Welcome Back, Wanger

Wang arrived Taiwan earlier. This is the photo in airport station. Wang just had a press conference 2 hours ago. However, there is huge political news in Taiwan today( I don't want to talk about that. If you guys are interested, go check out news).

I don't think there will be a huge coverage of Wang today. In fact, Taiwan media just like New York media. This is so rare someone like Wang to have any coverage at all. This tells you something. The way he speak(so few words) is really not a news material(boring).

I got few quotes from some news .


*Yankees ask Wang to ride bike, not to run.

*Wang knows there are a lot of great pitchers on the free agent market this off-season. How he feel? He said let go to get champion together. No matter who Yankees get, they are the best ones. He will just do his job which try his best to win every game. However, Wang said Moose and Pettitte really help him a lot. I think we can't underestimate the impact those veterans pitchers will bring to the team, especially for young pitchers.

*Wang really want to play WBC for Taiwan, but he knows he need to rehab first. Wang actually asked Cashman before coming back to Taiwan. Cashman already told him to prepare spring training.

*He said he felt so sad and miserable for not able to help Yankees, especially he sat there and looked at what happened to the team the end of season. When he knew Yankees' chance for playoffs become lower and lower, he wanted to play so badly and apologized to team.

Come back later for more if I have more.

Updated: I am finally able to watch Wang's press conference. Sorry about being late. I was so tired because I haven't slept much for few days.

*Wang said Bowa kept sending him text messages to encourage him and want to know how he feel after he get hurt. I think Yankees really miss Larry Bowa. If they actually have a chance to sign him after 2007 season, they definitely should not miss.

*Remember the difference between Joe Torre and Joe Girardi? Wang said Torre joking around with him a lot. However, Kuo(another Taiwanese pitcher) is the relief pitcher on LA Dodgers said Torre is quiet. He doesn't say much. As for Joe Girardi, Wang said he is more serious than Torre. During practices, Girardi actually run with them. Wang said he runs harder and tried not to lose to him.

I think Torre is really a good players manager based on what I heard from Wang and Kuo. Based on players' different personality, Torre uses different ways to communicate with them. Wang is quiet guy and is very hard on himself. Joking around with him and making him loose is a good way to get most out of him. On the other hand, Kuo is a voluble guy with good sense of humor. Torre use more serious way to deal with him.

*Wang doesn't regret for running hard on bases and getting hurt. He said injury is part of athlete's life. He always does his best no matter what he is doing. However, he thinks he needs to focus more to train his legs because he has a lot of injuries related to legs recent years.

*Wang said doctors told him he is 100% healthy right. This foot injury won't have any impact on his pitching. However, there are always few cracks over there. I am kind of understanding this. Just like our normal persons. Every time we hurt ourselves, there are always some concerns over the places we get hurt and there are always chances to hurt the same place again.

*There is one period of time in 2008 season he didn't pitch well. Wang said he think too much. He wants to get every batter and want to pitch better. I think Wang actually really wants to prove himself after what happened in 2007 playoffs.

*It will be a huge honor for Wang to be able to pitch in opening day in New Yankees stadium, but he doesn't think he will get it.

That's all I get. This week we can't do anything until we get past November 14 which all players become free agents. This is good. I actually can focus more on the stuffs I need to get it done in my real life.

Interesting Joe Girardi interview on WFAN

I heard an interesting Joe Girarid interview on WFAN. It's a good one.

*Based on what I heard, I think Joe Girardi learn a lot from this first year. He will improve next year. He already took the first step: more honest.

*Girardi think the most important thing he learn is keep building up the relationship with players in order to get most of them, but it takes time. I agree with him. The thing people don't realize is Joe Torre basically got his new core players when he got to Yankees in 1996 and they go on to win world series at first year. Of course, it makes everything much easier to deal with after championship. It's much harder for Joe Girardi because he needs to work on the core players who had been with Joe Torre for a long time and He took over after Yankees fail to make out of first round for many years.

*Girardi thinks it also takes time to figure out how to work with coach staff well.

*Girardi likes players are able to do many different things. He also would like to have a team with better defense and pitching. I think this is Yankees' offseason focus.

*Girardi thinks it's important to have two lefty in the bullpen. He wants to have Marte back and Yankees are talking deal with him. It seems to me Yankees have a deal with him on hand, otherwise Girardi won't be able to talk things like that.

*As for Mussina. Girardi think there are two factors for Moose's decision: what family members think and do Moose want to keep playing or not. It's not about HOF and 300 wins for him. He expects Mosse to make up his mind two months after season ends which is November. It's now. I think Yankees already know what Moose's decision by now. I think the reason Moose hasn't made in public is help Yankees. They actually can play some game with other free agent signing. It sounds to me Moose will retire.

*Joba is a starter now. It all depends on what offseason goes in order to make final decision. I think Joba will be in the bullpen if Yankees get enough starting pitching. It's not a final decision yet.

*Yankees are not sure or havn't made up their mind what they want to do in 1B.

Interesting, right? I think so. Girardi actually is honest this time and actually say a lot of things regard of team and himself. We actually can tell part of direction Yankees want to approach this offseason.

If you miss this interview on WFAN, go to their website to download the file later on.

finialize coach staff for 2009

The latest news from Peter's blog regard of 2009 coach staff. Tony Pena will be bench coach. Mick Kelleher will be first base coach and Rob Thomson will be third base coach. It sounds a good decision and hopefully they can work with each other very well.

Because my professionalism is Film/TV production, I have been work with all kind of different teams since university. You never know how it turns out to be until you start working with each other. Some people just match up well with some specific partners because of personality and all kind of different factors. Hopefully, this is the case.

Bowa stays with Dodgers

As I told you guys earlier, I don't think Larry Bowa or Willie Randolph will be our new third base coach. Right now, Bowa had decided to stay with Joe Torre and Dodgers. As you guys know, Willie reportedly rejected Washington's offer to be on the coaching staff. This tells us how much Willie Randolph wants to be a manager again which won't be an ideal option to be on Joe Girardi's coach staff.

I love to have Paul O'nell on Joe Girardi's coach staff. You guys can read the reasons on this post. However, there is another problem for this idea as well. It seems third base coach is reponsible for not only base running but also infielders. As we all know, Paul O'nell is an outfielder when he was a player.

I believe Yankees will get a guy with more experience when all said and done.

Bobby Meacham won't be back

This certainly does not surprise so many people even though Yankees actually do not have so many base runners to allow Meacham to make so many mistakes this season. The reason I think Bobby Meacham should not be bought back because of AL East which is a very tough division. Few wins can make a huge difference on the whole season. If anything can help Yankees to get few more wins, they should do it.

As for Joe Girardi's reaction, I don't think you guys have to think too much. We all have good friends at jobs. Your friends let go from company do not affect the friendship at all. I think Joe Girardi and Bobby Meacham both understand that.

When so many people screamed at owner or front office and said, "See. Yankees should not let Torre go. They make huge mistakes. If Joe Torre were here, he would make the differences. Joe Girardi is not the right person."

I still think Yankees make a right choice to let Torre go and bring in Joe Girardi. Of course, they certainly do not handle the process very well. I won't change my mind because Joe Torre make the playoffs and Yankees don't.

I always feel it's time to go if you don't have more passion on the job you did. This is the only criteria for me to decide to change the job or not. When you don't love the job you do any more, it will be very difficult to do it very well. This is the same situation as Joe Torre.

Of course, Joe Girardi made a lot of mistakes this season. But, when you think about how he manage the bullpen and compare with the majority of big league managers, Yankees will play very well next season if Cashman is able to put together a good team for him. That being said, the ability to manage people is still very important for any manager. I believe Joe Girardi will improve in this department next season.

Let go back to coach staff. I don't think experience is the only criteria Yankees should consider when it comes down to their coach staff. Passion and right attitude will make a huge difference on Yankees next year. I was working at TV station when I was in Taiwan. Experience is so important in that industry. It's so difficult to get a job without experience. However, if you have passion and right attitude, you certainly can pick up things very quickly. I believe Joe Girardi and his coach staff will be much better next season.

So, as a Yankees fan, How about Paul O'Neill? First of all, I know Paul O'Neill probably wants to stay at home. Secondly, I know he doesn't have experience. But, his passion and toughneses certainly can make a big difference. Cano probably the one get most benefits out of it.

Updated: Just for record. I don't think Larry Bowa or Willie Randolph will take Meacham's place. I know they are perfect or popular choices, but I don't see that happening. Larry loves Joe Torre and just outspoken for him. It's not a smart move to put a potential manager next to Joe Girardi which certainly creates some distractions.

Joe Girardi deserves some credits

The most impressive thing I get from this game is Girardi's in-game decision. In the 7th inning with 2 outs, Girardi decided to use Giambi as pinch-hitter for Molina in spite of Francona's decision which he puts Hideki Okajima to relieve Lester. I guess Francona wants to use Okajima in order to let Girardi put I-Rod or Betemit as pinch hitter, but Joe Girardi doesn't just look at the match-up and doesn't care Giambi's recent struggle.

Again, When Nady gets on in the 9th inning, Girardi immediately put Gardner as pinch runner. Even though Cano fails to bunt him over to second base, Girardi still is not afraid of letting Cano bunt. Of course, he puts I-Rod in at the right spot.

As I said on this post earlier, I believe Girardi will get better with more experience.

Some Wang's news...

*Gator came back for Old Timers’ Day few days ago. Gator gave Wang a huge hug immediately when he saw Wang in the clubhouse. Gator told Wang,"Don't let them force you to come back earlier. Don't just look now. You have many years ahead of you." Of course, Gator tease Wang his poor running skill. Gator also told Wang not to get on base when he gets another chance to hit.

*Yankees already told Wang to stay in New York for rehab during the whole August. Next week, Wang will wear special shoe Yankees made for him and start walking with one crutch. Wang already started his rehab on his right thigh.

*Wang keep in touch with Mike Myers who is at home. Myers told Wang he is happy now because he is able to stay at home with family and play golf. Wang said Myers is better than him because he at least is able to play golf and he even can't walk.

*Larry Bowa keep talking and sending text messages to Wang. Bowa is Bowa who won't change. He told Wang, "You are a man. Don't act like a sissy. I know you are not hurt now. Come back to pitch"

*When Wang was told by reporters about Giardi's comments:"The chances of us getting him back Sept. 1 are zero, Oct. 1? It's possible." Wang said, "He told about Sept. 1, right? He didn't mention the days after Sept. 1, right? I will try to come back after Sept. 1"

You can tell Wang have good relationship with everyone in the clubhouse, including teammates, and coach staff. You can tell Wang will do his best to come back as soon as he can. At the same time, You can tell Yankees will be extremely careful with Wang.

*By the way, Wang went to see doctor yesterday. Although Wang still have to use crutches and wear special shoe, he can start trying to walk and put some weight on his right foot. Wang is very happy to be able to start walking again.

*For the long haul, Yankees hope Wang not try to come back too soon and then aggravate his foot injury. Yankees will consider to pitch Wang again if they get into playoffs.

8 in a row, Our bombers play like a championship team

When you look at the way Yankees play since All-Star break, are we going to lose game? I am just kidding. We are going to lose some games eventually, but I like to sweep Red Sox in their ball park if Ponson can put up another magic show tomorrow night. Of course, I won't be upset if Yankees lose the final game of series since we have already taken a series from Boston in their ball park.

However, think about it. If we sweep Boston, we will tie with Boston at second place of AL East and wild card leader, specially when you consider Boston is going to face Angels while we are going to face O's at home.

Back to the game, Andy is the man. Andy was in trouble from get go, but I know he will battle out to give us a chance to win this game which is very important when you consider the matchup of final game of this series.

The only time gets me nervous is 7th innings when Veras puts two men on with one out and Ortiz and Manny are coming up. I don't have problems with the performance with Kyle and Veras these two days because you can't expect them to be perfect all the time even though our bullpen have been closed to be perfect. Guess what? Marte came out to strike out Ortiz and Edwar got Manny to fly out. Well done, guys.

Of course, Edwar and Robertson pitch well the rest of game. Mo will be well rest if we need him tomorrow. I think Yankees fans no longer get nervous when we get into the bullpen. Joe Girardi and Dave Eliand deserve a lot of credits the way they handle the whole pitching staff.

I feel we have a special and championship team and we may be able to witness some special thing happen this year, not because we are winning now. The pitching we get from starters and bullpen, the amazing defense and the fundamental sound offense that does a lot of little things right. Our bombers play like a championship team.

Let's pray Wang and Hughes come back soon. Can't wait.

what a bullpen we have!!

It seems to me we will win ball games if we have lead after 6th inning now. Look at this number for tonight game. They are not even our A-tier arms in the bullpen for now.

David Robertson - 12 pitches 11 strikes - strike out the side
Edwar Ramirez - 11 pitches 9 strikes - strike out 2 batters
Hawkins - 9 pitches 6 strikes - strike out 1 batter

If we can put healthy Bruney and bring in a good lefty relief pitcher, we get ourselves an amazing bullpen. Not to mention there are more arms down in our farm system.

By the way, Sexson had himself a decent game which is a good start for him and Yankees. I like his defense on first base.

Can we get a better 3rd base coach? I know tons of people have questioned this many time, but I haven't had problems for that until tonight. I actually didn't have problem when A-Rod got threw out at home because there is 2 outs with Melky on deck. But, why he sent Jeter when A-Rod was on deck? I know we got a good luck and Jeter was safe at home, but please.....

What make of a good coach?

In New York, or in any sport, we always feel there must be something wrong with hitting coach or pitching coach when hitters or pitchers are struggling. For example, a lot of Yankees fans feel Gator is not a good pitching coach. Moreover, more Yankees fans question how well pitching coach Dave Eiland is when Wang, Pettitte, Hughes, Kennedy all struggle at some point this season. In addition, we wonder what kind of impact Larry Bowa bring to the table when we see Cano struggling this season.

In Taiwan, we come up with tons of different opinions from all kind of sources on what is wrong with Wang during this past 6 weeks. Taiwanese media actually interview Dave Eiland, Mussina and Pettitte a lot about Wang's struggle. One interesting article from the same great Taiwanese reporter I cite her article earlier let me understand one thing. An old Chinese saying goes, "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink". I hope I don't use the wrong idiom. Please let me know if you know the right one.

A good coach only can tell you what is wrong with you and identify the problem. Only players can figure out how to fix that problem by themselves. Mussina said, the biggest problem Wang has is he doesn't know how to fix himself. Wang agrees with this statement. When his sinker doesn't sink, he know there must be something wrong with his delivery that causes him to fly open. But, he can't tell what causes him to fly open. He needs someone else to tell him. Dave Eiland said, one thing coach can help him is to tell Wang his shoulder fly open, but he have to find out why and fix that by himself.

After Oakland game, the most important quote I think is this one from Dave Eiland,

There were a couple of pitches where he didn't get to that slot-his arm was slowing down- and he self-corrected himself in the middle of the inning.

I said this on the preview post regard of Wang. I don't think Wang totally gets his command back even though he pitches a good game against Oakland. I hope Wang has another great outing to prove he can fix himself.

Throw Strikes

It's funny how things work out. During the past winless 6 weeks, Wang hadn't pitched as bad as his line. Of course, Wang didn't pitch well during this stretch, but he also ran into some bad lucks. When Wang finally won his 7th game yesterday, I think he was not pitching as good as his line. But, I know one thing for sure. Even though his strike-ball ratio is not good, he only walks 2 and gets the out when he needs it. This is the step to the right direction. Hopefully, Wang can command his sinkers better while he mixes other pitches well.

I said this at the beginning of season. Since the end of last season, this is Wang's transition period. Wang may go through some rough time when he tries to use all his pitches and learns how to mix them well, such as this past 6 weeks. But, we certainly can see what Wang can do from the first month of season. Glad to see Wang making adjustment. This is the photo below from Taiwanese newspaper(apple news) when they break down Wang's delivery. Of course, I translate Mandarin into English.

ACE? Wang? who cares...

I am not going to keep talking all negative things about my team. Instead, I am going to talk about that great Wang's start. I learned this lesson while I rooted for my favorite Taiwanese pro baseball team who lost a lot. Of course, In the end, they finally won a title. I am not trying to compare Yankees to my favorite Taiwanese pro baseball team, but the reason why those Yankees games are so special and emotional for us because Yankees is our favorite team and we love them. Be happy and enjoy the moment, Yankees fans, especially for my readers.

Before going into my post, go to check this post from Dom Amore's baseball blog. He came up with a theory why Wang was so terrible last ALDS. It seems a lot of people wonder about that as well. My take? No matter the truth of matter is which we never will find out, no excuse. I think Wang will be the same boat on this with me. Sometimes it takes some failures and hits to let people grow up to another level. Wang keep improving and his humble attittude since called up in 2005 which is the most important thing for me. The same goes to Hughes, Kennedy and Joba as well. They won't turn into ACEs overnight. It takes time.

A lot of people start admitting Wang's ACE status. Me? The pitching style Wang has probably never strike 200 peoples out in a season. People always can come up with all different kinds of reasons that he is not ACE. Tons of people will come up to say that once Wang has one bad game. This is just how ridiculous to play for New York Yankees. That's why I always feel you always have to give extra credits for players who can succeed in New York. I don't care whatever people want to call Wang. I am just glad he pitch well on the road and help my Yankees to win another game. According to Molina's words to Taiwanese reporters,"I don't think about no hitter. Only thing I know is that Wang want to win every game so much. I just try to work on that with Wang"

First of all, a lot of people image what would be if Abreu catch that home-run ball. I have different opinion on this possible "no-hitter"stuff. I am glad it turns out this way because this actually increase the chance Wang pitch complete game. If that no hitter still in tact, Wang and Red Sox hitters will approach game differently. When Wang was asked how he felt that home-run after game by Taiwanese media, Wang said, it's his fault to let hitters hit that far and he had great defense all night. He only wants to pitch complete game to help team win.

some tidbits:

According to their manager, Red Sox's game plan against Wang is waiting a sinker which doesn't sink. Unfortunately, they don't get one the whole night.

According to Molina, they threw four-seamers, sinkers, sliders during the game. Wang's sliders, change-ups and splitters are getting better every time out, but it still take more time to become his out-pitch.

According to Wang. The game plan against Papi is throwing a lot of insider pitches. Against Manny? Let him guess the location of pitches(inside or outside)

In the past, He always tries too hard to aim the corner. This year, He just wants to throw strikes and uses different pitches, sequences and locations to confuse Boston's hitters.

The reason for more fly ball outs? He threw more four seamers, but he lost control on sinkers at 5th innings and got command back between innings.

My conclusion? Wang is still improving. So does all the kids.

Two bullpen at two days in a row?

It looks like we get ourselves a coach staff who all work very hard. No doubt, Dave Eiland certainly is qualified to this compliment.

In order to let Wang fix his delivery whenever he is in the windup or out of stretch, Dave Eiland asks Wang to repeat his delivery many times without holding the ball during the whole Spring training. They often do this the day after Wang's normal bullpen session.

On top of that, Dave Eiland asked Wang to have another bullpen session yesterday that was the day after Wang's normal bullpen session. This bullpen was only for his slider which is the most inconsistent pitch during the whole spring training. He tries to let Wang remember the correct delivery for slider.

I am glad to hear Wang and coach staff working hard for improvement, but is this a little bit too much? I don't know. I am not an expert on pitching.

Yankees vs Pirates

I still won't worry about starters during spring training. As long as they stay healthy, I won't panic for outcome of spring training games. I know Hughes doesn't pitch well, but I rather they struggle in spring training than regular season in order to find out what is wrong with them.

After watching all spring training games so far, I can sense one thing for sure. We definitely need a long man in the bullpen because they all need tons of pitches in order to go through inning no matter how they pitch. Of course, I mean Hughes, Kennedy, Mussina, Joba(once move him back to rotation) except Wang and Pettitte.

As for Bobby Meacham's issue, Of course, I miss Larry Bowa because of not only being a good third-base coach but also his great personality. I knew Bobby Meacham waved A-Rod home again and this time almost let him get throw out again, but I don't think this time is his fault because pirates' short stop(I think) cover very well for that play. Once Bobby Meacham know more about opponents in the AL East, he will be fine.

I still like what I see from Traber, especially you consider he obviously doesn't have his stuff today and also pitch to righties as well. If A-Rod don't throw that double-play ball away, his line will look much better. By the way, the defense of both teams in this game are ugly.

The more I see from Brett Gardner, the more I like. Opening day roster?? You never know. Joba also officially announce in the bullpen before the game. Man, I like Yankees have those happy problems and difficult decisions to make among a lot of different competitions.