Hindsight and Foresight: Yankee Review May 28th to June 10th

As I keep saying on this blog, the Yankees can't get on track. This week was no different but A-Rod provided a newsworthy twist as blogged on here (as it happened too, how's that for real time blogging, huh?). The Yankees now lack Doug Mientkiewicz's solid glove (won't miss his bat--wait did he even have one?) at first base and also lost Giambi and Hughes. Pettitte's back goes spastic and Mussina can't find his groove. Who knows if the Yankees make a trade, but it won't be Teixara who's apparently soon to be on the trading block. Maybe they should reconsider because Josh Phelps made a hiddious throw to Jeter but it ended up in the OF (Damon's throw may not have even made it to second with his arm). And so it goes...

And did I mention Clemens' groin (the right one he throws off of) is "fatigued". After three minor league starts no less. Maybe that's a good thing since tonight's game is once again in the rain (is it resorting back to early April again?). But it's not a good sign.

I was trying to think of what the positives for the Yankees are this season and honestly I can't think of any. A handful of players are performing at or above their level of play, but it's not translating into wins. It's a team effort and that's what I keep saying is needed more of--that's something you can't buy Mr. Steinbrenner (man I am bitter today).

I guess Doug's taken a three day weekend but let's get this party started.

Hindsight: May 28th to June 3rd

Continuing after being swept by the Angels, the Yankees skid continued as they headed north of the border. Ron "Refuse to Lose" Villone got rocked on last Monday in a third of an innings work. He's looking pretty wild since being called up, perhaps he needs to riot in Southwest to get it out. The next night, once again Pettitte pitched, which meant the Yankees failed to score runs again. That was until Wednesday night's infamous "MINE" call by A-Rod which lead to two more runs and a Yankee win--read the prior blogs for our takes on it. Into Fenway the Yankees headed and the Red Sox fans not only gave 'em the traditional "Yankees Suck" chant, but also incorporated "Where is Roger" and of course "Mine" anytime the ball was popped up to a Yankee--especially if you wore #13. Wang took the first game over Wakefield--who was all over the place yielding 6 walks to the Yankees. As an aside Wang's pitch counts are getting pretty high (last three games 114, 109, 113). The two highlights of the game were Torre's in yo face argument, which I enjoyed watching since Torre doesn't argue much like that these days. The second highlight was Proctor throwing way inside toward the head of "Walk Man" Kevin Youkilis. I can understand Youk's anger and near charging the mound--afterall he was deep in the count. The game also had five beanings in all which could have been something to do with it. But a fight didn't happen and Farnsworth lost out on body slamming someone. The next game was a slug fest of sorts, with five home runs between the teams only to be lost by Proctor and the infield in the 7th inning (5 runs allowed and two missed inning ending double plays). Yesterday's game was pretty exciting as Pettitte pitched well up until the 5th inning. But the Yankees fought back and A-Rod HR off Papelbon in the 9th capped it off--though Big Papi's at bat against Mo was classic.

Weekly Stats

W-L: 3-3
RS/RA: 31/36
Offensive Numbers (BA/OBP/SLG): .277/.460/.807
Pitching Line (ERA/Whip/K per 9/BAA/SLG): 5.47/1.76/4.94/.313/.478
Who's Hot: Melky Cabrera who is now playing everyday and got it going this week hitting .471/.550/.765
Who's Not: Mike Mussina. Since it's not a contract year, like last year, he's been aweful leaving the ball up and giving up a ton of hits.
My Yankee of the Week: Joe Torre. He thought A-Rod's play at third was out of line, got thrown out of game, and he's still manager.

Foresight: June 4th to June 10th

A four game series in Chicago followed by interleague play against the Pirates. I'm trying to think of something new here to say about what needs to be done but it comes down to one word: wins. The Yankees longest winning streak this year is three games and the White Sox and Pirates are two teams to start a winning rally against. But who the hell knows given the track record so far this year. More injuries continue to cripple the Yankees and other than A-Rod's "mine" play which continues to be a part of every baseball broadcast discussion and will never have any sort of conclusion since everyone's split on--the "mysterious blonde" in Toronto was just another distraction to add to the flames. At least Torre is disciplining A-Rod by telling him he may sit him one game this week or DH him (or maybe drop him to 8th in the lineup). I don't know what will transpire this week, but my guess is more of the same.

On a final note, my thoughts are with Clete Boyer's family--I actually got to shake the guys hand at the Baseball HOF weekend last year, but also to my girlfriend's family who lost a member of the family who I wish I had gotten to know better because she seemed like a fun aunt.