Pinch hitting: Pinstripes Published
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jan 27, 2009 
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January is traditionally a slow month for baseball news. So for the second year in a row, we will showcase other blogs with a series of pinch hitters.
Next up is Chris from Pinstripes Published.
Chris is from Evansvillem Ind. He is in high school and plans to major in mechanical engineering next year at the University of Evansville. He started his blog in July of 2008 and his favorite player is Derek Jeter.
Heres his post:
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The year is 2004 and the Yankees have just announced a trade that will bring Alex Rodriguez to the Bronx. Rodriguez, arguably the best player in baseball at the time, is a huge addition for the Yankees. Later in the year, the Yankees sign free agent pitcher Carl Pavano, who just came off of a huge season for the Florida Marlins, to a lucrative four-year contract, which seemed to be a bit of a stretch due to Pavano’s injury history.
Now let’s get back to the present. Rodriguez, although good, has not lived up to the expectations and is jeered by a large majority of fans while Pavano is public enemy No. 1 due to the fact that he played only a few games in pinstripes.
Following the 2008 season, a disappointing one for the Yankees, the team went out and acquired two more big-name players in CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Much like Rodriguez, Sabathia is arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball and, like Pavano, Burnett just came off of a great year. Also, each of these additions was expected to bring another World Series championship back to the Yankees.
However, both Sabathia and Burnett share many negative aspects of their 2004 counterparts. Sabathia, like Rodriguez, has yet to play in a media-crazy city such as New York. Also, both Sabathia and Rodriguez have the highest contracts in baseball at pitcher and position player (respectively) in history. Next, both Burnett and Pavano have a long history of injuries, yet came off of healthy seasons. Also like Pavano, Burnett just received a deal that seemed to be too long after looking at his history of injury.
Yes, yes, Sabathia is not a position player like Rodriguez and, of course, Burnett has claimed that he has learned how to avoid injury, but my point still stands. What if Sabathia, like Rodriguez, ends up crumbling under the media’s pressure in New York and Burnett, like Pavano, becomes one of the most hated players in Yankees’ history? Such tragic events would, of course, deeply upset fans and could shift the Yankees’ focus from buying up all of the free agents to taking the time to develop their own talent.
With Sabathia and Burnett now Yankees, all fans can do is hope that the two will continue to play like they did for their previous homes, otherwise we are in for yet another long season.
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Thanks, Chris. Coming tomorrow: Jason from Heartland Pinstripes.
Evansville, IN isn’t that where Donnie Baseball is from?
CC is money. AJ not so sure. Let’s hope for the best.
A-Rod hasn’t lived up to expectations?
Sure, but do you know what those expectations are? I mean, when winning two MVPs in four years isn’t good enough, I don’t think you ever _will_ be good enough!
And after last year, injuries are on everyone’s mind, even if no one wants to jinx it.
I wouldn’t sorry about Sabathia crumbling under the media pressure, though. He’s been scrutinized by the NY media since the beginning of 2007.
A-Rod will get his ring its a matter of time. CC is a bulldog and will grab the ball every 5th day without fail.
Nice post Chris. Interesting to look at it that way.
Now get ready to hear why you are crazy for suggesting that CC might not pitch amazingly and AJ will be great
Rebecca you can’t possibly be right about ARod. That would mean that all the booing he’s gotten was uncalled for
Good effort to try to be original, so I commend you on that. I also understand how hard it is to think of something original, interesting, and something that teaches people something new.
Your post did bring up a SLIGHTLY original idea, if not then at least an angle, but you really didn’t bring up anything that anybody didn’t know yet.
Good effort though.
i wish people would stop buying the non traditional Yankee caps. That is the only way they are going to stop making them
sign manny ramirez.
This has to be the most poorly written blog post in the history of blog posts. It sounds like a bad high school essay.
When Rodriguez gets his ring I hope he gets it sized for his middle finger.
Next!
provocative, yet well seasoned
So Arod has “crumbled” eh?
Another spoiled Yank fan.
Give me 9 Arods on the field and I’d take over the World.
Joe Mama – Amen
This Just In: Torre to promote his tell all book on Larry King this Friday night.
We got A-Rod prior to 2004. We got Pavano prior to 2005.
Sorry, I couldn’t keep reading after the comparison of pavano to sabathia and saying each of them were the best pitcher in the league when they signed. Skimminng the comments on my way down, it doesn’t sound like I missed much.
“Much like Rodriguez, Sabathia is arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball.”
A-Rod is a pitcher? You learn something new every day.
Credit for trying, but please stick to taking myspace pictures of yourself.
Rebecca, Joe Mama, sevrox, said it all.
A-Rod has done anything but be a failure…. if CC turns out anything like A-Rod I’ll see some of you at a parade or three in the near future
Ha, well said Dave C
Freaking crumbled, crumbled? God I so hope every othr player we have crumbles just as badly as Arod. Two MVP’s in four years somehow equates to crumbling.
I care not about his personality or off field anything. The guy is human has pluses and faults. I do care about performance, work ethic and desire to win. Nothing I have seen from Arod would condemn his work ethic and desire to win. Arod, Jeter, Tex, None of them will ever win alone. All great ball players but this is a team. There are reasons teams win and lose. Arod is far more a winner than a loser. Give me a whole team of underperforming Arods thank you. I don’t get the Arod bashing, I don’t, I honestly don’t.
Cut the kid a break, he’s a HS student after all, and his post wasn’t bad at all. There have been much better, but there have been much, much worse. And I find it funny when people bash who bash the writer, write in a way that makes you think they’re less than literate. That being said, Brian in the 702 hit the nail on the head. I too wish people would quit buying the non-traditional hat.
Chris, once you put down A-Rod, you’re going to get a lot of A-Rod apologists sticking up for him. You should of knew this was coming.
I agree with your post 100 percent. I actually don’t think this year is going to work out for the Yankees. I can’t remember the last team that bought big named free agents and won. It almost doesn’t work in any sport. I so want the Yankees to develop their farm better and plug in middle of the road free agents. It bothers me so much when they spend big because the Yankees themselves proved it doesn’t work.
“And I find it funny when people bash who bash the writer, write in a way that makes you think they’re less than literate.”
Nate, I find it funny when people who bash people who bash the “writer” start a sentence with a conjunction and use an unnecessary comma.
Scary post in that you might be right. Oh I so hope not.
This is from todays NYT’s
To me it speaks of how we would love our heroes to act. Too bad it didn’t come soon enough to be part of PA’s great post a few days back
In 2005, Ryne Sandberg was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame. Heclo cites his speech as an example of how people talk when they are defined by their devotion to an institution:
“I was in awe every time I walked onto the field. That’s respect. I was taught you never, ever disrespect your opponents or your teammates or your organization or your manager and never, ever your uniform. You make a great play, act like you’ve done it before; get a big hit, look for the third base coach and get ready to run the bases.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01.....038;emc=th
The Blog is great when Pete is on top of the issues, as in yesterday’s post of the Pettitte and Cashman interviews.
Today’s guest post represents the shalow end of the blog pool.
…well if if CC crumbles like A-Rod did then he should win a couple of Cy Youngs and average around 20 wins a year….I smell WS championship numero veinte siete
dale d
I suppose that why I almost puke when I these athletes give up anything more than a fist pump or high five. I suppose though you really have had to do it before before you can act like you have. Footballers have been the worst, glad the league is cracking down some. Celebrating over the top because you finally did what you are paid to do. I hate it.
so what were the alternatives for this season? sign different FA’s? just let giambi, abreu, pettitte and moose leave and call up guys from the minors? start a rebuilding movement for the new stadium’s premier season?
also since they kept all thier minor league talent how can anybody suggest they have changed strategy. obviously they are still developing their talent but they are not going to rush them into the majors and start a rebuilding program.
free agents will always be a part of the yankees buisness plan. you cannot compete every year without it. it doesnt mean they wont still develop the minor league talent they can get despite their always low draft position.
Chris, I don’t agree with your point of view, but good job.
The ARod stuff gets tiresome. And I suspect that even if this team finally wins a WS with him, unless he’s driven in every run and scored the rest, hitting a minimum of .500 with a homerun in every game, he will not get any credit. All of those blaming ARod for no title to that point, even if ARod performs well, will talk about how winning is a team effort.
I hope all the work the Yankees have done in the off-season pay off. Understand that there are no guarantees. The Yankees (Cashman) has done everything necessary to put the pieces on the board. It’s up to the manager, the coaches, the players to make the most of the opportunity. Plus a little bit of luck. You always need a little bit of luck.
Every move comes with risk and every player has questions marks – not just for this team, but for all teams. The fun is in watching how it unfolds.
Thought I was on a Yankees blog. Found out I stumbled onto my middle school grammar teacher’s homepage.
For all you slathering adults with nothing better to do than to sit around ready at the keyboard to critique or otherwise bash the guest-posters post of the day – I feel worse for you than I do for some high school Yankee fan in Indiana who was probably excited as hell to be able to post on here. Whether or not you or I agree with what he writes or how he writes, this is not his profession… Disagree with his points if you will, but do it like adults. Lighten up. This is getting to be like American Idol – Yankee style, with too many Simon Cowell’s.
Chris
At some point in time, we all don’t live up to expectations. Effort is the only thing you can control, not results.
Ugggh, Arod has done nothing but win two MVPs here and put up numbers that we hadn’t seen posted on this team in quite some time. Did we forget the ridiculous season he had just two seasons ago where he pretty much carried this whole team for a while and was as clutch as clutch could be?? If he’s a disappointment baseball wise, I wish we had more disappointments. As for handling New York, with all the off field stuff, wouldn’t you have expected he would have been much worse? Was their a dropoff from his career numbers since he came here? Burnett comparable to Pavano as well? Pavano had one good year, right before we signed him, he was a 500 pitcher before that at best. Burnett has #1 pitcher type stuff, has a better track record and while he does have an injury history, he has a completely different makeup that Pavano.
SIGN MANNY NOW!!!!
I miss Bowa
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01.....152176.htm
All eyes will be on the CF question and how it plays out in spring training between Gardner and Melky.
If it’s not up to satisfaction by mid March, Cashman will be a busy GM on his blackberry.
What else can A-Rod do besides manage the team, find the fountain of youth for Steinbrenner and hit in the clutch?
Why is it that when someone makes a ridiculous point about Arod (he has crumbled), folks that defend him are called “apologists”?
The only people who believe Arod has crumbled are people whose baseball knowledge you can place in a thimble.
Its a shame we have Yankee fans who fall into this kind of trap. It makes the fan base look foolish.
Then again, we did have people argue to the moons why Joe Crede would be better for this team than Arod when Arod opted out. Go figure.
The guy has won 2 MVP Awards in his first 5 years in NY. He plays the game the right way, and has carried this team more than anybody currently on the roster for long stretches of time since he has been here.
There are a LOT of reasons why this team hasn’t won a WS since 2000. Arod isn’t the only reason. In fact, he’s not even in the Top 3.
If someone is going to write something, they can expect to be criticized for it, high school kid or not.
Its a learning experience. You don’t have to insult him, which I don’t condone.
I also don’t condone, “he’s a high school kid, cut him some slack”.
Forming foolish conclusions based on emotion is no way to go through life.
I hope Tex, CC and AJ “fail” to the degree Arod has “failed” in NY, according to some.
If they do, they will be winning World Series again.
Chris – I think this is great. It will be an interesting watch. (I’ve already promised that AJ is money in the bank, so everyone can now rest easy about Burnett!)
Keep up the good work and good luck with mechanical engineering. You obviously have promise in many areas. I love that you are writing this from Indiana because it once again shows just how widespread the Yankee family really is.
I refuse to take seriously anyone who would wear a Yankee’s cap any color other than navy blue and white, high school student or not. Also, I am tired of these ” pinch hitters ” blogs.
” “I have never heard players say it,” Bowa said.
“When Alex walked in, [Borzello would] go, ‘What do you got today?’ ”
If Rodriguez felt good, he was referred to as A-Rod. If not, it might be A-Fraud, Bowa said.
He added it might even depend on the opponent – that if, say, Toronto’s Roy Halladay was on the mound, the joke might have been, “We might have a little A-Fraud today.”
“It wasn’t a malicious thing,” Bowa stressed. “It was when you stretch and guys joke around with each other. It wasn’t malicious at all.”
On a conference call yesterday, Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte said he didn’t hear players referring to Rodriguez as “A-Fraud,” either. In fact, the veteran lefty said, he had “never one time heard of the term ‘A-Fraud’ until I saw it rolling on the TV” once news broke about Torre’s book.
“I have not heard one word and have never heard that term used before, and Alex is a very good friend of mine,” Pettitte said.
Added Johnny Damon yesterday, “We never called him that, not us.” ”
Oh this is just getting better and better.
What we hoped would happen (those of us who don’t Saint Joe…) is starting to play out. Gee, Joe, could it be that you read about “Afraud” on one of the many blogs or saw it on television and decided it was sexy to attribute it to “teammates”?
You walk with the big L on your forehead – and it sure ain’t for lovely!
*We are fam-i-ly
I got all my teammates and me!*
(That would have been in italics except that the italics toy has been taken from us.)
Reposting from prior thread:
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/.....kee-years/
Gee Joe, think this won’t get back to Randy Johnson? You’re going to have to face him a LOT this year………how dumb is Joe for revealing this stuff while still an active manager?
His comments about Knoblauch are uncalled for. I really do not see the need for revealing every player’s insecurities or fragilities. Poor Chuck left baseball permanently because of his yips
Joe had Pavano join his teammates on a trip so that the teammates could harass him? WTF is up with Joe? I despise Pavano, but I’m not a big league manager. Ugh.
This is really pathetic.
I admit I missed the “large majority” of fans who jeer ARod. SJ is right, if you enter the lion’s den don’t expect to be patted on the head for making inane assertions. This was weak.
As far as Bowa and Borzello are concerned, they are two of the guy who got Alex to lighten up in his time in NY.
Those guys aren’t “enemies” by any means.
Those guys also talked to Torre many times about “lightening up” on Alex. Unfortunately for all concerned, Joe had already made up his mind about Alex and nobody, not even Bowa, was going to change it.
I never booed ARod, never will. Unless he calls my mom a @#$)!(*
Pedroia’s brother’s molestation charges make it to Yahoo Sports MLB headlines, but not ESPN MLB…..hmmm.
“What if Sabathia, like Rodriguez, ends up crumbling under the media’s pressure in New York and Burnett, like Pavano, becomes one of the most hated players in Yankees’ history?”
I hope CC crumbles like Arod. That would be, what? 2 CY Awards in 5 seasons and 3 years where he’s still one of the top 7 or so players at his in baseball-like Arod.
And by the way, Chris saying that Arod crumbles under the media pressure isn’t that far wrong. Arod for the longest time wasn’t able to have a “candid” interview and sounded like a rehearsed wind-up doll.
Chris, I hope you realize that putting yourself out there on a blog is both a brave and scary thing to do. If you’ve been reading along this month, just about nobody has escaped some scathing comments. It’s just the nature of the beast.
Arod certainly has not lived up to expectations. It could be that our expectations have been unreasonable. Maybe they haven’t been. But anybody who would say that Arod has done what we expected him to – come through in the clutch in the playoffs and deliver us to the promised land – would be lying.
We all see life through different lenses. I believe Arod has been very good but I too have larger expectations and I too believe that the NY spotlight has caused Arod to be much less than he has the ability to be. Maybe this Torre rag will change all of that and he will feel loved and protected by his teammates. We all know Arod is prone to be very affected by criticism, despite his protestations to the opposite, whereas someone like Jeter lets it all roll off his back.
JMO.
I just didn’t like Borzello’s quotes from the book, SJ -IMO, he’s revealed too much. If he’s Alex’s friend, why is he commenting anyway? I don’t know what to think about the Bowa comments other than to say that he’s defending his friend, Torre. If what Bowa said in the NY Post article is accurate, though, then Torre basically twisted the story to suit his vengeful purposes. It’s not bad enough that he revealed clubhouse goings-on, but he had to lie about it as well. Sweet, Joe.
I posted some other quotes from the NY Times. Torre sees fit to play dime-store psychiatrist and then has no qualms about revealing players emotional weakness’? Amazingly, this is almost an equal opportunity rip job on players past and present. It boggles the mind.
As for the current blog, ooh boy, another retread post about how the failure known as A-Rod. Some people have no appreciation for greatness in their midst – it’s really their problem. For what it’s worth, I feel priviledged to have witness Alex’ 2007. The scary thing is, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he did it again – he’s that good.
As much as I dislike Chris’s opinion, I have to admit he’s right. ARod has been a disappointment to many fans. But that’s only because the average fan’s expectations for him are hopelessly unrealistic.
Apparently, it’s fair to expect ARod to play every postseason game like it’s the 2004 ALDS and carry the Yankees to a championship every year, even if our starters get bombed, our relievers blow leads, the rest of the lineup goes cold, and our manager makes terrible decisions. If we don’t win, it’s ARod’s fault.
If Chris is right that most Yankee fans “jeer” ARod (and sometimes I’m afraid he is), then I’m ashamed to be a Yankee fan. We must be the dumbest fans in sports.
Betsy, the more crap I read from what Torre wrote, the more angry I feel.
What a media whore. I guess to go from king to just another face in Hollywood has to REALLY sting, especially when you have an ego the size of Hollywood.
Both Verducci and Torre have managed to exact their revenge and assuage their hurt feelings by taking down the organization – or at least that’s what they tried to accomplish.
But I’m thinking that what Cashman said about it potentially adding more glue to the Yankee family bond is going well beyond the perimeter of the team.
GRRRR!!!!!
Not bad, kid, although those pictures are an invitation to get laughed at.
pat -
It’s all about context, isn’t it? And it sounds like the context of the “A-Fraud” remarks was left out of Torre’s book. Hmmm.
It’s beginning to sound like this book has its ups and downs. Some passages sound relatively innocuous; others designed to rile people up. I think it will be important to keep in mind, if one reads it, that this is Joe Torre’s point of view – it is not an objective account of his Yankee years, but rather the story the way Joe Torre experienced it.
Question: would Marte’s arm have fallen off last year if Torre was manager?
Answer: yes.
Russell NY January 27th, 2009 at 8:34 am
I never booed ARod, never will. Unless he calls my mom a @#$)!(*
- – - – - – - – - – -
Russell, is @#$)!(* pronounced with a short # or a long # ?
The Yankees team ERA the last 4 postseason series has been about 5.25. That is beyond awful.
Pavano had an injury history before he came to the Yanks? That is news to me.
And as others have stated I hope CC is as big a disappointment as Alex. 2 MVP’s in 4 years!! Or in CC’s case 2 Cy youngs in 4 years. I’ll take that in a heart beat.
“jeered by a large majority” Really??? I don’t recall ever booing Alex, yes at times he is frustrating, but I’ve never booed him.
Betsy,
Mike is a good guy. He’s far from Anti-Arod. Its all about context. I think Mike is trying to say how much Arod had grown in his role on the team and how they joked around with him.
He, like Bowa, did a lot to get him off his perch and try and make him fit in better in the clubhouse.
Unfortunately, Torre just didn’t warm up to him.
It happens. Not every manager and player hit it off. Also, not every manager writes about it (hiding behind a third person narrative like a coward) in a book.
Arod isn’t losing any sleep over it which, as far as Yankee fans are concerned, is all that matters.
Russell, is @#$)!(* pronounced with a short # or a long # ?
I mistyped it, was supposed to be @%$)!(*… sorry
Tom- It is still Alex’s fault!!! He is supposed to hit a grandslam every single time he comes to bat!! It doesn’t matter if anyone is on base, cause according to some it is all his fault.
People seem to forget after game 3 in the ALCS 2004, NO ONE HIT!!! But it is all Alex’s fault!
If the Yankees manage to make it through the season without any significant DL stints for the starting five, the playoffs is a near certainty. Like the last few years, our playoff berth rests solely on the number of injuries that we have. Let’s hope that Alex stays healthy and that Posada, Matsui, and Wang can have come backs.
Oh, and hope Cano can figure out how to hit a line drive again. If all goes well, we could be looking at 101 wins or so. If luck is not on our side, but we have no major injuries, I can see us still winning 96 games. This team is solid and, though expensive, is stacked with a lot of homegrown, Yankee talent.
“Arod certainly has not lived up to expectations. It could be that our expectations have been unreasonable. Maybe they haven’t been. But anybody who would say that Arod has done what we expected him to – come through in the clutch in the playoffs and deliver us to the promised land – would be lying.”
This is a fair point. Since 2004, ARod has not been the force in the playoffs that Yankee fans hoped he would be. 2006 was a terrible performance, and 2005 and 2007 saw a good OBP but no key hits.
The problem, and I hate to say it because it goes against everything exciting and dramatic about baseball, is that it’s unfair to expect much more from any player, even a truly great one.
There is no such thing as a player who is a lock to play well in the postseason. Unlikely players get hot and cold. In a short series, a player might get only 1 or 2 opportunities at most to bat in a memorable situation. In any particular at bat, including those memorable at bats, odds are that any player, be it ARod, Jeter, Manny, or Ortiz, does not come through.
Of course, no one thinks about all the times ARod got on base in 2005 and 2007 and no one managed to drive him in. Because these aren’t memorable situations, no one credits ARod with them.
The bottom line is ARod has already demonstrated the ability to carry the Yankees into and through the playoffs. He did it in 2004, and I don’t think he lost that ability. If Rivera converts a save in the ALCS, or Tony Clark’s double bounces into Fenway’s right field wall instead of over it, then ARod is a pennant winner today and possibly a World Series champion.
Baseball is a game of failure. If you put a microscope on any one player and scrutinize every at bat he takes in pressure situations, you will see that player fail more often than not. I think Yankee fans hung up on ARod would enjoy watching the Yankees more if they watched ARod a little less closely and focused more on the team as a whole.
That said, I would love it as much as any other fan if ARod were a sure thing in every playoffs who would bat 1.000 with men on.
Pete -
I just downloaded my “Working On a Dream” album from iTunes. Watching the work sessions video. Loving it!
After Cashman secured more power within the Yankees before the 2006 season, Torre felt that Cashman was mostly interested in basing decisions on statistical analysis and practicality.
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ANd what exactly is wrong with this????
Doreen
With the book being written in the third person narrative, it could get tough to tell where Torre’s thoughts end and Verducci’s or anyone he’s interviewed begin. That to me is sketchy.
Mike and Mike on ESPN this morning said Buster Olney gave them a quote from Joe Torre from when David Wells wrote his book. Torre was angry that he said things about the club and teammates and Wells tried to distance himself from some of what was written. When Torre was asked about that, he said “his name is on it.” Third party narrative or not, Torre’s name is on it.
“ANd what exactly is wrong with this????”
Because stats can’t measure grit, hustle, heart, and Playing the Game the Right Way. (All factors, incidentally, that tend to be inversely proportional to high stats.)
Apparently there is a war going on between “suits,” who love stats but have no idea how baseball actually works, and former players, who can look beyond numbers to see the true soul of baseball. Cashman, being a suit (notwithstanding the fact that he did play college ball), will never understand baseball and thus will never bring the Yankees a championship.
That’s my take on the subtext here, anyway.
Russell NY January 27th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Russell, is @#$)!(* pronounced with a short # or a long # ?
I mistyped it, was supposed to be @%$)!(*… sorry
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -
Oh OK I understand now! lol. Very similar to &^$%)@) then?
Last time I heard that was from Yosemite Sam after the dynamite didn’t go off as he planned.
Torre repeated some well-known fawning stories about Derek Jeter, but he also offered up one anecdote that I had never heard. In 12 years of managing Jeter, Torre said the only time he ever had to reprimand Jeter was for flipping balls behind his back during infield practice. Talk about a manager’s pet.
—————–
I do not understand some Yankees’ fans, AROD is the only person in recent history to have 35 hrs in his first 5 consecutive seasons with the yankees. Noone else among all the players the yankees have signed over the past 13 years since they won started their legacy in 1996. AROD has played up to the pressure, if i am not mistaken he carried the team the entire year in 2007, and had probably one of the best seasons of all time. I don’t get it. He is one player. There are 24 other players on the active roster who are responsible. I would say we should get on Posada? Why not? He just signed a nice, thick, contract, but noo, he won 3 world series’ already. Not by himself folks. This year will be one of ones’ many of us yankees fans have missed for a while. This is the deepest team the yankees have had since they had clemens, mussina, pettitte, el duque, etc. Be patient.
Because Carl Pavano was constantly injured and unreliable, his teammates disliked him. Torre asked Cashman to have Pavano, who was on the disabled list, join the Yankees on a road trip at the end of 2006 so his teammates could harass him. Instead, the players ignored Pavano.
—————————
Joe is a vindictive person!
Jennifer, that’s the point. Watching last postseason should have been a wake up call to some Yankee fans. Manny Ramirez was a one man wrecking crew and yet, LA lost.
Ryan Howard was essentially useless up untill game 3 of the Series, yet, the Phillies were winning. Why? Cole Hamels, Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer, and Brett Meyers pitched deep into games.
pat -
That was my point, though, that this is Torre’s story. It is not the objective truth. And any quotes or anecdotes are going to be skewed to move the story in the direction that Torre wanted it to go – with Verducci’s help, of course.
And by the way, and im sure i will receive many comments from this, but ANY manager that had the team that Torre had from 1996-2000, when they won the world series(s) would have had the same results. My reasoning, look from 2001-2007 where did the rings go? How many arms did he blow out? Where was the bullpen behind Mariano? How about last year? In the first year with the up and coming Joe, one of the best bullpens we have seen as Yankees fans…
Maybe that hazing incident is what Pavano was talking about when he said the team didn’t help him through his struggles.
Amazing that I could read something that actually makes me feel a little sorry for Pavano. Just a little.
I just hope Nady, Swisher etc. suffer an A-Rodian like crumble next season.
A-Crumb’s not a bad nickname but I doubt it will catch.
I’ll give the kid a break though because he’s from Evansville which was hallowed ground in the 80′s from a Yankee perspective.
You know what this book highlights more than anything else? It was time for both parties to move on.
When people are together for a long time in sports, all this stuff simmers in the background.
Then, it begins to boil over.
The Yankees may not have done it smoothly but, they made the right decision to part ways with Torre. It was time.
What’s amazing to me is the Pittsburgh Steelers. In 37 years, they have had THREE head coaches. Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. That’s amazing.
Its amazing that an organization could operate like that in sports. Especially these days.
With the Yankees, Torre got WAY too much credit for the wins and, in the end, wanted to take no responsibility for the losses. He became as much of a diva as Arod and that made working with him a challenge.
I have always felt the #1 reason Arod and Torre didn’t get along was that they were more alike than Torre would EVER want to admit. Both guys LOVE money, fame, and all that goes with it.
It was just something that wasn’t going to work out. Everybody can’t be Derek Jeter and I think Torre had a hard time understanding that when it came to dealing with Arod.
He also HATED the fact Arod was close to Lou Piniella. Lou was Arod’s father figure and I don’t think Torre ever got a handle on that.
Success will make these petty things bigger than they need to be. Its why both sides are better off where they are right now.
SJ- I think you are spot on with that analysis.
Well Chris, I don’t agree with your post, but good luck in school and congrats on having your stuff posted on here.
Reading that little blurb about Pavano, I do feel a little bad for him.
Damn this Torre book!
Rodriguez, although good, has not lived up to the expectations and is jeered by a large majority of fans
Sorry, but that’s just a load of crap…obviously you don’t like him but you could at least try to be more objective.
SJ44, as usual I enjoy reading your comments, which are insightful and original. Please keep it up.
Nice post by Chris today. I wish him the best in his writing career. He shows some courage, getting out there in public “print”. However, I have to disagree with a couple of points.
1. I don’t think Alex is jeered by the majority of Yankee fans. Sure, there’s a too vocal group that boo him as soon as he shows his face, but I don’t think serious Yankee fans – at least not the ones I know – blame all our woes on him. He’s not the guy who let Joba out to hang in the midge attack. Alex isn’t the one who’s made the questionable decisions in the last couple of playoff disasters. And two MVP awards in the last, what, 5 years isn’t anything to sneeze at.
2. What if CC, AJ, don’t come through….You can drive yourself crazy with what-ifs. What if David Ortiz, Youkilis, Pedroia, Beckett and Papelbon all tear up their shoulders, knees, and get indicted for mail fraud? Do you see how ridiculous this what-if stuff can get? Let the season start and the games play out.
Finally, one least comment on Torre’s book. Torre seems to lay blame on the players me-first attitude for the Yankees’ decline, especially Alex. Isn’t Joe supposed to be a master of personal relationships? How come he didn’t correct that perceived problem? Also, ya think that maybe some of his decisions re: bullpen use and in-game managament contributed just a little bit? It’s almost like he was just an observer, and not active participant. Kind of like an “accidental manager”.
SJ44 -
You’re right. But I would say that the Yankees made Joe make the ultimate decision. It was like one of those break-ups where the party who wants out says they want to stay together, but “see other people,” knowing full well that’s not possible.
“Reading that little blurb about Pavano, I do feel a little bad for him.
Damn this Torre book!”
- – - – - – - – - – - – -
LOL SA. Makes me kinda want to start a movement to bring back Pavano via trade to redeem himself and so Joba can go to the pen! (kinda).
Now that would be worth a guest post or two.
These posters get dumber every day. Seriously, why have some dumb high school kid post? What does this add to the mix other than having some idiot that doesn’t even know anything about baseball blathering on about WFAN-level nonsense? Just awful.
It bears repeating: If you don’t enjoy the guest posts, don’t read them.
Yeah, this Torre book thing made me agree with Steve Philips. Now, I feel some sympathy for Pavano.
I feel dirty.
I thought the point was to win championships? A-Rod and the Yankees have won exactly 0 championships during his tenure in NY so in tha regard his time here has been a humongous disappointment.
Now is it all A-Rod’s fault? No it’s not. But none of you can sit here and tell me that if the Yankees don’t win multiple, yes muktiple rings during Alex’s tenure here it won’t be seen as a huge disappointment. I don’t care if Alex wins 7 MVP awards and 10 Silver Slugger awards, if he doesn’t win multiple rings he will be seen as a failure.
Is it fair? No it isn’t, but that’s the way it is when you make the money in baseball and play on the Yankees.
“Randy Johnson? “The biggest surprise to me was how Randy Johnson could get rattled.”
Carl Pavano? “The players all hated him. It was no secret.”
Torre discusses private meetings, which he often preached that players should not do. He reveals that Cashman blamed Jeter for the infamous 2006 pop-up that fell between him and Rodriguez.”
=======================================================
I guess there is no such thing as a private meeting with Torre.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/.....ory?page=1
Joe from LI
Good points and especially the one about Torre. “Accidental manager” is a good term. Of course I (or any of us) are not able to sit in the dugout with him during games, but I did get the impression he was just – I don’t know – too comfortable sitting there watching the game in his last few years here. Maybe this is not true, but it is how it looked to me.
I was a Torre fan. I am not now. Maybe some of what was written in the book got twisted, but as he himself said in reference to Wells’ book, his name is on it. He shouldn’t have let it happen that way.
And some things in the sports world are not supposed to be talked about out of school. Especially on a team as scrutinized as the NYY. He should know that as well as anyone. In my opinion, he has no excuse for this.
Who would have ever thought that they’d feel bad for Pavano, even a little!!
It is one thing for us to poke fun at him, even for his teammates to do so. But for the manager to admit that he attempted to throw him to the wolves is a whole other thing.
Ray,
So is Homer Bush more “successful” than Arod because he has World Series Rings?
Nobody can win rings by themselves in sports. Its a ridiculous premise to state one’s success is ONLY tied up in how many rings they win.
That’s been the talk radio argument for years in sports and it makes no sense.
Under that premise, Mark Rypien has had more success than Dan Marino because he’s won a ring.
Joe Crede has been more successful than Arod because he’s won a ring. Same for Scott Rolen.
Do you believe those guys are more successful than HOF players because they won a ring?
Is Ted Williams career a failure because he didn’t win a ring?
Nobody is saying Arod is perfect. Far from it.
But to deem his time in NY thus far a “failure” because he hasn’t won a ring is ridiculous.
Mike Mussina never won a ring in NY and I don’t see his career as a Yankee as being a failure.
Sometimes, its nothing more than just bad luck or not taking advantage of opportunities.
raymagnetic,
Your comment raises some interesting questions. If ARod has a string of awesome playoff performances but the Yankees never win a championship with him, is he still a failure? If ARod bats .000 in the playoffs but the Yankees win the World Series that year anyway, is he no longer a failure? Was Ted Williams a failure?
This kind of debate is just for kicks. ARod doesn’t care what we think and will continue to work hard and make a fortune no matter how he’s perceived. My view is just that labeling ARod a failure because the team hasn’t won a championship during his tenure ignores how baseball works. Teams win championships in spite of awful performances from star players, and get eliminated in spite of great performances from those players.
We can expect ARod to drive in the runner every time in the playoffs and feel disappointed and upset when he doesn’t, or we can expect him to fail, like we do for just about every other player, and be thrilled when he comes through. It’s simply a matter of fan preference.
Absolutely, SJ44.
Yeah, Alex is a very big part of the team, no getting around it. But he doesn’t pitch (and inadequate pitching has been a big part of the story here the past few years), nor does he bat in more than one spot in the order, nor does he make managerial decisions.
Ted Williams, Ernie Banks, the list is pretty long of great players who didn’t win rings. That can’t be the number one criteria for greatness.
I’ve read that Mussina lending some quotes to the book, any idea what the topic was.
What’s interesting here to me, the more quotes from the book we’re treated to, is the sense that Torre could not manage the 2002-2007 Yankees. He talks about the players being more selfish, which may or may not be true. But he still had a core of his “unselfish” players, for one. For another, if he was such a genius with people, as we’ve all be told, shouldn’t he have been able to have had more impact?
And another problem here is the 2002-2007 Yankees did win their division. They did win a lot of games. What they didn’t do, couldn’t do, was take it to the end. And that seems to have more to do with the pitching than anything else. In 2002, David Wells gave up on the team, pretty much. In 2003, I believe they just got plain worn down by the Red Sox series prior to the WS. What was selfish about that team? The team that put it all out on the field? Literally. And then saw the exodus of 3 starting pitchers who needed to be replaced, pronto!
2004 was one game away from the WS. The series with the Red Sox, I’ve come to believe, was mis-managed.
That leaves 2005 through 2007. Those teams were injury-plagued, yet still managed to get to the playoffs. I thought those teams actually pulled together quite a bit to get through some adversity. 2006 against Detroit disturbed me – Sheffield at first, leaving guys on the bench who brought them to the party.
So, actually, I don’t see how “selfish players” come into play here.
It’s a lot more complicated than the book is making it seem. But the book seems to be holding Joe at arm’s distance from the team, and perhaps THAT was the problem.
raymagnetic
Was Mattingly’s career a failure? His lack of rings doesn’t diminish what he did for the Yankees to me.
All the Yanks can do is go out and get quality players when they are available.
If the Yanks didn’t sign Pavano, Sabathia, Burkett, or Arod the same people would be critical of the Yanks for not pulling the trigger.
As for Sabathia & AJ, can we let them pitch like 1 friggin’ inning in a Yankee uniform before we proclaim them failures.
Pavano got hurt and hurt and hurt. It was a freak thing. How would the Yanks have known this. There were many other teams trying to sign Pavano that offseason. Sometimes you win in free agency, sometimes you don’t. It’s not an exact science.
As for ARod…in 5 years he’s had 2 great seasons and 3 very good ones. Find me a Yankee who’s had a better 5 year stretch offensively that isn’t named Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle. He didn’t hit well in the playoffs, we know that. But would you like the team better if we had kept Alfonso Soriano instead??? How well did he hit in the playoffs???
Every year that Cashman has been GM the Yanks have been picked to finish in either 1st or 2nd place. If players have gotten hurt or underperformed in the postseason it’s not his fault. He gives Yankee fans a quality product every year.
Joe is right about pitching in the playoffs. If you want to place blame for playoff losses on a particular player, you probably should focus on a pitcher.
Wang turned in two atrocious starts in the 2007 ALDS, racking up an ERA of over 19 in fewer than six innings and handing the Indians two games. ARod wasn’t much of a factor in that series, either positive or negative, but he didn’t give the series away like Wang did.
Of course, virtually all Yankee fans rightly forgive Wang for pitching so terribly because they realize that these things happen. Yet many of those same fans apparently think ARod was responsible for losing that series.
i think he invited pavano on that road trip to force him to get serious about helping the team. this was after the umpteenth injury and the car crash, there were serious questions as to whether he even cared about the team. torre probably figured that if he had to face his teammates it might motivate him to get it together that off-season. i dont blame torre for trying it, b/c letting pavano hang out on his own in florida clearly wasnt working.
and how is it so horrible to pavano that he had to go travel with his team for a week or so (especially since he was getting paid $10M for doing nothing.) why would anybody feel bad about that. he deserved alot worse treatment than that imo. anybody who feels bad for him over his is a bleeding-heart.
Is hitting over 300 for 3 out of 5 seasons. Hitting over 100 rbis and hitting more then 30 home runs every season crumbling? I do agree we overpaid for Burnett but he is not what Carl Pavano was.
Doreen- All great points!! But again it appears Joe can take credit for the ws wins, and deflect the lack of a ws on the players.
Doreen
Good observation.
The more I read about all this stuff, the more questions I have.
Great points Doreen.
I will never understand why Torre had ARod bat sixth in games 1 and 2 of the 2006 ALDS. ARod has just come off a red-hot September in which he batted .358 with 8 HR, and yet Torre replaced him with Sheffield and moved him down in the lineup.
Now, granted, this should not have phased ARod, and I don’t think it gave ARod an excuse to have such an awful series.
Yet it was still inexcusable managing, especially if it did somehow affect ARod negatively. And as SJ44 wrote, batting ARod 8th in game 4 was also unforgivable.
Those moves, which made no strategic sense, seemed like the actions of a guy managing with his heart and not with his head. Now they really look petty and vindictive. Torre might have put his dislike for one of his players above his duty to do what’s best for the team. And that’s one of the very worst things a manager can do.
OH NO, THE MEDIA MARKET!!!
what does that mean, that the Yankees should NEVER sign anyone who hasn’t played in a major market already?
over his 5 seasons in NY, A-Rod has easily been the most valuable player in the AL.
terrible column.
how about some quality control, Pete?
you post one of your best columns ever yesterday, then follow it up with this trash?
how long until pitchers and catchers?
Stick to numbers, kid.
I would believe that when mangmnt of any team goes to bed at night,knowing they need serious upgrade position wise. Each and everyone of them try thier very best to pick the player who is most likely to give them arodian talent with the money they have. Plain and simple I think. It is very possbile we are watching a player who may one day be considered the best all around player ever, and dudes he’s on our team. And even if he isn’t, you just gotta know he will be in the argument.
This is just disgusting:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....index.html
”Now let’s get back to the present. Rodriguez, although good, has not lived up to the expectations and is jeered by a large majority of fans”
MVP twice in the five years with the Yankees…leads the team in every offensive catagory…
It’s not he who hasn’t lived up [realistic] expectations…It’s the team itself that has let us down..
A-Rod can’t do it by himself nor should be expected to drive in every ‘winning’ run.
If Torre had accepted the final Yankee offer he called “insulting”, he might still be the Yankee manager today with attainable incentives.
Then again, with Wang and Posada’s injuries, there no telling how bad he would have burned out the bullpen and managed the team into a 4th place finish in 2008.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Torre
Just so everyone knows, I meant that A-Rod has not lived up to the standards of MANY Yankees’ fans. I am not one of those fans.
I guess I forgot to add a bit to the statement.
“Pedroia’s brother’s molestation charges make it to Yahoo Sports MLB headlines, but not ESPN MLB…..hmmm.”
hmm, yet this one is there:
“Delay in arraignment for Yanks’ Chamberlain”
hmmm, indeed…
First WS in 18 years.
Fine delete my posts. You’re still a little punk.
What do Arod, Torre, Jeter, and Cashman have in common? They are all millionaire’s. I don’t care who said what about whom, the bottom line is winning. If you lose you’re out, if you win you’re in. This town has no room for whiner’s trying to stir up bad blood in the papers.
Yankee2123, i think the comments are acting up today. mine didn’t show up right away…
Saucy, ESPN is a joke. They scoop other writer’s stories, without giving them credit, and are always behind the curve.
“. . . With Sabathia and Burnett now Yankees, all fans can do is hope . . .” Well, I guess given that it’s January, that’s really all any one of us can do; so life could be worse! In fact, isn’t “hope” all we can ever really do anyway? Cause you know, most of us don’t actually play for the Yankees.
I hope that stuff doesn’t happen.
Saucy,
Nah, I think they zapped my posts, because I took a shot at the kid Chris for his Red and Green Yankee hats. Didn’t Limp Bizkit go out of style like ten years ago?
ZAP!!!
Our rotation is the most stacked since 2003. On paper this is what we have:
Sabathia
Burnett
Wang
Pettitte
Chamberlain
In Reserve
Hughes
Aceves
Coke
Kennedy
I’d go to war with this
Sabathia is not the best pitcher in all of baeball, far from it. And A-Fraud’s expectations were that he would bring a championship to town. He was an MVP on a last place Texas team, so who cares about his personal awards. He has far-from lived up to the high expectations the Yankees had for him the past 4 years!
And look at the Phillies rotation last year
Hamels
*Cough*
Moyer
Kendrick
Myers
Eaton
Blanton
If they can win with that motley bunch, anyone can. Hamels is an Ace though, and you need that horse to pick up two games in a big series. Hopefully we have one in our group.
Arod has created his own PR problems, by acting aloof with the public. You never see the guy helping people out, or doing something good for anyone but himself. He needs a new PR person.
I went into a NYC sporting goods store and saw the Yankee jerseys on sale. There were a few Burnett No. 34 jerseys ready for buyers. Did they have a whole bunch of Pavano jerseys ready when he signed for the Yankees a few years back? Does anyone out there have one of the Pavano jerseys—it could a a weird souvenir!
I understand Arod makes more money than anyone in baseball but the Yankees pitching since 2003 has been far from competitive. The team has gone after big bats in lieu of top pitching. This year… CC and Burnett have been brought in to stack up to the big 3 of the Sux and the Rays. Plus, we have a #1 in training (Joba) and a reliable veteran to pitch against the 4th and 5th of each staff.
Now, the bullpen can do its damage in the 8th and 9th versus always getting warmed up in the 4th or 5th. Big difference.
You add Tex to protect ARod in the 3 hole, and now the pressure is off a bit. ARod is still amazing with the bat, but pitching has been missing since the last WS.
As for the Phillies staff last year? let’s remmeber they pitched in the NL Least where 1 dominant starter is enough to get you to the playoffs. The AL East is a dog fight and every starter needs to be an ace every day.
“Now let’s get back to the present. Rodriguez, although good, has not lived up to the expectations and is jeered by a large majority of fans”
———————————————-
You forgot to mention that the majority of fans are complete idiots.
ARod has a career OPS+ of 147. But how has he done in his 5 years are a Yankee? His Yankee OPS+ is 153, with 2 MVPs throw in, and a number of years as a VORP leader. He has averaged 42 HRs a year (this being a RHB in YS).
ARod in a historically great player. NOT a God. NOT ‘THE Best’. NOT perfect. Simply an excellent, excellent ballplayer.
“Now let’s get back to the present. Rodriguez, although good, has not lived up to the expectations and is jeered by a large majority of fans”
———————————————-
You forgot to mention that the majority of fans are complete idiots.
ARod has a career OPS+ of 147. But how has he done in his 5 years are a Yankee? His Yankee OPS+ is 153, with 2 MVPs throw in, and a number of years as a VORP leader. He has averaged 42 HRs a year (this being a RHB in YS).
ARod in a historically great player. NOT a God. NOT ‘THE Best’. NOT perfect. Simply an excellent, excellent ballplayer.
“In the first year with the up and coming Joe, one of the best bullpens we have seen as Yankees fans…”
*And back to something I have contended for the past 8 years!!!!!*
Joe Torre’s vendetta against Jeff Nelson started the demise of the current great Yankee era. Let’s look at the facts. Nelson complained to the press about Torre leaving him off the All Star Team. That was in 2000, the last year the Yankees won the World Series. Nellie had a 2.45 ERA that year. Cashman ended up offering him an embarassment of a contract (I believe it was 3 mil) and Nelson left and went to Seattle. Joe’s well known grudge against players who talked to the press and tarnished the Saint Joe image in the process was played out against one of the Yankees greatest relief pitchers. It made me sick to my stomach at the time because the key to the Yankees’success had been its rotation and its OUTSTANDING bullpen. That was when we had the Nellie/Stanton tandem.
The bullpen was never the same, and the Yankees never won again.
”That’s your main objective — you have to win,” said Jeff Nelson, *the reliever who has complained mildly about Torre’s decision to leave him off the All-Star team.* ”No matter how you go about doing it, no matter if you step on feelings or step on guys, you’re the manager in a very tough market and for a team that has a reputation for winning, and you’ve got to do what it takes to win.”
Unless you cross the manager. Then winning becomes entirely secondary to him finding a way to get rid of you.
“*Last year, Yankees middle reliever Jeff Nelson thought he deserved to be selected, and when Torre did not pick him, Nelson criticized Torre. Now Nelson is with the Mariners, in Seattle,* where the All-Star Game will be played. How would Nelson feel if Stanton was picked to pitch in Seattle? ”I imagine he wouldn’t be real happy,” Stanton said, chuckling.”
Torre singlehandedly insured that the Yankees wouldn’t win any further World Series by making sure Nellie got canned. This is the guy whose number should be retired.
Yeh.
Yankee2123
January 27th, 2009 at 11:30 am
“Arod has created his own PR problems, by acting aloof with the public. You never see the guy helping people out, or doing something good for anyone but himself. He needs a new PR person.”
Wasn’t there a story about Arod saving a kid in traffic the first week he was in New York? I seem to remember stuff about him pulling a kid from in front of a bus. I was sure at the time (still am) that it was PR crap but it was still out there.
I don’t know if he will be considered the best player ever when all is said and done (IMHO its Ruth, Mantle, Mays pick the order), but there is only one player right now that is in the same class as Arod (hint: he plays first base on an NL central avian team). Personally I’m just glad that I get to watch him. I expect that someday I will be telling my grandkids about the best player I ever saw and how no one playing measures up.
I think that the Guest Post illustrates the disconnect that some younger fans (I’m not an old one either) have with baseball reality. When all you’ve known is winning then you don’t know how to handle losing. I love that the Yankees set their sights on a WS ring every year and I think baseball would be better off if more teams had that mentality, but it just can’t happen. I don’t feel like backing this up with math, but I doubt a team has won more games than the Yankees this decade, maybe the Angels have.
You forgot about Teixeira!
I don’t think it’s fair to knock on Sabathia just because he hasn’t pitched in a big city yet. Most players do well in NY..there are a few who crumble miserably, but everyone always assumes that’s what’s going to happen.
Friends, family, Eric Wedge, and Mike Cameron have all said that CC will flourish in NY. There’s absolutely zero reason to think he’d have a harder time dealing with NY than the average player.
I agree with you that Burnett is iffy at best. If he stays healthy, he’ll give the Yankees a GREAT #3 starter behind CC and Wang, but that’s easier said than done.
We missed the playoffs last year and still had a decent team. This year we’re (technically) adding CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Wang, and a full-time Joba (up to or around 150 innings). We’ll have Hughes/Kennedy/Aceves/Coke waiting in the wings if any injuries arise, and our offense adds depth with the (hopeful) return of Cano’s excellence, Posada, and Matsui.
We strengthened the bench by adding Nick Swisher and getting rid of Betemit, and I’m hoping that a spring training duel between Melky and Gardner lights a fire underneath them and forces one of them into greatness.
There’s a LOT to be excited about if you’re a Yankee fan. On paper, I’d say we’re definitely the favorites to win it all. If 2+ pitchers get injured and Cano stinks it up again, that’s a completely different story…but technically anything could happen. The entire team could spontaneously combust…you can’t go into the season thinking that Murphy’s Law will take over. In all likelihood, that won’t be the case.
Trisha,
Your post wreaks of conspiracy theory. Jeff Nelson was amazing when he was with the Yankees, but to say Torre was to blame for the next 5+ years of failed championship bids because of one player is idiotic.
One player doesn’t make a team, and you can’t blame Torre for the next 5 years of missed championships because he left Nelson off the all-star team. C’mon.
Brent – Torre saw to it that Nelson didn’t get re-signed with the Yankees because Nellie had the audacity to complain to the press about not going to the All Star Game!
Nellie was a HUGE component of those winning teams. It was either Nellie or Stanton and then Mo.
What ended up breaking down after that was the vaunted bullpen, our bullpen which theretofore had been virtually untouchable. And yeah, Nellie was a huge link in that chain. The bullpen was never the same. Never.
What in hell kind of manager gets a player canned because the player talked to the press??????? And by the way, this stuff wasn’t any great secret. Nellie wasn’t the only person to end up at the end of Torre’s wrath. It was well known that you didn’t cross him.
Torre decided that he was more important than the team when he made sure Nelson was let go.
That’s not okay with me. It shouldn’t be okay with anyone else either, not if you care about the team known as the New York Yankees!
Just my opinion.
P.S. There was no way of course that Torre could have known what the outcome of that move would be. But that he was arrogant and ridiculous enough to do it tells me all I need to know about the man.
thanks for summarizing the yankees…but we are well aware of everything that has happened
Pete, is that your MySpace photo?
Oh jeez. This is why I don’t read blogs written by people in high school who don’t remember the Yankees before 1996.
Rodriguez crumbles to the media pressure to the tune of carrying the team to the playoffs on his back twice.
Mr Faded Glory,
My sentiments exactly. I grew up watching the Yankees in the sheer futility of 1990-1991, when all you had to root for was a declining Mattingly. In those years, it was a cinch to get field tickets.
Are you kidding me with those pictures?? Also, weak post.
I guess while we’re at it, we should pray that the black plague doesn’t make a return and strike the Bronx this year. And here’s the beautiful counter argument to your hackneyed point: even if one of the big 5 gets seriously injured, the Yanks now have a deep system with some big league ready talent. Yes, Hughes and Kennedy were embarrassments last year, but if they’re both healthy this year, one or both could really shine if needed to step up in such a situation. So yeah, it could be a lot of wasted money ala Pavano, but it’s a risk the Yanks will tell you they’re willing to take.