IT'S OFFICIAL. IKE DAVIS IS A YANKEE

"This is what I can't stand. Your stupid sight making dumb predictions on why players should play on the yankees! IKE DAVIS WILL NEVER BE A YANKEE DUMBASS!"  

Someone named 'R.J.' sent me that email on February 12th when we wrote IKE DAVIS IN YANKEE PINSTRIPES...

Today it's been officially reported that Ike Davis is a New York Yankee.  NJ.com writes:

"Ron Davis answered the phone on Sunday morning and heard the excitement in his son’s voice.
“Hey, Dad – I’m a Yankee. I wonder if I can get your [uniform] number?”

Ike Davis owns a .429 batting average in 10 games at Coors Field, so there might not be a better place to begin his Yankees’ career tonight.

And his father will be in the stands, arriving from his Arizona home for his son’s first game as a Bronx Bomber – some 35 years after Ron Davis donned a Yankee uniform."

It's a one year deal and he will no doubt fill the shoes of an often hurt Mark Teixeira.

And so you see... Ike Davis is in fact, a New York Yankee...

Dumbass!




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BULLPENS RULE THE ROOST IN TODAY'S GAME

With the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman, the New York Yankees have placed themselves on MLB's bullpens' A-list for the 2016 season.  According to our post CHAPMAN COMPLETES THE ULTIMATE BULLPEN, "This trade is huge, giving the Yankees Chapman, Dellin Betances, and Andrew Miller as what is arguably the best back end of the bullpen in all of baseball. The best part of the trade is the Yankees did not give up any top-ranked “untouchable” rookies in the process." Shortly after our post hit Twitter, my inbox was filled with fans' opinions on Chapman's addition to the squad.

@snydesn2 said: "I was surprised (about Chapman); Yanks had back end of pen stabilized with Miller and Bet."  

@GreedyStripes said: "Betances is more valuable in 6th or 7th believe it or not." @suzieprof (me), "Like people are saying, starters only last five innings." 

Followed by @snydesn2: "If things stay status quo and you keep all 3, it's a five inning game for sure."

Welcome to winning in baseball in 2016, folks!

According to MLB's Bryan Hoch, "Chapman is set to join left-hander Andrew Miller and right-hander Dellin Betances in the late innings, giving the Yankees the top three strikeout relievers in the Majors and setting up a trio that could significantly shorten games next season." Yankee GM Brian Cashman is boasting a more exciting bullpen than last year.  Is Cashman actually being innovative? Not entirely. We may just being going back to the formula we created back in the late 1990s. Yet, this time, it's just a little bit different. This next generation of pitching is poised to preserve starters because of their high price tags and pitch counts in order to create a monster bullpen to carry teams into the later innings.

"Whether the responsibility is to cover the seventh inning or the ninth, or to induce a ground ball or retire left-handed slugger, today's bullpens are full of relievers who are assigned roles that come into play multiple times throughout every week of the long season," stated Mark Bowman in a piece for MLB.com back in 2009.  His point is well taken as today's game of specialists in the bullpen continues to evolve.

Although scouting and the acquisition of at least one left-handed bullpen specialist has been common for multiple years, the demands placed upon relievers on a nightly basis have consistently increased.  Gone are the days when Hall of Famers Bruce Sutter and Rich "Goose" Gossage made multi-inning saves.  Now we call on closers to force three or four outs.

Joe Torre stated that "in '96 with the Yankees, that was like not managing at all with [Mariano] Rivera and [John] Wetteland. Years ago, you didn't have a setup man."  You didn't need one when you had guys like Goose waiting in the wings so to speak.  But, not always.  Later in Goose's career you had a different formula evolving into the one we have now.  

According to a NY Times article in 2000, "Few teams can afford to pay top dollars for a closer and two setup men, the way the Yankees have (with the Mike Stanton-Jeff Nelson-Mariano Rivera combo). Sparky Lyle could not coexist with Goose Gossage in the late 1970's, the team of Gossage and Ron Davis broke apart in the early 1980's, and the dynamic Cincinnati Reds trio of Randy Myers, Rob Dibble and Norm Charlton -- the Nasty Boys -- fractured after one incredible season in 1990.

Mel Stottlemyre, the Yankees' pitching coach, said the relievers in the Yankees' bullpen have shaped personal goals into ''the team concept."  'We really have that, probably much more than any team I've been associated with, because they take a lot of pride in their roles','' Stottlemyre said in the same NY Times article.

With multiple options in their bullpens and access to data on match ups, many managers attempt to take advantage of situations that play into their relievers' strengths. And this is what the Yankees hope to do with their next generation of pen dwellers Betances-Chapman-Miller.  Or will it be Chapman-Betances-Miller or will it be.... who knows.  What we do know is that bullpens rule the roost in today's game and we will do whatever works for us as we move into the next generation of pitching in 2016.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof

REMEMBER IKE DAVIS? HE'S NO LONGER A MET

Now look, BYB was one of the first sites out there to suggest that if the Yankees wanted to go cheap for a replacement at first, and we didn't want a guy like Russ Canzler to come up, or even bring up a baby bomber, we should try and trade with the New York Mets for Ike Davis.  Davis is good defensively and someone we could temporarily utilize in that position until Mark Teixeira could come off the disabled list. Plus, the guy can hit...sometimes.  Well, that idea's gone... Ike Davis was traded.

I know it's not a Yankee thing, but I wanted to at least mention that Ike Davis was traded to the Pirates yesterday for Zach Thornton and a player to be named.  That news comes from the Pirates themselves:

The #Pirates have acquired 1B Ike Davis from the #Mets in exchange for Zack Thornton and a PTBN.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 18, 2014

Smart move. Sure, you may not care, and you won't lose sleep over it.  But I always liked Ike Davis.
 

Maybe it was because of his big splash when he first came to the Mets, or maybe it's because I always liked his dad Ron Davis. But whatever the case, I at least wanted to keep you in the loop.  Davis has been lingering out there for a while now.  Now at least he can concentrate on his abilities in Pittsburgh.

I wish the guy well and secretly, I hope he kicks ass with the Pirates!

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PLAYERS WHO HAVE PLAYED BEFORE: PART 1

We’re going to try and start a new series here for the off-season at BYB.  It’s going to be fun and exciting and let’s face it… there is absolutely nothing going on in Yankeeland. So every once in a while, we will bring you a series called PLAYERS WHO HAVE PLAYED BEFORE.

Now, I read Baseball-Reference.com all the time, most of you do.  Sean Forman is the best at his craft and although he’s a Red Sox fan… but, much respect, I still like the guy.  He tapped into something that many of us didn’t have over a decade ago, but now almost everyone in the world goes to Baseball-Reference.com daily for stats, news and hey, if you play your cards right, you’ll see Bleeding Yankee Blue with a spot on there everyday too!  He’s good people and if you want to read more about Sean and Baseball-Reference.com, read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: BASEBALL-REFERENCE.COM.

But this post isn’t about Baseball-Reference.com at all. What I found fascinating is that when I’m doing my research for stories… I stumbled across a ton of ball players with the same names as our stars today.

In this first series, I’m going to bring you 5.  Here it goes... enjoy this, I did...

Eduardo Nunez: How about this guy? OK. We all know about the Eduardo Nunez that plays for the New York Yankees, right? But did you know about the Eduardo Nunez that played for the Burlington Bees back in 2006? I didn’t think there was another one in baseball, but there was.   

(In Photo: The other Eduardo Nunez)
This guy played from 2003 to 2006 on a few minor league clubs, but ended his career, or at least it appears he did in 2006 with the Bees.

Mike Stanton: We all know the New York Yankee Mike Stanton right? Well, I remember a guy that played for the Seattle Mariners also named Mike Stanton.  He was also a pitcher.

I have about 14 of these cards...

Of course, we all know Giancarlo Stanton... formally Mike Stanton.

Ron Davis: Many of you remember Ron Davis of the Yankees.  He eventually went to the Twins, but for a short time, I really appreciated Ron Davis...  He was a good one.  But before the Yankees' Ron Davis, there was another Ron Davis, an outfielder who played for the Houston Astros.

Davis played for 4 teams, 1 of them was the Houston Colt .45's before they were the Astros. I thought that was pretty interesting.

Jose Molina: Jose Molina is a dinosaur in Major League Baseball right now.  He just finished another this, this year it was with the Tampa Bay Rays. But did you know that right now in the minor league system, on a team called the Bowling Green Hot Rods, there is a kid pitcher named Jose Molina?

(In Photo: The other Jose Molina)

Jim Nelson: He may not be a big name for you, but Jim Nelson pitches for the Milwaukee Brewers.

(In Photo: Jimmy Nelson)

He's a young decent pitcher, with a big career ahead of him.  But did you know that another Jim Nelson also played in the major leagues?

In 1970 and 1971, Jim Nelson was a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He only last 2 years, but I'm sure those 2 years were magical.

OK, the next installment will have more names... many familar ones... I hope you enjoy this series!

Let me know how you feel about this.   Depending on your feedback, maybe we can put more together.

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LET'S PUSH IKE DAVIS BACK INTO HIS SLUMP!

It's the Subway Series and while it's not as exciting as they claim it to be, it's still fun. I don't get overly invested in it because I am a fan where I really concentrate on the American League East and how many games we win within the division first. The goal is to win those series' first, then, we need to win 2 of 3 in the others. That includes the Subway Series. It's business, not a spectacle... that's how I see it.  If we win 2 of 3 in every series, that ensures us a playoff spot, it's that simple.  To me, the Yankees verses the Mets is just another series. I don't hate the Mets, I feel bad for the Mets. Enter Ike Davis, who's been struggling pretty darn good until yesterday at least.

Now, it's my feeling that we don't want Ike Davis hot now, it only hurts us, especially if the Mets rally.   Ike's an important part to the Mets. When the Mets suck, it's usually because Ike Davis isn't doing his job.  Now Ike is hitting, so you know you gotta believe the Mets feel that confidence and will jump on his back.

Let's not forget the early 80's. We had a guy who was non-other then Ron Davis, a nerdy pitcher who no doubt proved doubters wrong. The Yankees developed him into what became a pretty darn good closer for the Minnesota Twins.

Sure, Ron Davis wasn't dynamic with the Yankees, but he was ours and he had an important role back then. Now, years later, Ike Davis, Ron's son, came to Flushing as hot as hell... and the stalled out...only to be hot at the right time for the Mets, like last night, read HERE.

Now I'm not discounting the Yanks and I'm not saying Ike will be the greatest hitter the Yanks have seen all season. I do believe that confidence is important and Ike has it right now. Look, I get it, the Yankees are hot as hell too. But again, something happens when confidence reigns and Ike Davis has it. I was one of the few that just thought the Mets should ride out the Ike drought. Well, I should have spoken up because Ike just came out of his slump. Luckily for me though, this isn't Bleeding Mets Orange.

It's Bleeding Yankee Blue and I believe that as long as the Yanks play good ball like they have been, not even Ike Davis can beat the them. But they have to keep feeling that confidence that Ike felt after last night. The best thing we can do is get Ike back into his slump this Subway series. That's what I'm hoping for at least.

Oh yeah... and Go Yanks.

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WHAT'S SO SPECIAL ABOUT SPRING TRAINING? EVERYTHING.

Nothing smells better than a hot dog grilling, greasy fries frying, and the aroma of a fresh cold brew at the ballpark.  And when you haven’t had that for about five months or so, the firsts of the season re-create the old memories of the springs of yesterday, the ones when I was growing up. 

When I was eight, my grandmother, die-hard Brooklyn Dodger, transformed Met fan went to Florida for spring break.  Now, the 70-something-year-old baseball fanatic was legitimately going to visit her sister in Pompano Beach, but she would never miss a chance to catch a spring training game or two during her visit.

Since Ft. Lauderdale was only a short 13 minutes from Pompano, she caught Yankee games at its old spring stomping ground.  And for me, this was a thrill because she got me what every kid my age wanted when you made the trip to the stadium- autographs!

 (In Photo: Ron Davis)
Yes, Manager Bob Lemon, pitchers Ken Clay and Ron Davis, catchers Mike Heath and Fran Healy, first baseman Jim Spencer and outfielders Jay Johnstone and Paul Blair all signed a spring training program for Dorothy’s little granddaughter from Staten Island.  I was awed by the signatures- each with a unique swirl and special meaning.  I will never forget that year, because many of these same faces celebrated victory in October when the Yankees won the World Series.

(In Photo: Fran Healy)
Later on, Fran Healy called Yankee games on WPIX-11 and radio broadcasts on 1010 am.  That was my first dose of spring training as a kid- well before I realized how important spring training is to teams as they condition themselves for a long 162 game season. 

This year, however, players have mixed opinions about the added week to the traditional spring training schedule.  Some managers and players think it's too long and counterproductive while others are eager and grateful for all of the time they have to be ready for the season.

According to this Associated Press article (HERE): “A long spring: More games, more down time when major leagues add a week to spring training,” Pitcher Andy Pettitte gave his two cents on the augmented spring schedule.  "It's slowed me down in a big way," the 40-year-old said. "It's a long spring training, so they give a few days off in between my bullpens, stuff like that. You've got so much time down here, it's like, 'Why rush?' We work backwards. You work from the opening day of the season and figure out what you need. It's definitely impacted me.”
The article continued by stating, “Managers have worked out detailed plans to pace their teams for the long haul to opening day. Many players are voluntarily holding back on their normal spring routines, particularly when they're coming back from injuries or off season surgery.”

Personally, for me, why not give the Bombers extra time to prep for what is expected to be a difficult season.  And besides, it gives fans more games to get amped up for baseball- a sport that has undergone a lot of controversy and criticism over the last couple of years. 

As I watch my 15-year-old son try-out for his very own high school team, I can’t help but reminisce his first trip to Florida for spring training.  Now as if this was not ironic enough, we were staying in West Palm Beach, Florida at the time so Pt. St. Lucie was close by and therefore, we went to a Met game with my then three-year-old son.

It was a lucky day for us, not only did my son get his picture in the local paper but I had the amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to introduce him to the great Tommy Lasorda who was sitting just a few rows away from us at the stadium.  Chris stuck out his little hand and gripped the iconic manager’s hand.  It was an awesome moment- it was Chris’s first introduction to spring baseball and now many years later, he vies for his own spot as a catcher for his high school. 

So, even though spring represents a nuisance for some with its unpredictable weather conditions and extra spring training workouts and opportunities for others who crave the extra time to warrant a second look from scouts and to experiment with new batting stances or pitching rituals, for me spring represents invaluable memories and a new beginning.  Fans who truly love the game can appreciate spring training for its outrageous predictions, fresh prospects and delicious first smells of the season.

After all as Ben from the baseball flick Fever Pitch says, “I like being part of something that's bigger than me, than I. It's good for your soul to invest in something you can't control.”

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof






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.