"It's great to be young and a Yankee."

HERE WE GO!

It's officially Opening Day. It's funny how much stock I assign to this day every year, like a kid who has a shitty day at school and skins his knee at recess and leaves his lunch bag at home and bombs his spelling test, and all he can think is "I just gotta get through the day and then I'll be home and Mom will make it all better."

As most of you know, it has not been an easy year for me (in terms of free time), and every time someone throws another Fushigi Ball into the metaphorical mix, I just keep repeating over and over "Everything will be fine as soon as March 31 gets here." (There it is! The first youtube hyperlink of the year! That felt good. And I'm placing the over-under MLB odds of how many hyperlinks I do in one season at: 713.)

Additionally, I just spent the last hour online looking for this Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin comes home from a bad day and hugs Hobbes and says something to the effect of "things are looking up!" Copyright stuff makes it hard to find stuff these days, so maybe take the under?

Ok, I'm sorry. I'm delirious. I can never sleep the night before Opening Day (kind of like my boy Timmy here), so my coherence isn't up to snuff right now.


(Nothing, NOTHING, will ever top yesterday though, when I came home from celebrating my 30th birthday, got on the phone with Time Warner at 5:30 in the morning for reasons still unknown, navigated my way through the automated system to get to a customer service rep, and then in between nodding off on the phone, she finally woke me up when she said "How can we help you?" And I responded, "HOW DO YOU UN-NEUTER A DOMESTICATED ANIMAL?")

I slept-talk to the Time Warner person in my first phone conversation as a 30 year old. There's a sentence I really never thought I'd say.

Moving on...

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP. So here's what's been going on in the last month:

I just turned 30 on Tuesday, and it was probably one of my favorite birthdays ever. I didn't have a big party or anything, me and my sister went out and my favorite people were there and I was just really happy.

I went to Florida for 5 days to see my parents and go to some spring training games, and it's worth noting that I met one of the rarest breeds of sports fans in existence: the diehard, optimistic, affable, intelligent METS FAN. Yep. It was quite remarkable. And quite wonderful to be around. Jaimie from Jupiter, FL is the bald eagle of baseball... there's nothing greater than a fan with that kind of uncompromised enthusiasm and good-natured heart.

(Maybe I'm just so used to foaming-at-the-mouth Mets fans on the LIRR who basically just stomp around in their "I refuse to resort to logic when discussing sports" sandwich boards, but either way, cheers to Mets Fan Jaimie from Jupiter for being the Fan of the Game.)

I didn't get to Tampa, so I only saw the Cards, Twinks, Marlins, and Mutts play. (Sorry, I got nothing in the way of analysis here. I could not recognize a single name on the rosters except--oh wait--Carl Pavano. Not even Ollie Perez was there.) But from what I saw from the Defensive Linemen players*, we're probably going to hit another 234 walk-offs against Minnesota this year, and the Mutts pitching looks as promising as junk mail.

*The Over-80 Jerseys of Rookies

Anyways, since I've graduated from college, I've missed opening day once, because of ACL surgery.

Tomorrow (well, today actually. 9 hours from now.) I will be missing it for the 2nd time. Because of work. A 6 and a half hour meeting. On opening day. That which does not kill us...

(Plus, things worked out pretty good that year I had ACL surgery on Opening Day of 2009.)

Wow, that felt so good to be irrationally superstitious again!!! I'm not even kidding.

I can just feel it. It feels like baseball's really back now.

And so am I.

PLAY BALL.

I live for this, for MLB,
For every inning of sanctity,
For every pitch, for each at-bat,
Revering the talent beyond the stats.
I live for the scent of old leather mitts,
I live for the cadence of the walk-off base hit.
I live for the moment when winter gives way,
To the unmatched thrill of Opening Day.


I live for this, the stadium stands,
Fusing the hope of breathless fans,
The ballpark kinships, the impartial accord,
Strangers embracing when their team just scored.
The knowing nod that we give each other,
As we walk city streets of cap-clad brothers.
I live for the rivalries of rabid foes,
Who share a camaraderie only a true fan knows.


I live for this, all 30 teams,
And countless ambitions of childhood dreams.
The little league bats that grew into lumber,
The jerseys they wore of their role model’s number.
They’re heroes, they’re goats, they make grown men cry,
They can drive us to madness with one dropped pop fly.
Two leagues, 6 divisions, one World Series mission,
I live for their tribute to raw competition.


I live for this, the immutable ties,
Baseball endures past the scandals and lies.
Through gambling, through cheaters, through injecting the juice,
Through pine tar, through payrolls, through more drug abuse.
While some became cynics, and some became jaded,
The reality is that the game never faded.
Its imperfect beauty is a gauge of the times,
And the game still goes on, outlasting its crimes.


I live for this, the pure liberation,
The relief baseball gives us from life’s tribulations.
Its soothing erasure of pressures we face,
The unerring stress that lines the rat race.
When I’m worn down and beaten, I can put it behind me,
At the sight of a rookie who runs a hard ninety.
For there’s nothing more freeing, to make things alright,
Than taking off work for a day game delight.


I live for this, the history,
No single game is lost on me.
Each anthem rendition will give me chills,
A team takes the field, and time stands still.
The Cooperstown halls and the ghosts of the greats,
Who once were just men who reigned at the plate.
And years from now, I’ll be able to say,
Of some inductee: “I once saw him play…”


I live for this, for MLB,
The rapture and sublimity.
The tension that drenches a full count with two out,
The 9th inning rally that dismantles a rout.
The low-scoring game, the battle of aces,
The 12th inning jam, the loading of bases.
I live for the rush when baseball arrives.
The heart-stopping moments we feel most alive.
The highs, the lows, I’ll take it all,
I live for the sound of the words, “Play ball!”

AND IT BEGINS!!!!

I'm back, baby.

The long, cold, cruel off-season is over. It was so (relatively) warm today in New York City, it was like Mother Nature was finally throwing us a bone: "Ok, ok. Just this once though. To celebrate." Like a nondrinker having champagne at midnight on New Year's Eve or something.

In fact, today WAS kind of like New Year's Eve... the last day of the year before the new season is upon us.

2011. The year of 28.

Although I have to say, as always, I've been remiss in keeping up with the Yankees during the offseason. But from my unrelenting emails from MLB.com have suggested that the Yankees have had kind of a weird time off. I mean, no big blockbuster trades. We didn't get Lee (meh) or Crawford (stomach punch)...and there was some inexplicable dissention in the ranks with Cashman et al.

Oh, yeah, and that whole Jeter in the outfield thing was a little...out of left field. (Ahhh it's good to be back to making ridiculous baseball puns.)

I have a big presentation tomorrow at the office, (which means I can only wear my celebratory jersey for part of the day, but I can live with that)..but it also means I can't fully dive into my inaugural post tonight...

HOWEVAH, tomorrow afternoon? It's on like DK.

So here we go world. Time for it all to begin.

Time for the march to 28 to commence.

Time for Yankee season.

Life. Is. Good.

It was certainly no mystery that the New York Yankees were going after the Texas Rangers’ ace left-hander Cliff Lee, especially after he pitched lights-out baseball against the Yanks in the ALCS.

The biggest mystery in that particular scenario was whether or not Lee wanted to stay in Texas or perhaps broaden his horizons along with his bank account via a trip to NYC.

In hindsight, of course, New York just wasn’t the place Lee wanted to go. After his wife was insulted and reportedly spat on by Yankees’ fans, and after the realization that guys like Jeter would be clung to instead of updating the lineup with youth, Lee ultimately settled—for whatever his reasons—on a return to the Philadelphia Phillies and even passed on a lucrative deal offered by Texas.

The contract Lee received is estimated to be around $24 million a year for five years, with an option for a sixth depending on innings pitched.

If it was only about the money, the Yankees are most likely kicking themselves, as they could easily best that – and they have bested plenty of offers in the past to grab guys whose talents could help the club compete in the ever-strong field of the AL East.

But the past is past and the future is now. What are the Yankees’ odds of pitching success now that Lee is a Philly?

Well, for starters, it’s actually a great thing that Cliff went to the NL and didn’t stay in Texas. And if he would have gone to Boston, which was a short-lived rumor, the Yankees would really be feeling the sting of his absence.

However, New York didn’t exactly go without acquiring some talent to pick up the slack. They grabbed the cross-city rival New York Mets’ Pedro Feliciano for a bargain price - $8 million for two years. They also went after Tampa Bay’s Rafael Soriano, leaving the Rays’ rotation one solid pitcher lighter and tuning up the Yankees’ chances for $35 million over three years.

Lee in Philadelphia probably completes the best rotation of pitchers in the past forty years, and perhaps even in MLB history. So New York can count its collective lucky stars that they won’t have to compete with Philly for anything, save a potential 2011 World Series.

The odds are looking fairly decent for the Yankees to walk away with the AL East this season. Boston is older and always prone to injury, not to mention they’ve been falling apart a little more each year since 2008. The Rays’ loss of key talent means New York gets a step up by default.

Sure, this isn’t anything quantifiable when it comes to betting on the Yankees’ success. We’re not dealing with video slots machines here. But with the start of the season less than four months away, we’d say the Yankees are a solid 5:3 to win the AL East.

The biggest test for New York, perhaps, will rear its head in the postseason. Their pitching had trouble holding up last year. An infusion of youth and stamina, with some still yet to come, will undoubtedly help New York stay strong inning by inning.

It’s still very early, but the Yankees are up there with the lowest odds to win the Series in 2011, earning +600 in the early going. The Phillies, by contrast, are the odds-on favorite to win the entire shebang with a stellar early line of +180.

A lot can happen during a baseball season, obviously. There’s still no guarantee that Cliff Lee will even pan out for Philadelphia. He completely choked up against what some considered to have been an inferior lineup with San Francisco (two games in a row, no less), and playing in the NL, where pitchers have to be hitters, also exponentially increases the odds of injury.

Not wishing anything ill on Lee, of course, but you have to be pragmatic about these things. If the Yankees couldn’t close the deal, you must look at the entire picture. If so, you will come to the same conclusion – they’re probably just as well off without him as with him.

Their odds would have been better with Cliff Lee. Don’t doubt that for a second. But this isn’t a download blackjack game we’re talking about. This is Major League Baseball.

When it’s all said and done, the Yankees’ only worries are still focused entirely on the AL, specifically on the AL East, and how well their aging roster can hold up over a grueling season. With Lee in Philly, it’s out of sight, out of mind.

I just received a heartbreaking email from an employee of the Yankees' Trenton Thunder boys regarding a case of domestic violence that left his sister-in-law killed at the hands of her husband.

The man who emailed me is now currently raising his nephew, and is throwing himself into one of the worthiest causes I can think of, which is the raising money for shelters for abused women. (http://www.domesticviolenceproj.org )

The Domestic Violence Project is sponsoring an auction of a number of Yankee memorabilia items. 100% of the proceeds will go towards shelters. (Here is the link for the auction.)

Any of these would make amazing Christmas gifts, and you'd be helping the millions of women around the country who suffer the kind of horrible fates that his man's sister-in-law did. On a personal note, there are few things in the world that disgust me more than a man hitting a woman. I send out my deepest condolences to our fellow Yankee fan, and hope that you will support his cause.

There was a study done on caregivers of Alzheimer's disease patients, in which the results demonstrated that 72% expressed relief when the suffering patient eventually passed away.

Friend of the blog Will C. has taken the reign here, guestblogging for CYC while I get my bearings about the demise of a season... MANY thanks, Will. Where the Yanks failed in clutch, you certainly made up for. More on my own thoughts to come in the next few hours... I need a little more than 24 hours to regroup on this. Sigh. Thanks again, Will....

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Like most die-hard Yankee fans, the wound is still fresh and the bitterness of no fall classic in the Bronx has not yet transferred into acceptance. While all Yankee seasons that do not end in a championship are disappointing, I found this season particularly frustrating based upon a series of poor decisions which were made throughout the ALCS. As a fan, the only thing more frustrating than poor hitting, pitching and fielding is poor managerial decision making. Here are a few decisions that stand out:


Not starting Andy Petitte Game 2:
Andy Pettite has 19 career postseason wins, a Major League Baseball record. He is arguably one of the best big game pitchers in the history of the most successful franchise in sports. As Yankee fans, we love Phil Hughes. He is young with a great future ahead of him. However, his postseason resume consists of two wins and a 5.86 ERA.

Phil Hughes is not Andy Pettite – not yet at least. The time to play match-ups is from April through September. Not October. The sight of Andy Pettite, THE WINNINGEST PITCHER IN POSTSEASON HISTORY, scratching his head in the dugout as the fate of the 2010 Yankees was left to a 24 year old kid was gut wrenching. Hughes’ ERA exceeded 4.00 in his last eight starts of the season and was not hot.

Yes, he looked good in April and May, but let’s not let a few early starts in Arlington be the reason he is getting two starts in the ALCS and not Pettite. Above all else, the Yankees finally returned to their winning ways against Minnesota, where Hughes looked great in the game 3 home start.

The formula worked with CC and Pettite on the road and Hughes at home. We had an incredible come from behind win against Texas in Game 1, and at that point all the momentum, and then we alter that recipe based on statistics. What statistics? Did anyone check out Pettite’s postseason statistics?

These are only numbers that should truly matter. Also, if you are in the camp of a lefty pitching at Yankee Stadium to shut down Hamilton and the other left handers, you were thrilled for 2/3 of an inning until Josh went deep in the top of the first inning and all but ended the game with an unhittable Cliff Lee on the mound. And a great start from Pettite in Game 3 – wasted.

He makes that start in Game 2, Yankees are likely up 2-0, have won five postseason games in a row, and well on our way to 28.


Walk Murphy, Pitch to Molina:
Scenario: Yankees up 3-2, top of the 6th 2 outs. A.J. looking normal for the first time in months. What to do, what to do? Here’s a brilliant idea let’s walk David Murphy (who?) to face a historic Yankee killer. Joe, for a manager who essentially manages the game from a computer or a match-up chart, did you think to look at Bengie Molina’s career postseason numbers vs. the Yankees?

Here are some figures from the 2005 ALDS when Molina last faced the Yankees: 444 AVG, 3 HR, 5 RBI’s, 17 TB. Not too shabby. I don’t care what the book says or what the recent figures may dictate, be wary of Yankee killers. Ortiz, Guerrero, MOLINA – they are scary – certainly don’t walk David Murphy to face a Yankee killer.

Maybe Josh Hamilton but not David Murphy. Murphy, in the 2010 ALDS, his FIRST career postseason series, was a solid 1 for 7, a 143 AVG with 0 RBI’s. Please can someone tell me what numbers support an IBB to face a Yankee postseason killer?

Don’t give me the righty on righty nonsense. Take Burnett out of the game and bring in Boone Logan, your lefty specialist, to face Murphy. The 3 run homerun is not on you A.J. but incompetent mismanagement. Logan retires Murphy, Kerry Wood and Mariano lurking in the pen, I like those chances. Yankees win 7-2 on Wednesday afternoon, go back to Texas with a 3-2 lead and the whole psyche of the team is vastly different.


Bring in Robertson with the season on the line:
Scenario: Rangers 3-1, runner on second, two outs. This is the save situation, not only for the game but the season. Give up a homerun and the season is all but over – the chance of another multi-run late inning rally is not impossible but highly improbable.

What does Joe do, bring in Robertson who relinquishes that back breaking homerun. Season over with CC, Wood and Rivera sitting in the pen waiting to be used next year, I can only guess. I never understand when play-off elimination games are managed like regular season games or play-off games where there is a next game.

There is no tomorrow if Robertson gives up a homerun there so why not win or lose with the best on the mound. Bring in the best, being CC or Wood for two innings and then Mariano for an inning or two. Keep the game at a manageable 3-1 deficit and every runner that reaches base will provide an opportunity to tie the game with one swing.

For a team with the homerun capabilities of the Yankees this is not too great an obstacle to overcome. Further, the 2010 Yankees have not had the best at-bats in big holes (of course there are exceptions). Everyone from ARod to Cano and Swisher starts trying to win the game with one swing, instead of working the count, reaching base and moving the line along with singles and doubles.

Robertson, like Hughes, is a great young pitcher and this is not a personal attack on him. Let’s not forget his bases loaded, no out, Houdini act against the Halos in the ALCS last year. But I’m sure he would agree, that he is not CC and has not had the recent relief success of Kerry Wood, and thus, did not provide the highest percentage option to keep the game at 3-1.


The Bats Were Not Hot:
This is more of a commentary than a decision, but certainly influenced by the above three decisions. I understand the bats weren’t sizzling, and have heard this from many Yankee fans, and here is the story. Bats are seldom hot in the playoffs. Cano and Hamilton this year, ARod last year – yes there are exceptions – but for the most part good hitters are cold in the postseason.

Why? Because good pitching trumps good hitting any day of the week and the postseason consists of predominantly good pitching. Hitting is also a very psychological and momentum based process. We were hot coming into the series, with a 3 game sweep of the Twinkies, and had an electrifying, red hot 5 run 8th inning in Arlington Game 1.

Getting back to point 1 of this summary, pitch your second ace, Andy Pettite in game 2, and keep the momentum flowing. Bats respond to good pitching not early deficits. I will concede that the clutch hits were not there in bundles as they were in 2009, and the Yankees certainly saved a pretty penny on walk-off whip cream canisters in 2010, but poor management decisions can inhibit offensive output.

In October, put your best product on the field for a seven game series. CC, Andy, Phil, A.J., CC, Andy and Phil. That is the best Yankee product, and had this been the rotation, I would most likely not be writing this.

I like Joe Girardi as a person and while I am grateful to him for winning a 27th championship in the new house, I have trouble looking past a few of his recent decisions - most notably - the Pettite fiasco.

I have been watching Andy Petitte dominate postseason play for 15 years and he has earned the right to have two starts in the first six games of a seven game series over a non-proven Phil Hughes. I fear that with the core unit of Rivera, Jeter, Posada and Pettite showing some age, this season was an opportunity lost. Not too say I will not enjoy some rebuilding years and watching the next generation come into form.

I grew up in the Donny baseball era, with zero play-off appearances and nothing but history to lean upon. I still loved the Yankees and cherish my childhood memories at the stadium, as sparse as the crowd may have been.

As a true fan, it is not always about winning but, when you are in a position to win, make the right decisions.

Oh well, we will be back.

God bless the Yankees.

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My own analysis on its way, as soon as I can think about it without getting upset.