Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano was benched Sunday after manager Joe Girardi became upset with his lack of hustle on a fielding play against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Cliff Floyd led off the fourth inning with a hard grounder between first baseman Jason Giambi and Cano. Giambi dived and the ball went off his glove and into right-center field. Cano didn’t immediately go after it and Floyd beat right fielder Xavier Nady’s throw to second for the unusual double.
Girardi switched Cody Ransom from third to second and inserted Wilson Betemit at third before Tampa Bay batted in the fifth.
“That’s a ball that we have to hustle after and get and keep Cliff Floyd from getting to second,” Girardi said after New York’s 8-4 victory.
The Yankees open a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox on Monday night, and Girardi said he hadn’t decided whether Cano will be in the lineup.
“Sometimes I let the team down,” Cano said. “Ninety-nine percent of the time I play hard. It’s kind of frustrating not helping the team, and he’s right.”
Cano is nearing the end of a disappointing season, batting .260 after hitting over .300 in each of the previous two years. He admitted that he sometimes carries his frustration at the plate over to the field.
This gaffe was particularly rough on the 25-year-old Cano.
“That’s embarrassing,” he said. “You’re playing and you’re taken out of the game. … It’s a situation that no player would like to be in.”
Sep 14, 2008
Sep 13, 2008
Andy Pettitte will start against the Orioles on Sept. 21. Pettitte will receive an extra day of rest and pitch Tuesday against the White Sox before getting the ball four days later for the Stadium finale.
"It will be an emotional night for me, that's for sure, being able to make that last start here," Pettitte said.
Girardi called it "fitting" that Pettitte will get the team's final start in the current Yankee Stadium. The left-hander is in his 11th season in pinstripes and ranks fourth in franchise history with 177 victories.
Pettitte said he's OK with Girardi juggling the rotation to give him an extra day of rest.
"If we were right there in the (playoff) mix, I would probably be considering doing whatever I could - maybe going on short (rest)," Pettitte said. "Obviously that would be different circumstances."
"It will be an emotional night for me, that's for sure, being able to make that last start here," Pettitte said.
Girardi called it "fitting" that Pettitte will get the team's final start in the current Yankee Stadium. The left-hander is in his 11th season in pinstripes and ranks fourth in franchise history with 177 victories.
Pettitte said he's OK with Girardi juggling the rotation to give him an extra day of rest.
"If we were right there in the (playoff) mix, I would probably be considering doing whatever I could - maybe going on short (rest)," Pettitte said. "Obviously that would be different circumstances."
Sep 10, 2008
Derek Jeter singled in the first inning Tuesday night, passing Babe Ruth for second place on the New York Yankees’ career hits list.
Jeter sent an 0-2 pitch from Los Angeles Angels right-hander Ervin Santana into left field for his 2,519th hit. Only Lou Gehrig (2,721) has more hits in a Yankees uniform. Jeter got No. 2,520 with a triple in the sixth and notched his third hit of the game with a single in the seventh.
Jeter has 1,260 hits at Yankee Stadium, nine shy of Gehrig’s record, with 10 games remaining there.
Jeter sent an 0-2 pitch from Los Angeles Angels right-hander Ervin Santana into left field for his 2,519th hit. Only Lou Gehrig (2,721) has more hits in a Yankees uniform. Jeter got No. 2,520 with a triple in the sixth and notched his third hit of the game with a single in the seventh.
Jeter has 1,260 hits at Yankee Stadium, nine shy of Gehrig’s record, with 10 games remaining there.
Sep 9, 2008
By Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports
There are only tough jobs and impossible jobs in their line of work, which is why, I suppose, Joe Torre owns a surfboard and Joe Girardi has done well not to gnaw the lacquer from his fungo bat.
The surfboard was a gift. And the next wave Torre catches will be the first.
But there’s a long-board spirit in Torre these days, Old Guys Rule and all that. He’s 68, has a mismatched ballclub in first place and is a good 3,000 miles from the nearest Steinbrenner.
“So far,” Torre said over the weekend, 140-plus games into his West Coast gig, “I’ve got a better tan. It’s wonderful.”
To the dismay of a fan base that merrily fills Dodger Stadium despite 20 years of mostly inconsequential baseball, Torre has not transformed the Dodgers into much more than they are: a pitching-heavy team whose daily lineup lacks players in their primes. Even Manny Ramirez, whose trading-deadline arrival brought early spikes in wins and dreadlock extensions, has found the job bigger than it appeared. He’s batted .397 with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs in Dodgers script, yet the club is just 19-17 with him.
But, and maybe this explains the healthy glow and Endless Summer perspective, the NL West has been kind to Torre, Manny and the Dodgers. There is a sense some of the organization’s rising talents – Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, James Loney, Andre Ethier, Clayton Kershaw – have had nice growth seasons, ones that will serve them (and the franchise) in Torre II and Torre III, assuming he serves to the end of his contract.
If nothing else, the young Dodgers have been allowed to be young Dodgers. When they lugged their duffels into their first big-league clubhouse, they discovered the world not only wasn’t about them, but didn’t think much of them, either. The manager at the time – a very nice gentleman named Grady Little – was suffering from his own crisis of confidence and, as it happened, was on his way out. Their new, veteran teammates cared more about their own jobs and their own at-bats than for creating a chummy, constructive workplace.
“This ballclub, the young kids, they haven’t had a lot of fun,” Torre said. “I think they’ve put a lot of pressure on themselves.”
Torre signed up and did what he could to relieve the clubhouse tension. Manny eventually stood in the middle of the lineup and eased the production responsibilities. Or, tried.
And still the Dodgers lose almost as often as they win, which, as of Monday night’s 4-0 loss in San Diego, was good enough for a game-and-a-half lead with 18 to play.
Torre walked in the door looking settled. He has a knack for that. Now he is settled.
“I found that I can look forward to coming to the ballpark again,” he said, having put distance between himself and the untidy separation from the Yankees. “It became a lot for me to deal with. I dealt with it, but it wasn’t a lot of fun.”
Yes, he still speaks to Girardi – once his catcher, then his bench coach – pretty often.
There’s a new Steinbrenner at the top, and a wholly new set of circumstances for the Yankees. Barring absolute collapse by not one, but a handful of teams ahead of them, the Yankees will miss the playoffs for the first time in a full season since 1993. The fact that they have three more wins than Torre’s Dodgers is of no comfort to Girardi.
The responsibility for that lies with the organization’s failure to reinforce its big-league pitching staff, most often a pivotal strength in Torre’s 12 seasons in New York. Torre’s teams thrilled with offense, but generally won with pitching.
Girardi, instead, has presided over an expensive team in transition, one that has required – as of Alfredo Aceves on Tuesday night here – 13 different starting pitchers. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, the organization’s hopes for a new foundation and two of the reasons it passed on Johan Santana, started 15 games between them, and the Yankees won three.
More than $80 million is expected to come off the Yankees’ payroll this winter, potentially creating opportunities and financial windfalls for the likes of CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira (and, sure, maybe Manny). But, that’s next season. Girardi first had to wear this one, the one Torre left behind.
“I think you could say it’s a daily process,” Girardi said Monday, standing along the first-base line during batting practice, hours before the Yankees would lose to the Angels 12-1. “You have a plan every day, a schedule every day, but it’s ever changing.”
Nearly three months ago, another of Torre’s former coaches – Willie Randolph – had come to Anaheim and been fired. His final game was on this field. His final night as manager was spent in the hotel the Yankees awoke in Tuesday morning. By contrast, Hank Steinbrenner revealed Monday that of course Girardi would be back next season.
“He’s managed through a lot of stuff,” general manager Brian Cashman had said a couple hours earlier.
Girardi is 43, had managed only one prior season (2006, admirably, with the Florida Marlins), and sometimes that showed. For the moment, according to two Yankees players who spoke privately, he lacks Torre’s uncommon touch in the clubhouse. For the moment, he’s still learning to manage every detail of all nine innings. But, they agreed, Girardi can juggle a bullpen, inarguably important when you’re running through 13 different starters.
“He’s been exactly what I thought,” Derek Jeter said. “That’s the best way to put it.”
It didn’t seem like a criticism. Jeter played with Girardi the catcher and appreciated him. He played under Girardi the coach and liked him.
“It’d probably be a better question for someone who didn’t know him as well,” Jeter said.
Wilson Betemit nodded his head.
“He’s a good manager,” he said. “I like him.”
No matter the angle, the season has been a devastating disappointment for the organization. “A waste,” one official called it. The Yankees didn’t win. And, other than Joba Chamberlain (whose shoulder didn’t hold up either), the developing pitchers that were to form the team’s core were injured or ineffective or both. Second baseman Robinson Cano digressed alarmingly, that coinciding with a $30-million contract extension. Injuries swallowed seasons for starter Chien-Ming Wang and catcher Jorge Posada.
Girardi has run it. He’s explained it daily. And for the first time in a very long time, it seems, that’ll all be over before October.
“You go back to work,” he said. “This game is full of exciting times. It disappoints at times, too. That’s the nature of the game. To me, I believe this is where I’m supposed to be.”
Funny, the other Joe was just saying the same thing.
“My wife keeps teasing me,” Torre said, “saying, ‘You still want to do this?’ ”
He spread his arms, raised his eyebrows, smiled. The sun caught the ends of his fingers.
“I’m here,” he said.
There are only tough jobs and impossible jobs in their line of work, which is why, I suppose, Joe Torre owns a surfboard and Joe Girardi has done well not to gnaw the lacquer from his fungo bat.
The surfboard was a gift. And the next wave Torre catches will be the first.
But there’s a long-board spirit in Torre these days, Old Guys Rule and all that. He’s 68, has a mismatched ballclub in first place and is a good 3,000 miles from the nearest Steinbrenner.
“So far,” Torre said over the weekend, 140-plus games into his West Coast gig, “I’ve got a better tan. It’s wonderful.”
To the dismay of a fan base that merrily fills Dodger Stadium despite 20 years of mostly inconsequential baseball, Torre has not transformed the Dodgers into much more than they are: a pitching-heavy team whose daily lineup lacks players in their primes. Even Manny Ramirez, whose trading-deadline arrival brought early spikes in wins and dreadlock extensions, has found the job bigger than it appeared. He’s batted .397 with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs in Dodgers script, yet the club is just 19-17 with him.
But, and maybe this explains the healthy glow and Endless Summer perspective, the NL West has been kind to Torre, Manny and the Dodgers. There is a sense some of the organization’s rising talents – Matt Kemp, Chad Billingsley, James Loney, Andre Ethier, Clayton Kershaw – have had nice growth seasons, ones that will serve them (and the franchise) in Torre II and Torre III, assuming he serves to the end of his contract.
If nothing else, the young Dodgers have been allowed to be young Dodgers. When they lugged their duffels into their first big-league clubhouse, they discovered the world not only wasn’t about them, but didn’t think much of them, either. The manager at the time – a very nice gentleman named Grady Little – was suffering from his own crisis of confidence and, as it happened, was on his way out. Their new, veteran teammates cared more about their own jobs and their own at-bats than for creating a chummy, constructive workplace.
“This ballclub, the young kids, they haven’t had a lot of fun,” Torre said. “I think they’ve put a lot of pressure on themselves.”
Torre signed up and did what he could to relieve the clubhouse tension. Manny eventually stood in the middle of the lineup and eased the production responsibilities. Or, tried.
And still the Dodgers lose almost as often as they win, which, as of Monday night’s 4-0 loss in San Diego, was good enough for a game-and-a-half lead with 18 to play.
Torre walked in the door looking settled. He has a knack for that. Now he is settled.
“I found that I can look forward to coming to the ballpark again,” he said, having put distance between himself and the untidy separation from the Yankees. “It became a lot for me to deal with. I dealt with it, but it wasn’t a lot of fun.”
Yes, he still speaks to Girardi – once his catcher, then his bench coach – pretty often.
There’s a new Steinbrenner at the top, and a wholly new set of circumstances for the Yankees. Barring absolute collapse by not one, but a handful of teams ahead of them, the Yankees will miss the playoffs for the first time in a full season since 1993. The fact that they have three more wins than Torre’s Dodgers is of no comfort to Girardi.
The responsibility for that lies with the organization’s failure to reinforce its big-league pitching staff, most often a pivotal strength in Torre’s 12 seasons in New York. Torre’s teams thrilled with offense, but generally won with pitching.
Girardi, instead, has presided over an expensive team in transition, one that has required – as of Alfredo Aceves on Tuesday night here – 13 different starting pitchers. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, the organization’s hopes for a new foundation and two of the reasons it passed on Johan Santana, started 15 games between them, and the Yankees won three.
More than $80 million is expected to come off the Yankees’ payroll this winter, potentially creating opportunities and financial windfalls for the likes of CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira (and, sure, maybe Manny). But, that’s next season. Girardi first had to wear this one, the one Torre left behind.
“I think you could say it’s a daily process,” Girardi said Monday, standing along the first-base line during batting practice, hours before the Yankees would lose to the Angels 12-1. “You have a plan every day, a schedule every day, but it’s ever changing.”
Nearly three months ago, another of Torre’s former coaches – Willie Randolph – had come to Anaheim and been fired. His final game was on this field. His final night as manager was spent in the hotel the Yankees awoke in Tuesday morning. By contrast, Hank Steinbrenner revealed Monday that of course Girardi would be back next season.
“He’s managed through a lot of stuff,” general manager Brian Cashman had said a couple hours earlier.
Girardi is 43, had managed only one prior season (2006, admirably, with the Florida Marlins), and sometimes that showed. For the moment, according to two Yankees players who spoke privately, he lacks Torre’s uncommon touch in the clubhouse. For the moment, he’s still learning to manage every detail of all nine innings. But, they agreed, Girardi can juggle a bullpen, inarguably important when you’re running through 13 different starters.
“He’s been exactly what I thought,” Derek Jeter said. “That’s the best way to put it.”
It didn’t seem like a criticism. Jeter played with Girardi the catcher and appreciated him. He played under Girardi the coach and liked him.
“It’d probably be a better question for someone who didn’t know him as well,” Jeter said.
Wilson Betemit nodded his head.
“He’s a good manager,” he said. “I like him.”
No matter the angle, the season has been a devastating disappointment for the organization. “A waste,” one official called it. The Yankees didn’t win. And, other than Joba Chamberlain (whose shoulder didn’t hold up either), the developing pitchers that were to form the team’s core were injured or ineffective or both. Second baseman Robinson Cano digressed alarmingly, that coinciding with a $30-million contract extension. Injuries swallowed seasons for starter Chien-Ming Wang and catcher Jorge Posada.
Girardi has run it. He’s explained it daily. And for the first time in a very long time, it seems, that’ll all be over before October.
“You go back to work,” he said. “This game is full of exciting times. It disappoints at times, too. That’s the nature of the game. To me, I believe this is where I’m supposed to be.”
Funny, the other Joe was just saying the same thing.
“My wife keeps teasing me,” Torre said, “saying, ‘You still want to do this?’ ”
He spread his arms, raised his eyebrows, smiled. The sun caught the ends of his fingers.
“I’m here,” he said.
Sep 7, 2008
Hideki Matsui and the Yankees haven't ruled out him returning next year with knees healthy enough for him to play the outfield.
"He could still play the outfield after the surgery," manager Joe Girardi said of the 34-year-old left fielder who has played 20 games in left and two in right this year, but hasn't been in the field since June 15.
Matsui didn't play from June 16 to Aug. 19 thanks to an inflamed left knee. In the 16 games he has played since coming off the shelf, Matsui has been the designated hitter.
While Girardi said Matsui will have surgery after the season, Matsui says he hasn't made a definitive date for the knife until he meets with the doctor.
"If I were to do it, it would be right after the season," said Matsui, who had surgery on the right knee following the 2007 season.
Matsui not only wants to play in the field and DH, he didn't rule out working at first base, a position that will be vacant since the Yankees aren't likely to bring Jason Giambi back.
"I would like to play and not just the outfield. I could play some first base as well," said Matsui, who hasn't played first base as Yankee but said he played first and third a while ago. "I want to be on the field, not just in the batter's box."
"He could still play the outfield after the surgery," manager Joe Girardi said of the 34-year-old left fielder who has played 20 games in left and two in right this year, but hasn't been in the field since June 15.
Matsui didn't play from June 16 to Aug. 19 thanks to an inflamed left knee. In the 16 games he has played since coming off the shelf, Matsui has been the designated hitter.
While Girardi said Matsui will have surgery after the season, Matsui says he hasn't made a definitive date for the knife until he meets with the doctor.
"If I were to do it, it would be right after the season," said Matsui, who had surgery on the right knee following the 2007 season.
Matsui not only wants to play in the field and DH, he didn't rule out working at first base, a position that will be vacant since the Yankees aren't likely to bring Jason Giambi back.
"I would like to play and not just the outfield. I could play some first base as well," said Matsui, who hasn't played first base as Yankee but said he played first and third a while ago. "I want to be on the field, not just in the batter's box."
Alfredo Aceves, a 25-year-old right-hander signed out of Mexico for $450,000, will replace Darrell Rasner in the rotation and start Tuesday against the Angels. Rasner, 5-10, hasn't won since July 12 and was available for bullpen work last night. Aceves, who took over for Rasner Thursday night against the Rays when Rasner was lifted in the second inning, has two big league relief appearances on his resume.
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