(This post was originally published on The Yankee Analysts)

Hideki Matsui announced his retirement yesterday after 10 seasons in the Majors – seven of them with our New York Yankees – and I thought it would be fun to take a look back at his time in Pinstripes.

For this post, I chose to focus on specific games I attended during Matsui’s Yankee tenure so I could tell some stories. Some are just random games, there’s a playoff game in there and a game in which he wasn’t even a Yankee.

I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane and please, feel free to leave your memories of Matsui in the comments section following this post.

» Continue reading “Hideki Matsui and Me: A Retrospective”

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to take some time to wish you all a safe Holiday season. For those who celebrated Hannukah, I hope it was a happy and safe week for you. For those about to celebrate Christmas. I hope the same for you and also fun times, delicious food and lots of laughter and good cheer. As well as all of the present you asked for from Santa. For those who celebrate Kwanzaa, I hope it is jubilant.

Second Place Is Not an Option will more than likely be dark until after the New Year unless something major happens in Yankeeland but the chances of that happening are slim to none.

So, once again, be safe this Holiday season and see you all in 2013!

-Stacey

Here’s the announcement from the Yankees:

The New York Yankees today announced they have re-signed 10-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove Award-winning outfielder Ichiro Suzuki to a two-year contract.

Suzuki, 39, was acquired by the Yankees from Seattle on July 23, 2012, along with cash considerations in exchange for right-handed pitchers D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar. In 67 games with the Yankees, Suzuki batted .322 (73-for-227) with 28 runs, 13 doubles, one triple, five home runs, 27 RBI and 14 stolen bases. Of his 56 starts with the Yankees, 26 were in left field, 24 in right field, five in center field and one was as the designated hitter. Prior to the 2012 season, he had made just one career start in left field (2001 ALCS Game 5 with Seattle at the Yankees).

“The Yankees are the kind of team that I always envisioned being a part of,” Suzuki said. “Everyone in the world of competition has a strong desire to win, but the Yankees also have an atmosphere where losing is not an option. These two observations may sound similar, but I believe it is a rarity to find both coexisting in the same organization.

“I believe the Yankees organization appreciates that there is a difference between a 39 year old who has played relying only on talent, and a 39 year old who has prepared, practiced, and thought thoroughly through many experiences for their craft. I am very thankful, and I will do my best to deliver on their expectations.”

Suzuki hit safely in each of his first 12 games with the Yankees, tying Don Slaught (1988) for the longest hitting streak to begin a Yankees career. Suzuki hit five homers with the Yankees — all at Yankee Stadium — after hitting just four home runs in 95 games to start the year with Seattle. Overall in 2012, Suzuki batted .283 (178-for-629) with 77 runs, 28 doubles, six triples, nine home runs, 55 RBI and 29 stolen bases in 162 games with the Mariners and the Yankees.

Suzuki, a left-handed hitter who throws with his right hand, owns a .322 (2,606-for-8,085) career batting average with 1,204 runs, 308 doubles, 80 triples, 104 home runs, 660 RBI, 452 stolen bases, 518 walks and a .365 on-base percentage in 1,911 games. Among active players, he ranks second in steals behind only Juan Pierre (591), third in batting average (min: 3,000PA) and fourth in hits. His 2,606 career hits are the most by any player through his first 12 Major League seasons and are 310 more than any other Major Leaguer has totaled since Suzuki’s debut in 2001.

He has recorded at least 150 hits in each of his first 12 Major League seasons, joining Paul Waner (first 14 straight from 1926-39), Richie Ashburn (first 13 from 1948-60) and Albert Pujols (first 12 from 2001-12) as the only players to accomplish the feat in the Live Ball Era. Additionally, Suzuki has stolen at least 20 bases in each of his 12 Major League seasons, joining Rickey Henderson (first 23 seasons) and Ozzie Smith (first 16 seasons) as the only players with streaks as long from the beginning of their careers.

Suzuki has played in a Major League-high 1,911 games since 2001 and appeared in at least 155 games in 11 different seasons, tying for the fifth-most such seasons all time. The only Major Leaguers with more 155-game seasons are Cal Ripken (15), Pete Rose (15), Eddie Murray (12) and Billy Williams (12). Suzuki has made 1,845 starts as an outfielder (1,549 in RF, 270 in CF and 26 in LF) and owns a career fielding percentage of .992 with just 33 errors in 4,284 total chances.

A two-time AL batting champion (.350 in 2001 and .372 in 2004), Suzuki has led or tied for the Major League lead in hits seven times (2001, ’04, ‘06-10), tying Pete Rose and Ty Cobb for the most such seasons all time. Additionally, he is the only player in Major League history to accomplish the feat in five consecutive years. From his debut season through 2010, he finished first or second in the AL in hits every year, and in 2011, he finished ninth.

Prior to playing in the Majors, Suzuki played for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan’s Pacific League for nine seasons (1992-2000) and was named the league’s MVP three times (1994-96). In 951 career games with Orix, he hit .353 (1,278-for-3,619) with 653 runs, 211 doubles, 23 triples, 118 home runs, 529 RBI and 199 stolen bases. Suzuki led the league in batting average for a Japanese-record seven straight years (1994-2000), while also winning a Gold Glove Award and being named to the Pacific League’s “Best Nine” in each of those seven seasons.

Suzuki is one of six Japan-born players in Yankees franchise history, joining Hideki Irabu (1997-99), Hideki Matsui (2003-09), Kei Igawa (2007-08), Hiroki Kuroda (2012) and Ryota Igarashi (2012).

In order to make room on the 40-man roster, the Yankees designated RHP Jim Miller for assignment.

I have a confession to make: I haven’t been wowed this offseason, none of the moves that have been made – Yankees and non-Yankees – have elicited much of a reaction from me. It’s so bad that I think I really should change my name to Pierre because I don’t care.

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about (and I’m pretty sure you don’t), I’m referring to a character from the 1975 TV movie “Really Rosie“. If you’re in your late 30′s – early 40′s, you know that “Really Rosie” was a musical based on Maurice Sendak’s books and Carole King voiced the character of Rosie. It was shown on TV, played in elementary school assemblies and sometimes performed by students in your schools (at least that all happened in my school).

Anyway, the character of Pierre was a bit of a curmudgeon, which I am slowly morphing into as I age and his answer to everything was, “I don’t care.”

That’s me.

I don’t care that the Yankees signed Kevin Youkilis, well, at least not as much as others seem to be affected by it. Some people are going so far as to say, “I’m still going to boo him!” Really? You’d think the fact that the Red Sox traded him away last season would lessen the blow of the Yankees acquiring him but no, people are determined to act like morons. Have fun with that.

I don’t care that the Yankees signed Ichiro Suzuki for two-years even though he is older than I am. See? I can’t even think of anything to say right now.

I don’t care that the Angels signed Josh Hamilton to a five-year for $125 million dollars. Okay, I’ll be honest, I think it’s amusing but other than that? Meh. Next.

I don’t care that the Red Sox signed Ryan Dempster. Actually, I don’t care about anything they did this offseason. Mike Napoli? So what? Shane Victorino? Who cares.

Even the fact that the Dodgers and Angels have taken the “we’re going to get everyone and pay an exorbitant amount of money” crown from the Yankees, yep, you guessed it. I don’t care.

What is wrong with me?

I love baseball and I usually love the Hot Stove season but I am just indifferent this year. Maybe it’s a carry over from how the postseason ended for the Yankees. Maybe I’m preparing myself for the $189 million reality that Yankee fans are going to have to get used to. Or maybe, I just don’t care and there’s no rhyme or reason about it.

Didn’t I just say I was starved for Yankee news? Well, apparently Kevin Youkilis felt bad for me because he verbally agreed to the one-year/$12M deal the Yankees offered him. It’s pending a physical, of course, like all deals but still, this is really odd.

Kevin Youkilis is (more than likely) going to be a Yankee? Down is up, up is down, 2012!

Nick Swisher

A few moments ago, Brien Jackson, my colleague over at It’s About The Money, Stupid, tweeted a link to a piece by Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston on ESPN New York (stay with me) about Nick Swisher’s possible destinations. As you all know, Swisher is a free agent and is looking to make big bucks this Winter. Edes mentioned the Red Sox as being interested in signing Swisher, if they can’t sign Josh Hamilton, that is and then he says this:

The Red Sox look at Swisher as a fallback plan if they are unable to lure Josh Hamilton.

The San Francisco Giants, New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians reportedly all have expressed interest in the 32-year-old.

Say what now? Come again? You all are see what I’m seeing, yes?

I realize he says “reportedly” but when have the Yankees been mentioned as being interested in signing or in their case re-signing Swish? It seems to me, at least so far in this offseason, that the Yankees were going to wipe their hands clean of Nick Swisher. So why is this the first time we’re all hearing about this even being a possibility? Is Gordon Edes just talking out of his rear end? And where are these “reports” of the Yankees expressing an interest in bringing Swish back?

Inquiring minds want to know.

(This is what happens when I’m starved for baseball news involving the Yankees…)

Since we’re waiting for Kevin Youkilis to make up his mind in regards to whether or not he’ll don the Yankee pinstripes in 2013, I thought we could listen to some songs with the word “wait” or “waiting” in the title.

Enjoy (after the jump)!

» Continue reading “The Waiting Game Starring Kevin Youkilis”

This morning, Alex Rodriguez hosted a breakfast for 150 students who were participating in his annual basketball tournament in Miami. When asked about his upcoming surgery in January, Rodriguez said:

“I am fully committed to a very hard road back,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve done it before in ’09 and it was a great result, both on a personal level and on a team level, more importantly. I take it as a great challenge and I’m excited for the challenge.”

Rodriguez also told the attendees that his surgery was scheduled in mid-January. The recovery time could be anywhere from 4-6 months.

From Dr. Bryan Kelly’s website

So I woke up this morning and did what I always do: I picked up my phone and checked Twitter. I know, it’s an addiction and I can’t help myself.

Anyway, I woke a little later than usual and the first thing I saw was “A-Rod”, “hip”, “surgery” and then I screamed out an expletive as I sat up. Don’t worry the only living creature who heard me was my cat Henry who was disturbed out of a nice long slumber by the sudden movement of my feet.

Once I drank some coffee and got the full story, I screamed out more expletives because I thought back to the playoffs and all of the stuff that Rodriguez went through, like his being blamed for the entire team not hitting and became angry all over again on his behalf.

Alex Rodriguez took so much crap from everybody: the fans, the media, etc. And he was never nasty, he just stood there, answered questions and he supported his teammates in the dugout when he couldn’t play.

So the story is that he has a tear in the other hip, not the right one that was surgically repaired in 2009 and that this injury is a little worse and therefore the recovery time is longer.

Great…

The news shook me up so badly I ended up passing out for a few hours. After I woke up from my nap, hoping that the morning was just an awful dream, I caught up on some stuff.

Apparently, a press conference was held and Yankees GM Brian Cashman answered some questions. He said that Rodriguez thought something was off and told manager Joe Girardi as much during the infamous “Ibanez pinch hits for A-Rod” game against Baltimore. So they quietly, without telling the media, had Rodriguez’s right hip checked out during the playoffs and nothing was found. It was clean. Of course, they didn’t think to check his other hip because it wasn’t bothering him – I believe the word you’re looking for is asymptomatic.

Then in a routine checkup by the hip doctor in Colorado revealed a labrum tear in the other hip along with some tendon irritation. They’re also saying because the severity in his left hip is a little more – due to the added bonus of the tendon irritation – than the injury he had in the other hip, it could be a 4-6 month recovery and that Rodriguez won’t have the surgery until January because he needs 4-6 weeks of “prehab” to strengthen his hip.

Oy vey.

This means that best case scenario, the earliest we’ll see A-Rod playing is May and worst case could be as late as July.

In a year when the Yankees weren’t losing their starting catcher and starting right fielder to free agency, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal but now with the Yankees on this payroll reduction plan, the timing of this injury couldn’t be any worse.

Someone wake me up in April. I’m going to hibernate because I can’t handle anymore bad news.