The Yankees Unobstructed — August 23

The Yankees, Unobstructed is back after a long hiatus, and — wouldn't ya know it — it's returned just in time to acknowledge yesterday's 10-0 massacre of a certain Norwood News Managing Editor's favorite team (the Seattle Mariners).

Indeed, on a day when the Yanks needed score only one run to get by, they piled it on against the West Coast's Cleveland Indians. But alas, one blowout victory against the squad from Major League 3: Back to the Minors does not a championship make, and thus despite their win, the Yankees are facing their first major crisis of this season.

Tonight Ivan Nova, 23, will make the first start of his major league career. The Yankees have all but acknowledged that they're unsure whether the AAA ace is ready for the bigs, but what choice do they have?

The Yankees starting rotation:

C.C. Sabathia - Great

Phil Hughes - Fine

A.J. Burnett - The bane of everyone's existence

Javier Vazquez - Has foresaken confidence

Andy Pettitte - 'Ol Yeller hasn't pitched in over a month

Dustin Moseley - A reasonable facsimile of a Seattle-quality starter (dissed!)

Ivan Nova - TBA

So there ya go. Leading the division by only one game with 38 left to play, the Yankees have two quality starters, four posers and a rookie with great expectations.

So how are they supposed to hold onto that one game lead? The answer is Robinson Cano.

Say it with me: MVP! MVP! MVP!

Over the last seven games, when the Yankees have needed an offensive superhero most, Robbie has hit four home runs for 13 RBI, with a .333 avg.

Combine that with surprising hit-machine/trade-deadline acquisition Austin Kearns (14 hits in 11 games), and the Yankees have barely noticed the on-again off-again absence of Alex Rodriguez, who's struggling with a calf injury.

The Yankees will be fine as a team relying on two pitchers and two hitters until September 10, after which 16 of their final 22 games are against the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox.

NOTE: Make sure to check back every week for The Yankees, Unobstructed, BNN's Yankees opinion column.

The Yankees, Unobstructed - May 1

Remember the Team, as They Were Before A-Rod

For the last six weeks, the Yankees have almost been like a normal team. Other than all the hoopla surrounding the new Stadium, the team has had no off-the-field distractions. That ended yesterday with the Daily News' feature on Selena Roberts' new book, A-Rod. As we prepare to spend the rest of the season talking about Alex Rodriguez and how corrosive his influence is on the Yankees, Major League Baseball, America's youth, baseball statistics for the last fifteen years and Alex's everywhere, we should make sure to honor the Yankees as they are now, a real team. So, without further ado, I present the April '09 "Yankees as an Almost-Real Team" Awards.

Hitting MVP: Nick Swisher, of course

Swish leads the Yankees in runs (21), doubles (8), home runs (7), runs batted in (19), touched bases (55), on-base percentage (.430), and slugging (.714). He's also third in total hits (24), behind Robinson Cano (34) and Derek Jeter (27) and second in walks, behind Mark Teixera . April has been great for Swisher, but it's fair to assume that he will cool off eventually. He also leads the team with nineteen strikeouts and guys who get fanned almost as often as they get hits rarely have incredibly high on-base percentages.

Pitching MVP: Andy Pettitte

At the end of a month in which the Yankees had the second worst earned run average in the majors (5.79 era), Pettitte stood out as a beacon of consistency. Pettitte has pitched at least six innings in each of his four starts, and has yet to surrender more than three earned runs in an appearance.

Hitting LVP: Mark Teixera

Teixera's slump won't go on forever; he is too good of a baseball player. Hitters who want to prove their worth when they first sign with the Yankees, have a tendency to swing too hard (reference the first months of Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez's tenures in the Bronx), but eventually Tex will settle in and hit naturally.

Pitching LVP: Chien Ming Wang, obviously

34.50 era, 'nuff said. Wang will get better as he builds up arm strength and fixes his mechanics, but he may have lost his starting spot, at least temporarily. With both Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain putting up solid starts, the Yankees might want to consider making Wang a long-relief option from the bullpen, until (or in case) one of their young starters cools off.

Biggest Letdown: Tie - Yankees Front Office, City Hall and the new Yankee Stadium

The old Stadium is still standing and the Bronx is still awaiting its replacement parks. Meanwhile, the new Stadium has had far more downs than ups: obstructed views, over-priced seats and a jet-stream to right field are just a few of the drawbacks to the $1.5 billion Baseball Basilica.

Biggest Chump: Me

Anyone who has talked sports with me even a few times, knows one thing for sure: my predictions curse worse than the Madden and Sports Illustrated covers combined. So far, this baseball season has been no different. Last week, I predicted that "the Yankees should be able to squeeze out two wins this weekend" against the Red Sox. The Yankees were, of course, swept by Boston.

At the beginning of the season, I declared (the now benched) Brett Gardner to be the Yankees "speedy savior."

In addition, while hanging out at a bar with friends in early April, I also confidently declared that "there's no way Seattle can compete with the Angels!" Seattle is currently in first place in the American League West Division, with a 13-9 record, and the Angels are 9-12. Seattle's favorite Bronx journalist, Alex Kratz, is most likely quite happy.

Got some of your own April awards? Feel free to leave them in the comment section below.

Also, be sure to check back every Friday for "The Yankees, Unobstructed" and every Wednesday for "Pinstripe Politics," your weekly source for Yankees Stadium replacement parks news.

Yankees, eventually, do the right thing

Maybe the Yankees aren't so heartless after all.

My home town of Seattle was buzzing with disdain for the Big Apple last weekend after it was reported that Paul Robinson, a tourist from Kirkland (an eastside suburb of the Emerald City) broke his neck during a Yankee game when a man fell on top of him after tumbling from his seat in the upper deck of Yankee stadium. Geoff Baker, a great sportswriter for the Seattle Times linked to a story about the incident in his blog, writing, "Here's another reason to hate the Yankees. As if you needed another. Injured guy is from Kirkland and didn't even get an apology. Pathetic behavior." (FYI, all Seattle Mariner fans worth their salt are ingrained with a deep hatred for the Bronx Bombers)

The Daily News reported that the "lout" who fell on Robinson was probably drunk and was whisked away by friends without apologizing or even asking if the man he had landed on was injured. However, other Yankee fans helped Robinson and called for emergency medics. He was taken to Montefiore Medical Center, where he underwent two and a half hours of surgery to place a screw in his neck. Doctors said the junior high school teacher was lucky to be alive, not to mention having the full use of his limbs. They said he should recover fully.

It wasn't until Friday, July 13, five days after the incident, that the Yankees decided to help the Robinsons (Paul was with his wife and 13-year-old son when it happened) by chartering a private plan for the family back to Seattle. Robinson, however, said he held no grudges against Yankees fans or New York City. He told the News: "We've been around long enough to know there are a few bad apples in every town." Typical Seattle niceness.

While the Yankees have managed to climb back over .500, they remain nine games behind the Red Sox and are a long shot to make the playoffs. Is this latest horrific incident at Yankee Stadium yet more evidence of the Macombs Dam Curse?

By the way, the Seattle Mariners are 51-38, three games out of first place and six games ahead of the Yankees for the wild card. And they didn't destroy any beloved public parks on their way to building their new stadium, Safeco Field, nine years ago.