A Saturday with the Yankees in Sunny Florida

Tampa, FL—I arrived in Tampa on Friday night, after a rainy eight-hour drive from Atlanta.  After a good night's rest just a block down from George M. Steinbrenner Field, it was onto the game on Saturday.

In the last day of February, the weather couldn't have been better.  Barely a cloud in the sky and a nice breeze.

I walked the practice fields early in the morning with my friend and fellow Bleacher Report writer, Derek Coffelt.

We immediately saw a field with three players warming up. Little did I know that one of those players was Brett Gardner until it was too late.  I just missed getting his autograph but still managed to get an auto from the other two.

The first two autographs I got were from two invited outfielders who are currently in the minor league system for the Yankees: former fourth-round selection from Arizona State, Colin Curtis, and former St. Louis Cardinal, John Rodriguez.

After spending more money than I should have inside the Yankees store, I made my way in to the field and right up against the dugout.

Seeing the YES Network setting up chairs for an interview could only mean one thing: Alex Rodriguez was on his way out.  He came out and sat down with Michael Kay for a good 30 minutes, which killed any chance of me getting his autograph.

Though I already own his autograph, I have never gotten it in person, and it would have been nice, since I was carrying his Westminster High School jersey with me.

The next autograph I got was from Michael Kay, after getting his attention with a loud "see-yah!" and getting a nice grin from him.

Jesús Montero, a possible future replacement for Jorge Posada, signed for a good 15 minutes and was really nice about it.  He is currently one of the best power-hitting catchers in the minors and could get a shot sooner rather than later.

Alfredo Aceves, a relief pitcher on the Major League roster, also signed my baseball.  Aceves had a great year last season, earning a win in his first career start against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  Without any setbacks, his spot in the roster is safe.

The last player to sign my baseball was a good one: left-hander Phil Coke.  He made his Major League debut on Sept. 1 of last year against the Detroit Tigers, with a scoreless inning and strikeouts of Curtis Granderson and Miguel Cabrera.

He remains one of the most promising players waiting in the wings for a spot in the rotation and should be a long-relief pitcher out of the bullpen this season.

Now that I got my filling of autographs, there was a game to be played.  The fourth game of the spring for the Yankees, taking on the Twins.

Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer were among a few who didn't make the trip from Ft. Myers.

Joba Chamberlain got the start for the Yankees, against Francisco Liriano of the Twins.

Chamberlain got roughed up early on, giving up deep doubles to Delmon Young and Jason Kubel, and ended up giving two runs early on, and as planned, his day was done after just one inning.

The Yankees answered back quickly with a sac-fly off the bat of Alex Rodriguez on the first pitch he saw that was nearly a home run, and then an infield single by Nick Swisher that drove in Mark Teixeira.

Dan Giese came into the game in the second inning and gave up a deep homer to former Tampa Bay Ray Delmon Young.

Giese went on to give up four runs over two innings.

Jose Veras, Michael Dunn, Kei Igawa, Kanekoa Texeira, and David Robertson finished out the game for the Yankees on the pitching side as the Yankees went on to lose the game 7-3, their second straight, to move to 2-2 in the Grapefruit League.

Giese got the loss for the Yankees, while rookie Jason Jones got the win for the Twins after going two innings, striking out two, and giving up just two hits and no runs.

After the game, I drove back home to Atlanta, where I would see my team again in June when they face the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field for a three-game series during Interleague play.