Tag Archives: Josh Chetwynd

Ichiro excels at ‘The Egg’ as M’s take the opener

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Ichiro sent the fans home happy in Tokyo today as his four hits helped the Seattle Mariners to a 3-1 victory over the Oakland A’s in MLB’s International Series opener.

The A’s and M’s were so glad to be playing competitive baseball again that they decided nine innings wasn’t enough and played two extra frames before Seattle made their decisive breakthrough in the top of the eleventh inning.

Dustin Ackley joined Ichiro in having a memorable opener by launching a solo home run to right-centre field and he was rewarded with the game’s MVP award and a cheque for one million Japanese yen. Unfortunately for Ackley, that sum sounds more impressive than it really is ($12,038 U.S., or £7,600), although I’m sure it was gratefully received nonetheless.

Ackley’s blast came just after I had muted Seattle’s ROOT Sports presentation on ESPN America and tuned into BBC Radio’s excellent live coverage instead. Simon Brotherton and Josh Chetwynd’s commentary was about five seconds ahead of ESPN America’s pictures, making Ackley’s homer feel like two blows to the head rather than one.

That was the only downside to the event though. Simon and Josh work well together and they do an excellent job of getting the balance right between explaining the simple things for the newcomers whilst not making it seem condescending to the established fans of the game.

As they did during last year’s World Series, they made sure the atmosphere and excitement at the ballpark travelled over the airwaves (or the fibre optic cables if you were listening online) and that’s the great benefit of having the commentators actually in attendance. That was particularly noticeable in comparison to ROOT Sport’s commentary via ESPN America. Dave Simms and Mike Blowers are a good broadcasting duo, but they didn’t quite have their normal spark commentating from their Seattle studio in the early hours of the morning.

The MLB on 5 Live Sports Extra budget understandably means that Simon and Josh will only be at the ballpark for special events such as the opener, the All-Star Game and the World Series. The show still works extremely well with Nat Coombs being joined by Josh (and guests) to accompany local radio commentary of the regular season games, but when the budget allows it then getting out to the ballpark really does add something worthwhile to the coverage.

Incidentally, the 5 Live show is switching to a regular Thursday evening slot for this season, with some Sunday shows mixed in for good measure. I’ll be writing more about why I like this move in the coming days.

The pitchers were expected to be ahead of the hitters at this stage of the year and that proved to be the case in this game, although we’ll see how Bartolo Colon and Jason Vargas get on tomorrow. Felix Hernandez lived up to his ‘King’ nickname with a very strong eight innings to start the year and Brandon McCarthy matched him most of the way.  The Ackley home run was virtually the only mistake McCarthy made as he once again proved adept at getting groundballs galore for the A’s infielders to collect.

If the pitchers were in good shape, the same could also be said for home plate umpire Tom Hallion. He had his strikeout act in mid-season form, combining a violent swivelling arm pump with a guttural roar as if someone had just attached jump leads to his back and sent 50,000 volts through his body. The A’s Jemile Weeks would probably argue that Hallion was so keen on showing off his ‘moves’ that he used them even when strike three hadn’t crossed the plate.

Weeks may not have been impressed by Hallion, but Simon Brotherton was quite taken by him as he was with the respectful and attentive Japanese crowd who were engrossed with every pitch rather than “constantly leaving to fill their faces”, as Brotherton memorably put it.

The Tokyo Dome will be full of attentive fans once again tomorrow, all hoping for a repeat performance from Ichiro and the Mariners. It should be another even game, starting at 10.10 a.m. UK time. Coverage will again be provided by ESPN America and BBC Radio, with the latter’s commentary live throughout on the BBC website and coming on air on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra once the day’s cricket is over.

Unfortunately for the England team, that might be fairly early into the A’s-M’s game. At least we’ll have another good game of baseball to enjoy if England’s efforts fall short against Sri Lanka.

The Secret History of Balls by Josh Chetwynd

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The Secret History of Balls by Josh Chetwynd (Perigee, 2011) 221 pages

If you’re a sports fan, and it would be safe to assume someone reading a website about baseball is, you probably don’t think about balls anywhere near as much as you should.

Balls are the essential element in many sports and games and like most things that are seemingly ever-present, we take them for granted. They are always there, but how often do we actually stop and think about them?

The answer to that question is probably ‘not very regularly’. The Secret History of Balls is both a colourful reminder of why we should pay them more attention and an entertaining helping hand to give balls the credit they deserve.

This lively guide to the history of balls is written by Josh Chetwynd. Josh is known to baseball fans in the UK as a seasoned broadcaster, formerly on Channel 5 and now BBC 5 Live Sports Extra. Throughout his career he has always shown a knack for being able to impart his knowledge and to educate while never losing sight of the fact that sport, for all the importance we typically attach to it, is first and foremost supposed to be fun.

His previous two books have been masterly pieces of research on British and European baseball history. His latest, published earlier this year, takes a slightly more irreverent look at its subject matter but it still a notable collection of fact-finding in its own right.

Accompanied by Emily Stackhouse’s illustrations, over sixty balls are looked at in alphabetical order, from the Australian Rules Football to the Zorb Globe (the big hamster ball for humans).

The baseball section was the first that I flicked to, of course, and that’s as good an example as any in the book at the importance of the ball, in terms of its development and how this has affected the way the sport is played. As Chetwynd puts it, “when things change in baseball, the first place people look is the ball”.  Continue reading →

MLB on 5 Live Sports Extra: Royals v Cardinals

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Mlb5XtraHlTonight’s game on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra is an interleague match-up from the Midwest between the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals.  Nat Coombs and Josh Chetwynd are scheduled to be on air from 18.30.

St. Louis (39-33) enter the game second in the NL Central, one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers, while Kansas City (31-40) are fourth in the AL Central with the Minnesota Twins quickly catching up on them.

It should be an entertaining contest this evening.  The three-game series is tied at 1-1 heading into the final match. 

A Matt Holliday home run in the eighth inning yesterday snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Cardinals as they took a 5-4 victory one day after the Royals had beaten them by the same scoreline.

The Cardinals have been the kings of the Midwest for over a decade, but the Royals are on a rebuilding mission. 

First baseman Eric Hosmer and third baseman Mike Moustakas, two of their star prospects, have recently been called up to the Big Leagues to join Billy Butler (reduced to pinch hitting duties during the DH-less play at the National League park) and Alex Gordon to form a home-grown nucleus to their batting lineup.  

Manager Ned Yost is able to throw one flame-throwing reliever after another at the opposition with ‘Tiny’ Tim Collins, Aaron Crow, Blake Wood, Louis Coleman and Everett Teaford currently holding the spots in front of closer Joakim Soria, who looks to be finding some form after a rough start to the season.

The Royals’ starting rotation is a work in progress after trading away their previous ace Zack Greinke over the offseason, but their starting pitcher today should be part of the solution.  Danny Duffy is a left-hander of much promise. 

His path to the Big Leagues hasn’t been completely smooth, he even briefly quit the game at the start of last season; however his fastball and changeup – alongside a developing breaking ball – give him every chance of being a solid Major Leaguer.  He recorded his first Big League win in his last outing against the A’s and this will be his seventh Major League start. 

As for the Cardinals, they will match one lefty with another by sending Jaime Garcia to the mound. He was a revelation in his rookie season last year and he has continued that form into 2011.  Garcia ended up with a no-decision in his last outing despite giving his team another solid start.  He struck out seven and gave up just two earned runs over six innings against the Washington Nationals.

The MLB show is preceded by Day Four of the England – Sri Lanka Test match.  It’s been a bit of a washout at the Rose Bowl and, with the weather forecast not looking good for tomorrow, it’s possible that they might be playing on for later than usual if the rain and light holds up. 

However, first pitch is set for 19.15 BST so we should be fine for joining the game without missing any of the action.

You can listen to the game via Digital Radio, Digital TV or online on the BBC website (UK residents only). Don’t forget to join up to the MLB on 5 Live Facebook group page.

MLB Opening Day on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra

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Mlb5XtraHlMLB’s Opening Day is always a special occasion for baseball fans; the long winter days are waved away as seven months of baseball stretch out before our eyes.

However, Opening Day will will be more enjoyable than usual in 2011.  For the first time since 2008, a UK broadcaster will be bringing us live coverage as the season gets underway.  MLB returns to BBC 5 Live Sports Extra today with the Detroit Tigers facing the New York Yankees from 6 p.m.  Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia will be on the mound for what is set to be an exciting way to start the season.

A welcome return

It was on 4 July, Independence Day, last year that British baseball fans welcomed back the sport to a non-subscription service after an all-too-long absence.  As we watched the 2008 World Series on Five, little did we know that the channel was about to move away from the late-night North American sports coverage that had been one of its distinctive (many would say ‘few’) qualities. 

It wasn’t just the lack of free-to-air coverage, bringing newcomers to the sport, that made the loss of ‘Baseball on 5’ so disappointing.  The show had become a vital and fun way to bring the British baseball community together.  BBC 5 Live Sports Extra reunited that community last year and Josh Chetwynd, co-presenter on both shows, was as delighted as any fan.

“It was fantastic. Britain’s baseball audience is savvy and enthusiastic and, often, it feels like we’re all part of one family. Beyond the audience it was also wonderful to reunite on air with so many people I was lucky enough to get to work with or know from years past, such as Jonny Gould, Erik Janssen, David Lengel and Nat Coombs”.

The wonders of radio

Things aren’t quite the same as before, with the action now being brought to us in audio rather than visual form.  That doesn’t reduce the enjoyment though as baseball, like cricket, suits radio perfectly, as Josh explains: “I do believe baseball is a wonderfully descriptive game and great broadcasters who have excellent command of language can really make the game sing on the radio. Also, baseball lends itself in many ways to radio with it’s easy pacing.  On TV, people want more fireworks”.

One of the advantages with the radio show is that the team has a greater choice of games to broadcast, rather than simply following the ESPN schedule.  This also means that the commentary is provided by the announcers of one of the two teams involved, adding an extra element to the show.

“There tends to be a hometown bias that’s really fun coming from many of those broadcasters”, Josh notes. “Ron Santo, who sadly passed away this off season, was the best. You could really feel his pain every time his Cubs struggled. TV often lacks that populist feel”.

British baseball fans will be able to enjoy such commentary on a weekly basis this year.  Today’s Tigers-Yankees clash is followed on Sunday with a game between the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers.  The focus moves to the National League on the following Sunday when the Phillies take on the Braves, before games between the Blue Jays and Red Sox, and the Yankees and Orioles, round out the month of April.  The current 6 p.m. start time means that the games are coming from the east coast (1 p.m. starts local time) initially, but other areas will be featured as the season progresses.

Hopes for 2011

There is much to look forward to in MLB this year and the 5 Live show is sure to reflect this.  After covering the second half of the 2010 season and the playoffs last year, the team are clearly excited to be back for a full season in 2011.

”As we’re starting from the beginning of the year this season rather than mid-season we really hope we can build some momentum with some regular features, numerous guests – fingers crossed – and the same combination of insightful analysis peppered with some good fun” said Josh.  “I know we really want the show to remain very interactive so hopefully we’ll continue to build on our efforts to get listeners involved, much as we tried to do on Five”.

And there should be plenty of stories for listeners to contact the show about.  ”I’m really geared up for a fantastic season” said Josh. “Clearly, everyone is tipping the Red Sox and the Phillies (with some hold-out Yankees fans). But I always love the unpredictability of the long season. The certainty of the spring always gives way to surprises by mid-summer and I can’t wait for the ride”.

Join Josh, Nat, Jonny and the rest of the team on the journey by tuning in to BBC 5 Live Sports Extra on DAB radio and Digital TV again this season.  The show’s Facebook page can be found here.

News on Josh Chetwynd’s next book

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Current followers of “MLB on 5 Live”, old fans of “Baseball on Five”, and other members of the British baseball community will all have come across Josh Chetwynd as a broadcaster, a coach, a player, or maybe all three. And those who like reading books may well have also come across him as an author. His first book (reviewed by Matt here) was a work on British baseball history and his follow-up (reviewed by me here) explored the broader topic of the sport’s history in Europe.

A third book by Chetywnd is due out in May. In one way, it is much broader – in that it looks at a whole range of sports – and in another it is much more specific – in that it focuses on the stories behind the balls they use. It’s called The Secret History of Balls: The Stories Behind the Things We Love to Catch, Whack, Throw, Kick, Bounce and Bat. Readers of his other books will know that Chetwynd has a knack for gathering fascinating anecdotes, and so I suspect this book will be another great read. I’ve pre-ordered my copy.

For those interested in knowing more, here’s the blurb off the Penguin.com website:

You may fancy yourself a sports fan, but chances are you don’t know:

A fish eyeball was used as the center of some nineteenth-century baseballs

The race to make better billiard balls led to the invention of plastics

The Nerf ball was originally created to be part of a board game featuring cavemen

Balls are the unsung heroes of sports. They are smacked, flung, dribbled, crushed, thrown, and kicked. They’re usually only the subject of scrutiny when something goes wrong: a tear, the application of an illegal foreign substance, or a dent from overuse. Nevertheless, if you’re watching nearly any major sporting event from around the world, you’re likely following the ball wondering where it will go next…

The Secret History of Balls mines the stories and lore of sports and recreation to offer insight into 60 balls-whether they’re hollow, solid, full of air, or stuffed with twine or made of leather, metal, rubber, plastic, or polyurethane-that give us joy on playing fields and in every arena from backyards to stadiums around the globe.

Mister Baseball’s European Top 50

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Mister Baseball’s European Top 50 rankings have been updated following the completion of the 2010 domestic seasons throughout Europe.

The rankings are produced by BBC Five Live Sports Extra presenter Josh Chetwynd.  Josh, of course, is a former Great Britain player and British baseball league veteran and his detailed ranking system is now in its fourth year. 

The 2010 National Baseball League champions, the Richmond Flames, are British baseball’s highest entrant at number 30, with Bracknell Blazers following in at 32.  The British pair are separated by MGPU S.Y.O.S. Moscow, which goes to show just how wide-ranging the rankings are.

Comparing teams over different leagues of varying standards is not an exact science and that’s fully acknowledged each time the revised rankings are published:

“The combination of country strength and individual team performance is intended to give a snapshot of European club play for a single year. These rankings do not attempt to offer a historic comparison of clubs and do not assert that a team ranked higher than another is a “better” team. Rather, a combination of performance and league strength reflects the ordering. We recognize that these rankings stir debate. In part, that’s their very purpose. We do not claim this list to be definitive”.

These rankings are always a fascinating read and are a great way to introduce MLB fans to the top teams in European baseball.  Well worth taking a look at.

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra: Texas Rangers v Minnesota Twins

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UPDATE: 5 Live Sports Extra’s schedule has now changed

This evening’s game on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra brings together two division leaders from the American League. 

Texas Rangers lead the AL West by eight games and appear primed for their first playoff appearance since 1999.  2010 has been a tumultuous year off the field for the Rangers, with a messy ownership change and manager Ron Washington being found to have taken cocaine.  However, far from being distractions, these events have brought the club together.

In contrast, things couldn’t have gone any better off the field for the Minnesota Twins this year.  All-Star catcher, reigning MVP and all-round Minnesotan hero Joe Mauer signed an eight-year contract extension over the offseason and the team finally opened a beautiful new outdoor ballpark, Target Field, replacing the much-maligned Metrodome.  The Twins lead the AL Central by 3.5 games ahead of the Chicago White Sox.

Nat Coombs and Josh Chetwynd will be presenting the action from 7 p.m. (first pitch is scheduled for 7.10).  Not only can you listen in via DAB radio and digital TV, the show is now also available online for UK residents at the BBC.co.uk website. 

The series so far

Sometimes teams can take a while to find their feet at a new home and that was a slight concern for the Twins’ division-winning hopes heading into the season as the unique nature of the Metrodome had previously given them a significant home-field advantage.

Twins fans had nothing to worry about as their team is 44-23 at Target Field and the most recent two wins have come at the expense of the Rangers.  They edged the opener 4-3 on Friday night as emergency starter Matt Fox held Texas to two runs over 5.1 innings and Denard Span singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning. 

The Twins followed up that success with a commanding 12-4 victory yesterday in a day game on FOX.  Jim Thome went deep twice, the first a mighty upper-deck blast to right-field, to match and then pass Mart McGwire for ninth on the all-time home run list with 584 round-trippers.  Carl Pavano pitched eight strong innings to earn his sixteenth win of the season.

Today’s starting pitchers

C.J. Wilson has been a revelation for the Rangers this season.  The former relief pitcher moved into the rotation at the start of the year and he has held onto his place in impressive style, going 14-5 in his twenty-seven starts with a 2.88 ERA. 

His one Achilles heel has been the base-on-balls as Wilson leads all AL pitchers in giving up 77 free passes; however he has counteracted this by leading the league in allowing the fewest hits per nine innings (6.67).

The Twins will turn to Nick Blackburn today as they go for the series sweep.  It’s been a difficult year for the right-hander as his ERA is a full two runs higher this season than in 2009 (6.04 compared with 4.03) and his struggles resulted in him being sent down to Triple-A at the end of July. 

He was called back up to the Big Leagues for a start against Texas on 23 August and although he took the loss, he didn’t pitch badly (three earned runs conceded over seven innings) and he followed that up with an excellent showing against the Mariners last Saturday.  Blackburn was used as an emergency reliever against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday and that didn’t go so well as he gave up the game-winning home run to Gerald Laird.  However, the Twins hope that his two most recent starts show that he has turned the corner and will carry forward that encouraging form today.

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra: Atlanta Braves v Chicago Cubs

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Mlb5XtraHlThere should be no last minute changes to this week’s scheduled game on BBC 5 Live Sports Extra.  The Test between England and Pakistan has finished and there will be no repeat of an Andy Murray final to switch to as he got knocked out of the Cincinnati Masters on Friday.

So Braves-Cubs it is scheduled to be and, subject to a rain-out, that’s what we’ll get to enjoy this evening.  Coverage starts at 19.00 with first pitch set for 19.20.  The show can be found on DAB radio and digital TV.

Nat Coombs is likely to present the show again alongside Josh Chetwynd, but Jonny Gould will no doubt be listening in and cheering on his Braves.  His favourite player, Chipper Jones, is sadly out for the season, but he does have another favourite to cheer for instead: Braves manager Bobby Cox. This is almost certainly going to be the final time Cox and Lou Pineilla manage against each other as both plan to retire at the end of the season.

The series so far

If this game, the third of a three-game series, follows the same pattern as the first two, we can expect the Cubs to take a lead and the Braves to mount an exciting late comeback.

Their comeback succeeded on Friday.  The Cubs led 3-2 heading into the top of the ninth, only for star closer Carlos Marmol to let the game slip from his grasp.  The Braves had the bases loaded, but were down to their last strike when Rick Ankiel laced a three-run triple to give his team a 5-3 lead that Billy Wagner held on to the bottom of the frame.

Cubs fans must have feared a repeat yesterday as they once again saw an early lead being whittled away.  Chicago scored five runs off the Braves’ starter Tommy Hanson and Tom Gorzelanny pitched seven innings of one-run ball to put the Cubs up 5-1 heading into the eighth inning.  Atlanta got another bases-loaded hit, this time a three-run double by Brooks Conrad, to make it 5-4.  However, Marmol quickly put his Friday failure behind him by shutting down the Braves in the ninth to level the series at 1-1 before today’s rubber game.

Today’s starting pitchers

The two starting pitchers today have had completely different journeys on their way to the Major Leagues.

The Braves selected Mike Minor with the seventh overall pick of the amateur draft last year.  He became the fourth 2009 first-round pitcher to make the Majors within less than a year of signing, joining the Reds’ Mike Leake and the Washington Nationals’ Drew Storen and Stephen Strasburg.  Minor is also the third first-rounder in a row out of Vanderbilt University to make the Majors in short measure, following in the paths of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ third baseman Pedro Alvarez (2nd overall in 2008) and the Tampa Bay Rays’ pitcher David Price (1st overall in 2007). 

Today will be Minor’s third Big League start.  The left-hander impressed in his first two appearances, going six innings each time against the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals, picking up his first Major League win last time out against the Nats.  Minor throws a low nineties fastball, a low eighties changeup and an effective curveball.

In contrast to Minor’s straight path to a Big League mound, the Cubs’ Randy Wells has taken a more unique route.

The Cubs selected Wells as a catcher in the 38th round of the 2002 draft.  He converted to being a full-time pitcher in 2004 and worked his way up to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs team, before being claimed by the Toronto Blue Jays in the December 2007 Rule 5 draft.  Wells pitched one Major League inning for the Blue Jays before being returned to the Cubs and having a strong debut season (12-10, 3.05 ERA) as a rotation regular at Wrigley last year.

Wells hasn’t quite lived up to that great form in 2010, coming into this game with a 5-11 record and a 4.44 ERA, but he has partly been a victim of the Cubs’ wider struggles (receiving two or less runs in support of his pitching in thirteen of his twenty-five starts).  Wells’ days of wearing the tools of ignorance look like being over and his fastball, slider, changeup combo should help him remain as a solid starter for years to come.

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra – Tonight’s game has changed

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Mlb5XtraHlAs my preview earlier today stated, 5 Live Sports Extra was scheduled to bring us the Yankees-Royals game at 19.00.  However, the channel has now changed its schedule so that they can broadcast the Rogers Cup final between Andy Murray and Roger Federer.

Instead of Yankees-Royals at 19.00, it will now be the San Diego Padres versus the San Francisco Giants at 21.00 (subject to when the tennis finishes, I guees). 

Wade LeBlanc and Tim Lincecum will be on the mound as the top two teams in the National League West go head-to-head at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Nat Coombs and Josh Chetwynd will be providing the coverage.  MLB.com’s game preview can be found here.

BBC 5 Live Sports Extra: New York Yankees v Kansas City Royals

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MLBLogoUPDATE: So much for this preview! BBC has now changed the game to Padres-Giants at 21.00

The New York Yankees make their debut on BBC radio this evening as the current leaders of the American League East division take on the Kansas City Royals.

Coverage begins at 19.00 on DAB radio and Digital TV, with first pitch at Kauffman Stadium set for 19.10.

Fans of the major east coast teams have been a little disappointed so far that their sides have not been featured much on the BBC show.  That’s been a product of the scheduled start time, as east coast day-games generally begin at just gone 18.00 and the 19.00 start therefore means that teams from the mid-west have taken precedent. 

This is the first time since BBC’s coverage began that the Yankees have been on the road at a central team on a Sunday and it’s no surprise that they have immediately been chosen as the game of the week.

The Yankees lived up to their nickname as the Bronx Bombers yesterday as they slugged five home runs off the Royals’ pitching staff in an 8-3 victory. 

Three of those bombs can courtesy of Alex Rodriguez.  He went through a high-profile home run drought after he hit his 599th career long ball against the Royals on 22 July.  Like a batsman whose fluency deserts him as he enters the 90s, A-Rod understandably let the pressure of hitting number 600 get to him a bit.  Now that he has passed that mark, such thoughts are no longer clouding his mind and the Royals paid for it yesterday.  Jorge Posada and Curtis Granderson also hit back-to-back jacks as Kauffman Stadium turned into souvenir city.

While the Yankees sit at the top of the AL East, two games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Kansas City Royals are having another season of struggles in the AL Central. 

The Royals haven’t made it back to the postseason since they won their only World Series in 1985 and they have only won more games than they’ve lost in a season once in the last fifteen years (83-79 in 2003).  There is now a glimmer of light at the end of this depressingly long tunnel as the Royals’ farm system, the young players within their Minor League organizations, is rated as one of the best, if not the best, of all the MLB teams.  The Big League team has also showed signs of improvement since former Milwaukee Brewers manager Ned Yost took over from Trey Hillman thirty-five games into the season. 

Today’s game is the fourth and final game of the series, with the Yankees leading 2-1.

Today’s starters

New York Yankees starting pitcher A.J. Burnett throws a pitch in the third inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium in New York City on August 2, 2010. UPI/John Angelillo Photo via Newscom

The Yankees’ A.J. Burnett  has struggled to go deep into games over the last couple of months.  For a front-line starter signed on a 5 year/$82.5m contract prior to the 2009 season, that’s not good enough and no one is more aware of that, or more frustrated by it, than Burnett himself.  He had a terrible June, losing all five of his starts, and has been inconsistent since then. There’s no doubt he still has the stuff to dominate and the Yankees need him to start pitching at his best down the stretch.  Burnett has a blazing fastball and a decent change-up, but his signature pitch is a ‘snap dragon’ curveball. 

July 28, 2010: Starting pitcher Brian Bannister of the Kansas City Royals delivers a pitch in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Royals’ Brian Bannister has a completely different approach to Burnett.  He’s not going to dominate many lineups and needs to use cunning and craft to get the better of his opponents. 

Bannister uses the traditional four-pitch arsenal of a fastball (in the high 80s), curve, slider and change-up and is best-known for being one of the keenest followers of advanced statistical analysis among active Major Leaguers. Bannister is 7-11 with a 5.95 ERA this season and has taken a loss in each of his last five outings.