i enjoyed the cut-to-the-chase refresher over at SI.com, cliff.

this series will be big.

also, peter abraham is speculating that ron villone might have been DFA'd (over at LoHud).

I've updated the above post with info on Bruney etc.

If someone somehow found out why Britton's not up here already, would that knowledge somehow disrupt the space-time continuum?

3 Maybe they keep thinking Bruney is Britton. You know, they are in a rush to get out the door and say to their assistant, "Call up that Br...kid!" and then Bruney appears.

Either that or George Constanza wants to be lead scout for the Mets.

It's clearly because Torre's a racist.

Seriously, Britton had to have hit on his wife at the spring training party or something.

According to Pete Abe, Villone was DFA'd. If true, is that the second time he has been released by the team this year?

6 In other news, I just actually read Cliff's article, which reported what I posted.

I'm an idiot. Let the mockery begin.

7 mock mock mock I says

Actually, the Star Ledger is reporting Villone is going to the DL with a back strain...?

4 "You know...the fat one."

Hey, there's Mike Myers, back from the dead. Walking Ortiz and Manny. Eeesh.

10 I don't care what his splits look like this year - Mike Myers should never be allowed to face Manny Ramirez. For god's sake, think of the children!

11 Or Lowell, or Kielty, or Varitek, or Pukilis, or....

Duck Mike Duck!

I hope they're enjoying Myers here in the Windy City. And they have an option on him for next year too at a mere $1.1M! (bargain at twice the price)

11-3 final. Well, glad to see the Pale Hose are still trying....

13 Well, the White Sox getting him virtually for free this year. The Yankees are paying him to get pounded by the Red Sox.

Whoa, the Braves DFA'd Bob Wickman. That's kinda weird. He hasn't been that awful.

16 I bet he could earn a big slice on the wheel of guts, real fast.

16 More seriously, his ERA is ok, not great...but his 1.5+ WHIP is s-c-a-r-y for a reliever.

18 Good point.

He gave up a walkoff homer to Adam Dunn last night, and apparently sealed his own doom.

19 that was the 2nd walkoff homer wickman allowed to dunn. he was with the tribe the last time, however. i guess the bravos will go with r. soriano in the 8th and dotel in the 9th...

I'd like to hear folks impressions of Miller tonight.

I won't be watching the game, but I heard a dire report on Miller about 3 weeks ago from Steve Stone, the former Orioles et al pitcher who used to do color for the Cubs and now has a show on sportstalk here in Chicago.

Stone -- who I find generally trustworthy, especially when it comes to pitching -- had been in Detroit and had seen Miller pitch -- I think just before he went on the dl with the hammy -- and predicted serious arm trouble for Miller.

Stone said he suspected the hammy was an early sign of trouble, and that the big issue was the extent to which Miller throws across his body.

He said he never would've advised a team to team to take a pitcher with Miller's mechanics, and that Miller would within the next year or 2 wind up on the dl with serious arm trouble, and that if he came back from it he'd have to radically change his mechanics.

0 Nice job on the SI article Cliff, though the most entertaining part of it for me is all of the comments from people who haven't clicked on the link to the BP Postseason Odds page, and obviously have no idea what that means.

Villone was placed on the 15-day DL with a back strain.

I wonder if the Tigers will think twice of pitching Miller, who is recovering from a hamstring, on the wet mound?

3 I emailed Pete this morning with that very question. No response back, yet.

3 Seriously, the numbers are so stark, how is it that nobody in the mainstream media has flat out asked Torre or, more importantly, Cashman, why Britton is not on the major league roster?

Is there going to be a game tonight?

http://weather.yahoo.com/img/us_dtw_closeradar_medium_usen.html

The tornado sirens here in Toledo did go off this evening, during my Aikido class (actually we're doing judo on Friday nights now.) Looks like there are going to be a bunch of cells going through the area tonight. We had one 30 minute storm, then it cleared, now it's raining again I'd prefer the game gets postponed til tomorrow rather than have Rocket pitch 3-4 innings, then have another rain delay forcing an early bullpen.

Got my ticket for Sunday's game. Can't wait to finally see Phil the Future in person.

Looks like it'll happen, from Petey:

UPDATE, 8:39 p.m.: The rain has stopped and the grounds crew is preparing to pull the tarp. And the casino managers breathe a sigh of relief as i won't be cleaning them out until later on.

I'll let you know when they announce a start time.

24 Maybe his flux capacitor is on the fritz.

25 I honestly believe someone has asked that question and got either no response or a meandering non-answer. Is there anything in Britton's makeup that would suggest that he'd be a danger to the clubhouse (like Colter Bean vs. the post-game spread)?

30 I think there's just a homophone problem.

Cashman: "We're thinking of bringing up that Britton kid."

Torre: "Britain? I don't need no freakin' British kid, they don't even play baseball. You bring him up and he'll just sit on the bench."

I am very upset no one is using my nickname for Britton anymore: The Make a Wish Kid.

Sigh.

31 Do you think that when Torre here's Britton's... er, "The Make A Wish Kid"'s name 32 , he's thinking, "cricket, cricket..." ?

By decree of King Cashman, I knight thee, Chris Britton.......

Sir Waitsalot!

Sliced Bread misses outside, ball 1.

We now return to the red wine, and the first pitch of tonight's Yankees Tigers game.

Any update on a game time out there?

Someone please give me an update on Yankee land. Any chance for a game tonight? Happening soon? Something? Anything?

From Peter:

UPDATE, 9:28 p.m.: This is odd. They pulled the tarp, cleaned up the field and now the tarp is back down.

Gotta make sure the dirt is all neat under the tarp. The severe t-storm warning has been cancelled, but there's still rain in the area. Call the game, everyone goes to bed early and play two tomorrow.

30 This is another case where I have to believe that there is a reason. I don't know what it is, and so far they're not saying, but I have to believe that they know something that the stats aren't telling us.

It's not like they've been reluctant to bring people up from the minors. They've even seen some of the kids have bad outings and either kept them around, or sent them down and brought them back up later. Clearly it's something about Britton in particular, because they've really gone the extra mile to avoid bringing him up.

Some will attribute this to the complete ignorance and stupidity of Yankee management. I find that hard to buy. They see the stats, same as we do; they get reports from the SWB coaches, and probably Nardi Contreras as well; they've seen him in the majors as well as the minors. I really find it difficult to believe that they simply ignore all that information and randomly decide to bring up everyone else in the system instead of Britton.

I have to believe that, in all those brains - Cashman, Torre, Guidry, Dave Eiland, Dave Miley, Contreras - there are enough combined brain cells, and enough baseball awareness, so that somebody would have said: "Hey, how about this Britton kid?"

So while I have no idea what the reason is, I believe there is one.

yes please. I can't listen to the annoying music on extra innings anymore. If you haven't heard it yet you don't know what you're missing.

We lost a full game to the Red Sox without even playing a game.

Looks like Tiger fans are just as confused:
http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/
Not gonna put the full link to the comments, it'd probably wreck the formatting here, but
read the comments from #30 on. Raining again, but rumors of a 9:30 - 10 pm start.

40 Thank you very fucking much, Ozzie. You're one guy I do not want replacing Torre.

Boston sweeps the DH. Seattle up 2-0. Not Good.

38 you think too highly of the Yankees braintrust. Trust me there is no valid reason.

Was this grounds crew hired from a Home Depot parking lot or something?

38 He's not on the DL so we know he's not hurt. He was a very good pitcher in the majors last year. He was excellent when they brought him up for a cup of coffee (and then sent him back down for no good reason). Since coming off the DL he has been much better than Bruney at AAA. This isn't a AAAA player. He was good last year at the big league level. He was good this year at that level.

So what the hell is the reason?

While you're thinking that one over. What was the reason behind calling up Ron Villone in the first place?

44 I'm assuming this is sarcasm, or a very good parody of one of the more frothing "Free Chris Britton" posters on Pete Abraham's blog (or for that matter, the Banter).

46 Villone was called up b/c he was left handed and was perceived to be able to go as a 'long man.' The foolishness that was trusting Villone is independent of the inexplicable mistrust of Britton.

44 Well, that changes everything. Now that you've assured me that you know more than the entire Yankee front office and farm system, I can rest easier. Thanks for setting me straight.

48 Yes, I was making that as a further point that the collective brains sometimes make incorrect or weird decisions. Look, maybe they have a good reason for not calling him up, but its tough to see. He can pitch better than some of the current members of the bullpen and he doesn't seem like the type to trash the clubhouse or show up to work drunk. So if there's a reason, it'd better be a good one because he satisfies my two criteria:

1. Not a schmuck

2. Can pitch

The White Sox are more useless right now than the D-Rays...scary...

46 I hear what you're saying, and I obviously don't have a good answer. But it's not like we're outsmarting them with advanced sabermetric stats or anything; this is just ERA, Ks and so on.

So I'd turn the question around; what do you think is the reason? Do you really think that it's because the Yankees somehow don't know the things we do, or are so stupid that they don't care - essentially, that they ignore all relevant information when making a decision?

Signing off, good night all.

50 For a long time, I was willing to chalk it up to understandable but bad decisions. As 48 said, there were reasons that they brought up (and stuck with) Villone rather than Britton. We may disagree with those reasons, we may think it was an egregiously bad decision - but I think we can all understand what their reasoning was.

But now it's at the point where they've pushed a prized prospect from the rotation into the bullpen, where they've used Brower and Karstens and now Bruney before Britton. Now it's not just a matter of setting the wrong priorities; it either makes sense in light of info we don't have access to, or they actually know nothing at all about baseball. The latter doesn't make sense to me, so I'll have to believe the former.

I suspect that someday we'll learn the reason.

52 Steve Goldman has often made the point that the Yankees have tremedous difficulty trusting their young pitching prospects, the fact that they have let Hughes & Chamberlain pitch is a minor miracle. BTW Scott Proctor still sucks

54 Shot in the dark: they're preparing to bring Britton up at the last minute and don't want the advance scouts to get a look at him. *Shrug* I'm as perplexed as you are, and I'm pretty much right with you on this one.

55 How's Procter been doing? You been keeping track? He's still a likeable guy, I hope he does OK.

56 not really just watching a little bit of the Mets game to get a baseball fix until the Yankees game starts. Proctor gave up his usual run in one inning and committed a balk.

The Britton deal is just infuriating, because you know Bruney is not going to do a good job based on his performance over the last few months. And apparently he stormed off after being demoted. I like a guy to have fire and want to stay in the bigs, but I also want a guy to recognize when he's been pitching like crap and take ownership of that fact.

I thought they had a real find in Bruney last season, but he doesn't seem to have what it takes, so give Britton a freaking shot.

I wonder if Britton isn't being promoted because of his weight? Or, maybe he committed some unpublicized infraction? Absent that, I can't imagine one good reason he hasn't been promoted. I also don't buy the "they know more than we do argument" because while that might be true in this case, that shouldn't be the starting point.

Sadly, I think the answer is probably something like Torre and Cashman compromised on the bullpen. Maybe Torre told Cash he wasn't comfortable with so many youngins, so Cashman decided Edwar and Joba would be his two choices. I am more willing to give Cashman the benefit of the doubt, so that's why I think Torre is probably most responsible for Britton not being promoted.

Proctor turned a 3-1 game into a 5-1 game in the 9th tonight. The Mets won 5-2. He's been up and down.

Meanwhile instead of playing Wilson Betemit at third, the Dodgers are starting Shea Hillenbrand.

You do the math.

58 Maybe the team thinks what you thought--that Bruney is a hidden gem.

Another reason that we have not considered: how many 'options' does each pitcher have? I'm not really sure I understand how that works, but this is teh same team that carried three catchers last year b/c they were worried about having to put a player who was out of options through waivers. maybe the thinking is that bruney is already near his expiration date, so you jerk him up and down a couple of times to see if he works out. Meanwhile, in a few days rosters can expand to 40, so Britton can be 'called up' with less impact on the roster.

I'm not saying this is a good reason--if in fact it is the reason--but maybe that goes into the thinking.

60 Does Joe Torre moonlight as the Dodgers manager?

OK, that was a cheapie...

The worst part about digging such a big hole is you have to root for teams like Chicago and Texas. I can't imagine having to do that 162 times a season.

63 Yeah, I'm sitting here pulling for the Jays over the Angels--it's brutal.

61 The thing that endeared me to Bruney was he struck out a lot of guys, which totally evaporated this season around June I think.

As far as options, once you use a guys option for a year, you can call him up and down as many times as needed-I think there's like 3 seasons where a player has options. The reason they didn't designate Nieves (or maybe it was Koyie Hill) last year was he didn't have any options left and had to clear waivers, so they waited until the other catcher cleared waivers first before designating the other one. This way they had one "experienced" catcher in the minors waiting behind the glass for emergencies.

61 The options hypothesis doesn't hold because an option lasts for the entire year and both pitchers have already been premoted and then optioned back to the minors.

Tarp off the field...approx. 10:45 start...another night of little/no sleep. They'd better win!

From Lohud:
UPDATE, 10:28 p.m.: First pitch is now scheduled for … 11 p.m.
UPDATE, 10:29 p.m.: Yes, I'm serious.

65 OK, I get it.

They really going to play the game tonight?

any chance there's still going to be a game?

66 Right you are.

68 I don't understand why you would bother to start a game at 11 pm, instead of just playing it tomrrow or Sunday.

Looking at Bruney's numbers, man, he had a great 18 games last season: a .87 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched.

59 Both are plausible considerations. I think the problem we're having and that you both ultimately agree upon is that if there is a reason, why have we had no information whatsoever about it? Not one excuse, not one statement, nothing that says that they even thought about it? What would they be trying to hide, and from whom?

If there was an answer, it would save a lot of speculation about their decision-making process.

My thing is, if he wasn't worth bringing up when they could have used him as opposed to the supposedly inferior choices they made, why would they bother when the rosters expand?

And, as was mentioned before, they decided to move a future starter into the the bullpen and use him as opposed to bringing Britton up, so what was the thinking involved in that? Not a stupid question, and one that deserves some kind of answer.

74 Of course, I meant 59 and 61 ...

59 The thing is, it's not the starting point. It's the only explanation that makes sense to me. I agree, perhaps his weight is a problem.

Your scenario is certainly a possibility - but let's be fair here. Yes, I do start with the assumption that the people involved actually know a little, and work from there. You tend to start with the assumption that Torre is probably responsible for any bad decision, and also work from there.

Ok can we start the game now? It's only 7:40 here so the late start doesn't bother me none. ;)

Did they lose all the rain checks in Detroit?

It is definitely in the Yankees best interest to play this game. They have their rotation set up perfectly for both Boston series and the Seattle series. Each time Pettitte, Clemens and Wang will pitch. Any rainouts would throw that off.

74 I agree, there should be some sort of explanation. Here's one reason I can think of for not getting one: the Yankees definitely don't like to say critical things about their players, or their prospects.

That may be entirely wrong, but I'm grasping at straws, too.

As for bringing him up when the rosters expand, there's no downside to it. He's already on the 40-man roster, so there's nothing lost.

Game at 11:00.

81 Per Peter Abraham.

74 explanation for whom? The general public? What good would it do for the organization to reveal the 'real' reason he has languished in the minors (assuming there is one)? I can just imagine:

Cashman: We know he has electric stuff, but we're really worried about how fat he is.

or

Torre: He pitched well for us earlier this year, but he couldn't keep off the crack pipe.

So long as no one (who matters) presses for an answer, why would the organization volunteer one?

76 I do admit that when it comes to "trusting" bad vets over promising young guys, I definitely start with the assumption that Torre is to blame. There is so much evidence to support that conclusion, that I am not sure how one could thing otherwise.

79 And in Detroit's interest to not lose the gate.

79 Not meaning to sound like Michael Kay, but isn't the rotation already put out of whack by starting a game really late? especially if the pitcher warmed earlier in the evening?

Also, starting this late risks runing into the curfew, and a suspended game would certainly mess up the rotation.

The Rangers suck.

Texas had man on 3rd, 1 out and didn't get the tying run in against Seattle. Crud!

86 I doubt four hours will throw the rotation out of whack. Also, I dont think there is a curfew anymore, and even when there was one, it didn't apply when a team was in town for the last time in a season.

85 Again, how much gate is lost? The prepaid tix are already paid for. The new Tigers stadium contains all kinds of restaurants and bars, where invariable the fans have been spending money (I did this there during a rain delay a couple of years ago). If they reschedule for tomorrow, the same paying customers show up, along with a good number of walk ups, and the sell the same beer and hot dogs to the same fans who paid for them the night before.

If I lived on the east coast, I'd be pissed. The game is starting at 8pm out here.

86 I am also certain that the pitchers didn't warm up before because the rain started an hour before game time.

86 I am also certain that the pitchers didn't warm up before because the rain started an hour before game time.

84 I don't take that as a blanket assumption. He's slow to make changes, but he makes them. You can't look at the way he's managing now and make the case that he's blindly favoring veterans.

Remember when everyone assumed that Melky would sit down when Giambi came back? That Cairo would continue to play as long as possible? Torre's actually made a lot of decisions, this year and over the last few years, that have established young players on the team.

But, of course, he gets no credit for any of that. It's much easier to make the case if you dismiss all the evidence that might contradict it.

Breathe. Dead horse. I'll revisit it another day.

90 The gate for tonight's game is money in the bank. If the game is rained out and a normal DH is played (I'd assume the Yankees wouldn't go for a day nighter), rainchecks will have to be issued. A raincheck at this time of year usually carries over into next season. So, basically, 40,000 people wont need to buy tickets for their next game. Also, if you are going to keep the stadium open for 4 hours and rack up the concessions, then you pretty much have to play the game.

94 You can't be serious? The fact that it took him so long to displace Farnsworth, Proctor, Cairo, etc. is not a positive. Sure, he eventually made the change, but the horse was out of the barn. Also, it very well could be that Cashman imposed some of the changes on him. We saw the same thing in the past with Womack, Sturtze, Heredia, Sierra, etc.

Also, Torre did keep Melky in the lineup this time, but he already bothced that decision last year. I'm sorry, but I can't give Torre too much credit for repeatedly making the same mistake before finally deciding to change course.

KC beats Cleveland 2-1.

96 I'll take your word for it on the rain check carrying over to next season. But in any case, if the ticket is already paid for, then why does it matter if those people get into another game for 'free'?

Why do you 'pretty much have to' play a game after keeping the stadium open for four hours? I mean this seriously--are you talking legally, ethically, or economically?

87 I stand corrected....the Rangers really suck.

99 It matters because those people probably would have bought that other ticket, but now they are getting it for free (unless you think every fan in attendance only planned to see one game in their lifetime).

As for why you have to play, I think it would be a PR nightmare to bilk the crowd for concessions and then call the game once it stopped raining.

83 The real question was why hasn't anyone asked the question. The speculation is that someone asked and no one responded. True, they don't have to answer a question for anyone that doesn't need to know, but it's not a question that a lot of fans aren't asking, which of course is why we debate. Why not an answer? Why not ask the question? Even PeteAbe didn't respond when asked; safe to assume he doesn't have one. Is that the case with the team? Is there a reason why the subject is off-limits or even off the charts?

Play ball!

Maybe the Yankees will have an advantage being that they are fresh off a West Coast series?

Good start, now keep it going.

101 I suspect that many fans only go to one game a year, or at least a few. In any case, (and maybe I am dense here), I still don't see how it matters if a fan uses his rain check:

He has paid for game A, but that's rained out. He chooses to attend to game B, for free (but he's really paid for it, with ticket A. Meanwhile, the team plays make-up game C, which was previously unscheduled. So, the sales that the team loses by all of the fans using their rain checks (game B) can be offset by the addition of game C.

I also suspect that some fans will not cash their raincheck, so in effect the team has gotten their money for nothing.

In the old days, when walk--up business mattered more, then rain outs were a bigger deal. But it seems to me, at least in my simple understanding of it, that these days with more and more people buying tickets ahead of time, teams are basically insured against bad weather and no shows.

I really like Miller. I wish he was a home grown Yankee.

Nice break! If we don't push a run across this inning, I will be highly upset.

Wow. We have to absolutely pummel the Tiggers tonight. No excuses. That was a Little League execution on Melky's chopper...

How awful are the White Sox? They've lost by a combined 21-4 today.

102 Good point. Traditionally, though, sports journalism has never been all that hard biting or probing. It seems that there is still some sort of code of trust or whatever, where sports writers don't ask tough questions, and that means they get to hang out in the club house or on teh field during batting practice or the like.

Wow, sloppy D.

106 I think the error in your assumption is that the Tigers would schedule a day night DH and make the rain out tickets count for that game. What is more likely is that the game would be a single admission DH for the Saturday paying customers. As a result, the Tigers would lose a game off the schedule and then have to allow the people who had paid for that game go to another game for free, when many of them would have paid to see another game anyway.

C'mon buddy, a 2 run double would suffice.

I think Jeter needs to rediscover the bunt. He has been pretty bad lately in double play situations.

113 If that's the case, then I see your point. Do they still use regular DHs? I guess that crazy Texas-Baltimore game was part of one...

Fantastic! Way to fu*k up the inning.

Wow...stupid is the only way to explain. I really hope that wasn't called from the bench.

Safe. F Pudge, too. I liked him better when he was, ah, whatever...

Well, Jeter didn't bunt, so they made up for it by running into an out with A-Rod batting. Put pressure on the D, that's what I always say.

Aaaand here we go again...

Incredible way to completely self destruct in an inning. This is what we waited 4 hours to see?

Statheads: What's the % of first and second, no outs, and failing to score?

Melky had to be running on his own...not even I think Joe is that bad.

124 Both Jeter and Melky ran--that had to a called play.

What the hell are they doing out there? Stealing with A-Rod at the plate, come on.

116 Day/night DHs have to be approved by the players on both teams. I have a feeling the Yankees would definitely not go for that.

125 Jeter may just have been following Melky.

Shoulda had a couple runs there. And it's past Rocket's bedtime. Great.

Shelley in RF...I'd better cover my eyes.

128 Could be--it looked to me like they both broke at the same time. But then, I'm watching on a very small computer.

So, per the discussion above, we're supposed to trust Cash/Torre et al in re Brittan -- hey they must have a good reason for calling up Villone and the kitchen sink ahead of him.

Should we trust that Torre et al had some sort of great reason for running with the best hitter in the game at the plate?

131 Like I said, if Torre called that play, well...I'd better digress.

Fuck...please rain.

I was just thinking that he might want to pitch around Magglio, even though Guillen kills us.

I was just thinking how the Yankees seem have a number of pitchers who can only perform well under select circumstances or who cannot have their routine disturbed. Like by 4 hour rain delays.

Why is Guillen batting 5th and Thames 3rd? Is Leyland retarded?

And the Yanks are losing regardless...

Too bad the bump was wearing his cup. Kharma's a bitch, ain't it? Where was that pitch?

I hope Miller doesn't get on a role...that first inning was a chance to really rattle the rookie and the Yankees did everything they could to make sure they didn't score, even though the Tigers defense really wanted them to.

We just don't have a chance. Between our pitchers throwing in one of these 7 runs in three innings efforts and the Mariners never losing It looks pretty bleak.

F the delay. Yanks were watching TV, they know what they have to do. Rocket will settle down and the bats will step up. It's gonna be a long night regardless. Hang in there...

I wonder if Miller is on a pitch count?

Tight zone tonight...

142 Judging by the way their young guys have been fading this second half, he should be.

142 It's a wonder his arm won't fall off by the fourth inning.

142 I was at the game last Thursday when Verlander through about 120 pitches in a blowout win. Leyland has not always been kind to arms.

Andy Phillips...you can only hope to contain him!

146 Hopefully that has a carry over effect on Monday.

This looks like one of those grind starts by the Rocket...he usually nibbles when he doesn't like his stuff.

Hahaha, yeah Clemens is 45, very funny. Morons.

149 (griping about these announcers)

140 Very bleak. 2.5 games looks pretty insurmountable at this point. Man, I wish we still had the M's on the schedule, at least we would have a say in the WC race. So, did Strahan report yet?

Why does every YES commercial have to be so annoying?

3rd inning already!

Pastadiving. Fun.

151 Uhhh..the M's are on the schedule--three games at the beginning of September.

The Yanks play the M's Sept. 3-5.

151 Sept. 3-5 at home.

Ugh...it seems like the double play is in a new Yankee strategy.

152 FCC requirement.

GIDP. Not so fun.

155 151 Whoops...that was sarcasm, right?? Goddam late start...

I saw that like 45569944 miles away.

155 I think that was sarcasm.

I wish the Yankees played in the National League...damn, those teams are all pretty awful.

I saw that [random-number] of miles away...

155 Uhhh, I know that. I'm just trying to develop an antidote to Mariner Derangement Syndrome. They're on a run. So were we. Ours ended. So will theirs. Enough about the M's already! If we take care of business between now and the time we play them, we control the outcome.

Arod is a very strong man. That swing was silly.

160 This is a sarcasm heavy zone.

An AAAA-Booomb!!!

YEAH.

I was going to suggest that A-Rod ground out to end the inning, but I'll take that...

A-Rod handing out souvenirs.

Man, I go out to a party, come back, and the Yankees are still playing. And I tune in just in time to see A-Rod hit a two run homer. I call tonight a good thing.

Wow, that was a BOMB!

168 From AAAAAAAAA-Rod!

You guys know you love Sterling.

166 Leiter read your mind...

170 Funny, I was going to suggest that Jeter get thrown out stealing. Great minds...

172 Did you get lucky?

There's something very satisfying about scoring when you have 2 outs and no men on.

160 , 162 and oh, yeah 164 — Thanks, guys. You're the only ones I can vent to ;-) My wife has tuned me out this season. She hears 'Yankees' and goes shopping in her mind...

176 So, you're admitting you're a lunatic? >;)

Can we watch Hughes pitch now? Sad that that's all who I want to see pitch.

177 Well, my girlfriend just arrived back in town, so...

Ahem. Uh... Go Yanks?

181 I like watching him too...but you only want to see him? No Joba? No Wang? No Farnsworth?

Yikes...Rocket didn't challenge Maybin once...he most really be uncomfortable with his velocity.

This is like a replay from last Saturday.

182 I'd say "Go Mehmattski!"

183 Oh, how can I forget about Farnsy? No I love watching Joba pitch too but I meant more toward starters. I like watching Wang also but he doesn't give me that excitement that Hughes does. When Hughes pitches I watch EVERY pitch closely, same with Joba or Edwar. But like right now, I'm anticipating Sunday like no other.

Maybin is fast...next time...don't walk him on a 3-1 slider.

I dont like Clemens' body language today...not agressive at all.

189 Is the mound wet? I could see that bothering him.

This is going to be an ugly one.

(sigh)

Clemens is going to curve...very bad sign.

This might be a night to pull Clemens early and go to Joba for two innings if the game is still close.

4 runs in 3 innings = not effective

Oddly, I don't think I'd want anyone else on the Yankees other than Clemens on the mound for this one. He can fight through all this and eat up innings. It would be 10-3 Tigers if Mussina was pitching, and I'd be worried about the youngins.

Did the Tigers announcer just say that they 'manufactured a run with a stolen base and a triple'? Does that make any sense?

Melky hates right fielders...

I still can't get over why Maybin didn't see one fastball late in the count.

A right fielder who dives? What's that? Almost Shelley. Almost.

Man,it's like every three days we are in for one of these. The pitching IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

200 Maybe it's a good thing he didn't make the grab...he might have gotten up and beaten the hell out of Melky.

Ah what a great almost-catch. I wouldn't expect Shelly to be doing that.

Clemens doing a pretty good Moose imitation tonight, albeit with a meaner stare and slightly better fastball.

198 ...and that's quite understandable.

197 You should be happy the other usual guy in the Tiger booth is under the weather tonight. I'd rather listen to Hawk...

204 I wish Moose could get through 3 innings when he has absolutely nothing.

201 Even if that's the case, then they will still play .600+ baseball. No need to panic in all caps.

201 Every three days? Lately, it feels like only Andy can be relied on to go six innings plus without giving up five runs or more.

I dream of the day we have 4 CONSISTENT starters. That day will hopefully come soon with Wanger, Franchise, The Hut, and Kennedy. Please let them all be legit and consistent. I can't take much more of this really hot really cold horse $#!T.

I think the only way I could dislike Adam Miller more is if he were on the Red Sox. Stupid Tarheels...

210 You mean like Wells, Pettitte, Cone and El Duque...ahhh...1998.

207 Touche. Though "getting through" the game the way he has is damning with pretty faint praise.

213 Moose would already be planning his post game lament.

I know having a few veterans on the squad is a necessity, but I long for the day when Kennedy, Joba and The Franchise anchor the rotation.

I get so sick of seeing old pitchers with diminished stuff like Moose and Rocket.

214 But is there anyone who does the "I had nothing, that performance was unacceptable, mea culpa" routine better than the ol' Perfesser from Stanford?

216 He's had a good deal of practice.

215 see 210 Me too buddy, me too.

Did the Tigers announcers say Miller has not gotten past the 5th in his last five starts? Well, we can't stop that streak.

'Tho I can relate to not getting past a fifth, I'm rooting against this guy...

Hate wasting leadoff walks.

Johnny. Johnny. Johnny. Ufffh....

219 Would that be a fifth of vodka, or pleading the fifth?

I could also understand someone not getting through the Fifth Element.

Yeah well, I'm off to bed. Peace!

Miller must have near 80 pitches. Anyone know how many?

I'm going to take up for Clemens here. He's had some clunkers this year, but how great was the retaliation against Toronto (having Karstens start almost negated it, but that aside)? And he's been much better than Moose, which isn't saying much, but it's not fair that they're being lumped together.

224 Eighty-four according to Gameday.

224 Gamecenter has him at 84.

84

225 Well, all that said, these f'ing leadoff walks need to stop. What the hell?

225 I have no problem with the Rocket...I am glad he came back.

Walking Pudge....yikes...you have to try to do that. At best this will be a five and fly.

Walking a guy who never walks. Just fucking perfect.

The question is, who has the earlier bedtime- old geezer Clemens or baby-faced Joba?

I think Michael Kay was given a dictionary for Christmas...but one without the definitions.

Rocket is pitching without his fastball tonight...it's been non-existent.

Posada is just not throwing well this year.

Another walk...the Yankees really need to win this game...let's go!

225 Oh, I agree, I was just being pissy...Rocket isn't as bad tonight as he was against the White Sox, and he has too much fight in him to ever be completely flammable, even at 45. But this year, twilight is rearing its ugly head more than ever with the increasing way he scuffles. You can only cheat time for so long.

Walking Pudge and then giving up a stolen base to him? Then walking Inge....gaaah.

I've never seen Clemens with nothing...even when he's been hit hard, he's had "something".

The DP there would have been huge.

The Angels game is over already.

I love the fuc*ing Yankee pitching.

Such poor pitch selection...an 88mph fastball ahead in the count...makes absolutely no sense.

Anderson. Granderson. Schmanderson.

Crap Roger, Granderson is the guy you need to be pitching around, noit friggin Pudge and Inge.

Get out of the game Clemens before you screw up this game any further old man.

I love has-been pitchers. Dammit.

Even the outs are hard hit balls

244 That has-been had the second best ERA+ of Yankee starters entering the game.

This game isn't over, but these kinds of pitching performances hurt like crazy this late in the year.

I don't know that we've ever had such shaky pitching this late in the season. Even in 2005, apart from the flukish emergence of Small and Chacon, Moose, RJ, and Wang were nails down the stretch.

244. And with the state of the pitching recently, what does that mean?

We have one starter we can count on for a good outing. ONE!

That has-been may have just cost us another game in the WC race. Not to mention $28 million.

The Yankees are really paying the price for sleep walking through the first half (both on and off the field).

We are going to lose to a lefty starter yet again..

248 The Yankees can't count on Wang and Pettitte?

251 Wang's pitching lately hasn't exactly inspired confidence. Whether it's a blip or a sign of something more serious is harder to tell.

In August the Tigers are 7-14. The friggin White Sox swept them. They lost a series to Tampa Bay. They're missing the hitter who makes their whole lineup click.

I know this game isn't over, but we need to be pissing on this team. It's one thing to lose to Verlander the way we did last week. He's class, and you just tip your hat and get em the next day. But walking guys like Ghost of Pudge and Inge? Miller's been terrible most of the season, and we make him throw 84 pitches through 4 but wind up with only 3 runs? C'mon team, get it to-friggin-gether.

Come on Posada...learn to run the damn bases already.

253 Ask and ye shall receive.

Miller fails to close the 5th yet again.

I take credit for Arod's single and Posada's 2-run double. Clearly my pep talk worked. I'm a latterday Knute Rockne ladies and gents.

251. You trust Wang? Really. Be honest.

251 Absolutely...and without a doubt.

258 Was meant for 257 .

Off the hook Jorge...but don't do it again!

One game guys. One game.

I give Joe credit there....a lot of managers would have let that slide until later. I think Posada needed to hear about it immediately.

HA!

Anyone wanna share what Jorgie did that warranted a yelling?

262 I didn't see that. What are you referring to?

262 What happened?

264 He should have been on 3rd base standing, but for some reason jogged into 2nd and pulled up.

What happened?

I'm not really a big fan of Phillips as the first-baseman. I respect what he's went through, but I dunno.

Then again, considering what's been run out there all year, never mind.

Where did the Rocket find 91mph?

Wow...it's almost like he got a boost by the Yankees comeback.

270 He's washed up, remember. Probably 61 on the gun...

I don't know how mucn longer Roger's gonna be out there, but he really needs to avoid throwing anything even remotely hittable to Granderson and Mags. These guys are locked in on the junk he's throwing tonight. The rest of the Tigers he seems capable of getting out.

Ah, as I type that he k's Mags. But really, he's playing with fire there.

Jeez, what did I miss? I went out to Brooklyn tonight to watch the game with my old friend Piccalini. We made dinner, watched the Mets, and I left after 10:30 with no game. Get home, turn on the TV to check the scores and see the Yankee game is on. Turned it on to see Posada's at bat--and always stellar baserunning...The title for tomorrow's post should be a nod to the Boomtown Rats...Up All Night

267 I wondered about that. I've had my eye half on MLB TV and half on preparing for work this weekend, and I saw the outfielder dive and miss. I couldn't figure out how even Jorge didn't end up on third on the play.

Dan Petrie? Women must think he's quite a dish!
Next show at 5:00

Dudes, not for nothing, but I am so jonsin for Alex to hit 50 dingers.

Andy saves a double!

277 50? Within the week!

277 Only 50? That would be a bit of a let down at this point, although Arod has averaged about 7 HRs in September.

278 Or blow an out?

Thank you Roger for challenging GhostofPudge rather than walking him. Dude has a .712 ops on the season, .693 at home, and .619 in August.

Shut up Michael Kay.

Johnny Franco? Really Al?

Even the trainer's golf shirt has the Scooter's #10...cool.

Melky is 0-4 in the two hole. Verdicts?

267 Did Joe really get up in Jorgie's face?

1 for 5 with a single.

way to tie it- but playing like first round exits.

Edwar!

Ok, we need him to hold them here, and with the heart of the order coming up top 7 we should be able to put a crooked number up and win this thing.

287 Pretty much.

Here's your chance Edwar.

289 Way to comment- but sounding like a first grade douchebag.

Admit it- you're terrified.

Uh oh...I hope Edwar isn't becoming a scary fly ball guy :(

I love Edwar's Gameday pic -- he looks like a very angry Louis Farakan (sp?) after a weeklong crack binge.

sticks and stones... and... sort of.

Anyone else thinking Edwar kind of looks like McLovin?

295 To quote JD from Scrubs, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, (but words will hurt forever)."

Kay keeps saying Edwar was hammered in Anaheim. He did give up 2 runs in 2IP, but he also struck out 4. It wasn't a good performance, but he didn't get hammered.

I am very divided on Edwar...sure he's superior to BFOG standbys like Myers and Villone, and that changeup is so cool. But he sure seems to blow hot and cold, and when he gets hit, he gets hit hard.

Very close pitch.

Hmm, 7 pitches to Inge, but only 1 change.

Damn Maybin is fast, but still, Jeter really babied the flip.

Goodness...it's almost as if Posada traded his arm in for more offensive.

All right guys, peace out. I can't remember the last time I slept before a game ended, but alas, I'm exhausted.

Jorgie having a rough night apart from that clutch "double"...WTF with that double clutch?

Nice! Looked like 4 straight changes to Granderson (not including the pitchout) on Gameday.

I like how he's working more off his fastball now to allow his change to be more effective. If Edwarrior can put on some muscle he could probably throw a consistent 93-94.

Slim needs another higher speed pitch... cutter or splitter to be effective. The change is great, but guys will sit on it and hit him hard.

306 That's what it was. The last one was nasty.

308 He has a 90-92mph fastball...a lot of pitchers have been successful with both a lesser fastball and change.

Grilli in August: 8ip, 15 hits, 7er.

Let's get some runs and get some sleep.

Jeter needs to get going...he's been in quite a long slump.

Dammit Jeter.

C'mon Arod, keep your hotness going.

Any guesses why Jason isn't playing?

315 Lefty started.

Ok...I'm drinking some boiling hot Green Tea for ya' Joe. Let's get it going!

Those last two strikes were ridiculous!

What is Grilli so excited about...he just got a gift from the old, tired umpire.

OH MY GOD that was a bs call.

Well, that was a bummer.

Edwar again through the middle of the order? Or Joba?

The ump totally gifted that sequence to Grill. Guess he wants to go home too...except he can't as long as this game stays tied.

321 I would go to Joba here.

316 I meant in general. And JD is a lefty. Should Jason be on the bench so much?

This should be interesting since the Tigers have already seen him 2x.

The Yankees now HAVE to win this game. You almost can't lose a game when you use Chamberlain.

What? Bringing our best reliever in on the road in a tie game? Has Joe lost his mind?

324 I guess with Abreu out and Jeter moved to the #3 hole, Torre wanted top of the order guys? Just guessing.

Hmm. Joba's velocity a bit down 95-96 on the fastball instead of 98-99, 87 on the slider instead of 89-90. Wonder if that's because he knows he's going more than 1?

Mags is the one guy who worries me a little here.

Wicked... pure evil to Thames...

328 Melky-Jeter-Giambi-ARod would have been better

If this keeps up, it is going to be difficult to not become spoiled.

Ah, throwing harder to Mags. Must've been saving the gas for him.

That was awesome. Let's keep this kid.

I just saw 101 on the first pitch to Maglio?

332 Much better...I am just guessing at what Torre's motivation might be.

Yup, 101 on the gun.

Joba is such a badass, it's ridiculous.

336 338 Gameday had 98

I absolutely have to get some sleep, but going to bed while Joba is on the mound is like being told to go to bed early on Xmas Eve. As it is, I'm going to regret being up this late, but man the kid is the biggest must-see in a Yankee uniform in some time.

Hope there's a Yankee win waiting when I get up (and not a lump of coal named Farnsworth giving up the game).

Bobby Seay has the longest streak in major league history of pitching in games without getting a decision.

I believe he's at 114 games. Such is the fate of being a mopup guy in Tampa Bay for a while.

342 Let's pin a loss on him then.

so, Abreu doesn't start the game because it is against a lefty starter, but then comes in to face a lefty reliever.. wow

332 100%

Abreu had come in for defense before batting.

I am not liking JD these days.

Nice to see that Damon can be struck out on the same pitch three staright Ab's.

Does anyone else feel the Yanks would be winning if Giambi was in the starting lineup?

347 Me neither. The best it seems he's capable of these days is getting the pitcher to throw a few extra pitches.

344 Unfortunate now that our lineup, 6 thru 1, is now, lefty, lefty, righty who doesn't hit lefties, lefty, lefty.

And with that Damon k's for the 3rd time tonight. Arggh.

OH shit...game over!

why? why? why? why? why is he in?

How can they not manage a single run against Byrdak, Grilli, and Seay? Very frustrating.

353 That's why. Never bet against the streak ;-)

good fucking job Farnsworth!!

Never thought I'd say that but nice job by Farnsworth

Farnsworth retired the side in order on 9 pitches? Or is Gameday effed up?

That was a hell of an inning by Farnsworth.

349 100%

Farns looked Chamberlesque right there.

If the Yankees don't score, where do they go next?

If the Yankees don't score, where do they go next?

2. Maybe 3 runs here. Just because...

359 No... that was absolutely dominant.

Melk-man!

116 straight games without a W or L for Bobby Seay now. He does have a save in the middle of the streak, which he only got because the current pitcher, Rodney, got hurt in the 9th inning of a game in St. Louis.

363 The Bronx. Against Boston.

Did Melky hop skip and jump that hit?

no more bunts.

Ahh, the bunt...

What was that little tap dancing thing that melky did? It was pretty cool

What the fuck Joe? Bunting against a guy who throws gas so that they can walk Arod? Brilliant.

If Jeter's hitting roughly .330 in general and .800 for his career against Rodney, why would you even think about bunting?

If this bunt is "successful," that'll be 3 outs given away, counting Melky's steal attempt.

play this straight up joe- give us three chances!

Cap is just trying to stay out of the DP with the bunt, so I applaud him for it...

You bunt b/c Jeter's tied for the lead in dps, is banged up, isn't confident. And Rodney's keeping the ball low. Bad feeling here . . .

What was Jeter looking at? The Captain has really been an anchor for a while now.

Strike? Are you kidding me?

Is the old AL rule of not starting an inning after 1:00AM EST still in effect?

Well at least he stayed out of the dp.

High strike there, oh well, at least Melk-man was safe

381 There are no more curfews.

"Attention WalMart Shoppers: Looking for a young man wearing gray polyester shirt and pants with the number 2 on the back. If you see him please return him and his ability to be clutch to the customer service desk"

That pitch was high. But credit to Melky for doing the right thing and just running and not worrying about what was going on at the plate.

That was high.. this ump is on crack..

381 I was thinking. Not only did Detroit have no reason to be so concerned that this game be played tonight, it must be damn near the latest delayed start in regular season history, no?

384 Thanks...

Should Melky go on the first pitch??

Gameday says injury delay. What's up?

388 Four hour wait on a night game is pretty unheard of. I know the calendar is closing in, but I was fully expecting a day/night tomorrow...

Pudge banged his hand on Jeter's bat whilst trying to throw out whatshisface.

387 I agree. I do believe it is time for Posada to feign being crossed up and let the ball through. If the players are working, the ump shouldn't be concerned with going to sleep.

Damn...Arod hadn't done that in a while.

Ugh. Anyone else have that "I know what is going to happen in this game and it isn't good" feeling?

Posada's gonna drive Melky in.

396 Um, besides me?

Gameday is showing called strikes that aren't anywhere near the strike zone. While I will allow for gameday not being perfect with actual location, is this ump that bad?

What the hell is wrong with this ump??

Wow, I like how the Detroit broadcast won't show replays of those pitches, thats how bad it was

One of the worst umped games I've ever seen...if the Yankees don't send a tape to the commissioner's office, they should be ashamed.

Hasn't Detroit's bullpen been awful all year?

Eff it. Gameday had all 3 of those called strikes a foot off the plate.

I don't think I've ever seen Posada that fired up.

Finally! I get to see an ump in action. That's why I pay. There is just not enough of this in MLB. Davidson rocks!!!

Thank God Jorge finally stood up to this asshole...The pitches to Matsui, Jeter and now him were just rediculously malicious calls. I hope that the league takes a look at this game.

It's 2:30am, I haven't slept all week...the last thing I need is a walk off loss, but I fear one is coming in short order

Not only terrible calls, but Jorge literally walked away from the ump and he followed Jorge continuing to point and yell...

this is bullshit.. I didn't see any of our pitchers getting a called strike like those last 3..

Holy shit! A Yankees actually showed some emotion? What world am I in?

Posada actually said that was in the other batter's box.

I certainly hope to wake up to find that Bob Davidson has been fired for escalating a fight with a player.

Somehow I doubt that.

The fans paid to see ol Balking Bob, you see.

I bet Phil Hughes wishes he had this ump, considering he seems to get the one with no strike zone, whereas Davidson seems to consider both boxes as fair game

413 We can dream but he should be fined. I just wish MLB would announce it when they fine umps. Davidson looked like a total jackass there.

The umpiring in the majors has been so poor that Selig should put the hammer down on them once and for all. If they don't like it, then just get new ones.

The old no Mo on the road in the 9th, eh?

I never thought I'd say this, but I wish Farnsworth was still in there. Instead . . . the sore-armed one . . .

My biggest complaint in baseball is that there are never any consequences, as far as I can tell, for bad umpiring.

Tiger tool behind the mic: "Rodney was just dominant."

Sheeeet. Hook me up with that ump, and I'll give ya dominance.

I am not giving up on this game, who's with me?

I don't mean to be overly critical, but why didn't he use Ramirez or Joba for two innings? Or get Farnsworth out there for two in a special situation? Now we have no one for extra innings if it goes that long. It was almost a wasted appearance for Chamverlain.

419 Bad umpiring is one thing. Escalating a fight is another entirely.

I'd institute a rule that for every word an umpire utters to a player, the player gets one unpunishable shot to the umpire's face.

That will shut them up.

422 I'm with you.

420 That's exactly what I was thinking. How the hell can you be dominant with a "strike zone" like that.

421 I'm with ya Schteeve, cause I'm getting pissed off. I want this game.

423 I've said it forever. Its easily remedied. You just let a ball through to the Ump.

I just hope Viz's arm doesn't rip at the seams on any of these pitches

Viz is scaring me here...missing his spots

PLease Viz, please. I'm in your corner baby.

428 Its sort of hard to not use him when you're under restrictions. You don't want to use most of the pen because they suck. You can't use Chamberlain that often because he's young, and you can't use Farnsworth two innings because he's a jackass.

If these Tigers announcers even fucking complain...they got alot of balls!

Haha, very funny, Detroit's announcers talking about a called strike against being "a touch outside"

Looks like we got a patented in the other batter's box called strike special there from Davidson. Keeping Maybin off the bases was huge.

what a bad ump regardless..

Hey Granderson didn't hit a triple...awesome!

I think I am going to cover my eyes now.

How many fans would you guys who are watching the game say are still there? It's damn late back that way.

431 I hear ya. But he could have used Edwar for two. This play to win in nine is garbage, you play to win the game.

Who is this guy...the fifth tenor?

431 Oh I'm not complaining about him pitching, just worried about his arm flying off. Sure would be nice to see Britton next inning. Oh, wait...

Great throw Molina...I think we all know what comes next.

can someone please explain to me what all that shit is around Vizcaino's neck?

Wow, what an awful "throw"

What if the Ump had decided to do this in the Houston playoff game where Clemens pitched into the eighteeth in relief, because he was sleepy?

Well now G-dson's is a double.

If the ump is giving that outside strike, Vix has got to pull a Rodney and take it. Why throw the ball near the plate?

I can't watch this again. Especially since the Yanks failed in this same situation this same inning...

I cant watch.

Hey Viz, you've thrown that three times, it hasn't been close and he ain't swinging at it...

That's not a swing???

How the fuck is that not a check swing strike?

Not a bad pitch around. Palanco is a sick contact hitter. I'm OK with this...

How was that not a strike to this ump??

I don't need this at 2:45AM...I really don't.

Wow it looked like Polanco WENT!

Casey at the bat, you can't like that.

Ohhhh boyyy... I don't like this...

SCORE DAMN IT!

Jesus, I can't watch this

442 Free baseball. Who knew?

YES!

The Mighty Casey has popped out.

Pheeew.

Sean Casey has a .577 ops this month. He cannot win it for them. I'll lose it if he gets a hit here.

Ok, so, I guess we go to Mo now, right?

Has Giambi pinch hit yet? Can we wake him up and get him to laser one out of the park?

Sheesh, I'm in L.A. and I'd like this game to end. Yet, I can't turn away!

The Pirates and Astros played 15 innings tonight too.

That game had less import.

We need to win this thing now, and then have Mo shut the door.

Don't blame Rodney for wanting that pitch - he got four more inches last inning.

That first pitch to Matsui was called a strike to Posada, and to Matsui last time around. Maybe Posada had an affect on Davidson.

Take One MATS.

Here come The Bronx Bombers...

This is so weird watching baseball this late. You guys back in NY must be dying.

This UMP must is driving everyone to the Looney Bin...!

Rodney should be pissed, that was a strike last inning.

471 Just what I was thinkin'...

The Astros had fireworks after their game!

476 Posada should be pissed..

Cano - are there even words.

FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOw I am a lot more doubtful that we'll pull this out.

Sheeeeeeet Cano.

When's the last time Andy hit a homer?

This game sucks. Its not even one of those fun extra inning games. Just one of the crappy kinds

Why is Phillips batting? He can't hit one out, and that's the only chance we have right now it seems.

Where the fuck is Giambi???

I see Jason Giambi has joined Chris Britton in the Land of Lost Yankees.

why not Giambi hitting here?

I can't believe Kay and Leiter won't shut up about how the Yankees didn't intentionally give up an out with Cano up.

Why does Mo make me nervous? I haven't had that feeling since...well, ever.

boooo

Good night guys!

It should also be noted that it was the umpires' decision not to call the game for rain and play a double-header over the weekend. This crew is not having a good game.

No Giambi, no Betemit, no bunt, no hit and run....Torre must be on auto pilot.

Well that looked like ball 4, but with this ump . . .

Sore-arm for another inning?

Why don't they just trade giambi and eat his entire salary if they're going to let him languish on the bench.

I don't know who's worst, Joe or this ump..

Torre goes on autopilot after the 9th inning.

Seriously, partly because it's late and partly because I've been drinking, but why not pinch Giambi for Andy there, and in the bottom of the inning replace Giambi with Betemit?

Why doesn't that make sense to Joe?

A game like this is why I really wish Josh didn't have Mo throw an inning up 8-1 on Wednesday. With 3 days rest, you could comfortably expect 2 innings.

500 It does make sense, and that's the problem, It makes too much sense..

500 Its the same reason Minky would be playing here too, b/c somehow late in a game/extra innings defense becomes more important that, you know, winning the game.

Gang, please. Giambi was pinch run for in the 7th. Remember?

Joe is that concerned with Giambi playing first base? For Christ's sake, you gotta PH him there, have to.

Davidson has now changed his strike zone...great.

He shoulda thrown out Magglio there!

504 Ooops....sorry. You're right.

504 Hah. I did a double-take on that one.

504 More sarcasm?

Isn't it cute how the Tigers think Magglio is the MVP when A-Rod is standing there at third base?

What a horrible misplay!!

Nice play there Hideki.

510 Little else left at this hour, my friend.

I am actually only surprised it is going to take more than one batter for Mags to touch home plate.

Say goodnight Gracie.

This would be a devestating loss...too many of those have been piling up lately.

Mo just ain't Mo no mo.

Well, this was inevitable. Three straight innings with the leadoff batter on and no runs. Flashbacks to last october...

Now joe will bring in the infield and the Tigers will hit a dinky little pop up over Derek Jeter's head

You can't pitch to Pudge...have to set up the DP.

517 A loss tomorow and we're six back of Seattle, and that will be that.

518 Because Matsui played a pop fly into a double?

And the infield comes in (again)

491 See what I mean?

Sure is great that the White Sox showed up to play baseball today and thus avoided getting humiliated by the Red Sox and the Mariners lost, so this game doesn't really matter. Oh, yeah, nevermind...

526 Mike Myers was stellar today for the White Sox.

Cmon guys, hang in there!

Walk the bases loaded? Not a bad idea. 1st and 3rd might be enough.

526 If the Yankees had showed up today, you'd have an argument.

So, uh, bases loaded walk to end the game?

527 I'm sure Joe tried to bring him in this inning until gator had to tell him he already pitched. For the White Sox. In Chicago.

Maybe Joe can remind Mo that you can actually strike batters out with a 94 MPH four seamer at the letters. Oh well, he hasn't thrown it all season, why start now?

530 You mean if Roger Clemens had showed up today. The Yanks scored six runs. You can't ask for much more. Clemens has to be better than that.

I'm going with wild pitch here...

Mo ain't happy. This could turn out OK...

534 But had a ton of chances.

Did anyone elses Extra Innings just cut out on DirecTV?

At least they finally identified who the other Tigers announcer was tonight.

I can die in peace.

My argument wasn't that the Yanks are off the hook, just that the White Sox have become a joke...

What was wrong with 1st and 3rd? Why bases loaded?

538
Not me.

Throw strikes!!!!!!!!!!!

More shots of the stupid guy with his shirt over his head. Sure is funny.

Holy shit. I just died. Somehow, bringing in the infield worked.

why is the infield in?

YES!!!!!!!!

Wow, sure is good Joe knew what he was doing by not hitting for Andy :)

Heart attack. Off the bat I was sure that was game over. Another chance...

546 Squeeze?

nevermind

nevermind

phewwww!

HA!

HOLY SHIT! A four seamer sighting!

Yeah so I think I just lost five years of my life. But, hey, more free baseball.

Well, that was fugly.

But I'll take it.

Does Mo do this shit on purpose?

Ahh, you guys are too far ahead of my mlb.tv! A full 15 seconds! Mo!!! Take that shirt over his head guy!

we still believe!!!!!

f'in AWESOME.

I'm much too old for this shit.
Did Giambi PH already? Is he available?

Ok ok. Lets get 'er done now. One more for Mo and then Bruney if we cant end it here.

So, I guess the Yanks need to score now or else it is Sean Henn time, right?

562 To be fair, if Giambi's playing first in the 10th, this game is over.

I've got work at 7. I'm contemplating just not going to bed.

If we get out of that, only to lose, I dunno. It'll be cruel, very cruel.

I think Mo was fine today....Matsui could have either caught or get Mags' ball to a single; Guillen grounded out weakly; two IBB; Inge hit the ball hard, but after swinging through two cutters and then Maybin was blown away.

That's seems pretty good to me.

558 He did learn under Wetteland.

562 Giam-who? He and Chris Britton are playing golf somewhere.

Giambi has to hit for Damon.

562 No he has not been in the game yet.

Henn's the only one up? Is Villone still here? Is BB here yet? Is it morning yet? Is there a God?

I'm feelin Bobby here

White flag warming up.

4pm here in Japan, glad to see all of you still up and watching through the night! No way we lose now after that escape...

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking.

Eh, I tried...

Hey! That guy on deck. He looks familiar. I can't place him though.

GIAMBI NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right now, it feels like the Yankees only chance is an A-Bomb.

I can't believe this game is still on. I can't believe those intentional walks worked. And I can't believe Andy Phillips caught that line drive. That COMPLETELY sobered me up.

Who is Wilson going to hit for?

Phone call, Jason. Right field seats calling.

What a rip...if he was in full game mode, its a HR.

Ig Giambi gets on and Joe PR's for him, that empties the bench.

Geez, its late here in San Diego!

583 Run...for Giambi.

582 Ah, I see you actually have a life Emma, huh?

The Yankees have sure played like shit, huh?

The Yankee bats have gone limp...I don't think this game gets past Henn.

I give Henn, ooooh, 4 batters...

591 Which would mean another loss that could have been avoided by having another arm like Britton. Shameful.

I believe the latest finish for a major league game is 4:41 am. It was the second game of a doubleheader between the Phillies and Padres on July 2/3, 1993.

http://retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1993/B07022PHI1993.htm

There were a lot of rain delays.

That was the game right there I think.

592 Thats generous.

I really wanted to sleep tonight. But then I came home and it was only the 4th inning, and now it's the 11th. Want sleep.

Because its not like Chad Durbin sucks or anything.

The answer to your problems is two words:

Scott
Proctor

Ugh. Its only the 11th and the Yanks are totally spent on their BP and have to go with the last guy out no chance to win pitcher

So, the Yankees lose this inning, then they play sluggishly tomorrow and we get to hear how tired they are?

Why must we go gentle into that good night?

CHRIS BRITTON. I WANT ME SOME CHRIS BRITTON. HE GETS OUTS.

I think tomorrow's games are going to start before this one ends. No real reason to leave the stadium if you are the two teams, might as well just crash there...Is it a day game tomorrow?

Horrendous inning against the likes of Chad Durbin...something tells me the Tigers wont be so charitable with Sean Henn, who will be facing the top of the order.

I guess Joe's decision to run through his entire bullpen with 1 inning/man didn't pay off. It wont make me feel better, but the Yankees haven't done much to deserve the win.

604 Luckily, no. 7:05 p.m. start.

Well, if we are going to lose it, at least it will be Henn and maybe that will force their hand with Britton.

607 It won't. Igawa will be back.

607 Hahahahaha. Kei Igawa is going to come back before Chris Britton. I like the Yanks will call up Jose Cruz, Jr., before Britton.

Team sleepover in Derek's room! Except for that A-Rod, he's not invited...

589 Well, I have a Tivo, anyway... imagine my surprise to find that it had recorded 8 episodes of "The King of Queens" and the game was in the third inning.

I can't watch...

607 Might not matter...the Yankees are running out of games they can give away.

609 Yeah, I almost wrote that same thing, but figured I'd go with the optimism...foolish of course

Whoa Granderson is out.

The think I don't like about Henn is he misses the strike zone by so damn much.

throw fucking strikes.

This is what happens when you use guys for one inning each.

617 This is what happens when you build a bullpen of men you can only use for one inning each.

So... which of our position players can pitch?

Who is the .230 hitter Inge arguing with in the dugout?

JUST MISSED? Missed what? His foot?

I'm going to bed.

Gah. Just throw a strike. Placido Polanco will not hit home runs.

Sean Henn is awful...why are the NY Yankees in this position?

617 It hasn't worked all year. Why change it now?

Henn really doesn't get the concept of missing around the plate, huh?

Guys...anyone want some breakfast?

Come on Henn

Well, thanks Placido Polanco. We'll take that one.

What the fuck was that?

Henn has no idea where the ball is going..

Wow, that was quite nice

Molina! Textbook. F'n textbook.

623 Because Chris Britton once said something about Joe Torre's mother. Or something.

A human being just essentially lost a foot race to a Molina.

Henn against Ordonez...how one sided is that matchup.

Good thing Polanco messed that up. Can we just walk Magglio, b/c I really don't want Henn pitching to him

Well, he threw a strike to Mags.

Not much more you could ask for.

What are the chances that Henn gets Ordonez?

This is Russian Roulette.

Everybody Hates Davidson. UPN September 2007.

638 Maybe Casey will run off first.

Oh god. Come on. That was a freakin' check swing crap hit.

Unfucking believeable.

why are we pitching to Ordonez?

The Tigers really need a guy like Neifi Perez now because I would think greenies would be in order for everyone.

Oh who the hell cares. Just groove it.

All i can do is stare at the animal crawling out of Magglio's helmet, its mesmerizing...

Shoulda walked him...all things considered, probably the best we could have hoped for in that matchup

This shit is over....Adios. Can't believe we pitched to Ordonez there...can't fucking believe it after we walked everyone intentionally last inning...we give their best hitter a chance to beat us.

Next year, the Yankees need to petition for more games against Tampa, KC and the White Sox. These good teams are too tough.

Throw a damn strike, dude.

Does anyone else think that if Bobby charged that ball he might have been able to keep Casey at 2nd?

Why even swing?? henn will walk you if you want...

this isn`t going to end well....

this isn`t going to end well....

648 You really wanted to walk the winning run into scoring position?

Walk Guillen, take your chances with GhostofPudge.

Shoot Kay

That was ballsy

Well, that sucked.

Chris Britton. Clap clap clap clap clap
Chris Britton. Clap clap clap clap clap

Chris Britton. Clap clap clap clap clap

Yankees season is over, folks.

It was moderately fun while it lasted.

well gnite.

Henn gets the award for two walk off loses in a week. If that isn't a sign for demotion, I don't know what is...

Fuck it. That was the season. Good night everyone, or morning or whatever.

no......

The Yankees are in a desperate pennant race and they really just allowed Sean Henn to lose two games? I am sorry, but this organization has not made a full commitment to winning, and as a result, has a very good chance of re-evaluating their philosophy in October.

Pre-dic-table.

Can we please give Chris Britton an effin shot now?

663 I bet they will send him down and bring back Igawa..

What an awful game. Yanks HAVE to win the rest of the games this series, period. They literally lose one and its over.

When Molina set up inside for that pitch...I said it to myself. Game over. Why the FUUUUUCKKKKKK would we go inside right there? Why the fuck would we go inside? why the fuck would we go inside? why the fuck would we go inside? why the fuck would we go inside? why the fuck would we go inside? why the fuck would we go inside? STUPID FUCKING YANKEE BASEBALL...YOU STAY AWAY RIGHT THERE...YOU STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

669 Mussina is starting Monday.

Its over.

The shitty April and May and June did in fact, come back to haunt them, despite being "early"

what a game..good night everybody
i love the walkoff home plate orgy

671 Good point. Hmm, well, er...yikes, I hate the 2007 Yankees. The most frustratingly inconsistent team possible.

The only thing keeping me from crying is the hope that Torre will be fired if they don't make the playoffs.

And I guar-an-fucking-tee Kei Igawa will be on this team before the weekend's over. he threw six shutout innings in Scranton, Donchaknow.

We're fucked.

671 Yea, I love that "its early" shit. As if they make adjustments in the standings, counting wins and losses in April less than wins and losses in August.

676 I always understood it that games in April just didnt count.

I think its appropriate for this to happen while on the verge of the changing of the guard next season. No Pettitte, no Clemens, no Arod, and a few young starters and no bullpen, should be fun.

678 NO BULLPEN? Farnsworth and Igawa will still be here!

666 Nice post number, but better NOW than when it will really count, no? A determination was made tonight, which is a good thing. We move on.

664 Season over? Holy cow! No words...

Why would you go inside with Henn- who just doesn't have enough gas to get there against a dead pull free swinger like Guillen...you just put the ball on his bat...Henn just literally gave him the one pitch he could hit...did we not learn the lesson when MO - after dominating Ordonez on the outside, went inside and got tattooed? Does Henn even have a little of Mo's stuff? So if Mo can't get in there w/2 why did Molina think that Henn would? That was just stupid fucking baseball. And I wouldnt fucking care if I didn't care more than the fucking lazy ass Yankees at 3:30 am !

680 My point was that the Yankees will have plenty of free time in October to rethink their season long reluctance to field the best talent in the organization.

This loss is going to have legs. I wouldn't be shocked if the Red Sox are in a good position to put the final nail in the Yankee coffin.

678 Reveal your sources, brah ;-), just between you and I. You're the first to report these three are gone.

Just make sure Joe goes with them...it's bad enough to stomach these losses, but it's worse to feel that the team could absorb them had they been managed more competently throughout the year. A few more gems like this one and the Torre countdown can officially begin.

683 LOL. You really think Pettitte is coming back after this mess?

684 I don't know how I feel about letting Joe walk. I mean, he had no bullpen most of the season, suffered massive pitching injuries, a slumping offense, and when the pitching finally got healthy, they stunk up the joint. No manager could win with the pitching we've been throwing out there lately, not after being n such a deep hole from the get go. And next season we'll still have no bullpen, and the likely loss of Pettitte, Clemens, and Arod. We could quite possibly lose Mo and Posada as well. $190,000,000 and you miss the playoffs? Doesn't actually encourage a front office to sign a thirty eight year old closer and a thirty six year old catcher to huge long term contracts.

682 "This loss is going to have legs. I wouldn't be shocked if the Red Sox are in a good position to put the final nail in the Yankee coffin. "

With all due respect, you have most pessimistic take on this team bar none. Opponent scores 2 in the top of the first — you post "I have a bad feeling about this game".

The NoMaas horsesh*t about — 'if we had $200M to burn the Yanks would never lose a game' gets old pretty quick.

I'd like to go 162-0, too. It's the ebb and flow of a season that's tough to absorb day in and day out. You wanna wave the white flag? Knock yourself out.

685 "After this mess?" Are you posting from November 2007? If so, please hook me up with a few MegaMillions winning numbers that came in during September. I can use the scratch.

Too much baseball left to tie a toe-tag on to the 2007 Yanks but ohmygod our pitching is so profoundly mediocre. Please allow me to vent:

Jaret Wright is back in the body and uniform of Roger Clemens.

Mike Mussina is The Great Depression.

Oh, why bother going down the list? We have Pettitte, Wang, Hughes, Joba, and Mo. 3 starters, 2 relievers. You can count on one hand the number of Yankee pitchers you can rely upon. Everybody else is a toss of the coin, with a gun to your head. Yeah, I know Farnswacker, and Viz got the job done this morning but would you bet a dollar they'll do it again next time? Me neither.

It's shortly after 9am, and I imagine Henn is well on his way back to Scranton at this moment... on foot.

Sir Waitsalot (Chris Britton in your mythology books) is mounting his white horse, ready to ride in and save the day!... or not.

Let's face it, the bats are the 2007 Yanks only fighting chance at this point.
Like it or not, Giambi has to be in the lineup everyday, either as the DH or (gulp) at 1B.

If I hear so much as another fuggin' peep about Doug Out rejoining the team I will literally scream out loud.

The 2007 Yanks are constructed to hit their way to October. It's bloodsport time. Tearing and clawing. They are Michael Vick's pitbulls (M-V-Ps). The only defense is offense. This is not how championships are won.

671 Where you consuming mass quantities of adult beverages? I do remember that in the final weekend of the season,KC plastered Tiggers to knock them from division title to wild card consolation. I believe after this weekend series, the six boston games and Seattle games the verdict will be out. As for over,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVdRKp0hXqI

oops, wrong one, let's try this again...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K92OVFeGgIE&mode=related&search=

Last night, despite it being an xtra innings game is exactly what I don't like about Torre managing the bullpen; he emptied it completely.

I feel that where the Yankees are good, they're great, but where they have weakness, they're horrid. There's no middle ground.

OMGZORZ THE YANKEES LOST WE'RE ALL GONNA DIEEEE!!!

How many times have people on this site (myself included, I'm sure) said idiotic things like THIS IS THE END!

I just hope the team makes the dance in 07 because with the acceleration of bring up more and more youngster, I believe it is more than highly probable of missing the dance in 08. Go Yanks!!!!!

692 The "middle ground" is the starting pitching, which is the textbook definition of mediocre.

And lest anybody gets on me for calling Clemens the reincarnation Jaret Wright... I understand his value in mentoring Joba and Hughes, but the Yanks aren't paying him to coach, and they're certainly not paying him to perform as he did last night. The Tigers had been scuffling for runs, and he couldn't contain them. Terrible job.

692 What was Joe going to do if Clemens can only go five innings, and we don't have arms capable of eating innings, and some pitchers (Joba, Mo, even Farns and Viz) requiring some TLC? I think Joe took the chance that his hitters could get to the Detroit bullpen first, and he didn't want to burn out any single arm given it's a four game series.

It obviously didn't work out thanks to the ump's absurd strike zone and our hitters unable to do the job.

The only questionable decision was pitching Edwar for one inning -- he could have gone one more, though he didn't exactly look commanding when he was pitching. In games like this, I have no doubt Joe actually misses Proctor, because Scottie was tailor made for this sort of situation.

I hope this doesn't screw us up for the rest of the weekend, and hope we have some starters that can do better than Rocket, and actually give us six or seven innings.

I wake up to find that the game ended badly. I also looked at the box score and saw: Rivera 1.0 INN 1 H 2 BB 1 K.

Reviving a debate from a couple of days ago, is it time to worry about Mo yet?

696 I think that it is flawed logic that using a pitcher for one inning on consecutive days is the same as using him for two innings every other day. Torre (and many other managers) are locked in a mindset that they are taking it easy on the BP by using as many pitchers as possible, every day, but only for one inning. I'm just not convinced there would be less wear and tear if they used releivers for two or three innings, but rested them more between appearances (of course, you would want to have a couple of every day guys, like your closer).

Joba does require TLC, but his rules allow the use of two innings followed by two games off. It would have been preferrable to throw him for two then bring him back for the fourth game of the series. If Edwar also throws two innings, then you have nine innings Clemens' five) before getting into Farnsworth and Rivera. That means Mo might be pitching the eleventh rather than Henn.

I'm not convinced the outcome would have been different, and I am not blaming Torre of being a bad manager (no "Torre loss" for this one). Games like this reveal, I think, the basic flaw in contemporary BP management.

697 Flare double, advanced on groundout 2 intentional BB. Go back to sleep peacefully.

681 I think its fair to consider that a SINGLE loses the game as much as the HR did. Yes, to avoid a HR to most batters, you stay outside. But to avoid any kind of hit, high/inside pitches and pitches in on the hands are very effective.

However, nothing is effective if you miss your spot and catch too much plate. Even Mo has shown us that.

IMHO, we lost because:
1) We gave up 6 runs in 6 innings. My Bad to Roger
2) We lost an inning of potentially decent RP by not having Slim go 2 innings. My Bad to Torre
3) While you can't say the offense failed by getting 'only' 6 runs, we squandered many late opportunities to plate runs. As it turns out, 1 run in the 7th, 8th or 9th would have been enough. Even though we hate it here, 'small ball' late in the game might have won it.
4) Letting JD have 5 ABs. After 3, or even 2, it would have been an easy swap to put Jason in JDs DH spot. To sit Jason for days, and hope he can produce in ONE AB is not smart. JDs spot got 6 ABS. Jason should have had 3 or 4 of those. My Bad to Torre
5) Jetes needs 2 or even 3 days off. He has been a quasi-liability for a month now. Smarter for him to miss a few games and have him at 90+% for those remaining. My Bad to Jeter, as he needs to be honest with Torre and ask to sit... instead of saying 'Im fine'.

696 I think it depends on the pitcher. The Yankees basically have a bullpen made up of one-inning pitchers; that's why they've been trying to find someone competent among Villone, Brower, Karstens, Henn, Myers etc.

I do think that Joe has overplayed the one-inning - honestly, I don't know how Edwar and Bruney do over a couple of inning, and how they recover, because I haven't seen it happen enough. But they have been trying to find a non-horrendous pitcher who can go 2-3 innings, and they haven't succeeded yet.

700 Jeter will never ask to sit. Also, Torre (and everyone else in the dugout) would probably find him intolerable if he spent three days there.

701 And forget a little fat kid named Joba who went two innings before (tho' we don't know behind the scenes how he felt afterward). I still think they should use Joba for a couple of innings every few days and try to time his use with Clemens, Mussina, or Hughes (who tend not to go as deep into games). Basically, any of those three + Joba for two should yield seven or eight innings pretty regularly.

703 er...don't forget, that is.