The Detroit Tigers are letting the league know that their center fielder, Curtis Granderson, is available. New York Post’s Joel Sherman believes that the Yankees would have interest. I would definitely like the Yankees to go after a guy like him, but what would they have to give up? Austin Jackson could definitely be a possibility. You guys willing to part with him?
Could the Bombers let Wang go? According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees ”will be very cautious” with pitcher Chien-Ming Wang. That’s understandable, considering his recent injury problems and there is a quite a bit of questioning on whether or not he can still compete at this level. The team has always gone year-to-year with him, so this is a routine procedure with him.
Scott Boras is at it again with his big mouth. comparing Damon to Jeter and Holliday to Teixeira? Oh God. Is he kidding me? Joel Sherman of the New York Post says that Scott Boras “sounded as if he wants a three- or four-year deal for Johnny Damon”. Sherman doesn’t know whether Boras is willing to have Damon take less than the $13MM salary Damon made the last four seasons. It would definitely be nice to have Damon back, but the Yankees could do without him. Johnny needs the Yankees more than they need him. The team can just as easily go out on the market and buy a player if they wanted to. At this point in Damon’s career, he should just be trying to win more championships..and in New York he has the best opportunity to do that. Continue Reading »
World Series television ratings bounced back from last year’s record lows. The New York Yankees’ six-game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Fox averaged an 11.7 rating and 19 share. That’s the highest since a 15.8/26 in 2004, when the Boston Red Sox swept the St Louis Cardinals to end an 86-year championship drought. It’s up 39 percent from the record-low 8.4/14 for the 2008 Phillies-Tampa Bay Rays series. Game 6 earned a 13.4/22.
The rating is the percentage of households with televisions tuned to a program. The share is the percentage of homes watching among those with TVs in use at the time.
This is not much of a surprise for me, personally, though I would have thought that the Rays-Phils Series would have had a higher rating considering it was the first time the Rays had EVER been in the Series and its the first time since 1993.
Everybody seems to know someone who has served. Heck, you, the reader might have served at some point in time. Whatever the circumstances were, we here at Zells Pinstripe Blog tip our hat to you in recognition of your service. Whether you know it or not, there have been a few Yankees that have served as well. While this may not be a comprehensive list, it highlights how even people of their stature value service to their nation.
Jeter had a really good season at shortstop this year anyway you put it. Derek was criticized the past few years, and everyone was saying how bad he was playing defensively. I’m sure he feels really good right about now. He definitely looked much better this season, and you have to give credit to Teixeira for helping him out with his terrific plays at first base throughout the regular season.
Mark Teixeira flashes the leather out on the diamond like no other. It’s a real pleasure to watch him play first, especially since we were haunted by Jason Giambi’s horrible glove for so many years.
The feeling around New York was that Tex had a good glove, but people didn’t realize how amazing this guy really was. He seems to make up for any mistakes he makes at the plate, and he is always making a diving stop or a scoop in the dirt just like any other routine play. He brings people back to the days of old, when Don Mattingly played for the Yankees. He’s been so impressive that many have questioned whether or not he is even better than Donnie Baseball defensively. Continue Reading »
Recently, 20 General Managers were asked 8 questions in regards to this offseason. Three of the eight dealt with or involved our beloved New York Yankees.
Question 3: Where will John Lackey, the top starting pitcher on the market, sign in the winter? For how many years and how much money?
Responses: Yankees 8, Mets 4, Angels 3. The Dodgers, Astros, Orioles and Brewers received one vote each, and one executive said he has “no idea.” Estimates on Lackey’s deal ranged from a low of three years, $36 million to highs of five years, $95 million and six years, $100 million.
While Major League Baseball’s season might have ended, there is still baseball being played. Here is an update on how some of the Yankees farmhands in the Arizona Fall League are doing.
Pitchers
Grant Duff (RHP) has logged a 3.68 ERA in 7.1 innings over 8 appearances with 2 saves while striking out 3 and walking 5.
Michael Dunn (LHP) in 7.2 innings over 7 appearances has logged a 2.35 ERA while striking out 13 and walking 6.
Ian Kennedy (RHP) has started 5 games in which he has pitched 20.1 innings with an ERA of 3.98 with 19 strikeout’s and 4 walk’s
Zach Kroenke (LHP) hasn’t been as lucky as his colleagues this fall. He has an ERA of 5.68 over 9 games and 12.2 innings with 10 K’s and 4 walks.
Yet another issue on the Yankees hot stove plate this off season is what to do with their backup catcher spot. Now, I am not a fool, I don’t see the Yankees carrying three catchers on their 25 man roster. We’ve heard it for a while now, the Yankees want to get younger and more athletic, which is understandable. Though their backup catcher situation provides quite a quandary.
Watching the final out game on television, or listening to it on the radio..you probably have already heard these calls on the last out of the World Series. I just thought I would have them down in writing for you guys. I guess you can add these two to the list.
“Now Rivera is set, and here’s the payoff…swung on and grounded to second, Cano fields, throws to first, in time! Ballgame over, World Series over! Yankees win! Theeeeeee Yankees win! – John Sterling
“To the second baseman Cano…the Yankees are back on top! World Champions for the 27th time!” – Joe Buck
Joe Girardi was put in a spot last year where he was set up for failure. Not that he wouldn’t be much of a manager, but he was taking the job of a man who was a legend in New York. That guy’s name was Joe Torre.
Joe Girardi entered the 2008 season with high expectations. Mr. Torre brought the Yankees to the playoffs every year from 1996 until he left at the end of the 2007 season. He also brought four World Championships to the city of New York, and was still “let go”. Torre felt that he was being low-balled by management, and the pressure of managing was worse than ever, so he left holding a grudge. The funny part about all of it was that Girardi missed the playoffs entirely last year. It was a major disappointment and had the organization second-guessing what they did. Girardi had been criticized by fans all season long (including me) about the way he manages this team. Whether it be the way he manages the bullpen, overmanaging, the way he handled the media, or the way he set up his rotation…fans got on him.
In this World Series, Girardi gained some points in my book by the way he managed the team. I had a lot of complaints about him during the ALDS and ALCS, but I feel like he pulled the right strings for the most part in the Fall Classic. Not only did he do a better job of managing the ball club, but in the end he won a World Series ring. Continue Reading »
The world champion Yankees have top free-agent pitcher John Lackey on their free-agent shopping list, sources said. The Yankees aren’t expected to be as aggressive this winter on the free market as last offseason and they haven’t firmed up all their plans as yet, but one league source said of Lackey, “He’s definitely on their radar.”
While I believe John Lackey would rather go home to Texas (as mentioned in the article), there is a part of me that wouldn’t mind seeing him come to New York. With the acquisition of him and probable return of Pettitte, all the Yankees would need is Hughes/Joba to fill in as the fifth starter until Chien-Ming Wang returns. Would you welcome the signing of Lackey or would you prefer try Joba or Phil as the fifth starter, again?
Recently, the New York Daily News published their list of the All-World Series Yankees team. Looking over it, there is not much much debate at who should be on it, with the exception of one or two spots (Brosius vs Nettles, Larsen vs. Pettitte). Are you happy with this list? To see the full article click here.
Manager – Casey Stengel
C – Yogi Berra 1B – Lou Gehrig 2B – Billy Martin SS – Derek Jeter 3B – Graig Nettles OF – Mickey Mantle OF – Babe Ruth OF – Joe DiMaggio DH – Reggie Jackson
SP – Whitey Ford SP – Red Ruffing SP – Allie Reynolds SP – Walte Hoyt SP – Don Larsen CP – Mariano Rivera
Newly crowned World Series champion, CC Sabathia appeared on The Jay Leno Show this past Friday. This is the same segment that Jimmy Rollins famously declared the Phillies would beat the Yankees in five games. “If we’re nice, we’ll let it go six,” Rollins added.
Jimmy Rollins stated before the World Series that the Phillies would win in five games. That didn’t happen. The Yankees wound up taking the series in six games and really shut him up.
I heard things about Philadelphia fans before this series, but I had no idea how bad they really were. I thought Red Sox fans were bad, (okay..they are) but it seems to me that Philly fans are just as bad..if not worse. Former Yankee, David Wells put it best when he said, “The people in that town would give The Finger to their own mom.”
They showed just how classy they are by flipping cars, causing riots in the streets, jumping on moving cabs and almost dropping their own babies when they celebrated their World Series victory last year. The Chicago Cubs fans have been suffering a lot longer than them, and the excuse they can come up with was that they haven’t won in so long?
I hear that they are very bad to other fans and to their own players. They cheer when opposing players are injured and boo their own players when they fail to accomplish a play properly. The Phillies fans booed the kids on an easter egg hunt, booed the Phillie Phanatic for not catching a foul ball, and booed Glee for their performance before the WS.
I know the Yankees and Red Sox fans have their share of rowdy, obnoxious and unruly fans…I just didn’t realize that the Phillies were viewed like this from the rest fo the sports world.
Is Charlie Manuel helping the case when he says something like this? It’s like he wants them to boo everyone.
“I notice sometimes if fans are near our dugout and talking to our players, they always want to talk about last year, and that’s good; I want them to keep coming to the games,” Manuel said. “But I want the fans to start telling them they want to win this year, too. Of course they love us and everything, but maybe they should get on them a little bit.”
It also didn’t help their case, when Macy’s ran an ad celebrating the Philadelphia Phillies victory over the Yankees in the World Series prematurely. Now those shirts will go to a poor country and they will wear them. It would be pretty funny to see that.
They seem to talk a lot also…Cole Hamels calling the Mets choke artists (even though they really are) and Jimmy Rollins predicting that they were going to take the World Series in five games. Don’t talk if you can’t back it up. You’re not Mark Messier.
I don’t want to be stereotypical and say that all Philadelphia fans are like this, because they’re not. I just found that I learned a lot about the Philadelphia sports scene from this Fall Classic.
Remember this? Surely, every Yankees fan does. Everyone knows the story, a bitter construction worker who was working on the new Yankees Stadium buried a David Ortiz jersey (pictured to the right) in hope that it would ‘jinx’ the Yankees. Luckily for the Yankees, the curse never took and when the Yankees claimed World Series #27 the victory negated any thought of a curse being placed on the new stadium. Now, if the Yankees hadn’t won the World Series or the ALCS, how much do you think this incident would have been brought up?
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VIA 
Everybody seems to know someone who has served. Heck, you, the reader might have served at some point in time. Whatever the circumstances were, we here at Zells Pinstripe Blog tip our hat to you in recognition of your service. Whether you know it or not, there have been a few Yankees that have served as well. While this may not be a comprehensive list, it highlights how even people of their stature value service to their nation.
Recently, 20 General Managers were asked 8 questions in regards to this offseason. Three of the eight dealt with or involved our beloved New York Yankees.
Yet another issue on the Yankees hot stove plate this off season is what to do with their backup catcher spot. Now, I am not a fool, I don’t see the Yankees carrying three catchers on their 25 man roster. We’ve heard it for a while now, the Yankees want to get younger and more athletic, which is understandable. Though their backup catcher situation provides quite a quandary.
Via 
Recently, the New York Daily News published their list of the All-World Series Yankees team. Looking over it, there is not much much debate at who should be on it, with the exception of one or two spots (Brosius vs Nettles, Larsen vs. Pettitte). Are you happy with this list? To see the full article 
Jimmy Rollins stated before the World Series that the Phillies would win in five games. That didn’t happen. The Yankees wound up taking the series in six games and really shut him up.
Remember this? Surely, every Yankees fan does. Everyone knows the story, a bitter construction worker who was working on the new Yankees Stadium buried a David Ortiz jersey (pictured to the right) in hope that it would ‘jinx’ the Yankees. Luckily for the Yankees, the curse never took and when the Yankees claimed World Series #27 the victory negated any thought of a curse being placed on the new stadium. Now, if the Yankees hadn’t won the World Series or the ALCS, how much do you think this incident would have been brought up?
Kevin Rozell
Rob Bradley
