The Return of Phil Hughes

He's back.

Well not quite. Hughes pitched two innings of no hit ball for Tampa, the Yankees A ball affiliate, walking two and allowing one unearned run. More importantly, it was his first appearance pitching against competition since he strained his hamstring against the Texas Rangers while working on a no-hitter. That, compounded by an ankle injury during rehab set back Hughes so far that some speculated that he would be shelved for the entire season and if anything would make a late season return. Now, he is on pace for a start sometime in late July, possibly the 27th against the Orioles in the game that was scheduled (not the rain shortened game that will be finished of course) or the 28th also against the Orioles.

Meanwhile, the rehab starts continue. Hughes is scheduled to start for the Thunder on Friday, July 13th and Wednesday, July 18th at Waterfront Park in Trenton. He looks to make one more rehab start, for Scranton-Wilkes Barre, and then make his return to the Yankees, barring any setbacks. This comes at a very good time for the Yankees. At this time in the season they are coming to the point where a decision needs to be made on Kei Igawa, who has struggled again since being called up after working with Yankees pitching guru Nardi Contreras in the minors. They really cannot afford to stomach anymore losses from Igawa, who hasn't won a start since his six inning bullpen outing relieving Jeff Karstens who broke his leg against the Red Sox on April 28th. He hasn't won a game as a starter since April 18th at the Stadium against the Indians. Expect Hughes to replace Igawa in the rotation when he returns, and a Igawa demotion to Scranton or a move to the bullpen.

Video of Joba Chamberlain's Future's Game Performance

Yankees vs. Angels Game 85

YANKEES
Damon DH
Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Rodriguez 3B
Matsui LF
Posasa C
Abreu RF
Cano 2B
Cairo 1B
Clemens RHP (2-3, 4.26)

ANGELS
Willets LF
Figgins 3B
Cabrera SS
Guerrero RF
Matthews CF
Kotchman 1B
Anderson DH
Kendrick 2B
Mathis C
Lackey RHP (11-5, 3.04)

With the way Lackey has pitched, it'll be a tough one for the Yankees. This guy is always tough, especially against the Yankees. But this year it looks like he'll be making a push for the Cy Young Award. He beat the Yankees earlier this season at the Stadium when Mike Mussina was on the mound for the Yankees. As for Clemens, hopefully he can pull another Rocket-esque performance like he did last time out. Yankees will need it to win this one.

Old Timer's Day

Unbelievable...there are five players in this game who are younger then Roger Clemens, today's starting pitcher. That is amazing. The players are: Rich Monteleone (3-22-63), Jim Leyritz (12-27-63), Scott Brosius (8-15-66), Homer Bush (11-12-72) and Paul O’Neill (2-25-63). But the big question is: Homer Bush is here why? Was Andy Stankiewicz not available?

Two players making their first appearances in this game will be Paul O' Neill and Scott Brosius. O' Neill has been seen many times since his playing career in the booth as a Yankees game analyst for the YES Network. However, Brosius has seemingly fallen off the face of the Earth, it will be really nice to see him once again. I will bring you the lineups when they become available.

My Midseason Player Grades

A-Rod: A+
Jeter: A
Posada: A
Matsui: D
Melky: C+
Giambi: D-
Abreu: Z
Cano: C-
Damon: D
Cairo: C-
Minky: D-
Phelps: F
Nieves: F

Hughes: Incomplete
Wang: A-
Pettitte: A-
Clemens: C
Mussina: C-
Rasner: Incomplete
Clippard: C-
DeSalvo: D-
Wright: D
Igawa: F
Pavano: F

Rivera: B+
Bruney: B
Proctor: B-
Villone: C
Henn: C
Myers: D
Vizcaino: D+
Farnsworth: F

Your thoughts?

This Team Showed Me Something Today: Yankees 7 Twins 6

Big win today, but not only for the now in taking three of four from the Twins, who are ahead of the Yankees in the Wild Card standings at this point. This game made was one where the Yankees proved they can go toe to toe with a good team with a good bullpen and win a close game, which they've had serious problems doing thanks to the bad bullpen. Kei Igawa was awful early and late, and to be honest I personally would hope they get him off the team soon, whether it be to Scranton or release him outright. Brian Cashman signed a guy who doesn't know how to pitch, plain and simple. I don't know if he'll ever learn either. Igawa allowed two early runs to put the team behind from the get go. I thought that maybe it would demoralize the team, and suddenly the team who took the first two games from the Twins would only get a 2-2 split in the series, which isn't going to cut it considering the hole the Yankees have dug themselves. Instead, they rallied for five runs thanks to home runs from Cano and Cabrera in the second. But by the fifth inning when Igawa finished his start, the game was tied 5-5.

This is where the Yankees showed me something. They went up against a better bullpen in a battle of the bullpens and pulled it out. Luis Vizcaino, Scott Proctor, and Kyle Farnsworth all pitched scoreless innings to keep the game tied at 5. Then Hideki Matsui woke up and hit a two run home run to break the tie, making it 7-5 Yankees. The homer was off Pat Neshek, a pitcher who has unreal numbers this year, and is fighting for a spot on the All Star Team. That made his shot even more impressive. So the game is all wrapped up right? Mo in the ninth, done deal. Not so fast. Mo struggled in not being able to put away the first two hitters he faced, both hitting clean singles, not of the bloop variety. Then after a strikeout where the runner stole second, it made it runners on second and third, one out. Tying runner was on second base with less then two outs. But, Rivera was able to get Joe Mauer to ground to Derek Jeter, scoring a run but getting the second out. Runner on second, two outs, game now 7-6 Yankees. Mo finished the job getting Michael Cuddyer on a half swing strikeout. Final score Yankees 7, Twins 6.

K. Farnsworth (W, 1-1)
P. Neshek (L, 3-1)
M. Rivera (S, 11)

Yankees (40-42)
Twins (43-41)

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Go Joey Chestnut! In all seriousness, have a safe and happy Independence Day, I know I will. And also, say Happy Birthday to George Steinbrenner, who turns 77 this fine day.

Hughes could be back by end of July- should he be in the majors?

Phil Hughes, who had ankle and hamstring injuries that many thought would have shut him down for the season, has come along faster than most people expected and is primed for a July return. After throwing two bullpen sessions and rehabbing for 2 months he looks like he is almost ready to start making minor league rehab starts, then possibly coming back to the Bronx to help the big team out.

At the beginning of this many thought this would turn out to be another Mark Prior situation. In my opinion Hughes was rushed out of AAA and should not come back to the MLB until september call ups. Hughes has been called the future of our organization by many people and has never pitched 200 innings before. If we expect Hughes to come up and stay up in the MLB he needs to get used to throwing 7 innings and 100 pitches in Columbus. They have brought him along to this point, and the one thing that Hughes needs to become a complete pitcher is getting used to being a work horse.

Many may think i am being unfair, or this injury is just a "freak thing" but in my opinion Hughes should be in Columbus. He is 21 years old and way ahead of the rest of the 21 year old prospects. Hughes can be a great pitcher down the line for us, but we must be patient and wait for his calling.

Hey, we won! Yankees 5, Twins 1

Rocket really came through tonight, he made his money. I mean, the guy is never going to be the 95 MPH fireballer anymore. I guess us fans are just going to have to accept that. But today he was hitting his spots, and had that split fingered fastball, his strikeout pitch, working the whole game. Two hits in eight innings of work, with one undeserved run for the Twins coming off of a wild pitch on a strikeout of Torii Hunter, that in my opinion should have been ruled a passed ball. That is Rocket's 350th career win, quite a milestone.

For the Yankees, this was a big win...but only if they can build on it. Too many times this season have I seen them come up with a potential building block win only to eventually fall on their faces. This win was good on both the offensive and pitching sides. Only setback may be a huge one. Alex Rodriguez strained his hamstring and if he has to miss any significant time you can just end the season for the Yankees officially.

The New York Post: "We Make a Mountain out of a Molehill"

Alright, so amidst some terrible happening for the Yankees, some good things happen to my other teams, the Rangers and the Knicks. So I open up today's Post to read what is said about some of the things they did. Unfortunately, some of the space that could have gone to something meaningful, went to this:

The obscene phrase was plainly visible to thousands of fans - including plenty of kids - as she (Cynthia Rodriguez), her 2-year-old daughter, Natasha, and an older woman took their seats in the players' family section of the House that Ruth Built.

"[One] father, was so embarrassed, he got up and left and took his son," who appeared to be about 10 years old, a fan said.

"I mean this kid was right in back of Cynthia - his nose must have been about 4 inches away from the words 'F- - - you.' "

Cynthia's F-word faux pas also may have violated Yankee Stadium policy.

The team's policy prohibits any banners or signs that are not in "good taste" and also warns that security guards will eject any guests "using foul language" or "making obscene gestures."

Still, when some fans let nearby security know about Cynthia's four-letter garment yesterday, nothing was done.

Now, before you start to run out of your home to warn the neighbors of this upcoming Apocalypse, allow me to give my take. This is borderline hysterical in the fact that the New York Post does not consider itself a tabloid. It's a freaking rag of a periodical. Let's just say that I'd rather use it as some low quality toilet paper rather than read some of the bull they crop up in there. This is one of those times. What gets me is how this isn't even Alex Rodriguez: it's his wife. She isn't even famous, what does anything having to do with her newspaper worthy? Let alone something as trite as this. Is wearing that shirt bad taste and maybe she shouldn't have done it? Yes. But to whine and moan and actually make it so big of a deal that it is to be put in the paper is ludicrous. Next time I'll call into the Post next time some 75 year old man with his "FCUK THE SOX" T-Shirt is at Yankee Stadium. If he was A-Rod's grandfather, that same man would be staring right back at me the next day on the front page.

Edwar Ramirez called up?

Stay tuned, not sure yet. This is what I've been told from a prominent blogger who knows his stuff. Very good minor league reliever in AAA Scranton right now. Unreal numbers. Good fastball, awesome changeup. Again, we'll see.

The Folly Floater

Steve Hamilton vs Tony Horton



Classic clip.

Scott Proctor is a pyromaniac

Scott Proctor makes a campfire.

Wow...this team is falling apart at the seams, and this is just a microcosm of it. Even though I'm a huge Yankee fan, it's pretty hilarious watching this soap opera they call a baseball team. It's as far away from a cohesive unit as humanly possible. It's like a train wreck: it's horrible, but people have to sit by and watch it happen.

Hey, why not: Your 2008 New York Yankees!

Someone asked this question on a Yankees forum:

If you were GM for a day...what would your projections look like for the 25 man roster for:

a) after trade deadline in 2007
b) 2008

So, here's my response, and I'd like to hear yours as well on this topic. Pretty fun to try and figure it out actually, I like coming up with the roster.

Anyway here's mine:

a)Look into seeing if the Yankees can get any value for Bobby Abreu or Mike Mussina. To be honest I doubt there's any market for either, especially Mussina, unless the Yankees pick up some money in the deal. Of course money is no object to the Yankees, and the more money they assume, the better prospects we can get in return. Otherwise, that's about it, I would stand pat. No major acquisitions, no trying to trade Johnny Damon, etc. Try to trade guys like Farnsworth and Vizcaino, they might actually hold some value at the deadline to desperate teams.

b)I'm assuming you mean the offseason of '07. I would do everything in my power to get Ichiro Suzuki on this team. Bat him leadoff, and Derek Jeter second. Or you could flip flop that, seeing as Jeter is the better on base guy. Anyway, that's the manager's decision.This not only improves the team, it adds to the depth of the lineup, allowing the Yankees to bat a healthy Johnny Damon down in the order to prevent the exposing of the bottom of the lineup. BTW for people who think that this further cripples us against lefties: his batting statistics are better when facing LHP than RHP for his entire career in the states, not just here. Obviously Abreu would be off the team.

Re-sign Andy Pettitte. Make a big play for Carlos Zambrano if you can, aces don't normally hit the FA market like this, it may be one of your only chances to get one outside of the farm system/mega trade. For 1B, Sean Casey is available I see. Get him, he may not be a sexy name, but he is a professional hitter and good in the clubhouse, a leader. Or if you are again worried about too many lefties, sign Dimitri Young. Less of a track record, but he's killing the ball in WAS right now, with like a .900 OPS. Not much of a 1B though. And of course, you do anything necessary to keep A-Rod. Re-sign Posada and Mo. Get Hughes in that rotation, promote Edwar Ramirez if he's ready.

For the bench, Cabrera would be shifted there. Try to get Ramon Castro or Rod Barajas as the backup catcher, they are both FAs. Marlon Anderson would be a decent utility infielder we could pick up as well, better then Cairo in my opinion. Sign Travis Lee as the backup 1B.

Bullpen. Let Vizcaino walk, he's a FA. I don't think Farnsworth can be traded unless you want nothing back, but I'll take the salary relief. Put Igawa in the bullpen. Britton needs to be on this roster next year, no Villone. I'll get Edwar Ramirez and Henn here too. Let Myers walk.

My team:

C-Posada
1B-Young or Casey
2B-Cano
SS-Jeter
3B-A-Rod
LF-Matsui
CF-Ichiro
RF-Damon
DH-Giambi

Starting staff:

Zambrano
Wang
Pettitte
Hughes
Mussina (can't be traded realistically)

Bench:

Melky Cabrera
Barajas or Castro
Marlon Anderson
Travis Lee

Bullpen:

Mariano Rivera
Igawa
Chris Britton
Edwar Ramirez
Sean Henn
Scott Proctor
Brian Bruney

There's my 2008 New York Yankees.

Go ahead, you guys can do it too.

To anyone who wants to make a big trade to keep the Yankees alive

Let it go.

The only change that will make the Yankees possible playoff contenders (and even that is not a guarantee) would be a big move giving up big prospects. You don't want to do that, you really don't. So, let it go. The "Brain Trust" wants to keep non major leaguers like Nieves and Villone on the team? Let them. Not like it will cost us a playoff spot anyway, they aren't going anywhere. Stand pat, make the moves in the offseason. Let Joe retire, get rid of Nieves and the like of course. Like letting Abreu walk, acquiring another outfielder, a righty bat, and of course pitching...problem is I'm not sure if I can trust Brian Cashman to make these essential moves. Next years offseason and this years trade deadline will be the crossroads of the Yankees future for years. Do they try to reload for one final run and sacrifice the future or do they stand pat and think down the road. Hopefully the latter in my opinion. Just let this season go people, it's too far gone in my opinion to be saved.

Yankees vs. Orioles 6/26 Game Preview

It's a matchup of two of the best pitchers in the American League. Andy Pettitte and Jeremy Guthrie? Guthrie has allowed two or fewer runs in 9 of his 10 starts and should make the All Star team he has been so good. Meanwhile, Pettitte is coming off of a performance where, in his words, he "quit pitching" and just tried to throw the ball past hitters after he lost his confidence after a Matt Holliday 442 foot bomb of a home run. To me, that's kind of strange coming from a veteran pitcher with 190 career victories.

Fun fact for this game: Yankees have 573 career wins going for them in Pettitte (190), Clemens (349), and Wang (a mere 34). Baltimore has 75 wins between Guthrie (6), Bedard (32), and Cabrera (37). Gap would be even larger if Mike Mussina pitched in this series for the Yankees. Obviously though, I'd rather Wang be out there.

Lineups when they become available. Since the Yankees were off on a travel day yesterday, I would still assume that they would play their full lineup. We will see.

There's not much to say about today's game

Except that the Yankees completely embarrassed themselves. There were really no positives....

This game obviously was not Joe Torre's fault. However, I need to get one thing off of my chest. Why put Damon in the game and thusly make any DL stint retroactive to today instead of the last time he played? (in Colorado) That bothered me a bit, and if anyone has any answers as to why he did that, please leave a comment.

Rod Beck Dead at 38

Rest in peace buddy. 38 years old...police are unsure of the cause of death at this point. I'm pretty much at a loss for words. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

Yankees Win, Baroid Homers: Yankees 7, Giants 3

If Baroid Bonds is going to hit a home run, that's how I want it to be. Trailing pretty big late, bases empty on a challenge fastball. I have to give credit to Scott Proctor for letting him hit it as opposed to walking someone with a big lead. That's the way the game should be played so my hat is off to Scott Proctor for yesterday. That makes it 749 home runs for Bonds, who inches ever close to the real record holder, Hank Aaron. The closer he gets to the record, the more we'll hear about his on the field exploits, and less about his off the field ones. That's due to the extremely hypocritical nature of ESPN. They'll roast you one day, and prop you up for ratings the next. Big reason why in my eyes I can't take them truly seriously when it comes to some sports news topics.

Anyway, I digress. My prediction was basically the same score flipped around (Giants 7, Yankees 4), but I'm very glad to be wrong. Yankees took a 3-0 lead right away off of great ABs from Miguel Cairo and Kei Igawa, both of them working walks. Yeah, I can't believe that actually happened either. Melky Cabrera scored Cairo and Cano (who singled) to make it 3-0. Kei Igawa looked amazingly sharp in the first four innings, making the Giants players seem lost, including Bonds. He really had that changeup I talked about in the preview working well. Was able to control it pretty easily. What I will say is this: he left some pitches over the middle a couple of times through the first four that he got away with and he needs to prevent this from happening again. Sure, he limited his mistake pitches from his earlier outings, but there still were a couple of floaters. On to the fifth. Igawa started to get hit and it clearly started to show in his approach. He seemed a bit rattled walking to batters in a row, one letting a run in (a Bonds bases loaded walk). I'd much rather see that then the game tying grand slam. At this point the game was 5-2 Yankees and Igawa was pulled after 4 and 2/3 innings of work. It disappointed me a bit because he was doing so well, only to falter. But it was heartening to see that he can be a good pitcher in this league, and he proved it through the first four innings.

Since I've already mentioned the Bonds home run and the Yankees scoring, the game got pretty uneventful after Hideki Matsui saved the game in the fifth on his bases clearing double saving catch. If he didn't catch it the game would have been nodded up at 5. Who knows what happens then: maybe Baroid's homer actually means something. All I know is that it didn't matter at all last night: both in the course of history and in the game.

Baroid Bonds

Sorry to disturb the few readers I have right now, but I had to. I found it funny.

Yankees at Giants 6/22 Game Preview

Hey, look who has made his return...the one, the only: Kei Igawa? Yeah, you definitely cannot liken his rise through the minors like Roger Clemens'. However, Kei was effective in his minor league appearances. In six minor league starts, he posted a 3-3 record with a 2.65 ERA and a .233 BAA. Another striking statistic is that he has struck out 33 batters in 34 innings, nearly 9 K/IP. Apparently Tampa pitching guru Nardi Contreras has gotten Igawa to figure out how to stop pitching up in the strikezone, especially with his changeup, which was a huge problem in the majors, and was a large cause for his major league struggles. With that in mind, expect to see a marked improvement over his initial starts with the Yankees, although it would be rather hard for him not to do better this time around.

Taking the mound for the Giants tonight is the electric youngster Matt Cain. He has pitched through some serious bad luck this season, with a 2-7 record and a 3.15 ERA. Kind of hard to imagine a low ERA like that adjoined with such a poor win-loss record. More proof to the fact that the win-loss statistic is completely meaningless. Run support can do wonders to it, and make a pitcher who really wasn't that good look good and vice versa. To be honest I really can't see the Yankees winning this one. Prediction: Giants 7, Yankees 4.

Rocky Mountain Low: Rockies 4, Yankees 3

This one got to me. They came so close to victory, only to fall yet again to the Rockies. That wasn't what made me cringe about this game however. It was the horrid plays from the Yankees themselves that lost this game. They grasped defeat from the jaws of victory, a trademark of a mediocre ballclub. Right now where we stand, that's what this team is, an average one.

Early on the game looked promising for the Yankees. Hideki Matsui hit a two run homer to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead and Roger Clemens looked good in his first inning of work. But then in the bottom of the second the Rocket allowed solo homers to Garet Adkins and Troy Tulowitski, making it 2-2. After that, both teams were shut down in the third and fourth. Then came the fifth, Yankees don't score, followed by two runs for the Rockies off Clemens, who was pulled after four and one third innings. Bad outing for him, he let the team down.

After the debacle of a fifth, the Yankees squandered opportunities to score, and it cost them the game. It really got to me, because they should have been able to tie it. Really dissapointing. So now they head out to San Francisco to play the Giants and "Baroid" Barry Bonds. We'll see what happens with that.

WP: R. Lopez (4-0) S: B. Fuentes (20)
LP: R. Clemens (1-2)

Yankees (35-35)
Rockies (38-34)

ESPN: Joe Girardi Declines Orioles Job

Whew, everyone outside of the Baltimore Orioles catches a break here. ESPN has reported that Girardi's agent has informed them that he will not be accepted the Orioles job that was offered to him, despite what Chief Operating Officer Andy McPhail would have you believe. This is the best play for Joe Girardi, and may be beneficial for the Yankees down the road, as soon as next season. It's a dead end job. He would have been fired in two years of no fault of his own. Apparently the Orioles do not allow their new manager(s) to pick their own coaching staff, a fate that doomed Lee Mazzilli (or perhaps with that team he was doomed from the start anyway). Girardi, already known as a micromanager of his teams (that seems to be the reason he was boot prematurely out of Florida) would not have any of this. Either that, or he knew it was a dead end job. Doesn't take a genius to figure that out.

Now to why this may be huge for the Yankees. It's simple enough. It looks as if Joe Torre will ride out his contract this season and leave the team, to retire or to pursue other endeavors. So the Yankees will need a new manager. While the popular opinion is that Don Mattingly is a lock for the next Yankee manager, I'm not so sure. If Joe Girardi comes in and blows everyone away with his interview like I know he can, and Mattingly disappoints which is a distinct possibility, who knows? Steinbrenner can change his opinion on a whim, and it can very well happen here. Here's to hoping.

Slammin' Sammy Sosa Hits His 600th Home Run

Just last season with the Baltimore Orioles, this man was a pariah. Now, like a phoenix arisen from the ashes of a massive steroid scandal, he has returned, crow-hopping his way to 12 home runs so far this season in the middle of the Texas Rangers lineup. Pretty amazing when you remember how it nearly ended. Sosa declined a $500,000 contract with the Washington Nationals. That's right, the only team to offer the beleaguered slugger a contract was the woe-begotten Nationals. Declining the offer, Sammy Sosa was believed to be fading away into black in terms of his baseball career, after this one last hurrah with the Orioles. But it was not to be. The Rangers owner Tom Hicks extended a major league contract to Sosa for the 2007 season, giving Sosa one last chance. And he has made the best of it so far.

Creatine scandal or not, this is a pretty good story. No matter what you think about Sammy Sosa, he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. 600 home runs, steroid era or not, is a 100 percent guarantee of an induction, like 500 home runs used to be. Sigh....those were the days.

How depressing: Rockies 6, Yankees 1

Wow, that game was very demoralizing. Andy Pettitte rolled through the game, seemingly in control. However, so did Rockies pitcher Jeff Francis. Like I had predicted, the Yankees were ahead 1-0 on a RBI double by none other than Derek Jeter, scoring Melky Cabrera who also doubled. Alas, the game was not to be a good one for the Yankees, as Pettitte who was in control lost that control walking the pitcher Francis, and with two outs letting up a homer to one of the better players in all of baseball, Matt Holliday. The picture to your left is Pettitte right after the behemoth bomb. Things continued to get grim after that homer. The Yankee offense rolled over and died in one of the more pathetic half innings I have seen in a while in the top of the seventh. After this, Pettitte resumed his outing and got into further trouble, allowing a run and it was 3-1 Rockies.

Here is where I take issue with Joe Torre. Kaz Matsui up at the plate, Pettitte clearly laboring, and Torre keeps him in, instead of the suddenly decent Luis Vizcaino. So, what happens? You guessed it. Matsui hits a two RBI triple aided by a Hideki Matsui misplay in the leftfield corner. The Rockies would later add another run and the Yankees would go out like sheep in the eighth and ninth innings. Final score 6-1 Rockies.

WP: J. Francis (7-5)
LP: A. Pettitte (4-5)

New York Yankees: 35-34
Colorado Rockies-37-34

Yankees vs. Rockies

The Rockies love it when the Yankees come to town. They have trouble drawing crowds to the park at other times but when the Yankees show up that's no issue. Not a seat left in the house last night as far as I could see. What gets me about the Rockies and the Yankees coming to town is this: they double the prices of every seat for the Yankees games. Talk about sleazy. They're struggling to gather fan support for a team that really isn't that bad (two games over .500) so the thing to do is to cater to the fan base, not alienate it by making a cash grab. But maybe they are right in doing this...80 percent of that crowd seemed to be Yankees fans anyway, so it's not like they'll be back when the Yankees are gone. A solid fan base can be had in Colorado, it was proven when they drew in excess of 4 million in their inaugural season. However they need to make a playoff run before the fans come back...

Anyway, I'm rambling. Here are the lineups for tonight:

YANKEES
Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Matsui LF
Cano 2B
Phillips 1B
Pettitte LHP (4-4, 2.93)

ROCKIES
Tavares CF
Matsui 2B
Holliday LF
Helton 1B
Atkins 3B
Hawpe RF
Tulowitzki SS
Torrealba C
Francis LHP (6-5, 3.61)

The Rockie batters have not experience much success at all against Pettitte. That coupled with how well Andy has pitched this season has me predicting a Yankees win over the talented Rockie team and their starting pitcher, who happens to be very good, Jeff Francis. Again, my prediction: 4-2 Yankees the final.

Welcome to the Made in 1903 Blog

For a honest opinion on the New York Yankees by myself. My name is Dan, I've been a Yankee fan since birth, and hope to provide you with a fresh perspective on the Yankees. Sometimes I can be harsh and hasty with criticism, sometimes not. All depends...on whether the Yankees are doing well or if they're not. Also, peridically I'll be letting you guys know of the side project I have going concerning the Yankees: My Yankees Fan Forum. It really is a nice place for Yankees discussion, a lot of information can be found on Yankees prospects there.