The New York Yankees Report

2003-07-03T10:14:00.000-04:00

JUNE REPORT - PART ONE
The Yanks rebounded in June after a terrible May. They started slow, opening up 4-5, including being no-hit by the Astros. But after that they went on a tear, winning 16 of their next 18 games, to post a 20-7 record in June. Opposing Teams' Record
The combined records of the opponents the Yanks played in June (through June 30).

Team	W-L	W PCT	Non-Yankee W-L	W PCT
Reds	38-42	.475	36-41	.468
Reds	38-42	.475	36-41	.468
Cubs	42-39	.519	40-38	.513
Astros	42-39	.519	41-37	.526
Cardinals	43-38	.531	43-35	.551
Mets	35-46	.432	35-40	.467

June Records

Records	W-L	W PCT
Actual	20-7	.741
Pythagorean	17-10	.630

Home

Records	W-L	W PCT
Actual	10-2	.833
Pythagorean	8-4	.667

Road

Records	W-L	W PCT
Actual	10-5	.667
Pythagorean	9-6	.600

Division Records

Division	W-L	W PCT
v. East	6-2	.750
v. Central	1-0	1.000
v. West	0-0	.000
v. NL	13-5	.722

Type of Games

Games	W-L	W PCT
1 Run	7-2	.778
2 or 3 Runs	7-2	.778
4+ Runs	6-3	.667
Extra Inn.	3-0	1.000
Shutouts	2-1	.667

Series Records

Records	W-L-T
Series	6-2-1
Sweeps	3-0

2003-07-03T10:13:00.000-04:00

RUNS

Runs	G	RS	RA	RS/G	RA/G
June	27	155	119	5.74	4.41
Home	12	65	45	5.42	3.75
Road	15	90	74	6.00	4.93
v. East	8	43	39	5.38	4.88
v. Central	1	10	9	10	9
v. West	0	0	0	0	0
v. NL	18	102	71	5.67	3.94

Runs Scored by Inning

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
Yanks	21	13	28	15	18	16	9	8	14	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	2
Opps.	13	17	9	5	18	12	21	12	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Percentage of Runs Scored by Inning

Team	1-3	4-6	7-9	Extra
Yanks	41.6%	32.9%	20.8%	4.7%
Opps.	34.2%	30.7%	34.2%	0.9%

Position in Standings
The Yankees entered June with a slim 1.5 game lead over the Red Sox. The Yanks and Sox traded 1st place three times during the first half of the month. The Yankees regained the lead on June 12th and held it for the rest of the month. They reached their largest lead, 4 games, on the last day of the month.

2003-07-02T09:50:00.000-04:00

First off I have to apologize for my post today. Blogger is having more trouble. For some reason one of the posts was published twice. Just skip that and keep moving on. I promise to get better with the posting as soon as I can figure it out.

2003-07-02T08:50:00.000-04:00

NEW BASEBALL BLOG
If you're like me, you're just dying for new baseball blog entries over the weekend. To get your weekend fix, head over to Rich's Weekend Baseball BEAT. It's brand new. The first article is on rookie star Rocco Baldelli. Check it out.

2003-07-02T08:45:00.000-04:00

INTERLEAGUE RECAP
The Yankees went 13-5 during interleague play this season, winning 4-of-6 series (sweeping 3 of them). It didn't start well for the Yanks. They lost their first two series to the Reds and Cubs, posting a 2-4 record. They won the first game against the Astros, before they were no-hit by no-less than 6 Astro pitchers. The no-hitter stirred them up and they rattled off 10 straight wins against NL teams.

Team	W-L	W PCT
Reds	1-2	.333
Cubs	1-2	.333
Astros	2-1	.667
Cardinals	3-0	1.000
Mets	6-0	.1.000
Totals	13-5	.722

The Yanks played much better at home than on the road. The won all 3 series at home, while winning just 1 on the road (and that one was across town in Queens).

Site	W-L	W PCT
Road	5-4	.556
Home	8-1	.889

Except for the Mets, the Yanks faced pretty tough competition during their interleague schedule. The five NL teams they played have a combined 495 W PCT (records through June), but it's .523 if you exclude the Mets. 3-of-the-5 teams are likely to be in the NL Central Division race.

Team	W-L	W PCT	Non-Yankee W-L	W PCT
Reds	38-42	.475	36-41	.468
Cubs	42-39	.519	40-38	.513
Astros	42-39	.519	41-37	.526
Cardinals	43-38	.531	43-35	.551
Mets	35-46	.432	35-40	.467

Through the 18 games, the Yanks outscored the NL 102-71.

Team	RS	RA	RSA	RAA
Reds	15	12	5.00	4.0
Cubs	14	16	4.67	5.33
Astros	11	16	3.67	5.33
Cardinals	23	8	7.67	2.67
Mets	39	19	6.50	3.17

It's interesting to note that the Yanks outscored the Reds by 3 R, but lost the series. Then, the Astros outscored the Yanks by 5 R, but lost the series.

2003-07-02T08:42:00.000-04:00

HITTING
The Yankees performed well offensively, scoring 102 R, 170 H, drawing 86 BB, 41 2B, and 29 HR. In every category they outperformed their NL opponent.

Team	AB	R	H	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Yanks	612	102	170	86	126	29	.278	.370	.487	.857
NL	615	71	159	26	135	23	.259	.292	.423	.715

Compare the OBP. The Yanks are at an impressive .370, while the NL managed just .292. The main reason is BB. The Yanks drew 86 BB compared to just 26 for the NL, an average of 4.96 BB/9I and 1.46 BB/9I respectively.

The Yankee offense was lead primarily by two hitters, CF Hideki Matsui and 1B Jason Giambi. Either one or the other led in every offensive category during the interleague schedule (except for SO). Matsui led (or tied) in H, RBI, 2B, HBP, AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS. Giambi led (or tied) in R, RBI, BB, HR, HBP.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
H. Matsui	67	17	33	22	8	11	6	.493	.558	.881	1.439
J. Giambi	56	20	18	22	21	18	9	.321	.513	.857	1.370

2003-07-02T08:41:00.000-04:00

Among the other regulars (minimum of 54 PA), C Jorge Posada only hit .214, but he drew 21 BB, scored 11 R, and posted a .484 OBP. So even though Posada struggled a little with his hitting, he was still very productive. 2B Alfonso Soriano and SS Derek Jeter were up and down offensively all through interleague play but did post some respectable numbers; however, Jeter led the team in SO with 21.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
J. Posada	42	11	9	9	21	11	3	.213	.484	.500	.984
A. Soriano	81	15	23	6	3	13	3	.284	.318	.432	.750
D. Jeter	77	15	21	3	8	21	2	.273	.349	.377	.725

The other regulars, LF Juan Rivera, RF Raul Mondesi, and 3B Robin Ventura, slumped through the interleague schedule. Rivera wasn't too bad, getting 15 H, including 6 2B and 7 RBI, but he's an impatient hitter and his OBP was just .317. Mondesi and Ventura slumped through most of June. Mondesi did hit 3 HR and had 9 RBI against NL pitching, but a .194 BA is not too good.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
J. Rivera	57	4	15	7	5	5	0	.263	.317	.368	.686
R. Mondesi	72	7	14	9	4	13	3	.194	.237	.389	.626
R. Ventura	51	4	9	7	4	14	1	.176	.236	.294	.530

2003-07-02T08:39:00.000-04:00

The two new-comers, Ruben Sierra and Karim Garcia, were the best hitters from the bench. Garcia played in only 1 interleague game with the Yanks, but he collected two hits. Sierra has been wonderful since joining the Yankees. He hit .429, 2 HR, and 7 RBI. The rest of the bench struggled through as they have through most of the year. C John Flaherty hit well, but has still shown no power or production. 3B Todd Zeile had more opportunities with Ventura in a slump, but he did nothing with them against the NL, getting just 3 H. Enrique Wilson, Bubba Trammell, and Charles Gipson weren't given much of a chance to contribute with the addition of Sierra. It's hard to imagine what role Trammell will have once Bernie Williams returns to the club.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
R. Sierra	28	6	12	7	5	4	2	.429	.486	.750	1.236
K. Garcia	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	.667	.667	.667	1.333
J. Flaherty	14	1	4	1	1	1	0	.286	.333	.357	.690
E. Wilson	10	1	2	3	1	1	0	.200	.250	.300	.550
C. Gipson	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	.000	.500	.000	.500
B. Trammell	10	0	2	1	0	2	0	.200	.200	.300	.500
T. Zeile	20	1	3	2	4	4	0	.150	.280	.200	.480

And then, there are the pitchers; and frankly, they didn't embarrass themselves. Andy Pettitte, David Wells, and Brandon Claussen all collected hits, with Pettitte and Claussen each racking up an RBI.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Pitchers	23	0	3	2	0	7	0	.130	.130	.174	.304

2003-07-02T08:27:00.000-04:00

PITCHING
The Yankee starters pitched fairly well versus the NL. Combined they went 11-4 and posted a very respectable 3.76 ERA. Roger Clemens led the way with 2-1 record and a 2.14 ERA, including his 300th win against the Cardinals. Not suprisingly Jeff Weaver was the worst among the starters, 1-1 and 5.40 ERA.

Name	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	OPS	ERA	H/9	BB/9	SO/9	HR/9
R. Clemens	2-1	21	15	5	5	4	22	2	.550	2.14	6.43	1.71	9.43	0.86
A. Pettitte	2-1	22.2	21	11	10	5	26	3	.693	3.97	8.34	2.00	10.30	1.20
D. Wells	2-0	26.2	35	14	13	1	15	4	.811	4.39	11.81	0.34	5.06	1.35
M. Mussina	2-1	20.1	20	10	10	3	18	6	.799	4.43	8.85	1.33	7.97	2.66
D. Weaver	1-1	13.1	13	8	8	3	5	2	.776	5.40	8.78	2.03	3.38	1.35
J. Contreras	1-0	7	5	2	2	3	6	1	.678	2.57	6.43	3.86	7.71	1.29
B. Claussen	1-0	6.1	8	2	1	1	5	1	.729	1.42	11.37	1.42	7.11	1.42
Totals	11-4	117.1	117	52	49	20	97	19	.726	3.76	8.97	1.50	7.44	1.50

2003-07-02T08:15:00.000-04:00

The bullpen was slightly better than the starters, posting a 3.32 ERA in 43.1 IP. They allowed slightly fewer H/9 and HR/9. Mariano Rivera was phenomenal, saving 6 games and allowing just and ER in 12 IP. Chris Hammond and Jason Anderson were also strong, both allowing just an ER. On the negative side, Juan Acevedo was bad in his few outings before he was released, Sterling Hitchcock posted a 6.75 ERA, and Jeff Weaver in 2 relief appearances was abysmal 10.80 ERA.

Name	G	W-L-S	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	OPS	ERA	H/9	BB/9	SO/9	HR/9
M. Rivera	10	1-0-6	12	6	1	1	1	12	0	.379	0.75	4.50	0.75	9.00	0.00
C. Hammond	9	0-0-0	8.2	8	1	1	1	10	0	.537	1.04	8.31	1.04	10.38	0.00
J. Anderson	6	0-0-0	4.2	9	3	1	0	3	1	.983	1.93	17.36	0.00	5.79	1.93
A. Osuna	6	1-1-0	5.1	4	2	2	0	6	1	.600	3.38	6.75	0.00	10.13	1.69
J. Acevedo	2	0-0-0	2.2	5	3	2	0	1	1	1.000	6.75	16.88	0.00	3.38	3.38
S. Hitchcock	4	0-0-0	5.1	4	4	4	1	4	1	.688	6.75	6.75	1.69	6.75	1.69
A. Reyes	2	0-0-0	2	2	2	2	1	0	0	.833	9.00	9.00	4.50	0.00	0.00
D. Miceli	2	0-0-1	1	0	1	1	1	0	0	.400	9.00	0.00	18.00	0.00	0.00
J. Weaver	2	0-0-0	1.2	4	2	2	0	2	0	1.500	10.80	21.60	0.00	10.80	0.00
Total	43	2-1-7	43.1	42	19	16	6	38	4	.685	3.32	8.72	1.25	7.89	0.83

2003-07-02T08:12:00.000-04:00

DEFENSE
Against the NL, the Yankees committed 13 errors while turning 12 DP. The errors were costly, allowing 6 unearned runs to score. Jeter's errors were the most costly, allowing 2 UER (unearned runs) to score. Soriano turned 10 of the DP, Jeter 6, and Wilson 1.

Name	E	UER
D. Jeter	2	2
A. Soriano	2	1
J. Giambi	1	1
A. Pettitte	1	1
E. Wilson	1	1
H. Matsui	1	0
J. Posada	1	0
J. Acevedo	1	0
J. Flaherty	1	0

The opposing NL teams committed 10 errors, for 3 unearned runs, and turned 14 DP. Raul Mondesi was the only Yankee to record an outfield assist and he had 3.

BASERUNNING
Alfonso Soriano was a perfect 3-for-6 in steal attempts, with a PO too. Derek Jeter was the only other Yankee to steal a base, going 3-for-4. Raul Mondesi and Charles Gipson were both caught stealing once, and Gipson was also PO once. The NL went 10-for-13 in steal attempts against the Yanks, with 5 steals coming against Posada and 5 against Flaherty. Posada caught 2 runners and Flaherty one. David Wells allowed 6 of the SB and Mussina 3.

Despite the slow start against the NL, the Yankees played very well against the NL. Hopefully, the Yanks will play well enough to win the division, sweep through the AL pennant, and have another chance at interleague play.

NEW BLOG
If you're like me, you're just dying for new baseball blog entries over the weekend. To get your weekend fix, head over to Rich's Weekend Baseball BEAT. It's brand new. The first article is on rookie star Rocco Baldelli. Check it out.

2003-07-01T10:27:00.000-04:00

SERIES RECAP: NEW YORK METS
The Yankees swept a 4-game series from the Mets this past weekend, capping off a season-series sweep, 6-0. During the four games the Yanks outscored the Mets 27-16. It was a great series for the Pinstripes, who have now won 7 games in a row and are 13-2 since being no-hit by the Astros. The Yankees finished their interleague schedule at a solid 13-5. (Not bad considering they opened interleague action 2-4.)

Game 1
David Wells allowed 4 R and 12 H in just 6 IP, but it was good enough as Jason Giambi and Hideki Matsui had RBI 2B to lead the Yanks over the Mets in the opener.

Game 2
Roger Clemens pitched 8 strong innings, allowing just ER and 6 H, to take Game 1 of a double header. The Yankees were powered by Matsui's Grand Slam in the 3rd inning and never looked back.

Game 3
The Yanks swept the double header by opening up a 9-0 lead and then hanging on for dear life in the later innings. Soriano and Jeter opened the game with back-to-back HR. Brandon Claussen pitched well in his first start of the season, going 6.1 innings allowing just 2 R, 1 ER. The bullpen struggled but managed to hang on for the win.

Game 4
The Yanks completed the sweep with 3 HR in the 3rd inning by Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, and Jorge Posada. Jeff Weaver gave up a 3-run HR to Jeremy Burnitz in the first, but settled down after, allowing just 2 H in 7 IP.

HITTING
The Yankees had their 2nd best hitting performance this month against the Mets, scoring 27 R, hitting 7 HR, and posting a .913 OPS. The Mets weren't too bad either, accumulating 35 H and 5 HR, but they drew only 8 BB and just didn't seem to hit well with runners in scoring position.

Team	AB	R	H	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Yanks	141	27	46	17	24	7	.326	.402	.511	.913
Mets	136	16	35	8	25	5	.257	.301	.412	.713

No surprise who the offensive leaders were for the series. CF Hideki Matsui and 1B Jason Giambi once again led the charge. Both have been unstoppable in the later half of June, but Matsui was downright scary. He had 9 H, 9 RBI, 2 HR, including a Grand Slam in Game 2. His SLG PCT was 1.067. His exploits is why he was named AL Player of the Week.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
H. Matsui	15	5	9	9	2	4	2	.600	.667	1.067	1.733
J. Giambi	13	5	5	7	5	4	2	.385	.556	.923	1.479

In addition to Matsui and Giambi, Alfonso Soriano, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada hit well against the Mets.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
A. Soriano	18	7	8	1	1	0	1	.444	.500	.611	1.111
D. Jeter	18	5	7	1	1	6	1	.389	.450	.556	1.006
J. Posada	11	1	3	1	3	3	1	.273	.429	.545	.974

RF Raul Mondesi continued to struggle getting just 2 H, posting a .118/.118/.176..294. Ugh!

For the second straight series, C/1B Jason Phillips led the Mets' attack. He had 6 H, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB. RF Roger Cedeno also hit well.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
J. Phillips	14	1	6	2	2	2	0	.429	.500	.571	1.071
R. Cedeno	17	4	7	2	1	2	1	.412	.444	.588	1.033

OF Jeremy Burnitz had only 2 H, but both were HR, leading the team. He also led the team with 4 RBI.

2003-07-01T10:23:00.000-04:00

PITCHING
The Yankee starters pitched well this past weekend, winning all 4 games. They gave up a ton of hits, 29 in 27.1 IP, but they managed to limit the damage with a 2.96 ERA. Just 4 BB in the 4 games helped. Clemens continued his good June allowing just 6 H and ER in 8 IP. Brandon Claussen impressed those who might be interested in dealing with the Yanks, giving up just one ER in 6.1 IP. The relievers fared less well allowing 6 ER in 8.1 IP. Sterling Hitchcock and Doug Miceli struggled in particular against the Mets, almost losing the big Yankee lead in Game 3.

Name	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	OPS
Starters	4-0	27.1	29	10	9	4	18	4	2.96	.721
Relievers	0-0	8.2	6	6	6	4	7	1	6.23	.686

The Mets' starters were just awful, giving up 33 H in just 18.2 innings, 11.60 ERA, and 1.081 OPS against. Al Leiter was the best giving up 5 ER in 6 IP. The bullpen was very good. In 14.1 IP, they allowed just 3 ER, 1 HR, 1.88 ERA. David Weathers was phenomenal, allowing just H and 0 R in 3.1 IP.

Name	W-L	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	OPS
Starters	0-4	18.2	33	24	24	12	10	6	11.60	1.081
Relievers	0-0	14.1	13	3	3	3	5	1	1.88	.640

DEFENSE
Enrique Wilson committed the only Yankee error, which led to an unearned run. The Mets committed four errors in the four games, but none hurt them. The Yanks turned 4 DP to the Mets 3.

BASERUNNING
Alfonso Soriano was a perfect 3-for-3 in steal attempts, the only SB the Yanks had in the series. However, Soriano was picked off in Game 4. The Mets were 3-for-4 in steal attempts, with Ty Wigginton, Raul Gonzalez, and Cesar Cedeno snagging a base. Only Jose Reyes was caught stealing, by Wells and Posada.

Despite a slow start to interleague play, the Yanks finished strong and appear to be out of their May/Early June swoon. Granted, the Yanks' schedule has been easy lately and they should be winning these games. But they have played well with significant players injured. They will need to continue their winning ways if they plan to retain the AL East lead.

2003-06-30T14:04:00.000-04:00

SERIES PREVIEW: BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Having completed their interleague schedule, the Yanks now return to AL East action with a 3-game series against the Baltimore Orioles. Amazingly, this is the first time the Yanks face the Orioles this season. This is a short 3-game road trip for the Yanks before they return home to face the Boston Red Sox. The Yanks enter Camden Yards on a hot streak, winning X of their last 10, including X-of-4 from the New York Mets over the weekend. The Yanks finished X-X in interleague action.

The Orioles enter the series at 35-43, 4th place in the AL East, 14 games behind the Yankees. The O's have flirted with .500 several times this season, but have slumped lately. They went 5-13 during interleague play, are 3-9 over their last 12 games, and have lost 4 in a row. So far this season, the Orioles are 17-22 at Camden Yards. The Yanks have the second best AL road-record at 28-13.

HITTING
The Orioles are a good offensive team. They have scored 403 R in 78 G, an average of 5.17 runs/game, 5th best in the AL. However, the only other category in which they perform very well is SO, tied for second fewest. They're slightly below average in AVG, OPS, BB, and HR, but they still manage to scrap out runs.

Name	AB	R	H	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Orioles	2784	403	762	238	434	82	.274	.335	.422	.757
LG Rank	7	5	6	10	tied-2	tied-8	5	9	9	9

MVP candidate LF Melvin Mora leads the Orioles attack.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
M. Mora	223	48	81	36	38	45	11	.363	.466	.592	1.058

Suprisingly, the second-best hitter is OF L. Matos. He was called up when Larry Bigby went down with an injury and Matos has made the most of his chance.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
L. Matos	124	26	43	14	7	22	5	.347	.382	.540	.922

is DH/IF/OF B.J. Surhoff and RF Jay Gibbons, team leader in HR and RBI, are the only other regulars above average in OPS.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
B.J. Surhoff	142	15	48	23	12	7	2	.338	.385	.444	.828
J. Gibbons	293	39	81	57	30	40	13	.276	.346	.481	.827

PITCHING
The Orioles are below average in pitching this season. The starters are 12th in the league with a 5.16 ERA, while the relievers are slightly better, 10th in the league with a 4.86 ERA.

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	OPS
Orioles	724	781	420	395	250	475	86	5.04	.794
LG Rank	tied-10	12	10	10	7	9	8	12	11

Sidney Ponsonand Jason Johnsonhave been very solid starters for the Orioles all season.

Name	IP	ERA	H/9	BB/9	SO/9	HR/9
S. Ponson	103	3.76	8.80	2.80	6.38	0.52
J. Johnson	83	3.80	9.70	3.30	5.42	1.08

Kerry Ligtenberghas been their best reliever with 2.93 ERA in 30.2 IP.

2003-06-30T07:49:00.000-04:00

The Orioles enter the series at 35-43, 4th place in the AL East, 14 games behind the Yankees. The O’s have flirted with .500 several times this season, but have slumped lately. They went 5-13 during interleague play, are 3-9 over their last 12 games, and have lost 4 in a row. So far this season, the Orioles are 17-22 at Camden Yards. The Yanks have the second best AL road-record at 28-13.

HITTING
The Orioles are a good offensive team. They have scored 403 R in 78 G, an average of 5.17 runs/game, 5th best in the AL. However, the only other category in which they perform very well is SO, tied for second fewest. They’re slightly below average in AVG, OPS, BB, and HR, but they still manage to scrap out runs.

Name	AB	R	H	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Orioles	2784	403	762	238	434	82	.274	.335	.422	.757
LG Rank	7	5	6	10	tied-2	tied-8	5	9	9	9

MVP candidate LF Melvin Mora leads the Orioles attack.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
M. Mora	223	48	81	36	38	45	11	.363	.466	.592	1.058

Suprisingly, the second-best hitter is OF L. Matos. He was called up when Larry Bigby went down with an injury and Matos has made the most of his chance.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
L. Matos	124	26	43	14	7	22	5	.347	.382	.540	.922

is DH/IF/OF B.J. Surhoff and RF Jay Gibbons, team leader in HR and RBI, are the only other regulars above average in OPS.

Name	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
B.J. Surhoff	142	15	48	23	12	7	2	.338	.385	.444	.828
J. Gibbons	293	39	81	57	30	40	13	.276	.346	.481	.827

PITCHING
The Orioles are below average in pitching this season. The starters are 12th in the league with a 5.16 ERA, while the relievers are slightly better, 10th in the league with a 4.86 ERA.

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	OPS
Orioles	724	781	420	395	250	475	86	5.04	.794
LG Rank	tied-10	12	10	10	7	9	8	12	11

Sidney Ponson and Jason Johnson have been very solid starters for the Orioles all season.

Name	IP	ERA	H/9	BB/9	SO/9	HR/9
S. Ponson	103	3.76	8.80	2.80	6.38	0.52
J. Johnson	83	3.80	9.70	3.30	5.42	1.08

Kerry Ligtenberg has been their best reliever with 2.93 ERA in 30.2 IP.

2003-06-29T19:23:00.000-04:00

DEFENSE
The Baltimore Orioles do play better than average defense. They’re 5th in fielding percentage in the AL at .983. Their 51 errors have led to 25 unearned runs.

CATEGORY	No.	LG RANK
Errors	51	6
F PCT	.983	5
RF	37.97	5
ZF	.847	9

BASERUNNING
With 2B Jerry Hairston, Jr.. injured, CF Luis Matos is basically the only threat to steal, 8-for-10 in steal attempts this season. 2B Brian Roberts has 7 steals while only being caught once.

The Orioles’ catchers have caught 18 would-be base stealers, while allowing 52 steals for a .257 CS PCT.

INJURIES
Rodrigo Lopez is just returning from the 15-day DL and he is expected to start in Game 2. He pitched on Thursday and allowed 7 H, 8 R, 6 ER in 1.2 IP. DH David Segui was out on Saturday with a sore knee. He’ll be probable for any game during the series.

Probable Pitching Match Ups

Game 1

NAME	W-L	IP	ERA	H/9	BB/9	K/9	HR/9
A. Pettitte	8-6	95.2	4.80	10.00	2.30	7.90	1.03
S. Ponson	10-4	103	3.76	8.80	2.80	6.38	0.52

Game 2

NAME	W-L	IP	ERA	H/9	BB/9	K/9	HR/9
M. Mussina	10-4	106.2	2.95	7.50	1.40	8.77	1.01
R. Lopez	1-4	43.2	7.63	13.00	3.10	4.74	1.65

Game 3

NAME	W-L	IP	ERA	H/9	BB/9	K/9	HR/9
D. Wells	10-2	113.2	3.40	9.70	0.30	4.59	0.87
J. Johnson	6-3	83	3.80	9.70	3.30	5.42	1.08

PROJECTED LINEUP

v. RHP

NAME	OPS v. RHP
B. Roberts 2B	.808
L. Matos CF	.941
M. Mora LF	1.020
J. Conine 1B	.751
J. Gibbons RF	.898
T. Batista 3B	.737
C. Mendez/B. Surhoff DH	.500/.822
D. Cruz SS	.658
B. Fordyce C	.583

v. LHP

NAME	OPS v. LHP
B. Roberts 2B	.457
L. Matos CF	.802
M. Mora LF	1.135
J. Conine 1B	.855
J. Gibbons RF	.647
T. Batista 3B	.762
C. Mendez DH	1.200
D. Cruz SS	.762
B. Fordyce C	.830

2003-06-28T15:05:00.000-04:00
SERIES RECAP: TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS
The Yankees took 3-of-4 from the Devil Rays in Tampa this past week, improving their record to 8-4 v. the D-Rays this season. But The D-Rays played tough, losing 2 one-run games. The Yanks have now won their last 5 series, and 11 of their last 13 since being no-hit by the Astros.
Game 1
Damian Rolls had a 2B and 2 HR off of Roger Clemens to lead the D-Rays over the Yanks in the opener. Victor Zambrano pitched 7 innings allowing just 5 H and 2 R.
Game 2
The Yankees mounted just their second 9th inning comeback win, scoring 4 R off of closer Lance Carter. The Yanks gave up a lead in the 7th inning, when Marlon Anderson hit a grand slam off of Al Reyes. Every Yankee player had at least one hit.
Game 3
Matsui had 2 H and 3 RBI to post the Yanks to lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Andy Pettitte gave up 5 R and 10 H, but it was good enough to earn the win.
Game 4
Mike Mussina pitched 7.1 innings allowing just 2 R to lead the Yanks to their 3rd straight victory over the D-Rays. The Yanks were powered by 2-run HR by Giambi and Mondesi.
HITTING
Despite winning 3-of-4, the Yanks only scored 3 more runs than the D-Rays and actually had two fewer hits during the series. Once again, the main difference was in BB. The Yanks drew 28 BB (5 HBP) while allowing just 8. Despite hitting just .269 against D-Ray pitching, the Pinstripes posted a .413 OBP.
Team AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS

Yanks 134 24 36 28 20 5 .269 .413 .418 .831
D-Rays 139 21 38 8 26 5 .273 .311 .475 .786
1B Jason Giambi and LF Hideki Matsui continued to hit well for the Yanks. They were joined by RF Raul Mondesi and LF Juan Rivera.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
J. Giambi 11 2 6 4 5 0 1 .545 .706 .818 1.524
H. Matsui 13 1 5 5 5 1 0 .385 .579 .538 1.117
R. Mondesi 15 4 4 2 3 1 1 .267 .389 .533 .922

J. Rivera 12 3 3 3 1 1 1 .250 .308 .500 .808
SS Derek Jeter went only 4-for-15, but he had 3 BB, HBP, and led the team in runs scored with 6 and posted a .421 OBP.
Two D-Rays led their attack, 3B Damian Rolls and 2B Marlon Anderson. They combined for 12 hits, 10 R, and 4 HR. Rolls had a career series. He had 7 H, 3 2B and 3 HR, including a 2-HR-game off of Roger Clemens.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
D. Rolls 14 5 7 7 2 3 3 .500 .563 1.357 1.920
M. Anderson 12 5 5 5 1 2 1 .417 .462 .833 1.295

2003-06-28T15:02:00.000-04:00

PITCHING
The Yankee starters struggled against the D-Rays. In 27 IP, they allowed 32 H, 15 R, and 4 HR, and a 4.67 ERA. Only Mussina pitched well, allowing just 2 ER in 7.1 IP. The relievers weren’t much better. In just 8 IP, they gave up 6 R and 6 H, including a grand slam. Closer Mariano Rivera did get 3 Saves, allowing 3 H and a R in 3 IP.
Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Starters 2-1 27 32 15 14 5 18 4 4.67 .831
Relievers 1-0 8 6 6 5 3 8 1 5.63 .618
Only Victor Zambrano pitched well among D-Ray starters. He went 7 IP allowing just 2 R. The other 3 starters combined for just 11.2 innings worth of work, allowing 12 H and 14 R. The bullpen threw a stunning 17.1 innings, allowing 19 H and 8 R.
Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Starters 1-2 18.2 17 16 16 15 11 4 7.71 .875
Relievers 0-1 17.1 19 8 8 13 9 1 4.15 .787
DEFENSE
The Yankees committed 4 errors, Soriano, Jeter, Ventura, and Pettitte each had one. Jeter and Ventura’s errors led to an unearned run. The D-Ray did not commit any errors during the series. The D-Rays also turned 9 DP, while they Yanks turned 4. RF Raul Mondesi had an outfield assist for the second series in a row.
BASERUNNING
The Yanks did not attempt a steal during the series, while the D-Rays went 4-for-4, Lugo had 2, Crawford and Baldelli 1 each. Posada and Flaherty both allowed 2 SB.
It wasn’t a great series even though the Yanks came away with 3 wins. They easily could have lost 3. Frankly, I’m glad we don’t see the D-Rays for awhile, the Yanks don’t play them again until September.

2003-06-27T18:25:00.000-04:00
test

2003-06-27T07:38:00.000-04:00
YANKS AND THE BEANE COUNT – PART TWO
Today I’ll continue with my fascination of the Beane Count. All season I’ve been amazed at how well the Yanks perform on these two areas – drawing walks and hitting homeruns, while preventing the same. Yesterday, we looked at the offensive side, today, we’ll look at how well Yankees pitching does against BB and HR.
The Yankee pitching has been inconsistent at points during the year. Both the starters and the bullpen have had their moments. They do give up lots of hits. But they’re 3rd in the AL in ER allowed. The runs allowed is low because the Yanks don’t kill themselves with walks and they keep the ball in the yard.
TEAM Pitching BC HR BB HR/9 IP BB/9 IP
Yankees 2 62 170 0.82 2.25
Dodgers 6 57 194 0.75 2.54
Twins 6 76 201 1.01 2.68
Phillies 7.5 66 236 0.92 3.28
Marlins 8 54 252 0.70 3.26
A’s 8 73 229 0.98 3.09
Orioles 10 78 227 1.08 3.13
Mariners 11.5 80 222 1.08 2.99
Red Sox 11.5 79 250 1.04 3.30
Diamondbacks 13 72 248 0.95 3.26
Pirates 13 89 236 1.20 3.18
Cubs 14 61 282 0.81 3.74
Indians 14 78 238 1.05 3.22
Braves 14.5 63 281 0.85 3.80
Royals 15 73 256 1.01 3.54
Angels 15 89 220 1.22 3.03
Expos 16 100 220 1.31 2.89
Rockies 19 85 275 1.11 3.58
White Sox 19 80 246 1.08 3.33
Tigers 19 81 251 1.10 3.42
Cardinals 19.5 101 251 1.33 3.30
Giants 21 66 268 0.87 3.77
Astros 20 69 290 0.90 3.77
Mets 21 81 287 1.12 3.97
Blue Jays 21 96 234 1.27 3.10
Brewers 24 114 255 1.52 3.39
Devil Rays 24 88 293 1.19 3.97
Rangers 27 94 305 1.28 4.15
Reds 28 101 309 1.35 4.12
Padres 28 99 320 1.28 4.13
The Yanks are 4th in HR/9 IP allowed, behind the Marlins, Dodgers, and Cubs. For perspective, the Yanks give up 1 extra HR in every 9 games than the Marlins. However, they are first in the league in BB/9 IP allowed at 2.25. Again, the Yanks are well above the league average in these categories. The league average in HR/9 IP allowed is 1.07, and 3.37 for BB/9 IP allowed.

2003-06-27T07:36:00.000-04:00

So, how are they doing it?
Mike Mussina is the only pitcher currently on the team with an above average HR/9 IP (and just barely at that).
NAME HR/9 IP
R. Choate 0.00
C. Hammond 0.29
A. Osuna 0.33
J. Contreras 0.36
M. Rivera 0.37
J. Anderson 0.53
A. Reyes 0.68
S. Hitchcock 0.70
J. Weaver 0.72
D. Wells 0.84
R. Clemens 0.86
A. Pettitte 1.02
M. Mussina 1.09
J. Acevedo 1.75
It’s pretty phenomenal how well each player has kept the ball in the park (except for Acevedo).
Nine Yankee pitchers are above the league average in BB/9 IP.
NAME BB/9 IP
D. Wells 0.33
M. Rivera 1.11
C. Hammond 1.44
M. Mussina 1.54
S. Hitchcock 1.75
A. Pettitte 2.34
R. Choate 2.45
R. Clemens 2.59
J. Weaver 2.66
Amazingly, Jeff Weaver is 42% above league average in BB allowed, and that’s just good enough for 9th place on the Yankee staff. David Wells is a remarkable 921% above league average in BB allowed.
Just how good are the Yanks in Beane Count. Sure a few teams beat them in one category or another. But no other team is as consistent in all of the categories. Here’s a new way to add up the Beane Count: subtract a team’s HR from HR allowed, do the same with BB. Here are the top 5 scores if you do that.
Team Score
Yankees 214
Phillies 63
Rockies 49
A’s 43
Mariners 40
The Yanks’ score is higher than the next 4 teams. It’s really pretty amazing.
And it just continues. The D-Rays outhomered the Yanks last night 1-0. But the Yanks outwalked them 12-1. It’ll be curious to see if the Yanks can keep this up during the entire season, and perhaps become the first team to finish a season with a perfect Beane Count.

2003-06-27T07:28:00.000-04:00

So, how are they doing it?
Mike Mussina is the only pitcher currently on the team with an above average HR/9 IP (and just barely at that).
NAME HR/9 IP
R. Choate 0.00
C. Hammond 0.29
A. Osuna 0.33
J. Contreras 0.36
M. Rivera 0.37
J. Anderson 0.53
A. Reyes 0.68
S. Hitchcock 0.70
J. Weaver 0.72
D. Wells 0.84
R. Clemens 0.86
A. Pettitte 1.02
M. Mussina 1.09
J. Acevedo 1.75
It’s pretty phenomenal how well each player has kept the ball in the park (except for Acevedo).
Nine Yankee pitchers are above the league average in BB/9 IP.
NAME BB/9 IP
D. Wells 0.33
M. Rivera 1.11
C. Hammond 1.44
M. Mussina 1.54
S. Hitchcock 1.75
A. Pettitte 2.34
R. Choate 2.45
R. Clemens 2.59
J. Weaver 2.66
Amazingly, Jeff Weaver is 42% above league average in BB allowed, and that’s just good enough for 9th place on the Yankee staff. David Wells is a remarkable 921% above league average in BB allowed.
Just how good are the Yanks in Beane Count. Sure a few teams beat them in one category or another. But no other team is as consistent in all of the categories. Here’s a new way to add up the Beane Count: subtract a team’s HR from HR allowed, do the same with BB. Here are the top 5 scores if you do that.
Team Score
Yankees 214
Phillies 63
Rockies 49
A’s 43
Mariners 40
The Yanks’ score is higher than the next 4 teams. It’s really pretty amazing.
And it just continues. The D-Rays outhomered the Yanks last night 1-0. But the Yanks outwalked them 12-1. It’ll be curious to see if the Yanks can keep this up during the entire season, and perhaps become the first team to finish a season with a perfect Beane Count.

2003-06-27T07:25:00.000-04:00
test

2003-06-26T16:44:00.000-04:00
test

2003-06-26T14:30:00.000-04:00
Houston, we have a problem! As you can tell, I'm having technical difficulties. Blogger just changed things around and it seems it's not quite working. I'll try to have it repaired as soon as possible.

2003-06-24T23:01:00.000-04:00
YANKS AND THE BEANE COUNT – PART ONE
I’m always amazed how well the Yanks outperform their opposition in drawing walks and hitting homeruns in series after series after series. Just this past weekend they outwalked the Mets 18-2 and outhomered them 4-1. Of course, these two areas are the components to Rob Neyer’s Beane Count (BC) – the sum of a team’s ranks in HR hit, BB drawn, HR allowed, and BB allowed. Currently, the Yanks Beane Count is 4, a perfect score (first in their league in all 4 categories). Earlier this season, Rob Neyer wrote about how amazing this was. Go back to 1920, no team had ever finished a season leading their league in all four categories. A few weeks from the All-Star break and here the Yanks are doing just that.
I became curious as to how the Yanks have amassed a perfect Beane Count, and does it mean anything. In other words, does the Beane Count correlate to wins and losses. Today, I’ll look at the batting side of the Beane Count and tomorrow I’ll examine the pitching side.
First, let’s begin with looking to see if the Beane Count correlates to wins and losses. It appears that it does. So far this season, teams in the Top 10 in Beane Count have a .568 W PCT.
BC POS W PCT
1-10 .568
11-20 .515
21-30 .416
The Florida Marlins are the only team among the Top 10 in BC under .500. Among teams in the bottom third, the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers are the only team above .500. But, this is just through half of a season. Here is the W PCT for 2001-2003.
BC POS W PCT
1-10 .571
11-20 .513
21-30 .426
It appears there might be somethin’ to this Beane Count after all. It’s still a pretty small sample, but regardless, we can note a trend. And it’s not that amazing really. To win games you need to score runs, while preventing them from being scored. It’s not surprising to learn that a good way to score runs is to draw walks and hit homeruns, while preventing both of these at the same time.
Offensively this season, The Yanks are drawing tons of walk and hitting tons of homeruns.
TEAM Batting BC HR BB HR/100 PA BB/100 PA
Yankees 2 109 337 3.66 11.31
Rockies 5.5 89 320 2.94 10.56
Red Sox 7 86 268 2.86 8.90
Blue Jays 8 100 255 3.31 8.43
Reds 8.5 101 254 3.57 8.98
Rangers 9 108 238 3.72 8.20
Braves 9.5 116 250 4.05 8.74
Giants 9.5 85 291 2.88 9.84
Brewers 11 89 254 3.09 8.82
A’s 11.5 79 266 2.80 9.42
White Sox 12 80 250 2.88 9.00
Phillies 13 68 297 2.46 10.73
Mariners 13 72 270 2.50 9.38
St. Louis 13 91 248 3.04 8.29
Expos 14.5 70 259 2.43 2.26
Astros 15 85 250 2.85 8.37
Angels 16.5 82 220 2.93 7.86
Padres 17.5 65 275 2.17 9.17
Royals 18.5 78 228 2.80 8.17
Twins 19 79 220 2.74 7.62
Marlins 19.5 81 243 2.77 8.30
Orioles 19.5 75 228 2.65 8.05
Indians 20 62 233 2.21 8.30
Diamondbacks 24.5 70 233 2.42 8.04
Mets 25 65 243 2.38 8.90
Cubs 26 67 240 2.35 8.43
Tigers 26 59 209 2.16 7.64
Pirates 28 60 242 2.09 8.44
Devil Rays 28 52 187 1.84 6.61
Dodgers 32 46 194 1.64 6.94
The Yanks are second to the Braves in HR/100 PA at 3.66, but they’re first in the majors in BB/100 PA at 11.31. These are staggering numbers compared to the major league average. The league average in HR/100 PA is 2.74, and 8.69 for BB/100 PA. When you consider that on average a team has about 115 PA during a 3-game series, it means that Yanks are hitting about an extra HR and drawing 3 extra BB during a series. In other words, the Yanks are hitting 34% more HR/100 PA and drawing 30% more BB/100 PA. So, how are they doing it?
The Yanks have 9 hitters above the league average in HR/100 PA.
NAME HR/100 PA
J. Giambi 5.85
A. Soriano 5.46
J. Posada 5.38
R. Sierra 5.13
R. Mondesi 4.09
R. Ventura 3.66
T. Zeile 3.59
B. Williams 3.35
N. Johnson 3.23
Only Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui are the only regulars to be below average in HR/100 PA. Amazingly, Jason Giambi is 114% over league average in HR/100 PA, while Alfonso Soriano is 99% over.
There are 8 Yankee hitters above the league average in BB/100 PA.
NAME BB/100 PA
N. Johnson 21.29
J. Posada 17.92
J. Giambi 17.85
B. Williams 15.31
R. Ventura 11.79
T. Zeile 11.38
B. Trammell 9.84
R. Mondesi 9.75
Again, Jeter and Matsui are the only regulars below average. However, this time they are joined by Soriano (no surprise there). Nick Johnson is a staggering 145% over league average, with Posada 106% over and Giambi 105% over.
It’s really pretty amazing to have 7 regulars above average HR hitters and 6 regulars above average in drawing walks. So yes, the Yanks are good at hitting HR and drawing BB. But what’s amazing is the Yanks are just as good at preventing HR and BB. We’ll look at that tomorrow.
Caveat:I’m going to the Sox game tomorrow night v. the Tigers. Depending on the game, I might not be able to work on it until Thursday. We’ll just have to see.

2003-06-24T07:29:00.000-04:00
SERIES RECAP: NEW YORK METS
The Yankees swept an abbreviated two-game series from the New York Mets. The series was shortened when the middle game was wiped out by rain. The Yanks are now 9-5 in interleague play and have won their last 3 interleague series after losing the first two.
Game 1
Andy Pettitte pitched 7 shutout innings allowing just 5 H as the Yanks went on to win the subway series opener 5-0. The Yanks were powered by back-to-back HR by Alfonso Soriana and Derek Jeter and then a 2-run shot by Jason Giambi.
Game 2
The Yanks led 4-3 in the 4th inning when the game was postponed by rain. Tough break for the slumping Todd Zeile, who had 2 hits including a HR. Alfonso Soriano was 3-3 when the game was called.
Game 3
Armando Benetiz blew his first save since April when he walked Jorge Posada after walking the bases loaded. The Yanks came back 3 times including a 9th inning comeback to send the games into extra innings. The Yanks finished in with a 4-run explosion in the 11th inning, thanks to a 2-run double by Enrique Wilson.
HITTING
The Yanks outscored the Mets 12-3 in the two-game set, but only managed one more hit, 19-18. There were two areas in which the Pinstripes stood out, extra-base hits (8 v. 3) and walks (18 v. 2).
Team AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS

Yanks 73 12 19 18 10 4 .260 .407 .479 .886
Mets 72 3 18 2 17 1 .250 .267 .319 .586
A number of Yankees hit well in the two games. LF Ruben Sierra had 3 H, including 2 2B. 1B Jason Giambi had only one hit, but it was a HR and he drew 4 BB. SS Derek Jeter busted out of his slump leading the team with 5 hits, including 1 HR.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
R. Sierra 5 1 3 1 1 1 0 .600 .667 1.000 1.667
J. Giambi 5 1 1 2 4 3 1 .200 .556 .800 1.356
D. Jeter 10 3 5 1 1 0 1 .500 .545 .800 1.345
Honorable mention awards go to CF Hideki Matsui and 2B Alfonso Soriano. Matsui had 3 H, HR, and 2 BB for a 1.250 OPS. Soriano had 4 H and a HR for a 1.000 OPS.
Not suprisingly, the Mets were led by 1B Jason Phillips and LF Cliff Floyd. They combined for 7 of the 18 Mets’ hits, they drew both walks, and Floyd had the only Met HR.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
J. Phillips 8 0 5 1 1 1 0 .625 .667 .625 1.292
C. Floyd 7 1 2 1 1 1 1 .286 .375 .714 1.089
PITCHING
The Yanks got great pitching in the two games allowing just 2 ER in 20 IP for a 0.90 ERA. Andy Pettitte and David Wells pitched well in both starts, both going 7 innings and allowing 5 H and 6 H respectively. But the relievers threw well too, allowing just an ER, 7 H, 0 BB in 6 IP. They pitched 4 scoreless innings in Game 2 to secure the win.
Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Starters 1-0 14 11 2 1 2 12 1 0.64 .577
Relievers 1-0 6 7 1 1 0 5 0 1.50 .609
The Met got solid starts from Steve Trachsel and Tom Glavine, but the bullpen let them down, with Armando Benetiz blowing a save in Game 2. Trachsel and Glavine combined for 13 IP, 10 H, 3 ER and a 2.08 ERA. Meanwhile, the bullpen allowed 9 H and 11 BB in 7 IP.
Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Starters 0-1 13 10 3 3 7 7 2 2.08 .727
Relievers 0-1 7 9 9 7 11 3 2 9.00 1.120
DEFENSE
1B Jason Giambi made the only Yankee error, a missed ground ball, which led to an unearned run. The Mets made 2 errors, one by SS Jose Reyes and one by 2B Roberto Alomar. Only Reyes’ error was costly, allowing 2 unearned runs to score. RF Raul Mondesi and CF Tjushoshi Shinjo each had an Outfield Assist. The Mets made 4 DP, while the Yanks failed to turn any.
BASERUNNING
The Yanks were 2-for-4 in steal attempts, with Jeter and Soriano nabbing bases off of Vance Wilson. Soriano and Charles Gipson were caught stealing, but it was more like being picked off. Tom Glavine nailed Soriano and David Weathers got Gipson. (Excuse me, but why is Gipson continuously getting picked off?)The Mets were 1-for-2 in steal attempts. 3B Ty Wigginton stole off of David Wells and John Flaherty. Jorge Posada nabbed Roger Cedeno and Wells picked off Jose Reyes.
Overall, two good wins for the Yanks, a shutout and a come-from-behind-extra-inning win. The Yanks will close out their interleague schedule when they meet up with the Mets again this weekend for a 4-game series.
SCORELESS STREAK

Damian Rolls’ 3-run HR off of Roger Clemens in the 2nd inning ended the Yanks’ streak of consecutive innings without allowing more than one run in an inning at 44.

2003-06-22T19:31:00.000-04:00
SERIES RECAP: TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS
The Yankees won another series by taking 2-of-3 from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The series was shortened when the final game was wiped out by rain.
Game 1
In the first game of a doubleheader, the D-Rays exploded on Jeff Weaver (Travis Lee – HR, 2B, 3 RBI; Aubrey Huff – 2 HR, 4 RBI), with every D-Ray starter getting a hit. Jeremi Gonzalez pitched beautifully, 1 H, 6 IP.
Game 2
In game two of a doubleheader, The Yanks returned the favor scoring 10 R and accumulating 10 H. Three costly D-Ray errors led to 5 unearned runs. David Wells posted his third complete game allowing just 2 R (1 ER) and scattering 7 H.
Game 3
Roger Clemens and Victor Zambrano hooked up in classic pitcher's duel. Clemens went 7.1 before allowing a hit, Zambrano allowed just 2 H in 8 IP. Then, both bullpens continued to keep the hitters in check. The game ended in the 12th inning when Alfonso Soriano singled with the bases-loaded.
Game 4
Game postponed due to rain. There was slight drizzle at game time and then it stopped shortly after the game was called. There were suggestions that the Yanks wanted to postpone the game so they could skip Jeff Weaver in the rotation. The Yanks deny this. Frankly, there should be a rule change to eliminate any hint of suggestion that a home team would postpone a game to avoid playing a scheduled game.
HITTING
With their offensive explosion in Game 1, the Devil Rays actually out hit the Yanks for the series. However, the Yanks came back in Game 2 and blew out the D-Rays. Overall, for the series both teams scored exactly 13 runs.
Team AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS

Yanks 106 13 23 14 14 1 .217 .306 .311 .617
D-Rays 110 13 28 6 16 3 .255 .297 .391 .688
Suprisingly, the D-Rays actually hit more HR than the Yanks, 3-1. However, the Yanks continue to draw more BB than their opponents, drawing 14 v. the D-Ray’s 6.
Once again, 1B Jason Giambi led the Yankee offense. And for the first time LF Juan Rivera put together a nice series.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
J. Giambi 9 3 4 3 4 1 1 .444 .571 .889 1.460
J. Rivera 7 0 2 0 0 1 0 .286 .286 .571 .857
Giambi hit the only Yankee HR during the series. While Rivera’s numbers weren’t great, they were good enough to have the second best OPS for the Yanks. Both of his hits were doubles.
DH Ruben Sierra continued to hit well since joining the Yanks, tying Giambi for the team lead with 4 hits and 3 RBI during the series.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
R. Sierra 12 0 4 3 0 1 0 .333 .333 .417 .750
Lots of Yankee hitters struggled, but Matsui really cooled off, getting just 2 H and posting a .154/.214/.154/.368 for the series.
Just about all of the D-Ray offense came from 2B Marlon Anderson, CF Rocco Baldelli, RF Aubry Huff, and 1B Travis Lee. They scored 8 of the 13 R, 18 of the 20 H, 10 of the 12 RBI, and 2 of the 3 HR.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
M. Anderson 9 1 5 3 0 2 1 .556 .556 .889 1.444
R. Baldelli 9 2 4 0 1 2 0 .444 .500 .667 1.667
A. Huff 11 3 5 4 0 0 0 .455 .417 .636 1.053
T. Lee 12 2 4 3 1 1 1 .333 .385 .667 1.051
PITCHING
With the exception of Jeff Weaver, the Yankee starters were incredible, allowing just 1 ER in 17 IP. And, with the exception of Sterling Hitchcock, the bullpen was fabulous, earning a win and allowing no runs in 6.2 IP.
Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Starters 1-1 22 18 8 7 3 11 2 2.86 .616
Relievers 1-0 8 10 5 4 3 5 1 4.50 .866
Clemens and Wells were both spectacular. Clemens allowed just 1 H and struckout 9 in 8 IP. Wells allowed 7 H, but again he walked no one and allowed just 1 ER in a complete game effort. Weaver was well… Jeff Weaver, at least the New York Jeff Weaver.
The D-Rays got great starting pitching as well during the series, only Dewon Brazelton struggled, going just 4.2 innings, allowing 7 H and 6 R (only 2 ER). Jeriome Gonzalez and Victor Zambrano combined for 14 IP, 3 H, R, ER, 10 BB, 11 SO. About the only complaint with the starters were the walks. They walked 12 hitters in 18.2 IP.
Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Starters 1-1 18.2 10 7 3 12 12 1 1.45 .547
Relievers 0-1 9.2 13 6 5 2 2 0 4.66 .731
DEFENSE
P Sterling Hitchcock and 3B Robin Ventura made the only Yankee errors (both throwing errors) that led to 2 unearned runs. The D-Rays made 4 errors all of them costly, allowing 5 unearned runs to score. Arguably, that was the difference between winning and losing the series. The Yanks made a staggering 8 DP, including 6 in Game 1. Alfonso Soriano was involved in all 8 DP. The D-Ray turned 3 DP.
BASERUNNING
Alfonso Soriano and Raul Mondesi each had a stolen base in the series, but Soriano was caught once by P Al Levine and C Toby Hall. The D-Rays were a perfect 6-for-6 in steal attempts, with Carl Crawford, Marlon Anderson, and Rocco Baldelli nabbing two each. Posada allowed 5 of the steals, John Flaherty one.
The Yanks were lucky to win 2-of-3 from the D-Rays. These were games that the Yanks were losing last month. It’s nice to see them hang in and win some tough games. The Yanks didn’t allow a run in the last 14 innings of the series. But the D-Rays have been tough against the Yanks so far this year, going 3-5, losing 2 one-run games.

SERIES PREVIEW: TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS

The Yanks again square off with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, this time in a four-game series beginning tonight in Tampa. The Yanks are 2-1 this season at Tropicana Field. See my June 16th entry for a more detailed preview of the D-Rays.

Probably Pitching Matchups
The D-Ray starting rotation is in disarray. Dewon Brazelton has been relegated back to the bullpen. Victor Zambrano could pitch in either Game 1 or Game 2. It’s likely Jorge Sosa will pitch the other game. But frankly, this is just a guess right now.
Game 1

Name W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
R. Clemens 7-4 97.1 3.42 8.00 2.60 9.80 .74
V. Zambrano 3-4 71.2 3.89 6.70 5.10 5.02 0.75
Game 2

Name W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
J. Weaver 3-6 82.2 5.77 12.00 2.60 5.12 .65
J. Sosa 1-5 40 5.18 9.70 4.30 4.05 1.13
Game 3

Name W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
A. Pettitte 7-6 88.1 4.69 10.00 2.30 7.95 1.02
R. Bell 0-1 9.1 6.75 4.80 6.80 5.79 0.00
Game 4

Name W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
M. Mussina 9-4 99.1 2.99 7.30 1.50 8.97 1.09
J. Standridge 0-2 16.2 4.32 8.60 2.20 5.94 1.62

SCORELESS STREAK

Cliff Floyd’s HR in the 2nd inning last night broke the Yanks’ consecutive scorelees inning streak at 24. The previous run allowed by the Yanks, an unearned run, was in Game 2 v. the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on June 17. The last time the Yanks allowed more than one run in an inning was in the 7th inning of Game 1 v. Devil Rays on June 17th, a span of 43 innings. It’s interesting to note that the Mets did score 2 runs in the first inning off of Mike Mussina in the rained-out Game 2. Because of the game’s postponement in the Bottom of the fourth, the stats were thrown out.

2003-06-19T21:30:00.000-04:00
SERIES PREVIEW: NEW YORK METS
The Yankees return to interleague play and the road as they take on the New York Mets in a 3-game series beginning tonight (okay so maybe it’s not like being on the road exactly). The Yanks are 7-5 in interleague action and 22-12 on the road this season.
The Mets are 33-37, sitting uncomfortably in 4th place in NL East, 13.5 games behind the Braves, and just a .5 game in front of the last place Marlins. However, they have played better lately, finishing up a 10-game road trip with a record of 6-4. The Mets are 5-4 in interleague action so far, pretty good considering they played all 9 games against AL West teams. They’re 16-16 at home this season.

HITTING
With Mike Piazza injured and Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar in decline, the Mets are not a very good offensive team, far below average in everything but strikeouts. They are currently 13th in the NL in runs scored with 304. Here are their numbers adjusted to league average (but does not consider park factor).
Name AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
Mets 2317 304 570 238 455 64 .246 .320 .391 .711
Adjusted 96 93 91 98 101 88 94 96 94 95
With a minimum of 200 AB, only OF Cliff Floyd and 3B Ty Wigginton are above the league average in OPS. Floyd leads the team in 2B, HR, RBI, and BB, while Wigginton leads the team in AB, H, and SO.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
C. Floyd 225 36 62 40 34 40 13 .276 .368 .538 .906
T. Wigginton 255 42 70 34 21 51 5 .275 .332 .431 .764
With Piazza sidelined, the only other hitters with an above-average OPS are OF Jeremy Burnitz, C Vance Wilson, and C/1B Jason Phillips, but none of them have played in more than 42 games this season. Burnitz missed almost 30 games with an injury and Wilson/Phillips (I couldn’t resist that one) have been platooning most of the year.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
J. Burnitz 154 24 45 30 13 34 11 .292 .355 .597 .952
V. Wilson 123 17 36 24 7 29 6 .293 .338 .472 .810
J. Phillips 99 12 26 10 14 8 3 .263 .365 .404 .769
PITCHING
The Mets also sport a below average pitching staff. They are below average in every category, including a horribly low amount of SO. They are 11th in the league in ERA.
Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Mets 613 662 341 323 260 373 74 4.74 .786
Adjusted 98 95 96 94 96 80 100 92 96
Jae Seo is the only Mets’ starter with an ERA below league average, although Tom Glavine is close.
Name IP ERA H/9 BB/9 SO/9 HR/9
J. Seo 88 2.66 9.00 1.70 4.70 0.52
However, they do have a few good relievers. Graeme Lloyd has been solid with a 2.28 ERA in 21 relief appearances. Trade bait Armando Benetiz, although shaky early on, has been impressive with 17 saves and a 2.89 ERA. He’s been worthy of the attention many teams are showing. Finally, David Weathers has a very respectable 3.60 ERA in 40 IP.

DEFENSE
Along with everything else, The Mets play lousy defense. They’re 15th in fielding percentage in the NL at .980, only the Reds are worse. Their 53 errors have led to 18 unearned runs.
CATEGORY No. LG RANK
Errors 53 14
F PCT .980 15
RF 37.70 7
ZF .834 13
INJURIES
The big one of course is C Mike Piazza, who’s out with a pulled groin. SS Rey Sanchez is on the DL with a strained left thumb. P Pedro Astacio has season-ending shoulder surgery last week. RP Mike Stanton is out with a knee injury and RP Scott Strickland is out with a sore elbow. 1B Mo Vaughn is out with a bad knee.

BASERUNNING
2B Roberto Alomar is about the only threat to steal bases. He’s tied for the team lead with 5 SB and he’s a perfect 5-for-5 in steal attempts this season. Roger Cedeno is also has 5 steal attempts, but he’s been caught stealing 6 times.
The Mets’ catchers have caught 23 would-be base stealers, while allowing 47 steals for a .329 CS PCT.
Probable Pitching Match Ups
Game 1
NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
A. Pettitte 6-6 81.1 5.09 9.70 2.30 7.75 1.11
S. Trachsel 5-4 82.2 4.79 9.80 3.40 4.35 1.20

Game 2
NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
M. Mussina** 9-4 99.1 2.99 7.30 1.50 8.97 1.09
T. Glavine 5-7 81.2 4.52 10.00 3.40 4.08 1.32

Game 3
NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
D. Wells 9-2 100.2 3.40 9.30 0.40 4.56 0.80
J. Seo 5-2 88 2.66 9.00 1.70 4.70 0.51
**The Yankees have not officially announced Mussina as the starter for Game 2. But the choices are Mussina on full rest or Weaver. Seriously, what would you do?

PROJECTED LINEUP
v. RHP
NAME OPS
R. Cedeno RF .664
T. Wigginton 3B .764
R. Alomar 2B .708
C. Floyd LF .906
J. Burnitz CF .952
V. Wilson/J. Phillips C .810/.769
T. Clark/J. Phillips 1B .707/.769
J. Reyes SS .651
v. LHP
NAME OPS
T. Shinjo CF .488
R. Alomar 2B .708
T. Wigginton 3B .764
C. Floyd LF .906
J. Burnitz RF .952
V. Wilson .810
J. Phillips 1B .769
J. Reyes SS .651

2003-06-18T21:17:00.000-04:00

Soriano v. Pujols
This just in… Albert Pujols is good. Okay, lots of people have figured this out for themselves without my helpful insight. But, I’ll just fake it and act like I just discovered something that no one else knows.

While watching the Cards and Yanks play this weekend, I noticed I was watching two of the best young hitters in baseball, Albert Pujols and Alfonso Soriano. (it’s interesting to note that both are RHH. There’s a nice crop of good RHH coming along, including Rocco Baldelli and Vernon Wells). I was curious which one is the better hitter so far in their young careers.

Note: Soriano played in 31 games and had 58 at bats before his first full year. I did not include those stats in this analysis.
Name G AB H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
A. Soriano 384 1580 452 218 74 345 75 .286 .325 .500 .825
A. Pujols 386 1424 471 317 169 187 90 .331 .406 .607 1.031

It’s actually not close. Pujols is a much better hitter than Soriano, despite being two years younger too. He bests Soriano on hits, extra-base hits, runs, RBI, HR, BB, SO… it goes on and on. (Although RBI is misleading because Soriano has been a leadoff hitter most of his career. Yet, we would expect him to score more runs than Pujols and he hasn’t, 261 v. 289, probably because of the low OBP). But what really stands out about these two hitters is BB and SO.
Name BB/PA SO/PA BB/SO
A. Soriano 0.04 0.20 0.20
A. Pujols 0.10 0.09 0.90
Soriano is a notorious free-swinger, striking out a ton and walking about as often as Steinbrenner avoids conflict. Pujols is more disciplined, with an even amount of BB and SO. In fact, so far in his career, Pujols has only 18 more SO than BB. This discipline helps explain the 81-point difference in OBP. Pujols has slightly more power with a .06 PA/HR compared to a .04 for Soriano. This would be a little bit closer if we adjusted for park factor. Yankee stadium is not that kind to RHH. Regardless, it’s pretty clear that Albert Pujols is already a great hitter.
The only area in which Soriano excels compared to Pujols is SB. Soriano has 103 career SB (77% SB PCT) compared to Pujols’ 3 SB (27% SB PCT).
I was then curious to see how Pujols’ early career would compare to some great modern-day hitters… Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez. So, compare Pujols’ two-and-a-half seasons to Bonds and Rodriguez’s first three seasons.
Note: A-Rod played in 65 games and had 198 at bats before his first full season as a regular. I did not include those stats in this analysis.
Name G AB H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
A. Pujols 386 1424 471 317 169 187 90 .331 .406 .607 1.031
B. Bonds 407 1502 388 165 191 272 65 .258 .343 .471 .814
A. Rodriguez 448 1874 604 331 145 324 101 .322 .375 .562 .937
Pujols has a better AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS. He’ll probably end up with more RBI and HR. He’ll definitely have fewer SO. Only Bonds will have more BB. Overall, it’s pretty impressive. Is Pujols the best hitter in baseball right now? Probably not. But all of the signs indicate he will be soon enough.
Yup, Albert Pujols is good, and remember, you heard it here first.

HOME IS SWEET AGAIN
The Yankees are 6-2 at home so far in the month of June. Amazingly, that’s already more home wins than last month. The Yanks were 5-12 at home in May. The Yanks already have more wins at home in half the number of games. The Pinstripes are averaging 5.75 runs per game in June versus just 3.88 last month.
By contrast, the Yankees are just 3-4 so far this month on the road. Coming into June, they were 19-8 on the road. The Yankees have only 5 more home games this month compared to 8 road games.

HEY, POSADA, TAKE A WALK!
Jorge Posada is doing his part to replace all of those walks the Yanks lost when Nick Johnson went down. Posada has at least 1 BB in 13 of the 15 games he’s played this month, for a total of 20. He’s drawn 3 BB in a game three times. In one game, Posada was sent in to pinch hit and in that one AB he promptly walked. His OBP is .525 during the stretch.

2003-06-18T07:50:00.000-04:00
SERIES RECAP: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
The Yankees won their second consecutive interleague series with a sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals. It was an incredible series for the Yanks, the best since April. They hit well (.320 BA, 1.029 OPS), pitched well (2.00 ERA), and Roger Clemens managed to win his 300th game.

Game 1
Roger Clemens goes 6.2 allowing just 2 runs and 6 hits to earn his 300th career win. It was a big night for Clemens who also became just the third pitcher in history (the first AL pitcher) to reach 4,000 strikeouts. Raul Mondesi and Ruben Sierra homered to power the Yanks to victory.

Game 2
The Yanks exploded for 4 runs in the first and 4 in the second to put this rainy game away early. Jason Giambi hit 2 HR and Hideki Matsui had 4 RBI to lead the Yanks. Ruben Sierra and Raul Mondesi also homered. Matt Morris started for the Cards, but left after a lengthy rain delay. Brett Tomko allowed 9 runs and 12 hits in 5.1 innings of work. Andy Pettitte garned the win with 7 strong innings, allowing 2 run and 5 hits.

Game 3
The Yanks completed the sweep when Robin Ventura hit a two-run 2B off of Cards’ ace Woody Williams in the 6th inning. The Yanks tacked on 2 more runs in the 6th and never looked back as they got 8 strong innings from Mike Mussina, 2 runs and 4 hits.

The Yanks kept pace with the Sox who swept the Astros. The Yankees retained their .5 lead over the Sox.

HITTING
The Yankees had their best offensive series since April and bested the Cards in every category.
Team AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS

Yanks 100 23 32 15 10 7 .320 .409 .620 1.029
Cards 100 8 20 4 25 4 .200 .243 .360 .603

Although the Yanks outperformed the Cards in every category, the one that really stands out is walks. The Yanks drew 15 BB, compared to just 4 BB for the Cards. This is an area where the Yanks continue to outperform teams.

The Yankees had such a good series offensively, it’s easier to dicuss who didn’t perform well. But once again, Jason “clearly back on track” Giambi topped the list. Giambi.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
J. Giambi 9 4 4 5 4 1 2 .444 .615 1.111 1.726

But Ruben Sierra, Hideki Matsui, Juan Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Raul Mondesi all had OPS over 1.000.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
R. Sierra 11 4 5 4 2 0 2 .455 .538 1.091 1.629
H. Matsui 11 3 6 6 1 1 1 .545 .583 .909 1.492
J. Rivera 9 1 4 0 3 0 0 .455 .583 .667 1.250
J. Posada 7 3 2 1 5 2 0 .286 .583 .571 1.155
R. Mondesi 12 2 3 4 0 1 2 .250 .250 .750 1.000

About the only Yankee who struggled against the Cardinals was Alfonso Soriano, who posted a .154/.154/.231/.385 for the series.

The best Cards’ hitter was Tino Martinez (and what Yankee fan can complain). Tino was deservedly cheered at each bat and I was thrilled for him to hit so well during the series.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
T. Martinez 10 3 3 5 1 3 2 .300 .333 .900 1.233

Albert Pujols, arguably baseball’s best hitter right now, had a good series offensively as well.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
A. Pujols 10 1 3 1 1 3 1 .300 .417 .600 1.017

PITCHING
Finally, the Yanks got some decent pitching this past weekend. The starters were amazing earning wins in all three games. The starters pitched so well, that the relievers threw only 5.1 innings during the 3 games. But when given the ball, the relievers did a marvelous job.

Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS

Starters 3-0 21.2 15 6 6 4 23 3 2.49 .568
Relievers 0-0 5.1 5 2 0 0 2 1 0.00 .733

Clemens finally got his 300th win, going 6.2 and allowing 6 H and 2 R. Even Pettitte managed a good outing, allowing just 5 H and 2 R in 7 IP, which included a lengthy rain delay. Mussina top them all with an 8 IP, 4 HR, and 2 R performance.

The Cardinals pitching struggled in the series. The Starters only pitched 12 innings. Mostly, because Matt Morris was pulled after a lengthy rain delay. But Jason Simontacchi and Woody Williams were roughed up as well. The Starters gave up 14 of the 23 R scored and had more BB than SO (10 v. 7).
Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Starters 0-3 12 16 14 14 10 7 3 10.50 1.033
Relievers 0-0 12 16 9 9 5 3 4 6.75 1.022

Actually, the relievers weren’t that bad. Brett Tomko gave up 12 of the 16 H, all 9 R, and all 4 HR. The rest of the relievers gave up just 4 H and 0 R in 6.2 IP.

DEFENSE
Derek Jeter made the only Yankee error in the 9th inning in Game 3, that led to 2 unearned runs, while the Cards were perfect over the 3 games. The Cards turned 4 DP during the series, while the Yanks turned just 1.

BASERUNNING
Derek Jeter had the only stolen base in the series, when he stole second in the 3rd inning of Game 3 off of Woody Williams and Joe Girardi.

2003-06-16T21:56:00.000-04:00
SERIES PREVIEW: TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS

The Yankees take a brief break from interleague play and take on the division-rival Tampa Bay Devil Rays for 4 games at the Stadium. The fourth game is a make-up game for a rain out on April 11th. The Yanks will make that game up with a double header today. The Yanks are 3-2 so far against the Devil Rays this season (1-1 at home), all of those games occurring in April when the Yanks were playing extremely well. The Yanks have outscored the D-Rays 33-19 over those 5 games.

The Devil Rays are 23-44, 16.5 games behind the Yankees for the division lead. While the Devil Rays opened 10-17 in April (pretty good for them), they have scuffled lately, going just 1-9 over their last ten games, 2-10 in interleague play.

Both teams have played poorly since they last met on April 13th. The Yanks are 31-26 since then, and the Devil Rays are just 18-37.

HITTING

Hopefully the Yanks can continue their hot hitting against the woeful D-Ray pitching. Back in April, the Yanks feasted on D-Rays, scoring 33 runs on 60 hits (including 9 homeruns), and accumulating a .965 OPS.
v. D-Rays
AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
186 33 60 25 20 9 .323 .400 .565 .965

But unfortunately for the Yanks, their two top hitters so far this season against the D-Rays, Nick Johnson and Bernie Williams, will miss the series due to injuries.

Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
N. Johnson 12 4 6 2 3 0 1 .500 .600 1.000 1.600

B. Williams 22 3 10 8 2 2 2 .455 .480 .864 1.344

Although he’s been slumping lately, Alfonso Soriano hit very well against Devil Rays earlier this season.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
A. Soriano 26 5 10 4 1 4 2 .385 .407 .769 1.117

Hopefully, Soriano can bust out of his slump during the series. Another starter to watch is Raul Mondesi.
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
R. Mondesi 19 4 8 0 2 3 0 .421 .476 .684 1.160

Also, look for Bubba Trammell to start a game perhaps. In 2 starts as the DH v. Tampa Bay, he went 4-for-8, with 2 2B and 3 RBI.

The D-Rays did hit decently against Yankee pitching back in April, it’s hard to remember now, but the staff was pitching quite well back then. The D-Rays posted a solid .303 BA, but only managed 19 runs in the 5 games.
v. Yankees
AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
175 19 53 9 33 1 .303 .337 .400 .737

The D-Rays struggled in two areas specifically against the Yanks, walks and homeruns (Beane Count). They drew just 9 BB and hit just 1 HR (and that one by the backup catcher, Javier Valentin), while the Yanks worked 25 BB and hit 9 HR.

1B Travis Lee and CF Rocco Baldelli led the D-Rays’ attack against the Yanks.

Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
T. Lee 15 2 7 2 2 1 0 .467 .529 .733 1.263

R. Baldelli 18 2 8 2 0 6 0 .444 .444 .611 1.056

PITCHING

Although Yankee pitching gave up a lot of hits to the D-Rays, they did manage to minimize the damage, establishing a 3.86 ERA. But overall, the Starters were more effect than the Relievers.

Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Starters 2-0 35.2 37 13 13 7 27 1 3.30 .681

Relievers 1-2 8.2 16 6 6 2 6 0 6.23 .931

Jeff Weaver, David Wells, Roger Clemens, and Andy Pettitte are all expected to start a game during this series. Only Pettitte hasn’t pitched against the D-Rays this season.

Name G W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS

J. Weaver 2 0-0 13.2 17 7 7 1 11 0 4.60 .746

D. Wells 1 1-0 8 7 1 1 0 4 0 1.10 .508

R. Clemens 2 1-0 14 13 5 5 6 12 1 3.20 .713

The D-Rays didn’t get much pitching in the 5 games v. the Yanks, but the Relievers were terrible (despite getting the two wins).

Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Starters 0-2 28 36 17 16 16 11 4 5.10 .956

Relievers 2-1 16.1 24 16 15 9 9 5 8.27 .978

Lance Carter was about the only effective pitcher during both series.
Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
L. Carter 2-0 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 0.00 .258

The D-Rays are scheduled to start Dewon Brazelton, Jeremi Gonzalez, Victor Zambrano, and Rob Bell. Only Zambrano has pitched against the Yanks this season.

Name W-L IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
V. Zambrano 0-1 11.1 9 5 5 12 4 2 3.97 .885

That’s right Zambrano has given up 12 BB in 11.1 innings versus the Yanks this year.

DEFENSE

The Yanks committed 5 errors in the 5 games v. Devil Rays this season, but 3 of those errors were by Erick Almonte, who is now in Columbus. Fortunately, for the Yanks none of the errors led to D-Ray runs. The D-Rays made 7 errors, including 2 each by Carl Crawford and Damion Easley (recently released), which led to 2 unearned runs. The Yanks turned 6 DP, while the D-Rays turned 7 and both teams had 1 outfield assist (Baldelli threw Bernie out at home, and Matsui threw Baldelli out at home).

BASERUNNING

The Yanks were 1-for-2 in steal attempts. Mondesi was able to swipe a base from Victor Zambrano and Javier Valentin, but Soriano was caught stealing by Mike Venafro and Valentin. Meanwhile, the Devil Rays were 2-for-5 in steal attempts. Baldelli and Crawford both stole one base each off of Posada. But Posada was able to gun down Al Martin twice and Travis Lee.

INJURIES

P Joe Kennedy is coming off the DL from a left shoulder inflammation. He might start the game on Thursday, but he is currently not scheduled to pitch yet. P Seth McClung is out with sore elbow. Finally, SS Rey Ordonez was just placed on the 15-day DL with a knee strain.

Probable Pitching Matchups

Here are the pitching matchups for the series. All stats are for the season. Game 1 and 2 are part of a doubleheader today.

Game 1

Name W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
D. Brazelton 1-5 42.2 6.75 10.00 3.60 4.60 1.69
J. Weaver 3-5 77.2 5.45 12.00 2.70 5.30 0.46

Game 2

Name W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
J. Gonzalez 2-2 36 3.25 6.30 4.50 7.80 0.75
D. Wells 8-2 91.2 3.63 9.50 0.40 4.90 0.88

Game 3

Name W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
V. Zambrano 3-4 63.2 4.38 7.20 5.10 4.80 0.85
R. Clemens 7-4 89.1 3.73 8.70 2.60 9.80 0.81

Game 4

Name W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
R. Bell 0-1 3.1 16.20 11.00 11.00 5.40 0.00
A. Pettitte 6-6 81.1 5.09 10.00 2.30 7.70 1.11

2003-06-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

IS THE ROCKET THE BEST PITCHER EVER? - PART TWO

Bill James ranked in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract (NBJHBA) the following as the greatest pitchers of all time:

Walter Johnson

Lefty Grove
Pete Alexander
Cy Young
Warren Spahn
Tom Seaver
Christy Mathewson
Bob Gibson
Kid Nichols
Sandy Koufax
Roger Clemens

He then writes about Clemens, “Like all the modern players, he may deserve to rate higher than I have ranked him. In fact, like Seaver, there is actually a very good argument that he is the greatest pitcher who ever lived.”

To determine where Clemens falls in terms of the greatest pitchers, I decided to compare him with the top six pitchers on this list. I made this decision for two reasons. One was a hunch that Clemens would likely fall somewhere in the top five. The second reason occurred to me when I listed the chronology for each pitcher.

Pitcher Years

C. Young 1890-1911

W. Johnson 1907-1927

P. Alexander 1911-1930

L. Grove 1925-1941

W. Spahn 1942-1965

T. Seaver 1967-1986

R. Clemens 1984-2002

With the exception of 1943-45 and 1967, one of these pitchers pitched in every season dating back to 1890 (Spahn pitched briefly in 1942 and then fought in WWII from 1943-45). From this perspective, the list is a run down of the best pitchers from each era, back to 1890. (Note: I agonized over including Christy Mathewson. He was probably the best pitcher between 1901-10, better than Young and Johnson at that time. But overall, I felt Johnson was a better comparison and again, gut instinct was telling me that the Rocket was probably better than the Big Six. I’ll probably run the numbers just to prove it to settle my mind about it.)

For the purposes of this comparison, I am only including Clemens’ statistics through the 2002 season.

WINS AND WINNING PERCENTAGE

Here are the career win/loss records.
Pitcher W-L
C. Young 511-316
W. Johnson 417-279
P. Alexander 373-208
W. Spahn 363-245
T. Seaver 311-205
L. Grove 300-141
R. Clemens 293-151

Sure, Cy Young won more games than any other pitcher in baseball history, but he also lost more games too. Grove’s total wins would be higher, but he spent years wasting away in the minors when he would have been a very good major league pitcher. However, perhaps the biggest injustice occurs to Walter Johnson, who toiled away for years on terrible teams in Washington. Johnson lost 65 games because the Senators were shutout, 26 of them 1-0, both career records. It’s not quite as fair to Clemens either because he spent his entire career in the five-man rotation, therefore getting fewer opportunities to pitch as the others.

To better understand wins and losses, we have to examine each pitcher’s Winning Percentage (W PCT).
Pitcher W PCT
L. Grove .680
R. Clemens .660
P. Alexander .642
C. Young .618
T. Seaver .603
W. Johnson .599
W. Spahn .597

Again, however, this isn’t quite fair to Johnson, Young, and Seaver, who pitched their careers on teams with losing records. Instead, let’s examine their winning percentages compared to their teams winning percentage when they weren’t pitching.
>>>>
Pitcher W PCT *Team W PCT
L. Grove .680 .557
R. Clemens .660 .513
P. Alexander .642 .503
C. Young .618 .467
T. Seaver .603 .462
W. Johnson .599 .482
W. Spahn .597 .504

* Team’s W PCT excludes that pitcher’s decisions

Does Lefty Grove have the best career W PCT because he pitched on some great Philadelphia Athletics teams and some good Boston Red Sox teams after that? Perhaps, among these pitchers, he was fortunate enough to have played on the best teams. Is Walter Johnson’s W PCT lower because he played for the Washington Senators?

To better understand each pitchers’ W PCT, we need to compare their Wins Above Team (WAT). WAT represents the number of games a pitcher won beyond those expected of an average pitcher for that team.

Pitcher WAT WAT/Year WAT/90G

R. Clemens 72.95 3.84 1.61

L. Grove 69.82 4.11 1.60

P. Alexander 90.25 4.51 1.57

W. Johnson 100.60 4.79 1.53

C. Young 117.60 5.35 1.44

T. Seaver 63.94 3.20 1.20

W. Spahn 55.51 2.64 0.95

In terms of career WAT and WAT/Year, Young tops the list. That’s expected considering he pitched in more games, career and per year, than anyone else. To eliminate this bias, it’s better to look at how many WAT a pitcher got for every 90 games he pitched. And Roger Clemens tops the list, which means that despite pitching on some good teams, Clemens still won more games than an average pitcher would have on those teams. In other words, his W PCT is very justified. (Grove’s W PCT is justified too and he deserves his career-leading W PCT.)

Ultimately though, wins/losses and W PCT are an imperfect measure of a pitcher’s performance, because there are many factors outside of the pitcher’s control that affect whether he wins or loses a game.

ERA and ERA+

A better measurement of a pitcher is earned run average (ERA).

Pitcher ERA

W. Johnson 2.17

P. Alexander 2.56

C. Young 2.63

L. Grove 3.06

W. Spahn 3.09

R. Clemens 3.15

T. Seaver 4.03

Again, this is out of context. The top three pitchers in terms of ERA spent good portions of their career in the Dead Ball Era, where offense was meager and runs were hard to come by. An average ERA in the AL in 1910 was 2.48, while in the AL in 1996 it was 5.00. So, just having the lowest number doesn’t always mean everything. To correct for this, we need to compare each pitcher’s adjusted ERA (ERA+). ERA+ compares a pitcher’s ERA to league average and factors in the pitcher’s home park factor.
Pitcher ERA+
L. Grove 148
W. Johnson 146
R. Clemens 142
C. Young 138
P. Alexander 135
T. Seaver 127
W. Spahn 118

Focusing on ERA+, it’s obvious that Clemens’ 3.15 ERA is actually much better than first appearance; in fact, it’s better than Spahn’s 3.09, Young’s 2.63, and Alexander’s 2.56. His career ERA+ moves him from sixth place to third.

PERIPHERAL PITCHING STATISTICS

In addition to ERA, we can measure a pitcher’s effectiveness by looking at his peripheral statistics, particularly, hits allowed, walks allowed, homeruns allowed, and strikeouts.
Pitcher H/9 BB/9 WHIP/9 HR/9 SO/9 SO/BB
P. Alexander 8.44 1.65 10.09 0.28 3.81 2.31
R. Clemens 7.70 2.92 10.62 0.66 8.65 2.96
L. Grove 8.79 2.71 11.50 0.37 5.18 1.90
W. Johnson 7.47 2.07 9.50 0.15 5.34 2.57
T. Seaver 7.47 2.61 10.08 0.72 6.85 2.62
W. Spahn 8.29 2.46 10.75 0.75 4.34 1.80
C. Young 8.68 1.49 10.17 0.17 3.43 2.30

Once again, this is without context. This demonstrates exactly why it is so hard to compare modern pitchers to pitchers from the Dead Ball Era. The comparison is complicated because offensive strategy has changed over time. The homerun is highly regarded in the modern game, and because of that, strikeouts are tolerated. In the Dead Ball Era, homeruns were nearly non-existent and strikeouts were to be avoided at all costs. A Dead Ball Era hitter with lots of strikeouts would lose his job. Therefore, hitters from that era choked up when they had two strikes and focused on making contact.

To really understand the above statistics we need to adjust them, similarly to the way we did with ERA. This adjustment is required for us to really be able to compare each pitcher’s effectiveness.

Adjusted to league average and for home park factor
Pitcher H/9 BB/9 WHIP/9 HR/9 SO/9
P. Alexander 111 169 120 120 120
R. Clemens 120 119 120 153 145
L. Grove 112 134 117 147 158
W. Johnson 119 148 125 147 155
T. Seaver 117 124 119 104 127
W. Spahn 107 134 113 111 94
C. Young 108 198 121 123 110

After adjusting each pitching statistic, we learn that Clemens leads in two categories, hits allowed and homeruns allowed. Originally, we might not have suspected homeruns allowed, because before the adjustment, Clemens was sixth. But the adjustment allows us to ignore the fact that homeruns are more prevalent in the modern era.

Win Shares
I established my original list of great pitchers by starting with Bill James’ work in NBJHBA, which relies heavily on his Win Shares system for evaluating players and pitchers. I decided to use this system as well. (Note: when comparing these pitchers Wins Shares, I chose to eliminate hitting shares, because this wouldn’t be fair to Clemens. He pitched his entire career in the AL with the DH. I can’t see holding that against him. By the way, eliminating hitting shares hurts Walter Johnson the most; and you know what, it still doesn’t matter.)
Pitcher WS WS/YR WS/90G
L. Grove 391 31.31 8.93
P. Alexander 467 30.99 8.09
W. Johnson 529 30.99 8.05
R. Clemens 355 26.27 7.86
C. Young 624 31.16 7.64
T. Seaver 388 25.59 7.30
W. Spahn 402 24.42 6.90

If we focus on total career WS or the average WS/Year, we would expect Young to top the list because he pitched so much and for so long. But these two factors tend to favor pitchers with longevity rather than effectiveness. To eliminate the longevity bias, it’s better to look at WS/90 G (Win Shares per 90 Games Pitched). Roger Clemens jumps ahead of Cy Young after this adjustment, suggesting that Clemens has been more effective than Young over their careers.

Win Shares Rating Comparison

To compare players in his NBJHBA, Bill James created a rating system using his Win Shares. (If you’re interested, you can read more about this in his NBJHBA, begins on p. 340.)

In short, it involves determining the following values for each pitcher:
Adjusting career pitching Win Shares into a usable number (involves find the harmonic value of pitching Win Shares)
Average of the 3 best seasons
Average of the top 5 consecutive seasons
Win Shares average per season
Timeline adjustment (see NBJHBA for description)

Pitcher Score
W. Johnson 161.84
C. Young 153.76
P. Alexander 148.96
L. Grove 142.51
T. Seaver 129.40
R. Clemens 126.48
W. Spahn 122.44

However, James admits his rating system is arbitrary, with an emphasis on favoring longevity (more career innings and more innings per season) and consecutive great seasons. Others might not agree with his criteria. But accepting his system, Clemens compares better with modern day pitchers than the early 20th century pitchers. I can identify three reasons why that is, two of are not Clemens’ fault, while the other one is.

The first reason is pitcher use. Pitchers simply aren’t used the same way in the modern game as they were at the turn of the century. In short, pitchers threw more games and innings in the Pre-War era than they do today. Should that be held against Clemens? With this system it clearly does and that might not be fair. If we declare that it is fair and just, then modern pitchers are more affected in the comparison.

Another reason is with regards to competitive balance. It is much more difficult to dominate in today’s game than it was in the early years of the game. Bill James is aware of this and adds a scale to correct for competitive balance. But it’s quite possible his correction doesn’t adequately counteract this injustice. (I’m not saying it doesn’t, I’m just positing the question). What’s obvious is that Clemens faced much tougher competition than any of the other pitchers. He pitched his entire career against a DH and all of the best players in the world. (The league now includes the best players from the U.S., Latin American, and Asia.)

The final reason is that Clemens just didn’t put together enough consecutive great seasons. And this one is his fault. Clemens best five consecutive seasons was between 1986-90, average of 25 Win Shares over this period. Unfortunately for Clemens, that doesn’t include his best season, 1997. If you took the average of Clemens 5 best seasons (non-consecutively) you would get a score of 28.6.

Innings Pitched

Obviously an important factor in comparing pitchers is the difference in the number of innings pitched. We want a pitcher to be effective, but we also want him to be effective for a large amount of innings.
Pitcher IP
C. Young 7,354
W. Johnson 5,914
W. Spahn 5,243
P. Alexander 5,190
T. Seaver 4,782
R. Clemens 4,067
L. Grove 3,940

I’ve already mentioned, Clemens has pitched fewer innings because pitcher use has changed over the years, and unfortunately, it’s hard to adjust innings pitched into an historical context that’s useful. Therefore, we’ll have to address this concern in a case-by-case basis.

However, let me comment quickly on Clemens and his innings pitched. Clemens has pitched a lot of innings for a pitcher in his era. He is the current active leader in innings pitched. In 12 of 18 years he pitched in over 200 innings, and he would have in 1994 too if the strike had not ended the season. In short, Clemens has pitched a lot of innings for a pitcher of his era.

Other Subjective Factors

There are other factors that will impact pitcher comparisons, including differences in the caliber of competition, post-season performance, and character. Since these are of lesser concern, I’ll only consider them in a case-by-case basis. In other words, these subjective factors will weigh in the decision only if the other measures are close or equal.

CONCLUSION

To determine where Roger Clemens rates among the greatest pitchers, I’ll weigh the level of effectiveness along with the number of innings pitched.

I’m comfortable with placing Roger Clemens ahead of Tom Seaver and Warren Spahn.
Pitcher WAT/90 ERA+ WS/90 G WS Comp IP
R. Clemens 1.61 142 7.86 126.48 4067
T. Seaver 1.20 127 7.30 129.40 4782
W. Spahn 0.95 118 6.90 122.44 5243

Clemens has clearly been more effective than both, ahead in WAT/90, ERA+, and WS/90. In addition, Clemens is also ahead of Spahn in terms of the Win Shares rating comparison. Both Spahn and Seaver pitched more innings than Clemens, 29% and 18% respectively. Regardless, I believe that Clemens’ effectiveness more than makes up for the fewer innings pitched. It’s a tougher call with Seaver than Spahn, but Clemens has been more effective against tougher competition.

At the same time, I’m also comfortable with placing both Walter Johnson and Lefty Grove ahead of Roger Clemens.
Pitcher WAT/90 ERA+ WS/90 G WS Comp IP
R. Clemens 1.61 142 7.86 126.48 4067
W. Johnson 1.53 146 8.05 161.84 5914
L. Grove 1.60 148 8.93 142.51 3940

Johnson was more effective than Clemens (leading in all but one major category) and he pitched 45% more innings. For me, Walter Johnson is the greatest pitcher ever. Similarly, Grove leads Clemens in all but one major category. And even though Clemens pitched 3% more innings than Grove, I don’t feel it’s enough to make up for Grove’s consistent effectiveness.

Things become much more difficult when comparing Clemens to Pete Alexander and Cy Young.
Pitcher WAT/90 ERA+ WS/90 G WS Comp IP
R. Clemens 1.61 142 7.86 126.48 4067
P. Alexander 1.57 135 8.09 148.96 5190
C. Young 1.44 138 7.64 153.76 7354

Clemens leads Alexander in two of the major categories, but he pitched fewer innings. Clemens leads Young in three of the major categories, but he pitched far fewer innings. We’ll need to make a closer examination before we can make any further determination.

The Case v. Alexander

Clemens has a better WAT/90 and ERA+ against Alexander. For me, that’s big. Those are two major categories for comparison. However, Win Shares favors Alexander. Minus some additional subjective factors that could factor in, Win Shares suggests that Alexander is ahead of Clemens.

Clemens has been more effective in the peripheral pitching categories, better than Alexander with hits allowed and home runs allowed; both are tied in WHIP; and Alexander beats Clemens in walks allowed. We’ll need to look at the other subjective factors in order to decide.

Clemens gets the nod in terms of caliber of competition. It was much harder in his era to dominate the league. I would say Clemens faced better hitters than Alexander did, especially if you factor in that Clemens pitched his entire career against the DH.

I would also give Clemens the edge with regards to character and its impact on the team. Clemens has a bit of a negative image, most of it created by the media, the Boston media in particular. In his later years, he has taken on the roll of mentor to younger pitchers. By all accounts though he is a good teammate and doesn’t negatively affect his team’s play with bad behavior. Alexander was a loner and not one to speak much to his teammates. It’s hard to imagine him encouraging a teammate. Further, he was an alcoholic and there were charges throughout his career that he pitched while drunk.

Compare post-season records.
Pitcher G W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9
R. Clemens 22 6-6 132.3 3.46 7.12 3.40 8.41
P. Alexander 7 3-2 43 3.56 7.54 2.51 6.10

With today’s expanded post-season, Clemens pitched more games and innings than Alexander. Of course, all of Alexander’s appearances were in the World Series. Neither pitcher’s record is spectacular and their ERA are similar.

However, Clemens did pitch better in the World Series.
Pitcher G W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9
R. Clemens 6 3-0 40.1 1.56 5.58 2.68 9.60

I give a slight edge to Clemens because of his World Series performance.

It‘s a hard case to decide though. Win Shares favors Alexander. Clemens has a better Winning Percentage, WAT, and ERA+. Further, Clemens had a better impact on his team and performed slightly better in the post-season, all while facing better competition. I give an edge to Clemens until you come to innings pitched; and that one goes to Alexander, pretty handily. Alexander threw 28% more innings than Clemens. That’s a lot more, which is reflected in the Win Shares scores. You can argue that this isn’t fair to Clemens because of the change in pitcher use, but that’s why it makes it so difficult to compare modern day players to pre-War era players.

Rather than claim that pitcher use has unfairly hurt Clemens, I would argue that a larger injustice was done to his effectiveness. Clemens posted a better ERA+ and better strikeout rates despite facing a DH versus a pitcher. This is the larger unknown. Wouldn’t Clemens have been more effective if he had pitched in the NL his entire career? Most definitely. Would it have been enough of a difference to overcome Alexander’s innings pitched? I’m just not sure. You could make a good argument for either side. But in the end, Clemens did pitch against the DH and did throw fewer innings than Alexander, and after all that, it’s very close. Since it’s so close, I’ll go with the innings pitched and take Alexander.

The Case v. Young

Comparing Clemens to Young is even more difficult than comparing him to Alexander. Clemens had a better WAT/90 and ERA+. They split on Win Shares, Clemens is better on WS/90, but Young gets the edge on the Win Shares Rating Comparison.

Clemens has the edge in the peripheral pitching categories, better than Young in hits allowed, home runs allowed, and strikeouts; Young was better in walks allowed and WHIP. (Young just edges Clemens in WHIP, because he allowed a staggering low amount of walks during his career, so he was really better than Clemens in walks allowed only.) Clemens’ effectiveness deserves more consideration because he faced a considerably higher caliber of competition. Both Clemens and Young were good teammates and didn’t negatively affect their teams’ performance, and I wouldn’t give an edge to either pitcher on that count.

Compare post-season records.
Pitcher G W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9
R. Clemens 22 6-6 132.3 3.46 7.12 3.40 8.41
C. Young 7 2-3 61 2.36 8.41 1.03 3.84

Young’s record doesn’t seem to reflect his ERA. Young pitched in only one World Series (1903); here’s the comparison of just their World Series performances.
Pitcher G W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9
R. Clemens 6 3-0 40.1 1.56 5.58 2.68 9.60
C. Young 4 2-1 34 1.85 8.21 1.06 4.50

Considering the difference of eras, I’d give the edge to Clemens.

Things become complicated when we compare innings pitched. Young pitched over 7,000 innings. That’s 81% more innings than Clemens! In order for Clemens to be ahead of Young, he would have to be considerably more effective than Young. But is he?

WAT/90 – Clemens is 12% more effective than Young

ERA+ – Clemens is 3% more effective than Young

WS/90 – Clemens is 3% more effective than Young

Win Shares Rating Comparison – Young is 22% more effective

Competitive Balance – Clemens faced much tougher competition

Post-season Performance – Slight edge to Clemens

Character – it’s even, both were good teammates

Based on these numbers, would you say that Clemens was effective enough to balance out Young’s innings? On the surface, I’d say no. But this rating system contains a high (maybe even an unacceptable) level of injustice to Clemens.

I’ve mentioned one factor already, the DH. Clemens clearly faced tougher competition throughout his career than Young because of the DH. In addition, Young was able to dominate his league far easier than even Alexander, and the difference between him and Clemens is greater still. But the largest factor concerns a rule change in 1893. The pitching distance was changed in 1893 from 50 feet to its present distance of 60 feet, 6 inches. Cy Young pitched for three seasons at the 50-foot distance. I included these seasons in my calculations, but I really shouldn’t have; and when you don’t, the numbers change drastically. In short, Young’s effectiveness is exaggerated in our analysis, especially in relation to Roger Clemens.

But what about all of those innings? Again, it’s probably not fair to hold this difference against Clemens because baseball strategy has changed over the years. However, I do hold it against him.

Once again, it becomes a judgement call, and you wouldn’t get any consensus of opinion. It all depends on how you want to rate the differences of effectiveness versus the differences in innings pitched, and it’s difficult to really rate how much more effective Clemens was than Young. Again, I’d say I’m just not sure. But unlike with Alexander, I do think Clemens’ effectiveness makes up for the extra innings that Young pitched. So, I’ll take The Rocket over The Cyclone. But I admit it could easily go the other way. Regardless, I love the irony that Clemens, who has won more Cy Young Awards than any other pitcher, should be so closely tied with the man whose name stands for pitching greatness.

So, here’s my final list of the top seven pitchers of all time.
Walter Johnson

Lefty Grove
Pete Alexander
Roger Clemens
Cy Young
Tom Seaver
Warren Spahn
**Satchel Paige

(** I suspect that Satchel Paige would fall somewhere in this mix too, but of course it’s completely impossible to determine accurately. But, I believe it would be unjust to deny Paige a mention.)

But as I said, it is almost impossible to compare Clemens to the Dead Ball era greats. You can make an argument that he’s third, fourth, or fifth. I think it’s harder to argue that he’s higher or lower than that. What is obvious is that Clemens is probably the greatest pitcher of his era and could likely be the best I’ll ever see pitch in my lifetime (Pedro Martinez is probably a little better but it’s unlikely he’ll pitch enough innings.)

Roger Clemens has mentioned repeatedly that this is his last season. I, for one, don’t intend to miss another one of his starts, because it is clear that he is simply one of the greatest pitchers of all time. And how often can you say you saw one of the greatest ever pitch?

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to Baseball Reference.com, BaseballLibrary.com, and Bill James and his Win Shares for the invaluable information used in this study.

A PITCHER BY ANY OTHER NAME

After doing this comparison of Roger Clemens to the greatest pitcher of all times, I thought about ranking them by their nicknames. So here you go:

“….” – Warren Spahn didn’t have one as far as I know, at least not one that can be shared in public

“Pete” – Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched under the nom de guerre of Pete. Three pitchers on this list are know more familiarly to us by their nicknames, and this is the lamest of the three.

“Tom Terrific” – although absolutely true, it’s still pretty weak.

“Cy” – short for Cyclone. Cy’s real first name was Denton. I would probably rank this one as number one if he went by Cyclone, but it loses some of it’s charm when it’s just Cy.

“Lefty” – Robert Moses Grove was called Lefty for a completely obvious reason… he was a southpaw. I’ll admit, it’s not great, but it was my nickname when I played baseball, so he got extra points.

“The Rocket” – not only is it appropriate, it’s pretty cool.

“Big Train” – Notice that the top two nicknames are variations on the same theme, a fast moving mode of transportation. If rockets had existed back in naught-seven, it would have been Walter Johnson’s nickname. I have always thought this was one of the best nicknames ever, because you can just hear the ball swishing by you.

2003-06-14T11:12:00.000-04:00
ROGER CLEMENS, THE GREATEST PITCHER EVER? – PART ONE
There is no debate that Roger Clemens will be a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection. His Black Ink score is 91 (average HoFer is 40), and his Gray Ink score is 277 (average HoFer is 185). So unlike with Rafael Palmeiro and Fred McGriff, I don’t have to convince anyone that Roger Clemens deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. But since Clemens has just become the first pitcher to win 300 games while pitching his entire career in the five-man rotation, it’s time to ask where The Rocket ranks among the greatest pitchers ever.

In Part One, I'll review Clemens’ career and in Part Two, I'll compare his career versus the greatest pitchers.

The Rocket’s Career
Originally drafted by the New York Mets out of high school, Roger Clemens decided to pitch at the University of Texas instead of signing. While there he compiled a 25-7 record, was an All-American twice, and won the championship game in the 1983 College World Series.

In June 1983, the Red Sox drafted him in the first round (19th player overall). He quickly moved through the Sox system, debuting with the major-league club on May 15, 1984. He won his first game five days later in a 5-4 decision over the Twins, going 7 innings and striking out 7.

In the next season, Clemens managed to go 9-4 before suffering a shoulder injury that led to season-ending surgery in late August. Even though Clemens had pitched only 98.1 innings that season, it was clear that he had amazing potential:

1985
Name AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
Clemens .228 .302 .269 .571 3.29 7.6 3.39 6.77 0.46
*Adjusted 118 113 155 133 130 122 98 129 217

*normalized to league average and adjusted for home park factor

Clemens entered the 1986 season with some concerns that he could recover from the shoulder surgery. Clemens quickly answered any questions by opening the season 3-0 and then setting the ML record for strikeouts in a game, by fanning 20 Seattle Mariners (yes, it still counts) on April 29. He went 14-0 before losing his first decision, against Toronto on July 2. He finished the season 24-4 with 2.48 ERA, an adjusted ERA (ERA+) of 168, and 238 strikeouts (v. just 67 walks). He won the All-Star Game MVP, his first AL Cy Young Award, and even was awarded the AL’s Most Valuable Player. Simply, he had one of the greatest seasons for a pitcher in history. And the numbers bear that out:

1986
Name AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
Clemens .195 .251 .264 .515 2.48 6.34 2.37 8.43 0.74
*Adjusted 134 133 155 144 168 142 144 145 138

However, the 1986 post-season was a disappointment. In the ALCS against the Angels, Roger was merely average:

Name W-L IP ERA H ER BB K
Clemens 1-1 22.2 4.37 22 11 7 17

In Game 1, he game up four runs in the 2nd inning, another in the 3rd, and the Angels ran away with an 8-1 win. Clemens pitched well in Game 4, giving up just 3 runs through 8 innings, but the Angels were able to scratch out a run in the 11th inning off of Calvin Schiraldi to win 4-3 and take a 3 games to 1 lead in the series. But Clemens came back in Game 7, shutting down the Angels, allowing no runs through 7 innings.

Clemens did pitch better in the World Series, but he had two no decisions (including Game 6) and the Sox lost a heartbreaker in seven games.

Name W-L IP ERA H ER BB K

Clemens 0-0 11.1 3.18 9 4 6 11

Clemens started the 1987 season slowly, opening the year just 4-6, but he finished strong and won 20 games for the second straight year. The statistics were down from 1986, but he did pitch a career high 281.2 innings and led the league in complete games (18) and shutouts (7), and pitched well enough to capture his second straight Cy Young Award.

In 1988, Clemens finished 18-12 with a 2.93 ERA with 291 strikeouts (a Red Sox record) and again led the league in complete games (14) and shutouts (8). Clemens had an inconsistent 1989, starting strong and finishing strong, and posted a 17-11 record with 3.13 ERA. To that point in his career, it had been his worse. But he was still head and shoulders above the league average.

1989
Name AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
Clemens .231 .303 .337 .640 3.13 7.64 3.30 8.17 0.71
*Adjusted 119 114 120 117 130 123 98 149 114

And he pitched a staggering 253.1 innings.

Clemens quickly put to rest any ideas that he was slowing down with his 1990 performance. He went 21-6 with a career-best 1.93 ERA and again led the league with 4 shutouts. His numbers were amazing:

1990
Name AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
Clemens .228 .276 .306 .583 1.93 7.61 3.40 8.24 0.28
*Adjusted 119 126 133 129 212 122 160 146 300

Clemens ERA+ was an unbelievable 212. Amazingly, Clemens lost the Cy Young to Bob Welch of the Oakland A’s, who won 27 games that year, despite better numbers.

However came back in 1991 with another solid performance and captured his 3rd Cy Young award, going 18-10 with a 2.62 ERA. Once again, Clemens showed his dominance, leading the league in several important categories: innings pitched (271.3), ERA (2.62), strikeouts (241), games started (35), and shutouts (4). He continued on in 1992, going 18-11 with another league-leading 2.41 ERA and 5 shutouts.

From 1986-1992, Roger Clemens was the greatest pitcher on the planet, and arguably had put together the seven best seasons ever:

1986-92
Name AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
Clemens .222 .276 .317 .593 2.66 7.37 2.43 8.37 0.55
*Adjusted 118 120 125 123 153 122 139 148 162

During these seven seasons, Clemens went an amazing 136-63 (.683) and led the league in the following categories:

ERA – 4 times

ERA+ – 4 times

Wins – 2 times

20 win seasons – 3 times (with 3 18-win seasons)

WHIP – 2 times

Strikeouts – 2 times

Complete games – 2 times

Shutouts – 5 times

In addition, he won three Cy Young Awards (and was robbed of one), an AL MVP, and an All-Star Game MVP.

And then, Roger Clemens inexplicable slumped for the next four seasons. He had his first losing season in 1993, 10-13 with a 4.46 ERA. In the strike season of 1994, he rebounded, going 9-7 with a much-improved 2.85 ERA (2nd best in the AL). Hampered by injuries in 1995, Clemens went 10-5, pitching only 140 innings (a career low), with a 4.18 ERA. Clemens again struggled during the 1996 season, finishing the year 10-13 with a 3.63 ERA (good for 7th best in the league). GM Dan Duquette believed Clemens was in the “twilight of his career” and failed to sign him to a new contract during the off season. So, Clemens went north of the border, signing a 4-year, $40 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Many suggest that this was Duquette’s biggest mistake during his tenure as Red Sox GM. While it is obvious Clemens’ numbers were down from the previous seven seasons, he was still a productive pitcher, well above average:

1993-96
Name AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
Clemens .236 .316 .362 .678 3.77 7.92 3.67 8.66 0.80
*Adjusted 115 110 118 114 125 119 102 144 135

And in fact, Clemens pitched very well in the second half of the 1996 season. He went 6-2, 2.09 ERA and struck out 123 batters in 111.1 innings. He culminated that with his second 20-strikeout performance against the Tigers (yes, it still counts) on September 18. Bottom line, Clemens was still the Rocket, but he wouldn’t wear a Red Sox uniform anymore.

Clemens pitched two unbelievable seasons in Toronto. In 1997, he went 21-7, and won the pitcher’s Triple Crown, leading in wins (21), ERA (2.05), strikeouts (292), en route to his 4th Cy Young Award. Further, he led the league in innings pitched (264) and tied for the league lead in complete games and shutouts. He also posted a career high 226 ERA+.

For an encore, Clemens returned in 1998 and duplicated his Triple Crown performance, leading the league in wins (20), ERA (2.65), and strikeouts (271). He became just the fourth pitcher in history to win the pitcher’s Triple Crown in consecutive seasons (Grove, Alexander, Koufax). And he was honored with an unprecedented 5th Cy Young Award.

During this span, Clemens re-established himself as the best pitcher on the planet. He went 41-13 and put up some amazing numbers:

1997-98
Name AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
Clemens .206 .274 .293 .567 2.33 6.73 2.82 10.16 0.36
*Adjusted 132 126 147 137 198 141 124 157 308

While all of these numbers are remarkable, his ERA+ is just phenomenal. During his two seasons in Toronto, Clemens posted an ERA+ of 226 and 176, both league-leading. More phenomenal was that he was this effective while pitching 498.2 innings during those two seasons.

But Clemens was still without a World Series Championship. He threatened to exercise an out clause in his contract that would force the club to trade him. He didn’t, but the Jays traded him anyway to New York Yankees in the February 18, 1999. He went out and won his first 5 decisions as a Yankee. But his season was disappointing, 14-10 with a 4.60 ERA without leading in a major pitching category. However, the Rocket was back in the playoffs. He pitch brilliantly in his only start against the Rangers in the Division playoff, going 7 innings, allowing no runs, and just 3 hits, walking 2, striking out 2. The Yankees went on to sweep the Rangers 3-0.

But, things weren’t so smooth in the ALCS versus his old ball club. He was thumped in Game 3, giving up 5 runs and 6 hits in just 2 innings of work. But Clemens made up for it in Game 4 of the World Series, going 7.2, allowing just 1 run and 4 hits. His win closed out the sweep of the Braves and gave him his first World Series Championship.

Clemens pitched better in 2000, going 13-8 with 3.70 ERA. His postseason didn’t get off to a great start losing two games to the upstart Oakland A’s. He lost Game 1, allowing 4 runs in 6 innings. He was touched up in Game 4, giving up 6 runs in just 5 innings. But after that, Clemens was unhittable.

In Game 4 of the ALCS against Seattle, Roger pitched a complete game 1-hit shutout, striking out 15 Mariners. He followed it up in Game 2 of the World Series, allowing no runs and just 2 hits in 8 innings. And the Yanks would go on to win another championship in five games.

Clemens picked up in 2001 where he left off in the postseason with another 20-win season. He went 20-3 (pitching an amazing 220.3 innings at 38) with a 3.51 ERA and picked up his 6th Cy Young Award (probably didn’t deserve it, but he was robbed in 1990).

While many would agree that Clemens hasn’t been the dominating Clemens in New York, he has been very good:

1999-2002
Name AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
Clemens .232 .321 .352 .673 3.36 7.80 3.24 9.20 0.72
*Adjusted 116 106 123 115 138 121 108 144 158

He has remained extremely effective in New York, while continuing to be a workhorse, averaging 198 innings in his 4 seasons.

PREVIEW: On Monday I’ll examine where Clemens ranks among the all-time greats.

2003-06-13T08:05:00.000-04:00
SERIES RECAP: HOUSTON ASTROS
The Yankees managed to win 2 of 3 from the Astros to win their first interleague series this season. The Yanks won the rubber game despite trailing after the 6th inning. It was the first time all year that the Yanks won a game after trailing after 6th inning or later.

Game 1
Mike Mussina went 7 innings giving up just 2 runs to stop his 4-game losing streak. Matsui continued his hot streak, going 3-for-4 with a double. Jorge Posada added a 2-run homerun.

Game 2
Six Astros pitchers combined to no-hit the Yanks, Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, and Billy Wagner. Meanwhile, Jeff Weaver struggled, lasting 6.1 innings allowing 10 hits and 5 runs. Richard Hidalgo had 2 doubles and 2 RBI, while Brad Ausmus went 3-for-4 to lead the Astros.

Game 3
The Yanks won their first game of the season when trailing after the 6th inning when Alfonso Soriano hit an RBI-single off of Octavio Dotel in the 8th inning. Antonio Osuna earned the win, pitching 2 scoreless innings. David Wells allowed 5 runs and 10 hits in 6 innings of work.

The Yankees zoomed back ahead of the Sox by a half a game when they dropped their final game to the Cardinals..

HITTING
Despite losing 2 of 3 games, the Houston Astros still out scored and out hit the Yanks during the series. The Astros scored 16 runs on 34 hits for the series, while the Yanks managed 11 runs on 20 hits. Obviously, the no-hitter brought the Yanks totals down for the series.
Team AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
Yanks 92 11 20 11 23 1 .217 .302 .304 .606
Astros 109 16 34 4 19 3 .312 .333 .495 .829

The Astros mustered 13 extra-base hits, including 3 HR, v. the Yanks 6 extra-base hits and 1 HR. However, the Yanks continued to draw walks, getting 11 for the series, while the Astros managed just 4. Jorge Posada had 4 of the Yankee walks. Although managing just 1 hit for the series, Posada led the team in OPS and hit the only Yankee homerun.
Player AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
J. Posada 5 2 1 2 4 1 1 .200 .556 .800 1.356

Hideki Matsui continued to remain hot leading the team in hits and runs for the series with 5.
Player AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
H. Matsui 12 3 5 2 0 0 0 .417 .417 .500 .917

But of course, most of the Yankees struggled, especially Alfonso Soriano and Derek Jeter. They combined for just 3 singles and 8 strikeouts.
Player AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
A. Soriano 12 2 2 1 1 3 0 .167 .231 .167 .397
D. Jeter 11 0 1 0 2 5 0 .091 .231 .091 .322

How bad are things going for the Yankees right now? Brad Ausmus, the Astros worst hitter among the regulars, had his best series.
Player AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
B. Ausmus 7 1 4 1 0 1 0 .571 .571 .714 1.286

Less suprising, Craig Biggio and Lance Berkman also put together a fine series.
Player AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
C. Biggio 13 3 5 2 0 2 1 .385 .429 .769 1.198
L. Berkman 11 3 4 2 2 3 1 .364 .462 .636 1.098

But they did stop Jeff Bagwell and Jeff Kent, who hit for a .571 and .558 OPS respectively.

PITCHING
The Yankee starters were inconsistent again allowing 12 of 16 runs and 28 of 34 hits.
Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Mussina 7 8 2 2 1 6 1 2.57 .803
Weaver 6.1 10 5 5 1 2 1 7.11 .974
Wells 6 10 5 5 1 4 0 7.50 .894
Totals 19.1 28 12 12 3 12 2 5.59 .893

David Wells did walk his 4th batter on the season. But he also had another HB, which means he still has more HB than BB for the season.

The bullpen was just fair.
Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Relievers 7.2 6 4 4 1 7 1 4.70 .647

But 3 of the 4 runs the relievers allowed were in Game 2, in which the Yanks were shut out. So, those runs didn’t hurt much. Mariano Rivera was brilliant, saving 2 games, pitching 2 scoreless and hitless innings, and striking out 3 of the 6 batters he faced. Chris Hammond also pitched 1.1 scoreless and hitless innings, striking out 2 of the 4 batters he faced.

The Astros starters struggled in Yankee Stadium. Wade Miller and Jeriome Robertson gave up 9 runs in 12.2 innings, while Roy Oswalt pitched just one inning due to a groin injury.
Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Miller 7 7 5 5 4 5 1 6.43 .799
Oswalt 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 .000
Robertson 5.2 7 4 4 3 2 0 6.35 .779
Totals 13.2 14 9 9 7 9 1 5.93 .748

The Astro bullpen was brilliant, including the combined no hitter in Game 2.
Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Relievers 11.1 6 2 1 4 14 0 0.79 .419

Although Dotel was hung with the loss in Game 3, the run he gave up was unearned.

DEFENSE
The Yanks made just 1 error in the series, a bad throw by Jeter. But it didn’t hurt them. The Astros made only 2 errors in the series, but the last one, Bagwell misplayed a ground ball, ended up being winning run and costing them Game 3. The Yanks turned 3 DP, while the Astros didn’t turn any. But Astro Lance Berkman did provide an outfield assist, when he threw Trammell out at the plate.

BASERUNNING
The Yankees went 0-for-3 in steal attempts, with Soriano getting caught twice and Mondesi once. Ausmus nabbed two of the steal attempts and Greg Zaun got the other. The Astros went 3-for-3 in steal attempts, all coming in Game 3 off of David Wells and John Flaherty. There were 3 wild pitches in the series, one each by Octavio Dotel, Jason Anderson, and Jeff Weaver. Only Weaver’s was costly allowing a runner from third to score.

Well, the Yanks won the series, but there is no joy in Gotham. Game 2 was an embarrassment and they could have just as easily lost Games 1 and 3 too. It was reported that Steinbrenner and Cashman were speaking yesterday to evaluate the team. I would expect some changes soon. But as bad as things are the Yanks are 4-5 in interleague action, 5-5 in June, and remain just a half-game behind the Sox for the division lead.

The Yanks now welcome the St. Louis Cardinals into the Stadium for a 3-game series.

SERIES PREVIEW: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
I don't have time to do the usual series preview. Suffice it to say, the Cardinals can hit, but their pitching is just average. They enter the Stadium at 35-29 a game back in the Central. Having just taken 2 of 3 from the Sox, they are now 7-2 in interleague play.

HITTING
The Cardinals are second in the league in hitting, scoring 364 runs in 64 games. However, they do lead the league in BA at .288. Their attack is led by the league's best hitter, Albert Pujols (maybe even the best player in the league), who is hitting .382/.444/.711/1.155. He is closely followed by Gold Glove CF Jim Edmonds, .316/.408/.660/1.068.

PITCHING
The Cards are 10th in the NL in ERA with a 4.33. But the Yanks will face their two best starters in the series, Woody Williams is 8-1 with a 2.33 ERA and Matt Morris is 7-3 with a 3.06 ERA.

PITCHING PROBABLES

Game 1
Clemens 6-4, 3.81 ERA
Simontacchi 4-3, 6.56 ERA

Game 2
Pettitte 5-6, 5.33 ERA
Morris 7-3, 3.06 ERA

Game 3
Mussina 8-4, 3.05
Williams 8-1, 2.33 ERA

The Yanks really need to win 2 of 3 from the Cards and it's not going to be easy. Yankee pitching, particularly the starters, are struggling and the Cards are great hitters. If they Yanks don't hit and pitch well it could be another long weekend. Tonight Clemens will try for the fourth.... you know I think you are all aware of what's at stake tonight with Clemens. So far, the Yanks are 1-2 in games in which Clemens tries for 300. It's the best matchup for the Yanks and it's as close as you can have to a must-win game.

2003-06-12T08:25:00.000-04:00
TOOTHLESS TIGERS
Last night I watched a little of the Dodgers and Tigers game, wondering if either team would score a run or get a hit. I especially worried about the Tigers, the worst offense facing the best pitching. Through their first 61 games, the Toothless Tigers have scored only 191 runs. That’s an average of only 3.13 runs per game. Granted, they play in a severe pitcher’s park. The Tigers are averaging 3.41 runs on the road and 2.77 at home. But even, if you adjust for the park factor, the Tigs still average only 3.44 runs per game. The Dodgers currently average 3.53, and that’s not including their huge park factor, and they don’t have the benefit of the DH. Let’s face it, the Tigers just can’t hit; and I suspect playing in Coors Field wouldn’t help all that much.

But just how bad are they? Beginning in the strike shortened 1994 season, runs have been plentiful in the American League.

Year Runs/G
1994 5.23
1995 5.06
1996 5.39
1997 4.93
1998 5.01
1999 5.18
2000 5.30
2001 4.86
2002 4.81

During those season, only two teams have averaged less than 4 runs per game, 1998 Tampa Bay Devil Rays (3.83) and 2002 Detroit Tigers (3.57) – a sign of things to come, I guess. And in defense of the Devil Rays, 1998 was their first season in existence. Right now, the Tigers are averaging a paltry 3.13 runs per game.

The Tigers are on pace to score 507 runs this season. Amazingly, they would score fewer runs than the California Angels did in the 1994 season (543)… and the Angels only played 115 games because of the strike! Unless these Tigs’ bats wake up, they will easily be the worst offensive team of this new homerun ball era.

Why are the Tigers this bad? For a start, as a team they’e hitting only .609 OPS.

Team
BA OBP SLG OPS HR
.216 .283 .326 .609 45

There just about nothing Tiger hitters do well… well except for striking out.

BB/PA SO/PA BB/SO HR/PA

.08 .19 .43 .02

These young hitters are hitting like young hitters, striking out a lot, not working walking, and not hitting homeruns. Only 27% of their hits are extra-base hits.

Dmitri Young is the only hitter with an OPS above league average (.762) with .840 in 222 AB. Bobby Higginson is close with .704 in 213 AB. Kevin Witt is also close at .751 but that’s in only 53 AB.

Catcher Brandon Inge has just been awful with .156/.227/.292/.519. So you might ask why don’t they bench him. Well, they can’t because his OPS is double his back up Matt Walbeck, .100/.100/.120/.220.

Here’s the OPS by position in the batting order. (Player with the most PA in that spot is shown).
POS NAME PA OPS
1 Andres Torres 94 .544
2 Ramon Santiago 105 .487
3 Bobby Higginson 173 .683
4 Dmitri Young 230 .879
5 Carlos Pena 87 .811
6 Craig Monroe 80 .526
7 Eric Munson 110 .762
8 Brandon Inge 126 .514
9 Omar Infante 69 .410

It’s hard to score runs when your leadoff hitter sports a .267 OBP. Of course they acquired Alex Sanchez from the Brewers and made him their new leadoff hitter. Unfortunately, since he’s joined the Tigers, he’s hitting .250/.278/.308/.585.

The Tigers have used 8 players as their DH, and they’ve combined for .257/.326/.398/.724. That includes just 6 HR. Yup, any way you look at it, the Tigs are just terrible.

Are they the worst ever? Win Shares identifies the 1910 Boston Braves as the weakest hitting team ever. They scored only 495 runs in 153 games while playing in a hitter’s park. Their R+ was 76. Right now, the Tigers R+ is 70. The Tigers are currently worse than the worst Dead Ball Era team. I do expect the Tigers hitting to improve throughout the year. But if they Young or Higginson are injured for any amount of time, it’s very possible they’ll end up the worst ever.

Well, they got just one run off of the Dodgers last night and that’s not going to help at all.

NO!-NO! TIMES SIX
Just about the time I think the Yanks have pulled out of their slump, something happens and they slink backwards. That happened again for me last night. I can accept a no hitter. In any one night a pitcher can get hot and have everything working and dominate major league hitters. But it’s really embarrassing to be no hit by 6 different pitchers. For me, that says more about the Yanks than the pitching. (Although the Astros bullpen is amazing).

I’m starting to collect a bunch of low moments of the season: 3-game sweep by the Rangers, 4-game sweep by the Blue Jays, the 8-game losing streak at home. But last night was it for me. The pitching was bad, the defense was bad, and the hitting… well, it was historically bad. The Yanks began the season playing well for 4 weeks. Now it's been six weeks of bad baseball. At some point, you have to say this isn't a slump, and that the first 4 weeks of the season were the aberation.

2003-06-11T07:55:00.000-04:00
WHERE HAVE YOU GONE…JUAN ACEVEDO?

The Yankees released Juan Acevedo outright yesterday, June 10th. In his last appearance as a Yankee, Acevedo gave up a 3-run HR to Eric Karros, ending Roger Clemens’ bid for his 300th win.

Originally, I was planning on doing this entry on making the argument that either Al Reyes or Jason Anderson deserved to take Acevedo’s role in the pen and make Acevedo a mop up man or release him. It looks like the Yanks figured it out on their own. But let’s examine Acevedo a little bit.

Acevedo’s brief Yankee career spanned just 25 appearances.

G IP W-L-S-H-B H R ER BB SO HR ERA
25 25.2 0-3-6-3-1 34 24 22 10 19 5 7.71

Juan Acevedo was signed over the off season as a set up man to replace Ramiro Mendoza. But he began the season as the Yankee closer when Mariano Rivera was placed on the DL. During that time Acevedo was 5-for-5 in save opportunities. But truthfully, he was not pitching well.

APRIL
G IP W-L-S H R ER BB SO HR ERA
10 10.1 0-1-3 14 9 9 2 10 2 8.10

After Rivera’s return, Acevedo moved into his original role of setup man. But May was cruel to Acevedo and he went 0-2 with a 7.82 ERA. Things didn’t improve in June. He did get his 6th save of the season in a 10-9 win over the Tigers in a marathon 17-inning game on June 1st. But Acevedo faced only one batter, getting him to fly out.

The death knell started with his homerun ball to Eric Karros, blowing a save and costing Clemens 300 wins. The next night, he gave up 4 hits and 2 R (1 earned; although he made the error) in 2 innings of work.

Almost all of the numbers are bad for Acevedo. With runners on base, hitters OPS was .871, with no one on OPS was 1.030. His OPS was .948 with runners in scoring position. About the only good news was a .471 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs. But how about a 2.000 OPS with bases loaded (2-for-4), including a grand slam. What had to be the final negative was the 13.11 ERA at Yankee Stadium. Acevedo’s contract was only $900,000 (tip money for the Yanks), exactly .006% of the Yanks’ opening day payroll, so they could afford to release him. Frankly, the Yanks just had no other choice. Acevedo’s only possible role with the team was as a mop up man.

What happened to Acevedo? And was it possible to predict Acevedo’s decline this year? For the last 4 seasons, Acevedo has pitched exclusively as a reliever.

YEAR G IP ERA H/9 BB/9 SO/9 HR/9

2000 62 82.2 3.81 8.38 3.37 5.55 1.20

2001 58 60.1 4.18 10.14 5.22 7.01 0.90

2002 65 74.2 2.65 8.20 2.77 5.18 0.48

2003 25 25.2 7.71 11.92 3.51 6.66 1.75

There’s a pattern here. Good year, so-so year, good year, bad year. The only possible warning sign could have been that despite having a good ERA in 2002, his strikeout rate was the lowest among these seasons. Overall, I’d say it would have been tough to predict this bad of a season for Acevedo.

However, it’s interesting to note, Acevedo’s best season came in 1998 with the Cardinals, a 2.56 ERA in 98.1 innings. In the next season his ERA almost doubled, 5.89 in 102.1 innings. Last season was Acevedo’s second best season and so far he has followed it up with his worst, 7.71 ERA.

Considering the lack of pitching talent out there right now, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a team pick him up this week, try to fix what’s wrong, and put trot him out to the mound. It’s not a bad idea for some teams. Something is clearly wrong with Acevedo and it’s probably fixable. But, the pressure that surrounds the Yanks doesn’t allow them to take the time to do it themselves. And so, there goes Acevedo, and I don’t expect it’ll take long for another arm to be acquired. The only question is which arm will leave New York to obtain it, Jason Anderson? Brandon Claussen? In the long run, Acevedo will cost the Yanks at least two pitchers instead of one.

WHERE HAVE YOU GONE… JOSE CONTRERAS?
Of course the bad news yesterday was that Jose Contreras was placed on the 15-day DL with shoulder soreness. It’s unfortunate, because Contreras has been the best starter for the Yanks since returning from his minor league demotion. Hopefully, he can return and remain effective. Jeff Weaver will take Contreras’ spot in the rotation.

2003-06-10T07:24:00.000-04:00
SERIES PREVIEW: HOUSTON ASTROS
The Yankees open up a 10-game homestand against the Houston Astros. The Yanks are 2-4 so far in interleague play, while the Astros are a perfect 6-0; however, the Astros did play the Orioles and Devil Rays.

The Astros currently lead the NL Central with a record of 36-27. The Astros enter the Stadium on a hot streak, winning their last 7 and they’re 9-1 over their last 10 games. This series begin a 6-game road trip for the ‘stros and they have struggled a little bit away from Minute Maid Field. The Astros are just 14-15 on the road this year.

HITTING
The Astros are hitting above average in the NL. They are currently fourth in the league in runs scored with 319. Here is the Astros standing against the league.

Name AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
Astros 2175 319 581 224 387 70 .267 .341 .427 .768
*Adjusted 103 110 105 102 94 109 102 102 102 102

*normalized to league, but does not consider park factor.

With a minimum of 100 AB, Morgan Ensberg leads in OPS, followed closely by Richard Hidalgo, and Jeff Kent.

Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
M. Ensberg 103 28 35 31 18 15 10 .340 .448 .670 1.118
R. Hidalgo 108 29 49 26 24 24 8 .310 .412 .532 .943
J. Kent 230 40 74 46 23 40 10 .322 .386 .548 .934
L. Berkman 204 44 59 38 38 40 11 .289 .405 .510 .915
J. Bagwell 243 39 69 25 29 45 11 .284 .367 .465 .832

PITCHING
The Astros combine their solid hitting with solid pitching.

Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS

Astros 570 561 274 253 231 454 56 3.99 .737

Adjusted 102 101 95 94 105 109 86 92 98

The Astros sport two starters with an ERA below league average. But amazingly, they have 3 relievers with ERA under 2.00, Brad Lidge, Billy Wagner, and Octavio Dotel.
Name IP ERA H/9 BB/9 SO/9 HR/9
B. Lidge 36.1 1.49 5.95 4.46 7.43 0.00
B. Wagner 36.1 1.73 5.70 1.73 11.40 0.74
O. Dotel 34.2 1.82 4.67 2.86 10.64 0.52

DEFENSE
The Astros are 6th in fielding percentage in the NL at .985. They have committed 37 errors, allowing only 18 unearned runs to score, most in the NL.

CATEGORY No. LG RANK
Errors 37 7
F PCT .985 6
RF 38.21 4

ZF .829 14

INJURIES
Craig Biggio is day-to-day with a bruised left calf.

Probable Pitching Match Ups

Game 1
NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
M. Mussina 7-4 84.1 3.09 7.36 1.60 9.39 1.07
W. Miller 4-6 71.1 4.67 8.20 3.53 7.57 0.63

Game 2
NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
J. Contreras 3-1 25.1 4.62 7.46 4.97 9.24 0.36
R. Oswalt 4-4 72.2 3.10 9.04 2.48 8.55 0.87

Game 3
NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
D. Wells 8-2 85.2 3.36 9.14 0.32 4.83 0.95
J. Robertson 4-3 57 6.16 11.05 3.16 6.47 0.95

PROJECTED LINEUP

v. RHP
NAME OPS
C. Biggio CF .774
M. Ensberg 3B 1.118 – possibly G. Blum
J. Bagwell 1B .836
J. Kent 3B .934
L. Berkman LF .915
R. Hidalgo RF .943
B. Ausmus C .531
A. Everett SS .666

v. LHP
NAME OPS
C. Biggio CF/RF .774
M. Ensberg 3B 1.118 – possibly G. Blum
J. Bagwell 1B .836
J. Kent 3B .934
L. Berkman LF .915
B. Hunter RF/CF .943
B. Ausmus C .531
A. Everett SS .666

2003-06-10T07:18:00.000-04:00
SERIES PREVIEW: HOUSTON ASTROS
The Yankees open up a 10-game homestand against the Houston Astros. The Yanks are 2-4 so far in interleague play, while the Astros are a perfect 6-0; however, the Astros did play the Orioles and Devil Rays.

The Astros currently lead the NL Central with a record of 36-27. The Astros enter the Stadium on a hot streak, winning their last 7 consecutive games and 9-1 over their last 10 games. This series begin a 6-game road trip for the ‘stros and they have struggled a little bit away from Minute Maid Field. The Astros are just 14-15 on the road this year.

HITTING
The Astros are hitting above average in the NL. They are currently fourth in the league in runs scored with 319. Here is the Astros standing against the league.

Name AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
Astros 2175 319 581 224 387 70 .267 .341 .427 .768
*Adjusted 103 110 105 102 94 109 102 102 102 102

*normalized to league, but does not consider park factor.

With a minimum of 100 AB, Morgan Ensberg leads in OPS, followed closely by Richard Hidalgo, and Jeff Kent.

24
Name AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
M. Ensberg 103 28 35 31 18 15 10 .340 .448 .670 1.118
R. Hidalgo 108 29 49 26 24 8 .310 .412 .532 .943
J. Kent 230 40 74 46 23 40 10 .322 .386 .548 .934
L. Berkman 204 44 59 38 38 40 11 .289 .405 .510 .915
J. Bagwell 243 39 69 25 29 45 11 .284 .367 .465 .832

PITCHING
The Astros combine their solid hitting with solid pitching.

Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS

Astros 570 561 274 253 231 454 56 3.99 .737

Adjusted 102 101 95 94 105 109 86 92 98

The Astros sport two starters with an ERA below league average. But amazingly, they have 3 relievers with ERA under 2.00, Brad Lidge, Billy Wagner, and Octavio Dotel.

Name IP ERA H/9 BB/9 SO/9 HR/9
B. Lidge 36.1 1.49 5.95 4.46 7.43 0.00
B. Wagner 36.1 1.73 5.70 1.73 11.40 0.74
O. Dotel 34.2 1.82 4.67 2.86 10.64 0.52

DEFENSE
The Astros are 6th in fielding percentage in the NL at .985. They have committed 37 errors, allowing only 18 unearned runs to score, most in the NL.

CATEGORY No. LG RANK
Errors 37 7
F PCT .985 6
RF 38.21 4

ZF .829 14

INJURIES
Craig Biggio is day-to-day with a bruised left calf.

Probable Pitching Match Ups
Game 1
NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
M. Mussina 7-4 84.1 3.09 7.36 1.60 9.39 1.07
W. Miller 4-6 71.1 4.67 8.20 3.53 7.57 0.63

Game 2
NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
J. Contreras 3-1 25.1 4.62 7.46 4.97 9.24 0.36
R. Oswalt 4-4 72.2 3.10 9.04 2.48 8.55 0.87

Game 3
NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
D. Wells 8-2 85.2 3.36 9.14 0.32 4.83 0.95
J. Robertson 4-3 57 6.16 11.05 3.16 6.47 0.95

PROJECTED LINEUP
v. RHP

NAME OPS

C. Biggio CF .774

M. Ensberg 3B 1.118 – possibly G. Blum

J. Bagwell 1B .836

J. Kent 3B .934

L. Berkman LF .915

R. Hidalgo RF .943

B. Ausmus C .531

A. Everett SS .666

v. LHP
NAME OPS
C. Biggio CF/RF .774
M. Ensberg 3B 1.118 – possibly G. Blum
J. Bagwell 1B .836
J. Kent 3B .934
L. Berkman LF .915
B. Hunter RF/CF .943
B. Ausmus C .531
A. Everett SS .666

2003-06-09T09:17:00.000-04:00
SERIES RECAP: CHICAGO CUBS
The Cubs took 2 of 3 from the Yankees this weekend, and the Yanks have now lost their first two interleague series, with a record of 2-4 so far in interleague play.

Game 1
David Wells went 7.2 innings allowing 7 hits and 2 runs to beat the Cubs. Giambi powered the Yanks with a 3-run home run, while Juan Rivera had a 2-run, 2-out single.

Game 2
Roger Clemens failed for the third time to garner his 300th win. Clemens left in the 7th inning with a 1-0 lead and two on. Juan Acevedo came in and Eric Karros hit the first pitch for a 3-run home run. Cubs got two more in the eighth off of Jeff Weaver. Both Yankee runs were scored on solo home runs by Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada.

Game 3
Andy Pettitte lasted only 1.2 innings allowing 6 runs and 6 hits. The Yanks rallied behind home runs by Giambi, Ventura, and Mondesi. But the Cubs managed two more runs in 7th inning off of Acevedo to hold on for an 8-7 win.

The Yankees slipped back into second place, .5 game behind the Sox, with the loss on Sunday night.

HITTING
The Cubs outscored the Yankees 16-14 during the series. Despite scoring fewer runs and hitting for less average, the Yanks posted a better OBP and OPS and hit more HR for the series.
Team AB R H BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
Yanks 99 14 25 13 35 6 .253 .353 .495 .848
Cubs 100 16 29 2 18 5 .290 .304 .510 .814

The main reason for the Yanks better OBP was BB and HBP. The Yanks had 13 BB and 3 HBP, compared to just 2 BB for the Cubs.

Hideki Matsui has excelled since dropping down in the order, leading all Yankee hitters in OPS for the series.
Player AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
H. Matsui 8 2 5 1 3 1 1 .625 .750 1.125 1.875

Jason Giambi is clearly back to being the Giambambino with his 4th good series in a row.
Player AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
J. Giambi 10 3 3 4 2 4 2 .300 .429 1.000 1.429

Jorge Posada and Raul Mondesi also had a good series offensively.
Player AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
J. Posada 7 2 2 3 1 2 1 .286 .444 .714 1.159
R. Mondesi 13 2 4 1 0 4 1 .308 .308 .692 1.000

Suprisingly, Ramon Martinez led all Cubs’ hitters in OPS.
Player AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
R. Martinez 9 3 3 3 0 2 2 .333 .333 1.000 1.333

Moises Alou also hit well during the series.
Player AB R H RBI BB SO HR AVG OBP SLG OPS
M. Alou 11 2 5 3 1 2 1 .455 .500 .818 1.318

With regards to Sammy Sosa, the Yanks weren’t able to stop him but they did contain him. He went 4-11, but all 4 hits were singles.

PITCHING
The Yankees got two good efforts from David Wells and Roger Clemens, but Andy Pettitte continued to struggle, lasting just 1.2 innings.
Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS

Wells 7.2 7 3 3 0 4 2 3.52 .667
Clemens 6.1 3 2 2 1 5 0 2.84 .372
Pettitte 1.2 6 6 6 1 1 2 33.40 2.144
Totals 15.2 16 11 11 2 10 4 6.32 .790

Overall, the bullpen pitched fairly well.
Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Relievers 9.1 13 5 4 0 8 1 3.86 .850

Sterling Hitchcock pitched 2.2 scoreless innings allowing just 1 hit.

Juan Acevedo was his usual, blowing Clemens chance at 300, while Jeff Weaver struggled in his first two relief appearances.
Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS
Acevedo 2.2 5 3 2 0 1 1 6.75 1.000
Weaver 1.2 4 2 2 0 2 0 10.80 1.500

Amazingly, Yankee pitching allowed just 2 BB during the series.

The Big Three starters for the Cubs pitched well, but the Yanks were able to get to them, hitting 4 HR. Although, they struck out a slew of Yankees, 26 in 19.2 innings.
Name IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA OPS

Zambrano 6 9 5 5 3 5 1 7.50 .974
Wood 7.2 3 1 1 3 11 1 1.17 .454
Prior 6 7 3 3 1 10 2 4.50 1.037
Totals 19.2 19 9 9 7 26 4 4.12 .920

DEFENSE
The Yanks made 4 errors during the series, leading to 1 unearned run, while the Cubs committed 2 errors, no on which hurt them. The Cubs were able to turn 2 double plays over the weekend.

BASERUNNING
Neither team had much success stealing bases, the Yanks went 0-1 and the Cubs went 1-3, with Grudzielanek getting the only steal. Jeter was caught by the Yanks and Charles Gipson got picked off to kill the 9th inning rally in Game 3.

THIRD TIME NOT THE CHARM FOR CLEMENS
The Rocket lost his third attempt to reach his 300th win. Unlike in his first two attempts, Clemens pitched extremely well and left the game with a slim 1-0 lead. Perhaps the biggest reason Clemens lost was because of the injury to Hee Seop Choi. Karros replaced Choi at 1B after the injury. In the 7th inning he came up with two men on and Clemens was replaced by… Juan Acevedo. Juan Acevedo? And the lead last exactly not even one pitch. Karros parked Acevedo’s first pitch in the left field bleachers. If Choi was still in the game would Torre have put Acevedo in? No chance. He probably would’ve gone with Hammond or Hitchcock. Maybe we would have seen the same result, but I’d take my chances.

Roger left after throwing just 85 pitches. I don’t have enough information to judge whether or not that was a good decision. It’s possible Clemens asked out or Torre took him out because of Clemens’ illness. What I can’t figure out for the life of me was why Torre put Acevedo in. Acevedo has been just awful, especially lately. He should not be pitching in a close game right now. Okay, maybe there’s a favorable matchup? Unlikely, I don’t know for sure, but I doubt Karros and Acevedo have faced each other, or very few if they have. Okay, maybe there was no one else. Nope, Jason Anderson, Jeff Weaver, Antonio and Osuna were available RHP. Like I said, I don’t get it.

It’s going to be tough for Roger to get 300. It’s just not another game. It’s obvious that the other team’s are keyed up and the Yanks appear nervous, especially the relievers.

2003-06-06T11:55:00.000-04:00
SERIES RECAP: CINCINNATI REDS
The Yankees exploded for 10 runs and 16 hits (10 2B and 2 HR) to avoid being swept by the Cincinnati Reds in their first interleague series of the season. It would have been the first road sweep this season.

It was an odd series. While the Reds outplayed the Yanks in the first two games, the Yanks were in position to win both, which means the Yanks were close to sweeping the series. But the first two games typify what has been wrong with the Yanks during this losing stretch.

In Game 1 a Soriano error and two Pettitte wild pitches led to three Reds’ runs, which tied the game. Although the Reds played well in the game, the Yanks gave lost because of small mental lapses and poor execution in critical situations. Game 2 turned on an apparent missed called on a steal of second. In the 5th inning, two outs, Adam Dunn attempted to steal second. It was a close play, but he appeared out on the Derek Jeter tag, inning over. However, Dunn was called safe and Sean Casey hit the next pitch out of the park. Then, Ken Griffey, Jr. hit a home run in the next at bat. Reds were up 4-2. As upsetting as the missed call was, more upsetting was the Yanks’ reaction. They were clearly deflated and didn’t put up much of a fight the rest of the way. Too often during this stretch the Yanks have been beating themselves and not getting good breaks. The Yanks could have swept the series, but instead came away with just one win.

The Yankees recaptured their Division lead over the Sox with Thursday’s win. They opened up their interleague schedule with a record of 1-2.

HITTING
The Yankees out hit and outscored the Reds during the series.
Team R HR BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
Yanks 15 4 12 24 .262 .336 .486 .822
Reds 12 5 6 31 .235 .292 .408 .700

But these numbers are extremely misleading, because most of the Yankee offense came in Game 3. The Reds pitching, the worst in the NL, handled the Yanks pretty handily through the first two games.

Yankee Offense
Games R XBH AVG OBP SLG OPS
1-2 5 4 .185 .263 .308 .572
3 10 12 .381 .447 .762 1.209

Jason Giambi appears to be back as he had a wonderful series.
AVG OBP SLG OPS Notes
.333 .538 1.000 1.538 2 HR, 4 BB, 3 RBI, 5 R

Hideki Matsui struggled in the first two games, but responded to his demotion in the lineup by going 4-5, with 3 2B, HR, and 3 RBI in Game 3. Meanwhile, Alfonso Soriano had another nice series offensively.
AVG OBP SLG OPS Notes
.385 .385 .923 1.308 4 2B, HR, 3 RBI
.357 .357 .643 1.000 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R

Jorge Posada had an interesting series. He only went 1-8 during the series, but posted a .462 OBP, because of 5 BB.

Jason LaRue led the Reds’ offensively and posted the best numbers in a series this year against the Yankees. His numbers were downright unbelievable.
AVG OBP SLG OPS Notes
.600 .667 1.400 2.067 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R

He absolutely killed Yankee pitching during the series. In addition to LaRue, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Sean Casey also hit well during the series.
AVG OBP SLG OPS Notes
.429 .429 .857 1.286 HR, 2R
.273 .333 .545 .879 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R

Amazingly, the Yankee pitchers had the same number of hits as their pinch hitters, 1.

PITCHING
The Yankees got decent pitching during the series. Among the starters, only Mussina struggled, going just 5.1 allowing 8 H, 6 ER, and 3 HR. Jose Contreras won his second career start allowing just 5 H, 2 ER, HR in 7 IP. It was nice to see Contreras put up those kinds of numbers considering he didn’t have his best stuff. He worked out of a few jams, including a bases loaded-no out situation in the first inning.

Meanwhile, the bullpen was marvelous again with Sterling Hitchcock leading the way with 2 IP and no hits or runs allowed.
Name IP H R ER BB SO ERA AVG OBP SLG OPS
Starters 19.1 18 11 10 5 22 4.66 .243 .309 .459 .768
Relievers 6.1 5 1 1 1 9 1.42 .208 .240 .408 .701

Jimmy Haynes and Paul Wilson pitched well for the Reds, while Danny Graves was terrible. Among the relievers, only Joey Hamilton struggled. Gabe White pitched 2.1 innings without allowing a hit, while Chris Reitsma went 2 innings without a hit.
Name IP H R ER BB SO ERA AVG OBP SLG OPS
Starters 16 20 11 11 9 10 6.19 .303 .387 .545 .932
Relievers 11 8 4 4 3 14 3.27 .195 .250 .390 .640

DEFENSE
The Yanks made 3 errors during the series, leading to 1 unearned run, Andy Pettitte’s throwing error in Game 1. The Reds came into the series with the worst defense in the NL. However, they only committed one error in the series and it didn’t hurt them. Further, they made many wonderful plays in each game. Both Austin Kearns and Ken Griffey, Jr. threw a runner out.

BASERUNNING
Both teams each had 3 SB for the series without being caught. Soriano had 2 steals and Jeter 1 for the Yanks, while Kearns, Dunn, and Boone each had 1 steal for the Reds. Each of the Yanks steals came against Frank Heredia and Jason LaRue. Suprisingly, Mike Mussina gave up all 3 SB for the Yanks (Posada catching), he hadn’t allowed a swipe all season.

FINAL THOUGHTS
It was a tough series for the Yanks. They probably should have won at least one of the first two games. Instead, they dropped both, but fought back big time in Game 3.

The Cubs are up next on the Yanks’ their interleague schedule. Hopefully, the hitting momentum from Game 3 will carry over to the Cubs series. The Cubs feature three wonderful young pitchers and the Yanks will need all the help they can get.

2003-06-06T08:26:00.000-04:00
SERIES PREVIEW: CHICAGO CUBS
The Yankees continue their interleague schedule with a 3-game series against the Chicago Cubs. It’s the first time the Yanks have played the Cubs since the swept them in the 1938 World Series.

The Cubs enter the series with a record of 32-26 and sit atop the Central Division. However, the Cubbies have scuffled lately, going just 5-5 over their last 10 games. This series will wrap up a 12-game home stand for them, in which they have gone 4-5. They opened their interleague schedule against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, winning the series 2-1.

HITTING
The Cubs hitting is just average in the NL. They are currently ninth in league hitting. And when I mean ninth, I mean ninth.

Cubs Rank
Average – 9th
OBP – 8th
SLG – 9th
OPS – 9th
H – 9th
SO – 9th
HR – 9th
R – 9th

The consistency is amazing.

TEAM

AVG OBP SLG OPS

.257 .333 .407 .740

Despite missing time on the DL, Sammy Sosa is tops on the team with a .903 OPS, but Corey Patterson leads the team in AVG, HR and RBI, R, and SB.

NAME AVG OBP SLG OPS COMMENTS

S. Sosa .282 .410 .493 .903

C. Patterson .318 .341 .555 .895 11 HR, 42 RBI, 35 R, and 10 SB leads team

H. Choi .240 .391 .504 .895 29 BB leads team

M. Alou .289 .357 .436 .793

PITCHING
The real strength of the Cubs’ team is pitching, and they field some of the best young arms as their starters with Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, and Carlos Zambrano. But the relief pitching is excellent too, placing the Cubs second in the league in pitching.

IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9

520 3.63 7.62 3.72 8.76 0.76

Catagory No. LG Rank

Hits allowed 440 2

ER allowed 210 3

BB 215 9

SO 506 1

HR allowed 44 3

WHIP 1.26 2

Opponent’s OPS .655 2

This doesn’t bode well for a Yankee offense that is struggling right now to face this talented staff. To make matters worse for the Yanks, they will face the Cubs’ best 3 starters during the series. Here are their league ranks for the important pitching categories.

LEAGUE RANK

NAME IP ERA H K K/BB HR

K. Wood 13 12 8 1 14 tied 5

M. Prior 4 7 29 2 5 tied 3

C. Zambrano 21 5 10 13 31 tied 2

DEFENSE
The Cubs defense has been below average. They have committed 45 errors and sport a .980 fielding percentage. But their errors have been costly, allowing 30 unearned runs to score, most in the NL.

CATEGORY No. LG RANK

Errors 45 14

F PCT .980 13 tied

RF 37.68 11

ZF .853 10

INJURIES
No major injuries to report.

Probable Pitching Match Ups

Game 1

NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9

D. Wells 7-2 78 3.35 9.23 .035 4.85 0.81

C. Zambrano 5-4 73.2 2.69 7.09 3.91 7.70 0.37

Game 2

NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9

R. Clemens 6-3 76.1 3.89 9.08 2.71 9.67 0.83

K. Wood 4-4 77.1 3.14 6.63 4.31 11.64 0.70

Game 3

NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9

A. Pettitte 5-5 72.2 4.71 10.20 2.35 7.55 0.87

M. Prior 6-2 84.2 2.76 7.55 2.34 9.35 0.43

PROJECTED LINEUP

v. RHP and v. LHP

NAME OPS

M. Grudzielanek 2B .723 possibly M. Bellhorn 3B

A. Gonzalez SS .705

C. Patterson CF .895

S. Sosa RF .903

M. Alou LF .793

H. Choi 1B .895

R. Martinez 2B/3B .739

D. Miller/P. Bako C .687/.606

DOES SOSA MEAN “CORK” IN SPANISH?
I haven’t been nearly as fascinated with Sammy and his corked bat as most, but I have a thought that I haven’t heard yet. How many bats has Sammy broken over the last five years? Were any of them corked? Obviously not. Why would Sammy knowingly hit with a corked bat in this era when bats break all the time? I don’t think a reasonable person would take that chance, because you would likely be caught at some point.

I’m not sure I believe Sammy’s explanation. I can’t quite figure out why he would have a special bat for batting practice. Although I wonder if he used a corked bat in the All-Star home run hitting contests. Regardless, I believe he did hit all of those home runs with legit bats.

2003-06-05T18:07:00.000-04:00

2003-06-05T08:09:00.000-04:00
MAY DAYS – PART TWO

Injuries
The Yanks were definitely plagued by injuries during the month of May, having only one game all month in which all of their major players were in the same game.

Derek Jeter – missed the first half of the month with a shoulder injury
Nick Johnson – went on the 15-day DL on the 17th.
Bernie Williams – went down with a knee injury on the 22nd.
Jason Giambi – battled blurry vision with staph infections in both eyes and his knee was causing problems.

Hitting
Yankee hitters slumped most of the month.

Team Hitting Statistics for May

Name IP

Clemens 78.2

AB HR RBI AVG OBP SLG OPS

958 32 123 .246 .323 .402 .725

Due to injuries and platooning at third base, five Yankee hitters had enough PA to qualify, Giambi, Posada, Soriano, Mondesi, and Matsui (Ventura misses by 1 PA).

NAME AB HR RBI AVG OBP SLG OPS
Giambi 96 6 18 .250 .362 .479 .841
Posada 83 5 14 .229 .356 .470 .826
Soriano 118 7 14 .229 .285 .466 .751
Mondesi 105 2 13 .257 .322 .410 .731
Matsui 119 1 12 .261 .294 .361 .655

Ventura played consistently well while platooning, while Zeile struggled in the platoon role and when he played everyday.

NAME AB HR RBI AVG OBP SLG OPS
Ventura 70 3 10 .300 .424 .457 .881
Zeile 72 3 10 .222 .278 .375 .653

Johnson played well before getting injured, Jeter played well in his return from the DL, and Bernie’s knee clearly bothered him before he succumbed to it.

NAME AB HR RBI AVG OBP SLG OPS
Johnson 33 1 6 .303 .400 .455 .855
Jeter 75 2 10 .307 .342 .467 .808
Williams 71 1 8 .197 .313 .254 .567

Overall for the month, the role players really struggled at the plate.

NAME AB HR RBI AVG OBP SLG OPS
Almonte 17 0 3 .353 .421 .471 .892
Wilson 19 1 2 .211 .211 .368 .579
J. Rivera 31 0 1 .226 .250 .290 .540
Trammell 27 0 1 .148 .281 .185 .466
Gipson 9 0 1 .222 .222 .222 .444
Flaherty 13 0 0 .077 .077 .077 .154

Pitching
Just as the Yankee hitters slumped all month, so did their pitching counterparts.

Team Pitching Statistics in May
IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9 AVG OBP SLG OPS
261.2 4.54 9.84 2.58 6.64 .76 .276 .324 .410 .735

Yankee starters fell back to earth after the hot 17-3 April start, managing just a 10-14 mark for May.

Starting Pitching Statistics
W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9 AVG OBP SLG OPS
10-14 187 4.57 10.16 2.02 6.88 .91 .281 .320 .417 .738

Individual Starting Pitcher Statistics for May
NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9 OOPS
Mussina 2-3 42 3.43 7.50 1.29 8.36 1.07 .589
Clemens 2-2 30.1 5.04 10.38 3.26 10.98 .59 .707
Wells 3-3 33.1 4.32 11.34 .54 4.59 .54 .757
Weaver 1-2 38 5.45 11.37 3.32 4.74 .95 .855
Pettitte 1-4 36.1 5.70 12.14 1.98 5.94 1.49 .843
Contreras 1-0 7 0.00 2.57 1.29 7.71 0.00 .255

Meanwhile, the Yankee relievers improved slightly in the month of May.

Relief Pitching Statistics
W-L-S IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9 AVG OBP SLG OPS
1-3-3 74.2 4.46 9.04 3.98 6.03 .36 .262 .334 .392 .726

Hitchcock, Rivera, and Anderson led the staff, Osuna was decent coming back from the DL, and Acevedo and Contreras were bombed all month long.

Individual Relief Pitcher Statistics
NAME W-L-S IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9 OOPS
Hitchcock 0-0-0 13.1 2.03 8.10 3.38 7.43 .68 .651
Rivera 1-0-4 9.1 2.89 9.64 .96 5.79 .96 .658
Osuna 0-0-0 9.2 2.79 11.17 3.72 6.52 0.00 .881
Anderson 0-0-0 5.2 1.59 4.76 7.94 0.00 0.00 .478
Hammond 0-0-0 12 3.75 9.75 .75 5.25 .75 .691
Reyes 0-0-0 5.2 3.18 7.94 6.35 6.35 0.00 .638
Contreras 0-1-0 6.1 7.11 4.26 5.68 9.95 0.00 .555
Acevedo 0-2-0 12.2 8.53 10.66 5.68 5.68 0.00 .868

Defense
The Yankees committed 17 errors during the month of May.

Type Errors
Bobble 8
Throw 4
GB 2
FB 2
Catch 1

Almonte tied for the most errors during the month (with Soriano), but his errors led to the most unearned runs scoring.

NAME ERRORS UNEARNED RUNS
Almonte 3 4
Soriano 3 2
Zeile 3 2
Jeter 2 1
Posada 2 1
Ventura 1 2
Matsui 1 1
Williams 1 0
J. Rivera 1 0

The Yanks turned 15 double plays for the month.

NAME DP
Soriano 10
Johnson 7
Jeter 5
Zeile 4
Giambi 3
Almonte 3
Matsui 1
Ventura 1
Posada 1
Wells 1
Contreras 1

There were 3 outfield assists for the month, 2 from Matsui and 1 from Mondesi.

Base Running

3 Yankees combined to steal 17 bases while only getting caught once and picked off twice.

NAME SB CS PO
Soriano 8 1 1
Mondesi 7 0 0
Gipson 2 0 1

Base Running Defense
The Yanks allowed 12 stolen bases while catching 7 and picking off 1 runner.

Catchers SB CS PO
Posada 12 7 1

Pitchers SB CS PO
Clemens 5 0 0
Mussina 0 4 0
Hitchcock 2 0 0
Wells 2 0 0
Osuna 1 0 0
Anderson 1 0 0
Contreras 1 0 0
Rivera 0 0 1

They also had 3 passed balls and 9 wild pitches for the month.

NAME PB WP
Posada 3 0
Avevedo 0 1
Hamilton 0 1
Clemens 0 1
Hitchcock 0 1
Wells 0 1
Weaver 0 1
Pettitte 0 1
Anderson 0 1
Contreras 0 1

Monthly Awards

I’ll pick Robin Ventura for best position player for the month. He hit well and played good defense.

I would pick Jose Contreras for best starter, but he only had one start and his relief pitching for the month was terrible. So, I’ll go with Mussina, it’s not great but he was the best.

I’ll go with Sterling Hitchcock for best relief pitcher for the month.

Hopefully, next month will be better. It almost can’t get worse.

THE DREAM TEAM
I just finished reading Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Lineups and it got me to thinking of creating my ideal lineup. If I could pick any player from any team at any time (and not worry about payroll), what would my lineup card look like? Keep in mind, this isn’t my list of who I think is the best player at each position. Instead, I tried to create a balanced lineup and thought about offense, defense, and fan appeal, i.e. selling tickets.

Rickey Henderson – LF
Four words… greatest leadoff hitter ever. Sure Bonds is better, but I’ll sacrifice the power for now.

Ty Cobb – CF
Sure Mays and Mantle are better (and DiMaggio isn’t far behind). But I’m looking for the bat control. Just think about the hit and run possibilities with Henderson. Plus, I like speed at the top of the order. Right now I have over 2000 steals in the top two spots. Also, every team needs a little feistiness and Cobb gives you that. And finally, according to Win Shares, he’s the greatest defensive CF ever.

Babe Ruth – RF
I gave serious consideration to Hank Aaron, but come on, Ruth was the greatest hitter of all time. Sure, I’m giving up forty-one HRs, but you’ve got to sell tickets. And nobody sold more tickets than Ruth. And hey, you never know when you’ll need a spot starter too.

Honus Wagner – SS
It’s not really a contest here, only A-Rod presents a challenge. But I’ll take the defense and speed, and oh yeah, The Flying Dutchman was a better hitter too.

Josh Gibson – C
Probably would be considered the greatest hitting catcher ever if allowed to play.

Lou Gehrig – 1B
Hit more career grand slams than anyone else in history. And with this lineup, he’d have a lot of opportunity. Plus, only three other first-sackers rate above him in defense.

Mike Schmidt – 3B
Great stick, great glove. It’s a shame he’s hitting so low in the order.

Edgar Martinez – DH
That’s right my DH has to hit 8th. But honestly, where would you put him?

Joe Morgan – 2B
Great glove and would be a great sparkplug at the bottom of the order.

Walter Johnson – Starting Pitcher 1
Greatest pitcher of all time.

Lefty Grove – Starting Pitcher 2
Greatest southpaw of all time.

Roger Clemens – Starting Pitcher 3
Greatest post-WWII pitcher.

Satchel Paige – Starting Pitcher 4
Great pitcher and he’ll sell some tickets too.

Hoyt Wilhelm – Setup
First relief pitcher in the Hall.

Mariano Rivera – Closer
Future Hall of Famer and did it all with one pitch.

Bobby Cox – Manager
There are a lot of contenders here. But Cox, in my opinion, is seriously under-rated. He might not win much in October but he wins every other month.

2003-06-04T08:16:00.000-04:00
MAY DAYS – PART ONE

It was quite simply a miserable month for the Yankees. Bad hitting, bad pitching, untimely bad defense, and injuries all contributed to the Yankees posting a 11-17 record in the month of May.

Opposing Teams’ Record
The Records of the Opposing Teams the Yanks played in May (through May 31)

W-L PCT
194-185 .512

Records Excluding Games v. Yankees
W-L PCT
173-162 .516

May W-L PCT
Actual 11-17 .393
Pythagorean 13-15 .463
Difference -2

Home W-L PCT
Actual 5-12 .294
Pythagorean 6-11 .340
Difference -1

Road W-L PCT
Actual 6-5 .545
Pythagorean 7-4 .640
Difference -1

Division Records W-L PCT
v. East 4-6 .400
v. Central 1-1 .500
v. West 6-10 .375

Game Situations W-L PCT
1 R Games 2-0 1.000
2 or 3 R Games 3-10 .231
4+ R Games 6-7 .462
Shutouts 1-1 .500
Extra Innings 0-2 .000

Series Record Sweeps
W-L W-L
4-5 0-2

A’s – Loss
Mariners – Win
A’s – Loss
Angels – Loss
Rangers – Loss (sweep)
Red Sox – Win
Blue Jays – Loss (sweep)
Red Sox – Win
Tigers – Win

RUNS
TYPE G RS RA RS/G RA/G
May 28 130 140 4.64 5.00
Home 17 66 92 3.88 5.41
Road 11 64 48 5.82 4.36
v. East 10 49 55 4.90 5.50
v. Central 2 8 4 4.00 2.00
v. West 16 73 81 4.56 5.06

Scoring by Inning
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Yanks 20- 11 -20 -15 - 18 - 7 - 13 - 18 - 8 - 0 - 0 - 0
Opps 12- 17 -13 - 22 - 8 - 13 - 17 - 21 - 12 - 2 - 0 - 3

Place in Standings
DATE POS/G
May 1-23 1st — 3 games
May 23-29 2nd – Red Sox, 2.5 games
May 30 1st
May 31 1st – 1.5 games

Tomorrow I’ll show individual player results for the month of May.

LOOKING TO JUNE
The following are the records for the teams that the Yanks will face this June.

(records through June 2)
W-L PCT
Reds 27-29 .482
Cubs 30-25 .545
Astros 30-27 .526
Cardinals 28-27 .509
Devil Rays 21-34 .382
Mets 26-30 .464
Orioles 28-27 .509
Total 190-199 .488

LEADERS v. FEEDERS
The Yanks have played better against the division leaders than against the bottom feeders.

Yanks’ Record v. Division Leaders
W-L PCT
Twins 7-0 1.000
Mariners 4-2 .666
Red Sox 4-2 .666 (2nd in East, was in 1st place in May)
Total 15-4 .789

Yanks’ Record v. Division Bottom Feeders
W-L PCT
Devil Rays 3-2 .600
Tigers 2-1 .667
Rangers 2-4 .333
Total 7-7 .500

2003-06-03T07:33:00.000-04:00
SERIES PREVIEW: CINCINNATI REDS
The Yankees begin interleague play today in Cincinnati. I’m not a big fan of interleague play, for one reason, because it creates an unbalanced schedule. For example, here are the records for each AL East team's interleague opponent.

Records through June 1st.

Team W-L W%
Yanks 141-138 .505
Red Sox 161-176 .478
Blue Jays 142-136 .511
Orioles 178-157 .531
Devil Rays 174-163 .516

This suggests that the Sox have an advantage.

Anyway, the Yanks open up against the Reds in a three-game series. Since, we can’t do any comparisons, I’ll just discuss the Reds team in general.

The Reds are 27-29 and 3-7 in their last ten games. They just ended a six-game road trip, going 3-3, and begin a six-game home stand against the Yanks and Blue Jays.

HITTING
The Reds win games with their bats. They are currently fourth in the NL in runs scored with 279. They don’t lead the league in any category, but they are second in the league in home runs, with 81. Adam Dunn leads the league in HR with 18.

TEAM
AVG OBP SLG OPS
.247 .326 .429 .755

Jose Guillen and Austin Kearns lead Reds’ attack.

NAME AVG OBP SLG OPS
Guillen .336 .366 .628 .993 – 10 HR
Kearns .294 .401 .533 .934 – 13 HR
Dunn .213 .324 .546 .870 – 18 HR
A. Boone .255 .338 .514 .852 – 13 HR
Casey .298 .359 .428 .787 – 6 HR

PITCHING
Unfortunately for the Reds, their pitching is the second worse in the league; only the Padres have given up more earned runs, and no one has given up as many runs. Their ERA is second worse at 5.73 and they’ve given up more home runs than any other team, 80.

IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
501 5.73 10.22 4.24 5.44 1.44

The Reds have lacked consistency from their starters. Eight pitchers have started so far this year for the Reds, with Danny Graves and Paul Wilson leading the team in starts. Their ERA is 4.79 and 4.80 ERA respectively. And that’s the best of their starters.

Some of the Reds’ best pitching comes out of their bullpen.

NAME W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
G. White 3-0 26 2.42 8.31 4.24 5.44 1.44
K. Mercker 0-0 21 2.57 7.29 6.00 8.57 0.86
F. Heredia 2-0 30 3.00 7.80 3.90 3.90 1.20
S. Williamson 3-2 23 3.52 6.65 5.48 10.96 1.17

They give up a ton of walks and home runs, but they still remain effective.

DEFENSE
As woeful as the Red’s pitching has been, their defense has been worse. They rank dead last in defense in the NL. They have committed a league-leading 59 errors, and are last in fielding percentage, with .973. The 40 errors have led to 29 unearned runs.

INJURIES
The Reds have been decimated by injuries all year.

J. Rijo 15-day DL elbow
R. Dempster 15-day DL
R. Frel 15-day DL strained hamstring
B. Larkin 15-day DL strained right calf
P. Harnisch 15-day DL hamstring
L. Prokopec 60-day DL shoulder
R. Branyan 15-day DL shoulder

Probable Pitching Match Ups
Game 1
Andy Pettitte, 5-5, 4.93
Jimmy Haynes, 0-4, 10.72

Game 2
Mike Mussina, 7-3, 2.62
Paul Wilson, 2-4, 4.80

Game 3
Jose Contreras, 2-1, 5.40
Danny Graves, 3-4, 4.79

PROJECTED LINEUP
F. Lopez SS .627
J. Guillen LF .993
K. Griffey Jr. CF 1.014
A. Kearns RF .934
A. Boone, 3B .852
A. Dunn, DH .870
S. Casey 1B .787
J. LaRue C .794
J. Castro 2B .684

2003-06-02T08:55:00.000-04:00
GOOD NEWS! BAD NEWS!
The Yankees won a marathon rubber game yesterday, 10-9 in 17 innings, to win 2 of 3 games from the Tigers and win their second consecutive series. Unfortunately, Roger Clemens failed for the second time to win his 300th game, when the bullpen blew a 2-run lead in the 7th inning. Because of the 17-inning affair yesterday, it’s as though they Yanks and Tigers played a four-game series; David Wells threw 5.2 innings, meaning he will miss his next scheduled start on Thursday against the Reds.

The Yankees extended their lead over the Sox to 1½ games, with the surging Blue Jays trailing by only 2 games. During the series, the Yanks closed out a miserable May in which they went 11-17. They are 1-0 so far in June. The Yanks are now 9-1 against AL Central teams, and also improved their road record to a league best 20-8.

HITTING
The Tigers actually out hit the Yankees during the series (30-27), but the Yanks scored more runs (18-13), hit more home runs (7-2), and drew more walks (17-4). The Pinstripes also had a better OPS for the series.

Team AVG OBP SLG OPS
Yanks .214 .308 .421 .728
Tigers .233 .270 .326 .596

The major difference between the two offenses was the home runs and walks.

Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada, Derek Jeter, and Todd Zeile had a good series offensively.

NAME AVG OBP SLG OPS
Giambi .364 .462 .909 1.371 – 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 RBI, 3 R
Posada .417 .563 .667 1.229 – HR, 4 BB, 2 RBI, 2 R
Jeter .250 .294 .625 .919 – HR, 5 RBI,
Zeile .250 .357 .500 .857 – HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 4 R

These four players were responsible for the following:

Runs – scored 10 of the 18 runs
Hits – hit 16 of the 27 hits
RBI – knocked in 11 of the 17 RBI
BB – drew 9 of the 17 walks
HR – hit 5 of the 7 home runs

The rest of the team was pretty awful:

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.147 .229 .253 .482

Giambi is definitely showing signs that he is breaking out of his early slump. In the last 10 games, Giambi is hitting:

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.314 .467 .571 1.038 – 10 BB

The Tigers only had two hitters above 700 OPS for the series.

NAME AVG OBP SLG OPS
D. Young .462 .563 .846 1.409 – HR, 3B, 2 RBI, 4 R
E. Munson .500 .533 .643 1.176 – 2 2B, 2 RBI, R

Overall, I’d say that the Yanks were below average offensively during the series. The Tigers’ pitching isn’t bad, but the Yanks failed to hit up and down the lineup, with four hitters responsible for the brunt of the attack.

PITCHING
The Yanks’ starters definitely outperformed the Tigers’.

Yanks
IP AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
20 .241 .279 .367 .646 3.15 8.60 1.40 6.3 .09

Tigers
IP AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
16 .266 .356 .469 .825 6.19 9.60 5.10 7.90 1.7

Although, only Contreras pitched well. Weaver gave up 10 hits to the worst offense in the league. Clemens pitched well, except for one inning.

Both bullpens pitched well throughout the series. At one point in game three both bullpens combined to pitch nine scoreless innings. Even though the Yanks bullpen blew Clemens chance for 300, they did pitch well for the series.

Yanks Bullpen
IP AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
14 .220 .236 .260 .496 2.57 7.07 .64 7.07 .00

David Wells made his first relief appearance in three years, and pitched well, allowing just one run and three hits in 5.2 innings.

However, the Tigers’ bullpen was even better.

Tigers’ Bullpen
IP AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
19 .161 .257 .371 .628 1.89 4.74 3.79 3.32 1.89

They were susceptible to the long ball, giving up 4 HR, but they were still quite effective. Steve Sparks was the tough luck pitcher. He really had a great series despite getting stuck with the loss on game three. He pitched in two games, 11.1 innings and a 2.38 ERA. The Yanks just hit .189 off of him.

DEFENSE
The Yanks played sloppy defense through the whole series. They committed 6 errors, at least one in each game, and a whopping 4 in game three that cost Clemens any chance of securing his 300 win. Two of the five runs scored in the 5th inning were unearned. Both Jeter and Soriano threw balls away.

It wasn’t pretty but the Yanks did win the series this weekend. It was the first time they won a weekend series, since they took 2 of 3 from the Rangers on 4/25-27. No, Clemens didn’t get 300, but this time they did win the game. Starting pitching wasn’t great, Weaver is still off, but Contreras was brilliant. Giambi appears to be back. But unfortunately, most of the team is still struggling.

The weekend was filled with good news and bad news. But ultimately, they won more games than lost and regained the lead in the East. It wasn’t perfect, but I’ll take it.

2003-05-29T10:51:00.000-04:00
SERIES RECAP: BOSTON RED SOX
The Yanks were able to score in the 9th inning last night after giving up a 4-run lead in the top-half of the inning, securing another series win against the Sox. The Yankees took 2-of-3 during the series, losing only the Clemens 300-win game. It was also the second time in as many weeks in which the Yanks won a series from the Red Sox after being swept.

The Yankees are now 4-2 against the Sox this year, and cut their deficit in the AL East to a ½ game. After dropping the first game against the Sox, the Yanks were able to win two games back-to-back. That’s the first time the Yanks won consecutive games since May 7th and 8th, a span of 18 games.

HITTING
The Yankees outscored the Sox during the series 21-16. While the Sox had a slightly better average, the Yankees led in every other category

TEAM AVG OBP SLG OPS
Sox .283 .328 .387 .714
Yanks .279 .374 .481 .855

Two significant advantages for the Yankees was in OBP and SLG. The Yankees were able to draw more walks than the Sox, 17-8, and had more doubles, 9-5, and more HR, 4-2. During this series, the Sox just didn’t get on base outside of hits. A .328 OBP is below average, especially when you’re hitting .283.

The Yankee attack was led by Robin Ventura and Todd Zeile:

NAME AVG OBP SLG OPS
Ventura .500 .615 .900 1.515 – HR, 2B, 3 BB, 3R
Zeile .308 .357 .462 .819 – HR, 2B, 5 RBI, 3R

Raul Mondesi had his first bad series during this bad stretch for the Pinstripes:

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.167 .231 .167 .397 – 2 singles, BB

Meanwhile, Shea Hillenbrand was the highlight for the Sox:

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.385 .385 .692 1.077 – HR, 2B, 3 RBI

He only had one extra base hit (2B), but he did draw 5 BB.

The Yankees did a pretty good job shutting Nomar down, finally snapping his 26-game hit streak:

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.231 .231 .167 .381 – 3 singles, 2K, and 3 RBI

Overall, not a bad performance offensively for the Yankees, averaging 7 runs 9.2 hits per game. Even better they averaged 5.6 walks per game. Hopefully unlike with Toronto, they can take this momentum with them against the Tigers.

PITCHING
Neither team really got great pitching for the series:

TEAM ERA H/9 BB/9 SO/9 HR/9
Sox 5.33 10.00 2.67 6.67 .67
Yanks 7.46 10.30 6.04 5.33 1.42

Except for Clemens, the Yankee starters pitched pretty well:

NAME IP H ER BB SO ERA
Pettitte 7.2 5 2 1 6 2.35
Mussina 8+ 4 3 2 4 3.38

The only bullpen member who was roughed was the close Mariano Rivera:

NAME IP H ER BB SO ERA
Rivera 2 7 3 0 1 13.50

The Sox hit .583 against Rivera in his two innings.

While the Sox starters pitched adequately, they were only able to go 16 innings combined. The Sox relievers were touched up throughout the series:

AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
.308 .408 .513 .921 9.64 11.57 7.71 4.82 .96

The Sox and Yanks next face off in a 4-game series in New York starting on July 4th. Now the Yanks turn their attention to the Detroit Tigers before beginning their interleague schedule. Hopefully, the Yanks can continue their momentum to beat up on the worst team in the league. Considering how they have played during this month, the Yanks need to sweep the Tigers.

2003-05-27T10:11:00.000-04:00
SERIES RECAP: TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Home, unsweet home. For the first time in their history the Toronto Blue Jays swept the Yankees in a four-game series at the Stadium. With the Toronto sweep the Pinstripes have lost 7 games in a row at home and 11 of the last 12.

Despite the sweep, the Yanks still lead the season series against the Blue Jays, 6-5. They are now 11-8 against AL East teams.

HITTING
The Jays outscored the Yanks 24-10 for the series, but the other offensive statistics were much closer than you might think based on the scoring. The Jays only out hit the Yanks 40-34, and the Yanks actually had a better OBP for the series:

TEAM AVG OBP SLG OPS
Jays .278 .318 .438 .756
Yanks .252 .320 .407 .727

In addition, the Yanks out homered the Jays, 5-3. That’s right, the Yanks had 5 HR and scored only 10 runs for the series. All 5 HR were solo shots. The major offensive problem during the series for the Yankee was they couldn’t produce the big inning. Not once during the four games did the Yanks score more than one run in an inning. They just didn’t put consecutive hits together during the series, and they hit .108 with runners in scoring position. In fact, in two of the four games, Alfonso Soriano reached base in the first inning and Torre had the next batter execute the sacrifice bunt! In the first inning! That’s just not Yankee baseball. I'm not criticizing here. In both situations the bunt made sense, it worked the first time, but not the second. The problem is this team is supposed to score runs, lots of them. And they’re just not doing that. And Torre knows it.

The Jays had no problem bunching hits together. In Game 3 against David Wells, they strung together four consecutive doubles. The Jays attack was led by Yankee Killer Carlos Delgado:

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.467 .529 1.133 1.663

Just look at that Slugging Percentage! Delgado had 7 hits, 4 doubles and 2 HR and 7 RBI.

Shannon Stewart and Tom Wilson also had a big series:

NAME AVG OBP SLG OPS
Stewart .273 .286 .636 .922 – HR, 2 SF, and 5 RBI
Wilson .308 .357 .462 .819 – 2 doubles, 3 RBI

The Yankees attack was led by Alfonso Soriano, who hit very well during the series:

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.333 .333 .778 1.111 – 2 HR, 3B, 2 RBI

Also, it’s nice to see Jason Giambi finally have a good series

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.308 .500 .385 .885

He only had one extra base hit (2B), but he did draw 5 BB.

One explanation for the Jays successful attack is to compare the performance of their role players (Reed Johnson, Greg Myers, Mike Bordick, and Eric Hinske) against the Yanks (Bubba Trammell, Charles Gipson, Enrique Wilson, and John Flaherty):

TEAM AVG OBP SLG OPS
Jays .313 .389 .375 .764 – 4 RBI
Yanks .188 .235 .188 .423 – 0 RBI

I thought this last week and I still think it now, a big reason for the Yanks offensive slump is the lack of performance of Yankee role players. They’re just not producing at all. And unfortunately, the Yankee regulars aren’t picking up the slack.

PITCHING
The Yankee starters had another terrible series, while the Jays pitched marvelously:

TEAM W-L IP ERA H/9 BB/9 SO/9 HR/9
Jays 4-0 25 2.16 8.64 2.88 6.12 .72
Yanks 0-4 19.2 9.15 14.2 1.83 7.78 .92

Yankee starters gave up 10 2B, 3B, and 2 HR. The Jays OPS v. Yankee starters was .919! The Yanks only mustered a .701 OPS v. the Jays’ starters.

I was hoping to pick out one Yankee starter for a good job, but I couldn’t do it. Mussina was the best, but a 6.00 ERA is nothing to brag about. That’s right, a 6.00 ERA was the best a Yankee starter did during the series. Andy Pettitte failed to turn his miserable season around going only 3.2 innings, 9 hits, 7 runs.

But as bad as the Yankee starters were, the relievers, who’ve struggled most of the season, were exceptional:

AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
.164 .242 .255 .496 1.65 4.96 3.31 9.37 .55

And the ace of the staff this past weekend was Jose Contreras:

IP H ER BB SO
5 1 0 1 6

Overall, it was a miserable weekend. The Yanks didn’t hit, didn’t pitch, and didn’t field particularly well either. The only bright spots were Soriano appears to be out of his slump, Giambi finally had a good series, and the bullpen (led by Contreras) pitched well. All of the rest wasn’t just bad, it was awful. I haven’t hit the panic button yet, but my finger is twitching.

TORRE RANT
Can I go off on Torre today? I love the guy, really. But I believe he cost us the game yesterday against the Sox. Allow me to explain.

Roger was in trouble early and Torre stayed with him. I was fine with that. But I was screaming in the 6th. The Yanks had just scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th, but they still trailed 5-3. So, Torre allowed Clemens to go back out in the 6th. I wasn’t too upset with that because Roger had struck out the side in the 5th. But he had thrown a lot of pitches at that point, and he needed to be watched.

At first, it looked like a good move, Clemens retired the first two hitters. But then Mirabelli and Damon singled, and Damon went to second on a wild throw by Juan Rivera. So it’s runners on second and third, two outs. I was screaming, “Take Roger out.” It was obvious he was out of gas. Now, I know you want Roger to get 300 at home, but at this point I just wanted a win.

Torre stuck with Roger and Todd Walker singled, scoring both runners. Finally, Torre removed Roger. But when the inning was finally over the Yanks were out of it, 8-3.

I appreciate the situation, Clemens was going for 300 and all. And Torre was hoping for one more out, and then perhaps the Yanks could score 3 runs to put Roger in position to win. But you know what, the Yanks need a win and I don’t care how they get it. Roger is going to get 300, it didn’t have to be today. It would have been nice, but it wasn’t crucial. It’s not like it was the last day of the season or something. I would have been fine with keeping Roger in if we had a 5-game lead over the Sox and everything was going well. But the Yanks are struggling and the win was crucial. You could just see the rest of the team deflated once they were down 7-3. From that point on it was over. And I don’t blame Clemens. Torre let emotion make his managerial decisions. Someone on that bench, Don Zimmer, needed to control Torre, because he lost focus. I hope this doesn’t happen next week when Roger tries again. Because the Yanks just can’t afford to piss away games right now.

2003-05-26T09:30:00.000-04:00
SERIES PREVIEW: BOSTON RED SOX
The Yanks begin a 3-game series with the Red Sox starting today and will try to snap their 7-game losing streak at the Stadium. The Yanks and Sox played last week with the Yanks winning 2-of-3 in Fenway. It was the first series the Yanks had won since May 8th and they left with a one-game lead over the Sox in the division. See Friday's post below for a review of the series.

While the Yanks were swept by the Jays this past weekend, the Sox won 2-of-3 from the Cleveland Indians, outscoring them 26-11. That’s right, since the Yanks and Sox last played, the Sox scored 26 runs and the Yanks scored just 10. To make matters worse, the Yanks scored the 10 runs in four games, while the Sox scored all of their runs in just four.

The Sox now enter this series at the Stadium with a 1½ lead over the Yanks, who are struggling mightily. This series will commence the longest road trip for the Sox this season, 12 games. They don’t play again in Fenway until June 10th. The Red Sox are 12-10 on the road so far this season.

Pitching Probables
Game 1
Clemens 6-2, 2.92 ERA - will go for 300 career wins
Wakefield 4-2, 4.50 ERA - lost to Clemens last week

Game 2
Pettitte 4-5, 5.28 ERA - has lost his last four consecutive starts
Chen 0-0, 3.68 ERA - no decision last week v. Yanks, but pitched well

Game 3
Mussina 7-3, 2.54 ERA - has lost his last three consecutve starts
Lowe 4-3, 5.27 ERA - pitches terribly on the road

Since the Sox and Yanks played last week, please see last week’s preview for further information about hitting and pitching for the Sox.

INJURIES
Of course the big injury for the Sox is Pedro Martinez. He was placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to May 16th, so he’ll be out for the Yankee series. The Sox hope to have Pedro back next weekend for the Blue Jays.

The Yanks injuries continued. Over the weekend they added Bernie Williams to the 15-day DL, but it’s likely he’ll need surgery and will be out 4-6 weeks.

PROJECTED LINEUP
Again, the Sox feature many lineup, so this one is really just a guess:

Player OPS OTHER
Damon, CF .754 had a great series v. Yanks last week
Walker, 2B .794 Mueller often hits second v. LHP
Garciaparra, SS .912 hot! Hot! Hot! 25-game hit streak coming into series
Ramirez, LF .895 was 0-11 v. Yanks last week
Millar, DH .823 Ortiz will DH too
Mueller, 3B 1.104 leads team in OPS
Hillenbrand, 1B .756 Shea will also play some 3B
Nixon, RF .836 classic Yankee killer
Varitek, C .857 Mirabelli will start in Game 1

Of course, this series has two major events happening at once. Roger Clemens will go for 300 career wins in Game 1. The second is Nomar’s 25-game hit streak.

But at the same time, the division lead will be on line. The Yanks would need to sweep to retake the lead.

DOUBLE VISION
I went to my first game at the Stadium on Saturday, when the Jays beat the Yanks 5-2. In that game, David Wells gave up 7 doubles to the Jays. All of the Jays' runs came off of doubles. In both the 4th and 6th innings, the Jays hit 3 consecutive doubles.

2003-05-23T13:12:00.000-04:00
THE YANKEES WIN A SERIES, THE YANKEES WIN A SERIES!
The Yankees won 2 of 3 games from the Sox to snap a streak of losing 3 series in a row. The Yankees only outscored the Sox 18-15 over the course of the series, but it was good enough for two wins. The Yanks are now 29-17 and lead the Red Sox by a game in the East. The Yankees improved their record against AL East teams to 11-4. They also improved their road record to a league best 18-6.

HITTING
For the series, the Sox actually out hit the Yankees:

Red Sox
AVG OBP SLG OPS
.311 .370 .505 .875

Yankees
AVG OBP SLG OPS
.260 .325 .394 .719

In addition, the Sox had more doubles (10 v. 3), more triples (2 v. 1), drew the same number of walks (15), and had fewer strikeouts (15 v. 24). But the Yanks outperformed the Sox in the one stat that matters, runs (18 v. 15). The Sox attack was led mainly by four players:

Bill Mueller
AVG OBP SLG OPS
.545 .583 .727 1.311, including 2 doubles, 2 runs scored

Nomar Garciaparra
AVG OBP SLG OPS
.417 .357 .833 1.190, including HR, 2 doubles, 5 RBI

Johnny Damon
AVG OBP SLG OPS
.333 .333 .733 1.067, including 2 triples, 2 doubles, 3 runs scored

Todd Walker
AVG OBP SLG OPS
.417 .500 .500 1.000

However, that was pretty much it for the Sox attack:

Rest of the Sox Team
AVG OBP SLG OPS
.208 .313 .321 .633

The above 4 hitters had 21 of the 32 Red Sox hits and scored 12 of their 18 runs.

Manny Ramirez had a terrible series, going 0-for-11, 3 K, 2 BB. So, it was a pretty top heavy attack for the Sox, because 3 of their 4 top hitters for the series were 1-2-3 in the order (Damon/Walker/Garciaparra).

Jorge Posada led all Yankee hitters for the series:

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.556 .692 .889 1.581, with HR and 5 runs scored

Alfonso Soriano broke out of his slump:

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.417 .500 .667 1.167, with HR, 2 RBI, and 3 runs scored

Jason Giambi didn’t break out of his season-long slump…

AVG OBP SLG OPS
.200 .231 .500 .731

… but he did have a HR and 5 RBI. So he did have some productive outs.

Amazingly, Manny Ramirez and Bernie Williams combined for an 0-for-24, 6 K.

PITCHING
Need more evidence that baseball’s a funny game? Well, here it is. Let’s compare the Yanks and Sox starting pitching for the series, except for ERA:

Sox
IP AVG OBP SLG OPS H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
17 .219 .271 .375 .646 7.41 2.65 6.35 1.06

Yanks
IP AVG OBP SLG OPS H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
17 2/3 .333 .386 .520 .906 12.7 3.06 6.62 1.02

The Sox starters lead in almost every category, especially hits. However, the Yanks starters actually had a better ERA than the Sox, 4.08 v. 5.19, more than a full run better. Weird, huh? I’d say the Sox starters had some bad luck. Also, Yank starters went 2-0 in the series v. the Sox 0-2.

Okay, let’s compare the bullpens:

Sox
IP AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
10 .325 .404 .425 .829 6.30 11.70 5.40 10.80 .90

Yanks
IP AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA H/9 BB/9 K/9 HR/9
8 1/3 .250 .333 .464 .798 7.56 7.56 5.40 2.16 0.00

Again, the Yanks numbers are better in general except for the ERA. However, this is a little deceptive. If you take out Jose Contreras dreadful outing, the Yanks bullpen was actually quite good:

AVG OBP SLG OPS ERA
.208 .250 .375 .625 2.57

I’d say neither bullpen was wonderful, but I might give a slight edge to Yanks bullpen. But it’s nothing to brag about either way.

The Yanks and Sox will renew their rivalry at the Stadium beginning on Monday. It’s likely that the winner will take over the early division lead.

PYTHAGORIAN RECORDS
With a win over the Sox Wednesday night, the Yankees are 29-17 and have a 1-game lead over the Sox, 28-18. However, here are Pythagorian Records for both the Yanks and Sox:

Yanks 30-16
Sox 25-21

The Yanks should have a 5-game lead over the Sox.

Now, I never know how to really interpret Pythagorian Records. Is this suggesting that the Sox have been lucky, while the Yanks have been less so?

How much effect do blowouts have on Pythagorian Records. Exactly half of the Yankees games have been decided by 4 runs or more. Their record in these games is an impressive 16-7. Meanwhile, the Sox record in blowouts is X-X. The Sox record in 1-run games is X-X. I guess at this time, I’m inclined to think the Sox have been lucky. Will their luck hold out for the rest of the season?

TEAM	Pitching BC	HR	BB	HR/9 IP	BB/9 IP
Yankees	2	62	170	0.82	2.25
Dodgers	6	57	194	0.75	2.54
Twins	6	76	201	1.01	2.68
Phillies	7.5	66	236	0.92	3.28
Marlins	8	54	252	0.70	3.26
A’s	8	73	229	0.98	3.09
Orioles	10	78	227	1.08	3.13
Mariners	11.5	80	222	1.08	2.99
Red Sox	11.5	79	250	1.04	3.30
Diamondbacks	13	72	248	0.95	3.26
Pirates	13	89	236	1.20	3.18
Cubs	14	61	282	0.81	3.74
Indians	14	78	238	1.05	3.22
Braves	14.5	63	281	0.85	3.80
Royals	15	73	256	1.01	3.54
Angels	15	89	220	1.22	3.03
Expos	16	100	220	1.31	2.89
Rockies	19	85	275	1.11	3.58
White Sox	19	80	246	1.08	3.33
Tigers	19	81	251	1.10	3.42
Cardinals	19.5	101	251	1.33	3.30
Giants	21	66	268	0.87	3.77
Astros	20	69	290	0.90	3.77
Mets	21	81	287	1.12	3.97
Blue Jays	21	96	234	1.27	3.10
Brewers	24	114	255	1.52	3.39
Devil Rays	24	88	293	1.19	3.97
Rangers	27	94	305	1.28	4.15
Reds	28	101	309	1.35	4.12
Padres	28	99	320	1.28	4.13

NAME	HR/9 IP
R. Choate	0.00
C. Hammond	0.29
A. Osuna	0.33
J. Contreras	0.36
M. Rivera	0.37
J. Anderson	0.53
A. Reyes	0.68
S. Hitchcock	0.70
J. Weaver	0.72
D. Wells	0.84
R. Clemens	0.86
A. Pettitte	1.02
M. Mussina	1.09
J. Acevedo	1.75

Team	Score
Yankees	214
Phillies	63
Rockies	49
A’s	43
Mariners	40

TEAM	Batting BC	HR	BB	HR/100 PA	BB/100 PA
Yankees	2	109	337	3.66	11.31
Rockies	5.5	89	320	2.94	10.56
Red Sox	7	86	268	2.86	8.90
Blue Jays	8	100	255	3.31	8.43
Reds	8.5	101	254	3.57	8.98
Rangers	9	108	238	3.72	8.20
Braves	9.5	116	250	4.05	8.74
Giants	9.5	85	291	2.88	9.84
Brewers	11	89	254	3.09	8.82
A’s	11.5	79	266	2.80	9.42
White Sox	12	80	250	2.88	9.00
Phillies	13	68	297	2.46	10.73
Mariners	13	72	270	2.50	9.38
St. Louis	13	91	248	3.04	8.29
Expos	14.5	70	259	2.43	2.26
Astros	15	85	250	2.85	8.37
Angels	16.5	82	220	2.93	7.86
Padres	17.5	65	275	2.17	9.17
Royals	18.5	78	228	2.80	8.17
Twins	19	79	220	2.74	7.62
Marlins	19.5	81	243	2.77	8.30
Orioles	19.5	75	228	2.65	8.05
Indians	20	62	233	2.21	8.30
Diamondbacks	24.5	70	233	2.42	8.04
Mets	25	65	243	2.38	8.90
Cubs	26	67	240	2.35	8.43
Tigers	26	59	209	2.16	7.64
Pirates	28	60	242	2.09	8.44
Devil Rays	28	52	187	1.84	6.61
Dodgers	32	46	194	1.64	6.94

NAME		BB/100 PA
N. Johnson		21.29
J. Posada		17.92
J. Giambi		17.85
B. Williams		15.31
R. Ventura		11.79
T. Zeile		11.38
B. Trammell		9.84
R. Mondesi		9.75

NAME	OPS
R. Cedeno RF	.664
T. Wigginton 3B	.764
R. Alomar 2B	.708
C. Floyd LF	.906
J. Burnitz CF	.952
V. Wilson/J. Phillips C	.810/.769
T. Clark/J. Phillips 1B	.707/.769
J. Reyes SS	.651

NAME	OPS
T. Shinjo CF	.488
R. Alomar 2B	.708
T. Wigginton 3B	.764
C. Floyd LF	.906
J. Burnitz RF	.952
V. Wilson	.810
J. Phillips 1B	.769
J. Reyes SS	.651

Name	BB/PA	SO/PA	BB/SO
A. Soriano	0.04	0.20	0.20
A. Pujols	0.10	0.09	0.90

Pitcher		Years
C. Young		1890-1911
W. Johnson		1907-1927
P. Alexander		1911-1930
L. Grove		1925-1941
W. Spahn		1942-1965
T. Seaver		1967-1986
R. Clemens		1984-2002

Pitcher	W PCT	*Team W PCT
L. Grove	.680	.557
R. Clemens	.660	.513
P. Alexander	.642	.503
C. Young	.618	.467
T. Seaver	.603	.462
W. Johnson	.599	.482
W. Spahn	.597	.504

Pitcher	WAT	WAT/Year	WAT/90G
R. Clemens	72.95	3.84	1.61
L. Grove	69.82	4.11	1.60
P. Alexander	90.25	4.51	1.57
W. Johnson	100.60	4.79	1.53
C. Young	117.60	5.35	1.44
T. Seaver	63.94	3.20	1.20
W. Spahn	55.51	2.64	0.95

Pitcher	ERA+
L. Grove	148
W. Johnson	146
R. Clemens	142
C. Young	138
P. Alexander	135
T. Seaver	127
W. Spahn	118

Pitcher	H/9	BB/9	WHIP/9	HR/9	SO/9
P. Alexander	111	169	120	120	120
R. Clemens	120	119	120	153	145
L. Grove	112	134	117	147	158
W. Johnson	119	148	125	147	155
T. Seaver	117	124	119	104	127
W. Spahn	107	134	113	111	94
C. Young	108	198	121	123	110

Pitcher	WS	WS/YR	WS/90G
L. Grove	391	31.31	8.93
P. Alexander	467	30.99	8.09
W. Johnson	529	30.99	8.05
R. Clemens	355	26.27	7.86
C. Young	624	31.16	7.64
T. Seaver	388	25.59	7.30
W. Spahn	402	24.42	6.90

Pitcher	IP
C. Young	7,354
W. Johnson	5,914
W. Spahn	5,243
P. Alexander	5,190
T. Seaver	4,782
R. Clemens	4,067
L. Grove	3,940

Pitcher	WAT/90	ERA+	WS/90 G	WS Comp	IP
R. Clemens	1.61	142	7.86	126.48	4067
T. Seaver	1.20	127	7.30	129.40	4782
W. Spahn	0.95	118	6.90	122.44	5243

Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ERA	H/9	BB/9	K/9	HR/9
Clemens	.228	.302	.269	.571	3.29	7.6	3.39	6.77	0.46
*Adjusted	118	113	155	133	130	122	98	129	217

Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ERA	H/9	BB/9	K/9	HR/9
Clemens	.195	.251	.264	.515	2.48	6.34	2.37	8.43	0.74
*Adjusted	134	133	155	144	168	142	144	145	138

Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ERA	H/9	BB/9	K/9	HR/9
Clemens	.231	.303	.337	.640	3.13	7.64	3.30	8.17	0.71
*Adjusted	119	114	120	117	130	123	98	149	114

Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ERA	H/9	BB/9	K/9	HR/9
Clemens	.222	.276	.317	.593	2.66	7.37	2.43	8.37	0.55
*Adjusted	118	120	125	123	153	122	139	148	162

Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ERA	H/9	BB/9	K/9	HR/9
Clemens	.236	.316	.362	.678	3.77	7.92	3.67	8.66	0.80
*Adjusted	115	110	118	114	125	119	102	144	135

Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ERA	H/9	BB/9	K/9	HR/9
Clemens	.206	.274	.293	.567	2.33	6.73	2.82	10.16	0.36
*Adjusted	132	126	147	137	198	141	124	157	308

Name	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	ERA	H/9	BB/9	K/9	HR/9
Clemens	.232	.321	.352	.673	3.36	7.80	3.24	9.20	0.72
*Adjusted	116	106	123	115	138	121	108	144	158

Team	AB	R	H	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Yanks	92	11	20	11	23	1	.217	.302	.304	.606
Astros	109	16	34	4	19	3	.312	.333	.495	.829

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
J. Posada	5	2	1	2	4	1	1	.200	.556	.800	1.356

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
H. Matsui	12	3	5	2	0	0	0	.417	.417	.500	.917

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
A. Soriano	12	2	2	1	1	3	0	.167	.231	.167	.397
D. Jeter	11	0	1	0	2	5	0	.091	.231	.091	.322

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
B. Ausmus	7	1	4	1	0	1	0	.571	.571	.714	1.286

Player	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
C. Biggio	13	3	5	2	0	2	1	.385	.429	.769	1.198
L. Berkman	11	3	4	2	2	3	1	.364	.462	.636	1.098

Name	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	OPS
Mussina	7	8	2	2	1	6	1	2.57	.803
Weaver	6.1	10	5	5	1	2	1	7.11	.974
Wells	6	10	5	5	1	4	0	7.50	.894
Totals	19.1	28	12	12	3	12	2	5.59	.893