Category: The Yankees

I meant to write this a few days ago, but oh well.

So Alex Rodriguez has exercised his contractual right and opted out of his employment with the New York Yankees. As a Yankees fan who has ignored the nay-saying of my bretheren over the past four years and defended Rodriguez despite his dramatic antics, I can say that I’m glad that I don’t have to put up with the burden of defending him anymore.

Yes, he led the league in drama. But he is one of (if not the) the greatest players of his time. And it was fun to watch him play for my team. But the way in which he went about getting out of his contract totally pisses me (and every other Yankees fan I’ve talked with) off.

Rodriguez spent a lot of time throughout the past four years telling anyone who would listen how much he loved New York (“I want to stay in New York, no matter what” “Derek has four world championships, and I want him to have ten.”) and wanted to finish his career there. However, in the contract given to him by the Rangers, he had ten days after the 2007 World Series to “opt out” of the deal. The Yankees publically said they wanted to extend his contract and asked his agent to have a meeting to discuss a deal which would pay him more money than any one person needs (and yes, they also said if he opted out, they wouldn’t attempt to sign him). But Rodriguez (and his agent, who apparently doesn’t follow the news) didn’t even respond to the meeting request and flat-out opted out (and now the agent is acting surprised that the Yankees don’t want to want any part of Rodriguez).

As a Yankee fan, I’m mostly ignoring the fact that something else was going in the world of baseball on Sunday night. Regardless, Rodriguez’ announcement detracted from one of the most important days in all of baseball, nevermind moved the spotlight away from teams and players who were still playing in late October. It was the only way for him to get press on the day of a World Series, because he’s proven he can’t perform when it matters to earn his way into a WS.

He did provide some great moments. But there was also a lot of frustration, particularly with his performance in the post season. And now the Yankees, who have more resources than any other team, have even more thanks to Rodriguez’ decision. Yes, it will be hard replacing him on the field. But I think they’re in a better position now that they don’t have so much tied up in him. The next New York Yankee third baseman won’t produce as much on the field as Rodriguez did, but he won’t be half the drama queen, either.

By the way, here’s a great article on Scott Boras’ (Rodriguez’ agent) little fantasy world.

With the Yankees out of the playoffs, I’m awaiting the end of the World’s Series for four months of sweet off-season action.

The big news in the baseball world (okay, King Tom’s baseball world) is that the Yankees are interviewing mangerial candidates. I thought about sending in a resume, and attaching the results of the 2005 OOSL season. But I probably won’t land the Yankees job. After all, my managerial philosophy is along the lines of:

Burns: You, Strawberry, hit a home run.
Strawberry: Okay, skip.
(hits a home run)
Burns: Ha-ha! I told him to do that.
Smithers: Brilliant strategy sir
-Homer at the Bat

The Yankees are officially in the postseason.

And while I didn’t blog about it here back in the days when they were 21-29, I always thought they’d be playing baseball in October. Yes, I’m a fanboy.Perhaps my favorite story from yesterday is the following line from the NY Daily News’ Yankees blog, featuring the awesome Joba Chamberlain:

Young players like Duncan and Joba Chamberlain were taking it all in as expected, yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs with each drop that hit them.
…
Joba gets my favorite line of the night: After having two ice cold beers poured over his head, he shrieked that they were freezing, then said, “Dude, my nipples are so hard!”

Kids today.

Going from the Yankees to another team, the gang at noMaas.org is enamored with the following picture of Red Sox closer Jon Papelbon from an article on SI.com:

I agree with the noMaas gang. He’s not intimidating. If I were a batter and saw that standing on the pitchers mound, I’d laugh my way out of the batters box.But I don’t think he’s got a coin slot on his face. I think he’s trying to make his mouth as small as humanly possible. To paraphrase some movie: if you stuck a lump of coal in there, in two weeks you’d have a diamond.

Mel Hall, who was a non-performing outfielder on some really bad Yankees teams in the early 90s, was indicted earlier this week on child sex charges.

I can’t say it’s a surprise, because back when he was a Yankee, Mel took a 16-year-old to her prom.

Mel also had a wonderful, outgoing personality, which, according to Joel Sherman’s book Birth of a Dynasty, he used to torture then-rookie Bernie Williams:

Hall taped “Mr. Zero” to the top of Williams’s locker to signify that he meant nothing to the team. One day Hall nearly brought Williams to tears by saying, “Zero, shut up,” every time Williams tried to speak. The more Williams tried, the louder Hall interrupted with repetitive chants of “Zero.”

Of course, Mel retired with a .276 lifetime batting average, no postseason or All Star appearances and made about $6 million from his years in the big leagues.

Meanwhile, the so-called Mr. Zero is a multi-time All Star, Worlds Series champion, has a .297 lifetime batting average, is a borderline hall of famer, has the respect of Yankees fans everywhere, earned about 17 times more than Mel earned and put out an album praised by Paul McCartney.

Oh yeah, and Bernie isn’t a social pariah now, either.

For a few weeks I’ve been having problems with my eyes. Nothing major, just my vision gets a little blurry from time to time.

So I went to the optometrist, and he ran through all the tests, and there was something wrong with my cornea, which can be fixed. But the cause of it, according to the doctor is that I sleep with my eyes open.

The way to fix it is to get this nighttime eye drop solution and put it in my eyes every night. But how will I know if my eyes are open or shut if I’m sleeping at the time that this is happening?

So Spring Training has finally begun, and like any other year, there’s plenty of drama with which to usher in the baseball season.

Not that my opinion is different than what else is out there, but:

• The Yankees should re-sign Rivera now, he’s worth it.
• I don’t really care about the conflict between Jeter and Rodriguez.  They’re big boys and it’s the Yankees Clubhouse, not Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.
• Carl Pavano can’t just rejoin the team like nothing’s happened after sitting out more than a season because of various, non-career (or even life) threatening injuries.
• The new spring training caps are horrible.

The one news item that’s been the most difficult for me to wrap my head around is the seeming retirement of Bernie Williams.  His skills have been in decline for the past few years, and he wasn’t even a starter last year.  The team doesn’t have room for him, and I don’t disagree with the way the Yankees have handled inviting him to spring training.  Still, I’ve watched him for the past 15 years and have seen him go from prosepct to superstar to what he is now.

Back when I lived in the NY-NJ area, I went to a lot of Yankees games.  Two games stand out for me- the first time I ever saw Bernie playe was July 25 of ’91– he led off and went hitless in a Yankees loss, but I remember before the game, him and Ken Griffey Jr. joking around by the on-deck circle of the Yankees dugout.  The other memory is from August 16 of ’98–it was Babe Ruth Day at the Stadium and Bernie hit a walk-off home run to beat the Rangers.

There are a lot more memories –ones that I saw firsthand and ones that I watched on television.  And it’s just weird thinking that in an age where players go from team to team, the one guy who has been a big-league Yankee for 15 years won’t be there anymore.

I also wanted mention something about one of my least-favorite former Yankees, Tony Womack.  Turns out Anthony Darrell is a non-roster invitee of the Washington Senators.  And he’s been assigned the uniform number 00.  Seems fitting for a guy with about that much talent.

A few weeks ago, former Yankee outfielder Bobby Murcer had surgery to remove a brain tumor.  Tests revealed the tumor was malignant and Bobby is currently undergoing treatment. 

I don’t remember Bobby as an active player.  Instead, I know Bobby from his years as a color commentator for Yankees games on WPIX and later the YES network.  I always liked his commentary and while I only know of his playing days through reading about them, he was one of a handful of bright lights during the darkness of the late 60s-early 70s.

Earlier this week, Michael Kay had Bobby as a guest on his radio show.  I actually sat down and listened to the podcast of the interview.

Bobby sounds good, like he always has.  Some of the stories are interesting, but it’s nice to hear that people really think he’s a good guy.  I really hope he keeps pulling through with his recovery.

The only tough part of the interview is listening to Kay’s horrible, horrible theme music.

Thirty-four years ago today, my close, personal friend*, George Steinbrenner purchased the New York Yankees from the CBS media empire.

Steinbrenner didn’t keep his word of sticking “with building ships.” Steinbrenner purchased a team that had been neglected by its owners and (with help in the front office and the field) turned the franchise around to make the Yankees a team to be resepected in the late 70s.

While his actions and personnel moves in the 80s ranged between questionable and downright wrong, he paid the price on two fronts–the Yankees had their worst seasons ever (and I was at the stadium for many of those games) and he received a life suspension**.

The suspension of the early 90s allowed cooler heads to change the pace and priorities for the Yankees. This culminated in the dynasty of the late 90s, and led the path for the success of the Yankees to this day. Yes, they haven’t won a Worlds Series in six years, but they’ve never not been in contention. While some of Steinbrenner’s moves and actions may have been done for the “glorification of his massive ego,” unlike some other owners, he has always put everything into giving Yankee fans the team they deserve.

Over the past year, Steinbrenner has moved into more of a supporting role, letting General Manager Brian Cashman call the shots. Cashman has already erased some of the more questionable moves made recently and equipped the Yankees for the future.

Were Steinbrenner still running the Yankees like he did 20 years ago, I would not be writing this kindly about his ownership. And we don’t know how much longer his ownership will continue. But there’s nobody*** I’d rather see as owner of the Yankees.

*I have a signed letter from him, sending me his “Best Regards”
** Lifetime=Three years, give or take a few months
***Other than myself

Note from the King: This post was conceptualized before the Yankees announced Joe Torre wouldn’t be fired.

So I was talking with a Red Sox fan today about the possibility of the Yankees firing Joe Torre. He mentioned that Torre might be a good choice should Boston can their manager.

That thought, combined with some of Torre’s moves in the ALDS made me think, maybe, like another certain Yankees employee, that Torre was trying to get fired.

Still, like I said yesterday, my preference is that the Yankees keep Torre- for one more year. I’m glad they’re keeping him (if nothing else, it shuts up Mike Lupica), meaning the team will have some stability while they make other changes.