The Tree Was Empty

               On the second to last day of Alex Rodriguez's hearing with MLB officials in Kangaroo Court concerning his suspension appeal, the Yankee third baseman/DH slammed his fist onto the table and walked out after it was revealed that Commissioner Bud Selig wouldn't have to testify as to why he's pursuing a 211-game ban on A-Rod when all other tainted names were offered 50-game plea deals.

              After storming out of court, A-Rod took his case to the highest authority: The Mike'd Up Radio Show with Mike Francesa. A clever PR move as it was to give A-Rod a forum to build popular support, overnight the Man on the Street began siding with the aging superstar who has always been viewed as a phony and primadonna. Even the harshest A-Rod critics have come out and stated that he's being unfairly persecuted by MLB officials who have some type of vendetta against him. Now A-Rod has become the rebel standing up to the authorities and fighting for the everyday person living in Sherwood Forest. The reason being that for one of the only times in his baseball career, he finally has a point. Although he's never failed an official PED test and MLB officials are using "evidence" that was stolen and paid for by cash in black bags, for some reason they feel A-Rod is deserving of a 211-game ban in 2014-15 because Selig looks like a jackass for Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa crushing homeruns in 1998.

               Still not knowing if A-Rod will be in uniform by Opening Day 2014, GM Brian Cashman pulled an unexpected move by signing power-hitting catching free agent Brian McCann on a 5-year $85 million deal. The lefty slugger will add power and offense to the lineup which is light-years greater than the constant automatic outs of Chris Stewart and Austin Romine from 2013. Two of Cashman's goals his offseason was to cut down on the strikeout hitters and automatic outs. With all the injuries last season, the bottom of the Yankee lineup was worse than NL teams with their pitchers hitting. McCann's numbers have slightly declined over the past few seasons and he will be 31 soon, but whatever his offense is it will be better than what the Yanks got from the position last season. Plus, as a lefty hitter in Yankee Stadium and with the DH spot in the American League, there's a very good chance he can get back to being a 25-30 homerun guy. Behind the plate he brings an edge and toughness that's been missing since Russell Martin left; although CC Sabathia butted heads with Martin, so its quite possible he may not get along with McCann either. Look for Romine to serve as the backup and CC's caddy, and that ends the Chris Stewart era in pinstripes.

               The longevity of the McCann deal calls into question the catching prospects that Brian Cashman and the Yankee front office seemed to brag about. Last offseason they refused to match the Pirates multi-year deal for Russell Martin because they didn't want anyone blocking the road for all the great catchers that were on their way. Martin may only hit .200, but his 20 homers per season would've helped the Yanks last season and it was the Yankees sitting at home in October while Martin and the Pirates were in the playoffs. Brian McCann may have pop in his bat as a catcher, but he's certainly no 'Mike Piazza' in which you change course in order to obtain a superstar player. The McCann deal is the Yankees admission that they don't think much of Austin Romine at the moment and realistically they won't be able to produce a solid Major Leaguer at that position for the next 3-4 years. All these great fruits from the farm system that were supposedly stacked at the catching position either aren't growing or have turned rotten. There was nothing for Cashman to pluck from the tree at low cost, instead that had to hand over $85 million for McCann while still dealing with the big Cano contract negotiations and trying to get payroll under the $189 million luxury tax line.

               Speaking of which; the Cano saga keeps dragging along, but the negative rhetoric the Yanks' brass has been leaking to the media which paints Cano as a soulless money-grubber has quieted down. Plus, with no other teams showing any signs of interest outside the idiotic Jay-Z (Cano's rep company) meeting with the Mets, both sides seemed to have finally realized they're stuck with eachother, so they'll haggle numbers to make the best of it.

              Carlos Beltran's name keeps being thrown around, which would've made some sense when he wanted to be a Yankee back in 2005, but now he would be another player in his upper 30's on the roster which includes the age of Jeter, Rodriguez, Ichiro, and Soriano. The Yanks will try to get him on a 1-year deal to serve the 'Raul Ibanez' role that Travis Hafner bombed at last season. He can still produce as a hitter and take the field, but he's injury prone and will by 37 in April. The other name the Yanks seem to be in the mix with is the Japanese product Masahiro Tanaka, along with other teams who will likely be bidding for the opportunity to sign him. A more familiar Japanese starting pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda, has made it public he wants to come back to the Yanks again for 2014, so look for him to get a 1-year deal in the near future.

               If not Beltran, the Yanks are going to need a right-fielder with some pop (unless Ichiro stops using a wiffleball bat). There's also the need for someone at third in case A-Rod gets hammered with his appeal or has another hangnail in Spring Training that sidelines him till August. The last sprinklings would have to be regarding the bullpen.




               Or at least something to cure a hangnail......

The Buck stopped there

             It was only fitting that the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Texas Rangers in Arlington in the new one-game Wild Card format, setting up a long-awaited standoff with the New York Yankees, the team they were hot on the trail for during the second half of the season. Both teams played each other evenly down the line at nine games a piece in the regular season, and the playoffs would follow suit, prompting one of the narrowing and exciting postseason match-ups in recent Yankee history.



             Also as part of these new playoff rules implemented by MLB to spice up baseball in 2012, the number one seeded team (Yankees) would have to start on the road for the divisional series, which means the first two games would take place at Camden Yards. CC Sabathia, who has been shaky in his last two playoff stints in pinstripes, was on the mound trying to get back into his 2009 mode when he was absolutely dominate. For the Orioles, Buck Showalter pulled Jason Hammel out of his hat to pitch, despite the fact he hadn't made a start in several weeks. The Yankees grabbed an early lead thanks to an Ichiro double, with Jeter running on a full-count, which made the score 1-0 Yankees and placed Ichiro on second base with no outs. Instead of a big rally with Alex Rodriguez at the plate, Ichiro attempted to steal third with no outs and was caught (a big no-no in baseball), then Hammel came back to strikeout Rodriguez. The Yanks would only get one run that inning when it looked like the inexperienced Hammel was about to be on the ropes. Sabathia cruised through the first two innings, and in wasn't until the 3rd that he experienced some issues. He would find himself in a bases loaded jam and facing Nate McLouth. Sabathia hung a slider and the hot-hitting McLouth smoked it into right to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead. The Yankees would tie it an inning later thanks to a RBI single from Mark Teixeira, and from there both starting pitchers locked in. The Orioles best chance against Sabathia came in the bottom of the 8th when JJ Hardy lead off with a double. Sabathia got tough; striking out Adam Jones next, getting Matt Wieters to pop up, and then finally retiring Mark Reynolds to end the threat. With the score tied 2-2 in the 9th inning, the home team Orioles brought out their mega closer, Jim Johnson, who had an amazing season with 51 saves, to pitch the inning. Apparently the Yankees weren't impressed with the closer's stats because Russell Martin greeting him with a solo homer to left that gave the Yanks a 3-2 and stunned the crowd at Camden Yards. Other Yankees joined the fun such as Raul Ibanez, Derek Jeter, and Robinson Cano's double off knocked Johnson out of the game and secured the Yanks with a mighty 6-2 lead. Girardi let Sabathia come out in the bottom of the 9th with a 7-2 lead, but after retiring two batters, but failing to get the third, Sabathia was lifted after a great 8.2 inning performance of two-run ball and David Robertson got the final out for the 7-2 Yankee win.



             The Yankees sent their other lefty, Andy Pettitte, to the hill for the second game in search of his 20th postseason win against the inexperienced Wei-Yin Chen. The Yankees, just like the night before, had a chance to do damage early, but only got one run out of it. Jeter and Ichiro lead off with singles, giving A-Rod an opportunity to finally make some noise in the postseason since 2009. He lined a shot up the middle that was looking to be a RBI single, but Oriole second baseman Robert Andino snared it in mid-air and toss it to second to double up Jeter. The next hitter, Robinson Cano, then smoked a double to right that scored Ichiro from first on a bizarre play at the plate in which Wieters tried to Ichiro twice around the plate, but missed and the Yanks were up 1-0. Like Sabathia, Pettitte was doing fine until a two-out rally surfaced in the bottom of the third. A bloop hit, followed by a solid single from McLouth, and then a walk to JJ Hardy, put Chris Davis at the plate with the bags juiced. Instead of getting out of the jam, which the crafty Pettitte usually does, Davis ripped a pitch into right and the Orioles took a 2-1 lead. The Yanks had their best chance to either tie it up or even take a lead an inning later in the 4th. With the bases loaded and only one out, Eduardo Nunez came to the plate and popped a weak fly ball to shortstop. Derek Jeter followed that up with a ground out to third and the rally was officially over. The Orioles padded up their lead in the 6th after a Matt Weiters double, Mark Reynolds hit a single to the opposite field in right which scored Wieters for a 3-1 Orioles lead. The Yankees struck back in the 7th, Nunez finally hit the ball, a bloop double, and Jeter got him home with a RBI single and the Yanks were only down 3-2. The bats for both teams took the rest of the  night off, allowing Pettitte to go 7 innings, taking the hard luck loss, while Chen went 6.1. Jim Johnson was back on the mound in the 9th for a save this time, looking to put the meltdown the night before behind him, and he did just that, sitting down Jeter and Ichiro very quickly, then getting (of course) A-Rod to strikeout (of course) to end it 3-2 in favor of the Orioles. The save by Johnson tied the series at a game a piece, heading into New York for the final three.


             Being the top-seeded team in the AL was finally going to have some payoff with the next three games occurring at the homer-happy Yankee Stadium that benefits the pinstriped club. Hiroki Kuroda was picked to pitch game three and he was going to lock horns with the young Mike Gonzalez, who has had alot of success against the Yanks in 2012 going into this game. Unlike the previous two games, the Orioles struck first in the top of the 3rd from a Ryan Flaherty solo homer. That lead didn't last long, in the bottom of the frame with Russell Martin on base, Derek Jeter hit what looked like an ordinary fly ball to center, but Adam Jones took a step in and soon found himself trying to catch up (while blowing a bubble from his bubblegum). The ball dropped in at the warning track, allowing Martin to score to tie it up 1-1, and putting Jeter at third with two outs. Naturally the Yanks couldn't get a hit to get Jeter in, so it was left tied at 1. The Orioles second blow (as in homer) came in the 5th when 20-year old Manny Machado crushed a ball to left that made it 2-1 Orioles. Other than that, Kuroda was great, going 8.1 innings and only giving up the two runs. Unfortunately for the Yankees at the time, Gonzalez was even more stingy and the Yanks went into the bottom of the 9th trailing 2-1. The 51-save man Jim Johnson came out to pitch, and this is when a monumental substitution in Yankee history occurred. Manager Joe Girardi sat Alex Rodriguez down, who looked terrible trying to hit all night plus struck out against Johnson the night before, and brought up Raul Ibanez to pinch-hit. Ibanez had a number of key homeruns and hits during September, most of which came in a pinch-hitting role. Rodriguez had slumped in postseasons in the past and boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd is nothing new, but this is the first time its been admitted by the Yankee hierarchy that he's simply not a superstar anymore.



            The move paid off big time when Ibanez was clutch again and sent a Johnson pitch to right field, tying the game 2-2 with A-Rod watching from the bench. The Yankees couldn't win it in regulation, so it went into extra innings. Jeter too would see bench time, but this was injury related when he was taken out after limping around all night on his bad foot that he fouled pitches off of. In the bottom of the 12, that man again, Raul Ibanez lead off the inning against lefty Brian Matusz. On the first pitch he saw, Ibanez blasted it into the night and the ball went far over the right field wall for a dramatic walk-off 3-2 Yankees win!!



             With the dramatic win the night before and the old lefty Joe Saunders on the mound for the Orioles, the Yankees had to have felt the clinch at the tips of their fingers in this best of five series. Jeter was back on the field, sort of, taking the DH spot for the night to rest his aching foot. Girardi started A-Rod at third base and he finally delivered a hit, to the surprise of the crowd. The Yankee bats were quiet yet again in this game, and they failed to put a dent into the veteran Saunders. The Orioles got on the board against Phil Hughes in the 5th after the Yankee rightly danced a tight rope in the previous innings, Nate McLouth lined a solo homer to right that gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Cano came up in the 6th with runners on the corners, and his weak ground out to second was to too to turn a double-play, so Jeter scored to tie the score at 1. Cano, along with Swisher, Granderson, and A-Rod, were absolutely brutal in trying to make any sort of contact, and the Yankee crowd was letting them know it. There would be no Raul Ibanez magic this night, Girardi used him only once, with two outs as a substitute for Jayson Nix, and Ibanez came up empty. The move didn't make much sense since Nix was hitting the ball well all night and had two hits to show for it. The night before was a 12-inning affair, this one did one batter with the 13th. In the top of the inning, and with Girardi and Showalter unloading their bullpens, it was left up to Pedro Strop versus Davis Phelps. It would turn out Phelps being the one who would finally buckle. His double to JJ Hardy brought Machado home to score and the Orioles had a 2-1 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Showalter's last man standing, Jim Johnson came on for the save and didn't blow it this time. Girardi once again went to the bench for Alex Rodriguez again Johnson, this time selecting Eric Chavez, but he fared no better and Johnson was able to lock down the 2-1 Orioles win, pushing the series to decisive 5th game to move onto the next round to face the Detroit Tigers.



             When Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman restructured CC Sabathia's deal after the pitcher opted out of his original deal before start the season, it was to come up big and wins important games such as a deciding Game 5 of the ALDS. The Yankees ace came up big in Game 1 with a strong 8.2 inning performance for a win, he would need to do the same in order to get the Orioles out of the Yankees' hair. Girardi, seeing the writing on the wall with his crop of slumping hitters in the middle and bottom of the lineup, sat Alex Rodriguez (and his $30 million a year contract) in favor of Eric Chavez for third base, and inserted new fan-favorite Raul Ibanez as the DH. Jeter was back at shortstop after his one day off as a DH. Sabathia and Hammel both picked up from where they left off in Game 1 and were stingy through the first four innings. It wasn't until the bottom of the 5th when the Yankees struck. Mark Teixeira innocently lead off with a single, then with the first baseman not holding him on, actually bad calf and all stole second base to get himself into scoring position. Raul Ibanez would bring Teixeira home on a bleeder up the middle for a 1-0 Yankee lead that seemed so huge for the fact runs were hard to come by during this series. In the top of the 6th, there was a little controversy thanks to a foul ball hit by Nate McLouth that seemed to possibly nick the right field foul pole. Replays weren't conclusive enough to show that the ball changed any direction as a result of it hitting the pole, so after going to check the Instant Replay, the umpires ruled it foul, and Sabathia finished off McLouth with a strikeout. The Yanks would strike again in the bottom of that inning, an Ichrio Suzuki double to the wall in front of the Yankee bullpen brought home Jeter and gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead. There would be more Yankee bat-awaking. Curtis Granderson, another candidate for worst Yankee hitter this postseason, finally connected on a pitch and blasted it to the second deck in right that now had the Yankees up 3-0 with CC Sabathia in complete control. The Orioles finally made it interesting in the top of the 8th after Matt Wieters lead off with a single. Manny Machado took a walk next, but Sabathia was able to come back from a 3-1 count to strikeout Mark Reynolds. The official Sabathia-killer, Lew Ford, came up next and singled under the diving glove of Jeter to bring home the first Oriole run of the night. Andino was next and he chopped an infield single that Sabathia wasn't able to field smoothly, and his throw to second to nail a runner was too late. So the bases were loaded and the Orioles trailing 3-1, with their best hitter of the series, Nate McLouth, batting. This is where Sabathia got into ace-mode; he struckout McLouth, then got Hardy to ground out to short on a fantastic running throw by Jeter. The threat was gone and Sabathia was back out on the mound for the 9th inning with Soriano taxed from the previous two nights, and Game 1 of the ALCS looming the next day. There was no threat this time from Baltimore and CC sat them down 1-2-3 in the 9th for a complete game 3-1 Yankees victory to send them into the next round.



            For two teams with big offensive weapons, it came down to very stingy pitching (with the help of batters on both sides being cold as the chilly October weather), but one team had CC Sabathia and the other team didn't. It was good to see Girardi/Cashman stand up and admit finally that A-Rod isn't a superstar  player anymore through the moves they made pinch-hitting for him, but A-Rod wasn't the only bat lacking; Cano, Swisher, Granderson, and Teixeira really need to wake up during the next round or else the Yankees will not be going to the World Series....

Getting the grit back

             The Oakland A's have been one of the hottest teams in baseball after the All-Star break and greeted the Yanks on their last visit to the Oakland Colosseum with a miserable four-game sweep. When the Yanks saw their schedule at the beginning of this season, the match-up must have appeared to be a breeze to help close out the season, but now playoff implications were on the line with Oakland a possible threat for a Wild Card spot if in case the Orioles knock the Yanks out of the AL East crown, which is too a strong possibility.



             CC Sabathia hasn't quite been himself in 2012, and with two DL stints for a pitcher who is never on the DL, the Yankees had to be concerned they wouldn't be able to count on their ace for the remainder of the season to dominate the way he's done it before. With better control and more velocity this time, Sabathia delivered an ace-like performance with 8 shutout innings that included 11 strikeouts. Opposing pitcher Jarod Parker also went 8 inning, but unlike Sabathia, he gave up a run in the 4th inning from a Granderson sacrifice fly that brought home Swisher. With a high pitch-count and it being a save situation, Girardi called for Rafael Soriano to take the ball in the 9th. With one out, Oakland pinch-hit Brandon Moss and the lefty-hitter took a hanging slider from Soriano and sent it into the second deck in right for a dramatic game-tying homer. Soriano would get out of the inning without giving up anymore runs, but the Yankees were being put to task in extra innings where they haven't been too successful this season. Hard-throwing Oakland lefty Sean Doolittle worked the 9th unscathed and came out again for the 10th. That's when Russell Martin connected on one that went over the left field wall for a walk-off 2-1 Yankees win minus the AJ Burnett pie job after.



             The next game would start out with Ivan Nova looking to build upon his good start off the DL  facing Tampa Bay against Travis Blackey, but nearly six hours later it would conclude as one of the most unlikely wins in Yankees history. Both starters were ineffective with Nova getting slapped around for doubles for two runs in the 1st inning, only to have the Yankees score three off of Blackey, started off with a solo homer from the hot-hitting Ichiro Suzuki. Andruw Jones would later walk in the inning with the bases loaded for the third run. Nova wasn't able to get it together and was given the hook by Girardi with only on out in the 3rd after giving up a homer to Stephen Drew and then walking the bases loaded. Luckily for the Yanks, Clay Rapada was able to get a ground ball double-play to escape further damage, but an inning later Rapada allowed an RBI single to Cliff Pennington that tied the game at 4-4. In the 5th, Girardi went to the bench to replace Casey McGehee and opted for the struggling lefty slugger Raul Ibanez. The old veteran delivered for the Bombers with a bomb of his own over the right field wall that gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead.



             Derek Lowe, another aged veteran the Yankees have on the roster who hasn't looked good in a while, chipped in with 2.2 solid innings of relief, but a runner he left on base would eventually score on a Chris Carter single. From that point in the 7th inning until the 13th, the game remained tied with one rally killed after another on both sides, including some phenomenal plays in the field by Yankees first base sub Steve Pearce. Freddy Garcia, in his third inning of relief in the 13th without the services of Robertson or Soriano available, finally cracked and was belted hard for a 2-run homer by Jonny Gomes and then a massive shot to left by the dangerous Yoenis Cespedes. Justin Thomas came in to relieve Garcia, but he fared no better and let up another Oakland homer, this time it was rookie Chris Carter. Down 9-5 in the bottom of the 13th inning and the crowd in Yankee Stadium all about gone for the late afternoon, the Yankees put together an unprobable rally to tie the score!! That man again, Ichiro, lead off the inning with an infield hit. After singles from Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano loaded the bases, a wild pitch uncorked by Pat Neshek allowed Ichiro to come home for a 9-6 Oakland lead. Eduardo Nunez delivered on a sacrifice fly as A-Rod was able to move to third on that wild pitch and then scored. With Cano still on base, the tying run in Ibanez came to the plate and blasted a 2-run homer deep to right and the Yankees had come all the way back to tie it at 9-9.



              Cory Wade kept the A's off the board in the top of the 14th, and the Yankee bats but it away in the bottom of the inning. Eric Chavez lead off the inning with a single and was replaced by a quicker September call-up Melky Mesa. Jeter moved him to second on a sacrifice bunt, and Oakland ended up walking Ichiro (can't blame them) to put runners on first and second with one out. The next batter, Rodriguez, singled to center for what looked to be the game-winning hit, but rounding the base at third Mesa missed the bag and had to go back. Cano came up next with the bases now loaded and weakly grounded to the pitcher who threw home to force the out. When it seemed this game would never end, Eduardo Nunez finally brought it to a close with a sharp grounder to first that Brandon Moss had trouble fielding cleanly, and fittingly, Ichiro scored the game-winning run. The 10-9 Yankees win took 5 hours and 44 minutes to complete, with a total of 18 pitchers and 29 position players used for both squads. The win brought the Yankees to a season-high twenty-five games over .500 and it was another walk-off win to pay back the A's with from the heartbreak in Oakland.



              With seven wins in a row under their belt, the Yankees were looking for number eight that would give them the sweep against Oakland and serve as their second consecutive sweep after dispatching the Blue Jays earlier in the week. Hiroki Kuroda got the call for the last game, and like Nova, was very sharp. Without a strong bite on his slider, and with the help of a blown call by the first base umpire, Cliff Pennington slapped a 2-run homer to right that increased Oakland's lead to 3-0 in the second inning after they already scored one in the first. Yankee players and coaches were barking early too at the home plate umpire for his low and wide strike zone for A's starter A.J. Griffin, but by the 5th inning the Yankee bats did the talking. Nick Swisher got it started with a 2-run homer, and then later in the inning the resurging Raul Ibanez doubled in Granderson to tie the game at 3 all. The game-winning hero from the day before, Eduardo Nunez, grounded out to second that allowed Russell Martin to score for a 4-3 Yankees lead. Again, the Yankees had fought back against adversity, but this time it would be Oakland that would squeak away with a win. Kuroda was never able to find his groove and gave up runs in the 5th and 6th from RBI singles by Cespedes and Pennington respectively. It stayed 5-4 Oakland and in the 9th Oakland manager Bob Melvin went with veteran Grant Balfour for the save. The closest the Yankees came to tying it was a drive by Alex Rodriguez deep to right field that had the crowd ready to explode, but Josh Reddick planted himself in front of the wall and caught the ball anti-climatically in his glove. Cano looked at a called third strike to end the game and the sorely-needed winning streak had ended.



            Although the Yankees didn't get the sweep, they showed some swagger in gutting out two walk-off wins against one of the hotter teams in baseballs, something that should help their chemistry as the tight race with the Orioles for the AL East continues with the Yankees clinging to a one-game lead. Next up, the 88-64 Yankees send Andy Pettitte out for his next test in the spacious Minnesota Twins ballpark....