RON GUIDRY: HIS INFLUENCE ACROSS GENERATIONS

When my son was about two-years-old, we started batting practice in our small driveway in Staten Island, NY.  As I pitched to him, and gave him some very basic pointers, I always bantered about my two favorite players: Bucky Dent and Ron Guidry.  Guidry, in particular, had a special place in my heart because it was Guidry, unbeknownst to Guidry himself, who helped me as a struggling reader and learner.  Often I would visually compare him within the list of vocabulary words that plagued my homework tasks.  Words like agile and fierce were great comparative words and saunter and lackadaisical were terrific antonyms.  My son took the visual comparison one step further, by sketching a portrait of my forever favorite pitcher, #49, one Mother's Day.  The picture hangs prominently in my living room today.

Source: Chris Carbonaro

Through the years, Guidry influenced my grandparents, parents, siblings, and now my children through his passionate, focused game play and resilient competitiveness.  His influence is impactful across generations and his new book spotlights everything we loved about Guidry both on and off the field.

Guidry, affectionately known as Gator and Louisiana Lightning, penned his first memoir, Gator: My Life In Pinstripes, which is available this upcoming Tuesday, March 20th.  Through his account, Guidry talks about his relationships with his teammates and the game of baseball himself, which includes advice to young players, particularly pitchers who seek success in the major leagues.

"In 1978, Guidry, or ‘Gator’, won the Cy Young Award as the best pitcher in baseball, and his many further credentials include being a four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner. In Gator, Guidry recounts his ascent to prominence and discloses rare insight into the dynamics of his life both on and off the field," according publisher previews.

Source: ESPN

Beyond the statistics, there is Ron Guidry, the rock, the leader, the person who told his dugout mates how many runs he needed in order to pitch a winning game.  There's Guidry who would sprint off the mound after a strike out, closing out an incredible inning. And he is noted as the pitcher who "invented" the two-out, two-strike standing ovation. In fact he would relish the second to third strike thunderous applause, a tradition carried out across baseball even today.

If Reggie Jackson is the straw that stirred the drink then Guidry is the bartender; he created the environment, set the stage and elevated his teammates into the successful players they became in the championship years of 1977 and 1978.

As we enter the 40th anniversary season of the 1978 team, it seems fitting that Gator's book would hit the stands on the heels of what could be an equally incredible year for the Yankees. As a young pitcher just entering the scene, Guidry talks about the importance of mentorship and credits his mentors Sparky Lyle, Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Dick Tidrow and Thurman Munson as guiding him toward a career that served him well. "You put all of that together and you get me," said Guidry in an interview about his book.

If you are a Guidry fan you've already told the kids in your life about him.  Maybe you still have your glove adorned with his mimeographed signature in the pocket, like I do. And maybe this text is another way to reminisce and share what you have always loved about Guidry.  That's the way I am approaching this read...and I can't wait to dig in.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof

DAVID ROBERTSON: MR. CONSISTENT

Source: Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images North America

YES Network Meredith Marakovits interviewed David "Houdini" Robertson before last night's game in Baltimore and our newly recovered bullpen pitcher carried himself as humbly as always when he was asked about his presence in the bullpen.  "I have never been a part of a bullpen with such depth," he told Marakovits.  In all honestly, David, we didn't have that depth until we acquired you back in July.

Source: N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg

“He’s a leader down there, especially as we go down the stretch run,’’ (Adam) Warren said. “With his résumé and his career, he doesn’t have to just accept any role, but he’s not worried about stats or saves, which puts things in perspective for the rest of us. He just wants to win," reported the NY Post earlier this week. Robertson's ERA is a stunning 1.71 allowing only four runs in 22 innings pitched. He's a constant.  He's consistent. And his presence is so needed as the Yankees make a run for the pennant.

Source: AP / Frank Franklin II

When we "lost" Robertson to the White Sox a few years back, part of my heart went with him.  He was just such an easy-going guy, who was mentored by Mariano Rivera and played the perfect set up man to the best closer this game has ever seen.  Robertson seems excited to be a part of this team who is hungry for a leader spot at the top of the AL East.

Source: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images North America

“There’s lots of things you miss,” he said. “You miss a lot of the staff, teammates, playing in the Stadium, but my time was up here. I had to make a decision of where to go and this team was moving in a different direction at the time and now it seems like I’ve been asked to come back and fill a vital role, so I’m hopeful I can go out and do that for them," reported Newsday.

Source: Getty Images

I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Robertson jogging in from the bullpen.  Not just because I am confident in his ability to shut batters down, but because he creates a Yankee presence that reminds me of the good guys of years ago- guys like Sparky Lyle and Goose Gossage.  He's what I would expect of a Yankee pitcher- quiet confidence, ready to get the job done.  Robertson is our Mr. Consistent and I look forward to seeing how his role in the bullpen brings us closer to our interim goal of winning the Division.

--Suzie Pinstripe

BYB Managing Editor
Follow me on Twitter: @suzieprof

AROLDIS CHAPMAN NAMED YANKEE CLOSER

Rather than wait for Spring Training to see how things play out, Joe Girardi and the Yankees have named their closer for the 2016 season – Aroldis Chapman. I was surprised by the announcement, not because I don’t think Chapman is good enough, but there is a lot of downside in making preemptive announcements like this. He is our third closer in as many years, and I would have thought with Andrew Miller’s success last year, this was a settled issue. You cannot blame them for trying to improve though I would have probably invested in other parts of the roster. I can see the strategy around the announcement, but the opportunities for pitfalls abound.

First, it settles the issue. There is no added pressure to either Miller or Dellin Betances. We avoid any extra drama going into the season that might distract the team. It also gives the players involved a chance to process it away from the cameras. By the time they report for camp and the cameras rush to either of them asking how they feel about the closer situation, they will have rehearsed their lines, say that they’re here to do whatever they can to help the team, etc. There is much less chance they’ll say something to rock the boat.

The downsides are numerous. First, he might not even be on the Opening Day roster. Remember that he has unfinished business with MLB’s investigation into violations of its Domestic Abuse Policy. If he gets a lengthy suspension, which is not out of the question, you may be facing the first few weeks of the season with someone other than your closer closing games. Second, we have not actually seen Chapman pitch in pinstripes. We have seen this a thousand times before. Just because you can play, does not mean you can play here. If he stumbles out of the gate, Joe Girardi could end up with egg on his face.

It reminds me of 1978 when Goose Gossage was signed by the Yankees at a time when they already had a closer – Sparky Lyle. Sparky had just won the Cy Young. Miller is the reigning AL Reliever of the Year, and he lost his job to a fire-balling fastball closer. Eerily similar, if you ask me. The difference is that when the Yankees signed Gossage, they presented it as having two closers. Even though the lion share of the opportunities went to Goose, they both started out the season as closers. It’s a good thing too. Goose stumbled mightily out of the gate. He gave up a walk-off home run in his first game as a Yankee. He gave up a two-run lead in his second game for his second loss in as many games. It would be nearly three weeks before he would be trusted again with a save opportunity, and he promptly blew the save. It wasn’t until May 3 of that year – in his 8th game and the 22nd game of the season – which he recorded his first save. By then, Sparky Lyle had amassed a 2-0 record with four saves in five opportunities (the one opportunity he did not convert he was able to hold a tie until Reggie Jackson hit a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth). The point is, they let both pitchers close and let the situation play out. Over the course of the season, the closer decision was based on performance, not on the presumption of performance.

I think this spring training is going to be more interesting than ones in the recent past have been. Many eyes will be on Aroldis Chapman, to see how he will do. The two big questions he will face are how well he pitches under the pressure that comes with pitching for the New York Yankees, and when will he be able to actually start his season.

--Ike Dimitriadis, 
BYB Senior Staff Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon







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THE YANKEES ROVING FIREMAN

A lot has been written about the Yankees Big 3 in the Bullpen. It gives the Yankees a lot of options on how to manage the end of the game. Most of the chatter has been about the obvious orientations, First there’s the 6-inning game scenario. The one where the Big 3 pitch the last 3 innings – one guy for the 7th, one for the 8th, and one for the 9th. Then there’s the Well Rested scenario. The one where 2 of the Big 3 pitch the 8th and the ninth, and someone is always resting, guaranteeing that pitchers arms are fresh every game. Which always leads to a debate about who has the 9th – Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman. I don’t understand why Dellin Betances is always the odd man out for the ninth, but that’s another article for another time.

I think there’s another scenario that could win the Yankees more games, or, at least, save them from blowouts. I call it the roving fireman. The concept is simple. You have a closer ready to pitch in any inning, as soon as you need a fireman to put out the fire. It’s kind of a throwback to the old days when closers weren’t designated to the ninth inning. They came in when the game was in jeopardy. Some days the game is jeopardy much earlier than the ninth. Some days a starter just doesn’t have it. They’ll go 3 or 4 innings, give up 5 or more runs, and it turns into an extended spring training game for some kid to get a shot in a game that’s already lost. However, what if those games become winnable?

Imagine the scenario where it’s the top of the 3rd, you're holding a one-run lead. Your starter loads the bases by allowing the first three batters to reach. He has already thrown nearly 60 pitches and he hasn’t retired a batter this inning. He’s already given up a home run earlier in the game. This isn’t his day. Do you pull him? That was the scenario on June 23. Michael Pineda was on the mound against the Phillies. Joe Girardi left him in and he went on to give up 7 runs on 6 hits over the next 2/3 of an inning. By the time Girardi finally pulled him, the Yankees were down 8-2 and would end up losing 11-8.

Now imagine you had a closer who could enter the game in the 3rd inning of a distressed game, in a scenario like the one I just described, knowing you had another closer for the ninth. Could Andrew Miller have shut it down, maybe allowing one run max on a slow grounder or a sacrifice fly? It would be a 2-2 tie in the 4th, the Yankees bring in a long reliever for 3 innings like the one that followed Pineda, have  Betances and Chapman close it out. They likely win the game.  Interesting, right?

Those of you who are old enough to remember the Yankees in the 1970s know that I’m ripping a page out of the playbook of one of my favorite managers of all time, Billy Martin. In 1977, the Yankees faced the Kansas City Royals in the best of 5 ALCS. Down 2 games to 1, the Yankees are facing elimination. They staked Ed Figueroa to a 4-0 lead in the 3rd inning.

Then he bled 2 runs in the bottom of the third. The Yankees tacked on 1 in the top of the fourth. With a 5-2 lead, Ed Figueroa was back in trouble. After a four-pitch walk and a double brought the Royals back within 2, Billy Martin had seen enough. He went to the bullpen and Dick Tidrow was in the game. Tidrow gave up a double and a walk, putting the tying and go-ahead runs on base. Royals Stadium was rocking. Martin went to the bullpen again.

This time, it was Sparky Lyle. The closer. In the fourth inning. People were in shock. As Martin said after the game, he needed his best pitcher. His best pitcher went on to pitch the most famous 5+ inning save in the history of baseball.

Now, back to the present. I began to wonder how often this scenario happens. In 2015, a starter gave up 4 or more runs and failed to complete 6 innings 28 times. Of those 28 times, the starter gave up more runs than the difference in the game 9 times. Two of those nine games were against Toronto. When you think about the fact that the Yankees finished 6 games behind Toronto, How would this option have helped us last year? I don’t know how far the Yankees go, but I’m pretty sure Dallas Keuchel throws a 3-hit shutout against the Blue Jays instead of the Yankees. Or something like that.

There was a day when no one had a concept of a setup man before the closer. Until Joe Torre tried it and won big. Having 3 closer-caliber relief pitchers gives Joe Girardi a lot of options. This is one of the most interesting ones. I don’t know if he’s thought of it, but used properly, this could be the next innovative idea for managing the bullpen.

--Ike Dimitriadis, 
BYB Senior Staff Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon






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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

JACOBY ELLSBURY LIKES THE FEEL OF YANKEE PINSTRIPES

“Putting on a Yankees uniform and calling a Yankees clubhouse home hasn't been too strange.”  These are words out of the mouth of new Yankee centerfielder, former Red Sox centerfielder, Jacoby Ellsbury.  Really, Jacoby?  Not even a little weird?  I went to Boston University and even worked at Fenway Park as a graduate student, and it was nothing short of strange for me.  I loved it when the New Yorkers came to town to cheer on the Yankees and I could break out of my Red Sox trance, but frankly, it never felt comfortable, it was always a little strange.

“But leaving the Red Sox for New York is different than arriving from Atlanta or even Japan. Babe Ruth, Sparky Lyle, Luis Tiant, Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs and Johnny Damon are among those who made the Boston-to-Bronx transition, “ according to article posted in ESPN this week.  And every one of them had to adjust.  Ellsbury seems to have the right attitude and focus for the new season despite changing his red and white uniform to white and navy blue pinstripe.

Ellsbury put on a full official Yankees uniform for a Nike photo shoot this week. This was the first time he put on the full uniform.  According to NJ.com, Jacoby Ellsbury stated that “it felt good. Obviously it looks a little different, something I'm looking forward to. Something I'm getting very excited about. This team has a great chance to win and play deep into October."  

For Ellsbury, it seems to be about new beginnings and the fans.  As one of three impact rookies to make his mark in 2007, Ellsbury thanked the fans for their support during his years with the Red Sox, taking out a full page ad in the Boston Globe upon his departure from the club in December.  But although he left Boston on good terms, Jacoby isn’t sure what is in store for him when the Yankees make their first road trip to Boston at the end of April.  "I definitely gave them everything I had in that organization, played as hard as I could, tried to do everything the right way," he said. "I left it on the field for them, so whatever reception I get is yet to be seen. But I'm not going to think about it too much because it's going to be out of my hands,” stated Ellsbury in an interview with ESPN.

I’m impressed with his maturity and poise, despite his young years.  I will admit, I was not thrilled with his signing and I have always thought he was a bit fidgety out in centerfield when I watched him play from the seats in Fenway and Yankee Stadium, but right now, in this moment, I like what I am reading and hope it stays that way.  We need precision and we need a positive attitude and if Ellsbury is one of the guys to give that to us, then that’s awesome!  He doesn’t have sour grapes for his old team despite them not making an attempt to re-sign him and he appears to be focused and ready to play.

According to NJ.com he is 100 percent healthy and ready to be our lead-off batter and full time centerfielder.  He is also excited that New York fans are happy to have him play for the their team.  So, the stage is set for Ellsbury, who has already had one heck of a career with one major sports franchise.  Now, let’s see what the 30-year-old has for us as he makes his debut in the Bronx in 2014.

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




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