Fun with the 2009 rotation: who will pitch opening day at the new Yankee Stadium?

Friend Enemy of the blog, Peter Abraham had an interesting tidbit in his wrap-up of Saturday's pitchers and catcher action. When responding to a question about the rotation, Girardi mentioned that he intends on keeping the lefties apart and splitting up Burnett and Joba because of their similarities as power-pitching righties. Mathematical genius that he is, Abraham deduced that the two options for the rotation are:

Sabathia
Burnett
Wang
Pettitte
Chamberlain

or

Sabathia
Wang
Burnett
Pettitte
Chamberlain

Obviously, the above options are not the ONLY two possibilities based on Girardi's statement, but they are the logical ones. Andy Pettitte likely won't be the number one starter on opening day, so we are leaving out that option. Now we can have some fun in trying to figure out who will be pitching when the Yankees open up their brand new billion dollar Stadium on April 16. The schedule for the beginning of the season is as follows:

April 6 - @BAL Sabathia
April 7 - OFF DAY
April 8 - @BAL Wang or Burnett
April 9 - @BAL Wang or Burnett
April 10 - @KC Pettitte
April 11 - @KC Chamberlain
April 12 - @KC Sabathia
April 13 - @TB Wang or Burnett
April 14 - @TB Wang or Burnett
April 15 - @TB Pettitte
April 16- Home Opener vs. CLE Chamberlain

Close your eyes, nostalgists (I'm talking to you, Nick) if Girardi sticks to his word about the mechanics of the 2009 Yankee pitching rotation, it should be Joba-Mania on April 16 to open the new Stadium and not the beloved Andy Pettitte. The one caveat would be if the Yankees inexplicably skip Joba the first time through the rotation due to the early off day. In that case, CC would pitch on Opening Day. Feel free to leave a comment below if you see any way that the Yankees can fanagle the rotation to allow Pettitte to pitch on opening day. I just don't see it.

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Andy Pettite to pitch Opener at New Stadium?

With the Yankees rotation all but settled, our new section-buddy BuckyBadger weighs in on who will pitch the first game at the new Stadium for the Bombers:

Andy Pettitte has signed on to be our 5th starter. The 10th game of the season is the Yankees home opener. Anyone see where I'm going with this? The first man to officially throw a baseball off the mound at the new cathedral of baseball will be someone who truely(sic) deserves it.

I hope Pettitte pitches the home opener as well, but I certainly don't think he deserves it anymore than Wang, or Sabathia would. But wouldn't it be something if Pettitte, the only remaining starter from the dynasty years, gets a win in the opener?! Better yet, in a game where Jeter and Posada both homer, and Mo notches a save. Ahh, dynasty wet dreams!

Talk about it in the Stadium Insider Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

Deciphering the relocation guide - what it means for former "B" plan (half season) licensees

I just finished my first pass through the relocation guide for season ticket holders, and here are some quick highlights (and lowlights) for fellow former "B" plan holders:

- The "B" plan will no longer be named the "B" plan. It is the 41 game plan. Those 41 games are 5 fewer games than this year's 46 game weekday "B" plan.

- The former B planners will be second fiddle in the highly complicated pool process for determining new seat locations. Full season and "A" plan holders will get first priority.

- The Yankees essentially guarantee that former B planners will NOT have reasonable comparable tickets in the new Stadium. Basically, they will sit us wherever they can after considering the questionnaire that must be filled out by September 10.

- Once you fill out the questionnaire, your invoice will be generated based on your responses. The seat location on your first invoice will likely be the best seats you will get.

- From what I can gather from the materials, it seems that the invoice will be paid in installments, instead of all up front. This is likely due to invoices being sent out way earlier than the usual December time frame.

- The 41 game will be VERY different from the former B plan. This plan will now include opening day (FANTASTIC NEWS) and will alternate every other game from then on. So, you will have game 1, game 3, game 5, game 7, game 9, etc. etc. This is actually an improvement since it includes weekends as well. So, what we will almost definitely lose in seat location (I am currently RIGHT behind home plate in section 1) we will gain in better games.

- Prices are the same this year, meaning that what was Tier Reserved MVP tickets will be a season ticket holder price of $25 per ticket. The former Tier Reserve seats (upper deck in the outfield) remain at $20. The good news is, if you get bumped all the way into the outfield, at least you will be paying less.

All of the above information is my interpretation of the very detailed and confusing relocation guide (also sent to season ticket holders by mail). If it seems like something I wrote above doesn't make sense, that is very much a possibility. Feel free to leave a comment on this post letting me know how much this blog sucks or how much I suck. I love to see the friendly remarks.


Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump

No time like now to look forward to 2009 - New stadium Opening date: 4/16/09

Some juicy info from AP baseball writer Ronald Blum:

The new Yankee Stadium will open on April 16 with a game against the Cleveland Indians.

Details of next year's openers were disclosed to The Associated Press on Thursday by baseball officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the teams nor the commissioner's office have made any announcements.

Nothing like a two-week road trip to start the season.

And then there is this:

The Yankees may have one or two exhibition games at their new $1.3 billion ballpark before the official opener.

I bet the season ticket holders appreciate being "scooped" on the home opener by having an exhibition there first. Its not unprecedented though, most new Stadiums do this very thing.

Lastly, if the Yankees can come back next year and make the World Series, Captain GIDP will have a chance to defend his "Mr. November" nickname. The season is starting late next year (because of the World Baseball Classic?), so game 7 of the World Series in 2009 is tentatively scheduled for November 5th. That Cubs vs. Yankees series should be a chilly one. Better get your Under Armour ready.

Talk about it in the NYYSI Forums! Read the full post, after the jump