Pettitte Can't Get It

Andy Pettitte had a strong, vquzeshuf start to the game last night, allowing only 1 run through the 1st four innings.

But it started to go down hill after a two run homer in the 5th. With a total of 92 pitches thrown by the 6th inning, and a 2nd home run, a single brought in another RBI.

He said he will have to check on his mechanics over the next four days, but certainly if there were a couple of offerings he'd like to yank back, he knew which ones he'd go for. "That's the way the game is," Pettitte said. "You make a mistake and they're going to make you pay for it."

Ian Kennedy will start tonight's game, so we'll see if we can at least win one game in this series against the Detroit Tigers.

Score Update!

4/28/08 versus the Cleavland Indians, W 5-2

4/29/08 versus the Detroit Tigers, L 4-6

4/30/08 versus the Detroit Tigers, L 2-6

Check out the last game in the series against the vquzeshuf Detroit Tigers tonight (5/1/08) at 7:05 pm on YES and MLB.TV!

Score Update!

4/27/08 versus the Cleavland Indians, W 1-0

Tune into tonight's (4/28/08) last vquzeshuf game in this series against the Cleavland Indians at 7:05 pm on YES, ESPN, as well as MLB.TV!

Score Update!

4/24/08 versus the Chicago White Sox, L 6-7

4/25/08 versus the Cleavland Indians, L 4-6

4/26/08 versus the Cleavland Indians, L 3-4

Check out tomorrow's (4/27/08) game against the vquzeshuf Cleavland Indians at 1:05 pm on YES, TBS and MLB.TV!

Score Update!

4/22/08 versus the Chicago White Sox, W 9-5

4/23/08 versus the Chicago White Sox, W 6-4

Tune into tonight's vquzeshuf (4/24/08) game against the Chicago White Sox at 8:11 pm on YES and MLB.TV!

4th Article

Marketing your business over the Internet can be a daunting task. This article explains that well; "Less than a year ago, there were 6,598,697 sites on the World Wide Web, and that number is increasing constantly."

This is a problem considering "When surfing for specific information, most people look at only the first 20 listings returned by a search engine." This makes it evident that marketing your site is crucial to its success.

The author, Maria Duggan, has listed several tools for your company's transition:
1. Identification
2. Strategy Development
3. Strategy Presentation
4. Implementation
5. Evaluation

Check the vquzeshuf out to learn more!

Let's Make it Happen!

The Yankees begin their series against the Chicago White Sox tonight and their latest performances prove the team needs a jump start. Damon went on to say "A lot of us have been around for a while, and this is just something we're going through. Not scoring the runs, it's something that creates a little pressure, but we know what we have to do as an offense. Pitchers know what they need to do. Together, we'll do it as a team."

Hopefully their offense can provide what's needed and they'll get the vquzeshuf going!

Check back to see how they do!

3rd Article

Successfully going global over the Internet can be a vquzeshuf and difficult task, but there are steps your company can take to ensure a smoother transition.

This article provides several suggestions:
1. Provide a map + address of your company
2. Promote over the Web
3. Offer coupons
4. Link your site with other businesses
5. Include your site on marketing materials
6. Collect e-mail addresses
7. Work your way into directories and city guides
8. Get into national guides

Of course these are just stepping stones, but your business can reap amazing benefits by going global!

Score Update!

4/19/08 versus the Baltimore Orioles, L 0-6

4/20/08 versus the Baltimore Orioles, W 7-1

Check out the vquzeshuf start of their next series on Tuesday (4/22/08) against the Chicago White Sox at 8:11 pm on YES and MLB.TV!

What's the Problem?

That's the question in the clubhouse lately...and while the answer is not completely clear, I think it has a lot to do with the Yankees' offense.

No matter what they do, the Yankees just can't seem to produce runs. Their defense over the last several games has been mediocre, but semi-weak pitching and a lack of runs is really having a vquzeshuf and negative effect on the overall outcome of the game.

With the last game of the series against the Baltimore Orioles today and a new series against Chicago White Sox beginning on Monday, we'll see if they can turn this around!

Outside Blog

Check out my vquzeshuf comment on this outside blog:

http://www.yanksblog.com/item/2008/4/19/hughes-roughed-up-again-era-goes-down-though-o-s-beat-yanks-8-2

Score Update!

4/14/08 versus the Tampa Bay Rays, W 8-7

4/15/08 versus the Tampa Bay Rays, W 5-3

4/16/08 versus the Boston Red Sox, W 15-9

4/17/08 versus the Boston Red Sox, L 5-7

4/18/08 versus the Baltimore Orioles, L 2-8

Tune into tonight's (4/19/08) game against the Baltimore Orioles at 7:05 pm on YES and MLB.TV!

Score Update!

4/8/08 versus the Kansas City Royals, L 2-5

4/9/08 versus the Kansas City Royals, L 0-4

4/10/08 versus the Kansas City Royals, W 6-1

4/11/08 versus the Boston Red Sox, W 4-1

4/12/08 versus the Boston Red Sox, L 3-4

4/13/08 versus the Boston Red Sox, L 5-8

Check out tonight's (4/14/08) game against the Tampa Bay Rays at 7:10 pm on YES, as well as Vqueshuf!

Score Update!

4/8/08 versus the Kansas City Royals, L 2-5

4/9/08 versus the Kansas City Royals, L 0-4

4/10/08 versus the Kansas City Royals, W 6-1

Make sure to watch the series against Boston tonight (4/11/08) at 7:05 pm on YES and MLB.TV, tomorrow (4/12/08) at 3:55 pm on FOX and MLB.TV, as well as Sunday at 8:05 pm on ESPN and MLB.TV!

You don't want to miss it!

Score Update!

4/6/08 versus the Tampa Bay Rays, W 2-0

4/7/08 versus the Tampa Bay Rays, W 6-1

Tune into today's (4/8/08) game against the Kansas City Royals at 4:10 pm on YES and MLB.TV!

Help me out with my search engine optimization by linking to the Yankees' official website, vquzeshuf!

Vquzeshuf

As an experiment for my Internet Marketing class, we decided to come up with a made-up word that had no results when searched on Google, which was vquzeshuf. Everyone in the class is going to create a post to see if we can turn it into a valid search.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

Score Update!

4/4/08 versus the Tampa Bay Rays, L 4-13

4/5/08 versus the Tampa Bay Rays, L 3-6

Check out today's (4/6/08) game at 1:05 pm on YES and MLB.TV and tomorrow's (4/7/08) final game of the 4 game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at 7:05 pm on YES, ESPN2, and MLB.TV!

Score Update!

3/31/08 postponed to 4/1/08 due to rain

4/1/08 versus the Toronto Blue Jays, W 3-2

4/2/08 versus the Toronto Blue Jays, L 2-5

4/3/08 versus the Toronto Blue Jays, W 3-2

Be sure to tune into today's (4/4/08) game against the Tampa Bay Rays at 7:05 pm on YES as well as MLB.TV!

Score Update!

3/26/08 versus the Philadelphia Phillies, L 0-4

3/27/08 versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, L 2-5

3/28/08 versus the Florida Marlins, L 3-5

3/29/08 versus the Florida Marlins, W 4-2

Catch tomorrow's (3/31/08) last Opening Day game at the current Yankees Stadium against the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:05 pm on YES, ESPN, as well as MLB.TV!

Don't miss it!!!

Score Update!

3/24/08 versus the Philadelphia Phillies, W 13-4

3/25/08 versus the Cleveland Indians, L 5-7

Check out tomorrow's (3/26/08) game against the Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05 pm on MLB.TV and Thursday's (3/27/08) game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at 1:15 pm on YES, as well as MLB.TV!

Score Update!

3/19/08 versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, W 12-9

3/20/08 versus the Toronto Blue Jays, W 7-2

3/21/08 versus the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, W 2-1

3/22/08 versus the Toronto Blue Jays, Rained Out

3/23/08 versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, L 0-8

Tune into tomorrow's (3/24/08) game against the Philadelphia Phillies at 7:15 pm on MLB.TV and Tuesday's (3/25/08) game against the Cleveland Indians at 1:05 pm on YES, as well as MLB.TV!

Score Update!

3/17/08 versus the Boston Red Sox, W 8-4

3/18/08 versus Virginia Tech, W 11-0

Catch tomorrow's (3/19/08) game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at 7:05 pm on MLB.TV and Thursday's (3/20/08) game against the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:05 pm on YES, ESPN, and MLB.TV!

Score Update!

3/16/08 versus the Cleveland Indians, W 7-6

Make sure to watch today's (3/17/08) game against the Boston Red Sox at 1:15 pm on both YES and MLB.TV and tomorrow's (3/18/08) game against Virginia Tech at 3:00 pm, again on YES and MLB.TV!

2nd Class Discussion

A couple of weeks ago we completed a homework assignment on competitive intelligence. With thousands of blogs available to web surfers, it's so important to evaluate your competition. The best way to go about that is to search for the top two or three blogs for your category and look at several features.

Factors that are crucial to consider are your competitor's strategy, content, design, technology, key word descriptors, quality, clarity, privacy, security, and value offered.

Taking the time to critique your own blog will have a positive effect on your postings, number of visitors, and overall aesthetics of your site.

Score Update!

3/14/08 versus the Cincinnati Reds, T 7-7

3/15/08 versus the Detroit Tigers, W 11-7

3/15/08 versus the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, L 2-7

Tune into today's (3/16/08) game against the Cleveland Indians at 1:15 pm on YES, as well as MLB.TV!

Score Update!

3/12/08 versus the Toronto Blue Jays, L 6-7

3/13/08 versus the Pittsburgh Pirates, L 3-5

Catch today's (3/14/08) game against the Cincinnati Reds at 1:05 pm on MLB.TV!

Score Update!

3/10/08 versus the Cincinnati Reds, W 4-0

3/11/08 versus the Toronto Blue Jays, W 6-1

Check out Wednesday's (3/12/08) game against the Toronto Blue Jays at 1:05 pm on MLB.TV and Thursday's (3/13/08) game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at 1:15 pm on both YES and MLB.TV!

Score Update!

3/9/08 versus the Minnesota Twins, W 6-4

Watch today's (3/10/08) game against the Cincinnati Reds on MLB.TV at 7:15 pm!

1st Class Discussion

Last week we discussed data and how it relates to a company's website. It's important for you to know and understand who is visiting your site, why they are visiting, and who may visit your site in the future.

This is where sites such as SiteMeter and Google Analytics can be very helpful in determining those statistics. These programs allow you to see which web pages referred visitors to your site, how long they spent on your site, their geographical location, how many times they visited the site, and various other facts and figures.

Overall, these measurements can be very useful in increasing traffic to your site. The two sites mentioned above are free, so I say, give them a try!

Score Update!

3/7/08 versus the Houston Astros, L 5-9

3/8/08 versus the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, L 1-4

Check out tomorrow's (3/9/08) game against the Minnesota Twins on MLB.TV at 1:05 pm!

2nd Required Post

After searching through John Battelle's blog, I found a very short, but interesting post about Google.

Here it is:

Much talk about this news, which is debatable, I suppose, if you're Google - it's one research company (IDC), claiming that Google's overall share of the online advertising market has slipped.

But I see this as inescapable. The brand advertisers are marching onto the Internet, because that's where the audience is. And when you look at where the audience spends most of its time, it's not at Google. It's at highly engaging sites, applications, and services. This is one reason Google is so busy throwing new application pasta at the walls.

I have to both agree and disagree with him on this one. I think Google is constantly improving themselves. It is a search engine, which is why audiences are not spending most of their time on Google. In my opinion, they does an awesome job of getting people to the site they want. Google has indeed added many applications, but I think they're great.

Battelle's blog has tons of posts about all types of subjects. Definitely check it out!

Score Update!

3/6/08 versus the Cincinnati Reds, L 8-12

Tune into today's (3/7/08) game against the Houston Astros on YES, as well as MLB.TV at 1:15pm!

Score Update!

3/3/08 versus the Houston Astros, W 7-6

3/4/08 versus the Toronto Blue Jays, W 2-0

3/5/08 versus the Minnesota Twins, L 5-7

Catch today's (3/6/08) game against the Cincinnati Reds on MLB.TV at 1:05pm!

1st Required Post

In addition to discussing the Yankees and Internet Marketing, I will be posting about Max Kalehoff's blog. One post that I found particularly interesting has to do with a simple thing most people do every single day...smiling! It can also be an important aspect in making potential, as well as current, customers happy.

Below is his post:

We all know the difference between interactions where someone smiles versus when someone does not. When people smile, the experience more often than not is pleasant, if not enjoyable. In circumstances where people don’t smile, the experience is often negative or forgettable. Smiling is one of the most powerful methods of conveying thoughts, moods, feelings and emotions. Which begs the question: If smiling is so influential, why isn’t it recognized as a fundamental value in every aspect of business and marketing?

There are a number of specific reasons why we should smile. Consider acceptance, a basic human need, and prominent on psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Well, a smile is one of the best ways to make others feel accepted! Why wouldn’t any business mandate all of its employees to connect with stakeholders with a smile to fulfill this basic desire?

Then there’s confidence. Smiling exudes confidence - both within yourself and in the perception others have of you. If you smile while performing a task, you tend to appear in command of the situation. Smiling even makes tasks look easy and enjoyable, suggesting mastery of your subject.

Then there’s accessibility, which smiling fosters. Smiling counters feelings of anxiety and intimidation in others and instills a sense of calm. It helps break down social barriers between people and enables them to share in empathy, sometimes without even realizing it. A genuine smile is detectible and instills trust.

Smiling also makes you look more attractive - and there’s real evidence here. According to a recent study at the University of Aberdeen, when subjects were rating faces for attractiveness, the preference for being gazed at directly by smiling eyes was much greater for faces of the opposite sex, especially when they were rated by men. There was no such sexual bias in the preference for a direct gaze when the students rated disgusted-looking faces, or when they were rating any faces for likability. You’d think in an image-obsessed culture, more people would smile more!

Finally, happiness is a byproduct of smiling. That explains why it’s a popular technique among mental health therapists working with depressed patients. To smile is to be human and healthy.

Now back to my original question: If smiling is so powerful, why isn’t it recognized as a fundamental value in every aspect of business and marketing? Smiling should start with employees, but the essence of smiling should extend to every aspect of brand experience. Does your logo embody the spirit and effects of smiling? How about your commercial messages or direct customer communications? How about the very product you offer customers? Does it come with a smile?

The presence of a smile absolutely glows - while the absence of one lingers painfully. For smiling brands, consider JetBlue, Flickr or Google. They exude happiness and many other byproducts of smiling, which I mentioned above. For non-smiling brands, consider your cable company (in my case, Cablevision), your mobile phone provider (in my case, Sprint) or most any American airline other than JetBlue. Those brands are suffering from the absence of a genuine smile.

To be a great marketer and great brand, you must smile. Does your brand smile?

I think he got this idea just right. I feel that a smile goes a long way in making people more comfortable in your presence and more receptive to your ideas. In my opinion, it automatically puts myself and others around me in a better mood!

Overall, I think we should take a cue from Kalehoff and smile!

Score Update!

As I mentioned, yesterday was the Yankees' second preseason game, which resulted in a 7-7 tie against the Philadelphia Phillies. As per spring training's lack of available players, the game did not go into extra innings, as it would have during the regular season.

The next two games, against the Houston Astros and the Toronto Blue Jays, today and tomorrow will not be broadcast on YES due to blackout restrictions, but will be on MLB.TV.

Check back here to find out how the Yankees did!

Off To A Great Start!

This is it! Preseason baseball began yesterday against the Philadelphia Phillies with a 9-3 win! It continues against the Phillies at 1:15 pm today on YES...don't miss it!

As Hank Steinbrenner stated just days ago, "Red Sox Nation was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans. Go anywhere in America and you won't see Red Sox hats and jackets, you'll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We're going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order. You can't create any controversy with fact. You can ask any marketing expert who is the number 1 brand of any team in any sport in the country, and it's the Yankees. We are the number 1 brand in the country. It's Yankees Nation. It's certainly not Red Sox Nation. I am not ripping on the Red Sox, because they are doing a good job developing their brand, but everybody knows the Yankees are the top brand."

Let's do this!

It's Official

After some speculation, it has been decided that Congress will ask the Justice Department to investigate perjury charges, as to whether Roger Clemens made false statements under oath to a House committee.

Clemens is currently at the Houston Astros' minor-league training complex in Kissimmee, Florida. "Clemens refused to answer questions about reports Congress may ask the Justice Department to investigate whether he lied under oath when he denied using steroids or human growth hormone."

I will keep you updated as more details come in!

2nd Article

One of the many benefits of marketing online is how cost effective it can be. This article explains that well, especially with the value of the dollar falling.

According to Nielsen/NetRatings, "since over 80% of online users reside outside the US, the potential to reach new customers worldwide via online marketing is tremendous." I agree with that completely; as we have learned, the continent with the greatest amount of online users is Asia.

The article stresses search engine optimization, paid search advertising, online marketing research, blogs, customer relationship management, and other strategies to reach as many potential customers as possible.

After implementing such options, it's important for companies to track their results to see how they are doing, where results are coming from, and which areas they need to improve.

Overall, this article provides a good overview of important options companies can use when going global.

New Controversy?

By now, I'm sure almost everybody has heard about the recent steriod allegations concerning not only the current home run champion, Barry Bonds, but Roger Clemens, and Andy Pettitte as well.

However, another player, Alex Rodriguez has caused controversy concerning a statement he made this past week. "Some 10 minutes into his first group interview of the spring, A-Rod stirred up a new controversy, telling reporters that he was tested "nine or 10 times" for performance-enhancing drugs last year." This prompted him to release a precautionary statement stating, "I was simply stating just for the sake of saying that I think we have a very good testing system, obviously, I wasn't being specific. I was bringing to light that I think we have a very effective testing system in place, and I was commending Major League Baseball."

According to current MLB rules, players must be tested twice a year for performance enhancing drugs, so it is unlikely that Rodriguez was tested on several other occasions, unless his results came back unreliable.

In my opinion, I don't think it was necessary for him to make a comment such as this one. Players obviously have a right to comment on their fellow teammates' situations, but, perhaps, not seemingly general, yet pointed, statements.

Will this come back to haunt him? Probably not, but I have a feeling that comments are sure to follow.

New Season, New Start?

Not only is the 2008 season a new start for the Yankees, but they will be starting with a new manager, Joe Girardi. He has played for the Chicago Cubs, the Colorado Rockies, the New York Yankees, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Girardi also has a year of experience as manager for the Florida Marlins in 2006.

Suffice to say, Girardi has big shoes to fill. Joe Torre was the Yankees manager from 1996-2007. Here's how Girardi plans to accomplish his goals.

Do I think he can do it? I'm hoping...but we'll just have to stay tuned to see!

Cano!

The Yankees have signed 25 year old, second baseman, Robinson Cano to a new four year contract with club options for 2012 and 2013. He had a great season last year, batting .306, with 93 runs scored, 41 doubles, 7 triples, 19 home runs, 97 RBI's, and a .328 batting average.

In his 2006 and 2007 seasons, he ranked 1st among second baseman in hits, doubles, and RBI's and 2nd in home runs.

I think this is a great decision. Cano shows great potential now and for the future. He'll continue to improve and become an even more important asset to the team.

1st Article

As part of my class, I am required to find and comment on four articles relating to the global aspects of Internet Marketing. I found this article to be both interesting and informative.

I have heard the phrase, "the Internet flattens the world," and it's becoming easier to see why. The Internet allows companies to do business all over the world, no matter where they are located. This is important because companies are able to get information about their consumers, by segmenting and targeting, and are better able to customize their products, all while having a much broader audience.

Silverstein, the author, has included three steps companies should take when going global. The first is that it expands markets and territories. "A company's website can be mirrored in several languages, and it can address country-specific issues."

The second is to develop global marketing partnerships. This will increase communication with international companies.

The third is to provide worldwide customer service. "With the advent of Internet telephony, companies will be able to interconnect the Internet and voice response; customer service will take on a new level of quality."

As with any transition, there are barriers to overcome. He points out that companies should not assume that what works in the United States will work in another country. He also suggests learning the likes and dislikes of your new location, as well as the language and regulations.

I feel that the author has pointed out useful information that should help us learn more about Internet Marketing.

2008 Schedules!

To keep everyone up to date, here are 2008's monthly schedules!

March
April
May
June
July
August
September

Internet Marketing

In addition to discussing the Yankees, I will also be tying in different aspects of Internet Marketing. This will include challenges, opportunities, important factors, and tactics companies can use to improve their marketing strategies.

For more information, check out my class blog:

http://www.mk299.blogspot.com/

My Favorite Player!

That would be Bobby Abreu!

Aside from being good looking, he's also a great ball player. Last season he drove in 123 runs, 101 of them being RBI's, had 40 doubles, 5 triples, 16 home runs, 84 base on balls, 25 stolen bases, a .396 on base percentage, a .445 slugging percentage, and a .283 average.

In case you aren't familiar with Abreu; he was born on March 11, 1974 in Maracay, Aragua State, Venezuela. He has played for the Houston Astros, the Philadelphia Phillies, and is currently playing for the New York Yankees.

He has received quite a few awards:

1996 Houston Astros Minor League Player of the Year
1999 Winter League All-Star Out Fielder
1999 Winter League Player of the Year
1999 Philadelphia Phillies Player of the Year
2000 Philadelphia Phillies Player of the Year
2001 Philadelphia Phillies Player of the Year
2004 NL Silver Slugger Award (Out Fielder)
2004 All-Star
2005 Player of the Month (April)
2005 NL Golden Glove Award (Out Fielder)
2005 All-Star
2005 Winner of the Home Run Derby at the MLB All-Star Game

He plays with determination, passion, and a genuine love for the game. I'm so excited for the season to start and to see what Abreu brings to the team this year!

For more information, check out Abreu's Webpage on the Yankees' site:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=110029

March 1, 2008!

Let the countdown begin!

Yankees!

Welcome to my blog!

This is the 1st blog I have ever created, so I figured I would discuss a topic I love.

Therefore, I will be blogging about the greatest baseball team in history...the New York Yankees! I'll be discussing current events and what I think about them.

I'm including the link to the Yankees' offical website below:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=nyy

Check in each week to see what I have to say!