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Top 10 craziest game endings in Yankees history

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Sunday afternoon's game strangely ended on a wild pitch. What other games in Yankees history have ended in such a unusual way?

The Yankees salvaged the final game of the series against the Red Sox on Sunday, but a huge reason for their rebound from Mariano Rivera's crushing blown save was reliever Brandon Workman's wildness. With Ichiro Suzuki on third base, he threw one over catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia's head, affording Ichiro with plenty of time to scamper home from third base. (Ichiro later dropped this gem about how easy it was to score that run: "Anyone could make that read, once it got by him. Suzyn [Waldman] could have made it.")

It was the Yankees' first walk-off wild pitch in 36 years, and the bizarre conclusion prompted thoughts about other similarly strange ways of winning a game. Here's the criteria I used to generate this top 10 list:

1) This list is only looking at Yankee wins.

2) The play must have been in the final at-bat of the game. This rule thus excludes weird things to prolong a game, like Mickey Owen's dropped third strike in the '41 World Series, and weirdness in the top of a late inning like this go-ahead balk, but the focus is on the final play. (Disappointingly, the Yankees have never had a balk-off win.)

3) With one exception, none of the plays listed are hits or walks since those plays are typically not that strange. Sure, it was shocking when Jason Giambi hit a come-from-behind walk-off grand slam or the likes of Bubba Crosby hit walk-off homers, but homers themselves aren't really strange.

With the formalities out of the way, here are the 10 craziest endings to a game in Yankees history:

10 (tie). Berra and Hayes get reprieves
9/28/1951 vs. Boston Red Sox and
World Seres Game 6, 10/26/1996 vs. Atlanta Braves

These plays deserve to both be on the list, and they were very alike in tense circumstances, so they both make the list. I put them last because the true weirdness was not the final pitch of the game, but they are both quite worthy.

Near the end of the championship '51 season, Yankees starter Allie Reynolds was working on his second no-hitter of the season. No other Yankee has even thrown two no-hitters overall, and "Superchief" threw his two no-nos in one season. I've written about this game before, so here's an excerpt detailing the hectic final at-bat against Hall of Famer Ted Williams:

Reynolds pitched, and Williams swung. The ball went straight up in the air, behind the plate. He was going to do it! He approached the ball, but his sure-handed catcher Berra moved over a few steps to get it. Yogi got under it, waited... and completely muffed it. The ball bounced off the top of his glove as he closed his mitt a millisecond too early. Williams had new life, and Berra felt awful. When asked if he was upset about the missed opportunity, Reynolds dismissed this idea, saying, "No. I was just afraid I had stepped on Yogi's hand. I asked him and he said I didn't. I saw the wind blowing the ball toward the field." Reynolds was daring enough to throw the exact same pitch to Williams since he had just popped it up. Unbelievably, the .344/.482/.634 lifetime hitter popped it up again to Berra behind the plate. This time, Yogi made sure he didn't miss the opportunity. He caught it for the third out, and Reynolds had his second no-hitter of the '51 season.

A little over 45 years later, another narrow miss on a pop-up carried even greater importance. The 1996 Yankees recovered from an 0-2 deficit against the defending champion Braves by winning three games in a row on the road and they carried a 3-1 lead into the ninth inning of Game 6 at Yankee Stadium. Closer John Wetteland got two outs, but in the process, he gave up a run, put the tying run in scoring position, and allowed the go-ahead run to get on base. The pesky homestar runner Mark Lemke was at bat, but Wetteland got him to pop up on a full count.

The ball slowly moved in the air toward the Braves dugout near third base, and defensive replacement Charlie Hayes approached it. A Braves player was sitting on the top step and didn't move as Hayes neared the pop-up. Unfortunately, it was barely out of his reach as it fell into the Braves dugout and Hayes tumbled into the visitors' dugout as well. Interference could have been called on the pop-up, but it was not and the at-bat continued. Wetteland then got Lemke to pop-up a near-identical pitch toward the third base side again. This time, it stayed in play without a problem, and Hayes caught it to clinch the Yankees' 23rd World Series title, their first in 18 years.

(9/28/51 box score) ('96 WS Game 6 box score)

9. Chambliss wins the pennant, crowd storms field
ALCS Game 5, 10/14/1976 vs. Kansas City Royals

The only homer that makes the list is Chris Chambliss's unforgettable walk-off homer to end the 1976 ALCS. It gets docked a little for just being a home run, but the insane crowd storming the field gives it extra credit. Although fans frequently stormed the field in huge celebrations back then, this was perhaps the most chaotic scene in playoff history.

The '76 ALCS was a fantastic and intense playoff series, one of the all-time classics. The best-of-five series went the distance, and it appeared as though the Yankees would wrap up Game 5 with a 6-3 victory. Hall of Famer George Brett had other ideas and tied it up off reliever Grant Jackson in the eighth inning with a dramatic three-run homer. In the bottom of the ninth, the Royals brought asked reliever Mark Littell to get them through another inning and extend the game to extra frames. The bullpen ace had only given up one home run in the past 14 months, and none since early July. Nonetheless, Chambliss was hitting .500 in the series with two homers, and he drove the first pitch over the right-center field wall. The Yankees were off to their first Fall Classic in 12 years. Fans were... excited.

Chambliss could not even round the bases and he had to barrel over fans with his teammates' help to reach the safety of the dugout. Later, he returned to the field with cops to step on the area where home plate had been to make the game-winner official. Howard Cosell said it best, "What a way for the American League season to end!"

('76 ALCS Game 5 box score)

8. Izturis throws one away, Yankees take 2-0 ALCS lead
ALCS Game 2, 10/17/2009 vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

The 2009 Yankees romped to the AL East title and swept away the Minnesota Twins in the Division Series. To reach the World Series, they had to conquer perhaps their greatest playoff rival of the decade, the Angels. No AL team played better against the Yankees during the 2000s, as the Angels were 50-41 against them and eliminated the Yankees in the ALDS both in 2002 and 2005. CC Sabathia threw eight innings of one-run ball to take the ALCS opener at Yankee Stadium, setting the stage for a superb Game 2.

The Yankees took a 2-0 lead off Joe Saunders thanks to an RBI triple by Robinson Cano and a solo homer by Derek Jeter, but the Angels tied it up when A.J. Burnett got a little wild in the fifth inning. Both pitching staffs threw scoreless ball over the next five innings until the Angels scratched out a run in the 11th off Alfredo Aceves on a walk, a bunt, and a go-ahead single to left by Chone Figgins. Angels closer Brian Fuentes entered the game in an attempt to steal home-field advantage away from the Yankees with the series shifting to Anaheim for Game 3, but the first batter he faced was a red-hot Alex Rodriguez.

A-Rod was the star of the Division Series against the Twins; he tied up Game 2 in the bottom of the ninth on a two-run homer off shutdown reliever Joe Nathan and he tied up Game 3 in the top of the seventh with a solo homer against estranged former teammate Carl Pavano. Fuentes led the league in saves in '09 with 48, but A-Rod was undeterred, even after falling behind 0-2. He laced a high pitch toward the opposite field and the short porch in right for his third game-tying homer of the playoffs. Fuentes recovered to retire the next three hitters, and the game continued.

Angels starter Ervin Santana was in the game for his second inning by the 13th. He gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston Jr., a midseason acquisition to fortify the bench. Brett Gardner bunted him to second base, and the Angels elected to intentionally walk Cano to face Melky Cabrera, who had walked off a few games already in 2009. On the first pitch he saw though, he dribbled a grounder toward the right side near Cesar Izturis. The second baseman got to it, and instead of taking the easy out at first base, he decided to try for a tricky inning-ending double play.

Well that didn't work. Izturis's throw missed shortstop Erick Aybar and sailed into left field, allowing Hairston to score with the game-winning run. It was a walk-off E4 for the Yankees (not the first for them in 2009), and it gave them a 2-0 lead in the series. They of course went on to win the ALCS in six games and then won the World Series for their 27th title. This walk-off error needed to be on this list, but it is not very high since it was a tough play. Regardless, thanks again for trying, Cesar!

('09 ALCS Game 2 box score)

7. Molina an easy target to take one for the team
7/19/2008 vs. Oakland Athletics

Now we're getting into real oddities. The Yankees were in the middle of a weird season, their first with new manager Joe Girardi following longtime skipper Joe Torre's departure after the '07 campaign. More importantly, their team was ravaged by injuries to the ace battery of Chien-Ming Wang and Jorge Posada and ineffectiveness from their widely-hyped "Big Three" pitching prospects Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy. Only Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte made more starts than Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson. Is it any wonder that this team was the first Yankee squad in 15 years to miss the playoffs? (Although under the new playoff system, they actually would have been the second Wild Card. Take a lap, 2008 American League.)

In mid-July though, they were still in contention, and they opened the second half after the All-Star Break with a three-game series against the A's. Mussina won the first game, 7-1, and the second game was tied at two in the ninth inning. With a save now impossible at home, Mariano Rivera entered the game for the Yankees. Mo was in the middle of arguably his greatest season as a closer, a 4.3 rWAR gem with a microscopic 1.40 ERA and 32 ERA-. He had only given up five runs in the first half.

However, number nine hitter Jack Hannahan blooped a base hit to left to lead off the ninth against Mo. Rajai Davis pinch-ran for Hannahan and stole second on the sore-armed Posada, whose season ended after this game. Leadoff hitter Ryan Sweeney gave the A's the lead with a grounder through the left side for a single, scoring Davis. Sweeney stole second, but Rivera struck out the side to end the inning. The Yankees got him off the hook with a rally of their own off Oakland closer Huston Street. A leadoff walk to Jason Giambi was erased when pinch-runner Justin Christian got caught stealing, and Posada grounded out to push the Yankees to the brink of a loss. Cano lined a double to left, and down to their last strike, infielder Wilson Betemit amazingly singled to left to tie it up. (Yes, I am as shocked as you are that Betemit ever did anything worth a damn for the Yankees aside from becoming cannon fodder for Nick Swisher.)

Street got out of the inning and both teams squandered extra inning scoring opportunities until the home half of the 12th inning. Lenny DiNardo was in for his second inning of relief, and he gave up a leadoff single to Jeter. Bobby Abreu hit a swinging bunt in front of the plate that moved Jeter to second while he was thrown out at first. Manager Bob Geren ordered an intentional walk of A-Rod, but DiNardo caused more problems by walking "Yankee Mayfly" Richie Sexson to load the bases for backup catcher Jose Molina. The pudgy catcher entered the game for Posada in the 10th inning and shortly thereafter blew an opportunity to win the game with a runner in scoring position. He fell behind 1-2, but DiNardo bailed him out and ended the day in brilliant fashion on a botched cutter:

It was the Yankees' first walk-off hit by pitch in 43 years, almost exactly to the day. The plunk gave rookie reliever David Robertson his first career win; he later said "I hate to say it, but I'm glad he got hit."

(7/19/08 box score)

6. Walk-off passed ball; thanks, Avila!
4/27/2012 vs. Detroit Tigers

There's not much to say about this game other than that the ending might never have been equaled in franchise history. The Tigers and Yankees played a shootout in April of last year that did not feature much quality pitching. Neither Ivan Nova or defending MVP Justin Verlander were sharp on this night, but despite homer from A-Rod and Russell Martin, the Tigers had a 6-5 lead in the eighth inning. Back-to-back singles by A-Rod and Cano off setup man Joaquin Benoit allowed Mark Teixeira to tie the game up with a sacrifice fly to score A-Rod, who went first-to-third on Cano's single.

Mo pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, and the Tigers brought in reliever Brayan Villarreal. With one out, Jeter walked, and Villarreal wildly threw ball four to Curtis Granderson, allowing Jeter to move to third on Grandy's walk. With A-Rod up, the count moved to 2-0, and Villarreal threw a fastball that bounced off catcher Alex Avila's glove and moved toward the Yankees' dugout along the first base side:

Jeter crossed home plate with the winning run, and the Yankees won via a walk-off passed ball. MLB.com writer Bryan Hoch reported that the Yankees had not won a game like that in at least 50 years; no one came forward with any other walk-off passed balls in Yankees history, so this game could be the only one to end on such a mistake. Huzzah!

(4/27/12 box score)

***

I'll be back tomorrow with the five most bizarro finishes in Yankees history. It will be worth the wait, I assure you. If you have any guesses to the top five or thoughts on other crazy endings, leave them in the comments!

More from Pinstriped Bible:


Yankees on the verge of record radio deal with WFAN

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The New York Yankees are closing in on a record contract that would make WFAN their radio home for the next decade, a source has told Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News:

"It looks like this will happen," the source said. "It’s 80% done and could get finished this week."

The deal is reportedly worth $15-$20 million over 10 seasons, which would give the Yanks more radio money than any other team in baseball. (Like they needed more money to play with...)

The Yankees are in the market for a new radio deal because their contract with WCBS-AM expires at the end of this year. Other radio big shots like Clear Channel and ESPN also expressed interest in acquiring the club's rights, but it appears as though New York will stick with CBS.

WFAN, which is owned by CBS, has been the radio home of the New York Mets for more than four decades. If the Yankees are able to seal their deal with the station in the coming weeks, the Mets will have to find a new bandwidth willing to broadcast their games. Perhaps Clear Channel or ESPN will take them on.

No decision has been made about whether John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman, the Bombers' current booth duo, will make the move over to WFAN with the team. The Yankees have typically retained the rights approve radio and TV commentators in the past, per Raissman, so they'll likely have the final say in the matter.

More from SB Nation MLB:

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Pirates clinch first winning season since 1992

Jorge De La Rosa and Cy Young consideration

Bryce Harper's MRI shows no damage

Koji Uehara's hidden perfect game

Michael Kay doesn't know what he's talking about

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Michael Kay often doesn't know what he's talking about. He's not a complete idiot like Hawk is, but he often misses very important things. I'd like to think that he just gets confused.

He's previously argued with David Cone that pitchers do pitch to the score, while Cone, an ex-big league pitcher, says that the notion is completely false. Kay persisted and looked like a fool. Last night, while discussing the Baltimore Orioles' defense, he said something that made me want to pull my hair out:

Wow. In case he's reading this right now–hey, maybe Coney comes across this–let's break this down: Fielding percentage is based directly on the amount of errors a player makes. It's literally a percentage of how many plays a fielder successfully makes. Can't get much simpler than that.

But seriously, Coney, I hope you're reading this and I hope you inform him...and I hope you follow me on Twitter one day.

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Yankees @ Orioles lineups and game preview for September 10, 2013

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Right-handed pitcher Ivan Nova is pitching for the Yankees tonight, which means Danny Valencia and Mike Morse are being given the night off. Henry Urrutia is making a rare appearance and Nate McLouth is back in left field where he belongs. Here is the complete lineup:

Nick Markakis - LF
Manny Machado - 3B
Chris Davis - 1B
Adam Jones - CF
Matt Wieters - C
Nate McLouth - LF
J.J. Hardy - SS
Brian Roberts - 2B
Henry Urrutia - DH

Nova has faced the Orioles three times this season and twice he has pitched a complete game. Seriously. He has twice as many complete games against the Orioles as the Orioles have against everyone. In the third game the Orioles knocked starter David Phelps out in in the third inning and Nova came in and pitched the rest of the game with two runs allowed. So what I'm saying is Nova is pretty good against the Orioles.

Miguel Gonzalez is starting for the Orioles and the last time he started against the Yankees I went on about what a good pitcher he is against the Yankees. He then gave up seven runs in four innings. I don't believe in jinxes, but I'm not gonna talk about how good he is against them this time. He did have a nice start against the White Sox last week.

Here is the lineup for the Yankees tonight:

Brett Gardner - CF
Alex Rodriguez - 3B
Robinson Cano - 2B
Alfonso Soriano - LF
Curtis Granderson - DH
Mark Reynolds - 1B
Ichiro Suzuki - RF
Eduardo Nunez - SS
Chris Stewart - C

Top 10 craziest game endings in Yankees history (Part 2, #1-5)

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Continuing yesterday's list, here are the top five craziest game endings in Yankees history. Before number five though, an honorable mention must be made:

Honorable mention: Senators fans can't bear to see team go
9/30/1971 at Washington Senators

As noted by site member bluecheese999 in the comments for the the 10th-6th ranked game endings, this game was absolutely nuts. I did not think of it, since I did not remember that the Yankees played in this game, but it deserves mention. It was the Washington Senators' final game in D.C. after 72 seasons of baseball. The initial American League Senators of the Walter Johnson era had moved to Minneapolis to become the Twins after the 1960 season, but MLB immediately granted D.C. an expansion franchise so that baseball would not leave the nation's capital. The new iteration of the Senators was just as bad as its predecessor though, and with attendance at RFK Stadium plummeting, owner Bob Short agreed to move the team to Texas, where they would become the Rangers.

Senators fans were understandably pissed. During the team's final game, the Ted Williams-managed Senators were beating the Yankees, 7-5 despite homers from Bobby Murcer, Roy White, and Rusty Torres off starter Dick Bosman. It appeared that one last homer from beloved slugger Frank Howard and a two-run rally against Yankees reliever Jack Aker would give the Senators a victory in their final game, but the fans were uninterested. After Murcer bounced one back to Joe Grzenda for the second out in the ninth, fans stormed the field. Here's a Washington Postarticle with more:

They ran the bases and stole home, tore out tufts of grass, grabbed the ball boys' folding chair and pinched dirt for their jacket pockets.

When first base was lifted and carried away, you could tell it was all over. And so, the final irony: the fans lost the game for the Senators, who had to forfeit their last contest here to the Yankees.

No one on the field cared, nor did those fans who watched smilingly from their seats. The huge banks of lights dimmed out one by one. Police started herding the crowd back into the stands. Three men were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

Two groundskeepers lifted their shovels under police guard to dig up the pitching rubber. Four other officers stood over home plate. One of them said, "They just told us to guard home playte." He didn't say for what.

Halfheartedly motioning kids to get off the dugout for the last time, usher captain James Findley, who started working at Griffith Stadium 28 years ago "before they cracked down on the child labor laws." He was 14 at the time and remembers "Walt Masterson and DiMaggio and Mantle and Williams when he was playing." The rowdiness? "Just one of them things. Can't blame 'em on a last night. They're sad. I'm sad. This is my life."

Thank God the Yankees have never left New York. That scene was undoubtedly depressing. Washington would not get another baseball team for 34 years.

Even though I might have put this game on the list if I didn't forget about it, I am okay with it not being on the list since it's much more Washington baseball history than Yankees history. The Yankees shouldn't have even won it anyway. Pour one out for all those Washington fans who died between 1972-2004 who never got to see baseball in Washington ever again.

(9/30/71 box score)

5. Palmer can't handle easy bunt, Yankees tie ALDS
ALDS Game 2, 10/2/1996 vs. Texas Rangers

Before the '96 Yankees could even get to the moment when Hayes won the World Series, they needed to win the pennant. They captured the AL East title and played the Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. The homer-happy Rangers won the AL West to secure the first playoff berth in the franchise's 35-year-history, and they celebrated their playoff debut by dominant Game 1. Juan Gonzalez crushed a three-run homer off David Cone in the fourth to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead and soon after, third baseman Dean Palmer drove a two-run shot of his own to make it 5-1. Starter John Burkett pitched a complete game and the Rangers won, 6-2.

The Yankees had to win the second game; otherwise, they would have been forced to win three games in a row in Texas to stay in the playoffs. Gonzalez continued to dominate the Yankees by hitting a pair of homers off Pettitte, and the Rangers took a 4-1 lead. Cecil Fielder homered off Ken Hill to cut the deficit to two, and later in the game, the Yankees tied it off the Rangers' bullpen thanks to a sacrifice fly by Hayes to score Derek Jeter in the seventh and an RBI single by Fielder to bring Bernie Williams home in the eighth.

Both bullpens pitched scoreless ball for the next three innings. Brian Boehringer worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the 12th by striking out Palmer to end the threat. Future Yankee Mike Stanton returned to the mound for his third inning and immediately gave up a single to AL Rookie of the Year Jeter, then walked Tim Raines. Johnny Oates called on righty Mike Henneman to relieve Stanton, and Hayes prepared to bunt Jeter to third base.

Whoops. It was an easy sacrifice, but Palmer simply threw it away, and the Yankees won the game 5-4, their first playoff win after four losses in a row going back to the painful series in Seattle in '95. Gonzalez continued to pummel Yankees pitching with homers, as he tied a playoff with five homers in one series despite only playing four games. The Yankees survived the onslaught though, and they won both the third and fourth game in Texas to eliminate the Rangers and move on to the ALCS. They may very well have won Game 2 if Palmer made the play on the bunt anyway, but his flub sure helped.

('96 ALDS Game 2 box score)

4. Chesbro steals an extra-innings win
7/16/1904 vs. Detroit Tigers

Oh how I wish I knew more about this game. This note from Retrosheet is all I know about it:

7-16-1904 DET @ NYA - Highlanders pitcher Jack Chesbro stole home in the tenth inning to win his own game, 9-8.

I'm sorry, what? Chesbro had an all-time great season in 1904, setting an AL record with 41 wins as he utilized his spitball to pitch to a 1.82 ERA (65 ERA-) and 2.11 FIP (78 FIP-), an 8.3 WAR season by FanGraphs measures. He evidently did not have his best spitball that day at Hilltop Park against the Tigers, but his offense supported him enough to send the game to extra innings.

Chesbro was not much of a hitting, as he hit .197/.216/.267 with a 42 wRC+ in his career, but he had his best year in '04 with a .236/.253/.339 triple slash and a 76 wRC+ (not bad for a pitcher at all). He reached base in the 10th inning against the Tigers, reached third, and then stunned the crowd by stealing home, his only stolen base of the '04 season and one of just five in his 393-game career. Just imagine if this happened today--not even position players steal home to walk off a game, aside from this freak play in the 1997 ALCS.

3. Wild pitch ends amazing '27 season on a weird note
World Series Game 4, 10/8/1927 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Never before had a World Series ended with an American League team completely whitewashing the Senior Circuit in a four-game sweep, but then again, perhaps baseball had never seen a team quite like Miller Huggins's '27 Yankees. The 110-win juggernaut powered by Babe Ruth's 60 homers and Lou Gehrig's 220 OPS+ completely dominated the American League and recorded one of the highest run differentials in baseball history, an astounding +376. (For comparison's sake, the incredible '98 Yankees finished at +309.)

The '27 National League champion Pirates were a stellar team in its own right, but the '27 Yankees simply played at ungodly levels. Give the Pirates credit though--the myth of them being mystifed watching the Yankees take batting practice is overstated. All four games were tight affairs until late in the game. The Buccos managed to keep the series opener close before losing, 5-4. Game 2 was a two-run game entering the top of the eighth inning at Forbes Field, but a three-run rally off the wild combination of Vic Aldridge and Mike Cvengros gave the Yankees a 6-1 lead. The third game was the true blowout, as the Yankees won 8-1, but the score was only 2-0 entering the bottom of the seventh at Yankee Stadium. That's when the Yankees blew it open with a six-run frame powered by Ruth's 61st homer of the season, a three-run bomb off Cvengros. Hall of Famer Herb Pennock, "The Squire of Kennett Square," took a perfect game into the eighth inning and finished up with a three-hitter to push the Bucs to the brink of elimination.

In the finale, the Yankees started relief ace Wilcy Moore, who was a completely unknown 30-year-old rookie prior to the '27 season and emerged as the team's unsung hero. The two teams exchanged runs in the first inning, and it stayed tied until Ruth lifted his 62nd homer, a two-run clout in the bottom of the fifth against Pirates starter Carmen Hill. Undeterred, the Bucs did not surrender, and they tied the game at three in the seventh with a two-run rally. The game stayed knotted at three into the bottom of the ninth after Moore finished his ninth strong inning of work.

Manager Donie Bush asked Johnny Miljus to pitch his seventh scoreless inning of the series in relief to send the game to extra innings. Miljus did not bring any control to his final inning. He walked Hall of Fame center fielder Earle Combs to lead off the ninth, then allowed a bunt single to shortstop Mark Koenig, who hit an under-the-radar .500 in the series. Miljus faced Ruth and uncorked a wild pitch to move the winning run to third base. At that point, he just gave up and intentionally walked Ruth to get to Gehrig. The bases were loaded with no one out, and Miljus had to somehow get the greatest first baseman in baseball history to not bring home the run. Somehow, someway, he did it and struck Gehrig out. Next up was Bob Meusel, an intimidating offensive threat himself. Yet again, Miljus struck out the fearsome batter.

Stunningly, Miljus seemed prepared to pull a "Houdini" act and escape this inning, though he had to face Hall of Fame second baseman Tony Lazzeri. "Poosh 'em up" Tony had been the goat of the previous World Series for striking out against a hung over Grover Cleveland Alexander with the bases loaded, but he could now be the hero. However, Miljus didn't give him the chance, as he threw his second wild pitch of the inning, allowing Combs to come home with the winning run to clinch the Yankees' second World Series championship and end the '27 season on an anticlimactic note. It remains the only time in World Series history that the season ended on a Wild Pitch. Again, imagine that happening today. Oh, the fun with reaction GIFs we would have...

('27 World Series Game 4 box score)

2. Cust symbolizes the 1998-2011 Orioles in tumble
8/16/2003 at Baltimore Orioles

Imma just leave this here:

That play pretty much sums up the Orioles' streak of 14 consecutive seasons of incompetence and under-.500 baseball. The 2003 Yankees were a 101-win machine, but one of those wins was a complete gift.

The Yanks and O's played a tight game in mid-August that featured the following crazy-ass things that should just never, ever, ever happen in a baseball game:

  • Sterling Hitchock and Pat Hentgen, starting pitchers in the year 2003.
  • Deivi Cruz, designated hitter.
  • The Orioles batting out of order during the first inning, when they scored a run...
  • ...and getting away with it because Joe Torre was asleep at the wheel, allowing the run to count. Future Hall of Fame manager, everyone.
  • A multi-homer game from human paper towel roll John Flaherty.
  • A homer from whatever Jose Morban is supposed to be.
  • A Mariano Rivera save opportunity ruined by a homer from... Luis Matos?
  • A multi-homer game from human paper towel roll John Flaherty.
  • Noted slug Hideki Matsui getting picked off by John Parrish.
  • A bases loaded, one out chance to score runs for Jorge Posada and Alfonso Soriano ruined by O's reliever Hector Carrasco. Take a lap, boys.
  • A MULTI-HOMER GAME FROM HUMAN PAPER TOWEL ROLL JOHN FLAHERTY. (Seriously, Orioles? Go home, you're drunk.)

The final play of the game takes the cake though. Jason Giambi finally realized, "Well, shit, it's goddamn Hector Carrasco, I can do this myself," and he took him yard with two outs in the top of the 11th inning. The Yankees had a 5-4 lead, and the recently-reacquired, bone-chip-peddling Jeff Nelson entered the game to try to save it. He got the first two outs, then walked Hunterdon County's Jack Cust with two outs. Nelson rebounded to reach a 1-2 count on Larry Bigbie, but down to the Orioles' final strike, something else happened that should never occur in a baseball game: a Larry Bigbie extra-base hit.

Bigbie lined one toward right-center field for a double. Karim Garcia cut it off and threw in to Soriano, the cutoff man. Cust motored around the bases, then slipped between third base and home when he realized the third base coach decided to hold him. Asked for an explanation, Cust later said, "I tried to plant, but my feet just gave out. It's the grass. It's just soft." Soft grass is the reason! Make it hard as a rock, and Cust is apparently fine!

By falling, Cust was now caught in a rundown between third baseman Aaron Boone and Jorge Posada, now in the game at catcher after the two-homer Flaherty shenanigans. Although he was player worthy of Hall of Fame consideration, Posada could be a real dope on the baseball field at times. He threw to Boone during the rundown, then bizarrely ran off to the side instead of returning to home plate.

No one was covering home plate. That can partially be blamed on Nelson too, who appears to have disappeared during the plate, perhaps to his mysterious planet where his "fake to third, fake to first" move actually works for a goddamn change. Cust decided that it was wrong to win a baseball game with no catcher though, so he kindly fell again, and Boone tagged him out on the ground, Cust's tying run cut down just a few feet from home plate to a bouncing Morban's stunned dismay.

The 1998-2011 Orioles, ladies and gentlemen. May the current O's recapture that form for the rest of this season.

(8/16/03 box score)

1. "HE DROPPED THE BALL!"
6/12/2009 vs. New York Mets

Well, obviously.

Seriously, this was a thing that happened. I advise skipping ahead to the 32-second mark since that's when the SNY broadcast kicks in and Michael Kay stops screaming at you (I don't know why the graphic mentions Al Leiter and David Cone since they are not allowed to say anything amid Kay's histrionics). On the WCBS, even John Sterling was stunned enough to not do his Yankees warble for a little while.

A two-out RBI double by David Wright off Rivera allowed the Mets to take an 8-7 lead to the ninth after a tight first seven innings that featured four Yankee homers, an unimpressive 100-pitch, four-inning outing from starter Joba Chamberlain, and pitching meltdowns from ageless Mets starter Livan Hernandez and Yankees reliever Brett Tomko (World Series champion!).

Former Angels nemesis-turned-Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez entered the game to save it. This was back when K-Rod was actually a superb reliever, having just saved a record 62 games with the Angels in '08 and begun his Mets career without a blown save in two and a half months. Off the field, he was only known for being obnoxious, not for assaulting his father-in-law in the Mets' clubhouse (that would be next year's fun).

K-Rod got into trouble when Jeter grounded a one-out single up the middle to put the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate. He struck out Johnny Damon, but Jeter stole second on the play. Mets manager Jerry Manuel curiously decided to risk putting the winning run on base by intentionally walking Mark Teixeira to face a nigh-equal threat in Alex Rodriguez. In the K-Rod/A-Rod battle, the latter worked the count in his favor to 3-1, then popped up a pitch near the middle of the plate.

A-Rod threw the bat down in frustration and it seemed the game was over. Second baseman Luis Castillo settled under it, stumbled toward right field a little bit, then tried to catch the ball with one T-Rex hand. He dropped it. Running hard with two outs, both Jeter and Teixeira scored, and the Yankees won. Amazin' Avenue's Sam Page best explained this chaos with a graph:

3621453808_cbdefcc105_o_medium

I can think of no other game in Yankees history in which a loss turned to a win in such a bizarre manner. Dear sweet fancy Moses.

(6/12/09 box score)

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Yankees sign Mike Zagurski

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The New York Yankees have signed left-handed reliever Mike Zagurski to a major league contract, according to Andy McCullough of the Star Ledger. Zagurski recently opted out of his minor league deal with the Athletics in an attempt to find a major league job, and the recent struggles of the Yankees bullpen opened up a spot for him. If the Yankees make it to the playoffs, Zagurski will not be eligible for the team's postseason roster.

Zagurski, 30, allowed ten earned runs in just six innings for the Pirates at the beginning of the season, and was released by the team on June 19th. Two days later, he signed a minor league deal with the Yankees, and spent two months with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before opting out of his contract on August 15th to pursue opportunities elsewhere. He signed with the Athletics three days later, and spent a couple weeks with Triple-A Sacramento before becoming a free agent once again. In 45 appearances with the Triple-A affiliates of the Pirates, Yankees and Athletics on the season, Zagurski is 6-3 with a 3.04 ERA, 14.0 K/9, and 4.0 K/9 in 53.1 innings of work.

In parts of five major league seasons with the Phillies (2007, 2010-2011), Diamondbacks (2012), and Pirates (2013), Zagurski is the owner of a lifetime 1-0 record and 6.84 ERA in 75 innings. He spent the entire 2012 season in the majors with Arizona, and posted a 5.54 ERA In 45 appearances on the year.

In addition, sources indicate that right-hander Chris Bootcheck, who recently opted out of his minor league deal with the Yankees, is now drawing interest from multiple teams looking to add a bullpen arm for the last few weeks of the season. It is unclear if the Yankees are among them.

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Yankees injury updates: Rodriguez, Nova, Romine, Robertson, Logan

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There was a slew of injuries last night during the Yankees' win over the Orioles, because of course there was. There's updates on some of the injure bullpen arms as well.

Alex Rodriguez left last night's game with a tight hamstring after scoring from second base. He was taken out of the game in the eighth inning after sliding into home plate and immediately grabbing his left hamstring. He iced his leg after the game and said it felt good. It doesn't appear to be serious, as no tests are planned, and there's a good chance he will simply be given a DH day today.

Ivan Nova was taken out of last night's game after throwing only 79 pitches. He apparently felt tightness in his triceps, but Joe Girardi isn't overly concerned and he is expected to make his next start. He has been pitching through tripes problems for awhile now and, though he doesn't want to miss a start, he understands he might need some extra rest.

It is very likely that Austin Romine has a concussion after he took a foul ball off the face mask in last night's game. Romine went down after the foul tip, but he seemed to be talking and laughing with Steve Donahue as they tended to him. In all likelihood he probably has a minor concussion that would require a 7-day DL stint if this wasn't already September. The problem is that if the Yankees need another catcher, someone will have to get the boot because the 40-man roster has already been cleared of anyone on the 15-day disabled list.

David Robertson felt fine after his bullpen and should be available to pitch today. He hasn't pitched since September 5 after going down with shoulder fatigue.

The Yankees were forced to sign lefty Mike Zagurski as LOOGY insurance because Boone Logan hasn't been responding to treatment on his elbow. He received a cortisone shot, however the pain has persisted and his MRI results were sent to Dr. Andrews for a second opinion. It's the same pain he felt in his elbow during spring training, though he says it's now worse. Appearing in an MLB-leading 80 games in 2012 and another 60 in 2013 isn't going to make it any easier on him.

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Yankees will make the move to WFAN in 2014

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CBS Radio and the Yankees are reaching an agreement to have the Bombers broadcast their games on WFAN beginning in 2014. The deal between the Yankees and CBS, which owns WFAN, is reported to be worth $15-20 million a year for ten years, which would be the richest deal in Major League Baseball.

As you may already know, the Mets have their games aired on WFAN, and have been since the 1980s. There's only room for one team on the station, so the Mets will have to search for a new home. There are reports surfacing that the Mets and Clear Channel could work out a deal, but it remains to be seen if a deal between the two sides comes to fruition.

What does this mean for the current members of the Yankees' radio team, John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman? Well, Sterling's job appears to be safe, but it's unknown whether or not Waldman will remain with her radio partner. Sterling sticking around is... well, fine, I guess. But it'd be interesting to see who the Yankees replace Waldman with if in fact the team doesn't bring her back.

Do you think a move to WFAN is a good one for the Yankees?

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Yankees 2013 MLB Draft class in review

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The 2013 MLB Draft netted the Yankees 31 new prospects out of 40 picks and some of them impressed, while others disappointed and still others brought exactly what was expected of them. Take a look at what each of them did, though, after signing in June and July, these prospects had limited time to impress, so take the results with a grain of salt.

1st Round Pick Eric Jagielo - He was the first of the Yankees' first round haul and is probably one of the most refined college bats in the draft. While working out at the Tampa complex, Jagielo pulled a hamstring and eventually began a rehab assignment with the GCL Yankees. After four games, he joined the Staten Island Yankees and hit .266/.376/.451 with six home runs. He had a good 11.8 BB%, but also struck out 24.8% of the time. Jagielo crushed lefties, hitting .381/.500/.643 against them, but he was less impressive against righties with a .232/.339/.397 batting line. His inaugural season in pro ball easily makes him the top third base prospect in the system and next year he'll have a chance to jump up prospect lists.

1st Round Pick Aaron Judge - He held out down to the deadline in order to get as much bonus money as possible. After finally signing he reported to the Yankees' training complex in Tampa in order to prepare for an assignment on either the GCL Yankees or Staten Island, but he tweaked his quad and any chance of getting into some games were basically dashed. It's disappointing to see that he wasted the small amount of time he could have used to acclimate to pro ball, but he'll be ready to go next season.

1st Round Pick Ian Clarkin - After recovering from a sprained ankle he suffered before the draft, Clarkin finally made a cameo appearance in the Gulf Coast League and, despite the significantly small sample size, he got knocked around a bit. Between three starts and five innings, Clarkin had a 10.80 ERA, giving up six runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts. You can't really take anything from this, but it would have been nice to see something a little more positive. Hopefully a full season in 2014 will give us a better look at what he can do.

2nd Round Pick Gosuke Katoh - He was probably the biggest surprise of the 2013 draft class after an almost universal head-scratching reaction when the Yankees drafted him. In his first 215 plate appearances of pro ball, Katoh hit .310/.402/.522 with six home runs, five triples and put up a 1.019 road OPS for the GCL Yankees. He had a good 12.6 walk rate, but also had a 20.5 strikeout rate as well. Despite his good looking season totals, his offensive production started off strong with a .908 OPS in July and an .826 OPS in August. He has a great glove, but the bat is what has been questioned, so if he can hit like this next season he could find his way onto some prospect lists. That's a big if, though.

Third Round Pick Michael O'Neill - The Yankees drafted Paul O'Neill's nephew in the third round, but the right-handed outfielder doesn't have much in common with his uncle. O'Neill is supposed to be more of a light-hitting speedy outfielder and in his first season he hit .219/.282/.293 in 281 plate appearances for Staten Island. He did steal nine bases, but was also caught seven times as well. He split time between left field and center field, displaying the potential to be a Brett Gardner-like player, but he'll need to walk more (50 BB%) and strike out less (33.1 K%) if he wants to be more successful down the line.

Fourth Round Pick Tyler Wade - He was the first shortstop taken by the Yankees in 2013 and managed to impress in rookie ball by hitting .309/.429/.370 in 198 plate appearances over 46 games and earned a call up to Short Season in the last few days of the season. He had a good walk rate (16.2%) and decent strikeout rate (21.2 K%) and managed to steal 11 bases as well, but his defense wasn't his strength after he committed seven errors. He isn't expected to be a top prospect, but if this season is legitimate he could quickly find himself moving up the system.

Fifth Round Pick David Palladino - The Yankees picked a big right-hander to overpower hitters, but in 2013 that's not really what happened. In 54 innings and 15 games (12 starts), Palladino had a disappointing 4.67 ERA with a 4.3 BB/9 and 9.5 H/9, but he did also have a 8.2 K/9 and 3.85 FIP. There is promise in his ability to strike batters out and keep the ball in the park (0.7 HR/9). Opponents had a .848 OPS against him at home, while they had a .668 OPS against him on the road, so perhaps he had some bad luck on Staten Island. Regardless, the potential is there, he just needs to harness it.

Sixth Round Pick John Murphy - The second shortstop drafted by the Yankees, Murphy proved to be less successful, hitting .173/.226/.220 with one home run and two stolen bases in 37 games. He also only walked six times in 137 plate appearances. He primarily played shortstop, but did play a few games at second base as well. He was likely drafted to provide depth, but there's plenty of time for him to change his stock around.

7th Round Pick Nick Rumbelow - In 23 innings over 19 games he pitched to a 2.35 ERA and 2.81 FIP as Staten Island's closer. He collected seven saves while putting up a 4.7 H/9, 2.0 BB/9, and a 7.8 K/9, which is a little low for a closer. He also kept hitters to a .341 OPS in July and August and kept lefties to a .296 OPS, so he has the ability to keep hitter off base. If he can up his strikeout rate next season he could really start to move quickly through the system.

8th Round Pick Brandon Thomas - He proved to be the Yankees' steal of the draft, having fallen down to the eighth round because a case of mono somehow hurt his perceived value. He hit .214/.318/.337, six home runs, and nine stolen bases (caught six times) in 280 plate appearances over 66 games For Staten Island. As a switch hitter, he was stronger as a left-hander against righties (.679 OPS) against them, while he struggled against lefties (.577 OPS). He had a decent walk rate of 10.7%, but struck out at an alarming rate of 32.1%. He mostly played center field, but also played some left and only made one error all season. It would appear that for every positive, there was also a negative to go along with it. He displayed potential, but he'll have to show improvement in multiple areas if he wants to prove the Yankees right for drafting him.

9th Round Pick Conner Kendrick - The left-hander struggled with his peripheral stats in his first professional season, accumulating a 3.7 BB/9 and 5.6 K/9, leading him to a 4.15 ERA and 4.24 FIP in 43.1 innings across 13 games (eight starts). Righties OPS'd .717 against him, but he did manage to keep lefties to a .621 OPS. He's going to need to improve his walk and strikeout rates if he wants to have a future in baseball.

10th Round Draft Pick Tyler Webb - The Yankees drafted the University of South Carolina closer, hoping for him to move fast through their system. It turns out, he moved quicker than expected. After five innings in Short Season-A, Webb already had eight strikeouts and was on his way to Low-A Charleston. In 30.1 innings, the lefty had a 11.9 K/9 and a 1.8 BB/9 while keeping both righties and lefties to a sub-.300 OPS. In the 16 games he made an appearance for the RiverDogs, he pitched two innings in 10 of them and even three innings on two occasions. A dominant reliever who can go multiple innings is exactly what this organization will need in the near future. If he can keep this up next year he could find himself as high as Double-A, depending on where he starts the season.

11th Round Pick Kendall Coleman - He didn't get too much time to make an impact as an 18-year-old who only appeared in 10 games with 30 plate appearances. In that time he got time at all three outfield positions, collected four hits with one extra base hit, two walks, and managed to amass a total of 11 strikeouts for the GCL Yankees. It's hard to determine what they have in him after such a small sample size, so reserve your judgements until he plays a full season.

12th Round Pick Philip Walby - Drafted out of San Diego State, he pitched 36 innings over 14 games with an ERA of 2.75, keeping hitters down to 6.0 H/9, 0.2 HR/9, and 9.2 K/9 rates, while right-handed batters OPS'd only .516 against him. Unfortunately, he walked an incredible amount of people 7.5 batters per nine innings, to be exact, and as a result he put up a 1.50 WHIP and a 4.09 FIP. He actually uncorked 12 wild pitches, making it obvious that he was dealing with extreme control problems. We've seen struggles like this before from Dellin Betances, but he was older and further into the system than Staten Island when his control problems got out of hand. If this becomes a regular issue, Walby might not make it.

13th Round Pick Cale Coshow - The big 6' 5" 255 pound right-hander struggled with 4.9 BB/9 and 8.0 H/9 rates, however, he did have an 8.0 K/9 and 0.4 HR/9. In 40.2 innings over 15 games (four starts), Coshow had a 3.76 ERA and 3.91 FIP for Staten Island. Hopefully he will be able to use his size to his advantage in order to overpower hitters, but, as he showed in 2013, size can lead to control problems.

14th Round Pick Caleb Smith - In 47.2 innings and 13 games (nine starts) he pitched to an ERA of 1.89 with a 2.09 FIP for Staten Island. He had a good walk rate (2.8 BB/9) and strikeout rate (9.8 K/9) on the season, and while he had success in every role, he excelled as a starter. In 37 innings he had a 1.70 ERA and a 10.0 K/9 to earn a trip to Trenton for a spot start. If there's one thing he struggled at, it was against lefties, despite being a lefty. They OPS'd .714 while righties only managed to OPS .431 against him. He's had success, but he'll need to prove that he can deal with lefties before he can start to really move through the system.

15th Round Pick Jordan Barnes - He signed quickly and was able to collect 169 plate appearances across 48 games. Unfortunately, he didn't hit particularly well after hitting .200/.281/.213 and striking out 30 times. As a plus he did steal seven bases, but he was also caught a total of five times. He was drafted after impressing at a tryout and was the GCL Yankees 1 starting center fielder, so the organization clearly sees something in him. Hopefully he can show more next season. He was the first Yankees prospect we interviewed.

18th Round Pick Dustin Fowler - He hit .241/.274/.384 with eight doubles, four triples, and three stolen bases in 117 at-bats across 30 games, which shows that he has some promise as a speedy outfielder. He played all over the outfield, but mostly stayed in left field, likely due to a weak arm. He only walked four times against 23 strikeouts, so he isn't a clone of Brett Gardner just yet. Hopefully with more playing time we can get a sense of what kind of player he can be.

19th Round Pick Andy Beresford - In his first season in pro ball, he pitched to a sparkling 1.80 ERA with a 1.5 BB/9, however his other peripherals, a 9.6 H/9 and 5.7 K/9 were less desirable in 30 innings over 19 games. He had a 3.17 FIP for the season and kept opponents to a .491 OPS in August, however lefties OPS'd .720 against him for the season. While the results were decent, his abilities might be lacking, so he's going to need to be able to strike opponents outs if he wants to make it up through the system.

20th Round Pick Drew Bridges - In 85 plate appearances and 22 games, he hit just .153/.271/.236 with one home run, striking out 24 times against 11 walks. He spent time at first base and third base, but will probably end up being a first baseman. It's hard to expect much from a late-round first base prospect, but he's young and has plenty of time to turn into someone to watch.

21st Round Pick Ethan Carnes - As a reliever, he pitched to a 3.86 ERA with a 8.8 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 16.1 innings among nine games. Despite the very small sample size, the southpaw kept left-handed batters to a .410 OPS, but right-handers hit .862 against him. Opponents actually had a .941 OPS against him at home, a stadium that is supposed to be around league-average, while hitters bat .599 on the road off him. However, it's in such a small sample size that it's difficult to determine if there's anything significant there.

22nd Round Pick Derek Toadvine - The Staten Island starting second baseman hit .237/.329/.279 in 246 plate appearances over 56 games. He stole seven bases, but also was caught six times and committed nine errors at second and two in two games at short. After OPSing .571 through July, he picked up his production by OPSing .665 for the rest of the season. He OPS'd .665 against right-handers, but only .457 against lefties. He wasn't able to hit much and he hasn't been able to field too well, so it doesn't look good for him going forward.

23rd Round Pick Alex Polanco - A local kid from New Jersey, he merely got a small taste of pro ball before being shut down in July for unknown reasons. In 3.1 innings over four games he struck out three and walked four without giving up any earned runs. Hopefully whatever hampered him from getting more playing time won't be an issue going forward.

24th Round Pick Sam Agnew-Wieland - He had a 3.72 ERA and 4.34 FIP in 38.2 innings over 17 games as a long reliever. He had an unfortunately high walk rate of 4.0 BB/9, but an impressive strikeout rate of 9.8 K/9, though he was specifically hurt by a high home run rate of 1.2 HR/9. Despite being a right-handed pitcher he kept lefties to .602 OPS, though righties blasted him to a .747 OPS. High strikeout and walk rates are fairly common among potential high-leverage relievers, but right now Agnew-Wieland is somewhere in the middle.

27th Round Pick Dillon McNamara - Despite being drafted so low, he actually had a good season. He had a 2.19 ERA, though his 3.69 FIP was less desirable due to his high amount of walks (4.1 BB/9) and low amount of strikeouts (7.5 K/9) by comparison. He gave up only 5.6 hits per nine inning in 37 innings over 20 games with one start. In the month of August he kept opponents to a .453 OPS, so he has the tools to be an effective reliever and possibly even serviceable starter if they decide to move him to the rotation.

28th Round Pick Trent Garrison - The Yankees drafted one catcher in the draft and it seemed like he would just be organizational filler, however he hit pretty well batting .262/.287/.408 with three home runs. He struck out at a low rate of 13%, but only managed one walk in 108 plate appearances over 29 games. He had a .753 against right-handed hitters and OPS'd .751 over July and August. Garrison gave up five passed balls and had a decent caught stealing rate of 27%, giving hope that he could be a decent backstop, especially if he can continues to hit well.

31st Round Pick Kevin Cornelius - Drafted out of a Texas Junior College, he was one of the older players to play for the GCL Yankees right out of the draft. In 93 plate appearances, Cornelius hit a respectable .274/.326/.369 while playing primarily at third base behind Christopher Tamarez, previously of the DSL Yankees. Over the span of the season he actually played for both GCL Yankees teams, starting on Yankees 1 and moving over to Yankees 2 for three games in late August. While he's nowhere near the majors, the Yankees have a very weak cache of third base prospects. If he can improve from here then he can ascend right behind Eric Jagielo.

32nd Round Pick Kale Sumner - He was a little bit of a surprise, hitting .253/.360/.337 with three home runs. He had a decent walk rate of 12.2% and strikeout rate of 21.3%. He doesn't really have much of a position, but he did primarily play at third base (committing his only five errors there) and DH, while also playing first base, left field and right field. He OPS'd .936 in June and hit .267/.368/.362 through July. There's not much expected from him, but if he can hit for some power and get by in the infield he could make his way up the system.

34th Round Pick Hector Crespo - He hit .220/.297/.232 with one extra base hit in 91 plate appearances in 24 games for the GCL Yankees. He played second base and some third base and even made the surprising jump to Triple-A to fill in at shortstop for a few games during the season. He's likely to only amount to organizational depth, but anything is possible.

36th Round Pick Nestor Cortes - One of the Yankees' later signings, Cortes had a decent professional debut. In 18.1 innings pitched, he had a 4.42 ERA with a 2.00 FIP and a 9.82 K/9. As a starter, opponents had a .726 OPS against him in three starts, while they had a slightly lower .706 OPS against him as a reliever in seven games. He also kept righties to a .669 OPS, though lefties had a .835 OPS against him, despite being a lefty himself. We previously spoke to Nestor about how he was impressed the Yankees.

39th Round Pick Ty Afenir - The Yankees' last draft signing of the year looks to be a utility infielder. He didn't hit much over 116 plate appearances with a .184/.286/.224 batting line between rookie ball and Low-A Charleston. He did spend time at shortstop, second base and even third base for the RiverDogs, so if he can provide serviceable offense he can still be useful. Of course, that all depends on how good his defense is.

Will any of these players make it to the majors? Will they amount to anything at all? We have a long ways before we find out.

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Robinson Cano rumors: Yankees will have their limits in negotiations

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The New York Yankees will make a run at retaining second baseman Robinson Cano when he hits the open market this winter, but, according to team president Randy Levine, the club will call off the pursuit if the price gets too high, reports ESPN.com.

In a Tuesday interview with Bloomberg Television, Levine said that's he's hopeful Cano will be a Yankee in 2014, but that the club will have its limits in negotiations:

"Robinson Cano is a great player. We will sit down and talk to him...

"Nobody is a re-sign at all costs, but we want him back and we feel good about negotiating something with him. But nobody is a re-sign at any cost."

Levine did not drop any hints about what the club's limit might be, but he made sure to iterate that, as always, the Yankees are planning to "put a championship-caliber team on the field" next season. He also added that "great players come and go... but the commitment to getting great players continues," which almost sounds like something that belongs on a motivational poster.

If the Yankees do decide to keep Cano around for the foreseeable future, it certainly won't be cheap. The 30-year-old leads the Bombers in just about every offensive category this season, not to mention just about every other second baseman in baseball. He's batting .308/.382/.510 with 26 home runs in 144 games, and was named to his fourth consecutive All-Star Game in July.

Cano and the Yankees have been in and out of contract discussions since last winter. The second baseman's surprise move to fire Scott Boras and bring on Jay-Z's Roc Nation to represent him was thought to be a move towards staying in New York, but last we heard the two sides were still "far apart" in negotiations.

When asked for a response to Levine's comments, Cano stated that he doesn't want to discuss contract matters, adding:

"Right now, I'm not paying attention to any of that.

"We have 18 games left, so that's my focus right now. We'll see what happens when that day comes."

Entering Wednesday, the Yankees sit just two games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for the second AL wild card spot.

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Clay Buchholz and the new undefeated season

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The first rule of Tom Zachary is you do not talk about Tom Zachary. In the long history of baseball spanning from the 20th century to present, just five pitchers have gone undefeated in a season in which they got 10 or more decisions. With his long-awaited return from the disabled list on Tuesday, Clay Buchholz is now one of the five, at least temporarily:

Player

Year

Tm

G

GS

CG

SHO

W

L

SV

IP

H

BB

SO

ERA

ERA+

Tom Zachary

1929

NYY

26

11

7

2

12

0

2

119.2

131

30

35

2.48

156

Dennis Lamp

1985

TOR

53

1

0

0

11

0

2

105.2

96

27

68

3.32

128

Clay Buchholz

2013

BOS

13

13

1

1

10

0

0

89.1

60

30

87

1.61

258

Aaron Small

2005

NYY

15

9

1

1

10

0

0

76

71

24

37

3.20

133

Howie Krist

1941

STL

37

8

2

0

10

0

2

114

107

35

36

4.03

94


Zachary, who was a longtime member of the Washington Senators, the Boston Braves, St. Louis Browns, and other teams that were largely also-rans during the years he pitched for them, was a junkballing lefty who never struck out more than 67 batters in a season despite pitching up to 262.2 innings. He and his screwball were with the Yankees for bits of three seasons; 1929 was the only one when he had anything like an impact, although he did join the Yankees in time to pitch and win Game 3 of the 1928 World Series. As for '29, it isn't a season anyone likes to remember -- Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Tony Lazzeri had big years, but the team was a disappointing 88-66, finishing 18 games behind the Philadelphia A's, one of the better pre-integration teams.

Ironically, Zachary's real place in Yankees history comes not from his perfect record with the team but for something he did while pitching against them a couple of years earlier. On September 30, 1927, he gave up Babe Ruth's record-setting 60th home run. Other than that, Zachary has pretty much disappeared. When my colleague Rob Neyer teamed up with Bill James to put up the indispensable Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers, he had trouble finding out what Zachary even was beyond a left-handed human being (and yes, one of the privileges of my job is I get to bug Rob about that whenever I feel like it -- on Rob's personal web site he has some added information about Zachary that I figure is there primarily so I would shut up about it).

Zachary spent the rest of his life insisting that the ball had gone foul. It was about the only subject anyone was interested in talking to him about, thus the complete amnesia on what kind of pitches he actually threw. No one cared to find out.

Note that none of these pitchers were in any way special. Outside of his 12-0 season, Zachary was 174-191. Lamp was a middling starter turned middle reliever. Small wasn't even that, just a journeyman who was in the right place at the right time with the Yankees. "Spud" Krist was on the back end of a good Cardinals staff, and thanks to World War II and the team's depth he never got any further than that.

Buchholz is the only member of the group that didn't come by his record by acting as a swing man or reliever and vulturing a few wins when his team came back late. He's made 10 quality starts in 13 tries, and with enough time left in Boston's season for him to make a few more starts, has a chance to top Zachary.

That's not to say that these other pitchers didn't have good years -- with the exception of Krist they all posted exemplary ERAs -- but that Buchholz has been a legitimately outstanding starting pitcher when he's been able to pitch. In the long run, no one is going to the Hall of Fame over this, but Buchholz is a good example of when the #killthewin crowd and the #worshipthewin crowd can beat their swords into plowshares and study war no more. They can have that long-awaited peacemaking picnic at Camp David because the record and the pitcher's performance strongly resemble each other, and one is a reasonable expression of the other. (There's a bit of that going on with Max Scherzer as well, but we'll leave that for another day.)

Had Buchholz actually gotten through the entire schedule he almost certainly would have picked up a few losses, so we shouldn't pretend that his potential loss-lessness is tantamount to a full-year Cy Young campaign. The main value here is that after nearly 85 years someone might finally displace the anonymous Zachary at the top of the X-0 pile. If you will pardon me for indulging in a cliché, for a long time the first rule of Tom Zachary is that you don't talk about Tom Zachary. Buchholz won't be nearly as anonymous, so whatever his final record, consider that one additional victory.

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Suspended Peralta to work out with Tigers

Could Brendan Ryan be a long-term solution at shortstop?

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In case you missed it, the Yankeesmade a trade. Brian Cashman and Jack Zduriencik of the Mariners paired up as trade partners once again and agreed on a deal that will send shortstop Brendan Ryan to the Yankees in exchange for a player to be named later. On the surface, Ryan was acquired to help give the Yankees an extra push for the second Wild Card. He'll be a free agent following this season, and of course we don't know if he's in the Yankees' long-term plans or not, but it should be something that's considered by the front office.

This season with the Mariners, Ryan hit a paltry .192/.254/.265 in 287 plate appearances, good for a career-low 43 wRC+. Ouch. But that's not what Ryan's game is about. It's about defense. In his career, Ryan has a career 11.7 UZR/150 in over 5300 innings at the shortstop position. And it's not just UZR that likes him. He has graded very well in each of the other advanced defensive metrics over the years, although, for whatever reason, his numbers have dipped a bit this year, but are still solid:

UZRDRSdWARFRAA
201013.3223.08.3
201110.6182.613.3
201213.8273.612.0
20131.030.94.8
Career50.29413.866.6

Derek Jeter will have a decision this offseason, and that's whether or not he'll pick up his $9.5 million player option, or choose to decline it and test the free agent waters for what will probably be his final time doing so. At the same time, with him being 39-going-on-40 years old, it'd seem kinda foolish of Derek to not pick up the $9.5 million option and try to sign for more money and/or for multiple years. I fully expect him to pick up the option, use the offseason to fully heal and strengthen his legs, and gear up for a 20th Major League season. No matter what the Captain decides to do, though, the Yankees should look into keeping Brendan Ryan beyond 2013.

Yes, Ryan is very bad with the bat (71 wRC+ in over 2500 career plate appearances), but his skills on defense are something no other shortstop in the Yankee organization, or even in the rest of Major League Baseball, can say they have. Some like to think Eduardo Nunez can be a competent backup shortstop/Jeter replacement, but that has simply not happened. Despite posting a .780 OPS since the beginning of August, Eduardo, who has a career 85 wRC+ in 256 career games, is still hitting a weak .257/.311/.356 with a 77 wRC+ this season, while continuing to play terrible defense. Not to mention, the other in-house options, like Jayson Nix and Addison Maruszak, are pretty awful as well, thus Ryan would serve as upgrades to both. His defense alone is very much worth keeping around.

It's been talked about for nearly a couple of years now, but Plan 189 is just around the corner. Even with a bunch of money coming off the books following 2013, Randy Levine and the Steinbrenner boys will be expected to go cheap anywhere they can, and that includes backup shortstop. Ryan made just over $3.2 million this year and probably won't get much more in free agency this winter. Given the Steinbrenner's frugal tendencies, Jeter's age and injury concerns, the lack of other in-house alternatives, as well as Ryan's spectacular glove, the Yankees would be wise to at least consider keeping their newly acquired shortstop heading into 2014.

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These postseason-derailing losses to the Red Sox used to go the other way

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That was a depressing weekend of baseball, wasn’t it? Three crushing losses to the Red Sox followed by a win that felt an awful lot like a loss. While it didn’t technically eliminate the Yankees from postseason play, it dealt their hopes a tremendous blow. They didn’t lose any games in the standings to Tampa Bay for the second wild card, but they were passed in the standings by Baltimore and Cleveland, leaving them three teams to leapfrog and only 19 games to play. If it makes you feel better (and it probably won’t right now), the Yankees have done far worse to the Red Sox over the years. In 2006, 1978 twice, and 1949, the Yankees had the privilege of derailing the Red Sox postseason hopes in painful fashion.

In August 2006, the Yankees went to Boston for a five game series. The Red Sox were in second place (as usual), just two games behind the Yankees with 43 left to play. They started with a doubleheader on Friday the 18th in which the Yankees won the first game 12-4, in what was an unmanageable three hour, 55 minute marathon. Johnny Damon tripled, homered, drove in four runs and scored three, Bobby Abreu had four hits, Derek Jeter had three hits and scored twice, and Jason Giambi drove in three. Chien-Ming Wang improved to 14-5 with a six inning, three-run performance. Mike Myers, Scott Proctor and T.J. Beam closed it out. The Yankees won the nightcap 14-11 behind a five-run second inning and a seven-run seventh. Damon homered again and drove in three more, while Brian Bruney, Myers, Kyle Farnsworth and Proctor picked up an ineffective Sidney Ponson with four scoreless innings. That game took four hours and 45 minutes. The Yankees jumped all over Josh Beckett on Saturday afternoon in a 13-5 win. Damon had three more hits, Robinson Cano drove in five and Jorge Posada drove in four and somehow tripled. Randy Johnson was good enough (five runs in seven innings), with Jaret Wright and Beam each throwing an uneventful inning.

The Yankees won in 10 innings on Sunday night, scoring one in the eight to close to 5-4, one in the ninth to tie, and three in the tenth to win on Giambi and Posada home runs. Monday’s game was actually a pitcher’s duel. Cory Lidle gave the Yankees six shutout innings, while David Wells allowed two runs in 7.1 IP. Four days, five games, five wins, almost 21 hours of game play, and the Yankees were now 6.5 games up. Although there were still 38 games to play, the Red Sox were done, going just 17-21 the rest of the way. If you think the Yankees’ roster looks like crap now, look at the names from just 7 years ago – Myers, Proctor, Beam, Ponson, Ron Vilone, Farnsworth, Wright, Octavio Dotel and Cory Lidle all pitched in a big five-game series against Boston. Craig Wilson played in all five games, starting three at first base. Nick Green played in all five games, starting one at third base and one at shortstop. Sal Fasano started two games and PINCH RAN for Posada! Aaron Guiel was a late-inning defensive replacement for Abreu twice. I’d forgotten that most of them ever played for the Yankees. If we think the Yankees are bad about giving their own minor leaguers a chance now, a look at those five games makes them seem a lot better than they were. Or maybe they were worse at developing young players. Maybe a little bit of both.

In 1978, the Red Sox were hoping to get back to the World Series just three years after their heartbreaking seven-game loss to the Big Red Machine. They still led the Yankees by nine games on the morning of August 14. By September 7, that lead was down to four games, with the Yankees arriving in Boston for a four-game series. The Yankees hammered Boston 15-3 in the first game, behind five RBI from Willie Randolph and six innings of two-run relief from Ken Clay. Mike Torrez allowed five runs, and left without recording an out in the second inning. The Yankees scored at least two runs in each of the first four innings, and led 12-0 after the top of the fourth.

The Yankees won the second game 13-2, scoring twice in the first inning and six times in the second. Lou Piniella doubled, tripled and homered, and Reggie Jackson hit a three-run home run. Jim Beattie allowed two unearned runs in 8.2 IP, striking out eight. The Yankees knocked Boston’s starter out in the second inning for the second consecutive game, this time after Jim Wright allowed four runs while recording four outs. Saturday afternoon was more of the same: a 7-0 Yankees win, with all the scoring in the second inning. Pinella had three more hits, and Ron Guidry improved to 21-2 with a two-hit shutout. The Red Sox finally put up a fight in the fourth game, but not before their starter, Bobby Sprowl, lasted just two-thirds on an inning, allowing four walks. The Yankees led 5-0 after two innings, and won 7-4. Goose Gossage pitched three innings for the save, and the Yankees were now tied. They outscored Boston 42-9 over the course of the series.

In New York the following weekend, the Yankees took two of three from the Red Sox, but Boston won 12 of their final 14, including their last eight, to force a one-game playoff for the division title. In case you’re new to the whole Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, the Red Sox led 2-0 through six innings before Bucky Dent hit a three-run home run over the Green Monster in the seventh, and Reggie Jackson added a solo shot in the eighth for a 5-4 win and the division crown.

In 1949, the Red Sox were 31 years removed from their last World Series win (and still 55 years before their next one), and three years removed from a seven-game World Series loss to the Cardinals. Boston had a one-game lead over the Yankees with two games left to play, both in the Bronx. The Red Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game number 161, but the Yankees scored two in the fourth and two more in the fifth to tie it. In the bottom of the eighth, Johnny Lindell hit a two-out homer for a 5-4 win. On the final day of the season, needing a win to force a playoff, the Yankees scored a quick run in the bottom of the first on a Phil Rizzuto triple and a Tommy Henrich groundout. Vic Raschi and Ellis Kinder then traded scoreless innings until the Yankees scored four in the eighth against the Boston bullpen on a Henrich home run and a three-run double by Jerry Coleman to go up 5-0. The Red Sox then scored three in the top of the ninth, and brought the tying run to the plate with two outs, when Raschi got Birdie Tebbetts to pop out for first for the win, and the pennant.

Hopefully that reminder takes some of the sting out of last weekend. If it didn't, then also keep in mind that the Yankees are only four years removed from their last championship, as oppossed to the long drought the Red Sox had already endured by 1949 and 1878. The fact that I've been preparing myself for a disappointing season since pretty much the end of last season, combined with the fact that the Yankees have been a playoff participant in 18 of the last 19 seasons, also makes last weekend a lot easier to take.

The Mark Reynolds/Lyle Overbay platoon seems to be working

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The Yankees had a crisis in Spring Training when a little pop in first baseman Mark Teixeira's wrist in WBC batting practice sent him to the disabled list with no guarantees of avoiding surgery. It left the Yankees with a gaping hole at first base, as they were counting on Tex to stay as remarkably durable as he had been during his 10 seasons in the majors prior to 2013. He had only been on the disabled list three times in his career and never appeared in fewer than 123 games, averaging 150 per year from 2003-12. Teixeira's backup over the past few years was right fielder Nick Swisher, but he was allowed to walk in free agency, so the Yankees really didn't have any legitimate backup plan to a Teixeira injury. Juan Rivera? Dan Johnson? The far more fragile Kevin Youkilis, who would be lost a month and a half later anyway? It looked ugly.

Then, toward the end of Spring Training, the Yankees received some help from their biggest rival; the Red Sox cut veteran first baseman Lyle Overbay since they were comfortable with Mike Napoli and backup Mike Carp. Overbay appeared to be a shadow of the doubles machine he once was with the Brewers and Blue Jays a few years ago, but he at least had a sterling defensive reputation. The fact that he was a lefthanded hitter who would be playing half his games at Yankee Stadium certainly did not hurt his case, either. The Yankees scooped him up, gave him a three-day tryout, and suddenly, he was their Opening Day first baseman.

At first, the "break glass in case of emergency" desperation gambit with Overbay appeared to be brilliant. Through mid-May, he was hitting .266/.301/.500 with ten doubles and six homers in 38 games. It also seemed like Teixeira was on the mend, and he returned to the team on May 31st, though the Yankees decided that since Overbay hit so well, they would hold onto him for insurance. (That also led to some silliness with Overbay starting a few games in right field.) Tex's return was short-lived, as he returned to the DL after just 15 games with more wrist pain, and he ultimately needed season-ending surgery. Barring a trade or free agent signing, the Yankees were now stuck with Overbay, for better or for worse. It got worse.

Although Overbay briefly showed his early-season form, he was never quite the same after peaking at an .801 OPS in mid-May. Over the next three months from May 16th through August 15th, a larger sample size than the month and a half at the start of the season, Overbay hit .242/.301/.377 with twelve doubles and seven homers in 71 games. His power mostly disappeared, and his utter incompetence against lefthanded pitching was easily apparent (to date, his wRC+ against lefties is 36, second-worst among 172 qualifying MLB players).

The Yankees then received a blessing from another playoff race rival, the Indians. After an even hotter start than Overbay in Cleveland, first baseman/third baseman Mark Reynolds considerably cooled off. Like Overbay, he struggled after mid-May, batting a meager .180/.272/.243 with just one double and four homers in 61 games with the Tribe. With Swisher at first, third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall on the rise, and DH occupied by a platoon of catcher Carlos Santana and veteran Jason Giambi, the Indians had no use for the slumping slugger, so they dumped him on August 8th. A week later, he was in pinstripes, as the Yankees signed him to provide some righthanded power and to help improve the lineup against lefties.

It has now been about a month since the Yankees signed Reynolds, and the report is "so far, so good." Overbay has been kept as far away from lefty pitching as possible, and Reynolds hit so well at times that manager Joe Girardi stayed with him in the lineup against righties as well. Since joining the Yankees, Reynolds has hit .300/.382/.550 with six doubles and three homers in 20 games, and Overbay has hit .268/.340/.390 in 17 games. The power has still not quite returned to Overbay, who could also simply be fatigued since the 36-year-old has appeared in more games this year than he has since 2010. He sees the ball better off righties anyway, so restricting him to occasional righthanded pitching gives him some rest and put him in an ideal situation to succeed.

Since mid-August, the duo have combined to hit .287/.365/.485 in 115 plate appearances. To compare, Teixeira hit .252/.347/.484 over the past three seasons for the Yankees, so at least for the past month, they have done a fine job replacing his presence in the lineup. Reynolds doesn't play the position very well, but his ability to play third base has allowed the Yankees flexibility to give Alex Rodriguez some necessary days off, too. As demonstrated by his April and subsequent performance though, Reynolds is a very streaky hitter, so the Yankees have to hope that his bat stays hot for the rest of the season, or at least that Overbay's rest subsequently helps him pick up the slack. After all, one month is still a small sample size.

It's unclear what the future holds for Reynolds and Overbay since are both free agents at the end of the season and could move on to other teams given Teixeira's expected return in Spring Training of 2014 (though Reynolds might spark the Yankees' interest at third base given the weak free agent market, internal options, and A-Rod's likely suspension). Nevertheless, the Yankees have done well on the scrap heap to fill in for Teixeira. Hopefully, the duo keeps up the good work for the stretch run as the Yankees attempt a last-ditch effort for the Wild Card.

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Yankees won't re-sign Robinson Cano "at all costs"

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While the Yankees have said that they would love to re-sign Robinson Cano this offseason, Yankees president Randy Levine indicated that the team would be willing to let go of their star if the second baseman received a contract offer that the team would not want to match or exceed.

From ESPN:

"Robinson Cano is a great player. We will sit down and talk to him," Levine told Bloomberg Television during an interview Tuesday.

"Hopefully he's a Yankee. Nobody is a re-sign at all costs, but we want him back and we feel good about negotiating something with him. But nobody is a re-sign at any cost."

The 30-year old has long been considered the next face of the Yankees. Cano is having another outstanding season, hitting .308 with 26 home runs, 98 RBI and a .382 OBP, all team highs.

When asked about Levine's comments, Cano declined to respond.

"Let's just see what happens when the season is over," Cano told the Daily News. "There's nothing I can say. Right now, I'm not paying attention to any of that.

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Yankees officially make WFAN their radio home

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As Pinstripe Alley scribe Jesse Schindler wrote about earlier, the New York Yankees have now officially reached a multi-year broadcasting agreement with CBS Radio. They will be moving from WCBS 880 to WFAN-AM 660 and WFAN-FM 101.9 beginning next year.

The announcement came via Mike Francesa, whose radio program airs televised on the YES Network. From 2014 onward, WFAN will broadcast all Yankees regular season & postseason games, Yankees pregame & postgame shows, and select Yankees spring training games. In addition to this, CBS Radio has also acquired the rights of the Spanish language Yankees broadcast.

Per WFAN.com,

"We are extremely excited to have reached an agreement with CBS RADIO," said Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner. "The paramount consideration was how our fans would best be able to hear our games. Having the Yankees on WFAN-AM/FM provides listeners in the New York metropolitan area and beyond with superior broadcast quality and vast territorial signal strength.".

"We are privileged to welcome the New York Yankees to WFAN," said Dan Mason, CBS RADIO President and CEO. "There is no bigger name in baseball than the Yankees, nor an organization so steeped in tradition. As the nation's premier sports radio station we look forward to capturing all the excitement surrounding the team, and bringing it to millions of fans for many years to come."

As someone who drives in and out of Manhattan to get to work, this is great news for myself and for all Yankees fans. WFAN-FM 101.9 will provide fans, like myself, the ability to drive through the city with an extremely clear signal while WFAN-AM 660 will allow fans just outside of the city with vast signal range.

The Yankees will now join the New York Giants, New Jersey Devils, and Brooklyn Nets, whose games are televised on the YES Network, on WFAN. It is unclear where the neighboring New York Mets will move their radio broadcasts to, as they have been on WFAN since the very beginning of the station.

It is also unclear what will become of Yankees radio announcers John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. The Yankees have the final say in who will be in their booth, so whether or not they continue to employ Sterling and Waldman is still up in the air.

Derek Jeter's season over with another DL stint

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Brian Cashman announced during a press conference today that Yankees SS Derek Jeter has been placed back on the DL. This move will end his 2013 season.

Shutting Jeter down for the remainder of the year is the right thing to do for both the Yankees and Derek Jeter. This will give the captain the rest of this season and the off-season to fully heal. For those thinking that Jeter might retire this year, Cashman has already stated that he expects to see Derek Jeter in pinstripes next year.

With Jeter's nightmare season finished and Eduardo Nunez a defensive nightmare at SS, this pretty much explains why the Yankees traded for SS Brendan Ryan last night. Whether or not they got him because they knew Jeter was done for the year or not remains to be seen. The downside is that Brendan Ryan is not eligible to make the postseason roster, as he was traded for after August 31st. This mean that if the Yankees do manage to make it into the postseason, Nunez or someone else within the system will be playing SS.

Jeter fully expects to be playing next year. For now though, he will continue to cheer his teammates on. Our best wishes to Derek Jeter for a strong recovery for next year.

More on this story as it develops.

Jeter to miss rest of season

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Derek Jeter's disappointing 2013 campaign is officially over, as Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees have announced Jeter's placement on the 15 day disabled list, a move which Cashman said will "effectively end his season."

The 39 year old shortstop has had a tumultuous year, which began last October, when he broke his left ankle during the first game of the 2012 ALCS. Jeter had surgery to repair the injury on October 20th, and was expected to be ready by the beginning of the 2013 season. However, Jeter suffered a setback during rehabilitation, and didn't make his season debut until July 11th. After playing in just one game, the Yankees placed Jeter back on the DL, citing a strained quadricep as the reason.

The Yankees activated Jeter on July 28th, and he promptly hit a home run on the first pitch he saw from Rays' lefty Matt Moore. Jeter played in just 4 games before re-injuring himself, this time with a grade 1 calf strain. Jeter was placed on the DL on August 5th, and returned 21 days later, on August 26th, for a game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Jeter began to feel ankle soreness during last Saturday's game against the Boston Red Sox, and left the game after just 6 innings. A CT scan yielded negative results, however, on the advice of a second opinion, the Yankees decided to shut him down for the remainder of the season.

Overall, Jeter played in just 17 games for the Yankees this season, hitting just .190 in 63 at-bats. Entering the season, Jeter had averaged 151 games played per season for his career. Aside from his debut season in 1995, this year has been the only season in which Jeter has failed to play in at least 119 games.

It was also announced by the club that Jeter would not be playing in this year's postseason were the Yankees to earn a playoff berth.

The Yankees currently sit 2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL's second Wild Card spot. With Wednesday's acquisition of defensive wiz Brendan Ryan from the Seattle Mariners, the Yankees appear poised to make run at a postseason appearance over the season's final few weeks. Unfortunately, the club will have to do it without their longtime captain for the first time in over a decade.

O's 4, Yankees 5: Lefties and Tommy Hunter don't mix

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Looking to exchange places in the standings tonight, the Yankees drew first blood, and they didn't even need a hit to do it. Brett Gardner walked to lead off the game, then stole second base. Two consecutive groundouts put him across the plate.

The Orioles answered back two inning later. With two outs and Manny Machado and Brian Roberts on first and second, Chris Davis (who is merely mortal against lefties this season) doubled over the head of Yankees first baseman Lyle Overbay. Roberts scored easily, and Machado also scored on a poor relay throw by Cano. 2-1 O's. Flash forward to the fourth, and lefty-killer Danny Valencia led off with a double. After Wieters struck out, J.J. Hardy worked a seven-pitch at-bat that ended with his own double. Valencia scored easily and it was 3-1 O's.

Meanwhile, Scott Feldman was continuing the fine work he displayed in his last outing. He cruised through the first four innings, giving up Gardner's run but, oddly enough, not a single hit. But after retiring 12 in a row, Curtis Granderson led off the top of the fifth with a long home run onto Eutaw Street. 3-2 O's, but Feldman got the next three outs to limit the damage. Alex Rodriguez, though, flashed his power yet again with a solo shot to tie it up in the sixth. 3-3 and we had ourselves a brand new ballgame, despite the O's eight hits to that point being far more than the Yankees' two.

Feldman would work 7 2/3 innings, striking out three and giving up two walks. In fact the pitch that ended his night was ball four to Gardner in the bottom of the eighth. With the 2-3-4 hitters due up and the game still tied, Buck Showalter didn't take any chances. He brought in Tommy Hunter, who has shut down righties this year (.144 wOBA allowed) and who got A-Rod to fly out to center for the final out.

"Ageless" Andy Pettitte was lucky to give up only three runs in this outing. Usually when you give up nine hits and don't strike out a lot of batters, you'll give up more than that. Similar to Feldman, Pettitte's last pitch ended up walking Nate McLouth in the bottom of the seventh with the score still tied. After 104 pitches, Joe Girardi had seen enough and brought in Shawn Kelley. After several pickoff attempts, Chris Stewart nailed McLouth stealing.

Despite a few pitching changes, the score remained tied heading into the ninth. But when you're Robinson Cano, a power-hitting lefty, facing Hunter, who's atrocious against lefties this year (.370 wOBA allowed), one pitch is all you need. Cano lifted a ball up and over the center field fence for the go-ahead run. 4-3 Yankees. Soriano grounded out, thanks to an amazing scoop-and-throw by Machado, but then Granderson tripled off the center-field fence to tighten the screws even further. Yeah, Tommy against lefties is not a situation you want, which is probably why Showalter pulled Hunter before Overbay could sting him further. Better to have Troy Patton face him. Still, Overbay singled and one more run came in against Hunter. 5-3 Yankees.

Mariano Rivera did pitch the ninth and got the save, but the Orioles probably made his heart beat a little bit faster. Hardy and pinch-hitter Nick Markakis went down without a fight, but McLouth doubled and Brian Roberts singled to plate another run. 5-4 Yankees. With the O's down to their final out, I didn't have much hope for Machado facing a guy who's old enough to be his father. Rivera had to know that unlike Roberts, Machado would be swinging aggressively, looking to tie the game up with one swing. Indeed, Machado took some pretty big hacks and ended up striking out for the final out.

We shouldn't overlook a strong performance by the offense. 13 hits is nothing to sneeze at, even if only four runs crossed the plate. Valencia went 4-4, Brian Roberts went 2-3, and McLouth went 2-3 with a walk. We should also acknowledge Feldman's pitching performance. Three runs in 7 2/3 innings is good, especially when you have six strikeouts against just two walks. Yeah, the two home runs weren't fun. But Feldman did his job tonight. The breaks just didn't go the O's way. I also fault Showalter for leaving Hunter in to face two power-hitting lefties. It really takes just one look at basic splits to know that the percentages are not in your favor there.

The loss drops the O's to 77-68 and they swap places with the Yankees in the standings. Wei-Yin Chen looks to hold the opposition down tomorrow to give the O's a chance to split the series.

Baby Bomber Recap 9/11/13: Thunder rally to pull within one game of championship

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Double-A Trenton Thunder:W 5-4 vs. Harrisburg Senators

CF Mason Williams 1-5, K
LF Ramon Flores 1-5
2B Jose Pirela 1-4, RBI
C Gary Sanchez 1-4, BB, K, E2 - batting .190 in the playoffs
RF Tyler Austin 0-2, 2 BB, K
1B Kyle Roller 0-3, RBI, BB
DH Ben Gamel 3-4, RBI - batting .417 in the playoffs
3B Reegie Corona 2-4, RBI
SS Ali Castillo 2-3, RBI, E6 - throwing error

Bryan Mitchell 5.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R/3 ER, 7 BB, 2 K - 10 groundouts, three flyouts
Francisco Rondon 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Danny Burawa 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Tom Kahnle 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K

Despite some struggles in the middle innings, the Thunder pitchers managed to keep their team in the game after falling behind until the offense surged to take the lead with a two-run seventh inning to pick up their second win in the series. Trenton is now one game away from the Eastern League title as the series switches to Harrisburg for however many games are necessary.

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