Pinstripe Alley's hero, Francisco Cervelli, went 2-for-4 Tuesday night in his final appearance before being demoted to AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Jose Molina will be activated tonight.
Take heart, though, Francisco admirers. Yankee manager Joe Girardi said we will see him again.
"He's been a big lift for us. To have two catchers go down in a span of days and the streak we ran of when both of them were gone, Cervy has proven he can play at this level," Girardi said. "He brings a lot to the table behind the dish and offensively he contributed. I'm excited about his future."
Here are a few more stories making the rounds of the Yankee Universe this morning.
- You had to figure this was going to happen. The umpiring crew from Sunday's game has circled the wagons and is now saying Marty Foster did tell Derek Jeter he had been tagged out.
Hirschbeck (crew chief, John) spoke to Foster on Tuesday and got a different version. Here’s what Hirschbeck said Foster told Jeter at the time: "The ball beat you, and I had him tagging you." "I don’t see a problem with that," Hirschbeck said. "Sometimes when tempers flare, you don’t hear everything that’s said."
If that's the truth, and I have my doubts, Foster is blind on top of whatever else you want to call him. I have finally seen the replay, and there was no tag. Not close.
- Interesting stuff about the new Yankee Stadium from Kevin MIllar, speaking on Sirius XM Radio's MLB Home Plate Channel, Tuesday.
Host, Jim Duquette: "What’s your impression of the new Yankee Stadium?"
Kevin Millar: "I’m going to be honest with you. You know I’m going to shoot from the hip. I’m not a big fan of it. Nothing pops there, nothing pops. The old stadium, you walked in, you knew this was where [Mickey] Mantle played and [Joe] DiMaggio. It was just that old school. I got booed a lot louder. They didn’t boo me as loud here. I like to get booed. They were too nice to me here. They’re too nice to me. I don’t know if it’s all corporate, but they’re too nice. But it’s just like a big, huge – it’s a beautiful facility, don’t get me wrong – but the navy blue seats, a lot of concrete and nothing pops. I mean, nothing pops there, personally. Now, it was our first trip in and I don’t know if I was expecting more, but that’s the truth and it’s just I loved the old stadium."
Host, Seth Everett: "Is it impossible to ever live up to that old stadium?"
Millar: "It’s not impossible, but yes, all the comeback wins and all the memories there, of course, it’s going to take time. And this is year no. 1 and there’s some tinkers. Like for one, you know, it’s a beautiful scoreboard but they have the radar gun readings at the very top of the scoreboard with the pitch count. Fans want to know how hard the pitcher’s throwing, for instance. You come to the game, you want to see,‘Yeah, Brandon League’s on the mound, he’s throwing 90-what?’ You don’t want to have to look around the stadium to find it, and this is at the very top, a very little scene up there with your miles per hour where most stadiums have them above the dugouts on the second tier of the second deck so you can kind of see it easier. You know, it was hard to read what the guy’s hitting for the batting average. It was tough to find certain things. And for a stadium that’s got $1.5 billion in it, you would think it had been just some easier scenes, and I’m just using those as examples and those might be nit-picking. But for the monuments: I wish they would’ve pulled the monuments up so you could see the monuments. I mean, they’re behind center field and it’s kind of blocked off with the hitter’s eye so you don’t even see them. At least in the old stadium, left center, you kind of saw them a little bit, glimpsed through over there from the bullpen area, and when you’d hit a home run to left center they’d bounce in the monuments. So there’s some things that, in my opinion, nothing’s really popping out. But it’s a gorgeous scene, I guess, for the fans inside - the food, the televisions, all the marble and stuff. But from what we see as a player, you walk in the lobby and it was straight concrete. We walk in the locker room, beautiful locker rooms, but it was just, it was OK, personally."
I know it might be a tired subject for some of you, but I was just there Sunday and I agree with a lot of what Millar said.
I really like many things about the place, but it is quiet, seems to lack personality and many of its features seem like after thoughts. Monument Park is a barely-visible joke. It looks more like a storage area than a shrine to franchise history. The retired numbers are barely visible, stuck on a stark concrete wall behind the bleachers in left-center. Same with the 26 World Championships in left-center, which is the only place I have seen them mentioned inside the Stadium. The video board is massive, but for all the display capability the Stadium has, you can't easily follow the game on the boards. The out-of-town scoreboard is awful, with only four games on it.
To me, these are things that can be improved without a huge expense. And should be.
- On the heels of our discussion Monday about the American League playoff picture, this from the Daily News' Mark Feinsand.
With each passing day, I believe more and more that the Yankees and Red Sox are the two best teams in the American League, if not the majors. The Dodgers have a great team, but the National League is so weak, I have trouble taking any team over there seriously.
For all of the Yankees’ issues this season, they’re one game out of first place, which says something when you consider the 0-8 record against Boston. The Red Sox have their problems, too, but I don’t see either of these teams missing the postseason. An ALCS showdown seems to be in the cards.
- Feinsand also says you can stop dreaming about Roy Halladay in pinstripes. Unless, of course, you are willing to part with Phil Hughes, Austin Jackson AND a couple more prospects.
- 'Yankees on YES' live streaming begins tonight, if you are lucky enough to subscribe to a service carrying it.
- The folks at "It is High, It is Far, It is ... Caught" are in a deep depression today. Why? Amazingly, because there was no "Theeee Yankees Win" cry from John Sterling Tuesday night.