The Sunday Links
-
- July
- 20
Jose Molina won a game the hard way yesterday as he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Johnny Damon wants to play but probably not today. This notebook also has updates on Robinson Cano, Justin Christian and Tom Coughlin.
The Sunday Baseball Beat looks at some ways to fix the All-Star Game. There’s also a look at Manny Ramirez’s problems with the Red Sox.
Shameless plug: I’ll be on ESPN 1050 around around 12:10 p.m.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, July 20th, 2008 at 9:36 am by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
“I just left a post about Clete Boyer, from your previous question who was the last player to win a game for the Yankees while being hit. Please read, as Clete Boyer, was one if not the best, fielding 3rd basemen the Yankees ever had.”
yankee trader-
you are right about clete boyer being the best fielding third baseman . i was a kid during those years when clete and the yankees won all the rings.
i had the good fortune many years later to be his bullpen catcher for two years in winter ball ( ill fated senior league). what most people don’t know is clete was billy martin’s right hand man as his third base coach on the the a’s. they were extremely close. and clete was tough as nails behind his quiet demeanor.
clete lives on though the many yankee players he passed his spirit and knowledge down to. jeter credits him with coaching his fielding in jeter’s early years. clete was a long time minor league coach with the yankees. the only thing that stopped him from rising higher was that he would tell anyone , even george what he really thought.
one of the more interesting moments of my life was when warming up for one of those senior league games with our back up catcher, when clete walked up with his glove and started warming up with us( with me throwing to the two of them).
i was nervous as it was because i was new and really didn’t know clete then. the next thing i know , graig nettles comes up and replaces the catcher so now i’m throwing to nettles and boyer the two best yankee third baseman in history.
i would throw to clete and the ball would go to graig. i would throw to graig and the ball would go to clete. they thought i was kidding around . i was choking like a dog. luckily , a pitcher needed to be warmed up so i escaped without further humiliation.
to me, clete was a yankee to the core. the quiet strength and toughness he had personified the old yankees. it was a trait that richardson, kubek, mantle, skowron, yogi, elston, maris, whitey, etc all had.
understanding this is what kept me around clete for two years because i stunk at first( my nickname was”clank”), but i understood from watching and idolizing these guys as a kid that you don’t complain and you don’t quit- ever. you work hard, shut up, and get the job done.
i still think about clete sometimes when running my small business. i learned a lot from him how he handled people.
we had a clubhouse kid who was really poor from a crack infested neighborhood who was mentally impaired but who showed up every morning to see if he could work in the clubhouse. clete was always one of the first ones there. from the far side of the locker room i would see him slip the kid cash each day to go have breakfast at popi’s place behind mckechnie field.
that was clete.
Does Theo pick up Manny’s options?
If not, should we sign Manny (right handed power)?
reading Pete’s article on Manny brought two things to mind:
first, I had no idea the person Manny knocked down was elderly (64) – talk about going from bad to worse.
second, I think it will be nearly impossible to cut Manny, if has another big postseason.
“Does Theo pick up Manny’s options?
If not, should we sign Manny (right handed power)?”
No. This guy is the Anti-Jeter. With A-Rod we already have right handed power mixed with madness.
Pete –
Any truth to the rumors that various members of the Patriots Organization used cameras to steal Posada’s sign to Coughlin
Hate to visit this again, but when was the last time we saw AROD win a game with a hit? I know he homered when we were up 7-1 the other day. It seems as though (like yesterday) he comes up with the game on the line, winning and go ahead runs on base, late in the game, and he doesnt come through.
Playing almost everyday the law of averages have got to be in his favor?
I can’t see Manny becoming a Yankee. He would never want to cut that stuff on his head.
I can see Manny being a Yankee.
He’d do it just to spite the Sox.
We’re don’t discriminate when it comes to crazies.
He’s a clutch hitter.
You can always come home.
Just think of the hair as an accessory. Like Phyten braids. Think Vizcaino.
Most likely he’ll get the ‘09 option picked up. Next likely is he goes west.
Hate to bring this up but does anyone remember the last time AROD got a hit to win a game late? Just like yesterday it seems he is coming up late in the game with runners in scoring position with a chance to put the Yanks ahead late and he doesnt get it done. I knoe he homered the other day, but the Yanks were up 7-1
Jeter
Abreu
Rodriguez
Giambi (5 for 7 w/ 3 HR 2 doubles vs. Dukakis)
Posada (DH)
Cano
Melky
Molina
Gardner
Arod just needs to stop overthinking and keep things simple.
Dang – I didn’t realize Hamburgler had a .87 WHIP! #1 in all of baseball.
Pretty good for a guy who doesn’t have a great heater.
If anyone listened to the radio feed yesterday, did you catch Susan Waldman after DJ, Bobby and ARod, each stuck out with men on second and third?...the innig was over, they didn’t cut to commercials and John and Susan were overheard talking and she said for F-ing $300-mil you would think he would get a hit.
Know was she talking about ARod or all three? And do you think anyone in the Yankee front office heard it or do they all think that?
“Most likely he’ll get the ‘09 option picked up. Next likely is he goes west.”
I dunno, Mel.
1) They have a resurgent Drew and Ortiz seems ready to come back. If there are questions about Ortiz, maybe it’s more likely Manny stays.
2) Not sure they still really need Manny’s numbers, declining though they may be, to stay at the top of the AL East.
The AL East underwent a power outage this year with the sputtering Yankee offense. With Jeter and Po a year older will they hit better next year? Will Matsui still put up numbers next year? If Giambi’s gone… Maybe Boston is betting that the Yankees will hit as few HRs and score as few runs next year.
3) $20 mil is a lot of salary flexibility with which to fill any gaps when Manny goes.
4) Doesn’t Boston get draft picks if Manny signs somewhere else?
5) Think of the increase in Beantown clubhouse harmony.
Hmmmmmm. Starting to sound too good to pass up. IMO Manny’s goes to the Mets or the Angels.
I am open to any incident that can bring some new talent into the radio broadcast.
If I have a buck for every time Sterling calls someone the wrong name I’d never have to work again.
“Arod just needs to stop overthinking and keep things simple.”
Like realizing he’s not the invisible man and that sneaking into Madonnas pad at night will become a problem
Rule No.1 – never talk about fight club
Rule No.2 – you only get draft picks if you offer arbitration. No picks if you just let the player go.
“Not only did Florida’s Dan Uggla set an All-Star Game record by making three errors, he became the first player in history to make three errors, strike out three times and ground into a double play in a regular-season game, postseason game or All-Star Game.” -lohud
whoa, that’s a bad day.
Funny thing is she is right. Sterling is entertaining but at times grossly inaccurate. How many times does he start his “it is high, it is far” followed by a pause….then a shout of “he caught it! at the base of the wall!”
Susans baseball beat before the game is very informative but I`m not sure how good her in game color work is
Manny for a year would be the ultimate middle finger to the Sawx, but he can’t play LF. That means you’d have to move Matsui or Damon and possibly both. Can’t see it happening.
On the All-Star game, 12 pitchers is plenty, but I agree with two points. No starters who pitch on Sunday and all starters go two innings. What almost happened Tuesday night is a joke… as is allowing the game to mean anything.
You wanna liven up interleague play… let home field in the World Series be decided by whichever team did better in interleague play. first deciding factor would be head to head if they played each other. Next would be W/L percentage in all interleague games. Sure would add some drama and importance to those Yankees/Pirates type games
... but haven’t our first basemen the past few years, oh that’s right, uggla did it all by himself.
“Red Sox owner John Henry took that shot to heart.”
...and Manny’s to blame?
If Boston decides to let Manny go they probably wouldn’t offer arbitration. If they did and he accepted it he would get a slight reduction of salary and they wouldn’t get the draft picks.
“If I have a buck for every time Sterling calls someone the wrong name I’d never have to work again.”
Add in another buck for every time he went into his home run call for an out or ball off the wall, then you’re kids would never have to work again.
Anyone see the Mets highlights? Beltran was about to make a nice cutoff in the gap, but the ball ricocheted off his glove into right field. Looked like he was playing lacrosse out there.
Speaking of Uggla, not so ugly yesterday when he walloped a ball into the stands. Is he normally a butcher in the field? Or was he just nervous seeing more than 5,000 people in the stands?
“Shameless plug: I’ll be on ESPN 1050 around around 12:10 p.m.”
I enjoyed you on Neer’s show yesterday. But if you ever get a big ego, being the “Blogfather” and all, I’ll have you know he referred to you as “Peter Abramson” about 3 times before he corrected himself.
I think there is too much interleague play. If they want to continue interleague play then stop with the set match ups every year… like of the Mets and Yankees. Its gotten old and takes away excitement.
For the ASG, allow for there to be middle relievers to be used only if the game goes extra innings. Pitchers who pitched in a regular season game just prior to the ASG should be allowed to come but have a replacement named. Give them the “honor” but don’t make them pitch.
Set an innings limitation to it. Once it reaches that point have it revert to the best record gets home field advantage.
“Is he normally a butcher in the field?”
Yep. Kinsler too. But they mash.
“Speaking of Uggla, not so ugly yesterday when he walloped a ball into the stands. Is he normally a butcher in the field? Or was he just nervous seeing more than 5,000 people in the stands?”
mel, the Marlins are known to have bad infield defense, and the all star game was proof of that…Uggla 3 errors, Hanley Ramirez 1 error (just think last year they had Miguel Cabrera at 3b.) Some say it’s focus with Hanley and he’s still young, but I wouldn’t be surprise if he’s the next B.J. Upton, with a move to CF. As for Uggla, he might be an AL player.
murphydog,
It’s just that we’ve seen this song and dance before. Will they really break up that the Ortiz tandem?
But this could really be the year. Maybe they let Manny be Manny somewhere else.
According to the Globe, the fine was closer to the $10k-$15k range. And it was for the attack, not the insubordinance in the batter’s box.
Manny hired Boras earlier this year. If Boras doesn’t get Manny an extension or get Manny to free agency, Scott gets nothing.
Why would Boras take on a client for free unless he had an indication the Sox were looking to do something other than just pick up the option.
Thanks, guys.
I wonder how Uggla’s arm is. Maybe a move to the OF would be the way to go.
Speaking of converting positions. Adam Loewen (LHP) of the Orioles is going Ankiel.
Rather than have a elbow surgery on his troublesome elbow, they’re converting him to an OF. Apparently he was a .353 hitter in college where he pitched and played 1B. He sounds pretty excited about it.
If I’m Theo and the ownership, I’d offer Manny arbitration. His defense is terrible, his numbers are down, his age is catching up to him. Doesn’t Manny have to refuse arbitration to avoid a negative finding and instead go out to the FA market?
Where did clever, witty, self-deprecating Randy Johnson come from? Why did we get stuck with surly, noncommunicative Randy Johnson (not to mention ineffective Randy Johnson)?
Interleague play hurts some teams. The Yankees are forced to play a pretty good Mets team 6 times. Who do the Red sox play six times? If they must have interleague play they should balance the schedule. I think since playoff spots and pennant races are sometimes decided by a few games these games are critical.
Randy 1
Thanks for replying to my post about Clete Boyer, at the top of this page. I too grew up in the times of the 60’s great Yankee teams. Clete Boyer played in my opinion with the best infield in Yankee history, in terms of defense, with Kubek at short, Richardson at seond and Skowron/Pepitone at first.
moose and joe have always been underrated as defenders!
Pete, we heard your interview on ESPN—we didn’t see this post before we set out to run some errands, and clicked on ESPN 1050 to hear an interview, and didn’t know it was you until the sign off at the end. Great job!