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Cervelli returns to Tampa

Peter Abraham
March
14

As the suspensions were being handed down, Francisco Cervelli returned to Tampa today. He showed up at the clubhouse with his arm in a blue sling.

Cervelli hasn’t seen the replay of Shelley Duncan’s infamous slide but said he was happy to hear that his teammates stood up for him. He still isn’t upset with Elliot Johnson. “Like I say, it’s part of the game,” he said. “But I was surprised.”

Cervelli did point out that spring training is different than the regular season. “Yesterday we had that actor here,” he said in reference to Billy Crystal.

So Cervelli has a broken wrist, two Yankees got suspended, a manager and three coaches got fined and Jonny Gomes got two games.

Elliot Johnson? He walked away without a scratch. That’s the dumbest part of this whole thing. The Yankees should have waited until the Scranton Yanks played the Durham Bulls and had somebody drill Johnson in the back.

They play April 11.

Meanwhile, if Duncan and Melky Cabrera serve their three games to start the season, guess who their first game will be against on April 4?

The Tampa Bay Rays. Of course.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 14th, 2008 at 9:06 pm by Peter Abraham.
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23 Responses to “Cervelli returns to Tampa”

  1. Nettles vs. Lee

    Don’t Kei Igawa will bean Johnson when he gets a chance.

    Either that or walk him.

  2. jennifer-Phil Hughes saved!! Mussina is NOT DONE! anti RAYS!

    Pete who says they still won’t get back at Johnson. ;)

  3. jennifer-Phil Hughes saved!! Mussina is NOT DONE! anti RAYS!

    Nettles, even if Kei hits someone tomorrow, I doubt it would be intentional. Not sure if you read, but he had his interpretor stand in the “box” while he threw, and drilled him in the shoulder. The guy is not blessed with command.

  4. jay destro

    the rays thing is so blown out of proportion at this point it’s laughable

  5. Ken

    “Scranton Yanks played the Durham Bulls and had somebody drill Johnson in the back. ”

    If the Yanks won’t do it, I’ll drill him with “something” from the stands.

  6. jennifer-Phil Hughes saved!! Mussina is NOT DONE! anti RAYS!

    I just got the Yankee Stadium book in the mail! :shock: Wow!! I flipped through it and it is great, I’ll sit down on a rainy Saturday and read it! Go to bn or amazon and buy it. I got mine for only 26 bucks!!

  7. Andrea - anti-anti

    jennifer: I got you beat. I got my season tickets in the mail :)

  8. SJ44

    Its why I don’t want them to appeal their suspensions. Serve them, get it over with, and be ready for the Rays series.

    Pete,

    Where I disagree with you is in who to administer payback to on the Rays.

    This wasn’t about Eliot Johnson. He’s just doing what the manager told him to do.

    This is about Maddon not even asking about how Cervelli was, bragging about the play, and then, when hearing the seriousness of the injury, basically blowing it off because the kid is “just” a AA catcher.

    When that happens, the only way to administer payback is to go after one of their regulars. Its how you handle a manager whose a bit out of control. As Maddon has been this spring, IMO.

    Obviously, Shelley’s attempt wasn’t the most subtle in baseball history.

    The suspensions? I don’t think they are going to derail the Yankees season.

    However, no matter which way you slice it, its nice to see somebody on this team having the back of a teammate. Even if he is “only” a AA catcher.

    Its over, done with, and its time to move on unless Tampa wants to keep it going.

  9. jennifer-Phil Hughes saved!! Mussina is NOT DONE! anti RAYS!

    I’ll have to talk to my friend and she if she got hers yet.

  10. jennifer-Phil Hughes saved!! Mussina is NOT DONE! anti RAYS!

    SJ what are the chances that a Ray drills a Yankee tomorrow, and what are the chances that another brawl starts. Do you think the Yankee would just take his base, and know it would be taken care of later? I feel if another brawl started mlb (no matter whose fault it is, would come down very hard on the Yankees).

  11. Andrea - anti-anti

    They ship the different partial packages on different days. Some of them don’t ship until the 24th or so. So she might not have them. But when she gets them, take a look. They’re glorious :)

  12. Alan

    What bothers many is Maddon’s statements and lack of acknowledgement toward Cervelli’s injury.
    Shelley Duncan was an easy mark. Anybody seeing him take fielding and batting practice easily knows his level of baseball intensity could figure in with any hardnosed play.

  13. jennifer-Phil Hughes saved!! Mussina is NOT DONE! anti RAYS!

    No tickets yet. :cry:

  14. SJ44

    Seriously Jennifer, if they did that, they would have to be the dumbest team in baseball history.

    When MLB assigns Jerry Crawford to a ST series, they mean business.

    He is the umpire equivalent of Shelley Duncan. He a “goon” as umpires go.

    I say that in a complimentary way.

    He isn’t there to take any nonsense from anybody. He is there to restore order.

    He’s the Colton Orr of ML Umpires.

    In a way, I hope they drill Duncan tomorrow only to see what Bob Watson would do about it.

    There is no doubt Watson was heavyhanded with the Yankees on this issue because he felt it was their fault. That’s fine. Its his history in meting out punishment since he took office.

    Pedro Martinez puts two Yankees in the hospital with HBP’S, when the entire stadium knew he was throwing at them, no suspension.

    Scott Proctor drills somebody, 3 games.

    To quote that great philosopher Brian McNamee, it is what it is.

    If the Rays are dumb enough to hit Duncan tomorrow, and Watson doesn’t come down heavy on them, then the Yankees know they will have to be super aggressive this season in handling this kind of stuff. They will know they have no support in the Commissioners Office.

    I don’t think anybody wants to see that happen this year because that’s when things could get ugly.

    Its why I have a feeling cooler heads will prevail tomorrow.

    Maddon can’t be this dumb and do something tomorrow. Not with Jerry Crawford working the game.

  15. jennifer-Phil Hughes saved!! Mussina is NOT DONE! anti RAYS!

    I guess it remains to be seen. But since Joe is having Shelley play that game as opposed to the other. Do you think he is “daring” them to do something?

  16. Brandon (Proud supporter of "Alex being Alex" ) (I slay the Anti)

    that Jeter/Cashman, well more Jetes quote still has me shocked

    Brian Cashman: “I’ll take 25 Shelley Duncans. How about that?

    Derek Jeter: “If I were Shelley I wouldn’t change the way I play the game. There’s no reason to change the way he plays the game.”
    ——-

    now that’s a little more like it

  17. SJ44

    Jennifer,

    Its in Girardi’s DNA not to back down.

    While everybody wants to make him out to be a disciple of Joe Torre, he really isn’t.

    Don’t get me wrong. He loves and respects Torre and that will never change.

    However, his managerial style is more along the lines of Tony LaRussa than Joe Torre.

    He is in your face blunt, direct and doesn’t back down when stuff like this takes place. Its how he managed a young, wet behind the ears Marlins team, and its how he is managing the Yankees. At least, what we have seen so far this season.

    I’m not surprised Duncan is in the lineup tomorrow. I would be more surprised if he wasn’t.

  18. JT

    Good to see the Yanks finally show some guts now that the tea-sipper is gone. Can’t wait to see how we handle Boston. We owe them big time for all the times they hit us and we turned the other cheek…

  19. murphydog

    “Good to see the Yanks finally show some guts now that the tea-sipper is gone. Can’t wait to see how we handle Boston. We owe them big time for all the times they hit us and we turned the other cheek…”

    Easy, tiger. The so-called “guts” shown by the Yankees included a so-so HBP in a situation where the pitcher was obviously not throwing at the batter, but hit him anyway, and an ill-advised, spikes-high slide by a big, enthusiastic goon with a heart of gold.

    I don’t think Girardi is planning to roll pinstriped tanks over the Sudetenland to get to the WS.

  20. Angel

    “I don’t think Girardi is planning to roll pinstriped tanks over the Sudetenland to get to the WS.”

    LOL Murph, that line game me SUCH visuals.

    BTW thanks for the recommendation of Drakes: Uncharted for the PS3. We’re having a ton of fun with it here.

  21. Angel

    *gave

    UGH *beggggggssssss Pete for an edit button*

  22. Nettles vs. Lee

    LOL

    Torre = Chamberlain

    Girardi = Churchill

  23. whoa

    They should have thrown at Maddon’s wuss butt in the dugout.

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About the authors
Chad JenningsChad Jennings joined the The Journal News in October 2009, having spent the better part of seven years covering baseball in Scranton, PA. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri and an award-winning beat reporter and features writer. E-mail me at cjennings@lohud.com
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Sam BordenSam Borden is an award-winning journalist who joined The Journal News and LoHud.com in January 2008. He covered the Yankees for the New York Daily News from 2004-06, and has also worked as a columnist for the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville. E-mail me at sborden@lohud.com
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Sam BordenJosh Thomson has done some of everything since joining The Journal News in March 2003. He began working for the Gannett weeklies during the winter of 2002 as a freelance writer. He joined the daily staff soon after and has since covered various high school and pro sports. E-mail me at jthomson@lohud.com
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