http://www.yardbarker.com/content/player/745 Recent articles about Sidney Ponson en-us This week I lamented the loss of Sir Sidney, admitting that I root for him, even in Pinstripes. What I didn't consider and probably wouldn't have considered had it not been for Daniel Cabrera's complete game victory (look ma, no walks!), is that Cabrera is Ponson, Ponson is Cabrera. Both guys are evil temptresses, registering in [...] Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:06:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286834 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/286834 In need of an emergency starter during the double-header against the Mets last week the Yankees went with Sidney Ponson. Ponson couldn't have pitched much better and picked up the win as the Yanks topped the team from Queens 9-0. The Yankees would have been better off winning that game 9-8 as the unlikely success of Ponson just leadthe team into thinking they had a halfway reliable starter in the 31-year-old pitcher. But they didn't, Ponson shut the Mets out and the Bombers thought they had another Aaron Small or Shawn Chacon. But they don't, they have a 260 pound pitcher who's been cut more times than a homeless guy living underneath the Triborough Bridge. The Yankees would have been better off starting Dan Giese or even the other recently released pitcher Chacon. Instead they decided to stick it out with Ponson. The result was a wasted lead in the sixth inning tonight against the Texas Rangers when his lifeless fastball lead to a four run inning off a pair of two-run shots. Perhaps even worse the Yankees are now poised to fall even further behind the first place Rays and have perhaps squandered their best chance to make up ground in the AL East race. The next time the Yankees are going to need a fifth starter isn't going to be until July 12 against the Toronto Blue Jays. I hope when that date rolls around it won't be Ponson who gets the call. There isn't much depth to the Yankee rotation, but they do have better options. Like I said they can use Giese, but if they don't like that option they can sign Chacon as he doesn't seem to have many suitors. If the team doesn't like either of those options they can call up Ian Kennedy, Jeff Karstens (last resort?), or even Daniel McCutchen. My point is just because Ponson has been getting lucky doesn't make him a good pitcher and he shouldn't be trusted. A 4-1 record can't hide a 1.56 WHIP or a .307 batting average against. With those numbers the Yankees might as well have David Wells going out to the mound. Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:45:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285511 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/285511 The Mets and Yankees embarked on a four-game series (one in the Bronx, three in Queens) to see who would be crowned king of New York. The younger generation of owners, Hank Steinbrenner and Jeff Wilpon, doesn't seem to hold any animosity toward each other though. In fact they confer with each other all the time, and often look to their mentor, James Dolan, for advice. "The three of us have all earned our positions of power the old-fashioned way. It's our allowance from our fathers," said Wilpon. "We're always running things by each other. When James was looking to hire a new coach, he told me he saw some film of a high school coach named Ken Reeves. He was impressed by how he took control of his team by making his star player, Coolidge, run extra laps after practice for being a wisenheimer. I had to tell him that was just an episode of 'The White Shadow.' He wanted to hire him anyway. I recommended Isiah Thomas. And he's the one who suggested I unload that Kazmir kid. After watching another rerun of that show recently, he confessed he didn't know that David Lee went to Carver High. I didn't have the heart to tell him that was Salami. And Hank was just reminiscing to me about the old great interleague battles between the Yankees and the George Scott/Robin Yount Brewers back in the 1970s." Here are some random notes about the series: Carlos Delgado hit two home runs and drove in nine runs in game one of the series. Yes, Carlos Delgado. The nine RBIs set a new single-game Mets record. Dave Kingman held the previous mark when he drove in eight (and hit three home runs) on June 4, 1976, at Dodger Stadium. Next up for Delgado: Kingman's team record for most consecutive innings played while not giving a crap about fielding the ball. The pitching matchup of Dan Giese vs. Mike Pelfrey wasn't exactly Ron Guidry vs. Dwight Gooden. It wasn't even Jim Beattie vs. Pat Zachry. Pelfrey "out-dueled" Giese by only giving up four runs in five innings to Giese's six runs in four innings. Hey, somebody had to win. In game two, John Daly, er, Sidney Ponson twirled a gem for the Yanks. He threw six scoreless innings, striking out four and walking four. Here are some other highlights from his career: released by Baltimore on 9/1/05, released by St. Louis on 7/7/06, released by the Yankees on 8/23/06, released by Minnesota on 5/18/07 and released by Texas on 6/16/08. Pedro Martinez, on the other hand, just looks old and droopy. Though he discovered he was tipping his changeup, and some Yankee players confirmed that. There was a real pitcher's duel in game three, with Andy Pettitte winning his sixth straight decision. Johan Santana is 0-4 in his last five starts, but has an ERA of 2.53. Why do umpires let Pettitte balk every time he throws to first? In the great NY shortstop debate, Jose Reyes may be more exciting, athletic and a better fielder than Derek Jeter, but Jeter always does the right thing on the field. Would he ever get picked off second with two outs? I listened to part of the game on the radio and the rest on TV. Going from Howie Rose to Joe Buck is like going from Robert De Niro to Ashton Kutcher. Like going from the Beatles to Right Said Fred. Like going from John Belushi to Carrot Top. Like going from "Seinfeld" to "Small Wonder." Like going from Curly to Curly Joe. Oliver Perez was the show in game four. He threw seven innings, giving up one run, striking out eight and he didn't walk anybody. Maybe he should only pitch against the Yankees. He's now 5-1 against them in his career, with a 2.61 ERA. Ryan Church is back. He went two for four. To make room for him, Trot Nixon was placed on the DL with a strained groin. The Mets won the season series, four games to two. The Yankees hold the overall edge with a 37-28 record. But over the last five years the Mets have gotten the better of the Yanks, going 17-13 against them. Final observation: Why are the Mets bat boys all bigger than Kevin James? Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:29:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283885 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283885 The Yankees finished this year's Subway Series with 3-1 loss on Sunday. The Mets won this year's series 4 games to 2. The Yankees won Game 2 of the Doubleheader and Saturday's game on great pitching performances of Sidney Ponson and Andy Pettitte. Yankee killer Oliver Perez beat them on Sunday and won his 6th game against the Bombers in his career. The Yankees will now face their biggest stretch of their season, against the Rangers, Red Sox and Rays. Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:29:30 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283865 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283865 Continuing Mets fan Shakey D's favorite ongoing TS feature, here's the combined stats of Sid and the previously discussed R.A. Dickey against the Mets this week: 13 IP, 11 H, 0 R, 9 K, 2 W. Incredible. I mean Dickey, the 2007 PCL pitcher of the year, is this generation's Hoyt Wilhelm so his success [...] Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:20:09 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283620 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283620 For O's fans, it was tough seeing Mike Mussina take the money and sign with the Yankees. Over time, as he's been good-not-great and New York fails to win it all, that pain has dulled a bit. He's become more theirs than ours and, if he reaches 300 wins, he'll have an eternal "NY"on his [...] Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:17:43 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283563 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283563 For O's fans, it was tough seeing Mike Mussina take the money and sign with the Yankees. Over time, as he's been good-not-great and New York fails to win it all, that pain has dulled a bit. He's become more theirs than ours and, if he reaches 300 wins, he'll have an eternal "NY"on his [...] Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:17:43 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283563 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283563 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:49:20 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283540 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283540 Brian Cashman for Executive of the Year! What a brilliant idea, signing Sidney Ponson off the baseball scrap heap. Sir Sidney is The Man! What the hell were the Texas Rangers thinking, letting this guy go? Last night, at least, the journeyman right-hander made Cashman look brilliant for taking a chance on him, throwing 6 shutout [...] Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:23:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283447 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283447 Brian Cashman for Executive of the Year! What a brilliant idea, signing Sidney Ponson off the baseball scrap heap. Sir Sidney is The Man! What the hell were the Texas Rangers thinking, letting this guy go? Last night, at least, the journeyman right-hander made Cashman look brilliant for taking a chance on him, throwing 6 shutout [...] Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:23:31 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283447 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283447 First it was Sidney Ponson getting released by the Rangers for being disrespectful towards the team, or something like that. Ponson is a guy who once punched a judge on the beach in Aruba, so as you could imagine, the news was quite shocking to hear. Anyway, there must be some sort [...] Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:11:33 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283288 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/283288 The photoshop entry from Truth About It Dot Net for Epic Carnival's MLB Photoshop contest. Vote early and often..... Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:48:01 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/282614 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/282614 There has been plenty of debate this week on who picks up the extra start for the New York Yankees. The extra start is part of a double-header this Friday against the New York Mets. There have been quite a few names mentioned for this start. They include Ian Kennedy, Alan Horne, Sidney Ponson, Kei Igawa, Alfredo Aceves and Jeff Karstens. Manager Joe Girardi has narrowed his list, which includes Ponson at the top. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:42:36 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281489 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/281489 Luis Castillo might be heading to the disabled list. Ryan Church could be back by next weekend, and I couldn't be happier. Things are lining up in Yankee-ville that the Mets will probably face newly acquired Sidney Ponson during their series at Shea Stadium (and Yankee Stadium) this weekend. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:40:15 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280946 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280946 Sidney Ponson is scheduled to pitch on Friday against the shining New York Mets. As you should know Sir Sidney is not one of the most skilled pitchers in the league but lets face it the Mets are not one of the Juggernauts of baseball. The one good thing about him pitching is that if the Mets lose it is the ultimate smack in the face. Anytime a Mets fan says something arrogant to you, you can coolly reply "Sidney Ponson". Lets hope this fat Aruban can shut down the "fear evoking" Mets offense Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:03:07 -0500 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280914 http://www.yardbarker.com/author/article/280914