New York Yankees Stars Top List of MLB's Best-Selling Jerseys

Although in the twilight of his Hall of Fame career, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter’s appeal among baseball fans is eons from fading into the sunset.

According to a joint release by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association, Jeter, Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer and Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Roy Halladay top the list of baseball’s most popular jerseys. The rankings were based on sales of official Majestic jerseys for the 2010 calendar year.

Players representing 11 different clubs made up the list of the 20 most popular jerseys—including seven of the eight teams that made the playoffs in 2010—with players from seven different teams comprising the top ten.

At the age of 36, Jeter represented as the elder statesman of the group, but yet his jersey still managed to outsell those of his younger counterparts, including the three rookie sensations that appeared on the list (Jason Heyward, Stephen Strasburg, Buster Posey).

The Yankees captain was joined on the list by teammates Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira, who had the ninth and eleventh best-selling jerseys respectively.

The Phillies had the most players in the top 20 with four (Halladay, Chase Utley, Cliff Lee, Ryan Howard).

The list was comprised of two catchers, four pitchers, ten infielders, four outfielders, 16 players who made the 2010 All-Star Game and 15 players who were members of teams that qualified for the postseason.

MLB Most Popular Jerseys

Based on Majestic 2010 sales figures

1. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees

2. Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins

3. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies

4. Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies

5. *Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies

6. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals

7. Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers

8. Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox

9. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees

10. Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants

11. Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees

12. Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves

13. Stephen Strasburg, Washington Nationals

14. Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers

15. Justin Morneau, Minnesota Twins

16. Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox

17. Ian Kinsler, Texas Rangers

18. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies

19. Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants

20. Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays

*Lee played for the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers in 2010, before signing with Philadelphia in November. His ranking reflects sales of jerseys for all three teams.

In a related news item, Major League Baseball also announced that sales of officially licensed MLB merchandise reached an all-time high in 2010, with total licensing revenues up six percent over the previous year.

Products featuring the marks of the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Phillies and Cubs were the hottest sellers last year.

MLB Licensing 2010 Club Rankings

Based on sales of all licensed products for the 2010 calendar year

1. New York Yankees

2. Boston Red Sox

3. Los Angeles Dodgers

4. Philadelphia Phillies

5. Chicago Cubs

6. St. Louis Cardinals

7. Chicago White Sox

8. Atlanta Braves

9. Minnesota Twins

10. Detroit Tigers

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 27, 2006

In an era when women and blacks were viewed as second-class citizens and were not considered qualified to compete at baseball’s highest level, Effa L. Manley became a pioneer by breaking down the national pastime’s racial barriers while hurdling the additional obstacle of gender bias.

Born on March 27, 1900 in Philadelphia, PA, Manley was raised in a household with a black stepfather and black half-siblings and chose to live as a black person despite having white biological parents.

Upon graduating from high school, Manley moved to New York, where she met her future husband, Abe Manley, during the 1932 World Series at Yankee Stadium.

"Babe Ruth made a baseball fan of me," Manley once said. "I used to go to Yankee Stadium just to see him come to bat."

After marrying in June of 1935, the Manleys started a Negro League team in Brooklyn later that year, naming the team the Eagles. However, when the Eagles were unable to compete with the Dodgers for fans, they bought the Newark Dodgers, a black semi-pro team, and moved the Eagles to Newark in 1936.

Though she had no prior financial experience, Effa assumed an active role as Eagles co-owner, taking over day-to-day business operations, arranging playing schedules, planning the team’s travel, purchasing equipment, negotiating contracts and handling publicity and promotion.

In the process, Manley became a staunch players' advocate, fighting for better salaries, better schedules and better travel accommodations.

Recognizing that the Eagles were a community resource, Manley was also a crusader and social activist for black civil rights, ensuring that the “team had an image of upholding the black community’s best standards.”

As part of her work for the Citizens' League for Fair Play, Manley organized a 1934 boycott of Harlem stores that refused to hire black salesclerks. After six weeks, the owners of the stores relented, and a year later 300 blacks were employed by stores on 125th Street.

Manley also served as the treasurer of the Newark chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), often using Eagles games to promote civic causes, including an “Anti-Lynching Day” at the team stadium.

Although described as “a sore sport in the NNL (National Negro League) setup” and consistently dogged by complaints that “baseball ain’t no place for a woman,” Manley would persevere, as the Eagles would go on to win the 1946 Negro League World Series under her management.

Despite Manley’s best efforts, the integration of Major League Baseball ultimately forced the Eagles to disband in 1948. Nevertheless, until her death in 1981, Manley devoted herself to keeping the history of Negro League baseball alive.

In 1976, Manley published Negro Baseball...Before Integration, which listed 73 players she felt were qualified for the Hall of Fame. She wrote numerous letters to the Baseball Hall of Fame and publications such as The Sporting News, urging recognition for the league and its players.

On February 27, 2006, Manley became the first woman elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. She was selected for induction by a special committee using new statistics from the Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues.

Manley is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, Calif. Her gravestone reads, “She loved baseball.”

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 13, 1920

Before Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color barrier in 1947, the Negro leagues provided the only arena for aspiring African-American players to showcase their talents on a wider scale.

That arena was created on Feb. 13, 1920 with the establishment of the Negro National League (NNL), the first black professional baseball league, at a YMCA in Kansas City, Mo. Andrew "Rube" Foster, considered the best African-American pitcher of the 1900's, was the driving force behind the league's organization and served as its president.

With member teams in the South and Midwest, the NNL successfully operated until 1931, and as a result of his leadership role in the early years, Foster came to be known as "the father of black baseball."

Consisting of eight teams—the Chicago American Giants, Chicago Giants, Dayton Marcos, Detroit Stars, Indianapolis ABC's, Kansas City Monarchs, St. Louis Giants and the Cuban Stars—the NNL was the first African-American baseball circuit to achieve stability and last more than one season.

Initially, the NNL mainly operated in Midwestern cities, ranging from Kansas City to Pittsburgh. In 1924, the league expanded into the south, adding franchises in Birmingham and Memphis.

Three years after NNL's formation, the Eastern Colored League (ECL) was founded, and in 1924, the very first Negro World Series was played between the ECL and NNL champions.

The ECL collapsed the spring of 1928, but its member teams reemerged in 1929 as the American Negro League (ANL).

Under the economic stress of the Great Depression, the NNL disbanded in 1931.

A new NNL was organized in 1933, eventually becoming concentrated on the East Coast.

Four years later, the Negro American League (NAL) was founded, which included several of the same teams that played in the original NNL. The NAL carried on as the western circuit of black baseball.

The second incarnation of the NNL lasted until 1948, the year following the integration of Major League Baseball. Its surviving teams merged into the NAL, operating as the last black major professional baseball league until 1960.

Over the course of four decades, the Negro leagues would be the launching point for the legendary MLB careers of prominent African-American players such as Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks, Roy Campanella, Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson.

More than 50 years after his death, Foster finally gained recognition for his immeasurable achievements, most notably establishing the first formal Negro League, when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 5, 1934

On today’s edition of This Day in Black Sports History, the 77th birthday of the man who is still widely recognized as Major League Baseball’s home run king is celebrated.

Born in Mobile, AL on Feb. 5, 1934, Henry Louis Aaron grew up in relatively poor surroundings, picking cotton on a farm and hitting bottle caps with sticks because his family couldn’t afford baseball equipment.

Aaron’s early fascination with the national pastime would also be evidenced through the creation of his own bats and balls, made from materials he found on the streets.

Thus, it came as no surprise when Aaron excelled on the diamond in high school, leading his team to the Mobile Negro High School Championship as a freshman and a sophomore.

During this period, in addition to flourishing as a third baseman and outfielder for Central High School, Aaron proved to be equally adept on the gridiron, which earned him several football scholarship offers. However, Aaron would turn his back on these tempting offers to doggedly pursue a career in professional baseball.

Batting cross-handed, as a right-hander with his left hand above his right, Aaron’s power-hitting exploits would garner him a tryout with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949, at the tender age of 15.

Although Aaron didn’t make the team, he signed to a minor league contract only two years later, with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League, where his impact would be felt immediately.

As an 18-year-old standout, Aaron would play a crucial role in helping the Clowns win the 1952 Negro League World Series. As a result, after playing in only 26 official Negro League games, Aaron received offers from two MLB teams, the Boston Braves and the New York Giants.

“I had the Giants' contract in my hand. But the Braves offered 50 dollars a month more,” Aaron recalled years later. “That's the only thing that kept Willie Mays and me from being teammates—50 dollars."

Despite maintaining an extremely high standard of play with the Braves’ minor league affiliates, winning the Rookie of the Year Award and the Most Valuable Player Award in successive years, Aaron, like many African-American baseball players of his time, was an undeserved victim of racism and segregation.

Traveling through the southeastern portion of the country, particularly around Jacksonville, Florida, Aaron was frequently separated from his team because of the Jim Crow laws. As a result, he often had to make his own housing and meal arrangements when the team shouldered the responsibility for his white teammates.

Encouraged by his brother, Herbert Jr., Aaron remained steadfast in his pursuit of playing in the major leagues, an opportunity he received on April 13, 1954. Aaron went hitless in five at-bats against the Cincinnati Reds.

In his rookie season, Aaron hit .280 with 13 home runs and 69 RBI’s. Aaron wouldn’t match or fall below these totals, in all three categories, until 1975, his 22nd season in the majors.

From 1955-1975, Aaron made a record-tying 21 All-Star appearances and won three consecutive Gold Glove Awards (1958-1960), while winning the National League MVP Award and a World Series Championship in the same year (1957).

Throughout this span, Aaron’s home run hitting prowess would gradually inch him closer to shattering the most hallowed record in professional sports, MLB’s all-time home run record held by Babe Ruth since 1935.

With Aaron one homer short of tying Ruth’s record leading into the offseason in 1973, a growing contingent emerged who didn’t want to see the day a black man surpass “The Babe” on the all-time home run list.

In the winter of 1973, Aaron was the unfortunate recipient of a cavalcade of hate mail and death threats. Even media members who provided positive coverage weren’t spared, called “nigger lovers” for chronicling Aaron’s chase.

But much like his experiences growing up in Alabama and playing in the minor leagues, Aaron pressed forward, and on April 8, 1974, in front of a 53,775 people in Atlanta, Aaron hit career home run number 715 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully captured the moment eloquently and poignantly:

"What a marvelous moment for baseball; what a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia; what a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. And it is a great moment for all of us, and particularly for Henry Aaron…and for the first time in a long time, that poker face in Aaron shows the tremendous strain and relief of what it must have been like to live with for the past several months."

“Hammerin’ Hank” would retire two seasons later with a .305 batting average, 755 home runs, 2,297 RBI’s, and 3,771 hits on his ledger, clearly warranting induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility on August 1, 1982.

In 1999, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Aaron surpassing Babe Ruth's career home run mark, and to honor Aaron's contributions to baseball, MLB created the “Hank Aaron Award,” an annual award given to the hitters voted the most effective in each respective league. That same year, baseball fans named Aaron to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Not bad for a kid born on this day, February 5, in 1934.

Happy birthday, Mr. Aaron.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 4, 1952

When Jack Roosevelt Robinson made his major league debut on April 15, 1947 in front of 26,623 spectators at Ebbets Field, including more than 14,000 black patrons, he became the first African-American player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier, which segregated the sport for more than 55 years.

But before his life and legacy were sewn into the fabric of American history, Robinson was born in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers in Cairo, Georgia, where his mother single-handedly raised Robinson and his four older siblings.

After moving to Pasadena, California, Robinson’s family lived in relative poverty while Jackie came to learn about discrimination, racism and segregation at an early age, often denied recreational opportunities because of his skin color.

Inspired by his older brothers, Frank and Mack, Robinson would excel nonetheless, winning varsity letters in four sports—baseball, basketball, football and track—at John Muir High School. He went on to play those same sports at UCLA, becoming that school's first athlete to earn four varsity letters.

Due to financial difficulties, Robinson was forced to leave college in 1941. He decided to enlist in the United States Army, rising to the rank of second lieutenant before he was court-martialed for objecting to incidents of racial discrimination.

Robinson was honorably discharged from the United States Army in 1943.

Two years later, Robinson signed a contract to play for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Baseball League and traveled all over the Midwest with the team for a full season.

One season in the Negro Leagues was all Robinson would need to garner tremendous interest from Branch Rickey, club president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, who approached Robinson about joining the organization in 1947.

Then, when he stepped onto Ebbets Field in a Dodgers uniform, Robinson pioneered the integration of professional athletics in America and courageously challenged the deeply-rooted custom of racial segregation in both the North and the South.

In addition, Robinson would go on to have a 10-year Hall of Fame career, batting .311 with 137 home runs, 734 RBI, 197 stolen bases and 1,518 hits.

Along the way, Robinson was a six-time All-Star, winning the 1947 Rookie of the Year Award, the 1949 National League Most Valuable Player Award and a World Series championship (1955) in the process.

During his playing days, Robinson’s impact was also felt off the field. On February 4, 1952, he was hired as the Director of Community Activities for a radio station, WNBC, and the television station WNBT.

Thus, Robinson became the first African-American executive of a major radio and television station.

“It also gives us a chance to combat communist propaganda by showing there are plenty of opportunities for Negroes in this country,” Robinson once said about his new position.

Robinson retired from baseball on January 5, 1957, and in 1962, his first year of eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame, Robinson was elected, becoming the first African-American player to be inducted into Cooperstown.

Since his death on October 24, 1972, Major League Baseball has honored Robinson many times.

In 1987, the American and National League Rookie of the Year Awards were both renamed the "Jackie Robinson Award" in honor of the first recipient (Robinson's Major League Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 encompassed both leagues).

On April 15, 1997, Robinson's jersey number (42) was retired throughout the league, the first time any jersey number had been retired throughout one of the four major American sporting leagues.

Robinson’s profound impact on the game of baseball is absolutely unquestioned, and his courage and strength can also be viewed as the genesis of the Civil Rights Movement in America.

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This Day in Black Sports History: February 3, 1989

On April 15, 1987, the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager Al Campanis sparked heated controversy when Nightline’s Ted Koppel asked him why black managers and general managers were virtually nonexistent in Major League Baseball.

Campanis’ reply was that blacks “may not have some of the necessities to be, let’s say, a field manager, or perhaps, a general manager.”

Campanis, a former teammate of Robinson, would continue to dig his own grave with remarks such as blacks are often poor swimmers “because they don’t have the buoyancy.”

Not surprisingly, a protest erupted on the morning following the interview and Campanis would resign his position two days later.

Bill White would hear much worse as a 19-year-old first baseman playing in the farm system for the New York Giants, when the Jim Crow laws were alive and well in the Deep South.

"In every one of those cities, I was called words I had never even heard before..." White once said as he recalled the verbal abuse and blatant injustices he was subjected to during the spring of 1952.

From being called “alligator,” “black cat” or “nigger” to "Having to sit on that bus while the other guys went in and ate...not being able to go into a gas station to use the bathroom, not being able to stay in a decent hotel," this was the world White woke up to on a daily basis during his formative years in baseball.

But White would endure and persevere to break into the big leagues in May of 1956, where he would go on to play for the New York/San Francisco Giants (1956, 1958), St. Louis Cardinals (1959-1965, 1969) and Philadelphia Phillies (1966, 1968).

In his 14-year career, White hit .286 with 202 home runs and 870 RBIs in 1,673 games. White was also one of the top defensive first basemen of his era, garnering five All-Star selections while winning seven consecutive Gold Glove Awards in the process.

Following the conclusion of his playing days, White would make his mark in broadcasting, becoming the first African-American to broadcast in the National Hockey League, when he called several games for the Philadelphia Flyers, as well as the first African-American to regularly do play-by-play for a major league sports team (New York Yankees) in a distinguished 17-year career.

As a broadcaster, White is famously known for his call of former Yankees shortstop Bucky Dent’s two-out, three-run home run against the Boston Red Sox that propelled the Bronx Bombers to victory in a one-game playoff to decide the American League East.

“Deep to left! Yastrzemski will not get it–it's a home run! A three-run home run for Bucky Dent and the Yankees now lead it by a score of three to two!"

However, on February 3, 1989, less than two years after Al Campanis’ inflammatory remarks, the crowning achievement of White’s baseball career came when he was named president of the National League, thus becoming the first African-American to head a major professional sports league and the highest-ranking African-American official in the history of professional sports.

Peter O'Malley, chairman of the search committee and owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, remarked to the New York Times: "Bill White was selected because he was the best man for the job. He was the only man who was offered the job and, fortunately, he was the only man who accepted. Race was not a factor."

White served as the National League president from 1989-1994, where his main goal was to follow in the tradition of Jackie Robinson.

"I've been in the game since 1952," White told the Boston Globe after the election. "It wasn't integrated. When I came into baseball, spring training wasn't integrated. The country wasn't integrated. I think we've both come along. I'm here now, and there have been quite a few improvements in hiring at certain levels.

I feel that will continue, and the people here feel the same way...I've told people the most important thing that has happened in baseball history was Jackie Robinson getting a chance to play. It gave a lot of people before who had no hope a lot of hope."

"If I can set an example for the 28 owners [they might] say 'Hey, White did a good job. I'm going to try somebody else of color,'" White added during his presidency, noting he believed Campanis' 1987 comment "reflects the opinion of much of baseball."

Thankfully, and hopefully, Bill White has changed some of those opinions for the better.

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New York Mets Agree to Terms with R.A. Dickey on Two-Year Deal

When a baseball franchise signs a 36-year-old pitcher who has a career record of 33-37 with a 4.70 ERA, it usually doesn’t qualify as making noise in the offseason. But, relatively speaking, this is the second-biggest splash the New York Mets have made since the end of last season.

According to a source privy to the negotiations, the Mets avoided salary arbitration with right-handed knuckleball specialist R.A. Dickey by agreeing to terms on a two-year deal with a club option for a third year. The deal is pending a physical scheduled for Monday.

Dickey, an eight-year MLB veteran, filed an arbitration request to earn $4.7 million during the 2011 season, with the organization countering at $3.35 million, prior to coming to terms.

After being called up from Triple-A Buffalo nearly two months into the 2010 season, Dickey went on to have the best season of his career, posting highs in wins (11), ERA (2.84), strikeouts (104), starts (26), complete games (two), innings pitched (174.1), opponents’ batting average (.251) and WHIP (1.19).

In addition, among Mets starters, Dickey finished first in ERA, tied for second in wins (Johan Santana), and second in quality starts (19).

So, in a brutal New York winter, where the Mets have made non-descriptive transactions such as the signings of catcher Ronny Paulino, second baseman Russ Adams, left fielder Scott Hairston, and pitcher Boof Bonser, Dickey’s return to the starting rotation is one of the team’s best offseason moves to date.

Thus far, the Mets’ top move was agreeing to terms with Mike Pelfrey, the team’s best starting pitcher last season, to a one-year, $3.925 million contract to circumvent the arbitration process.

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New York Yankees Turn Brett Favre Into a Dirty Word

With pitchers and catchers scheduled to report in less than a month, free agent Andy Pettitte remains undecided on whether he will pitch another season for the New York Yankees, which has crippled the team’s efforts to round out the starting rotation for 2011.

Prior to succumbing to the Texas Rangers in the American League Championship Series, the Yankees’ top offseason priorities were to lure Cliff Lee to the Bronx and re-sign Pettitte, shortstop Derek Jeter and closer Mariano Rivera.

But plans to hit for the cycle went painfully awry when Cliff Lee signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and the 38-year-old Pettitte balked at returning for a 17th season in the majors, including number 14 with the Yankees.

In the first half of the 2010 season, Pettitte, Major League Baseball’s all-time postseason wins leader (19), went 11-2 with a 2.70 ERA to earn the third All-Star selection of his career.

However, a groin injury limited Pettitte to only four starts after the All-Star break, where he posted a record of 0-1 with an ERA of 7.47.

Nevertheless, after such a strong overall season (11-3, 3.28 ERA), the Yankees were fully prepared to welcome Pettitte back into the fold this year, to the tune of approximately $12-13 million.

Apparently though, the grizzled left-hander, who’s been with the Yankees for five World Series Championships, seems more inclined to quietly ride off into the sunset than to take the mound to pitch another game in pinstripes.

The quandary for New York is that Pettitte has neither committed to pitching at any point during the upcoming season nor filed his retirement papers with MLB, drawing comparisons from Yankees general manager Brian Cashman to another professional athlete notorious for being a central figure in this type of melodrama.

“Being from Texas and having to be in New York for six months out of the year can be hard because he has kids and he’s missing important time with them,” Cashman said at Tuesday’s Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting.

“He’s opting not to play right now but that might change it might not. I told him don’t ‘Brett Favre’ us. You got to be all in and fully dedicated to play. Do I need him? I need him, but I don’t want him to play if his heart’s not in it.”

"Brett Favre" us.

It does sound like a dirty phrase when context is taken into consideration, doesn’t it?

Arguably, Pettitte is already "Brett Favre-ing" the most valuable franchise in baseball today, a position, no innuendo intended, the Yankees have not found themselves in often, if ever, in their storied history.

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New York Yankees Avoid Salary Arbitration With Chamberlain, Hughes and Logan

In a continuing effort to shore up their starting rotation and bullpen, the New York Yankees inked Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Boone Logan to one-year deals, thus avoiding salary arbitration with the trio of young hurlers, according to MLB.com.

Hughes, who earned $447,000 last season, agreed to a deal worth $2.7 million after coming off his best year in the majors.

The 24-year-old Hughes finished fourth in the American League in wins (18), becoming the youngest Yankees right-hander to win at least 18 games in the regular season since 1965 (Mel Stottlemyre).

Although his second half outings were increasingly dubious, Hughes was selected to his first All-Star team and set career highs in wins, strikeouts (146), and innings pitched (176.1) in 29 starts.

Meanwhile, Chamberlain, working exclusively out of the bullpen last season, was signed to a deal worth $1.4 million, an increase of over $900,000 from his salary in 2010 ($487,975).

Chamberlain finished third in the American League in holds (26) and posted a record of 3-4, with an ERA of 4.40, in a team-high 73 appearances.

With Andy Pettitte giving them the "Brett Favre Treatment," the Yankees may flirt with the possibility of inserting Chamberlain, who turns 26 this year, into the starting rotation, but the current plan is to keep him in the bullpen.

New York’s fourth successful attempt at circumventing salary arbitration this offseason consisted of inking left-handed reliever Logan to a one-year, $1.2 million contract.

In 51 relief appearances for the Bronx Bombers last season, Logan was 2-0 with an ERA of 2.93 and 13 holds.

After acquiring him in a trade with the Atlanta Braves, the Yankees avoided arbitration with Logan last year, his first year of eligibility, by signing him to a deal worth $590,000.

And, for the majority of the season, the 26-year-old Logan was the only left-hander in the Yankees bullpen.

However, this coming season, the recently acquired Pedro Feliciano will join Logan as another left-handed relief option for manager Joe Girardi.

Last month, the Yankees also avoided going to arbitration with right-handed starting pitcher Sergio Mitre by signing him to a deal worth approximately $900,000.

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Former New York Yankees Strike Out in Hall of Fame Bids

On Wednesday afternoon, Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame class for 2011 was announced and, as anticipated, Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar amassed the number of votes necessary for their enshrinement in Cooperstown this summer. A Hall of Fame candidate must receive 75% of the vote from eligible Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) members to garner induction.

Considered by many to be the best second baseman in baseball history, Alomar fell short of induction by only eight votes in 2010, which was his first year on the ballot. But after garnering 73.7% of the vote last year, the Puerto Rican native was named on 90% of the ballots to become one of only two players to comprise this year’s Hall of Fame class.

Meanwhile, Blyleven, who was in his 14th year of eligibility, received 79.7% of the vote to warrant election in what has widely been considered one of the greatest oversights by the BBWAA.

Despite ranking 5th all-time in strikeouts, 9th in shutouts, and 27th in wins, Blyleven received only 17.55% of the vote in his first year of eligibility (1998). Astonishingly, his vote total dropped to 14.1% the following year.

In the past 40 years, no player who debuted on the ballot had a vote total that low and won election into the Hall of Fame.

However, the sabermetrics boom resulted in a closer inspection of Blyleven’s candidacy, which caused his vote totals to steadily rise to a high of 74.2% in 2010, leaving him only five votes short of induction.

But in his penultimate year of eligibility, Blyleven received the call that finally put the exclamation point on his distinguished career.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for former New York Yankees on this year’s ballot, whose respective Hall of Fame bids don’t look too promising for the most part.

Out of the eight former Yankees on the ballot, five fell short of the 5% required to remain on the ballot next year, including beloved first baseman Tino Martinez, who received just six votes (1%) from the BBWAA.

Joining Martinez in unsuccessful Hall of Fame bids were Al Leiter (0.7%), Kevin Brown (2.1%), John Olerud (0.7%) and Raul Mondesi (0 votes).

On the flip side of the coin, there were former Yankees who weren’t invited to join this year’s class but will remain on the ballot for future consideration, with the most prominent name being Don Mattingly.

In his 11th year of eligibility, Mattingly saw his appearance on the ballots drop from 16.1% last year to 13.6% this year, a clear indication that the Hall’s doors will remain shut to a man viewed as one of the greatest Yankee players in franchise history.

But the former six-time All-Star and nine-time Gold Glove Award-winning first baseman has been extremely candid about his Hall of Fame credentials.

"I don't think I'm a Hall of Famer," Mattingly was quoted as saying. "I don't think I have the numbers. Part of it is longevity, and I wasn't able to do that and do the things that I did early in my career."

Many Yankees fans would disagree with Donnie Baseball’s assessment, which speaks volumes to how popular Mattingly still is in the Big Apple and how memorable his tenure was with the Bronx Bombers.

In addition to Mattingly, Lee Smith (45.3%) and Tim Raines (37.5%), who both had brief stints with the Yankees in the 90’s, will also see their names on next year’s ballot.

Raines, a 2-time World Series Champion with the Yankees (1996, 1998), has been gaining a groundswell of support for induction, evidenced by the dramatic rise in his vote totals from 22.6% in 2009 to 30.4% in 2010 to 37.5% this year.

Smith, who appeared in eight games for the Yankees in 1993, ranks third in MLB history with 478 saves.

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New York Yankees: Are Don Mattingly & Tino Martinez Worthy Of The Hall Of Fame?

On January 5, Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame class for 2011 will be announced on a live MLB Network simulcast at MLB.com. Among the distinguished list of candidates are two former New York Yankee first basemen who will always occupy a special place in the hearts of Bronx Bomber fans.

Don Mattingly, one of the most popular players in Yankee lore, is on the Hall of Fame ballot for the 11th year while Tino Martinez, who received a curtain call in the old Yankee Stadium as an opposing player, makes his first appearance on the ballot.

A Hall of Fame candidate must receive 75 percent of the vote from eligible Baseball Writers Association of America members to garner induction. The ballots are slated to be collected on January 4 and the tallied results will be announced on January 5. All inductees will be introduced at a press conference in New York on January 6.

For the man affectionaly known as “Donnie Baseball”, the likelihood of Mattingly becoming the 45th Yankee player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame diminishes with each passing year he fails the litmus test for enshrinement.

In his 14-year playing career, all spent as a member of the Yankees, Mattingly posted a .307 batting average with 222 home runs and 1,099 RBI’s.

Along the way, Mattingly was a 6-time All-Star selection (1984-1989), a 9-time Gold Glove Award winner (1985-1989, 1991-1994), a 3-time Silver Slugger Award winner (1985-1987) and the American League Most Valuable Player in 1985.

From 1984-1989, Mattingly averaged 27 home runs and 114 RBI’s per season while hitting a robust .327 from the plate.

However, in the following six seasons, back injuries severely hampered Mattingly’s ability to put up the aforementioned prodigious numbers as well as his capacity to stay on the field.

So although he continued to play stellar defense at first base, Mattingly would only hit .286 in these final seasons of his career with per season averages of 10 home runs and 64 RBI’s.

In addition to his longevity, another factor that doesn’t bode well for Mattingly’s Hall of Fame aspirations is that he has only five playoff games to show for his fourteen seasons with the Bronx Bombers.

But despite the 1995 American League Divisional Series against the Seattle Mariners being the only time the Yankees would taste the postseason during his tenure, Mattingly would retire as one of the most beloved players in franchise history.

The organization retired Mattingly's number ‘23’ and a plaque was created in Monument Park to honor his career on August 31, 1997.

The plaque reads, "A humble man of grace and dignity, a captain who led by example, proud of the pinstripe tradition and dedicated to the pursuit of excellence, a Yankee forever."

As for Mattingly’s replacement, what “Donnie Baseball” did in six healthy seasons, Tino Martinez did in 16 by averaging 27 home runs and 102 RBI’s per season.

And what Mattingly failed to do in 14 seasons with the Yankees, Martinez did in seven by winning four World Series Championships (1996, 1998-2000).

So essentially, what Martinez’s career does is provide a small window into what Mattingly’s career could have been had he remained healthy.

Surprisingly though, Martinez was only a 2-time All-Star selection (1995, 1997) during his career, despite driving in more than 100 RBI’s in a season on six different occasions, and he never won a Gold Glove Award.

Nevertheless, Martinez finished with career totals of 339 home runs and 1,239 RBI’s and continues to be considered an integral component to the Yankees’ last dynasty of the 20th century.

All this being said, which beloved former New York Yankees first baseman should first receive the call to be enshrined in Cooperstown?

Another pertinent question is SHOULD Mattingly and/or Martinez be enshrined at all considering their career numbers?

How about this final question: Are Don Mattingly and Tino Martinez any less worthy than the following Hall of Fame first basemen?

Frank Chance – .296, 20 home runs, 596 RBI’s

George Kelly - .297, 148 home runs, 1,020 RBI’s

Bill Terry - .341, 154 home runs, 1,078 RBI’s

Only time will tell the complete story.

Click here to read the original article on SportsHaze.com.

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Are Tony Parker & Eva Longoria the Reason NY Yankees' Derek Jeter Isn't Married?

With the recent announcement that actress Eva Longoria has filed for divorce from San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker, eyes widened and jaws dropped all across the country. Especially in light of the discovery of numerous text messages from Parker to Erin Barry, the wife of former teammate Brent Barry.

Unfortunately though, the impending dissolution of the Parkers’ three-year marriage shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at all. Over the course of the past several decades, the professional sports landscape is replete with evidence that marital fidelity has gradually become a dying concept.

The reality is polls and studies indicate that while nearly half of marriages within the general population end in divorce, a discouraging statistic intrinsically, the divorce rate among professional athletes is between 60 and 80 percent.

What’s even more disheartening is there are no viable solutions in sight because the contributing factors to this dilemma are inherent to the occupation.

Much like actors, actresses and music artists, professional athletes are increasingly hard pressed to give what it emotionally, mentally and spiritually requires to sustain a marriage.

Between what is necessitated to keep their bodies in peak condition, rigorous travel schedules and numerous public appearances, among other time commitments, it appears that when they utter the words ‘I do/will’ athletes are married to their profession and public image more than their actual spouses.

But what truly takes its toll on the marriage of a professional sports athlete is the temptations associated their celebrity status. And the most irresistible of them all, particularly for male athletes, is sex.

Day in and day out, today’s male athlete is bombarded by offers from attractive women who will go to extreme lengths for the monetary gain and/or thrill of ‘bedding’ one. An allurement that would test the moral character and fiber of any married man.

On the flip side of the coin, the aforementioned ease of access to sexual trysts often results in pursuits of those experiences by the athletes themselves. And the results can be extremely devastating.

Marital infidelity, broken unions and even the contraction of the AIDS virus have plagued the lives of athletes from all walks of life, from Kobe Bryant to ‘Magic’ Johnson to Tiger Woods.

The marriage of Tony Parker and Eva Longoria is simply the latest and one of the most publicized to fall victim to this incurable epidemic.

Male athletes and their wives may enter the institution with the best of intentions. But because they either spend more time preparing for a lavish wedding than the reality of marriage or take for granted the level of commitment to sustain it, up to eight out of 10 fall by the wayside.

This brings us to the curious case of New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who has dated a bevy of beautiful starlets including Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jordana Brewster and Mariah Carey.

But yet at 36-years-old, even with Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive, Minka Kelly, on his arm nowadays, the captain of Major League Baseball’s most valuable team and America’s favorite baseball player has managed to elude the bite of the marriage bug.

So although becoming a husband and a father would have enhanced his already squeaky clean public persona, Jeter has chosen the road less traveled.

Now is it because Jeter is fully cognizant of how taxing being a professional athlete is on a marriage or is the freedom that comes with being single too difficult to give up for the eleven-time All-Star?

Or is it both?

Either way, today’s male athlete should be more contemplative about getting married when the plethora of challenges that come with playing professional sports are thrown into the equation.

So whether it’s the divorce of Tony Parker and Eva Longoria, the Tiger Woods sex scandal or ‘Magic’ Johnson contracting the AIDS virus, as surprising as those stories are, the level of shock should be at an absolute minimum at this point.

Athletes can do extraordinary things on the field, but they are only human. And fame and fortune can be as much of a curse as they are a blessing.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special report on the impending divorce of Tony Parker and Eva Longoria.

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New York Yankees' Joe Girardi is the Most Underappreciated Manager in Baseball

“I get no respect, I tell ya.” – Rodney Dangerfield

In the aftermath of his team’s loss in the American League Championship Series, it wouldn’t be shocking to discover these are the words that sum up the feelings of New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

And who can fault him?

Not surprisingly, even before the obituary had been written on the Yankees’ season, the blame game in the Big Apple was already in full swing. But unlike the popular reality television series Survivor, no one was receiving immunity from having a finger pointed in their direction.

However, what is especially interesting to note is the growing contingent of fans who are placing all of the blame for New York’s shortened postseason squarely on Joe Girardi’s shoulders. This throng is also comprised of the same critics who do not want to see Girardi return as the Yankees’ manager next year.

When Alex Rodriguez struck out looking in Game 6 of the ALCS, the 46-year-old Girardi officially completed the final year of a three-year, $7.5 million contract with New York.

During this brief period, Girardi won a total of 287 regular season games, placing him fourth on the list of former Yankee players who became the manager of the team. In addition, Girardi guided New York to two playoff appearances (2009, 2010), an American League East Division Title (2009), an AL pennant (2009) and a World Series Championship (2009).

By any standard, this would be considered a successful three-year run for any manager in Major League Baseball.

Bobby Cox managed the Atlanta Braves for a quarter of a century (1978-1981, 1990-2010). This span saw the Braves win 2,149 games, 14 division titles and five National League pennants.

But in twenty-five years, Cox won as many World Series Championships as Girardi has in three seasons with the Yankees. Yet Cox was a beloved figure in Atlanta when he retired and the outcry for his replacement was never as loud as it is for Girardi’s despite winning equally as many championships in twenty-two more seasons.

After fifteen seasons as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Tony LaRussa added 1,318 victories, seven division titles and two NL pennants to his impressive résumé.

Nevertheless, in only two seasons in the role of New York’s skipper, Girardi won as many rings as LaRussa has during his entire reign in the “Show-Me State”.

In spite of the lack of championship hardware, LaRussa was asked to return to the Cardinals for a 16th season, an offer he gladly accepted.

Meanwhile, Girardi is left to wonder whether the Yankees will place an offer on the table for his return commensurate with the success he had managing the ball club.

Bearing this in mind, it certainly appears Girardi will continue to be subjected to tremendous criticism from New York fans due to the Yankees’ failure to win back-to-back World Series Championships.

Therefore, it can only be inferred that averaging 96 victories per season and winning a World Series Championship over a three-year period isn’t enough as manager of the Bronx Bombers.

Another inference that can be made is Yankees fans have become so drunk with success that any year ending without a World Series Championship is sufficient justification for heads to roll.

Either way, the bottom line is Girardi has done more than enough to warrant another contract with New York, at a higher salary, and Yankees’ fans need to come to the stark realization that Girardi is one of the major reasons a nearly decade-long championship drought came to an end last year.

Truthfully, the operative question going into the offseason shouldn’t be whether New York wants Joe Girardi back, but whether Girardi wants to come back to the Yankees.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a light moment featuring the usually stoic Joe Girardi.

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Top Five Reasons New York Yankees Lost ALCS

For all the discussion about how Cliff Lee could decide the American League Championship Series in a potential Game 7, it turned out the Texas Rangers needed only one start from their starting ace to dethrone the New York Yankees and clinch the AL pennant for the first time in franchise history.

And as the Yankees attempt to pick up the pieces from a failed quest to win their 28th World Series Championship, they should be able to point to a myriad of reasons why a season in which they finished with the second-best record in the American League ended in disappointment.

This on-going analysis should also result in the identification of five main reasons New York is entering an off-season full of uncertainty much sooner than they could have possibly imagined. Ultimately though, any which way the pie is sliced, the Bronx Bombers were humbled by a team that could have destiny on their side in this year’s postseason.

5. David Robertson’s inability to hold close games

In the 61 innings he was called upon during the regular season, Yankees right-handed reliever David Robertson held 14 games and amassed 71 strikeouts. Robertson’s numbers included an ERA of 3.82 and a WHIP of 1.50.

But among New York’s relievers in the ALCS, the Rangers roughed up Robertson more than any other to the tune of six earned runs on eight hits in only two innings. Robertson finished the series with a dismal ERA of 20.25 and a WHIP of 3.38.

Robertson’s unreliability allowed Texas to blow open close games in Game 3 and Game 6 to expand deficits from which the Yankees were unable to recover.

Game 3 saw the Rangers turn a 3-0 contest into a 8-0 blowout with Robertson on the mound while in Game 6, outfielder Nelson Cruz belted a two-out, two-run home run off Robertson to give the Rangers a 5-1 lead and propel them into the World Series.

4. Power outage of Alex Rodriguez & Mark Teixeira

For a duo that combined for 63 home runs and 233 RBI’s, to say that Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira failed to come through in the ALCS would be a gross understatement.

In 21 plate appearances, Rodriguez managed to come up with only four hits and 2 RBI’s to finish with an anemic batting average of .190. Meanwhile, Teixeira didn’t register a single hit in his 14 at-bats prior to bowing out of the series with a hamstring injury in Game 4.

The lack of production from the Yankees’ corner infielders left AL MVP candidate Robinson Cano to carry the offensive load for the team, which he did with flying colors. However, Cano’s power display needed to be supplemented by similar efforts from Rodriguez and Teixeira for New York to have a shot at winning the series.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, the power went off somewhere between the end of the American League Divisional Series and the beginning of the ALCS and they’re still waiting for it to come back on.

3. Ineffectiveness of Phil Hughes

Phil Hughes won an impressive 18 games in the regular season for New York but he also had an unusually high 4.19 ERA, which translates to having a significant amount of run support during his starts. But as evidenced in the ALCS, when the run support wasn’t as robust, Hughes’ shortcomings became increasingly glaring.

Hughes was the loser of Game 2 and Game 6 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, where he gave up eleven earned runs on fourteen hits and walked seven while only striking out six. Hughes’ ERA in his two starts was 11.42.

When the #2 starter puts up those kinds of numbers in a best-of-seven series, chances are his team isn’t advancing to the next round. This holds true for any team in baseball; even the New York Yankees.

2. Colby Lewis outshines Cliff Lee

Of all the starters on the Rangers’ pitching staff, Colby Lewis was arguably the last one who would have been expected to shine the brightest against the Yankees. Nevertheless, it was Lewis who channeled his inner Cliff Lee to shut down New York’s vaunted offense in Game 2 and Game 6.

Thus, the same Colby Lewis who finished with a 12-13 record and an ERA of 3.72 this season went 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA on the biggest stage of his career. More importantly, Lewis’ performances keyed Texas to a critical victory in Game 2 to even the series and a win in Game 6 to clinch the pennant.

He may have not been a household name prior to the ALCS but, as far as the Yankees are concerned, Colby Lewis is a name that will not soon be forgotten.

1. The Rangers were the better team

As hard as it might be for Yankees fans to admit, the Rangers outhit, outhustled and outpitched New York throughout a series that could have just as easily been a sweep as opposed to a six-game affair.

Texas scored twice as many runs (38-19), their batting average was more than a hundred points higher (.304 vs. .201) and their pitching staff’s ERA was nearly three points lower (2.76 vs. 6.58) compared to the Yankees.

So, in essence, the ALCS really wasn’t as close as the six-game outcome would make it appear. Simply put, the Rangers wanted it more.

And that may very well be the toughest reason for the Yankees and their fans to accept of them all.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special pictorial/video recap of Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.

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Yankees' Greatest Failure Must Become Rallying Cry in ALCS

When the final out was recorded in a 19-8 trouncing to put the New York Yankees up 3-0 in the 2004 American League Championship Series, the ‘Curse of the Bambino’ appeared to be alive and well.

In the history of Major League Baseball, no team had ever rallied from a three-game deficit to win a postseason series.

However, after two extra-inning, game-winning walk-off hits by David Ortiz, a pitching performance for the ages from Curt Schilling, and a Johnny Damon grand slam in the decisive game at Yankee Stadium, the Boston Red Sox proudly joined the National Hockey League’s 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and 1975 New York Islanders in the annals of professional sports.

And although the Yankees didn’t find themselves in a 0-3 predicament, it certainly could be argued the situation was equally as grim when they took the field for Game 5 of the 2010 ALCS against the Texas Rangers. The three previous contests saw the Rangers outscore New York, 25-5, to place the defending World Series Champions on the brink of elimination.

But behind CC Sabathia’s best outing of this year’s postseason and timely hitting from Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano, the Yankees pushed the series back to Texas with a convincing 7-2 victory.

As a result, Phil Hughes, who got roughed up for seven earned runs in four innings in Game 2, will take the mound Friday evening in an attempt to save New York’s season and force a deciding Game 7 against the virtually unhittable Cliff Lee.

Much like the Red Sox in 2004 though, the Yankees’ mentality should essentially boil down to one pitch, one at-bat, one inning and, most importantly, one game at a time.

As daunting as the prospect is of facing Lee again, Texas’ left-handed ace shouldn’t be a thought or the subject of any conversation in New York’s locker room because Game 6 presents enough of a challenge of its own.

The immediate task at hand for the Bronx Bombers is two-fold, getting to Rangers Game 6 starter Colby Lewis early and often enough to boost the confidence of Phil Hughes; which is exactly what Texas did for Lewis in Game 2 when they staked him to a five-run lead in the first three innings.

This allowed Lewis to settle into a groove and pitch confidently enough to hold the Yankees to only two runs on six hits before the Rangers bullpen shut the door.

Meanwhile, whether New York’s offense gives him a cushion to work with or not, the goal for the 24-year-old Hughes is to work six solid innings in serving as the bridge to Kerry Wood and Mariano Rivera.

The Game 2 debacle should already be in Hughes’ rearview mirror and he should step on the mound assured his repertoire can win the Yankees one more game; especially considering the fact he finished tied for fourth in the American League in victories with 18.

Another point to consider is that all the pressure is on Texas to close out the series at home, where they have gone 1-3 in the postseason.

In addition, the Rangers will feel the tremendous weight of an entire state on their shoulders as they attempt to clinch the AL pennant for the first time in franchise history.

On the other hand, New York has 40 AL pennants and 27 World Series Championships to show for all the pressure-packed playoff games they have participated in over the course of their 97-year history, and this year’s team is as battle-tested as the rest.

Therefore, ‘the moment’ will not have the impact on New York as it does on the Rangers.

The Yankees took the first step toward an improbable comeback in Game 5, just as the Red Sox did in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. And as evidenced by their age-old rivals, once a team begins building a little momentum it can become the impetus to leaving a lasting impression in professional sports lore.

This is the hope New York can cling to entering Game 6 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and where lessons can be gleaned from the greatest failure in team history.

If the Boston Red Sox can come back from a three-game deficit against a team that historically owned them then anything is possible, including a Game 6 victory to knot the series and a triumph over Cliff Lee in a game to decide the AL pennant.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special pictorial/video recap of Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.

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The Yankees Can’t Afford To Lose Another Game In ALCS

After putting on a pitching clinic in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, Texas Rangers ace Cliff Lee upped his postseason record to 3-0 in three starts against the New York Yankees over the past two years. Oh, by the way, this unblemished record includes an ERA of 1.88, 26 strikeouts and only four walks.

So as a result of Lee’s continued dominance in the playoffs, Texas took a 2-1 lead in the series, recaptured home-field advantage from the Yankees and are in a position where they need only one more victory to guarantee that Lee will take the mound again in a potential Game 7.

Therefore, it can’t be understated that every game is a must-win for the Bronx Bombers for the duration of the ALCS. New York can ill afford to face Cliff Lee again, in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, with their season on the line.

But with A.J. Burnett going in Game 4, CC Sabathia in Game 5 and Phil Hughes in Game 6, the Yankees are playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette against the best hitting lineup in the regular season and the postseason. Burnett, Hughes and even Sabathia, a leading candidate for the AL Cy Young Award, are all question marks going into their respective starts, which doesn’t bode well for a team in dire need of three consecutive wins.

In last year’s postseason, Sabathia was the anchor of New York’s starting rotation as he posted a record of 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA, 32 strikeouts and only nine walks in five starts. However, if Sabathia was considered Dr. Jekyll in 2009, he has become the equivalent of Mr. Hyde in this year’s playoffs. Sabathia, a 21-game winner during the regular season, has gone 1-0 in two starts, his ERA has ballooned to 7.20 and he has only eight strikeouts compared to seven walks during this postseason.

Meanwhile, after shutting down the Minnesota Twins for seven innings in the American League Divisional Series, Hughes got lit up for seven earned runs in four innings of work against the Rangers in Game 2 of the ALCS. And if New York extends the series to a sixth game, the 24-year-old Hughes will have the assignment of saving his team’s season on the field where he was shellacked less than a week ago.

As for the Yankees’ most enigmatic starter, after a season in which he went 10-15 with an ERA of 5.26, Burnett was left out of the rotation for the ALDS. Nevertheless, Burnett has been called upon to make a critical and necessary start in Game 4 of the ALCS in order to give the remaining starters their normal rest.

Bearing this in mind, Burnett, Sabathia and Hughes must either throw the game of their careers or the Yankees’ offense must be prolific enough to negate any sub-par performances from the aforementioned starters. There is simply no other option at this stage of the season with Cliff Lee waiting in the wings to pitch one game to decide the American League pennant.

The Yankees are extremely fortunate to be down only one game in the ALCS because Texas has outplayed them for the better part of 25 out of the 27 innings that have been played. But if New York loses another game in the series, their good fortune will come to an abrupt end.

Although the Rangers are two victories away from winning the AL pennant, the defending World Series Champions must treat every game like an elimination game, beginning with Game 4 at Yankee Stadium Tuesday evening.

Otherwise, the Yankees will have no choice but to tip their caps to Cliff Lee and call him their daddy when the ALCS is over.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a recap of Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.

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Yankees’ Playoff Existence Flashes Before Their Eyes

When Alex Rodriguez crossed the plate with the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi must have looked to the heavens and asked, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’

In retrospect, the Texas Rangers were only six outs away from capturing Game 1 of the American League Championship Series for the first home playoff victory in franchise history. But like the Minnesota Twins before them, Texas appears to have difficulty handling prosperity against the Yankees in the postseason.

Since a Game 1 road win over New York in the 1996 American League Divisional Series and a 4-2 seventh inning lead in Game 2, the Rangers have lost ten consecutive games to the Bronx Bombers in the playoffs. However, the latest defeat had to sting infinitely more than any of the others.

With Texas holding a seemingly commanding 5-0 lead entering the seventh inning, all seemed lost for the Yankees. Even a solo home run by second baseman Robinson Cano to put New York’s first run on the scoreboard didn’t come close to sounding the alarm for the impending rally on the horizon.

Nevertheless, Brett Gardner’s infield single to lead off the top half of the eighth was the beginning of seven consecutive batters reaching base in a five-run explosion, an outburst that gave the Yankees a lead they would never relinquish.

More importantly though, New York moved one step closer to assuring Rangers ace Cliff Lee doesn’t take the mound twice in the series. And ultimately, with a victory in Saturday afternoon’s Game 2, all the team with the second-best home record in the American League would have to do is win two out of three games to avoid going back to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

On the flip side of the coin, assuming Lee is a virtual lock to win Game 3, if the Rangers pitching staff can manage to collect two wins over the next few days then a Game 7 would still be in the offing. The potential problem is what losing a golden opportunity to take control of the ALCS has done to the team’s psyche.

In New York, a collective sigh of relief was breathed when closer Mariano Rivera recorded his MLB record 42nd postseason save by retiring leading AL MVP candidate Josh Hamilton on a groundout. A loss would have meant a momentum-building first home playoff victory for the Rangers and the increased odds of twice facing the pitcher who defeated them in Game 1 and Game 5 of last year’s World Series.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and highlights of Game 1 of the ALCS between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers.

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Did NY Yankees Lose ALCS in July?

On the afternoon of July 9, the New York Yankees were on the verge of finalizing a blockbuster deal to obtain the most potent arm-for-hire in recent memory; and all it would have cost the organization is top catching prospect Jesus Montero.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Cliff Lee’s reunion with former Cleveland Indians teammate CC Sabathia. A team that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May of this year, with no World Series appearances in its 38 years of existence, trumped the most valuable franchise in Major League Baseball.

In the closing stages of the race to acquire left-handed ace Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners, the Texas Rangers placed rookie first baseman Justin Smoak and three minor league prospects on the table to virtually steal Lee from right under the noses of the Bronx Bombers.

Surprisingly though, the two-time All-Star and 2008 Cy Young Award winner failed to deliver the goods in his fifteen regular season starts for the Rangers. Prior to the trade, Lee was 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA and an eye-popping strikeout-to-walk ratio of 14.8. For Texas, Lee was 4-6 with a 3.98 ERA and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 8.0.

However, despite Lee’s sub-par showing in his regular season stint with the Rangers, Texas still managed to win the American League West by the widest margin of all the divisional winners. And by using the momentum of a 21-6 June to propel them into the playoffs, the stage was set for the baseball world to witness the real reason the Rangers went the extra mile to keep Lee from joining the Yankees starting rotation.

In five postseason starts as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies last year, Lee went 4-0 with an ERA of 1.56, 33 strikeouts and only six walks. Most notably, two of Lee’s victories came against the New York Yankees in the World Series, the only two wins for Philadelphia in the 2009 Fall Classic.

This postseason has seen Lee pick up right where he left off, winning two games in the American League Divisional Series. Among those victories was a decisive Game 5 victory at Tropicana Field to help Texas eliminate the Tampa Bay Rays, the team that finished with the best record in the American League.

Now Lee will take his 2-0 record, 1.13 ERA and 21 strikeouts to the American League Championship Series for a Game 3 start and a potential Game 7 start against the team that ended up as the runner-up in the negotiations for his services.

Assuming there is no end to Lee’s postseason brilliance in the foreseeable future, at the very least, all C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and Tommy Hunter, who comprised the fourth best pitching staff in the American League this season, have to do is collect two wins in five games to guarantee a Game 7 start by Lee.

In any case, it goes without saying that the presence of Cliff Lee will loom large in the ALCS as the Yankees' ‘Chase for 28’ marches on; a chase that may have been destined to fail on that fateful afternoon of July 9. And in retrospect, by beating the Yankees at their own game of acquiring a marquee star, the Texas front office assured the franchise its best chance to appear in the World Series for the first time in team history.

The feather in the cap for New York is they have beaten a team with a starting rotation anchored by the seemingly indomitable Lee, with last year’s World Series against Philadelphia being the case in point. However, their concerted efforts to acquire Lee from the Mariners this season indicated a lack of interest in going down that route again.

But the Yankees’ plans to avert what is the current reality were spoiled by Texas and now the ALCS will tell the story of the true impact of their trade deadline loss to the Rangers for the services of baseball’s best postseason pitcher.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special video preview of the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers.

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NY Yankees Had the Minnesota Twins at "Hello"

For the fourth time in the last eight years, the New York Yankees eliminated the Minnesota Twins from the playoffs in the American League Divisional Series. And with Saturday evening’s completion of a series sweep for the second consecutive year, the Yankees have bested Minnesota in 12 of 14 games in the postseason since 2003.

But when the series began last week, the Twins had every reason to believe this would be the year they would dispel the notion New York had their number. Minnesota finished the regular season with an American League-best 53-28 record at Target Field, where the series commenced, while the Yankees won only 9 of their last 26 games to conclude the season amidst a myriad of concerns about the strength of their starting rotation.

In Game 1, Twins left-handed ace Francisco Liriano held New York scoreless for five innings as his offense staked him to a 3-0 lead entering the top of the sixth. However, given their playoff history, the ugly truth for Minnesota was that no lead is safe against the Yankees.

So when Mark Teixeira doubled down the left-field line, Alex Rodriguez drew a walk, and Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada followed with RBI singles to make it a 3-2 ball game, it was simply a matter of time before New York captured the lead to set the stage for another record-breaking save from Mariano Rivera.

Only one batter later, Curtis Granderson, who had been 4-22 against Liriano, tripled off the scoreboard in right-center field to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead to steal the hearts of the Twins for the umpteenth time.

Even a bases loaded walk surrendered by Yankees 21-game winner CC Sabathia, who clearly didn’t have his best stuff, in the bottom of the inning to tie the game couldn’t repair a Minnesota psyche that was completely crushed by Mark Teixeira’s two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning.

The icing on the cake was the Twins’ failure to capitalize on a blown call in the bottom of the ninth that gave them an extra out against the best closer in the history of Major League Baseball. In what should have been the last out of the game, replays clearly showed that Yankees right outfielder Greg Golson, a defensive substitute, caught Delmon Young’s sinking line drive.

However, Golson’s catch was ruled a trap after the umpires huddled for a discussion, which subsequently brought Jim Thome to the plate as the potential tying run. But Thome, a member of the 500-home run club, was retired on a popup to third baseman Alex Rodriguez to end the contest. Game over, series over.

Minnesota would proceed to bow out of the playoffs with a whimper, losing the final two games by a combined score of 11-3. But, make no mistake about it, Game 1 of the series set the stage for what immediately followed.

So a series that had the potential to be as competitive and compelling as any of the remaining three turned into what has essentially become the Yankees’ biennial first-round bye.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special video presentation.

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Yankees' Andy Pettitte Is This Generation's Mr. October

With concerns about how his back would hold up and whether he fully recuperated from a groin injury that sidelined him for two months, Andy Pettitte entered this postseason as one of the question marks in the New York Yankees starting rotation. But what makes Pettitte special is there’s only one thing he does when the calendar flips to October: win.

In seven innings of work against the Minnesota Twins in Game 2 of the American League Divisional Series, Pettitte surrendered only two runs on five hits to add to his record total of victories in the postseason (19). More importantly though, Pettitte’s solid outing propelled the Yankees to a commanding 2-0 lead over the Twins with the series heading back to Yankee Stadium for Game 3 Saturday evening.

So, in New York’s last five postseason appearances (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010), all Pettitte has done is go 9-2 with an ERA of 2.99 and 84 strikeouts in 102.5 innings pitched. This includes three series-clinching wins in last year’s postseason, to bring his record total to six, in the Yankees’ run to their 27th World Series Championship.

Detractors will certainly point to Pettitte’s playoff record totals in victories (19), series-clinching wins (6), starts (41) and innings pitched (256.0) resulting from his good fortune of being a member of the New York Yankees. However, this doesn’t change the fact that Pettitte consistently produces, when the stakes are the highest, without the velocity of an Aroldis Chapman or the dynamic stuff of a Stephen Strasburg.

What Pettitte has managed to do over the course of his postseason career is become a master of the ‘game within the game’; utilizing a combination of his brain, his heart and his will to continually confound lineup after lineup in spite of his advancing age and declination in athletic prowess.

For these reasons, whether it was in his prime or in his current twilight, Pettitte should be considered as vital to the Yankees’ recent championship runs (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009) as Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera; arguably justifying Pettitte’s claim to the mantle of this generation’s Mr. October.

In addition, when his regular season and postseason numbers are laid out on the table, there should be little question that Pettitte is worthy of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. After all, Hall of Fame hurlers such as Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, and Whitey Ford amassed fewer victories than Pettitte has in the regular season (240) and their respective postseason resumés aren’t nearly as impressive. But Pettitte’s Hall of Fame worthiness is and will be a subject for another discussion.

For the time being, his quiet brilliance should be applauded and appreciated each time the venerable 38-year-old takes the mound because this could very well be the final go-around for Pettitte in pinstripes or any other baseball uniform for that matter.

Click here to read the original article on Examiner.com, which includes relevant links and a special video presentation.

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