Audio: Brett Gardner
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Podcast on Feb 10, 2009 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Here is an interview with gritty, gutty, scrappy Brett Gardner. He talks about his trying to make the club and the A-Rod aftermath.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Lots of multi-media on the blog today. Let me know what you like, what you don’t like, what you’d like to see more of, etc. I’m open to suggestions.
————
I have a newspaper story to write. But in yet another shameless plug, I’ll be on with Scott Ferrall tonight at 9 p.m. on Howard 101 on Sirius Satellite Radio. I guess that means I can curse on the air.
More player interviews please
Is there a way to replay your 30-minute video chat from earlier?
THANKS.
Shake it uppppppp!!
I love Ferrall, he isn’t scared to tell it like it is about sports. He’s is great on Sirius and it’s too bad he won’t be with SNY anymore. I guess they finally got sick of him actually finishing an opinion.
Sirius isn’t just about cursing either Pete, it’s just more free flowing then FCC bound radio.
cheeses, where did you get this interview, on a fricking runway?
and ummmmmmmm i think we can put this behind us and ummmmmmm and ummmm
Would have asked Gardner his take on coming up mid-year, as opposed to coming through ST and all.
I would love to know how much more confident/prepared he feels in this year vs. last? What major differences have you found? You do anything differently in preparing for this year?
Good interview though. Good luck to Brett. Hopefully he can a. win the CF position battle and give us a base stealing threat
OR
2. motivate Melky to play better/harder and smarter, especially at the plate.
Thought of mine:
What kind of hitter does this blog see Melky develop into?
Doubles, gap power, or strictly an average kind of guy with high OBP, or maybe a deep ball threat?
YOUR THOUGHTS?
Now that you’ve decided to run with the big dogs, you will have a quota of 1 F-Bomb per every 30 seconds. I’ll be keeping track ~ Don’t let us down.
SJ44: “The leak? No matter how you slice it, that’s a felony and I hope the judge in SF, who is making noises about conducting an investigation to find the leaker, does so.”
dude, this is funny stuff! You are embarrassing yourself now. You are worried about Selena’s credibility? You have none!
The leak could have come from the union, anywhere else. And this list will soon be circulating. This is not the same as leaking grand jury testimony.
Not a felony! what business are you in? comedy? fantasy?
PETE:
Scott Burell? What, Tate George wasn’t good enough for you?
Sorry but im not yet behind brett g as our cf. It seems like a joke.
Peter – Make sure you ask Ferrall to play the sound clip, “You’re a dick.” Classic
Player interviews are always good
If Melky doesn’t seem improved by mid March, I can see Girardi giving Swisher some looks in CF for use in certain ballparks with Gardner coming in for his speed as a defensive replacement with a game well in hand.
The demensions at Steinbrenner Field are identical to the Stadium so if Swisher passes the test in Florida, Melky could be used in a late March deal seeing as he would be out of options.
One last point before I start dinner (grilled salmon, fresh broccoli, roaster potatoes, and a good chard)….
Ballplayers have always looked for an edge, whether sharpened spikes (Ty Cobb and others), spitballs and otherwise defaced balls (Gaylord Perry, Whitey Ford, and very many others), corked bats (Albert Belle, and who knows who else), nails in bats (Norm Cash, I think), greenies in the 70s, 80s, 90s,,,and now steroids and HGH. If you throw out the “cheaters” then you would be hard pressed to field many teams. Cortisone shots for pain – that’s another drug that artificially enhances performance. Throw Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan out of the HOF?
If nothing else, then this ARod and steroids business makes us think what we previously may have thought was black and white.
Enough of the moralists and the high-holies. (BTW, why isn’t the NFL, NBA, NHL…held to the same standard and spotlight?)
Let’s get back to baseball. Let’s go Yankees!
Off to the grill.
Pat M,
From the other thread…
He’s going into his junior year.
If he gets the right offer, he will sign.
Has to be the right team, money, etc.
Sooner or later the list will come out.
I want to know if the samples are being retested for the cream and the clear.
Hey, Pete…with stuff like this, a high-pass filter (that drops out everything below 120Hz or so) would probably really help out with that wind problem.
pete during spring training games u should have like clips of the games becuase they dont show all the spring training games
Steroids in baseball didn’t just start with this generation of baseball.
In fact, what is the last decade to be steroid/ growth hormone-free?
Selena Roberts has gone after Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Duke Lacrosse Players, Bob Ryan, and now Alex Rodriguez for no other reason other than she didn’t like the way they treated women. She picks apart their characters in attack pieces that she sells as journalism.
Anyone that reads anything this lady has written about any of these guys or Mark Cuban can very easily see that she uses her platform to flat out attack people that don’t live up to her moral standards. That isn’t good journalism.
Pete, you can’t say that this is about her attacking a Yankee and that’s why people are angry at her. Have you read what she’s written about all people?
SJ44, Are they heading out here for any early season games or tourneys ??? If he stays healthy everything should fall into place….Pepperdine usually has a Tournament in late Feb…Great place to play and watch a ballgame…Great scenery on many fronts…
Celerino Sanchez,
Since when is leaking a court sealed document not a crime?
are you talking about this pepperdine scenery?
http://graphics.cstv.com/graph.....erdine.jpg
o sorry some chick go in the way of the beautiful ocean view!
That wasn’t wind blowing or a jet passing.
That was Brett running.
Pete was in George’s golfcart next to him.
Pete. I love the multi media stuff.
Drive 4-5,
I think Roberts should be forced to attend a Yankee/Sox game in Boston. We would then find out who the fans dislike most by who’s has the most profanity yelled at them and who has the most hot dogs/beers thrown at them. I think its only fair.
Pete, can you do video interviews with the players?
The Pepperdine Waves…Malibu’s baseball team…..Many of the A lister’s go to the games
http://www.spursreport.com/for.....post1.html
another article roberts wrote about kobe bryant.
Lara:
My “camera” is built into the laptop, so that seems unlikely. But I may try and get a player or two to come up into the press box for a sit down if I can arrange it.
You guys are talking about Pepperdine. I covered UConn basketball from 1986-99 and went to dozens of campuses. That is the nicest one I saw. The basketball coach, Jim Harrick at the time, had the greatest office. He had a panoramic view of the Pacific.
I was out there in January and the entire time all I could wonder is why I didn’t go to school there.
S.o.S.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Drive 4-5,
I think Roberts should be forced to attend a Yankee/Sox game in Boston. We would then find out who the fans dislike most by who’s has the most profanity yelled at them and who has the most hot dogs/beers thrown at them. I think its only fair.
LOL I know enough about Red Sox fans to know their sympathy for A Rod ends when he steps on the field against them:)
One of the best Fenway moments in the last couple of years was the night the fans wore the blonde wigs to taunt A Rod. The look on their face when he took Papalbon deep in the 9th to tie the game was priceless.
Pete. Any chance on a hughes interview from tampa? Great job as always pete.
My son turned down a full ride there to play baseball….Many distractions Pete…They always have one of the best surfing teams in the country
I’d love to have Bret Gardner on the bench as our version of Dave Roberts. It’d be great to have that late game speed weapon.
Question for all. Should Arod pass on the WBC and just play the spring training games with the Yanks to hopefully get most of the mocking and media behind him when opening day starts? It didnt seem like Pettitte had to answer to much after the season started. Thoughts?
question, u think maybe some of the yankees are really glad arod will be playing in the wbc?
Pete
What was your take on The New York Post Headline A-Hole. Is that responsible publishing? Kids may look up to Baseball players who cheat, but they also read the papers too. Was that wrong to publish such a vulgar headline?
Hey Pete, How about something like this with Swish?
“I was out there in January and the entire time all I could wonder is why I didn’t go to school there.”
what ! and miss walking through brown soy sauce covered snow as you dodge bricks falling from the perpetually in repair library?
my favorite campus: university of california- santa cruz
Drive 4-5,
I would have paid to watch their reaction of the ninth inning bomb. Priceless. Im thinking it was like the 98 World Series here in San Diego when the Padres fans were standing up cheering for their closer Hoffman with a lead and within seconds Scott Broscious took him deep. All that was left standing were Yankee fans, while Padre fans were sitting stunned at what had just happened(almost ready to cry). Unbelievable feeling and hillarious at the same time.
I just thought for once the Sox would get over the Evil Empire stuff. I guess some things never change. My bad.
I’m having a little trouble understanding, on a very general level, why a contract is not allowed to be challenged if one of the parties misrepresented themselves. I’m not saying the Yankee should or shouldn’t try to part ways with ARod, though that is circumstance is why I am thinking of it. At the very least, those bonus parts ought to be able to be struck out.
But in general, why are these baseball contracts so ironclad?
When will they release the rest of the steroid user list!
Release it already!!
Could I make a request, Peter?
I know its tough with your games schedule, commitments/deadlines for writing stories for the paper and things, but could you occasionally do a video chat maybe at night or during the day on a weekend once in a while?
Just for those of us that work or have school and stuff. I think the multimedia stuff is a great idea, and it would be cool to be able to join in sometimes.
“On Sunday, law professor Jeffrey Rosen reviewed for the New York Times the new book “Until Proven Innocent — Political Correctness and the Shameful Injustices of the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case,” by Stuart Taylor & KC Johnson, which, among bringing other injustices surrounding the case to light, also excoriates the mainstream press’s shoddy coverage, much of which presumed the guilt of the three white lacrosse players.
Rosen called the book “riveting,” but devoted just two sentences to the frequent passages that rip apart the Times’s shoddy coverage of the case, taking particular aim at reporter Duff Wilson and columnist Selena Roberts. “
Also, since the players only agreed to the original testing if the results were anonymous, could the players themselves force a vote of the membership to get the rest of the names out?
more interactive features w/the brunette in the orange bikini from the Stilleto banner would be greatly appreciated.
S.o.S.
February 10th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
Question for all. Should Arod pass on the WBC and just play the spring training games with the Yanks to hopefully get most of the mocking and media behind him when opening day starts? It didnt seem like Pettitte had to answer to much after the season started. Thoughts?
————————————————————
Actually, Rodriguez is more likely to get more game time and more work without the pirannha around if he plays in the WBC than he would in Tampa. He gets a chance to get his body and mind ready. As soon as he gets to Tampa, the BS will start, and he needs toget all the reporters together on his first offday and let them ask the questions for an hour, and after that, the subject of steroids is history…no more questions from there on out…period.
If the reporters miss the opportunity, too damned bad. They should have pushed themselves away from the breakfast buffet table an hour earlier. Absolutely zero questions about his personal life, and the first time one gets asked, give them the finger and walk off. That should be the last time for the year.
whozat
I’m impressed, You know what a high pass filter is. Are you in the audio bus?
Also, since the players only agreed to the original testing if the results were anonymous, could the players themselves force a vote of the membership to get the rest of the names out?
****************************************************
Do you think they would do that? I’d imagine given that 103 of them would afraid that their names would show up on the list. Because would they know if their names were on it or not? (unless they got a vague comment from Orza like Alex did) Would they want to vote for something that could potentially bring down on them the kind of ire that Alex has just received?
Its interesting to ponder.
Personally given that the union hasn’t protected them very well, I don’t get why they’d feel a shred of loyalty to it. But what do I know? lol
“and the first time one gets asked, give them the finger and walk off.”
Im not sure about doing that GB. They would probably have an article the next day about Arod having roid rage.
hardwired,
lol. Isnt there another girl in that silletto add? Why not both?
I got filtered.
I have no idea what I said either. I was just responding to Doreen’s ponderation about the union voting.
Drive 4-5,
Selena Roberts will not face any felony charge for what she wrote.
Doreen
February 10th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Also, since the players only agreed to the original testing if the results were anonymous, could the players themselves force a vote of the membership to get the rest of the names out?
————————————————————
Unless Susan Illston, the 9th Circuit Court of California, who is the judge who ordered the seal, is overturned, it will never happen. Even Rodriguez, last night, said it wouldn’t serve a purpose to release the names.
***Gammons: For the good of the game, would you like to see all those 104 names released, now that, that, from the positive tests in 2003?
Rodriguez: I don’t have any interest, um, in any of that. I mean, obviously, I would defer to Major League Baseball, uh, the Commissioner’s office, and the union to deal with those matters. I mean, the one thing that I’m proud of is coming, uh, forthright about my own situation, which is the only person I govern.
Gammons: How do you think this got leaked out?
Rodriguez: Peter, it’s really not that important. I, I don’t know. I don’t know. I mean, um, I’m glad it’s behind me, I’m glad that, that I’m addressing it and I will continue address it, and hopefully at some point we can put it behind me and focus on playing baseball.”
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....8;c_id=mlb
GB7 -
Thanks – I wondered if the players union made a plea to the Court to have the seal overturned, could it be done.
Just there’s been so much talk about not really being able to move forward until or unless the names are all out there. Not sure I believe that, but at least you wouldn’t be living under the threat of waiting for the next name to drop.
I think Arod should definitely not play in the WBC. He needs to be in a more controlled environment. He will speak the 1st day of camp and then the media will know what no more questions will be answered and that will be it. But if he is playing in the WBC then he will be mobbed everywhere he goes. What is the WBC team going to bring security with them so the media can’t bother him? It is going to a giant circus around him and he will have every single media outlet on his tail. It is not necessary it is more important they make sure his head is ready for the season.
Doreen
February 10th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
GB7 –
Thanks – I wondered if the players union made a plea to the Court to have the seal overturned, could it be done.
Just there’s been so much talk about not really being able to move forward until or unless the names are all out there. Not sure I believe that, but at least you wouldn’t be living under the threat of waiting for the next name to drop.
————————————————————
I’d think that there’s a better chance that if it gets released/unsealed, the Feds will release the names before the union does.
Doug Glanville – Former Phillie, Cub and Texas Ranger (Teammate of AROD – had the locker next to him) has written a must read about the Alex and the steroid story. I highly recommend that everybody read it…especially Pete.
I thought the purpose of the unfair, unbalanced, and incomplete Mitchell Report was to put a bow on the investigations into baseball’s steroid past and move forward.
Aside from titillation, exposing a few hypocrites, and spreading the pain (not all awful results, I suppose), what good would releasing the other 103 names do? I would guess that the majority of them are known to us already as PED users. It would be fun to see a few players from teams we don’t like exposed, as theater, but I think I would just as soon see the list remain secret.
Oops – the Doug Glanville’s Article is on today’s New York Times…check the on-line version of the NY Times…it is a very interesting take on the situation.
Doreen
Why would the union do that? Never in a million years would any union ask a court to release the names. Destroy them maybe, not release. If any player is concerned about it, they can just apologize now and get it over with.
CaptainsCorner
February 10th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I think Arod should definitely not play in the WBC. He needs to be in a more controlled environment. He will speak the 1st day of camp and then the media will know what no more questions will be answered and that will be it. But if he is playing in the WBC then he will be mobbed everywhere he goes. What is the WBC team going to bring security with them so the media can’t bother him? It is going to a giant circus around him and he will have every single media outlet on his tail. It is not necessary it is more important they make sure his head is ready for the season.
————————————————————
Don’t kid yourself…it will be a feeding frenzy where ever he is. It won’t be any better in Tampa.
My junior year my team went out and played USD at their stadium. I can’t imagine living in southern California. How do you deal with living in perfect weather ALL the time?
O/T — anybody here from Texas? I’ve been thinking about moving down there after I graduate.
Tarheel -
Just asking the question. As I stated before, I’ve been hearing from so many places (including that players themselves want the names released) that releasing the names would put an end to at least the “torture” of the unknown and the uneasy feeling of what’s next. I wanted to know if it was possible, not probable.
looks like congress realized they have bigger fish to fry than arod: http://www.newsday.com/sports/.....3192.story
“With unemployment in this country approaching double digits and our constituents’ very livelihoods being threatened by the nation’s economic woes, I intend to focus on passing President Obama’s Economic Recovery legislation to get Americans back to work to fix our sinking economy. The American people need leaders who will focus on stemming job losses and getting credit to flow in the marketplace before hearing from yet another person who cheated both himself and the game of baseball.
“The Committee began this investigation in the face of a weak and ineffective drug testing policy that compromised the integrity of Major League Baseball. Now that baseball is implementing one of the most comprehensive drug testing policies in major league sports, I look forward to monitoring how well the policy is working to ensure the credibility of our national pastime.”
good.
Pete you could have the JN buy you a decent camera?
This Blog put it on the map as far as I’m concerned.
Rob NY — 2009 The Road to Redemption
February 10th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
My junior year my team went out and played USD at their stadium. I can’t imagine living in southern California. How do you deal with living in perfect weather ALL the time?
O/T—anybody here from Texas? I’ve been thinking about moving down there after I graduate.
————————————————————
What kind of weather do you want? dry desert? El Paso. Hot, and humid? Austin/San Antonio. Hurricanes and hot humid? Houston. Only interested in hurricanes? Galveston.
Jobs…Oil/shipping? Houston. Electronics/medical? Austin. Night life? Austin. Austin is my preference.
“Aside from titillation, exposing a few hypocrites, and spreading the pain (not all awful results, I suppose), what good would releasing the other 103 names do?”
Nick, I have mixed feelings over whether the other names should be released. One possible advantage that some have argued is that the players not on the list would not be suspect.
Some players feel that everyone is suspect now and that is not fair to those who are clean.
I still have mixed feelings about it, but that is one of the arguments.
Those name will be released one way or another. Whether it’s through the courts unsealing it or the feds leaking the name illegaly to the press.
I certanly won’t gloat about the players on the list-even if there are Sox players on it. What’s the point?
Doreen
I understand your point. It would not be possible for the union to ask that of the court.
“I certanly won’t gloat about the players on the list-even if there are Sox players on it. What’s the point?”
Tom can we gloat a little if it’s Schilling?
Tarheel -
Thank you.
Yeah, I’ll call it the Schilling exception.
new post
The ‘clear the names of the innocent’ argument makes some sense. But someone’s name not showing up on that list doesn’t prove that they’ve never used banned PEDs, just that they weren’t caught in that particular anonymous survey.
I would be impressed if someone came forward and said “I don’t know if I’m on the list or not, but I’m tired of wondering if I’ll ever be exposed. I used PEDs back then. I wish I hadn’t, but it’s too late. I realized it was stupid a long time ago and I’m happy to say I haven’t failed any tests since the stricter policies were introduced. You can tell by my lack of orange skin that I’m now clean as a whistle. Play ball!”
Well, maybe it would be impressive if Player X just said *some* of that.
listening to the 6 tenets of life from Satchel Paige on Baseball: Inning 5, reminds me of one of Stengels better quotes:
“Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player. It’s staying up all night looking for a woman that does him in.”
http://www.brainyquote.com/quo.....engel.html
“One possible advantage that some have argued is that the players not on the list would not be suspect.”
If only it was that easy. Bonds tested negative in 2003 but the feds retested it this year and they say it was positive using newer methods.
Outing players who were guaranteed privacy is wrong, even if the intentions are good.
Celerino Sanchez
February 10th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
SJ44: “The leak? No matter how you slice it, that’s a felony and I hope the judge in SF, who is making noises about conducting an investigation to find the leaker, does so.”
dude, this is funny stuff! You are embarrassing yourself now. You are worried about Selena’s credibility? You have none!
The leak could have come from the union, anywhere else. And this list will soon be circulating. This is not the same as leaking grand jury testimony.
Not a felony! what business are you in? comedy? fantasy?
—————
Celerino Sanchez, if you bothered to read his entire post, you’d have realized he was referring to the person who leaked the information to Robers, not Roberts herself.
Also, why the HELL would the UNION leak this? To screw itself?
love it all – love the actual BASEBALL info…more pictures of the workouts would be great…lots of content pete great job! makes me wish i was in tampa again like last year..
Pete, I guess you only bash Sirius in reference to Chris Russo? How come you didn’t write you were going to be on Scott Farrell, wherever he is these days like you do when you mention Russo?
as far as how melky will develop who could say?….how did he look at his best?…great arm great defense, .280 average..maybe a little power?….15 homers…i’d take that if he ever found his way again…i have not seen enough of gardner obviously…i like him though…i like him working the count and the at bat…melky is kind of a hacker…but i also wanna see gardner be aggressive…a few times i saw him last year he seemed to be looking for a walk…i like a little authority to know…ha. anyway, i heard his defense is incredible…who knows?…is he bubba crosby in sheeps clothes?…i liked bubba…if one of these dudes can consistently hit .280 and play great defense and add some mysterious excitement to the zillion dollar line up i’d be pretty excited. someone has to be half decent…if not one of these guys then hello austin jackson…we’ll be having this same exchange during spring of next year. i hope just hope they don’t get another old rich guy instead…i like when they give the kids a shot…i especially like when it works out….cano…wang…soriano….jeter…jorge…mariano…andy…
please let me add hughes and joba to that list…………