THE YANKEES JUST SIGNED THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER

We all love comeback stories. Not just a game when your team is down in the bottom of the ninth and someone hits a walk off home run. Sometimes it more than just a player who has a bounce back season after their career worst. The Yankees have their own comeback story now, his name is Danny Farquhar.

You may recognize the name. Farquhar survived a scary incident this past season, the kind you don't hear about too often. After pitching in a relief appearance on April 20th, he walked off the mound and into the dugout as usual. Suddenly he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital where he was treated for a ruptured brain aneurysm.

Farquhar had a complicated surgery to relieve the swelling and bleeding around the brain. It's a very dangerous and risky surgery, but he is proof that miracles do happen. I just wish these kinds of miracles happen more often.

I have seen how devastating a brain aneurysm is on a person and their family. My husband works in public safety and on August 1, 2018 our community lost a great man, a real life super hero to a brain aneurysm. I never got the chance to meet this man, but my husband spoke highly of him often. He says this man inspired him and motivated him to get to where he is today. I wish I could've met him, but most of all I wish his same surgery would've been successful and he could've had the same miracle as Farquhar.

Baseball has a lot of common injuries. We hear about guys who have knee problems like CC Sabathia, or they blow out their shoulder. Or what about Tommy John surgery? Didi Gregorius knows all about that and nowadays it's common....and that's sad to say.

But how often do you hear about baseball players fighting against a brain aneurysm? Former All-Star first basemen and World Series champion John Olerud had one in college, but he recovered and had a long and successful big league career. Anaheim Angels pitcher Kent Mercker had a brain hemorrhage back in 2000 but quick medical attention prevented the bleeding on his brain from turning into an even more critical situation and he recovered.

Pitcher Don Black also suffered a hemorrhage in 1948 and he made a full recovery but he never pitched again.

Fortunately for Farquhar, it looks like he will have a chance to pitch again. The Yankees just signed him to a minor league deal, but getting a spot in the bullpen with this talented group of guys is going to be another challenge for him.

Even if he doesn't win a spot in spring, he has already proven that he is a fighter. We always need guys like him especially when we are chasing after a championship. He's a survivor, and I will always take survivors on my team. They know how to fight.

Even if he never makes it back to the big leagues, his story is miraculous. Welcome to New York, Danny! I look forward to watching the next part in your inspiring story.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

CROSS FERNANDO RODNEY OFF THE "WISH LIST"

Big news out of Seattle... Fernando Rodney is going to be a Mariner.

According to several reports, but we'll pick Matt Snyder of CBS Sports for this one, Rodney has agreed to a contract with the Mariners:

"...a two-year, $14 million deal... Rodney will slide in immediately as the Mariners closer in all likelihood, with Danny Farquhar and Tom Wilhelmsen getting setup duty."

I wonder if Rodney is going to come up with another routine or if he will continue to shoot the imaginary bow and arrow.  He can't shoot the Trop roof anymore... maybe he'll use his imaginary bow to shoot the arrow at Cano... I'm kidding... chillax.

For those of you that wanted Rodney on the Yankees... forget it. It's becoming clearer and clearer that David Robertson will be the closer in 2014 for the New York Yankees... and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Who's left for a closer job anyway?

Thank you to all the Bleeding Yankee Blue readers for continued success.  You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in the history of Yankees fandom.  Thanks for reading, sharing and enjoying. Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in.

ESPN'S "DEBBIE DOWNER" POST ON ICHIRO

(pictured, Suzuki gets ready for his first at bat as a New York Yankee last night in Seattle)

Leave it to ESPN and Buster Olney to rain on the Yankees parade. Not even 24 hours after they acquired Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners for D.J. Mitchell, Danny Farquhar and an undisclosed amount of cash, Olney is already on his "What if Ichiro doesn't hit?" rant.

Look, Buster's allowed to write whatever he wants to, Lord knows he does all the time anyway, but my point is, give Ichiro 20 to 30 at bats before writing that crap. We don't even have a big enough batch in pinstripes to dip from to make that leap. Plus, a new team brings new energy and I'm banking on a change in Ichiro in his last 60 plus at bats this year.  Sure, Ichiro could suck, but Ichiro also may not and it's my opinion, on a big trade day like yesterday, you really need to let it settle for 24 hours before jumping down the Yankees throats. It's silly.

This is the best part of Olney's piece. He writes: "Others ahead of him (Ichiro)  in his OPS neighborhood this year are Jeff Francoeur, Rickie Weeks and Drew Stubbs. DeWayne Wise, designated by assignment by the Yankees to make room for Ichiro, had a .778 OPS in 53 plate appearances with New York -- significantly higher than Suzuki's OPS in each of his last three full seasons."

(pictured, "Debbie Downer" character from Saturday Night Live)

Let me say something that makes all that irrelevant... If Ichiro Suzuki falls in your lap, you got for it. The Yankees went for it.  That's the problem with these types of pieces... All the stats in the world don't matter especially if Ichiro delivers. As a Yankee fan, you have to believe. I do. Look, Olney does write that Ichiro could be fine being surrounded by better players in the Bronx, but ends his piece charged, writing that the move:  "also has the chance to become something of an embarrassment."

Let's not write about embarrassments Buster, seriously.

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ICHIRO IS A NEW YORK YANKEE

The Yankees have made a trade. They've acquired Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners for DJ Mitchell and Danny Farqhuar.  Bleeding Yankee Blue was one of the only blogs that thought perhaps Ichiro to the Yankees would actually make sense, if of course both teams could figure out the pieces and money situation involving Suzuki's 2012 contract.  In fact, BYB may have been the only one.  

Read ICHIRO IN PINSTRIPES? ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE and ICHIRO TO THE YANKS IS MY PIPE DREAM. Boom!

Look, read about the details on the trade HERE, but we'll have more tonight on BYB.

It just goes to show that whenever these baseball guys come back with "sources" that told them one thing or other, it doesn't matter much.  In the end, bloggers are just as relevant, as long as we are true to our craft, as long as we give a crap about the sport like we do, and the team and the content they put out, we can do the job just as well. Bleeding Yankee Blue was right about this one. They can all tell me I'm wrong and I was wrong...but I wasn't. Now let's hope he does well for the Yanks!

More commentary and opinion on this trade over the next few days...look for it.

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THE YANKEES SHELL GAME

The Yankees are making moves and doing it at a rapid rate.  Sure, there are plenty of moving parts and moving players that no one really knows about, or, they do but they’re not around fast enough to get to know them. That’s the Yankees shell game this season, making smart, cheap moves that can either help us on the big team down the stretch or be traded by the July 31^st deadline or will help our future.  Believe me, all these moves will play a part at some point, or at least that’s the thinking when they made them.  I’m about the name several players, some you’ve heard of, some you haven’t but go with it. We’re here to educate, not confuse you.

 (In Photo: Luis Torrens)

Ben Badler of Baseball America says the Yankees signed a Venezuelan catcher named Luis Torrens for $1.3 million.  You can read about it HERE. He’s a 16 year old who used to be an infielder and was ranked as the 2^nd best international shortstop according to Baseball America. 

Badler also had information on a Dominican Shortstop named Yancarlos Baez.  He is also 16 and signed for $650,000. Baez is a switch hitter with speed.. You can read more about Baez HERE.

(In Photo: Matt Antonelli, left)

Remember Matt Antonelli? The Yankees claimed him off waivers from the Orioles on May. (Read HERE.) Well, he has been designated for assignment to make room for Chad Qualls.  You can read about that HERE.

(In Photo: Danny Farquhar)

Finally, remember we wrote in THE BLEEDING YANKEE BLUE NEWSSTAND IX how Danny Farquhar was designated for assignment when the Yankees signed Chris Schwinden? Good news for Farquhar, he has cleared waivers and is now with Trenton’s AA. I said good news because I can only assume he’s happy he still in the Yankees system. Probably not fair for me to speculate, I mean who wants to be send down to the minors...

Anyway there you go, names you may not be too familiar with now... but you will.

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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.

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