Game 151: Yanks VS. White Sox

From PA:

YANKEES (80-70)
Damon DH
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Nady LF
Cano 2B
Molina C
Gardner CF
Pettitte LHP

Cano is back in the lineup after having a talk with Joe Girardi. Pettitte, who has a sore shoulder, will square off against Gavin Floyd.

DATE WITH DESTINY — Derek Jeter passed Lou Gehrig today with a single off Juan Uribe in the bottom of the first inning. Congratulations to Jeter who now has the most hits in Yankee Stadium’s long and illustrious history.

Yankee Stadium Hurting Tax Payers & Ticket Buyers

From the AP (via SI):

Taxpayers and ticket buyers are the losers in plans to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in public subsidies to build the new Yankee Stadium, a New York lawmaker said Tuesday.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said the commitment of $550 million to $850 million in taxpayer money was based on an unsubstantiated threat that the Yankees would leave New York. He said in a new report that the team predicted the public investment would generate 1,000 new permanent jobs, but the actual total would be 15.

Brodsky also criticized the deal for not making affordable tickets available to lower income New Yorkers.

I’m pretty apathetic in regards to how our taxes are used and how the taxpayer is screwed on a daily basis, so I’m not really surprised. Check out the rest of the article though. When the Yankees are looking for nearly $400 million in order to finish the stadium’s massive video screen, it seems rather ridiculous in an unnecessary sort of way (yet at the same time, I want that damn screen).

Yankee Voices

Jim Baumbach reports that Bob Sheppard won’t be able to make it to the final game at the stadium. Bob’s body just can’t handle the physical effort required to go to the stadium early in the day and then spend a number of hours there before leaving late at night. It’s a sad situation. “My heart will be up in the Bronx, but my body will be in front of the television,” says Sheppard. You know, with all the money the Yankees have, wouldn’t it be great if they could do some sort of broadcast feed from Bob’s house to the stadium for the game that day? He wouldn’t have to say much, just intro the team and then Jim Hall can do his thing. I think the fans would go nuts.

Speaking of stadium voices, everybody’s favorite play-by-play guy (…), Michael Kay, was given a new deal with the Yankees, so he’ll be with the team for a full 10 years and he’ll be around at least until the end of the 2011 season. Kay can be tremendously annoying, but sometimes, he does say what everyone else is thinking but won’t say (for whatever reason), whether it’s about Girardi’s managing or the team in general. I give him credit for that.

Quick Bits: CC, Cano, Matsui

Three quick news items to close out my long day (it’s 2:20 AM in Seattle):

1. First, Jon Heyman has heard (from someone that was not named) that CC Sabathia does not want to play for the Yankees, even though he’ll find the most money in the Bronx. There have always been rumors about CC wanting to play on the west coast (Heyman mentions that too), but he has reportedly warmed up to the idea of playing elsewhere (he likes Milwaukee, that much). Right now, I wouldn’t read too much into this. If the Yankees show him the money, he’ll show up in pinstripes. This could easily be a simple bargaining maneuver before the end of the season.

2. Next up, Robinson Cano was benched for the first game against Chicago. Cano is still feeling the heat after not chasing a ball into RF yesterday. While the 2-day benching seems to indicate that this is more of a message for next season, the Yankees are still playing for pride, right now, and that is Girardi’s primary point. Even though things haven’t gone well for the team or for Cano, he has to play hard—that’s the bottom line. This has been a very public form of discipline and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Cano react well both offensively and defensively. Obviously, it’s better to finish up on a strong note.

3. Finally, Hideki Matsui will likely opt for surgery soon. Matsui has been missing games and if the team was still in contention (realistic contention), then I’m sure he would continue to play through the pain. However, it looks like he’ll be shutdown very soon, and then he’ll have the surgery on his knee. He expects to be ready for spring training. Although he’s become rather injury prone, you’ve got to commend him. He tried to play and did his best, which is what you have to love about the guy.