MAX FRIED IS A FANTASTIC YANKEE STORY!

Let’s make one thing crystal clear: signing Max Fried was the right move. For once, the Yankees front office did something smart. But then, as soon as Gerrit Cole went down, they reverted to form—staring at the wall, crossing their fingers, and doing absolutely nothing.

Seriously, what was the plan? Wait around for Carlos Rodón to suddenly turn into Sandy Koufax? All they had to do was ask a passionate Yankee fan—any Yankee fan—and we could’ve told them: sign another frontline starter. Get a second Max Fried. The need was obvious. But instead, Brian Cashman and company sat on their hands, hoping Rodón would transform into the ace he’s clearly not. That’s organizational malpractice, plain and simple.

Meanwhile, Fried is doing everything and more. The lefty has been sensational. He hasn't just stepped up; he’s taken over. The Yankees haven’t had a lefty this effective, this poised, this dominant in years. And they've needed him desperately, because the rest of the rotation has been a house of cards in a windstorm.

Fried’s 1.88 ERA speaks for itself, but it’s not just the numbers—it’s how he pitches. He’s precise, composed, and surgical. He knows exactly when to press the gas and when to glide. Watching him pitch is watching a master technician at work. Cole saw it immediately back in spring training:

“An excellent addition, a really unique talent,’’ Cole said in February. “There’s a lot of things he can do with the baseball and he’s a highly regarded teammate as well. It’s been a pleasure to see him go about his work. His focus and concentration every time he throws the ball is elite.”

Fried’s fastball ranges from 93 to 97 mph. His command is impeccable. As he himself put it:

“It’s rhythm and timing, and if you can try to disrupt that and throw a couple different speeds on a fastball, hopefully you can get some weak contact and get some extra outs.”

It’s not just a great quote—it’s working. On Tuesday, Fried made Yankees history. According to Katie Sharp of Stathead, Fried became the first Yankees pitcher in 70 years to post a sub-2.00 ERA, win three games, and strike out 25+ batters in his first four games with the team. The last to do it? Bob Turley in 1955.

Yes, 1955. That’s how rare and dominant Fried has been.

So, you tell me: why would the front office think it’s okay to give this man zero backup?

This could’ve been a one-two punch of Cole and Fried—an elite righty and a dominant lefty, tearing through the American League. Instead, Fried is forced to carry this broken rotation on his back while Rodón flails.

Fried has the tools: a 98-mph fastball, a nasty sinker, changeup, two sliders, a cutter, and a big curve. He’s coachable, focused, and completely locked in. He’s the best pitcher story the Yankees have had in years.

So here’s the question for the front office: why leave him alone on an island?

Max Fried is doing his job. Better than anyone could have expected. The Yankees front office, once again, are not. They got the first step right—then took ten steps back. And unless they wake up and give Fried the support he’s earned, this season will be another wasted opportunity in a long line of them.

Fried deserves better. Yankee fans deserve better. But for now, we're just lucky we have him.

THE GREAT BOB TURLEY HAS DIED

I just wanted to mention that we lost a Yankee great. Bob Turley died of liver cancer on Saturday at the age of 82.

In 1958, Bob Turley won the American League Cy Young as well as being the Yankees World Series MVP.  He played 8 years with the Yankees, from  1955 to 1962.  While with the Yanks, he had a 82-52 record with a 3.62 ERA.

The New York Daily News (HERE) had an interesting nugget I wanted to share with you.  According to the Daily News: "Turley’s post-baseball career was actually far more successful than his playing one. He made a fortune as an independent life insurance salesman in Atlanta. 'When I make a decision, it’s my own,' he said in a 1975 interview. 'I don’t rely on anyone else. I sink or swim by myself. It’s like a pitcher shaking off a catcher. There’s no going back on yourself.'"

You gotta love that mentality of Turley.  Rest in peace Bob... rest in peace.

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THE BLEEDING YANKEE BLUE NEWSSTAND IX

REMEMBER WHITEY THE WAY HE WAS…AWESOME: The New York Times had a terrific piece about Whitey Ford on June 19^th, I wanted to include in the Newsstand this week.  Whitey Ford is iconic in Yankeeland and this piece, titled Two One-Hitters with a Twist of Relief by Richard Sandomir is really good.  The piece talks about how Whitey pitched 2 one hitters one week apart and RA Dickey is the most recent case of this happening. But it goes on to talk about his relief appearance in between those 2 one hitters, relieving Bob Turley in the 8^th inning. It spoke about how using starters as relief in the 50’s was not uncommon and then there’s a great quote from Marty Appel’s book Pinstripe Empire: “Casey stumbled on it with Allie Reynolds, who turned out to be equally effective in both roles at a time when there was still the common belief that there was something inferior about relief pitching...”

The full piece can be found by clicking on the title of the Times piece above.  I don’t know, I just thought it was pretty cool and something you really don’t this starters of doing these days unless they need to get in work before the playoffs… my how things have changed.

YANKEES PROMOTE, PICKUP & CUT A PITCHER:  The Yankees have claimed Danny Farquhar and then cut him and claimed Chris Schwinden who was claimed off waivers from the Cleveland Indians. He was sent to AAA. He was a former Met. Click his name to read his stats.  They also promoted David Phelps. Wow...that was fast. Read the Associated Press story HERE.  The Yanks had just claimed Farquhar a few days ago off waivers from the Oakland Athletics. Busy, busy, busy.

FUTURE YANKEE FANS FROM DOWN UNDER: This picture was taken and sent to me by my good friend Charles Moses of Austraila.  These are his grandchildren, all in Yankee gear and all future Yankee fans.  It just amazes me how widespread the love for the New York Yankees is.  Don’t forget, both Charles and his son Joey, came to the Big Apple a few months ago and I hand delivered their Bleedingyankeeblue.com shirts to them over a pint. Read BYB, AUSTRAILA & THE BIG APPLE if you want more to that story.  Thanks for sending it to in mate.

DROB IS A MAN, MAN: I like this nugget and respect David and Erin Robertson, so I thought you'd like to check it out. ESPN's Andrew Marchand has the story of DRob speaking out since his blown save 2 nights ago. Read HERE. In the nutshell he told ESPN NY quote: "My wife's got her own opinions... It is not like I tell her what to do. Her opinion is her opinion." Erin tweeted after the game that David should have started the 9th inning.  Hey, she has every right to root for her man.  I love that DRob came out to the media to address it. I dig it. Good for you David!

A TIP OF THE CAP: Yankees Fans Unite and Bronx Baseball Daily plug Bleeding Yankee Blue once in a while and I found 2 good posts on their sites that I suggest you check out.  YFU has this one titled Yankees Report Card: June and BBD has this one titled Phil Hughes throws 2 different curveballs. Both are worth a read.

KATE UPTON AGAIN: Leave it to Terry Richardson to come up with yet another Kate Upton video of her just dancing around in a bikini.  I’m not sure why these are so popular…sarcasm, but I tell you what, Terry Richardson was smart to latch onto Kate Upton, because he’s got to be enjoying the ride.  This one is of Kate Upton in a Baywatch type setting. It appears to be some type of video with Kate Upton doing what she does. Careful, some material may not be suitable for minors:
 
Note to Terry, get Chrissy Teigen in some of these, you don’t want to over expose poor Kate.

ORDER A BYB SHIRT NOW, DROB WEARS ONE! Also, Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.

THE ART OF ART DITMAR

Speaking to my friend David about Art Ditmar, you'd think he was the shining light and driving force behind the New York Yankees in the late 50's, early 60's. He wasn't, but he was a pretty good pitcher with a couple tough breaks while on the Bombers. The first break was being overshadowed by an already talented rotations during his years in pinstripes. The second was losing 2 World Series starts in terrible fashion, yet, Art Ditmar did what every great New York Yankee does in their career; He tried to compete and tried to win, every time. That's all you could ask for and that's why David loved Art Ditmar so much.

Art Ditmar was a right handed pitcher and quite good, for a short amount of time. More importantly, he was quite consistent which makes for a heck of a pitcher, especially when you are in a rotation that consisted of greats like Whitey Ford, Don Larsen, Bob Turley, Ralph Terry and Bobby Shantz. Yes, Art Ditmar was in rotations with those guys and because of it, he didn’t get to pitch a lot during his stay in New York. He did however get 15 wins, a career high for him back in 1960.

(In Photo: Ditmar, left, Casey Stengel, Bobby Shantz, right)

Ditmar had 3 pitches, his fastball, slider and curveball. His fastball was by far the best of the 3 pitches. During his span with the Yanks, Ditmar won 47 games. Those years were from 1957 to 1961. During that 5 year span, Ditmar was apart of 1 World Championship team, and that happened in 1958 against the Milwaukee Braves. As far as American League pennants are concerned, the Yankees won in 1957, 1958, 1960. In the 1960 World Series though, Art Ditmar started and lost both Game 1 and Game 5 for the Yankees. Those 2 games he put an absolutely horrible display only pitching 1/3 of an inning in Game 1 and 1 1/3 in Game 5. Horrendous doesn’t even begin to describe it. The story goes like this, Casey Stengel wanted Ditmar to start Game 1 instead of Whitey Ford because he thought Whitey would be a better matchup in Yankee Stadium. Read it HERE. We all know what happened, the Yankees lost that World Series to the Pirates 4 games to 3.

Ditmar played 9 years in the Major leagues. During that time, he first played for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1954 and compiled an American League record high 22 losses. After that season, he went to the Yankees and then to the Athletics again, this time to the Kansas City Athletics from 1961 and 1962. His career numbers are 72-77 with a 3.98 ERA and 552 strikeouts.

The most interesting tid-bit I found out about Art Ditmar is something that really isn't about Ditmar at all. It's about Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. Back in 1954, Art was with Philadelphia Athletics and he defeated the Yankees 8-6 in the last game at Shibe Park in Philly. This was before the team moved to Kansas City. the nugget comes here; In that game, Yogi Berra played his first and only game at third base and Mickey Mantle played shortstop for the Yankees. That's right...Mickey Mantle.

So, while Art Ditmar doesn't have an outstanding career in pinstripes, he sure has a unique one. And while there are thousands of Yankees players over the years, everyone has a favorite or one they loved to watch play. I guess that one for David, was Art Ditmar... and that's alright by me.

Please comment and let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.