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Around the Empire: New York Yankees News - 7/8/14

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Fangraphs | Eno Sarris: The Yankees acquired Brandon McCarthy because they hope that his home run rates will normalize.

It's About the Money | Susan Lulgjuraj: The real problem with Derek Jeter getting selected to the All-Star Game is that outcome actually matters.

SB Nation | James Dator: Remember that sleeping Yankees fan from back in April? Well he's suing ESPN, the team, and the announcers now.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: Some of the most interesting players in the second half will be Masahiro Tanaka, Derek Jeter, and...Alex Rodriguez??

Fox Sports | Ken Rosenthal: Despite criticism, Manny Machado still stands by his friendship with Alex Rodriguez.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: Everything you need to know about the newest Yankee callup, Shane Greene.

Times-Tribune | Donnie Collins: The Yankees really need to do something about the Triple-A pitching staff because it is completely falling apart.

It's About the Money | Domenic Lanza: Can Shane Greene improve the Yankees' current rotation?

LoHud | Chad Jennings: Carlos Beltran is now dealing with swelling in his knee, but it isn't too much of a concern just yet.

Fox Sports | Rob Neyer: A look at the AL East in the second half shows that the Yankees have a shot if they add more pieces and Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann improve.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: Joe Girardi believes the trade deadline should be moved back to later in the season.


Baby Bomber Recap 7/7/14: Peter O'Brien homers twice in Thunder win

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Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from July 7th.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders: Suspended for rain

Double-A Trenton Thunder:W 10-3 vs. Reading Fightin Phils

CF Mason Williams 1-4, RBI, BB, K - batting .213 this season
LF Ben Gamel 1-5, RBI
1B Tyler Austin 0-5, K - batting .248 this season
DH Peter O'Brien 2-3, 2 HR, 2 RBI, BB, HBP - 16th and 17th homers w/ Trenton
3B Rob Segedin 0-1, K
2B Dan Fiorito 1-4, BB, K
RF Jose Toussen 2-3, double, 3 RBI, K
C Francisco Arcia 1-4, RBI
SS Ali Castillo 2-3, 2 RBI, BB, SB

Bryan Mitchell 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K - 63 of 99 pitches for strikes
Cesar Cabral 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
James Pazos 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB

High-A Tampa Yankees:L 3-9 vs. Dunedin Blue Jays

CF Jake Cave 1-4, double, K
SS Cito Culver 1-4, RBI, K, CS - batting .135/.273/.135 over his last 10 games
1B Greg Bird 1-4
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 1-4, double, 2 K - 19th double of the season
DH Matt Snyder 1-4, double, K
RF Aaron Judge 1-4, RBI, K, E9(1st) - batting .263 since promotion
2B Angelo Gumbs 0-2, BB, HBP
LF Danny Oh 1-2, 2 BB
C Trent Garrison 1-4, RBI, K, E2 - throwing error, fifth of the season

Conner Kendrick 2.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K - 2 GO/1 AO
Brett Gerritse 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, WP, pickoff
Stefan Lopez 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, WP
Cesar Vargas 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, K

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:W 4-3 vs. Greenville Drive

LF Michael O'Neill 2-5, K, CS - batting .243 this season
SS Tyler Wade 2-5, double, RBI
CF Dustin Fowler 1-4, RBI, BB
3B Miguel Andujar 0-4, K
1B Mike Ford 0-3, BB
RF Mark Payton 2-4, 2 K
C Eduardo de Oleo 0-3, BB, 2 K - batting .252 this season
DH Reymond Nunez 1-3, double, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K
2B Gosuke Katoh 1-3, BB, K - batting .361/.425/.500 over his last 10 games

Brady Lail 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K - 54 of 81 pitches for strikes
Chad Taylor 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
Evan Rutckyj 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, K

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:W 3-2L 1-4 vs. Aberdeen IronBirds

Game 1:

CF Devyn Bolasky 2-4, double
SS Jose Javier 1-3, 2 K, HBP
3B Ty McFarland 2-3, RBI, BB
LF Chris Breen 2-4, RBI, K
1B Connor Spencer 0-3
RF Austin Aune 1-3
C Isaias Tejeda 1-3, K
DH Nathan Mikolas 1-3, HR, RBI - first homer of the season
2B Jake Anderson 0-3, K

Matt Borens 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K - 3 GO/4 AO
Sean Carley 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, hit batsman
Andury Acevedo 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, K, hit batsman

Game 2:

CF Daniel Lopez 0-3, BB, 2 K
DH Luis Torrens 1-3, double - batting .355
2B Ty McFarland 0-3, K
1B Chris Breen 1-3, double, RBI
RF Austin Aune 0-3, K
3B Renzo Martini 0-3, E5 - fielding error, fourth of the season
LF Brady Steiger 0-3, K
SS Jose Javier 0-2, BB
C Radley Haddad 2-2, E2 - throwing error, second of the season

Sam Agnew-Wieland 3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 WP, hit batsman
Matt Wotherspoon 2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Ethan Carnes 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, hit batsman

Gulf Coast Yankees 1:W 7-3 vs. GCL Pirates

SS Jorge Mateo 0-2, K
DH Eric Jagielo 1-5, RBI
CF Leonardo Molina 0-5, 2 K
RF Alexander Palma 2-4, K - batting .345
1B Drew Bridges 2-4, 2 doubles
C Alvaro Noriega 2-4, RBI, K
3B Dalton Smith 3-4, double, 2 RBI
LF Miguel Mojica 2-3, BB, K
2B Derek Toadvine 0-1, RBI, BB, K

Ty Hensley 3 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, hit batsman - 3 GO/3 AO
Jose Mesa 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB
Reynaldo Polanco 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Luis Cedeno 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Christopher Cabrera 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Gulf Coast Yankees 2: Postponed

Poll
Who was the best Baby Bomber for July 7th?

  172 votes |Results

Which positions should the Yankees target at the trade deadline?

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Because saying "nearly everything" is just a little too broad.

With last night's victory over the Cleveland Indians the Yankees remain in third place in the AL East, trailing the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays are losers of five straight but the Orioles have been on a bit of a hot streak as of late, winning seven of their last ten games. A struggling offense and pitching staff leaves the Yankees with a few holes to fill as the trade deadline approaches, but which holes should they be most concerned with filling either internally or from outside the organization?

Right Field:

This was supposed to be Carlos Beltran's spot, but he is too injured to play in the field and has struggled with the bat. Alfonso Soriano was a part-timer at the position before he was finally hitting and fielding so poorly that the Yankees decided to designate him for assignment. That leaves 40-year-old Ichiro Suzuki to man the position. We all saw what happened when Ichiro was played in an everyday role last season. Since June 1st, Ichiro has batted .269/.317/.290 with one hit for extra bases in 32 games. He can still beat out a few infield singles, but the power is pretty much entirely gone.

Jose Pirela has been used in the outfield at Triple-A, where he has good numbers for the RailRiders this season. He mainly played second base before being moved around the diamond to accommodate the promotion of Rob Refsnyder. Pirela is the only real internal move the Yankees can make in the outfield with a chance of getting an impact player. Zoilo Almonte is an option, but he seems more like a fourth outfielder than a player you want hitting every day, particularly with pronounced splits. Unless the Yankees feel that their best bet is moving Refsnyder back to the corner outfield he played in college, it seems like Pirela or a trade is needed.

Third Base:

Yangervis Solarte held down the spot for the beginning of the season before his bat dramatically trailed off. Kelly Johnson has also been charged with manning the hot corner, but his defensive shortcomings seem to pop up all too often. Zelous Wheeler may yet prove himself to be the temporary answer at third base since being brought up to replace the struggling Solarte, but it wouldn't be insane to see the Yankees look outside the organization for something a little more experienced. With Alex Rodriguez's return possibly looming for next season and much bigger concerns already existing around the infield, third base is probably not the first place Brian Cashman looks for reinforcements at the deadline.

Shortstop:

Derek Jeter has struggled this season, both offensively (82 wRC+) and defensively (range of a pinecone). As bad as Brian Roberts has been, the Yankee Captain has been worse. Admitting it is the first step. Brendan Ryan is known as a defensive wizard, but he has barely played in favor of Jeter. There's no real reason to expect that to change in the latter part of the season. The Yankees are not going to be looking for an upgrade here until the offseason, even if they should.

Second base:

Brian Roberts has been a popular hate vessel so far in 2014, but his 92 wRC+ is fifth on the team among players with at least 50 plate appearances. That doesn't mean that he isn't one of the problems. He isn't very good defensively and he seems to get his hits in bunches before disappearing for a few games. The thing that might make Roberts the most frustrating is that there is a clear replacement for him banging on the door of the majors in Rob Refsnyder. Refsnyder has blown through Double-A and Triple-A this season, hitting extremely well no matter where he went. He comes with defensive questions of his own, but few would rather see a veteran struggle to hang on to their big league career than to allow a kid to come up and adjust to the next level.

It seems like the Yankees won't pull the trigger on a Roberts-for-Refsnyder swap until Roberts either falls off a cliff (literally or figuratively) or becomes too injured to play. With many holes left to fill, second base is not likely to be addressed at the trade deadline. Blocking Refsnyder with another player isn't a good use of resources and Roberts is likely hitting well enough right now to keep his job.

Catcher:

Brian McCann isn't going anywhere. Accept that.

Starting pitcher:

CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova are out for the season and Michael Pineda is still only throwing off flat ground. Brandon McCarthy might not regress the way his numbers suggest he might. Chase Whitley is rapidly approaching his career high in innings and it isn't even the All-Star break. To say that the Yankees should be desperate for a pitcher at the deadline is an understatement. Do they have the pieces to pull off a trade, though? To get a David Price or a Cliff Lee, probably not. Can a lesser pitcher still make a big impact?

If the team is going to upgrade in one spot only, it has to be the rotation. Right now the starters are held together with paper clips and rubber cement with little hope that they can keep their heads above water for the duration of the season. Brian Cashman knows this and has said that the lack of movement to this point isn't for lack of effort. He did manage to bring in McCarthy to replace Nuno with, but the majority of transactions will come closer to the deadline. It's just a matter of selling another team on his trade chips. Maybe John Ryan Murphy did enough in his major league stint, or maybe the Yankees feel like they can part with Gary Sanchez because of his recent attitude problems and Murphy's success. It would be surprising not to see the team bring in at least one more starter, even if they aren't the impact pitcher we'd all hope for.

Bullpen:

The Yankees have one of the best 8th/9th inning combos in baseball with Dellin Betances and David Robertson currently striking out the world. Outside of those two, the options range from shaky to terrifying. There aren't a lot of internal options they can turn to unless David Phelps is able to move from the rotation back into the bullpen. A trade might be in order to give Betances and Robertson some innings relief. The big thing will be whether or not the staff can stop leaning heavily on the bullpen nearly every game that Masahiro Tanaka doesn't start. Maybe Cashman can find something inexpensive like a Shawn Kelley to help take some pressure off the late innings guys.

Which position do you think the Yankees need to go after the strongest before the trade deadline? Which position do you think they will find the most help for at a reasonable price?

Daily Yankees Predictions 7/8/14: You know what time it is!

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An impressive debut for the Yankees' rookie Shane Greene yesterday. Today it's Tanaka Tuesday in game two of this four game series.

Shane Greene got the start for the Yankees yesterday, and the young rookie did not disappoint. Six inning, four hits, two earned runs, no walks, and two strikeouts. Very nice debut for Greene. Here's hoping he can continue this kind of performance. Here's hoping the offense can continue this foreign concept of scoring runs, especially tonight with you-know-who pitching

7/7/14 Daily Prediction Answers

1.How many innings does the opposing starter pitch?2
2.How many relievers does the opposing team use today?5
3.Combined number of hits given up by both starting pitchers10
4.Total number of walks from the Yankees 1, 2, & 3 batters only1
5.Total number of RBIs from the Yankees 4, 5, & 6 batters only1
6.Total number of hits from the Yankees 7, 8, & 9 batters only3
7.Name one Yankee you think will hit a home run tonight.No one
8.Best overall Yankee of the night?Greene/Gardner/McCann/Suzuki

Our winner last night for the Yankees was Shane Greene, his first major league victory. Meanwhile, Blanky was victorious in yesterday's Daily Predictions thread with a score of 2,000 points. Congrats to everyone who won, cause they all deserved it.

7/8/14 Daily Predictions & Fun Questions

1.How many innings does the opposing starter pitch?
2.How many relievers does the opposing team use today?
3.Combined number of hits given up by both starting pitchers
4.Total number of walks from the Yankees 1, 2, & 3 batters only
5.Total number of RBIs from the Yankees 4, 5, & 6 batters only
6.Total number of hits from the Yankees 7, 8, & 9 batters only
7.Name one Yankee you think will hit a home run tonight.
8.Best overall Yankee of the night?

Which do you prefer: Pitcher's Duel or Offensive Explosion?

Name a food you haven't had yet but have always wanted to try

On a scale of 1-10, how well do you cook?

What the next thing that you really want to buy?

Masahiro Tanaka will face the Indians in game two of this four game series. Yes, it's Tanaka Time or Tanaka Tuesday. Whatever you want to call it is fine with us. Score runs for him, Yankees. That's an order!

Let's Go Yankees

75 years later, Babe Ruth's hug means almost as much as Lou Gehrig's speech

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At the time, a hug between two greats of the game loomed almost as large as Gehrig's words -- and maybe it still should.

Lou Gehrig's words, his grace in the face of invalidism or death, had resonated for exactly 75 years on July 4, but the moment that came before the last line, "I may have had a tough break, but I have an awful lot to live for. Thank you," had echoed over the public address system and faded had great power as well. Looking back at the original coverage, it seems apparent that the writers in attendance thought Gehrig's words would not have much importance or meaning. No two of them wrote them down in the same way, as if it was only after they had realized the resonance of what they had heard and were left scrambling to recall it correctly. However, they all made a point of getting one thing right, a moment of reconciliation and forgiveness between two old friends that could only have happened that day, for that reason.

When the anniversary of 1939's "Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day" was observed by Major League Baseball as well as numerous commentators, the emphasis was, as it should have been, primarily on what Gehrig said -- even if, due to the writers' lack of fidelity, exactly what he said has been lost to time but for some fragmentary newsreels. Maybe what occurred between Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig on that day has become just a detail instead of the focal point of the story because there's nothing you can read, no recording you can hear, just a picture you can look at, and in this case the picture doesn't tell the whole story. Yet, there are times when a simple embrace can be more eloquent than any arrangement of words.

Lou_and_babe_reunite_medium

That hug ended five years of estrangement, and yet there is also a great deal of ambiguity to it. Human relationships, even the really close, ideal-marriage ones, have grey areas. If you have ever wished that an angry utterance could be recalled so that a broken relationship could be mended, or that there would be some impossible moment of forgiveness and reconciliation that would revive a love that died, Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day had that. Maybe that's not important to you; you can't empathize. If you don't have regrets about an unfixable relationship somewhere in your psyche it is asserted here that you are superhuman in your powers of acceptance. Think of the version of Reinhold Niebuhr's ubiquitous serenity prayer, which now adorns dangling kitten posters worldwide:

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can change,
And wisdom to know the difference."

The reason such an incantation is even necessary is that what many of us are really thinking is,

"God grant me the strength to change the things I cannot change
(Or just go ahead and change them, okay?),
Courage to continue to want to change them even though I know they aren't going to change,
And the Capacity for Self-delusion not to recognize the futility of it all."

Despite his protestations to the contrary, Lou Gehrig didn't have a great deal of luck in the end, but his illness did allow him that one final turn at-bat with an old friend. He didn't get to change the things he could not change, his illness, but the breach with Ruth was mended. Maybe in the end that means more to some of us than it did to him. We want the people we like to like each other. We want the people we like to like us.

Here's Rud Rennie describing the key moment directly after Gehrig's speech on July 4, 1939 at Yankee Stadium in the old New York Herald-Tribune:

"Gehrig evoked tears and laughter with words which made the previous speeches sound rather hollow. He was wonderful. Somehow he managed to control his voice. And when he was through, [Babe] Ruth put his arm around him... People were crying in the stands when Gehrig finished. And they were ready to laugh again when Ruth put his arms around Gehrig and advised him to try out the fishing rod that had been given him and catch all the fish in the sea."

"Ruth put his arm around him." That was the grace note within the grace note.

Before we continue, it's important to point out that baseball history has traditionally not been treated like "real" history, with sources and footnotes and such. Back in Gehrig's time, sports journalism wasn't much better. Everyone agreed, as John Drebinger put it in the New York Times the next day that, "In conclusion, the vast gathering, sitting in absolute silence for a longer period than perhaps any baseball crowd in history, heard Gehrig himself deliver as amazing a valedictory as ever came from a ballplayer," but not only Gehrig's words but the order of events was confused from paper to paper.

The timing matters, because the interaction with Ruth was either a throwaway interstitial moment with an ill-timed gag about a fishing pole or the exclamation point on Gehrig's life as a New York Yankee. When Gehrig established himself as a Yankees regular in 1925, the 22-year-old had long been a Ruth fan. The two bonded easily, with Gehrig assuming a subservient, little brother role at first. The two barnstormed together in the offseasons once Gehrig became a star (a very lucrative venture for both), and traveled to spring training together. Ruth, who had been virtually abandoned by his family as a child, became a welcome presence at the house where Gehrig still lived with his German-immigrant parents. Ruth, also of German heritage, would sprechen sie Deutsch with Gehrig's mother, Christina, and she would feed him her German-ethnic cooking. "It was one of the rare tastes of home life I ever had," Ruth said.

Christina called Ruth "Judge," a corruption of "Jidge" (itself a version of "George," Ruth's real name, which is how his teammates often referred to him). Ruth gave Christina a dog. She called it Judge, too.

Gehrig_family_medium

Eleanor Gehrig (center) with Christina and Heinrich Gehrig.

The Ruth-Gehrig relationship fell apart around 1932 or 1933. When Ruth remarried in 1929, his wife Claire brought her biological daughter Julia to the relationship. Ruth contributed Dorothy, the adopted daughter of his first marriage (who was probably his biological child, though not by his first wife). Julia was the older of the two, verging on adulthood, whereas in 1932 Dorothy was 11. Around this time, Dorothy visited the Gehrig household and Christina Gehrig wondered aloud why Claire didn't dress Dorothy as well as she dressed Julia. The comment perhaps made Dorothy sound a bit like Cinderella. It got back to Claire, who communicated her displeasure to the Babe.

Depending on who you read next, Ruth either sent an intermediary (Sammy Byrd, acting as "Babe Ruth's Mouth" instead of "Babe Ruth's Legs?" Always-hostile future Jackie Robinson antagonist Ben Chapman?) to deliver a message to Lou: "Never speak to me again off the field." In other accountings, Ruth himself went to Gehrig and said, "Your mother should mind her own goddamned business."

Every boy loves his mother. Well, every boy whose mother didn't say things like, "I'll pick you up after school" and then never arrived because she was on a vodka bender, but most boys. Gehrig had a weak father; his mother was the rock of his life. When he married Eleanor Twitchell in September, 1933 (the Ruths were not invited to the reception), she had to pry him out of his boyhood home with a lever, and she never was able to get on with her mother-in-law, before or after Gehrig's passing. Prior to Eleanor came on the scene, Christina went to every Yankees home game and often followed Lou on the road as well. She had deflected some of Lou's romantic interests over the years, had provoked a last-minute quarrel with Eleanor that nearly derailed the wedding, and refused to go to the ceremony until the last moment. "There was a mother-son complex there," said sportswriter Fred Lieb, a good friend of Lou's, "that was as bad one way as the other."

Given that, there was no attack on Gehrig that Ruth could have made that would have been worse than one on his mother. Not that he didn't try. In 1937, two years after his retirement, Ruth went after Gehrig's consecutive games streak in the New York Times(annoying ellipses in the original):

"I think Lou's making one of the worst mistakes a ballplayer can make by trying to keep up that ‘iron man' stuff... He's already cut three years off his baseball life with it... He oughta learn to sit on the bench and rest... They're not going to pay off on how many games he's played in a row... The next two years will tell Gehrig's fate. When his legs go, they'll go in a hurry. The average ball fan doesn't realize the effect a single charley horse can have on your legs. If Lou stays out here every day and never rests his legs, one bad charley horse may start him downhill."

Here's another thing sportswriters felt free to do in the old days, paraphrase. Babe Ruth didn't really pull on his sorcerer's robe and go all oracular, saying, "The next two years will tell Gehrig's fate." He just didn't. This was the Bambino, not one of the Norns, and yet suddenly (forgive the mixed metaphor) he's all Delphic and we're in a Sophocles play.

Gehrig replied with obvious frustration, though he didn't call out Ruth by name: "I don't see why anyone should belittle my record or attack it," he said. "I never belittled anyone else's. I'm not stupid enough to play if my value to the club is endangered. I honestly have to say I've never been tired on the field. If it develops that I am hurting the team by trying to stay in, why, I'll get out and the record will end right there." Which is exactly what happened -- although not enough was understood about Gehrig's diagnosis in 1939 for reporters not to screw that up, too, even with the words right in front of them. Here's Dan Daniel in the Sporting News:

The event was a reconciliation between Ruth and Gehrig, who had not spoken to each other in some time. They had tiffed over some silly thing, and Lou had resented Babe's interview in which he said Gehrig was making a serious mistake playing every day. Ruth was correct, only Gehrig did not know it. Nor did any of us.

No, Ruth was not correct, and Daniel should have known that. The Mayo Clinic's press release on Gehrig, had been issued in late June:

...It was found that he is suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This type of illness involves the motor pathways and cells of the center nervous system and in lay terms is known as a form of chronic poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis). The nature of this trouble makes it such that Mr. Gehrig will be unable to continue his active participation as a baseball player...

This was the "awful bad break" that Gehrig said "you have been reading about" when he began his speech. The errant reference to polio initially misled the public into thinking Gehrig's affliction was one he might be able to live with, but anyone who did further research (a group which included Eleanor but probably not Babe Ruth) were quickly disabused of this notion. Either way, Daniel knew at the time of his writing that Gehrig's retirement had not a damned thing to do with playing too much.

Regardless, there were other reasons for Ruth and Gehrig falling out. They weren't well-matched personalities in any sense except being great athletes. Ruth was outgoing and uncensored, Gehrig reticent and retiring. "The big guy has a big, loose mouth," he once said of Ruth. "He pops off too damn much about a lot of things." Ruth spent lavishly and Gehrig was notoriously tight with a buck. Yankees politics also got between them -- Ruth thought manager Joe McCarthy was getting in the way of his own managerial bid and actively disliked him, while Gehrig was an avid supporter -- he had inscribed a picture to McCarthy, "May I always deserve your friendship."

There was also an odd incident with Gehrig's wife during a trip to Japan conducted by Connie Mack for a series of exhibition games. Though even 18-year-old Julia Ruth, also on the trip,  made a point of showing up Eleanor ("Don't stop," she said to a companion when she saw Mrs. Gehrig on deck, "The Ruths don't speak to the Gehrigs"), Claire invited her counterpart to the Ruths' cabin. Eleanor wrote in 1976:

"I stepped into their little world: the resplendent Babe, sitting like a Buddha figure, crosslegged and surrounded by an empire of caviar and champagne. It was an extravagant picnic, especially since I'd never been able to get my fill of caviar, and suddenly I was looking up at mounds of it. So I was ‘missing' for two hours... The one place that Lou had never thought to check out was Babe Ruth's cabin."

The result, said Eleanor, "was a long siege of no-speaking" between husband and wife. The Babe, perhaps feeling responsible for causing a rift between the lovers, came to make peace: "Ruth burst in -- jovial, arms both stretched out in a let's-be-pals gesture," Eleanor wrote. "But my unforgiving man turned his back, extending the silent treatment to the party of the second part, and the Babe retreated. They never did become reconciled, and I just dropped the subject forever." During Eleanor's lifetime, this story was embellished to suggest that Ruth had seduced her that day, a claim that seems outlandish even for the enthusiastically priapic Babe.

Eleanor did add to the friction between Ruth and Gehrig on her own account; she pushed Lou to think of himself as the star that he was, rather than second-banana to the fading Babe. That's not to say she was incorrect, but there was a longtime pecking order in which she was interfering. Once asked if he minded standing in Ruth's shadow, Gehrig had replied that it was a big shadow and there was plenty of room for him to spread out beneath it. Eleanor encouraged him to think more like the star he was. "I've got to start a campaign on this Dutchman," Eleanor told Gehrig's friend Fred Lieb. "I'm trying to build him up to the point where he knows he's good." As Ruth declined, that change had to cause resentment on the part of the older man.

The shipboard argument was pretty much it for Ruth and Gehrig until July 4, 1939. Rennie, above, had the order of events wrong. Ruth showed up for that day's reunion of the 1927 Yankees late, as he always was late for everything, but still had a chance to make a few remarks at the microphone on the subject of trying out fishing rods before Gehrig made his famous remarks. One early book has the embrace taking place right there. "And as the Babe came striding to the plate, he threw his arms around Lou and hugged him tight, and Lou was so happy he didn't know whether to laugh or cry."

Conversely, Jonathan Eig's more recent telling has it taking place after the speech, but puts an ambiguous spin on Gehrig's feelings: "Babe Ruth moved in, reached for a handshake, and then grabbed Gehrig in a hug. The photographers went crazy. Gehrig managed a small, crooked smile." "Managed" because of the incredibly difficult emotional speech he had just gone through, or because he still wasn't all that keen on Ruth? We'll never know.

Eleanor's version was more succinct and forgiving: "Babe Ruth, big and bear-like hugging away the feuds of the past summers." There may have been a little more, though. An un-bylined article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from July 5 adds a detail that conflicts in a meaningful way with the version told in Leigh Montville's recent biography of Ruth, The Big Bam:

Would he show? When he finally appeared, he was almost as majestic as he had ever been...  [Gehrig spoke.] At the end, he began to cry. Ruth was nudged to the microphone. He walked to his longtime associate, if not friend, his brother in long-ball history, grabbed him around the neck, and broke their five years of silence with a whispered joke that made them both smile.

But according to the Eagle, Ruth didn't make a joke. For once in his life, he said the right thing. Under the heading "RUTH IN TEARS," the Eagle reported

He had gone over, put one of those big arms around Gehrig's shoulders and patted Lou once or twice, trying to get him to stifle the emotion which had broken him up right out there on the ball field. "C'mon, kid," the Babe whispered through his tears. "C'mon, kid, buck up now. We're all with you."

That was what everyone had been trying to say to Gehrig for an hour during all that ceremony... The fans had been trying to; so had his teammates -- those of the current Yanks and those of the '27 world champions -- and so had the baseball writers. But there was no one could -- or should -- have said it like the Bam.

One last account, this one possibly in Babe Ruth's own words. From The Babe Ruth Story, his as-told-to with Bob Considine. The book came out in 1948, as the Babe was dying, and Considine wasn't above working independently. He has Gehrig speaking last:

Lou spoke as I never thought I'd hear a man speak in a ball park... When he said, "I consider myself the luckiest man in the world" [sic], I couldn't stand it any longer. I went over to him and put my arm around him, and though I tried to smile and cheer him up, I could not keep from crying.

Something like this could never happen again, I told myself. And yet I was destined to stand at the same home plate -- only seven years later -- in much the same condition and under much the same circumstances.

It may seem odd to go to so much trouble over the sequence of events, as if the Ruth-Gehrig reunion needed its own version of the Warren Report, but the order seems important. An impulsive gesture from Ruth in the midst of a hastily-improvised speech somehow seems lesser than a calculated gesture of closure at the end. Dan M. Daniel, writing this time in the New York Telegram, put it as if the latter were the case:

It was left for the greatest showman of baseball history, Babe Ruth, to come forward with a must-needed tension-breaker. Before the biggest crowd of the baseball year, Ruth and Gehrig, who had quarreled before the Bambino left the Yankees, became reconciled. With his face wreathed in the old Ruthian smile, the Babe posted with his right arm around Lou's neck. The old king and the crown prince had become reconciled at last.

Can a reconciliation after a deep break really happen with just a handshake, a hug, or a kiss?  Ruth and Gehrig weren't pals after that. It doesn't seem like they saw each other much during the 23 months that Gehrig had left to live, or if they did, the visits were neither publicized nor mentioned in any of the standard works on Gehrig, including Eleanor's book. When Ruth named his all-time all-star team nine years later, he listed Hal Chase at first base. For so many of us our tenderest feelings fade rapidly, while bitterness not only calcifies, but becomes stronger with the passing of the years.

Still, maybe that's enough of a reconciliation in the end. Lou was beyond help, but there were still those left behind, those who loved him, who needed comforting. The Ruths were second, after Yankees president Ed Barrow (who undoubtedly heard first), to arrive at the Gehrigs' house after Lou passed away, offering support to Eleanor, and that may indicate the state of the relationship at the time.

Eleanor Gehrig never remarried. After the Babe died in 1948, she and Claire Ruth spent the next 28 years, until Claire's own passing. appearing at Yankee Stadium as stand-ins for their husbands. It's not clear if  they ever became friends. Eleanor died in 1984, at the age of 79. Then all was even and would remain that way forevermore. All now is reconciled, or perhaps more accurately, inert. The Babe's own parting from this world is remembered with the same pain and awe as Gehrig's, his not because of what he said, but because of a picture that did tell the whole story.

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Babe Ruth's final farewell to Yankee Stadium, June 13, 1948.

The words will endure as long as there is baseball, if not beyond. They are so big as to have have crowded out the embrace and made the latter a mere detail in both their lives. Yet, the feud and its resolution 75 years ago in its own way looms just as  large. It belongs not just to them but to that small group of us who are moved not just because one man looked at his own mortality and said he was the luckiest man on the face of the Earth, but by loving kindness, generosity, and the possibility that if those two giants could embrace each other in the end then we too might be forgiven by those we have wronged, and that we might have the wisdom to grant that same forgiveness to those who have wronged us if it is asked for.

Those are the things we can change, if only we have the wisdom. Babe Ruth had it, at least that once.

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★★★

Sources: In addition to the newspapers mentioned above, books consulted included:

Bob Broeg, Superstars of Baseball;Bob Cooke, ed. Wake Up the Echoes; Robert Creamer, Babe: The Legend Comes to Life; Eleanor Gehrig and Joseph Durso, My Luke and I;Frank Graham, Lou Gehrig: A Quiet Hero; Jerome Holtzman, No Cheering in the Press Box;Alan H. Levy, Joe McCarthy: Architect of the Yankees Dynasty; Leigh Montville, The Big Bam;John Mosedale, The Greatest of All; Shirley Povich, All Those Mornings... At the Post; Ray Robinson, The Iron Horse; Babe Ruth with Bob Considine, The Babe Ruth Story; Marshall Smelser, The Life That Ruth Built; Fay Vincent, The Only Game in Town. All photos via Getty Images.

A GIF-filled farewell to the wonderful career of Alfonso Soriano

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If this is the end, then it's been a fun ride, Sori.

Over the weekend, the Yankees finally made the difficult decision to designate veteran Alfonso Soriano for assignment after an absolutely atrocious start to the 2014 season from the 38-year-old. Ordinarily, it would not be so hard to release an aged player who cannot play defense anymore and was hitting a dismal .221/.244/.367, but Soriano meant a lot to this organization. Thus, pictures like these are disheartening:

For as much as I agree that he had to go, it's still sad to see him leave this way, and the fact that his career might very well be drawing to a close doesn't make it any easier. Soriano has been a ton of fun for the majority of his 16-year-career, which saw him be promising enough to be traded for Alex Rodriguez in his prime, make seven All-Star teams in a row from 2002-08, and slug 412 homers. I'm going to miss Soriano in baseball, so to say farewell, take a look back on his wonderful career with these GIFs:

Future bodes well

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The Dominican-born Soriano was acquired by the Yankees in 1998 in a controversial purchase from the Hiroshima Toyo Carp, and it did not take long for the kid to become one of Baseball America's top prospects. He made the World team in the first annual Futures Game in 1999 at Fenway Park, and he immediately made an impact by crushing a pitch from future Athletics ace Mark Mulder off the Coke bottle above the Green Monster as well as taking Brewers prospect Kyle Peterson deep. Soriano was named the first Futures Game MVP.

Allow me to introduce myself

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Soriano made his MLB debut that same year in September as the Yankees were wrapping up the American League East title. In just his third career at-bat, he registered his first career hit in dramatic fashion. The Yankees and Devil Rays were tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 11th on September 24th. Soriano put a powerful swing on a ball toward the middle of the plate from former "Nasty Boy" Norm Charlton and homered down the left field line to walk it off. The hit clinched the division title, and fans were forced to recognize this hard-hitting kid wearing number 58.

116 wins... so what?

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Two years later, Soriano played his first full major league season in 2001 for the Yankees. A shortstop coming up, he shifted over to second base in place of the beleaguered Chuck Knoblauch, who moved to left field for the final year of his contract. Soriano's defense was, to be kind, shaky, but he slugged .432 and belted 34 doubles & 18 homers in addition to stealing 43 bases (third in the league), earning a third-place finish in AL Rookie of the Year voting. The Yankees won the division title and after battling back from down 0-2 in the ALDS against the Athletics, they had to face the daunting Seattle Mariners in the ALCS. Seattle had won an AL record 116 games in the regular season and were heavy favorites against the three-time defending champions. However, the Yankees took the first two games in Seattle, then won Game 4 on a stunning walk-off homer by Soriano against All-Star closer Kaz Sasaki. The next day, the Yankees won Game 5 to clinch their fourth straight AL pennant.

World Series magic

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In the Fall Classic against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Yankees again fell behind 0-2, but they tied up the series with a pair of wins at Yankee Stadium highlighted by Tino Martinez's bottom of the ninth, two-out, game-tying two-run homer and Derek Jeter's walk-off homer. Just a night later against the same pitcher, Byung-Hyun Kim, Scott Brosius somehow matched Tino's feat with a bottom of the ninth, two-out, game-tying two-run homer of his own. The game stayed tied through extra innings, in no small part thanks to an excellent diving catch by Soriano at second with the bases loaded and one out in the 11th. A hit would have given Arizona the lead, but it stayed tied. An inning later, Soriano lined a walk-off single against Albie Lopez to improbably give the Yankees a 3-2 lead in a series they barely led. In the wake of 9/11, the three home victories were absolutely thrilling.

Almost a Game 7 hero

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Roger Clemens on the mound. Arizona co-ace Curt Schilling was just as tough though, and the game was tied at one in the top of the eighth inning with Soriano due to lead off. Yankees manager Joe Torre and bench coach Don Zimmer were trying to figure out who would pitch in the bottom of the eighth since Torre didn't want to use closer Mariano Rivera without a lead (sigh). Torre remarked half-jokingly to Zimmer "Well, Soriano could hit a home run here and make this decision much easier." Almost immediately afterward, Soriano sent Schilling and the frenzied Arizona crowd into a pall with a homer to left-center field. The Yankees suddenly had a 2-1 lead with Rivera entering the game.

As far as I know, the season ended there, right? Right. Glad we're in agreement on that.

Near-MVP

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Soriano came into his own in 2002 with a fantastic season. Now wearing the more familiar number 12, he became the leadoff hitter and belted numerous leadoff homers, often instantly sending the opposing team into a deficit. He was voted to his first All-Star team, led the AL with 209 hits and 41 stolen bases, falling just one homer shy of the elusive 40/40 Club when he began to press and went homerless the final two weeks of the season. The Yankees romped to their fifth AL East title in a row and Soriano finished behind only Miguel Tejada and Alex Rodriguez in AL MVP voting.

Finally 40/40

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After another strong season in '03, Soriano was famously dealt to the Texas Rangers in the Valentine's Day 2004 trade that brought A-Rod to the Yankees. He wasn't quite as dynamic in Texas, though he did win the '04 All-Star Game MVP when he notched two hits, including a first inning three-run homer off his former teammate Clemens to give the AL an early 6-0 lead. He was traded again prior to the '06 season, this time to the Washington Nationals, where manager Frank Robinson at last made him an outfielder, a much better position for him. In his only season in the nation's capital, Soriano at last reached the 40/40 Club after reaching the 30/30 plateau in three of the previous four seasons. He belted 46 homers and stole 41 bases to become just the fourth (and last) member of the 40/40 Club, a truly remarkable feat made even more amazing by the fact that he played half his games in cavernous RFK Stadium.

His superb season led to a big free agent contract in the off-season, as he inked an eight-year, $136 million deal with the Chicago Cubs. Like many free agent deals, Soriano was excellent in the first two years (his last two All-Star seasons). The Cubs won back-to-back NL Central division titles, making the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time in a century. Unfortunately, the Cubs were swept out in both seasons, and as Soriano's career declined somewhat, his contract became regarded as an albatross. Nonetheless, through the middle of the 2013 season, he had crushed 218 doubles, 181 homers, and 18.6 fWAR over six and a half years--hardly an awful return on investment.

Back to the Bronx

Sori_bat_drop_mediumSoriano_robbery_mediumSori_shower_mediumSori_shower_medium

Plagued by injuries and desperate for righthanded power as they trailed in the division, the Yankees reacquired Soriano in a July deal with the Cubs in 2013. Soriano caught fire down the stretch, as he belted 17 homers in just 58 games, including one wherein he reached a career-high seven RBI. It wasn't enough to lead the Yankees into the playoffs, but it was quite entertaining to watch the former budding superstar come back as a veteran and almost single-handedly lead the Yankees to the playoffs. Alas.

If this is the end, then thanks for the memories, Sori. You were one of my favorites to watch.

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For more Yankees GIFs, be sure to follow Pinstripe Alley's GIFs account on Twitter @PSA_GIFs.

White Sox trade rumors: Chicago willing to move Gordon Beckham; Jose Quintana "unavailable"

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The South Siders could look to move their once promising second baseman.

The Chicago White Sox are now willing to move second baseman Gordon Beckham if the "right deal" comes along, according to Fox Sports' Jon Morosi. Morosi also adds that left-handed starter Jose Quintana has been deemed "unavailable" by the club.

Beckham could prove to be a classic "change of scenery" guy. Considered an elite prospect after being selected eighth overall in the 2008 draft out of the University of Georgia, Beckham displayed a substantial amount of promise in a 2009 rookie season that saw him hit .270/.347/.460 with a 109 wRC+, 14 home runs, and 2.5 WAR. However, he has been wildly disappointing since then, never posting a a league average OPS (per OPS+), and topping the 1.0 WAR mark just once. Beckham started off this season on the DL, and hit well upon returning, posting a .756 OPS through mid-June, however, he has hit just .141/.213/.296 over his last 80 plate appearances. Beckham is making $4.175 million this year and is eligible for free agency following next season.

Beckham could be a nice secondary infield option behind the top-tier of guys like Chase Headley, Daniel Murphy, and Ben Zobrist. The Yankees, Giants, and Blue Jays are among the teams that have showed interest in adding an infielder.

The White Sox signed Quintana to a five-year extension that guarantees him at least $21 million just before the season started, so it makes sense that they are unwilling to move him. He has easily been Chicago's second best starter (behind Chris Sale) this season, and a borderline All-Star. In just over 112 innings, the 25-year-old has a 3.20 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 8.01 K/9, 2.56 BB/9, and 3.0 WAR.

Yankees trade for Brandon McCarthy: Get to know the former D'Backs starter

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For the next few months, Brandon McCarthy will be a Yankee. Let's get to know the new starting pitcher.

Brandon McCarthy was born on July 7, 1983 in Glendale, California, the third largest city in Los Angeles County. He later moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado around the age of ten where he would both graduate from high school and attend a year of community college. By that time in his life, he was a tall (six foot, five inches) and lanky teenager who could not throw hard at all--maybe into the mid-80's--but he could control his pitches. When he played his one season at Lamar Community College, he featured a four-seam fastball, a 12-6 curveball, and a change. None of them were plus offerings, but his control was what got him a ticket into the minor league circuit. In the 17th round of the 2002 MLB Draft, McCarthy was drafted by the Chicago White Sox.

Even though he was not much of a draft prospect, McCarthy quickly climbed the ladder. He spent three years in the minors, steadily putting up strikeout rates near ten per nine innings and walk rates near two per nine innings. He had capitalized on his control, and also worked to play up his velocity to a professional level. That definitely worked, as he made his Major League debut on May 22, 2005. He had a decent rookie campaign (runs allowed wise), but with poor peripherals. In 67 innings he pitched to a 90 ERA-, but a 112 FIP-. Allowing 1.7 HR/9 does not help that. McCarthy had similar struggles for the next few years. He only pitched in 84.2 innings in 2006 (1.0 RA9-WAR, 0.1 fWAR), and then he was traded to the Texas Rangers for John Danks, Jake Rasner, and Nick Masset. By that point, it appeared that his career was in jeopardy. Between injuries and relative mediocrity, McCarthy was bouncing between disabled list stints, the big leagues, and Triple-A. That's when he realized he needed to change.

In 2009, he decided to become a self-taught sabermetrician and player. Sabermetricians are traditionally people like me--someone who never played an inning of professional ball but are trying to make sense of it. The idea was that stats were supposed to stay with the stat-heads. Players were supposed to play with as little complication as possible to avoid confusion. McCarthy distorted that narrative and turned his career around. He developed his four-seamer into a two-seamer and pitched to the ground ball. He learned to try to block out the things he couldn't control (hits due to BABIP), and to worry about what he could control--walks, strikeouts, and home runs. When the Athletics signed him in 2011, he did just that. In 170.2 innings and 25 starts, McCarthy was the AL leader in FIP (2.86). This was partially because of his deflated HR/FB ratio in O.co, but also because he cut down on the walks immensely. By fWAR, his season was a success. He racked up 4.5 fWAR (3.2 RA9-WAR) and was one of the better pitchers in the league at that time. This transformation was documented in the famous ESPN The Magazine article, which you can read here.

Since then, his game has not changed much, but injuries have plagued him. He has not thrown more than 150 innings in his career and has not topped his 25 start season in 2011. At most, he threw 22 starts last season. In terms of FIP, he's been eerily consistent. In 2012, 2013, and 2014, he's pitched to FIP's of 3.76, 3.75, and 3.79, respectively. This season his ERA has skyrocketed to 5.01, but the Yankees are betting on a much-needed positive regression. He does let up some home runs, something that righties are wont to do in Yankee Stadium, but that should still be counteracted by the fact that he is a better pitcher than his runs allowed implies.

I think what we can gather from all of this information is that Brandon McCarthy is an incredibly smart pitcher. If this isn't 80-grade makeup, then I don't know what is. He took a build and profile that was not all too attractive at the draft and played it up so that he could get to the big leagues. And when his strategies did not work, he reinvented himself so that he could compete. He was open to anything to make that happen, and that just so happened to be analytics. It's made him a darling among sabermetricians as he's become a case study of a sabermetrics success story. Although his natural pitching tendencies do not match up ideally with his new home park, his pitching IQ is high enough that he will be able to adjust accordingly. Although he is just a rental, I am incredibly excited to see what Brandon McCarthy can do in pinstripes.


Yankees 3, Indians 5: Dingers doom Tanaka as the offense dies after the second inning

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Masahiro Tanaka was not very good but the offense taking a nap for seven innings didn't help matters.

It was a matchup of two young hurlers with dynamic stuff as the Yankees and Masahiro Tanaka faced off against the Cleveland Indians and Trevor Bauer. Things began promisingly enough, but unfortunately these silly affairs go nine innings.

The recently semi-resuscitated Yankees offense got on the board immediately in the first. A Brett Gardner walk and Jacoby Ellsbury single set up a Mark Teixeira bloop RBI single that made it 1-0. Then, the most magical thing happened. The Yankees successfully executed a double-steal with noted tortoise Teixeira taking second. It was aided by Yan Gomes' errant throw that Ellsbury scored on, but still. Teixeira stole a base and the Earth did not explode. 2-0 Yankees. The festivities were short-lived as the Indians got one back in the bottom of the inning thanks to a Jason Kipnis single and a Michael Brantley double. The Yankees countered in the top of the second by starting off with an Ichiro Suzuki single and a Kelly Johnson walk. Despite Bauer's issues and it being the second inning, "Bunt Enthusiast" Joe Girardi had Zelous Wheeler do the dreaded deed and advanced the runners. Gardner next brought in Suzuki with a groundout to make it 3-1, but the Yankees probably could have used the extra out they opted to give away.

Both pitchers were able to tame the offenses up until the Indians half of the fifth. Former Yankee favorite Chris Dickerson opened the inning with a single and came around on a second double from Brantley to make it 3-2. Tanaka was victimized again in the sixth when another former Yankee in Nick Swisher homered for the second time in two nights, this time with a man aboard and gave the Indians the lead at 4-3. The homer bugaboo bit Tanaka again in the seventh as Human Destroyer Michael Brantley hit a solo homer for his third extra base hit of the night and increased the Indians' lead to two runs. A Carlos Santana single then ended Tanaka's evening as Matt Thornton came in to relieve him and end the inning.

That's about it, people. The Yankees offense decided to turn in for the day after the second and let the scuffling Bauer get into a groove. They then offered little resistance to the Indians bullpen either as they failed to pick up their young ace on one of his few off nights. They mustered zero hits after the third inning. Way to go, guys.

So that's two tough outings in a row for Tanaka. I suppose entering panic mode is an option, but really the pace that he was going at was only sustainable for maybe Clayton Kershaw. Perhaps Felix Hernandez. A rough patch was bound to slow down Tanaka's reign of dominance, and it appears we're now in the middle of it. Adjustments will be made and hopefully he'll get back to his dominant ways in short order. Ideally there will be a little more offense waiting for him when he does.

It's fresh new face Brandon McCarthy going for the Yankees tomorrow against Josh Tomlin at 7:05 PM.

Box Score

Indians beat Yankees 5-3, as Trevor Bauer outpitches Masahiro Tanaka

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Game 89: Indians 5, Yankees 3

Box Score

Tribe improves to 44-45

The continued development of Trevor Bauer took another step in the right direction Tuesday night at Progressive Field. He walked the leadoff man and allowed a pair if singles in the 1st inning that made it a 1-0 game, and after striking the next hitter out, he watched as a throwing error by Yan Gomes on a stolen base attempt allowed another run to score. Instead of letting things get worse, he retired the next hitter to get out of the inning. He gave up another run in the 2nd, but then he got on a serious roll, allowing only one hit (and no walks) over the next five innings. Errors by Lonnie Chisenhall and Nick Swisher could have led to trouble, but didn't.

Bauer's night ended after the 7th inning, with him having thrown 116 pitches, allowed three runs (two earned), and struck out six, including the last two batters he faced. Those last five innings are a new high point in his career, and I have to think his popularity with Tribe fans reached a new peak tonight too.

It could have all been for naught, as a couple of his other good starts have been, because early on the offense didn't seem like it would do enough to win. Michael Brantley doubled in a run in the 1st. The Tribe left runners on second and third in the 2nd, then went down in order in the 3rd and 4th. Brantley doubled in another run in the 5th, getting the Indians to within a run. That gave Brantley his 30th multi-hit game of the season, which is the most by an Indian before the All-Star break since Grady Sizemore in 2006.

Dr. Smooth coming up big is no surprise, but Nick Swisher is a different story. Maybe he's turning into this year's Jason Giambi though, mostly hitting poorly, but coming up with timely hits (of course, last year's Jason Giambi wasn't getting paid $15 million, but that's another story). In any event, after Chisenhall led off the 6th with a single*, Swisher hit his 7th home run of the season, putting the Tribe ahead.

*Speaking of Lonnie, if he gets 4 plate appearances Wednesday night, he'll finally be qualified for the league leader boards on rate stats. He will be among the top ten in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and wRC+. Normally that would make someone an All-Star, but not in Cleveland.

Then with two outs in the 7th, Brantley homered (his team-leading 14th of the year), giving him 108 hits on the season, which is the most by an Indian before the All-Star break since Roberto Alomar in 2001, and 60 RBI, the most by an Indians before the break since Victor Martinez in 2007. After Carlos Santana singled, Tanaka was pulled, ending the worst start of his young MLB career, as the Indians become the first team to score five runs off him.

Bryan Shaw came in and pitched a 1-2-3 8th, and then Cody Allen came in and pitched a 1-2-3 9th, giving him his 10th save of the season, and putting the Indians back within a game of .500.

Win Expectancy Chart:


Source: FanGraphs

Roll Call:

Game Thread

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Indians news: Replacing Justin Masterson, Jesus Aguilar in AAA Derby

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Coming off a convincing win against the Yankees' ace, the Indians ponder how to replace their "ace" while on the DL

After a desperate, week-long failed attempt to even out my unsightly farmer's tan, I'm back to bring you some bite-sized MLB nuggets. Here's what's going on around baseball:

Yesterday's game: Indians 5, Yankees 3

Masahiro Tanaka experienced a Bauer Outage firsthand, as the young right held the Jacaksses to just two earned runs over seven strong innings. Michael Brantley and Nick Swisher went yard to put the Tribe on top.

Indians news & notes

McAllister or Salazar: who replaces Masterson? | Cleveland.com - Withe the big news yesterday of Justin Masterson (finally) being DL'd, the question now is who replaces him in the rotation. Zach McAllister and Danny Salazar are the two obvious candidates to get the call when the Tribe next needs a fifth starter this Saturday. Both pitchers have spent a major chunk of the season battling the suck in AAA.

Kipnis wasn't deked by The Captain | Indians.com - No, Derek Jeter's magical powers weren't responsible for Jason Kipnis being doubled up in Monday's game. Kip was going for the straight steal, so had his head down and was running full speed.

Is Lindor the next Castro? | It's Pronounced "Lajaway" - IPL looks at Prospect Similarity scores for some of the Tribe's top prospects. Francisco Lindor compares favorably to Cubs star SS Starlin Castro.

Aguilar to compete in AAA Home Run Derby| MiLB.com - Jesus Aguilar will be the only ranked prospect to compete in AAA Home Run Derby. The Tribe's #16 ranked prospect has slugged 12 homers in 71 games. The winner of the Derby gets an awesome, WWF-style belt.

News from around MLB

The All-Star game should be about talent, not popularity | Sports On Earth - Dirk Hayhurst decries the marketing over talent approach to the All-Star game, as best evidenced by the vote for the final spot.

The game that Ruth built | - Sports On Earth - Longform piece on the man who changed the game of baseball completely, and whose legacy lives on.

Samardzija trade has weird uniform implications | Uni Watch - Jeff Samardzija was voted onto the NL All-Star team by players, but was traded to Oakland this past weekend. That makes for an awkward situation wherein he'll be introduced with the NL team and wear a generic NL jersey.

How did Kershaw get bombed? | FanGraphs - Clayton Kershaw has been good this year. Like, insanely good. So how is it possible that a terrible Diamondbacks team exploded for what accounts for 39% of all the runs he's given up this year in just one start?

Baby Bomber Recap 7/8/14: Luis Severino whiffs eight; Peter O'Brien homers again

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Recapping the Yankees' minor league affiliates' results from July 8th.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders:L 6-11 vs. Charlotte Knights (2nd game postponed)

LF Jose Pirela 2-5
2B Rob Refsnyder 2-3, double, 2 BB, K - .900 OPS over his last 10 games
SS Yangervis Solarte 2-5, RBI, K - batting .615 since demotion
CF Zoilo Almonte 3-5, triple, 2 RBI, K
1B Kyle Roller 1-4, double, RBI, K
3B Adonis Garcia 0-3, RBI, E5 - throwing error, third of the season
C John Ryan Murphy 0-4, K - batting .205 w/ SWB
DH Corban Joseph 2-4
RF Taylor Dugas 2-4

Nik Turley 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K - 39 of 76 pitches for strikes
Pat Venditte 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
Edgmer Escalona 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Diego Moreno 1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, K
Danny Burawa 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB

Double-A Trenton Thunder:W 6-5 vs. Reading Fightin Phils

DH Mason Williams 0-3, BB
CF Ben Gamel 2-5, double, RBI, K, SB, OF assist - batting .285 this season
C Gary Sanchez 1-4, K
1B Peter O'Brien 2-4, double, HR, RBI - 18th Double-A homer
3B Rob Segedin 1-3, BB, K, E5 - throwing error, ninth of the season
RF Zach Wilson 2-4, double, 3 RBI
LF Casey Stevenson 0-3, RBI
2B Dan Fiorito 0-4, K
SS Ali Castillo 1-3, double, K, SB, HBP

Taylor Garrison 2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K - 24 of 35 pitches for strikes
Jaron Long 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, hit batsman
Tyler Webb 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB

High-A Tampa Yankees:L 2-3 vs. Clearwater Threshers

CF Jake Cave 2-4, HR, RBI - third homer of the season
SS Cito Culver 0-4, K
1B Greg Bird 0-3, BB
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 1-3, BB, K
DH Matt Snyder 1-4, double, RBI - batting .267 this season
RF Aaron Judge 0-4, OF assist
2B Angelo Gumbs 0-3, 2 K
LF Yeicok Calderon 1-3, K
C Trent Garrison 1-3, passed ball

Luis Severino 4 IP, 4 H, 1 R/0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, E1 - 4 GO/1 AO
Chris Smith 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 WP
Kyle Haynes 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Nick Rumbelow 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs:W 4-3 vs. Greenville Drive

RF Michael O'Neill 1-3, HR, RBI, BB, SB - ninth homer of the season
SS Tyler Wade 2-4, 2 K, CS
CF Dustin Fowler 0-4, K
3B Miguel Andujar 1-4, double, RBI, K
DH Jackson Valera 2-4
1B Mike Ford 1-3, BB, E3 - fielding error, sixth of the season
C Kale Sumner 1-3, HR, RBI, BB, K - third homer of the season
LF John Murphy 1-4, K, SB, E7 - fielding error, ninth of the season
2B Gosuke Katoh 1-3, BB, K

Caleb Smith 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R/0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, hit batsman - 51 of 78 pitches for strikes
Jacob Lindgren 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, WP
Angel Rincon 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB

Short Season-A Staten Island Yankees:L 2-9 vs. Aberdeen IronBirds

CF Devyn Bolasky 2-5, double, K, SB - batting .328
SS Jose Javier 1-2, 3 BB
DH Chris Breen 1-3, 2 BB, K - batting .286
C Luis Torrens 2-5, K - batting .361
1B Connor Spencer 0-4, RBI, 2 K
3B Brady Steiger 1-4, BB, K
LF Nathan Mikolas 0-4, 3 K
RF Daniel Lopez 2-4
2B Jake Anderson 0-4, K

Jordan Cote 4 IP, 7 H, 4 R/3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, WP, E1 - 5 GO/2 AO
Tim Giel 2.2 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, K, WP, pickoff
Joe Harvey 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Andury Acevedo 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Gulf Coast Yankees 1:L 1-2 vs. GCL Pirates

SS Bryan Cuevas 0-3, BB
3B Eric Jagielo 0-2, BB
CF Leonardo Molina 1-4
RF Alexander Palma 0-4
1B Drew Bridges 0-3, RBI, BB, E3 - throwing error, second of the season
C Alvaro Noriega 1-2, double
2B Dalton Smith 0-4
DH Griffin Gordon 0-4, K
LF Dominic Jose 0-1, 2 BB

Austin DeCarr 1.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K - 2 GO/0 AO
Simon De la Rosa 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, hit batsman
Deshorn Lake 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
Matt Marsh 0.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Dayton Dawe 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Gulf Coast Yankees 2:L 1-17 vs. GCL Tigers (second game suspended for rain)

2B Junior Valera 2-4, 2 doubles, RBI, E4 - fielding error, first of the season
LF Frank Frias 0-2, 2 K
SS Angel Aguilar 0-2, K
3B Allen Valerio 1-3, E5 - fielding error, fifth of the season
1B Bo Thompson 0-2, BB
C Jesus Aparicio 1-3, K, passed ball
DH Jake Hernandez 1-2, double, BB
RF Jose Augusto Figueroa 0-3, 2 K
CF Jordan Barnes 1-2, K, HBP

Jordan Montgomery 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB
Derek Callahan 1.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R/0 ER, 1 BB
Nestor Cortes 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, K
Lee Casas 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, WP
Mike Noteware 2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Alex Polanco 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, BB, K

Poll
Who was the best Baby Bomber for July 8th?

  191 votes |Results

Yankees Trade Rumors: Cole Hamels cannot stop a trade to New York

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This is a very good thing

The Yankees have already acquired a new pitcher in Brandon McCarthy, but with an unproven option like Shane Greene in the rotation, it's not crazy to think that Brian Cashman is still looking for a way to add another starter. The Phillies are expected to be sellers at the deadline, and while Cliff Lee and A.J. Burnett are more likely to be dealt, the Yankees could target Cole Hamels in a potential deal.

Hamels still has $90 million owed to him over the next four years, so the Phillies really don't have a reason to trade him just yet, but if he were suddenly put on the market, the Yankees would have at least one advantage working for them. The lefty ace has a 20-team no-trade clause and it appears that the Yankees are not on it:

If we go through these nine teams, it's unlikely that the Red Sox, Rangers or Padres will look to acquire him this year as all three are likely out of contention for the 2014 season. If, and that's still a very big IF, the Phillies do put him on the trading block, the Yankees only have to compete with five other teams, and while most of them could offer better prospects, New York can eat more money off his contract. I would trade any prospect the Yankees currently had in their system if it got them a 30-year-old Cole Hamels. Imagine a rotation of Tanaka, Hamels, Kuroda, Pineda, whoever. Keep in mind, though, that he'll more than likely stay in Philadelphia for a little while longer.

Yankees Trade Deadline: An inventory of trade chips

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We're talking about trading prospects here, be warned

If the Yankees are going to substantially improve their roster this season they're going to have to trade some of their prospects. I know, the team needs to get younger, blah blah blah, but also they need to get better and not every deal is going to be for Vidal Nuno. If the Yankees trade some of their youngsters, it'll be ok; there are always more.

When trying to evaluate what pieces the Yankees have, you should probably know that the Yankees don't really have any blue chip prospects at their disposal. They have four legitimate pieces in their system that teams looking to rebuild should be asking about, but everything else is just supporting cast.

Gary Sanchez might have been a blue chip at some point, but he hasn't lifted off as a can't-miss prospect and has fallen in his prospect ranking every year. Because of this, you can probably give up on the idea of acquiring David Price or anyone of that caliber, but many organizations would still like a chance at a catcher who can hit for power.

John Ryan Murphy is probably their best major league-ready prospect at the moment. A team like the Chicago White Sox, looking for some young upside behind the plate could make Murphy their No. 1 priority thanks to the indication that he's incredibly advanced with the glove at this point in his career. He's not exactly hitting well in Triple-A at the moment, but he showed he wasn't completely useless with a bat in the majors. If someone thinks they can build around him he might net a decent return.

Luis Severino might be the organization's top prospect at this point given his status as a top 50 prospect according to both Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America. He's very young for his level, but if the Yankees believe his delivery will ultimately push him to the bullpen, it might be a good idea to trade him while his value is on the rise.

Rob Refsnyder has been very exciting to follow over the last two seasons, however, in that time he hasn't gotten a ton of attention as far as prospect rankings are concerned. There are still serious doubts about his defense and that will ultimately determine the value of his bat. If a team believes he's for real or they can give him the time he needs, Brian Cashman could ride the hype Refsnyder is currently getting all the way toward a very solid return.

The organization has other tie-in pieces that could sway an organization to take a deal. Peter O`Brien has hit 28 home runs this season, but he really doesn't offer a whole lot more than that. Maybe Cashman can sell someone on his amazing power in order to get a piece that is more likely to help the big league club. Rafael De Paula is an intriguing pitcher who can strike batters out but has not had a lot of success since graduating to High-A Tampa. Many believe he'll end up as a reliever, but it would be smart to deal him before that determination is made. Once promising prospects like Mason Williams and Tyler Austin could be easy change-of-scenery candidates and a team might be interested in taking one and hoping they can turn him around.

The organization really doesn't have any prospects I wouldn't trade in the right deal. There are no must-keeps here, and with prospects being so overly valued right now, as we've seen with the Jeff Samardzija trade, it gives the Yankees a lot to work with. Sure, there are prospects I would like them not to trade: namely Aaron Judge and Luis Severino because they have the potential to blossom into more useful pieces in the future, as well as Greg Bird and Rob Refsnyder because I've really enjoyed following their careers to this point. After the crushing blow that was dealt to my heart when the Yankees traded away Jesus Montero a few years ago, I don't think I'll ever allow myself to get that caught up with a prospect again. Not only was Montero traded, but he completely failed afterwards. It taught me a valuable lesson–prospects break hearts–and I won't be done in like that again, no one should.

Do what you have to Yankees, make the team better if you can or hold firm if you can't, just do something smart. If you need to trade any of the prospects I've grown to love, I'll understand, unless it's a bad deal.

Daily Yankees Predictions 7/9/14: McCarthy's Debut

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Yesterday, while the offense performed to standard, Tanaka did not perform to his standard. Today, Brandon McCarthy makes his debut for the Yankees in game three of this four game series against the Indians.

It was bound to happen. Masahiro Tanaka is still human. He did not pitch that well, for him. On the other hand, the offense did little to back him up after the 2nd inning.

7/8/14 Daily Prediction Answers

1.How many innings does the opposing starter pitch?7
2.How many relievers does the opposing team use today?2
3.Combined number of hits given up by both starting pitchers14
4.Total number of walks from the Yankees 1, 2, & 3 batters only1
5.Total number of RBIs from the Yankees 4, 5, & 6 batters only1
6.Total number of hits from the Yankees 7, 8, & 9 batters only1
7.Name one Yankee you think will hit a home run tonight.No One
8.Best overall Yankee of the night?Ellsbury

No winners. No winners at all, although Blanky came close to a back to back victory. However, she tied with ASR with 2,000 points each. Best of luck today!

7/9/14 Daily Predictions & Fun Questions

1.How many innings does the opposing starter pitch?
2.How many relievers does the opposing team use today?
3.Combined number of hits given up by both starting pitchers
4.Total number of walks from the Yankees 1, 2, & 3 batters only
5.Total number of RBIs from the Yankees 4, 5, & 6 batters only
6.Total number of hits from the Yankees 7, 8, & 9 batters only
7.Name one Yankee you think will hit a home run tonight.
8.Best overall Yankee of the night?

Fill in the Blank: Man, I cannot wait for the new season of ____________ to come on TV

What profession/job could you never see yourself doing?

Favorite type of apple?

Best cereal cartoon mascot?

Brandon McCarthy will make his debut against the Indians tonight. It will be interesting to see how he performs. If he does not perform well, expect the fanbase to call for Cashman's head. They probably will if he succeeds as well. Show up, offense.

Let's Go Yankees


Pinstripe Alley Podcast Episode 55: Independence Day weekend goodbyes and hellos

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There was a bit of a roster shake-up over the weekend as some familiar faces from the first half departed. What can we make of the new guys?

Unsatisfied with the Yankees' product on the field, general manager/ninja Brian Cashman tinkered with the roster. Out are Alfonso Soriano, Vidal Nuno, and Yangervis Solarte. In are Brandon McCarthy and Zelous Wheeler. The All-Star Break will be a relief for the team.

[0:19] A farewell to the dearly departed...
[1:42] Cashman somehow acquired Brandon McCarthy for Vidal Nuno. Wat.
[6:01] Seeya later, Yangervis Solarte...
[7:36] Why should we be optimistic about McCarthy despite his ugly ERA?
[9:57] Some thoughts on the A's acquiring ALL THE PITCHING
[12:35] CC Sabathia's degenerative knee depresses us all
[18:13] Post-mortem on Alfonso Soriano, whose career might very well be over after his DFA
[22:07] Will Rob Refsnyder or Jose Pirela take Soriano's roster spot sometime soon?
[24:47] Will Michael Pineda ever come back?
[26:13] #HotTakes on the announced All-Stars
[30:27] Tweetbag:

[52:45] Matt Ferenchick Play Index Funtime: Worst Game Scores in Yankees history
[58:36] Yankee/Mitre of the Week

Podcast link (Length: 1:08:11)

iTunes link

RSS feed

Yankees could promote Rob Refsnyder to play outfield

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The second baseman might find his way into the majors as the Yankees' fourth outfielder.

The Yankees' outfield choices have dwindled quite a bit recently. First, Carlos Beltran was shut down from throwing, due to tightness in his right forearm, making him available only in a DH role. Then Alfonso Soriano was designated for assignment, leaving Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki as the entirety of the outfield. The number one backup plan at the moment is Kelly Johnson, because he can play all the positions. He actually has played about 1000 innings in outfield between his time with the Braves and the Rays, so he would be okay in a jam. In fact, Joe Girardi said that if Gardner had been thrown out of last night's game, he would have moved Johnson to the outfield. If they were really grasping at straws, Zelous Wheeler has played about 16 innings in the outfield. Still, Johnson and Wheeler are probably of better use in the infield (Wheeler at third, and Johnson backing up almost the entire infield), which means that the Yankees will need an extra outfielder at some point soon. You know who happens to have outfield experience?

None other than Rob Refsnyder. He was actually drafted as a right fielder out of the University of Arizona. Refsnyder even spent his 2012 season in Charleston playing right field before moving to second base. Since the Yankees seem dead set on keeping Brian Roberts at second base, this could be the way that Refsnyder finds his way into the majors. GM Brian Cashman has sent word to Triple-A, telling them to have Refsnyder start playing in the outfield. Although he commented that he wasn't "presently looking to call him up," Cashman did say that if he was called up, it would likely be to play outfield. After last season, we know what happens when Ichiro has to play everyday, and it would be wise for the Yankees to avoid wearing him out. The team could also really use a boost offensively, and Refsnyder could provide that. He's batting .312/.439/.548 with 5 home runs through 27 games since being promoted to Triple-A. There is, however, some question as to whether having him switch to playing outfield all of a sudden could be detrimental to his development. Would his bat be potentially worth it, or should the Yankees trade for an outfielder?

Masahiro Tanaka flying to New York for MRI on his right arm

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Please no...

George King III of the New York Post reports that Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka is flying back to New York to undergo an MRI on his right arm. In a season that has seen an army of pitchers forced to go under Dr. James Andrews' knife for Tommy John surgery, there is nothing to do at this point but hold our collective breaths. Tanaka is pretty much the only reason why the Yankees are remotely in contention at this point and losing him would be a huge nail in the coffin of this season.

We'll have more once more information is available. Until then, I will be over here weeping uncontrollably.

Purple Dinosaur Podcast Ep. 17: The best we're ever going to be

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On Episode No. 17 (the Todd Helton Memorial Edition) of the Purple Dinosaur Podcast, the guys talk prospects with Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus, plus Dick Monfort's tact with fans, Tulo trade rumors, and much more.

Alright folks, we're going to lay this out for you straight away. This is probably the best you're ever going to get from the Purple Dinosaur Podcast.

Jason Parks from Baseball Prospectus joins Tyler and Anthony for the Todd Helton Memorial Edition of the podcast. We'll talk Jon Gray, Eddie Butler, Tyler Matzek, Raimel Tapia, David Dahl's dashing good looks, and much, much more. Seriously. Parks is so much more awesome than any of us will ever be. Tune in just for him.

Plus, it's been a rather insane couple of weeks around these baseball parts. We discuss Dick Monfort's candid interviews and saltiness with fans, Tulo trade rumors (he's not going to the Yankees), and a whole lot of other stuff that inspires us to yell and be angry.

Popular Sports Internet Radio with Purple Dinosaur Podcast on BlogTalkRadio

Yankees lineup vs. Indians: Brett Gardner out with abdominal strain

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Brandon McCarthy's debut with the Yankees is hard to get excited for now that we're all waiting to hear about Masahiro Tanaka.

The Yankees have called up Zoilo Almonte to fill out an outfield that has been one man short since Alfonso Soriano was designated for assignment. Zoilo is in tonight's lineup, but no roster move has been made yet. It's been said that the Yankees are currently waiting to hear about Tanaka's MRI results before they make a roster move.

Tonight's lineup has Jacoby Ellsbury leading off with Brian Roberts batting second and Brian McCannt following. Mark Teixeira is at cleanup, Carlos Beltran is the DH, and Ichiro Suzuki is in right field. The lineup is rounded out with Almonte in right, Zelous Wheeler at third, and Brendan Ryan at short.

Brett Gardner is out of the lineup with what was originally believed to be a hernia, but was diagnosed as only an abdominal strain. He hopes to play tomorrow, but I guess we'll see.

Update

Just... why, baseball?

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