Scott Proctor's back

I never thought I'd be writing that Scott Proctor was back in pinstripes after the Yankees traded him to the Dodgers at the 2007 deadline. But life is unpredictable, and here we are.

Obviously the biggest news here is that Jesus Montero will finally be joining the big club, but Proctor's return is more poignant for me. This blog served as an outlet for me to get my long-form baseball and Yankees opinions out there, to hone my writing skills, and to pretend to be a baseball reporter.

The jokes about his arm falling off are as tired as me complaining about Jorge Posada, but for a time way back in 2007, those jokes inspired me to name this blog. Thank you, Joe Torre, for riding Proctor's arm for a ridiculous 102.1 innings way back in 2006. Wow, 2006. The year I graduated high school; the year I began college. I can't believe that was five years ago.

Proctor has always seemed like a good dude and hopefully he can take advantage of the opportunities he gets to finish out this season. It'd be foolish to expect him to get high-leverage innings out of the bullpen in a race to win the division, but the fact he's back here at all is rather astonishing. Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

My interests and goals have changed, but I'll always look back fondly on the time I had keeping up this blog and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Maybe Scott Proctor will get a ring after all.

I’m back!

Hey everyone!

I figured I’d bring the blog back with a new season on the horizon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April Fools!



But seriously…I have missed keeping up with the blog at times over the last few months.  The thing I’ve missed the most, however, was simply interacting with the great fans of this team.

I simply haven’t had the time necessary to maintain the blog at the required level of excellence I’ve set for myself.  And instead of having that suffer, I decided to just stop altogether.

I hope everyone enjoys the season and hopefully I’ll be able to check in at times.

Until then, you can always interact with me on Twitter (@Fletch788).

Year of the Jeter

Derek Jeter became the first Yankee ever to be named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year today.

Jeter was obviously thrilled by the announcement.

“It’s unbelievable. It was completely unexpected. It came out of the blue,” Jeter told The Associated Press during a break in the photo shoot. “When I heard it, what can you say? It’s one of the greatest honors you can achieve in sports.”

Michael Phelps was last year’s Sportsman, for some perspective.

The issue will hit newsstands on Wednesday.

Gregory Heisler/SI

Sheppard hangs up the mike

Legendary voice of Yankee Stadium Bob Sheppard told Bryan  Hoch today that he plans on retiring.  Sheppard, 99, hasn’t called a game since 2007.

"I have no plans of coming back," Sheppard said on Wednesday in a telephone interview. "Time has passed me by, I think. I had a good run for it. I enjoyed doing what I did. I don't think, at my age, I'm going to suddenly regain the stamina that is really needed if you do the job and do it well."

The entire article is worth a read.  He has words of praise for current public address announcer Paul Olden.  Sheppard also said he doubts he’ll return to Yankee Stadium in 2010 to call one game.

Of course, we still hear Sheppard’s voice when Derek Jeter comes to bat.

*****

I’m sure Mr. Sheppard has a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, just like all of us.  On that note, I’d like to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

World Series Film premiere

I caught the premiere of the 2009 World Series Film tonight.  No, I wasn’t at the big one at the Ziegfeld in Manhattan, but this was good enough.

I thought the film was nicely done and it’s certainly worth the $19.99 MLB.com is charging (but if you’re a savvy Internet shopper, Amazon has it for $14.99).

The film had some great behind-the-scenes shots of the players, a variety of camera angles, and some great commentary by the managers, players and announcers.  I also liked the integration of the fantastic Game 6 time lapse video made by Robert Caplin.

One thing that I found a little strange was when the narrator failed to mention Alex Rodriguez past drug use.  The segment was about Rodriguez’s hip surgery during spring training and how it positively affected him during the regular season.  I thought for sure the steroids would be mentioned somewhere, but I was wrong and somewhat surprised by that.

I’m a nit-picker when it comes to these things, and that was really my only bone to pick with the production.

This will probably air on MLB Network throughout the winter, but this definitely makes for a nice holiday gift.

And no, I won’t spoil the ending.

This is hideous

Political allegiances aside, this Yankees cap is absolutely awful.

Spotted by me in the Palisades Center in West Nyack, N.Y.

As expected, Mauer wins MVP

Congratulations go out to Joe Mauer who won the American League MVP award with 27 of the 28 first place votes.

The one surprise of the voting was that Miguel Cabrera – who finished fourth overall – received the other first place vote.  I’d love to see that writer try to defend that vote.

On the Yankees’ front, Mark Teixeira finished second and Derek Jeter rounded out the top three.  Alex Rodriguez came in 10th.

Guess who’s back

It’s been a while, hasn’t it?

Now that I’m on Thanksgiving break, I figured it’s time to try to get back into blogging.  I’ve been extremely busy at school and hopefully this break will recharge my batteries.

Plus, I reached an agreement with Jeremy that he would stop pestering me to blog if I wrote today.  So here we are today.

I know I rarely posted in September, didn’t post once in October and only posted a picture thus far in November, but I’d really like to get back into this.  There was a reason (in my head) for not posting during October – superstition.  The Yankees were playing just fine without me getting in the way and it paid off in the end.  You’re welcome.

The AL MVP is announced today at 2 p.m., so I’ll have something on it later.

27

How sweet it is!

Reuters

Who says they hate each other?

There are plenty of fun celebration photos all over the Internet, but the above photo is pretty cool.  Who says Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter don’t get along?

NYDN Photo

Top of the East

The Yankees clinched the American League East championship with their 4-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox this afternoon.

Despite starting the year 0-8 against their longtime rivals, the Yankees were able to fight back and eventually split the 18-game season series.

The Yankees also won their 100th game of the season behind Andy Pettitte’s six innings and Mariano Rivera’s 43rd save.

The division title was the Yankees first since 2006.

Though the job isn’t done yet, today is a good day for the Yankees and for the fans.

Saturday YanksBlog.com game recap

CC Sabathia pitched seven shutout innings in the Yankees 3-0 victory over the Red Sox this afternoon.  Read all about it on YanksBlog.com.

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And on that note, I’d like to offer up an apology.  I obviously have not been blogging much this month.  I’ve been busy with school and the newspaper, and maintaining this site has been moved to my mental backburner.  I hope to write more as the playoffs are set to begin.

Saturday YanksBlog.com game recap

The Yankees lost to the Orioles for the second straight day, this time 7-3 with A.J. Burnett allowing two home runs and six runs in the second inning.  Read all about it at YanksBlog.com.

Jeter passes Gehrig all Yankees’ all-time hits leader

Derek Jeter’s third inning single down the right field line made history tonight.  It was the 2,722nd hit of his career, passing Lou Gehrig for first on the Yankees all-time hits list.

Congratulations, Derek!

Jeter ties Gehrig, Yanks sweep Rays

Derek Jeter’s 3-for-4 night put him in a tie with Lou Gehrig for first place on the Yankees’ all-time hits list with 2,721.  He had been hitless in his previous three games.  As for the team, the Yankees scored four in the eighth to defeat Tampa Bay 4-2 Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, Joba Chamberlain only lasted three innings, throwing 56 pitches and allowing two earned runs and three hits.

The three hits and two runs allowed were recorded in the first inning, meaning the Tampa Bay Rays were no-hit over the final 8 2/3 innings.

Jorge Posada hit a go-ahead pinch-hit three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to lead the Yankees to victory.

The Yankees were able to avoid using Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera in the ninth.  Brian Bruney got the first two outs, while Phil Coke earned the save by striking out the only batter he faced.

New York is now 91-50 and will begin a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.

(Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Swisher walks off

Nick Swisher joined the long line of Yankees who have had walk-off hits this season.  Swisher hit a one-out solo home run to right against Dan Wheeler in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Yankees to a 3-2 victory.  They have now reached 90 wins and are 40 games above .500.

The home run, his 26th, was Swisher’s second of the game.  This was strange because he had only hit three previous home runs at Yankee Stadium this season.  He also homered from both sides of the plate.

Chad Gaudin allowed one earned runs and six hits over 6+ innings, striking out six.  Phil Hughes actually faltered in his inning of work, allowing a game-tying home run to Jason Bartlett in the eighth.  It was his first blown save of the season and it was the first earned run he allowed in a game since Aug. 4.

The Yankees will go for the four-game sweep of the Rays tomorrow night with Joba Chamberlain on the mound.

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Gardner, Duncan back

Peter Abraham reports the Yankees’ latest roster moves this morning.

Brett Gardner has been activated off the disabled list.  He hasn’t played since July 25 with a broken left thumb.  Shelley Duncan has also been recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Yankees and Rays are playing a doubleheader at the Stadium today.  CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett get the starts.

Saturday YanksBlog.com game recap

The Yankees defeated the Blue Jays 6-4 Saturday afternoon.  Read my game recap over at YanksBlog.com.

Posada drives in 4 as Yankees win another

(Originally written for Baseball Digest)

Jorge Posada went 4-for-5 with a home run, double and four RBI in the Yankees' 10-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays Thursday night at Rogers Centre.  Alfredo Aceves picked up his 10th win of the season with 2 1/3 innings of relief.

The Yankees scored four quick runs in the first inning against starter Ricky Romero.  With the bases loaded, Hideki Matsui singled.  Three runs scored, aided by Travis Snider's fielding error. As a result, Matsui was only credited with one RBI.  Posada followed with an RBI single of his own to increase the lead to 4-0.

Chad Gaudin couldn't escape the fourth inning, allowing three earned runs while only retiring 11 batters.  With one out in the fourth, Gaudin allowed three singles, he hit a batter and allowed a sacrifice fly to cut the Yankees' lead to 5-3.

Aceves entered in relief and allowed two runs (one earned) in his 2 1/3 innings of work.  David Robertson, Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte each followed with a scoreless inning of work apiece.

In addition to Posada's four RBI, Alex Rodriguez drove in two runs on two hits, including a solo home run in the ninth.

The Yankees have now won seven games in a row and are 38 games over .500.  Joba Chamberlain takes the hill tomorrow night in Toronto.

The series ahead

The New York Yankees (85-48) begin a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays (59-73) at Rogers Centre tonight.  The pitching matchups are:

Tonight – 7:07 p.m., YES
Chad Gaudin RHP (1-0, 3.21 ERA as a Yankee) vs. Ricky Romero LHP (11-6, 3.95 ERA)

Tomorrow – 7:07 p.m., YES
Joba Chamberlain RHP (8-4, 4.38 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay RHP (13-8, 3.13 ERA)

Saturday – 1:07 p.m., YES
Andy Pettitte LHP (12-6, 4.03 ERA) vs. Brett Cecil LHP (6-3, 5.42 ERA)

Sunday – 1:07 p.m., YES
Sergio Mitre RHP (3-1, 5.65 ERA) vs. Brian Tallet LHP (5-9, 5.17 ERA)