Yeah, Jeter's Last Game Was What It Should Have Been...

((HT: MLB.com/YES))

It was the last night for Derek Jeter in the Bronx as he is hanging them up after two decades as a Yankee...

The HQ knows that is news to all of you, but the scriptwriters were out in full force.
Here's his last charge of the infield...


And, then, getting the first Yankees runs on the board with a shot to left-center


You could see Jeets taking a lot of deep breaths and the Bleacher Creatures were roll calling him at every opportunity. David Robertson gave up a game-tying homer in the top of the ninth with two outs to Steve Pearce.

So, all of Hiroki Kuroda's work went into the toilet and the Yanks had to earn it one last time.

Jeter hit a game-winning single on the bottom of the ninth driving in Antoine Richardson from second for the 6-5 win.
((HT: Sports on STC's Vine))

Okay, They Did It Again With These Jeter Tributes...

((HT: Gatorade))

Yeah, the HQ will stipulate that we are (nor will we ever be) a Yankees fan...

But with Derek Jeter's career coming to an end, the tribute videos are pretty cool.

First, it was the RE2PECT ad from Nike. Now, it's this one from the Gatorade folks...


Like we said...

Cool...

The Perils Of A Grounds Crew

((HT: MLB.com/YES))

It's one of the most underappreciated jobs in baseball...

Being a part of the grounds crew or being a groundskeeper...
Some days it's easy, some days it's like this.


Yeah...

The HQ wouldn't trade for anything...

#Gehrig75

((HT:MLB.com))

It is hard to believe that 75 years have passed since one of the most simple, emphatic, and heart felt speeches in the history of sports.

The speech itself took less than a minute, but it's words are still ringing true today.

Here is how Major League Baseball is remembering Lou Gehrig's salute to everyone and everything he loved.


Full disclosure...

The HQ has people very close to us who suffer from the disease and they are some of the best people and role models you can ever come across. We support their causes and others that are similar in the hope that, one day, it can be off the map.

Laz Diaz Loves Him Some Laz Diaz

((HT: MLB/YES))

The Angels and the Yankees played a baseball game last night...

But the center of the game's universe seemed to be home plate umpire Laz Diaz- who loves him some Laz Diaz...
Especially if you question a balls and strikes call- or a lot of them...

Here's the call from Michael Kay


And ask Joe Girardi


Ah... umpires...

Braves Getting Lessons From Yankees On New Ballpark

((HT: 11Alive.com))

The Atlanta Braves front office is trying to figure out how best to build (and properly monetize, naturally...) their new ballpark- whether it's Turner Field II is currently unknown...

Our friends at WXIA-TV got to take their behind-the-scenes tour with them to figure out what is needed, how much is needed, and what to cut out as they build...

So, expect less seats for premium effect, not a whole lot of parking, even less public transportation access, and a lot of headaches for the fans as they commute to one of the more-highly trafficked areas in the entire town...

Enjoy...

Girardi Defends Moving ESPN Camera

((HT: ESPN))

After the Michael Pineda ejection last night, the cameras decided to get a look at the "after..."

Yanks manager Joe Girardi wanted nothing to do with the after...


And, then, he went after the network and their big-brotherness

"I think MLB's going to have a problem with ESPN going into our tunnel," Girardi said. "I didn't break the camera, all I did was keep it from going into our tunnel. You guys are acting like I ripped it apart. The camera worked the rest of the game, didn't it? All I did was turn it so it was on the field or the dugout."

The HQ sides with Girardi here...

Pineda Plus Pine Tar=Ejection (UPDATE: He Admits It)

((HT: MLB/YES/ESPN))

Take you back to April 10...Yankees and Red Sox at Yankee Stadium

Michael Pineda of the Yankees got caught with something dark (and, allegedly sticky) on his hand...


Red Sox manager John Farrell said he had heard about the substance Pineda may or may not have been using, but in between innings whatever was there disappeared...

MLB executive vice president of operations Joe Torre talked to Yankees GM Brian Cashman about what may or may not have happened with Pineda on the mound. The Yanks pitcher did not face any discipline since the Red Sox didn't push the issue.

Pineda said it was dirt:

"I don't use pine tar. It's dirt," Pineda said then. "I'm sweating on my hand too much in-between innings."

Takes you to tonight...
Looks like the dirt was there all over again...


And Pineda got tossed...

The HQ knows that, in the minors, the suspension is 10 games. The suspension might be close in the bigs...

2315 UPDATE: Pineda admits that the substance was, in fact, pine tar...

Pineda says, via ESPN, that "it won't happen again."

Easiest Triple Play You'll See For A While...

((HT: MLB/YES))

Sean Rodriguez did the one thing you really don't want to do with runners on first and second...
Pull a pitch right at the third baseman...

You can guess what happens next...


CC Sabathia has now been on the mound for the last three triple plays the Yankees have fielded and Rodriguez has now hit into the last two triple plays the Rays have had turned on them...

Bee Attack: Swarm Delays Red Sox-Yankees Game (video)

((ht: mlb.com))

Geez, anyone have some insect repellant? Number for the bug man? Or a beekeeper?

Tuesday afternoon's Red Sox/Yankees Spring Training game in Tampa was delayed during the third inning when a swarm of bees appeared in left field.

No really, this happened.

We don't think....this is a sign of the apocalypse, but it scared Red Sox left fielder Mike Carp, the Red Sox bullpen and the umpires enough that the grounds crew were forced to intervene.

Take a look at the closeups of the railing closest to the Red Sox bullpen, the bees are all over the gear.

Yankees 1st baseman Mark Texiera bravely offered up a couple of honey bottles from we are guessing the snack table in the Yankee clubhouse. But alas, the hearty grounds crew ran through the bullpen spraying what appeared to be bottles of Raid.

The game eventually restarted but not before tons of us got one heck of a good laugh:

Video from YES/MLB.com:

A-Rod Gives Up Lawsuits Vs. MLB

((HT: Sportsnet))

For whatever reason... common sense not ever being one of them...

Alex Rodriguez has given up his lawsuit against Major League Baseball, the Commissioner, and the MLBPA...

He now accepts the 2014 suspension for the regular season and playoffs...

Everyone is thinking this was a good idea...

“We believe that Mr. Rodriguez’s actions show his desire to return the focus to the play of our great game on the field and to all of the positive attributes and actions of his fellow major league players,” the office of the MLB said in a tightly worded release. “We share that desire.”

Pretty much the same from the union that Rodriguez wanted no part of- except for defensing him at every turn:

“Alex Rodriguez has done the right thing by withdrawing his lawsuit,” the union said in an equally-quick statement. “His decision to move forward is in everyone’s best interest.”

Here's Bobcat saying one theory on using A-Rod's salary in 2014...

A-Rod will get close to US$3-million of his salary...

A-Rod And The Suing Game

((HT: ESPN))

So, now we know the next step...

It's not about the "I did" or "I didn't," it's now about the semantics of the argument, the support, and the investigation.

The Alex Rodriguez camp, led by lawyer Joe Tacopina, is now suing MLB and the MLBPA for a lack of support and suing on the grounds that arbitrator Fredric Horowitz was biased in his ruling. They're also suing on the grounds that a suspension given without cause...

The A-Rod camp is also looking to have ruling vacated and claims that Horowitz ignored the baseball drug agreement and went straight to the 211-game suspension instead of the "standard" 50-game suspension for a first offense...

Roger Cossack discusses...


And here's the thoughts in New York City...
((HT: WABC-TV))

DEVELOPING: A-Rod Suspended For All Of 2014

So, after all the arguing, posturing, and threatening in the remainder of the 2013 Major League Baseball season has trimmed Alex Rodriguez's suspension from 211 games down to the 162 of the regular season...

Not a surprise...

And also not a surprise that A-Rod says he's still going to fight the arbitor's ruling...

Here's some of the statement from his camp:

"The number of games sadly comes as no surprise, as the deck has been stacked against me from day one," Rodriguez said in the statement. "This is one man's decision, that was not put before a fair and impartial jury, does not involve me having failed a single drug test, is at odds with the facts and is inconsistent with the terms of the Joint Drug Agreement and the Basic Agreement, and relies on testimony and documents that would never have been allowed in any court in the United States because they are false and wholly unreliable.

"This injustice is MLB's first step toward abolishing guaranteed contracts in the 2016 bargaining round, instituting lifetime bans for single violations of drug policy, and further insulating its corrupt investigative program from any variety defense by accused players, or any variety of objective review."

He can still attend spring training since it has nothing to do with the regular season itself...

Andrew Marchand discusses...
((HT: ESPN))


Rodriguez also maintains he'll take his battle to federal court since he maintains that he has never taken performance enhancing drugs...

This is the HQ holding its breath on that one...

Brian McCann says goodbye to Hot'Lanta, signs with the Yankees

No, YOU'RE the man, Brian. (Photo courtesy NYPost.com)

ATLANTA--The New York Yankees are once again in the business of spending money...LOTS of money...to try and win a championship.

The Pinstripes jumped right off the train and signed silver slugger Atlanta catcher Brian McCann to a five-year, $85 million contract. To be fair, the deal is pending a physical, but it's all but sealed. All said and done, the contract does include a possible sixth season, which would push the total upwards of $100 million.

There's even word the deal includes a full no-trade clause.

“[This is] a bittersweet day for him,” McCann’s agent B.B. Abbott told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “He has a special place in his heart for Atlanta.”

The Yankees believe McCann's power will fit right into the new Yankee Stadium, with it's shallow porch in right field. He's a career .277 hitter, and has hit at least 20 home runs every year, including 2012-13 after missing the first month of the season due to surgery on his shoulder.

The Braves are at least getting something out of this deal, because they did make a one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer to McCann. They will now receive a compensatory pick, somewhere between the first and second rounds, when MLB holds their June draft.

When the best hitting catcher in Braves history leaves Turner Field, Evan Gattis is the number one option still in the dugout. Gerald Laird and Christian Bethancourt are also on the roster.

A-Rod Suing MLB... Really...

This...

Well, the HQ doesn't know what the hell is going on...

But Alex Rodriguez is now suing Major League Baseball...just mere days after there were protesters supporting him in his quest telling folks he done got screwed and just...wants...to...play...the...sport...he...loves...

*sniff*

A-Rod claims MLB bought the cooperation of the chief witness against him- Anthony Bosch, the head of the Biogenesis clinic. The lawsuit claims that Bosch has been paid $5 million by MLB, according to the New York Times. Rodriguez's lawyers also claim that MLB promised to provide security for Bosch, cover his legal bills and keep him from being involved in any civil case that may evolve from the head-butting that MLB and Rodriguez are doing in arbitration right now.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig was also named a defendant in the suit, but the New York Yankees were not.

Steve Eder's article in the New York Times has all the details...

From Eder:

Rodriguez’s lawyers claim an investigator paid $150,000 in cash for records related to Rodriguez, which were apparently stolen. A portion of the cash “was handed off in a bag at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area restaurant,” the lawsuit says.

Well, there you go...

The lawsuit is separate from any other legal action the parties are going through right now...

Here's the paperwork, if you're looking for a good laugh...

And here's A-Rod discussing his 200-plus game suspension and wanting to return last baseball season...
((HT: YES Network))

Exit Sandman...

((HT: YES/MLB))

There was only one way to do this...

In his last game at Yankee Stadium, Mariano Rivera was pulled...
But not in the way you think...


The best part...???

Michael Kay laid out for almost four minutes on play-by-play...
Classy move... very classy...

ICYMI: Yanks Get Metallica To Play Rivera Entrance Music Live

Okay, admittedly not Yankees fans, but this was pretty cool.

As the career of legendary closer Mariano Rivera winds to a close, his team, the New York Yankees gave him a send-off to remember on Sunday.

Along with all the requisite gifts like a rocking chair and plaques and speeches and all that, it was this moment perhaps that was the coolest of all.

Since Rivera's "Entrance Music" has always been Metallica's "Enter Sandman"....who better to provide the live entrance music:

MLB won't let us embed their video, so you'll have to check this one out. It's still pretty cool:

Buck Showalter Wants None Of Joe Girardi's Shenanigans

((HT: MLB/YES/MASN))

The Yankees, in order to win 90 games and maybe make the playoffs, have to go 14-4 the rest of the way...

And, as a manager, you're going to do anything to throw anyone off their game...
Like this...


Orioles Manager Buck Showalter didn't want Girardi to chirp at the third base coach, Bobby Dickerson. He wanted any discussion or disagreement to go through him.

And you saw the hotness of Showalter... he's taking no crap from nobody...

Vernon Wells Goes CSI On Nunez Injury

((HT: Sportsnet))

There was a reason that Mark Reynolds had to play his second game ever at second base against the Toronto Blue Jays for the New York Yankees...

Cano- injured...
Nunez- really injured...

So, Yankees outfielder Vernon Wells (back in his old haunt of Toronto) decided to... um... outline the Nunez injury that has Reynolds doing his job at position 4 pregame...
See...???

Funny...

Ichiro Reaches 4,000 Hits

((HT: MLB Network/YES))

There is one of the greatest hitters in this lifetime on display in New York City...

It's Ichiro Suzuki... or, just Ichiro...

Like Madonna, Arnie, or any one of those single-named people... he's reached that status- and rightfully so...

He has now reached 4,000 hits... and the answer to the trivia question is- an RA Dickey knuckleball...


Ichiro had 1,278 hits in Japan before coming over to the continent a dozen years ago. He passed Lou Gehrig on the MLB career hits list Major League Baseball's with his 2,722nd hit that gave him 4,000 on the nose.

The question to you Dear Reader is: Is Ichiro a Hall of Famer...???

The HQ thinks so... and he's only two seasons behind Peter Edward Rose for the all-time hit lead...