Post by ShakyGiambino on May 17, 2005 6:23:47 GMT -5
Yankees News for May 17
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Click here for links to full articles then click READ MORE under Yankees news for May 17: www.yankeemania.com
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Bernie proves grand ol' man
May 17
New York Daily News: Bernie Williams spent a quiet weekend in California, sitting idly by as the Yankees continued their recent rampage. He did not start, did not pinch-hit, did not play at all during the three victories in Oakland, his already-flickering star dimming more and more as each day passed.
But Williams does not plan to go away quietly. He is 36 years old. His legs are tired, his shoulders creak and his knees ache. There is not a consistent spot for him in the lineup anymore. And yet last night, in the seventh inning, with the bases loaded and the Bombers trailing by a run, Williams looked young again.
His grand slam off Seattle reliever J.J. Putz soared long and high to dead center field, falling just beyond the wall as the Yankees exploded out of their dugout in celebration. They tacked on an insurance run in the eighth and beat the Mariners, 6-3, to win their ninth straight game, get over .500 and look, as Joe Torre said, "like the team they should."
Alex Rodriguez drove in two runs, 22-year-old Robinson Cano had two hits and scored a run and rookie Chien-Ming Wang pitched 6-1/3 solid innings in the win. Only Williams made it feel like the old days.
"I hit it really good. I feel great," Williams said.
Said Torre, "The one thing I've learned about Bernie in the 10 years I've been here is that when situations are handed to him ... he rises to the occasion."
The question, of course, is what Williams' second homer of the season truly means. Is it a sign that he can still be a productive player, still provide some pop on command? Or is it an aberration, a nod to the past?
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Torre says Wang won't face Mets
May 17
Newark Star-Ledger: Before Chien-Ming Wang took the mound last night for the Yankees, manager Joe Torre said Wang will be skipped next time through the rotation and thus not face the Mets over the weekend. Wang then went out and beat the Seattle Mariners, retiring 17 straight batters at one point.
"He was great," Torre said. "He was absolutely great."
Still, that performance may not change things. Torre seems to be leaning toward having Carl Pavano pitch Sunday, after Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson. That would keep the four veterans in the rotation close to normal routine despite off days before and after the Mets series.
Pavano has a 6-7 career record against the Mets, with a 3.75 ERA, and in 10 games at Shea Stadium is 3-4 with a 3.86 ERA.
The adjustment to the rotation could lead to Randy Johnson, Pavano and Mike Mussina as the starting pitchers against the Boston Red Sox on Memorial Day weekend.
Wang's next start may not be until next Wednesday against Detroit.
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Sterling radio daze
May 17
New York Daily News: Still, a few innings later, Sterling would not only do verbal somersaults, but he would go tongue-over-teeth calling Jason (The Giambalco) Giambi's two-out, two-run double in the seventh.
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Cashman Backs GiambI
May 17
New York Post: Jason Giambi's weekend in Oakland wasn't easy. Yet, according to general manager Brian Cashman, it was productive — and the general manager remained supportive of his struggling slugger.
Giambi was heavily booed by A's fans Friday. Saturday night, an idiot fan wasted a cup of beer by pouring it over Giambi's uniform. In between, he also vented about a Yankee employee leaking the contents of a meeting last week between Giambi, Cashman and manager Joe Torre, when Giambi didn't bite on a suggestion that he could find his swing in the minor leagues.
But on Sunday, Giambi hit a game-winning double off lefty Ricardo Rincon to lift the Yankees to a 6-4, series-sweeping win over the A's.
Giambi didn't stick around Sunday to talk about his heroics — but he didn't blow off the media because he was ticked at the constant criticism thrown his way recently.
"I went to see my family — it was my grandmother's 85th birthday," Giambi said before he went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in last night's 6-3 win over the Mariners at Safeco Field.
Giambi also said he believed there is more to come than the 3-for-12 (.250) performance he delivered in the first three games of a six-tilt audition to see where he fits into the Yankees' puzzle.
"We all would like more hits but you take what you can get right now," said Giambi, who hit eighth last night for the fourth straight game. "Every day I feel progress. I definitely feel a lot better."
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No Big Concern For Unit
May 17
New York Post: Because Randy Johnson missed a start with a left groin injury on May 4 and hasn't dominated hitters with his usual brilliance in two outings since coming back from the problem, the immediate questions are centered around his health.
Sunday in Oakland Johnson, 41, didn't register a strikeout for only the fourth time in his Hall of Fame career. And in six innings he gave up four runs (three earned) and seven hits in a 6-4 that the Yankees had to climb out of the 3-0 ditch Johnson put them in by surrendering three runs in the first.
Johnson said he was fine last night.
"I talked to Joe after the game and he said it wasn't an issue," GM Brian Cashman said of Johnson's groin.
That, however, doesn't mean Cashman doesn't fret about Johnson's leg.
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Master Motivator and Commander: Steinbrenner Shines in His Latest Role
May 17
New York Times: THE man still has it. He has not lost his touch. George speaks, and the Yankees listen. No, actually, they do more than listen. They react. The nine-game winning streak they have is testimony to the important - the vital - role that George Steinbrenner plays in the fate of the Yankees.
When Steinbrenner is no longer with us, the Yankees will have to commission the Disney Company to create a life-size audioanimatronic figure of him so that it can speak the necessary words when it is time to get the Yankees out of a funk.
Ten or so days ago, Steinbrenner, in what for this period of his life is a rare interview, warned that the team had better start winning and made a thinly veiled threat in the direction of his team's pitching coach, Mel Stottlemyre. The Yankees' pitchers weren't performing to their capabilities and, Steinbrenner implied, Stottlemyre would pay the price of underachievement if efforts did not improve.
Rallying around their longtime coach, the pitchers soon responded, throwing two consecutive shutouts for what would be the start of a nine-game run that catapulted the Yankees above .500 for the first time in a month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tino's hot play gets him to Shea
May 17
New York Daily News: Tino Martinez was walking out of the clubhouse at Safeco Field yesterday afternoon when someone told him that he'd been named AL Player of the Week.
"Really?" Martinez said with genuine surprise. "I didn't know that."
No one else was shocked by the news. Martinez ripped six homers (including one in five straight games) and hit .391 with a 1.217 slugging percentage.
Martinez went 1-for-4 with a single and an intentional walk in the Yanks' 6-3 win over the Mariners last night, staying tied with Alex Rodriguez for the major league homer lead with 12.
"I'm just trying to take good swings, that's all," Martinez said. "I'm glad I've been able to contribute to a good run for the team."
Under different circumstances, this weekend's series against the Mets might have been a time for Joe Torre to sit Martinez, since there won't be a DH at Shea. But with Jason Giambi's status uncertain and Martinez on a tear, don't look for Martinez to get much rest.
"If Tino stays hot, he's playing," Torre said.
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Click here for links to full articles then click READ MORE under Yankees news for May 17: www.yankeemania.com
---------------------
Vote for our site. Just click here let the page load and your done. thanks: www.sportsinfinity.com/in.php?site=1039541572
---------------------
Click here for links to full articles then click READ MORE under Yankees news for May 17: www.yankeemania.com
---------------------
Bernie proves grand ol' man
May 17
New York Daily News: Bernie Williams spent a quiet weekend in California, sitting idly by as the Yankees continued their recent rampage. He did not start, did not pinch-hit, did not play at all during the three victories in Oakland, his already-flickering star dimming more and more as each day passed.
But Williams does not plan to go away quietly. He is 36 years old. His legs are tired, his shoulders creak and his knees ache. There is not a consistent spot for him in the lineup anymore. And yet last night, in the seventh inning, with the bases loaded and the Bombers trailing by a run, Williams looked young again.
His grand slam off Seattle reliever J.J. Putz soared long and high to dead center field, falling just beyond the wall as the Yankees exploded out of their dugout in celebration. They tacked on an insurance run in the eighth and beat the Mariners, 6-3, to win their ninth straight game, get over .500 and look, as Joe Torre said, "like the team they should."
Alex Rodriguez drove in two runs, 22-year-old Robinson Cano had two hits and scored a run and rookie Chien-Ming Wang pitched 6-1/3 solid innings in the win. Only Williams made it feel like the old days.
"I hit it really good. I feel great," Williams said.
Said Torre, "The one thing I've learned about Bernie in the 10 years I've been here is that when situations are handed to him ... he rises to the occasion."
The question, of course, is what Williams' second homer of the season truly means. Is it a sign that he can still be a productive player, still provide some pop on command? Or is it an aberration, a nod to the past?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Torre says Wang won't face Mets
May 17
Newark Star-Ledger: Before Chien-Ming Wang took the mound last night for the Yankees, manager Joe Torre said Wang will be skipped next time through the rotation and thus not face the Mets over the weekend. Wang then went out and beat the Seattle Mariners, retiring 17 straight batters at one point.
"He was great," Torre said. "He was absolutely great."
Still, that performance may not change things. Torre seems to be leaning toward having Carl Pavano pitch Sunday, after Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson. That would keep the four veterans in the rotation close to normal routine despite off days before and after the Mets series.
Pavano has a 6-7 career record against the Mets, with a 3.75 ERA, and in 10 games at Shea Stadium is 3-4 with a 3.86 ERA.
The adjustment to the rotation could lead to Randy Johnson, Pavano and Mike Mussina as the starting pitchers against the Boston Red Sox on Memorial Day weekend.
Wang's next start may not be until next Wednesday against Detroit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sterling radio daze
May 17
New York Daily News: Still, a few innings later, Sterling would not only do verbal somersaults, but he would go tongue-over-teeth calling Jason (The Giambalco) Giambi's two-out, two-run double in the seventh.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cashman Backs GiambI
May 17
New York Post: Jason Giambi's weekend in Oakland wasn't easy. Yet, according to general manager Brian Cashman, it was productive — and the general manager remained supportive of his struggling slugger.
Giambi was heavily booed by A's fans Friday. Saturday night, an idiot fan wasted a cup of beer by pouring it over Giambi's uniform. In between, he also vented about a Yankee employee leaking the contents of a meeting last week between Giambi, Cashman and manager Joe Torre, when Giambi didn't bite on a suggestion that he could find his swing in the minor leagues.
But on Sunday, Giambi hit a game-winning double off lefty Ricardo Rincon to lift the Yankees to a 6-4, series-sweeping win over the A's.
Giambi didn't stick around Sunday to talk about his heroics — but he didn't blow off the media because he was ticked at the constant criticism thrown his way recently.
"I went to see my family — it was my grandmother's 85th birthday," Giambi said before he went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts in last night's 6-3 win over the Mariners at Safeco Field.
Giambi also said he believed there is more to come than the 3-for-12 (.250) performance he delivered in the first three games of a six-tilt audition to see where he fits into the Yankees' puzzle.
"We all would like more hits but you take what you can get right now," said Giambi, who hit eighth last night for the fourth straight game. "Every day I feel progress. I definitely feel a lot better."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Big Concern For Unit
May 17
New York Post: Because Randy Johnson missed a start with a left groin injury on May 4 and hasn't dominated hitters with his usual brilliance in two outings since coming back from the problem, the immediate questions are centered around his health.
Sunday in Oakland Johnson, 41, didn't register a strikeout for only the fourth time in his Hall of Fame career. And in six innings he gave up four runs (three earned) and seven hits in a 6-4 that the Yankees had to climb out of the 3-0 ditch Johnson put them in by surrendering three runs in the first.
Johnson said he was fine last night.
"I talked to Joe after the game and he said it wasn't an issue," GM Brian Cashman said of Johnson's groin.
That, however, doesn't mean Cashman doesn't fret about Johnson's leg.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Master Motivator and Commander: Steinbrenner Shines in His Latest Role
May 17
New York Times: THE man still has it. He has not lost his touch. George speaks, and the Yankees listen. No, actually, they do more than listen. They react. The nine-game winning streak they have is testimony to the important - the vital - role that George Steinbrenner plays in the fate of the Yankees.
When Steinbrenner is no longer with us, the Yankees will have to commission the Disney Company to create a life-size audioanimatronic figure of him so that it can speak the necessary words when it is time to get the Yankees out of a funk.
Ten or so days ago, Steinbrenner, in what for this period of his life is a rare interview, warned that the team had better start winning and made a thinly veiled threat in the direction of his team's pitching coach, Mel Stottlemyre. The Yankees' pitchers weren't performing to their capabilities and, Steinbrenner implied, Stottlemyre would pay the price of underachievement if efforts did not improve.
Rallying around their longtime coach, the pitchers soon responded, throwing two consecutive shutouts for what would be the start of a nine-game run that catapulted the Yankees above .500 for the first time in a month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tino's hot play gets him to Shea
May 17
New York Daily News: Tino Martinez was walking out of the clubhouse at Safeco Field yesterday afternoon when someone told him that he'd been named AL Player of the Week.
"Really?" Martinez said with genuine surprise. "I didn't know that."
No one else was shocked by the news. Martinez ripped six homers (including one in five straight games) and hit .391 with a 1.217 slugging percentage.
Martinez went 1-for-4 with a single and an intentional walk in the Yanks' 6-3 win over the Mariners last night, staying tied with Alex Rodriguez for the major league homer lead with 12.
"I'm just trying to take good swings, that's all," Martinez said. "I'm glad I've been able to contribute to a good run for the team."
Under different circumstances, this weekend's series against the Mets might have been a time for Joe Torre to sit Martinez, since there won't be a DH at Shea. But with Jason Giambi's status uncertain and Martinez on a tear, don't look for Martinez to get much rest.
"If Tino stays hot, he's playing," Torre said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
Click here for links to full articles then click READ MORE under Yankees news for May 17: www.yankeemania.com
---------------------