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Rays vs. Yankees Pitching Preview Part Two

Posted by on 18 May 2010, 8:18 pm

Thursday’s match-up is definitely a good one featuring Andy Pettitte and James Shields.

Another hard winner to pick because Pettitte has been so good and Shields has majorly improved since the last time he face this Yankees line-up.

JAMES SHIELDS (TBR) vs. ANDY PETTITTE (NYY)

JAMES SHIELDS:

PROS:

James Shields has some experience against the Yankees so he knows what to expect. As 2010 moves along, so does Shields who has pitched for 8 innings in two of his last three starts. Shields, throws a lot of strikes with a fastball that averages at 92 mph. He maintains great velocity on his change-up and good curveball. If he can stay in control, Shields can dominate a game.

CONS:

Shields, tends to use his change-up too much and hitters start to read it, which leads to a lot of hits. Also, his control can get wild at times and drive up his pitch-count. Robinson Cano has crushed Shields in the past. Cano in his career against Davis is batting .462, with four doubles, two triples, two homers, one walk and six RBIs in just 27 at-bats. Regardless that Shields .

ANDY PETTITTE: Continue reading ‘Rays vs. Yankees Pitching Preview Part Two’ »

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It Was All Hughes Tonight

Posted by on 22 April 2010, 2:03 am

Tonights win was all about Phil Hughes.

Hughes dazzled on the mound. The Yankees youngster had only thrown 59 pitches by the middle of the fifth inning and was on his way to a no hitter.

Unfortunately, at the start of the eighth inning, Oakland‘s Eric Chavez hit a single straight at the mound. The ball bounced off Hughes. It seemed the impact of it caused confusion as Hughes spun in circles looking for a ball that was a few feet in front of him.

Hughes finished his expedition with a career high 10 strike-outs, walking two, a pitch count of 101 in total, and a score of 2-0. It was as strong as you can get, and from a fifth starter ridiculous.

Girardi, playing it safe took Hughes out and sent in Joba Chamberlain who allowed a run to score but looked impressive in relief once again.

Once again, Brett Garner ripped a single in the 9th inning allowing Granderson to score and giving Mariano Rivera some added insurance. Garner has become so dangerous not only running the bases but hits in-field singles in clutch situations. Garner is showing how much of a distraction he can be for opposing teams late in games. Everyone is loving this kid in Yankee Universe. Continue reading ‘It Was All Hughes Tonight’ »

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Please Shut-Up Vazquez Won

Posted by on 21 April 2010, 2:21 am

As the Yankees headed to Oakland, Javier Vazquez‘s completed his check-list in his third start on the mound.

Continue reading ‘Please Shut-Up Vazquez Won’ »

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Baseball Basics: Watching A Game, Part Two

Posted by on 29 March 2010, 11:55 pm

Part two: Watching A Game, is to help the newbie fan with basic game lingo.

It will come in handy especially when watching a game on TV or listening on the radio to start to understand the announcers jargon and relating it to whats going on in the game.

BASEBALL’S BASIC LINGO:

Bat: If you don’t know this, STOP and forget baseball.

Baseball: The ball pitchers throw and batters try to hit with the bat.

Bases Empty: Bases are empty.

Continue reading ‘Baseball Basics: Watching A Game, Part Two’ »

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Baseball Basics: Watching A Game

Posted by on 16 March 2010, 11:37 pm

Ok, it is time to learn the basics of what goes on in a baseball game, and to make it easier for the newbie it will be split into two posts, over two weeks.

Part One will cover the bare bones about # of games, game break down and how a batter can get on base.

THE SEASON

Baseball season starts in February and ends in October, consisting of three segments, preseason, regular season and post-season.

  1. Pre-season or Spring Training starts in February.
  2. Regular Season starts the first week in April, ending in late September – early October.
  3. Post-Season or Playoffs takes up the month of October, finishing up with the World Series.

There are 30 teams in Major League Baseball.

In a regular season each team plays 162 games.*

A GAME

  • Each team uses nine players in a game.
  • A baseball game is played for nine innings.*
  • Each inning lasts through both teams having a chance at bat and in the field.
  • To start the game, the visiting team will be up at bat first while the home team takes the field.
  • The team at bat hits through three outs and then the teams switch.

UP AT BAT

  • The goal of the game is to score runs.
  • In order to score a run the batter must safely touch first, second, and third bases and end back at home plate.
  • There are many ways to score runs and for batters to get on a base. Here are the basics:

  1. SINGLE: a batter makes it safely to first base.
  2. DOUBLE: a batter makes it safely to second base without stopping.
  3. TRIPLE: a the batter makes it safely to third base without stopping.
  4. HOMERUN: a batter makes it safely around all bases, and back to home without stopping.
  5. GRAND-SLAM: is a homerun, when all the bases are already occupied with a runner, or when the bases or loaded.
  6. WALK: when the batter is pitched four balls, automatically sending him to first base.
  7. HIT BY PITCH: the pitcher hits the batter with the ball, automatically allowing him to go to first base.
  8. ERROR: is when the fielding team makes a mistake (bad throw ir dropping a ball) thus allowing the batter to safely make it to a base. Recorded as an error by the fielder, no credit for a hit given to the batter.

* exception of tied record within a divison where an additional game is played to determine post-season spot.

* in the event of a tied score at the end of the ninth inning, a game goes into extra innings until an inning ends with one team having more runs scored.

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Here Come The Yanks!!!

Posted by on 17 May 2009, 7:23 am

Wow!!! 

Johnny Damon

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

 

I am talking about the first 2 games against the Twins…..just in case you missed out on watching, here are brief updates:

Friday -

  • I was not happy when Damon, who is out best hitter thus far, got ejected in the 3rd inning. The umpire was making crapy calls for the entire at-bat. So,  I was glad Damon got pissed, which is a rare occurrence for him. It was in frustrating to watch and you can’t blame Damon it was 0 outs with 2 men on base and down a run!!
  • Brett Garner (whom I love, love!!) had a walk off homerun in the bottom of the 7th inning which gets everyone pumped up!! That boy is fast!!!
  • A-rod walked for his first at bat in new home; didn’t stop he walked his 3 next at bats…..better then not getting on base so again frustrated!! 4th walk came in the bottom of the 9th with 0 outs and Tex on 1st. I was wishing for an A-bomb!!
  • Bottom of the 9th inning, Twins leading with the game at 4-3…..the Twins decide to walk Robbie Cano cause he has been lethal so far and so up comes Melky Cabrera to the plate. Melky is not n easy out and has been great in pivotal situations but I was a tad nervous watching. I would think that as a player it must piss them off to have the teammate in front of you purposely walked….I would love to shove it in the other teams face!!! And that’s just what Melk-man did when he lined a two-out, bases-loaded single to score a pair of runs!! Amazing…….win No. 18!! Continue reading ‘Here Come The Yanks!!!’ »

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Ranting, Instead of Respecting…

Posted by on 14 May 2009, 4:20 am

As a Yanks fan it is understood bias…..so when we lose a game, like last night it becomes frustrating to watch.

I went on and on about how the Yanks screwed it up and even went as far as to make some suggestions. I want perfection when I watch the Yanks play and in the heat of the moment I will rant and criticize easily so I can feel like I have the right to be as emotional as I feel.

Granted, something by the way of a winning-streak is needed ASAP but more respect should have been shown to Roy Halladay because he is amazing! His pitching is the best in baseball. Here is a quote from Teixeira published in a NY Times article on April 3, 2009 about Halladay, “All his pitches start in the same place and end in a different place.” 

I thought I was reading the stats wrong on TV last night when it had (7-1) next to his name for wins-losses….I went and looked it up on my computer as I thought that it included Spring Training; or whatever else but no way has this guy won 7 games this year!!

He has won half the amount the Yankees have….and he must pitch more than every 5th day considerong the season is just starting out here.

Well to my surprise, I was astonished that this was correct. I knew Halladay was a good pitcher but when CC is all you hear for months and the $161 million paycheck you forget that other threats exist! Let me say that Halladay is lights-out more than any other pitcher in all of baseball.

Just a little fact that Damon is the best hitter overall against Halladay’s career but even Johnny quoted saying “When I get the hits, it’s with nobody on base.” Stats out of 80 at bats Damon has had 1 homer and 2 rbis’…..I mean come on that is sick!!! Continue reading ‘Ranting, Instead of Respecting…’ »

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