Ponsanity (Postgame Notes 6 September 2007)

Wait for it...wait for it...

Sidney Ponson pitched well.

He made one bad pitch and got burned for it, but he pitched well and, at least against the Mariners, the Yankees were able to take advantage of the weaker team.

The offense wasn't great, especially in the early innings, but they took advantage of a bad Seattle bullpen and was able to put enough distance between them and the Mariners that even when Joba struggled, their lead was still fairly comfortable.

Now, with Mike Mussina on the mound tomorrow the Yankees have a legitimate shot at leaving Seattle with a 5-2 record on the road trip so far, which is already a lot better than 3-7 and would guarantee at least a .500 record on the trip.

While at this point it might be considered too late to do anything other than hope for the Yankees, there are still intriguing storylines: Mussina's quest for 20 wins is alive and well, Jeter is thisclose to being the Yankees' hits leader (at least at Yankee Stadium), and every home run Alex hits now seems historic.

***

In other news, I would pay Syracuse good money to get rid of Greg Robinson, and I am very much looking forward to the first Jets game of the season tomorrow.

Sometimes It's Best Not to Dwell

Check out Pat Venditte pitching for Staten Island on Thursday, courtesy of Brent Nycz



****

Brendan Morrow should remember tonight for the rest of his life. In his first major league start he was four outs from a no-hitter.

Meanwhile, the Yankees inability to win on the West Coast are astounding.

Week One NFL Picks

If you don't remember from last year, my predictions are based on nothing other than gut. Sometimes I go 1-14, sometimes I go 14-1. Here we go:

New York Giants over Washington Redskins. I am a Jets fan but I need to give Giants props for their Super Bowl win.

Detroit Lions over Atlanta Falcons. My brother is obsessed with Kevin Smith.

Seattle Seahawks over Buffalo Bills. The Seahawks are dangerous when healthy. Unlike the Sonics or the Mariners.

New York Jets over Miami Dolphins. This actually isn't a biased pick, but based on last year, I'll take anyone over the Dolphins...except Baltimore.

New England Patriots over Kansas City Chiefs. 18-1! Say it with me: 18-1!

New Orleans Saints over Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Maybe this is the year the Saints finally get somewhere.

Philadelphia Eagles over St. Louis Rams. My brother's best friend is an Eagles fan, this pick is for him.

Pittsburgh Steelers over Houston Texans. Just because.

Tennessee Titans over Jacksonville Jaguars. Thoughts and prayers with Jason Collier.

Cincinnati Bengals over Baltimore Ravens. Dude, Baltimore, you lost to the Dolphins. You don't get picked.

San Diego Chargers over Carolina Panthers. This doesn't change the fact that Shawn Merriman is an idiot.

Arizona Cardinals over San Francisco 49ers. For the Hell of it.

Dallas Cowboys over Cleveland Browns. Stupid Cowboys.

Indianapolis Colts over Chicago Bears. Can't pick against a Manning. They're kind of like Molina brothers. You can't pick against them.

Minnesota Vikings over Green Bay Packers. It's not that I don't believe in Aaron Rogers, it's that I believe in Adrian Peterson more.

Denver Broncos over Oakland Raiders. Broncos are legit.

Instant Replay, Instant Home Run (Postgame Notes 3 September 2008)

Alex Rodriguez is always at the center of everything.

Therefore, it's not much of a surprise that Alex was involved in the very first use of instant replay.

Lucky for him, the call went his way and he passed Michael Schmidt for 12th on the all time home run list, and broke open a 6-3 ball game.

For the first time since then end of July, the Yankees have won a series against a team with a record better than .500, and in doing so against Tampa, they may very possibly set some interesting things in motion, and Boston is now just three games behind Tampa.

Carl Pavano was not great, but the Yankees won the game and there is not much more one can ask for at this point.

As for the bullpen, Edwar Ramirez got lucky, Phil Coke apparently should have been called up earlier, Brian Bruney was excellent and Jose Veras was shaky, but they got the job done.

Of late the Yankee offense seems to have finally woken up a little bit, having scored 8, 7, 13 and 6 in four of their last five, but they will have to keep this up pretty much the entire month if they are going to have a legitimate shot at the playoffs.

****

Today marks the one year anniversary of PBP. Thank you to everyone that's kept reading over the year--this has become so much more than I ever thought it would.

A Journey to the Island (no, not that one)

Last night, Brent Nycz of The Bronx Block and I decided to take it down a few notches and headed out to Staten Island to catch the Staten Island Yankees in action.

The Staten Island ferry offers some excellent views of the Statue of Liberty and the lower Manhattan skyline.









Richmond County Bank Stadium (or whatever it's called) is probably the smallest minor league venue I have ever been to--and that's saying something because Syracuse is pretty small as well.



We had great seats--an amazing view and right behind the scouts, so I could peak at the guns to see what the other pitchers were hitting.

The starter for the Hudson Valley Renegades, sat around 91-93, struck out nine over six, walked two and allowed one run on two hits.



Ah, there we go, Richmond County Bank.



Can you tell who's starting for the Staten Island Yankees? No? Well, believe it or not, it was Jonathan Albaladejo.



The view was amazing.




The tickets were a bit expensive for a minor league game, but it was certainly worth it. My only regret is that we did not get to see Pat Venditte--the switch-pitcher--in action.

Things Are Not Always As They Seem

From River Ave Blues:

Now for a tangent. Many people believe that the Yankees woes are centered around the offense, in particular the lack of hitting with runners in scoring position. Will you venture a guess as to who has the worst team average in the AL in those situations? None other than the first place Tampa Bay Rays. They’re hitting .246 with RISP. Yet, they’re still atop the division. Sure, it doesn’t hurt that they’ve had their top five pitchers going every game from early May through now. But they’re finding ways to win even though their numbers with RISP are the worst in the AL. They Yankees, well, just aren’t.

http://riveraveblues.com/2008/09/01/where-has-this-team-been-all-year-4175/



Just some food for thought.

It's a Hitting Holiday (Postgame Notes 1 September 2008)

There's that old saying again--they don't have to be pretty, they just have to be wins.

Such was the case today.

Unfortunately, while the good ole' slugfest was fun to watch, for a while, it may be a case of too little, too late.

Losing two out of three to Boston was bad enough, but two out of three to Toronto as well was a dagger--and I had the honor of seeing the 7-6 loss on Saturday in person.

As far as today's game went, however, one has to wonder where this offense has been the entire season. Games like today were games the Yankees were supposed to have in spades this year, and they simply have not.

This game would have fit in nicely last year, with the Yankees winning in spite of their pitching staff, and not because of it (okay, Phil Coke had a very nice debut, but that was about it in terms of pitching).

The Yankees now head to Tampa for three before heading out to Seattle and Los Angeles.