LOVE EACH OTHER

It's the Fourth of July today and there will be so much happening around the country as we celebrate our freedom.  Hot Dogs taste better on this day.  I usually throw back a few beers and hang with friends and family and believe it or not, I rarely catch a Yankee game on this day... there's just too much going on.

What I will normally do is play the radio with all my favorite tunes, eat, play alittle corn hole, chase the kids around, eat, watch the parade, go see fireworks, eat...did I mention I'll eat?  If there's time, I hit the town pool, no doubt I bring my Bose radio, and just chill out.  There's no little league baseball today.  There's no nothing.

There is celebrating the United States of America... honoring the brave men and women that serve this country... and you know what, honor the police and fire today too.  These people risk their lives every day to protect us.  If it was easy, we'd all be doing it... but we don't.   Remember that.

I look around this nation and I see things I don't like at all.  Baseball and family is an escape for me because it makes the bad things go away for a bit.  But there are angry people in this country and I don't know if I'll ever truly understand that.

I mean look... don't get me wrong, I get my back up when it comes to certain situations too.  But as I get alittle older... I pick my battles.  When you look at what people fight about, they're usually uninformed, they don't know the whole story and only read headlines.  It goes back to my spats with people because of what I write on the pages of BYB.  The Alex Rodriguez saga for instance.  Do you know people threatened my life? And for what? Because I was suggesting that ARod was human, that he made a huge mistake and that he should be forgiven? I mean honestly... you wanna come after me for that? That's just common sense.  But the haters can't get passed that, almost like they're perfect.  You ever lie? You ever get into an argument and realize half way through that you're totally out of line? We've all been there.  It's silly.

It happens with politics, on social media, with sports, when it comes to raising kids, what we eat, etc, etc, etc.  Everyone has opinions... and guess what, no opinion is wrong.  What's right is that we can all talk about it, not fight about it.  Laws are laws, but thoughts and opinions are just that.  Have a dialog... discuss. If you don't like it, state why... stop the name calling, stop the bullshit. That shows ignorance.

I don't even know why I'm getting this off my chest today.  Maybe it just came to a head with me.  I saw a kid try to cross a street in the crosswalk right across my street the other day.  Now in my town it is the law that you need to stop for pedestrians when they cross.  Do you know this middle aged man drove right up to the cross walk and stopped short, scaring the shit out of this 14 year old kid. HE'S A KID!... and for what... because the dude had to get to his tee time?  It's stuff like that that doesn't matter.

Hey... we're all trying to raise kids in this country to do the right thing, be honest, be hardworking and learn everything they can to be the best and the brightest. But instead... we're raising whiners and hate mongers.  It starts at home... you need to fix it if that's happening.

So do me a favor.  Enjoy the Fourth.  Shake hands with friends, have a few pops... but thank a cop today. Thank an veteran... help an old woman cross the street and don't be so damn angry.  In fact... love each other... not just today... every day..   That hates too great right now and it's worrisome... and it will destroy us all, not only as individuals... but as a nation.

Happy Fourth. Thanks for your continued support of BYB.  We love you.

-Casey





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LATE INNING HEROICS WORK WELL IN YANKEELAND

 "Something's not right with Tanaka."

That was the Tweet I got from my buddy Doug in reference to tonight's game against the Rays.

Something's not right with Tanaka. #lostintranslation @Yankees @BleednYankeeBlu

— Doug Stroup (@dougstro) July 4, 2015

The fact of the matter is, he's right.  Hell, we're right here at BYB as well. And we've been right since the beginning of the season when it comes to Tanaka. Something's defintely not right, and we should worry about that.

That being said, big things happened tonight in a game that was pretty close to being a must win.  The Yankees need a nice winning streak and this will definitely help things.  What? You didn't realize we won?  Yup... I just blew your mind right there, didn't I?

Look, it started out rough.  Masahiro Tanaka started going 6 innings, giving up 6 hits and 3 runs.  It was a frustrating 6 innings. While it wasn't terrible, I don't like what I'm seeing from Tanaka.

To make matters worse, the Yankees didn't score until the 8th to tie the game 3-3.  It was then that Mark Teixeira hit a 3 run homer.  Just like that, we were tied.  But then it got interesting. 

It was a battle until the top of the 12th.  At that point, the Rays scored 2.  I'm sure many of you went to bed at that point. You were probably fed up, annoyed, and you couldn't believe it. You were thinking, "I stayed up for this?"  Well, for us die-hards, we stuck around for something great.

In the bottom of the 12th, Teixeira singled knocking in Brett Gardner.  Then Brian McCann came up to the plate and cranked out a 3 run home run to walk off.  The Yankees fought back tonight... and won.

It's the stuff like that, that make you love the New York Yankees. It was a huge win and it turned into a great night. 

Thank God.

Final: Yankees 7 - Rays 5

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THE YANKEES SHOULD NOT HAVE BENT OVER

(Photo Credit: AP)

"...I would be simply 'outraged' that the Yankees wouldn't allow me to take my reward and give it all away to an inner city charity of even to a school in Miami to build a baseball field for under-privileged kids. I'd make it hard on the Yankees, because the Yanks shouldn't be withholding anything."  

--Casey, from NOT PAYING AROD FOR HIS MILESTONE LOOKS BAD FOR THE YANKEES.

That's a portion of what I wrote when it came to the Yankees and ARod's milestone and how I would feel if I was Alex Rodriguez and they withheld my "bonus" milestone money.  Here's the reality.  Brian Cashman reads BYB and the Yankees understand that Alex Rodriguez is in fact marketable now and the idea of donating money to a charity is an amazing thing to do. All true.  I've always said  that the Yankees could come out looking good here, where as before, they looked like jerks, failing to acknowledge that ARod, while suspended for PEDs for a full season, was not a murderer, he just made a really stupid, STUPID mistake. Milestones are big... instead of ignoring it, they should have stepped up and taken some of that milestone money and donated a large portion to charity... bottom line.

Now here's an interesting twist, and I'll tell you why I don't like it... and while it's not the same thing as what BYB would have liked to have seen them do.

It's being reported today by the New York Daily News, "The Yankees announced they will hold a press conference before Friday night's game vs. the Rays at the Stadium where ballhawk Zack Hample will hand over the ball to A-Rod. The Bombers will make a $150,000 donation to Hample's favorite charity, Pitch In For Baseball, in exchange for the ball's return.

In addition to the check for the charity, ESPN is reporting that Hample will also receive "some memorabilia, tickets and other perks from the Yankees."

Now here's the part that you didn't see coming.  While the idea of charity is wise, I find Zack Hample to be a sneaky scoundrel.  Why? Because let's face it... any decent individual would hand the ball over, probably receive some nice items by the Yankees anyway for doing a good deed.  Not Hample. While the idea of charity is good... we're on the borderline of extortion here.  Hample is a guy that thinks he's doing the fans a favor. He said after the home run happened, "I'll give him the finger and a dummy ball... That man deserves favors from no one, least of all a fan."  He later deleted that Tweet.  My point is, what the hell are the Yankees doing even messing with this guy? He's bad news, he's a bad business man and while the idea of a charity donation is a nice gesture, pretty much demanded by Hample, the guy is out for himself and his press.

Yes, the Yankees should have donated to a charity, but the Yankees should have donated the money for ARod bonus to a charity and let to ball die with Hample.  Who cares?

Next comes what they do with that milestone money. That's the real story here. I'd be curious to see what happens with that... stay tuned.

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PASSING ON DREAMS

I'm not gonna lie.  I was taken by the piece that Steve Skinner wrote here on the pages of BYB the other day.  The piece was titled THE YANKEES NEED TO BE COMPLETE but it was more about his personal family... his kids growing up and some of the memories he had with them.  It was emotional... exactly what this website was founded on. I absolutely loved the piece and I hope you did too.  Now look...I have not personally met all of my writers yet. That's on me.  My personal life is very busy... insane actually, but my plan is to see every one of them and "hang".   I've met the lovely Erica Morales and of course... I've met Steve Skinner.  

Steve and I have been tight for a long, long time. We talk quite a bit, so much so that there was once a baseball off season 3 years back where he shipped me his son's baseball equipment because, "he'd grown out of it."  I didn't think about it then, but after I read his piece from last week, I realized, it was probably a hard thing to part with.  Little did Steve know what he did to a baseball community like mine.

This is one set of catching equipment.  I've used it for 3 seasons for my personal team.  It's been a staple for them. The catching helmet fits perfectly, and for 6th graders, the shin guards are perfect as well.  In fact, there have been games where my kids prefer our helmet over the town donation.  "Where's our helmet coach?" I remember one of my players asking me in June.  I thought, "My god, Steve's gotta know this, he'll love it."

The second set of equipment was donated to a younger group in our baseball program.  My buddy who runs the team does the same thing I do... making sure the kids are comfy in the equipment. He takes care of it every season, cleaning it up and making sure all the straps still work and all of that.  The third set is used by my little guys.  I'm not sure if my youngest sons will be catchers, but I have a hunch it will definitely help them along.

I just wanted to share this nugget.  As a coach for the past few years, I see happy kids and part of the reason is because a buddy of mine paid it forward.  I, in turn will one day do the same thing, because when I look around my area, and lacrosse starts to become the number 1 sport of the spring... it kills me.  Baseball has always been "the" spring sport.  Now kids are leaving in flocks for lacrosse. 

Not my players though.  Not my own children.  As long as there is Spring, there will always be baseball.  Alot of that has to do with Steve Skinner... a great dude who helped remind my community of that.

Let Matt know... there's a lot of happy kids by me... thanks to you guys.

 

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BELTRAN ON THE TRADING BLOCK?

There's an amazing nugget in the New York Post today about Carlos Beltran brought to us by Joel Sherman... and it's something to think about, because if it were to come true... Aaron Judge could be manning the Yankees outfield real soon.

According to Sherman: "Beltran recently has hit far better (.841 OPS over the last 35 games), but does that justify keeping such a liability in right field, particularly because he is not countering that with power at the plate? The Angels need another bat, have an opening at DH (where Beltran belongs) and cleared some salary by moving Josh Hamilton. I wonder if the Yankees could eat some of the $15 million owed Beltran in 2016 and make that work to create a more flexible, defensively sound roster."

Purely speculation, but good speculation... something to think about. For the record, I'm all for moving Beltran down the stretch.

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LIFE MOVES PRETTY FAST...

I'm getting a lot of notes from people asking how I'm doing, and why my commentary isn't as dominant on the pages of BYB lately.  I'm flattered, but let's be honest... I don't actually know some of you.  I like you because you read us and I appreciate the support of Bleeding Yankee Blue very much. But here's the reality... I am like you.  I have a life, a family and so much going on in my real life that sometimes BYB needs to take a back seat.  My writers do their thing when I can't and you know what? Sometimes they need their time too.  Life move pretty fast, you need to spread yourself thin sometimes.  Also, and this is an important one... we have always stated here at BYB that we aren't going to just put crap out on our pages so we get clicks. What does that accomplish? In the end, you're not satisfied, we as writers are not perfecting our craft and it waters down what we accomplished here. No one wins when we do that. Other crappy blogs do that... we don't.

Bleeding Yankee Blue is a machine at this point, growing by the day because of the quality we put into it.  We aren't looking for universal dominance... we're looking to make a point.  We do that every day.  We're honest... we're friendly, we're helpful and we're smart.  We're also fans like you, and guess what else?  We're also family people. We raise our kids, put on our pants like you and go to work, food shop and coach little league games.  In my case... way too much.  But here's the thing... my goal, and this comes from great parents, is that I do that job better than anyone else I know.  I want my community to know I'm all in.  I want my wife and kids to know that I am always there.  I want to be the "most fit" dad on the baseball field. I want my kids friends to say, 'You're a great coach... thanks.' I want my family to know I'm not occupied with something else. You know what I mean?

Now yes, in the beginning, BYB was my mistress, according to my wife and she was right.  I was up way too late and up way too early perfecting what I started here, because to be honest, I couldn't believe the popularity as quickly as it came.  These days though, the kids are getting older and I'm craving vacations a helluva lot more.  You know what else? I know you get it.

What's this all about? Stick around... we're here, we're fierce, we're just as hard working as we were when it was me all by myself posting a story at 2am back in 2012.  But now I like to sleep more.  Now my writers are trying to enjoy the summer more.  Now there are others things going on.

But here's a promise... as long as there is something to say that's truly important, perhaps a commentary or report on something "big" in Yankeeland or life... we will bring it to you at BYB.  We always have, we always will.

Your support is incredible. I feel it.  I'd love to meet you all one day.  You've made my life very happy... but I'm a dad and a husband and I love that job more.  It's too damn fun.

My commentary? It will always be here on the pages of BYB.  But I need something to write about... something I'm passionate about.  Me telling you that Tanaka sucks lately isn't exactly earth shattering.  Me making up rumors about guys the Yankees might get... or not, is just irresponsible.  We don't do that here and thank God the majority of our audience knows that.  Let the crappy blogs fool you. I won't. We're honest.

So do me a favor.  Keep reading BYB.  Enjoy us here. Share us. Talk about us.

Wear us and love and respect what we're doing.

I know you do, but I like to remind you... I'm not a machine... I'm a regular person like you... I just happened to stumble into something big...

I believe in Grinding... but there is something called rest too.  I'm enjoying both right now.

Love you guys.  Don't panic... we're here and stronger than ever.

-Casey




You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!  Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!

ERIC JAGIELO MAY NEED SURGERY

Eric Jagielo may be headed for arthroscopic surgery on his knee. That's the troubling news coming out of the Trenton Thunder. Jagielo injured his knee sliding into home plate a few weeks ago. At first the team thought it was just a bruise but after an MRI revealed that there is something more significant. The Yankees don't believe that he tore a ligament, however, a second opinion is imminent.

Jagielo was the Yankees' first-round pick in 2013 and was ranked #11 in Yankees minor league system by Baseball America. At age 23, he showed promise as a third baseman and was probably on the Yankees 2016 plan. That or he was going to be bait for a trade deadline deal. Either way, this is a loss for the organization.

Known more for his bat than his glove, he was showing some good power numbers. His OPS of .842 had him on track to complete this third consecutive season of an OPS above .800. He needs to work on his fielding and get his strikeouts down, but the kid's got potential. Even if he needs surgery, it's not the end of the world. After all, Mariano Rivera needed elbow surgery after his third season in the minors and look how he turned out.  Nevertheless, if anything major happens with this, we'll be sure to let you know.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Senior Staff Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row







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KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES

 Right... you didn't see that title coming...

Look, this wasn't a good series for the Yanks. But lately, none are.  When you are this far into the season, win the series, every series, and you will make the playoffs. That's just common sense at this point. It's a smart strategy and yes, I know the Yanks are trying, but the last few days have been miserable.  Yesterday at least we won.  Hopefully it sticks. Hey, it could be worse... we could be the Mets.

The Yankees had 12 hits to the Angels 6.  Nathan Eovaldi started and got the win.  He's now 9-2 on the season.  Yesterday he went 5.1 innings, allowed 5 hits, zero runs and struck out 3 while walking 3.  Here's the good thing... the Angels only scored 1 run off of lefty Justin Wilson.  That was it for them.

The Yankees run scoring went like this;  In the third, Chase Headley singled, knocking in the first run for New York.  Headley actually had 3 hits yesterday.  Good for him.

In the 6th, Garrett Jones cranked out a solo shot. That was actually the difference in the game, but in the 8th, Didi Gregorius singled knocking in a run as well.  There's your three.  Now let's get rolling Yanks!

Final: Yankees 3 - Angels 1




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WOULD YOU SIGN ODELL BECKHAM TO PITCH FOR YOU?

Funny... I send this story to my writers today hoping someone would pick it up.  They should have...it's fascinating.

(In Photo: Deion Sanders, 1990)
I was always intrigued by guys like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders.  Guys that could play 2 professional sports and play them well for a long, long time.  I'm not saying that Odell Beckham Jr. could or would do that, but I do like this story, even though it's small. It's about the human interest part that I like.

According to YES Network: "After watching the Giants' star wide receiver hurl a softball 90 MPH, the Rockland Boulders believe he could be, offering him a contract to pitch for the Canadian American League team.



'It's apparent that Odell is a very gifted athlete regardless of his sport. We think that getting experience pitching to professional hitters will give him the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson,' Boulders general manager Shawn Reilly said in an interview with True Jersey. 'As we are the New York area's only defending professional championship team, he will have the opportunity to learn in a first-class environment while still in close proximity to MetLife Stadium.'"

Look, the way I see it, it's just a story about publicity and natural sports talent.  Beckham is a true athlete and the Boulders want alittle bump in the publicity department.  Nothing wrong with that. But I feel like Beckham will probably stick with football.

What do you think? Would you give Beckham a shot?

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HERE COMES THE JUDGE... MAYBE

Wally Matthews of ESPN brings up a good point in his piece about Carlos Beltran being out, and...

"... if it turns out that Beltran will be out for any length of time, the cries of "Here Comes the Judge'' will be heard from all corners of the city.

The question is, should the Yankees heed them?

Certainly, it is a tempting prospect to call up the 23-year-old Judge, who stands an imposing 6-foot-7 and weighs 275 pounds, and throw him into the maelstrom of Major League Baseball, and New York City Major League Baseball, no less, to find out if he will sink or swim.

Judge has clearly been fast-tracked for stardom by the Yankees, after an impressive spring training. A No. 1 pick in the 2013 amateur draft, Judge was promoted to Triple A Scranton in mid-June after playing 63 games for Double A Trenton, where he batted .284 with 12 home runs and 44 RBI. Last week, he was chosen along with catcher Gary Sanchez to play in the 2015 Futures Game, an honor accorded the best prospects in minor-league ball."

You know us here at BYB.  We're ready for Judge. We have felt as though Beltran has shown his age.  He looks tired, uninterested and going through the motions at times.  With Beltran hurt, maybe it's time for the call up Judge. Get him up here, let him get a few major league at-bats, bring some energy into the Yankee fan base... we just want a taste... that's all I'm saying.

Great piece by Wally. Check it out.

Come on Yanks... time for Judge.

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ROOT FOR BANUELOS, HE'S THROWING THURSDAY

Look, we already lost the David Carpenter, Manny Banuelos sweepstakes, although Chasen Shreve has been decent... but Carpenter's already gone... and this is a quick and important note; Manny Banuelos will make his Braves debut on Thursday. Write that down.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution: "Banuelos, 24, is expected to be called up from Gwinnett and make his major league debut Thursday with a start against the Washington Nationals in a series-finale matchup against arguably baseball’s hottest pitcher, Max Scherzer.

Banuelos would take the rotation turn of rookie Williams Perez, who was placed on the 15-day Saturday with a bruised foot after being struck by a sharp one-hop grounder Friday."

 I'm a fan, a big fan of Banuelos.  Maybe it's the lefty thing, but maybe I just believed in the kid a helluva lot more than the Yankees did.  Just to rub it in more, AJC writes: "Banuelos is 6-2 with a 2.29 ERA and .215 opponents’ average in 15 starts at Gwinnett, with 69 strikeouts, 38 walks and two homers allowed in 82 2/3 innings."

Boom.  That just happened. He should get his shot.

Root for Manny. He deserves our support.

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YANKEES NEED AN ANGEL RIGHT ABOUT NOW

It was back to back homers by Albert Pujols and Erick Aybar that finished off the Yankees.  Unbelievable.  The Yanks can't seem to score on the West coast.  It's kind of embarrassing.

I'm not gonna waste your time this morning.  If you're just waking up, you probably know the Yankees lost and that's all you need to know. The trust is, the Yankees scored 1 run, when Mark Teixeira hit a solo shot. 

Like I said, the Angels hit back to backs off Ivan Nova and the Yankees never were able to fight back. 

It should be noted that Nova was terrific and only had his issues in the 6th.  He gave up 2 runs on 5.1 innings and struck out 7.  He looked good.  Adam Warren came on in relief, he kept the Angels down, but it didn't matter... the Yanks didn't score again leaving 2 men on base and only collecting 2 hits all night.

Brutal.  We could use an Angel looking over us right now... we're just not doing the job.

Final: Angels 2 - Yankees 1



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