Results tagged “carlpavano”

    

The Yankees will face the hottest team in baseball, the Minnesota Twins, in the ALDS starting tonight. Minnesota came back from a three-game deficit with four games to play to tie Detroit and then beat them yesterday in a 12-inning playoff game to earn a trip to the Bronx.

• Mets 3 Florida 2: John Maine did his job, but JJ Putz almost gave the game away. Leading 3-0, thanks to RBI doubles from Pagan, Martinez and Santos, Putz got into big trouble giving up a walk and two singles before being lifted from the game. Bobby Parnell came in and gave up a run, but got the Mets out of the jam with help from a great play by David Wright. Frankie Rodriguez pitched around a walk to record his 14th save.

Some more choice quotes were revealed today from Joe Torre's upcoming memoir titled "The Yankee Years." The Daily News highlighted some of the former manager's blunt takes on members of his starting rotation throughout the years. While not shockingly calling Kevin Brown "a beaten man...with emotional issues," he then compares him to David Wells by saying, "The difference between (them) is that both make your life miserable, but David Wells meant to." He describes poor outings where Randy Johnson "freaked out" afterward and says that all the players "hated Carl Pavano." Torre is scheduled to talk about the book on Larry King Live this Friday and today told the Times, "I’m probably going to get more credit or more blame than I deserve, whichever way you want to look at it.” The News's Mike Lupica champions the book today calling it "tough opinions, but honest ones" and discouraging Torre "from taking a single step back."

The Carl Pavano era is over in the Bronx, or is it? Yesterday, the Yankees declined their option on Pavano’s contract making him a free agent. Over his four years with the Yankees, Pavano spent more time on the DL than in the Bronx and he leaves New York $40 million richer in exchange for nine wins and 146 innings. If Cashman tries to bring him back, they both should be run out of town.

But, the Mets were not done. They scored a single run in the seventh and then two in the eighth with a two-out rally to tie the game. Jose Reyes led off the ninth with a single, but Daniel Murphy struck out trying to bunt him to second and David Wright struck out. Reyes stole second on the play and the Cubs chose to intentionally walk Carlos Delgado. That brought Beltran to the plate and after taking two pitches, he lashed the game-winning hit off the first baseman's glove.

• Mets 9 Atlanta 5: For once it was another team’s bullpen that blew it. Atlanta gave up four runs in the eighth to propel the Mets to victory. Daniel Murphy had a key two-run double to break a 5-5 tie and Jose Reyes and David Wright added RBI’s to provide some insurance. Brian Stokes came in and got the last six outs to preserve the win. Philadelphia lost, so the Mets climbed back into first by 1/2 a game and Milwaukee lost again, making the wild card a distinct fallback position.
Continue reading "Last NIght's Action: Back In Front"

When Yankees’ season ends, their most important free agent re-signing will have never hit a home run, won a game or driven in a run for them. He will never have even worn the uniform because their most important piece of offseason work will be bringing Brian Cashman back to the Bronx.

Clippers 91 Nets 82: The Nets simply couldn’t shoot Tuesday night, finishing a dismal 32% from the field in an ugly loss to the Clippers at the Izod Center. Jason Kidd managed a triple-double and Richard Jefferson had 21 points, but it wasn’t enough to stop LA. Chris Kaman and Tim Thomas each had 18 points while Dan “the Knicks cut me this offseason” Dickau added 11 points off the bench. Carl Pavano isn’t sure...

We understand the desire to milk every last dollar out of sports fans, but we have to say, the "Wild Card collection" is ridiculously bizarre. The Sports Hernia Blog pointed out the Yankees Wild Card hat and some reactions to it:

"If I see one person wearing that hat, they will get a swift donkey punch. I will take their hat, light it on fire and then shove it up there f**king nose." -- Brian, 30, passionate Yankee fan

Continue reading "Hats Off to MLB's Wild Card Chutzpah"

• Yankees 8, Red Sox 3: A loss would have dropped the Yankees 11 1/2 games back. Although they wouldn't have admitted it, losing two of three to Boston would have forced some early wild-card thoughts. Instead, the Yankees are within 9 1/2 games and have some life. For the second time this season, Andy Pettitte outperformed Curt Schilling, but Wednesday's game ended up better for the Yankees than did the one April 22, when the bullpen blew it. The list of teams that have come back from double-digit deficits to win divisions is short. Any talk of a righted ship for this Yankees team is premature -- they've played poorly enough that three wins in four games won't persuade anyone they're out of the funk. But this game became plenty more important in the Yankees' minds because they won.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Must-Win or Not, Yanks Win"

• A's 5, Yankees 4: After all the work the Yankees did to outlast A's starter Rich Harden and hold the not-so-potent Oakland offense in check, Mariano Rivera gave up a three-run walk-off homer to Marco Scutaro (he's a former Met) and the Yankees lost a series in the Bay Area. They could have easily swept the three games, but a tough extra-inning loss Friday night and an even tougher loss Sunday made them settle for a 3-3 road trip. To make matters worse, they had to place Mike Mussina and Carl Pavano -- well maybe his loss isn't making matters worse -- on the disabled list before the game. They have somehow managed to tread water with their starting rotation -- Andy Pettitte aside -- in shambles. So long as they hold their own a little longer until they get healthy, they should be fine.
• Nets 111, Pacers 107: They've made the playoffs, but the Nets can still improve their position. They took a step towards doing that with this win. Since they're chasing the Gilbert Arenas-less Wizards -- who they're probably better than anyway -- the Nets have a good shot of bettering their seeding.
• Raptors 107, Knicks 105: If it's mid-April, the Knicks must be irrelevant. They lost a close one to the Raptors, who have quietly become a miniforce in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks have not-so-quietly done the opposite.
• Red Bulls 3, Dallas 0: In case you weren't among the 15 people at this game played in a torrential downpour, here's how it went down. Clint Mathis scored a goal and added an assist, and the Giants Stadium field was probably ruined for weeks. At least they won. No one wants to play in a lake and lose.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a stabbing at Utica and Atlantic Aves. in Brooklyn, an overturned auto with passenger ejection on the LIE in Queens, and a report of a suspicious device on 43rd St. and Lexington Ave. in Manhattan.
• NJ police located the driver of the red pickup truck that initiated the chain reaction car crash that's left the state's Governor John Corzine seriously injured. The 20-year-old driver will not be ticketed.
• Hoping to regain some of the luster lost during the Imus-"Hos" fiasco, CBS Radio will be replacing the shock jock with Mike & The Mad Dog in the station's morning timeslot.
• Hardly a surprise, but the failed-pitcher-turned-actor who beat his girlfriend's cat to death doesn't limit himself to hurting animals. The NY Post reports that he roughs ups the ladies as well, once slamming a girlfriend's fingers in a metal door.
• AIDS activists are upset that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn won't support a housing program for HIV-positive New Yorkers. They feel she's attempting to appear more mainstream in advance of a run for Mayor.
• A Brooklyn woman who joined the Peace Corp after an earlier career in journalism has gone missing in the Phillipines.
• A litany of complaints from an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center suddenly ceased when he started having sex with his jailhouse therapist.
• A private plane rolled right off the runway at Teterboro Airport early yesterday evening.
• Yankee pitcher Carl Pavano's arm hurts, so the team is reorganizing its pitching rotation.

Yankees 9, Tampa Bay 5: Amazingly, Carl Pavano and Alex Rodriguez got through introductions without being booed and the Bleacher Creatures only did a few rounds of a “we want Bernie” chant. That was the start of Opening Day 2007 and the goodwill lasted all of four batters until A-Rod dropped a popup that would have ended the first inning.

The Yankees begin their quest for the elusive 27th championship today when Carl Pavano takes the hill against the Devil Rays.

Carl Pavano has to be the most clueless person on the planet. After spending almost two years on the DL and earning $20 million for it, there is a report that his agent is suing him for non-payment of his commission. It seems that Carl felt he deserved $40 million and not the $39.95 million he got, so he didn’t pay his agent.

So, A-Rod worked up a very creative denial to that rumor by telling the Daily News, "Besides loving the Yankees, I love the American League. It's where I've played my whole career. So whoever writes that couldn't be more wrong."

Eddy Curry had a very nice offensive game, going 9-17 from the field and adding 11 boards. He still doesn’t play any defense and you have to suspect that a healthy Shaq would have done more damage than 20 points, but a win is a win and this one was a big one.

The Yankees needed another pitcher and they got one they knew well. Andy Pettitte is coming back to the Bronx, a move that should make Yankees’ fans very happy.

- In what shouldn't be the most shocking news in the football world, the Jets have named Chad Pennington their starter for the regular season. Until he suffers another shoulder injury, that is. Head Coach Eric Mangini cited Pennington's progress this pre-season as well as his presence, ability and leadership. As the newly anointed starter, Pennington gets rewarded by sitting out the Jets' last pre-season game against the Eagles this Friday.

The fans love it, the managers hate it and the players are mostly ambivalent; it’s the return of the Subway Series. One way or another Mets’ or Yankees’ fans will be able to claim bragging rights on Monday... or at least until the two teams meet again in July.

Staked to a four-run lead, Randy Johnson couldn’t even make it out of the fourth inning as he imploded in grand fashion and the Yankees lost to Toronto last night 10-5. Perhaps it is merely a coincidence, but Johnson left his last start because of tightness and this performance will only increase the questions about his health.

Nothing helps the Yankees more than a three-game series against the Royals at home. They finished a three-game sweep of the Royals with a 9-3 victory Thursday afternoon before a sellout crowd. In the series, the Yankees rediscovered their offense. They scored 30 runs and walked 20 times. Teams with awful pitching staffs will find that's how their series will go against the Yankees. Kansas City hasn't won in New York since 2002.

The Yankees head into the season hoping to capture their 27th World Championship. Once again they have the highest payroll in baseball and once again anything less than total victory will be a failure in the eyes of their bombastic owner.

It was a season of lows and highs from an 11-19 start to 95 wins and a playoff spot the Yankees gave their fans a story with many twists and turns in 2005. There was the emergence of Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang and the painful decline of Bernie Williams. In the end, the Yankees couldn’t keep the momentum they had built in September going and fell to the Angels in five games.

As far as their lineup goes, Joe Torre moved Jason Giambi into the fifth spot just in time. He added two more home runs in Monday's win, just a day after he hit two against Kansas City in New York. Few lineups have a more fearsome middle than the Yankees', and that includes the Boston Red Sox. The rivals are nearly mirror images of each other, setting the stage for a September race that will be decided by which milks more out of their pitching staff while letting its blistering offense do the work.

Most baseball teams would love to be tied for the wild card lead and three and a half games out on August 24th. The Yankees found themselves in that position before Wednesday’s 9-2 loss to Toronto, but of course, the Yankees are not most baseball teams. They have played inconsistently all season, and given the status of their pitching staff, there is no reason to think the season’s last five weeks will see the Yankees cruise into the playoffs like years past.