Let us continue the comparison!

Robinson Cano vs. Dustin Pedroia

Just a year ago, I would have given the Yankees the advantage. Now, we'll see.

Robinson Cano:

Like Pedroia, Robby is a home-grown second sacker. Last year was a down year to put it lightly. However, there is no reason to believe he won't rebound in 2009. He has been compared to Rod Carew by Joe Torre. And in 2007, Buster Olney of ESPN published this glowing report on Robby. In 2005 he took over early for the rather disappointing Tony Womack. That year he hit .297 with 14 homers and 62 RBIs, showing pretty good defense and a rocket arm. 2006 was probably his best year ever, finishing third in the AL batting race behind The Captain and Joe Mauer, hitting .342 with 18 homers and 78 ribbies. The next year his power numbers went up, with 19 homers and 97 RBIs, but his average went down to .306. His strikeouts escalated alarmingly from 54 to 85, which is still a pretty good total. But still, that's about a 60% increase. Last year Robby hit a dismal .151 in April, hitting .246 total before the All-Star Game. He's always been thick, especially in his legs, but last year he was beginning to get heavy. He still managed a .307 second-half average, but he totaled a very disappointing .271 with 14 homers and 72 ribbies. After having a .237 April average in his last three years, a trimmer Cano is hitting .367 this one. At age 26, there's still time for him to fulfill Reggie Jackson's 30-home run power prophecy.

Dustin Pedroia:

Dustin Pedroia is listed by the Boston Red Sox as 5'9", but no one is really buying that. The two "real height"s of Pedroia I have heard most are 5'7" and 5'5". I'll say he's 5'6". Either way, he is a great run producer and a gritty leader in the field. In 2006 he debuted, playing in 31 games and hitting .191 with 2 homers and 7 RBIs. In '07 he became the Red Sox' regular secoond baseman, playing 139 games and winning the American League Rookie Of The Year award with a .317 average, 8 homers, and 50 RBIs. Last year he really busted out, hitting .326 with 17 home runs, 83 RBIs, and 20 steals. He won the MVP award, an award  many did not agree he deserved...but it was still a great season. Dustin P. is 25 years old.

Advantage: I'll give it to the Red Sox by a slim margin.

I'm trying very hard to keep posting right now...it's just hard. In 3 or 4 weeks I'll hopefully be going back to posting often, but for now, it'll be pretty hard for me to get out an interesting post more often than weekly, if that. So for this post, I'll review only our last game.

Two days ago, Melky Cabrera did the honors on the first walk off homer in the new Yankee Stadium!

We played 14 innings in the Bronx, but we're gonna start this from the beginning. CC had another horrendous start, lasting 6.2 innings and giving up 7 runs, 6 earned with 4 walks and 2 K's. But that's where our bullpen took over and was admirable. While the Yankees struggled for a single run from the 6th inning on, Phil Coke, Jonathan Albaladejo, Mariano Rivera, and Damaso Marte all held off the Athletics, and the struggling Jose Veras brought his ERA down to 5.59 with 3.1 perfect innings and 4 K's. The offense was pretty good before the 7th. Melky hit the first homer of the game for the Yankees in the 2nd, a solo shot, and Hideki Matsui did the same in the same inning. Robby had an RBI groundout in the 3rd, and Nick Swisher had a ribbie single in the 3rd as well. In the 4th, the Captain corked one out to center. He hit an RBI double in the 6th, and Tex hit a ribbie single. After Matt Holliday's ribbie single in the 7th tied it at 7, the scoring stopped for a long time as both bullpens performed well. Former Yank Dan Giese pitched a scoreless 13th, but could only get 1 out in 14th before Melky popped one out to right, scoring Nick Swisher for the win.

By the way, what ever happened to the Yankees selling out every game? There's a lot of empty seats in every picture...Someone tell me what's going on with that. Please. I'm guessing it's the ridiculous ticket prices, but..

In my last piece of news, today is the first Boskees game of the year! The greatest rivalry in sports will be renewed at Fenway Park, with Joba Chamberlain facing Jon Lester. I'll try to post later on that!

Just remember...

 

To start this post I'll continue the Yanks-Sox comparison, today at 1st base.

Kevin Youkilis vs. Mark Teixeira

 

Kevin Youkilis and Mark Teixeira have very different stories of how they got where they are.

Mark Teixeira:

Teixeira is the newest of the New York Yankees, and was the most prized position player on the free-agent market last year. He signed an 8-year, $180 million dollar deal in the offseason that included a signing bonus of $5 million and a full no-trade clause. His hallmark has been consistency. He hit 26 home runs in his 2003 rookie season with the Rangers, and since then has had totals of 38, 43, 33, 30, and 33, with a batting average between .281 and .308 (last year's average). The 29-year old Tex is many people's pick for MVP, and it makes good sense. He's reaching his peak years, he's a switch-hitter in the new Yankee Stadium, which has the same short porch in right as the old one, and he's turned himself into an excellent defensive first baseman. That whole package makes him probably the best first baseman in the AL, with Miguel Cabrera, a more powerful hitter but a far worse fielder, as his best competition for that title. Justin Morneau and Youkilis could soon join the party, though, and you could make a case Morneau is just as good as Cabrera or Teixeira, though I don't think he's quite on the same level.

Kevin Youkilis:

Youkilis was drafted by the Red Sox and has been with their organization since 2001, making his major league debut in 2004. He became a full-time player in '06, putting up a .279 average with 13 home runs and 72 RBIs in his transition year from third base to first. All those numbers improved the next year and he burst onto the scene of elite first baseman last year with a .312 average, 29 homers, and 115 RBIs. He is at least undisputably the fourth-best first baseman in the AL, though he, like Teixeira, has made himself into a superior defensive player. But we mustn't forget intangibles, Youkilis' clutch hitting skills and his leadership. The Red Sox' right side of their infield forms the heart and soul of their team, with Youk and Dustin Pedroia. Youkilis is 30.

Advantage: Yankees

So, that Rays series actually turned out pretty good after the embarassing first game with one awesome moment. 

Of course the awesome moment I'm speaking of is Nick Swisher pitching.

He homered and pitched a scoreless inning in the same game.

Freakin' awesome!!!!!!

But...other than that...it ended 15-5...so other than that it was really bad. So I'm done with that game.

But the next game we had our vengeance!!!!! A.J. Burnett came through once again, with 8 dominant innings with 3 hits and 2 runs given up and 9 strikeouts. Brian Bruney closed it out with a perfect inning, striking out the side, and the Yanks won 7-2. Of course, Swish hit another home run, and the captain tacked on a three-run shot in the top of the 9th. Brett the Jet Gardner smacked two doubles.

The next game would determine the winner of the series. Andy was brilliant, pitching 7.1 innings and giving up 6 hits and 3 runs with 4 strikeouts. Robby went 2-for-4 with a double and a homer. Bruney struck out 2 in his perfect 2/3 of an inning, and Mo tacked on his 2nd save with a perfect 9th and we won 4-3. One worse note is that Tex lowered his average to .174 that game by going 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. However, overall it was a great game for us.

The very next day, yesterday, was Opening Day at the brand new Yankee Stadium!!!!!

Before I give you the recap of a bad loss, let's look at all the pretty pictures!!

Yogi threw out the first pitch:

David Wells was out and about the stadium before the game:

CC, of course, threw out the first official pitch:

Don Larsen and Whitey Ford were also there:

The beautiful Kelly Clarkson sang the national anthem:

The Captain was the first Yankee player introduced:

Woot! Look at all the people!!

Let's get some game action photos...

CC got the first official strikeout,

Johnny Damon got the first hit, a single in the first,

and Jorge got the very first home run there, a shot to dead center.

As for the game, it was not as grand as the opening of the stadium. CC was not as bad as the 10-2 final score, pitching 5.2 innings and only giving up 1 run on 5 hits. He did strike out 4 and walk 5, but that's actually kind of good, because it means he can pitch with runners on. However, in the 7th we gave up 9 runs, 3 by Jose Veras (he didn't get anyone out) and six by Damaso Marte (there were several good pics of him, but I didn't feel he deserved one). David Robertson was pretty good in the final two innings, but that could not change the fact we could only muster the solo shot by Jorge and an RBI single by Robby. Overall, though, it was a grand opening.

Today's game: First win at the new Yankee Stadium!!!!!!!!!

5 solo homers. One run on a throwing error. Joba was not exactly what one would call good, but all our homers were enough to pull out the first of hopefully--ahem--10,000ish wins at the stadium, a 6-5 victory.

There was Johnny Damon's home run:

Melky's:

Tex's:

 

Robby was the first player to reach the second deck at the Stadium, but there's no picture of him hitting it:

But the final homer was the most important. The Yankees were tied with Cleveland, 5-5, when the captain stepped up in the 8th.

BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was gone and Mo locked it up in the 9th.

On a worse note for the Yankees, the X-Man is trying to avoid season-ending surgery.

If he does manage to avoid it, it'll be several months of rehab. Luckily we held on to Swisher in the offseason...

Lastly I'll dedicate this post to Harry Kalas and Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, the two latest deaths in the baseball family. My dad's days as a sportswriter got him Fidrych's autograph, which I now have.

You two may be gone but will never be forgotten, forever entrenched in your teams', and cities' lore.

First off, I really can't figure out what I would write for Nick Adenhart. I can't describe how sad I am that a 22-year old rookie, just starting his career, could be gone just like that. The driver who ran a red light and killed three people was a serial drunk driver. Sometimes, life really isn't fair. RIP Nick.

So, the other day I was commenting on another great MLBlog, The Squad, and I ran down the Red Sox' pitching rotation. Well, long story short, I scared myself and now I must do a comparison between The Yanks and the red sox. So I'm gonna run down each team, position by position, post by post. Rather than making it a super duper long post I'm going to do it one position-each-post style.

Catcher

Jorge Posada vs. Jason Varitek

Both of these backstops have long histories with their teams and against the other team.

A brief history of Varitek vs. Yankees...

And a brief history of Posada vs. Red Sox.

Jorge Posada:

Though he's an injury risk this year, Jorgie, if healthy, will once more lead the team behind the plate, his 12th straight year as our Opening Day backstop. As you can tell by the above photo, he can sometimes lose his cool, but the majority of the time he's a calm, quiet leader. In 2007 he had a career year, hitting .338, his only time hitting .300, with 20 home runs and 90 RBIs. He's always had that pop. Since 2000 his low in homers is 19, in 2005. His 222nd career homer, hit on Opening Day this year, tied him with Don Mattingly. The 37-year old may not have a ton of real productive years in front of him, if any. But his leadership is still needed in the clubhouse. Posada will likely be the next to go of the group of Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Andy Pettitte. He will be sorely missed in the Yankee clubhouse when the day comes that he decides he is done.

Jason Varitek:

Varitek is another huge leader behind the plate and in the clubhouse, though he's probably a bit more fiery in his attittude than Posada. He's caught an MLB-record 4 no-hitters. He is one of the 3 team captains in baseball, with our very own Derek Jeter and the White Sox' Paul Konerko. However, he is not a great hitter anymore. His career really kicked off in 1999 with a 20-homer season and a .269 average in 144 games. That would turn out to be the third-highest home run total of his career. Some would say Varitek peaked in 2004, with the highest average of his career, .296, and 18 homers with 73 RBIs and a .390 OBP. His average has gone down steadily since then, and he hit .220 last year, proving that the All-Star Game really is a popularity contest. Has he hit the bottom? No one can know for sure, but all signs point to yes. His leadership will keep him in the lineup and behind the plate, though.

Advantage: Yankees

This next part of the post will have to be abbreviated some, since I have not too much time to write it.

First of all, I'm sorry I haven't posted lately. I'll try to cover the rest of the season better.

Secondly, the Yankees are now 3-3 after losing to the Kansas City Royals this afternoon. I'll give a brief look at what has happened since I last posted, when the Yanks were 0-1. They lost the second game of the series to the Orioles, with Wang giving up 7 runs in his return to the mound.

 

Just when things looked really bad, A.J. Burnett came through with a stellar series finale, pitching 5.1 innings and giving up 2 runs on 7 hits with 6 strikeouts. Fellow newcomers Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira homered, as did Robby Cano, and the Yanks cruised, 11-2. Swisher drove in 5 runs and doubled as well, starting the tear he's been on since then.  

 

We then went to Kansas City, and in the first game Andy Pettitte was vintage, pitching 7 innings and giving up 1 run on 3 hits with 6 strikeouts. Mo got his first save, Swish doubled, Robby went 2 for 3 to raise his average to .571, and the Yanks emerged with a 4-1 win.

 Yesterday, the Yankees pulled their record up to 3-2 with a 6-1 win. Much to the relief of Yanks fans who saw our season opener, CC Sabathia was dominant, shutting the Royals out for 7.2 innings, giving up 6 hits and striking out 6. Hitting 3rd in the absence of A-Rod and Tex (Teixeira had arm soreness or something like that), Nick Swisher again dominated the opposing pitching, going 2 for 3 with a home run, a triple, and two walks. Jorge also homered and doubled for us, driving in 3, same as Swish.

Today's game was okay until the bottom of the 8th, when Jose Veras and Phil Coke lost the game and spoiled Joba's chance for a well-earned win. He threw 6 innings with 1 earned run on 4 hits, striking out 5 Royals. We seized the 4-3 lead in the top of the 7th with a 3-run rally, but KC scored 3 off Veras and Coke, and Joakim Soria struck out Hideki Matsui, Xavier Nady, and Robby Cano in a row in the 9th.

Sorry about not having as many pictures as usual, but like I said, not much time.

Robby and Swish will be leading us into Tampa Bay next, with their .400+ averages... Hopefully I'll have a more in-depth look next time.

Thanks for reading!

Well, that sucked.

A freshly clean-cut CC Sabathia was not awe-inspiring and dominant at all. 4.1 innings, 8 hits, 6 runs, 5 walks, and zero strikeouts.

Mark Teixeira got boooooed by Orioles fans after rejecting their offer to play for a last-place team and instead go for a bona fide contender. Buuuut he went hitless. 

We made a run at pulling ahead from a 6-1 deficit. We were ahead once, after Johnny Damon's sacrifice fly in the top of the third. At the bottom of that inning, the O's pulled ahead 3-1. It got up to 6-1 and then Jorge hit the Yankees' first home run of the year. Nady doubled to left, scoring Robby. Top of the next inning, Matsui hit a two-run homer, scoring Damon and himself. But that was as close as we got. Cesar Izturis hit a two-run homer, and Aubrey Huff hit a bases-clearing double. Albaladejo and Marte did fine, but Phil Coke and Brian Bruney got whacked for two runs apiece in 2 innings combined.

Here, even though I didn't like this game much, I'll give you some photos.

Well at least Robby had a semi-good day, going 1 for 3 and drawing 2 walks.

Don't panic just yet, Yankee fans....Too early for that.

The new Yankee Stadium looks absolutely great. And the Yankees look even better, positively stunning in their pinstripes and mashing the Cubs' pitching. Bronx Bombers indeed. They've hit 7 home runs in their two games at the Stadium against the Cubs. Let's run 'em down.

The very first home run in the new Yankee Stadium was hit by none other than Robby Cano.

My favorite Yankee also made a couple of heads-up plays in the field and went 2 for 3 in the Yanks' 7-4 win.

The second two-run shot of the game was hit by Godzilla, DH'ing and hitting in A-Rod's spot in the order.

The third, which clanged off the foul pole in left, was by Cody Ransom, filling in at A-Rod's position.

That was in the first game, which the Yanks won, 7-4. More on that one later.

One notable home run at the beginning of yesterday's game was by old Yankee Alfonso Soriano.

 

The fourth home run was in the third inning of yesterday's game, a three-run shot by our captain himself.

The fifth was in the same inning by some guy named Teixeira.

 

The next inning? He hit another shot, this one a three-run dinger, a laser into the second deck in right. He really made his "Mark". Ha. Ha. See what I did there? Yeah.

The latest home run hit at the new Yankee Stadium was by my man Shelley Duncan, into the left field seats. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of him in the new stadium.

Let's run down some of the unofficial firsts at the new Stadium.

First Hit: Aaron Miles, Cubs

First Yankees Hit: Derek Jeter, double in the first inning

First Run: Aaron Miles

First Yankee Run: Jorge Posada

First Home Run: Robinson Cano

First Stolen Base: Joey Gathright

First Yankee Stolen Base: Cody Ransom

First Pitch: Chien-Ming Wang

First Strikeout: Chien-Ming Wang, I think

First Save: Jonathan Albaladejo

In the first game, Wang pitched 5 solid innings, even though he was not on the very top of his game. He gave up 4 runs on 6 hits and struck out 3 with 2 walks. For the 6th inning, "Enter Sandman" came over the speakers and Mo trotted in and set 'em down with a perfect inning, which included a strikeout. Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez, and Jonathan Albaladejo followed with a perfect inning apiece, Ramirez picking up a K. Ted Lilly lasted only 4 innings for the Cubbies, giving up 7 runs on 8 hits. Aaron Heilman, Neal Cotts, Jason Berg, and Kevin Gregg all followed with scoreless innings, making each bullpen perfect for the game. Every single player in the Yankees starting lineup was substituted for. We started out with Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Cody Ransom, Derek Jeter, Xavier Nady, Brett Gardner, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, and Chien-Ming Wang. We left the game with Jose Molina, Shelley Duncan, Angel Berroa, Justin Leone, Ramiro Pena, Todd Linden, Melky Cabrera, Nick Swisher, John Rodriguez, and Jonathan Albaladejo.

Yesterday's game was a true blowout. 10-1 Yankees. Andy Pettitte started and was certainly sharp in 4 innings, setting down all but 7 of the hitters he faced, 6 of them with hits and one of them taking a walk. He struck out two and one of the hits was Soriano's dinger. A.J. Burnett really impressed me in the next 4 innings. The first 3 were perfect, and in the fourth inning he surrendered two hits and walked one. Oh yeah, he struck out 6. In only 4 innings. Brian Bruney pitched 2/3 of the last inning, and Phil Coke closed it out. Rich Harden got bombed in 3.2 innings, surrendering 7 hits and 8 runs, 7 earned. He walked 4 and gave up one more home run than his two strikeouts. Carlos Marmol, David Patton, Angel Guzman, and Chad Gaudin held 'em off for a while, but Luis Vizcaino gave up Duncan's home run and gave up one more run. Jeff Samardzija was able to stop the bleeding for the final 2/3 of the inning. Once more every starting Yankee was gone by the end of the game, with Kevin Cash and Doug Bernier getting some playing time in this one.

Since, as you all know, I love them, here are some more photos of the Yanks.

That's Reggie, in case you were wondering. He's a good luck charm for some more championships!

Oh yeah, Citi Field looks pretty good too.

 

 

It's Opening Night folks! Listening to it right now. Tune in tomorrow as the Yanks start the madness in Baltimore, CC versus Jeremy Guthrie!

Let's get this show on the road, shall we?

Take me out to the ballgame...