While I haven't exactly been thrilled with much of the new Yankee Stadium, from the ticket prices to the atmosphere to the food, there is one new tradition that I'm totally on board with.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear about how Brian Cashman, Joe Girardi, and Brian Bruney greeted fans in the Great Hall before yesterday's game. What a cool thing to do! (Click here to see pix, courtesy of lohud.com.) Looks like fans got to talk with them, get autographs from them, and pose for photos with them as well.
Here's hoping Squawker reader Peggy got to meet at least one of them - it was her birthday yesterday, after all! Too bad last night's game, which Peggy attended, was so putrid!
The Yanks are planning on doing this type of meet-and-greet once each homestand. What a great new tradition for the Great Hall!
And that's not all. CC Sabathia and Phil Coke gave Bronx kids haircuts yesterday, at Jordan's Barber Shop. (Click here to see the pix.) Those kids must have been thrilled to meet the pitchers.
Speaking of hair, A.J. Burnett started debuting his new look this week - he's growing a mustache! The new blog Big League Screw (no, that's not a typo - it's a different blog from our friends at Yahoo's Big League Stew) noticed a shocking development - A. J. Burnett is growing a mustache! (Click here to see his new look.)
What's more startling - A.J. Burnett's new mustache or the Yankees being fan-friendly?
Showing posts with label Phil Coke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Phil Coke. Show all posts
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Yuck! Yanks do nothing against Pavano, and Coke isn't it
Yesterday was one of the most frustrating Yankee games I've watched all year. And I'm still a little bit irked by the outcome. I complained to Squawker Jon last night about the loss, and he muttered something about how "you Yankee fans want to win every game." And that attitude is wrong, why exactly?
Losing is one thing, though, but the way the Yanks went about their business yesterday was very frustrating. First off, it was bad enough when the Yankees nearly lost to Carl Pavano the first time around this year. But that's understandable, I guess, given that they didn't know what he looked like pitching. Making him look like an ace for the second time this season? Unacceptable.
Speaking of American Idle, I read that Pavano said about his time with the Yankees, "I have no regrets." Of course he doesn't. He got $39.95 million for sitting on his (bruised) butt for four years. What could he possibly regret - whether he should have bought a Porsche or a Ferrari with his ill-gotten gains? Whether he should eat foie gras or caviar? Whether he should buy a mansion or a penthouse apartment? Sheesh.
While the Yanks weren't able to do anything against Pavano, they did tie the game off the Cleveland bullpen. But I had no faith that the Yanks would win after Jorge Posada hit into a double play. Part of the reason that play happened was because Brett Gardner, who misplayed a ball earlier in the game, ignored Joe Girardi's steal sign:
You know how John Sterling always opines about how leadoff walks in late innings are so costly? He's right. And Phil Coke didn't just walk the leadoff batter, Trevor Crowe, in the ninth, he complained about the umpire's call, saying "I thought it was a strike." Not cool.
Dave Robertson wasn't any great shakes, either, giving up the winning hit to Jhonny Peralta. All in all, it wasn't exactly a red-letter day for the Yankees.
And to top it all off, my Squawker partner was up close at yesterday's Met game, breathing in all sorts of germs. Your Yankee-hating is nauseating enough, Jon; you'd better not make me literally sick as well!
The one bright side to yesterday's debacle was Chien-Ming Wang looking like himself. He pitched three lights-out innings, and looked much more impressive than starter Phil Hughes. Thank goodness for small favors.
What do you think about yesterday's loss? Leave us a comment!
Losing is one thing, though, but the way the Yanks went about their business yesterday was very frustrating. First off, it was bad enough when the Yankees nearly lost to Carl Pavano the first time around this year. But that's understandable, I guess, given that they didn't know what he looked like pitching. Making him look like an ace for the second time this season? Unacceptable.
Speaking of American Idle, I read that Pavano said about his time with the Yankees, "I have no regrets." Of course he doesn't. He got $39.95 million for sitting on his (bruised) butt for four years. What could he possibly regret - whether he should have bought a Porsche or a Ferrari with his ill-gotten gains? Whether he should eat foie gras or caviar? Whether he should buy a mansion or a penthouse apartment? Sheesh.
While the Yanks weren't able to do anything against Pavano, they did tie the game off the Cleveland bullpen. But I had no faith that the Yanks would win after Jorge Posada hit into a double play. Part of the reason that play happened was because Brett Gardner, who misplayed a ball earlier in the game, ignored Joe Girardi's steal sign:
"They did want me to steal, and I didn't go. I should have. Another mistake," Gardner said.Ya think?
You know how John Sterling always opines about how leadoff walks in late innings are so costly? He's right. And Phil Coke didn't just walk the leadoff batter, Trevor Crowe, in the ninth, he complained about the umpire's call, saying "I thought it was a strike." Not cool.
Dave Robertson wasn't any great shakes, either, giving up the winning hit to Jhonny Peralta. All in all, it wasn't exactly a red-letter day for the Yankees.
And to top it all off, my Squawker partner was up close at yesterday's Met game, breathing in all sorts of germs. Your Yankee-hating is nauseating enough, Jon; you'd better not make me literally sick as well!
The one bright side to yesterday's debacle was Chien-Ming Wang looking like himself. He pitched three lights-out innings, and looked much more impressive than starter Phil Hughes. Thank goodness for small favors.
What do you think about yesterday's loss? Leave us a comment!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Are the Yankees trying out Felix Lopez as their new spokesman?
How quickly did the Yankees score last night? I went from the car to the store in the middle of the first inning to buy an AM/FM radio. And when I got back to the car five minutes later, the Yanks had already scored four runs and were about to score a fifth!
I listened to some of the game on the radio at the gym, so I missed "seeing" the Yankee bats get completely shut down by R.A. Dickey after that first inning. But I did hear something interesting on the Sterling-Waldman broadcast: an interview with Felix Lopez!
Lopez, you may remember, is a senior vice president of the Yankees - and the husband of George Steinbrenner's daughter, Jessica. And it sounded to me like the Yank front office was sending him out for a trial run as a family spokesman. Which brings up a whole lot of questions.
Like, where are Hank and Hal Steinbrenner these days? The two of them - and their very different personalites - remind me of feuding brothers Heat Miser and Snow Miser. (And now that you've got that song in your head, click here for the video.) Too bad Mother Nature can't mediate in real life. But I digress.
Anyhow, Lopez told John Sterling that the Yankees were going to fix everything that is wrong with the new Stadium. Sterling, of course, said he didn't think anything was wrong with the Cathedral! But Lopez was armed with zero specifics on what the front office was going to do. Nor was he the most eloquent spokesman - he kept on using words like "obviously" like some people say "you know." However, the advantage Lopez does have over Lonn Trost and Randy Levine was that listening to him didn't make your skin crawl. And when Lopez said that the team was going to listen to the fans, I kind of believed him!
So, are the Yankees 1) conceding that the new Stadium has problems, and 2) conceding that Trost and Levine aren't very good faces for the franchise? It's all very curious. Wonder what will happen next.
As for the game itself, Mark Teixeira sent two "Tex messages," as John Sterling calls them, last night. That second one was a tremendous shot. It's exciting to see what he can do when he's "on."
Is the reason that the first baseman is "on the Mark" because Alex Rodriguez is back in the lineup? Sure looks like it. According to the YES broadcast, in 25 games without A-Rod, Teixeira hit .198, with 5 homers and 15 RBIs. In the 10 games since, he's hit .342, with 5 homers and 13 RBI. And the Yanks went from a 13-15 record without Alex, to a 8-2 record with him. Hmmm, who would think putting a three-time MVP back in the lineup would actually make it better?
And Phil Coke got his first save, after a few fits and starts. I thought it was cute that it was fellow rookies Ramiro Pena and Francisco Cervelli who went to the mound to calm him down when he had a case of the jitters!
What do you think? Leave us a comment!
I listened to some of the game on the radio at the gym, so I missed "seeing" the Yankee bats get completely shut down by R.A. Dickey after that first inning. But I did hear something interesting on the Sterling-Waldman broadcast: an interview with Felix Lopez!
Lopez, you may remember, is a senior vice president of the Yankees - and the husband of George Steinbrenner's daughter, Jessica. And it sounded to me like the Yank front office was sending him out for a trial run as a family spokesman. Which brings up a whole lot of questions.
Like, where are Hank and Hal Steinbrenner these days? The two of them - and their very different personalites - remind me of feuding brothers Heat Miser and Snow Miser. (And now that you've got that song in your head, click here for the video.) Too bad Mother Nature can't mediate in real life. But I digress.
Anyhow, Lopez told John Sterling that the Yankees were going to fix everything that is wrong with the new Stadium. Sterling, of course, said he didn't think anything was wrong with the Cathedral! But Lopez was armed with zero specifics on what the front office was going to do. Nor was he the most eloquent spokesman - he kept on using words like "obviously" like some people say "you know." However, the advantage Lopez does have over Lonn Trost and Randy Levine was that listening to him didn't make your skin crawl. And when Lopez said that the team was going to listen to the fans, I kind of believed him!
So, are the Yankees 1) conceding that the new Stadium has problems, and 2) conceding that Trost and Levine aren't very good faces for the franchise? It's all very curious. Wonder what will happen next.
* * *
As for the game itself, Mark Teixeira sent two "Tex messages," as John Sterling calls them, last night. That second one was a tremendous shot. It's exciting to see what he can do when he's "on."
Is the reason that the first baseman is "on the Mark" because Alex Rodriguez is back in the lineup? Sure looks like it. According to the YES broadcast, in 25 games without A-Rod, Teixeira hit .198, with 5 homers and 15 RBIs. In the 10 games since, he's hit .342, with 5 homers and 13 RBI. And the Yanks went from a 13-15 record without Alex, to a 8-2 record with him. Hmmm, who would think putting a three-time MVP back in the lineup would actually make it better?
And Phil Coke got his first save, after a few fits and starts. I thought it was cute that it was fellow rookies Ramiro Pena and Francisco Cervelli who went to the mound to calm him down when he had a case of the jitters!
What do you think? Leave us a comment!
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