(New York, NY) – After 17 years, 4 World Series titles, many divisional titles and countless innings squatted behind home plate, #20 hangs up his cleats. He was a five-time All-Star and retires with a .273 batting average, 1,065 runs batted in and 275 home runs in 1,829 games. He was an integral part of the ‘Core Four’ alongside of Jeter, Mariano and Andy Pettitte, who retired last year. His passion will be sorely missed.
(New York, NY) – Jorge Posada was very vocal the other day saying it is highly unlikely he will return to the Yankees bringing to an end a great career in pinstripes for the catcher. He also was not sure if he would pursue playing for another team and needed time to figure it all out. He has reached out to Bernie Williams who went through the same process when he was not contacted by the Yanks a few years back and #51 gave Jorge his advice. Cast your Vote if you think Posada will ‘retire’ or play for another team.
(New York, NY) – Well fortunately DJ ended the drama early with a single in his first at bat and a towering homer into the left field stands his next time up to reach the famous 3,000 hit plateau. His 3rd homer of the season tied the game at 1-1 and the answer to the trivia question is: Tampa’s David Price was the pitcher. For those that like numbers: No. 2 got his 2nd hit of the day and he did it at 2 PM.
The FNY team was ready to see it last night but the rain changed that. That being said congrats to the Captain from Section 430 on a well deserved feat and his career to date.
Post Note: Jeter would end the day 5-5 with the game winning RBI in the 8th as the Yanks went on to take the game 5-4 over Tampa. Mariano got his 22nd save while David Robertson (2-0) picked up the win. It was an instant Yankee Classic for the YES network.
(New York, NY) – Well the FNY Blog is not usually doing live posts and actually has been light on stories of late but this special milestone of the first player in Yankee history to collect 3,000 hits is upon us. Jeter drove a 3-2 pitch in the hole between 3rd and short to lead of the bottom of the first and stands on the brink. With 3-4 more at bats today and a full game tomorrow it could very well happen at home. 10 other players got their 3,000 hits for one team and Derek stands to be #11 in that category and 28th overall in MLB history. Over 16, 200 players have played the game.
(New York, NY) – Somewhat lost in the focus on the Captain’s run to 3,000 hits is the team has dropped 4 of the last 5 and are now a half game behind Boston for first place in the AL East. Somewhere between tonight’s game with Tampa and Sunday’s tilt that ends the first half of the season, it is expected that the 2 more hits needed will fall and the team can get back to playing baseball. The stadium had a carnival atmosphere last night and it only promises to intensify until the electric moment. Good Luck to DJ and the Bombers.
Jeter has 1 hit in 2 plate appearances against Jeremy Hellickson so not much to work statistically with while Saturday’s foe is David Price where he has fared worse.
Post Note: This was posted earlier in the day and since then the game has been canceled due to rain. It will be made up in late September so the pressure is now on to get those 2 hits in 2 home games before the All-Star break and then a long road trip. Also news came out that both A-Rod and Jeter will not play in the All-Star game to nurse their respective problems (knee, calf etc.) Meanwhile Swisher hurt his back a little making a play in the 5-1 loss to Tampa on Thursday and Mariano continues to heal up.
(New York, NY) – On Monday the Yanks (33-26) were coming off a successful road trip, sitting in first place and feeling pretty good going into the Red Sox series. 3 Days later, they are hoping to salvage one game to get back into first place, (pending a rain delay), having lost the first two and looking badly in the process. They seemed to have dodged an injury bullet with Tex getting hit on the knee but today got the devastating news today that Joba’s stint on the DL is much worse: Tommy John surgery is needed and he may not pitch until next summer. This is really bad as they have already lost Soriano for some time (and he was ineffective anyhow), still no real clue on when Phil Hughes will come back, Garcia is starting to look vulnerable and it remains to be seen if A.J. is regressing to 2010 form. Russell Martin had some back problems and Chavez is still out.
The season is a long one and, as usual, will have its ups and downs but feel free to comment on the latest news and state of the union.
(New York, NY) – The Yanks (27-21) took an afternoon affair 7-3 before a big West coast swing and ended the homestand on a winning note. Tex hit his 13th while Andruw Jones knocked out 2 homers, was 3-3 and had 4 RBI’s on the day. Freddie Garcia (3-4) pitched well enough and finally got some run support. Grandy stayed hot for a few more games, while Jeter moved to 24 away from his 3,000 goal. The big milestone in the game was the wrap-up by Mariano has he became the first reliever to appear in 1,000 games for the same team. Congratulations Mo!
In other downside news, Rafael Soriano will not pitch for at least 4-6 weeks while Phil Hughes was moved to the 60-day DL.
Use Long Ball in First Game, Take 2nd in 11 Innings
(Baltimore, MD) – The Yanks (12-6) finish a short road trip (3-1) with a split in Toronto and a 2-game set with the O’s. The down part of the trip were two blown saves from Mariano but the offense continues to shine and hit the ball long and far. The Yanks pounded 5 dingers in Satrudays’ 15-3 affair with CC getting his first win, while Sunday’s game saw a second great out in from Freddy Garcia and a league leading 7th homer from Curtis Granderson to spark the win. Jeter picked up 4 hits and moved to 30th place all-time surpassing Baltimore’s own Frank Robinson along the way.
The Yanks come home for a week to play the White Sox and then Toronto.
Off-Season Signings of Chavez, Martin, Colon and Garcia Show Early Returns
(New York, NY) – The Yanks (9-5) win a big series from the Rangers taking the final nationally-televised game 6-5 with a big 8th inning RBI from Eric Chavez, subbing for A-Rod and his ailing back. The off-season signings have shown great results in the early going with Russell Martin clubbing his 4th homer of the season last night while Freddy Garcia (1-0) had a monster outing on Saturday and Bartolo Colon has filled in well in long relief. With Phil Hughes on the DL now we expect big things from both Garcia and Colon has the rotation settles in for more action and less off days.
Team Wins First Series, Looks to Establish Consistency
(New York, NY) – The good news is the offense came out of the gates pretty strong, with the Yanks (2-1) clubbing 9 homers in the Tigers series, trailing only Texas at 11 for the league lead. The bad news is the pitching was not all that great with Phil Hughes getting roughed up and then Bartolo Colon having some challenges we as well. With a team ERA of 5.67 they Bombers look to improve when they take on the Twins for a 4-game set in the Bronx. Hopefully the hot starts continue for Tex, Russell Martin, Swish and A-Rod, while Posada looks to build on his 2-homer game from Sunday. Next up in the rotation is Ivan Nova for his first start of the year.
(New York, NY) – After 17 years, 4 World Series titles, many divisional titles and countless innings squatted behind home plate, #20 hangs up his cleats. He was a five-time All-Star and retires with a .273 batting average, 1,065 runs batted in and 275 home runs in 1,829 games. He was an integral part of the ‘Core Four’ alongside of Jeter, Mariano and Andy Pettitte, who retired last year. His passion will be sorely missed.
Friday Nite Yanks - Stories from Section 22 and 430 