RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling How 'bout those Yankees 2006

While the Yankees and the Tigers were finally getting back on the field in the American League Division Series on Thursday at Yankee Stadium, Randy Johnson was resting in a hotel in suburban Detroit.

The Big Unit, who has a herniated disk in his lower back, has been pronounced fit to start for the Yankees in Friday night's Game 3 at Comerica Park and was sent ahead while his teammates and opponents were stuck in town for an extra day because of Wednesday night's postponement due to rain.

Johnson has plenty of reasons to be anxious about his next start. Aside from concern about his back, the 6-foot-10 left-hander has had his share of horror games in Division Series. Johnson's career mark in the first round of postseason play is 2-7 with a 4.59 ERA in 11 appearances, including nine starts.

Certainly, Johnson wants to replace the image he left with Yankees fans last October in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Angels. In that game, he received one of the harshest chorus of boos ever beset on a Yankees player at the Stadium as he walked off the mound after having allowed five earned runs and nine hits in three-plus innings in an eventual 11-7 loss.

Yankees manager Joe Torre said that he told Johnson after the Yankees lost that ALDS that 2006 "will be a different year."

"Last year was very different for him, coming over here and starting out the way he did," Torre said Thursday, referring to an altercation Johnson had with a TV camera operator. "I still think that had some kind of influence on his personality the whole year. The perception that everybody seemed to have of him was not what he wanted it to be, and it got off on the wrong foot. He never seemed to get in step. In Spring Training this year, I thought he was very different. He was more relaxed and less guarded as far as his personality."

Game 2 losing pitcher Mike Mussina knows the anxiety Johnson, who has been in Detroit for some 36 hours, is going through. The Yankees left Mussina in Anaheim, Calif., last year in case there was a Game 5 in the ALDS against the Angels, which there turned out to be, and he started it.

"That's 36 hours," Mussina said of Johnson's time away from the club. "I waited for, like, four days. He has been preparing for this, really, for the past 10 days. Whatever it takes for him to be ready to go out there and pitch [Friday] night, that's what he will do. Since we didn't play [Wednesday] or [don't] have a workout in Detroit [on Thursday], it makes it seem like he did nothing. But I'm sure he's not just laying on the bed watching TV all day."

Johnson's back condition was diagnosed the last week of the season. He was given an epidural on Sept. 28, threw lightly the next day and had full bullpen sessions Sunday and Wednesday.

"He threw really well in the bullpen [Wednesday]," Yankees pitching coach Ron Guidry said. "That was a good sign. He got a lot of extension, and it was a lot easier than it was the time before. As far as the problem he has, the back is always going to be stiff, but I think it's something that he works through. And if he throws just like he threw in the bullpen, he should throw pretty well [Friday]."

Johnson, 43, will face Kenny Rogers, the Tigers' 41-year-old left-hander. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Friday's matchup will be the first postseason game in which both starters are in their 40s.

It will be another period of adjustment for Johnson, who has had to adjust in his two years with the Yankees to the aging process. Johnson, who was 17-11 with a 5.00 ERA in the regular season, cannot rely solely on blowing hitters away with fastballs that top out in the high 90-mph range. Guidry, a former power pitcher, has worked all year at helping Johnson adjust.

"You can throw so hard so long," Guidry said. "And there's just so many real exceptional pitches in your shoulder, your arm, whatever. So as you get older, you might lose the consistency of your pitches. It doesn't mean you can't throw the same speed-wise, you know, 95-96 every once in awhile. The thing that you lose is the ability to throw it for nine innings. You have to learn to pitch with it for maybe five, six, seven innings.

"It's an adjustment. Until you learn how to go about it fully, it's going to present a battle to you. You're really going to have to fight it. As far as RJ is concerned, that's some of the stuff that he went through this year, trying to become a better pitcher by throwing more pitches way out of the strike zone towards the outside part of the plate and not always trying to challenge guys inside. There are a lot of things you have to learn, but he's learning."

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PixieP said:
Tigers 6, Yankmees 0

Looks like NY's in big trouble now!!!

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Rob Kamphausen said:
last nights game was garbage, and today's hasn't started much better.

peejus, unmake them!

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PJP said:
I'll be cheering for the Tigers and Mets the rest of the way.

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not for me. as the yanks leave, i'm done with baseball, too. rob mama style.

plus, this gives me a great opportunity to concentrate on the jets!

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Wright hit early, Bombers offense struggles again in loss

A season of hope and promise came crashing to an ugly finish on Saturday, as the Yankees were ousted from the postseason by the Tigers.

New York dropped an 8-3 decision to Detroit, as Jeremy Bonderman dominated the Yankees' lineup, following the lead of fellow starters Justin Verlander and Kenny Rogers.

This marks the second consecutive season and third time in five years that the Yankees have been eliminated in the American League Division Series. New York, which hasn't won a World Series title since 2000, now faces another offseason of uncertainty.

Jaret Wright was hit for four runs (three earned) in just 2 2/3 innings, as manager Joe Torre yanked him before the game got out of hand. Cory Lidle appeared to calm things down by retiring the first four hitters he faced, but the Tigers struck him for three runs in the fifth, breaking the game wide open.

Before the game, Torre tried to shake things up by inserting Melky Cabrera into the lineup in left field, putting Gary Sheffield back at first base and dropping Alex Rodriguez to the No. 8 spot in the batting order.

None of it worked, though, as Bonderman came out dealing, retiring the first 15 batters he faced to record five perfect innings. Bonderman pitched 8 1/3 innings, holding the Yankees to two runs on five hits, carrying the Tigers to the AL Championship Series, where they will face the A's.

Rodriguez finished the series 1-for-14, his second dreadful postseason in a row. Last year, he went 2-for-15 in the ALDS loss to the Angels, and he was just 2-for-17 over the final four games of the 2004 ALCS against the Red Sox.

Wright retired the side in order in the first, but Magglio Ordonez put the Tigers on the board with a solo homer to lead off the second. Three batters later, Craig Monroe blasted a two-run shot, giving Detroit a 3-0 lead.

The Yankees' offense barely put up a fight against Bonderman, who threw just 31 pitches through the first four innings and 40 through five.

Detroit added to the lead in the fifth, opening the inning with two runs on four straight hits against Lidle. Ivan Rodriguez tacked on an RBI sacrifice fly to boost the lead to six runs, sending the sellout crowd of 43,126 into an orange towel-waving frenzy.

Robinson Cano broke up the perfect game with a leadoff single in the sixth, but the Tigers tallied another run in the bottom of the inning.

The Yankees finally put a run on the board in the seventh on Hideki Matsui's RBI fielder's choice, but Bonderman avoided a potential rally, getting Cano to fly out with runners on first and second. Jorge Posada added a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth.

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MisterJLA said:
Yanke$$

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PJP said:

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PixieP said:
Tigers 6, Yankmees 0

Looks like NY's in big trouble now!!!

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did your boyfriend Joe Mama tell you to say that?

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I find your anger delightful.

All comments and/or jokes about the Yankees aside, let me ask the resident Yankee fans a question: what now? Which free agents do they keep, which do they let go? How does the outfield line up? Does the long-rumored A-Rod trade happen after yet another poor postseason performance? Which free agents do they go after? What do you see for this offseason?

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Joe Mama said:

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PJP said:

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PixieP said:
Tigers 6, Yankmees 0

Looks like NY's in big trouble now!!!

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did your boyfriend Joe Mama tell you to say that?

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I find your anger delightful.

All comments and/or jokes about the Yankees aside, let me ask the resident Yankee fans a question: what now? Which free agents do they keep, which do they let go? How does the outfield line up? Does the long-rumored A-Rod trade happen after yet another poor postseason performance? Which free agents do they go after? What do you see for this offseason?

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I have no anger....none whatsover. If the Red Sux the scum of the Earth were in it maybe...but no anger towards anyone else. I'mm looking forward to the rest of the playoffs.

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PJP said:

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Joe Mama said:

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PJP said:

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PixieP said:
Tigers 6, Yankmees 0

Looks like NY's in big trouble now!!!

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did your boyfriend Joe Mama tell you to say that?

---

I find your anger delightful.

All comments and/or jokes about the Yankees aside, let me ask the resident Yankee fans a question: what now? Which free agents do they keep, which do they let go? How does the outfield line up? Does the long-rumored A-Rod trade happen after yet another poor postseason performance? Which free agents do they go after? What do you see for this offseason?

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I have no anger....none whatsover. If the Red Sux the scum of the Earth were in it maybe...but no anger towards anyone else. I'mm looking forward to the rest of the playoffs.

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PJP said:
Updated: Oct. 26, 2006, 11:22 AM ET

Report: Yankees to pick up $13M option on Sheffield

ESPN.com news services


NEW YORK -- Gary Sheffield was told Wednesday that the New York Yankees will pick up his $13 million option for next season, according to a newspaper report.

Sheffield said he was hoping to test the free-agent market and get another three-year contract, USA Today said in a story on its Web site.

"This will not work, this will not work at all," Sheffield told the newspaper. "I don't want to play first base a year for them. I will not do that."

Sheffield, sidelined from May 29 to Sept. 22 with an injured left wrist that required surgery, hit .298 with six homers and 25 RBIs in 39 games this season. He played first base for the first time in his major league career after he returned in September.

"I don't know what they're [Yankees] going to do," Sheffield said. "Maybe they picked it up just to trade me. If they do that, if I just [go] to a team for one year, there's going to be a problem."

A message was left by The Associated Press seeking comment from Sheffield's agent, Rufus Williams.

It's possible the Yankees are positioning themselves to trade Sheffield, as several teams are reportedly interested in a player of his type. The New York Daily News reported Wednesday that at least a half-dozen teams -- the Angels, Orioles, Cubs, Giants, Astros and Rangers -- are in the market for a power-hitting corner outfielder, and that doesn't include the Red Sox and Mets, who could also use the help. The Yankees can now prevent Sheffield from going to such rivals without getting anything in return.

One GM reportedly called Yankees GM Brian Cashman last week about Sheffield. "To be honest," he said, "I was kind of put off, leaving me to believe he's got at least a couple of teams really pushing him hard [for Sheffield]."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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couldn't happen to a nicer guy! Brilliant move really. Now they can trade him and maybe get a starting pitcher and keep him away from the Red Sox and Mets.