Archive for March, 2009

Joba Chamberlain just might live up to his potential as a starting pitcher and possibly the hype. Oh wait, did I say the hype? Forget it because it’s “New York, you better get it done or we’ll boo you out of town” hype. However, if he continues to progress and does as well as he did versus the Cincinnati Reds this afternoon in a 6-3 Yankees win, Chamberlain should be just fine. Joba went 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits, walking three, and striking out six. This was the longest outing this spring for the Yankees’ fan-anointed [...]

When you go to Yankees Stadium to take in a game, there are a few things you can be guaranteed of – 1) the Bleacher Creatures rule 2) the price for food and beverages will make even millionaires go, “DAMN! Is that really the price?!?!?!” and 3) Bob Sheppard will make your baseball experience feel authentic. Sheppard, the Yankees public address announcer since April 17, 1951 and who has called out the Yankees starting lineup that included such names as Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Thurman Munson, and Derek Jeter will miss Opening Day at the new Yankees Stadium due to [...]

Andy Pettitte is getting older, but just like fine wine, he’s getting better with age. Wow, could I have been more cliche than that? Well, there’s something about letting crap lay around and it attacking the nose more, but I’ll leave it alone because there is nothing stinky about Pettitte’s game thus far this spring. Pettitte just straight dominated the Blue Jays yesterday in Dunedin, Florida in a 3-0 win for the Bronx Bombers, going 6.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits, striking out seven and walking a donut. For the spring, Pettitte is 2-0; 0.79 ERA; 8 [...]

There’s this Alex Rodriguez guy, you might have heard of him, who is currently out due to hip surgery rehabilitation and won’t return until mid-May or so. Since Rodriguez is the New York Yankees regular starting third baseman, someone needs to fill in for him while he’s out. Enter Cody Ransom. But, who is Cody Ransom? He’s a career upper-downer, going back and forth between the minor leagues and majors in the 11 seasons he’s played professional ball. He was drafted in the ninth round (278th overall) of the 1998 MLB Amateur Draft by the San Francisco Giants. He debuted [...]

It’s official, folks, Brett Gardner has beaten out Melky Cabrera for the starting centerfielder job. It was announced yesterday by manager Joe Girardi and despite both players doing well during spring training, Gardner is the man and there will not be a platoon situation. Girardi also said that Cabrera will make the team in a backup capacity. Here are the stats as of today: Gardner: .385 BA; 1.121 OPS; 3 HR; 6 RBI; 10 R; 35 Total Bases; 6 BB; 7 K; 5 SB in 52 AB Cabrera: .340 BA; .908 OPS; 1 HR; 9 RBI; 10 R; 26 Total [...]

AJ Burnett looked like he was worth every offseason penny, even CC Sabathia-type pennies, before yesterday’s outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Steinbrenner Field. Previous to being invaded and violated by the Bucs, Burnett pitched 15.0 innings and only gave up two runs on seven hits, but then looked like previous “high-priced former Florida Marlins pitcher signing for mucho dinero during the offseason,” Carl Pavano. Yes. That bad. Burnett went 4.1 innings, gave up seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits (including three home runs), walked three, and only struck out one hitter. What the frag happened? Don’t worry, it [...]

Mark Teixeira helped the New York Yankees beat his former team, the Atlanta Braves, 6-4 on the road yesterday in Kissimmee, Florida. Teixeira went 2-for-2 with a homerun, including a walk and seems to be clicking on all cylinders thus far as he is hitting .391; 2 HR; 6 RBI; 7 R in 46 AB this spring. Teixeira’s bat will need to stay this hot, particularly during the beginning of the season with Alex Rodriguez out of the mix as A-Rod comes back from hip surgery. However, if Xavier Nady (3-for-4; 1 RBI), Melky Cabrera (3-for-4; 1 R) if he [...]

So, Bernie Williams is mulling over a comeback after his stint with the Puerto Rican team at the World Baseball Classic, and it wouldn’t necessarily be with the New York Yankees either. Williams played 16 seasons with the Yankees from 1991-2006 and never officially retired, so a return for a 17th season with the Bronx Bombers is quite possible. You never know, right? But where would he play? At centerfield, it’s a tight race between Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera and I don’t see Bernie having the range to cover center anymore. Call me crazy, but the guy is 40 [...]

In this world of rapid advances in technology, we are all forced to concede being dummies and adapt in order to survive. Yanks Go Yard is no different. So, do us a favor in not letting us feel like complete buffoons (we’ll do that during the season through our blog posts… KIDDING!) and join our FACEBOOK group and follow us on TWITTER! Tell your Yankees-loving friends to do the same. A life could depend on it. Okay, don’t worry, a life doesn’t, but join and follow us anyway. If you don’t have a Facebook and/or Twitter account, I’d suggest you [...]

Okay, fine, so CC Sabathia is only earning his money in spring training thus far, but last night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, hopefully, foreshadows great things to come. Sabathia went 7.2 innings, gave up one run on four hits (all singles), struck out seven Reds, and walked none as the Yankees beat Cincinnati, 4-1. Sabathia is now 2-1 in the spring and last night Mariano Rivera logged his first save of the preseason, striking out one. And he only needed five pitches to get the job done. Best. Closer. Ever. Mark Teixeira, one of [...]