Tagged: Yogi Berra
Jeter Talks Have Gone On Way Too Long, Already
What are the Yankees doing? And what are they thinking? Sign Derek Jeter to a new contract, already. In my view, these drawn-out negotiations are starting to become an embarrassment to the whole New York Yankees organization.
No matter how anyone wants to spin these negotiations, it is very clear the next contract that Jeter signs with the Yankees has very little to do with his overall play on the field and at the plate [which is still better than most shortstops in baseball, by the way]. It’s all about the “Captain” as an all-time iconic player in the history of the Yankees franchise, standing along side the greatest of the greats in pinstripes: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford, Mariano Rivera, and many other All-Stars and Hall of Famers.
Of course, Jeter is near the top, right behind: Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, and Berra. And when he finally does retire, he will become the next great link to carry on the awesome Yankees history and tradition at future Old-Timers’ Days at Yankee Stadium over the next 40 or 50 years. It will be Derek Jeter who will be announced last at these events, called out onto the field from the dugout to thunderous rounds of applause from many different generations of Yankee fans. How will the Yankees Universe be altered if the these current contract talks are allowed to degenerate into any form of disrespect of the Yankees Captain?
The Yankees front office talks about staying within a certain payroll budget of around $200 million, and how these talks with Jeter are “strickly business” and “not personal”.
Well, to be perfectly honest, as a Yankees fan, I could care less about how high the payroll is. It is reported that the New York Yankees are worth $1.5 – $2 billion, and the YES Network is worth about $3 billion. So this is a $5 billion organization that just recently increased ticket prices at Yankee Stadium – ticket prices that are already outrageously way too high. Yet at the same time it seems they want to nickel-and-dime one of their best all-time players. I make this comment in context to the overall net worth of the Yankees, and the overall “value” of Derek Jeter to the Yankees franchise. And I really think this is a fair observation based on the facts that are being reported [so far] throughout the sports media.
In my view, I think it is very important for the New York Yankees to sign Derek Jeter to a contract he is totally happy with, somewhere in the range of four to five years at about $20 million per year, because this would be a very “smart” and “good” business decision.
If for some reason the “UNTHINKABLE” happens, and Derek Jeter does not re-sign with the Yanks – a truly unimaginable thought in my mind – I’m sure all Yankee fans will take this “very personally”.
So in the end, these talks with Jeter are personal, “very personal”. But it is also “good business” to give Derek what he wants!
– Jimmy Curran, “BY&L” – Baseball, The Yankees, and Life …
Bombers Back On Track; CC Tames Tigers 6-2
Thirteen times this season the Yankees faced a starting pitcher they had never seen before, including Max Scherzer (8-9) of the Tigers and Bryan Bullington (1-2) of the Royals, both of whom earned victories against the Yanks in their last two back-to-back losses. In these games against unknown starters the Yanks have a record of (4-9). Interesting numbers with really no explanation as to [why?] this continues to happen.
So in last night’s second game of four against the Detroit Tigers at the Stadium in the Bronx, which featured a battle of both teams aces, Justin Verlander (13-7) vs. CC Sabathia (15-5), one would think with the way the Yanks have been playing of late, they would be greatly challenged to score many runs against Verlander. CC would have to be money [again] for the Yanks to win this game.
This is not to say the Yankees would rather face some rookie pitcher instead of Verlander, or Verlander instead of a rookie starter. They have no control over who pitches against them on the mound. This only talks to the point that the Yankees have not been playing very well lately and really needed a win [a must-win in fact] as they entered this game against the Tigers tied for first place in the AL East with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Well, the first inning provided much drama as Austin Jackson led off the game by hitting Sabathia’s first pitch into the left-field seats for a quick 1-0 Detroit lead. This was the former Yankee’s second homer of the year.
Not to be left out of this discussion, Curtis Granderson, whom the Yankees received in the trade for Jackson, made two outstanding catches in centerfield in the first. The first catch was made after a long run to just in front of the wall of the right-centerfield bleachers; and the second catch was a great diving play running towards left-center.
In the bottom of the first the Yanks battled right back. Brett Gardner led off with a single, and advanced to second on a walk to Derek Jeter. After Teixeira made the first out, Cano walked to load the bases. Then, Nick Swisher, back in the lineup after sitting out the last game with a right forearm injury, stroked a two-run single to move the Yanks into a 2-1 lead.
Granderson delivered again in the second inning by blasting a solo home run (#12), into the rightfield bleachers. This upped the Bombers lead to 3-1.
Justin Verlander (L,13-8), threw a lot of pitches in the early innings, and was finished at the end of the fifth. He tossed 114 pitches while allowing three runs, on five hits, five walks, and five strikeouts.
The Yankees did exactly what Joe Girardi talked about before the game. They got to Verlander, who had a 7.12 ERA in the first inning of his starts this season, early on in this game. Girardi said, “They [the lineup] did a great job. When Justin gets on a roll, he’s really difficult. We put some runs on the board early and made them stand up.”
Schlereth replaced Verlander. And in the sixth, the Yanks scored again on a two-out double by Gardner (2-for-3, with a walk, and run), which was followed by a RBI single by Jeter to give the Yanks a 4-1 lead.
In the top of the seventh, Brandon Inge hit a homer (#8), to cut the score to 4-2.
Then in the bottom of the seventh, Robinson Cano also homered (#22); and, Pena drove home a run on a sac-fly to right to increase the Yankees lead to 6-2.
CC Sabahia (W,16-5), the first 16-game winner in the American League, struggled in the first few innings, but settled down nicely to pitch seven soild innings, throwing 115 pitches, while allowing two runs, on five hits, three walks, and nine strikeouts.
Money !!!
David Robertson pitched a scoreless eight. And Mariano Rivera closed out this 6-2 victory by pitching a scoreless ninth.
A must-win game, “Won” by the New York Yankees !!!
* Historic Note: In the fifth inning, Jorge Posada stroked a single to center, his 1,558th career hit, which tied Posada with Thurman Munson on the all-time hit list.
* Injury Report: – Alex Rodriguez (strain of left calf), listed as day-to-day.
– Lance Berkman (sprained right ankle), listed as day-to-day.
– Andy Pettitte (left groin strain), injured July 18th …
(Probably will not be back until the middle of September)
* And, Yogi Berra was back at Yankee Stadium for the first time since he suffered an injury as a result of a fall at his home. Yogi was not able to attend this year’s Yankees Old Timers’ Day celebrations on July 17th. Also, he could not attend the Hall of Fame inductee events about a week after Old Timers’ Day. Welcome back Yogi.
– Jimmy Curran “BY&L” – Baseball, The Yankees, and Life …
Yankees Begin New Journey For 27th Championship
“You feel history every time you walk into Yankee Stadium … Twenty-Six World Championships … There are signs all over the place … When we run into Yogi Berra in the clubhouse, that’s 10 Championship rings right there … Think about that for a minute — 10, just as a player … I won four in my first five seasons here, and I thought that was the only way it could be … It’s actually pretty hard for most guys to even get one title.”
“Right now, I do what I can to help the Yankees get that next Championship … Everyone expects us to win, and we expect no less of ourselves … With the Yankees, whether it’s the fans, the front office, the owner, whatever, we’re held to the highest standard … Nobody’s tougher on us than we are on ourselves.”
“I consider myself fortunate to have spent my whole career in pinstripes … When I’m old and retired, I’ll probably look back on this time here, and go, ‘wow’! that was really something.”
… New York Yankees “Captain” Derek Jeter, 2004
“Old Reliable” #15 Tommy Henrich
Thanks, to Julia, of Julia’s Rants for assisting me in my efforts to improve my computer skills, I have “finally” put together a post with a “picture” and “link” address.
The latest mlblogs Fan “Leader’s List” was released a few days ago, and I am honored that my blog was ranked #15 on this list. This is the third time I have ranked #15 on one of these lists, and as per my tradition I always dedicate my ranking number in honor of some special player or other meaning that number has to me.
On the previous two lists that I ranked #15, my dedications were in honor of the great New York Yankees “captain” Thurman Munson, and, also, the great Yankees Hall of Fame pitcher Red Ruffing.
So, for this latest ranking, my dedication is in honor of the New York Yankees great All-Star outfielder / first baseman, “Old Reliable” Tommy Henrich [pictured above].
Henrich played for the Yankees 11 seasons from 1937-1950, and recorded a lifetime .282 batting average; .382 on-base percentage; and .491 slugging percentage. He had 1,297 career hits, including, 183 homeruns; 269 doubles; 73 triples; 901 runs; and, 795 RBI’s. He also had 60 lifetime sacrifice hits, including 10 sac’s in 1938; and 12 in 1946 [very rare stats, indeed, as we do not see too many sacrifice hits these days].
Tommy Henrich was selected to play on five American League All-Star teams; and was part of four Yankee World Championship teams [1938, ’41, ’47, 49].
It was in the World Series that Mr. Henrich was most valuable to the New York Yankees.
In 1941 Henrich was involved in one of the most memorable plays in World Series history, the famous Mickey Owen, strike three, passed ball, with two outs in the 9th inning of Game 4 of the Series against the Booklyn Dodgers.
The Yankees were up two games to one in the 1941 World Series, when Game 4 was played at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. The Dodgers were leading the game 4-3, with two outs in the top of the 9th inning, and a 3-2 count on Tommy Hendrich, when Henrich swung and missed strike three which would have been the third out of the inning, and a win for Brooklyn that would have tied the Series at two games apiece.
But, the ball got past catcher Mickey Owen, and Hendrich made it safely to first base.
The Yankees continued the rally and scored four runs in the inning, and held onto win the game 7-4. This gave the Bronx Bombers a 3-1 lead in the Series; and, the next day the Yankees won the World Series with a 3-1 win in Game 5.
In the 1947 World Series victory over the Dodgers, Henrich was the hitting star for the Yankees with a .323 batting average, including ten hits, one homerun and five RBI’s.
In Game 1 of the 1949 World Series, also against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Henrich hit the first walk-off homer in Series history.
And, Tommy Henrich is the last surviving member of the Yankees 1938 World Championship team.
It was the Yankees great broadcaster, Mel Allen, who dubbed Tommy Henrich “Old Reliable” — after a train which ran from Ohio to Alabama — for his knack of getting a hit just when it was needed.
Mr. Henrich’s best regular seasons with the Yankees were in 1941 when he hit .277 with 31 homeruns and 85 RBI’s; in 1947, with a .287 batting average; 35 doubles; 13 triples; 16 homers; 109 runs scored; and 98 RBI’s; and, in 1948, his best season, when he hit .308, with 181 hits; 42 doubles; 14 triples; 25 homeruns; 138 runs; and 100 RBI’s.
In 1947, Tommy Henrich was part of a great Yankees outfield with Joe DiMaggio in center, and Charlie Keller in leftfield.
When Yogi Berra was asked recently, at his Museum and Learning Center in New Jersey, about how valuable Tommy Henrich was to the Yankees, and, also, how good he really was, Yogi replied …
“I was a teammate of Tommy only four years, at the end of his career. He was great, though. People say he was underrated, but he wasn’t underrated to us. He did everything to help us win; was a great hitter when it mattered most. And, Tommy was a great rightfielder. In 1949 he moved to first base, and was great there too. Heck, Tommy was a tremendous player”.
Tommy Henrich also served our country in the Coast Guard during World War II in the years 1943, ’44, and ’45.
So, that’s my dedication in honor of the great Tommy Henrich.
It is interesting, though, that Mr. Henrich wore five different numbers during his Yankees career.
In 1937 he wore #22, and, also, #32.
In 1938 he wore #17
In 1939 he wore #7, and, also, #17
In 1940, ’41, ’42 he wore #7
And, finally, in 1946-1950 he wore #15
To view Tommy Henrich’s lifetime stats, click on …
http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/henrito01.shtml
Tommy Henrich image from …
http://www.baseballlibrary.com/
Thank You, to all who have visited my blog. I appreciate all your great comments, thoughts, and kind words.
And, a special thank you to Julia, for her gracious help giving me the information needed on posting of “links” and “pictures” on my mlblog.
This post is also dedicated to you, Julia !!!
Everybody, “Have a great day” !!!
— Jimmy Curran, “Baseball, The Yankees, and Life”
Snow Flakes, Spring, and Yogi Berra …
Well, the first day of Spring was greeted with early morning snow flakes here in New York; but, Spring prevailed over Winter, as the sun melted the little snow crystals before they had any chance of accumulating on the ground.
So, it was kind of a nice transition, as Winter had its final at-bat, and Spring very easily recorded the last outs of the season. Winter will surely redeem itself with a victory when it battles the Fall at the end of December later this year.
I guess it was certain Spring was going to arrive on time because Yogi Berra was scheduled to arrive back home in New Jersey today from Tampa, Florida. At least, that’s what was reported by the Yankee announcers, Ken Singleton and John Flaherty, before the Yankees 7-4 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays, on the YES Network last night, as the camera showed Yogi smiling and having a good time sitting in the Yankees dugout.
Yogi Berra always seems to be in the right place, at the right time. So, I’m sure when he arrives back North — Spring will be here.
Like Yogi once said, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll wind up somewhere else“. So, I would say, when Yogi Berra returns home, it will be Spring.
Yogi Berra’s “highlights” from his 18 year New York Yankees career are amazing.
And, when I think about Yogi Berra’s great baseball career, my thoughts always go back to a few years ago when a reporter asked the Yankees “captain” Derek Jeter how it felt to have “four” World Series rings. Jeter’s response was priceless, and explains why Derek is a “winner”; a class act; and, a true Yankee who has tremendous respect for the great New York Yankees tradition.
Derek Jeter said …
“Well, over here with the Yankees we have a guy walking around with “ten” World Series rings. Basically, that’s the standard we all look up to each year”.
Of course, Jeter was talking about Yogi Berra, and the fact that Berra represents a connection to the awesome Yankees winning tradition, greatness, and history of the past.
And, this is the reason Derek Jeter, and Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner, have always set the goal of winning the World Series each year as the benchmark of a successful Yankees season. Anything less is a failure.
With Yogi Berra as the “Gold Standard” of success, how can any owner, manager, coach, player, team, or fan, go wrong following that great example?
Yogi Berra played for the Yankees from 1946-1963, and appeared in 14 World Series, including, “ten” World Championship teams.
Actually, counting Yogi’s seven additional appearances in the World Series as either a coach or manager, in which he was part of three more World Championship teams, Yogi Berra appeared in a record 21 World Series’, and has 13 World Series rings.
Yogi Berra has appeared in a World Series, as a player, manager, or coach in “five” different decades: * 1940’s … * 1950’s … * 1960’s … * 1970’s … 1980’s
Berra still hold numerous World Series records, including, hitting the first pinch-hit homerun in World Series play, in 1947; and, his greatest achievement, catching Don Larsen’s “Perfect Game” in the Yankees 2-0 victory in Game 5 of the 1956 World Seres.
During the regular season, Berra had a lifetime .285 batting average, with 2,150 Hits; 358 Homeruns; 1,430 RBI’s; and a .482 slugging percentage.
* Yogi Berra was selected to play on the American League All-Star Team 15 times.
* Berra won the American League MVP Award “three” times (1951, ’54, ’55).
* Between 1949 and 1955, on great teams with such stars as Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra led the Yankees in RBI’s “seven” consecutive seasons.
* Five times Berra had more Homeruns in a season than strikeouts, including, striking-out only 12 times in 597 at-bats in 1950, while hitting .322 with 28 HR’s and 124 RBI’s.
* In June, 1962, at the age of 37, Yogi Berra caught an entire 22-inning, 7-hour game, against the Detroit Tigers.
* Yogi Berra had the reputation of being a “bad ball hitter”; and, when he was once asked about swinging at “bad pitches”, Yogi replied, “if I can hit it, it’s a good pitch”.
* In 1972, Yogi Berra was enshrined into Baseball’s “Hall of Fame”.
* Also, in 1972, the New York Yankees honored Yogi Berra by retiring his #8 … [note: the Yankees have also retired #8 in honor of Hall of Fame catcher, Bill Dickey].
I could go on and on in this dedication in honor of Yogi Berra, but will end my stating the obvious …
Yogi Berra was one of the greatest players in baseball history; and a true “American Original” !!!
Thank you, Yogi, for still being a major part of the New York Yankees family; and, also, for all the many joyful moments you have given all of us throughout the years !!!
To view Yogi Berra’s lifetime stats, click on …
http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/berrayo01.shtml
The following are some of my favorite “Yogi-isms” …
Quotes by Yogi Berra:
* “You can observe a lot by watching”
* “It’s like deja vu all over again”
* “If I didn’t wake up, I’d still be sleeping”
* “I can’t concentrate when I’m thinking”
* “No one goes there any more; it’s too crowded”
* “It’s not too far, it just seems like it is”
* “We’re lost, but we’re making good time”
* “I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early”
* “It gets late awfully early around here”
[referring to the bad sun conditions in left field at Yankee Stadium].
* “We made too many wrong mistakes”
[on why the Yankees lost the 1960 World Series to the Pittsburg Pirates].
* “It’s tough to make predicitions, especially about the future”
* “The future ain’t what it used to be”
* “Never answer an anonymous letter”
* “You better make it four. I don’t think I can eat eight”
[when asked how many slices his pizza should be cut into].
* “I want to thank you for making this day necessary”
[in a speech he said “necessary” instead of “possible”].
* “It ain’t over, ’till it’s over”
— What are some of your favorite Yogi Berra quotes?
— Do you know any different “Yogi-isms” than above?
Everybody, enjoy the first day of “Spring”, 2009 !!!
— Jimmy Curran, “Baseball, The Yankees, and Life”
“No Mercy”, Please … In The World Baseball Classic
Team Japan won a very convincing 14-2 victory over Team Korea in the first game of WBC action today [March 7, 2009] at 5:00 a.m. ET, before an overflowing sold out crowd at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
The crowd was really into this game, as Japan took a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first; and, then, Korea battled back with two runs in the bottom of the inning to cut Japan’s lead to 3-2.
But, Japan broke the game wide open in the top of the 2nd inning, scoring five runs, giving them an 8-2 lead. Korea still had eight innings to make a comeback in this game, or did they?
Well, this is the World Baseball Classic, and for some reason the rules of our great American Pastime have been changed to include a “so-called” Mercy Rule that states …
If a team is ahead by at least 10 runs after seven innings, that team is declared the winner, and the game is “over”.
Even better, if a team is fortunate enough to score at least 15 runs in the first five innings of a game, then, the game is stopped at that point, and that team is declared the winner.
Now, this may sound merciful to some, but as our great American philosopher, Yogi Berra, once said, “the game ain’t over, ’till it’s over”.
Baseball is the perfect game because it is not limited by “time” or a “time clock”.
Theoretically, a baseball game can be played for an infinitive amount of time, into infinity.
The rules of the game state: Two teams play for nine innings each. A winner is declared when one team scores more runs the other team over nine innings of play; and, also, gets the other team “out” 27 times [of course, unless there is a rain-out, in which the team leading the game after five innings is declared the winner. I am also opposed to this rule, as I think the game should be resumed at the point of the rain delay the next time both these teams play].
Anyway, in the World Baseball Classic, a five inning victory means the winning team will only record 15 outs in their win; and, in a seven inning victory, only 21 outs are recorded by the winning team.
The point of all my annoyance with the”Mercy Rule” is, I think the whole spirit of the game of baseball is ruined.
Baseball is a game of dreams and hope and redemption. The possibility of any team making a comeback, in any game that they are behind in, by any amount of runs, is one of the many fun things about our great American game of Baseball. There is always “hope” that our team will win every game it plays, even when the score may look out of reach.
Down by three runs or five runs or seven runs or ten runs or twelve or more runs. What difference does it make?
As long as our team has the full 27 outs to out-score the opposing team, there is always hope.
It is unmerciful to deny any team all of its 27 outs in a baseball game.
And, it is unmerciful to deny the fans of any team, “hope”; and, the chance of seeing its team make an exciting comeback and win the game — no matter how many runs their favorite team may be behind.
The game of baseball is not dictated by “time”; and, it should not be dictated by rule changes, that change that way the game is played.
Just ask Yogi Berra.
— Jimmy Curran, “Baseball, The Yankees, and Life”
Watching Don Larsen’s Perfect Game, Was Perfect
Well, I wanted to write a post over the weekend about the great debut of the MLB Network, but “time” just somehow got in the way.
The highlight of the launch of the MLB Network, of course, was the re-broadcast of Don Larsen’s Perfect Game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Yankees won that classic game, 2-0, with Larsen leading the way to victory.
Yogi Berra was the Yankees catcher, and called a perfect game himself, as Don Larsen didn’t shake off any of the pitches that Yogi called. Another highlight watching the Perfect Game, was the live Bob Costas interviews with Don Larsen and Yogi Berra during the re-broadcast of the game.
Some other other major highlights were seeing Mickey Mantle hit a homerun in the bottom of the 4th inning that gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead; then, a great catch by Duke Snider in centerfield that robbed Yogi Berra of a hit to end that inning. Also, Mantle made a great running catch in left-centerfield off the bat of Gil Hodgers later in the game that helped preserve the perfect game.
Also, seeing Billy Martin play, and the other great Yankee and Dodgers players on the field and at bat, as well as, hearing Hall of Fame broadcasters Mel Allen and Vince Scully call the game, made it a perfect way to start off the New Year.
It was interesting that Mel Allen called the first part of the game; and then, in the later innings a very young Vince Scully called the rest of the game, never referring directly to Larsen’s perfect game, but just using phrases like, “Larsen is pitching a brilliant game”, or just mentioning the amount of batters that had been retired by Don Larsen.
The Perfect Game ended with that iconic leap by Yogi Berra into Don Larsen’s arms, which is one of the all-time classic images in baseball history.
So, an awesome “Opening Night” for the MLB Network.
I look forward to many more special days and nights on the MLB Network, especially, the Ken Burns Baseball series on Tuesday nights.
To view the box scores of the 1956 World Series on “Baseball-Reference.com”, click on:
Yanks Sweep Phillies To Win 1950 World Series
Saturday, October 7, 1950 — Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York — In “Game 4” of the 1950 World Series, the Yankees scored two runs in the first inning, and three runs in the sixth inning; and, that’s all the runs they would need, to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2, sweeping the first four games of this best of seven series, to win the 1950 World Championship.
The Yankees jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead off Phillies starting pitcher, Bob Miller (11-6; 3.57 ERA), in the bottom of the first, when Gene Woodling led off the inning by reaching first on an error; advanced to second on a Phil Rizzuto ground out; and, scored the first run on a RBI single by Yogi Berra. Berra then scored the Bombers second run on a RBI double by Joe DiMaggio.
After the second run scored, Phillies manager, Eddie Sawyer, replaced Miller with the National League’s MVP, Jim Konstanty, who retired the next two batters, Johnny Mize and Bobby Brown, to close out the first inning without any further damage.
The Phillies had a couple of chances to score off Yankees starting pitcher, Whitey Ford (9-1; 2.81 ERA), in the first and fourth innings, when they had two runners on base in each inning, but did not score; with the 4th inning ending in a 3-3-2 double play.
In the bottom of the 6th, Yogi Berra hit a lead off homeun; then, DiMaggio reached first on a hit by pitch, and scored on a triple by Bobby Brown. Hank Bauer was up next, and drove home Brown on a sac-fly to leftfield, increasing the Yankees lead to 5-0.
In the meantime, Whitey Ford was cruising along with a shutout going into the top of the 9th inning when he pitched himself into a little trouble.
Ford walked lead off batter Willie Jones; hit the next batter, Del Ennis; and, then, got Dick Sisler to hit into a force play at second, setting up a first and third situation, with one out. Ford then struck out Granny Hamner for the second out of the inning.
So, with two outs, Andy Seminick was the last chance up at the plate to keep the game going for the Phillies. Seminick hit a fly ball to leftfield that looked like it was going to be the final out of the game, but Gene Woodling made an error that allowed two unearned runs to score, cutting the Yanks lead to 5-2.
The next batter, Mike Goliat, singled, bringing Casey Stengel out of the dugout to replace Ford with Allie Reynolds to get the final out of the game.
The Yankee fans booed this move by Stengel; but, Reynolds struck out pinch-hitter, Stan Lopata, for the final out of the Bronx Bombers 5-2 World Series victory, giving the Yanks the crown of “1950 World Champions”, the New York Yankees 13th World Championship at the time.
This was a great World Series that was dominated by awesome pitching by both teams.
The Yankee pitchers allowed only three earned runs over 37 innings in the series, for a 0.73 ERA.
And, the Phillies also delivered solid pitching efforts, with a 2.27 ERA throughout the series.
Finally, The “Babe Ruth Award”, MVP of the 1950 World Series was awarded to the Yankees second baseman, Jerry Coleman.
To read more about this final Game; and, the 1950 World Series, click on:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA195010070.shtml
Most Disappointing Loss Of Year: Red Sox 7, Yanks 0
After the Yankees, 18-7, win against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, this loss to the Red Sox has to be the most disappointing loss of the season. The game was basically over in the first inning, as the Yankees looked “flat”, and the Red Sox starter, Jon Lester, pitched a gem, a five-hit, 7-0, complete game shutout.
The Yankees starting pitcher, Andy Pettitte, began the game by striking-out Jacoby Ellsbury. He then gave up back-to-back singles to Dustin Pedroia and J.D. Drew, as Manny Ramirez was the next batter up. Manny hit what looked like was an easy, inning ending double play ball to Robinson Cano. Cano quickly flipped the ball to Derek Jeter, who made the force at second, but then threw the ball wide at first for an error, that allowed Ramirez to be safe at first, and Pedroia to score Boston’s first run. The next batter, Mike Lowell then singled home Manny to give the Sox a 2-0 lead.
As it turned out, in the bottom of the first inning the Yankees would have their only chance to score any runs in this game.
Lester walked the first two batters he faced, Damon and Jeter, but got out of any possible trouble by getting Bobby Abreu to hit into a force play, and then struck-out Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi to end the inning.
Boston scored two more runs in the second inning on a lead-off single by Coco Crisp, a walk to Jason Varitek, a beautiful sacrifice bunt by Julio Lugo, that advanced both runners to second and third, which set-up a two RBI double by Ellsbury, to give the Red Sox a 4-0 lead.
Boston scored three more times, on a sac-fly by Lugo in the 4th; a sac-fly by Lowell in the 5th; and, a RBI single by Kevin Youkilis in the 8th, to complete the scoring of the Red Sox seven runs.
Meanwhile, Jon Lester (7-3) settled down after the 24 pitches he threw in the first inning. He struck-out eight Yankee batters [all swinging], and gave up 5 hits, and only allowed the two first inning walks in route to his 105 pitch, complete game, 7-0, shutout.
Lester was also helped by the Red Sox defense, as they turned three double plays in the game.
Andy Pettitte (9-6) struggled throughout his 4 2/3 innings of work, giving up 6 runs [5 earned], on 9 hits, 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts.
The only good news for the Yankees was the solid relief efforts of Giese and Robertson, who pitched good out of the bullpen. Hawkins was not effective [again] as he gave up one run, on two hits, and a walk, in his one inning of work, in the 8th.
After the game, Manager Joe Girardi had a closed door meeting with the players that lasted for about a half-hour. He would not give any details to the press, as he said it was a private matter between him and the players [which I totally agree with]. But, hopefully, the results of the meeting will produce more consistent play by the whole team. As Yogi Berra once said, “it’s getting late, early out there”.
Train Wreck At Yankee Stadium
Mets 7, Yankees 4 (Saturday) – May 17, 2008
Mets 11, Yankees 2 (Sunday) – May 18, 2008
The best news of the weekend for the Yankees was: Friday’s game was rained-out.
The Yankees are now, 20-24, in last place in the AL East, 6 games behind the Boston Red Sox.
Enough Said !!!
A note to all of us in the Yankees Universe: Try to enjoy the off-day on Monday. It’s a new day on Tuesday, when, hopefully, the Yankees get back on track in the three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles.
To make some sense of this “disastrous” weekend, and season [so far], we look to the great Yogi Berra for an answer…
“It ain’t over, ’till it’s over”
Baseball, The Yankees, and Life... 