Yanks ready for wire-to-wire run. Are you?

[riverplate]

A week from tomorrow (Tuesday, March 30), the Big Ball Club From The Bronx begins its season by seriously kicking Tampa Bay Devil Ray butt in the Land Of The Rising Sun, Nippon.

The Yankees will come home in first place, and likely never fall out of it.

Have a nice summer.

:D

[TheSlipperyOne]

Do you mean wire-to-wire the way they did in 01, 02 or 03?

[Poachin_Goalz]

A week from tomorrow (Tuesday, March 30), the Big Ball Club From The Bronx begins its season by seriously kicking Tampa Bay Devil Ray butt in the Land Of The Rising Sun, Nippon.

The Yankees will come home in first place, and likely never fall out of it.

Have a nice summer.

:D

Dear Yankees Fan,

Bite Me!

Sincerely
Disgruntled Braves Fan (who was at the Jim Leyritz game in 96' and still holds a grudge)

[riverplate]

The Big Ball Club may very well be in the air and on their way to The Floating Kingdom as I write. They'll be flying from Florida to Chicago, and then on to Tokyo. They will play two exhibition games over the weekend, and get down to business Tuesday and Wednesday. The games will be broadcast on the YES Network starting, I believe, at 4:30 AM Eastern time.

Mike Mussina will start the first game. Kevin Brown in the second.

Javier Vasquez did not make the trip. Speculation is that he will start the Yanks opener when they return home.

[Matt in the Hat]

How lucky are the Yankees to have the weakest division in baseball. If they don't run from wire to wire, they are a joke.

Who wouldn't love to play Baltimore, Toronto and TB in over 1/3 of your games.

Want a real horse race. The NL East and Central are the places to be.

[mellon002]

Could we rename this the thread of misinformed opinions?

I'm an Orioles fan and am quite biased when it comes to the O's, but don't knock on the Blue Jays. I think they are a real dark horse this year. The O's are improved and will definately be a tough team to beat. This is the BEST division in baseball. No team should consider this divison a cruise.

Secondly, the Yankees will not be wire-to-wire champs but instead will miss the playoffs. Check the ninth post on this thread for all of my reasons: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96702

[TheSlipperyOne]

Could we rename this the thread of misinformed opinions?

I'm an Orioles fan and am quite biased when it comes to the O's, but don't knock on the Blue Jays. I think they are a real dark horse this year. The O's are improved and will definately be a tough team to beat. This is the BEST division in baseball. No team should consider this divison a cruise.


From a Jays fan, thank you. I too the the AL East is going to be damn tough this season. The O's definitely have an improved team and will be fun to watch. I'm just hoping my Jays pitching comes together.

[Metros Striker10]

Apparently no one has followed the pre-season where many of the new guys are feeling comfortable and playing well. The Yanks have been in this position before, and passed. Why can't they do it again?

They have Mussina, Vasquez, Liber, Brown, el Duque, and Conteras as starting pitchers. That's 6, meaning they have one extra guy that can start whenever. el Duque isn't as young as he was in his first stint, but he never really played poorly in his final season. He'd be a great reliever as well. Unlike most teams, they can allow 3 runs and still win a game.

As relievers, they have De Paula, Tom Gordon, Steve Karsay, Paul Quantrill, Gabe White, and the best closer in baseball, Mariano Rivera.

That means that the starters can go 6, and the relievers can close the game. Not bad if you ask me.

1918!! :D

[mellon002]

They have Mussina, Vasquez, Liber, Brown, el Duque, and Conteras as starting pitchers.

Mussina - Close to 20 wins.
Vazquez - We'll see how he transitions.
Liber - Washed up and stinkin' in the preseason.
Brown - I'll bet money he gets hurt.
Duque - C'mon, you really want to rely on him? The Yanks only took him back out of necessity because Liber has already been hurt.
Contreras - Lookin' good in the preaseason, could be very dangerous in the regular season.

As relievers, they have De Paula, Tom Gordon, Steve Karsay, Paul Quantrill, Gabe White, and the best closer in baseball, Mariano Rivera.

De Paula - Who? Spring Training (1-3 5.54 ERA, who says I don't pay attention to Spring Training?)
Gordon - Definately washed up.
Steve Karsay - Decent.
Paul Quantrill - Very good reliever.
Gabe White - Played better in the NL last year than the AL.
Mariano Rivera - Great closer but Gagne is the best.

[655321]

Dear Yankees fan,

"wire to wire" means nothing.

Sincerely,
SF Giants fan

[riverplate]

The New York Yankees today defeated the much-feared Yomiuri Giants by a score of 6-2 at Tokyo Dome.

Winning pitcher: Jose Contreras
Losing pitcher: Hisanori Takahashi

Hideki Matsui went 2 for 2, with a home run, two walks and three runs scored.
Jorge Posada went 2 for 3, with a 3-run homer.
Derek Jeter also hit a homer.

Relief pitchers: Felix Heredia (6th), Paul Quantrill (6th), Tom Gordon (8th), Mariano Rivera (9th).

The Yankees committed 4 errors.

Yankee starting lineup:
1. Kenny Lofton LF
2. Derek Jeter SS
3. Alex Rodriguez 3B
4. Hideki Matsui CF
5. Gary Sheffield RF
6. Jason Gianbi 1B
7. Jorge Posada C
8. Ruben Sierra DH
9. Enrique Wilson 2B

Joe Torre, when asked if the Yankees have the all-time best lineup: "All-time? I can't go there, but since I've been with the club it's the best offense we have had."

The Yomiuri Giants were created in 1934. They have won 39 league titles and gone on to 20 Japan Series championships. They won 9 straight between 1965-1973. Their team motto is "For The Glory."

The next and last exhibition will be against the Hanshin Tigers and will be broadcast on the YES Network at 10 PM tonight (Sunday). It will be 12 noon in Japan when the game starts.

The Yankee-Devil Ray games are Tuesday and Wednesday at 5 AM Eastern time. Both are on YES, and the first game will also be shown on ESPN2.

[mellon002]

Yankees 6:2 Giants

Yankees record: 0-0

[riverplate]

The Yankees were outslugged by the Hanshin Tigers last night, 11-7.

Winning pitcher: Maekawa
Losing pitcher: Osborne

Now on to the real games!

[skipshady]

Yankees 6:2 Giants

Yankees record: 0-0
Devil Rays 7:1 Giants

[NateP]

Could we rename this the thread of misinformed opinions?

I'm an Orioles fan and am quite biased when it comes to the O's, but don't knock on the Blue Jays. I think they are a real dark horse this year. The O's are improved and will definately be a tough team to beat. This is the BEST division in baseball. No team should consider this divison a cruise.

Secondly, the Yankees will not be wire-to-wire champs but instead will miss the playoffs. Check the ninth post on this thread for all of my reasons: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=96702
I agree with most of this. The AL East won't be a cruise, but there is still a gap in talent between the NY / Boston and the rest of the division.

NY - big questions with the pitching staff. If things pan out they could be dominant but that's a pretty good sized if. I don't have any concerns over Moose or Vazquez but Brown is always an injury risk, Lieber is coming back from injury and a long layoff, Contrerras was hit and miss last year, and El Duque has had his ups and downs as well (and both have mixed records when splitting time between the pen and rotation). As for the pen I know little about DePaula and think Gordon can rebound but the rest of your assesments seem spot on.

Boston - had a lot of players play out of their heads last year and regression to the mean should take a toll this year. I also think there are questions with their pitching once you get past Schilling.

Baltimore - I agree with one of the ESPN columnists (Neyer or Stark IIRC) that they've done a lot on the offensive side but when a decent #3 (Ponson) is your #1 starter you could end up on the wrong side of a lot of 11-9 games.

Toronto - I think they have a good chance to challenge, a lot of talented young players. If either NY or Boston break down and the Jays live up to their potential they could keep it interesting.

Tampa - some promising young players but definately a couple of years (and trades) away.

[GoDC]

The Yanks have Mussina. He sucks. Nuff said.

[mellon002]

Result of Yankees game (highlight)---> Rays 8:3 Yankees

[DoctorJones24]

Did someone change the definition of "wire to wire" on me? I'm confused.

[Ian McCracken]

Did someone change the definition of "wire to wire" on me? I'm confused.

No, the definition is the same. The Yankees go wire-to-wire out of first place (with the most expensive lineup in sports history). Heck, the 43 game winner Detroit Tigers are lapping the Yankees.

[DoctorJones24]

No, the definition is the same. The Yankees go wire-to-wire out of first place (with the most expensive lineup in sports history). Heck, the 43 game winner Detroit Tigers are lapping the Yankees.

Restoring the Roar!