Yankees Pound Padres, Ready for Red Sox

In the opener of their home interleague Series against the San Diego Padres, the Yankees got the runs they needed. In the middle game, they didn't quite get enough. Yesterday afternoon, in the closer, they got the runs they needed, and more.

James Paxton came off the Injured List, and was fantastic. Being cautious, the Yankees limited him to only the 1st 4 innings, but he allowed no runs and no hits, just 2 walks. Chad Green pitched the 5th inning, Adam Ottavino the 6th, Jonathan Holder the 7th and the 8th, and Nestor Cortes the 9th. Between them, the 5 Yankee pitchers allowed 4 hits and 3 walks, striking out 10.

A pitching performance like that deserves good hitting. And the Yankees gave it to them. The 1st 2 Yankee batters of the game, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit, both hit home runs. Gio Urshela hit a home run in the 2nd, and Brett Gardner got another run home with a sacrifice fly in the 5th. An error led to another Yankee run in the 6th, and in the 7th, Voit hit a triple and Gleyber Torres hit a home run.

Those last 3 runs were all allowed by two-time former Yankee, and Brian Cashman fave rave, Adam Warren.

Knock knock. "Who's there?" Orange. "Orange who?" Orange you glad we don't have Warren anymore?

Yankees 7, Padres 0. WP: Difficult to determine, because the rules say that, no matter how well the starting pitcher pitches, he does not get the win if he does not go the first 5 innings. In a situation such as this, any later pitcher may be selected, at the discretion of the game's official scorer. In this case, the selection was Holder (4-2). No save. LP: Chris Paddack (4-3).

The Yankees close this series 1 game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East, although even in the all-important loss  column.

Now, into Yankee Stadium II, here come The Scum, the Boston Red Sox. Their big story is the injury to Dustin Pedroia, which has led him to take an indefinite leave of absence. There is already concern that he may never be able to play again.

I might do a piece on whether he is already a Hall-of-Famer. Probably not. At this point, he's not the next Ted Williams or Carl Yastrzemski. More like the Red Sox version of David Wright. Except, he actually has won a World Series. (Three, in fact.) But, to hear the Chowdaheads tell it, this one injury is more worthy of reporting, and the Sox' success without him more worthy of praise, and what's happened with the Yankees, even though there are so many more injuries, and the Yankees are 7 1/2 games ahead of Sox in the standings.

As I was putting this post together, it was announced that tonight's game was postponed, due to rain. So posting the intended starting pitchers for the series would be pointless.

Come on you Pinstripes! Beat The Scum!

Yanks Get Nothing In Toronto Finale, Come Home for Huge Series With Sox

The Yankees finished up their roadtrip at the Rogers Centre last night, and did nothing against those pesky Toronto Blue Jays.

Here's all the Yankee baserunners:

* 1st inning: Aaron Judge drew a walk. Didi Gregorius doubled -- but Judge couldn't score on it, and Gary Sanchez struck out to strand the runners.
* 2nd: Garrett Cooper doubled -- but was stranded.
* 3rd: Judge hit a ground rule double -- but was stranded.
* 4th: Nothing.
* 5th: Cooper singled to lead off , and Torreyes walked -- but they were stranded.
* 6th: Sanchez walked, and Todd Frazier singled -- but they were stranded.
* 7th: Nothing.
* 8th: Sanchez singled -- but was stranded.
* 9th: Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a walk, and Brett Gardner also walked -- but they were stranded.

So that's 4 innings with at least 2 men on, and 6 innings with at least a man on 2nd -- and no runs.

Sonny Gray wasn't terrible, going 6 innings, allowing 3 runs, 2 of them earned, on 4 hits and 4 walks, striking out 6. But he got no support at all. Blue Jays 4, Yankees 0. WP: Marco Estrada (5-7). No save. LP: Gray (6-7, now 0-2 as a Yankee).

*

So the Yankees come home, 4 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League Eastern Division, 4 in the loss column, with 49 games to play. Those 4 games in hand have shrunk to 1. And the Sox come in, for a series that may well determine how the rest of the season goes in the AL East.

David Ortiz is gone, and Hanley Ramirez has disappointed this season, but it doesn't seem to matter. Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. have been hitting.

Dustin Pedroia will miss this series due to an injured knee, and there's concern that he might miss the rest of the season, which would be a big blow to the Sox if (as seems likely) they make the Playoffs. The Red Sox recently picked up Eduardo Nunez, the former Yankee whose tin glove ran him out of town.

* Tonight, 7:05: Jaime Garcia makes his Yankee Stadium in Pinstripes debut, against Eduardo Rodriguez.

* Tomorrow, 1:05: Luis Severino vs. Drew Pomeranz.

* Sunday, 8:00: Jordan Montgomery vs. Chris Sale.

The Yankees need these games. Come on you Pinstripes: BEAT THE SCUM!

Who Will Be the Next "Face of Baseball"?

Last year, it was Mariano Rivera's turn to have a "farewell tour," with every opposing team essentially giving him a "day" in his last appearance in that ballpark. This year, it's Derek Jeter's turn.

This is not generally done. Cal Ripken got it in 2001, but Tony Gwynn didn't. But even such legends as Hank Aaron (1976), Willie Mays (1973), Mickey Mantle (1968), Stan Musial (1963), Ted Williams (1960) and Joe DiMaggio (1951) didn't get such honors.

This is mainly because an athlete usually doesn't announce before a season that he's playing only one more year. Indeed, Mantle didn't announce it until Spring Training of the following year. But even when Lou Gehrig was forced to retire early in the 1939 season, he didn't get such honors, except at Yankee Stadium.

In the cases of Jeter and Ripken, it's because each, in his time, had essentially become "The Face of Baseball." These were era-defining men who had announced beforehand that they were retiring.

It could be said that, for better and for worse, Pete Rose and Barry Bonds were each the Face of Baseball in their respective times, but neither ever really announced their retirements. Rose, by then a player-manager (the last one in the major leagues to date), just sort of stopped playing. Bonds, in contrast, didn't have his contract renewed, and was essentially blackballed (if not outright banned), shut out of a game he could, through whatever chemical assistance, still play.

With Jeter gone, who becomes the Face of Baseball? If he had a serious competitor for that title these last few years, it's been David Ortiz. He fits the role for positive reasons: He's won, he's got a winning personality, and he plays in a big market. (And, let's face it, Big Papi's slobbering acolytes on ESPN and Fox Sports make New England an even bigger market than it already is.)

He also fits the role for negative reasons: He used performance-enhancing drugs, lied about it, got caught, and still lies about it. If Jeter is (as far as we know) the symbol of "clean" baseball, Ortiz is the symbol of the dark side of baseball, 2003 to the present: We know the truth, but we choose to remain in denial.


Bonds' fans, Sammy Sosa's, and, to a lesser extent, Mark McGwire's were more or less limited to their team's metropolitan areas. Because of the Boston club's exposure, Ortiz is a national figure in a way that even McGwire was not, though Jeter is and Ripken was. And, of course, while Alex Rodriguez (regardless of whether he ever plays again) has his defenders, he'll always have more haters, and with his personality, he's done himself no favors in that regard.


To be "The Face of Baseball," you need talent, results, a winning personality, and a big platform – i.e., either you play in a big market or, in spite of not doing so, ESPN and Fox Sports love you (as was the case with Ken Griffey Jr. while he was in Seattle).

It also helps to be an everyday player: Pitchers just don't generate the kind of admiration that big sluggers do. After all, as great as Greg Maddux was, he was never as popular as Ripken, Jeter or Ortiz. Even in Atlanta, he wasn't as popular as Chipper Jones. In other words, sorry, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Stephen Strasburg and Masahiro Tanaka, but you're not eligible.

Here are my top 5 candidates for Face of Baseball, late 2010s edition:

5. David Wright, New York Mets. He has the market. He seems to be a nice guy. He seems to be clean. He is, along with Darryl Strawberry and Mike Piazza, 1 of the 3 best offensive players the Mets have ever had. What he doesn't have is the results: He was 1 run away from a pennant in 2006, but that's his only trip to the postseason so far.

The Mets, desperate for fans as the Yankees dominate the market (one source even showed the Yankees more popular even in the Mets' home Borough of Queens), are unlikely to let him go to a contender. So, unless the Mets can get it together sometime in the next 7 years, he may never play in a World Series. But unless Yangervis Solarte really builds on his good start to capture Yankee fans' imagination, Wright will, at least, be the biggest baseball star in the New York Tri-State Area for a while. (If Solarte does build on it, soon, Wright won't even be the best 3rd baseman in New York.)

4. Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers. Market? Check. Nice? Check. Clean? Check, we think. Postseason success? Not yet. And he has not fully come back from his injury a year ago.

He does have the advantage over his teammate Yasiel Puig in that he's an English-speaker in an English-speaking country. If Roberto Clemente were still alive, you could ask him how difficult it is to be a baseball icon whose first language is not English.

3. Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Nice? Check. Clean? Check, we think. Market? Sort of: The Angels can change their name to whatever they want, they'll still be 2nd in Southern California behind the Dodgers. Postseason success? Not yet, but the Angels are well-positioned for that.

At 22 the youngest of these candidates, Trout might be in the best position to be the Face of Baseball in the long term.

2. Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox. Market? Check. Nice? People who aren't Yankee fans think so. Clean? As far as we know. Postseason success? Yes. And he's only 30, so, barring a medical or ethical calamity, he will replace Ortiz as the "face" of the Red Sox.

1. Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Market? Check, sort of; having played for the St. Louis Cardinals, who have inflated their "market," raised his profile. Nice? Apparently, although some in the Cardinal organization have suggested otherwise. Clean? We think so. Postseason success? Two rings in seven appearances.

Presuming that A-Rod is done, Phat Albert is the active leader in home runs, with 506 to Adam Dunn's 2nd-place 448. That's a huge plus. While he had an off-year (by his standards) last year, he's hitting again this season. And he's only 34, so he should have a few more good years left.

The fact that Pujols has veteran status and isn't "baseball old" puts him in a great position to be the kind of player who gets honored with a farewell tour. If he helps the Angels win a World Series, it's almost assured that he'll be considered The Face of Baseball after that.

*

UPDATE: How did my predictions go? Through the 2018 season, the following is true:

5. Wright did play in a World Series, in 2015, but didn't win it, and was limited by injury after that. He didn't even become the face of New York baseball, overtaken by Aaron Judge.

4. The Dodgers essentially ended Kemp's chance by trading him to San Diego for 2015, then brought him back for 2018, then traded him to Cincinnati. At 34, he's got an outside shot at the Hall of Fame, but his shot at becoming The Face of Baseball was blown for him, through no fault of his own.

3. Trout has become regarded as, along with Bryce Harper, 1 of the 2 best players in baseball, but he has never appeared in a postseason game won by his team. That's not entirely his fault, but to be The Face of Baseball, you have to win. This also excludes Harper, who's never been on a team that's won a postseason series.

2. Is Pedroia even the face of the Red Sox at this point? It could be argued that he's been surpassed by both Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts.

And therein lies a problem: Of the teams that have won the World Series from 2014 to 2018, none has one single player that really stands out. The 2014 San Francisco Giants had Buster Posey, the 2015 Kansas City Royals had Alex Gordon, Chicago Cubs fans can't seem to decide whether Kris Bryant or Javier Baez is a better representative of their 2016 curse-breakers, the 2017 Houston Astros had Jose Altuve (not exactly a big slugger) and Justin Verlander (almost certainly a future Hall-of-Famer, but a pitcher), and the 2018 Red Sox had a few players.

1. Pujols now has 633 home runs and 3,082 hits, but has slumped a lot. At 38, he's a shadow of his former self. And the Angels have been promoting Trout, so Pujols isn't even the face of his own team.

Conclusion: Since the retirement of David Ortiz after the 2016 season, baseball hasn't really had a "face."

Manny Being Brushed Back: Quit Your Whining, Sox

The negatives from last night's game: Mike Mussina didn't have control, and he didn't have guts, and he may not have much more time. Manny Ramirez teeing off again. Falling behind 7-0. Letting that twerp Josh Beckett dominate, at least for a while. The Red Sox win, 7-5.

The positives from last night's game: Getting 5 runs late, which will usually be enough, if not last night. Proving once again that they can hit Jonathan Papelbon, as big a (expletive deleted) as Curt Schilling and Beckett, not to mention a few non-pitchers on the Sox. And Kyle Farnsworth, for the first time perhaps, justified his presence in the Yankee organization by coming in high and tight on Manny.

Coming inside on David Ortiz hasn't been necessary, since he's been hitting lousy to start the season. (His first after the Mitchell Report came out. And he's lost weight to go with points and power. Things that make you go, "Hmmmm... ")

And one more positive thing: While the Yanks are around .500, they're still in a better position than they were at this point in the last 3 seasons, when they still ended up making the Playoffs, and the American League appears not to be as loaded as it's been in the last few years, so another trip to the Playoffs -- as either the AL East Champions or the Wild Card -- still looks like a good bet. Not that baseball condones betting.

The pitch was close to Manny's head. Good thing it didn't hit him in the rear end. It might have caused brain damage.

Manny was a lot calmer about this one than about the head-high -- but over the plate -- pitch that Roger Clemens threw him in Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS. But Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia was mad. Said Pedroia of Farnsworth, “He throws 100 mph. That’s career-ending if it hits him.”

I've seen enough of Farnsworth to know 2 things about him:

1. He's willing to hit guys.
2. He usually doesn't have the control necessary to do so.

Pedroia should shut his trap. I know he wasn't on the Sox roster when Pedro Martinez was, but Pedro (back then, anyway) could throw 97, and he aimed for batters' heads and hands, and didn't give a damn about their safety. He's a punk -- then, now, forever.

And there was postgame mention in certain media outlets that the Red Sox would be looking for revenge against the Yankees in the next series between them, in July.

Hold on: Boston hits A-Rod in the Wednesday game, purposefully or otherwise, and that's "part of the game." A defensible position, if not a palatable one. But Farnsworth comes up and in on Manny, not actually hitting him, and it's an unpardonable sin? An offense that must be avenged 3 months later?

As the great New York sportscaster Warner Wolf would say, "Come on, give us a break!"

If the Sox need Farnsworth's pitch to use as motivation for the July series, then we've already beaten them. In case they didn't notice, it's a Yankees-Red Sox series. If you need more motivation than beating your arch-rival, then you don't deserve to win.

The Red Sox have been throwing at Yankee hitters since a brawl at Yankee Stadium in June of the "Impossible Dream" season of 1967. Live by the sword, die by it. Not literally, but that hasn't stopped Sox pitchers from Jim Lonborg ("Gentleman Jim," my ass) to Bill Lee to Dick Drago to Roger Clemens the Pedro the Punk to Bronson Arroyo to Beckett from trying.

It's an ugly history, and when your team launches Pearl Harbor, don't go crying about fairness when we land on Guadalcanal.

There's no equivalent to Hiroshima -- at least, I hope not -- but come October, maybe September if the Sox can't make it to October, they will be signing the surrender on the deck of the Battleship Missouri.

(In all fairness, the 1967 beanball was out of character for Lonborg. As far as I can tell, he never threw another purpose pitch, and really was a good pitcher, and seems to have been a good guy. But that one time, whoa.)