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

Pettitte comes crawling back, brings his dynasty prowess to the new Stadium

Word from the Yankees is that Andy Pettitte has signed a one year, incentive-sweetened deal that could earn him over 12 million. The base pay is around $6 million - a far cry from the $16 million that he earned last year and that his agents were sure he could get.

Perhaps Andy was on the sidelines watching the Joe Torre book drama unfold and realized how easily his Yankee legacy could be ruined? The franchise, his teammates and most importantly the fans of New York stood behind Andy during last year's PED fiasco, and he owed it to everyone to come back and be a piece of the puzzle in the quest toward World Championship number 27.

Andy Pettitte's distracting offseason prior to 2008 was likely a contributing factor to his 2nd half fade and should issues. As Yankee fans, we can only hope that Andy has been working out hard back in Texas (WITHOUT THE HELP OF ROGER CLEMENS), preparing for the 2009 season and let his agents deal with all of the drama of his next contract.

The important parts of the roster are now set. For the nostalgia crowd, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada will carry the dynastical torch to the New Stadium for position players, Mariano will represent the great bullpens of the 90's, and Andy Pettitte will represent the starting pitchers who toiled away to bring the City of New York 4 championships in 5 years.

80 days until the new Stadium opens its doors!

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

Pettite's return to the stadium mound tonight - BUNDLE UP!

Well, I won't be going to the game tonight and neither will Nick2Slick. No, we aren't scared of a little cold weather (we'll be there tomorrow night in the cold). We made prior arrangements to attend a concert tonight, so we will miss Pettite's return.

If you are there, you are likely to look like the girl in the picture above - cold, bundled up and unhappy (unless Mr. Pettite throws a no-hitter or something similarly spectacular happens.

I really think that MLB should consciously try to schedule "cold weather" teams in the northern part of the country to be on the road for the first couple of weeks of the season. I know it is probably impossible and no team would like a two week roadtrip to start the season, but baseball isn't supposed to be played when temps are in the 20's. Baseball is a WARM WEATHER sport.

By the way, the last game I remember Andy Pettite pitching for the Yankees in this type of weather was the home opener in 2003 when Matsui hit the big HR in his debut. I'm sure Andy is loving being back in NY right about now.

If you are going to the game tonight, have fun. Hopefully I will get home to see the end of it! Read the full post, after the jump

Pettite's Return Postponed

Here is the release from the Yankees regarding tickets:

TODAY’S GAME AT YANKEE STADIUM POSTPONED

Today’s game between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium has been postponed due to poor weather conditions. No makeup date has been announced.

Fans holding paid tickets for today’s postponed game may use them for the rescheduled game between the Yankees and Devil Rays (date and time to be announced) or may exchange them for any regular-season game at Yankee Stadium within 12 months (subject to availability).

Tickets can only be exchanged at Yankee Stadium Advance Ticket Windows (open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and until the 7th inning of any regularly scheduled home game).

Look for cold weather the rest of the week, but the games should be played. I would guess that they will push Pettite back to Thursday night, but nothing is official yet. Read the full post, after the jump

Weather update - no good news to report

Now that is it Wednesday morning, we can start posting some radars to see where the actual precip is. It doesn't paint a pretty picture as seen below:

And there is more rain to the south:

Images accurate as of 10:40 AM Eastern time


If you would like to check out live images of the radar shown above, please go:

here or here

So, it looks like there won't be any baseball played in the Bronx today. If this was a night game scheduled for 7:05, there would be a chance of playing after a delay, but this is a scheduled day game, so that isn't happening. Look for Andy Pettite's triumphant return to pinstripes on Thursday night. Stay tuned for official word of the cancellation.

Looking ahead to the rest of the home-stand... Most night games will be VERY cold with temps in the upper 20's to lower 30's so definitely bundle up if you are heading out there. Read the full post, after the jump

Pettite's return may have to wait... Washout Wednesday

Well, it looks like nostalgic Yankee fans are going to have to wait a little longer than they bargained for to see their 90's hero Andy Pettite return to the stadium mound.

The forecast for Wednesday is gloomy at best:

Primary low pressure crosses the Great Lakes into Ontario on
Wednesday...with the parent shortwave carving out a deep closed low over
the Great Lakes is it phases with another shortwave over northern
Ontario. Rain could become heavy at times on Wednesday as deep layer SW flow
(with 50-knots southerly 800 mb jet) transports deep moisture with precipitable water
around an inch into the area. NAM forecasts small amounts of elevated
instability...so have continued with chance of afternoon thunder.
As per swody2...0-6km shear values of 25-40 knots would be sufficient
for organized thunderstorms...but extent of destabilization is highly uncertain.


Meanwhile...a secondary low developing over the middle Atlantic region
Wednesday afternoon should pass near or just S of Long Island late Wednesday
evening...bringing an end to steady precipitation overnight. Slower
trends over the past few model cycles favor a solution no faster than
a blend between the faster GFS and slower NAM with the progression
of this feature.

Forecast taken from National Weather Service Area Forecast Discussion

To put that into layman's terms, it is going to rain tomorrow - ALL DAY.

Don't count on seeing any baseball in the Bronx until Thursday at 7:05 PM which will most likely feature Andy's return. Read the full post, after the jump

Weather for the home opener on Monday and a preview of Wednesday

Neither Nick2Slick or I will be at the home opener tomorrow. As I have mentioned previously, the Yankees don't think the "B" plan is important enough to give us opening day. Just a little bit bitter. Now, the weather update:

Although it will rain overnight Sunday into Monday and there will be some lingering rain showers Monday morning, the rain should be over by game time at 1:05 in the Bronx.

Look for overcast skies, and temps in the lower 50's. It will be damp and chilly, but you should stay dry at least! Look at it this way - at least it isn't in the 30s and at least it isn't snowing!

For up to date radar for the Bronx, click here (Weather Underground Radar)

The game this week that may be washed out by rain is Wednesday's day game. I'll give an update on that sometime on Tuesday. I'm sure Nick2Slick will cry himself to sleep if he doesn't see his old 90's hero Andy make his first start back in the Pinstripes on Wednesday because of the rain. I'll be stuck at work anyway and I'm not too fond of weekday games to begin with, so I don't really mind if Wednesday's game gets rained out. I'm sure I'm in the minority on that one though! Read the full post, after the jump