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RP – Darren O’Day RP – Zack Britton RP – Aroldis Chapman RP – Justin Wilson That’s 22 locks out of 26 Is he a better option than say Tyler Lyons, Michael King, Adam Warren, Nick Nelson, or Kyle Barraclough

By now our readers know the story… I am looking back to see how the Yankees performed on my birthday each year since I’ve been born and then telling the story of what took place on that summer day. As always, whenever I do research like this, my first two stops are always Retrosheet and Baseball-Reference. Let’s head back to 2008… *** On July 12, 2008, the Yankees headed into Toronto to battle the Blue Jays. These were two closely matched teams. The Yankees were 49-44. The Blue Jays, 46-47. Darrell Rasner took the mound for the Yankees. He entered the game with a 4-7 record. Opposing him was Jesse Litsch who was 8-5. The Yankees sent the following lineup into the game: Derek Jeter – ss Bobby Abreu – rf Alex Rodriguez – 3b Jason Giambi – 1b Jorge Posada – dh Robinson Cano – 2b Melky Cabrera – cf Chad Moeller – c Brett Gardner – lf The Blue Jays countered with: Joe Inglett – rf Marco Scutaro – 2b Lyle Overbay – 1b Matt Stairs – dh Brad Wilkerson – cf Scott Rolen – 3b Adam Lind – lf Gregg Zaun – c John McDonald – ss *** The Yankees wasted little time scoring in this game as Derek Jeter led off the game with a home run. (He probably did not realize that he had now homered on two consecutive July 12th’s.) In the bottom of the first, down 1-0, the Blue Jays tied the game on a Joe Inglett triple followed by a Marco Scutaro single. If that was all the Jays got, it wouldn’t have been so bad, but it got worse. Lyle Overbay then reached on a catcher’s interference. One out later, Brad Wilkerson walked. Then, after another out, Adam Lind hit a three run triple. After one inning, the Blue Jays led 4-1. It was shaping up as an ugly afternoon for the Yankees in Canada. But, after seeing the Blue Jays load the bases and score lots of runs, the Yankees decided to do the same. Jorge Posada walked. One out later, Melky Cabrera singled. Chad Moeller was then hit-by-a-pitch. Brett Gardner then singled home a run to make it 4-2. Derek Jeter then reached on an error by Marco Scutaro that scored a run making it 4-3. A-Rod then hit a two-run single to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the second inning, the Blue Jays had batters reach on an error (Cano), a single, and a hit batter, but they failed to score any runs. In the top of the third, Robbie Cano reached on an error by John McDonald, Melky Cabrera singled, and after a runner advancing slow roller ground out by Chad Moeller, Brett Gardner singled home two runs to give the Yankees a 7-4 lead. Derek Jeter then singled home Gardner (who had advanced to second on the throw home) giving the Yankees an 8-4 lead. That was all, then, for Jesse Litsch. Brad Tallet came in and retired Bobby Abreu. The Blue Jays then went down in order in the third inning. Alex Rodriguez led off the top of the fourth inning with a home run. This gave the Yankees a 9-4 cushion. (Rodriguez probably did not realize that he had homered on two consecutive July 12th’s.) And it was there that the scoring stopped… In the bottom of the fourth inning, the first two Jays batters singled and then Darrell Rasner struck out Marco Scutaro (swinging), Lyle Overbay (looking), and Matt Stairs (swinging) in succession. In the fifth, Rasner gave up a double to Brad Wilkerson, but then retired the next three batters to end his day. The Blue Jays were now utilizing their bullpen. Brian Wolfe pitched the fifth and sixth. Jason Frasor pitched the seventh and eighth. Brandon League pitched the ninth. The Yankees used Edwar Ramirez in the sixth, Jose Veras in the seventh, Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth, and LaTroy Hawkins in the ninth to close out the 9-4 win. The game began with a collection of big hits, errors, and runs and ended with a collection of back-of-the-bullpen arms to close out the final scoreless innings. The Yankees won. That’s what mattered. *** Next, the 2009 Yankees, in their last World Championship season (to date), head to Los Angeles to take on the Angels. *** Yankees Record on July 12 (in this series – since 1968): 20-6 (There were no games played on July 12 in 1971, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, and 2006.) Hideki Matsui on July 12 (to date): 2 for 8 (.250), double, strikeout Derek Jeter on July 12 (to date): 10 for 29 (.345), 6 runs, 7 RBI, 5 SO, 2 BB, 2 HR Mariano Rivera on July 12 (to date): 3 innings, no runs, 1 hit, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, 1 save, 1 blown save (0.00) Don Mattingly on July 12 (in his career on July 12): 12 for 31 (.387), 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 BB, SO Graig Nettles (as a Yankee on July 12): 33 AB, 7 hits (.212), 1 run, 5 strikeouts, 4 walks. 1 RBI (I had hoped that my favorite player would have done better on my birthday.) #BirthdayBaseball

by James Vlietstra March 6, 2021 *** Thanks for reading and taking part in my thorough examination of the Yankees’ roster and minor league system. For easy reference, here is the complete series! Introduction The Catchers The First Basemen The Second Basemen The Shortstops The Third Basemen The Outfielders The Starting Pitchers The Left Handed Pitchers Right Handed Pitchers 23 and Older Right Handed Pitchers 22 and Younger The First Round Picks The Former Yankees The Conclusion: My Opening Day Roster #26ManRoster #MinorLeagues #OpeningDay

By E.J. Fagan October 4, 2025 *** NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page  and is shared with permission. Please check out EJ's substack page for more great articles. *** The Boston Red Sox were a scary team to face in a three game series. Garrett Crochet was not only one of the best pitchers in baseball in 2025, but he matches up incredibly well against the Yankees left-handed lineup. Add on a lefty-heavy bullpen and the Red Sox were able to neutralize a lot of the Yankees strengths. There’s a reason why the Yankees lost so many games to Boston this year. Yet the Yankees were able to pull out wins in Games 2 and 3. Now they face the Toronto Blue Jays in the playoffs for the first time ever. While they just managed to hold on to a division lead against a charging Yankees squad, Toronto is an inferior team to the Red Sox, especially against the Yankees. Here is the all-righty rotation that Toronto will throw out: Game 1: Kevin Gausman, 3.59 ERA, 3.42 xERA Game 2: Shane Bieber, 3.57 ERA, 3.84 xERA Game 3: Trey Yesavage, 3.21 ERA, 4.14 xERA (14 innings, barely pitched above High-A). That’s pretty underwhelming stuff. The Yankees are probably at a slight disadvantage against Gausman, but only because they have to pitch Warren or Gil in Game 1. Max Fried and Carlos Rodon in Games 2 and 3 will be strong favorites, and Cam Schlittler in Game 4 might be better than any of them. The Jays' bullpen isn’t much better: Toronto has relied on a high powered offense to win games in 2025. And they definitely have some real weapons in George Springer and Vlad Guerrero Jr. The Blue Jays were second in runs per game in the American League behind the Yankees, roughly equivalent to Boston in third place. But, like Boston, one of their best hitters won’t play against the Yankees. Bo Bichette is out with a knee injury. Toronto’s roster is pretty deep behind Bichette and their two stars, with lots of above average hitters like Dalton Varsho, Alejandro Kirk and Addison Barger. But can that group compete with the Yankees? Here’s every starter in the series by wRC+, Yankees underlined. Aaron Judge 204 wRC+ George Springer 166 wRC+ Giancarlo Stanton 158 wRC+ Vlad Guerrero Jr 137 wRC+ Ben Rice 133 wRC+ Trent Grisham 129 wRC+ Jazz Chisholm 126 wRC+ Cody Bellinger 125 wRC+ Dalton Varsho 122 wRC+ Alejandro Kirk 111 wRC+ Addison Barger 107 wRC+ Nathan Lukes 103 wRC+ Ernie Clement 98 wRC+ Austin Wells 97 wRC+ Ryan McMahon 86 wRC+ Andreas Gimenez 70 wRC+ Anthony Santander 61 wRC+ Antony Volpe 83 wRC+ The Yankees are just a bit better across the board. Springer and Guerrero are great, but Judge and Stanton are better. McMahon, Wells and Volpe are bad hitters, but can match Clement, Gimenez and Santander. But I’d argue that the biggest advantage for the Yankees is in the middle: Rice, Bellinger, Grisham and Chisholm are each way better than any of the middle of Toronto’s lineup. There’s a reason why Toronto’s expected record based on runs scored/allowed record comes out to 9 wins few than the Yankees. The Yankees are a better team. Could the Yankees stumble in a short series? Of course, especially given how the Blue Jays get to face Will Warren or Luis Gil rather than Max Fried in Game 1. But if you even out all of the randomness of baseball, the Yankees should win every game. Yankees in 3.

v=K5JlNATPkw0) Brandon Lockridge, OF (#26): Age/Date of Birth: 23 Years Old (03/14/1997) 2019 Team(s) Luckily, his speed with helping to increase his range could help compensate.

Last year blasted 26 homers. The Yankees have to hope his progression continues.

(Our expert team of numbers crunchers (ok, it was just me) neglected to factor in that extra day in February, or maybe I just counted incorrectly, when this series began all those weeks ago…)Embed from Getty Images #CountdowntoOpeningDay

Ed Herrmann is one of those players who I have only a passing acquaintance to. I had his 1976 Topps Yankees card. It was one of those cards like we all had back then, bent a million times over with folds and creases and was in extremely poor condition. But it was a card of a guy on the Yankees! I later learned that Ed Herrmann wasn’t even a Yankee in 1976. he played for the Yankees in one season only, 1975. And…he actually did pretty well. A lefty-hitting catcher, Herrmann appeared in 80 games batting .255 with 6 homers and 30 runs batted in. Not bad! Ed Herrmann arrived for good in the Major Leagues in 1969 and played with the White Sox from that year through 1974. Just before the 1975, season the White Sox traded Herrmann to the Yankees for four minor leaguers of little note. None of those four players reached the big show although, one of those players was John Narron who I have to assume was future Yankee Jerry Narron’s older brother. I guess the Yankees in that time drafted both of the Narron boys. After his successful season in the Bronx, the Yankees sold Herrmann to the California Angels. He was then traded to the Astros. That 1976 season, the one with the card I had that was all folded and creased and an absolute mess was also a mess in actuality for Herrmann. Between the two clubs (California and Houston) he batted just .199. In 56 games in 1977, Herrmann rediscovered his batting stroke as he put up a solid .291 in 56 games. In 1978, after a .111 start in 16 games, he was sold to the Expos. It didn’t help. In 19 games for Montreal, he batted just .175. Somehow, he stayed with the club all season. In his last big league at bat, Ed Herrmann came up as a pinch hitter for pitcher Darold Knowles of the Pirates. He singled off future Yankee pitcher Ed Whitson. Pepe Frias then pinch-ran for Herrmann… and that was that. Ed Herrmann played 11 seasons batting .240 with 80 homers and 320 runs batted in. Not bad for a guy I knew little of.

October 14, 2024 ***

About the Postseason: Another Rung on the Ladder By Tim Kabel October 14, 2024 *** The Yankees open the

*** Exclusive to Paul Semendinger, Start Spreading The News Excerpt from Home Run King: the Remarkable article, reprinted with permission of the author, is the introduction to the new biography Home Run King

About the Off-Season: Leave the Free Agents; Bring the Cannoli By Time Kabel December 23, 2025 *** We Meanwhile, the Yankees are just bringing in players who would be marginal even in the margins. Brian Cashman has acquired more fringe than you would find on a buckskin jacket. What if they don't bring back Cody Bellinger? What if they don't add a starting pitcher? The gamble of bringing back Trent Grisham on a very large contract would definitely need to pay off.