LS Post ALCS Blog: Yankee hurlers postseason performance in the Year of the Pitcher

Photo Captions: Not exactly tipping his hat at Josh Hamilton or Nelson Cruz, but we tip our hats to Cano for his great year (Photo Bill Menzel)

First appeared at www.latinosports.com on Tuesday, 26 October 2010

El Barrio, New York – This has been called the ‘year of the pitcher ‘in MLB and the American League Championship Series showed that it may have been the combination of the old truisms of good pitching stopping good hitting, as in the case of Texas vs. the Yankees, and good hitting preying on poor Yankees pitching. These following observations are not meant to be profound and may have passed by most fans’ minds and anyone who has something to say in baseball; so, this writer regurgitates.

What about the Yankee hitting? Except for two games in the ALCS and the performance of Robinson Cano overall and as was expected against Cliff Lee, the team’s offense did not run on all its cylinders to get past the Rangers. True that just before they did their first folding act out of first place during the regular season and settled as the Wild Card, the Yankees were about to end the season with the best won-lost record in MLB; the Yankees had one of the best come from behind record in ML baseball.

The team scored the most runs in the American League during the regular season and was a respectable 7th in team batting (.267) and 9 points behind League leading Texas (.276); Alex Rodriguez was second in all of MLB with 125 RBI and Robinson Cano had an MVP year. In other words, the Yankees were not offensively deficient – until they had to play the best of 7 against Texas. One can add that if Mark Teixeira had been healthy there could have been some additional punch in the Yankees lineup (this is a Justin Morneau-less line of thinking).

What got them out of first place was mostly poor end-of-season pitching and this too was their undoing in the ALCS. During the season they had lost their third starter to the DL for most of the second half; their second starter lost it, and their fifth starter showed once again that if you cannot make it in New York not only once but twice you may make it elsewhere.

The Yankees team pitching for the regular season showed an 4.06 ERA – 7th place in the AL. Texas was ahead in 3rd place with an ERA of 3.93 and Tampa, in second place with .378, could not get passed Cliff Lee’s remarkable performance twice (in a five game series format that was lethal).

When the dust settled, Texas team ERA in the postseason as a whole was 2.76; Tampa 3.80 and the Yankees 5.01and Minnesota, at 5.88. Some people had speculated if the Yankees had given up on a first place finish on purpose and buy some time until they could recapture the moment. Well, as it turns out what you see is what you get and the Yankees could go but so far; not all the way.

So after steam rolling over Minnesota in the Divisional Series, the Yankee pitching showed its true essence in the Championship Series.

When the Yankees and the Rangers were to begin their contest, a good number of people had the Yankees winning in 6 (let’s not mention names here). This writer had premonitions that the Yankees would not even get pass the Twin on the basis that your patsy victims shall someday rise from the death and be meek no more. Wrong. The Twins minus Justin Morneu for the second year were victimized by the Yankees once more.

This writer had premonitions again, on meeting the Texas Rangers, not so much because of Mr. Lee, because as in the above scenario where “you can’t win ‘em all, or you got to lose sometime” applied to Cliff Lee as well. In fact if the Yankees had brought the series to a 7th game, that is what a lot of commentators were saying of a pitcher who had lost 9 games during the regular season. No such thing. The premonition was manifested as a result of the Game 6 loss.

The defending Champions were apprehended and arrested by the Rangers. Phil Hughes who had pitched so well against the weak hitting Twins (minus Morneau whose season was cut short due to a concussion, finishing his 2010 campaign with a .345 batting average, 18 home runs and 56 RBIs in 81 games) was smacked around silly in Game 2 of the LCS and did not reach the 5dth inning in neither of his two starts.

As it turned out the only respectably pitched game by a Yankee was by Andy Pettitte, but he was put between a rock and a hard place with the fantastic performance of Mr. Lee. The Texas Ranger good hitting showed up against mediocre Yankee pitching.

Miraculously, the 11 hits the Yankees Ace CC Sabathia gave up in Game4 only plated 2 runs for Texas while the Yankees offense showed up for the second time in the series to snatch their second and last victory of the series. Latino Sports Yankees beat writer and Associate Editor Ray Monell sums it up:

“Starting pitching doomed New York in the playoffs; outside of Andy Pettitte, the only starter the Yankees thought they could rely on going into the postseason was CC Sabathia. Statistically, however, the Yankee ace only had one quality outing (Game 5 vs. Texas) in three playoff starts. Phil Hughes did a fantastic job in his first career playoff start vs. the Minnesota Twins (7 IP, 0R) in Game 3 of the ALDS, but he practically folded against the Rangers in Games 2 and 6 of the ALCS, going 0-2 with an 11.42 ERA after giving up a combined 11 runs on 14 hits in 8 2/3 innings.”

The Yankees offense that showed up in Game 1 – typical during the regular season comebacks failed to turn the trick again in the encapsulated confines of a 7 game series. Out of the six games played in the series, Texas jumped ahead 4 times and won 3 of those games.

Yes, it seemed to be a replica of how they played in September. The turning it on did not take place past the Divisional Series.

In conclusion as Ray Monell said, “The New York Yankees go into this offseason with a lengthy list of problems they will need to address before opening the 2011 campaign.” All those who agree say something.

See http://latinosports.com/featured/yanks-pack-bags-for-offseason-full-of-questions.html

wgr339@yahoo.com

Latino Sports Baseball ALCS Blog: Pre-Game3 concerns: real time results; will Burnett burn his team?

Written by William Gerena Rochet
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Article appeared in www.latinosports.com

El Bronx, Yankee Stadium: It was as if the facing of LHP Cliff Lee had created such a specter of doom and gloom, and if this is was an exaggeration; let’s just label it a sense of mucho urgency that many pundits felt the Yankees needed to come home from Texas up 2-0. After a tremendous come from behind in the first game there was the probability that Phil Hughes would continue excelling in Texas but, in the second game of the series that he was chosen to start, the Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers 7-2; Phil Hughes was smacked around silly and the ominous specter of the worst to come with (1) Lee throwing the Yankees over a cliff (smiley here) was compounded with (2) with Joe Giraldi’s decision to start A.J. Burnett the following day in game four.

So in the pre-game news conference, Joe Giraldi answered 9 questions of which 4 mentioned A.J. Burnett directly and 2 others basically were related to the beleaguered pitcher taking the mound in a critical game – particularly one preceding facing Cliff Lee. One writer compared game 3 in its magnitude to a Game 7 of the World Series. Joe Girardi refuted such an analogy by saying, “I mean, obviously, the team that wins this game is going to have a lead, but it’s not Game 7.” He added, “I think it plays a much bigger role if it’s a two-game deficit, as opposed to 1-1.

ALCS GAME 2 ALCS WINNERS IN A MAJORITY TREND TO GO TO THE WORLD SERIES: LATINO SPORTS SUPPORTS THE MINORITY.

But for history buffs, consider this trend in recent ALCS history, since the best - of-seven format was adopted in 1985m the team that has won Game 2 in the ALCS has advanced to the World Series 18 times in 24 series (75%), including nine of the lasts 11. In games when the ALCS was played with a best-of-five format, the team winning Game 2 advanced to the Fall Classic 78% of the time (31 of 40 series). So there is a majority percent and there is a minority percent. We here at Latino Sports are upbeat about being in, ah, a minority.

Another question was on getting to score first “What is the importance of getting out of the gate quickly…” something the Yankees have not been able to do in the first two games. Then there was a non-A.J. questions, one on Josh Hamilton having homered in his first at bat in Game 1 and with 4 walks (two intentionally) in Game 2: “Are you going to be pitching to him carefully, or is it just the situation?”

REAL TIME: YANKEES FALL BEHIND IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FIRST ON A TWO RUN HOME RUN BY JOSH HAMILTON. RANGERS HAVE SCORED IN THE FIRST INNING OF EACH OF THE 3 GAMES.

But baseball being a 3-seasons LONG sport allowing for ups and downs, trends and streaks as well as turnarounds – even if encapsulated within the confines of a short series: the possibility of Mr. Lee having his post season winning streak come to an end was within the realm of possibility.

Besides Cliff Lee, the other pitcher who has such an impact is Roy Halladay – one that practically strikes fear in the hearts of fans and others, but one who after a pitching a no-hitter in the NLDS, lost to the Giants in the first game of the National League Championship Series at Philadelphia, Game 1.

An example of streaks and turnarounds is the fact that the Yankees have won all three games when opposed by a left-handed starter this postseason. Yet, they had lost the final nine regular season games against a Left-hander starter.

For Texas, on the other hand, with their win in Game 2 they snapped a 10-game postseason losing streak to the Yankees (and first postseason home win at that).

Cliff Lee had won his first 6 postseason starts between last year’s as a Philly and this year with Texas, he was undefeated. Andy Pettitte in the last two postseasons was also undefeated (5-0).

REAL TIME: LEE ALLOWS FIRST WALK OF THIS POSTSEASON IN THE BOTTOM OF THE 4TH TO MARK TEIXEIRA (0 FOR 9 SO FAR) BUT STILL NO YANKEE HITS.

After 4 full innings the Yankees were looking for a first hit of the game. Cliff Lee had 7 strikeouts.

LATINOS IN THE GAME:

The Texas Rangers starting lineup consisted of Nelson Cruz, Vladimir Guerrero and Bengie Molina. Cruz was born in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic (DR), Guerrero, Nizao, Peravia, DR and Bengie in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico (P.R.). It is of the opinion of Latino Sports President Julio Pabón that any player with any amount of Latino blood would be considered Latino. In his way Ted Williams would have been one as is the case with Michael Young (born in Covina, California).

The New York Yankees starting lineup consisted of Robinson Cano (San Pedro Macoris, DR), Jorge Posada, Santurce, P.R. and Alex Rodriguez, (New York, NY)


REAL TIME: LEE ALLOWS FIRST HIT TO JORGE POSADA IN THE BOTTOM THE 5TH. AND 2ND HIT TO BRETT GARDNER IN THE 6TH. THIRD CONSECUTIVE POSTSEASON GAMES LEE HAS 10 Ks.

After 5 full innings Yankees are looking for their first run of the game. Lee’s total strikeout reaches 9. Lee allows second hit in the bottom of the 6th and even though Gardner steals second he is left stranded there. Lee reaches 10 strikeouts for third consecutive postseason game.


REAL TIME: LEE COMPLETES 8TH: 0 RUNS, 2 HITS, ONE WALK AND 11 STRIKEOUTS; PETTITTE QUALITY START:


Lee finished his night with 13 strikeouts and tied a career high. According to Texas skipper Ron Washington after the game, Lee would have come out to pitch the 9th if the score remained at 2-0. “No, we was going to ride him (Is his cowboy Texas talk?). We had some people up ready to go in case something happened, but were going to ride him,” he said. Later he added, “… but this guy, when he comes out of the gate, he finishes what he starts. And we was going to allow him the opportunity to do that.”

Andy Pettitte with no run support ends his night of 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 5 strikeouts. Kerry Wood pitched a scoreless 8th. On the pitch that Hamilton hit for a 2-run home run, Andy after the game said, “It was just a bad pitch by me. I hung a cutter, left it on the inner half.”

TEXAS UNLEASHES RUN OUTBURT IN THE TOP OF 9TH. PUTS GAME OUT OF REACH.

Boone Logan came in to get Josh Hamilton out but failed. Hamilton doubled to center. David Robertson replaced Boon and gives up five hits, striked out one batter, gives up one intentional walk, and before reliever Sergio Mitre got the final out, 6 runs had scored; one charged to Boone, 5 to Robertson. (Vladimir Guerrero, Nelson Cruz, and Bengie Molina were each got a hit this inning). A positive outcome of this run outburst was that the Yankees definitely did not have to face Cliff Lee in the bottom of the 9th. Well, not that it made a difference. Neftali Felix closed the game and struck out 2. A total of 15 Yankees struck out.

POST – GAME CONCERN: IS A.J. STILL PITCHING TOMORROW?

In the shortest answer of the night Yankees skipper Joe Girardi said, “Yes.” But there is another element that seems to get put out of the radar and with a pitcher like Cliff Lee: the Yankees offense. “We haven’t swung the bats great. But we have seen some pretty good pitching, and we are not the only lineup that they have shut down,” said the skipper.

True dat. After the first two games it became a 5-game series. Now it is down to 4. The Yankees starting pitching has to be as good or better than Andy Pettitte was tonight and the bats have to come alive. Otherwise, it would sadden the Boss in heaven if the Yankees do not turn this series to their ultimate satisfaction.

Latino Sports Baseball ALDS Blog: “Master Plan” as Yankees sweep Twins in 3 games.

Written by William Gerena Rochet

Sunday, 10 October 2010

If there had been a master plan for the Yankees 2010 post season it would have been to play as a Wild Card team the Minnesota Twins in the ALDS, instead of the tougher Texas Rangers with nemesis Mr. Lee (and possibly and overall tougher rotation). In this way the New York Yankees as in times of war and peace, and the country has engaged in the former quite a bit since WWII, known as the Bronx Bombers, would face a team they have bounced around that last few years.

And in this way the Yankees would find out if Andy Pettitte would be his dandy self after his tune up starts after returning from the DL and yes indeed, by allowing only 2 runs on 5 hits in 7 innings; the Yankees won 5-2 on October 7th, and incidentally that date marks the US in the Afghanistan War’s 10th year.

Prior to the start of the series the Yankees had beaten the Twins 6 consecutive times in post seasonplay – coming from behind each time and later in this series making that 8 times ( the longest streak of come from behind postseason wins by one same team against the same opponent in major-league history). With the 3rd game win, it was the first of the series the Yankees were not behind.

Oh, where have you gone Joe Mauer, the Twin Cities are looking up to you.

With Pettitte’s performance the Yankees had figured out at least that they had a one-two punch with ace C.C. Sabathia as the series opening pitcher. It turned out he was not sharp after a long rest, but the team rallied to win 6-4. At the most, the Yankees would rather like to have a trio as they did last year with Sabathia, Pettitte and Burnett and they found him. Phil Hughes.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then the Yankees did need to re-invent themselves after a dismal September – unless this was part of the ‘master plan’ mentioned above – something Joe Girardi after the game refuted. “There was a lot of misunderstanding…. We were trying to win our division. I mean, we wanted home field advantage. We love playing here.” He also pointed out how difficult it was playing hurt players, “I asked him every day, Swish (Nick Swisher) can you play today? Swish got tired of me asking,” he added.

Gone AWOL was A.J. Burnett from last year’s trio (a schedule driven luxury gave skipper Joe Giraldi’s the option of going with a 3-man 2009 post season rotation). It would have to be up to Phil Hughes to step up to the, ah, mound to replace Burnett. And with a different schedule beginning with the next round and the Fall Classic most likely requiring a fourth starter, for the Latino sports minded, Javier Vázquez won’t figure in the ALCS (and WS) roster. In consolation to the powers that be, between Javi (10-10) and A.J. (10-15), they were a combined 20 game winner (20- 25 – ouch!)

Tampa Rays get past Texas 6-3 avoiding a sweep.

With one of our war Presidents watching, the Texas Ranger did not sweep the 0-2 Tampa Rays – getting a quality start from RHP Matt Garza (15-10) who pitched 6 innings allowing 2 runs (one earned). With Texas starter Colby Lewis (12-13) going 5 innings (no runs on only 2 hits) neither starter figured in the decision.

Two Latino-Cubans figured in Phillies – Reds Game 2 of NLDS

Two Latinos – to be exact, two Cuban exiles figured in the Philadelphia Phillies-Cincinnati Reds game 2 of the NLDS game outcome. The winning pitcher for the Phillies was ex-Yankees Jose Contreras and the losing pitcher for Cincinnati was Aroldis Chapman. Both entered the game in relief.

Latinos on the field

Who makes someone a Latino? Is it someone from Latin America; someone born of parents who migrated to the US? Someone with a percentage of Latino Blood? Or, as Puerto Rican singer Jose Feliciano sings, in ‘That Puerto Rican Feeling,’ meaning – someone who “feels,” or embraces his heritage of Latinoness.. Anyway, readers can write a response to this if they like. At any rate, the Yankees starting lineup had 3 Latinos: Alex Rodriquez, Robinson Cano, and Jorge Posada. And of course, one Mo time.

The Twins lineup had a young player named Danny Valencia and given he is from Miami, he may be of Cuban heritage. In the 7th, Venezuelan Jose Mijares entered the game and pitched 2/3 innings.

Phil Hughes: a huge success

Phil Hughes, a piece of the puzzle in place: he pitched brilliantly going 7 innings, no runs on 4 hits, with 6 strike-outs and only one base on balls. The trio is in place, lead singer C.C. Sabathia, second voice, Andy Pettitte and third voice, Phil Hughes; auditions for a quartet for a series coming to a stadium near you start soon. Joe Girardi indicated the roster would be announced Wednesday, October 13th.

Knock on Wood

Since coming to the Yankees on July 31st Kerry Wood had allowed just 2 earned runs in 26.0 inning pitched, but today in 1/3 of an inning in the top of the 8th he left the bases loaded given up 3 hits, allowing 1 run and 1 walk. The Yankees got out of the inning with Boone Logan and Dave Robertson getting one out each without allowing another run to score.

Mo pitched a one, two, three 9th inning. Game over. Yankees sweep the Minnesota Twins winning 6-1. The hunt for October/November is under way.


Second publishing 8:45 A.M. 10/10/2010

Photo By Bill Menzel

New York Yankees (3-0) 6, Minnesota Twins (0-3) 1
October 9, 2010

Council member Melissa Meets the Community on the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center’s future.

By William Gerena Rochet

Council woman Melissa Mark Viverito laid out the parameters of the meeting within the framework of people knowing the significance and vital importance of the Julia de Burgos Latinos Cultural Center, by saying: “We want to insure there is a level of active engagement, consistent cultural programming and a comprehensive cultural vision for that center and those two spaces will allow that to happen.”

And thus to a packed community Room of possibly 150 people at the La Guardia House Senior Center in Spanish Harlem on Monday, October 4th 2010, Council member Melissa Mark Viverito’s call for a “Visioning Discussion” on the future of the Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center got started – an event that film maker Ed Morales would later describe as “very emotional” – given that Taller Boricua (TB), in an effort to keep control of that space, had rallied numerous supporters to attend the meeting (the space is the large event room on the ground floor and the Theatre on the second floor above it ‘y nada más’).

The Council woman explained the process for selecting a new entity to manage the center: one that would give greater access to it and in contrast to what has taken place under the hand of TB, she said, “People that have tried, I know I as a community resident, and prior to my capacity as a Council member, the theater is a place that unfortunately is a very bureaucratized space to get access to.”

For soprano and Música de Camara Director Eva de la O, her attempt to bring classical music to the Center got derailed by the obstacle the TB bureaucracy has in place.

Playwright Gene Rodriguez said the theatre was not ‘Theatre worthy,’ lacking basic upgrades in seating, light and sound. He felt that eventually a theatre hub could be established in the community. On that note, sort of speak, Musician Johnny Colón said that it was not just lack of utilizing the existing space for culture and the arts, but the need to expand it even more. The fact that the public high school (it is not a Charter School) was embedded in the building robbed the community of needed space. All concurred on this point.

A young woman offered her vision of having a center for expression and creativity for young people. A community Youth theatre would be welcomed much more so now at a time so many young people have been lost to street gun violence.

Los Pleneros de la 21, disavowed any short comings with the Center, possibly focusing on the substantial work they do in the building as tenants with their Bomba and Plena workshops and presentations, or perhaps they buy into the same position the does not separate the community room/theatre space with the rest of the building.

Edwin Marcial when prodded to do so, made the assertion that there was poor management by the head of TB, Fernando Salicrup, so curiously enough this was followed up with a recommendation to give Mr. Salicrup training in management (as a solution to the problem). In the absence of a conspiracy theory, it was somewhat comical.

While the Council woman knew that her meeting’s aim to establish community involvement for the future of the Center would be met with the opposition organized by TB, an observer gave her kudos for her courage, or in plain talk: that the Council woman had “cojones,” (think unisex , think unisex!).
Maritza Villegas, a student counselor at Manhattan Center for Science and Math in the community said, “I think Melissa is a masterful mediator and her courage and principles go unmatched as an elected official.”

With the Council woman having substantial support of her own, her commanding presence and with moderator Carlos Vargas steering the meeting to meet its purpose as well as he could, things remained pretty much under control – considering a repetitive chorus of the pro-TB points already made that revolved around stopping the process as laid out by the Council woman. Later it was recommended to create a task force – something that given the irrevocable time line in place – if anything, a task force may a good idea for helping evaluate those who apply to be at the helm of the Center.

Melissa, as she is popularly known, intermittently got up to clarify issues, or challenge false allegations and innuendos from the floor.

For one, that the space does not include Taller Boricua’s offices, the gallery and two other rooms in the northern side of the Building and for another, that the Salsa Wednesdays cancellation was not the doing of the Council woman, but that of TB itself (Taller Boricua’s current lease of the multicultural space where Salsa Wednesdays is held will be renewed month to month until the new manager is identified). Furthermore, in her years in office TB or Mr. Salicrup has not attempted to meet with her. This is consistent with his decision not to ever endorse or support her candidacy for City Council in the past.

To wit, TB insists on putting forth the position that they and the other tenants’ future at the Center are in immediate jeopardy due to the process of changing the management of the community room/theatre space. In other words, TB is using the tactic of misinformation coupled with fear to continue to do what they were doing, or lack thereof. And while the work of Taller Boricua over a 40 year span is a separate untouchable legacy, their intent of collapsing it with the management of the community room/theatre space appears to be disingenuous.

This type of fear/misinformation is different than the concern other may have, namely that another Puerto Rican Institution would not only be lost to the community, but to the greater Puerto Rican population at large, “The Puerto Rican Diaspora,” as Artist-activist and entrepreneur Franklyn Flores made note of. “The Julia de Burgos Center has to be seen as a Cultural space for Puerto Ricans from any part of the country, not just El Barrio,” he said.

And thus these individuals listened to sort out of what was being said from the voices for a “Vision” to voices affirming the role of two individuals: namely the progressive track record of Council member Melissa and Fernando Salicrup's legacy behind 40 years of work with Taller Boricua in Spanish Harlem – and the voices he rallied to reverse the process under way.

That process mainly involves the following: The City Government with its administrative office of the Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC or EDC for short) issued on September 30, 2010, in governmental jargon, a “Request for Expression of Interest (RFEI).

What this means is that interested parties: qualified individuals, companies, or organizations, would position themselves to be the future guardians of the Center, the community room/theatre space – effectively taking it out of the control of Taller Boricua.

The council woman Melissa Mark Viverito stated that she is fully supportive of the RFEI and at the end of the meeting made it clear that she would continue with the process, notwithstanding the request made by TB supporters to rescind it.

The process is a product of her taking action in support of community voices ’s ongoing concern about the lack of access to the community space and thus the EDC’s issuing the RFEI (like ah, do you follow?). On the other hand TB claimed that this RFEI was issued only because, to their understanding, of “the lack of improved sound proofing of the Theatre space.”

But as stated in the Council member’s communication for the visioning meeting, it reads:

‘As you may know, Julia de Burgos was approved for disposition for non-profit cultural and educational uses in 1992. It was envisioned that the building would serve the surrounding community by providing classes, workshops, studio and performance space to neighborhood artists and residents and would be available for use by theater, music and art cultural groups. Unfortunately, this has not been the case and (the) building has been underutilized for many years.’

The meeting ended and if one could say there was any unity, there was to the extent as Maritza Villegas concluded by saying: “I thought the meeting was a huge success giving the community an opportunity to voice their concerns and positions in a safe environment.”

A Spirit of Unity or Unity of Spirit and not of mind is the question: la lucha continuará.

wgr339@yahoo.com