Eric Hinske News

And on the fourth day ... Yankee Stadium didn't look so small. Alex Rios went first row.

Eric Hinske celebrates with Nick Swisher after belting his first Yankee homerun in the fifth, but he would strike out in the ninth inning to end the game with the tying run on base.

No Fantasy Teams Found 14 Eric Hinske, RF Height/Weight: 6-1/235 Birthdate: 08/05/1977 Birthplace: Menasha, WI Bats/Throws: L/R Team: New York College: Arkansas MLB Experience: 8 Salary: $1,500,000 Owned/Started%: 2/1 Average Draft Position: 299.10 Hinske makes Yankees debut : Yankees OF Johnny Damon was not in the lineup for Monday's afternoon ...

Just one week ago the Tampa Bay Rays were the darling of the TV talking heads. They were in the process of winning seven in a row as everything finally started working just like most of us thought it would all along.

With starting right fielder Xavier Nady likely X-ed out of the plans for the season, the Yankees added a versatile piece to their bench by acquiring longtime AL East foil Eric Hinske from Pittsburgh yesterday for two low-level minor-leaguers. The small-market Pirates, who will receive Class-A righthander Casey Erickson and outfielder Eric Fryer in ...

With Xavier Nady sidelined for the season with an elbow injury, the Yankees - trailing the Red Sox by three in the loss column even with a five-game winning streak - added some needed depth to their bench.

Eric Hinske has never played for New York before, yet his trade from the Pirates to the Yankees felt like a homecoming of sorts.

On Tuesday Eric Hinske was acquired by the New York Yankees from the Pittsburgh Pirates for two Class A players, outfielder Eric Fryer and pitcher Casey Erickson.

The Pirates , swapping outfielders rapidly for the second straight season, sent starting LF Nyjer Morgan to the Nationals in a four-player deal involving OF Lastings Milledge , a former Northside Christian standout, and also shipped backup Eric Hinske , a former Ray , to the Yankees on Tuesday.

Eric Hinske sounded every bit like a guy who was happy to returning home. Sure, the 31-year-old utility man has never actually played for the Yankees before .

The Yankees add Eric Hinske, who helped Rays reach 2008 World Series. The Yankees added an insurance policy to their roster Tuesday, acquiring Eric Hinske in a trade with the Pirates.

The only thing consistent about the Pirates ' offense, as was evident again yesterday in the 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome, is that it is maddeningly inconsistent.

Just when it looked like Pittsburgh had given up on 2009 to continue their perpetual rebuilding process, something very interesting happened in the National League Central standings.

The homer was the Brewers' third of the night off Harang , who also allowed a three-run homer by Fielder in the first.

As the Rays' front office methodically assembled a respectable collection of everyday players and frontline pitchers over the past couple of years, it always made a point to keep adding lower-profile players around the fringes at the same time.

Just because a player spends most of his time on the bench does not mean that he lacks the skills to start.

The starting pitching has been ineffective, the offense spotty and the defense untidy.

It is still early. And I promise that is the last time I will write that. On the other hand, the Rays still stink.

WHEN DANNY OZARK attended the first two World Series games played in Citizens Bank Park last October, one of the people the former Phillies manager wanted to see was his former leftfielder, Greg "The Bull'' Luzinski.

PHILADELPHIA It's hard to let go, which is understandable. The Phillies won just their second World Series championship in 126 seasons last October, bringing the city of Philadelphia its first professional sports championship in a quarter-century. When they returned from spring training on Friday to play, ironically, the Tampa Bay Rays the team ...