[I apologize for this because it's not your usual cheery Spring Training update, it's a personal essay that I wrote in December. Truth be told, I'm struggling to come up with stuff to write about this Spring. Juggling two blogs is proving to be much harder than I thought it would be. I promise, I'll be back to normal next week.

Warning: There's some strong language in this piece.

Thanks for reading - Stacey]

2008 was an odd year for me.

It had started off on a positive note. When the new year rolled around, I was three full months into Weight Watchers and I had already dropped 20 lb. The bad news was that I had 40 more to go before hitting my goal of 60.

I was coming out of a really bad time in my life. A traumatic incident such as losing your best friend of 28 years over a guy will make you do silly things like eating enough food to feed six people every night and gaining close to 30 lb in three months.

By September 2007, I had enough. It took struggling to make it up the three flights of stairs to my apartment to become the final straw. It was a hot, late summer evening, I had just gone to the Supermarket and corner bodega to pick up the components of my nightly meal and I was looking forward to gorging like I had never gorged before.

When I took the final step and arrived at my apartment door, which luckily for me was right at the top of the flight of stairs, I honestly thought I was going to die. I unlocked the door, keeled over and truly thought it was the end for me. I could barely breathe, let alone speak or yell or get anyone’s attention and I was living alone at the time which added to my anxiety. Well, I had my feline sons, Jack and Henry, but they were no help as I gasped for air. I stood there with the groceries strewn about my entryway, leaning against the wall, bent at my waist and I was staring at the original 1920′s hardwood floor as my life flashed before my eyes. When my breathing finally returned to normal, I said out-loud, “Enough.”

» Continue reading “Losing Weight, Broken Hearts And Baseball”

(Syndicated from The Yankee Analysts)

A few guys that have worn the #25 for the Yankees have had special moments during their time in Pinstripes.

For instance, the man who currently dons that uniform number for the Yankees, Mark Teixeira, had his lone special playoff moment, so far, in October 2009 when he hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning to seal a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

In order to even get to that moment, Teixeira was instrumental in guaranteeing the Yankees a chance of even making it to extra innings when he opened the bottom of the ninth with a single. The Yankees found themselves down 3-1 and the Twins were looking to tie the series 1-1.

After Teixeira’s single, Alex Rodriguez stepped in and took the fifth pitch he saw out to the Yankee bullpen to tie the game.

The teams held each other scoreless until Teixeira led off the 11th inning with a line drive home run to left that bounced off the top of the wall and into the seats. It gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead in a series they would go on to sweep in three games.

Next up, we have the man who wore the number before Teixiera, Jason Giambi, who had his special moment within the first two months of joining the team.

It was a rainy Friday night in May in the Bronx and the Yankees found themselves down three runs in the bottom of the 13th inning against the Twins. The game was tied 9-9 going into the top of the inning when Sterling Hitchcock gave up three runs to give Minnesota a 12-9 lead.

The Yankees came up in the bottom of the 13th against Mike Trombley and twelve pitches later was walking off the field a loser.

Shane Spencer singled to lead off the inning, Alfonso Soriano flied out, Derek Jeter hit a single and Bernie Williams walked to load the bases. Giambi stepped in and took the first pitch he saw into the right field bleachers for a walk-off grand slam. The Yankees won 13-12.

Joe Girardi wore #45 for the first half of the 1996 season. He switched to #25 when Cecil Fielder came over in a trade with the Tigers, letting Fielder have the number he had worn with the Tigers.

Girardi’s moment is one that is always referenced when talking about the late 90′s Yankee dynasty. At the time it happened it just seemed like an ordinary  triple but because it put the Yankees on the board first and they were able to hold on to a 3-2 victory to secure a win in the decisive Game Six of the 1996 World Series, it became the stuff of legends.

It is shown over and over and over again when those years are referenced along with Charlie Hayes catching the pop up in foul territory to end the game and the series.

And finally, we have Jim Abbott, who wore #25 in 1993 and 1994.

There are a few reasons why Abbott’s moment was special. One, he was born without a right hand and was able to make it to the Major Leagues and pitch. Two, he made history.

On September 4, 1993, I was in my den, watching the Yankee game with my father. It was a Saturday afternoon for me. I was newly 19-years-old and recovering from being out late with my friends the night before. In fact, I watched the game in my pijamas.

And why is this game so special? It’s because Abbott, the pitcher born without a right hand, pitched a no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.

It wasn’t an overpowering performance by any means. Abbott walked five batters and only struck out three but he able to do something that hadn’t been done by a Yankee pitcher in 10 years. Dave Righetti had pitched the last Yankee no-hitter on July 4, 1983.

I remember the last out of the game, Carlos Baerga hit a grounder to short, Randy Velarde scooped it, throw the ball to Don Mattingly who pumped his fists in triumph when the ump signaled the last out. I also remember the look of relief and joy on Abbott’s face when realizing just what had happened.

Moments like these are what makes being a baseball fan so special. You never know what can happen.

The Yankees Are Going To The ALCS!!!!

When my brother informed me that there were $20 tickets available for today’s game I told him, “I’m not sure I can handle being at a do or die game.” He agreed and we didn’t get the tickets.

Now that it’s over and the Yankees have won, I’m still glad I made that decision. I wouldn’t have been able to handle being there in person. Kudos to the people who were there.

Today, the star of the game was CC Sabathia, who pitched a complete game to lead the Yankees to victory.

The game followed a familiar pattern: Both teams weren’t hitting and both pitchers were on fire. For the Orioles it was Jason Hammel setting the Yankees’s batter down one right after the other.

The first hit for the Orioles came in the fourth inning off the bat of Nate McClouth but the Orioles didn’t score off Sabathia and the game remained scoreless.

In the fifth inning, Mark Teixeira led the inning off with a single and in a move that shocked pretty much the entire world, stole second.

Yes, Mark Teixeira stole a base.

That set up Raul Ibanez to play hero again and he did, smacking a single to center which scored Teixeira and putting the Yankees up 1-0.

Things got interesting in the sixth inning when McClouth came up and hit a ball to right that just missed being a home run. It was so close that Buck Showalter asked the umps to review the play to make sure it wasn’t a home run.

Thankfully for the Yankees, the call stood, it remained a foul ball and Sabathia ended up getting McClouth swinging to end the inning.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Yankees struck again, thanks to a Derek Jeter single which was quickly followed by an Ichiro Suzuki double to put the Yankees up 2-0.

After CC set the Orioles down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, Nick Swisher continued his stellar performance at the plate by striking out on three pitches. Yes, that was sarcasm.

Curtis Granderson, whose bat awoke from its series long slumber to hit a single in the fifth, hit a solo home run to right to put the Yankees up 3-0.

Now, the eighth inning is when things got dicey.

Matt Wieters started things off with a single, then Sabathia walked Manny Machado. The next batter was Mark Reynolds who struck out – the Yankees did a good job quieting his bat this series. Lew Ford came up and hit a single past a diving Jeter to score Wieters and advance Machado to second.

Robert Andino hit an infield single, thanks to the fact that no one was covering third and CC had no one to throw the ball to. The bases were loaded with one out and Nate McClouth coming to bat.

To say that my heart was beating out of my chest would not be hyperbole. It really was. I thought I was having a cardiac episode.

In the battle of Sabathia vs. McClouth, CC won this time. He struck McClouth out.

With two outs and the bases still loaded, with the Orioles still threatening, Sabathia got J.J. Hardy to ground out to end the inning.

Crisis averted.

After the Yankees were set down quickly in the bottom of the eighth – thanks to a Robinson Cano double play – Sabathia walked out to the mound to finish what he started.

He got Adam Jones to fly out to left on an 1-0 pitch. One out.

He got Chris Davis to strike out. Two outs.

And for the final out, Sabathia was able to get Wieters to hit a grounder back to him to end the game.

Ballgame over, Yankees win, and they’re heading to the American League Championship Series to face the Detroit Tigers.

(If you noticed, I didn’t mention a certain player being noticeably absent from the lineup. That’s because it’s been discussed enough.)

Some things to take away from this series

A few guys need to start hitting the ball. I’m looking at you Swish and Cano. Tex and Granderson snapped out of it alittle bit today.

The pitching was superb – both the starters and relievers. Courtesy of Jeff Quagliata who does research for YES: the Yankees had a team ERA of 1.76 in this series which is the lowest ERA in a five-game LDS since division play began in 1995. Amazing.

If there were an ALDS MVP I think CC Sabathia would win it with Raul Ibanez getting an honorable mention for his performance in Game Three and overall in the series (he was 4-9).

And there is no rest for the weary, Game One is scheduled for tomorrow night.

Rest up kids, there’s more baseball to watch!

Two things stick out in the standings. Wait, no, three things.

1. The Yankees have sole possession of first place again.
2. The magic number is now 2 to clinch the Division.
3. Holy shit, the Red Sox are really 69-91 and 24 games out?!

This is exactly the game Yankees fans were hoping for this afternoon when the Red Sox lineup was posted.

Jokes were made about the Red Sox throwing the game. Even Boston’s beat writers were joining in on ripping on the lineup Bobby Valentine came up with.

And the Yankees needed to beat up on a team that was trotting out six guys who were in Triple-A at one point in the season and who was without both Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury.

It was a must-win situation.

CC Sabathia started things off with an eight-pitch two strikeout, first inning and the Yankees were on their way.

The Yankees, in a shocking turn of events, didn’t score any runs in the first inning which had been their specialty this year against the hapless Red Sox. Instead, they waited until the second inning tonight to drop a nine-spot on Boston.

Clay Buchholz started for the Red Sox but was not in the game as that second inning ended. He became the only Red Sox starter in the live-ball era to allow eight earned runs in fewer than 2 IP against the Yankees.

Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin and Mark Teixeira who returned to the lineup tonight, all hit home runs in the second inning.

Cano’s was one of the longest hit at the new Stadium, Martin’s was reviewed – and upheld – and Teixeira’s was his 24th of the season. Oh and Cano, just for good measure, added a double in that second inning. He finished the night 3-5, all three were extra base hits.

Sabathia earned his 15th win of the season and thanks to a strong eight-inning performance, reached the 200 inning plateau. He gave up two runs on four hits with two walks and seven strike outs.

From Jeff Quagliata, research guru for the YES Network, “CC Sabathia one of just 2 pitchers since 1995 to throw 200 innings in 28 or fewer starts – the other was Cliff Lee in 2010.”

Freddy Garcia came in to finish the game in the ninth and induced two ground outs and struck out one batter.

The Yankees victory coupled with the Orioles’ loss in Tampa helped to give the Yanks a one game lead (again) in the American League East with two to play. The magic number is down to two.

In a cute moment, Melky Mesa came to bat in the bottom of the eighth inning and hit an RBI single – his first major league hit – which scored Eduardo Nunez. While he was running to first, the YES Network cameras caught Eric Chavez yelling, “Touch the base!!” from the dugout.

That guy Brett Gardner, remember him? He actually came to bat in the ninth, ahead of Mesa. He ground out but advanced Nunez to second. The good news is he didn’t break!

Some facts:

• Yankees have scored 9 or more runs in three of their last four games.
• Alex Rodriguez tied Stan Musial for 5th on the All-time RBI list with 1,950.
• Granderson and Martin hit back-to-back home runs in that explosive second inning. It was the 12th time the Yankees have done that this season.
• Nick Swisher hit the 250th double of his career.

So the MLB PR account tweeted the Top Ten selling jersey list and Derek Jeter ranked first for the third straight year. Considering how many people bash him, I’m surprised. Of course, maybe some people are buying his jersey to urinate on or to burn. Who knows.

Here’s the complete Top 10. Notice who is not in there, MVP candidate, Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers.

Mark Teixeira is coming back to the Yankees, again; returning from his stint on the DL because of that calf injury he suffered in that game in Baltimore that the Yankees lost on a horrible call at first base that affected the outcome of the game and that now looks to affect the outcome of the AL East Standings.

Remember how people were speculating and saying, “What if the Yankees and O’s finish tied? This game is a big reason why.” Well, here we are. The Yankees and Orioles are tied atop the Division with three games left so it looks like fans can be in for a bumpy ride.

As I explained in my Quick Hit last night, if the teams finished tied after 162 games, they play each other on October 4th in Baltimore in the now infamous ‘Game 163.” The loser will play Oakland on the 5th and the winner will meet Detroit (if they win the AL Central, which they looked poised to do) in the ALDS.

I can barely handle the playoffs but the possibility of a tiebreaker and then a play-in game? That might be too much for me to deal with this week.

Being so emotionally invested in one team gets to be too much sometimes. Of course, it’s my own fault, I could take a step back and look at things from a different perspective. But then again why should I? We’re all fans in our own way and if I want to be nervous and if my face chooses to break out in what I affectionately call ‘playoff zits” then so be it.

Nighttime at the Stadium by SG

Against a tough Texas Rangers lineup, he gave up only two hits in nine innings with two walks and five strikeouts. He had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning, he threw 109 pitches – 74 of them for strikes and his ERA is now 3.06.

What a tremendous job he has done coming over from the National League.

It seemed like it was going to be a typical Kuroda start and that he would be victimized by the Yankee offense getting shut down. He’s been on the bad end of some great pitching performances this season. Specifically, Felix Hernandez‘s two-hit, complete game shutout on August 4.

Now, Kuroda has one of his own!

As for the Yankee offense, it was quiet until Rangers starter Matt Harrison was lifted for reliever Alexi Ogando. And thank goodness Harrison was lifted – his pitch count was up over 100 – because he held the Yankees to one run on five hits. He also walked three and struck out two.

Derek Jeter hit a single with one out in the seventh and Harrison was taken out of the game by Ron Washington.

Ogando came in to face Nick Swisher and after working the count to 3-2, Swish blasted a 97 m.p.h. offering from Ogando into the Yankees’s bullpen.

Not to be outdone, Mark Teixeira followed that up with a laser shot into Section 105 to make the score 3-0 Yankees.

So in a matter of minutes, the game went from being a 0-0 pitcher’s duel to being a sure fire Yankees victory. There was no way Kuroda was letting the Rangers get anything going in the eighth and ninth innings. Joe Girardi stuck with his man and Kuroda rewarded him with a 1-2-3 ninth inning to put an exclamation point on a job well done.

Thanks to Kuroda’s heroics, the Yankees bullpen’s arms were rested for a second night in a row, the Rangers’s vaunted lineup was shutdown and the Yankees won their 69th game of the season.

Some notes of interest:

• From @YankeeSource: The Yankees are 7-3 in last 10 games and 6-1 in last 7 games.
• From @YankeeSource: The Yankees are 82 for 249 w. RISP since the All Star Break, that’s a .329 BA w RISP.
• Jeter picked up hits #155 and #156 of the season tonight and keeps moving up the all-time hit list.
• From @yestoresearch: Last Yankee CG shutout of any kind against the Rangers was David Wells 8/21/98 at Arlington.
• From @yestoresearch: Last Yankee 2-hit shutout was Chien-Ming Wang vs. Devil Rays 7/28/06

You knew this was going to be an interesting night when David Cone dropped a “Moves Like Jagger” reference in the bottom of the first inning after a diving play by Derek Jeter to nab the speedy Rajai Davis for the first out of the game but then he ended up outdoing himself later in the night…

The Yankees struck first against Jays starter Ricky Romero, scoring two runs in the second inning. Kelly Johnson hit a home run in the bottom of the inning to pull the Jays to within a run but Freddy Garcia was able to get out of it without further damage.

In the top of the third the Yankees scored again, this time on a single by Robinson Cano which scored Nick Swisher from second base – he singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a ground out by Mark Teixeira.

Johnson struck again in the fourth inning with an RBI double which scored Yunel Escobar and the Jays were within a run once more. Garcia settled down again and got out of the fourth by striking out Omar Vizquel and getting Jeff Mathis to ground out to end the inning.

Things were quiet until the top of the eighth.

Steve Delabar replaced Ricky Romero and was greeted rudely by Teixeira who hit a first pitch home run. It was his 22nd of the season and he passed Darryl Strawberry and tied Joe Adcock for 94th on all-time home run list with 336.

After two ground outs by Robinson Cano and Andruw Jones, Jayson Nix and Russell Martin both singled. Well, Martin’s ball should have been an out. The Jays defense was having issues tonight. They only had two errors but it felt like they should have had more.

Ichiro Suzuki hit a two-run single to score Nix and Martin to give the Yanks a 6-2 lead. Toronto scored a run in the bottom of the eighth that was charged to Joba Chamberlain – he gave up a lead off single and was replaced by David Robertson. Anthony Gose, who hit that single, stole both second and third while Rajai Davis was up to bat. Davis walked and Robertson got Colby Rasmus to ground into a double play. Gose scored to make it 6-3 but Robertson was able to get Edwin Encarnacion to pop out to Swisher to end the inning.

The Yankees weren’t done scoring. They scored four more runs to make it 10-3 going into the bottom of the ninth. Swisher hit an RBI double to score Jeter, Raul Ibanez hit a single to score Swisher and the big blow – another double – came off the bat of Ichiro. It was a two-run double and it gave Ichiro five RBI on the night – his first 5 RBI night since August 2004 and the third such game of his career.

The Blue Jays scored a run in the bottom of the ninth but that was all they’d get.

Garcia earned his sixth win of the year and 151st of his career. He gave up two runs on five hits in six innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.

Back to David Cone. It seems he’s been catching up on pop culture because earlier in the summer he sang “Call Me, Maybe” on the air and made a reference to the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

His latest, hilariously inappropriate reference was this gem following a Mark Teixeira at bat: “That pitch tied him up. Tied him up tight. Tighter than the novel Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Okay, why is David Cone reading that book? Actually, you know what? I’m afraid to find out. Ken Singleton to his credit replied with, “I haven’t read that one.” Thank Goodness.

So the Yankees are back to being 20 games over .500 on the year and have now won three games in a row.

(Post syndicated from The Yankee Analysts)

Flickr Image Courtesy of andy.wolf

Oh Wally Matthews…

For once, he wasn’t “G.I. Joe” or “Joey Looseleafs” or “Binder Boy,” the guy who is on autopilot in front of a reporter, and at the mercy of his splits, his spray charts and his heat maps in the privacy of the manager’s office.

For the five minutes or so that he shouted at, gestured at and lectured the umpires on the field at Comerica Park, culminated by a stage exit complete with waving arms and rolling eyeballs, he was a living, passionate, fire-breathing human being.

This was the second paragraph of a Matthews’s piece on ESPN New York which was posted last night shortly after 9 P.M. EST.

It’s all about Joe Girardi getting fired up during yesterday’s game and how his tantrum may have sparked the team to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers.

Seeing Girardi have a meltdown and get ejected from the game was the most exciting thing about it. Not Mark Teixeira’s game-tying home run or Eric Chavez’s go-ahead home run in the eighth inning – which by the way, were back-to-back. Nah, why would in-game action matter? It’s all about Girardi showing everyone he’s a living, breathing, human being and not some cold, unfeeling cyborg.

And according to Matthews, “It was truly a joy to see.”

I don’t know about you guys but I have had it with the binder jokes. They’re tired, they’re stale and they’re stupid. And the fact that Matthews felt it necessary to include his sophomoric names for the Yankees manager in an actual article is completely laughable.

This wasn’t just a quick blog post made in the heat of the moment during the game, this was a thought out, 1,200 word article written hours after the game had ended.

It’s just another reason in the long list of many why ESPN New York and its writers are not good enough for Yankee fans.

Is everyone breathing normally again? What a game this afternoon for the Yankees! It was close, it was scary, it was infuriating at times, it was exhilarating at times and the Yankees ended up on top.

The Yanks started the scoring in the top of the second off of Tigers starter Doug Fister. With Eric Chavez on first following a single – because all he does lately, is hit - Raul Ibanez launched a ball over centerfielder Quentin Berry’s head which resulted in an RBI triple for Ibanez. Ichiro Suzuki followed that up with an RBI single to make it 2-0.

Hiroki Kuroda was looking good and he held the Tigers scoreless until the fifth inning.

And what an inning that was.

Kuroda surrendered a double to Jhonny Peralta which was followed by an Alex Avila two-run shot to tie the game. Then after Kuroda got two outs and with runners on first and second, Andy Dirks hit a ball to left that umpire Tim Welke initially called foul but then called fair which resulted in a double that scored Berry from second.

Now, the fair ball call was correct – score one for the umpires – but Welke initially called it foul – oh wait, I’m sorry, deduct a point or three for that infraction – all of the confusion seemed to screw up Ibanez a little bit* – of course, having Ibanez playing in the field wasn’t the best choice either but that rant is for another day.

Joe Girardi came out of the dugout to argue and Welke allowed him to vent because he knew he screwed up. But then Girardi went nuclear and was tossed from the game. As he walked over the field he made fun of Welke’s two calls, complete with dramatic arm gestures.

It was pretty damn funny.

According to Jack Curry of YES, who looked at tape of the Girardi explosion, Girardi said to Welke, “I’m protesting this game. You called it a foul ball.”

Luckily, he doesn’t have to do that because the Yankees came back.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland brought in Joaquin Benoit to replace Octavio Dotel who had replaced Fister with one out in the seventh.

After Robinson Cano grounded out, Mark Teixeira hit a 2-0 bullet into the seats in right to tie the game. That ball was out of the park in what seemed like a nanosecond. Not to be outdone, Chavez who as I said, does nothing but hit, clubbed a solo shot of his own – an opposite field home run – in the very next at bat to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

David Phelps and Rafael Soriano combined to pitch two scoreless innings – though both innings were a little sweaty. Poor Phelps was victimized by a wet mound and called for a balk. Then Soriano was called upon to get the final four outs of the game. He ended the eighth on a Peralta fly out to Ichiro.

The bottom of the ninth started off a teensy bit dicey. Soriano gave up a double to Avila which was followed by a single by Omar Infante. With runners on first and third with no outs, Soriano got Ramon Santiago to line out to second, induced a Berry pop out to short and ended the game with a Dirks fly out to centerfield.

Say it with me now, UNTUCK!

Some interesting notes:

• Kuroda’s daytime ERA is 0.84
• Ibanez finished 2-4 with a double, triple, an RBI and a run scored
• Clay Rapada picked up his third win of the season
• Soriano picked up save number 27
• And finally, the man, the myth, the Chavez: In this series he was 9-16 with two doubles, two home runs, five RBI, scored six runs and increased his batting average from .264 to .289. A-Rod who? (Kidding)

*Ibanez in his postgame interview on YES said he was going off the noise of the crowd so he didn’t see Welke call it fair. He assumed it was foul then heard the crowd going crazy.

Courtesy of featurepics.com

You can all thank me for today’s win. I was there. Apparently I was all they needed to win a game. I hadn’t attended a game since July 1st and had missed being in my happy place.

Speaking of missing things, we missed the first inning thanks to construction on the Tappan Zee Bridge. By the time I made it up to my seat, the game was tied 1-1.

Did I mention how hot it was? Actually it wasn’t that bad for me. I sit in the penthouse, the top row of the upper deck. So even when it’s over 90 degrees, there’s a steady breeze. It’s annoying when you’re attempting to eat but it’s a welcome comfort when everyone in the seats below are sweating like crazy.

Speaking of sweating like crazy, Freddy Garcia started for the Yankees. If he were pitching against any other team he probably would have been knocked out after the first inning. Thankfully it was the Mariners who aren’t known for their offense.

As for the Yankees, their offense woke up a little today after yesterday’s swoon against Felix Hernandez.

In the fourth inning, Chris Stewart – the artist formerly known as CC Sabathia‘s personal catcher – singled, stole a base and scored on a Derek Jeter single to make the score 3-1.

Seattle pulled to within one in the bottom of the frame when Jesus Montero – currently known in some circles as the best player the Yankees traded away, ever – picked up another RBI on a single to right that scored Michael Saunders.

The Yankees added one more run in the fifth and in the sixth. Raul Ibanez hit a two-run home run, extending the lead to 6-2. It was his 15th home run of the year. On a personal note, it seems like Ibanez hits a home run every time I’m at the Stadium. I can think of at least four games he’s gone deep in while I was in attendance. See? It’s all me.

Boone Logan, David Robertson and Rafael Soriano combined to pitch four scoreless innings to help the Yankees salvage the series and pick up their 63rd win of the season.

Today’s win was Garcia’s 150th of his career. He pitched five full innings, gave up the two runs on five hits, walked four and struck out two batters.

Ichiro Suzuki extended his hitting streak and now has a hit in each of his 12 games with Yankees. According to Elias, he’s now tied with Don Slaught for most hits to start a Yankee career. Slaught’s streak was way back in 1988.

One story from the game:  Trayvon Robinson who was playing leftfield for Seattle hit into three line drives in his last three at bats. The first two were to Teixeira and to Jeter. Tex’s catch was funny. It was one of those, “Oh look at what’s in my glove?” types of catches. When Robinson came up in the ninth, my brother said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if he lined out again?” Well, would you know it? He did, right into Soriano’s glove for the first out of the ninth. My brother felt bad. I didn’t.