Girardi's Faith In Melky Comes Back To Bite Him

I've declared my undying support for Melky Cabrera about a dozen times here on Lady At The Bat. My anger at those who have wanted to rip the pinstripes off his back and send him off to Minnesota for Johan Santana or, now, to Cleveland for CC Sabathia, is well-documented here. But, sometimes support means taking things away from someone.

Last night, with the Yankees trailing by a run in the bottom of the ninth and nobody out, Rangers closer CJ Wilson walked Wilson Betamit on four pitches. Alberto Gonzalez came in to run for Betamit. The next batter was Melky Cabrera. As much as I love the guy, I know that he's in the midst of a terrible slump. I assumed that Joe Girardi would either pinch hit for Melky or would have him bunt. I'm sure I wasn't alone in my thoughts. Everyone and his uncle was thinking the same thing.

But no, everyone wasn't thinking the same thing. One very important person wasn't thinking it: Joe Girardi. With Derek Jeter on the bench last night, Girardi sent a slumping Melky Cabrera up to the plate. There was no bunt. Melky took the first two pitches for strikes and then hit into a double play.

Girardi later explained his reasoning: he had lefty hitters coming up after Melky and they hadn't done well against the Rangers closer in the past.

Well okay, but why not send Derek Jeter up to bat for Melky? Besides, two of those lefties were Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu. Right now, I'd rather see Damon or Abreu up in the bottom of the ninth inning (even if they're 0-50 against a left-handed closer) instead of Melky Cabrera.

Girardi has said, "Melky is our centerfielder." But that faith in his centerfielder came back and bit him in the ass last night.

The Lady

Oh, The Trials Of Being A Big League Player!

In Pittsburgh last night, the game between the Pirates and Yankees was delayed by rain after 2.2 innings and, eventually, it was rained out. They'll start again from scratch on July 10th. That'll be the second off-day the team loses, the first being one that'll actually come in September when they make up a game with the Tigers.

Because of today's double-header with the Mets, the Yankees had wanted to play last night's game in the daytime, but the Pirates refused. Also, today's game 1 starter, Dan Giese, was supposed to return to New York yesterday afternoon, but according to Pete Abraham, Giese missed his original flight because he was getting something to eat. He then couldn't get a second flight out of Pittsburgh because of the weather. So he ended up flying back with the team and getting in at some ungodly hour this morning.

As I look out my window now, I see lots of clouds and no sunshine. At some point today there's going to be a huge downpour. Will there be another rainout?

What will the guys do? How will they get through it? This is terrible.

Yeah, right. If anyone feels sorry for these guys they're crazy. When a mediocre pitcher like Shawn Chacon can slam his GM to the ground, be otherwise insubordinate, get released and still collect his Major League salary, it's very difficult to feel sorry for guys in the same union who have to travel in the middle of the night, play a two-stadium double-header the next day using a tired game 1 starter and lose a couple of off-days along the way.

Suck it up guys.

The Lady

MLB Discussing The Maple Bat Issue

The MLB Safety & Health Advisory Committee met here in New York today via conference call, to discuss the whole maple bat issue. For anyone living under a rock, maple bats have been shattering at an alarming rate, causing injury to coaches, umpires and fans. This was, hopefully, a first step to ending this before more series injuries occur.

Yankee fans know that Johnny Damon's bat explodes into pieces almost every time it makes contact with a pitch. Johnny's a prime example of just how frightening this maple bat thing is, right? Wrong. This season Johnny got rid of all his maple bats and went back to the traditional ash bat. So why does he continue to shatter so many bats? Broadcasters have offered guesses as to why, including suggesting that it happens because he slashs at the ball or that he's pitched inside a lot. Whatever the reason, Johnny Damon probably isn't considered to be a friend of environmentalists, because ash is so rare these days.

I hope MLB doesn't drag its feet on this maple bat issue, waiting until a tragedy occurs before new rules are put into effect. Today's conference call gives me hope that it won't.

The Lady

Lisfranc Injury For Wang

I've been watching WFAN's Mike & The Mad Dog this afternoon and Mike Francessa just read a statement from the Yankees, stating that Chien-Ming Wang has a lisfranc injury to his right foot.

This basically means he's out for the remainder of the regular season, give or take a few weeks. This is horrible news for Yankees Universe.

I'll have more to say about this development tonight at 9PM Eastern on A Show Of Their Own, the radio show I co-host.

The Lady

Wang's Injury & The Future

Chien-Ming Wang is scheduled to have a battery of tests today to find out exactly what happened to his right foot after he rounded third base in yesterday's game against the Astros in Houston.

Wang will miss at least his next start and, worse case, he could miss the rest of the season. So that means a replacement is needed, and the name going around baseball is, of course, CC Sabathia. Here's my take on a deal for CC Sabathia:

First of all, Sabathia will be a free-agent at the end of the season and will demand, deservedly so, at least the same amount of money that Barry Zito gets. In the past, this would not have been an issue for the Yankees. However, this past off-season, when Johan Santana was on the trading block, they passed. They passed on it partly because they didn't want to trade away their future, but mostly because they didn't want to have to give a pitcher a huge amount of money. So if they didn't want to give Santana, who is aguably the best pitcher in the game, that huge amount of money, why would they want to give it to Sabathia?

That leads me to my next point: If they're not willing to sign Sabathia, would they still be willing to trade away their future for him? Indians GM Mark Shapiro isn't going to give up his ace for just anyone. He'll demand the best, especially when he sees how desperate the Yankees are. The name I keep reading on other blogs and sites is Robinson Cano. I know he's having a poor season, but for the life of me, I cannot see the Yankees saying goodbye to five-tool player Robinson Cano for a half-season of CC Sabathia. Melky Cabrera is another story. However, his upside isn't as strong as Cano's so, I doubt Shapirio would be interested.

I don't know what the future holds for the Yankees if Chien-Ming Wang's injury is long-term, but I definitely don't see CC Sabathia as being part of it.

The Lady

Papelbon: Tampa-Sox Feud Not Done

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon is keeping hope alive for a Sox-Rays rivalry:

“In my opinion it is a bunch of bull what they did. All I got to say is what comes around goes around. Payback is a bitch. In my opinion, and the way I feel right now, this thing isn’t all settled and done. We still got to play them a few more times and I know when we go into Tropicana things will be a little different than when went in there last time.”

Papelbon made his comments on Comcast SportsNet's Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight show. Here's the full interview:




It'll be interesting to see what happens when the two teams meet at Tropicana Field on June 30th.

The Lady

Giambi's Home Run Covers Up Another Fine Mess

I'd hardly had a chance to enjoy Jason Giambi's pinch-hit walk-off home-run yesterday before the announcers started reminding everyone why he had to do it in the first place:

1) Wang is still wrong: The Yankees swear he's not hurt. It's just that his sinker ball isn't sinking these days. Well, what happened to all those other pitches he was working on in Spring Training and that he appeared to be using earlier in the season? Did he forget how to throw them? I'm totally confused about this.

2) Speed off the bench: In the bottom of the 8th with the Yankees trailing 7-6, Jorge Posada walked. Posada, not a speed demon, was lifted for a pinch runner: Shelley Duncan. Duncan is the fastest person on the Yankee bench. How pathetic. Is Ben Broussard fast? If he is, they'd better get him to the Bronx NOW.

3) Cano can't bunt: Robinson Cano was batting when Duncan came in to pinch run. Cano had been asked to bunt. I'll bet he's never been asked to bunt in his entire career. If anyone is angry with him for not getting the job done, they're crazy. I heard callers on radio talk shows yesterday calling for him to be benched. That's like killing the messenger. Girardi and company need to incorporate more bunting into batting practice. It's as simple as that.

4) Eighth inning relief: Kyle Farnsworth let the first two batters he faced get on and the fans in the Stadium booed him. If I were there I'd have booed him, too. However, the Yankee announcers, Michael Kay and Al Leiter, body-slammed the fans for this. Farnsworth had made good pitches, they said. You can't blame him for doing what he was supposed to do, for throwing the right pitches. What? Are they serious? I know that New York fans are probably the smartest in the game, but this is ridiculous! How in the world is a fan sitting out in the stands supposed to be able to see that Farnsworth is throwing good pitches? I'm far from being a baseball genius, but isn't that asking too much? Am I alone here?

In any case, if the Yankees don't fix these things soon, Yankees Universe will hear fewer and fewer chants of "Yankees Win, theeeeeeeeeee Yankees win." It'll be more like a Laurel & Hardy short, in which Oliver Hardy cries, "Another Fine Mess!"

The Lady

[Photo: Willens/AP]

Staying The Course, Starting With Joba

When it was announced that Joba Chamberlain would enter the starting rotation sooner than later, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. All I could think about was the big hole he was leaving in the bullpen. But after Ian Kennedy was placed on the DL, I didn't think there was any other choice. What were the Yankees supposed to do? Call up Chase Wright? Give Kei Igawa another shot? Two-fifths of their starting rotation are on the DL. Joba is Major League-ready. To me, that is a no-brainer. You put Joba Chamberlain in the starting rotation now.

I think that a lot of the debate about this has to do with the expectations that the Yankees will panic and trade away blue-chip prospects to get someone like CC Sabathia. Years ago that probably would have happened. Joba would have stayed in the pen and the Yankees would have traded away someone like Austin Jackson or Mark Melancon just to get Sabathia. But I believe those days are over. The Yankees have learned to stay the course and develop their youngsters. They see how it's paying off for other teams and they remember how it paid off for them in the late '90s and early '00s.

There's another part of this lesson, as well: staying the course and developing youngsters likely means fewer trips to the playoffs. I'm not sure if the Yankees are ready to publicly embrace that part of the lesson, but privately perhaps, they might have.

The Lady

[Photo: Willens/AP]


*Enter the Lady At The Bat Yankeeography Mega-Set Giveaway!*

Yankees Looking To Fix Things At First

Yesterday the Yankees signed first baseman Ben Broussard to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Could this be the death knell for Shelley Duncan?

I love Shelley Duncan just as much as any other Yankee fan, but the guy just isn't getting the job done this season. He's batting only .164 with a .242 OBP, with 1 HR and 6 RBIs. Broussard's a left-handed hitter and the Yankee lineup is stacked with leftys, but at this point anything would be better than Duncan's practically non-existent right-handed bat.

In other news: After the home run derby in Baltimore last night, Ian Kennedy was placed on the DL. Now two of the "three amigos" have gone down with injuries. Joba Chamberlain will move into the starting rotation sooner than later now. Will the third amigo end up on the the DL as well? If that happens, the Yankees might as well start thinking about folding up their tent early and calling it a season.

The Lady

Heard On YES: Terry Crowley Is Lucky He's In F*cking Baseball

On last night's Yankee game telecast on YES, Ken Singleton was in the middle of talking about Orioles hitting coach Terry Crowley when, all of a sudden, an unknown voice made its way onto the air, saying, among other things: "Terry Crowley is lucky he's in fucking baseball." Here's a clip:




I couldn't believe how quiet it got in that booth after this happened! It was as if Singleton, John Flaherty and Michael Kay disappeared into thin air. There was nothing but dead air for what seemed like ten seconds! Luckily nothing was happening on the field for those ten seconds.

Where did this come from? According to another blog I saw, some have speculated that it was either a producer who was talking in Singleton's ear and accidentally got on the air or it was a YouTube clip of Earl Weaver that someone in the booth was watching. In any case, I think it's safe to say that the number one regional sports network in the country is a little red-faced right now. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the media handles this one!

The Lady

Update, 5/23/08: Mystery solved. It was a clip of Earl Weaver that someone in the booth was watching. Click here for the details.

Yanks Left Behind in MLB's Changing Game

MLB is a changing game. It's not changing into something new. It's changing back to the way it originally was: a game of pitching, defense and manufactured runs. The New York Yankees are being left behind during this change. If last night's blow-out by the Orioles doesn't prove it, than I don't know what does.

I had a lot more to say about this issue earlier this week on A Show Of Their Own, the internet radio show that I co-host. To understand where I'm coming from click here and stay tuned for the latter part of the show, where I present a little something called The Changing Game.

I would very much appreciate your comments about this so, feel free to leave them. Thank you.

The Lady

Congratulations, Jon Lester

Two years ago, when Jon Lester was diagnosed with cancer, did anyone think he'd even pitch again, much less pitch successfully? I know I didn't. Lester came back from his illness to pitch Game 4 of the 2007 World Series, and last night at Fenway, he pitched a no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals.

Ordinarily, when something like this happens to the Red Sox, I could care less. However, it's hard to be a rival when the story is this good. Anyone who's battled cancer or who has gone through any type of crisis in their life should feel inspired by Jon Lester's story. So, for today at least, I tip my cap and say "Congratulations, Jon Lester."

The Lady

Break Up The Rays!

Back in November the Tampa Bay Devil Rays changed their name to the Tampa Bay Rays. They unveilled a new logo and introduced new uniforms in a nice little fashion show. At the time, I laughed at these developments, and proclaimed them useless; Tampa Bay still stank.

Boy, do I look bad now! As I write this the Tampa Bay Rays are 22-16, the highest they've been over .500 in franchise history. More importantly, they are only 1/2 game out of first place and it's almost the middle of May. The Rays are a solid team, almost from top to bottom, with great pitching, defense and a ton of speed. They haven't lost a home game since mid-April. Their latest win was a 7-1 rout of the Yankees last night.

The Yankees will try to bounce back during the remainder of this four game series and, thanks to a rain-out in Detroit on Sunday, they'll be able to shuffle their rotation around for their best chance to win. The biggest name to come out of that re-shuffle is Ian Kennedy. He'll pitch the final game of the Rays series on Thursday. Kei Igawa, who was scheduled to pitch in the series, has been tossed to the side and I couldn't be happier. I don't know what the Yankees plan on doing with this $46 million bust, but as long as he doesn't pitch for them anymore I'll be happy.

The Lady

Cano's Smooth Take

Yankees Second Baseman Robinson Cano's early season hitting woes have been well-documented lately. As I write this he is batting only .172 and, until yesterday, looked lost at the plate.

Cano got 2 hits during yesterday's game against the Indians. The first one was in the fifth inning, a double down the right line. He scored what proved to be the winning run later in that frame. When he came up to the plate in the seventh, YES analyst and former Yankee catcher John Flaherty (pictured above) commented on how Cano was handling the at-bat:

"Robinson Cano took the first pitch from [Paul] Byrd in this at-bat, and it was probably the smoothest take that I have seen him have in a long time. That tells me he's kind of getting comfortable now. Look for good things to happen if he can take pitches like that." [Newsday.com]

Cano sent the very next pitch from Byrd into the right-field seats.

John Flaherty has been criticized a lot for sounding too dull. I agree, but if he sprinkles in gems like this one every once in a while, I can more than live with it.

As for Cano, let's hope he continues to be a smooth operator in his future at-bats this season.

The Lady

Lee Sends The Yankees Over A Cliff

Chien-Ming Wang gave the Yankees another quality start last night. A quality start is defined as pitching 6 or more innings and giving up 3 or fewer runs. Wang did that but the Yankees lost the game because they ran into the buzz saw pictured to the left, Cliff Lee.

I'd barely heard of Lee until a few weeks ago, and when I did hear about him I said I'd believe it when I saw it. So, I saw it and I believe it. Can he keep fooling American League hitters? Time will tell. Good luck, Mr Lee.

In other news: The start another pitcher made last night was of interest to me as well. Barry Zito returned to the Giants rotation last night to face the Pirates. No quality start for him; the Giants lost the game. I still can't believe I thought he'd be the Giants' savior last year. Also, the Twins' Carlos Gomez hit for the cycle last night. Gomez was the key prospect the Twins got back when they traded Johan Santana to the Mets. I found an interesting comparison of Gomez to Jose Reyes over at the blog Mets Brotha.

The Indians play their final regular season game at The Stadium this afternoon. Will they be back in October? Once again, time will tell.

The Lady

Joba Hits The Fans Where It Hurts

Last night after Joba Chamberlain gave up a three-run homer to David Dellucci, putting the Indians ahead for good, The YES Network panned the crowd for their reaction to Joba's first big failure in Yankee Stadium. What I saw was shocking.

I saw Yankee fans looking as if they'd lost their job, home, and family all at the same time. Almost everyone the camera focused on looked like the saddest person in the world. It reminded me of something else I used to see before 2004. It reminded me of how Red Sox fans used to look.

The Yankees would come into Fenway back in the late '90s and early '00s and they'd always fall behind, only to come back, get the lead and win the game. The TV cameras would focus on the Fenway Faithful at that point, and they'd always be looking like the most dejected people in the world. I loved it!

Now that the tide has turned I don't love it, not just because it's the Yankee fans that are dejected, but because they looked so dejected on May 6th! I could understand it if it was later in the season and the bullpen had been problematic all year. But this Yankee bullpen has been outstanding! It's might be the best in baseball. I know, it's mostly the shock of finding out that Joba is human, but still. It's May 6th!

I have every confidence that Joba will bounce back and continue his domination. He just didn't have it last night. It happens, people. Get over it.

The Lady

The Blow-Up Doll Blow Up

There's a lot being said about what the White Sox did the other day with those female blow-up dolls. Here's my take on it:

Things like this go on in clubhouses and locker rooms all over sports, but they're usually kept behind closed doors, away from the public's view. The White Sox had no female reporters covering them that day (and they were in a visiting clubhouse as opposed to their own, where family members would likely be). So, they thought they were away from the public's view. Unfortunately for them, they were not. Now they're being labeled as sexist. Please. They used poor judgement, that's all. What they did does not necessarily mean they're a sexist bunch. It just means they're professional male athletes.

I'm not saying that, if I'd walked into that clubhouse I wouldn't have been offended. Of course I would've been. But I doubt the dolls would have been there if they'd known I was coming. To me this is like doing something in the privacy of your own home and being interrupted by unexpected guests.

A big blow up over nothing.

The Lady

Hughes's Oblique has Mystique

In the seventh inning of last night's game against the Tigers, Michael Kay announced that Phil Hughes has been placed on the 15-Day DL, due to a right oblique strain.

Talk about strange timing, and I'm not talking about the fact that the Yankees already have Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez on the DL. It's that nothing seemed to be wrong with Phil until last night.

He'd pitched poorly the night before, so poorly that he was booed. Questions began popping up about whether or not he should stay in the rotation. Joe Girardi lost his temper with reporters who tried to pin him down to answer their Phil Rotation questions. No one said anything about the bad outing being due (or due partially) to any injury. In pregame interviews Girardi said Phil was fine. Phil said Phil was fine. Then we hear about this mysterious oblique strain in the seventh inning.

I don't think this is a phantom injury, but it might not be bad enough for a stint on the DL. But, then again, I'm not a medical professional; maybe all oblique strains are that serious. Anyway, the whole thing sounds a little too convenient for me: Phil pitches poorly; Phil gets booed; Phil's spot in the rotation appears to be in jeopardy; Girardi resents reporters' Phil Rotation questions; Phil's on the DL.

What's next? A hang nail for Ian Kennedy?

The Lady

[Photo: Kathy Willens/AP]

The Eyes Don't Have It: Phil Hughes Still Winless

With Jorge Posada on the DL and Jose Molina getting the night off, Phil Hughes threw to a new catcher last night: Chris Stewart. It didn't make for a good battery. Stewart was constantly crossed up by Hughes and it led to the Tigers scoring 6 runs early, and the Yankees could not recover from it.

The first inclination would be to blame Stewart. After all, he has little Major League experience and he was thrown into the frying pan of calling his first Yankee game at The Stadium, rather than on the road. However, after the game, we got this from Hughes: he has night vision problems.

He's always had these problems but he was always able to pitch around them in the minors. Up here, they're bothering him. If I remember correctly, during his Sunday night start at Fenway a few weeks ago, Jose Molina was crossed up several times. Hughes has gone to an eye doctor several times but hasn't seriously considered wearing corrective lenses for the problem.

The night vision problems aren't the only reason for Hughes's 0-4 record and he readily admits this. He has to mix up his pitches more and locate them better. But, goggles or a pair of contact lenses certainly couldn't hurt. This makes me think of an old TV commercial that ran years ago here in the New York area, in which a man is trying to convince his female friend to get glasses. I'm going to remember that commercial every time Phil is on the mound now and I know I'll feel like yelling, as the man in the commercial did, "Get glasses, [Phil], get glasses! You will look good in glasses!"

The Lady

[Photo: AP/Kathy Willens]

I Know, Posada. But, Cabrera and Wang!

If I wanted to I could dwell on the fact that Jorge Posada appears headed to the DL for the first time in his career. Tough loss for the Yankees. Somebody else will have to step it up while he's gone. But I don't want this post to be about Posada. I want to concentrate on The Melkman and the Wanger.

Melky Cabrera now has 5 home runs this season. Number 5 came yesterday in the Yankees 1-0 classic over the Indians in Cleveland. He had a total of 8 homers last season. Why the power surge? He's been working out with Alex Rodriguez. Also, the Yankees always knew Melky had the potential to be a power-hitter. They just weren't sure when that potential would become a reality.

Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang (and, if you still don't think he's an ace, you're crazy) mixed up his pitches and had good location in yesterday's game, incorporating a nasty slider with his turbo sinker. The result: 9 strikeouts in 7 shutout innings. He has definitely put those postseason starts against the Tribe behind him.

Both Melky Cabrera and Chien-Ming Wang are products of the Yankee farm system, which non-Yankee fans don't seem to know exists. For more information on the kids that have come out of that system in recent years, read Peter Abraham's recent blog post. What he says might surprise you.

The Lady

[Photo: Gregory Shamas/Getty]