Yesterday was a good day.

The weather was beautiful. I was in my happy place, Yankee Stadium. I ate steak covered fries – yes, they exist. I scored the game for four innings – I ended up meeting up with some friends and didn’t score the rest of it because I was too busy chatting. Brennan Boesch and Lyle Overbay hit home runs. Phil Hughes pitched well again – though he had some bad luck in the latter innings. The Yankees won the game and even better, they swept a four-game series against Toronto.

And finally, I saw this for the first time since 2011:

I’ve seen Mariano Rivera enter a game hundreds of times in the past 17 years but for some reason, I felt like I needed to shoot some video of yesterday’s jog from the bullpen.

I guess, it’s different now knowing the close of his career is coming and that there is a definitive endpoint in sight. I also think Yankee fans took it for granted. We would always joke that Mo was going to pitch forever and that bravado was shattered last season when he suffered the season-ending knee injury in Kansas City.

Now, I won’t shoot video every time Mo makes that jog but I’m glad I did it yesterday. It just felt right. And, of course, he set the Blue Jays down in order in the ninth inning.

Ho hum. Business as usual.

(Syndicated from It’s About the Money)

You know it’s a good game when CC Sabathia gives up two runs while tossing over 30 pitches in the first inning and he not only picks up the win but lasts until the eighth inning and hands the ball off to Mariano Rivera for the save.

But before we get to that, let’s review what happened.

Paul Goldschmidt put the Diamondbacks up 2-0 with a line drive home run to the short porch in right field in the first. They scored again in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by A.J. Pollock while the Yankees couldn’t get anything going against Wade Miley.

In the seventh, the Yankees scored three runs to tie the game and snatch a win from Miley’s grasp. The first run was scored on a bases loaded walk by Jayson Nix that scored Ben Francisco. Miley was replaced by Tony Sipp who was immediately greeted by a two-out, two-run single by Brett Gardner to tie the game.

Sabathia threw 108 pitches in eight innings of work. He gave up the three runs on six hits, walked three and struck out six.

In the bottom of the eighth, Joe Girardi pinch hit Travis Hafner for Ben Francisco when David Hernandez was brought for the Diamondbacks. Hafner made the most of his chance by driving a ball out of the park on Hernandez’s first offering to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

Rivera came in and pitched a scoreless 1-2-3 inning to collect his 612th career save and fourth save of the season.

The hapless Yankees, the team people were predicting doom and gloom for are now 8-5 on the year. And yes, I know it’s only April but they’re winning games they need to win while they’re missing key players and it’s nice to see the new guys like Hafner stepping up.

They will try to get the series sweep tomorrow with Patrick Corbin facing off against Phil Hughes tomorrow night.

(Syndicated from It’s About The Money)

(Syndicated from It’s About the Money)

Sometimes I have days when my mind is going a million miles an hour – okay, so it happens at least six out of the seven days in a week – and on those days, when my thoughts are all over the place, I like to write them out. Aren’t you lucky?

I’ll usually post only the baseball thoughts but an occasional, random thought about other stuff like music, life, or even the weather will creep in.

And away we go…

We’re a week away from Opening Day. The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are the inaugural Sunday Night ESPN game for 2013. Yes, I have the same thought – the poor Astros.

The Yankees will open a week from tomorrow against the Boston Red Sox in what most “experts” (and I put that in quotes for a reason) are predicting will be a battle for the American League East cellar.

I don’t think the Yankees will end the season in last place.

I’ve been known to be incorrect in my predictions.

I’ve also been known to be very correct in my predictions. Case(s) in point: In a phone call to my dad on April 20, 1997, I told him the Florida Marlins were going to win the World Series. Or the time I correctly predicted the 2007 Yankees’ regular season record in March. My favorite was when I predicted Jason Giambi‘s 30+ home run season in February 2005. (He finished with 32.)

Can Spring Training seem any longer?

Or be more boring?

Can the person with the Yankee voodoo doll please put it away? Thanks.

I cannot stop listening to Justin Timberlake’s new album. Like, I mean, I’m listening to it every waking hour on repeat. I think need an intervention.

I hope one of the Yankees uses at least one of his songs as their walk up song this season.

I’m interested to find out what the new guys’ songs will be because Ichiro coming to bat to LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem always amused me.

I hope if Derek Jeter goes old school he picks something better than Puff Daddy.

Yes, he’s still Puff Daddy to me.

» Continue reading “Stacey’s Random Baseball Thoughts”

Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the Yankees have scheduled a 10 a.m. press conference for Saturday in which Mariano Rivera will be announcing that he intends to retire after the 2013 season.

Excuse me, I need to gather myself for a moment.

Yes, I know he’s 43-years-old and yes, I know he’s coming off a major knee surgery but this is Mariano Rivera. He is not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill baseball player. He is a deity and I don’t care how sacrilegious it sounds because it’s true.

He’s otherworldly.

He’s transcendant.

He’s …

Yeah, I still need a moment.

I wrote this last year after he was injured in Kansas City.

Lots of stuff has happened this past week.

The major bit of news was losing Curtis Granderson to a broken forearm five pitches into his Spring. Of course what followed was lots of speculation about who will take over while Granderson is recovering – he’s supposed to be out at least the first month of the season.

Then we have the Yankees struggling to win Spring Training game which isn’t really news because it’s only Spring Training and the regulars haven’t played that much. They’re currently riding a seven-game losing streak (THE HORROR!)

Joba Chamberlain decided he wanted to stir up more controversy by saying he’d rather be a starter. Naturally, the press and angry fans had a field day with this. It was loads of fun for everyone involved.

Let’s see, what else? Oh right, Joe Girardi decided he also wanted to cause a stir by saying Phil Hughes may not be ready for the start of the season. You know what else? He may be ready.

Mariano Rivera and CC Sabathia are well on their way back from their surgeries. Sabathia’s elbow is responding well to pitching sessions and Rivera’s knee is responding well to both pitching sessions and fielding drills. Another guy coming back from surgery, Derek Jeter, has started running and he’s still on track to be in participating in Spring Training games by March 10.

The first full week of Spring Training – full as in the whole team was in camp – is nearly over and what have we learned?

Well, for one thing, we learned that the Yankees are open to switching the defensive alignment of the outfield by placing Curtis Granderson in left field and allowing Brett Gardner to patrol center field. This is all in the beginning stages and it may not even come to fruition but the fact that the Yankees are open to this idea makes me happy. I believe the stronger outfield would have Gardner in center.

Another thing we learned is that Ichiro Suzuki is pretty funny. From him showing up on the first day of training camp in a glittery Yankee cap – at least according to the beat writers who couldn’t take pictures in the clubhouse so there actually isn’t any proof that this hat exists. I guess we’ll have to take their word for it – to his quote in which he subtly made fun of the New York sports media for focusing on Derek Jeter’s weight which, surprise surprise, turned into a non issue to him tipping his cap or, in this case, helmet after he blasted a batting practice home run off fellow countryman Hiroki Kuroda. I like Ichiro. He can stay.

Next up, we have Mariano Rivera who seems to be healthy and ready to pitch in 2013. He threw his first live batting practice and said he felt good. He said that he was more worried about how his knee would respond to fielding practice than he was about pitching. You and me both, Mo. Let’s hope everything stays copacetic.

Jorge Posada returned to Tampa as a guest instructor this week. He already shot down the comeback idea. According to Posada there will be no repeat of what happened with Andy Pettitte last season although some Yankee fans wouldn’t mind it considering the team doesn’t actually have a starting catcher as of this moment.

Phil Hughes hurt his back earlier in the week and was diagnosed with a bulging disc. The Yankees conservatively estimated he’d be out two weeks. Hughes started getting ready for the season two weeks earlier than usual so these next weeks off, according to him, will put him right on schedule. Or something.  Frankly, I’m concerned because this is the third season in a row that Hughes has had a back issue. His 2012 ended when he left Game Three of the American League Championship Series with a back problem.

What else happened in Tampa?

• Joba Chamberlain grew this thing on his face. 
• New Yankee Kevin Youkilis arrived and hugged it out with Joba.
• Alex Rodriguez issued a statement about his rehab and the New York Daily News which seems to be obsessed with Alex, reported that he ate at the same seafood restaurant three nights in a row this week. He ordered oysters. No word on if this is all a part of his rehab.

Day two of Yankee camp started with Francisco Cervelli answering questions about his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal.

Cervelli said someone told him about the clinic and he also said he left without buying anything.

“When I got my foot injured in 2011, I checked with doctors and somebody recommended me Biogenesis,” Cervelli said. “I went there for maybe suggestions, and that’s it. I walked away without nothing in my hands. I just went there, talked and that’s it.”

He wouldn’t say who recommended the place but insisted it wasn’t a fellow player or one of his agents. Cervelli answered a bunch of questions from the writers gathered in Tampa and he stated:

“I will be here just doing what I know, having fun…I know my situation right now, no distraction. I just came here to play baseball.“

Mariano Rivera arrived this morning – he was allowed an extra day and didn’t have to report yesterday. According to the writers, Mo made small talk but didn’t discuss his knee or his future. He is scheduled to throw a bullpen session today along with Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, and Hiroki Kuroda.

The other pitchers throwing today are: David Aardsma, Tom Kahnle, Jim Miller, Zach Nuding, Clay Rapada, Juan Cedeno, Vidal Nuno, Ryan Pope, Matt Tracy.

And because I know everyone loves this sort of news, David Robertson’s Spring Training locker has been moved. From the Lohud Yankees blog (with my favorite part bolded for emphasis):

Dave Robertson has been moved to the locker right next to Rivera (that’s where Rafael Soriano was the last two years). It was suggested that Robertson moving down the line to be so close to Rivera is an indication that he’s the heir to closer’s role. Robertson said he it was simply an indication that he’s going to be picked on this spring.

Just as I was about to publish this post, some big news came across the wires…

Big uniform news: I’m told by @YankeesPR that David Phelps has reclaimed his old No. 41, while Michael Pineda has taken back his old No. 35.

That comes courtesy of a tweet from Mark Feinsand of the Daily News.

Carry on and Happy Wednesday!

I woke up uncharacteristically early this morning – around 6:45 a.m. – and a few things popped into my head. Unsurprisingly, they were baseball related.

• I’m jealous of other teams’ fans because at least they’ve had signings and trades to complain about. Yankee fans have only complained about the team not doing much of anything.
• Winter needs to end. It’s cold and I miss baseball.
• Is Francisco Cervelli really going to be the starting catcher? I’m not sure I can deal with that or seeing him throw balls into centerfield that were meant to land in the second baseman’s glove. Russell Martin wasn’t a world beater but losing his and Nick Swisher’s double digit home run totals is a scary proposition.
• What will seeing Kevin Youkilis in Pinstripes be like? Will I want to hurl? (Probably not. I don’t mind Youk.)
• Will A-Rod actually make it back after the All-Star break or will he miss the entire year?
• Is CC Sabathia really in the best shape of his life?
• What is a FanFest and how come it seems like every other team has them but the Yankees?
• Are the Yankees too special for a FanFest?
• Could I even afford to attend said FanFest?
• Would I even want to go? I’m not a big fan of people.
• Speaking of not being able to attend something, tomorrow is SABR Day and I cannot afford to go. I’m really bummed about that.
• Does Carl Pavano have the worst luck of any human being, ever?
• Seriously, how does one rupture a spleen, falling while shoveling snow?
• Why didn’t he hire someone to shovel his driveway?
• Will I ever actually ‘get’ sabermetrics?
• Well, get it enough to be able to write about it and not sound like a dunderhead?
• Francisco Cervelli?
• Last year, I pulled off the dual stadium doubleheader – day game at Yankee Stadium, night game at Citifield. What will be the special feat this season?
• How soon will Yankee fans begin to panic? Oh, who am I kidding? They’re already panicking.
• How will it be in my new seats? (I am moving from 420A to 413. We’re still high up – because I will always be an upper deck kind of girl – but the seats are cheaper which is great for this currently unemployed lady.)
• Which songs will be overplayed during sports themed commercials this year? (This is not a drive by ay ay ay ay -MURDER!!!!!)
• Will we see another #HIROKtober?
• I’m really going to miss #UNTUCK
• How effective will Mo be after nearly a whole year away?
• Will his knee be 100% by Opening Day?
• Speaking of Opening Day, I have a feeling that even though the Yankees are saying guys – Chris Stewart, Cervelli and possibly Austin Romine – will have to compete for the starting catcher’s job, Cervelli is who they have in mind. Call me paranoid but that’s how I feel.

 

The past two days brought forth a flurry of activities in Yankeeland. The two major announcements were Mariano Rivera signing a one-year/$10M deal for 2013 and Russell Martin being scooped up by the Pirates for three years/$24M.

Earlier today the Pirates’ twitter account tweeted a picture of their newest acquisition who seems to be sporting a mustache for Movember. Or maybe he just forgot to wash his face.

Best of luck to Martin.

As for Mo, the terms of his deal are as follows, per Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports:

Rivera contract with #Yankees: One year: $10M plus following incentives. $500K for LCS/MVP, $1M for WS/MVP, $1M for winning Rolaids award.

And Rivera said in his statement: “I feel like we have…a team that can compete for a championship. I’m not just coming back to play. I’m coming back to win.”

I like that, a lot.

In other news:

From the YankeesPR Twitter account:

Yankees also claim RHP Jim Miller off waivers from Oakland; next up, Winter Meetings in Nashville

The Yankees designated both Mickey Storey and Jayson Nix for assignment to make room for Rivera and right-hander Jim Miller on the 40-man roster. Miller was picked up a short time ago from Oakland.

Nix was signed to a $900,000 major league contract and immediately designated for assignment. He agreed to accept the assignment in Triple A and if he clears waivers, he will report to camp in the Spring.

And earlier today a team spokesman announced that the Yankees “do not anticipate having any non-tenders” before tonight’s deadline. That’s good, I guess?