Jane Heller

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

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Sweep!

August 9, 2018

A four-game sweep is especially sweet, but honestly the White Sox aren’t a very good team and if the Yankees hadn’t swept them I would have been really pissed off. (Why, oh why, couldn’t we have swept the Red Sox. Sob.)

Lance Lynn was a nice surprise, taking Sonny Gray’s spot in the rotation, and Gray did a nice job in relief filling in for Lynn.

Severino, while not dominant, pitched much better in his start last night. None of the pitchers has gone particularly deep into games, but that’s what bullpens are for. Which brings me to Chapman. I hope he enjoyed his night off last night, because we’ll need him down the stretch. He looked wretched the other night.

Good for Stanton on his first grand slam as a Yankee. And Andujar, despite his fielding woes, has hit well.

Texas is another team the Yanks should beat. We’ll see……

 

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Rangers, White Sox, Yankees

A Series Win and a Huge Yankees Loss

September 8, 2017

Taking two of three against the O’s was great, and we could/should have won the middle game too if not for Betances’s blown save. I hope the Yankees will carry the momentum into the Texas series. They seem stuck at the 3 1/2 games back of Boston mark, and I’d like to see them finally close the gap.

The huge loss I referred to above is, of course, the death of Yankee legend Gene “Stick” Michael. Here’s the obit from today’s NYT.

Gene Michael, Whose Yankee Teams Won 4 World Series, Dies at 79

By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN

Photo

Gene Michael on Old Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium in 2009. CreditJim McIsaac/Getty Images

Gene Michael, a Yankee for nearly a half-century, rising from sure-handed shortstop to general manager and building teams that won four World Series championships, died on Thursday at his home in Oldsmar, Fla. He was 79.

The Yankees reported his death on theirwebsite, saying the cause was a heart attack.

For much of Michael’s time with the Yankees, George Steinbrenner ran a revolving door that sent players, coaches, managers and front-office personnel spinning in and out of Yankee Stadium. Michael was fired a couple of times, then hired back.

As a player he anchored the infield for seven seasons for the Yankees in the late 1960s and early ’70s, when baseball’s most storied franchise went into decline. Nicknamed Stick for his slender frame — 6 feet 2 inches tall and 180 pounds or so — he was a light hitter but quick, smooth and deft defensively.

After Michael’s playing career ended, in 1976, Steinbrenner, whose syndicate had taken over ownership from CBS three years earlier, earmarked him for a future in the Yankee organization, having viewed him as a smart and hard-nosed player.

Michael had two stints as the Yankee manager and another as general manager in the early 1980s, then managed the Chicago Cubs later in the decade.

He served as the Yankee general manager again from late in the 1990 season through 1995. In that second go-round, he assembled the core of the teams that won a World Series championship in 1996 and consecutive titles from 1998 to 2000. Joe Torre, who managed those teams, was hired in large part on Michael’s recommendation.

Michael also was a Yankee coach, oversaw scouting, and in his later years was a senior adviser in the front office.

As general manager, Michael looked for young players who showed promise, a departure from Steinbrenner’s penchant for spending heavily on free agents and at times trading away budding talent.

He gained unusual autonomy for a top Yankee official after Steinbrenner was ordered by Commissioner Fay Vincent to resign as the team’s general partner and relinquish control of on-field baseball decisions on July 30, 1990 — his penalties for paying a confessed gambler for damaging information about the Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield, with whom Steinbrenner had been feuding.

Through the draft, trades, free-agent signings and retention of the most promising Yankee minor leaguers, Michael created the path putting Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, David Cone and Joe Girardi in pinstripes for many or all of those four Yankee championship teams.

Michael’s first stint as a Yankee manager came in 1981, when he reluctantly stepped down as general manager at Steinbrenner’s behest after one season in that post.

He succeeded Dick Howser, whom Steinbrenner fired after the 1980 Yankees, winners of 103 games in the regular season, were swept by the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series.

Michael reflected on his playing days when he replaced Howser.

“I realized I couldn’t hit very well — I was never very strong in my upper body; today’s players work out more — and I started to learn the game,” he told The New York Times. “Toward the end, I guess I would say I came to love baseball, or at least to know it better. I started to think about managing.”

Eugene Richard Michael was born on June 2, 1938, in Kent, Ohio. He played baseball and was also an outstanding basketball player at Kent State University, then signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization in 1957.

His survivors include his wife, Joette, two sons, two daughters and several grandchildren.

Michael made his major league debut with the Pirates in 1966 before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers sold him to the Yankees after the 1967 season.

Michael’s best season came in 1969, when he batted .272.

His baseball savvy included mastery of the hidden ball trick, which, he said, resulted in his tagging out at least four or five unsuspecting runners leading off second who assumed the pitcher had the baseball.

Michael was also a battler.

“If there was ever a team fight, the players always told me that they wanted Stick on their side,” Steinbrenner once said.

In one memorable brawl, in August 1973, Michael took on Carlton Fisk, the Boston Red Sox catcher, who outweighed him by at least 20 pounds and had the added advantage of a chest protector. The fight was touched off when Michael, at the plate, missed a squeeze bunt as Thurman Munson was barreling home from third base. Munson crashed into Fisk and the benches emptied. Michael held his own in the skirmish, in which nobody was hurt.

Michael ended his playing days with the 1975 Detroit Tigers under Ralph Houk, his former manager with the Yankees. He signed with the Red Sox after that season, but they never put him in the lineup and released him in May 1976.

He retired as a player with a career batting average of .229 and only 15 home runs.

Michael was a special assistant to Steinbrenner and a coach after that and managed the Yankees’ Columbus Clippers to an International League pennant in 1979.

“I’m not looking for somebody to say yes to me,” Steinbrenner said when he named Michael to succeed Howser. “Gene is loyal — that’s his greatest asset — but he’ll tell me if he thinks I’m wrong.”

But Michael soon fell out of favor.

His Yankees were assured of a 1981 playoff berth for topping their division in the first half of what became a split season as a result of a players’ strike. But when they had only moderate success in the second half, Michael publicly voiced disgust over Steinbrenner’s complaining.

“It’s not just now or earlier in the season,” Michael told reporters in late August. “It started in spring training. Every ballgame you lose, you could’ve done something differently.

“It’s not fair that he criticizes me and threatens to fire me all the time. I’d rather he do it than talk about it. I told him exactly that today — don’t wait.”

Steinbrenner took up the challenge, firing Michael and naming Bob Lemon to replace him on Sept. 6.

The Yankees lost to the Dodgers in the 1981 World Series. Steinbrenner fired Lemon in April 1982, then rehired Michael, who had been scouting, as his manager.

But Steinbrenner fired Michael for a second time, in August, and replaced him with Clyde King, one of his advisers.

Michael managed the Chicago Cubs from midseason 1986 through early September 1987, when he resigned, having gone 114-124.

Steinbrenner’s banishment ended in March 1993. Michael’s second term as the Yankee general manager ended after the 1995 season amid a contract dispute with Steinbrenner.

“I always had a great regard for his baseball knowledge, and secondly, how he handled the stress working for George that many years,” Torre said in a statement on the Yankees’ website. “He kept the thing afloat when George was away; he did more than that because he built a heck of an organization.”

Buck Showalter, the manager of the Baltimore Orioles, who faced the Yankees on Thursday, was hired by Michael as the Yankee manager in 1992 and became Torre’s predecessor.

In a statement, Showalter called Michael “the best baseball evaluator I ever saw.”

“Never missed on an infielder,” he added. Referring to Jeter’s time in the minors, Showalter said Michael “knew Jeter made 40-something errors, and he’s telling me, ‘This guy is going to be an All-Star shortstop.’ I’m like, ‘Really?’ He said, ‘Yeah, he’s got a little footwork issue.’ How do you project those things and then stand by them? The right kind of stubborn.”

Michael was a vice president of major league scouting for the Yankees from 1996 to 2002, then remained a vice president until he was promoted to senior adviser. He worked with the current general manager, Brian Cashman, and visited Yankee farm teams to evaluate prospects.

“Obviously statistics are used more than ever,” Michael told the publication Commerce, the Business of New Jersey, in December 2014. But turning to his reputation as an exceptional judge of talent, he added, “Numbers are important only to the degree you can blend them with what a scout has seen with his own eyes.”

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Gene Michael, Orioles, Rangers, Yankees

It’s Infirmary Time Again

June 26, 2017

The injury bug has descended for real and it couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Yankees, who were already reeling from loss after loss (with one win wedged in there just to tease us). The long-time patients of the DL are CC, Ellsbury and Bird, but the latest arrival – and it pains me to utter this guy’s name because he’s been playing so well) is Aaron Hicks. Ugh. When I read about his oblique and that he’d be out for three-to-four weeks, my heart sank. And then we have Matt Holliday and his mysterious allergy. I’d thought that was a one-time problem after he ate breakfast in Oakland. (Something in the cereal, perhaps? Like maybe he’s sensitive to almond milk; my husband is.) He got a shot of Benadryl as we all would, and steroids too, but he’s still not feeling tip top, which is odd. Allergies don’t usually last unless the allergen is still in your system. OK, I’m not a doctor, but it’s weird.

The good news was that Tanaka pitched a gem over the weekend against his countryman, Darvish, and the Rangers. The bad news was that Pineda was homer-prone yet again yesterday. The Yankees nearly crawled out from the deep hole they were in, but they went down to defeat and it was depressing.

Aaron Judge aside, this current short-handed team isn’t strong enough to win ballgames on a regular basis the way the Yanks were early in the season. And I did enjoy the winning. Who wouldn’t? I’d love to be optimistic about this road trip, beginning with the White Sox, but I fear the good times are slipping away. Someone talk me out of it.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Aaron Hicks, Matt Holliday, Rangers, White Sox, Yankees

Horrors!

June 22, 2017

The Yankees won ONE measly game in the home series against the Angels. ONE game. Tonight’s loss in the three-game finale was especially pathetic. It doesn’t matter how many homers Aaron Judge hits this season if the defense is rotten and the pitching is mediocre. The Angels are not having a good year, but you’d never know it during their games against the slumping Yanks.

What to make of all these losses? Is this the team we have, the one that’s been coughing up wins for the other side? Or is the winning team we saw early in the season the genuine article? I don’t know at this point. I don’t think even Girardi knows. Do we have guys who are hurt? Sure. Every team does. It would be great to have CC, Warren, Ellsbury and Bird back. I wouldn’t mind a lights-out Tanaka either. But as hard as Carter has been working on his hitting – and he got his hits tonight – he’s not the answer at first base. Holliday would be a better option except for one thing: he’s our DH. And Sanchez. Is he a good enough catcher? Is he? I don’t know.

Next up is Texas, another team that’s been having it rough so far. We should be able to beat them at the Stadium. Will we? I have no idea.

Signed, Frustrated in CT.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Angels, Rangers, Yankees

Two Walk-Offs Made for Exciting Baseball

June 30, 2016

Didi smiling

And Didi figured in both wins against the powerhouse Rangers. (I won’t mention the first two games in the series; they were definitely forgettable. I mean that first one with the long rain delay? Just ugly.)

On Wednesday night, the Yankees were down and out, and I was heading for bed when lo and behold they came all the way back to win on Didi’s homer in the ninth.

Today, after a brilliant start by Pineda (so good to see him throw well again, especially against such a contender), Didi tied the game with a homer and Headley came home on a walk-off passed ball (I’ll take it).

I wasn’t expecting a split with the Rangers, but maybe the two back-to-back wins will galvanize this team and propel them to play well the rest of the way. It doesn’t help that Beltran, our best power hitter, has a hammy issue or that McCann, despite his heroics during this series, is hobbled by a bum knee, or that Teixeira is being treated as if he’s made of glass or that A-Rod is hitting like a guy who’s about to be released. That said, the rest of the guys can pick up the slack, and the pitching can still get better. With a trip out west, anything is possible. They should be able to beat the Padres at the very least.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Carlos Beltran, Didi Gregorius, Michael Pineda, Padres, Rangers, Yankees

Ugly in Texas Except for Him

April 28, 2016

AP Photo/Ben Margot
AP Photo/Ben Margot

Watching Eovaldi almost throw a no-hitter in the middle game of the Yankees’ series in Arlington was a thrill. Evo has had trouble going deep into games, but he lived up to Cashman’s expectations in that one.

The rest of the series, however, was more of the same from this team: limp bats. Yes, A-Rod came back last night from his oblique injury and got some hits, but the Yankees are in last place and look like it.

Chase Headley. Why? Isn’t there a younger, more sure-handed option at third who can hit? He’s just not inspiring. But then who is right now? They can’t seem to break out of their malaise even with decent starting pitching performances across the board. Batters are stranded. The offense can’t get the big hits. Blech. And now they go to Boston? Double blech.

I was just given Legends seats for Yankees-Royals on May 11th and, aside from the fact that I don’t do cold temperatures at night and that my idea of perfect weather for Yankee Stadium is a sweltering afternoon in July, I can’t pass up the opportunity to go. Maybe playing against a really good team like the Royals will motivate the Yanks to play better. I sure hope so.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Chase Headley, Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers, Red Sox, Royals, Yankees

I’m Furious

July 31, 2015

Angry_Woman_in_Comic_Book_Styl_25804979-242x300

…And so I’m going to vent. Stand back.

As of this writing, Cashman has made a trade for a utility infielder/outfielder from the Mariners who can’t hit and has no place to play. That’s it. Woohoo. The Jays got both Tulo and David Price. The Rangers got Hamels. And our pitching staff has fallen completely apart – Pineda to the DL with arm trouble, CC to the hospital with dehydration besides which he’s awful, Nova with arm fatigue that may or may not go away, Tanaka with a mysterious inability to locate his pitches or go deep into a game. Evo is now our ace. Scary thought. And yet Cashman’s latest venture is to go after Craig Kimbrel, the Padres’ closer. Like we don’t already have a closer? Or an 8th inning guy? So the idea is to “shorten” games for the Starter To Be Determined? What nonsense.

I do get that the Yankees don’t want to give up prospects the way they would have in the old days. I also get that Price will be a free agent after the season and would have been a rental. But the Yanks have gone from a real contender to win the division to a very iffy ball club. And all because of either Hal’s tight wallet or Cashman’s incompetence. Makes me nuts.

As everyone knows, I didn’t give this team much of a shot to win anything at the start of the season, but once they put distance between themselves and other teams and were winning series and scoring runs, I became a believer in the 2015 team. But after last night’s consecutive loss to the Rangers and no trade happening, I’m mad as well as mystified. If you’re a contender, why wouldn’t you do everything possible to push your team over the finish line by acquiring a front line starter? Why? Wasn’t it Cashman who said you can never have enough pitching?

Ok, I’m done. I wish I could say I feel better having gotten this off my chest, but I don’t.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Brian Cashman, Cole Hamels, Craig Kimbrel, David Price, Rangers, trade deadline, Yankees

A Janer, People! (With a P.S.)

July 29, 2014

LaughingWomanWhen was the last time the Yankees scored 10 runs? Not lately, that’s for sure. Way more fun than watching them try to scratch out one or two and look lame doing it. I thought tonight’s game was headed for another 2-1 score, but then the Rangers showed why they’re in last place and we showed we still have a pulse.

Except….our bullpen absolutely sucked. Just sucked. Are they tired because it’s the second half of the season? Are the arms that were so effective – Warren, Bettances, Robertson, the cream of our crop – about to fall off? Seriously, I’ve never seen such a collective meltdown and Bettances, in particular, hasn’t been his All-Star self since, well, the All-Star break. If they’d thrown away that game I would have had smoke coming out of my ears. But thanks to Beltre, we ended up winning. Who needed such a tense ending? I didn’t.

As of this writing, Jon Lester seems to have been traded. By the time I wake up tomorrow morning I’ll know where he landed. The Dodgers? The Marlins? The Cardinals? The Mariners? If it’s the Mariners, I kind of might be sick. About as sick as I feel having to watch a Tuesday night game on Fox. What’s that about? It’s bad enough that they have Saturdays.

 

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Janer, Jon Lester, Rangers, Yankees

All Hail Kuroda

July 25, 2013

Kuroda

I didn’t see the game, but after reading about it I’m in awe of what Kuroda has been able to do over the last two seasons. This year he’s been especially valuable and the Yankees should give him a bonus or something. When I think back to the announcement of his signing a couple of years ago, I can’t believe I said, “He’ll never make it in the American League.” I was so wrong. The fact that he seems like such a good guy is nice too.

Still not much offense – no surprise – but enough to make the runs count. It was particularly heartening to see production from Romine, who doesn’t get all that many chances to catch and, therefore, hit.

Texas sure doesn’t have the fire power they used to in the Hamilton era.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Austin Romine, Hiroki Kuroda, Rangers, Yankees

This Offense Is Killing Our Pitchers

July 25, 2013

Photo: AP/Kathy Willens
Photo: AP/Kathy Willens

Andy Pettitte, like Phil Hughes, like Ivan Nova, hasn’t been perfect this season but then why should he have to be? He only gave up a couple of runs last night and Texas won anyway. That’s the story of most of our pitchers (CC has his own problems and Kuroda is nearly always stellar). Will getting Soriano from the Cubs really help the Yankees’ anemic offense? Maybe a little, but it’s just not fun to watch the games night after night and only occasionally see a few players actually cross home plate.

No wonder ratings on YES are down. No wonder the seats at various ballparks, including Yankee Stadium, aren’t full of bodies. No wonder jerseys that don’t say “Jeter” and “Rivera” and “Cano” aren’t selling.

Which only leaves the latest drama with A-Rod as a subject the media can sink their teeth into. He said his quad was tight. The Yankees told him not to play but to rest it and get an MRI. The MRI showed a grade 1 strain. Believing the Yankees are trying to keep him off the field forever, he got a “second opinion” from a doctor in Hackensack with a shady record and the doctor, who only looked at the MRI, not the patient, said, “I don’t see any grade 1 strain.” Which required a response from Cashman/a Yankees lawyer (the statement was written in legalese) saying A-Rod had violated all sorts of protocol.

I love a good conspiracy theory just like the next person, but I’d rather be intrigued by the play on the field. This season is turning into an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” for anyone old enough to remember that show.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Andy Pettittem A-Rod, Rangers, Yankees

Surprise: A Comeback

July 24, 2013

Photo: Harry How/Getty Images North America
Photo: Harry How/Getty Images North America

Brent Lillibridge is so inconsequential in the larger scheme of things that I couldn’t even find a decent picture of him in a Yankees uniform, but he had plenty of consequences last night, for better or worse. He figured prominently in sending Hughes to the showers and he figured prominently in beating the Rangers in the ninth inning. Go figure.

It was nice for the team to come back the way they did – a little confidence boost, I’m sure. I like Melky Mesa, by the way. He’s fast and he reminds me of Alfonso Soriano when he was young (so why do we need the old version?). And Nunez is a spark plug, no question.

It was the window against the Rangers that the Yankees had to seize with Ogando starting. The next two nights they’ll be facing tougher pitchers.

What to make of Hughes? He and Girardi may have said he didn’t have good stuff and he was pulled for Logan early, which I thought might have been premature, but he did hold the Rangers to two hits before they came alive in the sixth. And he’s still with the team. I was sure he’d be traded by now.

Comebacks are always good for the soul, so I leave it here with my friend, the laughing lady.

LaughingWoman

 

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Brent Lillibridge, Melky Mesa, Phil Hughes, Rangers, Yankees

The Cloud Overhead

July 23, 2013

A-Rod suspension biogenesis

The Yanks lost another one last night – this time to Yu Darvish and the Rangers – but all the media was talking about, once you left the sunny Ken Singleton on YES and turned to ESPN, was Ryan Braun’s plea deal for a 65-game suspension. Universal reaction was that A-Rod is next, that the evidence against him is far more damning and that he, unlike Braun, won’t go quietly. Poor Girardi. He looked exhausted in his post-game presser, not only from having to fly to Texas in the wee hours after the Red Sox game, but from having to answer questions about Biogenesis and PEDs.

The game itself was yet another source of frustration. Nova wasn’t especially sharp, but he pitched well enough to win. Chris Stewart, who’ll never been an All-Star catcher, has nevertheless been so impressive with his recent defense and last night he made great throws to second even though most of the calls when against him. The guy does give it everything he has.

Ichiro leapt for a ball in right field and crashed into the wall, making the catch, and I marveled at his acrobatic skill and athleticism. Gardner had another zillion-pitch at bat. So it’s not as if the players aren’t trying. Rumors that former Yankee Soriano is joining the team from the Cubs is moderately interesting – the idea is to bring on some home run power – but he’s not the same Sori that he was all those years ago.

Mostly, last night was about Braun and, by extension, A-Rod. The fear among the Yankees and MLB is that A-Rod will fight a suspension, fight the accusations against him, keep this thing going and going and going. Much more preferable would be for him to accept his punishment and go away. Until that happens, the cloud will be overhanging…………And then there’s Cervelli. Oy.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: A-Rod, Biogenesis, Ivan Nova, Rangers, Ryan Braun, Yankees, Yu Darvish

Joba Joba Joba

June 26, 2013

Joba champagne

Raise your hand if you thought he’d hold the Rangers in check and let the Yankees come back in this one. It just seemed inevitable that he’d cough up the runs the Yanks had managed to score to make it a ballgame. Apparently, he acknowledged afterwards, “I suck right now.” Indeed.

Strange game. That collision between Pettitte and Nix was weird and I was worried that Andy was hurt.

Ichiro gave me hope that there was a comeback in the works, but it wasn’t to be. The bottom of the ninth was a one-two-three bummer.

In the background, of course, was the news about Tex. Again, raise your hand if you thought he wouldn’t end up having surgery. His injury was too Bautista-like and we know what happened in that case. We’re lucky we have Overbay, very lucky.

As for the continuing A-Rod saga, as I predicted, Cashman apologized for his language and disputed an ESPN report that the Yankees are somehow delaying Alex’s return to the team. What a mess. But the media is more interested in the story than the players, who really just want to win games.

I’m flying east tomorrow and won’t be posting over the weekend, but feel free to leave a comment if the spirit moves. I’ll respond when I can and will resume the blog next week. See you from the other time zone!

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: A-Rod, Andy Pettitte, Brian Cashman, Joba Chamberlain, Mark Teixeira, Rangers, Yankees

If Only A.J. Had Been There….

June 25, 2013

AJ cream.jpg

I would love to have seen him apply the pie to Ichiro in what was, remarkably, the Yankees’ first walk off win of the season. Such fun. With one swing, Ichiro took care of the Rangers and put an end to a pretty cool pitching match-up.

In their pre-game comments, the beat writers were saying that with Darvish on the mound, the Yanks would have to play small ball and scratch out runs any way they could. Frustratingly, the offense couldn’t make that happen at all, not even with bases loaded and one out. But they did hit the long ball and thank God they did. Darvish wasn’t throwing his best stuff, but they managed to hit the ball into the seats and tie the score. Kuroda looked a little peeved to be pulled for Logan at 99 pitches, but it all worked out. And Mo got the win.

The Rangers don’t seem as scary without Hamilton in the lineup, but it was still a very nice “W” for the boys. Has the Z Man come back to earth? He looked it tonight, but I hope he’s not “over.”

Just a word or two about the Cashman-A-Rod kerfuffle. I get that Alex has caused the Yankees more than his share of bad PR, but Cashman didn’t need to F-bomb his tweet today. It didn’t seem to me that there was insubordination or an attempt to overstep. It was a player’s excitement at being cleared by his doctor to get back to baseball and his team. So what. Cashman should save his cursing for something that warrants it.

 

 

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: A-Rod, A.J. Burnett, Brian Cashman, Ichiro Suzuki, Rangers, Yankees, Yu Darvish

Hughes To The Rescue?

April 5, 2013

You know the Yankees are desperate when they decide to pull Hughes off the DL and have him start in Detroit tomorrow. We’ve got a thin rotation and a thin bullpen for long relief, so I guess it was the only solution. Maybe he’ll give us innings – quality innings – but I sure hope he doesn’t re-injure himself.

Speaking of injuries, I didn’t watch today’s game – Michael watched it for me – but I heard it was another ugly one. I couldn’t believe Nunez joined The Walking Wounded Club, but it sounds like he’ll be OK. Even more serious was Nova, who picked up where he left off last year. He didn’t unravel A.J. style, but he just couldn’t pitch economically. It’s been suggested that he go down to the minors and figure things out. Fine, so who takes his place in the rotation?

And then there was the lack of offense. Yes, Youkilis was the homer guy this time, but we need more than the occasional shot from one or two guys. We need to put together a bunch of runs, and we haven’t seen that from this crew.

Much more interesting on the MLB Network was the Angels-Texas game, which I did take a peek at. Yikes, those Rangers fans sure don’t like Josh Hamilton. I admit I laughed when I saw them holding the newspapers. Pretty funny, although I doubt Hamilton thought so.

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Angels, Ivan Nova, Josh Hamilton, Phil Hughes, Rangers, Tigers, Yankees

This And That

November 26, 2012

The “this” is news that the Rays gave Evan Longoria a six-year $100 million contract extension.

Very interesting, since they’re not an organization that usually hangs on to its stars and certainly not for that kind of dough. The Yankees have their own third baseman with an expensive contract, so maybe I’m particularly wary of Longoria’s. But good for the Rays if they believe their guy is the face of the franchise and for paying him to stay.

The “that” is the press release I just got about Nolan Ryan’s cookbook. Yes, you read that right.

Apparently, he’s been selling beef for a while and now he’s going to tell us how to cook our beef. From the release:

The Nolan Ryan Beef Cookbook will include 75 to 100 of Ryan’s favorite family recipes, some of which are identical to what Ryan grew up eating in his mother’s kitchen. These recipes will emphasize Texas BBQ and grilling, along with traditional Sunday Dinner favorites, but will also include roasting, pan searing, scoring, braising, and deep-frying. Never-before-told stories from Ryan’s playing days, and, more recently, from the era as CEO of the two time defending AL Champion Texas Rangers, will play a major part in the book as well.

Ryan has tested countless recipes and found the chef who understands his hunger for authentic, easy-to-prepare Texas beef dishes..Cristobal Vazquez, aka “Chef Cris,” is chef to the Ryans as well as the Texas Rangers. In addition to holding the prestigious title of Chef de Cuisine from the American Culinary Foundation, Chef Cris has won multiple awards around the country for his beef recipes.

What’s next? A vegan cookbook by Prince Fielder?

 

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Evan Longoria, Nolan Ryan, Nolan Ryan Beef Cookbook, Rangers, Rays, Yankees

No Sweep Today

August 16, 2012

It would have been unlikely to keep the Rangers’ offense in check for four games, but today’s game was winnable even with all the runs scored. I didn’t start watching until the Yankees had already tied it up, so I sat down in front of the TV thinking I might be witnessing a fun comeback.

Wrong. After the bats bailed out Nova, the bullpen gave the game away. It was not fun to see Joba, in particular, pitching like a man who can’t put hitters away. I know he’s still working his way back from the DL, but he’s so frustrating. One minute he looks like he has the stuff to get swings and misses. The next he’s nibbling. Will he ever be the kid from 2007? I don’t know.

As for Nova, I can only shrug. Yes, he was victimized by Jones’ misplay in left field, but by his own admission he’s searching for the pitcher he used to be – the one who did nothing but win ballgames. Scary.

But the Yankees won the series against a very tough team, so I’m not exactly crushed by today’s loss. As I said at the top, it was kind of inevitable.

 

Filed Under: Confessions of a She-Fan Tagged With: Ivan Nova, Joba Chamberlain, Rangers, Yankees

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Jane Heller is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her fourteen breezy, witty novels of romantic comedy and suspense are now entertaining millions of readers around the world, along with her two books of nonfiction.

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