Miguel Tejada Charged with Lying to Congress

Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada has been charged with lying to Congress about the prevalence of steroid use, ESPN is reporting.

It is going to be painfully apparent pretty soon that this goes way beyond Alex Rodriguez and perhaps strikes at the very heart of baseball.

As long as there has been a game there has been cheating, but the difference is that with the media now--TV, radio, blogs, etc--it's a hell of a lot more noticeable. Alas, many casual fans don't care if Mantle was a drunk or Cobb a racist--they care about what their players are doing now.

Is it too early to call for Selig to resign?

This did happen on his watch.

Selig's done some good for the game--look at the attendance totals and revenue sharing--but the idea that people didn't know what was going on, ranging from players to owners, is preposterous.

Oh well. Not like there are tons of things more American than a good scandal, anyway...

From the "Did you Know?" files...(including Doubleheader Notes 13 September 2001)

The Houston Astros are 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot, and the way things are going for the Phillies and the Brewers, it's certainly not an undoable task...

***

The Yankees dropped the first game of their double-header today, 7-1, which might be a death knell to Mussina's quest for 20--he should get at least three more starts but he would have to win all three. It's not impossible, but it is a tall order.

The Yanks were much better in the second game, coming back from down 4-1 to win. Phil Coke was excellent in relief of Sidney Ponson.

Derek Jeter seems to have decided that he needs to break Lou Gehrig's Yankee Stadium hits record. He came into today needing nine hits, and he's whittled that down to three. If I remember correctly, they have all been singles.

***

Meanwhile, Syracuse football continues to be a national embarrassment.

Pyrrhic Victory (Postgame Notes 15 June 2008)

Everything good you can say about the Yankees after today's game--and, in a 13-0 blowout win to complete a sweep of Houston and climb to four games over .500, there's quite a bit of good--has to be tempered with what looks like a serious injury to Yankees' pitcher Chien Ming Wang.

In the sixth inning, Wang, an AL pitcher who was 0-8 with 6 strikeouts in his career before today, attempted to bunt over runners on first and second with one out. The bunt--which looked like it came off the bat of someone who had never been taught how to bunt--was such that the Astros could make a play to nab the lead runner at third base, but not in time to get Wang at first.

Thus, after Johnny Damon reached, Wang was at second with Derek Jeter at bat and two out. At the time, the score of the game was 3-0 Yankees, a lead that would be hardly be insurmountable, so when Jeter laced a single to right field, there was little doubt Wang would try to score from second. As he hit the midway point between third and home, however, he pulled up lame, and while he was able to score, he had to be helped off the field and could not make it down the dugout stairs on his own.

Even though the Yankees would go on to score eight runs that inning and send eleven men to the plate (all with two outs), it was hard to be able to truly enjoy that inning because of how important Wang is for the Yankees. What's worse, is that the injured foot is the push off foot, which likely means more recovery time.

That said, despite the injury the Yankees did have an excellent game, as a 13-0 blowout would suggest. The offense was clicking on all cylinders--even the struggling Robinson Canò had a bloop double, and the team combined for seven walks and 16 hits. Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada had long home runs, and the Yankees' bullpen--Ross Ohlendorf, Edwar Ramirez, LaTroy Hawkins and Dan Giese all combined to complete the shut out.

UPDATE: On the postgame, Joe Girardi has stated that Wang sprained the top of the foot and will need more tests. He said he did not know about the DL, though it seems highly unlikely Wang will avoid it.

Moose-ic to the Yankees' Ears (Postgame Notes 14 June 2008)

In the last fourteen innings he has pitched, Mike Mussina has given up runs in just two of them.

While the two home runs total five earned runs, it also means that in his last fourteen innings, over two games, Mussina has pitched twelve shut out innings.

After last season, you would have been hard pressed to find any Yankee fan that expected Mussina to win ten games this season. If you were on the lookout for a fan who thought Mussina would win ten games before Father's Day, you would have probably spent an eternity waiting for Godot.

Yet, here we are, two hours before Father's Day, and Mike Mussina has ten wins--most of them not flukes, either.

If one subtracts the starts against Boston, Mussina's record would sit at 10-2, not that 10-4 is anything to be ashamed of, either. In fact, by having ten wins already, Mussina could theoretically win 20 games this year--something he has never done in his long career.

That the Yankees are averaging over four runs a game when Mussina starts doesn't hurt, either--and tonight they scored double that.

After Carlos Lee hit a three run home run for Houston in the bottom of the first to give Houston a 3-0 lead, things did not look all that encouraging--Houston starter Wandy Rodriguez entered the game with an ERA of 1.99 and no earned runs allowed in his last thirteen innings.

However, Alex Rodriguez, who lead off the top of the second, hit a solo home run (with a little help from a fan knocking Hunter Pence's glove out of the way), which Jason Giambi followed with a double and Melky Cabrera an RBI single.

In the next inning, Alex Rodriguez was intentionally walked for Giambi, who worked a two out walk to load the bases. Cabrera followed Giambi with a four-pitch walk of his own, to bring in the game's tying run and the Yankees never looked back.

Catcher Jose Molina followed with a two run single, and, in the later innings, the Yankees padded their lead with pinch hits from Robinson Canò (who this season is 2-3 as a pinch hitter with 2 RBI) and Wilson Betemit, whose two run double in the top of the ninth missed being a three run home run by inches.

The Yankees made it interesting when Ross Ohlendorf turned the game into a one run affair with the tying run at third base before getting out of the seventh and when they had Kyle Farnsworth pitch the eighth on back to back nights, but for once, the stars seem to be aligned in the Yankees' favor as they are now a season high three games over .500 (alas, since both Boston and Tampa won today, the Yankees did not pick up any ground in the division, but it's a little too early to be worrying about the pennant quite yet--six games in June is hardly out of reach).

It might be worth noting, that last year, the Yankees had their first extended winning streak of the season when they started interleague play--sweeping Pittsburgh and Arizona while on their way to winning nine in a row.

Maybe a little National League is all the Yankees need to get rolling.

Blast Off (Postgame Notes 13 June 2008)

When Kyle Farnsworth came in to pitch the ninth inning of a 2-1 baseball game on Friday the 13th, you could hear a collective groan from Yankees fans world wide.

Kyle Farnsworth, normally so ineffective during high leverage situations that he gets booed at Yankee Stadium, could not possibly handle the ninth inning of a one run game.

Right?

Not so fast. It took the help of a great throw to second from Jose Molina, but Kyle Farnsworth worked around a hit batsman to lead off the inning and recorded his first save since 2006.

Despite the miracle performance from Farnsworth, however, the real story of the game was Joba's third start.

Though Joba did not get the win--the game was tied at one when he left--it was easily the best of his three starts so far. He went six innings, gave up six hits, one (earned) run and while the walks were a little to high, he left with a pitch count of 88--7 of those pitches intentional balls--cutting way down on his pitches per inning. His last pitch, in the sixth inning hit 97 mph.

While there still might be some arguing that Joba should still be in the bullpen, if only for lack of other options, Joba is well on his way to proving he belongs in the rotation. Whether or not he can make it as a number one starter will take a few more seasons to know for sure, but the progress he has made in his three starts so far is remarkable.

Coming out of the bullpen, Jose Veras looked possibly the best he's ever looked at the major league level, and for the seventh and eighth innings, it looked like he got better with each pitch.

The Yankees were lucky the pitching was as good as it was, because, as has become common this season, there was not much offense. An RBI single from Alex Rodriguez in the first and a solo home run from Derek Jeter was all that the Yankees got.

However, for the first time since April, the Yankees are two games over .500, the high water mark of the season, and for that reason, as much as the pitching, tonight's win was one of the most satisfying of the season.

Some (Really Late) Notes About Today's NYY/HOU Game

(I've lost track as to which number game this is)

The four hour drive from Syracuse to NJ has left me exhausted and with an "I" key that won't function properly.

1) Apparently Andy was okay and made one noticeable mistake.

2) Rivera is apparently already in midseason form, needing just eight pitches to retire the side, throwing seven of them for strikes (and two strike outs, so yea.)

3) Yanks got a bunch of production out of the 9 spot.

4) Brian Bruney hasn't done anything to improve his chances of making the team.



On another note, this week's installation of The Season will be delayed some given plans I have for tomorrow, but it should be up by Sunday evening.

A Preview A Day Keeps the Winter Away, #2

For the month of March I will be doing a season preview, with a new team each day, going in alphabetical order by team so I can save the Yankees for last, because I am, in fact, that devious.

As this is a Yankees' blog, the previews for AL East teams will be more detailed than those of AL Central and AL West teams, and any AL team previews will be more detailed than NL team previews, save maybe for the Mets. Each preview will involve consideration of how much 'threat' a team is to the Yankees, for fairly obvious reasons.

Up Today: The Houston Astros





It's hard to believe that just a few years ago, in 2005, this team was in the World Series, though when considering that Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte were on the team at the same time, it makes a little more sense.

There are a few new faces in Houston this year, including:

Miguel Tejada, who has enough legal problems now to make Clemens look saintly.

Shawn Chacon, remember him?

Jose Valverde, from the NL Champion Rockies Diamondbacks,

and Kaz Matsui from the Rockies.

(There are a couple of other new faces, like Ty Wigginton, but I can't for the life of me remember if they joined the Astros in the off-season or before)


Lance Berkman, longtime main-stay in Houston has now excised a greater life expectancy than the other B-guys, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, but has oblique issues and will be sidelined until later in this month.


Threat to the Yankees: Green--Proceed Normally.

In the dead-heat NL Central last year, the Astros were the only team that never had a realistic shot at winning the division, and that's not likely to change much this year.

Of course, given that it is the NL Central, anything is certainly possible, but even if the Astros surprise everyone (and I mean everyone) and do make the playoffs, it's not likely that they'll beat any of the teams in the West (Arizona, Colorado, San Diego all come to mind) or whoever wins the East.

The biggest threat they'd pose to the Yankees would be if they decided to release Roger Clemens...(I can hear Suzyn Waldman now, GOODNESS GRACIOUS)

[EDIT: The Yankees DO play Houston this season, but, even so, they do not pose a significant threat at this point]


****

By some sort of miracle, my group meeting got pushed back till tomorrow, which means I can watch baseball today. This has me giddy with delight.

I will once again post notes when the game concludes. Pettitte, White, Hawkins, Farnsworth, Bruney, Henn and Veras are all scheduled to pitch. I imagine Pettitte will get a rather large ovation.