Well, that’s sorta what he’s saying…via a GQ Interview with a hat tip to Deadspin -

A-Rod famously wants badly to be liked, too. Why do you think it messes with his head on the field when it doesn’t seem to mess with yours?

[Giambi:] You gotta learn how to compartmentalize what goes on, on and off the field. There’s also a big difference, I think, when you’re the best player in the game. There’s a different responsibility than getting to be the fun-loving Frank the Tank that I am. When you’re the best player in the game, they want you to be this person—like, the uniform fits perfectly, you say the right thing, you do the right thing. But when you’re Superman you gotta be not good at something, or else you’d be a robot. I guess that’s his little kryptonite, you know?

Did he call you to ask for advice about how to deal with publicly admitting that he used steroids?

[Giambi:] He didn’t call me, but I think Al is gonna learn a lot about himself and come out of this great. I know it made me a lot better. Hopefully he’ll bounce out of this.

As you said, a lot of fans and reporters today look at you with admiration, even if they didn’t at the time. And evidently they see A-Rod as having done the opposite. In what way do you think he could have handled it better?

[Giambi:] Such a tough question. The way I did it was best for me. In my opinion, he did the right thing. He did the hardest part, which is coming forward and saying he did it.

In their clubhouse exposé, The Yankee Years, Joe Torre and Tom Verducci report that you approached Torre at one point and told him, regarding A-Rod, “Skip, it’s time to stop coddling him.” What made you say that?

[Giambi:] I don’t think anybody had ever been real with him. When you’re a superstar, everybody tells you what you want to hear. I know, in my life, sometimes it’s just nice for somebody to be honest with you, like, “Okay, you [bleeping] stink right now. Now what are we gonna do?” I know what it was like when I struggled that one year, and maybe that was my wake-up call. They said they were gonna send me to the minors. Somebody was [bleeping] real with me and said, “Listen, you’re [bleeping] struggling, you [bleeping] right now, let’s get it going!” And then I took off. So that’s why I said that.

Yeah, I know, I know…

“…but A-Rod has won two MVPs during his five years in New York and he’s been the best hitter on the team in three of those five years…”

Yet, his former teammate, Jason Giambi thinks that Alex’s pressing is his “kryptonite” and that no one has “ever been real with him” in regard to his issues. Interesting, huh?

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Via Kat O’Brien -

The Yankees had a wind study commissioned before construction of the new Yankee Stadium, general manager Brian Cashman said yesterday. But he said there was nothing in the study that indicated the ball might fly out to rightfield the way it has.

“They didn’t indicate anything about rightfield the way they’re talking, the way it’s playing right now,” Cashman said. “I can tell you that.”

Cashman did not want to get into great detail about the wind study. However, he said that most questions surrounded leftfield.

“There was nothing in the study that indicated the ball would be jumping to rightfield,” Cashman said. “There was a curiosity about leftfield, to be honest, over time, once the old stadium came down, whether that would have an effect or not on the balls carrying to left. But nothing to rightfield. There was no indication that this [stadium] would play any different than the other ballpark.”

I wonder if the party who did the new Stadium study was the same one who provided the scouting reports on Jeff Weaver, Javy Vazquez, Carl Pavano, and Kei Igawa?

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Before the rain came today, the Yankees starting rotation over the next few days, with the assumption that the team was going to skip Worm Killer Wang’s next start, appeared to be as follows:

Mon 4/20 v OAK – Pettitte
Tue 4/21 v OAK – Sabathia
Wed 4/22 v OAK – Chamberlain
Fri 4/24 @ BOS – Burnett
Sat 4/25 @ BOS – Pettitte
Sun 4/26 @ BOS – Sabathia

But, now, with the rain out of tonight’s game, the Yankees rotation will be as follows:

Mon 4/20 v OAK – No Game
Tue 4/21 v OAK – Pettitte
Wed 4/22 v OAK – Sabathia
Fri 4/24 @ BOS – Chamberlain
Sat 4/25 @ BOS – Burnett
Sun 4/26 @ BOS – Pettitte

However, wouldn’t it make more sense to also skip Joba Chamberlain’s turn now as well? Aren’t the Yankees looking to somewhat limit his innings this season? Also, think of it this way: Would you rather throw Chamberlain, Burnett and Pettitte against the Red Sox, or, would you want to throw Burnett, Pettitte and Sabathia?

Me? I want to start Sabathia in that Boston game, over Chamberlain. That’s why CC gets the big bucks, no?

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Oh, why not, it’s a rainy Monday night in Yankeeland…party on dudes!

(more…)

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Gina Cherundolo at AccuWeather.com has an interesting look at how the shell of the new Yankee Stadium and the angle of the seating therein could have an effect on wind speed across the field – creating a jet stream for homers. (Hat tip to BBTF.) Click here to see Cherundolo’s feature on this item.

If true, maybe the Yankees can install some fans around the park to counterbalance the winds? After all, there’s plenty of empty spots along the field level of the Stadium where there should be fans, right?

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To watch SNY.tv’s New York Baseball Today, which features a rotating panel of experts, click play below:

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Today’s wild thought: Are the New York Yankees becoming the Texas Rangers? Here’s where the two teams do have some connections:

1. The Yankees have A-Rod, and all the trappings (good and bad) that come with him, whereas the Rangers used to have A-Rod (before he came to New York).

2. The recent post-season history for both teams consists of early exits during the ALDS.

3. Lately, in the last five years or so, the Yankees have experienced some major individual starting pitcher disappointments. And, we know that the Rangers have been trying to find decent starters for years.

4. When the Rangers got their new ballpark, it turned out to be a launching pad for homers. And, it’s starting to appear that the Yankees new stadium is a homer haven.

Are these connections just a coincidence? Or, have the Yankees become the Rangers of the east? What do you think?

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As mentioned last week, each Monday I’m going to do a quick post looking back at “the week that was in Yankeeland” and comment on something that stands out the most from that time period (for me).

What stands out the most in my mind, this past week, is that the Yankees went 4-3 – but, it could have been much, much, worse than that. Let’s look at each game:

• Last Monday, lost, getting whipped, 15-5
• Last Tuesday, won, thanks to A.J. and D.J., 7-2
• Last Wednesday, won, barely, 4-3 – squeaking by via one run
• Last Thursday, lost, getting whipped, 10-2
• Last Friday, won, barely, 6-5 – squeaking by via one run
• Last Saturday, lost, getting whipped, 22-4
• Yesterday, Sunday, won, 7-3 – but it should have been a “barely, squeaking by via one run” thing if not for Shin-Soo Choo playing a third out into a 3-run double

Therefore, in total, the week that was in “Week 2″ for the Yankees was three whippings, two games barely won, another that should have been a barely won if not for a gift, and one clean win. That’s not a stellar week. But, hey, better lucky than good, right?

As it is, the Yankees start “Week 3″ just 2.5 games back of the first place “10-4″ Toronto Blue Jays. While that’s not great news, it’s a lot better than being five games back…and in last place.

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Four years ago from today, I started writing this blog. And, if you would have told me, back then on ‘Day One,’ that WasWatching.com would be where it is, today, I never would have believed you.

It’s amazing what can happen over a period of 1,461 days.

To this day, over all that time, one of the greatest things that I receive from doing this blog is the feedback, from so many readers, where folks share how much they enjoy WasWatching.com. Hearing that never gets old.

Granted, I’ve also seen a few comments, here and elsewhere on the internet, where some have expressed that they do not enjoy this blog because they perceive me to be too critical of the Yankees organization and/or their players. And, when these comments are brought to my attention, it’s somewhat disheartening.

However, it’s only unsettling because the parties making these comments about my blogging have chosen to solely focus on some commentary where I may have expressed an opinion that differs from their own opinion (on a person and/or topic), ignoring all the other times where I may have written something that they may have found favorable, and then decided that I’m ‘terrible’ or a ‘hater’ because I’ve expressed something that doesn’t march in step with the tune that they prefer to play in their head.

I find it sad that some, when another party expresses an opinion different from theirs, will put on blinders and then feel compelled to attack a party who doesn’t hold the same beliefs as them.

But, that’s the nature of the beast, I suppose? The history of the world is full of examples of how this happens all the time. Why should the internet be any different? Heck, it’s even easier here – because you don’t have to show your face or share your real name.

Plus, I’ve found these negative comments to be tied to a small group of people, probably less than a dozen, who frequent several different websites, using several different ‘handles’ (or usernames). And, I know that those who enjoy this blog greatly outnumber those few with complaints about what I’m offering here. So, looking at the whole picture, I know what I’m doing here is valued by the vast majority of my readers. And, to those who are fans of WasWatching.com, I want to say “Thank you.” I appreciate your interest in my work. I expect ‘Year Five’ here to be much like it’s always been at this blog.

Hopefully, it will be a banner season for the Yankees in 2009 – where all the team’s wildest dreams come true. And, we can enjoy it, together, at WasWatching.com.

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Yikes…for a few innings there, it looked like Carl Pavano might pitch a no-hitter against the Yankees! Now, if that had happened would that be worse than losing 22-4 the day before? Yeah, I think so…

Strange game for A.J. Burnett. On the plus-side, he went 6 1/3 IP allowing just 3 hits and 3 runs. However, he only struck out two and he walked seven. What was up with Sabathia, Chamberlain and Burnett in their last starts? Combined, the three pitched 16 2/3 innings and walked 17 batters. That ratio is not going to work for too long. Then again, yeah, I know…Dave Eiland is busy trying to fix Worm Killer Wang at the moment…and, one problem at a time, please…

The ‘Sado pinch-homer today was huge. Was it a homer? I watched all the replays that they showed on YES, and, to me, the umpires made the right call. At the worst, in my opinion, if there was no fan messing with the ball, then it hits the top of the wall and skips into the seats – and that’s a homer. And, perhaps, again, in my opinion, if there are no fans there the ball just sails over the top of the wall and lands in the first row for a homerun. But, I didn’t see anything that would have suggested that the ball would be caught or stayed in the park, if there were no fans there. So, touch ‘em all, Jorge Posada, this Bud’s for you!

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Via the Sun-Times’ Joe Cowley with a hat tip to BBTF:

Nick Swisher spent one forgettable season on the South Side.

But that should have been plenty of time for the New York Yankees outfielder to figure out that taking any sort of slap at White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen — as small as it may be — is a no-no. Because Guillen always will get in the last word.

A Q&A with Swisher that ran in the New York Post was brought to Guillen’s attention Sunday. In one segment, Swisher was asked about his new teammates and his new manager, Joe Girardi.

‘‘Never want to play for anybody else,’’ Swisher said. ‘‘There’s just something about him, man. He brings everybody together. Best manager I ever played for.’’

Acquired from Oakland before the 2008 season, Swisher had a rough year with the Sox, losing his starting job in the final few months and becoming noticeably pouty. He was traded to the Yankees over the winter.

‘‘I hope Girardi is a better manager than me because he manages the New York Yankees,’’ Guillen said. ‘‘He manages one of the biggest sports teams on the earth. I hope [Swisher] gets along with him. Things didn’t work out here for him, but it seems that when somebody leaves this ballclub, they find a better manager.

‘‘That’s part of the game. That’s the way it is. That’s the way Swisher is. Things work out for him good, everyone is great. That [stuff] doesn’t work out for him, it’s someone’s fault.’’

Now, we know that Ozzie Guillen has no class. So, while the Yankees don’t face the White Sox until the end of July, and that’s three months from now, this could get interesting later – as we know Ozzie likes to order his pitchers to throw at people.

Then again, Nick Swisher is presently 2 for his last 14 with 5 strikeouts. So, if Swish continues down this road, like he did last year, then Nick may not even be in the Yankees picture come the end of July.

In any event, for now, in Yankeeland, the biggest Swisher worry may be that Jason Giambi is coming to town and there’s a chance that one of the Yankees next few games may get rained out. Remember back in May of 2006 when, as members of the A’s, Nick Swisher and Joe Blanton spent $1,000 in one night on vodka at a club in New York City? Can you just imagine what would happen if Swisher and Giambi found themselves hanging out at the same watering hole next week? Sounds like a TMZ moment in the making…

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Including an exhibition set against the Cubs, there’s only been a handful of games played at the new Yankee Stadium, to date. Yet, it seems like baseballs are flying out of the new ballpark in the Bronx. Wondering about this, on April 18th, as the Cleveland Indians were pounding the Yankees in the House that Stein Built, I dashed off the following question to Greg Rybarczyk who runs the website Hit Tracker and who knows a thing or two about homeruns, park factors, and such:

The homeruns have been flying out of the new Yankee Stadium, especially to right field, albeit over just a few games. I was wondering if you’ve done any analysis on this, or had some thoughts on it, that you would be willing to share?

Much to my pleasure, Greg Rybarczyk responded with the following:

I have been watching the balls fly in the Bronx, and while what the Indians are doing today is far beyond anything I expected, I did expect more home runs in right field at the new park, due to the shorter fence in that direction. However, there is another factor that I am tracking that I think is at play as well: the ball in use this year in MLB seems to be slightly livelier than the ball used last year or in other recent years.

As for the fence differences, I can best explain that by showing a diagram.
[Click on the thumbnail below to enlarge it.]

I created this by using actual prints from the new stadium, and by using high resolution satellite photos for the old stadium. You may have heard that the dimensions at the new park are the same as the old park, but that is not strictly true. In certain spots the distances are the same or similar, but there are significant differences in the fence line. As you can see in the diagram, most of right field is shorter in the new park, by as much as 9 feet, but more typically by 4-5 feet (the blue dotted lines in the corners are scale markings that are 4 feet apart.) In center field, the new park is actually a bit deeper, and in left field, the parks are very similar. From some analysis I’ve done on home runs, these differences would tend to increase home runs overall, and particularly in middle-to-lower power hitters.

The fence distances are not the only difference: in a few places, the fence is shorter (particularly the right field corner). A typical conversion factor for fence height to distance is that lowering a fence by 1 foot is roughly equal to moving it 0.84 feet closer to home plate. So, with the right field fence being a couple feet shorter in the new park, this is like moving it in a foot and a half or so. Minor, but I thought I’d mention it.

The possible lively ball is something I’ve been tracking by looking at average weather-neutralized home run distances. Let me explain that before I go on. I have tracked all home runs for the past three seasons, and for each, I have noted the altitude and weather that each was hit in. After figuring out how far a given home run actually flew (I call this “true distance”), my Hit Tracker program allows me to adjust the altitude and weather to a standard set of conditions and see how far the ball would have gone. I call that “standard distance”. The idea is that a home run hit in Coors Field, or a home run hit on a 100 degree day in Arlington, Texas, or a home run hit into a strong wind at Wrigley Field, can all be compared by taking out those atmospheric influences and comparing their standard distances.

So, very early this season (actually on the second full day of games), I had already noticed that balls were seemingly flying farther than they usually do, so I checked my numbers, and noticed that the standard distances of all the home runs around MLB were a lot longer than those hit in 2008. Since then, I’ve continues tracking this, and what was little more than a feeling and some numbers off a very small sample size have become a lot more compelling: the first 350 home runs this year are flying, on average, about 6 feet farther than last year. The likellihood that such a difference could come about by chance is exceedingly low, less than 0.0031% the last time I ran the stats on that. I’ve tried to come up with some other possible ways that league-wide homers could be flying so much farther, given that the weather is already factored out, and the ball is the most likely explanation.

Now, if these numbers wre happening in isolation, I’d be more cautious about theorizing on this, but we are at 2.26 home runs per game (a high rate considering it’s April, the coldest month of the year on average), and on the observation side, my own eyes (which have watched every one of the more than 15,000 home runs hit in the last 3 + seasons) tell me the ball is carrying farther, and lots of announcers (who also see a lot of fly balls hit) are saying the same thing. (You might also want to check out this thread from the “Book Blog” regarding the possible lively ball.)

So, according to Greg Rybarczyk’s research, it should be easier to hit homeruns in this Yankee Stadium – compared to the last one – as a result of the way the outfield fences have been set up in the new park and perhaps also because of the balls being used (everywhere in baseball today). Reading this, I asked Greg this follow-up question:

How many games should we be looking at, in terms of games played at the new Yankee Stadium, to reach a point where we’ll know for sure if it’s the park, the ball, or some combination of both?

To this, he replied:

As for how many games, it’s hard to say exactly, as different people have different thresholds of “certainty”, but I would think it would be a good idea to get at least a couple of complete runs through the Yankees rotation before you can say anything for sure, as you would want some confidence that it isn’t just bad outings or maybe injuries affecting the pitchers. Also, that should give a better cross-section of weather conditions, whereas the first few games might be influenced a lot by a common period of wind/temperature…

However, like anything, the amount of time you need to discern an effect depends on the magnitude of the effect, i.e. the bigger the underlying effect, the sooner it becomes apparent. So, if we go another week with 4-5 homers a game, several of the “questionable” variety, that would push our certainty up considerably…

Very interesting stuff, huh? We’ll have to give this a little more time…say…until the middle of May…to be more sure. But, again, based on what Greg is sharing here, it looks like we should expect to see more homers hit in this Yankee Stadium than we saw in the last one.

My thanks to Greg Rybarczyk for providing this information and for allowing it to be shared here. If you haven’t checked out his work at Hit Tracker…well…you should check it out – and bookmark the site. Greg’s doing incredible work there and it’s a wonderful service for all baseball fans – as it’s cutting-edge, entertaining and educating.

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Chien-Ming Wang has made three starts for the Yankees this season and has allowed 7+ earned runs in all three of his starts. This now gives Wang eight starts in his Yankees career where he has allowed 7+ ER in the start. Via Baseball-Reference.com’s Play Index Pitching Game Finder, here’s the list of other Yankees pitchers, since 1954, to have 8+ starts for the Yankees where they have allowed 7+ ER in the game:

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Andy Pettitte       21  Ind. Games
 Orlando Hernandez   11  Ind. Games
 Ron Guidry         10  Ind. Games
 Roger Clemens      10  Ind. Games
 Mel Stottlemyre      9  Ind. Games
 Mike Mussina        9  Ind. Games
 Tommy John        9  Ind. Games
 Bob Turley          8  Ind. Games
 David Cone          8  Ind. Games

But, there’s a catch here:  Chien-Ming Wang has made just 98 starts in his Yankees career – including today.  So, this begs the question:  How many Yankees pitchers, since 1954, have made 8+ starts for the Yankees where they have allowed 7+ ER in the game within the first 100 starts that they’ve made in their career?  Well, besides Wang – who made the list today – it’s just one (according to B-R.com’s PI):

                   Games Link to Individual Games
+-----------------+-----+-------------------------+
 Orlando Hernandez    10 Ind. Games

No other Yankees starter, since 1954, sans Wanger and El Duque has made more than 4 starts for the team where they have allowed 7+ ER in the game within the first 100 starts that they’ve made in their career.

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Ten days ago, I pointed out that Chien-Ming Wang has been trending in the wrong direction for the last three years. However, that doesn’t explain what we’ve seen from Wanger in his three starts, so far, this season. There’s something not right for him this year – and, whatever it is, it’s major. And, the Yankees can’t afford to keep running him out there every five days and having him only go one, two, or three innings.

At this point, New York should send down Anthony “Mike Griffin” Claggett and send Wang to the pen to be their last/long man – to pitch in blow-outs until he finds himself.

Call up Ian Kennedy. Call up Jason Johnson. Heck, call up somebody and give them Wang’s turn in the rotation. Again, it makes no sense to keep running him out there. He’s proven that he’s got a huge problem now and its ruining the entire pitching staff – with the drain it’s putting on the bullpen.

It hurts me to say this…because I like the guy…but, it has to happen: Wang to the pen and give someone else his turn…until Wang proves he’s capable of giving you 5+ quality innings in a start on a consistent basis.

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Via Marc Carig -

With the starting pitchers struggling to get deeper into games, the Yankees called up reliever Anthony Claggett to bolster a bullpen that’s quickly become depleted. First baseman Juan Miranda, called up on Friday, was sent down.

I guess this Miranda has no rights. He gets one day in the Bronx and then has his ticket punched for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Funicular the next morning…

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Matt Taibbi, over at the Men’s Journal, offers an opinion on Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman. (Hat tip to BBTF). Here’s some highlights of what Taibbi had to say:

Because objectively speaking, the job of New York Yankees general manager should be the single most failure-proof position not only in sports but in all of human society. Giving a normal, red-blooded, pattern-baldness-suffering American male access to the Steinbrenner fortune and asking him to buy 25 baseball players a year in an unregulated market is no different, in any meaningful way, from handing Sarah Jessica Parker a blank check and asking her to fill a three-bedroom apartment with shoes and dresses. And we’re not even asking her to get good deals. All we ask is that the outfits match.

[Current Yankees G.M. Brian] Cashman managed to discover the one avenue through which limitless money and power under the current Major League Baseball rules can be a competitive disadvantage. He found that if you pack your roster from top to bottom with pathologically needy, egomaniacal, paranoid megamillionaires aged 30 and up, you can more or less permanently block the development of the choice, hungry, 25- to 30-year-old talent group that serves as the core of virtually all winning baseball teams.

Brian Cashman has kept his job in baseball over the years because he is masterfully good at just one particular thing: choosing sides in exploding Yankee scandals. Back in 1998, when he was elevated to general manager at age 30 (he joined the organization as an intern at 19), the assumption was that he would be there in title and that George Steinbrenner would be the guy making all the major decisions. Which sounds like a [bleep] deal for Cashman, except that, for the next 10 years or so, he could safely whisper to his buddies in the media that all the Yankees’ bad decisions were really made by the loony man above him. (Cashman has probably shoplifted a good two or three years of extra job security just by being one of the few people in the Insane Yankee Clown Posse to always feed the ravenous New York sports press.) He’s sort of like the Democratic Party in that he has managed to convince his fans that he was actually against deals he voted for/was in on from the beginning, and vice versa. Most Yankee fans believe Cashman didn’t really want to fire the revered Joe Torre and didn’t really want to sign Japanese special-needs student Kei Igawa and didn’t really want to acquire wall-puncher Kevin Brown or anger addict Randy Johnson or Jaret Wright or José Contreras or Jason Giambi or any of the other overpriced, underperforming free agents who soiled the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium over Cashman’s tenure.

The story we’re supposed to buy is that Cashman deep down inside is really a Theo Epstein–style GM who values internal player development and homegrown pitching (just like the Democrats deep down inside were against the war in Iraq) but just hasn’t been allowed to do his thing because Steinbrenner or his equally loony sons are always overreacting to losing spring training games and forcing Cash’s otherwise steady hand.

Cashman apologists would have the world believe that every time Yankee ownership sees David Ortiz hit a home run or James Shields pitch a complete game, this poor, unassuming, numbers-crunching GM gets an angry phone call from Steinbrenner’s Florida palace (in the public imagination, a massive palm-lined subtropical resort not unlike Pablo Escobar’s lavish Medellín spread) and is ordered to immediately go forth and buy a 10-figure free agent from Scott Boras to quiet the doddering Boss’s temporary attack of Player Envy. And right then and there Cashman’s sound, fiscally conservative 10-year plan to build around Austin Jackson, Phil Hughes, and Andrew Brackman (it was Ben Ford, Ryan Bradley, and Craig Dingman once upon a time) goes up in smoke.

We seem to hear constantly from plugged-in baseball types like Fox’s Ken Rosenthal and SI’s Jon Heyman that Cash is in consideration for a GM job in a place like Washington, DC (the rumored destination in 2005) or Seattle (the rumored destination last fall), where he presumably wouldn’t be bogged down in organizational disputes and would be able to have real freedom in personnel decisions. And each time we are reminded just how much of a genius Cashman is, his wunderkind reputation still riding off the fumes of those world championships his first three seasons — championships that, in reality, were seeded years earlier by former Yankee personnel legend Gene (Stick) Michael, a man who actually considered chemistry when building teams. Interestingly, these whispers always seem to be floated just prior to Cashman signing a rich new long-term deal with the team that does bog him down in organizational disputes and doesn’t give him total personnel freedom, the Yankees.

The net effect of all of this has been to inoculate Cashman from responsibility for any and all Yankee misfortunes. It’s not unlike an athlete who lets you know before the game that his arm hurts; if he gets lit up for seven runs in three innings, you know why. If he throws a shutout, he’s a hero.

Since most know how I feel about Brian Cashman, I’ll let my past comments on him stand for the record. And, obviously, I think that Tiabbi has raised some interesting points here. How about you? What do you think about what Tiabbi has written and/or what’s your opinion of Cashman’s body of work as Yankees G.M.?

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Ever wonder what happened to Joe Morante and his banners in the new Yankee Stadium? Well, here’s a picture from Opening Day on Thursday…

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the picture.

If you look at the top of the shot, just around the middle, you can see his “Go Yankees” sign. Just doesn’t have the same impact up there as it did where it hung at the old Stadium, does it? It’s a shame. Morante’s banners had become a true staple of big games in the Bronx…

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The 2009 season is just about only two weeks old and already there’s a lot of news in Yankeeland.

Nick Swisher is bigger than Cabbage Patch Kids dolls were in 1983 and Pokémon was in 1999 – combined. A-Rod should be back ahead of schedule. Xavier Nady’s elbow has been examined by every doctor on the east coast – including Dr. Vinnie Boombatz. Joba Chamberlain and CC Sabathia each have pitched like Oliver Perez and/or Al Leiter in their last starts. Worm Killer Wang is searching for an answer. Damaso Marte is pitching like a so-so lady from Mars. Balls are flying out of the new Yankee Stadium. Derek Jeter is blasting clutch homers like it’s October or November.

Yet, with all the stuff going on with the Yankees now, the recent news on Godzilla is the one that bothers me the most. Via Jim Baumbach:

Hideki Matsui was not in the starting lineup Friday for the third time in four games because of fluid in his surgically repaired left knee, a condition Joe Girardi said will be an issue all season long.

Matsui admitted the knee might be affecting his hitting. He’s 4-for-27 (.148) and looked bad while striking out swinging in a pinch-hitting role in the eighth inning Friday.

Girardi insisted the disabled list is not an option right now but made it clear that Matsui’s status could be a, well, fluid situation from day to day. “It’s somewhat discouraging,” Girardi said, “but it’s something we’re going to have to deal with throughout the season because of where he’s at in his career with his knee.”

Matsui said he’d rather play through the discomfort than spend time on the disabled list, insisting it comes and goes rather quickly.

When Godzilla first joined the Yankees in 2003, he was less than advertised. But, he was far from terrible. And, in 2004 and 2005, Matsui was a very good player and quickly became a favorite of mine. Sadly, he had a freak injury in 2006. Still, he bounced back in 2007 and was among the four best hitters on the team that season.

Then, last season his knees started to go – and it’s still an issue now.

Based on what we hear, today, it looks like this could be the end for Godzilla. It’s a shame – because he was a good hitter and a very likeable guy. Matsui deserves a better exit than going out like the last shot out of a roman candle. It would feel so much better to see the big guy just wrecking pitchers with his bat…at least for me…for just one more year…

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Via a Ronald Blum AP report – with a hat tip to Pete Abe:

Judging by the first two games, tradition wasn’t the only thing left behind at the original stadium across 161st Street. Noise and passion have been missing, too.

The 1,800 Legends Suite seats in the first nine rows ringing the plate, which cost between $500 and $2,625 each, were more than half empty at the start of the game as dozens of waiters and waitresses filled the aisles serving those who were there. Others patrons lingered over meals on the second floor of the duplex Legends Suite Club behind home plate.

Not a single spectator was in the final 30 first-row seats down each foul line during the first inning, and only a handful of those seats were filled later, when the rest of the section was perhaps more than half full.

Just behind them, separated by a walkway and wall that resembles a moat, were padded field level seats that go for $325 as part of season tickets and $375 individually. They, too, were about half-empty.

There were many spots available in the Audi Club ($75 plus an automatic $65 prix fix meal) and the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar ($90), although the back of the bar was full. While the first row of the Bleachers Cafe seats ($125) was about two-thirds filled, the second row was nearly empty. And only the smallest of the seven party suites in right field appeared to be in use.

Other than that, the rest of the stadium was packed.

If you believe what can found on the internet, the new Yankee Stadium seats 51,000 fans – but has a total capacity of 52,325 due to standing room only tickets. But, the Yankees are not selling standing room only tickets yet – until they reportedly “are more familiar with the nuances of the building.”

That’s a reach. The reason why the Yankees are not selling standing room only tickets is because they can’t sell all their “seating” tickets now.

So, the “base” for this new Yankee Stadium now is 51,000 – in terms of top attendance. And, when you factor in that the team has not sold many of those high-priced seats, it’s going to be hard for the Yankees to draw 50,000 to a game this season. Come to think of it, unless the Yanks start selling those SRO tickets, the last time the Yankees drew 50,000+ for a game just might turn out to be the last game that they ever played at the previous Yankee Stadium.

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Hey, don’t let the “BahSTON SUBS” thing on the sign here (right) scare you. If you’ve never been to Stop Deli & Twin Donut, at 66 East 161st Street, before a Yankees game, you’re missing out. (By the looks of the sign, I’m guessing that it used to be called “Yankee Stop.” Perhaps the Evil Empire made them drop the “Yankee” part?)

In any event, Stop Deli & Twin Donut is located on 161st Street, just past Billy’s Sports Bar and before Gerard Avenue. It’s a three minute walk, tops, from the corner of River Ave and 161st Street. I’ve been going there before Yankees games for a few years now. (My buddy, John, turned me on to the place.) They have excellent sandwiches – and you can get them “to go” there in a clear plastic bag. I’ve never had a problem bringing one of their sandwich bags into the Stadium.

On Opening Day, yesterday, I ordered a “Steinbrenner Blast” which is grilled chicken, bacon, melted swiss, with roasted peppers, lettuce and tomato. It was an awesome hero – and big enough for my dad and I to split (and be full). The price? Just a tick more than what a small Pepsi would cost you inside Yankee Stadium. How can you beat that?

Again, if you’ve never tried Stop Deli & Twin Donut, I recommend it. Just make sure to walk all the way in when you do there. If you just stick your head in, you won’t see the hot and cold sandwich area towards the back of the store where you place your order. And, don’t freak if you see a bunch of cops in the place. Any time I’ve been there, before a Yankees game, I’ve seen at least four or five uniformed police officers in there. It’s not because of any trouble – more so it’s because the cops like to eat there.

I guess the members of NYPD know a good place to get some eats when they see it too.

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O.K., where was all this yesterday? Five homers and a solid 4+ innings from the bullpen? Man, that would have been sweet in the first game ever at the new Yankee Stadium. Oh, well, I guess it will have to do for the second game ever for the new ballpark in the Bronx.

The last time the Yankees hit 5+ homers in a game? That was August 1, 2007. Been a long time, huh?

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In the last Yankee Stadium, my seats were in Section 15 of the Loge. And, in the new Yankee Stadium, my seats are in Section 213 of the Main Level. So, basically, I’m sitting, roughly speaking, in the same part of the ballpark, now, as I did in the old Yankee Stadium.

And, when I say “roughly speaking,” I mean it. Here’s the deal:

When I went to see the Yankees play the Cubs on April 4th, there were a few people around me complaining that the seats in our section were “more narrow” than the old Stadium. However, since many of us were bundled up for winter that day – as there were 50 MPH winds that afternoon – I discounted that feedback, a bit. Plus, most of the lamenting was coming from the guys sitting behind me – and they were pretty fat. So, I figured maybe it was more their issue than the seats.

However, having attended Opening Day in the new Yankee Stadium, yesterday, I’m now on board with the “Hey, these seats are smaller!” crowd. Actually, there were a lot of fans in my section griping about their seats being narrower and “tighter.” I heard it from the people next to me, in front of me, and behind me.

In fact, the guy sitting directly to my left, was somewhat annoying – for a while – because of this…until he moved to an empty seat elsewhere. Several times, during the pregame and the early stages of the game, he would point out something to his buddies (on the center field scoreboard). And, because the quarters are now so tight, and the seats so small, etc., whenever he would point to the outfield his right elbow would end up right in front of my nose. Also, in the new Stadium, there’s not a lot of room when you’re on your feet in front of your seat. Several times, when someone had to pass me, they stepped on my feet or hit my drink (sitting in the cup holder).

I’ve always heard stories about how the seats in Fenway Park make you feel like sardines in a can. But, at least that park has an excuse – because it was built in 1912. This should not be happening in a $1.5 billion, brand new, baseball “palace.”

When you go to the Yankees website and look at what the team has provided in terms of comparing the seating area in the old Stadium to the new one, this is what you see:

So, the Yankees are claiming they have increased the width of the seats in the new Stadium as well as the leg room between rows of seats. Really? Well, I’ve got news for them. Based on the two games that I’ve attended so far in the new Yankee Stadium, I’m not seeing it. And, neither are many of the people sitting around me. Sounds like the Yankees are trying to sell the fans a bill of goods with this one. And, shame on them for doing that.

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The above is a nice picture, huh? It’s the National Anthem being sung before the first official game at the new Yankee Stadium today. The picture was taken at 1:03 pm ET. And…well…if it was up to the NYPD traffic cops, I may have never had a chance to take it.

As shared previously, I left my house early this morning to drive up to the Yankees game today. Traffic on the George Washington Bridge was a little slow and I ended up getting into the Bronx around 10:15 am ET.

Now, my usual plan when driving to a game is to head south on Jerome Avenue, make a left on 165th Street, then make a right on River Avenue and park in the River Avenue Garage (on River Avenue between 164th Street and 162nd Street). In fact, for today, I purchased a pre-paid parking spot in the River Avenue Garage – knowing that it was going to be a crazy day in the Bronx, etc.

So, around 10:20 am EST, I’m on Jerome Avenue, looking to make that left on to 165th Street. However, a NYPD traffic cop (who looked a lot like Lou Costello in an orange vest) had another idea. He would not allow me to make the left and insisted that I continue south on Jerome Avenue.

“O.K.,” I thought to myself, “I’ll just make a left on 164th Street instead – it’s no big deal.” But, it was a “no-go” on 164th Street – as NYPD had another cop at that light who also would not allow me to make a left from Jerome Avenue. And, he also instructed me to continue south on Jerome Avenue.

Great, now, at this point, I’m passing Yankee Stadium – and driving right into the mess/mob around the ballpark. When I got to East 161st Street, finally, NYPD allowed me to make a left off Jerome Avenue.

Now, the only problem here is that you’re not allowed to make a left, off of 161st Street, on to River Avenue (where I needed to be to reach my pre-paid parking spot). As a result, I had to continue on 161st Street, past River Avenue, and go up to the Walton Avenue crossing – in order to get over to the west-bound side of 161st Street (with the plan of taking that back down to River Avenue). Of course, it was a gridlock nightmare at the cross-over and it took a good while to get over to the other side of 161st Street.

In any event, I’m finally able to get back down 161st Street and I reach River Avenue. At this point, I’m feeling better – knowing that, once I make a right on River Avenue, I’ll soon be in the parking garage. However, at the corner of 161st Street and River Avenue is another NYPD traffic cop and he’s standing in the street – yelling at me that I can’t make a right and that I have to continue straight on 161st Street…which would put me right back at Yankee Stadium, by Babe Ruth Plaza, back in thick of the mob and fan foot-traffic, and heading west, away from Yankee Stadium and towards the Macombs Dam Bridge and Manhattan!

Now, keep in mind, at this point, thanks to NYPD and their traffic decisions, I’ve wasted close to a half-hour chaotically circling around Yankee Stadium and not being allowed to get where I need to be – and where I pre-paid to be, etc. So, I lost it. I lowered the car (driver) side-window and yelled back at the cop – saying “No. No way! I pre-paid for the lot on River Avenue. I have to go this way to get there.”

To this, the officer answered “No. You have to go straight.”

There was no way I was letting this go. And, I shouted back at him. “No. I have to make a right here. I’m pre-paid for the lot over there,” I said as I pointed to my right.

Finally, he gave up and said “O.K., make the right.”

Not wasting any time, I made the right and quickly got on line to enter the lot on River Avenue.

While on line to get in, another NYPD traffic cop came over to my car and said “You can only park here if you’ve pre-paid.” Hearing this, I looked at her, smiled, and said “No problem. I’m pre-paid.” (Wow. How many hurdles does one have to jump over to get into the River Avenue Garage?)

Being done with all this hassle, we parked the car. After quickly picking-up something to eat at our favorite deli on 161st Street, we were sitting in our seats, inside the Stadium, at 11:30 am ET. Hey, it only took us 70 minutes to get from the corner of Jerome Avenue and 167th Street to our seats on the corner of 161st Street and River Avenue.

That’s 70 minutes to travel a distance of about 3,000 feet – and about half of that time was thanks to those who are supposed to be making traffic easier around Yankee Stadium. Oh, well, at least they didn’t cause us to miss any of the pre-game ceremonies – no matter how hard they tried.

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The above is Yankee Stadium today, as Brett Gardner is leading off the bottom of the 8th inning. As you can see, by this point, most of the 48,271 fans who were there for this game had left the ballpark. Hey, it was that kind of day…in the end.

Sabathia threw too many pitches in the innings he was able to work – or, the Indians made him throw too many pitches…take your pick. Cliff Lee had a great game plan for facing the Yankees batters. And, Jose Veras and Damaso Marte pitched as poorly as a professional pitcher could pitch – earning themselves the lifetime label of being the pitchers who ruined the first official game, for their team and the fans of their team, in the new Yankee Stadium.

Yeah, I suppose that some may want to say that…if Sabathia goes deeper into the game, then things are different. Or, if the Yankees scored more, it would be different. Or, if Joe Girardi handled his pen another way, it would be different. And, it’s not fair to pin this all on Veras and Marte.

However, there will never be another “first game” for this new Yankee Stadium. It’s done. This contest in now in the books for perpetuity. And, when people look back at this game, and notice that it was a putrid performance for the Yankees and their fans, the names Jose Veras and Damaso Marte will stand out the most. That’s just the way it’s going to be…it is what it is…

I’ll have more to share on today soon – including more photos and a story about driving up, etc. But, in the meantime, I wanted to get these thoughts down.

Did you see the game today? What are you thoughts on it? Please do share them in the comments section below.

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