New York Yankees

In the 30th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft, the New York Yankees selected Marcus Thames from Louisville, Mississippi.

Six years after that, in June of 2002, Thames homered on the first pitch he ever saw.  Who threw it?  Just this guy named Randy Johnson. No big deal, right?

The Yankees second round draft pick last season, J.R. Murphy left extended spring training and played tonight for the Low A Charleston RiverDogs.

The RiverDogs were playing in Rome, GA against the Low A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves.

The 6'0", 190 lb Murphy was the designated hitter and ended up 1-3, with a double, RBI and struck out twice.

While drafted as a catcher, and currently part of the long pecking order of highly-rated Yankees catching prospects, I feel Murphy's greatest value to the team is likely as a rightfielder.

Unless there is a catastrophe, the Yankees are going to buy another World Series this season. There's no denying it.

That team is stacked with great hitting and great pitching. Their young players mesh with the veterans when it comes to creating a cohesive unit.

There's no team in baseball that can challenge them. People can talk about the Giants with their starting five, but the Yankees have a good starting rotation of their own.

Trailing 9-7 in the bottom of the ninth, Alex Rodriguez tied the game with a two-run home run off Jonathan Papelbon. Three batters later, Marcus Thames’ two-out, two-run walk off homer lifted New York to an 11-9 win over Boston Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

What Home Field Advantage?

The Yankees took two of three against the Twins over the weekend, but lost the finale in stinging fashion when Mariano Rivera gave up a grand slam in the eighth inning. New York will have to bounce back from that blow quickly, though, as it welcomes the arch rival Red Sox to Yankee Stadium for a quick two-game set.

The Bombers (24-13) have taken four of six from Boston (19-19) already this season with all of those games being played at Fenway Park.

Let's face it, despite the team's recent success, the New York Yankee outfield isn't looking too promising right now.

At the start of the season, the Yankee outfield was seeing great production out of both Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher. Unfortunatley, both of these players have been cut down with injuries.

According to a recent update from NBC news, Granderson is able to jog and hit without pain, but, "still isn't running at top speed or changing directions, which will tax his injured groin more than light jogging in one direction."

Facing another series sweep in the Bronx, the Twins pulled off some magic usually reserved for the Yankees.

Jason Kubel’s two-out, eighth-inning grand slam off Mariano Rivera powered Minnesota to a 6-3 win over New York Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

With the win, Minnesota ended a 12-game losing streak in New York. The Twins had not won a game at Yankee Stadium since July 4, 2007.

When someone asks who is one of baseball's best closers, Mariano Rivera is among the first names on that list, and rightfully so. His career ERA is in the top 15 all time, and his ERA-plus is easily the greatest all time, not to mention his save numbers, and World Series rings as a member of the New York Yankees.

So what's left for this dominant relief pitcher to accomplish at 40? How about holding a 0.00 ERA as long as he did.

Throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game is a tradition that extends to the old days.

Presidents, movie stars, athletes from other sports, politicians, Broadway actors/actresses, singers, etc have all had the honor to be a part of the opening ceremony at a baseball game.

There have been excellent throws that have led people to wonder whether this person could have had a baseball career and there are those that should quit whatever career they hold after embarrassing themselves in front of thousands of people.