Miss me? No? Ah, well, too bad.

Anyway, some hopefully coherent thoughts about the postseason:

1) Since May 1st, Derek Jeter has 148 hits, of which just thirty-four have gone for extra bases, and only one out-of-the-park home run since June 12th. His slugging (.344) is only six hundredths of a point higher than his not-quite-as-awful on base percentage of (.338) in that same time span.

Since May 1st, Brett Gardner has a .380 OBP and .378 slugging. Sure, his OBP being higher than slugging doesn’t suggest he’s a great power hitter, but the argument can and should be made that Brett Gardner should hit lead off for the Yankees in the post season, as their highest OBP guy, and, at this rate, his 29 extra-base hits in the same time span is not sufficiently less than Jeter’s 34 for his lack of power to be such a liability to keep him out of the top spot.

2) A discussion on Twitter emerged tonight over who the Yankees should start game two, Andy Pettitte or Phil Hughes.

I’m falling into the Hughes camp for these reasons:

a) his home/road splits go beyond just the home run: a higher SO/9 and SO/BB rate indicate pitching better on the road, even accounting for the difference in innings pitched.

b) Target Field is a pretty massive ball park, which should theoretically help with the whole home run issue.

c) While you can argue that you’d rather have Pettitte pitching in game five, I think that it’s not the wisest move to plan for game five before you’ve finished games one, two and three. The Yankees’ best bet is, of course, to win the LDS in as few games as possible.

d) If the Yankees do lose game one, they can adjust the rotation if they see fit, although I imagine this is quite unlikely.

That said, the big difference between this year’s Yankees and last year’s has got to be the current confidence in the rotation: last season, besides CC, Pettitte was still healthy and although AJ Burnett was a wild card, he was not downright bad as he’s been for much of this season. This year, there’s CC, sometimes Hughes, pray Pettitte stays healthy…

3) It’s not that this year’s Yankees team is bad or undeserving; but that last season’s, especially after mid-June, was that good, getting better as the year went on. This year’s team started strongly enough, and then stumbled once Pettitte got hurt, Vazquez came up lame and Burnett was, well, AJ Burnett.

That said, this year’s squad has much to commend to it: Nick Swisher’s had a brilliant, consistent year, Brett Gardner has emerged as a legitimate mlb-caliber outfielder, Curtis Granderson’s remembered how to hit of late, and even with Jeter’s struggles you can still argue the Yankee infield is one of the best in the league. Kerry Wood has been simply fantastic in pinstripes, and Boone Logan’s turn around means the loss of Damaso Marte is a little less gaping.

4) So what happens if Girardi fails to win the World Series?

It seems almost unfair that he could make it to the World Series, or even game seven of the ALCS, lose and then not be invited back even when he won a World Series just last year, but, of course, the world of Yankee baseball is not a forgiving place.

I think, in the end, if the Yankees don’t win it all (and even perhaps if they do), it will depend as much on how the events occur as the events themselves; managing a team out of an ALDS win because Francisco Cervelli is hitting instead of Jorge Posada is a little bit different than losing in a game seven bottom-of-the-ninth hit with Mariano Rivera on the mound.

Of course, everything could go right and then Girardi choose not to return, but that’s probably a bridge to cross when it’s reached, to use a cliché.

5) Lastly, on the question of Minnesota or Texas as a playoff opponent, I’ll simply say that either team would offer its benefits and drawbacks, and it’s still up to the Yankees to win the games they need to win–and that, even if they do so, the much-imagined ALCS versus the Rays is not a guarantee, as the Rays would need to take care of business on their end and well.

Neither Minnesota nor Texas is a walkover…

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The standings don’t care.

The standings don’t care if a game is won in April or August, by one or by twenty, in sunshine or in rain. All that matters is that a win is a win, and the team with the most in the W column keeps on playing, long after the nights have become longer than the days.

For the fans, however, when narrative is everything, some wins just matter more than others.

Take tonight, for example.

With the Yankees’ having split with the Rays and in danger of being swept in the final home series of the season, they discarded their previous plan to try to conserve innings for their young fifth starter, Phil Hughes, and instead bade him the task of pitching tonight’s game. Not clinching a Wild Card spot is one thing; not even reducing the magic number would have been quite another.

So it was that tonight almost felt, to some, like a need for validation–that the Yankees are not the 2007 Mets, that they will still be playing baseball on Halloween. Losses build upon one another, and losing tonight’s game–where both starters were excellent and Alex Rodriguez worked some familiar late-inning magic–would have been that type of demoralizing loss that can take the color out of autumn leaves.

The win was far from perfect, and there is an emerging worry about Mariano Rivera, who has now blown three saves in one month. Is it his annual dead arm period, or something more serious? It’s not the first time Rivera has blown a save and it won’t be the last, but no one wearing pinstripes, on their uniform or, trite as it sounds, in their hearts, has had to watch a closer who was mere human for at least the past sixteen years. We simply don’t know what humanity on the mound in the ninth inning looks like, and any time previous we may have seen it, we pretend we haven’t.

On the other hand, in some respects the game illustrated the best about the Yankees: a young starter who looks poised to take the mound in the playoffs, the once almost-anathema Rodriguez hitting a late game home run and then fake-bunting to allow a steal of third base, a clutch single from Robbie Canó, dramatically cementing his MVP candidacy if he had not already done so, two and two-thirds innings of absolutely stunning bullpen work from David Robertson, Kerry Wood, Joba Chamberlain and Boone Logan, and a walk-off walk from Juan Miranda–far from the biggest bat on the roster.

All it takes is one win, strategically placed at the right time, to change the outlook from fans and writers: an elimination number of three with a week of baseball left still allows for hope; an elimination number of one would require a six or seven game losing streak.

Of course, the standings don’t care about what the fans think; they’re there, printed in greyscale in the Times and the Record and the News and the Post, and fifty years from now you probably won’t remember how the Yankees got that 93rd win of theirs, but in the end, all that the standings care about is that they did.

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“I’ll take ill-advised logic for $500, Alex”

Argument: Skipping one of Hughes’ starts was a bad idea.

Supporting evidence: Look at what happened to Joba!

*****

Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes are not the same person. Both debuted in 2007, both are roughly the same age, and both are Yankees, but in terms of almost everything else, Joba is Joba and Hughes is Hughes.

Arguing that the Yankees’ poor handling of the Chamberlain situation last year automatically means that Hughes is screwed for this season is faulty at best. It’s like saying that just because you had one bad meal at that fancy restaurant, all other meals are also going to be bad.

The problem with Joba, as it seemed to be, was two-fold: 1) he never really ‘got going’ in the first half and was marred by inefficiency, and more importantly, 2) the Yankees changed their plan as they went along, which ultimately does no one any favors.

Hughes, on the other hand, has for the most part been pitching well, and thus far, the Yankees seem to have a plan in mind and are sticking to it. If they didn’t learn from last season that changing a plan halfway through ain’t the world’s greatest idea, then there may be an issue, but normally teams that can’t handle developing a pitching staff don’t win World Series.

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So I realize that tonight you are most likely distracted by what happened in Detroit, and that’s totally cool. That one blown call in the ninth inning of what would have been a perfect game, could, theoretically, single-handedly cause the greatest progress in the struggle for full instant replay in baseball.

That said, while you were busy being distracted, Phil Hughes pitched another gem, the Yankees had another offense-go-boom day, and oh, um, they got Jorge Posada back.

Despite the Yanks’ nine runs, and the fact that Robinson Canó is now hitting .373/.412/.632, the story continues to be the emergence of Phil Hughes.

With an ERA of 2.54, a WHIP of 1.05 that ranks third in the entire American League, and more strikeouts than anyone else on the Yankee starting staff (despite having started in just 10 games compared to Sabathia and Burnett’s eleven each), Hughes is not-so-quietly beginning to make the case to appear on the All Star roster.

Of course, thus far, it seems like everyone everywhere is pitching something incredible (three two perfect games in one season? Are you kidding me?), but for Yankees’ fans, Hughes season has to feel extra special.

After injuries derailed him in 2007 and 2008, and being forced to the bullpen to make room for Chien Ming Wang in 2009, fans right now are finally getting the chance to see Hughes, healthy and successful, show us all why he may very well be the Yankee home-grown ace of the future.

****

It’s probably much too early to start a Canó-for-MVP campaign, but early May slump aside, this guy was hitting seventh last season!

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The Yankees scored eight runs tonight, two on two monster home runs.

The first came early in the game, in the second inning off of the bat of the newly-engaged (mazel tov!) Nick Swisher. It was a bomb, the only question was whether or not it was fair or foul. It was fair, and the Yankees took a 2-0 lead, which, thanks to the effort of Phil Hughes, they never gave up.

The second came much later, in the seventh inning, a bases-loaded, no one out, grand slam off the bat of Robinson Canó, who was hitting in the clean-up spot as Alex Rodriguez got the day off. That home run, a monster shot, capped a 3-4, 4 RBI (with BB) night for Canó.

The eight runs are the first time the Yankees have scored more than four runs in a game since the ill-faited Tampa Bay series, and the most they’ve scored since game one of the Boston set on the Monday before last.

One could say that Curtis Granderson’s return has certainly helped the line up, although with a bottom four of Juan Miranda, Brett Gardner, Ramiro Peña and Chad Moeller, one could also argue that the Yankees did so with their shortest line up of the season.

Also not to be overlooked is the performance of one Mr. Phil Hughes. He started the night by striking out five of the first six batters he faced (five in a row, actually), and it was indeed a harbinger of good things to come, as he went seven innings, allowing two runs, and striking out eight.

It was a stellar bounce-back effort after his first loss of the year against the Mets. Yes, Cleveland is a last-place team, but it may be just what Hughes–and the Yankees–needed to get back on track.

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Top of the ninth inning, the Yankees have two runners on in a game they trail by two, and two out.

My brother: Come on Cervelli! Hit a home run!
Me: You’d better hope Cervelli hits a home run here; Ramiro Peña is on deck.
My brother: *facepalm*

(Yes, he did a literal facepalm).

Anyway, that’s basically what you need to know about the game. Here are some pictures, because when you get great seats, you have to take pictures.

Why yes, that is Phil Hughes, taking batting practice

He’s even getting some tips from Cervelli

Pelfrey taking his warm up tosses

Alex at the bat. He got out, like most of the rest of the offense.

Hey look! A Yankee reached base!

Game action.

You got Cerv’d!

“I’m going to stand on this step all alone and stare at the white line painted on the field just because I can. It means I am a Major Leaguer. I am thus better than you.”

Randy Winn made it to third base! Photographic evidence!

Obligatory wide-out shot

“You ate five Double Downs before the game? For real?”
“Pfft. The food here sucks.”

“Swish, man, listen to me. The thing is, see how greasy those dreads get. Do you really want that?”

The boys in the dugout watching the end of the ninth inning.

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There is no possible way I can sum up this game. None. So take a look at this graph. It’s shiny.

(via Fangraphs)

Okay, bullet points:

1) Phil Hughes had his first not good outing, even though he left the game with a lead. Basically, he didn’t have a ‘finish’ pitch working, and the Red Sox made like the Yankees and built the pitch count up early. By the time of JD Drew’s home run in the fifth inning, Hughes was way over 100, high-stress pitches. Every pitcher, especially one still only 23 years old, is gonna have not so good outings. His next start should come against the Mets, we’ll see how he rebounds.

2) Joe Girardi’s bullpen managing was full of ‘buuuh’, but think about it this way: had the game gone to extra innings, Javier Vazquez would have been able to give the bullpen some length. Of course, this would have probably not happened and instead Mariano would have pitched the 10th and then, umm, who knows what, but hey, Marte pitched well, and Chan Ho Park…not so much.

3) Brett Gardner and Alex Rodriguez need to hit against Jonathan Papelbon more often. Wow. Just. Yeah, A-Rod hate is so 2004.
3a) Reminders of that 15 inning game last summer and ALDS game 2.

4) As, apparently, does Marcus Thames. About whom I never will again say bad things.

5) Joe West has a point. That game was what, four hours and change? Or just under four? Eeesh.

6) A-Rod’s game tying and Thames’ game-winning home runs will be added to the “for your viewing pleasure” post shortly. You can find the link on the sidebar.

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It seems like a long time ago the biggest question in YankeeLand was who should be the team’s fifth starter, and a long time ago since the endless debate as to whether or not Phil Hughes was really the right choice over Joba Chamberlain.

It’s still early in the season, but thus far, it looks like the Yankees made a pretty good decision.

Hughes is already 5-0, and since if you’re reading this you already know W-L record is a horrible way to evaluate a pitcher, his ERA is 1.38–best in the American League. And since that, too, is not the world’s greatest statistical measure…

Just consider this: Phil Hughes has started six games for the Yankees, now–Angels, Athletics, Orioles, White Sox, Red Sox, Tigers–and has given up a grand total of six runs. Six. (The Yankees didn’t win the Baltimore game, but when Hughes left, after 5.2 innings, they were leading 2-1).

Hughes’ shortest outing of the season, 5.0 IP, came his first start of the season, and since then he has pitched seven innings in four of his other five starts.

You may expect your team’s ace to pitch seven innings each time out, but the fifth starter?

It’s almost reminiscent of the way Mike Mussina went from the Yankees fifth starter in 2008 to their ace in a matter of weeks, but the difference is that Mussina didn’t also have CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett on his pitching staff. (Not to mention, Mussina is a potential Hall of Famer who was coming off of a down year; Hughes is coming off of a year in which he pitched primarily from the bullpen).

Hughes has already 39 strike outs on the season–that’s the most out of any starter in the Yankees’ rotation, and CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett have both started one more game than Hughes.

I realize that it’s May 12th. I know Sabathia starts slow and takes off in the second half, that Zack Greinke is Zack Greinke and that King Felix is royalty, but right now, Hughes is pitching on another level entirely.

It might be tempting to say that it’s too soon to dub him one of the elite, that he’s due for regression (and some regression, certainly; he won’t be at 1.38 all year), but right now, a healthy Hughes is a marvel to watch–and very possibly the best thing about the Yankees in 2010.

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7.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K (101-70)

I don’t know about you, but if I see that line from any of my team’s starters, I’ll be happy. From the fifth starter? You’d better believed I’d be stoked.

Tonight’s game story is simple: Phil Hughes dominated.

After walking Daric Barton in the first, Hughes did not let another Oakland batter reach base until the eighth inning. I was in London when Hughes flirted with a no-hit bid in Texas, but I imagine watching that performance could not have been all that different than what we saw tonight.

Until the eighth inning, Oakland did not have anything that came even remotely close to being a hit, and all but one of Oakland’s starting line-up had at least one strikeout against Hughes.

***

The Yankees did not really have a good game offensively. They took themselves out of a promising first inning when Derek Jeter made an ill-advised attempt to steal third base; other than the back-to-back triples from Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Canó, the bats were mostly quiet.

That said, the Yankees did manage to keep their streak of three-or-more-runs-per-game alive, so there’s something to be said for that.

***

Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera both looked like they could use a day off, though, in Rivera’s case, this is, of course, relative.

Other teams–the Cubs and Diamondbacks, especially, come to mind–would probably do many things to even get a tired version of Rivera in their bullpen.

***

Honestly, though, I think the best thing about tonight’s game is that, having gotten such a performance from our fifth starter, the A’s still have to face Sabathia on the mound tomorrow.

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A little over a month and a half ago, I sat in the dining room at a fancy Boca Raton country club, and over pizza and steamers, heard my grandmother talk about watching the Brooklyn Dodgers in their glory days. I heard about cutting class to see the team win in 1941–and seeing her teachers at the game, about watching Pee Wee Reese and Roy Campenella, and, of course, Jackie Robinson.

The next morning, as my brother and I said our good-byes before we were about to head north, she made us promise that we’d come visit again, and that this time we’d stay for longer.

We both promised.

These are the things that haunt me, haunt me as I stroke her hand while she’s in an ICU bed, haunt me as I labor to understand monosyllabic words and short sentences from half-paralyzed lips, haunt me as I think about how for so long she’s taken care of us and now we have to take care of her.

These things haunt me then, and haunt me long after.

They haunt me in the nursing home, when every day I also say hello to Nana’s roommate, who’s blind but still tells my cousin that she looks like her daughter; they haunt me when I watch Nana try to eat pureed kosher mush since she’s still too weak to swallow solids; they haunt me when I look at the photos of a smiling, vibrant grandmother and I realize that it might be years before we get that back. If ever.

They haunt me, still, tonight, when I am, after a three day drive-and-train adventure, back in New York. They haunt me when my first game at Yankee Stadium this season just happens to be Jackie Robinson Day, and the conversation in the Pavillion dining room replays itself, word for word. Baseball. Brooklyn. Reese, Rickey, Robinson.

If I had known then, what would happen just a few weeks later, I would have pushed for more, more information, more stories, more memories.

After all, history books only tell you so much.

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