do with the horses.
straight from the hank's mouth:
"I think my breeding background has absolutley had a bearing on my approach to baseball. Building through scouting and the draft, then having the patience to see it through, to see the young talent reach its potential, without panicking..."

2008-03-01 07:54:30

25. Chyll Will

21 The latest word has it he was taken to a local hospital for examination. An EEG revealed a rainbow-colored pinwheel cycling in the vicinity of the cerebral cortex. Doctors are still trying to determine whether that was before or after Posada's triple.

2008-03-01 08:03:06

26. Chyll Will

24 If Hank comes up with a similar marketing scheme that inspired Greg Oden, I'll subscribe. If he figures out a way to breed more Jeters, A-Rods, Posadas and Mo's, I'll be his disciple. (But I suspect Jeter's way ahead of him on research...)

2008-03-01 09:30:01

27. Cliff Corcoran

21 Posada's triple hit the top of the wall, so I'm assuming the OF went back to the wall, missed the ball, and then had to chase it as it rolled back toward the infield, which is how inside-the-park home runs often happen. For Jorge, that's just three bags.

2008-03-01 10:12:36

28. wsporter

I love MLB.TV right now. Lazy Saturday, Yankees on the screen and Charlie Callis doing the game. Life could be much, much worse.

. . .

Is anybody home?

2008-03-01 10:12:57

29. Mattpat11

27 For Posada, that's still a double. I still think someone fell down and couldn't get up.

2008-03-01 11:06:28

30. Chyll Will

29 I wonder if Bama can recreate that scenario with the old woman from the Life-Alert commercials... (drum roll, please!)

2008-03-01 11:06:45

31. Chyll Will

29 I wonder if Bama can recreate that scenario with the old woman from the Life-Alert commercials... (drum roll, please!)

2008-03-01 11:13:51

32. Chyll Will

Grrr...

2008-03-01 11:23:20

33. rbj

I wouldn't have minded if Igawa gave up 9 straight hits, as long as he was throwing strikes. (2 BBs + 1 HBP) x college kids = still no command of the strike zone.

Back to Aikido.

2008-03-01 11:42:30

34. wsporter

The guy doing the Philly's PbP announced the new third baseman for the NYY as "Marcus Veccinaccio, Veccinaccio."

Ouch.

2008-03-01 13:09:39

35. wsporter

Well it's over 9-3 us. Montero hit one out the other way which was cool.

. . . I'll lock up when I leave . . . bye.

2008-03-01 19:03:48

36. weeping for brunnhilde

27 29 You guys are making me so excited to watch real baseball games!!

God, the off-season is all talktalktalktalk.

Time for fucking baseball!!!!

Yaayayyy!!!!

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