Start of the day at Legends Field
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 15, 2008 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
The first workout will start this morning around 10. The Yankees have to be dressed at 9:45 and Joe Girardi will give a brief talk before they hit the field.
The highlight of the first day is usually when they line up the starters in the main bullpen for their first throwing session. Beyond that, it’s a lot of fielding drills.
Breaking the News to Paul O’Neill About No.21
By Jack Curry
Feb 14, 2008
Paul O’Neill did not sound perturbed about the Yankees taking his
No. 21 out of storage and giving it to Morgan Ensberg this spring,
but he did sound perplexed. The Yankees had not issued No. 21 to a
player since O’Neill retired in 2001.
When I reached O’Neill on Thursday, I wanted to ask him what he
thought about the Yankees’ decision. I didn’t realize that I would
also be breaking the news to him. It turns out I was the first one
to tell O’Neill that someone else will be wearing 21 in 2008.
“How did you hear that?,” O’Neill said. “Did they make an
announcement or something?”
I told O’Neill that the Yankees did not issue a news release, but
anyone who saw the spring roster noticed that Ensberg was wearing
21. Since the Yankees have retired 15 numbers (including No. 8 for
both Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra) and are running out of available
numbers, they resuscitated 21.
Since O’Neill’s 21 had not been worn in seven years, he thought
there was a chance that it would eventually be retired. O’Neill, who
won four World Series rings and a batting title in nine years in New
York, was one of the main reasons the Yankees blossomed from a
wayward team into a dynastic team.
“A lot of people told me they might do it,” O’Neill said, referring
to his number being retired. “But you don’t ever take anything like
that for granted.”
With Joe Torre’s No. 6 and Bernie Williams’s No. 51 likely to be
retired and Derek Jeter’s 2 and Mariano Rivera’s 42 (which is
already retired to honor Jackie Robinson) never to be worn again,
the Yankees decided to bring 21 back.
*ahem* you mean the new George M. Steinbrenner field dont you?
Yeah baseball and no talking about the “other” thing. Can we have a entry without it please!!
Are you sure it is going to be a “brief” talk? It might be 2 hours.
yea im bored at owrk…just bustin his chops
It’s only 8:30 and you are already bored at work. It is going to be a long day for you! At least it is a three day weekend.
As long as Pavano is not lined up with the other starters, all is right with the world.
“At least it is a three day weekend.”
It is?? What holiday is it?
At my grad school, we have trimesters, so we usually don’t get many holidays…the terms are short enough as it is.
Then again…as grad students, we usually don’t even take WEEKENDS off, much less holidays.
haha tell me about it, no 3 day weekend for me, i work for a hospital…open year round! haha
It is Presidents Day on Monday. I remember getting off both Lincoln’s and Washingtons Birthdays off. Now they wrapped it into one.
Yeah when I was in college we never got any holidays off.
Chris! You work in a hospital and you are playing on the computer!! SHAME ON YOU!
Anyway I can’t wait to see the pictures of all the pitchers lined up!! Spring is in the air!!
Today is a great day, finally some real baseball news!
I hope we can make this entire entry a *** free zone. I don’t even want to mention his name.
I just wish I was in Fla right now.
It’s the first day of ’08 baseball where hope springs eternal! Bring on the news for real sports fans.
the day after P’s and C’s is even better for me. Today’s the day that every newspaper in america has player intervies, ST previews, pics of players in their new team’s uni’s….its a great day!
Just got up, still a little Drunk, but I’ll be there…
i think we gave up one presidents birthday for martin luther king day. who need holidays in jan and feb though, couldnt we honor abe or mlk on a nice sunny may day?
What a great time of the year.
I wish I was there too. I can almost smell the grass and hear the ball hitting the glove. Ahh, baseball.
It is truly a great day. No real shakeups. No major loss of a any of our good players and no major signing of an overpriced free agent we do not need.
Gotta love WIFI in airports. On my way to Orlando for business but am going to try and get to Tampa for at least a taste of baseball this weekend.
No mention of Mo reporting yesterday anywhere. Has he shown up? Maybe he’s trying to fly under the radar to avoid having to give his take on the past week but nobody even said they saw him.
Yeah I didn’t hear yet that Mo reported. Jorge also skipped out yesterday. But they will all be there today. i wouldn’t be suprisd if Andy shows up this weekend.
i can’t believe someone wrote an article about Paul O’Neill’s number.
That isn’t something a hmmm (kinder, gentler version). He would be happy that someone cares about Paulie’s number. I sent an email to the Yankees, hopefully they actually read it. And when I go to YS next Saturday I’ll tell the tour guide that I am not very happy about it.
you think they gave his number to one of the maybes/short term guys so it wouldn’t get locked up for long?
Heres a link with a number of pictures from yesterday..
http://www.newsday.com/sports/.....otogallery
Mo and Jorge didn’t have to report because yesterday was mainly for physicals and they’ve already had theirs when they signed their contracts.
wsr
I thought the same thing about who they gave 21 to. It would be silly to retire numbers or put in new plaques this year anyhow because they are going to have to be moved after the season to the new stadium.
Wih regard to Mo he will be there today I believe Pete said he didnt need to take physical as he had one when he signed his new deal all he needed to do was tell them he was in town. Same thing with Jorge and Molina.
DMan – Thanks for posting the pictures.
wsr -
Interesting point about the number going to someone who is probably not going to be around long-term.
I believe that the Yankees gave Mo a 3 year deal because they want him to work with some of the kids and develop one of them as the future closer. That way they are not forced to keep Joba in the pen. Mo has been working with the kids more and more over these last few years. Last year he worked with Veras. I wonder if they Yanks ask him to mentor someone like Ohlendorf or Melancon/Sanchez/Brackman this year.
“Mo and Jorge didn’t have to report because yesterday was mainly for physicals and they’ve already had theirs when they signed their contracts.”
Pete said that “report” just means call the team to tell them you’re in the area, unless you need to come to the complex for a physical.
Brackman can’t pitch this year and personally I think fans overrate how much veterans actually help young players.
re: Paul Oneill’s 21. i do not think they need to retire it. the fact that they did not assign it to anyone since he retired is tribute enough. i think that should be standard for great players, who probably won’t have their #’s retired…
Pat-
Well, I think a lot depends on the youngster..
They can learn just by watching, if they know what to look for.. The vet doesn’t have to say to much..
There are vets who will speak up and hold their own mini-clinics during camp, but players can learn from one another just by watching.
So I think just watching the way Mo prepares and how he goes about things will give the young guys an idea of what they have to do to.
Pat,
If I was a prospect with a great stuff, I would rather listen to HOF playing now in 2008, like MO rather than Ron Guidry who played 30 years ago.
DMan: “Heres a link with a number of pictures from yesterday.. ”
i actually had to read the caption on #3 before i reckognized Bruney…
Dman- I’d agree with that, Mo could definitely teach a lot about composure, dealing with pressure and how he prepares himself to pitch every day.
DMan -
Thanks for the pictures. I’d have to agree with saucY that I wouldn’t have been able to name Brian Bruney without a caption. He lost weight, yes, but did he also used to have a mustache? Anyway, he looked pretty happy to be there. I read a quote from him in today’s Star Ledger that had him saying (regarding the loss of weight) that he had to do something since there weren’t all that many spots open.
Marc,
I wasn’t implying that young players don’t listen, I was more saying that older players don’t necessarily want to teach.
also, the picture of Girardi is great – he looks like a player, not a manager!
Yah it’s itneresting that there is an air of competition around Yankees camp this year..
I mean, we would always hear Torre say that it was open, but we always knew who he favored..
This year, nobodys sure whats it Girardi’s head, so everyone has to bring their A game.
Don’t you mean Steinbrenner Field Pete!