Baseball

Last night my dad called me and asked me if I wanted to go to the Yankee game with him on Sunday. I told him I had plans for Sunday and asked him why we didn’t just go Saturday (today) instead. I was promptly told, no and reminded that Javier Vazquez is pitching today which meant that he didn’t want to go. “With so many good pitchers on the staff I’d rather wait and go see somebody better,” my dad said.

Despite a sparkling record good for second place in the tough AL East, a number of Yankee hitters are off to poor starts.

Mark Teixeria, Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson and Alex Rodriguez are all struggling mightily.

So which of the four are likely to turn it around? Advanced statistics can help us with that one. All of this data is available at fangraphs.com or baseball-reference.com

Alex Rodriguez

The line: .250/.337/.440 2 HR's.

Prognosis : Good, but remember, he's getting up there in years.

As a Phillies fan, I am hoping that the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies' season is not becoming that of the New York Mets' 2009 season, one riddled with injuries and a lost season before the All-Star break

I can hear the laughing all the way from Queens.

Really though, here's what the Phillies awful 9-1 loss means: The Phillies are in third place, 1.5 games behind the Mets and a half-game behind behind Washington. A win today by the Phillies only assures them to be a half-game behind the Mets.

Not to mention what Washington does.

The outlook isn't brilliant for the Local 9 these days.

The Sox have weathered a first month of the season filled with injuries, ineffectiveness, and all other manner of "suckitude," and have surprisingly come out of it with an 11-12 record.

They have beaten up on the dregs of the AL—thank God for doormats—going 9-4 against the Royals, Jays, O's, and Rangers, while running up a less than impressive 2-8 record against the Rays, Yanks, and Twins. What's surprising is not that there have been issues, but what they are.

There is nothing worse than a strikeout.

A strikeout is not just another out, it is an out that is a completely wasted at-bat for the offensive team.

I have no problem proclaiming to the world that I’m a huge nerd, so it’s no surprise that I really like infographics. 

For those of you unfamiliar with what an infographic (or information graphic) is, according to Wikipedia it is a “visual representation of information, data or knowledge.”  Also known as interesting info portrayed in a cool way.

While the Mets are celebrating their ascension back into relevance with their eight-game winning streak and Phillies are floundering without their anchor, Jimmy Rollins, the Nationals are on a high of their own.

Brett Gardner continues to have a big impact for the New York Yankees.

Last night the Yankees came from behind to beat the Chicago White Sox 6-4. Derek Jeter was the hero of the game as he had a single, a two run homer and a two run triple. Jeter drove in four runs and scored another.

But Gardner was critical too. Gardner went 2-3 with a stolen base. And two of the runs Jeter drove in were Gardner crossing the plate.

Please read this carefully.

Take your time to understand the import of what you are about to read.

For if the following hits you as it hit me when I first read it, you will be amazed.

As reported in the New York Post today, last night Derek Jeter passed Ken Griffey, Jr. as the active player with most hits in his career.

But the incredible part, the part you have to read carefully is the other part of the Post report.

Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta certainly didn't get off to the start he and his club were hoping for. After years of rough April outings, there was hope things under Acta would change.

The standings may not indicate it, but I think they have. Acta's Tribe only won nine games, but they were lucky to even do that after being outscored by 27 runs in the month of April. The team is showing a lot more promise than most expected and it has been the pitching that has carried them to this point.

May is a new month, which means they are closer to the point where they historically heat up.