I saw her full disclosure. It was honest.

I just couldn’t help but notice that even a writer who was trying to keep the torch-carrying angry mob off of Udoggie still had to slap him. This guy must give off negative pheromones or something.

Like I said, fandom is a double edged sword sometimes. I’m a huge fan of Kansas, but my bracketology has them outted by VT. sob.

All the U-dog “poison” is tossed around off the field, in tabloids and blogs. There not a glimmer of evidence that it hampers U-dog’s teammates. Even if U-dog and Jeter spend all their free time seething in anger at each other, Jeter was so good in 2006 that he should have won the MVP. The Yankees blew away the rest of baseball in runs scored despite losing Matsui and Sheffield for most of the season. The only player who has even intimated that personality/psychological issues negatively affect him is U-dog himself, and he was merely the best-hitting 3B in the league last year.

The “doubt” about keeping U-dog is, like the “poison,” probably unique to fans. I would be surprised if any of his teammates doubt he should stay, even ones who don’t like him. I would be astonished if Cashman doubts the team should keep him.

In short there is no rational reason to doubt whether to keep U-dog. His hitting is not just good, it’s the best for his position. The personality issues, while annoying for fans, are nearly irrelevant. No one has even suggested someone who could replace him (except for derisive references to Mike Lowell).

And yet in the end I agree with you, I hope he plays well and doesn’t talk.

just thought it was ironic that some of the posters here were accusing the “underdog supporters” (i.e. those who disagreed with you) of not being true yankee fans.

it’s funny.

here is one such snippet of wisdom:

“I know you’re a Yankee fan Peter and you blog with integrity. You’re not in this for the popularity or the profit or the attention. You love the team and it shows. This article was written by a writer just as bright and astute as ever. The fans who can’t grasp your continued understanding of this team are in denial about Arod’s temporary status here. They won’t change their tone until he’s gone so don’t expect civility. But you nailed it Peter. Underdog is staging his own exit.”

hilarious. people who truly love the yankees have to hate a-rod.

wrong again.

And I have no desire to go back. Covering the Yankees is the most fun I have ever had in journalism. Great team to cover.

Pete has always been able to maintain objectivity in his reporting from the numerous articles that I have read and I have no cause to start thinking that all sudden that has changed. Nothing I’ve seen here warrants that. His recent posts while not “GO UNDERDOG!” have definitely not been “UNDERDOG S*CKS!!” He’s not paid to root for the Yankees just report on them and I don’t expect him to. The blog is a means to solicit his opinion on certain things – which invites discussion (I don’t condone the personal attacks as those are the kind of things that gives fandom a bad rap) and I think that makes for an exciting blog.

There’s a big difference between being a fan of something and letting it affect your work. Pete has even lambasted Schilling on this blog (with colorful pictures of Schilling’s budda/pregnancy), cracking on Schilling’s Cash is my best friend name dropping and also including a hilarious cartoon of Schilling/Nancy Drew a few weeks ago. That doesn’t sound like Sox fandom to me.

I’ve seen over a year and a half of good unbiased reporting from Pete on the Yankees and one or two blog posts with opinions (not reporting) that I may not agree with isn’t going to make me think Pete’s a biased reporter all of a sudden. This opinion of Pete may not be popular right now, but I don’t see any reason to blame Pete for Underdog’s troubles.

I’m OK with your perspective. I just found it interesting that in the midst of trying to write a positive piece, Johnette still slapped him.

My last word on this guy: I don’t blame Udoggie for the Yanks not winning since 2000. With all due respect, no serious student of the game would do that. My view is that the failure rate was mostly a pitching issue coupled with a failure to maintain a robust farm system and over-exploiting the free agent market. As for Udoggie’s role, it’s minimal or it’s neutral. I’m giving him a “small sample” pass on his post season numbers and acknowledging his regular season goodness. How to quantify or assess what he does for the team, and whether we pay to keep him, are the only issues for me.

I don’t have Bill James’, Nate Silver’s or Keith Woolner’s facility with numbers, but even they can’t measure personality objectively or with precision. Everybody is a mixed bag. Some people bring a lot more good than bad to the table. It all depends on how bad the bad is for a given environment. At some point, even though the good stuff is really good, you still know that a little poison goes a long way. There shouldn’t be any doubt about keeping Udoggie, but there is. That’s got to mean something. I wish him well and I wish him a season long case of laryngitis.