Post by ShakyGiambino on May 19, 2005 6:04:02 GMT -5
Yankees News for May 19
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Click here for links to full articles then click READ MORE under Yankees news for May 19: www.yankeemania.com
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E's & M's spell end for Yanks
May 19
New York Daily News: It had to end some time, but the Yankees would have preferred it not end like this.
If they had been victims of a dominant pitching performance, perhaps, or a well-timed home run, then maybe the Bombers could have graciously acknowledged they were beaten by a team that finally played better than they did. Instead, the Yanks could only blame themselves.
After playing crisp, clean, clutch baseball and winning 10 games in a row, the Bombers stumbled around Safeco Field last night, committing three errors, blowing an early lead and dropping a disappointing 7-6 decision to the Mariners.
"These things have to come to an end, and you're sorry when they do," Joe Torre said.
The defeat ended their run of success that began on May 7, and also concluded a West Coast trip during which they went 5-1 but return home with a bad taste in their mouths as they head into this weekend's Subway Series. It ended with Jason Giambi looking at strike three from reliever Ron Villone, leaving the bases loaded and another Yankee opportunity unfulfilled.
For all the criticism he has taken this season, however, Giambi deserved hardly any of the blame last night. Tony Womack made the Yankees' final error when he failed to backhand Jeremy Reed's one-out double down the left-field line in the eighth that set up the go-ahead run. Womack might have had a play on Reed at second had he fielded it cleanly, but Reed ended up on third instead, sliding in just ahead of Alex Rodriguez's tag.
Reliever Tom Gordon tried to bail out Womack and got Greg Dobbs to pop out, but Miguel Olivo lined a single to center that brought home the decisive run. The run was earned because the official scorer ruled that Reed would have scored even if he had been on second, but Womack still lowered his head and kicked at the grass around him as the 37,419 fans went wild.
"Errors are part of the game, but it's just unfortunate that we couldn't hold the two leads," Torre said. "That was our undoing tonight."
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Torre Refuses To Sit Struggling Matsui
May 19
New York Post: Since Hideki Matsui hadn't homered in 140 at-bats and was hitting .250 going into last night's game against the Mariners at Safeco Field, Joe Torre was asked if he believed Matsui was feeling the effects of playing every day.
"I don't think he is tired, no more than any of the other players," Torre said of Matsui, who remained in the cleanup spot versus lefty Jamie Moyer last night. "He has been doing it for so many years."
So long, in fact, that Matsui played in his 1,616th straight game last night.
Two weeks ago, Torre may have thought about giving Matsui a rest, but not any more.
"He is all right," Torre said. "I am a lot more comfortable with him than I was a couple of weeks ago. He wasn't seeing the ball well."
Matsui had seven hits in the last 19 at-bats (.368) to get his average to .250 and was 3-for-4 with an RBI last night.
Still, Torre remained extremely confident about Matsui's ability to produce even if Tino Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Bernie Williams and Tony Womack had higher averages in the clutch.
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Little room for Ruben
May 19
New York Daily News: Ruben Sierra went 1-for-6 in an extended spring training game yesterday, and reported no problems with the left hip flexor that cramped up on him on Tuesday.
Joe Torre said the Yankees will have a conference call with Sierra today (GM Brian Cashman will probably be on it) to determine if the veteran is ready to return to the team. Torre said he spoke to Sierra yesterday, and the switch-hitter is "anxious to get back." Sierra, who first went on the disabled list with a torn biceps muscle and then suffered a strained rib cage during rehab, batted twice lefthanded and four times righty, Torre said.
When he does return, however, it will probably be in a more reduced role than before. With Jason Giambi slumping early, Torre had used Sierra more than expected at designated hitter, starting him there in six of the nine games he played. But with Bernie Williams now strapped for playing time, Sierra will likely be limited to only pinch-hit appearances.
"With Bernie in the situation he's in, he certainly goes to the front of the line if there's a DH spot open," Torre said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a Rare TV Appearance, the Old Steinbrenner Speaks
May 19
New York Times: The George Steinbrenner who will be seen for 90 minutes on the YES Network at 5 p.m. Sunday is exactly as he was in the years before he began to communicate his public thoughts through news releases.
Steinbrenner, the principal owner of the Yankees, rhapsodized about winning as a function second to breathing.
"To me it is," he told Michael Kay during the interview, which was taped in late March in the visitors' clubhouse of Legends Field in Tampa, Fla. "It's so very important that the team win and do well, so they can be proud, so they can wear the championship ring."
He extolled one of his idols, Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
"You've got to be able to enjoy accomplishing victory," he said. "Victory is important. Douglas MacArthur said it."
He recalled how his father wanted to know why he had lost a race in a track meet at Williams College.
"He wanted to know why I let that guy beat me, and I didn't have an answer," he said. "He said your losses should be your biggest lessons. You spend most of your time worrying about your losses.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who's my daddy?
May 19
New York Daily News: There is always excitement around Pedro, the one-named pitcher. That's the way Derek Jeter sees it. Jorge Posada, too. It doesn't matter that Pedro Martinez, long the prime provocateur of the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry is no longer in Boston. His rivalry with the Yankees is still alive, whether the Yanks are his daddy or not.
"It's different because we don't see him as much and it's not two teams chasing each other," Jeter said. "But being in the same city, there'll be some meaning behind it."
"Wherever he goes, unless he was a Yankee, the rivalry is still there," added Posada. "With him, it's bigger because of the things that have happened in the past."
Martinez versus the Yankees blooms again on Sunday night and who knows what the Mets' offseason prize has in store for the Subway Series. His start was pushed back from tomorrow night after he received a cortisone shot in his right hip. Martinez has been a popular draw at Shea this season, proving he can attract attention from Mets' fans as well as Yankee fans, and he has reveled in becoming a New York star.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Matchups
May 19
New York Post: A position-by-position look at how the Yankees and Mets stack up for this weekend's Subway Series at Shea:
CATCHER
Jorge Posada has been up and down offensively, but has benefited from hitting behind the surging Tino Martinez. Mike Piazza has battled a season-long slump, but has hit the ball harder lately and remains a power threat.
Edge: Even
FIRST BASE
At one point, the Yankees might have thought about using Jason Giambi, but homer-a-day Tino Martinez is merely one of the hottest players in baseball. Scorching bat gives him an advantage over defensive whiz Doug Mientkiewicz, who has been slumping.
Edge: Yanks
I'll put my news in two posts today. the software is telling me my post is more then 10,000 chracters long and not allowed.
---------------------
Click here for links to full articles then click READ MORE under Yankees news for May 19: www.yankeemania.com
---------------------
E's & M's spell end for Yanks
May 19
New York Daily News: It had to end some time, but the Yankees would have preferred it not end like this.
If they had been victims of a dominant pitching performance, perhaps, or a well-timed home run, then maybe the Bombers could have graciously acknowledged they were beaten by a team that finally played better than they did. Instead, the Yanks could only blame themselves.
After playing crisp, clean, clutch baseball and winning 10 games in a row, the Bombers stumbled around Safeco Field last night, committing three errors, blowing an early lead and dropping a disappointing 7-6 decision to the Mariners.
"These things have to come to an end, and you're sorry when they do," Joe Torre said.
The defeat ended their run of success that began on May 7, and also concluded a West Coast trip during which they went 5-1 but return home with a bad taste in their mouths as they head into this weekend's Subway Series. It ended with Jason Giambi looking at strike three from reliever Ron Villone, leaving the bases loaded and another Yankee opportunity unfulfilled.
For all the criticism he has taken this season, however, Giambi deserved hardly any of the blame last night. Tony Womack made the Yankees' final error when he failed to backhand Jeremy Reed's one-out double down the left-field line in the eighth that set up the go-ahead run. Womack might have had a play on Reed at second had he fielded it cleanly, but Reed ended up on third instead, sliding in just ahead of Alex Rodriguez's tag.
Reliever Tom Gordon tried to bail out Womack and got Greg Dobbs to pop out, but Miguel Olivo lined a single to center that brought home the decisive run. The run was earned because the official scorer ruled that Reed would have scored even if he had been on second, but Womack still lowered his head and kicked at the grass around him as the 37,419 fans went wild.
"Errors are part of the game, but it's just unfortunate that we couldn't hold the two leads," Torre said. "That was our undoing tonight."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Torre Refuses To Sit Struggling Matsui
May 19
New York Post: Since Hideki Matsui hadn't homered in 140 at-bats and was hitting .250 going into last night's game against the Mariners at Safeco Field, Joe Torre was asked if he believed Matsui was feeling the effects of playing every day.
"I don't think he is tired, no more than any of the other players," Torre said of Matsui, who remained in the cleanup spot versus lefty Jamie Moyer last night. "He has been doing it for so many years."
So long, in fact, that Matsui played in his 1,616th straight game last night.
Two weeks ago, Torre may have thought about giving Matsui a rest, but not any more.
"He is all right," Torre said. "I am a lot more comfortable with him than I was a couple of weeks ago. He wasn't seeing the ball well."
Matsui had seven hits in the last 19 at-bats (.368) to get his average to .250 and was 3-for-4 with an RBI last night.
Still, Torre remained extremely confident about Matsui's ability to produce even if Tino Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Gary Sheffield, Bernie Williams and Tony Womack had higher averages in the clutch.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Little room for Ruben
May 19
New York Daily News: Ruben Sierra went 1-for-6 in an extended spring training game yesterday, and reported no problems with the left hip flexor that cramped up on him on Tuesday.
Joe Torre said the Yankees will have a conference call with Sierra today (GM Brian Cashman will probably be on it) to determine if the veteran is ready to return to the team. Torre said he spoke to Sierra yesterday, and the switch-hitter is "anxious to get back." Sierra, who first went on the disabled list with a torn biceps muscle and then suffered a strained rib cage during rehab, batted twice lefthanded and four times righty, Torre said.
When he does return, however, it will probably be in a more reduced role than before. With Jason Giambi slumping early, Torre had used Sierra more than expected at designated hitter, starting him there in six of the nine games he played. But with Bernie Williams now strapped for playing time, Sierra will likely be limited to only pinch-hit appearances.
"With Bernie in the situation he's in, he certainly goes to the front of the line if there's a DH spot open," Torre said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In a Rare TV Appearance, the Old Steinbrenner Speaks
May 19
New York Times: The George Steinbrenner who will be seen for 90 minutes on the YES Network at 5 p.m. Sunday is exactly as he was in the years before he began to communicate his public thoughts through news releases.
Steinbrenner, the principal owner of the Yankees, rhapsodized about winning as a function second to breathing.
"To me it is," he told Michael Kay during the interview, which was taped in late March in the visitors' clubhouse of Legends Field in Tampa, Fla. "It's so very important that the team win and do well, so they can be proud, so they can wear the championship ring."
He extolled one of his idols, Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
"You've got to be able to enjoy accomplishing victory," he said. "Victory is important. Douglas MacArthur said it."
He recalled how his father wanted to know why he had lost a race in a track meet at Williams College.
"He wanted to know why I let that guy beat me, and I didn't have an answer," he said. "He said your losses should be your biggest lessons. You spend most of your time worrying about your losses.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who's my daddy?
May 19
New York Daily News: There is always excitement around Pedro, the one-named pitcher. That's the way Derek Jeter sees it. Jorge Posada, too. It doesn't matter that Pedro Martinez, long the prime provocateur of the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry is no longer in Boston. His rivalry with the Yankees is still alive, whether the Yanks are his daddy or not.
"It's different because we don't see him as much and it's not two teams chasing each other," Jeter said. "But being in the same city, there'll be some meaning behind it."
"Wherever he goes, unless he was a Yankee, the rivalry is still there," added Posada. "With him, it's bigger because of the things that have happened in the past."
Martinez versus the Yankees blooms again on Sunday night and who knows what the Mets' offseason prize has in store for the Subway Series. His start was pushed back from tomorrow night after he received a cortisone shot in his right hip. Martinez has been a popular draw at Shea this season, proving he can attract attention from Mets' fans as well as Yankee fans, and he has reveled in becoming a New York star.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Matchups
May 19
New York Post: A position-by-position look at how the Yankees and Mets stack up for this weekend's Subway Series at Shea:
CATCHER
Jorge Posada has been up and down offensively, but has benefited from hitting behind the surging Tino Martinez. Mike Piazza has battled a season-long slump, but has hit the ball harder lately and remains a power threat.
Edge: Even
FIRST BASE
At one point, the Yankees might have thought about using Jason Giambi, but homer-a-day Tino Martinez is merely one of the hottest players in baseball. Scorching bat gives him an advantage over defensive whiz Doug Mientkiewicz, who has been slumping.
Edge: Yanks
I'll put my news in two posts today. the software is telling me my post is more then 10,000 chracters long and not allowed.