Today in the Journal News
-
- February
- 8
Phil Hughes doesn’t act his age and the Yankees couldn’t be more pleased. We sent Sam Borden down to Tampa and he wrote an excellent profile on the right-hander.
Robinson Cano’s deal is official. This notebook also has word on officials in Tampa seeking to re-name Legends Field after George Steinbrenner. Brian Heyman has this story.
The new Yankee Stadium is over budget but looks impressive.
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on Friday, February 8th, 2008 at 10:55 am by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
Just finished reading Borden’s article on Hughes. The precocious youth is going to be a stud in my opinion. Can’t way to see him mowing down Red Sox.
Absolutely awesome article by Sam. That was a great insight into Hughes’ life, IMO.
ray - I agree completely. He is going to be something special in so many ways. Vive le Phranchise.
Mornin’ all.
Great article by Sam Borden, loved the fact it wasn’t a short blurb type deal either. Great to have him back.
Sam Borden is correct. Phil Hughes takes his craft very serious yet manages to have fun at the same time.
Great article - certainly makes it much easier to root for “PJ.” Nothing like being able to root for a homegrown Yankee who also seems like a genuinely good guy. I get all excited reading about how focused he is on the details and fundamentals.
Reading things like this makes me happier and happier that we did not deal him. I can’t wait to see this guy on the mound every 5th day.
27/08!
Thank you Pete and Sam… One of the best, in-depth articles into a professional ball player I have ever read. Kudos and thanks again !
Pete,
For what it’s worth to you. There is a picture of you next to Lonn Trost on the Yankees.com website photo gallery of the new stadium.
Took me an hour, but I finally finished the article. It was awesome. Awesome. Just awesome.
I love that Phil’s an old soul. And that his family is so normal. Whatever ‘It’ is, Phil’s got it.
Anyone know the story on why Phil lasted until the 23rd pick? That bonus money is not prohibitive (at least not these days). Maybe clubs knew that if it wasn’t life changing money, he’d go to college?
And that Giambi story cracked me up.
I wish that he’d go by the name Joseph. It’s such a Yankee name. Girardi could be Big Joe and Phil could be Little Joe.
I get the feeling, though, that Phil wants to be the ace of the staff because it’s been pre-ordained. And he’ll do whatever it takes to make it happen.
LOL, The more the Yankees go over budget the more money out of the small market teams pockets.
1.3B * 40% debt service forgiveness = 520B in revenues that would have otherwise gone to revenue sharing without the stadium.
When you factor in the interest payments on top of that 1.3B, the small market teams are getting screwed BIG TIME!
Great article by Borden. Really an enjoyable read.
Having said that, Yankee fans, let’s try and be realistic in our expectations of Hughes this season.
honestly, at this point, i think yankees fans should not temper their optimism for Phil Hughes. Spring Training is the exactly the time to think about how great things could be… and there’s plenty of time for reality come the regular season.
Very nice job by Borden. Those are my favorite kind of stories on the players, where you can really get a feel for what they’re like.
My problem with the new Yankee Stadium is… I want to watch a game. It’s like they’re building a baseball field in the middle of the mall. The focus was so much on the pointless luxuries that now not everyone can see every area of the field from every seat.
:
Kudos to Borden on the “PJ” article. I’d leave a comment there but I’d have to register.
I might have missed it. Did he sign that stalkers baseballs?
Thats gel that Giambi puts on his hair? I though it was 10w40 or tres flores. Iv never seen gel look so greasy. He always has that wet dog look in games. Cant help busting up everytime they show him on the bench,looking like he ran quick to the showers and cameback for the next inning.
I wonder if Phil still roots for the RedSox? If so, would he ever go their to play knowing their our most hated rivals?
Yankee Stadium is over budget? Where is this money going? It is obviously lining the pockets of some of Steve Swindal’s cronies. At least that’s what we’ll soon hear from the up-to-date, “informed” Arlen Specter who will promise Senate Judiciary Committee hearings.
Scott… I agree. Sure, Santana would have been nice, and I was all for that deal when it was first discussed, but what we’re learning makes it clear that it will be a better experience for us as real fans to watch Hughes develop and (hopefully) dominate. We’ve a vested interest in him now.
We did the same sort of thing a decade ago with Jeter and Posada. Imagine if we’d have deal either of them early.
This same case can be made for Robbie Cano.
It’s great to be a Yankees fan in early 2008.
Great article by Sam. Gave great insight into Phil.
I just read Sam Borden’s article. Great piece of writing, and a great story.
It tells you all you need to know about why Phil Hughes was not traded.
No wonder Jasons hair always looks wet and sweaty during games. Does he think it is attractive? I think it is digusting.
“It’s great to be a Yankees fan in early 2008″
seconded.
“It’s great to be a Yankees fan in early 2008″
may i third that? !
Sam Borden has writing chops, huh? Nice article.
I think “PJ” is going to catch some grief from his teammates for his family nickname.
If all our young pitchers have his poise and maturity the league better watch out.
If Shelly can play average at first base, he will win the ths job based on his power.
You know what I’ve noticed and I really like. Espically since it will change the culture of the clubhouse. Instead of 25 guys 25 cabs like we had for a few years. We have guys who are friends off the field as well. That would do wonders for the chemistry on this team.
Sorry to bring up a sordid subject, but Radomski’s really bothering me.
Remember the clothes make an impression convo we had about Andy & Roger?
Well, Radomski looked like a college professor. Even though he stored needles in a beer can for six years.
Today, he’s begging for leniency. ESPN article says something about an 8 yr. old daughter & wife. No mention of a son. Anyone know which it is?
Anyway, the part that bothers me is that he’s asking for leniency because he cooperated significantly with the Feds. But he’s entirely culpable in all this. He had more than just 2 clients. Radomski was not a casual participant in steroids in baseball.
Rats are the scum of the earth. Greg Anderson may be a ‘roid pusher, but at least he has honor. lol.
I think PJ has a nice ring to it, a little better than Phil Franchise.
Ditto on the great article.
I particularly liked Dori Hughes’ comment about college grads marrying the right girl and ballplayers marrying cocktail waitresses.
You can tell the Hughes family has its priorities straight.
(Though from the picture Phil posted on his web page some weeks ago, it looks like Phil Sr. is an older gentleman. Maybe that’s part of it: an older father and younger mother gave him the best of both worlds. Plus two sisters who seem to have looked out for him).
mel, are you okay? You are a litle confused. Radomski is the one who supplied the roids. McNamee was Roger’s trainer, the one who has the ill son.
Or am I confused?
I cannot wait for 5 ‘clock! Party time!
Great Borden article. How can anyone not love the moxie this kid has?
I think I may have to give up the farm and trade for him in my fantasy league. I love having Yankees. I currently have Mariano, Cano, Melky, Matsui and Mussina although I don’t think I’m going to protect Moose. I will be trading up in an attempt to get Joba as well. I don’t care if it kills my team, I just love having my boys on it.
OMG! Yes, I got them mixed up!
Although Hughes may be emotionally mature for his age, his arm is still a tender 21. That’s where the risk comes in.
Mike and the Maddog have a pretty good lineup for today. Mel Stottlemyre, Cano, Zimmer, Donnie Mattingly, Gossage, and others are on through the day.
smell that? It is baseball in the air!! :yippe:
Wow. Mattingly making the rounds. Good for him.
mel stottlemyre is up RIGHT NOW
Mattingly’s being honored for something, that’s why they’re all there. Sorry I didn’t listen better, haha. But I know he’s receiving some sort of award.
When you go from an estimate of 830 million to a cost of $1.3 billion (and it ain’t done yet), I’m not sure if the term ‘over budget’ is quite adequate.
This is the most exciting Yankees team in many, many years. Even when Jetes, Mo, Po and Pettitte came up, I don’t believe there was near the fan anticipate as there is now.
At the end of 2004, I think ARod may have been the youngest regular on the team. It’s pretty amazing how much this team has turned around in 3 years.
old yanks fan, the internet also wasn’t what it is now, back than. If that makes sense
Does anyone else find it pretty weird that Clemens has met with these congress people one on one for the past 2 days? What is he doing, signing autographs? Begging them not to ask too many tough questions? What is going on there? It just seems really fishy.
from Peter Gammons’s blog on ESPN.com today:
“From a former Yankees coach: “Hughes had a reputation for being a little lazy, but A-Rod was great with him. He really pushed Hughes in the weight room and helped him the way he helped Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera. Alex relishes that role and his relationship with the young players, and they know no one outworks Alex.”
Not fishy to me at all that he is meeting with them. That is what you do when you are going to appear before Congress. Like any good lobbyist or someone appearing before the committee you set up meetings with the people on the committee to make sure that your side gets heard, sort of like put a face and a human side to your story rather than the first time you see them it being across the isle to to speak. Any member can say no I dont want to meet with him but so far none have said they would not.
When presidential appointees go in front of the respective committees ie for Attorney General, Sec of State etc they do the same thing private meetings with members of the committees. Just the way things work down there.
What former Yankees coach could that be? Ron Guidry? Joe Kerrigan?
Mel Stottlemeyer?
Mel was gone when Phil came here.
Maybe he doesn’t want to walk into a bees hive next Wednesday. Sounds like someone who wants to answer questions directly to the Congressmen, as well as let them get to know him a little bit before the media circus next week.
Sounds like Guidry to me
Hey Pete–
How does the whole expense account work for you guys? I remember last year, you wrote during spring training something along the lines of you and a lot of the beat guys staying in “hostel”-esque hotels, and so on, while Ty Kepner of the NYT can stay wherever he wants…
You’d think that if you are generating over 10 mil hits a dya to your blog, your company would want to treat you a little this year, maybe put you up somewhere nice during Tampa time…
Another question— if you are out at a bar, doing an ‘interview’ or recon work, and say you bump into Melky and Robbie, buy them a drink or two and get an interview done, does the paper pay for that action, or you? Food, hotels, plane tickets– they must give you an Expense Account credit card or something, right?
Just curious…
Thats all
The new Yankee Stadium is over budget but looks impressive.
If we can have billions of dollars un-accounted for in the war. I think i can take them being over budget for something we’re all going to get something good out of it for years to come.
Bet it was Kerrigan… Was with Sox for a while, so that automatically puts him on Gammon’s speed dial and rolodex.
I hate Gammons almost as much as Schilling… I know he’s prob a great guy. yada yada yada. But his pro-Sox is just become too much for me. The words ‘objective’ and ‘non-biased’ aren’t in his vocab.
He may’ve been a little lazy, but at least he doesn’t have a criminal record.
Bronx, that is the way I was leaning too. And you are probably right on the soxs connection.
Renaming Legends Field after King George is a wonderful gesture and wholly appropriate. History will ultimately be kind to that visionary, driven and complicated man.
Maybe he’s telling congress what questions to ask McNamee. At this point, if Rog is guilty, he will be despised.
mel:
i love that little “laptop” dig….
Nice article but is it possible that Sam is getting paid by the word?
that dirtbag mc namee has now claims that roger’s WIFE took HGH to get in shape for a magazine cover…
MikeEff-
Where did you hear that information?
Sicker and Sicker it gets.
the daily news front cover
MikeEff -
Thanks.
Ok this is now the last straw. I do not know what Roger Clemens did or did not do and nor do I care. I do not know what Debbie Clemens did or did not do nor do I care. I do not know what Brian McNamee did or did not do nor do I care but I do care that my tax dollars are being wasted on this joke of a hearing that has become like an episode of Maury Povich and Nancy Grace all rolled into one.
Can someone tell me what any of this will accomplish.
ha! this really is a circus. i cant wait to see what happens next.
you’re so right gayle.
Hey guys this is OT, but I just caught up on the posts and figured no one was reading the Hideki song thread anymore. Does anyone know what song they played for Matsui’s first at-bat this year? I know later at-bats were the Kill Bill song and Kashmir, but I could never figure out what the first song was.
I wonder if Selig realizes that all he had to do two years ago was say baseball made a mistake about not having a stronger drug policy and that they would change this.
As such, I wouldn’t be dealing with this stupid crap that ESPN and other media outlets want to report as news-worthy, instead of what it really is a gossip magazine story.
OldYanksFan - I emailed you last week about my extra Spring Training tickets, but never heard from you. Are you still interested?
thanks.
Well I have heard him this past year use Day Tripper, Godzilla and a song which I have on my ipod but dont have the name of it here something like redemption and something.
I had to appear in Court today for a personal matter and I had to get sworn in. Let me tell you, it was a humbling and an awesome experience. You are swearing to tell the truth before the Court. So, my point is, I do not understand how anyone can take that responsibility so lightly, and one of these people involved in this much is either a sick person, or morally corrupt, or delusional. It would certainly seem that both of these men believe they are telling the truth. Clearly one is not. I just think it’s all very sad, and it’s become a travesty.
Thank you, George Mitchell, for not forcing Bud Selig, et al., to move on by not publishing names.
involved in this “muck” not “much.” Edit, please!!
mel…
chuc mung nam moi.
Vietnamese; Happy New Year!
So said my wife, I don’t speak VN but I understand some of it.
Aren’t we all glad that Phil didn’t get traded?
He and Joba will make one heck of a tandem, take that back!
He, Joba, IPK, and CMW make four of a kind. Some of you said we could win WS with three or four good pitchers, well…WS coming 27/08? In reality, it may take one more year to win it all, but we can get to the play offs…right?
All healthy for years…right? Lets hope this is good for 10 years or more.
Radomski got five years’ probation?
Just heard this a minute ago through the wire:
McNamee has now said that he gave HGH/Steroids to one of Clemens cats in 2001 because the cat was getting chased by dogs in the neighborhood and wanted to bulk up so it could fight back. After months of the cat taking the roid/hgh mix dogs started disappearing out of the neighborhood left and right. The cat then subsequently gave birth to a Lion Cub. McNamee fearing that the Lion Cub would one day grow up and eat him kept proof of the cats roid usage. Today he gave Congress a ball of fur, a syringe with cat’s milk dripping from it and a toy mouse filled with HGH.
The cat has declined comment up to this point. More details later.
A-Rod taking another young player under his wing and pushing him to be the best he can be…man, that guy is a jerk. BOOOOO!!!!!!!
I agree with Gayle to the fullest extent… What a waste of our money! I wish the government would go back to spending our hard-earned tax dollars on $400 screwdrivers and $800 gold-plated toilets.
Seriously, enough is enough.
TurnTwo
Don’t you know Gammons is a red sox shill and idiot? you can’t believe stories like that.
Robbie is on Yes and Fan now FYI
5 years probation for being a drug dealer for years.
outrageous.
posted final thoughts on Shelley in previous post. But that thread is dead, so:
I like how the commenter indicts “stat geeks” while simultaneously predicting good things for Shelley if he can keep his walks up.
1) walks are a stat
2) the predictive value of his career MiLB OBP is to suggest that he won’t keep his walks up
3) he can’t hit anything besides dead red.
Ensberg, on the other hand, is a low risk/high upside guy. Maybe he’ll suck. But maybe his injury issues are behind him. Either way, he has a great eye, and I’d much rather have his low .390s OBP (last 1,000 +/- PA in Houston). Shelley’s value to the team last year was embedded, almost entirely, in an HR:AB ratio that he can’t possibly hope to sustain (unless you honestly believe that he’ll hit 50 HR in 550 AB because pitchers will be too dumb to stop challenging him with the fastball).
Raymagnetic –
You really had me going there!!!
john_halfz:
clearly you’re EXACTLY the type of stat geek i was referring to.
thanks for proving my point
gayle -
If you get a chance could you post some of the lyrics so I can try and figure it out? If not that’s cool too, thanks.
SB, i didnt say i believed it or i didnt, just posted it here for discussion.
but lets not think thats the first time thats been said, either.
btw, McNamee gave the cat HGH? hilarious. nicely done, ray.
That was a good story. Hughes is becoming one of my favorite players. I wish I had more ability to play at least college ball but teams that help me get there in Canada like one I played for last year cost too much money..
Robinson did O-Kay!
BronxBomber77, the government never spent $800 on gold plated toilets, they spent $800 on plastic toilet seats. Heck, I think I would prefer the gold-plated toilets over that.
yeah doreen, it seems he’s a team player type guy. i like his sincere and humble attitude.
MJL the song I was referring (that i could not think of the name of) is an instrumental song. he also uses another Beatles song sometimes as well.
Hm that must not be it then, this one had lyrics. Thanks anyways.
do you know some of the lyrics i could tell by the lyrics what song it is
But, MikeEff, tell me. On what basis do you have high hopes for Duncan? I’ve raised the point that he’s turning 29, that he’s never shown any aptitude at hitting pitches other than the fastball, that he’s never shown any aptitude for taking bad pitches.
And I did it without even using “complex” stats. On base percentage and counting stats like walks are as elementary as you can get.
Saying that he has “intangibles” isn’t convincing. I’ve rooted for the Yankees since the days of Henry Cotto, Dan Pasqua, Mike Easley, etc. I would LOVE to play for the team. Even if I were in a slump, I would constantly exude positive energy and a desire to win. That wouldn’t help me ONE BIT.
Gammons never studied a course in objectivity that he couldn’t flunk.
The quintessential “homer”. A Boston hoot.
To make it simpler. Shelley Duncan will have a BAD season based on his other demonstrated abilities UNLESS he hits homers at an A-Rod clip. He can’t walk. I know this because he NEVER has. Having WATCHED baseball games (a novel concept for us “geeks”), I am confident that he can’t hit changeups, sliders, knuckleballs, curveballs, splitters, palmballs or forkballs. So he’ll have to turn on a remarkably high percentage of the few fastballs he’ll inevitably see.
I would love a refutation of this prediction built on a foundation more concrete than faith in his alleged “intangibles.”
If you read any Gammons article there will always be some slight comment about how the Red Sox are better than the Yankees and he will never credit the Yankees without also crediting the Red Sox.
john_h
i’m thrilled to heat that your slump wouldn’t dampen your enthusiasm for the game!
we need more players like you
i just heard that the bedard deal is done. nice to get him out of the division…the best part is that the angels will have some real competition in their division next year with the felix/bedard combo…
having mel stottlemyre will help as well
Thanks. On the basis of your rebuttal, I now expect Shelley Duncan to be, at the very least, an AL All-Star reserve. He can’t miss. He’s a “late bloomer” who has “spirit” and loves “messing around” with his teammates.
Wait a minute, that sounds like the guy who operated the scoreboard during my high school basketball games.
I actually expect Bedard’s performance to decline. I’m not going to base that on any evaluation of his previous performance. But he seems like the kind of guy who’s more confident pitching for a losing team. He lacks the “intangibles” that you need at Safeco when you’re pitching with the division on the line.
See? I can provide totally inane predictions about all members of the MLBPA based on animus, personal admiration, or whatever other emotion I arbitrarily associate with these players.
Hmm.
I’m not sure which I find least agreeable, Shelley bashing or anything remotely connected to the mitchell report…
wow, dude. you’ve really got something against Shelley… take a deep breath and relax.
I have NOTHING against him. I just think the cult of admiration is silly. I have nothing against Shane Spencer, either. Though he was kind of old to be urinating in a parking lot.
Of course, I hope that Shelley bats 1.000 with 354 HR. I just don’t expect very much from the man who worked his way into so many hearts with a blend of boyish enthusiasm and bulging blood vessels.
Oh now we know baseball season is only a week away Carl Pavano reported to Tampa and played catch for 12 minutes.And that my friends gets you 5 plus million dollars this year.
“I have NOTHING against him”
wouldn’t you guys love to hear what he has to say about someone he actually IS against?
Anyone has any update on Wang’s new contract? Any agreement yet?
I know that emotion and distance from reason are required of the sports fan. I mean, my favorite players of all time are:
1) Don Mattingly
2) Luis Sojo
3) Enrique Wilson
4) Andy Fox
By the same token, I wouldn’t be too happy objectively if my starting infield included more than one of those guys on a regular basis (that one guy would be Mattingly). I could say the same “mean” things about Sojo, Wilson or Fox (or, for that matter, Fasano, whom I also loved) that I have about Duncan. It’s not “bashing.”
MikeEff: I can’t think of too many players that I’m actively “against.” It’s easier to like people you don’t know than it is to hate them. Off the top of I head, I can think of
1) Roger Clemens
2) Kevin Millar
That’s really about it. I think I’m pretty reasonable in hoping that my team has good players rather than bad ones. And human in arbitrarily liking certain players. But if any one of you told me that Luis Sojo wasn’t really that good on the basis of a numbers argument, I wouldn’t assume you were “against” him.
Projections based on on base percentage,ect are fun and make good conversation.But my problem with the Rob Neyers & Bill James’ of the world is that they make arguments that this player WILL have a bad season based on limited past performances of young players like Shelly Duncan.
In the 80’s the Yankees had a 1st baseman that in his first 100 games had an obp in the low .300’s. He struck out 32 times vs only 21 walks. The kid had only 4 home runs in his first 291 at bats. I’m sure Rob Neyer would have made horrible projections for the next year for this player.
The kid kinda turned it around the following year.He went .343 ba .388 opb 23 hr’s and 110 rbi. The rest of this kid’s career wasnt bad either. The kid was Don Mattingly.
i didn’t ask who you were against. i simply wondered what you might have to say about players that you were against considering you have shredded shelley duncan and then said in all caps that you have NOTHING against him.
it really was a rhetorical question anyway as i really don’t care what you have to say about anything.
so did any of you hear jim leyland on mike and dog?
interesting point he made about talking with mattingly and donnie warning him that sometimes when you have an awesome line-ups like the yankees, sometimes they get complacent.
At least Drive 4-5 is trying to engage the point seriously. Don Mattingly was 22 in 1983, however. His breakout season in 1984 was not at all unexpected. After being drafted low, Mattingly put up good numbers, and was an on-base machine in Oneonta, Greensboro, Nashville and Columbus.
Shelley Duncan is going to be 29. He had a pretty good age 26 year at Columbus.
It’s also hard to imagine arguing that he’s anywhere near the athlete that Don was.
The orioles did a very good job of getting talent in return for Bedard.
They got five players, including Adam Jones one of the higher ceiling prospects in all of baseball. He’s by far better than any player traded for Haren or Santana. Chris Tillman also is a pitching prospect some people think has a lot of upside. On top of that they got George Sherrill for the pen.
I hate to criticize the blog’s host, but the article Pete wrote on the new Stadium is poor in that important info is not provided to the reader. Basically, it’s just a rewrite of the Yankee-provided information - the Yankees’ press secretary might as well have written it.
example 1 - the article doesn’t mention the obstructed seats caused by the sports bar.
example 2 - the article doesn’t mention the idiotic “solution” of putting TVs in the bleachers
example 3 - how about getting some feedback from someone other than Lonn Trost on whether this will involve a ‘corporate feel’, insofar as corporation presence will increase at the expense of non-corporate attendance.
example 4 - how about some info on the expected ticket price costs to the average fan, since there will be less tix.
an article worth reading would definitely mention items 1-2. a high-quality article would discuss them all - unless a quick followup article is intended as part of the journalist’s plan for covering the overall story. a press release would gloss over or ignore all of these.
Shelly Duncan has over 2,600 minor league at bats. That’s not at all a small sample set. I wouldn’t presume to make predictions about someone with no professional career. That’s the point where scouting and personal observation pay off. In the case of Duncan, who’s played in almost 800 professional games, the numbers are what they are.
Has anyone else seen the Celizic article that says Cash “announced” that Joba’d begin the year in the pen? I’ve not seen this reported ANYWHERE else, so I’m kind of skeptical.
Anyone seen any source other than this one article? I’ve seen it reported on a few blogs, but they all cite the one msnbc article.
John Halfz,
In Mattingly’s last full minor league season he had a decent .315 batting average but he only had 10 home runs abd 75 rbi. As a matter of fact, that was the only season Mattingly ever hit more than 9 home runs in the minors. Duncan doesnt have Mattingly’s talent, but on a smaller scale you can see how off the predictions are.
I started buying Bill James’ books in the 80’s but got bored with them in the 90’s because his predictions and arguments began to make less sense.
I gave up on Neyer’s when he argued that with 2 outs and down 3 runs, he’d rather have a higher obp hitter with fewer rbi’s at bat than one with more power and more rbi’s.
These are the folks who had a crusade against Jim Rice going to the Hall of Fame. Ask Goose gossage what he thinks about thier opinion. I’d agree with Goose.
Yankees announced Chris Woodward, and Ensberg signings.
Natural progression for a player who was filling out to professional size. Shelley isn’t filling out. He’s beyond filled out. Mattingly had 36 XBH in Columbus.
Naturally, he had his power peak at age 24.
It’s possible that his power exceeded the projections you’d have made from his 500 minor league games. But power is really the one tool that players, even those who aren’t “enhanced,” develop in their early and mid 20s. Mattingly’s eye, ability to hit for average, fielding ability, range, arm, etc., were all easily foreseeable based on his minor league performances.
Hey, Pete, did you notice Phil Hughes gave you and the Blog a heads-up on his blog yesterday, saying you posted “some awesome pictures” of the new stadium? That was nice.
Comment on the Bedard trade: I agree that Bedard’s numbers are going to go down. Not his ERA, however. The outfield defense is so much worse now that Jones won’t be out there that just about every pitcher who gives up anything out of the infield will see his ERA skyrocket. Especially since Bedard, a LHP, will be seeing most of his flyballs go to LF where the slowest LFer in baseball (now that Bonds is not playing) is slogging: Raul Ibanez, who should be a DH.
As for Jim Rice, another time. But for the record, while I wouldn’t crusade (since the HOF is already diluted via the inclusion of players like Scooter), Rice doesn’t really hack it. Very, very good hitter. NOT Hall of Famer I’m not going to waste space with a dissection, but please, please read this article. If you disagree after having read it, that is more than fine.
http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2008/01/listen_buster_r.php
Let the season begin! Carl Pavano has arrived in camp. No autographs, please.
“I gave up on Neyer’s when he argued that with 2 outs and down 3 runs, he’d rather have a higher obp hitter with fewer rbi’s at bat than one with more power and more rbi’s.”
You don’t get that? Let’s see…I need more runs…what do I want? Someone who will get on base, thus getting me baserunners to drive in, or a slugger with high K numbers that might hit a solo HR?
What’s so wrong with acting your age?…..as far as I know you don’t have to act like you 40 when you’re 21….or do you?
“What’s so wrong with acting your age?”
Nothing. But, if I had to pick the kind of person who’d be likely to deal well with the media scrutiny, fan pressure, and lure of the nightlife on NY…I’d pick a mature, hard-working homebody over a guy who acts like he’s 21. Wouldn’t you?
Donnie is kinda throwing people under the bus. Saying they weren’t ready out of the gate, because they didn’t have to play for their jobs.
Jim, did he really show up?
Jennifer…
Point taken on the internet being better for Yankees fans and baseball that it was in 2004, let alone what it was when the “great Yanks kids” came up in the ’90s.
I’ve got XM, so I’ll follow Spring Training, get psyched for the season, with that, and this will be my first Spring hanging out on Pete’s blog. In a sense, we’ve got our own reporter at Legends Field.
Yeah, let’s have some baseball.
It’s absurd to compare Duncan to Mattingly. Like people have already mentioned, Mattingly broke out when he was still in his early 20’s while Duncan is 28. There is no need to hype Duncan and expect him to start at 1b and hit 30 HR’s, more than likely that is not going to happen. Take him for what he is, a useful bat off the bench with the occasional start against lefties.
man, i wonder what this place will be like if Duncan doesn’t make the team. which he may not.
whozat, I read the article, but there was no direct quote from Cash. So, who knows if it’s true that Joba will begin the year in the pen. Here’s the article…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23059454/
“whozat, I read the article, but there was no direct quote from Cash.”
I know. Did anyone see anywhere else that’s even reporting this story, except blogs quoting this same guy?
What a great article. Phil Francise is going to be something very special. Shelly on the other hand, I think the jury is still out.
“man, i wonder what this place will be like if Duncan doesn’t make the team.”
They’ll be telling us that we’re not going to make the playoffs because the team will be bunch of robots without Shelley’s passion and forearm smashes.
“They’ll be telling us that we’re not going to make the playoffs because the team will be bunch of robots without Shelley’s passion and forearm smashes.”
i predict lots of hilarious “future Hall of Famer Morgn Ensberg” jokes, ala Josh Phelps.
Hey, hey, come on. Shelley Duncan’s infectious .325 OBP is an irreplaceable quality. His enthusiastic inability to hit a curveball will take this team places!
Once upon a time, there was a different sort of player. His name was Andy Stankiewicz. He was so fun to root for. But Yankees fans didn’t have a chance to root for him until he was 27, because it took an injury to Hall of Fame second ballot winner Mike Gallego for Andy to break in. By mid-May 1992, he was hitting .348 with a .430 OBP. He finished the year very respectably, and kids wanted his rookie card.
By the time 1995 rolled around, he was hitting .118 for the Astros. Didn’t make him any less likeable. Just meant he wasn’t cut out for life as an MLB regular.
Andy Stanky is Shelly Duncan if you substitute “speed” for “power.”
Stop it, you two. Morgan Ensberg is a pile of trash from a trash heap full of trash. He struck out 238 times in 2006. Shelley was using 2006 to hone his 24 inch biceps just the way he needed to deliver what we’ve already witnessed the beginning of: a late-blooming career characterized by Ruthian HR rates and insane grit and enthusiasm.
I just can’t wait until the first night Phil takes the mound in the 2008 season, he makes me feel like a young kid in an old man’s body.
John,
I dont think it is Shelly’s inability to hit a curve ball, i think it hsi inability to hit anything but a fastball. Could he help the team? sure but it will be relying more on his ability to play first and take some pressure off of Abreu more than his offense. IMO
Suzy - Yeah thanks. I love to consider it. Can you try again to the following address: wizofoz01 -at- comcast -dot- net.
Thanks. Very nice of you.
I’m not comparing Duncan to Mattingly at all. All I’m saying is that there was little to predict that Mattingly was going to turn into Donnie Baseball. I’d take Shelley Duncan out of the equation entirely. But there’s no predicting what Duncan would do this year. Dwight Evans is another example of how at age 28 there was no predicting how good he was going to be in his 30’s.
And in my other obp example, I forgot to mention that with 2 men on and 2 outs, Neyer would take the higher obp guy over the higher rbi guy. My mistake. Actually,his mistakelol
john_halfz: you are exactly correct about Shelly and Ensberg and my guess is Cashman thinks so too.