Though it’s only the first week of April, this week’s opening series in the Bronx against the Toronto Blue Jays felt like late season, or even, October baseball. The weather was brisk, the hits were timely and the pitching was formidable.

I think it is fair to say that the Bombers might not face a tougher top three starters in a row for the remainder of the season than they did against the Jays this week. Halladay, Burnett and McGowen all have absolutely electric stuff and this ball club still managed to walk away with a series win. Well done, fellas. Well done.

Though the runs were few and far between, the lineup made the most of their opportunities through this series. Hitting .244 in three games is nothing to right home about, but - as a team - their approach/results were balanced between their pitching and hitting.

Wang was great, Moose hung in there and Hughes only made a couple mistakes. Pitching and defense wins; that’s what won this series. I know this revelation might not be ground breaking, but it is important to note that from top to bottom the pitching staff came through against a very tough Blue Jays club. Even though I ripped into Moose yesterday for what will be a lasting flaw, and I stand by everything I said, everyone else on the staff was close to flawless.

Wang: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2R, 2H, 2BB (W)

Moose: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO (L)

Hughes: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 4 SO (W)

In eight and a third innings pitched, the bullpen surrendered only one run. These performances included four dominant innings from Mariano & Joba. Additionally, the crew of Hawkins-Bruney-Trauber-Olhendorf-Farnsworth all threw the ball well.

Lesson of this impressive series win: pitching, pitching, pitching will always prevail. This offense will breakout against mediocre and good teams alike, but if this pitching staff can work fluidly as a unit then Mr. Girardi will have a very good first year in the Bronx.

Go Yanks!

Last night was my first trip to Yankees Stadium of this 2008 season.  My fears became reality when I arrived.

Moose’s age is getting to him and, as a result, the Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays (5-2).

As it goes with an aging finesse pitcher, Mike Mussina’s fastball just keeps losing steam. This problem, which started last year, isn’t going anywhere. Here’s the rundown: in his prime, Moose’s 4-seam fastball would be anywhere between 86-90 MPH. This velocity, coupled with great location, worked because it was balanced out by a biting knuckle-curve and dipping slider.

As Moose got through 5.2 innings last night giving up four runs (three earned), it wasn’t these numbers that bothered me. Now that his fastball tops out at 86-87 MPH, he’s having trouble putting hitters away. In effect, this 39 yr-old Mike Mussina doesn’t have an out pitch. The lack of velocity on his fastball allows the imperfections of every other pitch to shine through.

It’s a problem when your 4-seamer is only 8 MPH faster than your knucklecurve or slider. This ends up making what is a velocity problem a location problem. When a finesse pitcher’s velocity is down, the only way they can have a great night is if they flawlessly locate their pitches. Moose wasn’t perfect last night and that became the problem. All in all, was Moose’s evening a disaster? No.

Nonetheless, his performance exposed what will undoubtedly be his BIG problem all year.

Mike Mussina can’t locate like Greg Maddux and I don’t think he’ll be able to adjust at this point in his career. Last season, flashes of brilliance by Moose proved to Yankees fans that if he can build additional arm strength (fastball at 88 MPH) then he can still be a top pitcher in this league.

I suspect a happy median is what will be the solution. A concerted effort to make location that much more important for a pitcher who has made a living hitting his spots combined with building some extra arm strength can result in consistently good performances.

Go Moose! Go Yanks!

Tonight I’ll embark on my final, first trip of the season to Yankees Stadium.

Every single season, far and away, this is my favorite journey up the 4 train to the Bronx.   While at the start of the season it might not always be perfect baseball-beer-hotdog weather, the sheer joy that I feel with my first home game is just awesome.

Let’s go Moose! Go Yanks!

Andy Pettitte will be missing his first go-around in the starting rotation when the club opens their season against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankees Stadium next week. What injury is holding him back?

Back spasms. Surprise, surprise.

After a strong spring, especially in light of the media attention he’s been getting due to the Roger Clemens’ situation, this injury is bad news for a rotation that already has too many question marks. The last thing this team needs is for Pettitte to be out for a prolonged period of time.

In the report, Girardi noted that Pettitte will be pitching just a few days after what was supposed to be his first start of the season, but - honestly - I don’t buy that Andy will be completely healthy with these few extra days. History has shown us that when Andy’s back spasms arrive, they usually linger for quite some time (aka some trips on/off of the DL).

If this is actually the case, Joba won’t be in the bullpen for too long after all.

Go Yanks!

in the bullpen.

We expected this to happen, and it’d been “unofficially” known for quite some time through the grumblings in the media/clubhouse alike,  but finally the skipper made it official yesterday.

“We think that’s where he fits best right now,” manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday.

So, though this was no surprise, I’m supremely thankful that the organization has decided not to use him as a starter.

Now that Joba is, at least, starting the season in the bullpen, I can breath easy.

Go Yanks!

P.S.  I swear I don’t only write about Joba.

This final, swan song, season at Yankees Stadium will allow complete fanatics and casual fans alike the opportunity to come see the historic, “old” stadium one last time in the 2008 season. As if the ticket prices weren’t enough, the full court press of making money off this season is in full effect with the blanketing of the Yankees website with subtle reminders that, by the way, this is the last season at Yankees Stadium. Of course, having the All-Star game here in New York helps to jog folks memory too. Heck, there’d be no reason to host an All-Star game at a dated, yet historic, stadium unless it was being bulldozed.

The folks that are most aware of the finality of this season are, quite obviously, the season ticket holders/regulars.

Just in case they weren’t sure, season ticket holders were given a cool collectors item with their ticket package. Oversize stubs (ala playoff games or WS games) to the last regular season game at Yankees Stadium with “The Final Game” printed in large letters on each stub.

There are already final season hats, shirts, pins and every other type of apparel/accessory you can think of will certainly surface this season. Most likely, I’ll even be purchasing some of this gear, but it’d be nice if wasn’t shoved in my face all season long as I know it will be.

I guess that’s the price I’ll have to pay for going to witness the final season at Yankees Stadium. Did I mention it’s the final season? Lord knows I’m going to get sick of this awfully quickly and the final season doesn’t start for another two weeks.

Nonetheless, I can’t wait for opening day!

Go Yanks!

Peter Abraham, a fantastic Yankees beat reporter with a great blog over at LoHud, brought up a great point yesterday afternoon about how, at times, just how emotionless and thoughtless business can be — including baseball.

After all that Mr. Joba “Rules” Chamberlain did to save the New York Yankees floundering bullpen last year, how was he rewarded? He was given a big fat check for the league minimum of $390,000. As Abraham notes, and I concur, no one should feel badly for anyone being awarded that chunk of change, but the fact that there was not even a ten cent “bonus” in return for the magic act he pulled out of his hat last year doesn’t really add up for me.

There is some logic, though not completely sound, that can counter the Yankees decision NOT to throw Joba even a small bone. If you treat your best players with respect and dignity (even the younger ones) by offering them a little something extra on your watch, they’ll be more inclined to do the same when their fate rests on their watch. Due to Abraham’s point that baseball is a business first, I completely acknowledge that this is flawed logic, but I sincerely believe there still is such a thing as honor and respect left in the game of baseball. At the end of the day, you just have to pick your battles.

Giving a hot-headed kid something extra to chew on might never work out, but if you focus on the respectful and disciplined kids, like Joba, it might just workout in the long run. To the tune of a 50K bonus, let’s be honest, this would have been a risk worth taking with an important pitcher like Chamberlain.

Hank, don’t tell me you can’t afford it.

Go Yanks!

There probably was never a first positive go-around, so the implication that today’s two innings of scoreless work should be considered Mr. Kei Igawa’s second coming is probably an overstatement.

While our high-priced Japanese “prize” from last year’s free agency class never lived up to his projected fourth or fifth starter role, and today’s progress is nice, only time will tell if this is just a flash in the pan.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi could be the difference maker.  The new skipper proved with his year as Florida Marlins manager that he has a unique ability in working with young pitching talent like Anabel Sanchez & Ricky Nolasco.  This obviously not only bodes well for Kei Igawa (a little older in 28), but the rest of the young arms that will be vying for key roles on the 2008 club.

These include, but aren’t limited to:  Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Sean Henn, Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf and, lastly, Kei Igawa.

If the lefty import can end up providing some solid & consistent pitching, either in the bullpen or starting rotation, he will be able to provide the much needed insurance the Yankees pitching staff desperately needs.

Go Yanks!

Source: NY Times (2/21/08)

Due to the fact that Alex Rodriguez has never tested positive for using performance enhancing drugs, why must everyone get on this guy’s back for saying he was tested nine to ten times last year? Though the above data proves that this is impossible, this should not warrant discussion in the media - even in New York.

If this story does one thing, it reiterates the fact that the league must put it’s foot down by instituting stricter punishment for steroid use and by increasing the frequency of testing. With more star players brought into the forefront by the Mitchell Report, I can only hope this will push the players association and league to continue to work at cleaning up the game.

After a few extra days off, Andy Pettitte will be reporting to Yankees camp this morning to officially begin his spring training.

More importantly, especially for his mental health, Andy will have a press conference with 150 members of the media to discuss his use of human growth hormone and the allegations he has thrown The Rocket’s way.  As much as the media loves Pettitte, this will be painful for him and Andy will be put in some tough spots.  With all that being said, Pettitte wanted to somewhat escape the cloud which would be looming over his head all season by handling this right now.

Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record said the following in his article this morning, “Pettitte can expect to find a warm reception from his teammates this morning, especially from the likes of Rivera and Jorge Posada.”   I’m not so sure that we know what kind of reception Posada will give to Pettitte (or visa-versa) being that he flat-out said that he believes Roger was being truthful about his use of steroids.

Pettitte is a pretty emotional guy, let’s just hope he can get his head straight and start to put this in the rear view mirror (albeit, most likely, temporarily).

Good luck, Andy.  Go Yanks!