Tagged: Joe Nathan

December 2, 2009

Presenting The 2009 She-Fan Awards, Part 3

Last night I announced the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Postseason Enemy – the opposing player who best helped the Yankees win the ALDS, ALCS or World Series. Congratulations again to Brad Lidge.

Tonight’s award goes to the opposing player who contributed mightily to this year’s most exciting phenomenon: the walk-off victory. The Yankees had 15 walk-offs during the regular season, some more significant than others but all a great source of pleasure for Yankee fans – and for A.J. Burnett.

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And the nominees for Best Regular Season Walk-Off Enemy are…

– Brian Fuentes, Los Angeles Angels

Yes, Fuentes was one of last night’s nominees, but he merits another look in this category. On May 1st, he allowed a bases-loaded walk-off single by Posada in the ninth, and the Yanks beat the Angels 10-9 after having been down by five runs in the game. A big win against a big rival.

– Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins

Another return nominee, Nathan was on the mound on May 15th, which, by the way, marked A-Rod’s debut at the new Stadium as well as the game in which Brett Gardner had an inside-the-park home run. In the ninth, Gardner tripled off Nathan, Tex singled, A-Rod walked, Cano was walked intentionally, and – with the bases loaded – Melky blooped a two-out single to win the game 5-4. The Yanks went on to sweep the Twins with three consecutive walk-offs.

– Brad Lidge, Philadelphia Phillies

Yet another return nominee, Lidge pitched the ninth on May 23rd. The Yanks were down by two runs, but the Phillies closer walked Damon, gave up a game-tying homer to A-Rod, allowed a single to Cano, who stole second, and served up a walk-off single to Melky. A foreshadowing of things to come.

– Luis Castillo, New York Mets

We all know what happened on June 12th, but here’s the recap. The Yanks were down by a run in the ninth when K-Rod came in to close it out for the Mets. Jeter singled, stole second and K-Rod intentionally walked Tex to pitch to a struggling A-Rod, who popped up to Castillo for the third out. Inexplicably, L-Cas dropped the ball, and Tex and A-Rod scored the winning runs. The best part was watching K-Rod celebrate – prematurely.

– Shawn Camp, Toronto Blue Jays

July 4th was George Steinbrenner’s birthday and the 70th anniversary of Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest Man” speech. So it was only fitting that Roy Halladay did not get the win on this day. Instead, he left the game in a funk after Damon’s two-run shot tied the score in the seventh. It wasn’t until the 12th that Posada singled in the winning run off Camp, who is a double She-Fan Award nominee for the walk-off single he gave up to Cano on August 12th.

– Junichi Tazawa, Boston Red Sox

Who can forget the August 7th game that lasted 15 innings and five-and-a-half hours? It was Burnett against Beckett, two former Marlins, and the score was 0-0 when A-Rod stepped in against the rookie Red Sox pitcher and belted one into the seats with Jeter aboard for a 2-0 walk-off. The win expanded the Yankees’ lead in the AL East to four-and-a-half games.

– Kyle Farnsworth, Kansas City Royals

No, the game on September 29th against the Royals hardly mattered in terms of the pennant race. But seeing old friend Farnsy was a treat nonetheless. With the September call-ups in the lineup, Cervelli got the Yankees’ ninth-inning rally going with a ground ball that deflected off Farnsworth for a single. Cisco moved to third on Hinske’s single and scored on Cano’s sac fly. Up to the plate stepped another call-up, Juan Miranda, whose grounder off Farnsy’s leg scored Hinske. The Yanks won 4-3 and all was right with the world.

The envelope please.

And the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Regular Season Walk-off Enemy goes to…

***** Junichi Tazawa *****

The sentimental favorite would have been Castillo, of course. But an interleague series against the hapless Mets that didn’t really count for a lot except in entertainment value? Conversely, the 15-inning game against the Red Sox was huge. They had beaten us eight straight times coming into the series, and first place in the division was on the line. Once A-Rod hit that shot off of Tazawa, they had to settle for a Wild Card berth. Congratulations to Mr. Tazawa. Oh, wait. Mr. Tazawa is out of the country and can’t be here to accept his award. Accepting it for him is his teammate.

“Oh, wow,” said Mr. Papelbon. “The She-Fan Award is really heavy.”

“That’s because it’s solid gold,” I said. “Maybe you’ll win one next year.”

December 1, 2009

Presenting The 2009 She-Fan Awards, Part 2

Last night, I handed out the symbolic gold fan to the recipient of the first She-Fan Award, which recognizes a person or persons who contributed to the Yankees winning their 27th World Championship. Yankees players and coaches are ineligible, but beyond that? Anything goes. Congratulations once again to Dr. Marc Phillipon, the winner of the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Surgeon.

And now, I’d like to move on to the award for the member of an opposing playoff team who most helped the Yankees take home the championship trophy. This award spotlights a player from the Twins, Angels or Phillies who, through bad luck, nerves, a flu bug or just plain ineptitude, gave the Yanks an opportunity to win a playoff baseball game.

The nominees for Best Enemy are…

– Joe Nathan, Minnesota Twins

Nathan came in to relieve in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the ALDS and served up a tying homer to A-Rod to send the game into extras.

– Jose Mijares, Minnesota Twins

Mijares surrendered the walk-off homer to Tex in the 11th inning of Game 2 of the ALDS. The Yankees ended up winning that one 4-3 and took a 2-0 lead in the series.

– John Lackey, Los Angeles Angels

In Game 1 of the ALCS, Big John walked Melky twice. The second time he threw the ball away for an error on a botched pickoff move at first.

– Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar, Los Angeles Angels

Yes, it was cold at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of the ALCS, and Aybar was wearing an Elmer Fudd cap with ear flaps. But he and Figgy let Matsui’s bloop “single” drop between them to put the Yanks up 2-0 in the game.

– Brian Fuentes, Los Angeles Angels

In Game 2 of the ALCS, the Angels’ closer gave up a homer to A-Rod in the bottom of the 11th inning to tie the score at 3-3 and turn the game into an epic battle.

– Maicer Izturis, Los Angeles Angels

The above game ended in pie for the Yankees in the bottom of the 13th when Melky grounded to Izturis, who threw wildly to first and allowed Hairston to score the winning run from second base. The game took 5 hours and 10 minutes and was an instant classic.

– Scott Kazmir, Los Angeles Angels

The lefty not only surrendered four runs in four innings in his start in Game 4 of the ALCS, but while relieving in the eighth inning of Game 6 he committed a throwing error on Melky’s attempted sacrifice, allowing Cano to score and put the Yanks up 4-2.

– Brad Lidge, Philadelphia Phillies

Lidge came in to relieve in the ninth inning of Game 4 with the score tied at 4-4. He lost a nine-pitch at bat when Damon singled and famously stole second and third. He hit Tex with a pitch, and allowed a double to A-Rod and a single to Posada. (No, he wasn’t as sharp as last year.) The Yanks held on to win 7-4.

– Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies

Howard struck out 13 times in the series. Enough said.

– Pedro Martinez, Philadelphia Phillies

Pedro not only gave up a homer to Matsui in Game 2 of the World Series, but he served up another one to Godzilla in Game 6, as well as a two-RBI single. Matsui was definitely Pedro’s daddy.

(Note: I’m not including base-running blunders by Nick Punto, Carlos Gomez, Bobby Abreu, etc. I had to stop somewhere.)

So now, without further ado, the winner of the 2009 She-Fan Award for Best Enemy goes to….

***** Brad Lidge *****

While Pedro Martinez was certainly the sentimental favorite and the duo of Figgins/Aybar sent a message that the Angels were mistake-prone, it was Lidge’s meltdown that allowed the Yanks to take a 3-1 World Series lead on the road and enabled them to close out the series at home in Game 6. Congratulations, Mr. Lidge. Enjoy your award.

P.S. Just wanted to pay my respects to Yankees legend Tommy Henrich. He passed away today at the age of 96. Rest in peace, “old reliable.”

October 9, 2009

Yankees-Twins Game 2: The M&M Boys Are Back!

Only they’re not these guys.

And they’re actually the T&R Boys.

But you get the idea. As in the Mantle and Maris era, Tex and A-Rod are a 3-4 duo that’s producing clutch hits in huge situations. That was certainly the case in tonight’s 4-3 victory over the Twins in 11 innings. Oh, what a game. It was such an emotional ride that I was sure I’d end up in a hospital bed suffering from sheer exhaustion.

Where to begin? The game was like a thriller with three distinctly different acts.

Act 1: The No-Hitter

For the first four-plus innings, the Yankees couldn’t get a hit off Nick Blackburn. Nothing. I kept saying to my husband, “They picked one horrible time to have their bats go cold.”

AJ was holding his own, throwing scoreless inning after scoreless inning, although he walked five and battled his tendency to be a wild man.

After the Twins scored a run in the top of the sixth, the Yankees came back with a run in the bottom of the inning when Jeter doubled and A-Rod knocked him in with a single. Suddenly, it was 1-1 – a whole new ball game.

Act 2: The Relievers

Joba and Coke took care of the Twins in the seventh. But in the eighth, Hughes wasn’t as dominant as he’s been and Mo didn’t pick him up.

With the Twins ahead 3-1, Mo came back out for a relatively easy ninth, thanks to Swisher’s great catch of Young’s fly ball. In the bottom of the ninth, I was crouched on the floor and muttering to myself, “Somebody do something so we won’t lose this thing! Please!”

That’s when the T&R Boys came to my rescue. Tex led off with a single and A-Rod hit a bomb to tie the score at 3-3 – another whole new ball game.

Act 3: Extra Innings

When Joe Nathan took the mound for the bottom of the 10th, I figured we were cooked. But Posada (no, he wasn’t off sulking in the clubhouse) singled. Gardner pinch ran for him, stole second and went to third on Nathan’s throwing error. Did he score the winning run? Nooo. He got doubled up on Damon’s liner. I was so frustrated I started yelling at my husband for no good reason.

Marte took the ball in the top of the 11th and gave up singles to the two batters he faced. (Nice one, Damaso.) With only two guys left in the pen (I think), Girardi sent Robertson out to pitch. After allowing a leadoff single to load the bases, he managed to retire Young, Gomez and Harris and end the threat. My heart was pounding.