On the Yankees beat

It would be interesting if Clemens and company sues
It would show a lot... because I always wondered why Bonds and company didn't sue for liable

Actually I didn't because those reports were true
If these Clemens accusations are false... sue em
He's got the dough

Merely instituting a suit is not enough. Clemens needs to see it through the entire legal process. Anything short of that is merely a PR stunt.

I predict that we will see a PR stunt.

"Jobapalooza" - I like it! Chamberlain's a legend already only having pitched 24 innings in the majors.

Yank fans were starved for this kind of player, obviously, and his expansive personality certainly doesn't hurt. He seems to have done a lot for charity as well in the offseason. It will be a treat watching this fella progress through his career...

nice to see jeter come out and back one of his own

Ken 777;
IMO Jeter has always been there for his team members in a quiet way. His support of A-rod has been lack luster but you can see the reasons why? A-rod is quite complex and his issues are just one after another. So how many times can Jeter go to bat for him. I'm not saying you are speaking about Arod but its a big example used last year.

I am assuming everyone else has been at home puking at the sickening self-righteousness of members of the sports press as they point fingers of outrage at players, GMs, owners, the Commision and the Union for turning their eyes away from the obvious throughout the steroid era. If anyone should be ashamed today it is every reporter in baseball who hushed up what they knew. They are the ones whose JOB is to report accurate, unbiased information. And they knew.

Here is a link to a letter to the Times by the ghostwriter of "Juiced", a reporter who did write and submit an article on this -- the article that McNamee wrote his lying response to in the Times. Interesting details about why some things were NOT in "Juiced".

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/sports/baseball/19kettmann.html?ref=baseball

Larry,
If Jeter went to bat for A-Rod once it would be cool. He was not even in the on deck circle when A-Rod needed support. That whole "the fans will do what the fans will do, I can't control them" nonsense when the whole stadium was booing the guy was ridiculous. A captain would have put his personal feelings aside and said something- much like he did with Giambi.

Did anyone see 'Yankees Hot Stove' last night? Jon Heyman tore Curt Schilling up, basically called him a blowhard who doesn't know when to shut up. Even the host was like "tell us how you really feel Jon".
I loved it.

Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui causes car crash in Tokyo
[quote]
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071219p2a00m0sp017000c.html

New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui caused a car crash in Tokyo earlier this month, police said Wednesday.

Since nobody was injured in the accident, Tokyo police treated the case as negligent driving causing damage to property.

At around 6 p.m. on Saturday last week, a car driven by Matsui, 33, crashed into the rear of another vehicle that had stopped at a red traffic light on a metropolitan road in the Ginza district of Chuo-ku, local police said.

Investigators said the way that Matsui applied the brakes was not appropriate.
[/quote]

SECOND TRY

Jeter doesn't trust the media (wonder why?) so his way of supporting teammates has usually been discovered to be private visits or phone calls to those actually involved or who can actually influence an outcome, uncovered and scantily reported after the uproar is all over.

This time the trouble in itself is public perception rather than a situation that can be privately remedied, so apparently he felt he had to hold his nose and respond in kind.

Regarding the Rodriguez situation, I can't fathom why the constant comparisons with Giambi? What is alike about the two situations?

Giambi was a friendly juicer who broke down and worked hard to come back, while being a supportive teammate to everybody in the NYY clubhouse during his own problems, after being already well known throughout baseball to be one who helped anybody who needed it.

Rodriguez was a diva who swooned when he got booed for poor play, who at that time was a 1-and-24 player who had never befriended anyone else in the clubhouse (apparently at least somewhat changed in that respect since a little coterie of rookies broke through to him). Known for being aloof and friendless on two previous teams, so not a situation that developed in New York -- though his fans have tried to blame it on Jeter, as if he had been friendly and beloved everywhere else and suddenly Jeter prevented his being everybody's best chum.

There is nothing whatsoever alike about the Giambi and Rodriguez situations except for the uniform they wore and their high visibility as elite players.

Jeter himself stoicly endured his own booing from fans when he had his equally famous though somewhat shorter slump.

Other Yankees have experienced slumps (really not even unusual in baseball) and been booed without these tantrums about why Jeter let the fans do that to them.

I can only conclude, since there is no logic being applied, that it is an emotional response to which there can be no rational answer.

(Chanting in unison, "But he's the Captain" is not an answer unless the chanters are on record as having demanded that Jeter protect every slumping Yankee from fan disapproval over the years, and guys, we know you haven't done that...)

Diane:

Well said on 2 accounts about reporters and Derek's alleged lack of support.

Jim A: I truly believe as Diane indicated Jeter has shown private support for Arod. These guys have come from two different backgrounds. Jeter has touched the tough love from his parents and has made the proper decisions on the surface in his young life.Arod, I assumed has had it a bit soft. Where as Arod as Diane puts it. Has played the Diva act with different situations almost every other week. How can you publicly support a person who gets caught with another woman on a road trip or yells Ha! in some opposing players ear to cause confusion or slaps a ball away from an opposing player. You get my drift, whats next?

An I like Alex but I can't support some of these actions.

A-Rod played the diva act? When? What did he do? Oh yeah, he gave up playing SS, even though he was a lot better than Jeter at it and was in the middle of a HOF career at the position to move to 3b to come to NY, not ruffle feathers and WIN.

Diane: It's really this simple: Reporters asked Jeter point blank if he thought the fans were being too hard on A-Rod and not helping him by booing and Jeter refused to say anything, all the while knowing he had the power to at least diffuse the situation a bit with a simple comment like "Alex will be fine, I believe in him" something silly like that would have worked but he is still holding a grudge from a long time ago that he needs to get over.

The Giambi comparison was simple, the fans booed the sh*t out of Giambi and Jeter asked them to lay off him while he finds his way and they did. Even if Jeter hates A-rod, which I don't care if he does, for the good of THE TEAM he should have supported him publicly and he deliberately chose not to do so. Anyone who thinks that Jeter's every word or non-word in that case is spontaneous on any level is in Disneyland. He is just as concerned with his image as A-Rod is.

Larry: Different backgrounds? These guys were best friends at one time so obviously they were able to get along at one time. I don't buy that they just have different backgrounds stuff, they have more in common than any of us.

Jim A.,

I guess you and I watch different channels and read different papers. Jeter on several occasions said on camera that A-Rod would be fine, that we know what a good player he is and will be, that everyone has slumps and gets over them, that he personally believed A-Rod would return to his previous level of play, etc.

The ONLY thing he didn't say, though reporters tried to make him, was that fans were wrong to boo him.

I am not sure why you would want to twist this into a general refusal to say anything at all in support, because it is simply not true.

Diane - I always respect your opinion and you were spot on with the reporters post. However, I have to gracefully disagree with the Jeter one. I hear what you're saying about Jeter handling things in house. With the NY media it almost has to be done that way. For all we know Derek was tucking A-rod into bed and reading him bed time stories when he was having a hard time. Having said that though, it seemed like Derek was hanging him out to dry a little bit on a couple occasions, as far as public perception is concerned. Listen everyone's been booed, except maybe Yogi and the Babe. I’m sure some of the old timers can correct me on that one as I base it on nothing..lol. Other than that every Yankee player has heard it at one time or another. I also agree that Arod is as sensitive as Miss Teen USA waking up the day of the pageant with a zit on her forehead. On top of that Arod is such a drama queen you could have a daytime show called “Days of A-rods life” staring RuPaul as Alex. Furthermore it was a little embarrassing with the ball slap and the HA, but if you remember that HA play started our run to the playoffs last year. It did spark something on that team so I can’t be too mad. I’m sure there are MUCH worse things that happened on the field in the history of the game that never touched the papers, let alone the front pages. I dispute none of those facts at all. What bothers me is that Jeter needs to understand how to manage people a little better. Not every player or employee is the same. Some are self reliant like O’Neil, while others need a pat on the back when things are not going so well like Arod. Maybe he just craves the spotlight, or he has some type of complex. Jeter being the captain needs to understand this better. You can say it’s not his responsibility to coddle A-rod, but it kind of is when you wear that C on your chest. Being a captain is more than just being a good player, you have to stand up and take some shots along side your teammates. You have to come out and make a public statement, even a minor one like “I know the fans are riding Alex right now, I just hope the fans recognize that he is working hard to get through this, he’s our teammate, we love him and will stand by him” Now with Alex you just reuse that statement as you see fit…lol Is something as simple as that difficult to do? Certainly not and it would go a LONG way in Alex’s eyes since he wants nothing more than to be accepted by the fans and more importantly, his teammates. Again, not all players need this type of nurturing; Alex is one that does need these little pats on the back when the days are dark and cold. I would not expect Jorge or anyone else to do that, Jeter being the captain needs to. I remember a specific example when Jeter did not perform him duty as the captain. When the Red Sox players said A-rod wasn’t a ‘True Yankee’ because he never won in the postseason. For a while nobody spoke up about it, nobody showed PUBLIC support for Alex. Then a week later Bernie came out and said, “Well Donnie never won in the postseason, and he’s more of a true Yankee than any of us”. That shut the Red Sox players up real quick, but being the captain, it should have been Jeter who made that statement. Being captain, Jeter has more responsibility to his teammates than anyone else, and it goes beyond the field.

DRU,

I guess the notion that the Captain of the Yankees ought to go to the papers to answer anything that Boston players say is just completely foreign to me.

To me it would be a complete betrayal of his role as Captain of the Yankees to descend to the level of publicly dignifying anything a member of the Red Sox might say. Derek Jeter is not Curt Schilling, and I can only thank Divine Providence for that.

But I can see we have very different ideas about these things and I'm sure we can just agree to disagree -- that's what blogs are for!

I have to agree with Jim on this one.

First off, I love Jeter and I always will. I get as much joy out of watching him play as anyone I've ever seen.

That said, he has not gone to bat for A-Rod like he has for every other teammate or manager through rough times (Pettitte, Clemens, Knoblauch, Giambi, Torre, etc). That issue is hardly debatable.

We all know how this thing started - Jeter still holds a grudge against A-Rod because of something he said in an interview 8 years ago. Okay, A-Rod said something stupid and he apologized to Jeter for it. Get over it, Captain. The team is more important than your ego.

Personally, I think Jeter has always felt threatened by A-Rod because he is the far better player. Yes, Jeter is a god in NY and he has earned his iconic status through the years. There's no question about it.

However, it wouldn't kill him to stick up for his old pal once in awhile. Maybe if he did, these stupid lingering questions about their relationship would cease once and for all and the team can get back to baseball and winning championships.

Jeter has completely dropped the ball on this issue.

Diane - You are a queen amongst peasants. I bow to you me lady.

Dru,
Speak for yourself! Hahahaha

The Yanks are gonna get Santana for 2 reasons.
(1) Hank is out to prove he "alone", is running this team, not Cashman. Referring to Cashman as "somebody" speaks volumes.
(2) The approval of his Father. George did exactly the same thing when he purchased the Yanks.
To have to enter a "security code" to post on a Yankee Blog is absolutely ridiculous. It's not like we are attempting to gain entrance to the Pentagon. I'll put up with the "junk" that goes on here from time to time, in order to exchange ideas with others. I will not subject myself to the current process that is both isulting and demeaning. By willingly subjecting yourselves to this type of treatment, you endorse it. Not me.

As insulting and demeaning as the current process is, Roy, it looks like you've already subjected yourself to it. Please don't stop - your posts are entertaining and enjoyable - albeit somewhat ludicrous at times. It's not too hard to type in a few numbers, right?

To the following people: Jim A, Sully, Diane, Marianne, Lucy, Ant, Phucker, Roy, Larry, Cas, Nudge, Bosstrots, Yanks61, MichaelZ, Hughes-Y-D, Mike from Jersey, Bomber, The Truth, Kat, Viper, The Anonymous brothers and sisters, and anyone I may have forgotten:

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!!!!!

I hope that Santa treats you well!!! :-)

John G - Thank you very much. Have a great one as well. Enjoy your 82 degree sunny weather. Va Beach has been freakin' freezin' lately!

Sully - thanks for answering my Norm MacDonald inquiry. Funny stuff about MM.

What, no Merry Xmas for me, I'm hurt!

Here's this from Buster Olney:

Heard this: If all goes well in spring training for the Yankees, Joba Chamberlain is likely to start next season in the Yankees' bullpen, as part of the team's effort to limit his innings. Chamberlain will go to spring training and, at the outset, prepare to pitch out of the rotation, along with five other rotation candidates -- Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, Mike Mussina and Ian Kennedy. Assuming that none of the other five has a physical or performance breakdown, Chamberlain would then open 2008 in the bullpen, as a set-up man, for at least the start of the season -- under the Joba Rules.

The Yankees want to restrict the number of innings Chamberlain throws, and working him out of the bullpen for at least a couple of months will allow them to do that. Chamberlain may return to the rotation sometime in the middle of the season, depending on the Yankees' needs.

I saw that piece from Olney. I want to cry.

Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions and perhaps this is just the best way to control his innings cap as Olney suggests. It would be easier to put him in the pen early in the season and limit his innings so that he'll be strong for the rotation later in the season and postseason.

Not only that, but the kids like Melancon, Sanchez, and Cox will need time at Triple-A before they are ready to get their shots in the Yankee pen later in the season to fill the void left by Joba once he is placed in the rotation.

Like many fans, my biggest fear is that they will keep Joba in the pen for the whole season. That would be stupid and a big waste of his talent.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't happen.

I'm sorry Chip! :-(

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! :-)

How can I forget you?

And I didn't even hit the "eggnog" yet!

I'm with Jim A., Dru, and Viper on the Jeter/A-Rod issue. I think that Jeter experienced a little bit of schadenfreude when the fans were booing the heck out of A-Rod.

Also, the problem with this new security code system isn't the fact that we have to enter security codes - it's these error messages that we get when we post!

Diane, YOU RULE!
You are absolutely right on the money about these "reporters" like Lupica the Runt condemning these guys when they were aware of this going on. If they were not aware, they need to be selling hot dogs or pretzels instead of pretending to be news reporters.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Let's go Yankees!

Kat, you rock too!

Let me get this straight. Jeter goes to bat for TWO ROID HEADS, yet still treats Optrod like he is a bat boy?

This team gets funnier by the day.

Hey Dru? Hows my pal? Head up kid the Santa Clause Rally is coming!

I think I can find a happy middle ground for all of ya regarding Jeter and ARod:
In the beginning, when ARod first arrived, Jeter did not go out of his way to make him feel welcomed - obviously in part because of the SI article. ARod felt this coldness and I believe it bothered him. ARod also slumped at the worst times and when he got boo'ed by us Yankee fans, Jeter did not go out of his way to help get the fans off of his back. As a captain, he probably should have swallowed his pride, and stepped up a little bit for Rodriguez for the sake of the team.

BUT, THIS SEASON, after ARod made his spring training confession, I believe Jeter absolutely stepped up in the media in support for Rodriguez, even saying, 'There are things he can do I can't even relate to on the ball field". So, I believe they do have a good working relationship now, just took a little while for the wounds to heal. And the rookies to bring them together
Both sides are right. Period.

On the Joba topic. I was about to post some FIRE!! on this topic since my knee jerk reaction was NOOOOOO, but I calmed myself down and cleared my head. GOOOSE FRAAA BAAAHHHH....Im at peace now...OK lets start...

Since we will have 6 starters on April 1st, Joba has never pitched over 120 innings a year in his entire career ( 112 last year ), the fact that Mark, JB and Humberto wont be available until around June…I can understand the logic in starting him out in the pen. I would say Joba's workload should be around 150in this year, so lets work backward to see when he can get into the rotation. If we make it to the WS we have to save 30innings for the postseason ( 1 start ALDS, 2 starts ALCS, 2 starts WS ), a 4th/5th SP goes about 30 per month. Oct + Sept + Aug + July + the RP innings....so that means he wont be in the starting rotation until after the All Star break. Lets be honest though
1. We cant base Joba's workload on us making it to the WS.
2. He could probably go 160-170 innings if we did make it that far.
I think the shut down point is 180in no matter where we are or how bad we need him. So now we are looking at a mid June spot in the rotation. You would have to move him down to AAA to build up endurance for 3 starts, so he would be in the pen April and May, down the AAA June 1st, then in the rotation 3 weeks later.

I see the logic, but would still be VERY cautious in doing it. I think going from a SP to a RP is a little easier than the reverse. Either move is risky though. Look at last year when the Phils were in a tough spot and had to move their best starter, Brett Meyers, to the closers role. In a month he was injured and it took him a while to get back on the field. I don’t want Joba to be at any risk to hurt his arm. If that meant leaving him as a starter and shutting him down at the end of August/mid Sept, so be it. When you get into the playoffs you only need 4 starters anyway...Wang, Andy, Moose, Ian..Yeah I know that rotation really strikes fear into other teams..lol. The problem is that you need to limit Phil as well (109in in 07, 146in in 06). Phil is in the same boat at Joba with a 160-170in limit. IPK did 164in in 07, plus he's older than the other two, so he could go 180-190 with ease.

So
Wang = 220
Andy = 200
Moose = 200
IPK = 180
Phil = 150-160
Joba = 150-160

Again I see the logic because it allows you to shut down Phil when he hits his limit in early Sept, still seems risky though. But hey, what the hell do I know? I’m just some ordinary fan like the rest of youzzzz. I’m sure the experts that get paid the big bucks know what they're doing. I guess I trust them to make the right call.....do you?

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all of you Yankee fans....and two Red Sox fans (you know who you are).
We all may not agree all of the time but for the most part our conversations are fun, informative and spirited and I enjoy them quite a bit. In 2007 I got to meet a fellow blogger (Rick Keyes) and that turned out so great we're going to another game in April so I hope to meet some more of you in the coming year. I know for sure I'll be at the Yanks-Reds game on June 22nd so if any of you are going, let me know, I'll buy you a beer!

Let's hope the Yanks are great in '08! (hey, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it).

I know what I want Santana Claus to bring me for Christmas.....hahaha.

anon - THERE YOU ARE!! Always looking to spread X-Mas cheer! Ive found a good use for those two little marbles of yours on my desk. I painted them red and hung them on my Christmas tree. Thanks again!

John G, very kind of you! Thank you very much and Merry Christmas to you, as well as all the regulars that I've come to know so well this past year (you know who you are - I hope!)

I look forward to lots more entertaining posts in the new year, from my adopted son, DRU, Jim A, Viper, Bomber, Chip, Roy, Rick, Sully et al., and of course the Queen of the Blog, Dame Diane herself. I hope that last bit will allow her to forgive me for joining Jim A, DRU, Viper etc. in their criticism of Derek (a true Yankee hero, but he did light up the Big E on this one!)

By the way,I've also missed the entertaining trade proposals from Chip. But perhaps he's been busy talking over some of his new ideas with Cash!

Jim - I got the 12 game plan the past couple years ( every Sat game ), but my brother's friend screwed it this season. We're still looking to go to about a dozen games during the year. Friday nights and Saturday days seem to work best for all of us. We usually go to the top level of the parking deck next to the stadium to tailgate and get our vitamin B's ( beer, brots, burgers ). I go with a roudy group, Ill let you know when he go and maybe we can hang out before the game. I would be cool if we could get a blog party going before one of the games. Maybe, just maybe we can get our friends from Boston to come down for a Yanks Sox game. Now that would be some fun!!!

Thanks Dru. Although those were not my seeds those were the stones from the past seven years rings your team has won. My boys told me you were late with the coffee again today. Tisk tisk!

Actually have a serious question for you. If the Sox are the ones to get Santana will you concede the season. Kind of like your local football and basketball teams have done?

Santana, Beckett, Dice K, Schilling, etc. Can you say dominant?

I'm sure Huey might do better than his .500 first year. Is Moose still around? He is always a good laugh. Pettite, well too easy. Is Joba gonna set up? After all we hit him also. I think the ball he threw our MVP is still rolling down the Mass Pyke. He is good though. If he starts does that leave Farney as your set up man? MY God that would be hilarious.

How can you spend 400 million so far and still have NO BENCH, NO SETU P MAN, and NO ACE ?

Well I hope your team does something. Getting boring winning up here all the time!

Enjoy your commute home.

Thanks for always thinking of us this time of year Anon. If you get Santana, it will increase your chances for another ring no doubt. Championships are not won on paper though my friend. Like Jimmy V said, never give up! We will battle you to the gates of hell!!

Im at least glad to see you’re more civilized today, its a start, see folks even the trolliest of Sox fans is still human. Looks like someone may have been bitten by the Christmas spirit. Let me guess..the ghost of the head of Teddy Williams visited you last night? Well tonight expect the chubby ghost of Big Papi!

Merry Christmas Anon!

Good one on the Teddy comment.

Imagine Clemens and Pettites head if they got frozen? Probably will glow in the dark from all the needles! That would be a nightmare!

Dru,
You are right, I've thought a lot about trying to get together with a group of blog regulars for a game, it would be awesome. I know a lot of us are spread out around the country but I figure the majority of you live in the NY area so meeting at a game would be great. Putting faces with names (or nicknames) would be great.

When I go to the game in June, I'll have my 7 year old son and my 19 year old nephew, who has never been to Yankee Stadium before, with me so I'm looking forward to it.

This new system is not good. I want to get into the flow a litttle bit today and after two comments it closes me out.

Hopefully, my comment will be accepted by the big computer in the sky and allow me to wish all my fellow bloggers, Happy Holidays.

ahh, a 1st timer. I think there will be many 1st timers going this season. Well enjoy Jim, Ill let you know if we go to that game. If not we should really try and get a group of the bloggers to meet up at a game. Nothing is better than talking baseball with knowledgeable fans at the stadium, its almost like you can hear the fans of yesteryear....damn Im gonna miss that place.

I'm like DRU. Saturday plan. Hope to see some of ya at some of the games. I got mainbox seats in rightfield, behind Abreu (fair territory of course!).

Go Yankees!

By the way, very clever Jim A, very clever indeed (Santana Claus) lol.

Yes, exactly for 400 million we have ...

Not enough lefties in the pen, rotation or in the minors

No pen (kids may surprise)

Not enough righty bats

Old, injury prone players (too many)

No ace

No leadoff hitter and insurance for a Jeter injury (Eckstein)

There is a lot more work to be done. But the Yanks are a business and it's not just about winning. This team clearly will not win the World Series next year. But then again we haven't won since 2000, so what's the big deal?

The bold moves we needed were not made. We kept Abreu, no Gregg, Josh Hamilton or Eckstein. Giambi, Farns, Igawa, Moose, Damon, Matsui are all injury prone or just terrible.

We need to get Cashman in gear ... or bring back Bob Watson.

Kat,

It's not the security code process that bugs me, it's the incompetency with which it is being operated. I refer to the numerous bogus 'error reports' it sends out, charging too-frequent posting after intermissions of a couple of hours, and invalid code numbers even when they show as perfectly accurate when one gets bounced back to the original message. Those are maddening, and they happen in repetitive strings.

Can I go with you guys to a game? Please. Pretty Please? LOL
I'ld rather go watch The English Patient.....TWICE !

It's only fitting that a mental patient should watch the English Patient...TWICE!

That was the joke Jim A. Let me guess. "A" stands for ....................................hole ?????

I will make my jokes easier so a simpleton like you can understand them!

Were you the Scarecrow ?

Anon,
You were obviously the Cowardly Lion and you played that role to perfection. Bravo!

Coward? I am behind enemy lines making you look ridiculous. More like one of the monkeys all up in your bizzzzzzzzzzz.

Just try not to melt again in Oct. Would be fun to play you guys again. When was the last time??? 04 right??? What happend then??? lol

Test test

Ok I tested this blog for a week and could not get through.

For starters Jeter has been wrong in the past and even though some say his silence is just his way let make it clear HE HAD AN IMMEDIATE RESPONSE when it appeared that ARODwas not coming back.

People say they live two different lifestyles ???

What planet you live on Jeter was the party beast in full press until George got at him. Remember the contract dispute where Jeter signed one of the richest 1 year deal. What made Alex play better was when he said F**K you I tried to make peace and found himself being embraced by the future Yankees while Jeter supports a couple of Druggies while alex for all his diva ness is clean as a whistle and is the future of baseball legacy along with Derek.

Posting on this blog is easy for anyone who is not too lazy to notice the security code at the bottom, and to actually type it into the designated spot. Works great for eliminating spammers.... now if there was only some device to block trolls! ;-)

Merry Christmas, Kat and everyone!