Yanks vs. Pirates Game Thread

Spring Training Game 27
Yankees vs. Pirates
Steinbrenner Field - Tampa, FL
Game Time: 1:05 p.m.
TV/radio: YES - MLB.TV

Here are the lineups:

YANKEES
Damon DH
Jeter SS
Duncan RF
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Matsui LF
Ensberg 1B
Betemit 2B
Cabrera CF

Pitching: Igawa, Karstens

Torre Takes Questions from the Fans

Joe Torre sat down with Time Magazine to answer some questions from the fans, one of the questions that he answered was asked by this blogger, take a look:

With the way the team treated you in the off-season, would you have any problems attending a Joe Torre Day at the new Yankee Stadium? —Greg Cohen, Edgewater, N.J.

Right now I'm not thinking of going back there. Am I going to say I'd never go back? Never is a long time. But at this point in time, I can't give you a solid answer on that.

It's a shame the Yankees and Torre couldn't part ways without one side alienating the other. I was hoping Torre would make an effort to get to the All Star Game this year, but I doubt that after reading this. Someone within the organization should reach out to the guy.

Here's a few more interesting questions Torre answered:

Do you believe that during your time with the Yankees, you benefited by not having a salary cap? —Jeff Fulton, Pocatello, Idaho

Ball clubs can spend their money the right way. It's been proven by clubs that have won [the World Series]—the Angels have won, the Marlins have won. Those clubs seem to spend their money on pitching. In my time with the Yankees, I always felt that, yeah, we got Jason Giambi, we got Alex Rodriguez—but what we really needed to do was shore up our pitching in order to be a better postseason club.

What do you want to achieve by joining another team? —Chris McHale, New York City

When I went to Tampa to meet with the Steinbrenners and when I did say goodbye to the Yankees, I certainly didn't envision myself doing any more of this. But the last three years in New York really weren't a lot of fun. I just wanted to see if managing could be fun again. It's a great life, and I'm not ready to lose the excitement yet.

How many games can a manager win by his decision-making in a 162-game season? —Randy Arnold, Chattanooga, Tenn.

I think there's more of opportunity to win games in the National League than the American League because there are more decisions to make. A lot of times the managing decisions that you make are based on what you know about your player at a particular time of year. I think that's a talent that a manager has to have, a feel he has to have. If you're talking about certain decisions you make and you sit there at night and say, 'I did this and it affected the outcome of the game,' I'd say that was 10 or 12 games.

For the entire article go here.

Now Pitching for the Yankees, Kei Igawa!?!?!

Apparently this bum guy actually has a chance to make the team.

From Mark Feinsand:

IGAWA IN? Kei Igawa will start Thursday against the Pirates, making his final pitch for the long-relief spot in the bullpen. Although Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner were considered the two top candidates, Igawa has moved into the race, with one Yankees official saying he would be considered the front-runner with a strong effort today.

I don't know about you, but I don't have much faith in the guy.

Wedding Bells For Matsui

From the AFP:

TOKYO (AFP) — New York Yankees slugger Hideki Matsui, one of Japan's most eligible bachelors, will marry a 25-year-old former company worker, media reports said Thursday.

The 33-year-old outfielder, nicknamed "Godzilla" by his fans, met his future wife two years ago through a friend, the reports said.

"I, Hideki Matsui, am getting married. I have decided to spend my whole life with her," Matsui said in a statement released at the Yankees' training camp in Florida, Jiji Press reported.

Congratulations Hideki. ... I wonder how his bride-to-be feels about his massive porn collection.

UPDATE: 10:45 - According to Peter Abraham Matsui issued a press release stating that he was married yesterday in New York. One again, congrats Hideki.

New Stadium Update: The Windows are Being Installed

They have begun adding the glass windows and painting the steel above the facade white. Click image to enlarge.

(courtesy of Dave Atkatz)

for the main updates page go here

Woodward Released

Peter Abraham is reporting that the Yankees have released Chris Woodward. This is what he gets for hitting .393, and outplaying both Ransom and Betemit. I'm very disappointed.

George King is Still High

A little while ago I asked "Is George King high?" Well, not only was he high, but he's still high.

King, who had been using George A. King III, but must've realized how dumb that sounded and changed it back, wrote article today titled, "What Yankees Need To Win." And as one of his bullet points he writes:

-- Sure to make Yankee fans grumble: When Johan Santana wins 24 games for the Mets.

Yea, this makes me "grumble," not because it may happen, but because when I started reading your pointless article, I actually thought it was going to be a list of the things the Yankees needed to do to win, and not another chance for you to attack the team you cover because they didn't make the trade you thought they should.

Then there was this:

-- Biggest managerial decision: How to find enough at-bats to keep Shelley Duncan sharp. His right-handed power is an asset, but Duncan can't sit for extended time and be expected to produce.

Are you serious? The biggest managerial decision of the year is how to get Shelley Duncan enough at-bats? You don't think things like how to use Joba without risking injury, keeping the young starters at their innings limits, managing the bullpen, or making sure guys like Giambi, Matsui and Damon, get enough days off to stay healthy, is more important than Shelley Duncan and his precious at-bats?

Mr. King was not done there; in his article titled "No Go For New Joe" (he's so clever), in which he basically writes off the Yankees this year because, you guess it, they didn't trade for Johan Santana, King had this to say about Joba Chamberlain:

Moving Chamberlain in front of Rivera was not only the right move for 2008, but forever. Finding somebody to dominate the seventh and eighth innings is harder than discovering a fourth and fifth starter.

(A hat tip to Mike A. from River Ave. Blues has something posted about his quote.)

I have no problem with him in the pen this year (as long as he throws enough innings), but to say Chamberlain is a four or a five starter is absolutely ridiculous. I don't know if Mr. King is aware of it, but Joba has a high-90's fastball, one of the best sliders in the game, an above average curve, and a decent change. He's also working on a two-seamer to get ground balls when he needs them. That's four MLB pitches, possibly five, two of which are rated as plus-pitches. This is even more than you need to be a number one or two in this league, forget about four or five.

George, seriously, you need to tell me where you get your stuff from, because you are freaking GONE.

Yanks Get Blanked By Phils 4-0

The Yanks fell to 13-10 this spring, with a 4-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Chien-Ming Wang got the start for the Yankees and did not pitch well. He hasn't really pitched well all spring, and even though Spring Training stats aren't a big deal, I'm a bit concerned. Wang went five innings and gave up four runs on six hits and two walks. Wang's ERA this spring is 8.04. ... The rest of the staff did their job today. Ross Ohlendorf struck out two in his scoreless inning of work. ... Joba Chamberlain, Billy Traber and Brian Bruney all threw 2/3 of a inning of scoreless ball each.

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wang (L, 2-2)	5.0	6	4	4	2	2	0	8.04
Ohlendorf	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	2.08
Chamberlain	0.2	0	0	0	1	1	0	5.00
Traber	0.2	0	0	0	0	1	0	1.08
Bruney	0.2	2	0	0	0	1	0	2.25

PHILLIES PITCHING

As you might imagine with a 4-0 shut out the Yankee offense was pretty pathetic today, only mustering up four singles. Robinson Cano (2-for-4) had two of the four Yankee hits and raised his Spring Training batting average to .467. The only other hits by the Yankees were by Cody Ransom (1-for-1) and Jorge Posada (1-for-2, BB).

In the battle for the bench, Wilson Betemit (Yes, he's still a loser) went o-for-3, dropping his spring average to .167. Cody Ransom, as I already mentioned was 1-for-1 and raised his avg. to .270. Chris Woodward was 0-for-1 and is now hitting .393,

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Gardner, B, CF	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.324
a-Castro, B, PH-CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Cano, 2B	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.467
1-Mendoza, PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
Abreu, RF	2	0	0	0	2	1	1	.385
2-Porter, PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.280
Rodriguez, A, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.432
Ransom, 3B	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.270
Giambi, 1B	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	.385
Chamberlain, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Traber, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Bruney, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
b-Green, PH	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	.160
Posada, C	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	.250
Molina, C	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	.343
Betemit, SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.167
Woodward, SS	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	.393
Lane, LF	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	.227
Wang, P	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000
Ohlendorf, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Ensberg, 1B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.244
Totals	30	0	4	0	4	9	16
a-Struck out for Gardner, B in the 5th. b-Struck out for Bruney in the 9th. 1-Ran for Cano in the 9th. 2-Ran for Abreu in the 9th.
BATTING TB: Cano 2; Ransom; Posada. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez, A; Wang; Woodward 2. GIDP: Rodriguez, A. Team LOB: 7.

PHILLIES HITTING

The Yankees will play their final home spring training game tomorrow when they take on the Pittsburgh Pirates tomorrow and Steinbrenner Field. Left-hander Kei Igawa will make the start for the Yanks, and will go up against Pittsburgh lefty Tom Gorzelanny. The first pitch is set for 1:15 p.m. contest. The game can be seen on YES, and MLB.TV. The Yankees will officially rename Legends Field, George M. Steinbrenner Field tomorrow in a pregame ceremony.