Well, the New York Yankees are at a crossroads. And that was well before Mariano Rivera tore the ACL and meniscus in his right knee. I was talking with Mike this week and saying how this Yankee team was in a situation of seriousness. They have a veteran team, aging superstars and aging bench players. [...]

Thursday night was possibly the most surreal sports night of my lifetime. Mariano Rivera, the most unflappable, dominant athlete (as compared to everyone else who does his job) I’ve ever seen, was in tears on my television set. Alex Rodriguez was also fighting back tears. For you see, four hours earlier we saw the video [...]

After beating the Yankees last night, the Orioles are now 16-9 and a game behind Tampa in the AL East. The team that most pundits picked to finish a distant last has a better record than the Yanks on May 3rd. To date, they are hands down the biggest surprise of the 2012 baseball season. [...]

Given the amount of catching prospects in the Yankees system – even with the trade of Jesus Montero to Seattle – Jeff Farnham has gone about his career as a farmhand mostly out of the spotlight. The 24-year-old , a native of Las Vegas drafted in the 27th round in 2009, is not mentioned with [...]

The Astros are moving to the American League at the end of the year so this afternoon is the last time the Mets play in Houston, unless they have a rare interleague series. Houston has never been kind to them throughout their history. As Gary Cohen mentioned during last night’s game, the Mets have a [...]

I was in the midst of writing a “Girardi Needs to Yank Garcia from the Rotation” piece when the Yankees announced Sunday that Freddy Garcia is being removed from the rotation. He will not make his next scheduled start and will remain as the mop up guy* in the bullpen. *As opposed to the “roles” [...]

ESPN started a new era in New York radio when it moved to FM yesterday morning with their 98.7 debut. They also turned 1050 into a Spanish speaking equivalent and renamed it ESPN Deportes. There is also a new lineup on the station. I don’t know if it’s possible for Terry Collins or Joe Girardi to shakeup their lineup as [...]

Tonight I will be live from the studio of 1240 AM WGBB. Former big leaguer Frank Catalanotto will kick off the show. Frank recently published a book called “Heart and Hustle: An Unlikely Journey from Little Leaguer to Big Leaguer.“ I will talk about the homegrown Mets and their surprising April start. MLB.com contributor Jed [...]

Home run hitters tend to have nicknames. Babe Ruth was “The Bambino,” Dave Kingman was “Kong,” David Ortiz ”Big Papi” and Frank Thomas the “Big Hurt.” Bill “Moose” Skowron was a power hitting first baseman for the Yankees in the 1950s, but his nickname had nothing to do with anything he did on the field. “My grandfather shaved off all [...]

In reading the blogs and listening to sports radio, it appears many Yankee fans are calling for Brian Cashman’s head over the Michael Pineda debacle, while others fail to find fault on the GM’s part. In this election season, everyone loves a good debate so I will refrain from offering my opinion on the Pineda [...]

Steroids created a lot of “video game” type of results over two decades. Two records that still were elusive to jacked up hitters was Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hitting streak and Ted Williams .406 batting average. When ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst  John Kruk said Derek Jeter can hit .400 earlier this month, everyone blew it off as crazy.  Thirty-four games [...]

TRENTON, N.J. – Yankees fans, rightfully so, are a bit concerned about their favorite team’s starting rotation. Yes, Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia have been inconsistent. The injury to Michael Pineda throws another monkey wrench into the picture. Help will be coming from veteran Andy Pettitte, but not immediately.  The 39-year-old,  who has made 479 [...]

Yankees fans have been penciling in Andy Pettitte to takeover either Phil Hughes‘ or Freddy Garcia‘s rotation spot. On a day where the organization received bad news regarding Michael Pineda‘s shoulder, Pettitte made another rehab start with Double-A Trenton. According to Mike Ashmore of the Hunterdon County Democrat Pettitte’s velocity was between 86-87 mph. His average in 2010, his last full [...]

I made a trip out to Trenton this past Saturday for a rare 5:05 start to watch the Thunder play host to the Washington Nationals Double-A affiliate, Harrisburg Senators. Some seasons have seen Thunder manager Tony Franklin blessed with tremendous pitching staffs with zero hitting, and other seasons have seen him write in a tremendous [...]

On Saturday, I attended a screening of Knuckleball! at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival. The documentary, by award-winning filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, follows knuckleballers R.A. Dickey and Tim Wakefield during the 2011 season. Stern and Sundberg also tell the story about how both pitchers came to embrace and master this unique pitch.  Charlie Hough, Phil Niekro, Jim Bouton  and long-time White Sox [...]