The LoHud Yankees Blog

38 Responses to “Reds making plans for next season”

1. John March 22nd, 2007 at 4:46 pm

   HAHAHAHAHA. That was great!

2. woodchuck March 22nd, 2007 at 4:47 pm

   It’s about time somebody took over for Max Patkin.

3. Jeremy March 22nd, 2007 at 4:52 pm

   That’s actually Bubba Crosby, you know.

4. Troll March 22nd, 2007 at 4:57 pm

   Mr. Abraham:
   So, if you’re not in agreement with you at all times, you’re deleted? Nice. Good to see you rounding into form, no pun intended.

5. Peter Abraham March 22nd, 2007 at 4:59 pm

   Troll (fitting name): I have no idea what you are talking about. Post whatever you want. There are filters that take out spam.

6. Jennifer March 22nd, 2007 at 5:05 pm

   Where is the bottle of catsup?

7. hmmm March 22nd, 2007 at 5:10 pm

   PA, i don’t always agree with everything you post here, but our shared contempt for Curt Schilling warms my heart.

8. Bake_McBride March 22nd, 2007 at 5:21 pm

   Jeremy makes a good point. I think the statue was of Bubba Crosby. They placed it outside the Yankees clubhouse to remind Bubba of his time on the Yankees, when there was no one to go to dinner with except Sam Borden. Boo-hoo, clown!

9. Gayle March 22nd, 2007 at 5:34 pm

   Totally off topic but I loved Bake McBride. Growing up in Delaware as a Phillies fan, Shakin Bake was always a fan favorite.

10. Bake_McBride March 22nd, 2007 at 5:37 pm

    Thanks, Gayle. Glad to know my fans still appreciate me. Shake N Bake!

11. Russell March 22nd, 2007 at 5:59 pm

    Can we trade Mariano Rivera and A-Rod for Julian Tavarez?

12. Summer March 22nd, 2007 at 6:18 pm

    That statue is not fat enough. Also, it should be holding a Maple Cheddar Breakfast Sandwich, not a bat. They’re really going to have to do better then that.

13. Eric March 22nd, 2007 at 6:18 pm

    Hey Peter I have always had this quesiton in mind.

    How are the Taiwanese and Japanese different?

14. Eric March 22nd, 2007 at 6:19 pm

    I’m sorry I meant to say Taiwanese and Japanese reporters *

15. bunk March 22nd, 2007 at 6:34 pm

    hahah sure you did

16. Wagner-of-the-Finger March 22nd, 2007 at 6:35 pm

    In case you want to rip on any Yankee pitchers:

    Billy Wagner today: 1 inning, 4 hits, 5 ER.

    Enough said.

17. kasey March 22nd, 2007 at 6:47 pm

    wagner’s not trying to make the yankees’ team. just because he was putrid doesn’t mean pavano and villone were lights-out today. evidently torre isn’t the only one kidding himself.

    - ron villone has no business making the yankees, or any other major league club, for that matter. if he’s in the ‘pen, expect to lose some leads in the 6th inning.

    - andy phillips is, by all accounts, a great guy, and it’s terrible what he’s had to endure the last two years, but if he makes the team over phelps, it will be a testament to torre’s blind loyalty (which is, for some, a really polite way to say “idiocy”).

    - pavano didn’t “look great.” torre’s either full of s**t or he’s trying to talk himself into pavano because his options are limited. either way, pavano didn’t even look “kinda good.” he looked like he has all spring. uncomfortable, out of shape, and lacking confidence. that’s how he’s going to look all season. get used to it.

18. Skippy March 22nd, 2007 at 6:56 pm

    That can’t be Schilling. He’s not talking.

19. Joe from Long Island March 22nd, 2007 at 7:12 pm

    Kasey –
    1. I agree with you about Wagner. What he does is not the point.
    2. It may be that the second half of last year was Villone coming back to reality, as well as any overuse issues.
    3. I’m really rooting for Andy, for the known reasons, but it’s kind of hard to ignore the spring Phelps has had at bat. I can’t judge fielding from afar.
    4. As far as Pavano, I don’t think that what is said for public consumption is necessarily what is on somebody’s mind. They – Torre and/or Cash – may have another agenda, such as giving someone confidence, or pumping them up for a potential trading partner. Though I would think that scouts would see what was really going on.

20. kasey March 22nd, 2007 at 7:28 pm

    joe,

    you may be right but, as you noted, they can praise pavano all they want. his results speak for themselves.

    i hope andy phillips makes it somewhere. but, in the interest of the yankees fielding the best possible team, i hope it’s somewhere else.

21. mel March 22nd, 2007 at 7:46 pm

    I love Joe Torre and I want him to be the Yankees manager forever. But, if there’s one bright spot in his lame duck year, it’s that Cashman & Co. will strongly influence the personnel decisions made.

    You gotta think that Cash doesn’t see a place on this team for Villone. It’s kind of cruel, but someone cold-blooded needs to make these kinds of decisions. Cash overriding Torre is the only way that Phelps makes the team over Philips. Like I said earlier, I wish Torre wouldn’t paint himself into these corners by giving out jobs before they can be won.

22. SteveC March 22nd, 2007 at 8:58 pm

    To bad you a lot of you weren’t fans in 1990. Can you name the pitching staff?

    Andy Hawkins (5-12)
    Tim Leary (9-19)
    Chuck Cary (6-12)
    Dave LaPoint (7-10)
    Mike Witt (5-6)

    Some people here would slit their wrists.

23. Chris March 22nd, 2007 at 9:38 pm

    wha wha wha wha thats all I ever get from your posts Kasey.

    Pavano looked like….a number 5 pitcher! And thats all we need. For him to be a pitcher and not on the DL. He doesn’t have to pitch lights out. Go out there give us 6 innings 4 runs or less and that keeps the Yankees in the game.

24. MelHall27 March 22nd, 2007 at 10:00 pm

    SteveC – You’re bringing back some memories with that line-up. Pavano would’ve been the ace of that staff, even on the DL. That was the year Hawkins threw a no-no against the White Sox and still lost.

    Don’t forget guys like Mass, Nokes, Balboni and Sax that year. (And obviously Mel Hall.)

    For all of you posters who weren’t fans back in those days, understand that if the Yankees could win a World Series within 6 seasons of fielding that team, they can get by in a post-Arod world, if it comes to that.

25. murphydog March 22nd, 2007 at 10:15 pm

    MelHall27:

    I went to my first Yankee game at the Stadium in 1966. I think, however, that I have traumatic amnesia from watching the early 90′s teams. (How in heck do you lose a no-no?) And you are 100% correct – we’ll get by just fine post A-Rod. He’s opting out at the end of the season and Cash isn’t going to go nuts with the checkbook to keep him.

26. Bunk March 22nd, 2007 at 10:40 pm

    All of you who were fans in the early 90′s, I applaude your dedication and loyalty. I, however, am spoiled to be a Yankee fan as I am 20 years old and was running around in Don Mattingly jerseys as a kid.
    With George as the owner, why did we blow so bad between 77′ and the strike year? I’d really like to know this.

27. Bunk March 22nd, 2007 at 10:41 pm

    78*

28. MelHall27 March 22nd, 2007 at 10:43 pm

    murphydog –

    Those early 90′s teams were special. I was just looking at an old roster (linke below). I think I repressed the fact that Deoin Sanders was actually a Yankee.

    http://www.baseball-almanac.co.....#038;t=NYA

    Some other great tidbits – Wayne Tollenson wore #2 and Steve Sax wore #6. And our #1 draft pick that year was Carl Everett.

29. MelHall27 March 22nd, 2007 at 10:54 pm

    Bunk – were were actually in the WS again in ’81 but lost to Les Blues (aka the Dodgers). Then it was slow decline as Steinbrenner went bananas and basically traded the farm system away for washed up power hitters.

    It wasn’t until King George was temporarily banned from baseball for hiring a man named Howie Spira to dig up dirt on Dave Winfield (seriously) that things slowly began to turn around. Gene Michael took over and built up the farm system again, and produced the players that you know and love – DJ, Posada, Pettite, etc. If Steinbrenner had still been in charge I’m not sure the run ever happens.

30. Bunk March 22nd, 2007 at 11:01 pm

    So basically we as fans praise George just because he is the one signing the checks and not making any baseball decisions anymore. Well at least I wasn’t a fan when he made baseball decisions (all of them at least)

31. MelHall27 March 22nd, 2007 at 11:15 pm

    Pretty much. I think you saw George’s hand return after the Yankees lost to the Diamondbacks (mega-deal to Giambi, the flash of Sheff over the youth of Vlad, picking up the Unit about 10 years too late), but not as crazy as the 80′s.

    I mean, he traded Ricky Henderson in his prime for spare parts. He also fired multiple coaches multiple times in the same season so there was no consistency, like you have with Torre – the man fired Yogi Berra after 16 games in 1985. I think that sums up Steinbrenner in the 80′s – and that’s why we call him The Boss.

    These definitely feel like Cash’s and Swindall’s Yanks.

32. MelHall27 March 22nd, 2007 at 11:18 pm

    And one more thing – if you think it’s tough being the same division as the Red Sox now, think how much it sucked in the mid-80′s when they were one of the better teams in the East.

33. pat m March 22nd, 2007 at 11:37 pm

    one comment to add about the early 90s: with things being run so poorly upstairs, free agents took a pass on signing. Case in point: Greg Maddux. None of the top level players wanted to come here, which left the Yanks with risks like Steve Howe.
    Thank God for Howie Spira! and Gene Michael, of course.

34. Wolf In Pinstripes March 22nd, 2007 at 11:40 pm

    For me, having watched the success of the ’76-’81 teams to build on is what made it possible to endure the 80′s. I knew we’d return to prominence again someday, but it was a long 15 years or so to wait. I remember being so pissed the year of the strike, because we were playing so damned well. Funny that Montreal of all teams had the best record overall when the strike hit. And don’t even get me started on the ’95 loss to Seattle. I don’t know if my heart ached more for Mattingly that year or the next when we won it all a year after he retired.

    Oddly enough, I seem to remember reading that the Yanks had the best overall record through the 80′s despite the lack of pennants. Can somebody confirm or deny that for me?

35. MelHall27 March 23rd, 2007 at 12:08 am

    Wolf – it was the Yanks…

    Top five teams most games won during the 1980′s N.Y. YANKEES 854, Detroit Tigers 839, Kansas City Royals 826, St. Louis Cardinals 825 and Los Angles Dodgers 825

    http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What.....980's

    I remember them finishing 2nd and 3rd for a stretch back then so that’s when they could’ve racked up the wins. (Remember this was before the 3 divisions and the wild card, so you could win 90 games every year and still go home.) Also, in ’95 Montreal had some kid named Pedro Martinez pitching for them.

    And pat m – Maddux played us like a fiddle during FA back then. The big signing that turned it around for the Yanks was Jimmy Key in ’93.

36. MelHall27 March 23rd, 2007 at 12:29 am

    You know, I think what made those 90′s teams enjoyable was that Rizzuto was still calling the games.

37. Rich Myers March 23rd, 2007 at 1:14 am

    Hey Mel

    “Cash overriding Torre is the only way that Phelps makes the team over Philips.”

    If you’ve got inside info like this you should start your own blog my friend. I think you don’t have a clue where any of the Yankee braintrust stand on Minky’s caddie/ RH pinch-hitter.