Tag archives for new york yankees

Defending Champs Dominate Like No Other

27th February 2010 by SportsFags under Baseball     

You can tell a lot about a sport just by following the money, and it’s no surprise to even the most casual of sports fans that the Yankees dominate baseball like no other team in any other sport.

Yankee Manager Joe Girardi in the spotlight

Yankee Manager Joe Girardi in the spotlight

I don’t know about you but I consider myself a Yankees admirer, not a fan, but an admirer. What non-Yankee fan wouldn’t want their beloved team to experience the level of success of perhaps the world’s most recognizable franchise? You might hate the Yankees but you marvel at what they’ve accomplished.

Usually I turn a deaf ear to tales of excess and the seemingly good fortunes of the fat wallet franchises but two stories I heard this week left me shaking my head, wondering whether to hate the damn Yankees or touch myself in admiration.

Cleveland Indians Attendance Study
In order to better understand consumer behavior and price elasticity (I never thought I would use those words after grad school) the Cleveland Indians commissioned a study to measure the impact independent events have on attendance. The most surprising finding in the study is that the Indians, much like every other baseball franchise I suppose, have absolutely no control over the one event that brings in more fans than any other; a visit from the New York Yankees.

According to the study the Cleveland Indians could combine a free post-game fireworks show with a free bobble head doll of the team’s most popular player, Grady Sizemore, and still not get the increase in attendance like they do when Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez come to town. As a Cleveland fan or fan of every other team outside of Boston, you can’t deny the Yankees’ greatness.

There are a lot of things a gay boy could do with a mini-Grady doll but he only pulls in 6,600 extra fans, add another 4,000 for free fireworks and you get a total of 10,600 for both promotions in Cleveland When the New York Yankees come to Cleveland, attendance jumps 11,000.

Dodgers packaging 2010 Yankees tickets
And then there’s this story from the Dodgers, a team that resides in the second largest city in America with a tradition that rivals anyone save the Yankees, team officials announced this week that they won’t sell individual tickets to Yankees games in LA. Are you fucking kidding me? A franchise with a storied tradition like the Dodgers must use the Yankees demand to help sell bundles of tickets to other less desirable games.

Are things that bad in Los Angeles? Why must a city, known for producing revenue from shit-ass movies like District 9, resort to using the Yankees to help attendance when the Yankees are not even in town? WTF?!? The Dodgers have been in the playoffs for the past two years!

MLB Team Salaries and Merchandise Sales
Consider that just ten years ago the difference between the Yankees team payroll, at $88M, and the Texas Rangers, the team with the second highest payroll was a little more than $7M. In the span of 10 years the difference between the Yankees of 2009 at $201M, and the New York Mets, the team with the second highest payroll was $52M, that’s a seven-fold increase in the span of a decade.

Yes, the Yankees play in a top 10 market and own their own TV network but just ask the Cubs (3rd) and the Braves (11th) if that alone puts you at the top of the salary rankings.

What separates the Yankees from the rest of the baseball universe is their brand, and it’s the brand that generates the income that allows New York to pay for the best players and build championship teams. For the past 20 years the Yankees market share of all baseball related merchandise sales has hovered around 25%, which means the remaining 29 teams split the remaining 75%; advantage Yankees.

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Preseason Odds to Win 2010 World Series

15th January 2010 by thesportsfag under MLB     

Preseason odds to win the 2010 World Series via Bodog

No surprise, the Yankees are preseason favorites in 2010.

No surprise, the Yankees are preseason favorites in 2010.

American League East
New York Yankees 11/4
Boston Red Sox 11/2
Tampa Bay Rays 27/1
Toronto Blue Jays 100/1
Baltimore Orioles 100/1

American League Central
Minnesota Twins 25/1
Detroit Tigers 27/1
Chicago White Sox 30/1
Cleveland Indians 60/1
Kansas City Royals 75/1

American League West
Los Angeles Angels 14/1
Seattle Mariners 18/1
Texas Rangers 20/1
Oakland Athletics 70/1

National League East
Philadelphia Phillies 11/2
New York Mets 15/1
Atlanta Braves 18/1
Florida Marlins 25/1
Washington Nationals 125/1

National League Central
St. Louis Cardinals 13/1
Chicago Cubs 18/1
Milwaukee Brewers 40/1
Cincinnati Reds 45/1
Houston Astros 75/1
Pittsburgh Pirates 125/1

National League West
Los Angeles Dodgers 12/1
San Francisco Giants 16/1
Colorado Rockies 18/1
Arizona Diamondbacks 50/1
San Diego Padres 75/1

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Chase-ing Mr October

3rd November 2009 by SportsFags under Baseball     

Utley ties Reggie Jackson's World Series record (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Utley ties Reggie Jackson's World Series record (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Chase Utley clubbed a pair of homers, tying Reggie Jackson’s World Series record of five in a single World Series, and Cliff Lee pitched into the eighth inning, as the Philadelphia Phillies held off the New York Yankees ninth inning rally, in route to an 8-6 victory, forcing a Game 6 Wednesday in New York. If a Game 7 is needed to settle this series, it will be held Thursday night, but don’t count on that. Reggie Jackson’s performances in several World Series appearances in the 1970’s earned him the nickname ‘Mr. October’. In the network television controlled era of post season baseball that we live in today, more WS games are played in November than October.

In Game 6 the pressure will be on Andy Pettitte to not only win but to also keep the Phillies second baseman from breaking the former Yankee right fielder’s record. The stats guys over at The Baseball Prospectus say that, by the numbers, Philadelphia has about a 17% chance of winning the final two games in NY and repeating as champs.

Is Andy Pettitte Mr November?

Is Andy Pettitte Mr November?

AJ Burnett’s performance on Monday night, six earned runs in two innings while pitching on just three days rest, has some insiders questioning Yankee Manager Joe Girardi’s decision to go with a three man rotation and think the Phillies odds could be better than what the pure numbers suggest. I say bullshit to that. Andy Pettitte may not have his best stuff in Game 6, he admittedly didn’t have good control in his last start, but with 17 wins he’s the winningest pitcher in MLB post season history. What other option will put the Yankees in a better position to win their 27th title on Wednesday night?

The scary scenario for NY would be to let the Phillies push the series to a winner-take-all Game 7, where anything could happen. The Yankees didn’t let that happen against the Angels and they will not let it happen with Philadelphia. With the frequency of home runs for left-handed batters in the new Yankee Stadium, Utley may surpass Reggie Jackson’s record, yet the real question, for baseball historians to ponder after Game 6 will not be whether Chase Utley is the new Mr October, but rather is Andy Pettitte Mr November.

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Angels Survive At Home

23rd October 2009 by SportsFags under Baseball Jocks, Featured     

If history teaches us anything it’s that teams facing elimination at home perform well. Even more so when the opposing team knows they are headed back home for two games with a chance to close it out.

Nick Swisher and the Yankees rally come up short in LA

Nick Swisher and the Yankees rally come up short in LA

Angels’ closer Brian Fuentes was shaky in the save situation walking A-Rod, Matsui and then hitting Robinson Cano all with two outs in the ninth, but when Nick Swisher once again failed with runners in scoring position the Angels breathed a sigh of relief and packed their bags for the Big Apple.

What’s surprising about this series isn’t that the Yankees had a 3-1 lead but that the normally reliable Angels’ defense was doing them in. The real question here is not whether the Angels can win the series but rather will the Yankees blow a 3-1 lead? In 2004 the Yankees blew a 3-0 series lead to the Red Sox but the 2009 edition of the New York Yankees is a much stronger team.

The Angels season was on the line last night at home and they played with a sense of urgency. Expect the Yankees to play with that same sense of urgency when Andy Pettitte takes the mound Saturday night for game six. New York absolutely wants to avoid a seventh and deciding game where the entire series could turn either way on one play. Even if the Angels somehow overcome a more focused Yankee squad and one of the most decorated post season pitchers in the history of the game on Saturday, they will have to face a fully rested CC Sabathia in game seven.

Get your popcorn ready for a New York / Philadelphia World Series.

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Sabathia and A-Rod Ignite Yankees

21st October 2009 by SportsFags under Baseball     

CC dominates Angels in game 4 of the ALCS

CC dominates Angels in game 4 of the ALCS

With his team in danger of losing momentum in the American League Championship Series, CC Sabathia took the mound on just three days rest and allowed only one run over eight innings of work. He was simply dominant as the Yankees cruised to a 10-1 victory and a commanding 3-1 series lead.

In the top of the fourth with the bases loaded and one out, Melky Cabrera ended the Yankees 0 for 26 hitless streak with runners in scoring position (RISP). Later on, Alex Rodriguez added his fifth home run of the post season moving him to within one of Bernie Williams’ Yankees single post season record of six.

Pitching with a lead CC Sabathia didn’t let up. As the game went into the seventh he seemed even more in control of his command and location than he was earlier. In two ALCS games he has thrown 16 innings and allowed just two runs, striking out 20 and walking only 4.

A-Rod’s critics have labeled him “Mr. April”, a dig at his past post season failures and until this year Sabathia’s naysayers wondered aloud whether he would ever perform in the playoffs like he does in the regular season. Against the Angels both players not only silenced their critics but are now battling each other for the ALCS MVP award.

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Angels are Blowing it

18th October 2009 by SportsFags under Baseball     

Uncharacteristically the Los Angeles Angels are blowing it. An organization known for great defense has committed five errors in the their first two games of the ALCS and return to LA facing an 0-2 series deficit. Yet, it’s the mental mistakes that beat them Saturday night.

Aybar can't handle Izturis' wild throw at second as Cano slides. John Munson-The Star Ledger

Aybar can't handle Izturis' wild throw at second as Cano slides. John Munson-The Star Ledger

Second baseman’s Macier Izturis throwing error in the bottom of the 13th allowed Jerry Hairston to score all the way from second and left many of us scratching our heads. Why would Iztuirs, on the run to his left taking him away from second and towards first, wheel around and throw to second versus squaring up and getting a sure out at first? Mental mistake.

Yet, it wouldn’t have gotten into the 13th without Brian Fuentes mental boner in the bottom if the 11th. Leading 3-2, Angels closer Brian Fuentes challenged Alex Rodriguez with three straight fast balls. A-Rod watched the first two go by for called strikes. For some reason Fuentes decided he could get another high fast ball past Rodriguez. If you’re gonna miss to A-Rod it better not be over the plate. Ahead in the count 0-2 why would Fuentes not bust A-Rod in on his hands to take away his power? Down in the count A-Rod did what most great hitters do, he choked up on the bat to shorten his swing. However, when he saw essentially the same pitch Fuentes threw him to start the inning he swung away and muscled it into the right field seats.

Izturis’ mental mistake and throwing error will be remembered as the play that cost the Angels in game 2 but it was Fuentes decision that prevented the Angels from stealing game 2 and home field advantage away from the Yankees.

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Yankees and Angels face off for AL Crown

16th October 2009 by SportsFags under Baseball, Featured     

As baseball organizations go, the Yankees and Angels are about as good as it gets. Over the course of 162 games, New York and Los Angeles / Anaheim proved to be the class of the American League. And although many baseball fans fell in love with the prospect of another Yankees / Red Sox ALCS the Angels should offer the Yankees more of a challenge.

I am one of these guys who thinks there’s a higher level of play right now in the American League and so I think the winner of this series will ultimately win the World Series. And I want to pick the Angels in this series but I just can’t. The Yankees have been rolling through the second half of this season like a team with all of the money in the world to spend on players — wait a minute, they do.

The regular season series is tied at five games each and although the Angels have added more power to their lethal mix of speed, defense and pitching it will not be enough to overcome the Empire.

Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter

They Yankees are going with a three-man rotation of C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte. Why? Because they feel it gives them the best shot at winning this series. The Angels rotation — John Lackey, Joe Saunders, Jered Weaver and Scott Kazmir — is solid, but over matched. Furthermore, it’s hard to adequately describe the advantage Mariano Rivera gives New York. Just consider that when Rivera comes in to close out a game you just lost. He’s the only true, consistent, shut down closer over the past ten years and he’s looking really strong.

I think if you polled the Yankees players, and they answered truthfully, you would find they consider the Angels a bigger threat than either the Dodgers or the Phillies. Yet with Alex Rodriguez heating up and the consistent play of Mark Teixeira and arguably the games best ever post season player, Derek Jeter, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the Angels advance.

The SportsFags prediction — Yankees in six.

Observation
I don’t think it’s coincidence that 3 of the 4 championship series managers (Joe Torre, Mike Sciosia and Joe Girardi) are former major league catchers.

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Yankees/Twins Preview

7th October 2009 by SportsFags under Baseball     

It seems like no one is giving the Minnesota Twins any chance of beating the Yankees in the ALDS and for good reason. When your pitching matchups are CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte against Brian Duensing, Nick Blackburn and Carl Pavano there’s not much room for debate.

Surely, all non-Yankees fans will be pulling for the Twins to continue their miracle run which forced a tiebreaker against the Tigers to decide the AL Central title. The Twins are a great story and one of the toughest outs in baseball (here comes the but) but the Yankees have too much talent to realistically pick the Twins to win the series. Can they win a game or two? Sure. Can they keep the games close? Absolutely.

If they scored runs based on the hotness factor the Twins would crush the Yankees. After all who wouldn’t like hot Twins?

Twins Hotties were previewed yesterday before the game against the Tigers.

Yankees Hotties

Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter

Nick Swisher

Nick Swisher


Brett Gardner

Brett Gardner


alex_rodriguez_shirtless

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Hunt for October — playoff time is near

17th September 2009 by SportsFags under Baseball     

With just about two weeks left in major league baseball’s regular season the playoff match ups are almost set in stone. This year the only drama in September baseball is how will managers juggle their staffs to ensure their pitching rotations are optimized for the playoffs. Boring!!!!

2009 will be remembered as the season of no drama. The last two years we witnessed late season heroics and Cinderella seasons from the Rockies and Rays.

The 2009 season has gone as planned. So here’s what the playoffs would look like if the season ended today.

090814_mark_teixeiraAmerican League Divisional Series

Detroit (78-67) @ NY Yankees (98-53)
Boston (86-58) @ Los Angeles (86-59)

Boston is virtually assured of the wild card and there’s no way Detroit will finish with a better record than LA. I’m thinking Yankees / Red Sox in the ALCS with the Yankees advancing to the World Series.

National League Divisional Series
St. Louis (85-62) @ Los Angeles (88-59)
Colorado (83-64) @ Philadelphia (84-60)

The National League divisional match ups could change a bit in the final two weeks so I’ll just pick the Cardinals to represent the National League in the World Series.

Yawn. I’m fired up, ready to go!

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