Baseball’s Savior

The Yankees look like a sinking ship but guys, it’s really early to start worrying.  Yeah, a ten game deficit is tough but an extended winning streak could cut that in half in a hurry and put the Yankees into striking distance.  In the meantime, Joe Torre’s name has come up as the possible first manager fired this season.  I’m not sure what the problem is, but I don’t think it’s Torre.  I mean, one of the manager’s primary goals is motivation and I don’t see how that applies with all of the stars in this lineup.

The other guy who could be gone is Jason Giambi for using performance enhancing drugs.  I’m not sure if you want to bail on a slugger of his caliber but then again, he’s hardly lit it up this year.  This all came about because Giambi more or less admitted to taking steroids when he said the league should apologize for the PED fiasco.

One guy who hasn’t taken much heat is Brian Cashman.  While Gary Sheffield is having a good but not great season, the main part of the trade that sent him to Detroit is out for the season with an elbow problem.  That’s not what I’d call an effective deal.  And the big signing up until the Clemens show coming to town was Andy Pettitte, who’s had a hard luck season with little run support.

And while it’s hard to focus on one game, tonight’s nationally televised game against the Mets seems to be a big one and could be used as a springboard to turn the season around.  It could also be the final straw for guys like Joe Torre.

So did you miss me?  Of course the big news while I was struggling with the network wide net problems we had at Baseball Historians was the Roger Clemens signing.  He’s thrown a simulated game and he makes his minor league debut at Tampa on Friday.  Just what the doctor ordered because while I have been writing, the Yanks have been pretty mediocre.  They still sit just below .500 and they’re an even 5-5 in their last ten.  The good news is, they’re still in second place while the bad news is, they sit 8 1/2 games back of the first place Red Sox.  So there’s a lot of work to do.

And there’s no better time then the present.  The Yanks play three in Chicago against the White Sox and they’ve been about as mediocre as the Yankees have.  To finish up a tough week, the Yankees play three against the Mets at Shea Stadium.  The sooner the Rocket can get here, the better.

And while Alex Rodriguez has cooled off, Derek Jeter has caught fire.  In May, he’s hitting .431 and in the last seven days, he’s hitting a nice, even, .500.  He’s also gotten in done with men in scoring position.  David Ortiz, eat your heart out because Jeter is hitting .500 with runners in scoring position and .625 with two outs and men in scoring position.  While a lot has been made to dispel the fact that Jeter’s a clutch hitter, he’s definitely getting it done this year. 

I have a lot of catching up to do, especially at Yankees History, so please bear with me.  It’ll get done, I just can’t say when and I know it defeats the idea of the diaries when you fall behind but there was nothing I could do.

Roger Clemens is coming to the Yankees, which isn’t a surprise because he wants to win.  And winners play for the Yankees.

Also want to apologize for the lack of content.  We’re having network/blogging software issues and I’ve been told it could recrash at any time so quick posts are best.  It should be resolved this coming week sometime and then I’ll give the Clemens signing it’s proper due.

Now this was a little better.  Rookie phenom Philip Hughes bounced back from a rough start in this debut and threw 6 1/3 innings of no-hit ball as the Yankees topped the Rangers 10-1.  He walked three and struck out six and he picked up his first major league win in the start.  Congrats kid.

Alex Rodriguez picked up in May where he left off in April and he went three for four with a run.  Robinson Cano was the hitting star though.  He went four for five with three RBIs and two runs scored.  Jorge Posada also had a nice game and he went three for four with two RBIs and three runs.

It’s Andy Pettitte versus Robinson Tejada tonight.  And with everybody else losing in the AL East, the Yankees are starting to make up some ground.