Today in The Journal News
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- November
- 21
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Mike Mussina knew from the start of the season that it would be his last. Josh Thomson has the story.
Hal Steinbrenner has essentially replaced his father as the owner of the Yankees.
Columnist Sam Borden writes that whether George Steinbrenner goes into the Hall of Fame or not, his legacy is secured.
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on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 9:42 am by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
They need to enshrine both George Steinbrenner and charles o. Finley in th HOF. Whether the owners liked them or not, they both changed how baseball was marketed in the 50’s and ’70s. If the owners had listened to Steinbrenner’s ideas of marketing and let him deal with getting the local broadcast contracts the way he wanted to, Montreal, Oakland (at one time, a few years ago, their radio broadcast contract consisted of a 5,000 watt radio station) and a few of the other problems tha team owners faced wouldn’t have happened.
What kind of plaque will George get behind the left field wall? One with a turtleneck?
Nice little piece by Sam Borden. George is an American icon and I really believe the organization is not the same without his hand at the helm.
In this day and age it’s so hard to keep the Yankee winning tradition afloat but he made it his top priority to restore it in the mid 70’s and I just can’t picture it happening without him. He may have never been the easiest guy to work for but his generosity and his compassion should certainly outweigh any transgressions he may have made early in his career.
I would consider it a travesty if he wasn’t enshrined in The Hall of Fame.
if george doesnt deserve the HOF as an owner, what owner does? tom yawkey’s in there, the fool ran the red sox for 44 year and never won crap, that with guys like williams and yazstremski (sp) on the club.
george is a HOF without a doubt, its just a question of whether they wait till after he’s gone to put him in.
btw, they voted walter omalley into the hof for stealing the dodgers from brooklyn and convincing the giants to abandon thier home with them.
under o’malley the dodgers won 4 WS titles, george has 6.
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned that the -shill- comish is actually going to change the rule book. There will never, ever be a rain-shortened game in the postseason.
Also, here’s a little article on the tale of 2 highly touted pitching prospects from New York.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn.....grey_jason
Whatever ailment the Mets pen had has spread to its farm system.
Y’s Guy
November 21st, 2008 at 10:21 am
btw, they voted walter omalley into the hof for stealing the dodgers from brooklyn and convincing the giants to abandon thier home with them.
under o’malley the dodgers won 4 WS titles, george has 6.
____________________________________________________________
The real travesty was when the owners put Bowie Kuhn in and snubbed Marvin Miller.
Brooklyn deserved to lose the Dodgers for failing to support their team. They couldn’t give tickets away at the time. If all those great-grandparents who now claim to have been heartbroken when they left had ever attended the games, the Dodgers would still be in Brooklyn today. O’Malley managed to keep the Dodgers alive by taking them someplace where they would be appreciated, and Los Angeles fans have made them a high-attendance team ever since. Jammed freeways get them there late but much better late than never. Enough silliness about ’stealing’ the team.
Oh please! My father was devasted when the Dodgers left Brooklyn. Oh yeah those LA fans are DIE HARD. Lets go to a game, come in the 4th and leave in the 7th. Die hard fans I tell you. What a joke.
mel
November 21st, 2008 at 10:26 am
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned that the shill comish is actually going to change the rule book. There will never, ever be a rain-shortened game in the postseason.
Also, here’s a little article on the tale of 2 highly touted pitching prospects from New York.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn.....grey_jason
Whatever ailment the Mets pen had has spread to its farm system.
———————————————————-
Unfortunately, Sanchez got hammered again last night. Whelen pitched another strong 2 innings, though.
DIE HARD is your term, not mine.
If your father actually went to games he was one of a handful, yet untold thousands claimed to have been ‘devastated’ after their indifference led to the team’s choosing between dying and moving.
The difference between those ‘hindsight DIE HARD’ Brooklyn ‘fans’ and the Los Angeles fans of the last fifty years is that the latter actually buy tickets and show up at Dodger Stadium.
To me, that’s at least a little closer to DIE HARD than fans who never showed up at all.
GB7,
What’s your take on Sanchez? Is it just rust and needing more innings?
This is from the Boston Herald so take it with a grain of salt:
“The Yanks did deal for Nick Swisher, more of a first baseman than outfielder, but one industry source suggested this move could be a prelude to another deal with a National League club, keeping first base open for Teixeira.”
Would Cashman “flip” Swisher? Or is the writer implying that Damon or Nady could be traded to a NL club freeing up a corner spot for Swisher?
http://www.bostonherald.com/sp.....position=2
Pete brushed off the “Big bopper” question however this team needs another bat. I think if CC snubs our offer(which looks probable right now) we should go full press to sign Tex. I think A-Rod/Tex back to back would give teams headaches especially if A-Rod has one of his patented odd-year MVP seasons.
Dirk; was that plaque or plague you asked about? Just joking. I think the boss has got to go in, but then again, I think Rose, Rice, Kaat, and tommy john ought to be in. Who’d I miss?
Harrington for Rose doesn’t excite any Knicks fans here?
2 points on the Steinbrenner thing. 1) Ladies, just saw a picture of Hal without the toupe look, almost a buzz cut. Not bad. 2)Anyone hear the Selig quote about the transfer? He couldn’t sound stupider if he tried. I’ll try to dig it up.
“I’m not going to ask the people in the family why they picked one against the other,” said baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who visited Steinbrenner in Tampa, Fla., before Game 2 of the World Series last month. “I get enough trouble as commissioner. I don’t need to get into family squabbles.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3715160
How about a simple, “I look forward to continuing to work with th entire Steinbrenner family.”?
I.m not sure. I don’t think weather should be allowed to play a factor in the length of a post-season game. It sort of amazes me that this situation has never come up before.
Selig sure hasn’t been very lucky in avoiding these bizarre circumstances and I guess creating a rule is better than playing it by ear. Still I think starting the games at a more appropriate time is a bigger issue and Selig basically avoiding it is a mistake. Allowing TV money to degrade the sport is a sin.
Don’t you hate it when you see a game altering play in the NFL and instead of showing a replay and analyzing it, they immediately go to a commercial? It’s ludicrous!
I’m more in favor of signing Teixeira than I am CC and I have 2 reasons.
Giving a pitcher a 6 year contract has seldom been benifiacial to any club. There are a lot more Mike Hampton stories than there are Mike Mussina’s.
We need a solid defender at first base and a replacement for Giambi & Abreu’s high on base percentage and rbi’s. Also, the yanks need someone to protect ARod. A Rod could lead the league in walks because there’s no one in front or behind him that really scares you. Signing Teixeira addresses all those concerns.
Also, if Tex were to sign with Boston (which I admit is doubtful)the Yanks are at a further competetive disdvantage against them. I understand Cashman’s hesitance to tie up the first base position long term,but IMO I still think those issues can be more easily resolved than the hole in the Yankees lineup the next couple of years.
Tom,
RE: The Boston Herald article, I did see a story the other day in I believe one of the NY papers that mentioned near the end several NL clubs were/are interested in Swisher.
Drive 4-5
November 21st, 2008 at 10:40 am
GB7,
What’s your take on Sanchez? Is it just rust and needing more innings?
———————————————————–
He’s got the stuff and the arm, but, control has always been an issue. Right now, or, at least what I saw of him, he seems to be afraid to really cut it loose, and he hasn’t pitched for almost two years, until late this year. I think there should be a big improvement by spring. Let guys like Melancon and a couple of the others that have had the TJ Surgery talk with him.
“Harrington for Rose doesn’t excite any Knicks fans here?”
Mel, thats an interesting rumor. Wheres the source?
Al,
Not a rumor. Deal’s going down. Ball Don’t Lie linked to NY Post. An “exclusive” for Peter Vecsey.
“Al,
Not a rumor. Deal’s going down. Ball Don’t Lie linked to NY Post. An “exclusive” for Peter Vecsey.”
Cool I’ll check it out.
re: Swisher.
I like that Tex is (theoretically) still in play. Definitely wouldn’t be a bad investment.
But, I gotta say I love Swisher before he’s even put on pintripes.
I would keep him to fill a corner outfielder position. Damon and Nady might be out the door soon.
one of ESPN’s B-Ball guys (Rick B-something) said Carwford’s in the deal….
which would be sweet.
mel
November 21st, 2008 at 11:00 am
re: Swisher.
I like that Tex is (theoretically) still in play. Definitely wouldn’t be a bad investment.
But, I gotta say I love Swisher before he’s even put on pintripes.
I would keep him to fill a corner outfielder position. Damon and Nady might be out the door soon.
———————————————————-
The Yanks need Damon’s bat and speed more than they need Nady if NYY were to get Teixiera or another big bat.
We just got Swisher. He ain’t much in outfield. pretty good at 1st. POsada,Damon,Matsui might spend time at1st. Duncan will get a shot in the spring. Who goes if we sign TExeira? What do we do, release them? We can’t trade ‘em.
I heard it wsa Harrington for Crawford. The big move was Duhon. He’s added more fire to the effort on a nightly basis.
GB7,
Meant their contracts will be up soon. Swisher’s under contract for 3 more years.
mel is on point.
Harrignton is on the outs fo sho’.
mel
November 21st, 2008 at 11:05 am
GB7,
Meant their contracts will be up soon. Swisher’s under contract for 3 more years.
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Oh, ok. I still think that Nady would get traded around spring training if they sign the big bat and Matsui is healthy.
GB, I agree. Nady is a useful but expendable player. The question would be “what is he worth?”.
There are some NL teams who need a RH bat (Reds come to mind).
I would imagine a package of Nady, Kennedy and Veras would be an attractive package…
Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeebuilding
Heres my starting five should Crawford be staying:
Duhon
Crawford
Chandler
Harrington
Z-bo
Without Crawford:
Duhon
Chandler
Quentin Richardson
Harrington
Z-bo
in 2010, nYY is going to be power and outfield poor, with Nady, Damon and Matsui all free agents, and, as of right now, only Jackson and possibly Russo are anywhere near ready. Russo plays about 5-6 positions, so, if he shows as much in 2009 as he did this year and in the AFL, he’ll be a good utility player and could hold an outfield spot for a year.
Zero is going to.
Up until Swisher was acquired, I thought that maybe Nady was the fall back position for 1B. Now that Swisher is a Yankee, I tend to agree that he is trade bait for a N.L. club – possibly packaged with Melky and propsect(s) for a starter.
Here’s a Knicks link on possible a mirage a trois trade.
http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_.....ockbuster/
Tom
November 21st, 2008 at 11:09 am
GB, I agree. Nady is a useful but expendable player. The question would be “what is he worth?”.
There are some NL teams who need a RH bat (Reds come to mind).
I would imagine a package of Nady, Kennedy and Veras would be an attractive package…
———————————————————
Tom, I’m not sure that Cincinnati has much to trade for that package, because they have outfielders and it’s doubtful that they’re going to trade Votto. It may come down to trying to move Veras and a young minor league starter with cash to Pittsburgh for Adam LaRoche, who’s contract is getting too expensive for them if NYY fails on Teixiera.
It’s the first damn move that makes sense
I agree with Brandon. all we can do is try to trade 4 a center fielder who can hit, sign pitchers, and hope Robi Swish, Posada, Matsui come back strong.
“in 2010, nYY is going to be power and outfield poor, with Nady, Damon and Matsui all free agents, and, as of right now, only Jackson and possibly Russo are anywhere near ready”
True, GreenBeret7. But there also will be some Free Agent outfielders available in 2010 – Jason Bay, Carl Crawford, Ordonez, Holliday, Ankeil, Freel to name a few.
“I agree with Brandon. all we can do is try to trade 4 a center fielder who can hit, sign pitchers, and hope Robi Swish, Posada, Matsui come back strong.”
uh…Yeh that too.
LathamJoe
November 21st, 2008 at 11:22 am
“in 2010, nYY is going to be power and outfield poor, with Nady, Damon and Matsui all free agents, and, as of right now, only Jackson and possibly Russo are anywhere near ready”
True, GreenBeret7. But there also will be some Free Agent outfielders available in 2010 – Jason Bay, Carl Crawford, Ordonez, Holliday, Ankeil, Freel to name a few.
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I’m betting on Bay stays in Boston, though. Ordonez is getting close to DH material with that bad knee. Crawford would be ideal, but, being from Houston, they’ll be all over him. Holliday and Ankiel would be the best of the others. Freel is best suited as a utility player…sort of a poor man’s version of Chone Figgins.
The difference between those ‘hindsight DIE HARD’ Brooklyn ‘fans’ and the Los Angeles fans of the last fifty years is that the latter actually buy tickets and show up at Dodger Stadium.
Joey’s Poodle-
Do a little fact checking before you attack other people’s fathers and the good citizens of Brooklyn.
The Dodgers consistently drew well in Brooklyn. Not as many as in Milwaukee, which consistently drew the most, or the Yankees, which were second, but after that they drew as many fans as anyone.
It was the Giants whose attendance was very poor.
Hopefully the Knicks stink enough get in the lottery and draft Stephen Curry.
Now there’s an article saying how Riccardi is open to offering 5 yrs to Burnett. First he’s busting up the team now he’s keeping it together. More fuel for the fire is what I say.
http://www.torontosun.com/spor.....6-sun.html
This certainly was a bad year to go in to the FA market with no starters. Pettite at 1 yr/14 mil as bad a value as that may be, is sounding sweeter everyday.
I still love Tex at 1b and would probably freak if he ended up in Fenway but man do we have more pressing needs. If the stars align for us just right there is a a scenario where we make up for the 200 rbi’s lost on the Stache/Abreu departure but anyway you arrange it, our 3-4-5 is sort of resembling one of those famous NY deli sandwiches with a pound of pastrami on 2 little pieces of rye.
Rotation as of today
Wang
Pettite?
Joba for 20-25 starts if healthy
Hughes??
Aceves(of whom I hold deep delusions of grandeur for)
Of course there’s always Ponson for the 5th slot.(sort of kidding on that one)
If some team gets crazy and suddenly signs Burnett for 5, watch how quickly CC’s demand goes to 7 yrs guaranteed.
“Hopefully the Knicks stink enough get in the lottery and draft Stephen Curry.”
DeRozan over that kid.
Totally O/T, but did anyone see the Wade/Barkley/Yao T-Mobile commercial? It’s hilarious.
off topic, but, does anyone know a good NY footballGIANTS blog. All the ones I know suck. Sometimes not even updated regularly. I geuss we’re all spoiled with this Springstain loving guy.
In fairness to Walter O’Malley, his first priority was to keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn. Ebbetts Field had gotten old and outdated. O’Malley proposed building a new stadium in
Brooklyn, at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. Building and Trade Commissioner Robert Moses, a political Napoleon Bonaparte wannabe, ignored O’Malley’s proposals. Moses, instead, proposed a site in Queens (Flushing). O’Malley was furious with the idea of moving the Dodgers out of Brooklyn and threatened to move the Team West. Moses ignored the threats and after three years the Dodgers moved to LA.
Bronx Jeers:
I like Aceves, too. He made great strides in 2008 after being signed out of the Mixican League. He was successful at every stop he made last year A, AA, AAA, and MLB. He has good stuff, very good command, and is not afraid to throw any pitch in any count.
I think he will make a very good No. 4 or No. 5 this season.
Actually I do know my Brooklyn Dodgers history. As Ebbetts field deteriorated fewer and fewer people attended, to the point that the team could not sell out a game even in a pennant-winning year. O’Malley tried to get NYC to let him build a fancy new park in Brooklyn in order to attract fans back, but the City refused building permission. The ‘great’ Robert Moses insisted that the only place the Dodgers would be allowed to rebuild would be in Queens (many years later Shea was built on the very site he tried to foist off on the resistant O’Malley).
Meantime Los Angeles had been looking for a team — almost took home the then Washington Senators — and the Giants’ Polo Grounds was also falling apart around them. Both the Giants and the Dodgers considered moves to midwestern cities, but when San Francisco got involved, California became their joint destination. They both still had loyal fans left in New York, but not enough to hang on in collapsing buildings with dropping attendance while new stadiums and cities full of fans starved for big league baseball were begging for them out West, and they moved more or less together in 1957.
Various commentators remarked, then and later, that if all the people who subsequently claimed to be devoted regular fans of these two teams had actually attended games and clamored for the City to support their need for new facilities the history of baseball would have been different.
I have no idea whether anybody here’s father was among those who attended games or not and if I did I wouldn’t consider it an insult either way. In any case, expansion of the major leagues over the whole country instead of occupying a narrow swath in the Eastern quarter or third of the nation has been an excellent thing for baseball.
Anybody here think Tex to Boston would be a killer toward us? That lineup would be deadly with Papi, Little Runt, YouGay, and Tex all hitting one after the next.
“If some team gets crazy and suddenly signs Burnett for 5, watch how quickly CC’s demand goes to 7 yrs guaranteed.”
Highly agree. Big offseason for the Yanks. Should be exciting none-the-less. If the Yanks don’t sign one of the big 3 first all offers will go up. Funny thing is everyone is waiting on CC. If CC signs with us, that is HUGE. If he doesnt, that is devestating and will cause us to do things we don’t want to do.
There were very few sellouts in those days. On attendance figures alone, the Dodgers drew as many as any team other than Milwaukee and the Yanks. Ebbets Field wasn’t great, but there were fannies in the seats.