No Pitching Plan

It took 3 games of Wang not being Wang for the Yankees to realize Wang was not ready. Chamberlain got yanked too early Friday night, resulting in Rivera being unavailable and the Yankees folding again to the Red Sox on Saturday evening.

Bruney and Wang are now in Tampa for medical tests, and no one has yet to fire Dave Eiland. I guess the new approach of the Yankees is not have a pitching plan and just let the cards fall where they may. Clearly there is no pitching plan; and whose fault is that….Dave Eiland.

It’s the responsibility of the pitching coach to calm his pitcher when they are stressed or in a jam. Eiland allowed Chamberlain to come out and pitch in fear of hitting a Red Sox after Ortiz’s mouth off in the New York Post. He should have told Chamberlain to pay no mind and just go out and do his job.

Again on Friday he allowed Rivera to come in relief of Ramirez and finish the out, even though Marte was available which had catastrophic effects. A pitching change that will always be questioned and never be understood.

On Saturday, after Burnett was done , pitchers were brought in for specialty out. No one was told to go long, and again, catastrophe.

Fast ball strike out pitchers are not pitching striker, specialists are not pitching to their specialty, and Dave Eiland still is part of the staff. Wake up Cashman, fire him before he continues to wreak the pitching staff.

There is no reason with the talent on the pitching staff that the Yankees have, they should be in this pitching mess. What is unforgivable is that the pitching coach can’t sense trouble in his pitchers, and nothing is being done about it.

All hopes of Yankee fans turn tonight to Andy Pettitte. Andy is his own man, he won't need bad advice from Eiland. Hopefully Andy can stop the Boston bloodbath, because clearly Eiland can't

Pushing the Rivalry Over the Edge

David Ortiz’s comments in the New York Post on Friday were uncalled for and unneeded. The one thing they did seem to do is intimated Joba Chamberlain. Who pitched poorly. I am not sure whether Joba was afraid of starting a brawl of hitting a Red Sox, but instead of pitching inside he tossed at the corners, resulting in Red Soxs on base and a Yankee loss.

It speaks poorly of Joba’s maturity, which has been questioned. Joba has exhibited bad judgment, speeding with an open container of alcohol in his car. His son remain in Nebraska with the boy’s mother’s while Joba Chamberlain, enjoys the single life with the Yankees.

Maturity often seems lacking among people under the age of 30. Many of that age , the “X” generation think life should be handed to them on a silver platter and they have a right to do what they want. Life is yours for the taking, but you have to earn what you get. Joba didn’t earn his pay Friday night when he backed off his pitching because Ortiz sais something in the press.

The Yankees have a plethora of injury issues, one of the more critical being what could be wrong with Chien-Ming Wang. Joba has no right to resign his pitching because he was afraid of David Ortiz. Fear does not make a great pitcher, unless the pitcher is inspiring the fear in the batter. Great pitcher are feared, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera are just a few. Fear does not mean you need to be a a standoffish person, it just means that you need to take command of your talent. Joba has too much talent to pitch like a sissy, especially with Wang’s status unknown.

Note to Lonn - You Forgot Lou's Bat

I lot of pagan like rituals went on today before and during the game. Baseball players tend to be superstitious. The best was the presentation of Babe Ruth's bat at home plate before Jeter took the first Yankee swing in the 2009 regular season.

However among all of today's baseball blessing rituals, including the presence of the newly envested New York Archbishop, one key element was forgotten, Lou Gehrig's bat.

Lou's bat has sat a top the American flagpole at Yankee Stadium for an unknown amount of time. It no longer sits atop the pole but may have disappeared into the Yankee museum or Cooperstown. Anyway it is not where it should be. Maybe that explains the scalping the Yankees took today.

Gehrig as much as Ruth was responsible for the success of the Yankees in the depression era. Not relocating his bat is breaking a Yankee tradition. They can try and conjure as many spirits as possible with their other superstitious rituals, but until Lou's bat goes back to it's place of honor, I think the Yankees will be visited by evil spirits.

PS note to Joe G.: Take CC off the pitch count that is one reason you lost today!

Re-Grand Opening Day

You can never have a second Grand Opening. Despite the pomp and polish the New York Yankees will put forth this afternoon, they lost the shine of Opening Day when they played a few pre-season games against the Chicago Cubs.

Today when fans enter the stadium it will be previously used. Another faux pax by the Management of the New York Yankees. It will be like having a house warming after you lived in the house a few years. Call it what you want, but it is just going to be Opening Day for me.

The Yankees are still having trouble selling ticket plans for the new digs. I still continue to get calls and emails from Greg and Dave in the ticket office, offering me plans that are overpriced. Obviously I am not the only sane rationale fan who believes in fair market value. I guess the weak economy is finally catching up with the New York Yankees.

The real trick today will be to establish whether Magic and Mystique have decided to cross the street. Unlike everything else in Yankee Stadium they couldn't be crated up and shipped over. They have to want to go.

Playing the Cleveland Indians, is not a sure Opening Day win. The Indians have have best team in the Central, and the Yankees have not had such a difficult opponent in many years. The Opening day win streak surely is in danger this year. Tune in and find out if the Yankees can continue the streak or get scalped by the Indians.

Wang Woes

Chien-Ming Wang was 1-2 in Spring Training games, and typically not a lot of stock is put in those numbers. However now down 0-2 with a 28.93 ERA, it is time to take a harder look. Is Wang still not recuperated from his leg injury or has he developed a new affliction, Eilanditis.

While I am concerned that Wang is not healed. I am also concerned that Dave Eiland still does not qualify as a major league pitching coach and he remains in the NYY organization at the Major League level. When you fail in majors as a pitcher, you don't belong being brought back to coach pitching.

The Yankees have a multifuctional pitching staff and a pitching coach who only knows how to toss tricks to get a player a to take a swing. Pitching on the corners is well suited for anyone but Mariano Rivera. At this point I would like to see Mo take the role of coach/player and take over the pitching staff, as he has been turning the youth movement and done wonders. Eiland has only harmed the club's talent.

It been a season and 7 games, fire Eiland now!

CC Fizzles in the Yard & Tex Can't Cowboy Up

The Daily News and New York Post said it all this morning:

Not everyone can come out a Yankee, it takes time for some to get over their stage fright. I am hoping this was stage fright for CC and Tex and not another set of Cashman duds.

Hopefully being chided this morning will be the cure for C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia while a great arm is not someone who deals with negativity well. He will either react and improve or regress and be another Brian Cashman overpayment. Maybe a through psych exam should be given to these pitcher before contract negotiations begin.

I quote the great rabbit psychologist, the eminent Bugs Bunny when I say: "Snap out of it Sabathia!"

What happened yesterday was CC (6 runs, 5 walks, less than 4-1/3 innings pitched) throwing balls and not strikes and Jeremy Guthrie (3 runs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 6 innings pitched) proving he is a good pitcher stuck on a so-so team.

As to that other overpaid import, Mark Teixeira, his onbase percentage was 0.200, his slugging percentage was 0.000 and his batting average was 0.000. He had a lot in common yesterday with Cody Ransom yesterday, however Cody Ransom is not an All Star and potential Hall of Fame player and Mark Teixeira is; also Ransom makes $455,100 this year while Tex is hauling in $22,000,000.

So what we had yesterday was a $45,000,000 loss and fans still can't get a good seat in the new stadium without mortgaging their house. Thanks a lot Brian, Lonn & Hal.

Personally I am hoping George saw the game and is mentally able to place a phone call to the duds and kick some Yankee pride into them. Losing to Baltimore on Day One is a hitter friendly park is not the way to start off. Then again the 1998 Yankees lost their first 20 and then went on to win 114 and the World Series. However this is not Torre's team and Joe Girardi doe not have Torre's coaching staff.

The American League West- Pitching 2009

The pitching in the American League West is in one word…………Abysmal! A train wreck is a prettier site. The 2007 Yankee pitching was a better group of dysfunctional talent. Yankee & Boston fans shouldn't waste time staying up when the teams go on the road to the West, road trips will be predictably successful.

ERAs are high and pitching staffs consist of aging veterans with issues and youngsters with something to prove. Starters have lots of mileage and no one has a real closer. If I had to guess right now who would win the West, I couldn’t say. One thing for sure, the Wild Card is unlikely to come from the West this year. It will be a fight of the worst to win the Western Division.


Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim:
My parents said if you can’t say something nice, say something positive, Kelvim Rodriquez will make NY Mets fans ecstatic. As to Angels fans, gone are the good ole days.

The Angels starters are aging. I hope for a glimmer of light in the minor league invitees, otherwise Angel games with AL East and Central times will just result in even higher ERAs. The brightest hope is Jose Arredondo who could be the up and coming closer.

The winning potential of the starters is 0.757; relief is 0.616 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.710 or 115 games. That would work fine if they confine play to the West, but they have to face the East and Central, making them a 92 game winner and the probable champ.

If you live in LA, just root for the Lakers or Dodgers.

Oakland Athletics:
The Oakland Athletics consist of a lot of kids recently brought up from the minors. This team could end up with the best pitching. They have youth and leadership on t heir side. The pitching staff reminds me of the 1996 Yankees. Justin Duchscherer and Josh Devine have great potential and are the best starter and closer in the West, despite their youth.

The winning potential of the starters is 0.443; relief is 0.601 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.513 or 88 games.


Seattle Mariners:
The Mariners have a problem, they have plenty of starters, but no one can get out of the fifth. What makes that worse is they have some solid relief, but not enough to cap the gap and give the bullpen rest. They too will have to experiment with the youth o fill in the holes. I like Carlos Silva, I think he will be in Seattle a while.

While the pitching is shaky, pitching instruction even shakier; Rick Adair has taken over from Mel Stottlemyre. Adair didn’t do much as a pitcher, he never made it out of the minors, and did less at Texas. There will be crying over baseball in Seattle this year.

The winning potential of the starters is 0.323; relief is 0.327 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.354 or 53 games.


Texas Rangers:
The worst pitching in the division! Texas will be a good place for Boston and Yankee road games. The cowboy in the white hat will be Mike Maddux. Maddux came to Texas this year with a proven track record. If anyone can rope in those ERAs it will be him. But he has his work cut out for him.

The winning potential of the starters is 0.478; relief is 0.357 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.424 or 69 games.


AL East Winner: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (90 wins or better)


Also rans: Oakland (85 wins or better), Texas (70 wins or better), Seattle (60 wins or better).
Up next, offense.............

The American League Central - Pitching 2009

The pitching in the American League Central is also tilted. All teams have starters to practice the six inning game, however only the Indians, White Soxs and Twins are actually fielding major league starters and relievers. If you don’t talk about Carl Pavano, the Cleveland Indians have the best pitching in the division, maybe even in baseball. The Chicago White Soxs close trying to scalp the Tribe, and Minnesota Twins can’t be counted out. Floundering like fish are the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals.

Chicago White Soxs:
The White Soxs starters can give them an average of 6 innings and relief can give 3, Bobby Jenks is no Mariano Rivera or Jon Papelbon, but he can stop the game.

The winning potential of the starters is 0.486; relief is 0.457 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.476 or 77 games.

The White Soxs are in it to win it.

The Soxs have the capability to win 95 starts. Their starters can give them an average of 6 innings while relief can give only another 6 innings; Chicago is famous for their extra inning games. The winning potential of the starters is 0.617; relief is 0.976 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.737 or 119 games: with the Indians in the same division if the White Soxs break 100 wins, they will be lucky.

Cleveland Indians:
The Cleveland Indians have the best pitching staff in the American League starters can give them an average of 6 innings and relief can give the required 3, they lack a solid closer, however look for Jensen Lewis to improve. The winning potential of the starters is 0.812; relief is 0.999 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.975 or 110 games.

The Cleveland Indians have the capability to take on all comers and take their scalps.

The Tribe could easily win 123 games. The will battle with the White Soxs, Yankees and Boston. Those teams with the Indians, should be pitching duels. If Carl Pavano makes the Indians roster and does not feign illness, he will be rudely received in the Bronx.

Detroit Tigers:
The Detroit Tigers don’t have bad pitching, they are just it the wrong division this year. Its hard to win when two of the 4 teams you play can dominate you.

The Detroit Tigers starters can give them an average of 6 innings and relief can give 3. The winning potential of the starters is 0.503; relief is 0.963, but their closers are no show stoppers. The have a potential winning percentage of 0.606 or 82 games.

The Tigers may bite and roar, but for all respects they will be tame.

Kansas City Royals:
Kansas City still haves the best steakhouses, but no baseball. The best chance for the Royals is to poison the Gatorade in the visiting clubhouses when other teams come to town. Maybe they can get come peanuts packaged by the Peanut Corporation of America.

The Royals are still building, and if they can remain steady, they have a chance in a few years, but not in 2009. Their relief pitching is their best asset at this time.

The Royals starters can play the 6 innings game and relief finish it off, they lack a solid closer. The winning potential of the starters is 0.503; relief is 0.963 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.606 or 82 games.
The Kansas City Royals are not a playoff team.

Minnesota Twins:
The Twins are the spoiler in the Central with their ultimate secret weapon, Manager Ron Gardenhire.

Their starters can give a solid 6 innings innings and relief can give the needed 3, and they Joe Nathan for a closer. The winning potential of the starters is 0.575; relief is 0.963 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.662 or 85 games.

The Twins could surprise everyone.

AL Central Winner: Cleveland Indians (100 wins or better)

Also rans: Chicago (97 wins or better), Minnesota (98 wins or better), Detroit (80 wins or better), Kansas City (77 wins or better).

American League East Pitching 2009

The pitching in the American League East this year creates a disparity. On one side of the seesaw is New York, Boston and Tampa, on the other Toronto and Baltimore. While New York, Boston and Tampa will be playing for the title of AL East, Toronto and Tampa will be fighting to see which one does not finish in last place.

Baltimore Orioles:

A great disadvantage to Baltimore pitching is Camden Yards, the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Soxs. Baltimore has weak and shaky starting pitching. Starters can only give you 5-6 innings, and then it is the Orioles Bullpen.

The Orioles should consider this a rebuilding year.

The Birds have the capability to win 80 starts. Their starters can give them an average of 5-6 innings while relief can give only 2-3; the bullpen will be taxed against opposing AL East power bats from New York and Boston. The winning potential of the starters is 0.559; relief is 0.370 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.496 or 80 games. The Orioles will finish in last place.

Boston Red Soxs:
To the advantage of the pitching staff is the Green Monster, Matsuzaka, Papelbon and David Ortiz. If the Red Soxs hit they can win 99 games, if they don't, 88 games, making them a potential 94 game winner and a rival to New York and Tampa.

The Red Soxs have the capability to win 99 starts. Their starters can give them an average of 6 innings and relief can give 3-4. The winning potential of the starters is 0.544; relief is 0.463 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.517 or 84 games. Boston as always will threaten the Yankees thus make the AL East race interesting, especially with A-Rod on the DL for the season start.

New York Yankees:
While it is a concern what the Yankees will do without Alex Rodriquez's bat, hitting only tacks on runs; pitching is the most important aspect to winning the World Series. This year in the AL East, the Yankees have set themselves up with solid pitching, starters and bullpen. Not only that the Yankees have strong youth potential for starters.

A healthy year could bring another AL East Title.

The Yankees have the capability to win 102 starts. Their starters can give them an average of 7 innings while relief can give 3-4, they can get more rest on Mo's arm. The winning potential of the starters is 0.610; relief is 0.697 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.629 or 102 wins. The Yankees can win the American League East as long as they manufacture runs.

Tampa Bay Rays:

The question remains if Tampa can maintain the momentum of their American League Division Title or are just a flash in the pan. If the Yankees and Boston are healthy, Tampa is an an unknown wild card in the AL East race. They have a solid pitching staff and with care against Boston and New York hitters, they are a potential first place team. They definitely will do better against Toronto and Baltimore than New York or Boston. A factor for the Rays is whether Tropicana Field is now a pro Tampa home or reverts back to Yankee Stadium South.

The Rays need the crowd on their side at home to succeed.

One plus the Rays have is relief pitching in the minors, a new closer. The Rays starters can give them an average of 6 innings and relief can give 3-6 if needed. The wining potential of the starters is 0.563; relief is 0.597 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.574 or 93 games Tampa has potential to win the American League East as long as the can beat Boston and New York, they could be the Cinderella story again. Tampa is favored against poor offensive teams in the League.

Toronto Blue Jays:
Ice Hockey is more important than baseball in Canada. Add to that scary range of talent in starting pitching and unsteady talent in the bullpen and you see the 4th runner up in the American League East Race.

Yankees and Boston are division powers. The Yankees took A.J Burnett from the list of solid Blue Jays starters. Roy Halladay is still good, but the Yankees are set for starters, quality starters; the Jays are no.

Blue Jays fans should attend their beloved hockey games. Toronto fans will be tortured by a 4th place hockey team going nowhere and yet again an also ran baseball team. Toronto fans can continue to hate Boston with a vengeance, because the Boston Bruins are leading the NHL Northeast conference and the Red Soxs will stomp all over the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays starters can give them an average of 5 innings and relief can give 3, they lack a solid closer. The winning potential of the starters is 0.486; relief is 0.457 and that makes for a potential winning percentage of 0.476 or 77 games. The only race Toronto will be in is for the basement of the American League East.

AL East Winner: New York (98 wins or better)

Also rans: Tampa (91 wins or better), Boston (88 wins or better), Toronto (79 wins or better), Baltimore (80 wins or better)

The Ticket Licensee - Finale

After several weeks of trying to get decent seats at a price that is fair, I have thrown in the towel. I will not renew my ticket license. Part of this is pride and part is I don't want to pay through the nose and still not be able to see the ball at the plate. All options offered were between 356 to 416 feet from the plate.

Am I nuts, no, I am very level headed. I don't believe that sports tickets should be out of reach of fans, The Yankees and most of baseball have joined Club Nuts! They are raising seat prices because they can; especially in stadium that don't fill, ticket prices have been evaluated win the capacity crowd team comes to town. Baltimore has tripled the face value of tickets for Red Soxs and Yankee games, tickets remain at normal price level for the rest of American League East.

Baseball is a slow learner. Football banned drugs years back, Baseball just started. This morning the Jets announced the have fiscal issues, they need to furlough 50 non team employees for 2-3 weeks in June-July to meet expenses. Fans aren't biting at the Jets seat licence fee. The Jets like many are being crunched by the economy. this trend will catch up with most sports sooner than later. Payrolls will have to be cut. You can't pay out what you aren't bringing in.

I am not hysterical I did not renew, I will win in the end. Fiscal restraint is necessary, and if you won't charge me a fair price, I will not but your product. The Yankees will still be on TV and now I can work to get tickets for games I want beyond 2 seats. In the end I will do better.

For $899 I can purchase a 42 " Panasonic 1080 HDTV. For $299 DirecTV will sell me a HDTV/DVR. That total cost would only get me to 6 games in the crappy seats the Yankees offered me.

That stills leaves me plenty in my ticket budget, and I will have excellent seats for all 162 games. I can even record them for those west coast games and ESPN Sunday night stands, and watch them in my viewing time. I consider this a victory for the working man, in this case woman.

The license rant is now officially closed; time to turn to Baseball. Up next time, the American League East Pitching.

A final comment to Lonn Trost, Randy Levine, Hank and Hal Steinbrenner: