Showing posts with label NY Yankees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NY Yankees. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

From Hero to Zero

From Hero to Zero
Ca$h is King #Cano gets Bronx Cheer from Fan Faithful
By Howard Goldin
BRONX, NEW YORK, APRIL 30- Robinson Cano, one of the premier players in MLB, was the center of attention at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. For the first time he made his debut with the New York Yankees in 2005, Cano dressed in the visitor’s clubhouse and wore the uniform of the visiting club, the Seattle Mariners.
Several days earlier, Cano prophesied his feelings on the day of his return, “It’s going to be weird. It’s going to feel a lot different being on the other side.” 
Cano was on the Yankee side since he signed as a non-drafted free agent at the age of 17 on January 5, 2001. Interestingly, Cano’s father, Jose, was also drafted and signed by the Yankees. After several minor league seasons, he made his big league debut on May 3, 2005.
The native of the baseball hotbed of San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic compiled outstanding statistics and received many honors during his nine seasons with the Yanks. 
The five-time American League All-Star, the last four as the starting second sacker, was a winner of the Silver Slugger five times and the Gold Glove twice. 
He has been especially effective in the last five years averaging 99 runs scored, 103 runs batted in, a batting average of .314, a slugging average of .530 and an on-base percentage of .369 per season. Cano was the winner of the 2012 Home Run Derby, and was named the MVP of the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC), leading his nation, the Dominican Republic to the championship with a batting average of .469.
Not surprisingly, his recent performances increased the interest by teams other than the Yankees to obtain the services of Cano for the future. To the shock of many and the disappointment and anger of Yankee rooters, Cano signed a 10-year contract worth $240 million with the Mariners on December 12, 2013. 
In a pre-game press conference in Yankee Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, Cano refused to be trapped by questions in English or Spanish that attempted to get him to discuss his contract negotiations or to criticize the Yankees, “I just want to move on and not talk about the past. I’m just happy to be back and see those guts again that I played with.”
Prior to the game, the new Mariner expressed hope that the New York fans would remember his nine years and react well to him “Hopefully, I’ll be treated nice by the fans.” In spite of his high hopes, he did show understanding of the psyche of partisan sports fans, “I know I’m not a Yankee anymore. I have to understand the reaction of the fans.”
Loud boos were heard after the mention of his name in the pre-game introductions. Those jeers paled in comparison to the negative reception he received when he walked to the plate for his first at bat. The booing did not cease until Cano took a third strike which was cheered. 
The Seattle second baseman struck out again in the eighth, but drove in a run in the fifth with a ground ball out. He got an infield single, stole a base and scored in the seventh. 
The game is now behind him, so hopefully the fans can concentrate on rooting for the success of their team rather than for someone’s failure.

Friday, April 11, 2014

One-Two Punch Sox Boston

One-Two Punch Sox Boston
Pitching, Hitting Takes Out Red Sox
By Howard Goldin
BRONX, NEW YORK, APRIL 11- Michael Pineda made his second start of the year and his first at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night. His start on April 5 at Toronto was his first since September 21, 2011. His last victory in the majors came on July 30, 2011. A serious shoulder injury and surgery kept him out of the majors for the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
In each of his starts this month, Pineda pitched six innings and gave up only one earned run. He was given the loss on April 5 because the Yankees were shut out. The situation was different five days later. 
Yankee batters managed more than one hit in only two innings but made those hits count. Jacoby Ellsbury was safe on an error to begin the fourth frame. Carlos Beltran followed with a single to right, his fourth hit in the last two games. Ellsbury scored the first run in the game as the next batter, Brian McCann, broke a 0 for 14 streak with a run batted in single. McCann spoke about the hit, “I found a hole. I really needed that hit.” The second run crossed the plate on a double play on Alfonso Soriano.
The Yanks scored their final two runs in the next inning. With one out, Dean Anna hit his first major league home run. The 27 year-old was acquired from the San Diego Padres in a trade on November 20, 2013. The native of Illinois made his major league debut on April 4. He said, “Words can’t explain it.” He then tried to, “It feels really good to hit a home run at Yankee Stadium against the Red Sox. He [Buchholz] threw a change-up [and] I hit it well.”
Asked if he felt like giving up after playing 554 minor league games before reaching the majors, the infielder remarked, “You just have to keep your head down and work, work, work.”
The second run scored that inning was by Derek Jeter, who doubled with two out. Jeter was driven in by a single from Ellsbury, in his first game against his former team. In a pre-game press conference, the new Yankee commented that playing for both the Red Sox and Yankees was “pretty special.”
The only Boston run was scored on a seventh inning lead-off homer by Daniel Nava.
The four runs for the Yankees were more than sufficient for the win because of Yankee pitching. Pineda’s six inning performance was impressive. He gave up one run and four hits, walked two and fanned seven. 
Yankee skipper Joe Girardi was pleased, “He pitched extremely well. He mixed his pitches, location was really good, he had command of the strike zone. We’re glad to have him back.”
David Phelps, the reliever who got the save with an outstanding 2.1 innings on the mound, also praised Pineda, “He [Pineda] did a great job carrying us. He keeps guys off balance.”
Girardi also gave credit to Phelps, “Outstanding performance on his part, got huge outs for us.”
CC Sabathia (Yanks) and Jon Lester (Red Sox) will be the starters of the second contest of the big rivalry on Friday night.