Watching a Road Game at Yankee Stadium

[Because there is so much about today's game to digest, I will do so in two posts, one talking about watching the game at Yankee Stadium, and the other about the game itself.]

As you likely know, Yankee Stadium opened its gates to the general public to watch today's game, free of charge.

Being otherwise unoccupied, I decided to go. The idea is one of which I am a fan--it gives fans a place to enjoy the game together without feeling obligated to purchase drinks or having to worry about being the only one interested in the game.

There were a large number of people that had the same mind set as me--many with young kids who arrived straight from school.

At the start, only the field level sections along the right field line were opened, but so many showed up that they eventually opened up the field level sections behind home plate, too.

They played the game on the large screen, and instead of commercials, we got DiamondVision shots of the crowd.

Out of all the fans there, the most striking man was a Johnny Damon lookalike, whose resemblance was so strong other fans were asking him for pictures. When Damon made a great catch late in the game, the section started chanting Johnny's name. The poor fan took it all in stride.

In the interest of his privacy, I won't post his picture, but, damn, he had me fooled.


At any rate, for your enjoyment, some pictures from this afternoon-turned-evening


No long lines, just the Stadium against an azure sky.


The Great Hall, in a late autumn light.


They also played the game on the TV in the great hall, but with the cushioned field and even Legends seats open, most opted to watch the game from the Stadium proper.


Our view of the screen. We--that would be Brent, RAB legend TSJC and I--sat in the section furthest right. 109, row 14. The seats filled up fast and we were lucky to get the ones we did.


You can sort of see how all of the seats were filled. I don't think they anticipated this many, although for an evening game they would have likely had to open all field and main seats, at least.


Some watch in the Great Hall. I went to the team store to get one of the gray sweatshirts the team's been sporting, but they only had them in sizes extra large. Maybe it's G-d telling me not to by a sweatshirt just yet.


The one criticism of the experience I could find, besides, you know, the game itself, was that there were not enough open concessions, and thus lines for beer and food tended to be extremely long.

It's a very minor caveat; the experience itself outweighs that one negative.

Anyway, getting a few thousand people to chant "Lets go Yank-ees" and "Mar-i-a-no" is a pretty cool thing.

Stay tuned for a post about the game itself, and what, exactly, went wrong.

Stadium to Open for Fans for Game 3

From MLB.com:

The Yankees announced on Sunday that they will open the Stadium Field Level and Great Hall to the public to watch the Yankees face the Angels in Anaheim as New York tries to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the ALCS.

"We wanted to provide a place for our fans to come together to cheer for our team, even if the game itself is taking place across the country," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a news release. "This is a way of saying 'Thank you' for their continued support."

Turnstiles between Gates 4 and 6 will open at 3:30 p.m. ET for the 4:13 p.m. game -- broadcast on FOX -- and fans can watch it in the Great Hall or in the open sections of the Field Level. Food and concession stands, as well as NYY Steak and Hard Rock Café, will be open and available to fans.

Don't know about you, but I plan on going. I don't know if I'll stay for the whole thing, but for a 4.30 game, I will certainly stay for most of it. The weather, at least, should be slightly nicer.

At the very least, this is (and we presume it's free entrance since no prices have been announced) an awesome opportunity to watch the game with other fans without being in a crowded bar.

There's something special brewing this year, and the Yankees are letting us take part.

Dude. Just call the darned game.

It's September 11, a cold, rainy, windy, icky night.

Derek Jeter has broken the hits record--which is what about 80% of the fans paid way, way over market value to see...then again, you can't place a value on it...yadda yadda...

Anyway.

The Yankees, barring an Angels 1995-like collapse (in which case their problems become many), are going to the postseason.

The Orioles are going golfing in October.

It's nearly midnight, and the two teams have to play again at 1 PM the next day.

They have already played not just five, but six innings. The Yankees lost their lead, but they also had their at bat.

It's a 10-6--not a tied or even a close, even by 09 Yankee standards, game.

Why, on earth, was the game not called?

I know New York is the city that never sleeps and all that, but seriously?



Also worth noting here: via various updates on Twitter tonight, even when the game restarted at 12.40, with about 900 fans still in attendance, ushers were still checking tickets.

Dude, I know you're bored, but really?

I know New York doesn't have a reputation for being the friendliest city in the world, but seriously?

If the few hundred people in attendance can't be allowed to move down to the lower level in an empty stadium, I'm not sure what to say. I'm not talking about moving down to the Legends seats; I'm just talking about moving down from the grandstand.

These things make me a very, very grumpy fan.

Baseball From the Bleachers

This is not the first time I've sat in the bleachers, but the last time I did, it was sunny and the entire stadium--the old stadium--was packed.

Tonight is different.

It's been raining all day, sometimes quite hard, and no one has any idea if the game will be played at all, never mind what time the game starts.

The Stadium is more empty tan full; those that have made it here are those for whom the game is everything--the real, true, hardcore fans.

There's something different about the bleachers.

Instead of the idea that each individual experience is important, the bleachers are about the experience as a community. Before you know it, you are high-fiving people you've never met before, engaging in chants and taunts that you would probably never consider on your own.

The most creative of the night?

In the late innings, long after the fans have made the rain delay pass via imbibing whatever was available, someone notices a fan wearing a Mets jersey sitting in the right field bleachers.

The normal chant is, of course, "ass-hole, ass-hole", but on this occasion my friend Brent gets an idea.

"Lu-is Cas-ti-llo", he starts.

The rest of us join in, poking fun at the Mets' second baseman whose dropped pop-up cost the Mets a game against the Yankees this season.

At some points in time, you almost forget what is happening at all during the game, though the game itself tonight was a good one.

CC Sabathia didn't have his best stuff, but he still gave the Yankees seven innings of work.

The Yankee offense wasn't stellar, but again did enough to build a lead, add some insurance runs, and thus give Sabathia and the bullpen (today taking the sole form of Phil Hughes) some extra breathing room--which they did not need.

All told, it was the seventh straight win for the Yankees, important as it were as it came after a long rain delay, did not burn the bullpen and increased the Yankees lead over both the Red Sox and the Rays.

Millar: New Stadium doesn't Cowboy Up

Via Andrew Fitzpatrick, Kevin Millar on the Power Alley show on the MLB Home Plate channel on Sirius XM radio takes some digs at the new Stadium:

Host, Jim Duquette: “What’s your impression of the new Yankee Stadium?”



Kevin Millar: “I’m going to be honest with you. You know I’m going to shoot from the hip. I’m not a big fan of it. Nothing pops there, nothing pops. The old stadium, you walked in, you knew this was where [Mickey] Mantle played and [Joe] DiMaggio. It was just that old school.

I got booed a lot louder. They didn’t boo me as loud here. I like to get booed. They were too nice to me here. They’re too nice to me. I don’t know if it’s all corporate, but they’re too nice. But it’s just like a big, huge – it’s a beautiful facility, don’t get me wrong – but the navy blue seats, a lot of concrete and nothing pops. I mean, nothing pops there, personally. Now, it was our first trip in and I don’t know if I was expecting more, but that’s the truth and it’s just I loved the old stadium.”



Host, Seth Everett: “Is it impossible to ever live up to that old stadium?”



Millar: “It’s not impossible, but yes, all the comeback wins and all the memories there, of course, it’s going to take time. And this is year no. 1 and there’s some tinkers. Like for one, you know, it’s a beautiful scoreboard but they have the radar gun readings at the very top of the scoreboard with the pitch count.

Fans want to know how hard the pitcher’s throwing, for instance. You come to the game, you want to see, ‘Yeah, Brandon League’s on the mound, he’s throwing 90-what?’ You don’t want to have to look around the stadium to find it, and this is at the very top, a very little scene up there with your miles per hour where most stadiums have them above the dugouts on the second tier of the second deck so you can kind of see it easier.

You know, it was hard to read what the guy’s hitting for the batting average. It was tough to find certain things. And for a stadium that’s got $1.5 billion in it, you would think it had been just some easier scenes, and I’m just using those as examples and those might be nit-picking. But for the monuments: I wish they would’ve pulled the monuments up so you could see the monuments. I mean, they’re behind center field and it’s kind of blocked off with the hitter’s eye so you don’t even see them.

At least in the old stadium, left center, you kind of saw them a little bit, glimpsed through over there from the bullpen area, and when you’d hit a home run to left center they’d bounce in the monuments. So there’s some things that, in my opinion, nothing’s really popping out. But it’s a gorgeous scene, I guess, for the fans inside - the food, the televisions, all the marble and stuff. But from what we see as a player, you walk in the lobby and it was straight concrete. We walk in the locker room, beautiful locker rooms, but it was just, it was OK, personally.”

I'm torn between trying to point out that Millar went from being a Red Sox to an Oriole to a Blue Jay and thinking that he has some valid points.

The crowd is way, way too quiet.

Monument Park does need to be moved.


The big thing is, though, what made the old Stadium so special was everything that happened ON the field. Eighty-plus years of history.

The new Stadium is only in year one. It's going to take some time.

A Few Thoughts

• My friend, Brent, and I went to Wednesday's game. We sat in the terrace level, seats with a pretty good view, despite my bad eyes. As the game started, one man wearing a Yankee jersey started shouting obnoxious and annoying phrases, actively rooting against the Yankees. When he started to bother other fans in the section, Brent texted Yankees' customer service, asking them to keep an eye on the man. Not two minutes later, there was, in fact, a security official standing on the concourse, right behind the man in question. He was later joined by other ushers and even a cop. Althought the man only stopped while he was being watched, the fast response for a matter that was at the terrace level and not really all that serious, is commendable.

• The starting pitching seems to have taken a nose-dive since Chien Ming Wang returned to the team. I don't so much blame Wang for causing Burnett and Pettitte and Joba to have bad starts, as I do the interruption in the flow of the rotation, no doubt also hindered by the rain out. Rule number one of managing almost anything is, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", and the Yankees tried to fix a rotation that had been performing admirably.

• It seems that the Yankees have lost nearly every game in which there's been a sizable rain delay (a half hour or longer), and they haven't played well when the weather's been nasty, either--and with the way this summer's gone in NY, that's not good. Someone suggested it might have to do with age; I think it would have to be more than ust age at work. Perhaps the team outght to find a different way to spend the rain delays?
  

Don't Forget Your Sunblock

I briefly touched on this in my last post, but I want to harp on it a little. It's not the world's biggest issue, but it kind of baffles my mind.

According to both those working at the Yankee team store and those at the customer help area, there is no place in the new Stadium that sells sunblock.

I don't really understand this.

The minor league park in Syracuse, for example, sells sunblock.

This came in very handy last spring when I went to a game, where it was 85+ F outside and I was sitting in the sun.

I am of northern European Jewish ancestry and there are a number of natural redheads in my Mom's family. In other words, I burn. And I burn pretty easily.

So when I wound up at the game last spring with no sunblock, I was, indeed, very happy when I could buy sunblock at the park and go home without getting burnt.


Tonight, I simply forget to bring my sunblock. I'd taken it out of my purse some time ago, because it's a big tube, and simply forgot to put it back. So I figured I could buy it somewhere in the Stadium, where there are and will be day games in the bright, hot, dazzling HOLY CRAP DID YOU SEE THAT SHOT FROM LEBRON?!? summer sun.

Alas, it was not to be.

Now, there are stores down the street that sell sunblock, but once inside the Stadium I obviously could not leave.

I understand forgetting the sunblock is my own fault, but it kind of escapes me why a team would simply not sell it, especially when they'd probably make a ton of money with Yankee-brand sunblock.

The thing here is that, unlike key chains or bottle openers, this isn't something that I want for my convenience or so I can have a keepsake from the game.

Sunblock is something that's used to protect one's health.

I was lucky it was a night game and my seats were under an overhang; I was really only in the sun before the game, waiting for friends outside the Stadium. However, the next game I have a ticket for is a day game.

As is tomorrow's game, and Sunday's.

Out of the thousands of fans sitting in the sun on the field, main and terrace levels, is every single one of them going to remember to bring sunblock? I guarantee there will be one or two that realize, only when their skin starts to burn, that they want it, only to be told they can't find it.


It's really a simple thing here, for the Yankees to sell sunblock.

Just small containers in bins at the register, like lip balm at CVS. Charge the hell out of it, for all I care, but at least it would be there, and as someone pays for a t-shirt, they say, "hey, sunblock's not a bad idea", and they add it to their purchase. Maybe it stops them from getting burnt; maybe it stops one who's had way too many burns (like me) from something worse.

I know Yankee Stadium isn't the beach. You really only need sunblock on your shoulders/arms and maybe your face; and not all over your back and midriff.

Still, I can't think of any logical reason not to sell it.

Lonn Trost Doesn't Get It

[What I am writing here can probably be addressed to more than just Trost, but since he's the one with the quote, he gets to bear the brunt of it.]

"If you purchased a suite, do you want people in your suite. If you purchased a house, do you want people in your house?”

That, ladies and gentlemen, was Lonn Trost's reply when asked about letting us regular fans down to the field level during batting practice.

I am actually having trouble putting my outrage into words.

Yes, I realize there are some out there who can spend $1500 or whatever on a baseball ticket I'm not one of them. Neither, I imagine, are most of my friends.

Here's the thing: Why would we pay $100 or more to see a regular season game for a team that's not been out of third place since 2007, when it's no longer the last year of the Old Stadium, when many of us are struggling just to find jobs, when, at the same time, we can get down to Staten Island or Trenton or Scranton to see the prospects for something that costs less than our tuition?

Trost and co want to reach out to the fans. I get that. It's a laudable idea.

The problem is, they're reaching out to the fans that represent everything people hate about the Yankees and alienating the gross majority of other fans in the process.

Now, I don't doubt that some who can afford the really expensive seats are genuine, die-hard fans. I know plenty, including myself, who've scored the really good tickets just by virtue of knowing the right person at the right time.

Still, it doesn't change the fact that for the majority of fans, the caste system so firmly in place seems to decree that only those with $100,000 K + salaries are worth the time and effort.


Trost, and others, should take a good look at the Yankee fanbase.

Look at the portion of fans that are high school, college students or those still in their twenties--not usually those with the most disposable income. Yet, it's among this group you find some of the most hardcore fans. I don't want to sound to self-centered, but it's really us that Trost and co should be targeting.

After all, we're the ones that have yet to settle down and start families (for the most part); we're the ones that will one day decide whether or not it's worth it to put down the deposit for season tickets, and, as far as I know, this isn't football--there's no fifty-year waiting list here.

Field level seats may never be affordable to the general public, but the ability to go and watch batting practice up close should be.

The vast majority of fans are good people who don't go and get drunk and become a nuisance.

There was never a problem when I watched BP at Fenway, even when fully decked out in NY Yankees clothing.

I don't understand why it's so hard for the Yankees to put together a good PR department.


Without the fans, the team means nothing. This includes ALL fans, regardless of income or socio-economic class.

Because, when it matters, the 20 year old nanny from Harlem is as much a New Yorker as the 40 year old hedge fund manager from Connecticut wishes he was one.

Because the Yankees are the Bronx Bombers, not the Wall Street Bombers or the Park Avenue Baseball Team.

Because baseball exists as an escape from reality, and not an exaggeration of it.

Because Joba's fist pump doesn't give a crap about who sees it, but only that it's seen.

This is what they don't get.

Off Day Observations

With today as an off day, I thought it'd make sense to go through and address the Yankees, and issues surrounding the Yankees, thus far. We're only in Week Three of the season, so many issues now may not actually be issues over the long run while other larger issues have yet to reveal themselves.

First, the Lineup

As a whole, the Yankee offense has been largely dependable. They have scored four or more runs in all but one game, and that includes the 22-4 and 15-5 losses. Whatever the faults of the pitching in those games, the offense, by and large, did its job.

There are some concerns about the ability to score with RISP, but I still think it's a little too early to be overly concerned. Perhaps a little concern, but I think it was a much bigger issue last year when the offense struggled to score runs at all. It's also worth remembering that the Yankees have not had A-Rod in the line up yet this season, and they have been performing without Xavier Nady's bat for a week, and they've still won more games than they've lost.

• Derek Jeter: He was mired in a mini-slump of sorts to start the season, but whereas last year it took him until May to notch his first home run, this year he has four already. You can't even argue it's the new Yankee Stadium's fault as the Yankees have played more games on the road than at home. Jeter's always had a knack for being clutch, but it seems, perhaps this year more than others, he is providing the right hits at exactly the right moments.

• Johnny Damon: Seems to be doing fine as a two-hitter. At the very least, he's not GIDP'ing, which was the worry with Jeter in the spot. He still has the eye of a lead off man, and between him, Teixeira and Swisher, some of the younger guys may never know what it means to swing at a first pitch.

• Mark Teixeira has admitted to being a slow starter, and his .222 average points to him being a man of his word. Even with the low average, however, he still has 9 RBI and if you haven't noticed his awesome defense, dude, you must have never watched the Yankees with Jason Giambi.

• Jorge Posada: Shoulder? What shoulder? He is playing as though 2008 was just an illusion, picking up right where he left off in 2007. Despite his .286 average, he is tied for the team lead in RBI with Nick Swisher (yes, you read that right), which suggests that he's making the hits he does get count. What's more, and I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this, his throwing arm seems to be stronger than it was back in 2007, when it was supposedly healthy. I know 37-year-old arms aren't supposed to magically get better, but in the world of baseball, that is hardly the strangest thing to have ever happened.

• Robinson Canó: What a difference a fast start makes! Last season he got into a hole he could not get out of; this season he is playing like the all star everyone expected him to be. Whatever the wake up call, whether it was the benching or not, it worked. He's still not hitting a ton of home runs, and he probably never will, but getting on base is still getting on base, and right now, leading the Yankees in hits and BA, and second (again, to Swisher) in OBP, he seems to be doing that just fine.

• Nick Swisher: Most people guessed that Swisher's year last year was simply a fluke, except, apparently, the White Sox. You probably can't call Swisher-for-Betemit one of the most lopsided trades ever, since it's not, but through the first couple of weeks it certainly seemed like it. Even while Swisher's BA comes back to earth, he still leads the team with a .433 OBP because, hey, a walk's as good as a hit in this game. He is perhaps not the greatest right fielder in the history of the game, but given everything else he's given the team this year, from his rock star personality to his 0.00 ERA, it seems not to matter so much. Anyway, since every ball that's been hit to right field at the new Stadium seems to be a home run, you could probably put an ornamental fountain in right and not even notice.

• Hideki Matsui: Mired in an awful slump at the beginning of the year and looked awkward and uncomfortable at bat, but of late seems to be coming out of it. An effective Matsui, even if just as DH, is an invaluable resource and depth-stretcher for the Yankees. Right now he looks best not playing every day and that may simply be what the Yankees need to do to keep him effective.

• Brett Gardner: All you usually ask of your nine hitter is to not be an automatic out. Gardner, for the most part, is complying. If he had just that little bit more power it would be all things awesome, but as it is, he provides speed on the bases and gets on base just often enough to matter.
  

• Cody Ransom: The anti-Brett Gardner, or so it would seem. It'd be one thing if he was a pitcher and then a team could carry his non-existant bat, but as it is right now the answer to the question "why do you miss Alex Rodriguez" can be summed up in two words: "Cody Ransom." Dude's got a mean vertical, but he hasn't even played the type of defense you need for a 3B and that probably explains why he is a career minor leaguer.

• José Molina: Just as he was last year, all catch and no hit. Once Alex Rodriguez comes back the no-hit bit may not be such a big problem, but right now the Yankees can't really afford to keep both him and Ransom in the same line up. However, with A-Rod due back in a week, I am fairly certain the Yankees will survive.

• Melky Cabrera: All you need to know is that despite hitting two HRs yesterday, he still struck out twice including once with the bases loaded and nobody out, where he swung at a pitch way, way out of the strike zone. He has pockets of brilliance but hasn't (yet) shown enough to be the everyday starting CF, especially after last season. Still, it's far too soon to give up on him. If Canó can turn it around, than maybe so can Melky. His ceiling isn't nearly as high, but it really won't take much for him to be better than he was last year.

• Xavier Nady: Nady is the guy whose bat you never notice when it's in the line up, but made all the more noticeable by its absence. Losing his bat may not have the same repercussions as losing Teixeira's bat or Posada's bat, but it would be folly to think that there are none. Lucky for the Yankees, he supposedly doesn't need surgery and with luck will be back before the fourth of July.

• Ramiro Peña: Billed as all-glove and no-hit, and so far, in his limited appearances, has lived up to exactly that. I wouldn't mind seeing him kept on the roster for late inning defense once A-Rod returns, but he would benefit more by being sent down and getting a chance to play every day.

Next, the Starting Pitching

Thus far the starting pitching has varied from being so-horrible-it-would-be-comical-if-it-wasn't-so-horrible to pure clinics that all high school players should be told to watch.

The horrible starts are almost all the responsibility of one Chien Ming Wang, while right now Andy Pettitte, who has been as solid as he's ever been, and AJ Burnett, who varies from spectacular to spectacularly wild, are carrying the rotation. For their parts, CC Sabathia and Joba Chamberlain are both doing enough to give the team a chance to win every time they are out there, even though the bullpen has, on more than one occasion, rendered them decisionless, and not in a good way.

In other words, with the exception of CMW, there is no need to worry too much about the starting pitching. CC and Joba should only get better, and if Andy and AJ keep doing as they are doing, there is no reason this team shouldn't win four of every five games.

• CC Sabathia: As his 13.50 ERA last April would attest, this simply isn't his month. His start yesterday was actually worse than his Opening Day gig in terms of runs allowed, but the Yankee offense bailed him out every step of the way so one might be forgiven if he or she doesn't notice. Still, the Yankees have won two of his four starts and in all likelihood should have won a third, and that's what a true ace does: give you a chance to win, even on his bad days.

• Chien Ming Wang: Ayayay. IMO, it's probably still the foot--MLB TV had a great piece on how his delivery's altered because he won't put the same pressure on his injured foot--but now one has to ask if there's a confidence issue as well. Guys that win 19 games two years in a row don't suddenly forget how to pitch; there is an underlying cause somewhere. He will get back to normal eventually, but for the moment the Yankees have to play as if he won't.

• AJ Burnett: Is just really fun to watch, even if he's walking seven in a game. He's been the Yankees' stopper every step of the way, and while that's not necessarily fair to him, he is excelling in that role. He will lose a game eventually--even Cliff Lee did last year--but until he does, one can just sit back, relax and enjoy it. His start against Boston on Saturday should be great baseball.

• Andy Pettitte: Over the offseason I kept saying that it would be foolish to expect Pettitte to pull a Mike Mussina in 2009. I was right, except I was wrong. Pettitte hasn't exactly pulled a Mussina--he was never as bad in '08 as Mussina was in '07--but he was pitching on a sore shoulder (apparently) and at the end of '08 it showed. Now that he's healthy again, he's pitching like vintage Pettitte, getting the outs when he needs them, never trying to do too much, and backing up AJ's starts with poise and awesome Pettitte-ness.

• Joba Chamberlain: What does the poor kid have to do to get a decision? Okay, so we're only three weeks into the season...but hey, you know what? He's doing exactly what your fifth starter should do: giving the team a chance to win, and he will (or should, anyway) only get better from here on out. The argument now isn't whether or not he has the 'stuff' to be a starter but whether or not his arm can hold up, thus the innings limit. So far, so good.

Next, the Bullpen

Bullpens are finicky things. One year they're fine, the next they're not and you, dear GM, may have not even lifted a finger.

In 2008 Girardi was almost universally praised for his handling of the bullpen; in 2009 he's getting chided for micro-managing and thus invariably running into the one 'pen guy of the day that simply doesn't have it.

Still, for every 15-5 or 22-4 loss, there's the 14-inning win without a bona fide long man.

What this means is that right now, it is utterly impossible to make any sense out of the bullpen. They're either being really really good or really really bad, and not really much in between. Go figure.

• Jonathan Albaladejo: Has mostly been great. The one bad outing is, alas, the one you tend to remember, but he seems to be turning into a very dependable arm from out of the bullpen. He started the season fairly low on the bullpen ladder, but is working his way upwards.

• Edwar Ramirez: I haven't seen a whole lot of him this season. Maybe it's just that I'm missing the games where he comes into pitch, I don't know, but the old rules with him seem to be in force: when someone guesses right on the change up, it's usually a home run, and he's pretty much okay as long as he's not facing the Angels.

• Phil Coke: Had a rough, and I mean rough, start to the year, but he has seemed to calm down in his more recent appearance. Could it be nerves? I still think he needs some more time before we can pass judgement on him. At any rate, he's another lefty out of the pen, and one seemingly much less fragile than Dámaso Marte.

• Dámaso Marte: May yet be okay, but his struggles right now are a little worrying given that he is supposed to be the lefty specialist. It's a little to reminiscent of Mike Myers in 2007. However, he's signed for three years (and probably really glad he signed when he did), so whatever's going on, the Yankees will try to fix.

• José Veras: Yesterday's three inning stint could be billed as the redemption of José Veras. He has filthy, nasty stuff when his command is there, but as we all know, that's not always the case. With luck, yesterday's affair got him back on track. If he's pitching well, and Bruney and Mo do their thing, the Yankees are back to six inning games, and we know how well that turned out the last time they could do that...

• Brian Bruney: Has become the go-to eighth inning guy. Something happened between 2007 and 2008 where he made himself over, and one could very easily see 2009 as a progression of what he was doing in 2008 at the very beginning and end of the year when his foot was healthy. He's probably bound to give up a lead sometime, as every reliever is, but what will be more telling is how he bounces back. For the moment, he has made the set-up decision much easier for Girardi and co. to make.

• Mariano Rivera: So I want to say he seems to be getting hit a little more this year than last year but last year was so unbelievable that he'd have to be utterly perfect not to be getting hit more. What matters is that he hasn't walked anyone or given up a run, and given that he always seems to struggle a bit in April, before it really gets warm out, there's no sense worrying. He pitched a scoreless inning in a tie game yesterday, which might even suggest that he may yet be better this year than last year.

Finally, we have Other Yankees Issues

• Empty seats at Yankee Stadium: If the Yankees haven't taken notice that no one can afford the $2500 seats behind home plate, they probably should, and soon. However, before one freaks out about empty seats in the rest of the Stadium, please remember it's April. The weather's still more crap than nice in New York and school is still in session. If the seats are still this empty in June, then the Yankees have a major issue. Another question: why haven't they sold the SRO tickets yet? Granted, it's only recently that the Yankees were selling out each and every game. They probably would still be doing so this year if not for that nasty little thing called the Recession.

• The Bandbox: There are all sorts of reasons for the home runs flying out of Yankee Stadium. The answer is probably a little bit of everything-sloped angle of the seats, a wind tunnel created by the old Stadium in the background, running into a very good Cleveland line up (even if their record indicates otherwise) and, until the last couple of days, exceptionally dry air. Again, it's early. If the home runs are still flying out like this in June, then eyebrows should be raised. I don't mind the home runs, but in the long run it could be harmful towards building a pitching staff-just look at the Rockies.

So that's it for now. Enjoy the off day.

Ruth's Granddaughter Slighted by New Stadium

"The House that George Built". That's what the New Yankee Stadium is becoming known as to some.

In this well-written article, New Stadium Insider points out that among those that feel the most slighted by the new Stadium are those whose interests the Yankees should have tried hardest to protect.

The article is worth your time.

Some Fan Tricks, Tips and Hints for the 2009 Season

With the new baseball season upon us, there will be not just new faces on the team, but new fans as well. Here are a few tips that will hopefully make the Stadium experience that much more pleasant for you and the fans around you:

• Take public transportation. I don't care if you can afford your own chaffeur; unless you have a pass to the players' lot, the mess of stadium parking is just not worth it. Besides, public transport is that much cheaper, even with the Doomsday Budget of Doom. The other thing about public transportation: other fans going to the game will usually be on the same subway or train; if you don't know what to do, look for the people in Yankee shirts and follow the herd. Even if you get lost, you will not be lost on your own.

• Seats in the center of a row are better than aisle seats--less people will be trying to climb over you to get to the aisle. It's one of those really obvious things, but it still bears repeating.
  

• Decide how much money you think you're going to spend, and bring double. It's not just that you never really know what unexpected thing you're going to want to buy, but it's always good to have extra cash on you. On Friday, many stalls were cash-only, and you never know when the credit card machine is going to crash.

• Leave the Gucci at home. You're going to a baseball game, not a board meeting or charity gala. Unless you're sitting in an executive suite and have many people to impress, a t-shirt and shorts or jeans is perfectly acceptable attire.

• While getting to the game early enough to catch BP is a great thing to do, don't shy away from visiting Stan's before a game, either (as long as you're over 21, that is). A major league game is about much more than just what happens on the field--it's the entire experience.

• For the love of all things holy, don't let the camera catch you reading a book at a game. The program or the media guide, sure. Even Baseball Prospectus or Baseball America is okay; they're at least relevant. Would you bring a book to a play or musical? To the opera or ballet? No? Then why bring one to a baseball game? Baseball players may not understand a libretto from a pas de deux, but they're still being paid to entertain you.

Derek Jeter was right last year when he said that it's the fans that help make the Yankees who they are and Yankee Stadium what it is/was. If you keep that in the back of your mind, it's a bone chilling, but true, notion.

New Yankee Stadium Inspires, Looks to the Future and Remembers the Past

So, how was your cool, damp Friday night?

Good?

Mine was better.



After six stifling hours of class, subsisting on cheap sushi and stuff you get out of the vending machine, my friend Brent and I headed to the New Yankee Stadium to catch the exhibition Cubs-Yankees game.

Okay, I lied. We headed to the new Stadium, but not so much to watch the game as we did to see the Stadium, which would explain why we were in our seats through innings 2-4, and then did not return to them for the rest of the game.

What was on the field to a back seat (once, and only once) to the building in which it was situated.

Brent and I arrived at the Stadium around 7.30, as my last class did not let out until 10-to-seven (I purchased the tickets conveniently forgetting the scheduling mishap, knowing only that I would not be able to attend Saturday's game).

The new Stadium, even from the outside, looked amazing in the dying evening light:



The ticket scanners are automated, which is kind of futuristic, but I think it's still a little, well, kinky



Upon entering the Stadium, the first thing that strikes you is the Great Hall, which at once pays homage to the past with banners honoring past Yankee greats and invites the future with a giant indoor LCD screen. However big you think that screen is on TV or in pictures, it's bigger.

After standing in awe and various incantations of OHMIG-DHOLYSHIT, Brent and I made our way to our Grandstand seats.






We went up, and then up again, and up some more, and still we were not as high as we needed to go: when we finally ended up in section 434, row 10, we were higher than both the flag pole and the foul pole, and the rumor that the upper deck is recessed is very, very true. While there was no problem seeing any of the players, the players themselves were so small that one had to remember there was a game going on at all. Still, you really can see EVERYTHING, even the screens by the obstructed view seats, so complaining would seem inappropriate.



However, there was so much else to see, that this minor detail is really, well, a minor detail. We sat and watched the game for a couple innings. Some people hit, Matsui hit a home run, and that screen in center field will eat your children alive.






The field itself, however, is very reminiscent of the old Stadium. Since the dimensions are the same, all you have to do is forget everything that surrounds the field, and you may very well find yourself whisked back to 1923 or 1977, your choice.



After the fourth inning, Brent and I decided to scope out the culinary options. Most of the really attractive food options are on the lower level, and, compared to the old stadium, at least, there really are options!



We had an adventure getting downstairs--we tried first to take the elevator, but after a ten minute wait decided to follow some other people down the stairs. However, it seems we took the wrong stairwell, as we ended up not on the main concourse as we'd hoped, but instead inside the press gate (marble floors? Guys in suits staring at you like you've just gone to meet the Queen in your pajamas? Yeah. Press gate). The concierge there was nice enough to point us in the right direction--first day at a new place, you are bound to get lost--but I wouldn't count on the same politeness in the middle of July, when fans have had the chance to 'break in' the new building.




One caveat, however: the food options are all still Stadium food: lots of fried, greasy, midnight snack, ramen noodle types...which is fine, unless you are me and suffer from a very sensitive stomach. The options now are better than they were, in that I can eat salmon roll and some of the candy options, but then again, if I really cared about my food options that much, I wouldn't go to the games.

I also, on the advice of a friend, checked out the bathrooms: there really are twice as many women's rooms as men's rooms, and the one room I entered had something like 20 stalls. The stalls are Spartan in appearance, but it doesn't look like us she-fans will have to deal with long waits.



After working our way across the lower level, incuding stops in the team store (I bought a t-shirt that may or may not actually fit, a shot glass and a program; I'll buy the media guide when I return on the 18th) and going past the entrance to the sports bar by the bleachers, Brent and I worked our way up the ramp and to the Yankee Museum which is, believe it or not, a museum.




It's a very *small* museum, perhaps the size of the dorm room where I am spending the evening, and the main exhibit is a collection of baseballs ostensibly signed by as many players and important personnel as possible--there are balls ranging from Babe to Brett (Gardner) to Carl Pavano to Yogi Berra to Mariano Rivera to pick your era, pick your player. There's no real sense of organization to the baseballs, they aren't by number, alphabetical, by position or chronological; a computer at the exhibit entrance lets you choose the player you wish to see and tells you where to find his baseball, or you can do as Brent and I did and just look and see who you find.

Wil Nieves even has a baseball, and his name is spelled Will Nieves...Brent has a picture but it's too late for me to go searching through his files.





By the time we left the museum, it was the middle of the eigth inning, and since I wanted to get this post up before having to call it in for the night, we said good bye, albeit temporarily to the new Stadium.



Still, no place is perfect, especially on night one, and it would do to point out some of the flaws-mostly minor, though one major.

The major flaw/annoyance/what have you, that I found is that there seemed to be an ever-present reminder as to whether you were seated in the lower bowl, the loge-ish level, the terrace or the upper deck--in the baseball stadium world, as close to pure class distinctions as you will find.

The staff seems to be incredibly strict about letting people into a seating area--which means that even if you spot empty seats even just a section lower than the one your ticket is for, you will have a hard time gaining entry. I understand the need for security, but does New York really need any more reminders of the difference between those that can afford to park their cars in midtown and those for whom attending a game in a halfway-decent seat is a major expense?

The other thing--the bleacher seats next to the bar really are obstructed in the periphery--if you're seated there, you'll have no problem seeing in front of you or towards one side, but the other side will be blocked. It seems odd that a $1 billion park would not have this fault corrected, but we must remember that Yankee Stadium, in any form, is built by men and not, in fact, by the baseball g-ds.

Over all, the conclusion I drew was this:

The new Stadium is not the same as the old Stadium. If you can get past that, if you can observe the new Stadium for itself and only itself, you will be impressed--it is the most up-to-date ballpark/arena in New York City, and while the Prudential Center is a marvel, the new Yankee Stadium is a baseball palace--but if you look at it in comparison to the old Stadium, there probably will be some disappointment.

The thing to remember, however, is that the old Stadium itself was not all that spectacular--it was everything that occured on the field that made it what it was. The new Stadium may or may not create similar memories (hopefully it will), but unlike the old Stadium, it, itself, is an attraction.

So, should you go to the new Stadium? Yes. And make sure you don't go just once--go twice.

Go the first time so you can marvel at the Stadium in all its granduer and spend the entire game just wandering around, seeing what's there and what's hidden away, and go a second time (with better seats) so you can see and enjoy the baseball game.

The new Stadium is everything you'd expect from something Yankees--behemoth, grand, classic and just a little bit flawed.

And since we must always end with the Sandman:



Up next:

Things I'm Looking for in the New Stadium

Tonight I will be making my way to the new Yankee Stadium, weather permitting, of course.

While I'll the beginning ceremonies, I should still get there with plenty of time to go exploring. Here are the things I will be looking at/for:

1) That screen in the outfield. I heard that it's pretty darn big. I want to see just how big.

2) The food options in the lower and upper concourses. As someone with a digestive condition, I can't eat most stadium or arena food, so usually I survive on a pack of Swedish fish or a lollipop or two from home. However, the new Stadium is supposed to be full of all sorts of food options so, hopefully, there will be something there I can ingest!

3) The bathrooms. Women's restrooms are supposed to be at a 2:1 ratio to those of men; I want to see what the bathrooms are like. I'm not expecting anything spectacular, of course, a stadium bathroom is a stadium bathroom, but even something moderately clean will meet with my not-so-strict approval.

4) The other attractions on the concourse. What is there to do during a rain delay? How easy is it to navigate the concourse?

5) The seats in the upper deck (ie, the seats I have). How far recessed are they? I actually never sat any higher than loge level in the old Stadium, but I expect that the upper deck and I will become fast friends at the new Stadium. So, are my tickets really worth the $40 I paid for each?


I will take as many pictures as I can and I'll try to post them tonight, but I'm staying with a friend tonight and may not get a chance to post them until tomorrow evening.

Here's hoping the rain holds off.

For Love Of The Game

With baseball season just days away, many of us are excited about the possibility of seeing the new Yankee Stadium and perhaps even Citifield.

Sometimes, though, it can feel daunting, as though the game itself takes a back seat to the team and to the notion that you are watching titans and not humans.

So what's one to do to get close to the game? To remember why it is we're attracted to the game in the first place?

Here are some things to do throughout the course of the season:

Take in a minor league game. Not just an AAA game, where you probably already know the names of all the prospects, but AA and A games as well, with players not out of their teenage years, getting their first taste of professional ball. Many minor league teams have their bullpens just beside the first or third base line--if you go on a cold or damp night, when no one else is around, walk down to those seats next to the bullpen and watch the relievers warm up. Also--it's a great place to get a foul ball.

Go to a college game in your area. Sure, aluminum is a bit different than wood and it's a little harder to find information on the players, but you never know--you may very well be seeing the next Derek Jeter or Joba Chamberlain...

Find some friends and find someone's park or backyard, use some old tennis balls and play a sandlot game of baseball. You don't have to play only nine innings; play until the sun goes down or there's a thunderstorm warning. Just make sure to wear a helmet if your pitcher actually, you know, pitches.

Take a glove and a ball and go to the park with a friend, brother, sister, parent, cousin, child... and just play catch. There is nothing more basic than having a catch. Turn it into a game with your own rules or just toss lazy fly balls. Doesn't really matter. The beauty of baseball is that as long as you have a ball, you can play catch.

The one thing it's so easy to forget over the course of the season is that nothing is bigger than the game. Nothing.

No player, no team, no stadium is bigger than the game.

The funny thing is, though, the game is at its biggest when its at its smallest. The game is the best, the most pure, when there are no bright lights or giant LCD monitors or $500 lower level tickets.

In the end, baseball's a game. That's what's at the heart of it, that's why we watch it, why we're fans.

So while you're busy marveling at the new Stadium, make sure you don't forget what this is all about in the first place.

Bob Sheppard to Retire...maybe

According to this report, legendary Yankees PA announcer is set to retire.

Sheppard, who refuses to comment on his age, is believed to be 98 years old and missed all of last season and was already set to miss the Cubs exhibition games this year.

In some ways, it's almost fitting. Sheppard was as much a part of the old Yankee Stadium as Monument Park or the short porch in right. There aren't many people around now who can remember Joe DiMaggio playing ball; Sheppard announced him coming to bat.

He will sorely be missed by Yankees fans everywhere.

[EDIT]: The Yankees and Sheppard have efuted the report, though it does seem that a return is still unlikely

Some more Random Spring Training Thoughts

*I know some that read this will disagree, but I agree with Gardner starting over Cabrera. Gardner has performed better over the whole of Spring Training. Gardner also offers speed on the bases that the Yankees haven't really seen since Homer Bush.

*The pitching looks pretty darn good so far. Sabathia, especially has been impressive, and Burnett, if we forget yesterday, has not been half bad himself. Mariano Rivera, however, is on another plane of existence altogether.

*I can't help but think if the Yankees batted Jeter first last year they may very well have made the playoffs. The move seems so obvious given Jeter's declining power and speed.

*I love that the Yankees have so many bullpen options. Phil Coke may very well end up the unsung hero.

*I have three fantasy teams, and they all have some of the same core, especially with pitching. Brian McCann is my starting catcher on two of the teams. I've come up with the basic philosophy that it's better to draft at 'thin' positions--like SS and Catcher-first, than to go after, say, (a healthy) Alex Rodriguez. Which would, of course, explain why a pitcher has been my first pick on each team...

*I'm going to see the New Stadium on Friday, but the forecast is cold and rainy. I would have much preferred going on Saturday, but I have other commitments. Actually, the only way I can go Friday is by missing the beginning of the game, when all the fun things happen, but it's always better to go than not go at all. I will take pictures and post them as soon as I can.

Saddest picture I have ever seen as a baseball fan

Courtesy CBS 880 radio.


Yankee Stadium, the old one is now completely grassless.

I had an interesting conversation with my father last night. He, of the non-baseballfan-why-are-you-wasting-your-money-on-tickets variety, asked me why they didn't just keep the old Stadium, turn it into a park...

As excited as I am about the new Stadium, I can't help but be sad about the passing of the old.


****

(Sorry to disappoint you, but I didn't disappear off the face of the earth, and now I'm back to annoy you even more! Yay!)

Yankee Fans Unhappy With Relocation Seats

When you move from a larger, sold-out Stadium to a smaller one, even if it's only smaller by a couple thousand seats, you are bound to run into problems with season ticket holders, some of whom have had tickets for years.

One fan asked me to share his letter with the public--and it certainly expresses fan dissatisfaction far better than I, a non-season ticket holder who buys her tickets from Stubhub, ever could.

Dear Yankees Management and Ticket Staff,

My name is Jay and I am ticket licensee number xxxxxx. I
send this email to all of you as I am very hurt by the process of relocation to a new seat in Yankee Stadium. When the process began last year, members of the relocation staff were unable to provide me with straight answers on being able to get int he building in a decent seat, when I told them I was a plan D holder (Saturdays) they assured me I would be able to at the least remain within that range of plan.

The months went on and I made calls during the year to find out what the status was. I was not able to upgrade to a full season package as I do not re-sell the tickets I purchase. I go to all the games and enjoy spending my Saturdays with the Yankees.

Last night I was finally updated on my ticket location and dates. I was given the 12 game #2 package. While I could live with being in a lesser seat, I cannot accept that now I was put into a package in which I can’t even go to. Now I called the ticket office and spoke to a nice person who explained the process and told me my options were down to two. Either I pay $10,000 for 15 games on Saturdays, or I go
into a pool and simply hope for the best that at the least I can get one of the Friday, Saturday or Sunday packages. By declining (which I have done because he told me the sooner I declined the sooner I would go into the pool) I now waive my season ticket possibilities all together and could possibly lose my seniority and be completely locked out of the building.

I have given thousands of dollars to your organization over the years. I am lucky enough at age 30 that even in this downtrodden economy that I can afford almost any seat in your building, but the fact is that you are letting me down by telling me that I have only the option of taking what equates to the down payment on a home to get into the
building for the first year? This is one of the more saddening parts of being a fan. I take all my hopes of a championship into that ballpark every year and now I am being told that I might as well noteven come? I know that in the grand scheme of things I am small time, but your tactics have made me feel smaller. I just want to go to
games on a Saturday or a Sunday and not have to go into severe debt.

I have paid nearly $1500 a year for 2 seats for myself to take mywife, family members and friends to games. It’s been a pleasure to do so and I love going to see our team, but now I am almost completely shut out due to the fact that there will be no guarantees I can get day of game tickets, you also have a complete stranglehold on the secondary market which means that even if I wanted to go to weekend
games and did so through stub hub, I would lose my seniority as a licensee and be given no hopes for post-season tickets.

I am not the only one who feels this way either. We on the community nyyfans.com have documented well the process from the beginning to this point voicing our frustration frutilessly. The entire 139 page thread can be found at this URL:

http://forums.nyyfans.com/showthread.php?t=108493

We all want the same thing, to be given a the truth and be allowed in the building at a reasonable cost. Something that has alluded many of us in this process has been the truth. Over the last few months I was given multiple lies over the phone when speaking to relocation people.

I was actually told only a few days ago that the reason licensees were given false information was that the staffers didn’t have any info themselves. Additionally, when speaking to this ticket rep on the phone he actually admitted that sometimes “Dates are given to people just to get them to get off the phone, they won’t hang up
unless you tell them something.” So lying is the only way to shut us up?

Being offered $350 seats or being given nothing is a poor way to treat a loyal customer. I am more than just a loyal customer, I am a devoted fan of this team. I have followed through the good times and bad. I was lucky enough to make enough in my job to afford this type of package in the first place. Now I am simply being told I don’t make enough to get into your stadium to root for MY team.

Please hear my plea and help me. I just want a seats for the Saturday or Sunday package. Two measly seats in your Billion Dollar building. Can’t someone help me?

Thank you,

Jay
—-

Later in the day after a few more calls, I was given a harsh reality, accept the relocation by the ticket office or be shut out. I did so and then handled the situation on my own.

I explained to my fellow NYYFans forum posters exactly what steps I took next:

“ok…

I had some resolution today on the situation that while not perfect, it works.

I purchased my assignment, the 12 game bleachers. I talked to someone there and he said that there will be absolutely nothing left for weekenders once the pool comes in. He said it’s going to be a fruitless effort to fight this. I realized it. My 12 games cost me 300 bucks, about 1300 less than what I used to pay.

I then scoured for someone selling a Saturday plan, found it and purchased 2 infield grandstands for about $1400 for all Saturdays.

My total cost is about 1700 for 12 weekday games and to keep my seniority and 13 Saturday games all in the same seats including 2 Boston games and Old Timers' Day.

The 12 weekday games I am going to sell to friends and go to one or two of. The weekend games are for me. I will go to all of them.

I spent under my expected $2000 that I had stowed away. I keep my post-season pre-sale option (what I always had in the past) and get to go to the games I wanted to.

Granted it didnt go the way I wanted to but I made it on my own.”

The Yankees are, perhaps, doing the best they can, but making the new Stadium smaller and with more luxury boxes was perhaps a PR disaster among fans from the start.

Randy Levine Subpeonaed

Randy Levine, among others, has been subpeonaed by a New York Assemblyman regarding the use of public funds in the construction of the New Yankee Stadium.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky issued the subpeonas to determine whether or not public money should be used for the New Stadium, and mayor Michael Bloomberg was quick to criticize the move:

"I guess it makes for good political theater because it's the Yankees, but when it comes to valuable taxpayer dollars, decisions should be made on return, not rhetoric," Bloomberg spokesman Andrew Brent said. "The deal leverages a federal program and will result in New York City getting back more tax revenue than it will cost and the South Bronx getting thousands of new jobs and more than $1 billion in private investment."

Both the Mets and the Yankees have asked for more bonds to help fund their new ballparks, and both have provided a substantial list of reasons.

While this may not seem the greatest use of Brodsky's time, one has to remember that both the city of New York and the state are in dire financial straights (like nearly ever other state in the country right now), so where the city chooses to spend its money is a pretty pressing issue.

That said, one hasn't (yet) seen any subpeonas issued for the Wilpons or other members of the Mets' front office...

As Bloomberg says, it's the Yankees. It will always be good theater.

Something About April Slow Starts

Over the past few seasons one thing in particular has plagued the Yankees like no other: slow starts that leave the team battling to break the .500 barrier in May and June, when league-leading teams are beginning to pull away and the contenders for the playoff spots are taking shape.

There have been numerous theories as to why the team starts slow, ranging from the older players being slow starters to some of the Latino players not being able to play well in cold weather (which could explain poor October performances), to a tough schedule...

All of these theories have some merit, but the true answer, supposing there is one, is more complicated than that.

Let's take a look at some numbers provided by the fine folks at River Ave Blues.

As they state, the stats are BAA/OBP/SLG for April, and then the regular season:

Jorge Posada, C
April: .280-.371-.502
Rest of Season: .276-.381-.472

Mark Teixeira, 1B
April: .256-.346-.442
Rest of Season: .295-.383-.558

Robinson Cano, 2B
April: .237-.282-.328
Rest of Season: .311-.341-.488

Derek Jeter, SS
April: .306-.386-.441
Rest of Season: .318-.383-.461

Alex Rodriguez, 3B
April: .311-.391-.611
Rest of Season: .305-.388-.572

Johnny Damon, OF
April: .273-.344-.410
Rest of Season: .291-.354-.439

Xavier Nady, OF
April: .285-.341-.493
Rest of Season: .279-.332-.450

Nick Swisher, OF
April: .253-.370-.481
Rest of Season: .242-.351-.446

Hideki Matsui, DH
April: .268-.363-.416
Rest of Season: .300-.372-.491

There are a few observations to make:

1) If the Yankees believe that the players being slow starters is the primary cause of the spring malaise, they did themselves no favors by picking up Teixiera, who is an admitted slow-starter.

2) Of the players listed, Robinson Canò is the only Latino player born and raised outside of the US or a US territory, so even though his April numbers are historically worse than the rest of the season (young as he is, he's already known as a slow starter), it's impossible to blame an entire team's slow start on one player. Okay, so it's true that the best part of the Yankees' 2008 season, right after the All Star Break, also coincided with Canò remembering how to hit, but it also coincided with some excellent starting and bullpen pitching.

3) Matsui's numbers are also somewhat significantly poorer in April than in the rest of the year, but it's unlikely that the excuse that he can't play in the cold weather would hold much weight-Matsui is from Japan, not the Dominican.


So what you end up with is a line-up where some, but by no means all or even most, players are slow-starters, and the Yankees themselves don't seem too concerned about this-Teixiera's April/rest of the year split may, in fact be the most notable out of everyone listed.


The next thing to look at is the schedule that the Yankees have played in April over the past few years.

In 2007, the Yankees had a fairly favorable April schedule. Aside from opening at home and a traditional weekend series in Boston, all of the other games were either played in "warm" cities or domes. It should also be noted that half of their losses came against teams like Toronto and the-then last place Rays.

In 2008, you will, of course remember that the visit of one Pope Benedict XVI meant an extended road trip for the Yankees, a trip that included the likes of Kansas City, Boston, Chicago and Cleveland. In fact, over the entire month, the Yankees had only two games in a dome, and Baltimore, which is somewhere in between a cold and warm city.

The 2009 schedule presents similar challenges as the 2008 schedule--playing in a lot of "cold" cities in April--Kansas City, Detroit, Boston and, of course, New York. While the Yankees don't have anything like a 19-game road trip, they do play in three other teams' home openers--though, perhaps thankfully, the Red Sox are not among them.

So what does this mean? Do the Yankees have a legitimate gripe about the Aprils that they have been playing?

Well...no. The Yankees aren't the only team that plays in cold weather in April, and a schedule in which the Yankees only played in domes or on the West Coast before the middle of the month would probably attract more notice than last year's Road Trip of Doom.

Do some players have a harder time playing in cold weather? Sure.

Cold weather tends to favor the pitcher over the hitter since the ball doesn't carry as far, and in 2007, where Yankee pitching was such that Carl Pavano and Kei Igawa were the one and two starters, the simple argument is that the Yankees were not well-constructed in terms of pitching, which, among other, more noticeable things, meant that there was an inability to pitch around the cold weather.

However, 2008 doesn't really hold that weight, when both Wang and Pettitte were holding their own and Mussina was learning how to pitch like Jamie Moyer. There is the above argument that cold weather stifles offense, but last year's Yankee offense was stifled all year--it wasn't just April at work.


Perhaps, then, the answer to why the Yankees keep starting slow can't be answered by any one answer-each season is a unique case, and what causes the Yankees to start slow in one year might not be what causes the same slow start the next.

What is clear, though, is that the Yankees can't afford to start slow. They don't have to go 28-0 in April, but they can't go 11-17, not when divisions are decided by a game or less. It was, after all, a fairly common refrain last September--if only we had won that one game in April or that one game in May, we'd be in the playoffs right now!

Hopefully, in 2009, come September we'll be saying something else--something to the tune: "Damn, am I really glad we swept that homestand back in April, it means we're going to play in October." Only, you know, less forced than that.