Pettitte Comes Clean

After the Mitchell Report named close to 90 former and current MLB players, some players have started to come clean about their drug-use. But so far, no one really vital to their teams or former teams had admitted to using steroids or HGH. But today, one of those players did.

Andy Pettitte, fresh off re-signing with the Yankees, admitted today that he took HGH in 2002. He took the performance enhancer after an early-season elbow injury put him on the DL. "I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow.'' So Pettitte asked the trainer he shared with Roger Clemens, Brian McNamee, to help him with HGH. McNamee recalled injecting Pettitte two to four times. Pettitte says that he only took HGH on 2 occasions.

''If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize,'' Pettitte said Saturday in a statement released by his agent. ''I accept responsibility for those two days. I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing, so I stopped. This is it - two days out of my life; two days out of my entire career, when I was injured and on the disabled list,'' he said. ''I wasn't looking for an edge. I was looking to heal.''

Even if Pettitte comes out of HGH problem this unscathed, he has just brought further evidence toward the great Roger Clemens' drug use. As it said earlier, Pettitte obtained the HGH from a trainer that he a Clemens shared at the time. Although Clemens and his attorney deny that he has ever taken performance-enhancing drugs, the evidence seems to piling up on him.

Stepping Down

Joe Torre, the long-time manager of the New York Yankees, is stepping down from his job.

Today, Torre rejected a 1-year offer for $5 million dollars a year that still would have made him the highest paid manager in baseball. "It's a difficult day," general manager Brian Cashman said.

Don Mattingly , the bench coach for the Yankees is expected to replace Torre as manager next season, but broadcaster Joe Girardi, the NL Manager of the Year with Florida in 2006, is another top contender. Torre led the Yanks to 12 straight playoff appearances and won four World Series championships.

This was a day, that the fans in New York could see coming though. After getting to the World Series in 2003, the Yankees had high expectations for the next few years, but no rings came out of it... not even 1. Under Torre, the Yankees went 1,173-767. He trails only Joe McCarthy (1,460) for wins among Yankees managers.

This is the 2nd big loss to the Yankee organization in the past week, as owner George Steinbrunner stepped down and gave the Yankees to his sons, Hank and Hal.

"It is now time for the New York Yankees to move forward," Levine said

Steinbrenner Stepping Down

George Steinbrenner, the legendary owner of the New York Yankees, is reportedly stepping down as the owner of the Yanks.

Members of the Yankees brass told the newspaper that Hank and Hal Steinbrenner (George's sons) will share leadership in an arrangement to be further ironed out in Tampa, Florida later this week.

"George has taken on a role like the chairman of a major corporation," Yankees president Randy Levine told the Post. "He's been saying for years he's wanted to get his sons involved in the family business. Both of them have stepped up and are taking on the day-to-day duties of what's required to run the Yankees."

Steinbrenner took over as owner of the Yankees when he bought them in 1973. Since then, Steinbrenner has been one of the most controversial owners in baseball history. Some incidents that have occurred include signing Dave Winfield a monster contract, and later called "Mr. May" (in reference to Reggie Jackson, "Mr. Octoer"), and faking the assault of 2 Dodgers fans on him during the 1981 World Series.

Both brothers are expected to have final say on baseball decisions, the running of the YES Network and the construction of the new Yankee Stadium.
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"There's always been a succession - and that's myself and my brother," Hank told the newspaper. "I'll pay more attention to the baseball part. The stadium, that's more Hal. But basically everything will be decided jointly."

Some people may be saying goodbye and good ridints to Steinbrenner, but I say that were are losing one of the best owners ever.

Rizzuto Dies at Age 89

Phil Rizzuto, one of the best shortstops in MLB history has passed away.

Rizzuto had pneumonia and died in his sleep at a nursing home in West Orange, N.J., daughter Patricia Rizzuto said Tuesday. He had been in declining health for several years.

Rizzuto played 11 years for the New York Yankees getting an MVP award in 1950 and 5 all-star appearances. Popular as a player and beloved as a broadcaster, the New York Yankees shortstop was during their dynasty years of the 1940s and 1950s. "I guess heaven must have needed a shortstop," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement. "He epitomized the Yankee spirit - gritty and hard charging - and he wore the pinstripes proudly."

After his playing career, Rizzuto immediately became a broadcaster. He was known for his catch phrase, "holy cow". Rizzuto also became known for saying "Unbelievable!" or "Did you see that?" to describe a great play, and would call somebody a "huckleberry" if he did something Rizzuto didn't like. Phil always did know who to keep it fun in the press boxes. Rizzuto would typically refer to his broadcast partners by their last names, calling them "White", "Murcer" and "Seaver" instead of "Bill", "Bobby" or "Tom."

Rizzuto broadcasted some great moments in baseball, which include Roger Maris' 61th home run. After a long wait, Rizzuto was voted into the hall of fame in 1994.

Just to show how good Rizzuto was, Ted Williams claimed that his Red Sox would have won most of the Yankees' 1940s and 1950s pennants if they had had Rizzuto at shortstop. Rizzuto was a great player on the field, and a character at the least off it.

Jays Beat Up On Yankees

The Toronto Blue Jays were embarrassed 2 nights ago. They got their revenge on A-Rod for May 30th, but it was bittersweet as New York won 9-2. But yesterday, they were ready to go.

What seemed like a big pitching matchup was everything but. 12-5 Roy Halladay was facing 13-5 Chien-Ming Wang. Toronto got to New York early as the Blue Jays scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 1st. But Robinson Cano quickly cut that lead down to 1 in the top of the 2nd when he hit a 2-run blast to right field. The Toronto really got the bats going. Without any home runs, Toronto scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 3rd with a couple of doubles. From then on the Jays just kept pounding New York. They scored 6 more runs by the end of the game and won easily 15-4.

This game was not just good for Toronto because they won big against New York, but because of the players that produced. Frank Thomas continued his hot streak with 3 RBI, and Vernon Wells had 4 RBI. Matt Stairs had 2 doubles and 3 runs scored. It was a great all-around effort. "Guys really wanted to keep on them," Jays ace Roy Halladay said. "That's probably residue from yesterday. Nobody wanted to let down. They wanted to keep going, keep hitting, keep scoring, and I think that was the biggest difference from yesterday."

With A-Rod sitting out, the Jays could just focus on baseball. "I've been around hockey too long and too many hockey fights to know that the next day it's over with," Stairs said. "It's the same in baseball. ... It's done, hopefully. We can get on with playing baseball. We made our statement and they made their statement."

The Jays will now start a 4-game set against the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

Accardo Blows It in 9th

Yankees Stadium can be overwhelming for some. With all the it's history and the great fans, it tough to concentrate. Jeremy Accardo found that out last night the hard way.

After both teams scored runs in the 1st, it turned into a pitching duel between Roy Halladay and Andy Pettitte. The 2 pitchers both threw 6 scoreless innings after the shaky 1st, but then they each got pulled. So in the top of the 8th, Kyle Farnsworth came in for the Yanks.

He struggled giving up a single to Howie Clark, and then later letting him get to 2nd. Aaron Hill then drove him in to give the Jays the lead going into the final innings of the game. Scott Downs shut out the Yankees in the 8th, and Brian Bruney did the same to the Jays in the top of 9th.

So it was up to Jeremy Accardo to get the save and the win for the Jays. Miguel Cairo got to 2nd as a pinch-runner for Andy Phillips, but was thrown out by Alex Rios when he went home after a Melky Cabrera single. But the Jays weren't out of it yet, as on the at-bat, Cabrera went all the way to 3rd off a steal. Then the unthinkable happened. The craziest thing that could happen in the MLB happened. Accardo balked in the tying run! He stepped off the mound during his windup, and balked. But he then got the 2nd and 3rd out to send it to extras.

In the bottom of the 10th inning, Casey Janssen gave up a hit to the gap to Robinson Cano with a runner on 2nd. This ended up with the Yankees winning 3-2.

After the game, all of the talk was about Accardo's balk. ''I caught a cleat and was going to step off. Dumbest thing I've ever done,'' Accardo said. ''I kind of let things get out of hand. I gave up the leadoff single and I started pressing. ''It's a mental mistake. You can't get beat by those. If you're going to get beat, get beat by the hitter,'' he added.

''I've seen some crazy stuff. I can't remember seeing that,'' Halladay said. ''It can be a tough place to play, and things like that happen from time to time.''

The Yankees have turned it on the past few games, and are looking like they might give the Red Sox a run for their money. ''We just seem to be playing with something in mind right now,'' manager Joe Torre said. ''I think we're at a point now, because good things have happened when we've come after people, that when we lose a game like this it's going to be a surprise.''

Lost in the excitment of the end of the game was the pitching performances. Both Andy Pettitte and Roy Halladay put together amazing 7 inning starts giving up just a run each. Halladay gave up one run and five hits. He struck out six and walked three.

''It's nice to win a close game, that's for sure,'' Pettitte said. ''I knew it was going to be a tough game. Roy was throwing as good as I've ever seen him.''

Pettitte fanned a season-best seven over seven innings, allowing seven hits and three walks. It was the left-hander's sixth no-decision when allowing no more than two earned runs. 'To me, Andy made it all possible, because the only way you're going to have a chance against Halladay is to match him and he certainly did that,'' Torre said.

The Jays will try to win the next 2 games of this series to salvage a split.

Where There's a Hill, There's a Way

The Jays and Yankees were hooking up Tuesday for game 2 of their series.

Before the game, the Yankees took their game day practice. Because of their bad play in games this year, they work on just the fundamentals. Their was nothing fundamental about the game.

In the home-half of the 1st, Alex Rios a lead-off single and went to 2nd off an error. He then went to 3rd off a steal. Vernon Wells then drove him in to give the Jays the 1-run lead. For the next few innings, it was a pitchers duel between Shawn Marcum and Andy Pettitte. The next 5 innings went scoreless. But after Shaun Marcum was pulled, Scott Downs came in in the 7th. The 1st batter he faced hit a homer off of him. It was then tied 1-1. But in the bottom half of the 7th, Aaron Hill was on 3rd. As Pettitte winded up, Hill sprinted home. He was called safe and the Jays had the lead. But after the Yankees tied it up again in the 8th, Alex Rios hit a sacrifice fly to the outfield that brought home the eventual winning run. The final score was 3-2.

After the game, all the talk was about Aaron Hill's steal of home. "We mentioned that if a situation came up, a guy on third, obviously [Pettitte] has his back to us," Hill said. "It was just the right place at the right time, I guess. [Butterfield] told me, 'If we get to a 1-1 count, we're going to go ahead and try it.' I started to get a little nervous and then I was like, 'All right, let's go.' Luckily, it worked out."

''I definitely felt my heart beating,'' Hill said of his approach once the play was put on. ''I've never done it before and I didn't know what was going to happen. I just pictured the umpire calling me safe to hopefully give me a little better boost.''

Pettitte also talked about what he could of done to stop the steal. ''I didn't think you could lose an American League ballgame like that,'' said Pettitte. ''To be out of the stretch, what can you say? It was embarrassing.''

The Yankees have been in a free-fall all season and it isn't stopping. They are tied with Tampa for last in the division, and have virtually no pitching.

“It’s tough to keep it positive, to tell you the truth,” Posada said. “You try to focus on things that are meaningful, like good pitching by Andy tonight. You continue to think ahead. But it’s really tough right now.”

“We haven’t been able to string together hits,” Derek Jeter said. “We get one guy on, and that’s about it.”

“There’s a mountain to climb,” Manager Joe Torre said. “Everybody feels it. I’d like to be able to come in tomorrow and think of something that’s going to all of a sudden lighten the load. That’s my job.”

The Jays will look for a sweep on Wednesday.

Can Anyone Stop Him?

When you talk about the New York Yankees this year, you think about Alex Rodriguez, and Roger Clemens. But a player whose been left out of the spotlight this year, is shortstop Derek Jeter.

Possibly the most clutch shortstop in MLB history has gotten off to one of the best starts in his career. He is leading the American League in batting average with .375%, is leading the American League in hits with 54 and is 2nd in the AL in on base average with .448%.

Unfortunately for Jeter, his amazing start has been overshadowed by Alex Rodriguez's record tying start and Roger Clemens comeback to the Yankees.

Now to put these stats into perspective, no other player in the MLB has 2 home runs, but 20 RBI. That's how good he is.

A-Rod has been on a bit of a slump lately since his April surge, so I think it is time for the New York fans to take a look at Jeter again, and look at the amzing stats he has put up not only this year, but throughout his entire career.

What's Wrong With New York?

The New York Yankees have been.... well, have been awful this year. They started with one of the worst records in Yankee history, and there is one main reason why. Their pitching.

They started the year with key pitchers Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang on the DL. This led to Carl Pavano being the starting pitcher on opening day. The 2nd pitcher was Andy Pettite, who was coming back to New York for the 2nd time. He was a disappointment. From then on, they had new, young pitchers, or old pitchers. The problem started to get well documented during the Yankees 7-game losing streak during mid April.

This problem is being backed up by the strong play of their batting lineup. Star Alex Rodriguez , who is in a contract year has had a record breaking April hitting a couple game winning homers and getting 14 home runs.

Because of their struggles, Joe Torre was supposedly on the chopping block. GM Brian Cashman also had his job on the line. But according to George Steinbrenner, their jobs were safe.

With the Yankees extremely high payroll though, I don't understand why they wouldn't get or even try to get free agents Gil Meche or Ted Lilly.

It will be cool to see if they do anything about this problem.