Results tagged ‘ Carl Yastrzemski ’
Jeet, A-Rod reach milestones on same play
Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez combined on a couple of milestones in the first inning of Saturday night’s Subway Series game as the Yankees jumped out to a 1-0 lead against the Mets.
Jeter ended a 0-for-17 slump with a leadoff single to center off Mets righthander Dillon Gee, who had trouble with the rubber on the mound and balked Jeter to second. After Curtis Granderson lined out to first baseman Ike Davis, Rodriguez hit a ground single through the middle to score Jeter.
It was A-Rod’s 1,917th run batted in of his career, which tied him with Hall of Famer Eddie Murray for seventh place on the all-time list since RBI became an official statistic in 1920. Rodriguez is only seven RBI behind another Hall of Famer, Jimmie Foxx, in sixth place.
The run for Jeter was career No. 1,800, which placed him above Hall of Famer Ted Williams into 17th place on the all-time list. Next up is No. 16 Carl Yastrzemski, yet another Hall of Famer, with 1,816.
Once a player gets to those levels on these lists, nearly everyone they pass is a Hall of Famer. Except for Pete Rose, that is.
Jeter climbing yet another list
Derek Jeter was back in the Yankees’ lineup Tuesday night for the opener of the Red Sox series at Fenway Park. The Captain sat out the night game Sunday at Baltimore because of a bruised right knee, the result of fouling a ball off it in the afternoon game Sunday.
Jeter’s appearance in the day game Sunday at Camden Yards brought his career total of games to 2,402, the most of any player to wear a Yankees uniform, thereby breaking what Mickey Mantle had considered his most cherished career record. DJ has been moving up a lot of lists this year with the push past 3,000 hits and a climb up the career list for runs as well.
On that games played list, he also passed the Mick in another area: that of games played for one team. Like Jeter, Mantle played all his games for the Yankees. Jeter is now 16th on that list. His game Tuesday night got Jeter to 2,403, one behind Mike Schmidt for 15th. Schmidt played all 2,404 games of his career with the Phillies.
The record for most games played for one team is 3,308 by Carl Yastrzemski with the Red Sox. Also ahead of Jeter on that list are Stan Musial (3,026 with the Cardinals), Cal Ripken Jr. (3,001 with the Orioles), Brooks Robinson (2,896 with the Orioles), Robin Yount (2,856 with the Brewers), Craig Biggio (2,850 for the Astros), Al Kaline (2,834 with the Tigers), Mel Ott (2,730 with the Giants), George Brett (2,707 with the Royals), Ernie Banks (2,528 with the Cubs), Dave Concepcion (2,488 with the Reds), Tony Gwynn (2,440 with the Padres), Roberto Clemente (2,433 with the Pirates) and Luke Appling (2,422 with the White Sox). All but Biggio and Concepcion are in the Hall of Fame, and Biggio is not yet eligible.
While Jeter was back in the Yankees’ lineup, Alex Rodriguez was not. He is not expected to swing a bat in the series due to a nagging left thumb sprain that required a cortisone injection Monday. Those shots usually take a couple of days to take effect, so A-Rod is not likely to play in Boston unless needed in an emergency situation as a defensive replacement or pinch runner.
CC = Sabathia & ‘Comfy Camden’
Over the years, Camden Yards has been just what the doctor ordered for the Yankees when they were ailing offensively. Although they split the two-game series at Toronto, the Yankees had only one hit in 16 at-bats with runners in scoring position. They took out their frustration at the picturesque park in Baltimore Saturday night with a 15-3 pounding of the Orioles.
In a week when they had two open dates and a rainout, the Yankees were anxious to get back in action, and it showed right from the beginning. They struck for three runs in the first inning and didn’t let up.
By the time the dust cleared, the Yankees had slugged five home runs among their 14 hits, all of which was very much welcomed by CC Sabathia, who finds facing the Orioles very much to his liking as well. The big lefthander has pitched superbly over the season’s first month but didn’t get a ‘W’ on his register until his fifth start despite an impressive 2.73 ERA.
The victory improved Sabathia’s career record against Baltimore to 15-2 with a 2.89 ERA and 9-1 with a 3.01 ERA at Camden Yards. The way he handled the Orioles, the Yankees’ offense was merely gravy. CC was perfect through the first 11 batters and was working on a one-hit shutout into the seventh before Adam Jones ruined the bid with a three-run home run that barely cleared the right field fence.
By then, the Yankee had six runs, which turned out to be only two-fifths of their final total. They exploded for seven runs in the eighth and added two more in a very satisfactory manner the next inning.
Once again, the long ball was the Yankees’ primary weapon, although they did not homer in the first when they had what was probably their most important rally since it provided Sabathia a 3-0 spread before he even took the mound.
Russell Martin hit two home runs, including a three-run shot in the sixth that was essentially the game winner, and Jorge Posada began the eighth-inning outburst with a two-run homer. Martin and Posada joined teammates Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson with six apiece.
Right behind them with five is Alex Rodriguez, who drove in six runs, four on his 22nd career grand slam, which puts him one behind Lou Gehrig’s major-league mark, a record that was once considered insurmountable. A-Rod also pushed himself into the top 10 of the all-time RBI list with 1,847 as he passed Carl Yastrzemski and is only 17 behind another Hall of Famer, Mel Ott, who ranks ninth.
Perhaps the most satisfying home run of the night came from an unlikely source. Brett Gardner, dropped from the leadoff spot where he had hit against right-handed starters back to the 9-hole, doubled his first time up to stop a hitless stretch of 16 at-bats. When Gardner batted in the ninth inning, it was with two out and immediately after Martin was nailed by a pitch in his upper back by Josh Rupe.
It is not uncommon for a player who has hit two home runs in a game to get buzzed by a pitcher, but the location of Rupe’s drilling of Martin was dangerous. The ball struck Martin just below his neck as he turned away from the pitch.
The head-hunting pitch lifted most of the Yankees off their dugout seats. They stayed on their feet as Gardner drove a 2-1 pitch to right-center for his first home run of the season. It turned out to be better retaliation than for the ninth-inning pitcher, recent Triple A call-up Buddy Carlyle, to return fire.
The Yankees lead the majors in home runs with 35 and in multi-home run games with 11. They have homered in 15 of their 17 games this year.
The best part of Saturday night’s massacre was that all the Yankees contributed. Each player in the starting lineup scored and all but Nick Swisher had hits. And while Swish was 0-for-4, he did walk and hit the ball on the screws four times.
Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 12 games and continued his assault on Baltimore pitching with three singles to improve his career numbers against the Orioles to .471 with 35 runs, 12 doubles, 11 home runs and 33 RBI in 39 games and 155 at-bats.
Teixeira, a Maryland native, reached base four times with a double, a single and two walks and scored twice. At the top of the order, Derek Jeter singled, walked and scored two runs and Granderson singled and scored.
Chalk another one up to the Yankees’ comfortable home away from home. Camden Yards is a sort of Yankee Stadium South. The Yankees’ 95-52 record there is the best winning percentage (.646) of any American League club in the history of the park that is now in its 20th season.
Swish sent
Nick Swisher got what he wanted. As weird as this whole process is in voting for the final spot on the All-Star team, Swisher cannot be faulted for his unabashed campaigning. The system practically begs for it, and there was perhaps no more willing a contender than Swisher.
A year ago, Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge and Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino formed an alliance called “Bran-Torino,” a takeoff on the Clint Eastwood flick, “Gran Torino,” in which each doubled his vote total.
Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis, Swisher’s main challenger for the 34th spot on the American League squad, engaged in a similar alliance with Reds first baseman Joey Votto. This could have spelled big trouble for Swisher because Votto was a wire-to-wire winner for the National League Final Vote. In the end, Youkilis could not ride the coattails sufficiently enough to catch Swisher, who finished with somewhere in the vicinity of 9.8 million votes.
What Swisher had going for him was his own Twitter account of more than 1.2 million followers and the support of the Yankees organization, most demonstratively by his own general manager, Brian Cashman, with two personal appearances this week with Bronx youth groups tied to the “Send Swish” campaign.
For a while there, I thought Swisher’s campaign was becoming a distraction. He went into a mild slump in late June going 3-for-20 (.150) over five games just as he was telling people he’d love to go the All-Star Game. But he kicked it into gear this month, batting .393 with three doubles and a home run through Wednesday night.
The process has been criticized in many circles, but I do not have a problem with it. For one thing, it brings publicity to the All-Star Game, which is okay with me. I have always liked the All-Star Game and feel it serves a useful purpose for baseball as a public-relations engine.
I can remember in the 1970s when some American League players (Carl Yastrzemski comes to mind) year after year begged out of the game. No wonder the National League kept kicking their butts, a pattern that has reversed itself in recent years. When the proceeds of the All-Star Game were tied to building up the players’ pension fund, it was an insult for a player to turn his back on the game.
Swisher’s attitude is refreshing, as far as I’m concerned. I like the fact that a player made no bones about the fact that he saw a rare opportunity to make the team and went for it. His numbers (.298, 14 home runs, 48 RBI) warrant his inclusion. Let’s just hope AL manager Joe Girardi gets his guy in the game or we’ll never hear the end of it.
Jack O'Connell
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