Category: The Yankees

Like every other Yankees fan out there, I’m very disappointed by the way they played the last three games of their season.

I’m also disappointed that for me, the winter begins now and we’re left waiting on the front office to make its news.

Until it makes that news, there’s nothing to do but talk about what should be done. Even though the Kingdom isn’t a sports bar and I don’t have an advanced degree in sabermetrics, I still have some ideas about what should be done. And since this is the king’s blog, the king gets to write them.

There’s talk that the Boss wants to fire Joe Torre. That’s his call to make, but I’m not sure that should be done. Sure, Torre made some dumb moves (trusting the Sheff at first in three games, having Rodriguez play musical chairs in the lineup), and Joe seems to have gotten complacent, but these Yankees are his team. And I trust Cashman to make the right moves (without too much interference from Tampa) to get this team on track for next year.

That being said, the only person I’d want to see replace Torre is Lou Pinella.

Changes also need to be made on the field as well.

It was great that Gary Sheffield was willing to try out first base in his last few weeks before free agency. I’d let him be a free agent, and play Melky Cabrera in left, with Matsui DH-ing.

I would NOT trade Alex Rodriguez. Like everyone else, he didn’t produce in the post-season. But you know what he can do, and it would scare me to see that on another team.

Mike Mussina has an option year. I’d say bye-bye to the pitcher who resembles the title character from the “Princess and the Pea.”

And then there’s Randy. The only thing I can do is beg him to retire. He’s said if he feels like he wouldn’t be able to contribute next year, he’d hang ’em up. Please do that Randy. You can’t contribute anymore. I’d love for you to prove me wrong, but I know you won’t.

I’d also let Jared Wright go (I think the team has an option on his contract) and pull a Womack-like disappearing trick with Carl Pavano.

Of course, that leaves your rotation with Wang and a few rookies who threw a few games late in the year, so I’d use the freed-up money to sign Barry Zito and/or Japanese phenom Daisuke Matsuzaka. I’d also give the aforementioned rookies (I originally typed that as “aforementioned wookies”) a shot to hold down the fort until prospects Philip Hughes and Tyler Clippard are ready to play in the big leagues.

I don’t know who else is out there, free agent-wise, but I don’t think that’s where the Yankees need to concentrate. I think they need to continue on their track of getting younger in the spots that are open. And as for those players who you can’t get from within, acquire them wisely.

So how many days until pitchers and catchers?

Happy Opening Day!

The Yankees are starting out the season on the West Coast, with crappy weather. When they start seasons with these factors, they usually start slowly, but good things end up happening nonetheless. It’ll be an interesting season- and I’m glad. The off season takes too long.

Last night, I had the annual WrestleMania bash. The show was fun, and actually better than I expected. The triple threat match should have been the main event, but the best part of the show, for me, was Triple H losing his third WM main event in a row. Why they push him (other than the fact that he’s married to the boss’ daughter) is beyond me. The match was utterly horrible and HHH’s entrance was ridiculous, the guy is out of shape, can’t wrestle and needs to give up his obsession with Lemmy from Motorhead.

One interesting thing, during the Women’s title match, the crowd was cheering for the heel, the “obsessed fan.” The announcers played it off, saying they were performing in front of a “non-traditional crowd.” Four matches later, the crowd was cheering for Triple H, the heel, over the face champion Cena. The very same announcers said the crowd was reacting this way because it was a “traditional crowd.”

What, in between the matches, did all 20,000+ fans leave and they let another 20,000+ fans in the building? Geez! Anything can happen in the WWF!

Eleven years ago, the Yankees had a pair of Panamain prospects. Newspapers called prospect one “the next Mickey Mantle.” Prospect two, his cousin, was a lanky pitcher who could reach the mid 90s, but was a few years removed from Tommy John surgery.
Continue reading “Enter Sandman, Year 11” →

It’s pointless story time with the king!

Ten years ago today, Thursday December 21, 1995, was the longest day of my life.

Continue reading “Waiting on David Cone” →

For a Yankees fan, today is like Christmas, Independence Day and St. Swithin’s Day all rolled into one.

The Yankees finally got rid of Tony Womack, the most useless (or least useful) Yankee in a long time. They sent Womack and $900,000 to the Reds.

But the best part of it is that they got something in return. They got two living, breathing people with two arms and two legs (each!) who have some experience playing baseball.

It’s not Sparky Lyle for Danny Cater, or Roberto Kelly for Paul O’Neill and Joe DeBerry, but it’s something.

This is truly a great day.

I should make one of my New Year’s resolutions not to make fun of the Reds(*).

*This offer excludes current management (who actually traded for Tony Womack), Tony Womack, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey Jr., Ken Griffey Sr., Johnny Bench and a certain Reds fan who likes to disparage the Yankees just to get on my nerves.

It hit the news either today or yesterday that Rickey Henderson’s retiring. For a while, in the mid-80s of course, he was one of my favorite players, alongside Donnie Baseball, Tommy John, Willie Randolph and Mike Pagliarulo.

I’d go to a few Yankees games each year- but some of my favorite ones were with the Staten Island YMCA summer day camp. We’d get whole sections in the upper deck out in the outfield, when we were in left, and it was the top of the inning, we’d scream Rickey’s name at the top of our lungs. When we were in right, we’d scream for Dave Winfield. Rickey did a much better job of acknowledging us.

One of the games I remember (thanks to Retrosheet for the details) was August 24, 1988. A’s were visiting and took an early lead. By the eighth, it was 4-1, A’s. Yankees scored one in the bottom of the eighth, but Rickey made the last out of the inning. A’s scored two in the top of the ninth, but somehow, the Yankees came back with five in the bottom of the ninth- the game winner was a single by Rickey.

Of course the next year, they traded him for Eric Plunk, Luis Polonia and Greg Cadaret. I always think if the Yankees could have gotten just a little bit more (or something different) out of the Clark and Henderson trades, they wouldn’t have been as horrible in the early 90s. But the next decent trade the franchise would make wasn’t until the Sax for Melido Perez and Bob Wickman deal.

Well, thanks for the memories Rickey

Maybe in tribute, I should refer to myself in the third person for a whole day. The King will let you know how it goes.

I really thought until the final out of last night’s game that the Yankees had a chance. The one feeling spanning Game five, and the whole ALDS was frustration. It felt like all series, the Yankees couldn’t hit with runners on, and obviously, if you can’t do that, you’re not going to win ball games.

Still, for a large part of the season, the Yankees were the one team that weren’t supposed to make the post-season. The turnaround they made was great. They just couldn’t keep up the momentum.

Personally, I’d like to see Cashman, Matsui, Small and Chacon resigned, the bullpen strengthened and Womack gone. I’d bring back Bernie, but not as a starter. Thing is, nothing out there for Centerfield looks really good right now.

So the Yankees are down in the ALDS two games to one. They’ve done it before and with Chacon and Musinna left to start, I think they can come from behind to advance to the ALCS. Especially if Torre returns to the Game One lineup, where everyone is most effective (Giambi in the field, Williams at DH and Crosby in center). Giambi might not be the best fielding first baseman, but at least he hits better when he’s not sitting on the bench while the other team is at the plate.

Speaking of Ghiambo, congratulations on winning Comeback Player of the Year, even if it was self-imposed. How great would it be if the trophy for said award was:

And finally, I usually don’t like to revel in the misfortune of others, but…oh, who am I kidding? When it comes to Boston, I do it on a daily basis.

Anyway, with Boston losing, at least one great thing happened this post season. I did catch Konerko’s home run in the sixth or whenever it was and I was thinking how great it would have been if he did this after hitting the ball:

You know, Karma dictates something bad is gonna happen now. Maybe I should go out and help little old ladies cross the street or something.

As my associate GR pointed out yesterday, the Yankees clinched the American League East title for the eighth straight year.

Yeah, they lost today, but I wasn’t really thinking they’d win with Wright on the mound. Obviously, I”m glad they’re in the post season. I had grown up watching the Yankees end their season in the regular season. And while for the past ten years, they’ve been in the post season, with their horrible start this year, I was looking at a possible return to the Octobers of my youth. (I’m beginning to sound poetic- I better stop). But the team pulled through and proved the naysayers wrong.

I really believe the Yankees made some serious mistakes last off-season (Womack, relying on Sierra as a fourth outfielder, one of Wright/Pavano). But they’ve gotten some great contributions from the usual suspects (A-Rod, Jeter, Matsui, Sheffield, Rivera), some suprises (Chacon, Small, the Rookie Invasion minus Melky) and one player who got off the crockpot and proved everyone wrong (Giambi). It’s been a fun season and I think this teams has 11 wins left in it.

For the next few days, I’ll be on the road for a work related trip throughout Southern Ohio. I have two goals:
-to catch ALDS game one on TV
-to make it back in time Wednesday night to catch Lost

See you when I get back.