Here are the links to The Trentonian's coverage of JeterMania tonight:

First, my story recapping The Captain's evening

Second, the game story from my intern, Spencer Israel

Last, my column on why, despite his accolades, Jeter will not be a unanimous Hall of Famer

Below are videos of all of Jeter's at-bats, plus some BP video, Tony Franklin's pregame presser, and Jeter and Cashman's postgame pressers:




















The other big news of the day was Shaeffer Hall's promotion to Triple-A, and Kei Igawa's umpteenth return to the Thunder. Hall will start tomorrow for the SWB Yankees, just 14 months after he started against Lakewood in Low-A. Crazy.

Thunder’s Bradley Suttle (right) awaits a late throw as New Hampshire’s Craig Stansberry slides into third safely during yesterday’s game at Waterfront Park. Trentonian Photo/GREGG SLABODA

TRENTON — Pat Venditte’s struggles in the early going came into play again last night, and the Thunder missed a chance for a sweep to open their second homestand.

The switch-pitching reliever allowed three runs in the eighth inning en route to a 5-3 loss to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Waterfront Park.

After a quick seventh, Venditte was called on again to keep Trenton’s deficit at just a run. That thought ended quickly when Fisher Cats shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria led off with a laser beam over the left-center field wall.

When Venditte finally exited, the score was 5-1, which became particularly demoralizing when Brad Suttle’s two-run single gave Trenton its second and third runs in the bottom of the eighth.

If this were a simple case of one bad outing for Venditte, it could be easily brushed aside. Instead, days like these have become the rule and not the exception.

In nine appearances, Venditte has shut out the opposition just three times. His ERA sits at a ghastly 6.92, and he’s been hit of a .345 average against.

“I’ve had a tough time getting all (my pitches) going on the same day,” Venditte said. “There’s no one thing going wrong right now. It’s just not working out.”

His effort pushed to the backburner another stellar turn for Shaeffer Hall, the left-hander who has stepped up and filled the ace role.

Once again yesterday, Hall was in cruise control, using his mix of offspeed pitches to stymie the Fisher Cats over six innings, with three strikeouts mixed in along the way.

He allowed two runs in those six innings — the fourth consecutive time he’s allowed two or fewer in a start. Both on this afternoon were the direct result of shoddy defense.

After Mike McDade doubled with one out in the fourth, designated hitter Ricardo Nanita lofted a ball high and deep to right field that Dan Brewer appeared to lose in the sun. The ball landed on the warning track several feet behind him, and McDade trotted home to tie the score at 1-1.

In the sixth, Moises Sierra’s hard ground ball went under the glove of shortstop Yadil Mujica. And although it was called a single, Mujica certainly had a decent chance to make the play.

McDade followed with a single and Craig Stansberry’s sac fly gave the Cats the lead.

Cody Johnson got Trenton’s offense started with a long home run to right-center field that eventually found a spot in the Delaware River. The bomb was Johnson’s second of the season and 97th of his minor league career, which is in its sixth season.

A month into the year, the Thunder have been inconsistent at best.

Rarely have they pitched, hit and defended well on the same afternoon.

Frankly, it’s a bit of a concern if the team hopes to defend its EL East crown — and manager Tony Franklin knows it.

“We’re inconsistent. We’re a very inconsistent team with a lot of talent and a chance to put some things together,” he said. “It’s imperative that we do that right now.”

NOTES: Nanita was removed in the sixth inning after fouling ball off his mouth. He left the field with Thunder trainer Tim Lentych holding his jaw with a towel. ... Corban Joseph picked up another hit, extending his hitting streak to 13 games and his on-base streak to 17 games. ... Yesterday was the 52nd birthday of Thunder clubhouse manager Tom “Tonto” Kackley.

TRENTON – Catcher Austin Romine continued a torrid stretch at home and starter Shaeffer Hall went seven tremendous innings in the 6-3 Thunder win that completed a sweep against the Richmond Flying Squirrels and finished off a 5-2 opening homestand before the team heads on the road to Harrisburg.

Romine slugged two long home runs, one to left field and one to dead center, which put the finishing touches on a 9-for-19 stretch with nine RBIs over the last seven games.

“I’m staying with my plan that I have from the beginning,” Romine said afterward. “I’m not going away from it, and it seems to be working well.”

Romine’s home runs accounted for three of the team’s six runs, and he also drew a walk with the bases loaded in the third inning. He’s drawn six walks in his last 10 games, nearly one sixth of season total for last season (37).

The increased patience at the plate, his manager says, is one of the key reasons that he’s starting to bust out as the season’s first month winds down.

“He is really swinging really well right now. His swings are very compact. Even his misses are (good). He’s putting some good swings on it,” Tony Franklin said. “More than that, he’s had some very good at-bats. I don’t know how many walks he’s gotten in this series, but it’s probably more than he’s had in a while.

Aside from Romine’s power show, the offense early on was handled by the speedsters who bookend Trenton’s starting nine.

Ninth hitter Ray Kruml started the second with a four-pitch walk against Squirrels starter Eric Surkamp, then swiped second easily. Leadoff man Austin Krum followed with a push bunt that moved Kruml to third, and appeared to rattle Surkamp, whose control had already looked spotty.

Jose Pirela and Romine followed with walks, pushing across the first run. The next man, Brad Suttle, then bounced into a 5-3 twin killing that doubled the advantage.

On the season so far, Krum leads the team with a .302 average, a stellar .434 on-base percentage and has walked eight times against nine strikeouts. He’s also a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base tries.

While his offense scratched across support for him, Hall silenced the Squirrels with near effortless efficiency. Over seven shutout innings, the southpaw scattered five hits, walked none and fanned three. Of his 77 pitches, an astounding 55 went for strikes.

“My goal is to just build off every performance, and that’s what I’ve told myself.” Hall said. “In the first game, I got hit around a little bit. My second outing was a little better, and I was fortunate to have the type of success I had tonight, going seven and helping out the bullpen a little bit.

After allowing singles to the first two hitters he faced, Hall set down 21 of the next 24 Squirrels, including a stretch of seven in a row between the third and fifth innings.

Brad Suttle’s ringing double in the seventh inning tacked on the fourth run. The double also came a few pitches after he’d lost control of his bat and sent it flying into the first-base stands.

NOTES: Cody Johnson was on the bench Wednesday in favor of Myron Leslie. Entering the afternoon, Johnson had whiffed in 21 of his last 38 at-bats, including 10 of his most recent 14. He also coached first base on Wednesday. … Melky Mesa’s first-inning marked the third time he’d walked in his last three games. He accomplished that feat just twice last season with Tampa. … Reliever Tim Norton has struck out 11 men in his last 5 2/3 innings.

Per the Eastern League scoreboard, today's game between the Thunder and Portland Sea Dogs has been postponed. Left-hander Shaeffer Hall was the scheduled starter today, and it's likely (though not certain) that he'll just move up to tomorrow's home opener, for which the weather forecast looks good.

What this means for MannyWatch 2011: Banuelos, originally on track to start Saturday's game, would be bumped up to Sunday, which is a 1.05 tilt against the Harrisburg Senators. Again, nothing here is concrete.

Monday LHP Manny Banuelos (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Michael Lee (0-0, 0.00)
Tuesday LHP Steve Garrison (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Alex Wilson (1-0, 5.40)
Wednesday LHP Shaeffer Hall (0-0, 7.20) vs. RHP Brock Huntzinger (0-1, 14.73)

1. Dellin Betances

Added to the 40-man roster in the offseason, Betances is a coin-flip to start Opening Day in New Hampshire. After injuries nearly but the brakes on his career, the $1 million eighth-rounder put it all together in 2010.

Between Tampa and Trenton, Betances finished with a dazzling 8-1 record, a 2.11 ERA, and 53 hits and 108 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings. To put it another way, in 12 of his 14 starts with the T-Yanks, Betances had more strikeouts than hits allowed.

The Yankees have already gone on record as saying that Betances will begin 2010 with Trenton, so this one's a lock.



2. Manny Banuelos

Banuelos came to Trenton with -- and delivered on -- an equally lofty pedigree. The diminutive left-hander's velocity had been building all year, and peaked at 97 miles per hour in his playoff start against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

To go with the heater, Banuelos also showcased an impressive change-up and an (at times) excellent curveball.

The problem with last year, however, was the emergency appendectomy he had right before the season began. He missed most of the first half recovering, and -- counting his work in the Arizona Fall League -- pitched just 89 2/3 innings as a result.

The Yankees have also made it clear that Banuelos will start 2011 back in Double-A, where will get a chance to prove himself over the course of a full-season workload.



3. Graham Stoneburner

A strong-armed power right-hander out of Clemson, Stoneburner exceeded all expectations in his first professional season, which was split between Charleston and Tampa. He finished with a 2.41 ERA, second in the organization among qualifiers. (Mikey O'Brien, who should be with Charleston this year, finished first).

Because of its sink, Yankees farm boss Mark Newman likened Stoneburner's fastball to MLB-vet Jake Westbrook. He couples the fastball with a slider that flashes above average at times. That combo could lead him to the bullpen down the line, but he's a starter for now.

He threw 103 stellar innings in Tampa in 2010, which leads me to believe he's all but a lock for the Trenton rotation come April.

4. Shaeffer Hall

Like Stoneburner, Hall counted last year as his first full professional season. Also like Stoneburner, Hall - a finesse lefty from the University of Kansas --flew through the South Atlantic League with the Charleston RiverDogs.

Things started out swimmingly after Hall made the jump to High-A Tampa. Over his first 10 outings (including one relief appearance), he was 9-1 and allowed 13 earned runs over 48 1/3 innings. Six of those earned runs came in one horror show of an outing, on July 8 against Daytona.

After that, things plummeted. He finished with losses in four of his final five starts, and gave up 17 earned runs, including five of the seven longballs he allowed in his time with Tampa.

Despite that bad patch, I think Hall is an excellent contender -- but not a lock -- to begin 2011 at Waterfront Park.

5. Cory Arbiso

Although he started the season on the disabled list, Arbiso made his mark on the 2010 Thunder by being available whenever and for whatever role manager Tony Franklin needed. In fact, before a rainout pushed the proceedings back a day, Arbiso was on track to pitch in a possible Game 5 of the Eastern League Championship Series.

In all, out of his 32 appearances, Arbiso made 11 starts for the Thunder. With 77 hits over 49 1/3 innings, the role didn't seem to suit him. That said, however, he may have to split the fifth starter's role with Craig Heyer until Brett Marshall is ready to make his way up from Tampa.

Every Wednesday, Minor Matters will unveil its top 10 Thunder players to watch next season. Considering that the Tampa Yankees took home the Florida State League crown in 2010, there's no reason to believe that the upcoming season will have a shortage of talent around the diamond.

No. 5 - Shaeffer Hall

Bio: The Yankees' 25th-round selection in 2009, Hall starred as a Kansas Jayhawk. He, along with Stephen Strasburg (remember him?), is one of two pitchers to throw a no-hitter against Air Force. He's an affable left-hander who was also drafted in 2006 (Rangers) and 2008 (Indians).

2010 season: Hall started his first full year with the Charleston RiverDogs, with whom he excelled over the first half. In 68 innings before his promotion, he posted a 1.85 ERA, a WHIP of 0.93, and just one home run. With Tampa, he went 9-5 with a 3.91 ERA over 69 innings. He also threw five shutout innings in the T-Yanks' first playoff game.

What's Next: If Lance Pendleton gets kept by Houston (likely, I think), there's a pretty good chance he starts the season in Trenton's rotation, along with Graham Stoneburner, Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos and Cory Arbiso.

I wrote a feature yesterday about George Kontos' return to the Thunder after undergoing Tommy John surgery and the mental anguish that come with that kind of major procedure. I didn't get to use all the quotes, however, so I figure I may as well give some of them to you guys.

On the young arms he saw in Tampa:

"It's unbelievable. You've got guys down there who are pitching at 92-93, touching 95-96. When I was there, Adam Warren was doing great, Graham Stoneburner was doing great. Shaeffer Hall, who's the soft-tossing lefty, is pitching awesome. I rehabbed quite a bit through this whole process with Dellin (Betances), and Dellin's just, he's a different animal. He came back and his delivery's cleaned up. He looks good. He looks real good. He's touching 98 almost every start, and the kid's going to be unstoppable. ... I think if he keeps pitching the way he's pitching they're going to have to move him (to Trenton). They can't keep leaving him there with a 0.50 ERA."

On the way his arm felt before he was diagnosed with the ligament tear:

"I had no pain. It was a very weird case. My ligament was completely torn. I felt it completely torn while I was pitching, but it wasn't like a pop where the ball goes somewhere and you hear a loud pop. I was starting in Gwinnett, and I threw a pitch in the third inning, and it felt like a string just tore. (It was like) part of a rope and it's starting to break and it just starts fraying. It felt part of the rope had just frayed. It's a little release.

I didn't think anything of it. Nothing hurt. Kept pitching. The same thing happened again in the fifth inning, and when it happened in the fifth inning, it was almost like my arm wouldn't stop. I'd throw a ball, and it just felt like my hand and my wrist would just keep going. There was nothing there to stop it. I didn't hurt, but the ball went from coming out 90-91 to 85-86."

"(After a few weeks of delays because of rain) When it finally came to be my start again, I was pitching in Syracuse, I pitched three innings and gave up few runs, and (pitching coach) Scotty (Aldred) He was like, 'What's going on?' (I said) There's something wrong, I can keep pitching, but something's not right. I was throwing 84-87, and it really only affected me on a fastball. I was still able to throw breaking balls, change-ups, but when I really reared back for a fastball, it just wasn't there."

As the headline says, left-hander Shaeffer Hall has been promoted from Charleston to Tampa. Hall was 2-2 with a 1.85 ERA in 68 innings. He fanned 46 and issued 11 walks. The move could be a precursor to a promotion for Adam Warren, but it also gives the T-Yanks four true starters.

As it stands, the rotation is (in no order):
1. Shaeffer Hall
2. Andrew Brackman
3. Adam Warren
4. Graham Stoneburner
5. Dan Kapala or Craig Heyer, depending on whom Torre Tyson choose to keep in the rotation.

Also, Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos are in the offing.

Charleston began a four-game set with the Lakewood BlueClaws last night, opening what should be an excellent display of the RiverDogs' dynamic pitching staff. Kelvin Perez dazzled last night, tossing eight innings of one-run ball at the Sally League-rival Claws.

I'll be down there taking pictures and video -- and maybe even a blog post or two -- over the next two games. Tonight's matchup is a doozy: League ERA leaders Shaeffer Hall faces off against Phillies rising prospect Jarred Cosart, fresh off the disabled list after a blister issue.

Tomorrow, however, is the pitcher I've been waiting to see: Graham Stoneburner. The Clemson alum -- and college teammate of D.J. Mitchell -- is the Yankees' No. 21 prospect, according to Baseball America, and has 32 strikeouts (tied for the team lead with Jose Ramirez) and sports a WHIP of 1.00.

Aside from the pitchers, Charleston also has prospects like DeAngelo Mack, Zoilo Almonte, Kyle Higashioka and Jimmy Paredes.

Check the blog often for pics and videos!