Yanks Go Yard Radio Show Rewind: White Sox-Yankees Preview (9/24-9/27)

On last night’s episode of the Yanks Go Yard Radio Show, I I started off the episode by talking about the New York Yankees (83-62) losing two out of three games to the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. It was a competitive series, but the Blue Jays were able to get more of the big hits in big spots. Last night, after a strong performance by Ivan Nova, the Yankees’ middle relief gave up all four runs, including a three-run homer by Russell Martin in the seventh inning.

That being said, the Yankees did get one win in this series thanks to a three run homer in the top of the tenth by Greg Bird on Tuesday. Bird has now hit ten home runs since joining the Bronx Bombers. With 11 games left in the regular season, New York is 3.5 games behind Toronto in the AL East, but they have a four game lead on the Astros for the first Wild Card spot and their magic number to clinch a playoff spot is seven.

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Tonight, the Yankees begin their final homestand of the regular season when they take on the Chicago White Sox (72-80) in the first game of a four game series. Robin Ventura is on the hot seat because of the team’s disappointing season after all of their offseason acquisitions.

Despite the team having a down year, first baseman Jose Abreu has had a strong sophomore season. Abreu, who won co-player of the week in the American League last week, is hitting .292 with 29 home runs and 96 RBI’s this season. He carries this offense when you consider Chicago is 26^th in runs scored this season.

On the mound, Chris Sale (12-10, 3.47 ERA) had his start pushed back to tonight instead of yesterday. Sale has had a rough September (0-3, 5.40 ERA) in four starts, but he does have 259 strikeouts this season and is averaging near 108 pitches a game. The disappointment in the rotation has been Jeff Samardzija (Sunday’s starter against Luis Severino). Samardzija, who is in a contract year, has a 6.61 ERA in his last 13 starts. One of the storylines of this series is the return of David Robertson to Yankee Stadium. The former Yankee closer is 31-for-38 in saves this season and he has a 8.59 ERA in eight outings this month.

To talk more about the White Sox, I spoke with Owen Schoenfeld, one of the writers at Southside Showdown, to get his take on Robin Ventura’s job status, the White Sox’ biggest need this winter, and some of the team’s prospects to watch, including center fielder Trayce Thompson (who is the brother of Warriors’ guard Klay Thompson). Plus, Owen and I broke down the pitching matchups and gave our players to watch for this four game series.

Last night, we extended our episode from 60 to 90+ minutes because we wanted to honor one of the great players and people in the history of the game, Yogi Berra. Berra, a 10-time World Series winner and Hall-Of-Famer, passed away yesterday at the age of 90. Berra was a great player on the field, but he also touched the lives of everyone he met off the field.

To discuss Berra’s life and legacy, I spoke with Billy Brost, the editor of Baseball Magazine, and Brian Wright, who is the host of the Baseball As It Was Podcast. We talked about our favorite Yogi-isms, Berra’s time as a manager with the Yankees and the Mets, and more about the success he had in the big moments.

You can also check out Brian’s interview with Yogi’s granddaughter, Lindsay Berra, by clicking this link. All of us at Yanks Go Yard send our thoughts and prayers to the Berra family during this difficult time.

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