Random Yankee thoughts

Dallas Braden found out yesterday that indifference is the worst form of cruelty. Braden was expecting to be mercilessly booed by the New York Yankees faithful during his Thursday start. Instead, he was greeted with a collective yawn as Yankee fans couldn't muster much contempt in their hearts for Mr. Perfect, to his utter disappointment. No doubt the matchup would have had a lot more juice if Alex Rodriguez was in the lineup (and dared to try to cross Braden’s mound again), but it was not meant to be.

* I'm very glad to see that Jorge Posada apologized to umpire Dana DeMuth for his world-class meltdown at the plate Wednesday evening. No question the umpire blew the strike-three call (an umpire blowing a call: shocking!), but Posada's tirade was completely inappropriate and left me wincing as he pointed to the spot where the pitch was to demonstrate just how far outside it was. If Posada's outburst had happened a day earlier, the Yankees would have been in a real bad spot, with poor Ramiro Pena likely taking over as catcher after Posada's ejection, but luckily the Yankees were able to call up another catcher prior to the game due to baseball’s expanded rosters. I hope Joe Girardi made that point in a way Posada understands because for all his fire, which Yankee fans love, Posada is prone to head-scratching tantrums that could one day end up costing his team dearly.

* It's hard to feel sorry for Scott Boras for getting dumped by ARod. He will still get his cut of the third baseman's $275 million plus contract with the Yankees. For Boras, the blow to his ego from being rejected by his star client is probably the worst part.

* CC Sabathia's mom Margie has gotten a lot of attention recently, winning the Little League Parent of the Year award when her son is well on his way to a second Cy Young award and his first 20-win season. It used to be Derek Jeter's mother and father that were the most visible, with televisions eager to cut to the shortstop's proud parents anytime he was on base or made a nice play, but they have not been seen on camera much recently. Margie has stiff competition for the title of most famous Yankee parent from Dori and Phil Hughes Sr. They did a fun post-game interview with Kim Jones after their son PJ nearly no-hit the Oakland A’s and proudly gave fans a tour of their house, including PJ’s bedroom and his bobble-head collection, and introduced us to his dog Max.

Injured ARod angers the Yankees again

Alex Rodriguez just keeps pissing off his bosses.

Instead of telling Joe Girardi that his groin injury was acting up again before Thursday’s game, he tried to take the field, but had to come out after one inning, leaving Ramiro Pena to bat in the coveted cleanup spot ahead of Robinson Cano. It was unwise for ARod to not immediately inform his manager of the stiffness he felt, but it's understandable that a professional athlete would try to ignore the injury or play through it.

But this is not the first time that ARod's decisions about his injuries angered the New York Yankees hierarchy. They were already annoyed about finding out that ARod decided to get treatment for his hip problem from controversial Canadian doctor Tony Galea, apparently without the team's permission, dragging them back into the steroids controversy.

But I don't feel sorry for the Yankees on this one. It was the Steinbrenners' decision to re-sign him to a 10-year megadeal for much more than they had to pay him. Granted, they didn't know about ARod's steroids use (or perhaps they had suspicions, but no proof). But there were plenty of warning signs that re-signing ARod could be problematic.

They knew about his reputation for not being a clutch player, particularly in the playoffs. They knew about his contentious relationship with the New York fans and Derek Jeter (which according to Joe Torre's book, the Yankee Years, they blamed the captain for more than ARod). They knew about his diva attitude, shown to the baseball world when he opted out of his contract in the middle of the World Series. ARod gave them an out when he did that, but instead of moving on, they bent over backwards to give him a contract with all sorts of incentives that no other Yankee has ever had.

This latest incident is the type of drama they are fated to live with as ARod plays out the rest of his days in a Yankee uniform. The Yankees can be as furious as they want, but they have no one to blame but themselves.

Yankees heading to West Coast on high note

The New York Yankees are heading to the West Coast on a high note after winning their fourth series of the year with a sweep of the Texas Rangers.

The Yanks are now 9-3 on the year, thanks in large part to some fantastic pitching by their front three starters CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte, who is proving age is just a number with another strong outing this afternoon. They've gotten some timely offense, particularly Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner at the bottom of the order, and a big bat from Robinson Cano, who looks very comfortable in the fifth hole.

The Yankees have no worries, aside from wondering if Javier Vazquez will get himself straightened out. Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira hit their first homers of the season, showing signs that they may finally be breaking out of their slumps. Even Derek Jeter getting sick and having to sit out a day didn't slow the Yanks down, with back-up Ramiro Pena stepping in with a clutch hit to put the Yanks on top for good today.

So after a day off, the Yankees will start a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics, who are surprising people with their tough play. They then head to Anaheim, where they have had trouble winning games in recent years, although this is a much different Angels team. Finally, they return to the East Coast for three games against the hapless Baltimore Orioles, who have won one game this season. With the Yankees running on all cylinders, I expect a successful road trip.

http://rebelyankeechick.blogspot.com/2010/04/masterful-aj-burnett-aiming-for-top.html

http://rebelyankeechick.blogspot.com/2010/04/phil-hughes-passes-first-test.html

http://rebelyankeechick.blogspot.com/2010/04/ny-yankees-salute-great-jackie-robinson.html

http://rebelyankeechick.blogspot.com/2010/04/soft-vazquez-does-not-fit-in-new-york.html

http://rebelyankeechick.blogspot.com/2010/04/yankee-ring-ceremony-inspires-awe-tears.html

Oh no not the wave

Doing the wave is tolerable when the game is a blowout, but unacceptable and distracting during such a close game. Poor Ramiro Pena who was up in a key spot late in the game yesterday, probably thought the cheering was for him when it was really crowd encouragement to keep the wave going.