BALTIMORE—Mark Teixeira has tried just about everything to get rid of a nagging cough that has bothered him for the past month.

The timely home run he hit Monday night did nothing to change his health, but it just might turn out to be the cure for his season-long slump.

Teixeira hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning, Curtis Granderson also connected, and the New York Yankees got three hits from Alex Rodriguez in an 8-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Teixeira had five hits in his previous 33 at-bats and was hitting .220 when he drove a 1-2 pitch from former Yankee Luis Ayala (1-1) into the right-field seats. He also doubled in the ninth and scored on a fly ball by Eric Chavez.

“I hope that helps put me on a roll,” he said.

Asked if his two-hit, two-RBI performance made him feel any better, Teixiera replied, “I’d like to say yes. I want to be positive, but the truth is … not really. I’m just trying to grind through it. In this game, you’re always playing through something.”

It was the fourth win in five games for the Yankees, who improved to 4-0 at Camden Yards this season.

New York shortstop Derek Jeter got his 3,143rd hit, a single up the middle in the third inning, to move out of a tie with Robin Yount into sole possession of 16th place on the career hit list.

J.J. Hardy homered and had three RBIs for the Orioles, who dropped into a tie with Tampa Bay atop the AL East. After going hitless in his first big league game Sunday, Orioles leadoff hitter Xavier Avery doubled, tripled, scored twice and drove in a run.

“X had a good night,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. “I was real proud of him.”

Yankees starter Ivan Nova allowed five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. He left in the sixth with a bruised and sprained right foot after chasing down a grounder toward the first-base side. The right-hander took a line drive off the top of the same foot in the third inning, courtesy of Nick Markakis, but shook it off.

“On that last play I twisted it,” Nova said. “I don’t want to miss any starts. Hopefully, it will feel better. It is a little (swollen) right now.”

David Phelps (1-1) entered in the sixth and got three outs for his first major league win. Rafael Soriano, the sixth New York pitcher, worked the ninth for his second save.

The Yankees are operating without injured closer Mariano Rivera, and manager Joe Girardi revealed that late-inning specialist David Robertson has soreness in his left side and could undergo an examination Tuesday.

“I was hoping it was one of those things that would go away,” Robertson said, “but it keeps hanging around. Honestly, I don’t think it’s too bad.”

Orioles starter Jason Hammel gave up five runs, four earned, in five-plus innings. He was seeking to become the first pitcher in Orioles history to begin a season with seven straight starts of allowing two or fewer runs.

After a 14-minute rain delay, Baltimore jumped to a 2-0 first-inning lead. Avery led off with a double and received hearty congratulations from Jeter at second base after his first major league hit. Hardy followed with an RBI single and Adam Jones doubled in a run.

The Yankees pulled even in the fourth when Nick Swisher hit a two-run double following singles by Rodriguez and Robinson Cano.

In the fifth, Granderson launched a 2-1 pitch over the right-field scoreboard, the 61st homer in the 21-year history of Camden Yards to land on Eutaw Street.

Baltimore went up 5-3 in the bottom half. Avery tripled in a run and Hardy followed with a drive into the left-field seats.

New York tied it in the sixth. A leadoff double by Cano and two walks loaded the bases with no outs, ending Hammel’s night. Ayala got Chavez to hit a bouncer to first, but the ball went under Chris Davis’ glove and rolled into right field as two runs scored.

“I tried to make throw before I caught it,” Davis said. “It was hit hard, but it’s still a play that’s got to be made.”

After a one-out walk loaded the bases, Ayala struck out Jeter and retired Granderson on a fly to right.

The wacky game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles on May 6, in which position players Chris Davis and Darnell McDonald had to pitch due to a lack of arms left in the bullpen, got me thinking.

What New York Yankee position players came into games that were well out of hand to pitch in order to save the bullpen further toil? My research revealed that some modern players headed to the mound and gave it a try, as well as one very accomplished former pitcher who had become a much more potent threat as a regular in the batting order.

1. Nick Swisher

Outfielder/first baseman Swisher came into a 2008 blowout and gave the Yankees an inning, pitching to five batters and getting three of them out. He permitted one base hit, issued a walk and recorded a strikeout. Swisher was credited with a game finished and now sports an earned run average of 0.00 for his hurling career.

2. Wade Boggs

In a 1997 contest, third baseman Boggs came in and had luck similar to Swisher’s, facing four batters, walking one, striking one out and even getting a double play. He allowed no runs in this outing, but things went south when Boggs did, as a stint on the hill with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays was not as fruitful. In 1999, Boggs toed the rubber and faced seven hitters. He got four outs, but yielded a hit and a run, causing his career earned run average to balloon to 3.86.

3. Babe Ruth

Ruth was a premiere pitcher with the Red Sox, and he had a perfect record in New York after converting to a full-time outfielder. The Babe picked up three wins between the 1920 and 1922 seasons in his only three appearances in pinstripes, which was understandable since he had as many as 15 starts as recently as 1919 in Beantown. But he was able to throw a complete game in 1930, winning despite allowing 11 base hits. Ruth duplicated this feat three seasons later, going the distance once again and winning, bringing his Yankee standard to 5-0. In the 1933 tilt, Ruth gave up 12 hits and five runs, but was the winner, although failing to fan a single batter.

4. Rocky Colavito

The great Cleveland and Detroit slugger was playing out the string in 1968 with New York when he threw 2.2 innings of shut-out ball. This was not the first time the outfielder had taken the ball, as he pitched three shutout frames in 1958 with the Indians. Known for a strong throwing arm from the outfield, Rocky’s earned run average of 0.00 for his two times on the mound cannot be topped.

5. Johnny Lindell

Lindell is the odd case of a pitcher who became a hitter and then reverted back to pitching, but I thought it was appropriate to include him here. Lindell threw 52 innings for New York in 1942, then became an outfielder who managed to knock in over 100 runs in 1944 and lead the American League in triples twice. Johnny turned to hurling the sphere full-time after he and the Yanks parted ways. His time as a starter with the Pittsburgh Pirates was rough, as he posted a 5-17 record in one-plus seasons.

I have been a fan of the New York Yankees sine the middle of the 1960s.

Sources:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/swishni01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/boggswa01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruthba01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colavro01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lindejo01.shtml

New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera says he will return to the mound by 2013, vowing to overcome a knee injury that figures to end his season.

Rivera had hinted at the start of spring training that he would retire after the 2012 season, and he wasn’t sure what he would do after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament while shagging fly balls during batting practice Thursday.

Back at Kauffman Stadium today, the 42-year-old closer firmly said he will not allow his career to end this way.

“I’m coming back. Write it down in big letters. I’m not going out like this,” he said. “This has me thinking, I can’t go down like this. If it takes two, three, four, five, seven more (seasons), whatever it takes.”

Rivera dabbed tears from his eyes when he spoke Thursday night. He then went back to his hotel room, reflected and made his decision not to retire. He holds outside hope of returning late this season.

“Miracles happen,” he said. “I’m a positive man. The only thing is that I feel sorry I let down my teammates. Besides that I’m OK.”

Slugging outfielder Dave Winfield retired at the age of 43 years old, five full seasons after the New York Yankees traded him away. Winfield spent nine-plus years in New York, missing the entire 1989 campaign due to injury.

Yankees enthusiasts such as me vividly recall George Steinbrenner labeling Winfield “Mr. May” after Dave’s dismal 1981 World Series performance, but we also remember how well Winfield performed over the years with the club we root for.

Studying Winfield’s numbers, I discovered some facts about him that surprised me.

1. Twin Killings

Winfield often hit the ball hard, accounting for the high number of double plays he hit into during the course of his career. Amazingly, though, despite ranking fifth all-time in double plays grounded into, Winfield never led the league in this category. Only Cal Ripken, Ivan Rodriguez, Hank Aaron and Carl Yastrzemski managed to hit into more double plays than the 319 that Dave did.

2. Earned Nickname

As hurtful as Steinbrenner’s comments were, Winfield’s play in the 1981 postseason did much to earn the scorn of his boss. He certainly was no Reggie Jackson in 1981, garnering just one extra-base hit in the American League Championship Series and subsequent World Series. Winfield went 2-for-13 against the Oakland A’s in the ALCS, a three-game Yankee sweep. He did even worse against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Series, getting just one hit in 22 at-bats, knocking in a lone run in a Yankees defeat.

3. Avoiding the Minors

Few major leaguers can claim they never spent a day in the minors, but Winfield is one who can. He never even played a rehab game in the lower leagues. The San Diego Padres drafted Dave in 1973 with the fourth pick of the first round of the amateur draft. He went directly to the majors, hitting .277 in 56 games with San Diego that year.

4. A Witty End

The Yankees career of Winfield ended in 1990 when the club traded him to the California Angels for pitcher Mike Witt. Winfield was batting just .213 at the time of the May 11 trade. He went on to hit 19 home runs and knock in 72 runs with the Angels. Witt, although just 30 at the time of the trade, was near the end of his career as things turned out. He went 8-9 with New York in 27 contests with the Yankees, missing all of the 1992 season before retiring after the 1993 campaign.

5. Joining the Tribe

While I know Winfield was on a championship team after leaving New York, winning the Series while with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992, I did not remember his last stop was in Cleveland. Winfield played in 46 games with the Indians, batting only .191 with two homers and four runs batted in before retiring at the age of 43 in 1995.

I have been a New York Yankee fan since the middle of the 1960s.

Sources:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/GIDP_career.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wittmi01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=winfie001dav

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/winfida01.shtml

No New York Yankees fan, including myself, wants to face the possibility that closer Mariano Rivera may be succumbing to the inevitable–his age. Rivera’s opening-day catastrophe is alarming in that he lacked movement on his pitches. Add in the fact that he allowed booming hits to players he usually dominates, such as Carlos Pena, and it makes New York rooters nervous.

Rivera has been hit hard before, but he always straightens out after these bad stretches. I hope this is simply an anomaly and that he has a solid year, and then retires. If not, and he performs poorly, he will not be alone among Yankee stars who have had not heeded the advance of time.

Few great to very good players leave the game willingly, and most wait until they have become a shell of their former selves on the field. Rare are the men who leave baseball on their own terms, with their fans not having the chance to wish they had gone sooner so as not to remember their struggles.

Three New York Yankees come to mind as having said goodbye to the Bronx with their game and dignity intact:

1. Joe DiMaggio

Joltin’ Joe was 36 when he retired in 1951, just one season removed from hitting 32 homers and knocking in 122 runs. Slowed by injuries in 1951, Joe played in just 116 contests, but still had 71 runs batted in. However, he hit only .263 and struck out 36 times. The latter number may seem minuscule, but it was among the highest season totals for DiMaggio. He called it quits despite pleas from the Yankee brass to remain, hitting .261 in the last of the ten World Series he played in for New York, with a homer and five runs batted in.

2. Paul O’Neill

O’Neill had a farewell season very similar to DiMaggio’s final campaign, hitting .267 with 21 homers and 70 runs batted in. He was coming off a stretch from 1997 through 2000 during which he had a total of 443 runs batted in over the four years. But O’Neill, who turned 38 in February of 2001, decided enough was enough. He helped the Yankees to the World Series, hitting .417 versus the Mariners in the American League Championship Series victory by New York. He hit .333 in the Series against the Diamondbacks, lost ironically when Mariano Rivera blew the save in Game 7.

3. Mike Mussina

Mussina not only left on a high note, he had one of his best all-around seasons, winning 20 games for the only time in his career. He was 20-9 in 2008 before stepping away at age 39, pitching to an earned run average of 3.37. Mussina had managed 18 wins on three occasions and 19 wins twice, but never 20 until that last year. He led the American League in starts with 34 in 2008 and struck out 150 batters before hanging up the spikes.

I have been a New York Yankee fan since the middle of the 1960s.

Sources:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dimagjo01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/o’neipa01.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mussimi01.shtml

Edward Charles Ford, forever known as “Whitey” to New York Yankee fans such as me, was an easy choice for the Hall of Fame once his playing days ended. Elected to the Hall in 1974, Whitey Ford had a sparkling win percentage of .690, buoyed by his 236 wins versus just 106 defeats.

Ford has not pitched since 1967, so there are some things about this all-time Yankee great you may not realize.

1. Lost Years

Ford broke in with a 9-1 record in 1950, but then immediately lost two full years to military service. He did not pitch for the Yanks in either 1951 or 1952, returning in 1953 to go 18-6. Conservatively estimates that Whitey would have won 25 games combined in those two seasons would have given him a total of 261 victories.

2. Limited Starts

Yankee manager Casey Stengel often saved Ford for the better teams on the schedule or the toughest pitcher the opponent put up against New York. This resulted in Whitey making more than 30 starts just once in the nine seasons under Casey’s tutelage. Once the Yankees fired Stengel, manager Ralph Houk used Ford much more, allowing him to start as many as 39 times. Ford had his most productive season under Houk, going 25-4 in 1961.

3. Fatal Blunder

For some reason, Stengel opted not to make Ford his Game 1 starter against the Pirates in the 1960 World Series. This error in judgment ultimately cost Stengel his managerial job in New York, as Ford threw two complete game shutouts in the pair of contests in which he pitched, but was unavailable for the deciding Game 7. The Yanks won Games 3 and 6 by 10-0 and 12-0 scores, respectively, as Ford allowed a total of only 11 hits and two walks.

4. Hits to a Minimum

Only once in his 16 years in the major leagues did Whitey Ford give up more hits than innings pitched. That occurred toward the tail end of his career, in 1966 when he gave up 79 hits in the 73 innings he threw.

5.Multi-Category Leader

Over the years, Ford led the American League in a variety of pitching categories, highlighting his stamina and skill. He was the circuit leader in wins three times, earned run average twice, winning percentage on three occasions and shutouts twice. Ford led the AL in innings pitched in 1961 and 1963 and had the most complete games in 1955.

Ford was a shell of his former self by the time I began following the Yankees in 1967.

Sources:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1960_WS.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fordwh01.shtml

New York Yankees announcer Ken Singleton was a favorite player of mine, despite my allegiance to the Bronx Bombers. Singleton seemingly wore out the Yankees whenever he played them, but now he is familiar to New York fans as a color man/play-by-play announcer on the YES Network that telecasts Yankee games. Singleton was no slouch as a player, making the All-Star team three times and twice finishing in the top three in Most Valuable Player voting.

Here are five things about Ken Sinlgeton’s career you might not remember:

1. Glad I Met Ya

The New York Mets originally drafted Singleton in 1967 with the third pick in the first round of the amateur draft. However, they traded him to the Montreal Expos in 1972 for Rusty Staub after he played only two years in New York. With the Expos, Singleton posted one of his best seasons, with 103 runs batted in during 1973. Eventually, Montreal sent Ken to the Baltimore Orioles, where he played for 10 seasons. With the Orioles, Singleton had two seasons with at least 104 runs batted in, another with 99, and two more with at least 80 on his way to 1,065 for his career.

2. Slow Afoot

Speed was not part of Singleton’s repertoire. He hit just 25 triples over 2,082 contests and stole only 21 bases, being thrown out 36 times. Kenny also hit into 248 double plays, good for 29th place on the all-time twin killings list.

3. Postseason Star

Singleton reached the playoffs twice, both times as an Oriole. He hit .375 versus the California Angles in the 1979 American League Championship Series and then batted .357 in a seven-game World Series loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1983, Singleton had a more limited role in the postseason, collecting three base hits in 13 at-bats as the Orioles became world champions.

4. Anchored in the Outfield

Kenny never played anywhere but in the outfield, with right field being his position for 1,314 of the games he played. He manned center field just three times, while he patrolled left field on 247 occasions. The rest of the games he participated in were as a designated hitter or as a pinch hitter.

5. Walks to Strikeouts

The ratio of walks to strikeouts over Singleton’s career was nearly one-to-one. He fanned 1,246 times and took 1,263 free passes. Ken led the American League in intentional walks twice, in 1979 with 16, and in 1983 with 19. Oddly enough, in the three seasons in between, opposing hurlers walks him on purpose just nine times combined.

I have been a Yankee fan for 45 years, with Singleton being a player I always thought was classy.

Source:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/singlke01.shtml

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