2010 Yankees Preview

Due to the overwhelming demand flooding my inbox (two people actually), I hereby unretire this blog to forecast the coming 162 game World Series Championship defense by the New York Yankees. First, let's look at how I did with my 2009 predictions.

2009 Prediction in Review
Rotation - "So, the Yankees bought reliability in the rotation and now the only real question mark is Joba Chamberlain... There will be no more Sidney Ponson sightings, except for perhaps the visitor's dugout. "

That was true in the spring, but then the Wanger never was able to return from his leg injury. Having been held together with duct tape and bailing wire from two minor league surgeries, it's not that surprising I guess he couldn't stay healthy. Yankees did get 130 starts from CC-AJ-Andy-Joba and really Wanger falling apart was the only thing that went wrong last year. No Ponson, but we did get a nice dose of Mitre and Gaudin. Didn't hurt the team. Champions!

Bullpen - "I predict a bit of a shuttle from Scranton to the Bronx and there will be some turnover. But bullpen management really is a strength for Girardi, so I feel confident that the Yanks will find some combination of arms that works for them by crunch time in late summer. "

I was mostly right about this. LOTS of turnover and frankly, there was no stability to be found for most of the year. Bruney and Marte were hurt, Coke regressed, Melancon sucked and only Robertson (lots of ability - 13+Ks per nine)and Aceves were contributors, but were inconsistent. It wasn't until Phil Hughes was moved to the pen that things settled down. And boy did they. Hughes was nothing less than an elite setup man. Still, in the postseason, Girardi had to lean on the ageless Mo Rivera heavily, bringing back the multi inning save that made Mo better than any other closer in baseball. So, a workable combination was found but it was Hughes and Mo with Marte coming from nowhere to strike out Ryan Howard. More depth would be nice.

Lineup - "Teixeira is better than Giambi in every single possible way. I think the amount of an upgrade will be staggering and his defense will make our infield much better. Swisher is the bench bat that the Yankees didn't have last year, causing them to use guys like Morgan Ensberg, Justin Christian, Richie Sexson to fill-in in the outfield and at first. He'll have that covered and also presents a good piece of trade bait if a trade is needed to shore up the pen. Gardner replaces Melky and should be a slight upgrade defensively."

I was 2 out of 3 here. Teix was a ridiculous upgrade over Giambi and carried the team for a solid stretch last year. Swish was a huge bench upgrade who lost out to Xavier Nady only to get to play because Nady blew out his elbow (I'll bet half the Yankee fans forget that considering what a fan favorite Swish became so quickly). Gardner didn't replace Melky. Melky hung on to his gig and had a solid season while Gardner mostly was a defensive replacement and pinch runner. Good season for the lineup as they led baseball in runs scored.

The Conclusion: "The Yankees led MLB in spring training record. They're in the toughest division in baseball. The Rays went to the WS and the Sox almost did. Still, I look at the teams on paper and the Yankees look better this year. The Rays look worse. The Sox look about the same. That tells me that I think the Rays and Yankees will swap positions in the standings. The Yankees will win 97 games, the Sox will win 95 and the Rays will be left watching in October. The Yankee rotation is far better. The lineup is better. The defense will be better. Should be good times for Yankee fans."

Damn I'm good. The Fridge is just like Wu-Tang Clan... nuthin ta fuck with.

2010 Offseason

Who left? Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. Why did the Yankees get rid of two players who a) contributed heavily to the return of the Yankees as Champions and b) fit perfectly in the lineup as #2 and #5 hitters? Age. It's that simple. Cashman has been very clear in one area since he assumed complete control of the team. When relative value is close he will go with the younger player. It would have been the easiest thing to do to bring Matsui and Damon back right at the end of the parade down the canyon of heroes. No one would question it. No one would blame him if it didn't work out. But he let those two popular players go. He traded for Curtis Granderson and Nick Johnson.

Granderson vs. Damon - This is a tale of home and away splits. Until this year, Granderson played in a part that is a tough park to hit in. Damon played in a park that was taylor made for his swing. A large part of Damon's value is from the .915 OPS he put up at home. If he matched that on the road he'd rank in the top 20 in baseball in that stat, ahead of Chase Utley, Evan Longoria and other MVP level hitters. But Damon is simply a different hitter away from Yankee Stadium with a .795 OPS which ranks roughly 85th. Good, but not exceptional. Damon is exceptional on defense. Exceptionally bad. He can't throw and despite having decent speed plays left field like a drunken beer-league softball player.

Granderson is the reverse. He's a very poor hitter at his home park (Comerica field, one of the largest in MLB) putting up a pathetic .695 OPS. On the road however, he is a .860 OPS player, which is top fifty. His swing is taylor made for Yankee stadium. He's a dead pull hitter with power. Damon increased his power output by becoming a dead pull hitter with power. Don't believe me? Read this article (ESPN subs req'd). Granderson is gonna hit for power for the yankees. He hit 13 more homers than Damon on the road and his swing is suited for Yankee Stadium's short porch just like Damon's is. He'll hit 30 homers this year if he plays 150 games. And while he's doing that, he's an asset in CF, which Johnny Damon hasn't been since he played in Kansas City. Granderson during the regular season at least, is an upgrade - more on this in a bit***. On the whole I support this move.

Matsui vs. Johnson - Matsui signed with the Los Angeles Anaheim Angeles of Greater Los Angeles county for slightly more than the Yanks signed Johnson. Certainly Cash could have kept the very reliable producer instead of bringing back the injury prone former Yankee Nick Johnson. Matsui has an air of reliability while Johnson appears to always be injured. In fact, over the last 3 years, they've both been pretty unreliable. Matsui doesn't seem so, because he was a former iron man, holding the "Cal Ripken record" in Japan and keeping his streak here in the US until he broke his wrist trying to make a diving catch. Johnson's reputation is well earned. He was injury prone in the minors and will be again this year for the Yanks. He's only played 140 games once in his entire 9 year career. Only played more than 100 3 times. There's simply no way we can expect him to play 100 for the yanks, so be ready for Randy Winn at DH some games or if Johnson is out for an extended time a call up from Jesus Montero. When he's healthy, Johnson has elite OBP skills and that's really it. He can at least provide a backup to Teixeira. There's no way to look at this as anything but a downgrade and honestly, I don't like it. I'm already tired of tracking Johnson's injury status and it's only spring training. If he plays, he'll be as good as Matsui but he almost certainly will be hurt for 50 games or so. No, really. Almost certainly. Cashman gave 5 million to a guy who almost certainly will miss 1/3 of the season. I don't really get it. It may work out, but as far as I'm concerned the house has all the odds on this bet. When the season's over, Matsui will likely have limped his way to more RBI than Nick Johnson has games played.

*** What the hell was I talking about when I said more in a bit? Here's what I don't like about those moves. I don't buy into clutch hitting. I do however buy into a theory that some hitters have the ability to hit great pitching while some do not. And that statistics gathered during lackluster games in June may mask this deficiency. I think this has to do with the ability of a hitter to adjust during an at bat and hit while in a defensive mentality. Some guys are just better at this than others. Damon and Matsui were very good at this. Jeter is very good at this. Chase Utley is good at this. Ryan Howard is not good at this. Kevin Youklis is very good at this. A-Rod is not. Over the course of 162 games, this ability has minimal effect on the teams ability to make the playoffs. However, in the playoffs where the importance of each at bat is magnified and the overall pitching quality is better, it's more important. I don't know how Granderson and Johnson will perform in these situations and if they aren't as good as Matsui and Damon they may seriously damage the Yankees chances of repeating. This is my theory and it is mine.

Adios Melky, Bienvenidos Javy -In Toast's least favorite offseason move, the Yanks traded Melky Cabrera and two prospects to the Braves for Javy Vazquez. Javy Vazquez was a Yankee before and it didn't end well. (Yankee fans don't click on that...) But Javy played in the all star game that year and was reportedly hurt later in the year and tried to pitch through it and not tell the team. I expect him to pitch well and so do many others. But this continues the theme of last year where Cashman went out and acquired a big pitcher who will eat innings. There were 50 pitchers who pitched more than 195 innings last year and the Yankees have 4 of them now. Cashman didn't want to have to deal with Mitre or Aceves and another rotating 5th starter spot if one of the big guys goes down and now they won't have to. The Yankees won't need to go with a 3 man rotation in the playoffs. The difference between the innings that Javy pitched last year and Joba is 62 innings, or roughly an extra reliever. That reliability and ability to pitch deep into games is a premium. And all the Yanks had to do to get it was send Toast's favorite player and a couple prospects. If Vazquez is a bust then the Yanks can let him go next year and get a first round draft pick for their troubles. Or, if he pitches well as I expect him to, they can resign him. All in all, I think this will be regarded as the best move of the offseason.

Joba vs. Phil -Two young starting pitching prospects. Neither one has shown much as a starter. Both have shown exceptional ability as relievers. Why the controversy? Other teams have battles for their fifth starter spots and people don't flip out over the outcome. Why the excitement? Dunno, but here's my take on it. There's little statistical evidence to make a good case that either guy would be better than the other in either role. However. my armchair scouting says that Phil is right now better suited to start than Joba. I say this is for two reasons. 1) Pitching arsenal - Hughes has 3.5 pitches now. 4 seamer, cutter, curve and a half a changeup. Eiland has been emphasizing the change all spring and it was apparently the development of this pitch that won him the gig. Here's Phil's PitchFX stats where you can see how he dropped the change last year for the cutter. Here's Joba's PitchFX. You can see his pitches are all over the place. 4 seamer, Slider AND Curve and some changeups - even a few that charted as 2 seamers. After watching Joba make thirty starts on TV you can say this about Joba's change and curve. He can't throw them for strikes and no one swings that them. So, he tried to work them in and in large part that led to his consistently being behind hitters and his high pitch count. When he was dominant out of the pen, he was pounding the strike zone with big fastballs and a bugs bunny slider. Frankly, the rest of what he throws is garbage right now (it could improve at some point). And two pitch pitchers are bullpen pitchers (unless they're one pitch pitchers like Mo). You can blow through the minors with two pitches but it's hard to do it in the majors (Verlander comes to mind but his two pitches are better than Joba's). 2) Personality - this is totally unscientific, but it's my impression that some personalities do better in the pen and some do better as starters. Dudes that get amped up and freak out are better suited as short relievers - think Papelboner. Dudes that are seriously even keel and controlled do better as starters - think Mussina. Joba is more like Papelboner than Mussina and Hughes is more like Mussina than Papelboner. It's that simple.

The rest of the team - Essentially the same. Cervelli will be playing good defense at catcher and not hitting instead of Molina. Chan Ho Park will be in the pen with a blossoming David Robertson (crazy K numbers!). Hopefully Marte will be the weapon he was in the playoffs all year long. Ramiro Pena, Randy Winn man the bench. Melancon will get another chance. The bench/pen is pretty solid. A Rod is healthy going into the season. Jeter's in a contract year drive. Brett Gardner will be providing exceptional defense in left and crazy speed on the basepaths.

How will they do? Good question. The sox went out and spent a lot of money on pitching and defense, the Rays are looking really good with young starters, a healthy lineup and a new closer and the Champs cut payroll by 10 million. Despite the cut in payroll, I think the pitching will be better this year than last as will the defense. It offsets a possible loss in offense from losing Damon and Matsui. I honestly think that the three teams are very close in talent. The finishing order can be very fluid. I do think the Champs are slightly ahead of the Sox, who are slightly ahead of the Rays. So, I'll say Yankees 96 wins, Sox 95, Rays 93. But I don't feel quite as optimistic as last year. In the end, the team who remains the healthiest will win. Did I mention we have Nick Johnson?

Yankees 0-2

Feel free to push it if it makes you feel better

Yankees Preview

Ok, here's the 2009 Fridge Yankee Preview.

First, let's recap the 2008 Yankees. By all accounts, it was a disaster. 89 wins and missing the playoffs for the first time in somewhere around a gajillion years. Utter disaster! Fire Cashman, Fire Joe Girardi!

Here are the numbers.

89-73 (tied for 4th in AL)
Team ERA 4.28 (15th MLB, 8th AL)
789 Runs (7th AL, 10th MLB)
83 Errors (3rd MLB, 1st AL)

Those are the results. But, numbers only really have a meaning in context. When you begin a season you have a set of expectations. Usually veterans meet those expectations, especially expensive ones like the Yankees stockpile. You hope your young guys give you a reasonable performance and wish that one or two of them break out and reach their perceived potential. So, how does a $210 million team fail to make the playoffs? Well, in short, what you need to have happen is have lots of guys do far worse than anyone expected and have only one player exceed expectations. Just one. And he's old as fuck.

The Yankees didn't have a single batter exceed their expected output for a year. This would normally be fine as the Yankees have expensive veterans at many positions and all they need to do is perform to par. But A-Rod, Matsui, Posada missed over 200 games last year. Melky Cabrera, Cano, Jeter regressed. The bench was terrible, massing about 500 ABs of sub-600 OPS.

The starting pitching was a mess. The Yankees went into the season with the risky position of planning to start Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes 60 times. They got 17 starts and no wins. Darrel Rasner (sold to Japan in the offseason) started 20 games to place third in the rotation in that stat. The Wanger hurt his hammy and started a Hank Steinbrenner bitchfest about the lack of the DH in the NL. Usually penciled in for 30+ starts and 17 wins he only managed half that before getting hurt. The aforementioned Rasner, Sidney Ponson, Alfredo Aceves, Carl Pavano, Dan Giese, Kei Igawa started 58 games last year. 58, or greater than 1/3 of the entire season. They managed 15 wins. The Joba rules and shoulder stiffness limited Joba to 100 solid innings. Pettitte gutted out the season and ate innings admirably, but faltered down the stretch. Mike Mussina was the one Yankee who had a career year. The bullpen was sketchy all season except for the resplendent Mo Rivera who is ridiculous.

In short, an absurd number of things went wrong and the Yankees still managed to have the 4th best record in the AL. If you were to pick any 2 of the disasters above and have that player perform to expectation, the Yankees probably make the playoffs. So, the Yankees could reasonably expect to be better while doing basically nothing.

But, nothing wasn't really an option because they had 80 million to spend and 4 big holes to fill.

Here's what they did.

Rotation:
Last year's rotation leaving spring training was : Wang, Moose, Pettitte, Hughes, Kennedy. We saw how that ended up. Moose retired and Joba was in the rotation, so they had three rotation spots to fill. They signed the best two pitchers on the market, C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Sabathia has been extremely durable over his career and Burnett has averaged 26.6 starts over the last 4 years. With those signings, they can reasonably erase the 58 starts by the cannon fodder mentioned above. Additionally, they are high strikeout pitchers, who will help to limit any Yankee defensive shortcomings. Then, the Yankees brought back Pettitte on a one year deal and you can reasonably pencil in him for 30 starts. So, the Yankees bought reliability in the rotation and now the only real question mark is Joba Chamberlain. And that's pretty fucking good because he had a sub 3.00 ERA as a starter. And if any of these guys falter, we have Hughes and Kennedy waiting in AAA with superlative minor league numbers. This alone will make the Yankees far better depth. There will be no more Sidney Ponson sightings, except for perhaps the visitor's dugout.

Bullpen:
Mo Rivera had offseason surgery and looks as good as ever in Spring Training. At some point you can expect a decline, but Mo is exceptional and who knows when that will be. He may be like Eckersley and pitch into his early 40s. The bridge to Mo is looking a lot better than it was in the middle of the season. The Yankees re-signed Damaso Marte and he's been an above average reliever in his career and is solid from the left side. Brian Bruney was a bit of a revelation before he got hurt and I think he's the 8th inning guy which is a bit role for an unproven guy. But he looks great in spring training. Jose Veras quietly had a very strong season. I think he's gonna be pretty good this year, too. Phil Coke was fantastic down the stretch, but is still a bit new to the bullpen and the majors. Edwar Ramirez is what he is, which is replacement level. Jonathan Albaladejo is a wild card, full of unproven potential. The pipeline is very full of big arms in the minors: Robertson, Melancon, S. Jackson and others could all contribute later (especially Melancon). So this year will be a bit of a roller coaster ride. I predict a bit of a shuttle from Scranton to the Bronx and there will be some turnover. But bullpen management really is a strength for Girardi, so I feel confident that the Yanks will find some combination of arms that works for them by crunch time in late summer.

The Lineup:
The big additions here are Mark Teixeira, Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner. Teixeira is better than Giambi in every single possible way. I think the amount of an upgrade will be staggering and his defense will make our infield much better. Swisher is the bench bat that the Yankees didn't have last year, causing them to use guys like Morgan Ensberg, Justin Christian, Richie Sexson to fill-in in the outfield and at first. He'll have that covered and also presents a good piece of trade bait if a trade is needed to shore up the pen. Gardner replaces Melky and should be a slight upgrade defensively. Offensively, he was even worse than Melky last year, but flashes potential for speed that Melky doesn't. He'll bat 9th and have a long leash assuming he catches the ball out in center. Posada and Matsui are back and looking healthy. I think it's clear that the Yankees would love to move the slow, rapidly aging Matsui, but they can't because of his salary. He won't be back this year and I could see him moved at the deadline to someone looking for offense and Swisher taking his place. Nady is here for the full year and Damon is in a contract year. Cano had a terrible first half but played to expectation in the second half. He should be much better this year. The big questions are A-Rod and Jeter. There's a lot of talk about Jeter's decline and while it's true that defensively he's declining, I'm not ready to bury the Captain offensively. Why? He was hurt all last year (rumor of broken bones in the hand, sapping power) but gutting it out because of the other injuries on the team and when he finally got healthy at the end of the year, he hit .345. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him decline, but I think there's reason to think he might be better this year at the plate.

And A-Rod? I expect him to return in early May, cause a bunch of controversy and still end up with 30+ homers and 100 RBI on the year. And until then Cody Ransom will play a great 3rd and barely hit his weight.

Bench:
Melky, Molina, Swisher, Ransom and the much-hyped Ramiro Pena. All these guys are very solid defensively, but only Swisher is a threat at the plate. Pena will probably be sent down for at bats in AAA when A-Rod returns unless he does something amazing the first month. Melky will probably be traded. But this is a better bench than the Yankees have had in a while. Which should tell you how bad the Yankee benches have been.

The Conclusion:
The Yankees led MLB in spring training record. They're in the toughest division in baseball. The Rays went to the WS and the Sox almost did. Still, I look at the teams on paper and the Yankees look better this year. The Rays look worse. The Sox look about the same. That tells me that I think the Rays and Yankees will swap positions in the standings. The Yankees will win 97 games, the Sox will win 95 and the Rays will be left watching in October. The Yankee rotation is far better. The lineup is better. The defense will be better. Should be good times for Yankee fans.

Sports Potpourri

I never post anymore. Ok, maybe almost never. Here's some sports stuff that's been rattling around my head lately.

Even Kobe Bryant knows that Curt Schilling Sucks. Apparently, our favorite marshmallow shaped hurler caught a Celtics-Lakers game and heard Kobe chirping at his teammates and generally being pissed off while losing. He of course had to write about it on his blog. You can read the bloated post itself, but the gist is that Kobe as a leader is sullen, cranky and tuned out by his teammates. On the other hand, the Celts were totally cool by Curt's standards. Ironically, in the same post, he says that the Manny Vs. Youk dust up is a total non-issue. Let's keep score: In the same post, Schilling draws many conclusions from the non-verbal cues of the Lakers and blows off an acutal fight during a game from his teammates. Curt Schilling Doesn't Suck 0, Curt Schilling Sucks 1. Oh, you don't think Curt's teammates rolled their eyes at him some times? They called him "Redlight" because he loved to talk anytime a camera was recording.

Kobe's reponse when this is brought up by the Boston Media? "Go Yankees". And while I had sided with the Celts going in to the Finals, I am now rooting for the Lakers because I hate Curt Schilling that much and the Celtics are guilty by association. I will admit however I feel a little bit like I've just aligned myself with Saddam Hussein against the Ayatollah. It's not a good feeling. I'll just close my eyes and pretend that it's Magic, Worthy and Kareem against the dirty Bird era Celtics.

After reading this post regarding the question "Is Phil Hughes injury prone?" I officially have a twinge of regret at refusing to include him for Santana. Maybe we can get CC for him?

Welcome Papi. Vote Obama.

All kinds of awesome news at Giants mini-camp. Plax is gonna hold out for more money (he should). Shockey is generally pissing everyone off (surprise) and Osi wants more money but says he'll play. Oh yeah, and Mike Strahan retired. Is this why it's so damn hard to repeat? Hopefully, not having to pay Strahan will free up some cap space to give those guys some more $$$ and maybe resign Chris Snee. But, I'm officially dialing down hopes for the season now. I wonder if the lack of leadership from Strahan and inevitable complacency will trip up the men in blue this season. If it does, I'll always have my Giants 5 DVD complete playoff run and Super Bowl set to watch over and over.

What the hell is wrong with the Yankees? They sit squarely at .500, 7 games behind the Boston Douchenozzles. Well, why is that? It's simple really. They are pitching worse than expected and hitting far worse than expected. Last year, the Yankees were 7th in runs allowed in the AL and this year they are 9th. This, actually is not unexpected, as we planned on breaking in some young pitchers and that has not gone well. In fact, seeing that it's gone as badly as it did, it's impressive that the Yankees are 9th. But still, that's not that big a drop and is not the real reason that the team is floundering. The real reason is offense. The Yankees are 6th in the AL and tied for 13th in MLB in runs scored. Last year, they led all of baseball, basically all year. That's the real problem. Losing Posada and A-Rod hurt. And Cano and Melky have been terrible. Posada and A-Rod are back now. Cano, you can expect to improve, but maybe it's time to give Brett Gardner a chance in CF. I believe that the pitching will improve in the second half. But if the Yanks are gonna make a run, they need the offense to start cranking.

BTW, the Yankees record on June 12, 2007? 31-31, just like today. Ended up with 94 wins.

Evil Empire Extends Squid-Like Tentacles to engulf NCAA team

That's what Yankee haters might say about today. Of course, in reality, the Yankees did a nice thing today in bringing the entire team of starters (minus Matsui) to play an exhibition with Virginia Tech.

In addition to this, evil George Steinbrenner donated a million dollars to the Hokies Memorial Spirit fund. Damn Yankees.

FYI, Games being streamed for free at MLB.TV.

Good Job Yankees. And kudos to the Boss for writing the big check.

This Blog Sucks

Seriously. It does. Especially recently as I've had little time nor ideas to share with anyone who randomly falls down a hole in the internet and ends up here. What have I been doing?

1) Getting a Divorce - This is a major pain in the ass. It's far harder to get a divorce than get married. Logic says it should be the other way around.

2) Putting one of my dogs to sleep - Again, this sucked. Never actually did this before. At age 13, he was slowly declined and then all of a sudden, he began to decline very rapidly. I could handle the shaky arthritic back half, the vomiting and the accidents in the house. But, he began to de-compensate mentally. Cognitive dysfunction, the vet said, which basically meant he got increasingly senile and anxious. He was often disoriented and panicky. He really only calmed down when I was there. It got to the point where I was concerned for my kids and my other dog and realized that it was time. I miss you, buddy.

3) Chaos at work - can't elaborate because my co-workers discovered this blog. Hey, there co-working folks! See you guys at the coffee machine!

4) Planning the future for Fridge Infrastructure 2.0. Item #1 has caused a need for rebuilding. There's much to be done. More on this later (maybe?).

So that's what I've been focusing on. As such, nothing original or interesting to share with you peeps (not that I had much before). Didn't even get to the enormous "anatomy of a championship team" roster analysis post I had planned for the Giants or a review of my Yankee off-season plans versus what actually happened. Probably never will.

Anyway, people. That's my lame-ass excuse for not posting. What's yours for continuing to show up here?

The mind of a five year old girl

vignette number one:

FADE IN
Interior: Fridge Household.

The family, including Fridge's Mom and Dad and brother and sister in law from Boston is discussing various topics when the subject of the Yankees comes up. Excited, five year old Emma chimes in.

Emma: Mommy loves the Yankees! Daddy Loves the Yankees! Grammy loves the Yankees! I love the Yankees! Gramps loves the Yankees! Jonny loves the Yankees! Uncle Nat loves the Yankees! Baby Colin loves the Yankees! Aunt Barb loves the Yankees!

Aunt Barb: (interrupting) Actually, Emma, I'm from Boston and I love the Red Sox.

Emma: (confused and a bit distressed) Well, how did you get into our family?

Fridge: We blame Uncle Nat.

Uncle Nat: She lied on the application.

FADE OUT

vignette number two:

FADE IN
Interior: Fridge's kitchen.

Emma runs over to her Daddy, who is doing the dishes. She's excited and has her hands tucked inside her shirt, leaving her sleeves empty. She's using her hands to simulate breasts.

Emma: Daddy! Look! I have boobies and no hands!

Fridge: Well, why would you want boobies and not hands?

Emma: Because I like having boobies!

Fridge: I like boobies, too. But, hands are pretty awesome. That's how you draw such beautiful pictures, write in cursive.... all kinds of stuff.

Emma: Well, I don't need them.

Fridge: How are you gonna pick stuff up?

Emma: I'll get someone else to pick it up.

Fridge: (thinking to himself) "that's pretty much how boobies work"
Fridge: (actually out loud to daughter) I think you should stick with hands for now. Please take your hands out of your shirt.

FADE OUT

QuickHits

Item #1 - A Fan's website buys an English Soccer team. Apparently they're gonna let people vote to approve roster moves and lineup changes. Sounds just crazy enough to work. I am now going to GoDaddy.com to see if I can register a good URL so I can do the same to my poor ridiculous Knicks.

Item #2 - A pictorial Album Review/Analogy.

Devil Without a Cause by Kid Rock is to 1985 Kelly LeBrock
















as Kid Rock's new Album Rock And Roll Jesus is to 2007 Kelly LeBrock.


Meaning, you can see how they came from the same place, but it's just not at all the same.









Item #3 - Tom Morello, I'm gunning for you this weekend. I will Rock You Like a Hurricane.


Item #4 - Yankee Update:
- Welcome Back Jorge.
- Welcome Back (after much unnecessary nonsense) A-Rod
- Mo, Please sober up and sign.
- Dear Andy Pettitte. Couldn't you use another 15 million dollars? Please?
- Dear Hank Steinbrenner. You sir, are the new "Big Stein". Glad to have you aboard.

Item #5 - Don't be this Bluetooth guy. Larry David will school you.

A failed test of character

Rudy Giuliani was in Boston today and was asked a question about the upcoming World Series. His response:

"I'm rooting for the Red Sox," the Republican presidential contender said in response to a question, sparking applause at the Boston restaurant where he was picking up a local endorsement.

Wait, a sec... THIS RUDY?


















Or, was it THIS RUDY?
















Or maybe it was THIS RUDY...


Listen up, people. This is clearly a minor issue in terms of Presidential politics. The future of Iraq doesn't rest on whether Rudy roots for the Yankees, Rockies or Red Sox (this is of course unfortunate because it's a subject that's right up our president's alley). But let's not fool ourselves. In my opinion, there has never been a more telling indicator of Rudy Giuliani's true character. It's really this simple: If you are a Yankee fan who roots for the Red Sox for political reasons, you are capable of selling out any value for any reason. Rudy Giuliani is a cheap political whore. I know this because as I know that no self-proclaimed #1 Yankee fan would ever root for the Yankees sworn enemy for ANY reason, much less the potential for a few more votes in a state that will certainly vote against him. Even the AP article is smart enough to point this out.

Indeed, if Giuliani was pandering, he miscalculated.

In the last presidential election, Colorado went with Republican President Bush, and recent history shows Massachusetts voters would sooner adopt Manhattan clam chowder as the state's official food than vote Republican in 2008.

So not only is Rudy a soulless shell of a Yankee fan poseur, he's either stupid or he's just such a natural whore that he doesn't care. Holy Crap. Rudy Giuliani has just moved himself to the top of the list of political whores in a field full of them. And I thought no one would top Mitt Romney spinning the "dog on the roof story".

As an aside: As a Yankee fan who finds religious zealotry distasteful, I have nowhere to turn this series. Manuel sent me this link to a NYTimes article pointing out that the Rockies have the highest concentration of evangelical christians in baseball. What's with that mountain air? First the gazillion mega-churches and the Promise Keepers and now this? Maybe they should put Todd Helton in the humidor with the baseballs. I guess I'll have to vote for them anyway. Actually, it's the fucking Red Sox. Screw it. I'm PRAYING for the Rockies to win.

Well, we won't have Joe Torre's bullpen skills to kick around anymore

The Torre era is over. The Yankees didn't seem to make him much of an offer, so I can't blame him for blowing it off.

Looking at the positive side, I won't have to watch another season of a manager who nods off regularly only to wake up in time to call the same reliever in to the game that pitched last night (probably because he forgot who else was in the pen). I won't have to groan because of the lineups he sets and his reliance on more experienced and more crappy players over young guys.

On the negative side, I won't have him to hum A-Rod off to sleep each night after making him green tea. The media won't be able to worship him and will probably be all over the next guy. Worst of all, it may mean that A-Rod and Pettitte opt out and Posada and Rivera don't return. That would be pretty incredible as a fan, as those guys have been with Torre the entire way.

Who should they get? Well, the Yankees clearly aren't listening to me, as I said they should bring Torre back and they barely tried. But, here's who I think should be next. Not Don Mattingly, who has shows all the signs of being a Torre lite. Not Bobby V who, despite being twice the baseball strategist of Torre, would likely be chewed up and spit out by the NY media in his second run. To me, there's one choice. Joe Girardi. He has the cred that might keep the old dudes and the fire and smarts that have been missing in Sleepy Joe. He's intense and driven and this team has taken on their managers laid back demeanor for too long.

Make it happen, Cash. Announce Joe Girardi tomorrow.

Updated: Toast and I have known each other too long. Our brains are starting to work the same way. We both wrote "don't have Joe to kick around anymore". Joe first, then me. I'm always a tad concerned when I too much like Toast.

What to do this Yankee Offseason - Q&A

In a fair and just world, I'd be the Yankees General Manager. However, it's my lot in life to be a Software Architect and I'm forced to leave that to the capable hands of Cashmoney.

But, if given the task of preparing the 2008 Yankees, WWFD? (bracelets soon to be available at the Fridge Marketplace) Well, here goes, Q&A Style.

Q: Whither Joe Torre?
A: Hardest question first. I'm a huge critic of "Sleepy Joe/Green Tea Joe/For the Love of God stop picking your nose on TV Joe". It's been my adamant position that his baseball strategy acumen places him as at best average amongst his managerial peers. However, I must acknowledge the following. He is exceptional in handling the mildy retarded and constantly irritable NY Media. He is exceptional in managing the diverse personalities of a clubhouse. In fact, the only players who've talked bad about him in the 12 years he's been the Yankee manager were Chad Curtis and Gary Sheffield, both of whom are clinically insane. Addditionally, he did a pretty darn good job handling the team over a difficult season where one third of the games were started by rookies. Several key players returns hinge in part on his return. Lastly, there's the legitimate question of where the available upgrade is? It's hard to see. So... as much as it will pain me to say so.... Bring back Joe Torre.

Q: What should be the prevailing vision of the offseason?
A: Continue rebuilding around the core of All-Stars. Lost in the tearful dismay over the Yankees loss is that they in large part rebuilt on the fly and those parts that they introduced to the team were mostly young and are likely to get even better. Each player should be evaluated into these. Keep players who are approaching or in their primes. If they are in their primes, be sure you have a reasonable window of prime performance left. If you don't fall into one of those categories, sayonara. The first phase of rebuilding is seeing what you have in the young guys. The second phase is placing those young guys in important roles. It is time to be cutthroat with some of the veterans. Lets' apply this approach on a case-by-case basis.
Q: What are the weaknesses of the team?
A: In order:
1) Need younger arms in the rotation
2) power arms in the pen
3) Right-handed hitting

Q: What to do with A-Rod?
A: Duh! You try and keep him. He's the best player in baseball and your team won't be as good without him. It's that simple. Whatever his way overrated faults may be, he's a dude who works incredibly hard, plays hard every day and if anything wants to win TOO much. Hopefully, we can extend him, thereby keeping the 10 million that Texas pays each year to be rid of him. However, it's not up to the Yanks completely. Should he leave, swing a deal for a big first baseman and play Betemit at third.

Q: Who's under contract and not going anywhere?
A: Jeter, Melky, Cano, Wang, Joba, Hughes, Vizcaino, Farnsworth, Mientkiewicz, Betemit. Jeter is the captain, the face of the Franchise and is entering the Cal Ripken at the end of his career phase where his diminishing range is becoming an issue. Still, #2 will be the SS. Melky is the starting CF. Cano is the best second baseman in the AL. Minky is relatively cheap and keeps A-Rod happy. I'll address the pitching in a minute.

Q: Who should be sent to a condo next to Mr. and Mrs. Seinfeld in Del Boca Vista?
A: Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina. Clemens is a no-brainer as his obscene contract, bad hamstrings, injured elbow and declining velocity should mean the end for the Rocket. The Yanks are under no obligation to re-sign him and I say let someone else pony the $$$ if he dusts off the ol' jock strap again in '08. Moose is a different situation. He's under contract of increasing cost with decreasing skill. When I close my eyes I see the word "buyout". Give him half the 12 we owe and he can go off and do whatever really smart guys from Stanford with 85 MPH fastballs do.

Q: Who should we simply get rid of?
A: Jason Giambi and Carl Pavano. Pavano is obviously a blight on humanity. If you can get anyone to take anything for him, fine. Giambi is in the last year of a guaranteed contract and has a 5 million buck buyout in 2009. That's 26 million. I say pay 13 of that and trade him to someone else. He simply is too one dimensional at this point in his career. He can't do anything but take walks and hit home runs. His defense and base running are pathetic. He's not the hitter he was. Maybe Houston would take him to play first? Maybe back in the bay area to fill up some of the gap from Bonds? I don't know, but if the Yanks take half the salary, someone will want him.

Q: Who's options should we pick up?
A: Bobby Abreu. He's not the most exciting player out there. He isn't a leader. But he is a grinder and was one of the few Yanks who didn't look lost against the Indians. He's the ideal hitter between Jeter and A-Rod. He's merely OK in the OF, but RF in Yankee Stadium is pretty easy to play. He seems to be well liked and a good teammate.

Q: Who's gonna opt out that we should resign?
A: Other than the aforementioned A-Rod, who may want to opt out, but I think the Yankees should extend, Andy Pettitte! He gave himself the out for not wanting to stay in NY. But he looks as strong and gutty as ever. Bring him back and give him a raise on a 2 year, 30 mill deal. It's a big hole in the staff in terms of innings and leadership if he opts out. We gotta make this happen.

Q: Who's a free agent that we absolutely NEED to resign?
A: Mo Rivera and Jorge Posada. Mo is getting up there. He's clearly not as dominant as he was, but he's still incredibly effective. He's publically said he wants to pitch until the new Yankee Stadium opens and that tells me a 2 year - 32 million deal is open to him. Posada is 35 and had a career year. The chances he'll repeat that are almost nil. But, he's still a very dangerous hitter, a solid defender and the fact is there is no one on the FA market or in the Yanks system to replace him. Pudge just got his option picked up in Detroit for 13 mill. That means Posada is worth at least 16 mill. 2 years, 32 mill.

Q: Who should be starting next year?
A: The rotation should be as follows, assuming the above moves: Wang, Pettite, Hughes, Joba, Ian Kennedy/Horne/Igawa/FA. Hughes and Joba showed in the Cleveland series that they are the Yankees best pitchers. Both should start. Some will say that Joba should stay in the pen, but to me, Sunday's game showed the value of starting pitching. We need to give Joba the opportunity to grow into the ace-level starter he has the ability to be. Hughes showed how much better he is with his legs under him now that he's completely recovered from the hamstring tear. Ian Kennedy looked very promising, but it's early to count on him to be a solid ML starter. He could be, but you have to plan for the case that he isn't. In the Yankees case, I recommend leaning on the ML depth with guys like Alan Horne, T-Clipp and Kei Igawa (I know, he's pretty bad) or potentially kicking the tires on a mid-level FA.

To me, the main difference between the Yankees and the Indians wasn't the bats, per se, as much as it was the difference between the "live" arms of the Indians and the "old" arms of the Yanks. The Yanks bats were dead because the the Indians were throwing gas (except for Byrd, who confounds with average stuff). The yanks, meanwhile, only seemed to pitch well when their young heat throwers were out there - Hughes and Joba. That's the model the Yanks need to continue to adopt as they have throughout the minors.

Alan Horne fits this mold as a hard throwing righty. He could be the mystery 5th starter if Kennedy needs more seasoning. His ceiling is nearly as high.

Q: What to do with the bullpen?
A: Re-sign Mariano. This is a must. After that, you'll need to fill out the space around the over-used Vizcaino and the fragile Farnsworth with a few younger power arms. Ohlendorf needs a shot. If Steven White, Kevin Whelan, Steven Jackson and others rock in the Arizona Fall League, they should get a shot. But, kick the tires on any available relievers. I also think there are a few Japanese closer types available. Those guys have had a very good track record of adjusting to the majors, moreso than starters (Saito, Otsuka, Okajima, etc). Bring in a real lefty if you can.

There are also three minor leaugers, all coming off of TJ surgery that can have a bit of a "joba-lite" effect on the bullpen. JB Cox, Mark Melancon and Humberto Sanchez. All of them, especially Sanchez, could be impact arms later in the season.

Q: What about Matsui?
A: DH. The dude can still hit but he can't run and he was always a bit of an adventure out there. If you're convinced that his declining speed will be better with an offseason of rest on his knee, than he is passable in left field.

Q: Johnny Damon?
A: Trade him. I like the dude, and he's been a solid citizen. But his numbers are diminishing and his defense is pretty sketchy, with the exception of his speed. He's very tradeable and doesn't have a no-trade. Maybe to SD for bullpen help?

Q: Any other outfielders?
A: This lineup needs to be more right handed. Or, we could go a totally different direction and play Brett Gardner in Left and Melky in center. Gardner is basically Juan Pierre with walks and would add a tremendous amount of speed and OF defense to the team.

Q: How about first base? You said to ditch Giambi.
A: No Minkie. No Phillips. Go out and get a plug in the middle of the lineup right handed hitting first baseman. Paul Konerko type. The team was destroyed by lefties all year and were exposed by Sabathia and Perez in the ALDS.

So, after all that. What would the roster look like?

C: Posada (+4 mill to payroll)
1B: RH power hitter (about 13 million more to payroll)
2B: Cano - no change
SS: Jeter - no change
3B: A-Rod (+8 to payroll)
LF: Brett Gardner (-13 Mill from payroll)
CF: Melky (no change)
RF: Abreu (+ 2 mill)
DH: Matsui (no change)
Bench: A. Gonzalez, Minkie, Betemit, Shelley Duncan
SP1: Wang (no change)
SP2: Pettite (+3 Mill to payroll)
SP3: Phil Hughes
SP4: Joba Chamberlain
SP5: Kennedy/Igawa/Horne/TBD (-35 million from payroll)
CL: Mo Rivera
Pen: Ohlendorf, Farnsworth, Vizcaino, New 8th inning guy, New Lefty

That's the 25 Man roster. 22 million trimmed from the payroll, too. That's how I'd build the team. What do you think?

Meet the Landlords

Once again, we own New York.

I wanna be President! Of Red Sox Nation

Because it's the most pathetically lame fan participation idea ever. After listening to ESPN, reportedly the deal is that you have to spend $14.95 to join "Red Sox Nation". Then you're entered in the lottery to be the President of Red Sox Nation.

I'm in. Only because they apparently will have a "President's Day" type event where you get to go to Fenway and be king of the dorks for a day. I am all over that. Fifteen bucks for a lottery ticket where the prize is that I get to go to Fenway wearing my Don Mattingly Jersey (Of course, given the status of the season, perhaps a Bucky Dent jersey?) and ruin Red Sox Nation day? They had me at hello...

Yankee Draft Analysis - Round 45

Wait, huh? We skipped from round 1 to round 45?

Yeah, this my crappy blog. I make the rules. Suck it up, Marine!

Why did I skip the 43 rounds in between and the excellent catching, third base and many, many hard throwing right handed pitchers in between?

Simple. In the 45th round, the Yankees drafted a "switch-pitcher". Make sure you just read that right and your brain didn't trick you into reading "switch-hitter". Switch Pitcher.

The pitch was nothing remarkable: Pat Venditte, Creighton University’s temporarily right-handed pitcher, threw a fastball past a Northern Iowa batter for a called strike three. It was his next windup that evinced this young pitcher’s uniqueness and, perhaps, professional future.

As his teammates whipped the ball around the infield, Venditte smoothly, unthinkingly, removed his custom glove from his left hand and slipped it on his right. Moments later he leaned back, threw a strike left-handed to the next batter, and finished the side in order.

WTF? He can throw from both sides during the inning? Yes. Can he switch during the at bat? No. Them's the rules. There was a bit of confusion over this.

A few months later, the ambidexterity caused controversy. A Nebraska Cornhuskers hitter went to the plate right-handed and Venditte went to his right hand. Then, the hitter moved to the left side of the batter's box, causing Venditte to step off the rubber and ask the umpire if he could switch. The umpire gave his approval, but the Nebraska coach immediately charged out of the dugout, citing an official rule that states a pitcher can switch arms only when the at-bat begins. Venditte, eventually, had to stay right-handed.

"Everyone was standing around, coaches, umpires, players, trying to figure out what to do," Venditte's father said.

I think it would be totally sweet if he didn't have to declare. That way, he and a switch-hitter like Varitek could play this cat and mouse game and then A-Rod could yell "Ha!" from the third and Venditte could throw and really piss off whiny Sox fans.

Here's a cool news feature from CSTV about him.


The last I heard of something like this was Greg A. Harris, who was naturally a right-handed pitcher, but his whole career wanted to try and get people out as a lefty. He finally got a chance in his final season as an Expo. But, it's the only time that's happened in major league baseball. There's a reason for that. You pretty much have to be exceptional at what you're doing to be merely average in Major League Baseball. And a person would have to be truly exceptional to do be good enough to be able to pitch with both arms in the major leagues. Logic says it's highly unlikely he'll be good enough to pitch in the majors with either arm, let alone both.

Well, how good is the kid? I couldn't find a scouting report of the guy. This article has the guy at 88-91 with the fastball right handed. He has a 78-81 mph "frisbee slider" left handed, which sounds truly Mike Myers-esque. No word on the other pitches he throws or the quality of those pitches. His statistics are actually decent and he has been used as a starter, too.

Can he be make it? The odds are not great. When you're drafted in the 45th round and you can use both arms it's probably because you have marginal stuff with both of them. As a reference point, the Yankees used a 42nd round pick to throw a bone to Don Mattingly and draft his son Taylor. Taylor hit .224 in rookie ball, hurt his shoulder and retired. Venditte's only a junior and so he may not sign with the Yanks and see if he can raise his draft stock with a very good senior season. All in all though, he's a very interesting kid and I hope he does sign with the Yanks and that he eventually makes it to AA. That way I can check him out when he plays in CT against the Rock Cats or the Defenders. At the very least, I'm rooting for him to succeed even if it's not with the Yanks. It would be fun to see.

Quick Hits

- Do you hear that Red Sox Nation? That is the sound of inevitability. The Yanks have won six in a row thanks to another A-Rod offensive explosion and are looking great in the Giambi-less lineup. Having the Melkster in Center and Cairo at first added a few much needed things to the lineup. They both can run, play excellent D and bring a lot of intensity. Also, they put the ball in play because they don't just try and work walks OR hit homers OR strike out. But we also owe this run to Bobby Abreu coming out of his slump. All of this means that there will be a showdown in October. The Sox will obviously be there in all their precious New Englandy-Coed-in-Pink-DiceK-Tshirt glory. But, it appears the Evil Empire might show up as well....

- Wanna see a really interesting movie about two bands coming up through the Portland, Oregon music scene? About two dudes who are at once friends and rivals? Recreating Mozart-Salieri where one guy is insanely talented, addicted to heroin and insane? And the other is well-adjusted and jealous of his talent and slightly bitter about his own success? Whaddya mean no? Of course you do! It's called "DiG!" and it's about the then unsuccessful Brian Jonestown Massacre (with fascinating genius Anton Newcombe) and slightly successful Dandy Warhols. The latter had a pretty decent sized hit with "Bohemian Like You". My kids love that song, it's used in the movie "Flushed Away". Check it out. Did I mention that the star of the movie is neither "Mozart" nor "Salieri", but instead "Mozart"'s Tambourine Player? Weirdly interesting movie.

- I realized yesterday that either my son is like George Bush or George Bush is like a three year old. I realized this because of what happened when we went to pick up Chinese food. The kids picked out cans of soda. My son insisted that he was going to drink his out of the can with NO straw. He was quite adamant about that. I told him that the can can be sharp and he needs a straw. Jonny insisted that he knew for a fact the can was not sharp. For the next fifteen minutes (i.e. the ride home) he proclaimed that his can was not sharp. He continued for 10 more minutes when we got home. When I finally opened the can and showed him the sharp edge, we threw himself on the floor and insisted that the edge he had just seen was not sharp! See? He's like Dubya. In my son's world view, his beliefs are fact. Luckily, a "timeout" cleared this up and Jonny was happy to drink his soda with a straw. So, basically, I need to give George Bush a timeout.

- I am disappointed that all that happened to Ricky Schroder's character in 24 was that he may end up blinded. After all, he absolutely ruined one of my favorite shows. I have never seen a worse, mail-it-in performance. He was gods-awful. Couldn't Jack have tortured him? And another thing. It makes me nuts that the dude running 24 is the same jackass behind the 1/2 hour news hour. Now, I find myself parsing the dialog looking for winger subtexts. For example, when the sublime Powers Boothe, who's character is the vice president engineers a 23rd ammendment coup (the second such coup in 6 seasons), and then has everything go to shiite, says, "You just can't know what it's like to sit in this chair until you do." Wait, what? Is this a subtle message saying that I should be easy on our idiot president because I "just don't know"? Clearly Bush "didn't know", but that's because he's an idiot. Am I overthinking this? Fact is, doesn't matter if I over-analyzed it. The mere fact that Surnow's politics cause me to do so, combined with the show jumping the shark anyway, means I am officially off the bandwagon.

- I don't know if this is new to the intertubes or not, but it's freakin' hysterical and not safe at all for work for language. Lots and lots of language.

Math Nerds love the Yankees

At least, this one does.

He predicts 110 games based upon a mathematical model that he's created. 109 more to go to prove him right. You can see the full predictions here.

It is far more likely, in my opinion, that the model accounts for injuries, complacency or A-Rod screwing it up, i.e. things that might derail an extraordinary acheivement of winning 110 games.

I do find it interesting that his model does find very few other exceptionally good teams. That would support Toast's assertion that the Yanks will win it all this year.

Today, a mistake will be undone.

I couldn't be happier about this. Today, Andy Pettitte returns to the New York Yankees. He never should have left. Intellectually, I understood it. The Yankees were afraid of his elbow. As it happened, they were right. Pettitte missed time to elbow surgery in his first season away from the Yanks. But after that lost season, Andy has been his typically durable self, pitching more than 200 innings in each of the last two seasons. Despite their well-founded concerns about his elbow, the Yanks offered Pettitte more money to stay in New York and he instead took less and went home to Houston. I understood.

Still, it hurt. See, to me, that was the true end of the Yankee Dynasty. Losing Paul O'Neill and Tino was one thing. They were older and declining. Tino later returned and Paulie went to the booth. But Pettitte was there at the start of all of this run and left to go somewhere else. I couldn't stand seeing him in Houston. To me, he's as much a Yankee as Jeter, Mattingly or Mantle. Those guys aren't supposed to leave their teams in their primes (32) and play somewhere else. Those guys stay in pinstripes their whole careers.

He came up in the summer of '95 when I had just graduated from RPI for the second time (long story) and had decided to blow off my nice new shiny mechanical engineering degree and open a bar with my Dad (another long story). So, while I waited that summer for the SBA to approve our loan and the complicated transaction to purchase our bar to go through, pretty much all I had was the Yankees and their rookie pitcher Andy Pettitte.

I loved the guy instantly. My Dad? He didn't see it (he has since come around). He'd say, "That guy you like tonight is pitching. What's his name? No control." I'd say, "I dunno why I like him. He just battles." He just battles. That is the essence of Andy Pettitte. Stat heads sneer at Pettitte and his legion of fans. The look at his career of giving up more hits than innings, walking too many batters and striking out too few and they chuckle. "Stupid Yankee homers! Andy Pettitte is soooo overrated. People just think that he's good because he plays for the Yankees."

Those people are wrong. He's not just good because he plays the Yankees. The Yankees were also good because of him. Many players have put on the pinstripes. Many of those have been chewed up and spit out despite the back of their baseball cards (see, Rodriguez, Alex). Not Andy Pettitte. He just battles. To me there's just one set of stats that truly represents the dude. 186 Wins, 104 Losses in the majors. 43 wins and 20 losses in the minors. The man is a winner (see? Nomaas.org's above photoshop even says so). Again, Stat Heads shrug their shoulders about how meaningful wins are, as there are obviously many factors that lead to a pitcher's victory. This, of course, is true. I'd also say though, that when your professional baseball record is 16 years long (minors and majors) and your record is 229-124, that is also statistically significant. And there are enough Jeff Weavers, Jose Contrerases and Kenny Rogerses in baseball to show that it's not as simple as just putting on the pinstripes.

The signature moment for Pettitte came in 1996 in Game 5 of the World Series. He started game 1 against the Braves at Yankee Stadium. He was terrible, gave up 8 runs and the Yanks never had a chance in that game. They lost game 2 in similar fashion. Things were not going well. A clutch performance from David Cone in game 3 followed by a miracle Jim Leyritz homer in game 4 tied the series. In Game 5, a rematch of Game 1 Smoltz and Pettitte. Smoltz was simply too much for the Yankees. He had won 24 games that year and would later receive the Cy Young award. Andy Pettitte had completely fallen apart in Game 1. Smoltz would not let his team down. He strikes out 10 Yankees and gives up only one unearned run due to a error by Marquis Grissom. In all, he should have been the World Series MVP, but to do that your team needs to win. They didn't. That's because Andy Pettitte put the Yankees on his back that night and was just one unearned run better than John Smoltz. For 8 and 1/3 innings, he shut out the Braves to beat them for the third straight time in their park. A truly herculean performance. He battled. He entered the Yankee fans hearts and never left.

Welcome back Andy.

Updated: Rain out. D'oh! Should have just entitled the post "a mistake will be undone".