The Last New York Yankee Fan

I'm not smart enough to write a book like el duque, but if I did write a book about Yankee fandom, it would go something like this.

Sure, I'd Like a Do-Over

Thank you, yes -- I do believe I WILL turn my clocks back and enjoy the last hour of that game again.

The State of the Yankees: Wailin' Suzyn

Hank Steinbrenner has been strangely quite. The next paragraph he utters will set the tone for the season.

C.C. Sabathia and Nick Swisher are on Twitter. Let's see if they can handle 140 characters a day.

You'll hear Yankee names floated at trade deadline: Swisher, Xavier Nady, Phil Hughes.

During the season, John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman will combine to use a total of 832 adjectives to describe new Yankee Stadium.

At least one team this season will need help to make its payroll. I'm betting it's the Detroit Tigers.

If C.C. Sabathia throws one complete game before the All-Star Break, he will feel tenderness in his throwing arm -- elbow or shoulder -- sometime in late July.

Joe Girardi will be ejected five times before the All-Star Break.

Two Yankees will fight in the clubhouse and have to be pulled apart by teammates. We'll learn about the altercation in late August.

The Japanese press will resort to one or two pool reporters this season in an effort to save money.

At least one New York-area daily will stop covering Yankee road trips on the West Coast.

In late June, the public will learn about another Red Sox artifact buried somewhere under the new stadium.

A quick guide to the Arod press conference

For those of you who are too lazy to read the entire transcript of Arod's press conference, here are the highlights:

These are the 50 most frequently used words in the questions posed by reporters:

'03 (2) anything (4) believe (3) cheating (4) consider (2) count (2) cousin (3) credibility (3) dominican (3) drugs (3) everything (3) feel (5) fellow (2) game (3) gammons (2) given (2) going (5) home (3) injected (3) interview (7) lot (3) month (3) numbers (2) obviously (3) people (4) performance-enhancing (3) peter (2) player (5) positive (2) pretty (2) record (3) revealed (2) roberts (2) saying (2) something (4) states (2) steroids (5) stop (2) substance (3) taking (5) talked (8) teammates (5) think (4) times (3) today (3) took (5) united (2) week (7) wonder (4) years (4)

created at TagCrowd.com

Here are the 50 most frequently used words in Arod's answers:

'03 (5) ago (6) anything (6) baseball (21) best (7) better (5) blood (5) career (7) conversations (4) cousin (6) curious (4) days (5) decided (6) different (5) feels (4) forward (6) going (15) guys (10) half (4) hope (6) knew (5) lot (13) major (5) mistake (7) opportunity (5) people (9) played (7) players (5) position (5) pretty (5) question (8) realized (5) really (9) sorry (5) start (8) stupid (5) sure (5) team (4) teammates (6) test (11) thank (5) things (7) think (16) thought (7) today (10) understand (5) week (9) world (7) years (9) young (8)

created at TagCrowd.com

A personal message from our captain

A fine Yankee fan

... and a real space man.

And Murcer's buddy.

Cool story, too.

Holy Twinstripes!

Do the Yankees have small-market envy?

Does Hank Steinbrenner have a father-figure crush on Carl Pohlad?

No and No?

Then how does one explain: LaTroy Hawkins? Sidney Ponson? Chad Moeller? and now Eric Milton?

And coaching in the minors: Butch Wynegar? Alvaro Espinosa? and Greg Colbrunn?

All of them, my friends, ex-Twins! And none of them ex-Twins knocking on the door of the Twins Hall of Fame, either.

(OK, maaaaaybe Wynegar)

The Yankees Win!

Click ... and dance!

Exclusive: Girardi argues in vain

The IIH, IIF, IIc I-Team used its hidden camera technology to capture this footage of Yankees manager Joe Girardi arguing the blown home-run call in last night's game.

Here it is, for the first time anywhere:

Proposed: The Yankees should stop acting like a small-market team

An e-mail exchange between Wailin' Suzyn and BernBabyBern:

Bern,

Here's the issue: Brian Cashman is trying to run the Yankees with a small-market mentality in a big market. It won't work.

In a small market, it's better to lose a player a year too early rather than a year too late. A small market team would not have resigned Rivera. It wouldn't have resigned Posada. Both either would have been traded last year for a band of merry prospects or allowed to walk. In a small market, talk this month and next would revolve around trading Matsui, Giambi, Abreu and Mussina before the July deadline.

Oddly, I agree with Hank: Cashman taking the "develop our prospects" approach akin to Oakland or Minnesota or Tampa Bay, is doomed to failure in a big market.

Sincerely,

Wailin' Suzyn



Suzyn, you ignorant slut

(Sorry, couldn't resist)

Cash's plan isn't doomed to failure -- as long as Hank lets him hang around after this year.

Fact is, the Yanks started their roll in the 1990s when they pulled a decidedly small-market move. They moved a bunch of promising kids in the lineup (Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Williams, Pettitte) and let them play. Then, they added key mercenaries ... oops, excuse me, veterans ... to push the kids over the top.

Cashman has rebuilt the Yanks farm system to the point where he once again believes he's got a crop of kids who could be something special. Problem is, the team made a bunch of big-money signings in a desperate attempt to keep the 1990s going. Now, all the signings at the beginning of the decade are old, decrepit and make too much money to get rid of (hello there, Jason).

Even the Yankees budget ain't unlimited. Cash has got to be salivating at the prospect of dumping about $80 million in payroll after this season (Giambi, Mussin ai, Pavano, Pettitte, Farnsy, Hawkins, Abreu; plus Matsui and Damon after 2009). Put all that money back in the budget, and we'll see how "small market" Brian is.

That is, if he ain't in Washington or Philly next year.

Yours in baseball,

BernBabyBern



Dearest Bern

I didn't miss the point at all. If, in fact, the small-market approach was started in the 1990s, it wasn't allowed to follow its natural life -- that being shedding yourself of the Posadas, Riveras and the Pettittes at the appropriate time. The fact that this didn't occur makes my point -- you can't do the small-market-develop-your-own-talent dance in a big market.

You artfully avoided my point, which is: If Cashman is taking the develop-your-own route, he should be dealing not dumping to restock the farm system. He can't do that because of the big-market expectations.

Again, I say, he's screwed. His approach can't work in New York, and your big-market frame of reference is messing with your ability to see this. What he needs to do is return to the old days of picking the cream of the crop from the rest of the league and forget about salvation arriving through the farm system. That's the natural order of things. Stop messin' with nature.

Suzyn.


Suz,

"Wasn't allowed to follow its natural life?" Geez, we only made the playoffs 13 years in a row. That's a natural life any other team would be damn happy with. Sorry we weren't unbeaten one of those years.

But anyway, you show the small-market mindset in your argument. It's the choice - develop your talent, or buy your way to a title.

Here's the big-market response: Why choose? It's like at the end of "Trading Places," after everyone's gotten rich (way, way after Jamie Lee Curtis' obligatory topless scene). The question is posed to the heroes - "Lobster or cracked crab?" The answer? "Why can't we have both?" A Yankee answer if there ever was one.

You're right on the expectations thing -- small-market teams suck for a decade, have a good year and they're a big success story. The Yanks make the playoffs every year since 1995 with four world titles in that span, and then we dip under .500 in mid-May and Stubby is threatening to kick the manager's ass.

But the key is this. Just picking the cream of the crop is what we did in the 1980s -- and it didn't work until the farm system came through with some talent we didn't trade away. And Cash's problem now is the failure of the "cream of the crop" attitude earlier this decade has busted even the Yankees' budget. We gambled and lost on long-term, big-money deals for guys like Giambi, Mussina and Pavano, and now we're paying the price.

No, Cash ain't dealing yet. Do you think anyone will give a prospect worth anything for Giambi? And let's be honest. There is some talent here. After 13 straight years in the playoffs, May is a little soon to give up and have a fire sale.

We've got a shitload of young talent that's either here (Cano, Cabrera, Joba) or on the way (Jackson, Gardner, etc.). This year is the "have patience" year. Hank needs to shut up, wait until all the dead weight is gone after this season, and use that $80 million on guys who can do more than DH.

Bern

Google Search Engine Optimization: (Lingerie Hilton Lohan)

This is a blatant effort to diversify our reader base by attracting more National League fans to our site.

That's a lie. It's really a ploy. A scam. A Lindsay Lohan Lingerie Paris Hilton Video Britney Spears Juggling Act to be the kind of spam hacks Google thinks we are so they'll knock off the stupid obstacle course that they're making us run to post entries on this Girls Gone Wild New York Yankees blog.

So here's to you, St. Louis Cardinals fans ...

Los Angeles Dodgers fans ...

New York Mets fans ...

Atlanta Braves fans ...

And, finally, Chicago Cubs fans ...

P.S. Almost forgot: Here's a big fat sorority girl shout-out to all our friends in India!

The Power of the Yankees

THE POWER OF THE YANKEES

By Goin'yard Kipling

There is sorrow enough in the natural way

From men and women to fill our day;

But when we are certain of sorrow in store,

Why do we always arrange for more?

Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware

Of giving your heart to a Yankee to tear.

Buy a ticket and your money will buy

Love unflinching that cannot lie--

Perfect passion and worship fed

By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.

Nevertheless it is hardly fair

To risk your heart for a Yankee to tear.

When the pitchers' years which Nature permits

Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,

And the trainer's unspoken prescription runs

To lethal chambers or loaded guns,

Then you will find--it's your own affair

But . . . you've given your heart to a Yankee to tear.

When the team that lived at your single will

When the whimper of welcome is stilled (how still!)

When the spirit that answered your every mood

Is gone to the broadcast booth --for good,

You will discover how much you care,

And will give your heart to a Yankee to tear!

We've sorrow enough in the natural way,

When it comes to burying Christian clay.

Our loves are not given, but only lent,

At compound interest of cent per cent.

Though it is not always the case, I believe,

That the longer we've watched 'em, the more do we grieve:

For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,

A short-time loan is as bad as a long

So why in Heaven (before we are there!)

Should we give our hearts to a Yankee to tear?

It is time to get serious.

I've cleaned up my room and almost finished packing for opening day in NYC.

All the fun of Tampa is behind me now, and I think we really have to consider where the team is for the 2008 campaign.

I'm in the camp that this Yankee team does not make the playoffs. Here are my worries:

1. The fact that Jason Giambi is our best option at first base is frightening. It puts a major point of weakness in our defense. He doesn't throw well. His fielding is slightly below average. His offense "upside" is unknown at this point, due to aging, performance fall-off and injuries of last three seasons.

2. Our outfield is shaky, too. Oddly enough, Abreu is likely the most solid guy at the moment. Melky has shown plenty of promise, but which way will he go as the league gets to know him better? We still see little power from him.

3. Damon and Matsui should be fine as interchangeable parts, but both have lost a step on defense.

4. Shelly Duncan as back-up to the other four outfielders provides; possibility of " hot streak" power if he plays a lot; marginal defensive speed and glove; excellent arm. However, how effective will he be playing sparingly?

5. Catching is fine as long as Jorge ducks the aging thing and injury thing for another season.

6. Infield is good. Wilson Betemit is a pretty decent back-up player.

7. The real worry is pitching:

A. We really don't have an ace.

B. Chin Ming has shown erratic performances, and one wonders how is head is dealing with post-season collapse.

C. Moose is bound to wear down as the season progresses. Andy is already wearing down.

D. Hughes is not impressing me as the next Roger Clemens. Not based on Spring training outings. He may become great. Or, he could be 9-10.

E. Kennedy can't seem to start a game without giving up a quick four runs. We know how that wears on a team.

F. Joba, let's face it, has not yet come close to pitching like he did last season with the Yankees. I think he had one quality outing.

G. Why did LaTroy Hawkins get an automatic seat on the bus? He always walks the first two batters he sees. Haven't we lived the last two seasons with bullpen guys who do exactly that?

H. Farnsworth will be no different than he was last year, despite the magical relationship Joe G. purports to have with him.

I. The best reliever in Spring Training was this guy ( Patterson? ) who had never pitched above A ball, right? So he won't get a MLB job now.

J. There has only been inconsistency from Bruney, Henn, Vargas, Edwar, Olendorf, etc. Nothing to excite.

L. The Alan Horne and Jeff Marquez "cups of spring coffee" were pretty uneventful and unimpressive.

8. So, where is the light? I know we should be able to score runs with our offense. But that won't do the trick. We have no team speed. Defense is OK but not a great asset. And highly shaky pitching.

Most importantly, the Giants won the SB in a magical year which, to this moment, none of us believe really happened. The Ying and Yang of Giants/Yanks seems calibrated to burn the NYY this year.

The good news is that the Southern Mexico Independent League has a brand new all dirt field. I will spend a lot of time there scouting, and looking for Edwar and Bruney to regain their command, while adding new pitches to their arsenals.

Edwar told me he may start throwing lefty. Bruney wants to play some third base, but
feels " blocked" by A-Rod.

Who knew?

Shelley Duncan Had a Chance to Crush a Ray at Home Plate

And he'd didn't.

This from Chad Jennings' great Scranton blog, which tells more about the Yanks than half the NY sportswriters' do, while they suck-up and slobber.

There's recent history between the Rays and Devil Yanks. Thursday, it came to a play at home plate, when Shelley Duncan -- our most badass bad ass -- came a-thunderin' round third. For a moment, you better believe Tampa manager JoJohn Maddon figured his catcher was about to face retribution for the Rays did two weeks ago to Francisco Cerveli.

Shelley could done to the guy what the Meramec River is doing to Missouri.

Level the playing field, I believe it's called.

This is what he did, captured by photog Jason Farmer, whose spectacular sequence of shots can be seen here.


It's what Elliot Johnson, the famous death Ray, should have done two weeks ago, and what Tampa ought to admit he should have done.

In an exhibition game, you play hard. You do not spear a guy at home plate.

And if you're the manager, a day after one of your players did it (which was the case going into the Yankee game), you take your team aside and you say... guys, let's not do that.

That's all this was ever about:

The wisdom of encouraging players to smash into each other in meaningless situations.

Maddon may be a decent guy. He was wrong. Girardi was right.

And in the regular season, when Shelley comes a thunderin' round third...

Yesterday is how Yanks are supposed to be

Yesterday, America got a glimpse of the way we used to be.

.

To reconfigure John Sterling's call: The Yankees win... the Yankees WINNNN.

.

We’re not talking game. We’re talking hearts and minds. We’re talking about winning back what we lost over the last seven wretched years – when we trashed our heritage on Kevin Browns, Gary Sheffields, Randy Johnsons, Jaret Wrights, Carl Pav-ahhhhhhhhhh-NO.

.

No more.

.

Yesterday, the world saw Yanks running their fingers over names cut into stone, pausing to ponder what blessings they've received, and offering one pleasant memory to those who for the rest of their lives will seek to counterbalance a horrible one.

.

Damm! This is what Yanks are supposed to be.

.

This is what we are supposed to be.

.

Goddamm! We are not supposed to be bullies, choke-artists, drunks, druggies, steroid abusers, wire-tappers, waterboarders, thugs and under-achieving, chuckling dolts of nepotism.

.

Goddammit, we are the Yanks. We are supposed to bring hope, truth, honor, justice. We don’t run over innocent catchers. We don’t shoot into crowds. We don’t need HGH. We don't torture people.

.

We have taken a lot of shit over the years, most of it from chock-full-o-hate, self-righteous Redsock carpers, (Remember their shameful acts over Wade Boggs, Carlton Fisk, Roger Clemens?) who came to prefer a Yankee loss to a Boston victory -- a state we must ever embrace.

.

Truth is, though, somewhere along the way, we grew callous, mean-spirited, greedy.

.

Yesterday, we stood for something.

.

Well, it got us thinking...

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We at IT IS HIGH hereby make this vow:

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We shall celebrate Yank victories, achievements and virtuous deeds with more pure, unabashed joy than anywhere else on this planet.

.

And we will ridicule Yank wrongs, scandals and stupidities more harshly than God.

(Seriously: You'll get a better deal from Him than us.)

Today, though… we celebrate a good day to be Yank…

... and suggest that fans everywhere…

START SPREADIN' THE NEWS...

I'M LEAVING TODAY....I WANT TO BE... A PART OF IT...

NEW YORK, NEW YORK...

THESE VAGABOND SHOES...

ARE LONGING TO STRAY...

RIGHT THROUGH THE VERY HEART OF IT...

NEW YORK, NEW YORRRRRK!

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND...

IF I CAN MAKE IT THERE...

I CAN MAKE IT... ANYWHERE...


IT'S UP TO YOU... NEW YORK...

NEW YORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRK

To the Tampa Management on the ways of Grapefruit Games

Chad Jennings, a MLB sportswriter in an AAA town, watched the Yankees/Scranton minor league game against the Blue Jays today.

Check out the rules:

"Matsui hit second in every inning -- first through fourth -- and Molina batted at random moments, or sometimes didn't bat at all. Eric Duncan did a nice job explaining just how confusing the whole thing can be: "Figuring out when I'm going to bat is like a math equation," he said."

And later:

"The Blue Jays use pitch counts in individual innings and twice ended an inning after the Yankees had made just two outs because their pitcher had thrown as many pitches as they wanted him to throw that inning. In the bottom of the first inning, the Yankees had already scored one run and had runners on second and third for Eric Duncan when the Blue Jays ended the inning before letting Duncan bat. In the fifth they did the same thing, leaving a Yankees runner stranded at first after just two outs."

So... in games like this, you spear a catcher at home plate, justify the move, ridicule the issue and react with indignation when they come after your 2B?

Yeah, Tampa. I'm talking to you.

A tip of the cap to the Yankees

Today's trip to Blacksburg was a classy move.

Mattingly: "Naked" guys; Tony Clark; Wickman craves a yelling

From Michael K's show, via Newsday, courtesty of NSA wiretap.

It's CAPTAIN'S CORNER, which features Captains Jeet, Mattingly, Harry Carson, Mike Eruzione, Kirk, America and Kangaroo.

DONNIE EXCERPTS:

"There’s a saying for me in the locker room, “Guys are naked.” And not just “naked” but, you see their personality, you see them inside and out, you know what a guy’s all about when you see them in the locker room."

"There’s lots of guys that I played with that were leaders in all areas, but there’s a guy, and “Jete” knows him too, and I think this guy is a total leader: Tony Clark. Tony Clark was on that 2004 team. This is a man, for me. He will stand up, he will say what needs to be said, he’s not afraid to speak up, he does the right thing; this guy’s a leader."

"You know who liked to be yelled at? Wickman. Bob Wickman."

The Problem at FB

Shelly Does not, thankfully, have to play with any handicaps, and he does belong on this team.

But he cannot play FB.

To give you some context;

Defensively, if Doug Menkevicz ( now a Pirate..still can't spell his name ) is prime filet, Shelly is half eaten food you pick out of the garbage in Nairobi.

When I went to Tampa this spring, under disguise, I watched him play about 6 innings at FB over the course of two games.

He made 4 errors and misplayed a possible double play ball. He couldn't catch, throw, pivot, bend over, run, jump or dive. But hustle, he did.

Shelly simply doesn't have the " hands " for FB. He is a pretty decent OF, with a great arm but little foot speed ( I have no foot shots except for those of Debbie Clemens and Kristen what's her name ).

Jason Lane is a good back-up OF. Better than Shelly. But he has never played FB.

Jason, we all know about.

We are going to do a deal.

I'll give that " 2 thumbs up."

Tino, We could use you...

Our 1B problem is starting to scare me.

What were we thinking? That refugee Juan Miranda, emboldened by the end of Fidel Castro, would suddenly learn to use a glove?

Here’s what’s happening in Grapefruit World:

Shelley Duncan is having a great spring. We love the guy. He’s hitting .333 with 3 HR. Over a whole season, he can hit 30 HR and bat .275 – but that's in a DH and RF mode. Play him 100 games at 1B? I dunno. The guy's a defensive end. That huge body has a pile of errors in it. What happens after a couple tough losses because his glove went clank? Long year. WE LOVE HIM. KEEP SHELLEY DUNCAN. But find him a safer place in the lineup.

Jason Giambi is having a decent spring. Batting .333. with 1 HR. OK, contract year. They say he's stroking them to all fields. (We've heard that before.) Still, the guy should hit. What he can't do is play 1B. We know this. Haven’t we seen this movie? How many times do the voters have to reject the school budget before you don't put it up again? We now have two (2) DH's.

Morgan Ensberg is batting .310, no home runs, five RBIs. Do we really think he can cut it? If so, he's our third 1B/OF/DH.

Nathan Lane is batting .273 with 2 HR. Same thing. How many 1B/DH can we carry?

By the way, while you're at it, add Matsui and Damon to the list.

The problem is that Brett Gardner is having the best spring of any young Yankee. This is the component we have been needing for the last four years -- the breakaway speedster who can steal a base any time we need it.

QUESTION: Who on this team plays 1B 130 games, so we don't have to carry the entire population of Utica, NY?

ANSWER: Nobody.

This is starting to look like Boston's closer-by-committee plan of 2002, back in the days when the Redsocks always did it the Haywood Sullivan way.

Except that today, we are doing it the Haywood Sullivan way.

POSTSCRIPT: Just saw the box from a minor league Scranton game Monday. The two guys that would have been considered outside shots at 1B, Eric Duncan, and Juan Miranda, never took a ball at that position. Duncan played 3B, a sign that he has cast into Purgatory. Miranda played DH. If this keeps up, we should have Tino's replacement by 2024, for President Jenna Bush.