Subway Squawkers

Good energy level in tonight's Yankees win. This was an important game. Let's see if they can carry that energy level over this weekend. The Yanks are still 4-5 in the Dirty Dozen, though.

Here are some notes I typed while watching the game:

Nice swing by Hideki Matsui in the first. He looked like Godzilla again.

Andy Pettitte looked great, of course. He's the anti-Mussina.

Congrats to Derek Jeter to passing Joe DiMaggio on the Yankee hit list. Very impressive night. Very impressive career.

Doug Mientkiewicz was a triple away from the cycle last night.

But Bobby Abreu should have slid. Getting caught stealing like that was just terrible. That's a good example of the lack of effort often shown by this team. Oh my goodness gracious, Manny Ramirez has hustled more in this series than Abreu has.

And Bobby looked awful trying to catch that Justin Pedroia in the fifth. Abreu's body language is terrible these days. He looks like a deer caught in the headlights. Sad.

It's another red-letter day for Kyle Farnsworth. Sheesh.

So much for some Red Sox fans' hope that Curt Schilling would brush back Alex Rodriguez. Nothing happened on the field. Maybe Curt will slap him around in his blog!

According to Boston Dirt Dogs, David Ortiz had this shocking thing to say after last night's game:

"Maybe they're sleeping together?" -- 5.22.07, David Ortiz joking about why Manny Ramirez has hit three home runs when his friend Julian Tavarez starts

Yikes!

Posted by Lisa Swan at 10:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

 Digg This   del.icio.us    Furl It     Reddit 

It looks like the Carl Pavano era is over for the Yankees. Brian Cashman and the Yanks have given him permission to have Tommy John surgery. Since he

Gosh, I'll never forget where I was when I heard about this shocking development. I'm stunned at the news.

Posted by Lisa Swan at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

 Digg This   del.icio.us    Furl It     Reddit 

So there's a big old furor about Alex Rodriguez aiming an elbow at Dustin Pedroia last night - sports radio and the internet has been abuzz with the story. I can understand Red Sox Nation being angry about it, but I don't get Yankee fans criticizing A-Rod. For goodness sakes, a Yankee finally showed some aggressiveness, instead of being so classy and passive all the time, and some Yankee fans think it's a bad thing? Gimme a break.

Squawkers reader Kyle comments on the furor:

A-Rod's DP elbow: This has gotten a lot more play since you last wrote and the talk shows are all over A-Rod for a cheap play, even comparing it to "the slap". First of all, A-Rod has now become my favorite Yankee. He is the ONLY one on the team that seems to care about Yankees getting hit day after day. I think his play was an answer for all the pitches thrown at Jeter, him, and others with NO retaliation. Good for him. Standing up for a guy that never stood up for you. That's a great teammate. I can't believe people are suggesting that Curt Shelling should hit A-Rod tonight in response. What?! So does that mean the Yankees need to hit 20 or so Red Sox to even the score of Yankee hit batters? Just ridiculous. I hope if A-Rod does get hit, the Yankees respond in a BIG way and not just with a strongly worded letter.

Now, Alex will never admit it, but I think A-Rod's slide wasn't just retaliation for the way the Sox plunk Yankee hitters all the time; it was directed at the second baseman for a reason. Pedroia himself slid very aggressively into Jeter in the second inning, even though Dustin was very far from second base. I understand that even the Sox TV announcers criticized Pedroia forhis slide. So it's a bit much for Pedroia to complain about what Alex did. Not to mention the way David Ortiz banged into Jeter at second the night before.

Just saw that A-Rod has commented to the media about the slide - he said it was not intentional:

"It was an awkward slide," A-Rod said. "We we're fighting for every run. I'm playing as hard as I can. I kind of came up. I definitely didn't roll or anything like that. It was definitely not intentional."

A-Rod went on to say:

"Every run for us is like huge. I'm just not going to go in like a little baby doll and try to hug him. I'm trying to play hard."

Good response, Alex!

Then Squawker reader Fred Garvin weighed in on a discussion in our comments section about the respective numbers of Red Sox and Yankees getting hit by pitches:

I'm not saying that teams should play wimpy, mind you. But to me, the HBP argument is a visceral response to very obvious structural problems -- numerous injuries, the geriatrification (is that a word) of the Yankees, poor game management, poor offseason moves, and so forth. Employing the HBP at key moments might change a few attitudes but it doesn't fix any of those problems.

Fred, the thing is that the HBP disparity is really a symptom of this current Yankee team's lack of aggressiveness, or heart, or whatever you want to call it.. The fact that David Ortiz has killed this team, year in and year out, and has never been even brushed back once is just astonishing. Making Ortiz move his feet a little won't solve all the Yankees' problems, of course, but it would show that the Yanks aren't going to take this one-sided aggressiveness anymore.

There's all sorts of talk in Red Sox Nation about how Curt Schilling should and will hit A-Rod tonight. But here's what the Yanks ought to do to prevent that. In the first inning, Andy Pettitte should plunk David Ortiz, the benches will get warned, and then Schilling will be unable to retaliate against A-Rod without getting thrown out the game. All we need to see is Alex hit another homer or two off Schilling, and you have the makings of a great evening!

Posted by Lisa Swan at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

 Digg This   del.icio.us    Furl It     Reddit 

According to today's New York Daily News, Jason Giambi has tested positive for amphetamines over the past year. When asked about this yesterday, he and his agent both refused comment.

Should Giambi's new nickname be Jason Rockhead? Because he must have rocks in his head if he thought this revelation wouldn't come out after his steroids admission revelation last week, and after he said he got drug tested more than anybody else. It turns out that failing the amphetamine test means six additional drug tests for the year following the first positive test.

But he's far from the only player who has reportedly tested positive for speed. According to the Daily News article on Giambi, an astonishing 80 other baseball players have also failed the speed test. First offenses are not revealed to the public. Nor are they even revealed to the team. T.J. Quinn writes:

"It is entirely possible the Yankees were unaware of the recent test, as they claimed. Under baseball's policy, when a player tests positive for banned stimulants, only the four members of MLB's Health Policy Advisory Committee (HPAC) and the player himself are informed. The player may then tell whomever he likes. Under the rule, even commissioner Bud Selig and MLB Players Association executive director Don Fehr are not informed."

Jason's hubris, even actually uttering the phrase "I'm not hiding anything" to USA Today, reminds me of Rafael Palmiero. The only thing he didn't do, as far as we know, was wag his finger to that reporter last week when he bragged about passing all those drug tests. Well, that and have a caterpillar mustache.

Dude's got some chutzpah, that's for sure. How could he have the nerve to accuse Alex Rodriguez of having a "false confidence" last season? A-Rod may be a head case, but he's never been accused of getting his confidence, false or not, from a needle or a pill.

Also, since Giambi suggested that baseball apologize to the fans about steroid use, is baseball now going to need to apologize to fans for the amphetamine usage, too? Jason said last week he'd explain one day why he took that "stuff," but not now. But when will he explain why he reportedly took that other "stuff"?

What do you think about the latest revelation about Jason Giambi? Leave us a note in our comments section.

Posted by Lisa Swan at 5:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (18)

 Digg This   del.icio.us    Furl It     Reddit 

Last night's game was a very strange one. The Yankees didn't lay down and die, but they didn't hit or pitch like they should have, either. I was trying to come up with a summary for what the night meant, but Squawker reader "ee" did a pretty good job of doing so in our comments section. Here are the comments:

Game changed completely with the play at second base (Crisp I think) in the 7th. Tough call - looked out, but tough call.

Also, was this the first boo-bird assault on Abreu or was tonight the first time I could hear it so clearly (ground out in the 8th was pretty frustrating).

I missed the play live when it happened - I had to take a phone call, so I only got to see it later. The thing that disturbed me more than the call was hearing Robinson Cano again say in the postgame (like he did in the Seattle game where the Yanks were robbed at second) that he didn't argue with the umpire because he was afraid to get thrown out of the game. Not to mention the fact that Joe Torre didn't bother arguing it either.

On the other hand, Alex Rodriguez showed plenty of fight trying to break up a double play - Dustin Pedroia was all peeved over A-Rod's elbow. Of course, some might think was a dirty play. So again, it's more of the glass half-full, half empty sort of thing.

And I think Abreu may have gotten booed Monday night, too. But tonight was definitely noticeable. He's becoming the 2007 Designated Yankee Scapegoat. I feel bad for him, especially since I'll bet the boos will make him press more.

It also sounded like Mike Mussina got some boos as well - I don't think everybody was chanting "Moose" last night! I never like hearing Yankee fans boo their own players, so this stinks.

But check out these Moose comments, after last night's game:

"I don't like getting out of a routine any more than anybody else does. But you have to deal with it. I've had to deal with it and I've had to deal with it a lot. And I haven't done a very good job with it."

Asked whether he'd ever march into Joe Torre's office and ask for stability in his schedule, he said, "I don't have that luxury. I pitch whenever I get the chance. It's not my place to request things like that. I'm here to do a job when I'm told to do it."

But apparently it is his place to throw a hissy fit after every start if his routine is messed up. Sheesh.

* * *

Yet another '90s dynasty member, Joe Girardi, had some very pointed comments about this team's heart when he appeared on the Michael Kay show Monday. In past Yankee struggles, I don't remember guys from the last good old days era ever being so critical of the current Yankees. But it seems like lots of people are sensing that there is something wrong with this team's spirit.

If you want to hear everything that Girardi said, click here. Girardi criticized how Yankee pitchers let other pitchers, especially the Red Sox, get too comfortable at the plate. He said that the Sox pitchers make the Yankees "move their feet", but that the Yankee batters don't do the same. He stressed that the Yankees have to make a change on this.

Joe went on to talk about other stuff, but almost as an afterthought, at the very end of the conversation, when Kay asked him if the Yanks were in trouble, Girardi said, "Yeah, I don't like what I see, I really don't. I don't see the fight." He said "You want to see someone get angry," and lamented the loss of Gary Sheffield from this team. He said that the Yanks "don't know how to handle this." Girardi did say that with the "talent in the room, they're more than capable" of turning their season around, though. Yes, that and a new manager, I say!

Coming back to the discussion about being optimistic vs. being pessimistic debate about the Yankees. I am extremely pessimistic about the Yanks' chances of the playoffs as long as Joe Torre is the manager. But if Joe Girardi takes over, I am very optimistic that Girardi will turn this team around, and they'll make the playoffs. Because, bad bench aside, I don't think this team's problem is one of talent; it's one of motivation and leadership.

Are you an optimist or a pessimist when it comes to the Yankees' chances this year? Please let us know.

Posted by Lisa Swan at 5:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)

 Digg This   del.icio.us    Furl It     Reddit 

Omar Minaya said Tuesday that Pedro Martinez could be back on the mound by August. Considering that his target date was originally August, I don't see this as particularly good news. It reinforces that either they have no idea when he'll be back or they are putting a good spin on a difficult situation.

The Mets need Pedro whether or not Jorge Sosa continued to pitch at a high level, but now that that Sosa was shelled by the Braves tonight, the Mets might again be down to three dependable starters.

Meanwhile, the Mets have now lost two in a row to the Yankees and Braves by a combined score of 14-3. Not only have they been baffled by the likes of Tyler Clippard and Kyle Davies, but Davies drove in as many runs on his three-run homer as the Mets have scored in both games combined.

I saw Steely Dan at the Beacon tonight and they did one of their earliest songs, "Dirty Work." The Mets are in first place only because other teams are doing their dirty work for them and beating Atlanta. With Perez and Glavine going the next two nights, it's time to finally win a series this year from the Braves.

Posted by Jon Lewin at 2:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

 Digg This   del.icio.us    Furl It     Reddit 

Nice mini-rally in the eighth inning. The Yanks finally got to Hideki Okajima a little. Then the Yanks started to get a little thing going against Jonathan Papelbon. But it was all to no avail, as the Yanks still lost, 7-3.

In the postgame, Mike Mussina was beating himself up pretty good. He ripped his own pitching very hard. I almost started to feel sorry for him, because he looked so depressed. Then Kim Jones asked him a few followup questions, and my sympathy for him went out the window.

Moose talked about how the Yankee batters couldn't get anything going. He then said, "and when we did, we couldn't get a big hit."

Somebody should play The Price Is Right music for that answer - you know, the type of music they play when somebody loses at the clock game or something. Da-duh-da-da...DUH. The price is wrong, Mike!

Then Miss Jones questioned the Moose about pitching with extra rest:

"It seems like it has been like that the whole season, " he whined. "It's tough to do that." He also noted that he didn't like getting off his routine. No kidding, Mike (Monk) Mussina.

Posted by Lisa Swan at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

 Digg This   del.icio.us    Furl It     Reddit 

What a depressing game. To keep myself from slitting my wrists tonight, I pulled a Curt Schilling and decided to Google myself, or at least the Subway Squawkers' name, during the game. Yes, I have no life.

Anyhow, I found out, via a fan mentioning it on Seth Mnookin's blog, that the Boston Globe's Extra Bases feature on their site mentioned something I wrote a few weeks ago. It's about Joe Torre's use of his bullpen. Here's how the fan on Mnookin's site described it:

For a good laugh, see in the Globe Extra Bases today the 'Subway Squawkers' rant by a Yankee fan about Torre's haphazard use of his bullpen. Too funny!

And here's what the Extra Bases page featured from our column:

From the Subway Squakers fan blog:

"I think I've figured Joe [Torre]'s bullpen madness out. My theory is he's got a bingo machine set up in the clubhouse, with balls with the numbers of each reliever on them. Of course, Scott Proctor and Luiz Vizcaino's numbers are in there multiple times. So he spins the machine, and picks the pitcher. How else to explain long relief man Sean Henn pitching the eighth? Or Scott Proctor facing Manny Ramirez, who owns him? And why is Mike Myers on the roster if he's not going to face David Ortiz for the second day in a row? Or how about Bruney, who should be much higher in the depth chart, pitching the fifth inning Saturday? B-I-N-G-O and Torre was his name-oh!"

Tee hee! They did call us "Squakers" and not "Squawkers," but still! Very cool.

Posted by Lisa Swan at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

 Digg This   del.icio.us    Furl It     Reddit 

Another red-letter day for Mike Mussina. Boy, does that guy get on my nerves. Personality-wise, I actually preferred Randy Johnson. He was ornery as anything, but he always credited his teammates in postgame interviews and never blamed anybody but himself when he pitched badly. Mussina's supposedly more of a nice guy, but he's the first to blame others for his own failures.

Anybody want to come up with some ready-made excuses for Mike in the postgame? Our readers have written some pretty good ones in the comments section so far.

Also, I found this story online last night from when Mussina first became a Yankee. The next time the Yanks court a potential free agent, they should check warning signals like this:

Mussina didn't grow up dreaming of wearing pinstripes. In fact, during his 10 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, he was of the opinion that the Big Apple was, well, rotten. Ken Rosenthal, the respected former Baltimore Sun columnist who now writes for The Sporting News, said Mussina despised New York so much that he rarely left his hotel room when the Orioles were in town.

It figures.

Posted by Lisa Swan at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

 Digg This   del.icio.us    Furl It     Reddit 

Julian Tavarez got a little shaky there in the fifth, but Sox fans should be happy with his performance. He's looked pretty good out there - only giving up three hits so far, although he has also walked four. Now he's out of the game, in favor of the other (not the catcher) Javier Lopez.

Mike Mussina has settled down since the early innings. But he still has given up eight hits to the Red Sox so far.

Michael Kay just said that you have to give props to Mussina. No, we don't. He put the Yanks in a 3-0 hole before they even came up to bat. He's been outpitched by the Sox's No. 5 guy. What does he want, a cookie?

Posted by Lisa Swan at 8:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

 Digg This   del.icio.us    Furl It     Reddit