Perspective from the Moose and Jeter
-
- May
- 14
Much will be made about Hank Steinbrenner calling the Yankees out then Joe Girardi having a team meeting.
It all sounds nice. But it’s a lot of eye wash, as the players call it. You can’t pitch, hit, catch or throw very well if you’re thinking about what the owner or the manager said. A random poll of seven players at 10 p.m. revealed that only one had any idea of what Steinbrenner said.
“The season is so long,†Mike Mussina said. “There are so many things that happen. There are ups and downs. You’re certainly not going to go a whole year playing for the Yankees without somebody up top talking about you because that happens all the time.
“You’re certainly not going to go without having meetings. You’ve got to have meetings just to have meetings sometimes. It looked good today because we played well with stuff being said about us and having a meeting. We didn’t pound out 10 runs, but we played a clean, good ballgame.â€
Said Derek Jeter: “We won, so it looked like we had a lot of energy. What if they scored a few runs in that (seventh inning), would that mean we didn’t?”
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on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 11:12 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
Anyways, good game tonight. Moose looking sharp again. Put the Rays where they belong, in the loss column.
Your random poll of seven players at 10 p.m. revealed that 6 out of 7 players lied about hearing Steinbrenners comments.
I see a lot of Yogi in Jeter.
Jeterism #1-When you win you play with energy. When you lose you don’t.
David,
That 6.7 on the Richter scale is Hank’s head exploding when he heard that his players aren’t listening.
Heh Mel that’s pretty funny. But Hank’s a pretty smart guy I’m sure he knows that every single person in the clubhouse is well aware of what he said.
It reminds me of last year towards the end of the season all of the politically correct players were like “we don’t look at the standings” and then when Cano was interviewed after a game he knew exactly how many games back they were and what time Boston was playing that day.
David:
The Yankees stay at a five-star hotel. The average players sleeps until 11 or noon, gets some lunch, hangs out a bit then goes to the park around 4 p.m.
About half the guys on the roster are from another country and don’t have much interest in the U.S. media. The older guys have learned not to read the papers or listen to ESPN too much. Do you think the Yankees hand out press releases to them?
You and I may be refreshing our computers for news. These guys use their laptops for e-mail and iTunes.
Through the writers, they hear about such stuff. But it’s usually Jeter, A-Rod or one of the other main guys who deals with it. The rest of them just don’t care.
I koww as a fan you want to think the players get all wired up about such things. They really don’t. Jeter had no idea until we told him. These guys spend enough time at the park that they stay away from such things when they’re away.
I bet half of the roster doesn’t even know who Hank is LOL
I just read that A-rod will be testing his quad before the game tomorrow. So does that mean he will working up at the minor league complex and work soley at the Trop? I’m in town and just curious.
The tone of this entry is so anti-Hank. He’s the boss, he’s writing the checks, what’s the big deal if he voices his displeasure.
Time to stop treating these million dollar players like men and not baby prima donnas. And I don’t for a second believe that the players didn’t know what was said.
“Through the writers, they hear about such stuff. But it’s usually Jeter, A-Rod or one of the other main guys who deals with it. The rest of them just don’t care.”
That’s kind of a relief for me. I prefer if they not get too distracted.
I used to think Moose was a jerk, but the past season he has grown on me. The people who think that a 39 year old man with over 250 career wins is going to be intimidated by the vice-president of something or other, third rung on the management ladder with no authority to do anything are comical.
Can’t remember who wrote the book on the Yankees in the Steinbrenner years- think it was called Bronx Zoo by Murray Chass, read it in high school- but there is a story about Gossage going on a rant to reporters after Steinbrenner had one of his outbursts and concluding with the words, “And you can take that to the fat man!” I have a feeling Moose doesn’t give a crap one way or another what Hank says. Same with Jeter. The younger guys, that may be a different story.
What Jeter said is exactly why team chemistry is also extremely overrated.
The fact of the matter is:
winning = chemistry
People never talk about how bad team chemistry is when they are winning – it’s only when they lose.
It’s an overrated part of the game. Always has been.
Good win today
Cano responded. I think we’ve found a replacement for Larry Bowa. Hank can be Cano’s pal or motivator or dominatrix or whatever. Cano hasn’t been the same since Bowa left.
I bet the players roll their eyes when Hank speaks just as often as I do when I read about his latest moronic tirade.
when you get a few hits with RISP, get a few good defensive plays(cabrera throw and jeter DP), good pitching, you win..Isn’t that shocking..
No I am wrong Bobby Abreu cares what Hanks says!!!!!!!!!!Yeah, the guy has made $150 mill and has a guaranteed contract and he will play better if he knows the owner is complaining sure…
Yeah Matsui and Wang read it on this blog!!!!!!!!!!!
RustyJohn,
I echo your sentiments re: Moose. I used to hate it when he’d totally lose it after an error. He had a horrible year and it carried over with the media.
He seems to have reinvented himself and has some success to show for it. Life is good for Moose. I think he also takes passing on his knowledge very seriously.
Pete I see what you’re saying but I mean this was even on like the regular news… I mean they have to have some contact with the outside world and look at some form of news. Even if they don’t look at sports news you would think they would come across this. And don’t the players talk to each other? I mean I don’t believe one player reads Hanks quotes and doesn’t feel the need to talk to anyone else about it. That’s just strange to think about.
And again, all I heard last year from Jeter was that none of the players look at the standings etc, and Robinson Cano slipped and revealed that he hawks the standings and schedule so I’m not going to take Jeter saying “I didn’t hear about it” as 100% truth. I also don’t believe that Robinson Cano is the only one on the team who follows baseball. I’m not saying Jeter’s a liar, I think it’s more he wants to lead people to believe that the team does not get distracted.
Such a good game, I’m going to watch it again, sigh…
Guiseppe Franco demeans chemistry?
Where do you think Procede comes from?
Moose has totally mellowed out but what amuses me most about him now is how slow he can pitch. Any day now I will not be surprised to see a 40mph from Moose.
I like baseball because it rewards not only athleticism but also smarts, and it’s so interesting to watch when the pitcher, catcher and batters are playing strategic cat and mouse game. Moose is winning because he is out-thinking his opponents. I like that.
Come on Pete, you know all the players log on to check your blog every morning.
After the baby boss blamed,Yankees won today.
PETER, I HAVE A REQUEST….
I always thought a great way of getting to know a player and finding out who is eccentric and who has the total disconnect from culture and society would be if a paper would have a “What are they ____ now?” list every couple of weeks or so. Kind of an informal survey of What are the players reading now, what music are they listening to, what movies have they seen, where they’ve eaten, etc, etc.
The reason is I alwasy felt that if I were in all these great cities traveling I’d be so into taking in the culture or going to local places for food or museums and stuff like that. My guess is that when surveyed you’d find very few players (other than Moose or Ollie I would guess) that read regularly, listen to any music other than Top 40 crap, eat more than room service or do anything anyone would find interesting. I would anticipate their lives would be like that of a college freshman in the dorms- eat crappy food, hook up, and getting drunk.
That being said, I would be very surprised if a guy like Farnsworth replied, “This week I bought the new Firewater cd and read ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra’. I was mesmerized by the idea of the eternal recurrence of events, although it is a rather early concept considering the Egyptian regard for the dung beetle. Das schwerste Gewicht!”
yeah guys who make $5 mill or more a year who have not gone food shopping in 10 yrs., that have lives we cannot comprehend read the NY times to find out what there owner says about there performance!!!!!!!!!!!
If the players got as up or down as the fans do they would all be Jimmy Piersoll and spend time in Bellview!!!!!!
That is right Jeter is writing out a grocery list so,when he gets home tommorrow night after a 8 day road trip he can go to the market, pay his rent, bring his dry cleaning in, and do all the other things normal people do!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah sure……….
They do the best they can and then they let it go, else it will destroy you, baseball is a cruel game. . Longoria probably will be a very good player 1 day, look at his present Avg(It is about 215).. moose last yr. was beyond bad, so far this yr. he has been pretty good..
How is Verlander doing? How about Pronk?? Baseball is 1 tough game……
I see Hank’s comments being directed more at the fans than really trying to do something to fire the players up. It generates a ton of talk on the circuit and when it looks like it works it calms fans down a bit.
Funny, though, it seems the manager heard a little bit and did some plays like the Rays… IE small ball.
“Pete I see what you’re saying but I mean this was even on like the regular news”
In Tampa Bay? On the spanish language news networks? A lot of these guys probably don’t consume a lot of mainstream american news, and they learned years ago that nothing good can come from reading the sports pages.
“Dee
May 14th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Moose has totally mellowed out but what amuses me most about him now is how slow he can pitch. Any day now I will not be surprised to see a 40mph from Moose.”
Girardi played small ball because Molina is a good bunter and he is in a horrendous slump..
recently they have not had many opptys. to bunt or play small ball because they cannot get on base.
again how you play depends on the circumstances, molina is a DP waiting to happen, that is why you bunt him…….
simple…..
“Funny, though, it seems the manager heard a little bit and did some plays like the Rays… IE small ball.”
I’m pretty sure that that, also, had nothing to do with Hank and much more to do with Shields having thrown CG shutouts in two of his last three starts. And Molina with his struggling bat at the plate.
I always get a kick when I hear an owner issuing a warning that his players have to pick things up…
I mean it’s not like they’re lazy workers on an assembly line where a few a harsh words from the boss will do the trick…
It’s baseball…sometimes you try hard and things just don’t go your way…then other times things just come easy…
Anyone who thinks what an owner says will make a difference in a baseball game obviously doesn’t know much about the game…
“Anyone who thinks what an owner says will make a difference in a baseball game obviously doesn’t know much about the game…”
True. That’s not to say that the manager or team leaders don’t need to kick guys in the ass sometimes. There are some players who dog it out there some of the time. And even guys who aren’t dogging it on purpose, but are just not keeping their heads in the game for whatever reason.
Yes in Tampa Bay, the sports on the 11PM news or anything… They are in Tampa, playing the Rays, I’m sure people are talking about it there.
And I was mainly referring to Jeter because Pete said Jeter said he wasn’t aware of it. That’s just very hard to believe for a guy who has to talk to reporters every day and would never want to be caught off-guard. I think Jeter likes to play that little “no worries” game but in reality he knows about almost everything that is said about the team. For him to properly do his job as captain you would think he almost has to.
Girardi on the DL said:
“I see Hank’s comments being directed more at the fans than really trying to do something to fire the players up. It generates a ton of talk on the circuit and when it looks like it works it calms fans down a bit.”
I think that’s exactly right…
Bronx Zoo……Written Albert Sparky Lyle, recapping the 1977 / 1978 season….He rips Goerge pretty good….That winter he was traded to Texas…..A few years later, Nettles wrote the book Balls…Again more shots at George….That winter he’s gone to San Diego, just in time to play in the 1984 World Series…..Both are excellent reading…..
“Yes in Tampa Bay, the sports on the 11PM news or anything… They are in Tampa, playing the Rays, I’m sure people are talking about it there.”
I really don’t think that the mainstream newsmedia in florida would really care much. The sports newsmedia? Yeah, ok. But why would they watch the baseball part of the news? It pisses ME off to watch the idiocy that gets spouted, and I don’t even play!
Like Pete said, they get up late, they’re at the park by 4, they go to bed late…when are they watching the news?
Pat, both those books are great.
Even though it has no similarity to the nature or consequences of those two books, I would strongly suggest that anybody who hasn’t read Sparky’s “The Year I Owned the Yankees” do so. very entertaining book that I’ve probably read a good dozen times (just like Bronx Zoo).
I forgot about Sparky’s second entry into the literary society…..Very funny indeed….
You’re missing my point. I’m not saying every single player on the team goes back to the hotel and hits up the news. What I’m saying is SOME of the players on the team have to be aware of it pretty soon after it happens. I would be utterly shocked if after they get back from the game 0 of the players go to mlb.com or Yahoo sports and check scores from that day. Just by doing something like that you would see a headline like this… And then what? One player reads the quotes and keeps it to themselves while everyone on the team is walking around oblivious to it? I don’t believe that, sorry. Mike Mussina is like a certified genius, I’m sure he’s all over the news. Once something like this is talked about amongst players, it has to get around…
david pick a new subject.
yeah between discussing the devaluation of the dollar melky and cano where discussing the typhoon in burma and hanks comments……
ridiculous because you are thinking like a 23 yr old american who is a yankee fan they look at the world differently.
The irony of Hank & the media is that when Hank starts to rumble, all the pundits and sportwriters run to get the scoop because it’s an easy sell and quick gig. Haha, laughs on Hank, stupid dumb millionaire boss who doesn’t know when to shut up.
Turn around if it ain’t Hank railing on his own team it’s fools like Francessa & Mad Dog, Gammons or Lupica bashing the Yankees. These sportswriters aren’t saying anything different from what old George was or what Hank currently is saying. In sports only one thing counts: winning. Not trying to win or almost winning. #2 is the first loser not a silver medalist.
The quickest way to boost circulation and fuel fodder is to take the contrarian stance. It plays against the common fans emotions and sells readership.
Fans want players to tell Hank to blow off but look at what a relationship to ownership can parlay into. Girardi didn’t land his YES broadcasting position, bench coaching job & current manager gig by telling old George to shut his pie hole.
First lesson in business school: know who’s buttering your bread.
Second lesson: Everyone is replaceable.
Maybe the players read about this and make jokes about it. It lightens the mood and they get looser. That could have a positive effect.
“Mike Mussina is like a certified genius, I’m sure he’s all over the news. ”
Yeah, and he’d probably do what other smart people do when they read quotes like this…roll their eyes and forget about it. What good would it be to bring it up? He had a start to prepare for. I certainly hope he wasn’t wasting any brainpower on Hank.
stuart, what you said makes a ton of sense and I think you’re correct. When the players get back from the stadium to the hotel, they make sure they have no contact when anyone. When they get to the room, they make sure they don’t put the TV on because of the risk of seeing sports news. Then, if they go on the computer, they make sure they do what they have to do and don’t allow themselves to look at one baseball score, news site, blog, or anything that might remotely resemble a source of news. Then, they go to sleep. When they wake up in the morning, they put their ear-plugs in and blind-folds on because there is always that risk that they might catch a glimpse of a newspaper headline that someone is holding, or a sports report on a television while they are working out in the hotel weight room. Then, they go to the ballpark. There, and while getting there, they make sure they have no contact with teammates because one of them might have gotten word of the quote that the person who owns the baseball team that they play for said. And if you’re one of the people who knows about it, you make sure you don’t relay it to anyone else. Yeah, that’s a really realistic situation. Or maybe, just maybe, they don’t all want to readily admit that they are well-aware of the public scolding that their boss laid down on them.
Just because a player has a college degree and can do a NYT’s crossword puzzle doesn’t mean he is a genius. Genius being IQ over 140 or 180 depending on the definition- that is like less than 1% of the population.
Player salary $3,000,000
Cano :RBI12/HR4/Avg0.205/OBP0.256/Hits30
Youkilis :RBI30/HR8/Avg0.318/OBP0.393/Hits49
Player salary $13,000,000
Damon :RBI17/HR5/Avg0.264/OBP0.348/Hits38
Ortiz :RBI29/HR7/Avg0.234/OBP0.335/Hits37
Player salary over or equal $20,000,000
Giami :RBI20/HR7/Avg0.188/OBP0.351/Hits19
Jeter :RBI18/HR1/Avg0.297/OBP0.331/Hits43
Ramires :RBI27/HR8/Avg0.308/OBP0.386/Hits48
Player salary under $470,000
Cabrera :RBI18/HR6/Avg0.261/OBP0.322/Hits35
Duncan :RBI1 /HR0/Avg0.188/OBP0.297/Hits6
Pedroia :RBI21/HR1/Avg0.306/OBP0.342/Hits55
Player salary about or equal $16,000,000
Abreu :RBI24/HR4/Avg0.286/OBP0.353/Hits44
Ordonez :RBI25/HR6/Avg0.305/OBP0.373/Hits46
whozat, he’d bring it up because the reporters obviously are going to… I’m not saying the players actually care about what he says, I’m saying they are aware of it. This could even mean they talk about what an idiot this guy is and have a good laugh.
But why bring it up? Maybe so the players who are asked about it by reporters don’t look completed dumbfounded and mystified about what Hank, their boss, might have said about the team.
“Genius being IQ over 140 or 180 depending on the definition- that is like less than 1% of the population.”
He did graduate from Stanford in three years. While, obviously, playing a varsity sport at a pretty high level.
I’m not saying Moose fits the technical definition of genius, but I’m pretty sure he’s a smart guy. And that David was using hyperbole and doesn’t necessarily think that Moose is in MENSA.
“Maybe so the players who are asked about it by reporters don’t look completed dumbfounded and mystified about what Hank, their boss, might have said about the team.”
They’re pretty used to it by this point, I think.
Look, Pete is the one who actually gets to talk to them. I’m going to go with his take on this. It seems pretty reasonable to me that someone who gets up at 11 and is at work from 4 til midnight, could not really take in a lot of news unless he actually wants to.
RustyJohn, what about having a college degree from Stanford, can do an NYT’s crossword puzzle, found a way to get major league baseball hitters out consistently after falling on his face at the age of 39, had the mentality to pull together 255 wins in the most competitive baseball league in the world, among other accomplishments. I think you can call him a genius, but maybe that’s just me.
I agree with you 100%, for the majority of the players… But again, I don’t buy that none of the players read the news. I’ll say it one more time, it’s obvious that Cano follows baseball, and I’m sure other players on the team do also, and if you follow baseball even remotely close, you know what’s going on with stuff like this. But yeah, most of them probably don’t, but don’t try to pass the Yankees off as a team made up entirely of players who don’t follow baseball because that’s pretty unreasonable.
Yes, I can see the list of great minds now…
Goethe
Mozart
Einstein
Bobby Fisher
Stephen Hawking
Richard Posner
Moose
what does “eye wash” mean?
My favorite indie rock band was in the NYT crossword on Saturday. Does that make me a genius?
Hmmm, I wonder if the Moose got this one:
http://tinyurl.com/3hv2b8
My favorite indoe rock band was in Saturday’s NYT crossword puzzle, does that make me a genius? I think so.
I wonder if Moose got this:
http://tinyurl.com/3hv2b8
My favorite indoe rock band was in Saturday’s NYT crossword puzzle, does that make me a genius? I think so.
I wonder if Moose got this:
http://www.yolatengo.com/crossword.html
Number of Stanford graduates each year- approximately 2100
Person who had over 350 MLB wins but says he never did steroids or HGH even though his wife did and uses the word “misremembered”-Roger Clemens
People who do the NYT crossword puzzle on an average day- estimated 27% of regular NYT subscribers…
Yes, this is an elite group…
I just tried to post something 4 different times and none of them went through.
I’m no genius.
Lol
I think it’s safe to say that Moose is smarter than 99% of us. He didn’t get all those wins by sheer luck or by overpowering hitters.
Good for Jeter. A simple, but wise take on the situation. Kind of at once defending the good effort, but acknowledging the fickleness of after-the-fact judgements. Seems like Mr. Even-Keel is no dummy and quietly calling out the pundits who would cut the team down for a loss or raise their expectations after a close win. Very captainly. Can’t say if he’s got the makings of a future manager in him, but times like this show that he’s got the composure and perspective for it.
You are confusing smart with talent- because someone is talented in one area, or smart in one area, does not make them a genius or omnipotent or knowledgeable in all areas. That is a pretty brave thing to say, that a pitcher is smarter than 99% of us because he wins baseball games and illustrates how we don’t put things in context.
Is Moose a better pitcher than 99% of us? Yes, in all probability. Although, not everyone has attempted to become a pitcher so maybe that statement should be limited to Moose being better than 99% of all people who pursued an interest in baseball.
I am quite sure there is something you do that is done better than 99% of other people either because you have a natural talent for it, have worked in that area for a very long time or because others just haven’t worked in that area and you have an incumbent advantage.
Clemens must be a super-genius. He done won a lot of games.
RustyJohn,
You’re right. They’re not one and the same.
Let’s just say that Moose is no dummy. And that he’s lasted as long as he has because he’s pretty savvy. Another word for smart. Someone else called him a genius.
As for the other fancy word you used, I think the only omnipotent ones here are Pete, SJ44, and Trisha.
what I missed ?
Brandon,
A really good basketball game!
pffft screw the Celtics
oh yeh game 6 belongs to LeBron
Brandon,
Wrong game. But did you see how gassed the C’s were at the end? I guess playing defense actually does that to you.
Did you see him yelling at his momma? I thought it was hilarious. Everyone’s making a big deal out of it, but it’s not anything she hasn’t heard before. She’s no saint.
LOL yeh mel
Humberto Sanchez to the BP
Good to see Cano come around.
Pete question
How long do they carry Giambi if he doesnt do the only thing hes here for? Hit.
Yankee Bravo running the Preakness from the #4 post. Odds: 15-1
I wonder if that’s a Hank Steinbrenner horse?
Now Mussina also has 6 wins. The change from last season seems so obvious. I can’t resist concluding that Mussina’s Stanford diploma
does make an intellectual difference. Mussina
certainly find a way to make his body tamable to win.
don’t know if moose is a genius, but i do know that throwing 95 doesn’t equate to success. i would believe it is certain that at this stage in his career, he does have to stay one step ahead of hitters. inorder to do that successfully over a full season would indicate a particularly high level of if not intelligence then working knowledge.
Over the years Mussina has been portrayed as a serious and stern individual but he’s become an elder statesman and team leader in what may be his final year in the game.
His dry humor and thought out quotes have been a welcome relief. It can’t be said that he isn’t gutsy and unlike some of his teammates, he does no fraternization with opposing players on the field. On the field, he’s all business and that’s not so bad.
Jeter sounds a little fiesty these days…. I like it
For those who watched the game last night:
Have you noticed when Moose strikes out guys with that 65 MPH slurve, knuckle-curve, or whatever it is, several times he has turned around, faced the outfield and has this little grin on his face.
It looks like he is thinking “I can’t believe I’m getting these guys out with this stuff.”
However, I am ready to take back what I have said about him being done, toast, cooked, washed-up and whatever else I have said.
Good job Moose, thanks for proving me and many others wrong!
Hank is just blowing dust in the wind. The players have been through times with George and dealing with Hank is no different. They see Hank’s comments about the teams play as just empty statements. The players won’t react to anything the front office says until somebody big gets the ax other than the manager.
Average sat score of incoming freshman at stanford: ~1470
(yes the old SAT is accepted as an acceptance criterion by most IQ societies)
That is 99.782 percentile. You need 98% to get into Mensa (aka the pretentious dumbasses who are not as smart as they think they are society). The averge Mensan is not a genius, maybe slightly above 2 std dev at around ~132.
Does it mean Moose is a genius? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know his
exact score. Maybe he got a low score and got in on an athletic scholarship,
I don’t know enough to guess.
I do know, however, he must be smarter than 99.9% of the morons here.
(I would say 99.782%, but it appears blog participants here are mostly on the left side of the bell curve and thinks sj44 is a genius)
Hey,upstair,i really don’t like your name..