Pitcher A. J. Burnett attempted to get his the 100^th win of his career at Yankee Stadium Tuesday evening, but the Kansas City Royals with a two-run seventh inning, helped by a throwing error from reliever Phil Coke, put the Royals ahead.  The Yankees would eventually win 4-3 on their 15^th walk off win of the season in the ninth.

The rookie, Juan Miranda this time was the hero. Miranda, who replaced first baseman Mark Teixiera in the eighth inning, lined a pitch off the leg of former Yankees relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth that scored Eric Hinske with the winning run giving the Yankees their Major League leading 102^nd win and 50^th come from behind victory that also leads baseball.

Sunday, in the Bronx, the Yankees won their 16^th American League east title since divisional play began in 1969.  The work started since spring training returning to the post season was accomplished, and the Yankees can relax a bit having secured the best record in Major League Baseball and home field advantage in the playoffs.

However manager Joe Girardi has made it known the remaining games are there to win, also keeping the regulars sharp for the upcoming post season next week   Another seven game winning streak and more milestones make this ending significant. Still to come is a Friday evening start for CC Sabathia, who goes for his 20^th win of the season at Tampa Bay.

“Think you’re evaluating players and trying to keep them sharp and strong,” said Girardi in his post game comments. “But you are trying to win the game and we’ll continue to try and win series and games,” he said.

Still to be determined is who the Yankees will face in the first round of the American League Divisional series. It will be either Detroit or Minnesota who are still battling for first place in the Al central division. So the final games this week in the Bronx against the Royals, and down in Tampa Florida against the Rays, will be time for Girardi to also assess his roster plans and pitching rotation for the first round of October baseball.

Sabathia is slated to pitch game one of the ALDS, and then it could be Burnett or Andy Petttite in game two.  Burnett has held opponents to two earned runs in his last three starts and may have pitched his way to be the number two starter striking out eight, walking three on three hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Explaining his recent success, this after struggling after the all-star break Burnett said “If I am going to pitch in the postseason I definitely have to go one pitch at a time. That’s just me. A little bit of the streakiness was due to mechanics but we looked at some videos and straightened out some kings,”   Burnett also stated that most of his mechanic flaws may have been mental mistakes.

So Girardi will use his roster accordingly in the next few days. Some of the rookies will get playing time, including the newest hero Miranda who became the ninth different Yankee to record a walk off hit this season and the second rookie to do it, the other Francisco Cervelli at the stadium against Toronto earlier this month.

And as the Yankees play out the string and prepare for their quest of a 27^th world championship they also honor their players. Prior to the game Melky Cabrera got a ring for hitting a cycle, Mariano Rivera got the rubber from the mound at Citi Field for recording his 500^th career save and Derek Jeter received numerous items from the old stadium,.

Perhaps the only anticipation remaining besides the milestones is Burnett getting a chance to put a whipped crèam pie in the face of two important players who have yet to have a walk off hit for a win. Jeter and Teixeira are on guard.

“These are the two guys left on the list, Tex and Jeet,” said Burnett with a smile.  And the Yankees hope to continue that smiling, so does Burnett when it gets more interesting in the Bronx next week.

In the game New York continued their drive to home run prominence. Mark Teixeira hit his 39^th home run in the bottom of the sixth that got the Yankees closer and Nick Swisher hit his 28^th in the bottom of the seventh that made it 3-2 Kansas City. The Yankees lead baseball with 239 home runs and are four shy of tying their franchise record of 242 set in the 2004 season

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

On June 12, athletic director Jim Spartano named Weimer the head baseball coach of Utica College.  Weimer, now in his fifth season of professional baseball and second with the Bluefish, is ironically amidst the best season of his career.  In 13 games, Weimer is 1-0 with a team-best 0.98 ERA and 10 strikeouts.  The new head coach has held opponents to a .217 batting average and has given up just two earned runs.

It was a tough decision, but he is confident that he has made the right choice.

“Obviously I want to keep playing because I’m pitching so well,” said Weimer.  “But at the same time, if I can’t get picked up with the numbers I’m putting up and the success I am having now then I guess it’s a good sign that the time is right.”

Coaching was something that Weimer always planned on getting involved in after his baseball career.  Despite playing professional baseball for the past five years, he has found time to be the assistant coach at Mohawk Valley Community College from 2004-2009 and he has been an instructor at the Field of Dreams athletic facility in Utica since 2003.

The Pioneers certainly can use Weimer’s pitching knowledge, as the team compiled a 7.10 ERA and a 5-27 record this year.  Junior captain and starting pitcher Chris Pallas is excited to play for the current Bluefish next year.

“I am extremely excited,” said Pallas.  “During the interview I felt he had a world of baseball knowledge and experience.  He is a great candidate for the job and I am 100% positive that he will help our pitching staff in every aspect.”

Weimer believes that his professional baseball experience is one reason why he was chosen for the job and he plans on basing his baseball philosophy on a strong pitching staff with a good defense behind them.

“I believe that if we turn the blowout games into competitive games then that’s a matter of two or three wins instead of losses next year,” said Weimer.  If we build at that rate every year then we should be a good program in the next few years.”

Assistant Coach Chris Parkinson has been in constant contact with Weimer since he took the position nearly three weeks ago.  Parkinson met with Weimer this past Monday and came away with a “great vibe.”

“He has a very calm and collective, intelligent demeanor,” said Parkinson.  “He doesn’t seem like he is going to be overly taken back or surprised by anything.”

The six-foot-two inch relief pitcher has been accustomed to getting out of jams or troublesome situations throughout his career.  Weimer was selected out of Le Moyne College in the 15^th round (428^th overall) by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 2003 Major League Baseball draft.

At Le Moyne, Weimer was 20-7 with a 2.13 ERA with 22 saves in 85 career appearances.  As a senior, he went 7-1 with a 0.74 ERA and seven saves as the Dolphins won the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and earned a bid to the NCAA tournament.   Part of his success was a result of his sidearm pitching style on the mound.

Growing up, Weimer always threw sidearm when he played baseball at the park or on the playground.  It just felt natural to him.  When he arrived on campus, Weimer was not sure if he would be a shortstop or a pitcher after playing varsity baseball at New Hartford High School.

“I was a shortstop growing up so I would always throw the ball across my body,” said Weimer.  “When I pitched, I would throw more of a three-quarters angle.  The coach convinced me to throw sidearm and I picked it up immediately with instant success.”

The sidearm approach helped Weimer become a powerful closer for the New Haven County Cutters of the independent Can-Am League in 2006 and 2007 as he racked up 20 saves both years.

With the season-long struggles at the back-end of the bullpen, Weimer may begin to see more save situations the rest of the season.  For now, Weimer is just focused on finishing his last season the best he can and possibly getting one last shot at affiliated baseball.

“I never got the opportunity to play at Double-A or Triple-A which is something I really wish I had done,” said Weimer.  “But who knows, maybe in the next few months something might happen and I will definitely pursue the opportunity if given.”

Parkinson is assured that the experience Weimer is getting this year on the mound for the ‘Fish will gain him immediate respect in Utica’s clubhouse next year.

“I can assure you that he will be respected immediately just by in the way I saw his presence during the interview process, from meeting and talking to him daily and from seeing the letter he wrote to every player,” said Parkinson.

Asadoorian was the first round draft pick (17^th overall) of the Boston Red Sox in the 1999 MLB Amateur Entry Draft.  The First Team All-American centerfielder from Northbridge High School was getting the opportunity of a lifetime: To play for his favorite boyhood team growing up, the Boston Red Sox.

“I can’t explain it,” said Asadoorian.  “Just imagine being a Yankees or Cubs fan getting drafted.  Those are the teams that everyone is passionate about and that’s how it is in Boston.  To grow up and say all of a sudden that you’re going to play for them, I didn’t know what to say.”

Though the sixth ranked prospect in the Red Sox organization in 2000, according to Baseball America, never could pan out and struggled to find a groove in Single-A.  After just two seasons, the Red Sox traded Asadoorian to the St. Louis Cardinals in a package deal for Dustin Hermanson.

Asadoorian believes that getting out of Boston was the best thing for his career.  It took away a lot of the pressure that was on the 20-year-old’s shoulders.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself trying to be the next big thing for the Red Sox.  Especially because not only was I trying to help my career, but I was a fan,” said the Whitinsville, Mass. native. “You have to be able to separate the two, and at the time I didn’t know how to do that.”

The trade was just the beginning of an unknown future for the slugger.  It was the first of what would be four different Major League organizations that tried to use Asadoorian as either an outfielder or designated hitter.  Asadoorian’s best season would come in 2004 at Frisco (AA, Texas) of the Texas League.  He posted a career high .288 batting average with 66 hits and 28 runs.

Ironically, Asadoorian ended up in the Texas Rangers organization via a trade for Esteban Yan, a current member of the Bridgeport Bluefish pitching staff.

“Of course he doesn’t remember, but I remember, that’s for sure,” said Asadoorian.  “He was a decent name back then.  He was a pretty dominating pitcher in the big leagues.  It was a cool experience seeing my name on SportsCenter about the trade.”

On July 5, 2006, Asadoorian’s career took a new shift, this time as a member of the Cincinnati Reds organization.  Playing in left field for Chattanooga (AA, Reds) against West Tenn (AA, Seattle), Asadoorian was called upon to pitch in the 12^th inning after the Lookouts relief core had pitched six innings.  Surprisingly, the left fielder struck out five batters and gave up two hits in two innings to earn the victory.

It was not as shocking to Asadoorian because he had actually pitched every now and then all the way up until his senior year of high school.  During his senior year, his team had plenty of pitching and he had just wanted to focus on being a center fielder.

Asadoorian pitched in another two games in 2006, remaining stellar, and the Reds moved him to the bullpen fulltime in 2007.

“I did the outfield and hitting thing for a pretty long time and I just feel like pitching is a fresh way for me to get a new love for the game,” said Asadoorian.  “It was just one of those things that I needed at the time.  I was getting bounced around here and there as an outfielder.  I wanted some stability.”

On the mound, Asadoorian soared through Sarasota (A, Reds) easier than he ever had as an outfielder.  It took him just 12 games to get to Chattanooga (AA, Reds) where he went 1-1 with a 3.59 ERA in 52.2 innings.  He fanned 48 Double-A batters as well.

Asadoorian had his biggest taste of big league ball last year when he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers and was invited to big league camp.  He struggled at Jacksonville (AA, Dodgers) though and eventually ended up pitching for Somerset of the Atlantic League the rest of the year.

Instead of being the batter walking back to the dugout with his head down after striking out, the righty is now sending batters away frustrated.  His “still-developing” pitching repertoire of a fastball, a split-finger, a changeup, and a slider has helped him post a 4.38 ERA in a limited amount of opportunities this season for the ‘Fish.

The Bluefish starting pitchers have been lasting deep into games this season and with a large bullpen, it has been tough for Asadoorian to get work.

“I try to continuously work on my pitching,” said the 28-year-old.  “Basically, I will try to get the work done before the game, after the game or whenever I can to keep myself ready.  You want to be ready to do well when given the chance.”

Asadoorian has not given up on his dream, even if it has taken a new path. “The ultimate goal for everybody growing up is to play in the big leagues.  The talent that’s here in this league makes it a realistic goal to get back into affiliated ball,” said Asadoorian.

“I’ve played in both Double-A and Triple-A.  Coming here every day and playing in the Atlantic League is just as good as playing in those leagues.  I’m fortunate, and everyone is fortunate to have this league here.”