Results tagged ‘ Dodger Stadium ’
Rangers, Islanders, Devils coming to Yankee Stadium
Are you ready for hockey at Yankee Stadium? It will be Hockey Week in the Bronx come next January.
Two outdoor regular-season National Hockey League games will be played at the Stadium during the 2013-14 season as part of the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series. And these are not just any two games. The first game will be Sunday, Jan. 26, between the Rangers and the Devils. The second game will be Wednesday, Jan. 29, between the Rangers and the Islanders.
The two games at Yankee Stadium complete the four-game 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series scheduled for next season. The Anaheim Ducks will play the Los Angeles Kings Jan. 25 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and the Chicago Blackhawks will play the Pittsburgh Penguins at Soldier Field in Chicago.
“The innovative nature of the Stadium Series affords the opportunity to have all three NHL teams in the New York-New Jersey metropolitan area play, outdoors, at one of the most-celebrated stadiums in the world,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We’ll be able to create a multi-faceted, multi-day experience for our fans, and we thank the teams, Coors Light, the New York Yankees and Yankee Stadium for their support of this memorable NHL event.”
In just five years of its existence, the Stadium already has provided the setting for some of the country’s most popular events as the baseball diamond has been transformed to be the site of games between several of college football’s finest programs – including the annual New Era Pinstripe Bowl – concerts by Grammy Award-winning acts, top-tier soccer talent from around the world and a super welterweight title boxing match. The 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series will be the first time the Stadium has been used for hockey.
“We have long thought that Yankee Stadium would be a great venue for outdoor hockey,” Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost said. “In addition to being a first-class baseball facility, Yankee Stadium was designed to house unique and memorable events, such as the NHL Stadium Series. Hosting two of the NHL’s classic rivalries at Yankee Stadium will be a great kickoff for the worldwide sporting events in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area scheduled in early 2014.”
“The New Jersey Devils are proud to have been selected to host the first of two games at Yankee Stadium,” Devils president and general manager Lou Lamoriello said. “The NHL Stadium Series will be a memorable experience for our organization, our players and, most importantly, our fans. We are thrilled to play our divisional rival, while adding to the legacy of one of the nation’s most recognized sports facilities.”
“The New York Islanders are honored to take part in the National Hockey League’s outdoor stadium series,” Islanders general manager Garth Snow said. “Our fan-base is one of the most passionate in the NHL. The support we consistently receive from our fans was on display during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and I expect it to be on an even greater scale when we take on the Rangers. This is what makes the games against the Rangers one of the best rivalries in the league. I look forward to seeing a strong contingent of the orange and blue in the stands at Yankee Stadium.”
“The New York Rangers are honored to participate in these two historic games at Yankee Stadium, bringing hockey into the home of another one of New York’s iconic sports franchises,” Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather said. “Playing hockey outdoors takes the game back to its roots and reminds us all why we laced up our skates as youngsters. We are excited to be able to bring that experience and thrill to our fans and the city of New York.”
The Rangers, Islanders and Devils have combined to win 11 Stanley Cup championships. They are division foes during the regular season and have also have battled each other in memorable postseasons.
The Rangers and Devils have met six times in the playoffs. Perhaps the most memorable of those series was in 1994 when the clubs faced off in the Eastern Conference Final with the Rangers’ Stephane Matteau winning the deciding Game 7 in double-overtime. The Rangers went on to win the Stanley Cup in seven games over the Vancouver Canucks. The Devils countered 12 months later by winning the first of their three Stanley Cup titles over the following nine seasons.
The Rangers and Islanders have met eight times in the postseason, including four straight years from 1981-84. The Devils and Islanders have met once in the postseason, with New Jersey earning a 4-2 series victory in the 1988 Patrick Division Semifinal.
The Rangers first played the Islanders in a regular-season game Oct. 21, 1972, at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island – a 2-1 Rangers victory. The Rangers first faced the Devils in a regular-season game (after the team moved to New Jersey) Oct. 8, 1982, at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. – a 3-2 Devils victory.
Further details on this special NHL event, including national broadcast information and specifics on ticket opportunities for the season-ticket holders of each team, will be released shortly. Fans interested in receiving more information on ticketing, news and special offers around the event should register at http://www.NHL.com/2014NewYork.
The NHL recently announced that the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 1, when the Detroit Red Wings will play the Toronto Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium on the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor. Since the facility holds a capacity of 101,000, it is anticipated that the game will set a world record for attendance at a hockey match.
The first-ever NHL regular-season game contested outdoors was in 2003 between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alta. Since then, the NHL has played six additional regular-season games outdoors.
Yankee Stadium nice fit for Japanese imports
The Yankees’ Japanese tandem of Hiroki Kuroda and Ichiro Suzuki has certainly found a comfortable home at Yankee Stadium. Sunday night’s 4-1 victory in the rubber game of the series against Boston was achieved mainly through their combined efforts.
Kuroda was brilliant again for eight innings, marking the seventh straight start in which he has allowed three runs or less. This time, it was only one. Kuroda was working on a two-hit shutout when he gave up a solo home run to Adrian Gonzalez with one out in the seventh. Suzuki had already helped stake Kuroda to a four-run lead with a pair of solo home runs.
“The thing about both Hiroki and Ichiro is that they are extremely well prepared,” manager Joe Girardi said. “They are ready to do and do their jobs.”
The Stadium seems to bring about the best in these two guys. Kuroda came to the Yankees as a free agent after pitching for four seasons for the Dodgers. There were concerns that he might not find hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium to his liking as much as pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium. It was reasonable to assume he would have to make adjustments, but one thing he did not change was his approach.
“This is a smaller park that some others, but you cannot be afraid,” Kuroda said. “You still have to stay aggressive, and I try to be as aggressive as possible.”
The key for Kuroda is to keep the ball down, which he has done with regularity.
“He has been on a tremendous roll,” Girardi said of Kuroda, who is 6-1 with a 2.29 ERA over his past 11 starts and 9-2 with a 2.22 ERA over his past 16 starts. “The consistency of his sinker and slider has been amazing, and he throws in a few splitters as well.”
In 15 starts at the Stadium this year, Kuroda is 9-4 with a 2.03 ERA in 113 2/3 innings. Opposing hitters are batting only .210 against him with eight home runs and 25 RBI in 377 at-bats. Kuroda is pitching better for the Yankees than he did for the Dodgers just as he pitched better for the Dodgers than he did in Japan.
“I try to evolve and be creative as a pitcher,” he said. “Every year I try to pitch better.”
As for Ichiro, he has really gotten into the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry and was jubilant after the victory. Sunday night capped off a terrific homestand in which he had 10-for-19 (.526) with a double, a triple and the two homers. He has 14 hits in his past 30 at-bats, a .467 stretch that has raised his batting average 12 points to .272. Suzuki is batting .322 in 87 at-bats since joining the Yankees and is even better at the Stadium as he has hit .358 with two doubles, one triple, three home runs and four RBI.
For his career, Ichiro is batting .345 with five home runs in 116 at-bats at the current Stadium and .343 with eight home runs in 280 at-bats at the old and new Stadiums combined.
“I haven’t changed at all,” Suzuki said when asked if his approach is different at the Stadium. “A guy my size (5-10, 170 pounds) is still going to find it tough to get the ball out there.”
Anyone who has seen Ichiro take batting practice knows that he can turn on a ball with power on occasion, similar to the way Wade Boggs used to be.
“I just feel so good coming into this clubhouse every day,” Suzuki said.
The feeling among the Yankees is mutual.
Kuroda has found a home at Yankee Stadium
There is always concern whether a pitcher who has had success in the National League can transfer that to the American League where lineups tend to be deeper because of the designated hitter rule. This is particularly true in the AL East where pitchers get very little margin for error. Go ask Javier Vazquez or A.J. Burnett.
The issue came up when the Yankees signed Hiroko Kuroda in the off-season. The Japanese-born righthander was a sturdy if unspectacular starter with the Dodgers who had a 41-46 record and 3.45 ERA over four seasons in Los Angeles. I can remember Lou Piniella saying years ago that teams needed to be careful when acquiring pitchers from the Dodgers because their statistics are aided greatly by the conditions at Dodger Stadium where the dimensions are deep and where the ball does not travel well in the damp southern California air, especially at night.
So along comes Kuroda, who seems to have turned that theory upside-down. Yankee Stadium, with its cozy right-field porch and other hitter-friendly amenities, is hardly a pitchers’ dream, but Kuroda has pitched better in the Bronx than he ever did in Chavez Ravine.
His latest success story at the Stadium was Wednesday’s rain-shortened, 6-0 seven-inning victory. Kuroda gave up a double and three singles, did not walk a batter and struck out five in improving his record to 9-7 with a 3.46 ERA.
In 11 starts at Yankee Stadium this year, Kuroda is 7-3 with a 2.68 ERA and has held opponents to a .219 batting average with seven home runs and 21 RBI in 270 at-bats. Just think; in his years at Dodger Stadium, Kuroda was barely a .500 pitcher with a 20-21 record and 3.43 ERA.
The Yankees wasted no time in providing Kuroda a comfort level as they struck for four runs in the first inning off Toronto lefthander Ricky Romero. On a day when figurines of his likeness were distributed to fans, Mark Teixeira followed a double by Derek Jeter and a run-scoring single by Nick Swisher with a home run. One out later, Robinson Cano doubled and came home on a single by Andruw Jones.
Cano ran his hitting streak to 21 games, the longest for the Yankees since Jeter had a 25-gamer in 2006 from Aug. 20 to Sept. 16. Cano is batting .402 with 14 runs, six doubles, six home runs and 20 RBI during the streak.
The rally guaranteed that the Yankees would extend their team steak of games in which they have scored three or more runs to 42, a franchise record and six shy of the major league mark by the 1994 Indians.
Jayson Nix, who played for the Blue Jays last year, got his second straight start against Toronto and kept up his assault on his former team. Nix, who played shortstop as Jeter was the DH, has 5-for-9 (.556) with two doubles and three runs this year against his old mates.
It was part of a good day for the Yanks’ bench. DeWayne Wise, who spelled Curtis Granderson in center field, had a double, a single and two RBI.
The Yankees finished the 5-1 homestand with their eighth series sweep, one shy of last year’s total. It was their third series sweep at home this year. The others were June 8-10 against the Mets and June 25-27 against the Indians.
The Blue Jays, once considered contenders in the American League East, fell two games under .500 and into last place, 12 ½ games behind the division-leading Yankees. Toronto had 1-for-25 (.040) with runners in scoring position in the series and lost two position players. Outielder Jose Bautista was placed on the 15-day disabled list because of a left wrist strain. Third baseman Brett Lawrie bruised his right calf tumbling into the photographer’s well next to the visitors’ dugout. It has been that kind of year for the Blue Jays, who lost three starting pitchers to injury in the same week last month.
The Yankees are off to the West Coast for a four-game series at Oakland and a three-game set at Seattle, and I am off to Cooperstown, N.Y., for the National Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend.
Good & bad about All-Star selections
The good news is that the Yankees will have six players on the American League roster, four in the starting lineup, for the All-Star Game July 12 at Chase Field in Phoenix. The bad news is that several deserving players from the Yankees will not be making the trip next week to Arizona.
Let’s start with the positive. The Yankees will make up three-quarters of the AL starting infield for the third time in franchise history with second baseman Robinson Cano, third baseman Alex Rodriguez and shortstop Derek Jeter.
The only other time the Yankees had three infielders elected to the starting unit was for the 2004 game at Minute Maid Park in Houston with Rodriguez, Jeter and first baseman Jason Giambi.
The Yankees also had three starting infielders in 1980 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, but only one – shortstop Bucky Dent – had been elected by the fans. Graig Nettles started at third base as a replacement for injured George Brett of the Royals. The Brewers’ Paul Molitor was voted the starter at second base but had to be replaced due to injury as well. The Angels’ Bobby Grich was added to the roster, but the Yankees’ Willie Randolph started the game at the position.
This will mark the 10th time that the Yankees have had at least three infielders on the All-Star roster. First baseman Mark Teixeira’s failure to make the squad this year cost the Yankees the chance to have four infielders overall for the third time. The Yankees had four infield All-Stars in 2002 at Miller Park in Milwaukee (Jeter, Giambi, 2B Alfonoso Soriano, 3B Robin Ventura) and in 1939 at Yankee Stadium (1B Lou Gehrig, 2B Joe Gordon, 3B Red Rolfe, SS Frankie Crosetti). Giambi and Soriano were starters in 2004 and Gordon in 1939.
Other years in which the Yankees had three All-Star infielders were 1950 at Comiskey Park in Chicago (1B Tommy Henrich, 2B Jerry Coleman, SS Phil Rizzuto), 1957 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis (1B Moose Skowron, 2B Bobby Richardson, SS Gil McDougald), Game 1 in 1959 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh (Skowron, Richardson, SS Tony Kubek), Game 2 in 1959 at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles (Skowron, Kubek, McDougald) and 2006 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh (Cano, Jeter, Rodriguez).
Yankees catcher Russell Martin had led in the voting until the last week when he was passed by the Tigers’ Alex Avila. At least Martin made the team as an alternate. His handling of the Yanks’ pitching staff has been superb.
Mariano Rivera was an obvious choice for the staff despite his blown save Sunday, which ended a 26-save streak against National League clubs in inter-league play.
Now for the head-scratching stuff – why no Teixeira or CC Sabathia? And has anyone other than Yankees fans been paying attention to the season David Robertson is having?
Tex fell out of the balloting lead at first base last month behind the Red Sox’ Adrian Gonzalez, an admitted Most Valuable Player Award candidate, but still ran a strong second in the voting. The Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera cannot compare with Teixeira defensively and trails him in homers, 25-17, and RBI, 65-56, but his .328 batting average is 80 points higher than Tex’s.
Now, here’s the rub. Teixeira has been invited to participate in the Home Run Derby. Nice. He can’t be on the team but he can fly all the way to Phoenix and take part in an exercise that could ruin his swing. Ask Bobby Abreu or David Wright about that? Say no, Tex.
All Sabathia has done is lead the AL in victories with 11 and posted a 3.05 ERA. Oh, that’s right. Pitching victories do not count anymore. I guess that’s why there was room for Felix Hernandez on the staff. The word is that CC pitching Sunday before the Tuesday night All-Star Game hurt his chances of making the team. Dumb reason.
To his credit, AL manager Ron Washington of the Rangers said nice things about Robertson when Texas was in town and that he was given him strong consideration. With so many other Yankees on the team, Robertson didn’t stand much of a chance, particularly since every team needs to be represented. When you see the Royals’ Aaron Crow in the pre-game announcements, think of Robertson. Crow, also a set-up reliever, is Kansas City’ lone representative.
It is a tough break for Robertson, but he is no more deserving than Sabathia, so it is hard to say he was snubbed. A lot of people don’t like the baseball rule about All-Star Games having to have players from each team, but I think it is a good thing. The 2012 game is supposed to be in Kansas City. It would be a shame if someone from the Royals was not on the team.
Each club no matter where it is in the standings has someone who deserves All-Star recognition. That the Yankees have so many is a testament to the terrific season the team is having.
Manny slinks away
The stunning news that Manny Ramirez is retiring from baseball comes appropriately while the Yankees and the Red Sox are playing each other in a series at Fenway Park. Ramirez was a big part of this rivalry for the better part of eight seasons.
His career came to an end Friday and, unfortunately, with another steroids-related issue that will stain his legacy. Just looking at the career statistics Manny left behind, a spot in the Hall of Fame should be assured for this eccentric but nonetheless remarkable hitter who despite the reputation as a sort of man-child turned into Albert Einstein once he entered a batter’s box.
Reports that Ramirez had failed yet another drug test allegedly resulted in his abrupt departure from the sport rather than face another suspension. Manny was set down for 50 games in 2009 for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. A second offense comes with a suspension of 100 games, so Manny probably figured what’s the point in hanging around to place one-third of a season for a Tampa Bay team that started the schedule with six straight losses while he went 1-for-17.
Make no mistake, however, that this is a big smudge on Ramirez’s hopes for Cooperstown. Look at the voting totals for Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro to see how voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America feel about whether PED users belong on plaques in the Hall of Fame gallery.
This is all very early, of course. Ramirez is not eligible for the Hall of Fame until the 2017 ballot. A lot can happen before then. But consider that Palmeiro tested positive once and McGwire was never tested but admitted he used anabolic steroids and figure out how voters may view Ramirez, who appears to have tested positive twice.
For Yankees fans, Ramirez was the Red Sox player they loved to hate, except for those from his old neighborhood of Washington Heights in upper Manhattan who came to Yankee Stadium to cheer Manny on. He loved playing against the Yanks, as his record against them attests. He batted .322 with 55 home runs in 861 at-bats against Yankees pitching, including .321 with 29 homers at the Stadium.
He was one of the greatest players to come out of New York City and should have joined the other Hall of Famers who came out of the five boroughs, such as Willie Keeler, Waite Hoyt, Lou Gehrig, Frankie Frisch, Hank Greenberg, Phil Rizzuto, Whitey Ford and Sandy Koufax.
Ramirez was also an icon in Boston as the Most Valuable Player of the 2004 World Series when the Red Sox won their first championship in 86 years and in Los Angeles where “Mannywood” was celebrated at Dodger Stadium in 2008.
And now it has all come to an end, quietly and shamefully.
Texas barbeques Yankees
If anyone thought the Rangers might not be a force in the post-season assuming they remain in command of the American League West, Texas’ sweep of the Yankees should dispel those doubts and perhaps give the Yankees some doubts of their own. It was the first time the Yankees were swept in a road series this year, and it was not a fluke because the Yankees were outplayed on just about every level.
Texas won the first two games on walk-offs, including one against the invincible Mariano Rivera, and then put on a clinic for pitching and base running in Sunday’s 4-1 victory that sent the Yankees hobbling to Tampa Bay. They are still alone in first place in the AL East but barely, by a half-game. The teams are even in the loss column going into a three-game series at Tropicana Field that begins Monday night.
Cliff Lee looked every bit like the pitcher the Yankees faced in last year’s World Series when he was 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA for the Phillies. The Yankees didn’t get a ball into the outfield against the lefthander until one out into the sixth inning when Eduardo Nunez broke up Lee’s no-hit bid with a single to center. Derek Jeter recovered his inside-out swing for a run-scoring double to right, career hit No. 2,900.
That was all the Yankees mustered against Lee, who was winless in his previous five starts and skipped from his last scheduled assignment due to back spasms that required a cortisone injection. He was a bit wild with three walks, his season high and only the third time in 25 starts this year that Lee walked more than one batter. The third walk, in the ninth to Jeter, prompted Rangers manager Ron Washington to bring in closer Neftali Perez, who struck out the side. Washington used 18 pitchers the two prior games, but Lee kept his manager’s strolls to the mound at a minimum.
Before getting too carried away with Lee’s performances, the Yankees’ lineup Sunday was on the skinny side with three regulars on the bench. Then again, the Rangers played the entire series without Josh Hamilton, their AL Most Valuable Player Award candidate.
Manager Joe Girardi wanted to give Alex Rodriguez a day off before the three-game set on the artificial turf at St. Petersburg, Fla. A-Rod has decent career numbers against Lee: .273 with two home runs and seven RBI in 22 at-bats.
Girardi originally planned to start Nick Swisher, but the right fielder is still bothered by stiffness in his left knee and had to be scratched. As an aside, think of how big Swisher’s two-run, walk-off homer Wednesday against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium looks now. Without that, the Yankees would be amid a seven-game losing streak. As it is, they are in their second three-game losing streak in a week. They have not lost more than three games in a row all season.
Also unavailable Sunday was left fielder Brett Gardner, who was removed from Saturday night’s game because of a sore right wrist. He will undergo an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) test Monday on the wrist that has troubled Gardner since he was struck there by a pitch June 27 at Dodger Stadium. On that day, Gardner was batting .321 with three home runs, 23 RBI and 24 stolen bases. Since then, he has batted .229 with two homers, 22 RBI and 16 steals.
Dustin Moseley, making a spot start for Phil Hughes to keep his innings total in check, had faced only two batters since Aug. 30, but he hung with Lee for five innings before the dreadful leadoff walk hurt him in the sixth and seventh. Impressive base running by the Rangers fueled both rallies.
After he walked leading off the sixth, Elvis Andrus promptly stole second. He crossed to third after Michael Young flied out to right. On the contact play, Andrus broke for home on David Murphy’s grounder to first and scored ahead of Mark Teixeira’s throw.
Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler was the highlight of the seventh. He led off with a walk and alertly moved to third base on two successive fly balls to right field. Julio Borbon, a real pest in the series, dropped a bunt to the right side and slid into the bag at first to beat Moseley covering for a single that scored Kinsler and gave Texas the lead.
It was the fifth RBI in the series for Borbon, who played center field for Hamilton, and got the Rangers running again with a steal of second. He scored on a hit by Andrus that chased Moseley, and Texas added a run on singles by Young and Murphy off Jonathan Albaladejo.
It was a weekend to make Rangers president Nolan Ryan proud and remind the Yankees the hardship that could face them in post-season play.
Yanks, Rays have safety net
Fans seem to like the wild-card system in baseball because if gives more teams a chance to reach the playoffs. The powers that be in the game certainly approve it of it because the more teams involved in races the greater the interest there is in the sport in the final month of the season.
There is one downside of the system that was adopted in 1994 by which the second place team with the best record qualifies for post-season play as a wild card, and that is it can ruin an old-fashioned race for first place.
Take what is going on this year between the Yankees and the Rays, for example. These two teams entered play Tuesday night tied for first in the American League East for the eighth straight day. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that marks the most consecutive days that a pair of teams has been tied for first this late in a season. The previous record was seven straight days by the Dodgers and the Astros in the National League West Sept. 10-16, 1980.
That season featured one of the wildest finishes in major league history. The Dodgers swept the Astros in a three-game series at Los Angeles to force a one-game playoff that also took place at Dodger Stadium the day after the regular season ended. The Dodgers’ bubble was burst by Joe Niekro’s knuckleball as Houston won the playoff to qualify for the NL Championship Series against the Phillies.
Had there been a wild-card system, there would have been no need for a playoff because both teams would have made it.
Something similar happened in 1993, the last year there was no wild-card in the majors. In fact, the finish in the NL West that year was a major reason the wild-card supporters got what they wanted. The Giants won 103 games but finished one game behind the Braves (then in the NL West) and went home.
It was as wild a race as every existed. Atlanta trailed San Francisco by a season-high 10 games July 22 and by 9 as late as Aug. 7. A seven-game losing streak Sept. 7-15 brought the Giants back to earth as they fell 3 games behind the Braves, who were amid a 9-1 run. It came down to the final weekend. The Braves swept a three-game series from the Rockies, but the Giants lost to their arch-rival Dodgers on the final day of the season.
There was no fallback position for the Giants without the wild card. As tight as that race was, it does not compare really to what is going on between the Yankees and Tampa Bay. The Braves and Giants were tied on the same day only eight times total in 1993, only as often as the Yanks and Rays have been for a little more than the past week.
Over the past 30 days, the Yankees and the Rays have been tied for first place 12 times and have had the same share of the top spot 23 days during the season. But with the third-place Red Sox having fallen seven games behind them and the second-place teams in the other divisions nowhere near contention for the wild-card berth, the juice is missing from the Yanks-Rays race because whoever doesn’t win the division will make the playoffs anyway.
Sure, there is home-field advantage in the Division Series and Championship Series at stake, which is sort of a carrot but not as appetizing as eliminating a foe altogether.
Andy not handy
Dodgers manager Joe Torre must have been stunned to see Andy Pettitte throw the ball all over the infield in the third inning Sunday night.
The ESPN Sunday Night Baseball crew of Joe Morgan, Orel Hershiser and Jon Miller rattled on about the Yankees showing inexperience dealing with the bunting game that is more prevalent in the National League, which was a lot of nonsense. The Yankees only happen to have beaten NL competition more than any team in World Series history.
Besides, Sunday night’s finale of the series at Dodger Stadium was the Yankees’ 18th and last inter-league game of the year and the 12th consecutive game against an NL club. It is not as if they haven’t seen a pitcher bunt before.
You can be sure Torre knows better. His relationship with Pettitte was cemented in Game 5 of the 1996 World Series at Atlanta when the lefthander pitched 8 1/3 innings of a 1-0 victory over the Braves that gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead in games heading back to Yankee Stadium where they would win Game 6 and clinch the Series. Prior to that performance, Torre had viewed Pettitte somewhat skeptically telling friends he thought the pitcher was “soft.”
Baseball people of Torre’s generation don’t know what to make of a player like Pettitte who has deep religious convictions. Such players are often labeled “God squanders” and have their competitive grit questioned. Torre might have viewed Pettitte in that light at one time, but not after Game 5 in ’96. Not ever again. In fact, when the Yankees toyed with the idea of trading Pettitte to Philadelphia during the 1999 season, Torre campaigned hard with the front office to keep Pettitte in pinstripes.
Go back to that Game 5 in Atlanta, and one of the critical innings was the bottom of the sixth in which Pettitte’s defensive ability helped him snuff out a rally. Clinging to a one-run lead, Pettitte gave up singles to opposing pitcher John Smoltz and Marquis Grissom with none out. Mark Lemke attempted to sacrifice the runners over, but Pettitte pounded on the bunt and quickly threw to Charlie Hayes at third base to cut down Smoltz, the lead runner. Pettitte then handled a shot to the box by Chipper Jones and turned to second to start an inning-ending double play.
So you can imagine what might have been going through Torre’s mind Sunday night watching Pettitte commit two throwing errors on bunt fielding plays in the third. Reed Johnson was on second base after a leadoff double when Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw bunted in front of the plate. Pettitte tried for the lead runner at third, but Alex Rodriguez, who had charged for the bunt, was back pedaling to the bag and could not lunge for the throw that was wide to his left and ended up down the left field line, allowing Reed to score.
Rafael Furcal then bunted for a hit and got one. A third consecutive bunt came from Ronnie Belliard. Pettitte fielded the ball, but his throw to first on the sacrifice was into the runner and eluded second baseman Robinson Cano, who originally was charged with an error which the official score correctly amended later by assigning it to Pettitte. A run scored on that play, and Furcal was able to get to third from where he scored on a sacrifice fly by Andre Ethier.
A surprisingly sloppy inning by one of Joe Torre’s favorite players turned his reunion weekend with the Yankees in the Dodgers’ favor temporarily. The Yankees’ four-run uprising in the ninth against Jonathan Broxton, in a non-save situation, featured major contributions by Curtis Granderson, Chad Huffman and Colin Curtis, three Yankees never managed by Torre.
Huffman drove in two runs and Curtis one. A big mistake was by James Loney, the Dodgers first baseman who lost precious time stepping on the bag on Curtis’ grounder and was late throwing home as Granderson scored the tying run. Can’t these NL players handle balls in the infield?
Business as usual for A-Rod
Alex Rodriguez didn’t go in for the Joe Torre love fest. While many of the Yankees spoke glowingly of their former manager whom they would encounter this weekend against the Dodgers, A-Rod tersely pointed out that it was just another series for him.
He took the same attitude into Friday night’s game and went about his business professionally. Rodriguez felt the best route to take was to say nothing and let his game do the talking. Why harp about how Torre treated him in his book last year bringing up the “A-fraud” nickname or review ancient history about being demoted to the eighth spot in the lineup during the American League Division Series against Detroit in 2006?
Rodriguez preferred to stay in the present, and in doing so made it a grim night for Torre and the Dodgers. A-Rod had a major hand in both Yankees runs of their 2-1 victory in a game that lived up to the hype. With Torre and his bench coach Don Mattingly beside him, this series has an additional marquee value, and the game ended with both former Yankees icons livid over the final out.
To be fair, they had a point. Mariano Rivera, who notched his 17th save by striking out the side in the ninth inning, doesn’t need any help out there, but he got it from plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, whose strike zone for the last batter, James Loney, clearly expanded. A pitch above the letters and another below the knees were called strikes. Loney tossed his bat and helmet in disgust and was ejected while Torre and Mattingly poured it on verbally to Cuzzi.
It was a nasty end to a wonderful game. CC Sabathia, completing his spotless June (5-0, 2.13 ERA in five starts), was reached for a first-inning run on a single by Manny Ramirez but did not allow a runner to get into scoring position from the third through the eighth. CC also backed up his hitters. Robinson Cano was hit in the rump by a pitch in the fourth inning by Dodgers starter Vicente Padilla, who has a history of throwing at batters and twice hit Mark Teixeira in a game last year when the pitcher was with the Rangers.
But this was a game in a National League yard – no designated hitter, the pitcher has to bat. Sabathia retaliated in the fifth by hitting Padilla below the left knee. The pitchers glared at each other, and a warning was issued. CC had the additional satisfaction of starting a double play on a grounder to the box by Rafael Furcal to end the inning. Both pitchers went back to pitching after that.
Rodriguez, who has been hitting the ball to right-center more often recently, doubled to that spot leading off the second inning and scored on a one-out single by Jorge Posada. A-Rod pulled the ball in the sixth, driving a first-pitch fastball into the left field bleachers for his 10th home run of the season and career No. 593. Sabathia made the run hold up.
The ball went to Mo in the ninth with Manny leading off. Dodger Stadium fans who might have taken their usual seventh-inning exit missed a beauty as Rivera struck out Ramirez for the 13th time in 39 career at-bats. Mo struck out Matt Kemp after that and then finished it off with Loney.
One of baseball’s oldest rivalries had a new episode to dissect. It should be an interesting weekend.
Hughes skipped from L.A.
The Yankees vowed that they would not overburden Phil Hughes this season as a starting pitcher. In keeping with that philosophy, the Yankees will skip Hughes in his next turn in the rotation. The righthander had been on schedule to start Friday night against the Dodgers in Los Angeles but will be held back until next Tuesday when the Yankees return to New York and open a homestand against the Mariners.
Not getting to pitch at Dodger Stadium was a disappointment for Hughes, who grew up in southern California and was looking forward to pitching in front of relatives and friends. He may get that chance next month. With a 10-1 record, Hughes is a candidate for the American League All-Star staff. This year’s game is July 13 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. The AL manager is the Yankees’ Joe Girardi, who will have a strong say in which pitchers are chosen.
But for now, conserving innings is the issue for Hughes, who is close to equaling his workload for all of last season. Hughes has pitched 82 1/3 in 13 starts in 2010. A year ago, he made seven starts and 44 relief appearances, mostly as a set-up guy, and totaled 86 innings, plus another 12 in post-season play.
The Yankees have not identified an innings limit for Hughes, but it is most likely in the neighborhood of 180. They will have to back Hughes off occasionally during the season to keep him from jeopardizing his arm and have him be part of significant games in September and beyond.
Jack O'Connell
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