New York Yankees

Before the start of the 2012 season, the New York Yankees traded catcher Jesus Montero to the Seattle Mariners for pitcher Michael Pineda. I expected the Yankees to make a significant push for Yu Darvish after he was posted, but that didn't happen.

Pineda struggled to find his velocity in spring training and showed up overweight. Now he's been shut down for a while.

Mickey Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, batting .353 with 52 home runs and 130 RBIs. My brother and I often heard some of our friends that didn't exactly root for Mantle or the New York Yankees claim that Mantle usually hit home runs when the Yankees were well ahead or far behind.

If you're a fan of the New York Yankees, the best way to show your allegiance is to wear a Yankees cap.

If you must, you can also boast about the team's 27 world championships. Just don't be surprised when your audience responds by rolling his/her/their eyes.

Maybe these things aren't enough for you. Maybe you don't want people to just see that you're a Yankees fan. Maybe you want people to be able to smell your Yankees fanhood.

Wait, what?

On Tuesday night in Texas, two natives of Japan will match up when the Yankees’ Hiroki Kuroda takes the mound against the Rangers’ Yu Darvish.

New York Yankees prospect Jose Campos had been nearly unhittable in his three starts prior to Sunday's start against West Virginia.

Campos did not factor in the decision—the River Dogs came back from a 3-0 deficit in the bottom of the ninth—but he still pitched very well.

In six innings of work, Campos allowed two runs on eight hits and one walk. He struck out five.

Sixty-one of his 88 pitches went for strikes.

It was 9-0 in the fifth inning.

Everything was looking in favor of the Red Sox on Saturday after they had chased Freddy Garcia in the second inning and forced Joe Girardi to go to the bullpen.

The "it was" phrase is a common phrase uttered a lot in Boston.

Like, it was 3-2 in the 1986 World Series. And it was 5-2 in the eighth inning of the 2003 ALCS.

On Saturday, it was 9-0 Red Sox heading into the sixth inning.

The New York Yankees flat-out embarrassed the Boston Red Sox with a nine-run comeback that turned a 9-0 deficit into a 15-9 win for the Bombers and sent the Sox to rock bottom.

It finally seemed like the Red Sox were going to get their 2012 campaign against their arch-rivals going in the second game of the first series of the season.

New York Yankees' right-hander Freddy Garcia was shelled yet again in Saturday's game against the Red Sox, allowing five runs on seven hits in just 1.2 innings of work.

On the season, Garcia has allowed 14 runs in 12 innings—that equates to a 9.75 ERA.

Marty Appel, in his latest book. Pinstripe Empire, explains why the New York Yankees fell on hard times following the 1964 season.

The Yankees won five consecutive pennants from 1960-64, but unlike the well-remembered first streak of five when they also won the World Series after each pennant (1949-53), this time the Yankees won only two world championships.

The New York Yankees shut Michael Pineda down today after the young right-hander suffered a setback during his start in an extended spring training game. This will almost certainly end Pineda's chances of making the rotation in 2012.