Posada and Farnsworth Get Angry

Despite their above average record, the Yankees are in a worrisome funk.

Just when we thought that A-Rod had recovered from his June slump, he turns in a 1 for 14 spurt.

And Robinson Cano's bat is out of the lineup for at least a couple of weeks while he nurses a tender hamstring. This may not be a bad turn, however, as Cairo's defensive play may compensate for the loss of Cano's offensive skills.

What about Kyle Farnsworth and Jorge Posada becoming visibly angry with each other last night after they miscommunicated on a pitch, leading to a passed ball?

We all know that Posada can get a little crazy sometimes. He has a lot of passion to win. He also seems to have too much pride at times.

Back when Posada was the secondary catcher behind Girardi, veteran pitchers like Cone noticed that Posada would take offense to having one of his calls brushed off. It wasn't a personal slight, thought Cone, but Posada seemed to take it as one sometimes when pitchers would wave off a sign in favor of a different pitch.

We all know that Pedro Martinez targeted Posada as someone to goad and provoke, knowing that Posada didn't have the emotional control to laugh it off.

And it certainly wasn't a surprise to see Randy Johnson butt heads with Jorge last season. Jorge could get away with making statements to the media along the lines of "Contreras has to be more confident," but we all knew that any public questioning of Randy Johnson's ability or heart was going to cause trouble. And it did.

Bring together Posada's pride and passion with Kyle Farnsworth, the man who is best known for body slamming and laying a hurting on two batters who dared to chirp at him from the batter's box, and it's no surprise that Joe Torre had to send out Ron Guidry to calm things down.

Maybe last night's intensity will get the Yankees offense going. Their starting pitching has been decent.

Next up: Wang vs. Smoltz tonight at Yankee stadium.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Roger Clemens Was That Close to Returning To Red Sox Nation

After losing out in the Clemens sweepstakes, Theo Epstein downplayed Boston's pursuit of the future first ballot hall of famer. Others in the Red Sox organization were not able to conceal their disappointment. Tom Werner, the Hollywood producer who co-owns the Red Sox, was quoted as saying, "I thought we had him."

From as early as last December, top officials from the Red Sox - John Henry, Tom Werner, Theo Epstein, and Larry Lucchino - courted the Rocket on more than one occasion. They visited with him in Arlington when he sat with Rangers' owner, Tom Hicks to watch a game. They visited him again at a different location a short while thereafter, giving him a specially made DVD of highlights from his stellar career.

Red Sox brass even began a campaign back home, bringing out Roger Clemens memorabilia in and around Fenway Park, and doing their best to create a nostalgic atmosphere that played a constant theme: let's have Roger complete a full circle and retire from baseball on the same team that he entered the league with in the early 80s.

According to Roger Clemens' agent, the Red Sox put a final offer of $21,000,021.00 on the table just before Roger decided to return to the Houston Astros. Twenty-one million and twenty-one dollars. As we all know, Roger ended up signing a twenty-two million dollar contract with the Astros, to be paid on a pro-rated basis.

Can you imagine what Yankee stadium would have been like had Roger pitched for the Red Sox this season?

Surprisingly, the Yankees were never considered by Roger and his agents to be a serious suitor for his services.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Best Clutch Hitters

A few months ago, a New York writer suggested to Derek Jeter that the term "clutch" was overhyped and that over the course of an entire season, few players could justifiably be called "clutch" based on statistics.

Derek Jeter responded with a friendly chuckle and proceeded to say that whoever believes there's no such thing as a clutch player does not have enough experience as a professional ball player to warrant such an opinion.

Jeter went on to say that among baseball players, the concept of being clutch is very real, and that every professional ball player knows which players stand out as being clutch on each team.

Jim Baumbach, a writer for Newsday, compiled some very interesting statistics that reveal how Yankees batters have performed so far this season in clutch situations.

More specifically, he compiled offensive statistics that show how Yankees hitters have performed in "close and late" situations, defined as at-bats in the seventh inning on when the team is ahead by a run, tied or with the potential tying run on deck.

Here are the numbers:

Derek Jeter .462 (12-for-26), one HR, seven RBIs, eight walks

Johnny Damon .429 (15-for-35), two HRs, eight RBIs

Robinson Cano .343 (12-for-35), two RBIs

Andy Phillips .286 (4-for-14), one HR, two RBIs

Bernie Williams .280 (7-for-25), five RBIs

Melky Cabrera .267 (4-for-15), four walks

Jorge Posada .190 (4-for-21), six RBIs, seven walks, seven strikeouts

Alex Rodriguez .138 (4-for-29), three RBIs, seven strikeouts

Jason Giambi .111 (2-for-18), six RBIs, nine walks, five strikeouts

While these statistics don't represent a true, overall value for each player, they certainly reflect the opinions of many Yankees fans who are not happy with A-Rod's performance thus far.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Guidry Trying To Get Mariano To Change

Yankees pitching coach, Ron Guidry, has been encouraging Mariano to throw his changeup in game situations. Mariano has been working on throwing his changeup during practice sessions.

The advantages of adding a changeup to Mo's repertoire are significant. With his deadly cut fastball, two-seamer, and four-seamer all shooting in on batters in the 90s, an 80 mph changeup would throw batters off balance, no longer giving them the opportunity to sit back and time their swings for Mo's hard stuff.

Mariano Rivera actually used a changeup on a regular basis when he was a minor league pitcher. When he got to the big leagues, he stuck to his best pitch - his cutter. And no one can argue with his track record.

But Guidry feels that the key to Mariano maintaining his dominance for the next few years is to give batters something extra to think about, especially as Mariano begins to lose a mile or two off his cut fastball as his body continues to age.

So far, Mariano hasn't thrown a changeup in a game situation. But if Guidry's coaching takes effect, don't be surprised if Mo begins to change soon.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Scott Proctor Still Finding His Way

There were many reasons why the Yankees couldn't hold on last night against the Red Sox.

Curt Schilling is a better pitcher than Jaret Wright.

The Yankees are missing three of their best hitters in Jeter, Matsui, and Sheffield.

A-Rod made a despiriting error at a critical juncture in the game.

Perhaps the most glaring reason was the inability of Scott Proctor to bail out Jaret Wright in that disasterous 25-minute inning.

By all accounts, Scott Proctor is a good young man. Nobody has come out and said this, but it seems that Joe Torre and Yankees management are doing their best to give Proctor a chance to establish himself as a middle reliever because of everything that his family has gone through over the past several months.

The Proctors's daughter was born with a heart condition that required surgery during spring training. Those of us who have not gone through a similar experience cannot imagine how difficult this must have been for their family.

If I were in Joe Torre's or George Steinbrenner's shoes, I too, would give Scott every chance possible to earn Sturtze or Aaron Small-like money.

But if Scott is going to last with the Yankees or even in the major leagues on any team, he has got to find a way to improve the location of his fastball and/or get more movement on his pitches.

He throws bullets, but all good major league batters can hit 96 mph fastballs if they are thrown straight.

Good pitchers that last in the big leagues either have superior command on their fastballs, painting the corners of the strike zone with them, or have significant late movement on their pitches.

Personally, I'm rooting for Scott Proctor to make it. He and his family deserve some serious blessings after what they have gone through.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

The Legend of Melky Cabrera Continues

Bernie Williams called it the greatest catch he has ever seen, because of the game situation at hand.

Manny being Manny yelled at Cabrera to "let it drop!"

Kyle Farnsworth was happy enough to give Melky his favorite hunting rifle.

Johnny Damon was so gleeful that old-time Yankees fans all over the world welled up with tears of pride and joy.

Melky Cabrera climbed the wall in left-center field last night to steal Manny of a critical home run and permanently etch himself in the memories of all Yankees fans. To make a game-saving catch of that magnitude against the Red Sox...let's just say that his credit with Yankees management just bumped up several notches. The only way that he could get traded in the next few years is if he blows out his ACL playing pickup basketball.

Melky wasn't the only youngster to contribute in a big way to last night's win.


Andy Phillips made two spectacular defensive plays at first, making every last fan in the sold-out crowd realize that Jason Giambi needs to stick to DHing full time.

And what can we say about Chien Ming Wang? He gave up 8 hits, but he pitched well whenever he had to, save the bomb he gave up to Yankees Killer, David Ortiz, in the 3rd inning, which ended up being the sole run that the Red Sox could put on the board.

Maybe, just maybe, if Cashman sticks to his guns, the Yankees do have a solid future ahead of them.

Let's hope to God that our momentum continues tonight against Schilling.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Melky Cabrera leads the way over Boston

On a night when this year's ace, Mike Mussina, clearly didn't have his best stuff, the Yankees treated us to one of the best victories of the year.

Although there were many great moments last night, the best one had to be Melky Cabrera showing the hustle of youth, scoring from first base on a pitch that scampered a few feet away from Jason Varitek.


Newsday Photo / David L. Pokress

After taking off for second and seeing Varitek's throw zoom into right field, Melky continued to third, since the "Giambi shift" had all of the Red Sox infielders on the right side of the field. When Varitek ran up to cover third, Melky took off for home, leaving the sold-out stadium rocking with appreciation.

How great was it to see Andy Phillips and Jason Giambi chase Josh Beckett out of the game with their three-run blasts in the second inning? Andy Phillips is 14 for his last 30 at bats and is proving to be an excellent DH/backup first baseman.

The feel surrounding this group of Yankees is distinctly different than it has been for the past few years. As Joe Torre put it after last night's victory, "This isn't the machinery people are used to around here. There's more of a heartbeat."

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Damon Smashes Home Run in 10th For Win

Last night's game featured so many great little stories that I don't know where to begin.

How about Johnny Damon's 415-foot bomb to straight away center for the game winning home run? With his unorthodox swing where he lets go of the bat with his back (left) hand as soon as his bat makes contact with the ball, Damon has traditionally shown power only to right field.

And how about Andy Phillips continuing to be the Yankees' hottest hitter over the past few games, crushing another important home run in the sixth inning?

Surprisingly, Melky Cabrera looked comfortable batting in the 2 spot and continued his run as a solid contact hitter. His strong and accurate throwing arm has been a pleasant surprise.

The most unusual feature to last night's game was Chien Ming Wang coming in to save the game in the bottom of the 10th. Wang was scheduled to throw a side session off the mound in the bullpen yesterday as a part of his in-between-starts routine. Knowing that Rivera (back spasms) and Farnsworth (pitched in 3 previous games) were unavailable for last night's game, Torre asked Wang to hold off on his side session just in case he was needed late in the game.

So Wang got his regular work in, the Yankees benefited greatly from his "practice session," and Wang will make his next regular start in a couple of days.

Sporting a healthy mix of young, hungry players (Phillips, Cano, Cabrera, and Thompson) and seasoned veterans (Posada, Jeter, Damon, and Williams), last night's lineup pulled out a gritty victory with an aura that brought back memories of the teams led by O'Neill, Brosius, and Martinez in the 90s.

Suddenly, not having A-Rod, Sheffield, Matsui, and Giambi in the lineup is a whole lot of fun.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Grand Return for Captain Jeter

Derek Jeter "felt pretty good" last night, going 3 for 4 and hitting two important singles late in the game. His last hit came in the top of the ninth, putting the Yankees ahead for good, 6 to 5.

Equally important as Jeter's game winning hit was Damon's baserunning, stealing second before Jeter's hit and setting up the game winning run.

Last night was the first time in three years that Jeter hit third in the lineup.

***

After receiving physical therapy and taking muscle relaxant medication, Mariano Rivera reported feeling 90% better following his painful back muscle spasms the night before. Some of his pain was undoubtedly masked by his medication, but if he feels good today, look for Mo to be back on the field in a day or two.

***

The Yankees will wait exactly two weeks before deciding whether to have Gary Sheffield have surgery or not. Going forth with surgery will likely end Gary Sheffield's season. Rumor has it that Brian Cashman may consider acquiring Frank Catalanotto, a native of Long Island.

***

Next up for the Bombers: an afternoon game with the Orioles with the Big Unit taking the mound. Let's hope that he can follow up his last performance with another solid outing.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com

Sheffield May Be Out For Season

Gary Sheffield's wrist is in such bad shape that Yankees management believe that he may miss the rest of this season.

For now, the plan is to completely immobilize Sheffield's wrist in a splint and hope that his self healing mechanisms take care of the damaged tissues.

If Yankees management, their doctors, and Sheffield find that his injured wrist does not make significant progress in the next few weeks, it's quite possible that he will have season-ending surgery.

From Sheffield's perspective, not playing for the rest of the season may be his best chance of having his 2007 option at 13 million picked up by the Yankees. Playing this season and producing numbers that are below average for his standards would most likely lead to the club not picking up his option.

In Sheffield's absence, Cashman has been talking with GMs from around the league, looking for possible replacements. Shannon Stewart, Reggie Sanders, Bobby Abreu, and Alfonso Soriano are possible targets.

Joe Torre has said that he is happy with using a combination of Melky Cabrera, Bernie Williams, Johnny Damon, Terrence Long, Kevin Thompson, and Bubba Crosby (when he returns from his hamstring injury) until Matsui and Sheffield make their returns.

***

No word yet on how serious Mariano Rivera's back injury is, but from what was reported, it is likely that he suffered a moderate muscle strain and/or a ligament sprain in his back. With proper rest, an athlete of his caliber and health should recover from such an injury within about a week. Factor in another week for rehab and we can expect to see Mo back by about the middle of June.

We need Farnsworth to take a few miles off his fastball and locate it a bit better. If he can get better command over his fastball at 94-95 mph and combine it with his nasty curveball, he can most likely be a solid replacement for the closer role until Mo comes back.

- Joshua
InsideTheYankees.com