Franchise Player- Babe Ruth

While there are concerns about how the Babe’s skill set would translate to today’s game (after all, he sometimes enjoyed doing a Happy Gilmore impression that likely wouldn’t translate against the Lincecums and Verlanders of the world), this is an absolute no-brainer. You know about his career totals: .342 career BA, an otherworldly .474 OBP and, of course, his 714 career home runs.

But even more impressive is the extent of his dominance over the era, when no one could even approach his gaudy statistics. From Ruth’s first season with the Yanks following his (curse-inducing?) sale from Boston to his last in 1934, he blew away the rest of the Major Leagues in almost every statistical category. Over that time span, Babe hit 659 home runs—311 more than the next closest slugger, teammate Lou Gehrig (who we shall get to very shortly). Third was Al Simmons, who at 240 career jacks fell 419 HR short of the Babe’s unparalleled greatness. His OBP with the Yankees (an eye-popping .484) was forty points higher than sidekick Gehrig, who was once again second in the league during the same era. Most impressive, his .711 slugging percentage combines with the aforementioned OBP to create an OPS that not only blows second-place Gehrig away by more than a tenth of a point, but also is the highest in the history of the game. He was, by all accounts, a player with talents far above any of his peers, the proverbial “man amongst boys.” Perhaps that’s why he was able to get by on a training regiment fully sponsored by Sabrett and Anheuser-Busch.

Sabermetrically, the Babe’s Yankee WAR destroys second and third place Gehrig and Frankie Frisch by 60.3 and 80 wins, respectively; his career WAR is still the highest ever. Even with all those statistics, it’s difficult to put the Babe’s sheer dominance over all of his contemporaries in perspective. How about this: during his time in pinstripes, the Babe was worth more WAR than two entire major league teams, with the Phillies’ and Red Sox’ complete rosters exhibiting less value than the corpulent, jovial outfielder. He also hit more home runs than four clubs, blasting 106 more out of the yard than the most power-starved team in the league—the same team that had essentially given him away 15 years prior. Babe Ruth may not have left a curse in his wake following his departure from Boston, but there’s no doubt the team was inexorably destroyed by its complete lack of offense.

1B-Lou Gehrig

The Yankees are a team whose history is littered with more great players than any other, which would make one think that it will tough to be wean out the true cream from the rest of the stellar crop. In some cases, that might be true. In this case, it’s not even close.

Yankees fans adore Donnie Baseball. They love Tino Martinez. At one point, they were fond of Wally Pipp. And there had to be some moment early on when they even liked Jason Giambi.

It would be a disservice to any of those players to compare their achievements to Gehrig’s. Their impressive careers would be diminished as a result.

With some legends, it’s not worth going into much of their back-story given its prevalence in the average fan’s lexicon. If you’ve ever set foot in a major league ballpark (or even a second-grade classroom), there’s a good chance you know plenty about Gehrig’s historic battle with ALS, his famous speech at Yankee Stadium and his final submission to a disease that took from him his health, his career, and his life.

So let’s throw sentimentality to the side for now and discuss his achievements in the Majors, many of which were staggering. While the Babe was miles ahead of his contemporary competition, Gehrig was the same way, blowing everyone in the era away other than his life-loving, beer-guzzling, hotdog-hoarding counterpart. His career line of .340/.447/.632 paled in comparison to his playoff line of .361/.477/.731, compiled over 34 games. From the time Gehrig took hold of the first base job from Pipp until his final full-season in 1938, Gehrig led the Majors in HR, RBI (by more than 300), runs (ditto) and hits. Among first basemen during the length of his career, Gehrig’s 125.5 WAR was worth 34.1 wins more than second place Jimmie Foxx, 64.5 more than third place Bill Terry and 90.6 more than not-so-immortal Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley, who ranked fourth.

For those who manned his position on the right side of the infield, his career WAR is second only to Stan Musial. Among all time 1B, he’s sixth in home runs, 10^th in hits—and first in RBIs. Even with stats diminished at the hands of ALS, Gehrig’s place in history remains remarkably strong.

2B-Joe Gordon

Contrary to the beliefs of a vast majority of Hall of Fame voters, there’s definitely something to be said about the notion that four or five years of excellence from a baseball player is more valuable than seven or eight years of great, yet unspectacular consistency (the case for Don Mattingly’s enshrinement in Cooperstown, however, is still not strong). So one might want to make a case, built upon a foundation of the aforementioned belief, that Robinson Cano is deserved of this honor over Tony Lazzeri. And it seems that they’d be right—Lazzeri is not the best second baseman in team history. But neither is Cano. Yet.

Perhaps down the road, Cano—with a pure swing that might be the most gorgeous in today’s game—may reach that rarified air. For now, Joe Gordon holds a firm grip on the title of best second baseman in the history of the franchise. And for all the same reasons that Cano’s candidacy seemed worthy of such a bestowment.

Gordon, who late in his career was the first of his Indians teammates to embrace Larry Doby, was known as much for his amiable personality as he was for his immense talents. Over Gordon’s five complete years in New York he posted WARs of 7.3, 7.0, 6.8, 9.3, and 8.0—one of the greatest five year stretches for any second baseman in the history of the game. By contrast, Cano has topped 5.0 WAR once so far in his career. Lazzeri, over 12 complete big-league seasons, only reached that figure twice.

As the direct successor to Lazzeri and a huge reason for the old guard’s release prior to the ’38 campaign, Gordon was best described as a slick fielding second baseman who had unusual power for the position. He hit at least 24 home runs four times for the Yankees, drove in 100 runs in three different seasons and 97 in one other. He also slugged over .490 four times. Yet despite this superior run production, Gordon won the 1942 AL MVP even as voters saw a decline in his previously gaudy home run totals. During that defining season, he posted a stellar .322/.409/.491 line, hit 18 HR, drove in 103 runs and continued to play an outstanding second base. By the end of this decade, we may be discussing Cano with similar reverence. For now, let’s try to not forget the man they called, “Flash.” Unless we’re talking about John Flaherty.

SS-Derek Jeter

Many kids grew up telling everyone they would one day roam the position of their choice in Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately, Jeter appears to be the only fantasizing child whose dreams came to fruition.

There is a certain allure and romanticism to this idea for the average fan. As a kid who grew up dreaming about hitting a game-winning home run in the World Series as a shortstop for the Yankees—then fulfilled his daydreams and promises to the tune of five World Championships and a career almost without rival—Jeter has led the kind of life that keeps the usually futile American Dream afloat.

Enough sentimentality, time for pure facts: say what you want about Jeter’s current struggles—and there are certainly plenty of things to say—no shortstop in Yankees history can hold a proverbial candle to his achievements. Some longtime Yankee fans like to believe that Phil Rizzuto deserves similar acclaim, but in reality their nostalgia appears to be particularly rose-colored; the facts not only don’t support this argument, they completely obliterate it. Yes, Jeter has appeared in almost 700 more games than the Scooter with more than 4000 more plate appearances, but his achievements are nonetheless extremely impressive.

He has almost 1500 more hits than Rizzuto, 200 more home runs, nearly 600 more RBI and, for good measure, 175 more stolen bases. His career WAR is more than 30 wins greater than Rizzuto’s. He’s also posted nine seasons of an over 4.0 WAR, something Phil did six times. In terms of qualitative stats in which Jeter’s advantage in longevity is nullified, Derek’s .313./.383/.450 line towers over Rizzuto’s fittingly diminutive .273/.351/.355.

Fangraph’s “Batting Value” stat involves a complicated formula that doesn’t warrant mention as the numbers speak for themselves: Rizzuto posted a 35.7 mark in that category over his entire career. Jeter has eclipsed that number in three separate seasons; more impressively, his career tally stands at 376.0, more than 10 times anything the Scooter could boast—or even dream—about.

Detractors will point to Jeter’s generally porous defense, and they do have a legitimate gripe. But Jeter’s place in the history of the game is no less impressive. His career WAR is tenth among all-time shortstops—even with defense factored in. His “Batting Value” stat is fourth all-time for shortstops and is the second-highest since the forties—with only a certain hot corner-manning teammate surpassing him…

3B-Alex Rodriguez

Some Yankees fans may lament this choice, deriding A-Rod for his solipsistic personality and his lack of true “Yankee-ness.” But in terms of sheer production, A-Rod is far and away the best player in Yankees history at a position that is surprisingly shallow.

There’s something to be said about Rodriguez’s steroid allegations. He claims that his PED usage ended prior to being dealt to the Yanks, but feel free to take such a claim with any size grain of salt that you wish. Steroid allegations will not be a deciding factor in this piece (and thus, A-Rod probably won’t be the last PED-tainted player on this list), so it’s particularly hard to even consider any other third baseman for this honor.

The player many baby-boomer Yankee fans would argue for would be Graig Nettles, a wizard with the glove who spent 11 seasons in the Bronx in the 70’s and early 80’s.  There is no arguing Nettles’ defensive capabilities, but his bat, while respectable, often left a bit to be desired. He posted a 46.8 WAR over his Yankees career, a figure that Alex will almost certainly pass by the end of 2011, his eighth year in pinstripes. A-Rod has been a six-win player four times during his Yankee career while Nettles only was that valuable twice; moreover, A-Rod’s two best Yankee seasons (9.4 and  9.2 WAR, an MVP trophy in both) are far better than his predecessor’s (8.3 and 6.4). Nettles had a decent but hardly Ruthian .253/.329/.433 line over his Yankee career. By comparison, A-Rod’s .295/.392/.556—well there really isn’t much comparison, is there?

C-Yogi Berra

Lawrence “Yogi” Berra received his endearing nickname from childhood friend Bobby Hofman, who remarked that his companion maintained a striking resemblance to an Indian snake charmer he had seen in a movie.

While Yogi’s status as the best catcher in team history may be a forgone conclusion for some, his candidacy receives a strong challenge from 11-time All-Star and Hall of Fame inductee Bill Dickey. Dickey is hardly a forgotten footnote in this history of the team, but he hasn’t gotten the fairest of shakes with what should be an enduring legacy. Beside his 11 All-Star appearances, he finished in the top eight of the MVP balloting on five different occasions and in the top 20 nine times. His career .313 average is third all-time for backstops; his .382 OBP ninth; his .486 SLG fifth; his 63.8 career WAR ninth all-time and the highest of any catcher who played before Berra.

So it’s not very difficult to make a case for Dickey, but Yogi is still the best catcher in the history of the franchise.

Berra played in over 300 more games than Dickey with about 1300 extra PAs, so his advantages in quantitative categories over Dickey should be taken with his longevity in mind. However, his 358 career homers constitute the fourth highest total in the history of the position. His 1175 runs are fifth and his 1430 RBI the most ever. His career .285/.348/.482 is quite impressive for any position, let alone for a catcher (a historically weak offensive position). According to Bill James’ “win shares” stat, Yogi is the most valuable catcher in the history of the game and the 52nd most valuable offensive player ever. His 71.4 WAR is fifth all-time amongst catchers (just 3.0 behind second ranked Carlton Fisk and 10.2 behind top-ranked Johnny Bench), joining Ted Simmons and Dickey as the only players in the top ten who started their careers prior to 1950.

Yogi’s greatness is often overlooked when one considers his numerous accolades. Berra won the AL MVP three times, finished in the top five seven times and in the top 30 in each one of his healthy seasons. He was so beloved by fans at the time that he made the All-Star team in 1962, despite the fact that he appeared in only 86 games and posted an anemic .224/.297/.388.

But Yogi more than earned that charitable contribution from the fans when one considers the “philanthropy” he accomplished over 18 marvelous and memorable seasons with the team. Beside his patented and now clichéd “Yogi-isms,” Berra contributed to endow the New York faithful with 13 World Championships, earning his status as baseball’s “De Facto Russell” in the process. Had Yogi had any success as a manager, writers would have jumped at the rare chance to update one of their most overused phrases: “This year with the Mets, Yogi will try to win one for the third thumb.”

LF-Charlie Keller

This isn’t an All-Star balloting, and thus there’s not going to be three greatest generic “outfielders.” If you want to claim the title as the best leftfielder in team history, you better not have spent too much time in center or right. Yes, Nick Swisher inexplicably managed to roam centerfield for Ozzie Guillen while with the ChiSox, but that certainly doesn’t make him a centerfielder. Ditto for Ruth, DiMaggio, Maris—and exactly why there may be outcry why a certain franchise icon won’t make this list.

For a team with a rich history of great outfielders, from all of the aforementioned HOFers to Bernie Williams and a pre-Steinbrenner-feud Dave Winfield, few great players have spent a large portion of their careers manning left field in the Bronx. So Charlie Keller’s name may come as a surprise; but in reality, there isn’t all that much competition. The only full time left fielder in the history of the franchise who had a WAR anywhere near Keller’s 49.2 was Roy White, who put up a 47.2—even though he played over 700 more games and had 3000 more PA than Keller.

Keller is a classic example of the value of a few great seasons over 10 or 11 solid ones. He managed to top White’s career WAR even though he only played 130 games five times in a season. White played in twice as many 130-game seasons, but his .271/.360/.404 line is wholly unimpressive when put against Keller’s .286/.410/.528.

Charlie Keller started his career marvelously, posting a WAR over 5.0 in each of his first five seasons, including a ‘41 season where he had an exemplary .298/.416/.580 line with 33 HR and 122 RBI, finishing fifth in the MVP balloting. He finished in the top-25 in the MVP and was an All-Star in four of those five seasons. But following the ’43 season, Keller was called on to serve with the United States Merchant Marines in World War II, and missed all of the 1944 campaign before returning for 44 games in ’45.

When he returned full-time in 1946, it appeared as if Keller had taken up just where he left off, belting 30 HRs and driving in 101 RBIs with a .275/.405/.533 line. However, perhaps as an omen of things to come, Keller became the first player in Yankees history to strike out 100 times in a season. He had never before struck out more than 65 times in one year.

Three injury-plagued years later, in which Keller appeared in just 43, 85 and 60 games, the Yankees cut ties with the player the papers referred to as “King Kong Keller.” He would never appear in more than 55 games again, and retired after one AB with the Yankees in 1952.

RF-See Ruth, Babe

CF-Joe DiMaggio

Surprised? Probably not.
Now think for a second…who’s missing from this list? (Waiting…Waiting…)

Now your brow is starting to furrow, no?

Let me take this space to preempt your outrage. There’s little debating Joe DiMaggio’s place in the Pantheon of Yankeedom. But leaving out Mickey Mantle—a man who was the favorite player of an entire generation of fans; whose performance at his peak may have had no rival in the history of the game—is bound to incur some rage from someone, somewhere, right?

Mantle’s legacy precedes him: his rare pre-injury combination of top end speed and raw power; his .298/.421/.557 line; his reputation as an all-time great who might have been the all-time great had one of his innately debilitated knees not exploded after a run-in with a drainpipe in the Yankee Stadium outfield. Choosing between him and Joe D—kind of like deciding between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis—is the kind of decision that will confound and divide: based entirely on personal taste and preference, it has no single right answer. That’s why I’m going to take this space to elevate DiMaggio’s achievements—not diminish the Mick’s.

In fact, let’s elevate the Mick’s first. In 1956, he put together what may be the greatest all-around season in the history of the game: 52 HR, 130 RBI, 132 R, 10 SB, a .353/.464/.705 line and a 12.2 WAR. He preceded that with a 10.1 WAR in ’55, and followed his Triple Crown ’56 season with a 12.0 WAR the next year. For good measure, he had an additional 11.1 WAR campaign in 1961.

To put that in perspective, six-time combined MVP winners Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols have never once posted a single season that topped 10.0 WAR.

But Joe D did, posting a 10.1 WAR in an insane 1937 sophomore season (46 HR, 167 RBI, .346/.412/.673) and a somehow-higher 10.6 in ’41. And while he may not have possessed the All-American Golden Boy mystique that Mantle did, his achievements may be even more impressive.

Forget the hitting streak, which carries a whole legend (or song, or article, or book) with it. It may be one of the most impressive feats in the history of American sports, but 56 games of one season does not define a career; nor does it distinguish one career from another.

Instead, DiMaggio’s longevity is both what he should be most known for and what separates him from Mantle. As for the aforementioned of value short-lived excellence over long-run consistency, DiMaggio is the rare exception. He not only had those two 10+ WAR seasons, but he remained a remarkably consistent and valuable player until the day he retired.

He never once posted a WAR under 6.0 in a full season, with his “lesser” seasons coming in a 1949 season in which he was a five win player despite only playing 76 games, and a career-culminating ’51 campaign where he still was worth 3.2 WAR. He only once twice batted less than .300 in a full season—with a .290 and a .263 in injury-plagued years. His career .325/.398/.579 line speaks words in and of itself.

Some remark at his relatively unimpressive home run totals, but this is somewhat of a moot point. DiMaggio played in the pre-renovation Yankee Stadium, where left-handed batters were given the gift of a short porch and righties received the death sentence of cavernous left and centerfields. Mantle, who was a switch hitter but batted primarily from the left side, received many of the benefits of the latter. DiMaggio was forced to cope with playing half of his games in a ballpark that would swallow up anything but his most crushing blast.

DH-Jason Giambi

It’s hard to be fan of Giambi, let alone a proponent of the idea that he belongs on a list with names such as “Ruth,” “Berra” and “DiMaggio.” But in reality there’s no one who even qualifies for this spot besides, as John Sterling so annoying referred to him as, the “Giambino.”

Here’s the top five (in reverse order) in WAR for any Yankees player who spent at least one season in pinstripes as a primary DH:

(WAR is for full Yankees tenure, NOT just DH)

5) Danny Tartabull: 7.8 WAR.

Spent just three and a half seasons with the team, never appeared in more than 140 games, single-season high WAR of 4.3.

4) Ron Blomberg: 9.5 WAR

The original “Boomer” and the original DH, Blomberg only appeared in 225 games with the Yanks after the DH was instituted in 1973.

3) Oscar Gamble: 11.7 WAR

By the time he made his second go around with the Yanks in the early 80’s as the not-so-primary DH, Gamble appeared in 384 games over five seasons, or about 77 games per year. 242 of those games were as an outfielder.

2) Hideki Matsui:12.8 WAR

The best player of the bunch, but only appeared as a DH in 248 games for the Yankees—with 116 of those games coming in 2009.

1) Jason Giambi: 24.4 WAR

Giambi appeared more frequently as a DH than as a first baseman over a single season only three times as a Yankee, and those were his final years before being jettisoned back to Oakland. But he spent 367 games in the DH hole, far more than any other candidate. That, by default, essentially makes him the winner of this dubious honor.

It’s not as if Giambi’s stats are that unimpressive. His 209 Yankee home runs, 604 RBI and .260/.404/.524 line with the club are hardly anything to scoff at. They’re also hardly anything to get excited over, especially considering Giambi’s inability to stay healthy, his nine-figure contract, his lucky golden thong, and the fact that he handled his steroid allegations with all the grace of a twelve-ton elephant in lead shoes.

This dearth of anything resembling competence out of the DH spot is quite a testament to how the Yankees management has handled the team over the last four decades. The Yankees have always seemed to be content throwing whatever they can find into the batter’s box as a DH. Whether that is a washed-up veteran, a mediocrity who was never good enough to have the “washed-up” moniker attached to him, or—in recent years—as a landing spot for overpaid veterans on their days off, the team has never committed to having a full-time DH who could give them consistent production. Most teams seem to subscribe to this mentality, treating the idea of a full-time DH as nearly taboo—which is why the Royals have constantly tried stone-handed Billy Butler at first base despite repeatedly poor results. It’s also partly why the Yankees are reluctant to admit that Jesus Montero will likely never pan out as a catcher and thus stick him at DH for his entire career. Ask the Mariners whether they regretted having Edgar Martinez in the lineup every day for the better part of a decade. Then ask the Yankees if they really want to have an 82-year old Giambi representing the DH position at the 2053 home opener, when they celebrate the best players in the 150-year history of baseball’s most storied franchise.

RHSP-Red Ruffing

For a team with 27 World Championships, 20 of which came before the free agency era, the Yankees haven’t had many all-time greats take the mound in the Bronx for an extended period of time. In fact, the team has only three 200 game winners, with Andy Pettitte joining the surprisingly exclusive club last season.

Strangely, of the top six winningest pitchers in the history of the club, only Ruffing and Bob Shawkey threw right-handed. That’s not to say there haven’t been quality righties in New York over the last century: Mel Stottlemyre, Herb Pennock, Allie Reynolds, Waite Hoyt, Jack Chesbro, Mike Mussina—among others—all won 100 games with the Yanks (or in Chesbro’s case, the Highlanders), but it’s hard to compare their achievements to those of Ruffing.

Red Ruffing started his career off extremely poorly, pitching under the strenuous conditions of the offensively anemic (yes, that’s a double entendre) post-Ruth Red Sox, who perennially finished last in the league in batting and averaged 35 HR a year during Ruffing’s tenure. He led the league in losses twice and finished with an ERA over 4.50 five times.

Yankee manager Miller Huggins saw potential in the fledgling hurler, and orchestrated a massive heist rivaling anything out of a George Clooney “Ocean’s” movie: the Sox agreed to sell Ruffing to the Yankees for the immortal Cedric Durst (15 career home runs, no relation to Fred) and a meager $50,000. Essentially, the Yankees ended up paying $216 for every one of Ruffing’s 231 wins. By contrast, they paid nearly $4.5 million for each of Carl Pavano’s nine victories.

The rest is, as they say, history. After a difficult ’31 debut season when Ruffing had a 4.41 ERA with the team, he settled in with his new team. Over the next 15 seasons, he would win 18 games six times, never once post an ERA over 3.95 and finish below 3.55 nine times.

Those aren’t necessarily mind-blowing statistics for an era in which ERAs were much lower than they are today, but Ruffing exhibited uncanny consistency over a decade and a half with the club. He would also win seven pennants and six titles in New York, setting a since-broken pitching record of seven World Series wins.

There’s also the case of military service. After a 1942 season in which Ruffing finished 14-7 with a 3.21 ERA, he spent the better part of three years away from the game. When he returned from the Army in 1945, he was never the same. He posted ERAs of 2.89 and 1.77 in 1945 and ’46, respectively, but made just 19 starts over those two seasons. By 1947 he was out of baseball.

In an interesting factoid that has little relevance to this debate, Red Ruffing was also one of the greatest hitting pitchers of all-time. Ruffing had a .269 career average, hit over .300 eight times, and had 36 career home runs. He also finished with a positive offensive WAR in twelve different seasons, despite the fact that he never had more than 150 PA in one season.

LHSP-Whitey Ford

Yes, most of the best starters in Yankees history were southpaws, but Whitey Ford undoubtedly reigns supreme over all of them. Andy Pettitte, Lefty Gomez and Ron Guidry were all successful in their very different respective eras, but it’s not even worth comparing them to the “Chairman of the Board.”

Ford, who grew up in a 1930’s Queens yet to be infected by the Mets, made his Major League debut in 1950, but lost the entire ’51 and ’52 seasons to military service during the Korean War. Unlike Keller and Ruffing, Ford came back from the military healthy and physically unimpeded.

As both Mickey Mantle’s resident wingman following the departure of Billy Martin and the Yankees’ ace for well over a decade, Ford endured a career without rival by any starting pitcher in the history of the franchise. His 236 wins and 1,956 K’s are the most in franchise history, as are his career innings pitched and total shutouts. Of the impressive club of Yankees pitchers who have tossed 1,500 innings with the team, Whitey’s 2.75 career ERA is second only to Jack Chesbro’s 2.58 with the dead ball era Highlanders. Only four times in his career did Ford post an ERA above 3.00, with the high-water mark of 3.24 coming in 1965, his fourteenth and final healthy year as a starter with the team. His career winning percentage is third all-time for qualifying Major League starters.

It’s hard to talk about Whitey Ford without mentioning the words “World Series,” considering his record-setting 10 wins on baseball’s biggest stage. He was also a six-time Series champ, had a 2.71 career World Series ERA and was an All-Star 10 times.

Closer-Mariano Rivera

Considering this is probably the least surprising decision since Donald Trump decided to continue running his own companies into the ground instead of attempting to be in a position to do the same to the country, this examination is going to take a bit of a different angle than previous ones.

Mariano Rivera has 572 career saves, obviously ranking first on the Yankees all-time list and fast-approaching Trevor Hoffman’s all-time mark. Second place for the Bombers belongs to Dave Righetti with 224 saves. It’s not worth wasting breath, time, or dexterity typing out 500 words on how Mariano is better than Dave Righetti.

How ‘bout the fact that he’s better than anybody?

The notion of Mo’s closing supremacy has gained credence in recent years, ever since the outrage over SI’s proclamation that Hoffman was the best closer in the relatively short history of the position. But here are a few quick statistics that should come damn close to solidifying this argument as “fact,” an attribute that is inherently paradoxical to the divisive notion of a debate.

Among relievers with at least 200 saves, Mariano’s 2.06 ERA is by far the best; ditto for his 0.71 postseason ERA and his 94 career playoff saves. For good measure, his 4.12 K:BB ratio is second only to Dennis Eckersley’s otherworldly 6.29 mark and his 0.97 career WHIP is the best of all-time.

Oh, and his career WAR is 32 percent higher—and rising—than any closer in the history of the game.

Manager-Joe Torre

“What, what, WHAT! Torre over Stengel? Joe Torre over the same guy who took the Yankees to 10 pennants and seven titles in just 12 years? That Joe Torre?!”

There’s a pretty good chance that was a rough paraphrasing of your thoughts when you saw Torre’s name in this article instead of the manager whom most consider the greatest in the history of the game. Perhaps it’s crazy, and perhaps it’s biased as a result of fresh memories of Torre’s tenure and an obvious lack of firsthand experience with the Stengel regime. But it would be remiss if it wasn’t recounted in gruesome detail why Torre’s achievements with the Yankees were more impressive than Stengel’s.

Torre certainly had his shortcomings as a manager, most notably his reliance on veterans and his propensity to ride any reliable middle reliever until they were so far underground there was no discernable chance of reemergence (see: Proctor, Scott; Gordon, Tom; Quantrill, Paul), but it’s quite likely that Stengel would have gotten his fair share of criticism had he played in this era of sabermetrics, super “Slo Mo,” and microanalysis.

At first glance, Torre’s .602 Yankees winning percentage and his six pennants and four World titles don’t appear comparable to Stengel’s .623 mark and his 7-3 World Series record. But Torre’s victories were compiled in a much different era. And while that may not seem important to some, era analysis is a crucial component to the evaluation of any baseball player, manager or executive.

Stengel managed in an era in which there were only eight teams in each league. All teams played an equal 22 games against each other every year.

Torre’s time in New York began after the inception of interleague play. At the beginning of his tenure (before unbalanced schedules) with the Yankees, teams played 12 games against each team in their respective division, 11 games against other teams in the same league and three or four games against four interleague teams.

For the sake of argument, let’s nullify the marginal difference of games against divisional and league teams. In Torre’s 114-win regular season of 1998, the Yankees’ average American league opponent (against whom they played 146 games of their season) had a combined winning percentage of .485. In Stengel’s winningest regular season (a ’54 campaign in which the team won 103 times but finished second), opponents had a combined .475 winning percentage.

This may not seem like a huge difference, but it does have a significant impact over a six-month regular season. The bigger change in circumstance with the two skippers, however, is the rise of parity in the Majors over the last few decades. In 1954, Stengel’s Yankees played 110 of their regular season games against teams that had a combined 308-462 record. This means that the Yankees played more than 70 percent of their games against five teams that won less than 70 games each and had a combined winning percent of just .400.

By comparison, Torre’s 1998 Yanks played just 39 games total against sub-70 win opponents.

If that’s not enough, there’s the institution of the entire playoff system, which was completely non-existent in Stengel’s day. When Casey managed in New York, he simply was required to finish ahead of the other seven teams in his league (with as many as five of them being complete non-factors) and the Bombers were catapulted to the World Series.

Torre first had to finish ahead of everyone else in the usually ultra-competitive AL East, then was required to win at least seven of 12 games against two of the best teams in the league. Then he was able to stake his claim at the top of the World Series, but not before his team knocked off the National League Champs despite carrying the burden of playing over 170 games in a seven-month span on their collective backs.

One last thing to keep in mind: the biggest knock on Torre’s success with the Yankees was that, as his detractors so eloquently put it, “Anyone can win with a nine-digit payroll and a roster full of superstars.” There may be a smidgen of truth to this (at the very least, talent certainly makes a manager’s job easier), but it’s quite easy to make the same damaging claim towards Stengel’s achievements. After all, this is the same man who managed the likes of Berra, Mantle, DiMaggio, Ford and many other all-time greats.

It may make sense then to look at Torre and Stengel’s respective managerial records with other teams. Like Torre, Stengel had little success with two different teams (the Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves), compiling a 581-742 record and a .435 winning percentage before becoming a Yankee.

Over 14 seasons with the Mets, Braves and Cardinals prior to taking over in New York in ’96, Torre was 894-1003, good for a much better .471 winning percentage (and posted in a much more difficult era, no less). After leaving the Yankees, Stengel had just a .302 winning percentage with the admittedly unsalvageable expansion Mets, while Torre won more than 53 percent of games with the Dodgers. Take those records as you wish, as far too many variables are involved to put them directly against each other; nevertheless, they certainly are eye-catching.

There’s no doubt that both managers had exceedingly impressive tenures with the Yankees; it’s simply a matter of the eras in which each coached. Stengel may have had a higher winning percentage and more World Series appearances and titles than Torre, but he did so in an undoubtedly much easier era for long-run success.

Some may choose to adhere to their long-gestating biases and ignoring all of the aforementioned facts. But it appears that those same facts paint an exceedingly clear picture of one exceptional manager’s dominance over another.

Jesse Golomb researches and writes for BaseballDigest.com. He is also the creator and writer of SoapBoxSportsByte, a blog that incorporates statistical analysis as well as fan perspective into pieces on the MLB, NFL and NBA.   He can be followed on Twitter @SoapBxSprtsByte, or contacted by email at golombjesse@gmail.com.

Diana Munson, classy widow of the former Yankees captain, was her usual gracious self in thanking the attendees for their support of the charity, which benefits individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.  She also expressed her belief that this year’s honorees are all the kinds of athletes and people that Thurman would have admired, particularly noting Piazza’s connection as a fellow catcher, Swisher as a Yankee who respects the franchise’s tradition, and Pagan as a self-made player.

Nick Swisher, presented by John Sterling. Photos by Jerry Speier

“Each year I am so grateful that New York is still so open and loving toward my family and the memory of Thurman,” she said. “But the fact that we have been able to raise millions of dollars for AHRC is the real heart of all this.  He was every man’s player. I think they looked at him and thought, ‘If that pudgy little guy can catch and play, maybe I can do it, too.’”

Other honorees that night in the “Class of 2001″ in memory of late, great Yankees catcher and captain include New Jersey Nets all-star point guard Devin Harris and Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Evan Lysacek.

For tickets and information on the Munson Awards Dinner contact 212-249-6188.

Diana Munson, Thurman’s widow, will attend the gala, and has been involved in the benefit since its inception, raising nearly $10 million to assist children and adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The AHRC New York City Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that supports programs enabling children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to lead richer, more productive lives, including programs of AHRC New York City.  AHRC New York City is one of the largest organizations of its kind, serving 11,000 children and adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autism, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injuries and other disabilities.

Pagan, 29, is a rising star with the New York Mets, with the 2010 season rating as his strongest to date during a five-year career. An outstanding fielder, Pagan made strides with the bat last season, setting  career highs in hits (168), runs scored (80), home runs (11), RBI (69),and stolen bases (37). The native of Puerto Rico was originally drafted by the Mets in 1999, but reached the majors for the first time in 2006 with the Chicago Cubs. Pagan made an impact off the field for the Mets in 2010, and was the Mets nominee for the 2010 Roberto Clemente Award. He was one of the first Mets to participate in the June “Teammates in the Community Week,” planting new trees in community gardens in Spanish Harlem. Pagan also proudly supports City Harvest, food and rescue organization dedicated to feeding New York City’s hungry men, women and children. He hit the streets of Manhattan this year to raise awareness for City Harvest’s Skip Lunch Fight Hunger campaign and has visited Hour Children Food Pantry in Long Island City to help distribute more than 1,000 pounds of food to needy families during the busy holiday season.

Piazza, 42, may have been the top offensive catcher of all time.  A .308 career hitter with 427 home runs and 1,335 RBIs, Piazza played for 16 seasons, including an eight-year stretch with the New York Mets following a three-team trade from the Dodgers via the Marlins. The 1993 Rookie of the Year, and a 12-time National League All Star selection, Piazza was peerless amongst catchers with the bat during his career, and the Norristown, Pennsylvania native is the all-time leader in homers for a backstop. In a career filled with big home runs, Piazza’s most memorable long-ball was a go-ahead two-run shot off of Atlanta Braves’ reliever Steve Karsay in the first game back in New York following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The popular Met also contributed to the team’s 2000 World Series appearance by hitting 2 key homers in wins over the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. Piazza participates in Michael Jordan’s Make-A-Wish charity golf and softball events, and has worked closely with Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)

Swisher, 30, who helped lead the Yankees to the 2009 World Series title, enjoyed his first All-Star season in 2010, hitting .288 with 29 home runs and 89 RBI as the club’s primary right fielder.  Among his many charitable endeavors, he established the Nick Swisher Foundation “Swish’s Wishes” in 2007 to assist children with life-threatening illnesses and to help lift the spirits of kids going through difficult times.  In 2009, Swisher provided Christmas dinner for the families of children battling cancer at the Ronald McDonald House in New York and was the co-Ambassador to the Entertainment Industry Foundation’s Lee Denim Day to help raise money for breast cancer research.

The list of notable athletes to previously receive the Munson Award reads like a sports “Who’s Who,” and includes: Yankees – Yogi Berra, Don Mattingly, Mariano Rivera, Willie Randolph, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Robbie Cano,  Bernie Williams, Bobby Murcer,  Joe Torre and Joe Girardi; Mets – Tom Seaver, John Franco, Darryl Strawberry, Ron Darling, David Wright, Carlos Beltran,  Keith Hernandez, Rusty Staub and Gary Carter;  Basketball – Willis Reed, Oscar Robertson, Jason Kidd, Dave DeBusschere,  Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Mark Jackson, Charles Oakley, Allan Houston and John Starks; Olympians – Donna de Varona (swimming), Dorothy Hamill (figure-skating), Paul Hamm (gymnast), Kristi Yamaguchi (figure skating), Nancy Kerrigan (figure skating), Carl Lewis (track and field), Carly Patterson (gymnast), and Dwight Stones (men’s high jump).

Twins starter Francisco Liriano started out Wednesday night’s game like the ace of the Twins staff he has become.  But just as he faltered down the stretch of the regular season, Liriano wore out as his pitch count rose in the 6th inning.

The Dominican born left-hander was dominant early, making Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada look silly for three of his seven strikeouts.  He had retired nine straight and cruised into the 6th inning up 3-0.  After Nick Swisher was Liriano’s 10th straight victim, Teixeira ripped a double into the left field corner and the tide began to turn.  Alex Rodriguez fought his way to a full count walk and  Robinson Cano showed why he’s a top AL MVP contender when he delivered an RBI single to right to get the Yankees on the board.  Liriano bounced back to strike out Marcus Thames for the second out, but Jorge Posada roped a single to right to cut the deficit to one.  Curtis Granderson, who had been criticized all season for his at-bats against left-handers, drove a 94-mph fastball  off the wall in deep right-center for a 2-run triple that put the Yankees on top for the first time, 4-3.  It also ended Liriano’s night.

Minnesota’s offense had given Liriano support early when Michael Cuddyer hit a 2-run bomb off CC Sabathia for a 2-0 lead in the 2nd inning.  A frame later, aggressive base running by Orlando Hudson helped manufacture a third run. The O-Dog  singled through the left side and a batter later advanced all the way to third base when Teixeira had to dive to beat Joe Mauer to first base to record the out on Mauer’s tapper.  The O-Dog’s hustle paid off when Posada mishandled a Sabathia sinker for a run producing passed ball.

Sabathia couldn’t maintain the lead in the home half of the 6th after he retired the first two hitters.  The Twins loaded the bases and Sabathia, showing a rare lack of control, walked rookie Danny Valencia to force in the tying run.

Teixeira’s mammoth go-ahead blast off of Jesse Crain stayed just inside the right field foul pole and allowed Girardi to begin mixing and matching with his bullpen.  Boone Logan, David Robertson, Kerry Wood, and Mariano Rivera shut down the Twins the rest of the way and guaranteed the Yankees at least a split when they head home for Game 3 on Friday in New York.  Rivera recorded a four out, four broken bat save, getting Denard Span to ground out with the tying runs on base to end the 8th inning and Jim Thome to pop out as the tying run in the 9th.

From Joe Girardi’s press conference,

On Sabathia: “..it’s odd that he walked that many guys, but I threw the ball decent.”

On Granderson: “Grandy’s been a different guy since August in Texas.  He made that little adjustment..he’s a different guy.”

From Ron Gardenhire’s press conference:

On leaving Liriano in to face Granderson: “Granderson was hitting like .188 against him.  We wanted to let Liriano try to work his way out of it.”

Drew Sarver is the Yankees content editor and contributor  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

2010 Season record: 87-56

Heading into last week the Yankees were 2.5 games ahead of the 2nd place Tampa Bay Rays and were starting to remind the league why they’re the defending champs.  However, the Yankees hot streak hit a major cold front that saw them drop 5 of 6 to the Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers

The week’s play started against the suddenly competitive O’s. The Yankees sent AJ Burnett to the mound to oppose rookie Brian Matusz.  Burnett had a decent outing, four earned runs allowed in seven innings, but he did not pitch well enough.  The Orioles lineup slowly chipped away at the Yankees right-hander and won the game 4-3.  The loss did come with one bright spot; Alex Rodriguez hit a solo shot and added a sacrifice fly to give him his 13th straight 100 RBI season, tying a MLB record.

In Game 2, CC Sabathia took the mound looking for his 20th win of the season.  However, when the game was finished it was Baltimore starter Jake Arrieta who walked away with the win.  Sabathia didn’t have his best stuff and as a result got knocked around by the young Orioles’ offense.  Sabathia allowed three earned runs in the first frame and left the game in the 7^th inning with the Yankees trailing the O’s by four.  The Yankees offense struggled too, going 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and as a result the Bombers lost 6-2.

In the final game of the series, the Yankees squeaked out their only win of the week.  Ivan Nova took the mound for the Bombers and once again performed well- two earned runs allowed in six innings pitched.  However, the rookie left the game with the Yankees trailing the O’s 2-1.  Thankfully for him, the Yankees weren’t done. With a man on and two outs in the bottom of the 9th, Nick Swisher came up to the plate and crushed a Koji Uehara pitch for a game winning 2-run home run.  Thanks to Swisher’s timely blast the Yankees avoided being swept by the Orioles at home for the first time since 1986.

After losing two games out of three to the Orioles the Yankees traveled to Texas to take on the slumping (2-5) Rangers.  Javier Vazquez went for the Yankees in Game 1 and was rather ineffective against the strong Rangers’ lineup.  The inconsistent Yankees starter was hit hard and was charged with four earned runs in five innings.  Despite Vazquez’s rocky outing, the Yankees still managed to maintain a 5-4 lead late in the game. However, it didn’t last long, Rangers’ outfielder Nelson Cruz came up to bat in the 8th inning and hit a game tying homer on the first pitch he saw from Joba Chamberlain.  And then déjà vu all over again happened.  Cruz came up in the 13th inning and hit a walk off home run off of Yankees reliever Chad Gaudin.

In the second game of the series A.J. Burnett (4 IP) went up against young right-hander Tommy Hunter (5 IP).  The two pitchers allowed only two earned runs, but walked three batters each and struggled to keep two of the best lineups quiet.  A long rain delay drove both from the game early, which left things up to the respective bullpens.  The Yankees lineup tagged the Rangers’ relievers for four runs but it was the Rangers’ lineup once again that had the last laugh.  The Rangers scored five times off the Yankees bullpen and won the game in a very embarrassing fashion.  Ian Kinsler had already tied the game in the bottom of the 9th off the great Mariano Rivera when Jeff Francoeur stepped to the plate with the bases loaded.  Rivera hit Francoeur with the first pitch he threw to him to force in the winning run.

In the final game of the series the Yankees were hoping to take advantage of Cliff Lee, who due to a bad back, was making his first start in nearly two weeks.  The Yankees Dustin Moseley matched Lee pitch for pitch and the game was tied 1-1 going into the 7th inning.  However, Moseley’s success ended abruptly as he was tagged for three runs.  The Yankees couldn’t get to Lee enabling Texas to win 4-1 and complete a three game sweep over the Bombers.  Prior to the three game set, the Yankees were the only Major League team not to be swept in a road series all season.

Pinstripe Positives:

Andy Pettitte made his first rehab start for the Yankees AA affiliate in Trenton.  The veteran left-hander tossed four scoreless innings and allowed just a pair of hits..  Manager Joe Girardi said that Pettitte will make one more rehab start and Hopefully will return to the Yankees rotation on September 19th.

Lance Berkman’s bat has finally awoken.  The former Astros’ All-Star slugger is hitting .450 (9-20) in his last 10 games.

Alex Rodriguez’s bat is also starting to come around.  The All-Star third baseman is hitting .346 (9-26) with a home run and 8 RBI in his last 7 games.

Negatives:

Jorge Posada has really been having an off year; he is batting .256 with 17 homeruns and 52 RBIs so far this season.  Posada’s struggles have  no end in sight, the Yankees catcher is hitting .185 (5-27) in his last 10 games.

AL MVP candidate Robinson Cano has also been scuffling at the plate of late.  The Yankees second baseman is hitting .233 (10-43) with no homers and 5 RBI in his last 10 games.

What’s Next:

The Yankees will now travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays in a huge three game series.  After that, the Yankees will then travel to Baltimore for another three game series with the upstart Orioles.  These next six games may very well determine who sits atop the AL East at season’s end.

John Fetter is a regular Yankees contributor for Baseball Digest.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com.

2010 Season Record: 86-52

The Yankees began the week tied with the Rays atop the AL East and were coming off a week in which they struggled.  But like the saying goes, “The great teams win when they have to.” and the Yankees did just that, reeling off an eight game winning streak.

In Game 1 the Yankees sent Dustin Moseley to the mound to oppose Oakland’s ace Trevor Cahill.  Moseley couldn’t make his way out of the 4th inning, but the Yankees hammered Cahill for eight earned runs in just four innings. The Yankees offense were led by the powerful bats of Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano and Marcus Thames, who combined to go 9 for 11 with 2 homers and 7 RBIs.  As a result the Bombers beat the A’s 11-5.

The Yankees potent offense kept the roll going in game 2.  Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, and Teixeira all went deep en route to a 9-3 victory.  Phil Hughes continued to get some of the best run support in the majors as he picked up his 16th win of the season.

Game 3 saw AJ Burnett show some signs of breaking out of his recent struggles.  Burnett allowed three earned runs in six innings struck out a season high eight batters.  The Bombers won the game 4-3 behind the continued dominance of Mark Teixeira’s bat.  The slugging first baseman went 3 for 4 with a double and 3 RBI.

In the finale of the four game series the duo of CC Sabathia and Curtis Granderson completed the Yankees sweep of Oakland.  Sabathia allowed only one hit in eight innings of work and shutout the boys from the bay.  Granderson wasn’t in the starting lineup, but when Nick Swisher left with an injury, he quickly put his stamp on the game with a pair of home runs.  Sabathia picked up his 19th victory as the Bombers rolled to a 5-0 triumph.

Player of the Week, Mark Teixeira

After the Oakland series the Yankees welcomed the Toronto Blue Jays to “The House That George Built.”  In the first game of the series, starter Ivan Nova struggled on the mound.  The rookie starter allowed three earned runs in only 4.2 innings of work.  However the Yankees bullpen and offense overcame Nova’s bad outing.  The Yankees lineup collected 11 hits and scored seven runs, three of them driven in by the red hot Granderson.  The Bombers picked up their 7th straight win win a 7-3 victory.

The next afternoon the Yankees offense put up another seven spot, but it took Marcus Thames’ 2-run home run in the 7th inning to snap a 5-5 tie.  Unfortunately, the win wasn’t a complete success.  Javier Vazquez who was given a second chance as a starter struggled.  The right-hander allowed all five earned runs in just 4.2 innings and did not qualify for the victory.  For the second straight game, however, the Yankees pen bailed out an ineffective starter- this time with 4.1 scoreless innings of relief.

The final game of the series saw the Yankees eight game winning streak come to an end as the Blue Jays pounced on starter Phil Hughes.  The neighbors to the north nailed Hughes for six runs in six innings and went on to a 7-3 win.  Despite the loss, the Yankees won their third straight series and maintained a 2 1/2 game lead over Tampa Bay in the AL East.

Pinstriped Positives:

Even though the Yankees lost the final game of the Blue Jays series, the Yankees lineup got a boost with the return of Alex Rodriguez.  The All-Star third baseman went 2-5 and picked up his 98th RBI of the season.

Andy Pettitte threw a mid-week bullpen session and then a controlled game on Saturday, and felt good after both occassions.  He’s scheduled to throw a minor league rehab game for Double-A Trenton on Wednesday, 9/8.

Negatives and Concerns:

The Yankees starting rotation is still in chaos.  CC Sabathia is definitely the ace of the staff but questions remain as to the rest of the rotation.   The Yankees MUST have a healthy Andy Pettitte if they stand a chance of repeating.  Phil Hughes has been  very inconsistent in the second half.  A.J. Burnett has been up and down all season, with more bad starts than good ones.  Javier Vazquez, Dustin Moseley, and Ivan Nova have either been a regular starter or a fill-in, but none has inspired extreme confidence.

What’s Next:

The Yankees will stay in New York for the first part of next week as they take on Buck Showalter’s revived

Baltimore Orioles in a three game set.  Then the Bombers will head to Texas for what could be a playoff preview with the Rangers.

John Fetter is a regular Yankees contributor for Baseball Digest.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com

With the average age of the staff just shy of 24, the A’s have put together one of the youngest starting staffs in the majors. Led by the elder statesman of the rotation, the one time perfect Dallas Braden, Billy Beane’s group has been pieced together using homegrown talent as well as acquired prospects.

Brett Anderson and Gio Gonzalez, acquired in separate deals involving Dan Haren and Nick Swisher, have quickly proven that they have star potential going forward.

Before being sidelined with an elbow injury in early June , Anderson had collected a 2-1 record with a 2.35 earned run average, and since returning from the DL on July 30th has given up only 2 earned runs or less in five of his seven starts. Still shaking off the rust that comes with missing two months within a season, the 22- year old lefthander seems to still have the talent to become a force in the A’s rotation.

Gonzalez, the A’s most consistent starter, has progressed nicely throughout the year, peaking in August with three wins and a 1.98 ERA in six starts. With a 12-8 record and an ERA at 3.23 for the year, Gonzalez projects nicely at the top of Oakland’s rotation coming into the 2011 season. After battling with control issues that led him to be traded three times (twice by the White Sox) early in his career, Gonzalez has been able to improve his command, which in turn has allowed him to use his curveball more effectively.

The apparent ace of the rotation, for this year at least, is current Cy Young candidate Trevor Cahill. Ranking third in the American League in earned run average, Cahill (14-6, 2.82) has a very similar Cy Young case to ERA leader Clay Buchholz who stands at 15-5. The hesitation behind anointing the 22-year old righty an elite pitcher centers around his unusually low BABIP.

Because he doesn’t strike out many batters (averaging only 5 K/9), Cahill relies on a high groundball rate to induce outs. Since the statistics show that Trevor might be experiencing a fair amount of good fortune on the mound, as evidenced by his .221 BABIP, his success has been called into question. Although the answer is undefined at this juncture in his career, it will be interesting the amount of success he reaches beyond this season. Still, with a 6-2 record to go along with a 1.46 ERA over his last nine starts, Cahill continues to impress in 2010.

Immortalized in baseball lore because of his perfect game, Dallas Braden hopes to build on his legacy. Being the oldest of the bunch, Braden’s veteran presence helps keep the youthful staff motivated to come prepared and focused  each day.

Although he struggling following the perfect game, Braden has dropped his ERA down to 3.23, the lowest it has been since May 25th. Projected along with Gonzalez and Brett Anderson to be atop the Oakland rotation in years to come, Dallas is living up to that billing so far this year.

The hardest to predict of the bunch is 23-year old Vin Mazzaro. Although still young, scouts have stated that Mazzaro doesn’t have the requisite amount of talent to keep a sub-4 ERA in the majors. This 2010 season has seen Mazzaro keep his earned run average at a level consistently between 3.50 and 4, allowing him to garner six wins over his 17 starts. Even though he doesn’t strike out a ton of batters, Mazzaro’s low walk rate and normal BABIP levels bodes well for his future as a number five starter on the Oakland staff.

Just as the Zito-Hudson-Mulder troika grew with time, this season has been a critical point in the development of the A’s pitching staff. Behind the likes of Braden and Anderson, the Athletics sit comfortable with five formidable starters all under the age of 28. Though this season may be a wash considering Texas’ double digit lead in the West, Oakland is building the pitching foundation to become a consistent power in the foreseeable future.

Jesse Paguaga is a regular contributor to Baseball Digest. Jesse writes for Gotham Baseball, along with Gotham Hoops and Gotham Gridiron. He can be reached at Paguaga@usc.edu.

Huff, a 10-year veteran, was thought to be on the downside of his career when the Giants took a one year flyer on him by signing him during the offseason. The Giants realistically did not know what to expect of the signing, they had just signed a player whose best statistical seasons came between the years 2002-2005.

During those seasons Huff could of been counted on to easily surpass 25 home runs and drive in at least 90 RBI’s at seasons end. The ensuing years were not something Huff would like to write home about as he bounced around between four teams having one good season in the process while with the Baltimore Orioles in 2008.

Huff hit 32 home runs and drove in 108 runs for a dreadful team where he was the only bright spot. The Giants, lacking the firepower they needed to make a push for a division title, hoped that Huff could rediscover that power stroke in the notorious pitchers haven known as AT&T park.

However unlikely the dream scenario sounded, it has come to fruition. Huff has provided the bat in the middle of the order that the Giants have been lacking since Barry Bonds. Huff forces managers to pitch to Aaron Rowand, Pablo Sandoval and Edgar Renteria for fear that if he gets a pitch to hit, it will leave the park.

Thus far on the season Huff has contributed 20 home runs and 65 RBI’s. The more impressive stat however, is Huff’s .310 batting average. That has helped lead his on base percentage to a robust .400 which enters Nick Swisher territory.

Huff and the Giants know that his big season doesn’t guarantee anything for next year. It was a one season arrangement and he has fulfilled his side of the agreement admirably. The Giants only hope that he can continue his hot hitting through the rest of the season, ultimately swinging for the fences in October.

Ryan Lazo covers the Giants for Baseball Digest. You may email him at Lazorm09@bonaventure.edu, follow him at twitter here and visit his personal blog here.

2010 Season Record: 66-38

The Bombers opened the week on the road with a four game series against Cleveland before they traveled to Florida to take on the 2nd place Rays in a huge three game set.

The Yankees took three of four from the Tribe, outscoring them 28-10 in the process.

In Game 1, New York sent Javier Vazquez, arguably their best pitcher over the past couple of months, out to the mound.  The veteran right-hander did not disappoint.  Vazquez went 7 innings, allowed two earned runs en route to a 3-2 Yankees win.  Nick Swisher’s solo home run and Curtis Granderson’s 2-run shot provided the offense.

CC Sabathia took the mound against his former team in game 2, but came out on the wrong end of a 4-1 decision.  The Yankees ace didn’t have his best stuff, but battled (2 ER) through 7 innings.  Sabathia got little support from his teammates, however, as the Yankees were held to five hits and committed a pair of costly errors.

The following night the Bombers showed how dominate they could be against one of the better pitchers in baseball.  Cleveland sent All-Star Fausto Carmona to the mound, but the mighty Yankee lineup beat him to a pulp.

The Indians’ ace was pulled with two outs in the third inning after he allowed seven earned runs and 10 hits.  The stars for the Bombers’ offense included Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira, A-Rod, Granderson, and Brett Gardner, who collected two hits each.

AJ Burnett took advantage of the run support, picking up his third win in the month of July.  Burnett struck out seven in 6.1 innings and did not allow an earned run.

In the series finale, the Yankees sent Dustin Moseley to the mound for his first start of the season.  After a shaky start, Moseley pitched extremely well, allowing a single earned run in six innings.  The Bombers gave him plenty of run support, blowing the game open with a 7-run 7th inning.

Cano hit his 20th home run of the season, while A-Rod’s 3 RBI gave him a team high 85.  Granderson continued to swing a hot bat since the All-Star break as he contributed a pair of solo home runs.

After their successful series against Cleveland, the Yankees traveled to the Tampa/St. Pete area to take on the red hot Rays.  The opener saw a strong performance from Yankees starter Phil Hughes.  The 23-yr old was cruising along until one bad pitch in the 7th inning.  It resulted in a 3-run home run by Matt Joyce and turned a 2-0 lead into a 3-2 loss to Rays starter Wade Davis.

The middle game of the series saw the Yankees bring out the heavy lumber.  Cano’s tape measure shot in the 9th inning was his 21st home run of the season and gave the Yankees a 5-4 victory.  Swisher and Teixeira homered as well as the Yankees overcame a shaky outing by Vazquez.

In the rubber game of the series, “Big Game” James Shields lived up to his nickname.   The Tampa starter didn’t allow an earned run over seven innings and struck out 11.   Sabathia surrendered three runs in 6.1 innings and the Bombers dropped the finale 3-0.  The series win moved the Rays to within one game of the Yankees in the AL East.

Pinstriped Positives:

It’s time to pay some respect to a Yankee who has done nothing but his job for his whole career. That’s right I am talking about Mr. Automatic- Mariano Rivera. Mo has been turning in yet another amazing season- a 0.93 ERA, 3-1 record and 22 saves in 24 opportunities.

The Captain, Derek Jeter, has started to swing the bat well again. In his last 10 games Jeter is 13 for 47, which is good for a .310 average.

Curtis Granderson has also been wielding a hot bat in his last 10 games, going  is 9 for 31 (.290) with 3 HR and 9 RBI.

Negatives:

A-Rod has really been struggling as of late; in his last 10 games he is 6 for 38 (.158).  His home run drought since hitting career #599 certainly has to be weighing on his mind.

What’s Next:

The Yankees will now head back home to take on the Blue Jays for 3 games and then have a much needed day off.  Then it’s time to face off against the hated Red Sox, who are in striking distance of 1st place (6.5 games back).

John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com.

The Rays assigned Wade Davis to face the Yankees in the opener, and he pitched magnificently. He hit the strike zone all night long after giving up a two-run blast to Nick Swisher in the first inning, and he gave the Rays a chance to tie it or win it.

With the way the Rays are hitting these days, one wondered if the two-run lead was good enough for Yankees starter Phil Hughes to win the game. That seemed to be the case when Hughes mowed the Rays down for five innings.

Hughes is good enough where the Rays would have a hard time against him, but he ran into trouble in the sixth inning when he had command problems. Hughes gave up a hit, threw a wild pitch and walked a batter, and then Matt Joyce hit a three-run blast to give the Rays a 3-2 lead.

Davis, Joaquin Benoit and Rafael Soriano pitched well for the final three innings in preserving a much-needed victory that could set the tone for a great weekend. The Rays’ chances of winning the series or gaining a sweep is better now after what happened Friday night.

Still, the Rays can’t be content with getting by with this putrid offense. That’s not going to cut it in October. There’s no question runs will be at a minimum in the postseason, and the Rays have several easy outs in their lineup. That’s an advantage the opposing pitcher will have in October, which is why playoff teams believe the Rays are vulnerable.

It’s up to Rays president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to do something about it. He needs to somehow find a way to get a bat before the deadline expires Saturday afternoon.

Trying is not going to be good enough. With most of the players about to be ending their Rays tenure as a result of free agency, there has to be a sense of urgency. This team has the pitching to create a playoff run in October, but with the way this lineup is constituted, this team can be an one and out team.

In fact, there is no guarantee the Rays will make the playoffs. The Rays have a nice cushion in the wild-card lead, and they kept up with the Yankees by winning consistently, but a long losing streak takes place if the team is in a hitting rut. We saw that in June when the Rays struggled to hit, and they went on a long losing streak.  It can happen again, and the final two months of the season are not the right time to struggle.

The Rays need a designated hitter. Joe Maddon trots out different hitters as designated hitters every game, and that should never happen. A designated hitter should be a player that plays every day instead of once or twice a week.

A guy that fits that role is Adam Dunn, who the Rays are rumored to get. He will strike out often, but at least, he is going to rake the ball out of the park. The Rays could have either gotten Lance Berkman or Austin Kearns, but instead, the Yankees received both of them from all accounts. The Yankees gave up nothing for either of them.

The Rays can find a way to get a hitter without giving up much, no?  Even if Dunn is hard to get, they should try something. Josh Willingham, Luke Scott, Hideki Matsui or Bobby Abreu should be other options for the Rays.

Anything is better than what we are seeing as the designated hitter. If Friedman has to make a trade just to make a trade, so be it. He at least shows he is doing all he can to improve the Rays.

No question the Rays are in a tough position. As a small-market team, they can’t afford to give up prospects with the idea those guys will be the core players next year. Still, they can afford to give up at least one prospect. If Davis is what teams want for a hitter, that deal should be done quickly. The Rays have plenty of depth when it comes to starters.

The Rays will talk about how it’s not a lost cause if they don’t get a deal. They will mention that Dan Johnson and Desmond Jennings can be a boost to the team. The problem with that thinking is it’s too much to ask out of rookies to make a difference. Those two have to learn how to hit in the majors, and that’s a tough adjustment to make right away.

Right now, odds are not good the Rays will get a deal done. Teams are asking a lot from the Rays, and Friedman is not that bold enough to go for it. It’s a tough task for any small-market team general manager to go through.

Maddon did not seem optimistic that a deal would happen. He talked about how it will be the eleventh hour, but he also mentions options at their farm system. The latter part should say it all about the Rays’ chances of making it happening. Rays owner Stuart Sternberg believes it will happen, but he is not going to say it will not happen. It would be bad business.

Still, there has to be something out there. Maybe the Rays find that hitter after the non-waiver trade deadline. It’s possible, but there’s a good chance the Yankees or the Red Sox will do whatever it takes to block the Rays. The Rays can’t take that risk.

Whatever it is, we can only hope Friedman surprises everyone. That’s when folks can tell a trade was made. It’s rare trade rumors actually are executed.

Trades come when no one knows about it. Did everyone know the Twins would get Matt Capps? Who knew the Yankees would get Berkman and Kearns on the same day?

The fact no one knows what the Rays will do is a good sign actually. It’s a sign they can do something.

That’s the only hope to think it will happen.

2010 Season Record: 63-36

The Yankees opened up the week with a two game series against their long time nemesis,  the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  The Bombers got off on the right foot by scoring two runs in the first inning of the opener.  Nick Swisher belted a solo home run and Jorge Posada added a sacrifice fly.

However, that would not hold up against the Angels and their second year fill in starter Sean O’Sullivan.  The right-hander didn’t allow another hit through the 6th inning and got plenty of run support, including a two-run shot by Hideki Matsui, as the Angels beat the Yanks 10-2.

In Game 2, the Yankees’ sleeping bear offense awoke and scored 10 runs.  They would need it as the Angels clawed away against starter Javier Vazquez. With the Yankees holding a slim 6-5 lead in the 7th,  rookie Juan Miranda hit his 3rd homer of the season for a much needed insurance run.   But the Yankees youngsters weren’t done yet.

With two men aboard later in the inning, Brett  Gardner was ejected in the middle of his at-bat for arguing balls and strikes with the home plate umpire.  Suddenly, rookie Colin Curtis was up at the plate with an 0-2 count.  Curtis worked the count full against veteran Scot Shields and then lined a three-run home run into the right field seats.  It was Curtis’ first career home run and curtain call.  The Yankees went on to win the game by a 10-6 margin.

The Bombers then welcomed the lowly Kansas City Royals into town for a four game series.  The Yankees beat up on the Royals in Game 1, 10-4, as their dominant offense continued to click.

The first four batters in the Yankees lineup did most of the damage, going 10-20 (.500) with 2 HR and 8 RBI.  Alex Rodriguez’s bat stood out the most.  The All-Star third baseman went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI and hit his 599th career home run.

In Game 2 the Yankees great offensive play and individual milestones continued as the Yanks rolled to a 7-1 win.  The victory included Jorge Posada’s 1000th career RBI.  A.J. Burnett threw five innings of shutout ball before rain forced his removal from the game.  Robinson Cano also enjoyed a big night with a pair of hits and 3 RBI.

The Yankees couldn’t overcome a poor start by Sergio Mitre and dropped Saturday’s contest 7-4.   Mitre allowed five earned runs in 4.1 innings to offset any possible comeback by the Pinstripes. Red-hot Mark Teixeira slugged a pair of home runs and drove in three runs, but a late rally fell short.

The final game of the four game series was another offensive outburst for the Yankees and a measure of revenge against O’Sullivan.  The righty was acquired earlier in the week from the Halos and now faced the Yankees in a different uniform.

The Yankees knocked O’Sullivan around, then outlasted the Royals and a two hour-thirty seven minute rain delay for a 12-6 win.

Five Yankees collected two or more hits in the game, including Curtis Granderson who belted a pair of solo home runs.  A-Rod also had a great game even though he didn’t hit career HR number 600.  The slugger went 2-4 and drove in 3 runs to increase his RBI total to 81.  He also survived a scary moment in his final at-bat when Royals pitcher Blake Wood hit in the arm with a 95-mph fastball.  The slugger stayed down for several moments, but came away with just a contusion.

The Bombers’ offensive tear helped them stay in 1st place in the AL East as they prepare for a showdown with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Pinstriped Positives:

CC Sabathia continues to dominate the league and has put up great numbers so far this year.  In his last 10 games the Yankees ace is 8-1 with a 2.10 ERA.

Javier Vazquez has also continued to dominate hitters.  The one time struggling pitcher is 9-7 with a 4.54 ERA after going 6-2, 3.05 in his last 10 starts.

Mark Teixeira has been sizzling like the July temperatures. The one time struggling first baseman is hitting .289 in his last 10 games with 2 homers and 11 RBI.

Negatives:

Nick Swisher’s numbers have dipped a little as of late.  The first time All-Star is hitting .263 in his last 10 games, though he did hit a pair of home runs and drove in eight runs in the stretch.  He’s also been bothered by a sore heel.

Brett Gardner is really struggling; the speedy outfielder is hitting a measly .161 in his last 10 games and only has 2 stolen bases.

Robinson Cano who was once the league leader in batting average is hitting .243 in his last 10 games and has watched his batting average drop 7 points as a result (.329).

What’s Next:

The Yankees will now take their show and the league’s best record on the road as they face the Cleveland Indians for four games.  Then they will finish the week with a three game set against the second place Rays in Tampa.

John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com.

The halfway point of the season reached, baseball took its annual pause for a three-day celebration of the sport known as the All-Star Game.  While a large number of players go out there, obviously many more have a short vacation in the midst of their grinding season.  Five Cardinals went to Anaheim, the rest, well, rested.  For all concerned, it seems to have extremely beneficial, as the Cardinal team that has come out of that break has born little resemblance to the frustrating, sputtering team that we saw from May to the first part of July.

The five Cardinal representatives did have something to say in the National League’s first All-Star win in 13 years.  Albert Pujols was the leading vote getter in the NL, but he was the first player replaced after going hitless in his two at-bats.  He did drive a ball in the first inning out to right field, but Ichiro Suzuki was able to run it down and turn it into a harmless fly ball.

Yadier Molina was the other St. Louis starter and he was able to stroke a base hit in his first time up.  However, when his next time in the box came up, there were two on and two out with the NL trying to break through.  With 13 years of fruitless searching for a win, it was not surprising that Molina was pulled back in favor of Brian McCann, who was not able to come through then, though he would play a part later.

Matt Holliday was a late substitution into the game and wound up batting after Scott Rolen.  After Rolen singled with one out, Holliday came up and drove a single up the middle, moving an alert Rolen to third.  Marlon Byrd worked a walk, then McCann had a three-run double to put the National League up.

With the NL clinging to their two run lead late and wanting desperately to preserve it, Charlie Manuel called on Adam Wainwright.  He quickly struck out Nick Swisher, but then John Buck drove a ball out to left field, where Holliday was stationed.  Holliday, though, apparently has problems with fielding in California with a national audience watching.  The ball glanced off of his glove and Buck wound up at second.  Wainwright then walked Ian Kinsler before coaxing what should have been a double play ball off the bat of Vernon Wells, but the defense was only able to get one.

Which meant that the story was lined up.  Wainwright was facing Torii Hunter, the face of the All-Star Game much like Pujols was the face of the one in St. Louis last year.  A long ball would put the AL back on top and make the NL wonder just how snakebit it was.  However, even though it was held close to it, this was not Hollywood.  Wainwright reached back and struck out Hunter, ending the inning and his night.

The last Cardinal representative was Chris Carpenter, who did not get into the game, being held in reserve for extra innings.  Which meant that he was tapped by Tony La Russa to open the second half of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a steamy, sweltering Busch Stadium.

When you looked at this game through the prism of the first half, there was a lot of reasons for concern.  Sure, Carpenter was going, but he had not exactly been the regularly dominating ace that Cardinal fans had gotten to use to, especially after taking the line drive off of his forearm in the game against Arizona a couple of weeks ago.  Also, he was being opposed by Clayton Kershaw, the talented young pitcher from the Dodgers who, as it happens, throws with his left hand.  All the signs were there for another frustrating loss.

It did not take long for that gloomy forecast to get turned on its head.  Carpenter went through the Dodger lineup in order in the top of the first, indicating that he was on his game.  Then, in the bottom of that inning, two walks and a single meant the Cards had the bases loaded with no outs.  While they did not break the game open then, they were able to get two runs off of ground outs.  In the first half, that would have wound up a single run when Holliday hit into a double play.  Small steps, but steps nonetheless.

Carpenter continued to deal, not giving up a hit until the top of the third and allowing his only run on a home run by Andre Ethier in the fourth.  He would wind up throwing eight innings of four-hit ball and looking more like the pitcher we have come to know and love.

If this was the first half, the two runs the Cardinals scored in the first would have been all Kershaw would have allowed.  And, indeed, it looked like that might be the case for a while.  However, after Ethier’s home run had cut the lead in half, the bats woke up yet again.  Yadier Molina, who had publicly stated that he was starting fresh with the second half, singled out to Manny Ramirez, who botched the play and allowed Molina to get to second.  Next up was Aaron Miles, who blooped a single in and, when Rafael Furcal threw wildly trying to get Molina at home, wound up at second.

There were flashes of the first half, like the whole flash sideways from this last season of LOST, as the two universes tried to coexist.  Chris Carpenter wound up popping up his sacrifice bunt and Brendan Ryan, after running the count to 3-0, swung at ball four and popped out to first.  This “new” universe then reasserted itself and Felipe Lopez doubled in Miles to make it 4-1.

Kershaw came out for the fifth, but quickly wished that he had not.  Pujols doubled and Holliday singled, putting runners on the corners for Allen Craig, who had his first major league RBI in the first.  This time Craig got a lot of the pitch and drove it deep into the outfield, scoring Pujols.  However, the Redbirds could not get anymore in the inning.

The Cardinals finished their scoring in the seventh, as they continued to pile on in a fashion very unlike the first half.  After a Pujols groundout, Holliday walked, then recent sensation Jon Jay continued his hitting streak by lacing a double to left, bringing in Holliday.  Molina followed with an RBI single and the score was 7-1, which is what it finished at.

It was easy to think that perhaps things were going to be different now, but part of what made the first half so frustrating was that the team would look to be going in the right direction, then immediately fade or not be able to continue with that momentum.  While the win against Kershaw was a significant step, the jury was still out on a sea change in St. Louis.

The second game of the series pitted Jaime Garcia against Chad Billingsley.  Garcia had a spectacular first half, but had struggled in some of his recent starts, not including his seven scoreless innings against Milwaukee.  Billingsley had been tough against the ‘Birds in the past, so Card fans probably were cautiously optimistic about this one.  It turned out to be justified, but not exactly the way that was expected.

Once again, the Cardinals jumped out early, and this time were able to do it with two outs.  Felipe Lopez led off the game with a fly out, then Colby Rasmus singled.  After Pujols grounded out moving Ramsus over, Holliday walked, bringing up Randy Winn.

There was some consternation before the game when Winn was on the lineup card instead of the hot-hitting Jay, but Winn had some good history against Billingsley and it panned out this time.  Winn roped a ball right down the line and when the dust settled, Rasmus and Holliday had scored and Winn was standing on third.  Yadier Molina followed with a single and the Redbirds were up 3-0.

Again, unlike the earlier part of the season, St. Louis was able to continue to add to their tallies.  In the second, Skip Schumaker opened with a single and Garcia sacrificed him to second.  After Tyler Greene flew out, Lopez came through again, driving in Schumaker with a single.

All the while, Jaime Garcia was dancing in and out of trouble.  The Dodgers got two on in the first inning but were unable to capitalize.  Jamie Carroll hit a two-out triple in the top of the second, but Billingsley was not able to get him in.  They were able to finally draw some blood in the third, when with two on and two out, Casey Blake and James Loney had back-to-back RBI singles, cutting the lead in half.

The Cardinals did not take that lying down, however.  Pujols, Holliday and Winn all singled to start the third, then Molina grounded out, driving in Pujols.  Schumaker and Garcia, though, were not able to plate the other two.  Still, it was another run, making it 5-2.

It began to look like St. Louis would need every one of those when Garcia opened the fourth inning allowing a single to Carroll and, after striking out Billingsley, a single to Furcal.  La Russa did not hesitate, as Garcia was already in the mid-80s on his pitch count, and brought in Kyle McClellan, who got out of the inning with no further damage.

Not willing to risk anything, the Cardinals put another on the board in the fourth when, after Greene and Lopez singled to put runners on first and third, Rasmus grounded into a double play, bringing in Greene.

The resurgence of Molina continued in the fifth.  After Matt Holliday walked, Billingsley was pulled from the game and George Sherrill inserted.  That was enough to counteract Winn’s  strong night, as he grounded out to force Holliday.  Molina, though, came up and put the ball into the bullpen, pushing the Cardinal lead out to 8-2.

Even in the first half, that was a fairly safe lead, unless the team was playing in Colorado.  However, Jason Motte did his best to make things very, very interesting in the eighth.  After a leadoff single by Loney, he was able to strike out Russell Martin, then walked Carroll.  Next up was Garret Anderson, who singled to load the bases.  With no margin for error, Motte erred, walking Furcal to force in one run and keep the bases loaded.  Matt Kemp hit a sacrifice fly to make it 8-4 with two runners still on.

That was all for Motte, who gave way to Dennys Reyes, who was able to get the final out of the inning.  He also pitched the ninth without incident save a leadoff double and the Cardinals were assured of a split of the series with two games left to play.

Not only did they have a split in hand, but they had a great chance for a series win the next day, because Adam Wainwright was pitching at home.  This season, Wainwright had not lost at home yet and his ERA was microscopic in Busch Stadium.

The Dodgers countered with Hiroki Kuroda, who had stymied the Cardinals earlier in the season.  While the Cards were proving that this was not the first half anymore, there was still some lingering traces.

It was a blistering hot afternoon for this one, as the 3:10 start time due to the Fox national telecast did not do wonders for the players.  Temperatures on the field approached 115 and it seemed the heat sapped the hitters’ bats as well.

The Cardinals looked like they were going to continue their offensive prowess when Felipe Lopez took the first pitch to left for a double.  However, Colby Rasmus, Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday all expanded their zones against Kuroda’s offerings and all of them struck out.  It was especially egregious with Rasmus and Pujols, who were up in the count 3-1 but went fishing low and out of the zone.

Wainwright, though, was dealing.  The Dodgers got the first two batters on in the second, but he retired Casey Blake on a fly out and got Xavier Paul to hit into a double play.  A two-out single by Rafael Furcal in the third came to naught as well.  A two-out double by Blake DeWitt in the fourth netted the same for the Los Angeles squad.

The Cardinals were finally able to scrape together something in the fourth.  Holliday singled to lead off the inning, though was erased on Jon Jay’s groundout.  Jay, however, went to third when Yadier Molina singled behind him.  Skip Schumaker doubled, plating Jay and putting runners at second and third with one out.  However, both Wainwright and Tyler Greene struck out and the Cards couldn’t get any more.

One run with Waino on the mound at home is usually sufficient, however.  Due to the heat, he only went six innings in this outing, but still allowed no runs and lowered his home ERA to 1.31.

St. Louis was able to add some insurance in the eighth.  Albert Pujols led off with a walk and Holliday singled after him.  Aaron Miles pinch-hit for the pitcher and sacrificed the runners over.  With his resurgence, the Dodgers decided not to pitch to Yadier Molina, instead walking him to face Brendan Ryan with the bases loaded.  Ryan got the ball to the outfield and Pujols was able to score on his sacrifice fly.  Tag team work by Trever Miller and Ryan Franklin in the ninth and the Cardinals had their fourth straight victory, their second longest winning streak of the year.

With the series in hand and the heat continuing to buffet the St. Louis area, Tony La Russa continued one of his more traditional and sometimes infuriating practices, resting many starters instead of going hard for the sweep.  Sunday saw Pujols, Molina and Rasmus all start on the bench with Allen Craig, Jason LaRue and Randy Winn taking their places.

Jeff Suppan took to the hill and apparently had been drinking the same water the rest of the team had been.  He was as close to dominating as Jeff Suppan gets, allowing only five hits and one run in his six innings of work.  The one run came in the fifth when, with runners on the corner, opposing pitcher Vicente Padilla slapped a ball that bounced over the head of Felipe Lopez at third, scoring Xavier Paul.

However, the offense, with those big bats missing, went back into hibernation.  The closest they came to supporting Suppan was in the bottom of the sixth, when Rasmus struck out pinch hitting for Soup, Ryan walked, and Lopez grounded out moving Ryan over.  Jay and Craig then also walked, loading the bases with two outs for Holliday.  In a flashback to the earlier part of the season, Holliday couldn’t come through, hitting a fly ball for the third out.  It wasn’t the last time Holliday would have a chance to help the club, however.

Mitchell Boggs came in for the top of the seventh and immediately seemed to put the game out of reach.  To be fair, though, the defense let him down.  After a leadoff single and a fly ball for the first out, AJ Ellis hit a ground ball that should have at least produced one out, but instead both runners were safe on an error by Lopez.  Garret Anderson then doubled in a run and put runners at second and third.

After intentionally walking Rafael Furcal, Boggs then uncorked a wild pitch that moved everyone up.  He was then able to strike out Carroll and, with a base open, La Russa decided to walk Andre Ethier intentionally to set up a force at any base.  That backfired when Boggs could not find the plate and walked Matt Kemp afterwards, forcing in the fourth run of the day.  Reyes again came on to get someone out of a jam, getting the last out to finish off the inning.

If this had been the same team from the first half of the season, you could have turned off your television set then.  (You would have also spared yourself part of a KSDK broadcast, which is an endangered species now that the team has announced that all games will be on Fox Sports Midwest starting next season.)  However, the last two innings put the exclamation point on the idea that this is a brand new ball club.

Brendan Ryan, who had a perfect day at the plate, started the eighth inning off with a walk.  After a Lopez fly ball, Jon Jay walked as well.  That was enough to bring Jason Miller into the ball game to face Allen Craig, who was having his birthday on Sunday.  Craig gave himself a present by doubling in two runs, cutting the lead to two.

Wanting to take no chances, Joe Torre (also celebrating a birthday) went to his closer, Jonathan Broxton.  Instead of coming in and slamming the door, however, he more like gently closed it.  He got Holliday to fly out, but then Winn picked up his teammate with an RBI single.  When Schumaker walked, it was time for Pujols to pinch hit.  He worked the count to 3-2 before sharply grounding to shortstop.  A bullet dodged, LA still lead 4-3.

You do have to play nine, though, and the ninth proved to be the undoing of the team from the coast.  Yadier Molina, who came in when Pujols pinch-hit for LaRue, opened the ninth with a single.  Brendan Ryan bunted him over, but then Lopez flew out, putting the Cards just an out away from a tough loss.

Jay kept it alive by coaxing a walk, bringing up Allen Craig.  Broxton ran the count to 2-2, needing just one more strike, before Craig lined a ball back up the middle, scoring a Yadi Molina who ran as if his life depended on it, tying the game.

It stayed tied for four more pitches.  Holliday, up with two on and his failures not only in the first half but in this game with runners in scoring position on the minds of many watching, got behind 1-2.  Broxton, who had thrown over 40 pitches, couldn’t finish him off, though.  Holliday got a pitch up and drove it to the wall, a long single that easily scored Jay for the winning run in an improbable victory.

Four games, four wins.  Coupled with the win in Houston before the break, the Redbirds have won five in a row, tying their longest streak of the year.  They have done it with offense, they have done it with pitching, they have done it with heroics.  From the outside looking in, it certainly seems that something has changed for the better.

With the win, the Cardinals moved a half-game ahead of the Reds for the NL Central division lead.  Again, they are the first place St. Louis Cardinals.  They will test this new found resolve and momentum this week as the Phillies come into Busch for a four game set.

The Phillies are scuffling now, 5.5 behind Atlanta in the NL East and coming off losing three of four to Chicago in Wrigley Field.  St. Louis also misses Roy Halladay, who pitched on Sunday night.  It will still be a test for the squad, but there’s renewed hope that they can make a statement with these games.

The weekend is spent in Chicago renewing acquaintances with the third place Cubs, who have pulled to 9.5 games out of first place.  A strong week by St. Louis will have a lot of people fired up about this new team and this new half of the season.

The Yankees celebrated Steinbrenner’s accomplishments by doing a video montage of him. After the montage, the fans gave a heartfelt standing ovation. Mariano Rivera put roses in home plate to honor Steinbrenner, and Derek Jeter spoke about the bombastic Yankees owner and the soft-spoken public address announcer.

Steinbrenner would have been proud of the festivities, and he would have been proud of the way his team played in their 5-4 victory over the Rays. Steinbrenner always talked about how he is proud of his team when they don’t give up. That was the case of last night’s game. The Yankees trailed for the early part of the game, but they managed to cut the deficit, tie it, and win it in the end.

The Rays helped pave the way for the Yankees to make this comeback possible. The Rays could have put the game away if they did not strand runners at third several times during the middle innings. It proved to be costly in the end.

There was a feeling the Yankees were going to make Rays pay for not maximizing their opportunity, and it proved to be true. They tied the game at 3 in the sixth inning on solo home runs by Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada. After the Rays took a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning, the Yankees tied it at 4 when NIck Swisher homered off Rays setup man Joaquin Benoit in the eighth inning.

From there, the Yankees were not going to be denied. David Robertson and Mariano Rivera shut down the Rays hitters, and the Yankees celebrated with a victory on Swisher’s single in the ninth inning.

Here’s what the Rays or any baseball team must understand when they play the Yankees. When the opportunity is there to end the game, the Yankees opponent must finish off the Yankees. They are only asking for trouble by not getting it done. That was the case for the Rays last night.

Give CC Sabathia credit for pitching his team out of a jam several times, but championship teams know how to end it when the opportunity is there. As good as the Rays are,  they are not ready to be a championship team just yet. The Rays fail whenever it’s time to execute with runners in scoring position.

Too many times, the Rays tend to let the opposing pitcher off the hook whenever he is in a jam. Friday night’s game was a typical example of that. This may work against the bad teams, but against the Yankees and the Red Sox, it becomes an epic fail.

The Yankees are the opposite in this situation. Let’s say the Yankees took a 3-1 lead and they had a chance to end the game in the fifth inning with runners at second and third or with the bases loaded. Know what they would have done? They would make the pitcher pay for his mistakes, and end it right there.

That’s what the Yankees do. They find a way to win even if it looks like they are out of it or if a pitcher overpowers them with stuff. They are the only team that knows how to beat elite pitchers in baseball. It’s no wonder why they won a championship last year, and why they can do it again.

Talk about buying talent, but it takes a special team to come together and know how to win games. The Yankees have a knack of doing just that. They did that during the mid-to-late nineties, and they discovered that magic back last year.

Let’s tell it like it is. The Yankees outsmarted the Rays. They knew how to get the home runs, and they knew how to put the runners in a position to score.

This was a disappointing loss to say the least. When the Rays have their worst pitcher starting in this series and he pitched well until he lost it  in the sixth inning, this is one the Rays should not have let get away. It’s easy to go blame James Shields for giving up home runs to Cano and Posada in tying the game, but it’s not Shields’ fault that he had to pitch with no room for error in the sixth inning.

Maybe Shields go eight innings if this game was a 5-1 game. The Rays had an opportunity to pick Shields up when the game was tied at 3. They did, but they should have gotten more than one run in that seventh inning.

Whenever a team wins the first game of the series, they have a better chance of winning the series. Now, the Rays need to find a way to win today or else they could be in a position to get swept on Sunday. If the Rays get swept, the Yankees don’t have to pay attention to what the Rays are doing anymore with a nice cushion lead in the division.

The Yankees talk about how they respect the Rays publicly, but privately, they look at the Rays as a cute little team. That’s not meant to be a compliment. The Yankees don’t respect anyone. Why should they? Champions never pay attention to other teams. They are arrogant to think if they play their game, they are going to win.

The Yankees earned the right to act that way. When a team wins many championships, there’s no reason to fear the other team. Until teams figure out a way to beat the Yankees consistently, the Yankees will go use that approach.

It’s up to the Rays to change that perception. So far, they are 3-3 against the Bronx Bombers, but it’s not going to make the Yankees fear them. Even if the Rays went 6-0 against the Yankees so far this season, the Yankees will not change their approach.

For that to change, the Rays need to beat them more often than not. Last night was winnable. A message could have been sent that the Rays are a team the Yankees need to take seriously.

Just like that, the Yankees have a chance now to take the series or get a sweep. That team is finally healthy, and most of their players are peaking at the right time. The second half is where a team distance themselves from the competition in the division.

It’s up to the Rays to make it a race. They get two more cracks at it this weekend.

Here’s hoping the Rays know how to pad in some runs in case they have a lead. No lead is ever safe with the Yankees.

The Rays had an opportunity to show they can be in the Yankees’ level, but on this night, they showed the Yankees they have ways to go until they reach that level.

2010 Season record: 56-32

The Yankees dominant pitching returned this week and as a result the Bombers caught fire and went 6-1.  The Yankees were led by their starting rotation, which held their AL West opponents to two runs or less in all six of their wins.

The men in pinstripes started  the west coast road trip against the Oakland Athletics.  The 3rd place A’s were no competition for the Yankees, who outscored them 15-4 and as a result swept the 3-game series.

In the first game the Yankees beat the A’s 3-1 largely due to Javier Vazquez’s great pitching performance.  The Yankees starter allowed just three hits and one earned run in seven innings.

Game 2 was more of the same as the Yankees clicked on all cylinders in a 6-1 victory.  The Bombers’ All-Star ace, CC Sabathia, struck out 10 batters and allowed just one earned run in seven innings.  Sabathia won the game with the help of his All-Star teammate, Alex Rodriguez, who hit a pair of homers including his 21st career Grand Slam.

In the final game of the series, Nick Swisher’s exploded for a trio of  hits including a home run and finished the game a triple short of the cycle.  On the mound, Yankees starter AJ Burnett also shined by allowing only two earned runs in seven innings of work to earn the victory in the 6-2 win.

The Yankees then traveled to Seattle for a rematch of the prior week’s series against the Mariners.  The first game of the series turned out to be a pitchers duel between Andy Pettitte and Jason Vargas.  Pettitte pitched a brilliant game, striking out nine and allowing just one earned run over eight innings.

Vargas matched Pettitte inning for inning, but when the Mariners went to the bullpen the Bombers were like sharks seeinge blood in the water.  A-Rod hit a two run single off of Mariners closer David Aardsma to put the Bombers ahead for good and the Yankees won 3-1.

The Yankees were supposed to face Seattle ace Cliff Lee in the second game of the series.  However, after a trade to New York fell through, Lee was dealt to Texas just hours before game time. The Yankees struggled early with spot starter David Pauley, but then blew things open en route to a 6-1 win.  Mark Teixeira carried the big stick in the game by blasting two homers into the night.  While Teixeira brought the lumber, Phil Hughes brought his great stuff.   The first time All-Star limited the Mariners to just one earned run in seven innings and picked up his 11th victory.

The Yankees seven game winning streak came to an end in Game 3 of the series. Javier Vazquez threw no-hit ball for 5.2 innings and outpitched Felix Hernandez, but the bullpen couldn’t preserve the 1-0 lead Vazquez left with.  Joba Chamberlain blew the game by loading the bases and then quickly unloading them by serving up a grand slam to Jose Lopez.  A 9th inning rally fell short and the Mariners hung on for a 4-1 win.

In the final game of the series and of the first half the Yankees really poured it on against the M’s.  The Bomber’s bats exploded for eight runs thanks to Mark Teixeira’s four hits and two runs driven in by both Derek Jeter and Marcus Thames, who also homered.  And of course what would the last game of the first half be without another dominant pitching performance by CC Sabathia.  Sabathia allowed just one earned run over seven innings and led the Yanks to an impressive 8-2 victory.

The Yankees ended the first half of the season on fire, winning 9 of 11  The Bombers go into the All-Star break on top of the AL East with a 56-32 record and a two game lead over 2nd place Tampa Bay.

Pinstriped Positives:

Mark Teixeira has been on fire as of late. In his last 10 games, Teixeira hit .410 to raise his season average to .254 and produced 4 HR and 11 RBI.

Nick Swisher has also been hot of late, trying his best to prove he belongs in the All-Star game.  Swish hit .375 over his last 10 games leading into the break.

After  an extremely rough start to the season, Javier Vazquez has arguably been one of baseball’s best pitchers over the last month and a half.  In his last 10 starts Vazquez is 5-3 with a 2.78 ERA (which has allowed him to drop his season ERA to 4.45) and leveled his record out at 7-7.

Negatives:

Joba Chamberlain has really been a mess of late.  He has allowed nine earned runs and 13 hits over his last nine  innings of work, and has blown a couple of Yankees’ leads.  The Yankees really need him to go back to his old fist pumping, dominant self if they want to repeat as champs.

Robinson Cano had an amazing season, but ended the first half in a slump. The All-Star second baseman hit just .205 with one homer and 5 RBI in his past 10 games.  Cano saw his once league leading average drop to .336.

Mariano Rivera was forced to pull out of the All-Star game due to side and knee injuries.  If the Yankees are to make a serious run at back to back titles they’ll need their Hall of Fame closer to be as close to 100% as possible.

What’s Next:

The Yankees are now off until Friday when they play host to the 2nd place Tampa Bay Rays for a very important three game series.  It was going to be a tough series already, but the death of George Steinbrenner is sure to impact the emotions of the team.

John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com

Then there’s Robinson Cano. He was announced as a participant on July 6, which led both Yankees manager Joe Girardi and hitting coach Kevin Long to express happy-but-not-really reactions. “I would prefer he’s not involved in it, but that’s not my decision,” Long said in the NY Daily News. “History suggests guys that do the home run hitting contest get fatigued and exhausted from the process.” Interestingly, just a day later, Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman said that a sore lower back would keep Cano out of the Derby — before they apparently let Cano himself know. (Does that mean Girardi, Cashman and Long have less concern over how fatigued Nick Swisher may get, since Swisher was in the Derby?)

Why all the reluctance to participate this year? There’s no doubt a player approaches hitting in the Home Run Derby differently than hitting in a regular game. “In the Home Run Derby, you have to be aggressive, because it’s a lot of pressure,” Cabrera said on MLB.com. “It’s different, because you don’t have the batting cage. You have more people see you. It’s like, ‘You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to do it.’”

So does that different approach affect a player’s performance in the second half of the season? Is there really a “Home Run Derby effect”?

To find out how things went during the second half for past participants, here’s a look at Home Run Derby contestants from 2009 back to 2005.

2009 – Busch Stadium, St. Louis

The numbers say: Pujols is obviously a dramatic example of post-Derby drop-off, as are Inge (even without hitting a homer) and Cruz. However, Howard and Fielder weren’t bothered at all.

2008 – Yankee Stadium, New York

* Hit 28 homers in 1st round
The numbers say: It certainly looks like the Derby had some kind of negative effect on everyone.

2007 – AT&T Park, San Francisco

The numbers say: Some declined (especially Morneau), some hit the same or just about, and Ryan Howard and Matt Holliday hit more homers in the second half than the first.

2006 – PNC Park, Pittsburgh

The numbers say: Other than Ryan Howard hitting two more homers in the second half compared to the first, everyone else had some kind of drop-off in the second half – especially David Wright.

2005 – Comerica Park, Detroit

* 17 in first round
The numbers say: After more than doubling the number of homers he’d hit so far in the season during the Derby, Bobby Abreu didn’t do so well homer-wise the rest of the season. He wasn’t alone in declining, although he was the most dramatic. And Pudge Rodriguez and David Ortiz actually improved.

Conclusions: Some years offer convincing evidence there indeed is a Home Run Derby effect, and perhaps enough so that many of this year’s All Stars declined participation. Only time will tell how this year’s Derby affects Miguel Cabrera, Corey Hart, Matt Holliday, David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, Nick Swisher, Vernon Wells and Chris Young.

Christine Coleman covers the Cardinals for BaseballDigest.com and writes at Cardinal Diamond Diaries.  You may follow her on Twitter here or follow Cardinal Diamond Diaries here.

2010 Season record: 43-27

The Yankees opened up the week against last year’s World Series opponents, the Philadelphia Phillies.  Unfortunately for Yankee fans, the Bombers didn’t fair too well in the rematch and lost two out of three.

The Yanks opened up the week with an 8-3 victory over the Phillies that showcased their abilities to out hit and shut down other teams.  The game was supposed to be a pitchers duel between CC Sabathia and Roy Halladay, but only Sabathia showed up.

Halladay surrendered home runs to Mark Teixiera, Curtis Granderson, and Nick Swisher after having allowed only three home runs all year.  Sabathia got tagged for three runs in the 4th inning, but settled down and didn’t allow another run in seven innings of work.

For the rest of the series against the Phillies the Yankees hitting and pitching struggled.  The Yankees lost Game 2 by a score of 6-3 to the crafty Jamie Moyer, who showed the Bombers just how much he still has at the tender age of 47.

Andy Pettitte went for the Yankees in Game 3 and pitched very well allowing two earned runs in seven innings pitched.  But the Yankees bullpen and offense struggled.  Joba Chamberlain gave up 3 earned runs without recording an out and as a result the Phillies won 7-1.

The Yankees then took on their cross town rival Mets and lost the first game which made it three straight losses for the Bombers.  However they quickly rebounded and won the last two games against the Mets and took the three game series.

The Mets won the opener 4-0 behind Hisanori Takahashi’s brilliant performance.  Takahashi pitched six innings of shutout ball and held the Yankees star studded lineup to just four hits.  To make matters worse for the Yankees they wasted another brilliant pitching performance.  Javier Vazquez allowed just one run in seven innings pitched.

In Game 2 the Yanks righted the ship and stopped their three game skid with the help of Phil Hughes’ strong performance.  Hughes won his 10^th game of the season by holding the Mets to three runs in seven innings.  The Yankees offense awoke from their slumber and got two-run homers from Teixeira and Granderson.  Chamberlain bounced back with a strong outing and the Yankees beat their rivals 5-3.

In the series finale the Yankees gained a split of the six interleague games with Mets with 4-0 victory.  CC Sabathia was dominant, limiting the Mets to four hits over eight innings.  All of the Yankees runs came off the bat of Mark Teixiera who hit a grand slam off of Johan Santana.  For the second time in a week Sabathia had beaten another team’s ace.

Despite the mini slump the Yankees still managed to take a one game lead over the struggling Rays in the AL East.

Pinstripe Positives:

After a slump in May, CC Sabathia has really turned up the heat in the month of June.  For the month, he is an amazing 4-0 with a 2.48 ERA.  On top of that Sabathia’s last two starts came against top tier teams.

In another pitching positive for the Bombers Javier Vazquez has continued to pitch very well.  In his past six starts Vazquez is 4-2 with a 2.76 ERA, and one of those losses includes his last start when he only allowed one run in seven innings.

Negatives:

The Yankees got their perennial all-star third baseman back this week which is a good thing.  However, Alex Rodriguez has continued the slump he was in before his injury sidelined him.  In his last 10 games A-Rod is hitting .167 with no homeruns and 2 RBI.

A.J. Burnett is having another A.J. Burnett type season, which means at times he looks great and then at times he looks like he’s throwing batting practice.  In his last four starts Burnett has given up 23 earned runs.  As a result, Burnett is 0-4 with a mind blowing 10.35 ERA.

The Captain has also been bit by the slump bug.  In Jeter’s last 10 games he is batting .175 with 2 homers and 5 RBI.  Jeter, who has a career average of .316, is currently hitting .280 with 8 homers and 39 RBI.

What’s Next:

The Yankees are going to take their show on the road as they travel to the west coast to take on the Diamondbacks and the Dodgers.

John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com.

2010 Season record: 40-23

After a long pursuit the Yankees have pulled even with the Tampa Rays atop the AL East.  The Yanks turned up the heat, going 5-1 as they showcased their powerful bats and crafty pitching.  As a result, the Bombers outscored their opponents 41-24 and took two out of three from Baltimore before completing a three game sweep of the Houston Astros.

The Yankees opened the week with a 12-7 win over the lowly Orioles.  The Yankees offense exploded for three home runs – two-run shots by Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher and a grand slam by Granderson.  Phil Hughes continued to make a case for himself to be included on the AL All-Star roster with a six inning, three earned run performace.

Teixeira had two additional hits, a pair of RBI and two walks.  Swisher banged out three hits and drove in five runs.

The only negative part of the game was the bullpen, Chad Gaudin to be specific. The recently re-acquired right-hander gave up four runs over the final two innings of the game.

The rest of the Baltimore series were not high scoring affairs like the first game.  The Yankees won the second game 4-2 thanks to a great pitching performance by CC Sabathia who pitched seven strong innings, struck out eight and allowed just two runs.

The Yankees offense took the night off in the last game of the series.  The Orioles won 4-3 behind rookie pitcher Jake Arrieta’s first win. Making his major league debut, Arrieta held the Pinstripes to four hits and three runs over six innings.

Back home at Yankee Stadium, the Bombers came back to life against the Houston Astros.  In game 1 of the interleague series, Andy Pettitte continued his dominance, allowing two earned runs in 7 1/3 innings pitched.  It was the first time Pettitte had faced his former team since returning to the Bronx prior to the 2008 season.

The Yankees bats had a revival in the final two games of the series, putting a nine spot on the board in each contest. In Saturday’s game, Derek Jeter went 2 for 4 with two homers and four RBI.  The Captain’s performance wasn’t the only big offensive outburst. Jorge Posada went 2 for 3 and hit a grand slam in the Bombers 9-3 win.

The Yankees and especially Posada were not done yet.  In the last game of the series, Posada, who caught his first game since May 16, hit another grand slam.  The Yankees beat Houston 9-5 and helped Phil Hughes win his ninth game of the season despite a rough outing.

Pinstriped Positives:

Javier Vazquez is finally starting to pull himself together and show people why the Yankees gave him a second chance.  In his last three starts Vazquez has allowed six earned run in 21 innings (2.45 ERA).

Andy Pettitte continues to amaze people in the baseball world.  In his last 10 games the Yankees pitcher is 7-1 with a 2.77 ERA. The win over Houston was his 200^thas a Yankee.  If he keeps at this pace maybe a Cy Young award will be his next achievement.

Posada had struggled since his return from the DL, hitting just .194 in 11 games.  However, as all Yankee fans saw against the Astros his bat came alive with four hits in nine at-bats. That, of course, included the pair of grand slams. Posada became the first Yankees since Bill Dickey 1937 to hit slams in consecutive games.

Negatives:

Unfortunately for the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez had to leave the finale of the Orioles series in the first inning.  A-Rod was pulled due to tightness in his right groin, which was later diagnosed as hip flexor tendonitis.  It caused the slugger to miss the entire Houston series, but it should not cause a trip to the DL.  On the bright side, doctors determined the injury was not linked to last year’s serious hip injury and surgery.

AJ Burnett has been struggling as of late. Over his last three starts, Burnett went 1-2 with a 4.90 ERA and saw his season ERA jump from 3.28 to 3.86.  Hopefully for Yankee fans he pulls himself together in time for his next start which will be against the Phillies.

What’s Next:

The Yankees are now tied with the Tampa Rays for the lead in the AL East and will need to keep their hot streak going in order to pass them.  The Yankees have a very important six game home stretch against two former World Series opponents, the Philadelphia Phillies and the cross-town rival New York Mets.

John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com.

Drew Sarver contributed to this report.

In the American League, in figures released Monday, the outfield race is led by Ichiro Suzuki of Seattle (1,231,950 votes), followed by Carl Crawford of Tampa Bay (1,123,132) and Nelson Cruz of Texas (1,093,099), narrowly ahead of teammate Josh Hamilton (1,006,364).  New York Yankees teammates Nick Swisher (808,871) and Curtis Granderson (766,088) and Torii Hunter (765,023) of the host Angels are among those remaining in contention.

The only other American League race in doubt is at first base, where Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins, with 1,402,496 votes, is holding off New York’s Mark Teixeira (1,221,457) and Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera (1,009,822) in a three-way race.

In the N.L., as announced by MLB today, outfield, catcher and shortstop are still up for grabs.  Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun, the vote leader among N.L. outfielders last year, is again pacing the position (1,422,598).  Atlanta Braves rookie sensation Jason Heyward (1,419,753) is close behind, with Andre Ethier of Los Angeles holding the third spot (1,348,662).  Philadelphia Phillies teammates Jayson Werth (1,124,831) and Shane Victorino (1,029,700) as well as Matt Holliday (955,411) of the St. Louis Cardinals are still in contention.  Hanley Ramirez (1,190,685) of the Florida Marlins holds a small lead over Jimmy Rollins (992,887) of the Phillies at shortstop.

Placido Polanco

Placido Polanco of Philadelphia continues to pace the N.L. hot corner, with a lead of about 180,000 votes over David Wright of the Mets and 230,000 over Chipper Jones of Atlanta.

At N.L. catcher, Yadier Molina of the Cardinals has totaled 1,047,411 votes as he continues to hold off Braves catcher Brian McCann, who has collected a total of 959,033 votes.

Other starters whose leads seem secure include:

American League
C – Joe Mauer, Minnesota
2b – Robinson Cano, New York
ss – Derek Jeter, New York
3b – Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay
dh – Vladimir Guerrero, Texas

National League
1b – Albert Pujols, St. Louis
2b – Chase Utley, Philadelphia

Immediately following the announcement of the A.L. and N.L. All-Star rosters on Sunday, July 4, fans will begin voting to select the final player for each League’s 34-man roster via the 2010 All-Star Game Final Vote.  Fans will cast their votes exclusively online at MLB.com from a list of five players from each League over a four-day period and the winners will be announced after the voting concludes on Thursday, July 8.

5/24–5/31 Record: 5-2

2010 Season record: 31-20

The Yankees were able to turn it around last week and stopped their May slump.  Timely hitting, clutch pitching and great defensive play were the keys to the Yankees success.    The Yanks outscored their opponents 43-30 for the week, with the pitching staff holding opponents to three or less runs in all five of the team’s wins.

The Yankees dominant pitching opened up the week by shutting out the underrated Twins offense in a game that was completed over the span of two days due to rain.  In the team’s first trip to the new Target Field, A.J. Burnett and four relievers limited the Twins to six hits and Derek Jeter provided the game’s lone run with a solo home run.  The Bombers followed that up by holding Minnesota to a pair of runs as Nick Swisher homered in the 9th for a 3-2 Yankees win.

After dropping the finale of the three game series to the AL Central leading Twins, the Bombers took on the Cleveland Indians in a four game Memorial Day Weekend series at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees’ bats exploded in the four game series out scoring the Tribe 37-20.   Red hot Robinson Cano belted a grand slam in the opener, an 8-2 win, to back an outstanding effort by Phil Hughes.

The Yankees poured more runs on the board on Saturday, but a shaky CC Sabathia and an even shakier bullpen led to a 13-11 loss.  The Yankees bounced back though to take the final two games of the series.

A.J. Burnett was outstanding and Mark Teixeira provided the late innings heroics as the Pinstripes rallied for a 7-3 win on Sunday.  Andy Pettitte followed that up on Monday with his seventh win as the Yankees rolled to an 11-2 victory.

Pinstriped Positives:

The week’s positives were not only limited to the win and loss columns.  The Yankees got a little healthier when they welcomed outfielder Curtis Granderson back into the lineup on May 28.  Granderson got back into the swing of things immediately and had a multi hit game in the series finale against Cleveland.

On another positive note, second baseman Robinson Cano continued to light the league up with his bat.  Cano collected six multi-hit games this week including two 3-hit games.  That helped raise his batting average to .366, trailing only Justin Morneau’s .374 mark.

The Captain also wielded a hot bat collecting six multi-hit games during the week.  As a result, Derek Jeter raised his batting average back over .300 for the season.

Out on the mound, Andy Pettitte continued his dominant season by only allowing three runs in two starts. That included a strong eight inning performance against the Twins in which he allowed only two runs.  Pettitte continues to have the season of his life, going 7-1 in 10 starts with an ERA of 2.48.

The Negatives:

Even though the Bombers looked great this week there were still some low points.  Javier Vazquez continued to be a sore spot for the Yanks.  After a great start against the Mets, Vazquez went back to his old, spotty self against the Twins and gave up 5 runs in 5.2 innings pitched.  Vazquez continued to show the Yankees that he is inconsistent at best.

Francisco Cervelli has come back down to Earth recently.  He hasn’t had more than one hit in a game in over a week.  Cervelli hit a measly .212 in his last 10 games and his season average has dropped to .311 as a result.

What’s Next:

The Yankees have a 3-game series against the lowly Baltimore Orioles and the up-and-coming Blue Jays this week and need to continue playing well if they want to keep gaining on the Rays.

The Big Bad Rays have a two game set against the Blue Jays and a 3-game series against the AL West leading Texas Rangers and are looking to stop their own slump.  The Rays are currently only 2.5 games ahead of the Yankees and things are beginning to get interesting, keep watching Yankee fans.

* * *
John Fetter recently joined Baseball Digest as a New York Yankees contributor.  He can be reached at jfetter@sportstalk88.com.

Take tonight’s 3-1 Yankee win over the Baltimore Orioles. This had the making of a slugfest wit Brian Matursz taking on Javier Vazquez, two pitcher that would make Oliver Perez proud with a combined record of 5-10 and an ERA of over six.

But both starts throughout their records and played very good baseball, each giving up one earned run with Matursz going 6 2/3 and Vazquez the full seven.

So something needed to break here and the Yankees got it with two on and two out during the bottom of the seventh.

Alex Rodriguez’s long groundball to Miguel Tejada at third went for an era as Ty Wiggington couldn’t haul in the low throw. Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher scored as the ball trickled down the line.

“We are going to keep coming at ya,” Swisher said. “If we don’t score runs early we are going to keep coming at you. I don’t care how they score. A win is a win.”

Yet, this is more than just any ho-hum win. Another good outing by Vazquez, who just three weeks ago was on the Perez boat out of the rotation, but seemed to right the ship at Citi Field two Fridays ago.

“I feel good the last few starts,” Vazquez, who now improves to 4-5 on the season with a 6.06 ERA. “I think I am throwing better pitches. I have better command on my pitches and throwing strikes.”

Vazquez was sharp all night and was able to get out of trouble when he had to. In the seventh, with one out Matt Weiters was intentionally walked with one out to load the bases. But Vazquez was able to cap off his night with a strikeout to Adam Jones and Julio Lugo grounding out to finish off the inning.

That was the most trouble Vazquez had all night as he cruised through five and gave up a homer to Corey Patterson in the sixth. His balls looked sharp, on what may be his best outing of the season.

“He was great,” said manager Joe Girardi. “He attacked the zone all night. I thought he used his fastball very effectively. We got into a jam in the seventh. He was outstanding tonight. Everyone is going to run into bumps in the road, but we are very encouraged on how he threw the baseball.”

Also encouraging was Curtis Granderson, who hit another homer off a lefty to give the Yankees an early lead.

All of this made for a great night in the Bronx, one that could have been marred with the loss of Mark Teixeira. The first baseman left the game in the third inning after fouling a ball off his foot in the first. Girardi said the first baseman is day to day and may be in the lineup tomorrow.

“We will see how he feels.”

With the Yankees luck these days, it’s probably going to be pretty good, since they are playing well and getting the breaks.