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Yankees 6, Orioles 4: Travis Hafner saves the day

2013-05-21T03:35:18Z

The Yankees played a very weak game for most of the night, collecting only four hits (three were home runs) heading into the ninth inning. They probably scored enough off Freddy Garcia to secure a win with CC Sabathia on the mound, but CC proved to be ineffective. They had the lead, CC gave it up, then they retook the lead and CC gave it right back again. CC Sabathia has now given up 21 hits in his last two starts, which is not just ugly, but also worrisome considering his velocity problems. He needs to figure out how to make his stuff work if he's going to have lower velocity from now on.

The Yankees scored first with a solo home run from Robinson Cano in the first inning, marking his 13th of the season and made him the dinger leader for the American League. In the second inning David Adams hit his first home run in his major league career to make it 2–0.

Chris Davis responded to Cano's homer with one of his own to make it 2–1 and regain a tie for first place in home runs.

In the top of the fifth inning Reid Brignac had an injury scare when he awkwardly stepped on first base, but it ultimately proved to be nothing. In the bottom of the inning Steve Pearce doubled and hit Austin Romine in the head on his backswing, creating another injury scare. Thankfully, the Yankees' only catcher stayed in. Nick Markakis singled to tie the game 2–2.

In the sixth inning Brett Gardner walked and was nearly picked off of first base by Matt Wieters, but replay showed that he may have been out. That call was just one of a few calls that went in the Yankees' favor and made Buck Showalter livid. Garcia ended his night needing only 66 pitches to get through six innings, so if the Yankees were going to score they would need to do it against Baltimore's bullpen.

They did just that when Lyle Overbay hit a home run off Troy Patton to make it 3–2. The biggest part was that he has hit an ugly .119/.136/.190 against lefties so far this season. But CC has been shaky recently and couldn't hold the lead for even an inning. He gave up a single to Alexi Casilla and a double to Markakis to tie the game at 3–3. J.J. Hardy then doubled to right field to score a run and knock out Sabathia with the game at 4-2. Shawn Kelley came in and struck out two batters (and one in the eighth) to get out of the inning. Kelley has a ridiculous 15.58 K/9 so far this season, which is second in the league among relievers.

In the top of the eighth Vernon Wells pinch hit for Brignac, but replaced Brett Gardner in the field while Jayson Nix played shortstop. Somehow Ichiro was still in the game, though maybe that ended up being a blessing.

In the top of the ninth Travis Hafner hit a game-tying home run off Jim Johnson to save the game and get the Yankees into extra innings. The Orioles closer had come into the game having blown his last two save opportunities and now the man they call Pronk ensured that he would go for a third.

In the top of the 10th inning Ichiro, who had done nothing all day, doubled to start off the inning against Pedro Strop and Vernon Wells hit a ground rule double to take the lead. Austin Romine laid down a perfect bunt to move Wells to third base with one out, but Jayson Nix failed to do anything and Robinson Cano was walked. Brian Matusz was brought in to face Travis Hafner, who greeted the left-hander with a run-scoring single to make the game 6–4. It would seem that lefties don't faze Yankee hitters.

Mariano Rivera came in and collected his 17th straight save of the season; business as usual.

CC Sabathia finished with the ugly line of four earned runs on 11 hits with two strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched. At least he didn't walk anyone, but four of the hits he gave up came with two strikes. Shawn Kelley pitched an inning with three strikeouts and an intentional walk to Chris Davis and Boone Logan came in to get two outs in the eighth inning and give up a hit. David Robertson struck out two and gave up a hit, while Rivera struck a batter out to close out the game.

Cano, Hafner (2), Overbay (2), Adams (2), Ichiro, and Hafner had the nine Yankee hits of the night. Cano had two walks and Gardner had one, but the lineup as a whole struck out eight times.

Despite hitting some home runs the Yankees offense looked dead against Freddy Garcia until he left the game.
Ichiro looked lifeless for most of the night, but a timely double will likely keep him in the lineup for another three weeks.
It's amazing how Lyle Overbay can keep producing even though he's been playing in every single game since Kevin Youkilis went down. I keep waiting for him to fall apart, but he's still going strong.
It's nice to see David Adams do well with a single and a home run and, for those who are wondering, the Sterling call was "David is Goliath," which is disappointing because I prefer AN ADAMS BOMB. Oh well.

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Monday starting lineup vs. Orioles and injury updates

2013-05-20T20:46:27Z

Tonight's starting lineup against Freddy Garcia and the Orioles has been revealed.

Yankees lineup at Orioles: Gardner 8 Cano 4 Hafner DH Overbay 3 Granderson 7 Adams 5 Ichiro 9 Brignac 6 Romine 2 Sabathia LHP
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) May 20, 2013

The first things that come to mind:

That is a very lefty-heavy lineup, with David Adams and Austin Romine being the only right-handed hitter in the lineup, as Garcia has a .261/.329/.430 line against left-handed batters throughout his career.
Jayson Nix is finally not in the lineup after not having a day off since May 6, now if they could only give Lyle Overbay a day off too.

Injury updates:

Chris Stewart is going to need another couple of days before he can get back into the lineup and might actually need to report to Tampa. Hopefully Austin Romine can handle being the only catcher on the team for a few more days.
According to Mark Teixeira's own twitter he has finally starting hitting after going 1-2 with a double and a walk. There was some initial confusion about whether he was in an extended spring training game or a simulated game. Regardless, this is the first time he's seen live pitching since March and it's a good sign in the right direction, however, I doubt he's back before June like he claims he will be.

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Released Yankees: Where have you gone?

2013-05-20T19:00:09Z

The Yankees have released seven players so far this season, four position players and three pitchers. The first three releases came during spring training as part of a roster culling. These three major league-caliber players have since latched onto other teams and continue their career. The minor leaguers were just released this past month and will attempt to continue their aspiring baseball careers.

In spring training Juan Rivera was signed on to compete for the Yankees' right-handed outfield bat off the bench. When Mark Teixeira went down he ended up spending most of his time at first base and was looking at becoming the everyday first baseman. He hit .295/.317/.377 in 63 plate appearances, but was released when Lyle Overbay was brought in on short notice. He has since caught on with the Arizona Diamondbacks and has hit .324/.375/.405 for the Triple-A Reno Aces while playing first base and left field.

Matt Diaz was the other veteran brought in to hit lefties off the bench, but he had a much less successful spring. He hit only .200/.250/.200 in 31 plate appearances and when the Yankees had more pressing issues following Curtis Granderson's injury he was released. Diaz signed with the Miami Marlins and hit .341/.385/.459 in 91 plate appearances for the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs before getting a call up to the majors. He is now only hitting .167/.211/.222 in 19 plate appearances with Miami.

David Aardsma was in the second year of a two-year contract with the Yankees and was thought to be a lock for the team before spring training even started. He pitched to a 3.52 ERA in 7.2 innings, but was released by the Yankees at the beginning of April just before the start of the season because he was deemed expendable as a one-inning reliever. He signed with Miami and pitched 14 innings with a 2.57 ERA for their Triple-A affiliate before he was released just last week as his contract allowed him to request if he was not in the majors. It was announced less than an hour ago that he signed a minor league deal with the Mets. Sorry, buddy.

The organization made several cuts to their Triple-A and Double-A rosters this past month and Gil Velazquez, Juan Cedeno, Cody Johnson, and Shaeffer Hall were the unlucky ones to go.

Velazquez hit a putrid .173/.253/.173 in 85 plate appearances as Triple-A Scranton's primary shortstop. He has just re-signed with the Miami Marlins after spending the 2012 season with the organization. Juan Cedeno served as Scranton's LOOGY, pitching to a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings before being sent packing. He is now pitching for the Atlanta Braves' Triple-A Gwinnett team where he has a 6.00 ERA in only three innings.

Draft bust Cody Johnson, drafted by the Braves in the first round of the 2006 draft, had been playing in the Yankees' system since 2011. He hit just .167/.297/.259 in 64 plate appearances in 2013 before he was released. He just signed with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League, probably ending his hopes of an MLB career. The lone homegrown prospect of the bunch is Shaeffer Hall, who was drafted in the 25th round of the 2009 draft. He was basically a Double-A innings-eater for two years before transitioning to the bullpen in 2013. He pitched to a 3.32 ERA in 19 innings before being released and hooking on with the Oakland Athletics organization.

What have we learned from all of this? Maybe that if no one wants you, the Marlins sure do.

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Yankees vs. Orioles preview: Q&A with Mark Brown of Camden Chat

2013-05-20T17:00:09Z

The Yankees head to Baltimore tonight for a three-game set against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards after coming off a two-game sweep of the Blue Jays in New York. Ahead of the series, Mark Brown (or EatMoreEsskay) of our SB Nation sister site Camden Chat kindly took some time to answer a few questions about the upcoming series before engaging in some silliness toward the end. We cover roster moves, the "he's a baseball player" trend, me coveting an Oriole, cannons, and which Yankee pitcher is enough to provide hope for the end of a five-game losing streak.

I answered some questions for Mark over on Camden Chat, which you can read here. In the mean time, on to the questions.

Tanya: The Yankees and Orioles already faced each other once this season, but both teams have made a few roster moves since then. What personnel has changed for the Orioles since the last series?

Mark: How thorough of a report do you want? Dan Duquette's marginal roster moves are legendary, optioning and recalling players on a nearly daily basis to squeeze out an extra bullpen arm of bench bat. I call it the roster merry-go-round. Right now the music is sounding rather out of key and there are some evil-looking clowns holding bloody knives prowling the exterior.

The thing is that most of those guys don't matter. The biggest loss was Wei-Yin Chen, the lone consistent starter from last season, who's out with an oblique strain. Instead, you'll get to face your old friend Freddy Garcia. Underperforming Ryan Flaherty was recently optioned, and personal favorite Nolan Reimold has hit the disabled list. A whole heck of a lot of relievers and failed starters have come and gone.

Tanya: I think I can safely speak for every Yankee fan when I tell you that it's better you than us with Freddy Garcia. He was always a mixed bag with the Yankees and seems to have continued that trend with the Orioles, pitching six perfect innings against the Angels and then giving up four runs in 3.2 innings against the Padres. Do the other Orioles starters scheduled to pitch this series inspire any more confidence in you than Garcia?

Mark: Of late, there hasn't been much about the Orioles starting rotation to inspire confidence in anyone. They have three quality starts out of their last ten games, all of which were recorded by Chris Tillman, who started Sunday's loss against the Rays and won't be appearing in this series.

Miguel Gonzalez comes off a DL stint to start Tuesday's game. He may come the closest to making me feel a little confident, if one is inclined to believe that his performance was affected by the blister that sent him to the DL. Plus, as you know, going up against Phil Hughes may occasionally inspire confidence.

Wednesday's starter, Jason Hammel, dazzled last year with a four-seam fastball that got a number of strikeouts and even more ground balls. This year, everything is elevated, meaning fewer strikeouts, fewer ground balls, and a much higher ERA.

Tanya: Well, at least the hitters seem to be hitting, right? Plus, you have Manny Machado! That, at the very least, has to inspire confidence. Do you know where we can find one... I mean, what other players do the Yankee pitchers need to watch out for? And seriously, where can we find a Machado?

Mark: Machado is ours, and you cannot have him. Or at least not until after the 2018 season, when he will become a free agent, because he is a Scott Boras client. He will be 26 years old at that time, so you can look forward to giving him all of the years for all of the dollars as I sob bitter tears into the Chesapeake Bay.

Another player to look out for is Adam Jones, who's managing to get on base at a .355 clip despite swinging at every slider in the dirt. Chris Davis leads the world in OPS with a 1.094 mark, helped by his 12 home runs. There's also Nate McLouth. Yes, I'm surprised too. Nate is sporting a .794 OPS in 37 games and has already stolen 13 bases in 14 attempts.

Tanya: People say that the Yankees use black magic to bring players back from the dead! Whatever witchcraft is involved in making McLouth a good player again has to be right up there with Brian Cashman's voodoo.

Mark: By people, do you really mean me?

Tanya: You aren't alone, but you're certainly included. It's ok that you don't understand the success of Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay; I'm not sure I understand it either.

Mark: McLouth is not quite as puzzling as those guys, but after looking like he was toast last season - he had a .385 OPS in the 34 games before the Pirates sent him to the great DFA in the sky - he managed to pass through purgatory in Norfolk and return to the majors a new man. He's 31, which is old for a speedy outfielder, but not OLD. Maybe he just needed a change of scenery, or maybe Buck Showalter is the world's greatest motivator.

Tanya: Joe Girardi would probably call him a baseball player.

Mark: As a matter of fact, when the Orioles re-signed McLouth this past offseason, Showalter also called him a baseball player, which he also said is the highest compliment that he can pay someone. I'm glad there's someone to tell me these things.

Tanya: You know, because they want to make sure everyone knows those guys aren't a mechanic or a Game of Thrones extra. Thanks for clearing that up, managers. We may have never known without you.

Mark: Kevin Youkilis looked a lot like a Game of Thrones extra when he was on the Red Sox.

Tanya: He's rocking the Varys look these days. It's not much better.

Mark: And it probably means he's not seeing a lot of two-ball counts.

I'll show myself out.

Tanya: Well, that happened. Moving right along: If you had to pick one thing that you are the most optimistic about and one thing that you are most pessimistic about for the next three games, what would they be?

Mark: Am I allowed to say I'm optimistic about nothing and pessimistic about everything? Five-game losing streaks really have a way of bringing me down.

The biggest sign for optimism is that Hughes allows home runs more frequently than you threaten to fire him out of one of your many cannons. The Orioles have tended to be a home run-dependent team, so if they can get on board with the long ball, that will help them stop the skid.

As for pessimism, that lies in the starting rotation, which is a complete mess. Before Tillman's outing on Sunday, they had a 7.32 ERA over the previous eight games. They are getting lit up and they are not going deep into games, putting strain on the reliable stand-by bullpen of yesteryear. I mean, really. Garcia will be making his fourth start! It hurts.

Tanya: Well, I hate to say that I'd like your worst fears to be confirmed, but because we are friends, I'll say instead that I hope the games are exciting... and that the Yankees win all three. Thanks for letting me pick your brain, Mark!

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Top 100 Yankees: #100 Johnny Lindell

2013-05-20T15:00:10Z

About four months ago, I issued a call for help from the community in creating this site's list of the Top 100 Yankees of all time. We were delighted to receive 17 responses from you guys, and the list was complete. It took awhile to get this underway, but here we go.

Name: Johnny Lindell
Position: Outfield/Pitcher (RHB/RHP)
Born: August 30, 1916 (Greeley, CO)
Died: August 27, 1985 (Newport Beach, CA)
Yankee Years: 1941-50
Primary number: 27 (also 16, 18, and 8)
Yankee statistics: 742 G, .275/.343/.428, 124 2B, 45 3B, 63 HR, 114 OPS+, 14.5 rWAR, 15.3 fWAR

Biography

More prospect gold in California

The Joe McCarthy-era Yankees and subsequent teams had their share of superstars. Guys like Joe DiMaggio and Phil Rizzuto were future Hall of Famers, and players like Tommy Henrich and Charlie Keller were frequent All-Stars. However, the sheer depth of these squads was one of the primary reasons that they finished at the head of the pack in the American League year after year. There were also players that stayed with the time through the wartime years and helped them win the 1943 World Series, a championship often forgotten due to the absence of many stars. One such player was a California kid named Johnny Lindell, the 100^th-ranked player in the Pinstriped Bible's Top 100 Yankees.

California was an established factory of west coast Yankee talent by the mid-1930s. Imports included DiMaggio, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri. Lindell was six months into a pitching career at USC in 1936 when scout Bill Essick signed him with a bonus of $150. The Yankees highly respected Essick's opinion; he was the same fellow who recommended all those aforementioned west coast players in addition to Lefty Gomez, Joe Gordon, and Frankie Crosetti. The 20-year-old joined the Class C Joplin Miners and hit .325 with a .350 slugging percentage in 42 games while also pitching 212 innings to a 4.03 ERA. His control was little wild at 4.1 BB/9, but he cut that down to 2.8 BB/9 in 102 innings during his next season at Class A Binghamton while also bringing his ERA down to 2.74.

Lindell continued to develop as yet another homegrown prospect throughout the next few seasons. He reached his apex with a dominant '41 season with the Newark Bears, right on the Yankees' doorstep. Lindell went 23-4 in 31 games and 228 innings, completing 22 of his starts with a superb ERA of 2.05 and a walk rate of 2.3 BB/9. Lindell was no Ben Francisco with the bat either, contributing a .298/.328/.352 triple slash in 121 plate appearances as well, showing some value on offense to complement his excellent numbers on the mound. He was deservedly named the Minor League Player of the Year.

Having nothing left to prove in the minors, the Yankees put Lindell on their pitching staff for the '42 season as they tried to defend their World Series championship in '41. Unfortunately for him, the Yankees' starting rotation in '42 was absolutely stacked-not one of their six pitchers who made at least 19 starts posted an ERA+ below 107 or an ERA over 3.25. Lindell was instead relegated to the bullpen, where he made more relief appearances than anyone other than fireman Johnny Murphy. Featuring a knuckleball, curveball, and fastball, he was decent in his rookie season, pitching to a 3.76 ERA and a 92 ERA+. The Yankees won the AL pennant, but with so many statistically impressive starters in their rotation, there was no room in the ‘pen for Lindell come September and October. He was a non-factor in the Yanks' five-game Fall Classic loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

A triple threat at the plate

When Lindell returned to the Yankees for Spring Training in '43, the team suddenly had very little depth in the outfield. Both DiMaggio and Henrich had enlisted for World War II, leaving only Keller as an incumbent outfielder. Lindell's manager, McCarthy had an inkling that Lindell could possibly help the Yankees in that capacity rather than on the mound. He was perturbed by Lindell's low strikeout rates and felt that Lindell's repertoire (especially his fastball) was not good enough to retire major league hitters. Happy to help in whatever way he could, Lindell won a job in the Opening Day outfield and spent the '43 season adjusting to life as a regular position player.

In the first half, Lindell was on a roll; he hit .260/.340/.382 with 20 extra-base hits while McCarthy told reporters "Keep your eye on Lindell because he looks like he's going places." McCarthy rewarded him with Lindell's only career appearance on the AL All-Star team. Although the daily grind of the long season in the field led to a second-half slump, he still led the league in triples with 12 in just 122 games and ended the season with a .245/.329/.366 triple slash and a 103 wRC+.

The Yankees rode an otherworldly .701 winning percentage at home (54-23) to a 98-56 record, building a 10-game lead in the AL by mid-August and eventually capturing the flag by 13.5 games over second-place Washington. Lindell's struggles continued into the World Series with just two times on base in 10 plate apperances, but the Yankees were able to exact revenge over the Cardinals in five games anyway, and Lindell had his first World Series ring.

"Keep your eye on Lindell because he looks like he's going places." -Joe McCarthy, 1943

Now with that first full season under his belt, Lindell broke through as a 27-year-old in '44 with his career year. Although the Yankees' streak of three consecutive pennants came to a close as they finished in third place, six games behind the normally-downtrodden St. Louis Browns, Lindell did everything he could to keep the streak alive. A bit of a slow start cost him his second All-Star appearance, but the rising fan favorite was far more consistent throughout the '44 campaign than he was in '43. He notched 33 doubles on the season, and four of them came in a row in one game on August 17^th against the Indians at Yankee Stadium, tying a major-league record.

Lindell led the league in triples again at 16, added a career-high 18 homers, and he hit .300/.351/.500 with a .393 wOBA and a 138 wRC+ in 149 games. His .500 slugging percentage was third in the league, he led the league in total bases at 297, and he compiled 5.7 fWAR. He was overshadowed by teammate Snuffy Stirnweiss for AL MVP votes, but Tigers ace Hal Newhouser won the award anyway. Nonetheless, it was a banner season for a man who was a full-time pitcher just two years prior.

Lindell began the '45 campaign with the Yankees once again, but after hitting .283/.363/.377 in 41 games, he enlisted with the U.S. Army as World War II was winding down in June and he missed the remainder of the season. By the time Lindell returned to the Yanks with the rest of the veterans in '46, he was squeezed out of the starting outfield by DiMaggio and Henrich. Some wartime players like Stirnweiss returned to normal with superior pitching back on the mound, but Lindell's numbers were not far off from his career norms. He appeared more often for the Yanks in '46 than any other bench player, 102 games, frequently finding open spots in the lineup as both an outfielder and a first baseman. Lindell hit .259/.328/.410 with 10 homers and a 104 wRC+ in 369 plate appearances.

World Series hero

In '47, the Yankees had a new skipper at the helm; McCarthy had left the Yankees 35 games into the '46 season. Management settled on former Senators manager Bucky Harris as the manager, and he continued McCarthy's practice of keeping Lindell active seemingly every other day as an outfielder or pinch-hitter. A ruptured disc brought Keller down for the season in June though, and Lindell took his place in left field for the duration of the season, playing alongside DiMaggio and Henrich. He again turned in a fine season at the plate, batting .275/.322/.412 with a 101 wRC+ as the Yankees broke a brief streak of three seasons without October baseball in win the '47 AL pennant with a 97-57 record, 12 games ahead of the Tigers. They were even better at home than the '43 squad-55-22, a .714 winning percentage.

In his second World Series, Lindell played the best baseball of his life. He drove a go-ahead two-run double in the opener at Yankee Stadium to give the Yankees a 2-1 fifth inning lead that held up, and he hit a sacrifice fly while reaching base three times with a walk, a double, and a triple in a 10-3 blowout win in Game 2. He notched four more hits and two walks in a one-run losses at Ebbets Field in Games 3 and 4, and after a rare hitless outing in Game 5, he rebounded with two hits in two at-bats in Game 6 until calamity struck. Lindell broke a rib on the basepaths and had to watch from the bench as the Yankees eventually took the series in seven games. Had the World Series MVP existed in those days, Lindell may very well have won it for his .500/.625/.778 triple slash in that series, even if he was unable to finish the Classic himself.

The last hurrah

Lindell hit a commendable .317/.387/.511 in part-time duty the next season, good for a .412 wOBA and 137 wRC+ in 88 games. It was not enough to save Harris's job though, as the Yankees missed the Fall Classic and Casey Stengel took over the ballclub. He was only 32 years old in '49, but Lindell's talents at the plate began to fade; his .242/.350/.374 triple slash produced his first sub-100 wRC+ season as a full-time player. Lindell did produce one final highlight in pinstripes near the end of the '49 campaign in a tight race with the Boston Red Sox for the pennant.

The Yankees were in a must-win scenario against Boston at Yankee Stadium with only one more game left on the slate. They trailed Boston by a game in the AL standings, so a loss meant that Boston would be the winners of the pennant. The Red Sox beat up Allie Reynolds and wild reliever Joe Page to jump out to a 4-0 lead after three innings. The Yankees fought back to tie it up at four in the fifth against Mel Parnell, and the score remained that way until Lindell came up with no one on and two outs in the bottom of the eighth.

Joe Dobson had relieved Parnell in the fifth and limited the Yanks to just a pair of infield singles in 3.2 innings. Lindell stepped up and broke Dobson's scoreless streak with a long homer to deep left field, the last he would ever hit as a Yankee. His old manager McCarthy was managing the Red Sox, and Lindell jokingly told the press that the homer was McCarthy's fault for originally converting him to a position player.The roundtripper brought the enormous Yankee Stadium crowd of 69,551 to its feet as the Yankees took 5-4 lead and lived to see the next day. They won that game as well as Lindell went 1-for-2 with two walks in the 5-3 pennant-clinching victory. Boston was toast, and Lindell would earn his third World Series ring.

The 34-month comeback... to the mound

After a slow start to the 1950 season, the St. Louis Cardinals claimed Lindell from the Yankees, ending quite a successful 15-year stint in the Yankee organization. A disappointing stint with the Cardinals spelled his exile from the pros, as St. Louis sold him to Pacific Coast League's Hollywood Stars. Back on the west coast, Lindell also returned to his first site of success as a player-the pitching mound. He had not pitched professionally in nine years, but he dazzled PCL hitters with his knuckleball by notching a 36-18 record over the next two seasons, pitching to a 2.73 ERA in 472 innings. He was named PCL MVP in '52. Imagine that-190 innings one year and 282 the next after zero in basically a decade. Different times, indeed.

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a working agreement with the Stars, and they had purchased the rights to Lindell. Impressed by his numbers in the PCL, they invited him to camp and he made their starting rotation. Thus, he completed his amazing 34-month comeback to the majors on April 15, 1953 in a game against the Dodgers. He lost to the defending NL champions 4-2, but his only run support came from his own bat on a two-run homer. Lindell was a league average starter in '53, pitching to a 95 ERA+ in 175.2 innings before the Phillies purchased him on August 31^st. He finished the year in Philly, then went 1-for-5 with two walks as a pinch-hitter in '54 before he was released on May 10^th, ending a 12-year career in the majors.

Lindell had a nice, long retirement before lung cancer took him few days shy of his 70^th birthday in 1985. He will never be remembered as the most well-known Yankee of the ‘40s, but he certainly made his impact on the team all around the field and wrote quite a personal comeback story with his eventual return to the mound.

Andrew's rank: 85

Tanya's rank: 92

Community's rank: N/A

Avg. WAR rank: 96.5

Season Stats

Year	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	rWAR	fWAR
1941	24	NYY	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	-100	0	0.0	0.0
1942	25	NYY	27	24	24	1	6	1	0	0	4	0	0	0	5	0.250	0.250	0.292	0.542	53	7	0.1	-0.1
1943	26	NYY	122	500	441	53	108	17	12	4	51	2	5	51	55	0.245	0.329	0.365	0.694	102	161	1.0	1.4
1944	27	NYY	149	646	594	91	178	33	16	18	103	5	4	44	56	0.300	0.351	0.500	0.851	138	297	5.3	5.7
1945	28	NYY	41	181	159	26	45	6	3	1	20	2	1	17	10	0.283	0.363	0.377	0.740	111	60	0.8	0.9
1946	29	NYY	102	369	332	41	86	10	5	10	40	4	1	32	47	0.259	0.328	0.410	0.738	104	136	1.1	1.3
1947	30	NYY	127	513	476	66	131	18	7	11	67	1	2	32	70	0.275	0.322	0.412	0.734	104	196	2.1	2.1
1948	31	NYY	88	344	309	58	98	17	2	13	55	0	0	35	50	0.317	0.387	0.511	0.898	138	158	2.2	2.6
1949	32	NYY	78	247	211	33	51	10	0	6	27	3	0	35	27	0.242	0.350	0.374	0.724	92	79	0.3	0.6
1950	33	NYY	7	25	21	2	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	4	2	0.190	0.320	0.190	0.510	35	4	-0.2	-0.2
NYY (10 yrs)			742	2850	2568	371	707	112	45	63	369	17	13	250	322	0.275	0.343	0.428	0.770	114	1098	12.7	14.5

Year	Age	Tm	W	L	ERA	FIP	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	ERA-	FIP-	rWAR	fWAR
1942	25	NYY	2	1	3.76	3.40	23	2	1	52.2	52	25	22	3	22	28	1	1	1	106	99	-0.2	0.3

Stats from Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs

References

Appel, Marty. Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees from Before the Babe to After the Boss. New York: Bloomsbury, 2012.

Bailey, Judson. "Yankee Pitcher May Play First," The Telegraph-Herald. 19 Mar. 1943. (Link)

BR Bullpen

"Lindell Homers to Clinch Win; Final Tilt Today," Herald-Journal. 2 Oct. 1949. (Link)

"Pitchers Parade in Final Contest," The Windsor Daily Star. 6 Oct. 1947. (Link)

"White Hope of the New York Yankees, Johnny Lindell, is Producing," Painesville Telegraph. 26 May 1943. (Link)

Baby Bomber Recap 5/19/13: Jake Cave doubles three times in RiverDogs win

2013-05-20T13:00:13Z

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders: L 4-10 vs. Columbus Clippers

2B Corban Joseph 1-4, BB
RF Brennan Boesch 1-2, 3 BB
CF Zoilo Almonte 0-5, 2 K
3B Ronnier Mustelier 1-5, RBI, 2 K, SB, E5 - 13 for his last 48 (.271)
DH Dan Johnson 1-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB - fifth homer of the season
1B Josh Bell 0-4, K
LF Thomas Neal 1-3, BB, SB - batting .318 this season
C Bobby Wilson 1-3, BB
SS Addison Maruszak 2-4, RBI

Caleb Cotham 4.1 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 6 K - allowed four (!!!) home runs
Mark Montgomery 1.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB - 25 of 39 pitches for strikes
Clay Rapada 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB
Cody Eppley 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB

The RailRiders got out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, but the Clippers tied the game in the bottom of the frame. Things were close until a disastrous five-run fifth put the game out of reach. Chris Bootcheck starts for SWB today at 7:05 pm.

Double-A Trenton Thunder: L 2-3 vs. Bowie Baysox

LF Ramon Flores 1-4, 2B
2B Jose Pirela 0-4, K
DH Tyler Austin 0-4, K - batting .253 this season
1B Kyle Roller 1-3, 2B, BB, K - eleventh double of the season
CF Slade Heathcott 1-4, 2 K - hit safely in six straight games
RF Neil Medchill 0-4, K
SS Ali Castillo 2-4, RBI, E6 - fielding error, third of the season
3B Kevin Mahoney 0-2, BB
C Nick McCoy 0-3, K

Zach Nuding 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K - five groundouts, five flyouts
Fred Lewis 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Tom Kahnle 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, K
Branden Pinder 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB - three groundouts, zero flyouts

For the fourth straight game, the Thunder couldn't record a hit off the opposing team's bullpen. They also failed to score in more than one inning. Mikey O'Brien starts for Trenton today at 6:35 pm.

High-A Tampa Yankees: L 2-6 vs. Clearwater Threshers

CF Mason Williams 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, K, SB - 10 for his last 41 (.244)
DH Angelo Gumbs 0-4, 2 K
2B Rob Refsnyder 1-4, E4 - throwing error, 10th of the season
C Gary Sanchez 0-4, K
SS Carmen Angelini 1-4, CS - 13 for his last 43 (.302)
RF Anderson Feliz 0-1 - fielding error, 13th of the season
3B Dan Fiorito 1-4, 2B, K - batting .324 this season
1B Saxon Butler 2-3
LF Eduardo Sosa 1-3

Corey Black 3.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R/2 ER, 5 BB, 7 K, 3 WP - Welp...
Joel De La Cruz 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K - three groundouts, three flyouts
Manny Barreda 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, K, HB

After two thrilling finishes against the Threshers, the Yankees couldn't pull it off a third time in a row. Shane Green starts for Tampa today at 6:30 pm.

Low-A Charleston RiverDogs: W 9-7 vs. Greenville Drive

CF Jake Cave 4-6, 3 2B (!!!), 3B, 2 RBI, 2 K - 15 for his last 43 (.349)
SS Cito Culver 0-6, 2 K
1B Greg Bird 2-4, 2B, HR, RBI, BB - fourth homer of the season
C Peter O'Brien 1-4, 2B, RBI, BB, K
3B Dante Bichette Jr. 1-4, BB
RF Yeicok Calderon 1-5, HR, RBI, K - fifth homer of the season
DH Reymond Nunez 1-4, BB, 2 K
LF Kelvin De Leon 2-5, 2 K, SB
2B Claudio Custodio 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB, SB - second and third homers of the season

Dan Camarena 4.1 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, HB - two groundouts, six flyouts
Dietrich Enns 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K - given up 2 ER over 22.1 IP
Phil Wetherell 3 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Camarena owes his offense a burger for getting him off the hook for an ugly loss by scoring two runs in each the eighth and ninth innings to take the series from the Drive, three games to one. Cesar Vargas starts for the RiverDogs today at 7:05 pm.

Around the Empire: New York Yankees News - 5/20/13

2013-05-20T11:00:09Z

Yesterday on Pinstriped Bible

Around the Internet

Idol - New York Daily News | Anthony McCarron: Newest Yankee Reid Brignac was a fan of Derek Jeter when he was growing up and now he's filling in for him at shortstop.
Catching On - LoHud | Chad Jennings: Austin Romine has gotten into a groove behind the plate and at it after looking shaky at the start of the 2013 season.
Keep Cool - New York Post | Kevin Kernan: David Phelps has impressed everyone with his maturity and composure on the mound that helps him get through lineups when he's dealing or when he's struggling.
The Uniform - Newsday | John Jeansonne: Veterans, cast-offs, and minor leaguers alike have all put on the Yankees pinstripes and performed better than expected.
25 Percent Awards - CBS Sports | Dayn Perry: With 25% of the 2013 season out of the way Joe Girardi is winning the Manager of the Year Award.

Quick Hits

The Yankees' on-base percentage has plummeted this season.
Joba Chamberlain will head down to Tampa to continue his rehabbing.
Francisco Cervelli will see the doctor next week to see if he can get the pins in his hands removed.
Triple-A prospect Luke Murton has been placed on the disabled list
Hal Steinbrenner thinks tickets at Yankee Stadium are affordable.
Buy Yankees Tickets: You can get cheap tickets to go see the Yankees take on the Mets and Red Sox.

Around MLB

Ian Kinsler has been placed on the DL and Jurickson Profar will be called up and make his 2013 debut today.
Clayton Kershaw fell to the Dodgers because he pitched poorly in his last game before the draft, the Royals picked Luke Hochevar and number one prospect, Andrew Miller, fell to the Tigers.
Gerardo Parra hit a home run on the first pitch of the game and the Diamondbacks ended up winning 1-0, a feat that hasn't happened in 50 years.
Tim Lincecum slipped on the rubber and fell to the ground.
Mike Olt is apparently suffering from some undiagnosed vision problem.

Questions of the Day

If you could have any job in the Yankees organization what would it be?
When Francisco Cervelli returns who should be the team's catchers?
What is your least favorite musical instrument?
What do you like/dislike about the morning news?

Coming Up Today

Baby Bomber Recap 5/19/13: Jake Cave doubles three times in RiverDogs win @ 9 am
Top 100 Yankees: Johnny Lindell @ 11 am
Yankees vs. Orioles preview: Q&A with Mark Brown of Camden Chat @ 1 pm
New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles at 7:05 pm (Game Thread at 6:30 pm)

Vidal Nuno skipped, David Adams sits - Are the Yankees not in the business of winning?

2013-05-19T19:00:04Z

The Yankees are all about winning, except when it comes to relying on rookies. Maybe this is a bit dramatic and overreactive, but in a season ravaged by injuries the Yankees have proven that they will try anyone out, but only veterans get to keep their spots.

Adam Warren made the team out of Spring Training, Chris Nelson was designated for assignment to make room for David Adams, Vidal Nuno and Brett Marshall were called up, Corban Joseph made his debut, and Preston Claiborne has been given a chance.

However, now Nuno's start in place of the injured Andy Pettitte has been skipped because of the rainout. I don't have a problem with this decision, what I have a problem with is that it comes when the Yankees are still letting Phil Hughes start. I'm not saying Phil Hughes should be taken out of the rotation, but tell me how he is a clear improvement over Nuno?There's a chance Phil could dominate the Orioles lineup, but there's also a bigger chance he will be the same inconsistent Phil Hughes we all know and even a chance he could blow up like he did in his last start.

Vidal Nuno has a 1.54 ERA, 0.8 BB/9, 10 K/9, 5 H/9 in 23.1 innings in Scranton this year and has not given up a run in eight innings in the majors. Meanwhile, Phil Hughes has a 5.88 ERA, 2.4 BB/9, 8.1 K/9 and 11.5 H/9 in 41.1 innings in the majors. Obviously, Nuno is not going to be that good in the majors, but that line looks much better than Hughes' line. Again, I'm still not saying Hughes should be bench, though maybe he should, but if you're skipping Nuno you should also be skipping Hughes, especially after he gave up seven runs in only 0.2 innings. It's like the Yankees don't trust rookies or something.

David Adams getting called up was a great thing, especially after he was released by the organization just a few months ago. This year in Triple-A, he was hitting .316/.407/.490 with three home runs and 13 walks in 113 plate appearances. More importantly, he was hitting .364/.432/.606 against left-handers, which is what he can help the team with the most – the Yankees are hitting a collective .233/.299/.359 against them.

The Yankees recently acquired Reid Brignac to platoon against right-handed pitchers and add another option at shortstop to allow Jayson Nix to get some much needed off days. Today he was penciled in at shortstop, but took Adams' place in the lineup and Nix was moved over the third base. Jayson Nix has not had a day off since May 6, even after playing in both games of a doubleheader. He has hit .243/.375/.297 in that time, making him an easy bat in the lineup to replace, yet Adams is the one who sits.

It's obvious that Joe Girardi only looks at handedness when determining platoon match ups and probably doesn't even look at players' numbers. Otherwise Brennan Boesch would have gotten more playing time against lefties, Ben Francisco would probably get less, and Travis Hafner hitting against southpaws would not have been a big deal. Nix is a lifetime .201/.271/.334 hitter against righties, meaning almost anyone should start over him if they have the option. Everyone except David Adams, apparently, who has a .302/.382/.439 line against them in the minors between 2008-2012. Reid Brignac is a lifetime .244/.293/.330 hitter, so I have to imagine David Adams could do better than both of them, even if he is right-handed.

Yes, the pitcher's numbers versus different handed batters also come into play, as R.A. Dickey is much better against right-handers than left-handers. The problem is that you end up with the likes of Jayson Nix and Reid Brignac starting in the same lineup. I don't care what the numbers might say, Dickey is not going to struggle against them.

I hope this is a one-time thing because Adams needs to play every day if the Yankees want to find out what kind of value he can give them. Phil Hughes will be a free agent at the end of the year, but Vidal Nuno is just starting his career and could contribute to this team for years. In a year highlighted by injures to almost every starting position player the rookies should be getting their chances, not just being used as fill-ins because there aren't any better (read: veteran) options. Just because they've been playing longer doesn't mean they're better, or really any good at all.

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Baby Bomber Recap 5/19/13: Jake Cave doubles three times in RiverDogs win

Around the Empire: New York Yankees News - 5/20/13

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