Burnett meets the press
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 13, 2009 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Advertisement
Sponsored by:
Search
Advertisement
Follow
Mobile
Read The LoHud Yankees Blog on the go by navigating to the blog on your smartphone or mobile device's browser. No apps or downloads are required.
LoHud TV
More Videos
Advertisement
Place an ad
Call (914) 694-3581
Monthly Archives
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- January 2007 - Part 1
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
CC- is avoiding the press after he read our list of questions.
AJ = HEAVY METAL !
Can you imagine what that must be like, having 50 guys shove microphones in your face? That can’t be easy.
A bunch of reporters around Burnett. I hope no one touched him. Anyway, he should go to the doctors to check if he’s not injured yet.
Anyone know what the Joe Torre press conference is about that’s scrolling on the bottom of espn?
More details later please?
AJ sounded very cool at the press conference, refreshingly honest. I believe, absolutely, that he will thrive in NY – he clearly wants (and now has) the big stage. Francesca was mentioning yesterday how this guy might be a big star in NY, with his stuff….he also mentioned that AJ might go over big with the girls, lol.
By the way, Per Evan and Kim, “the book” is being moved up to opening day…unbelievable.
Laura look at this. Picture is tiny but gives you an idea
http://media.northjersey.com/i.....irardi.jpg
Most intriguing spring stories: American League
1. Access A-Rod-wood: Was it Alex Rodriguez’s goal in life to star in his own personal reality show, or did it just bust out when he wasn’t paying attention? Whatever, the February and March episodes of “Alex Zillionaire” are guaranteed to be must-see viewing. Can this man manage to explain away his steroid mysteries, keep Madonna happy, avoid sucking every last ounce of oxygen out of the Yankees’ clubhouse and remember how to hit a splitter without keeping a team of psychotherapists on call 24/7? Stay tuned.
Burnett
Sabathia
Teixeira
2. The Tex, CC and A.J. Show: Back before A-Rod hogged the headlines, the arrival of Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett was supposed to be the story in the Yankees’ camp — or anyone else’s, for that matter. Ya think these guys will miss the days when the biggest issue they faced in spring training was whether to use SPF 15 or SPF 30?
3. Sox’s Anatomy: It’s tough to remember a team whose upside was more dependent on life in the trainer’s room than the 2009 Red Sox. But if John Smoltz, Brad Penny, Takashi Saito, Rocco Baldelli, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett all make it back to perfect health, it might not matter how many negotiable Steinbrenner dollars the Yankees spent this winter.
4. The Amazing Rays: You can kiss the laugh-track era of that team in Tampa Bay goodbye. The rest of the AL East will miss it. But the big question of spring training 2009 is: How dramatically has the Rays’ universe shifted, now that they’ve played in a World Series, moved into a real spring training camp all their own (in exotic Port Charlotte, Fla.) and even found themselves penciled into the Sunday Night Baseball schedule? The quest to prove this group is for real starts right here, right now.
5. Straight A’s: The bad news is, the A’s scored 255 fewer runs than Texas last year. The good news is, they just traded for Matt Holliday, signed Jason Giambi and may have another signing (paging Orlando Cabrera) in them. The good and bad news this spring is, those moves have to work, or Holliday will be calling a moving van on July 31.
Not to start rumors or anything
but look at this guys neck!
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/ga.....thqDDD9aZ7
4RvLYF#photoViewer=urn%3Anewsml%3Asports.yahoo%2Cap%3A20
050301%3Amlb%2Cphoto%2C1c50db9c04ca4694a6b16d67dc8e93bf.arb
itration_uggla_baseball_ny160%3A1
“Laura look at this. Picture is tiny but gives you an idea”
Yikes!! I wonder if it’s always like this or is this A-Rod fallout.
I dont know if laid back is a good thing or a bad thing. i could point to the idea that this implies he wont crack under the pressure of a big game or the weighty expectations in NY. But then again, being laid back could be the reason he does not pitch when he is even feeling sore according to his old manager and that he doesnt really care what people expect of him. Its hard to say whether a uptight but fierce competitor would thrive in NY more than a laid back easy going personality with amazing talent. What do you guys think? Jeter is more of a little of both as is mariano – laid back and easy going but absolute gamers who only care about winning above all else. Arod definitely falls into the uptight, fierce competitor genre.
I cant really think of anyone on the yanks who was real laid back witj amazing talent but not as much competitiveness. I guess the yanks could certainly bring out the competitive nature of a player just because everyone on this team has all star talent so the competitiveness is what gives you the edge on this club. Hopefully, Burnett will learn this and still be able to maintain his easy going demeanor while overhauling his drive to take the ball every five days and do whatever it takes to win.
Im sure that is what the yanks are looking for when they made this deal – they want the talent but i think they wouldnt mind a slight adjustment on the attitude but they feel that this can be accomplished with the most competitive players in the game surrounding him. All I know is if burnett continues his previous trend, he will get ridiculed by the media and fans alike but if he harnesses his talents while becoming a player that is all about the team winning, I think he will go down as one of the better yankee pitchers in team history. He does have that raw ability to just dominate the competition and all he needs is a little motivation and perhaps, I little more control or is that asking for too much?
Laura- Probably a few more than usual, but I’ve seen pictures before and there are always a lot of reporters around the manager.
“Anyone know what the Joe Torre press conference is about…?”
I think he’s going to announce that, after talking with Larry Bowa, he’s ready to say that players and coaches really were saying A-Fraud behind Alex’s back. And by the way, his book is still for sale. It’s more important than ever to -buy- read the book.
Just got back from morning errands.
1. I have never (well, over the past decade or so) why MLB insists on destroying their product. The NFL and NBA seem to understand that fans go to games and watch on TV because of the play of the players, and no other reason. Baseball owners have been trying to tear down players for decades now, and the only thing that makes sense of that for me is their blind desire to break up the union. However, that will never happen, so this sorry state of affairs will go on.
No wonder forward thinking business men, like Mark Cuban, will never get a franchise. It’s amazing that Bill Veeck was ever allowed in.
As a fan, none of this makes the least bit of sense to me. But,then, what should we expect from a used car salesman. Nothing but small-minded thought.
Maybe he is going to say he is retiring?
I just purchased the Torre book this afternoon on Amazon. Read a couple pages in the book store the other day and it was a good read.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3905149
Roberts book is being pushes up. UGH!!!!!
dave
I think that Halliday was a very good role model for AJ. If you saw press confrence he said something like before he was young and stupid (oh no that sounds familiar), and would just try to blow everybody away(paraphrase). He has wised uo nowq and takes care of himself.
Maybe, pettitte has learned that trying to pitch through a severe injury in which you are totally ineffective does not really help the team or himself in any capacity. I guess people could call him a gamer or a team player when andy came out to pitch pretty much every five days last year with a bad shoulder in the second half but I think I would call it stupid. I guess if he really wanted to help the team, he could have ran himself out there once or even twice to see how effective he was in the game and to see if it got any worse or if he had no problems pitching with it.
Despite the answer to the latter part of that question, the former was clearly answered as a no, he was not helping the team at all. In fact, he was probably hurting the team more than some replacement they could have ran out there because at least then andy wouldnt be risking his health just to lose a game. I mean, what is the point of pitching through injuries if you are losing every game you pitch in the process? I think it was a dumb move and i dont think the yanks will let it happen again. Its great that andy realized we were under dire cirumstances in terms of pitching depth but at some point, he just has to realize that anyone could have been pitching for the yanks to get those kinds of performances so he might as well just stop and try to recuperate. I really hope he has learned his lesson after last year because if not, the yanks have certainly learned it for him.
Hugo Chavez mad at MLB
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3903666
Now we have Roberts book?
So much to read. So little time.
When do we get to watch baseball?
uo nowq- what the heck was that?
He has wised up now,
It’s ironic that the spark that pushed Torre’s book was Arod.
The story that killed all the Torre book pub was also Arod.
Arod giveth and Arod taketh away.
Pete Rose coming up on WFAN
dt-
pat- Someone should tell that liar and cheater Pete Rose to shut up. He is going to go on the radio and talk about Alex. A man who bet on baseball, what a joke.
Moving up the book is a good thing it was going to be bad no matter when it came out so the sooner it is out and gone the better IMHO
dave,
What other players are you going to pick on? Jeez.
Sales Rank: 237,439
Good to see sales of the book stink.
Maybe the Yankees need to buy or start a publishing company to go along with YES.
Think of all the money these other publishers are making on the Yankees.
After reading yeterdays live chat KLAW should be the first hire.
The book from hell is being moved up? Oh joy
will she do signings/book tour?
Tarheel,
He was on the jays for three years and he had one full season pitching over 200 innings. Not only that, but his own manager said that he has to learn the difference between soreness and injury. And he didnt say that two years ago, he said that this off-season. So I really dont know how much of an effect halladay had unless it only came through his last season. The reason I dont buy the idea that he has already turned the corner is because he has pitched 200 inning seasons before just to revert right back to his former self. Maybe aj has already turned the metaphorical corner but i WILL not believe it until i see it this season.
Because to me, one season of 200 innings is not enough proof that he is a new person especially when that season was before his big payday and especially, when his second half immediately preceding his free agency status was the best he has ever pitched. The jays were not even close to being competitive already so AJ was clearly pitching lights out ball for more self-serving purposes. With all that in mind, i think AJ might be a new person but I will have to see it to believe it as they say. This season is really a test to see if AJ will ever be the pitcher everyone knows he can be. All AJ proved the second half of last season is that he has amazing talents which people already knew. Now, he has to prove that he can be a team player and pitch your hardest ball in the hopes of winning rather than scoring a big contract. I think the competitive players around him currently will play a bigger role in that then whatever he learned from halladay.
I actually edited and sent the KLaw chat out to some “ignorant” friends…I should drop him a check or something
I have no explanation for this next comment, but I have a feeling AJ and Hughes would get along great.
Maybe it’s the love of heavy metal.
May have been posted already. Baseball Prospectus has their Top 100 Porspects up.
Montero = #38
Jackson = #46
No other Yankees on list.
7 of the Top 19 in AL East organizations. Our’s is a tough neighborhood and stands to stay that way for awhile.
Joey . your right . .its all about Heavy Metal !
Verducci is already giving Roberts pointers on the book promo circus.
“write it in the third person”
“say you really have to READ (buy) the book”
“say it shouldn’t be taken out of context”
“repeat you really need to READ (buy) the book”
“say it’s a history book,it belongs with all the greats”
“if you say I have impeccable credentials, I’ll do the same”
“did I tell you really need to say READ (buy) the book”
a.j. was made for ny. it so rocks to have a guy who just wanted to come here. i know the money was the deciding factor, but burnett wanted the yankees to win the bidding and he wanted to be here.
i see a monster year coming from him this season.
I actually edited and sent the KLaw chat out to some “ignorant” friends…I should drop him a check or something”
I went back and read the whole thing. It was amazing
dave-Did you see the press conference?
Sorry M, but I had yet to hear someone say that in this blog and i thought i would put it out there. I know everyone has thought that at some point already – im just saying what a bunch of people are already thinking. And its not picking on them, its pointing out what certain players need to improve upon this coming season. I am not bashing either of them – Im just saying that I would like to see mistakes learned from rather than hidden and repeated.
jennifer,
I think it’s too early to say whether Roberts’s book will sell well. But I wonder whether people are going to eat this book up or just roll their eyes at it.
Lots of people love to hate ARod, but hating him because of all the things we know he did is easy enough. People who want to assume things about him that aren’t necessarily true (he’s gay, he dated Madonna, he never hits in the clutch, he only cares about himself) have already made those assumptions. Are those people going to bother to read a book about ARod just so they can continue booing him? I doubt it.
Since the book is a negative treatment, fans who support ARod probably won’t buy it in large numbers.
That leaves people who are just curious enough about ARod’s personal life to buy a book about it. But ARod just isn’t that interesting.
It doesn’t help that Roberts isn’t an especially good writer. The book will probably read as a series of judgmental takes on ARod screwing up over and over again. Maybe I’m being naive, but I don’t see that big a market for it.
If the book had to come out, I’m glad it was pushed up. Get it all out there rather than have it as an anvil over your head.
tarheel,
No I had a final this morning. Id rather see it in the field than hear aj say it anyway. i dont really care what he says, I care what he does – actions speak sooo much louder than words these days!
Rishi
by the way thanks for posting that yesterday!
My pleasure! I’ll tend to do that all season long – I know a lot of people don’t have insider access etc…and it’s always good for a debate or two
Selena Roberts is going to make a ton of dough off her reporting on A-rod and the book. Smart move by the publisher to move the release date up.
I am talking abaout the original signing press conference.
He didn’t talk a lot, but he came across like a guy that you want on your team. Plus other yankee players really lobbied to get him, injuries and all. that should tell you something.
Two things: Yeah, the book is pushed up by a month, but it also looks like the title is changed from “Hit and Run, The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez” to “A-Rod, the Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez.” Interesting. Why is that, I wonder? So it doesn’t sound like she was stalking him – you know it was he who was hitting and running, but she?
Second:
Lots of talk here about Selig an MLB being the most culpable here. I was in the car all morning and got to listen to MLB radio on Sirius/XM. They had a clip of Mike Schmidt saying, and I’m paraphrasing, that a lot in baseball cannot get done because of the PLAYERS UNION. He said, unlike in football, where the commissioner can just do something, in baseball, everything has to go through the Player’s Union. Another clip by Mike Schmidt said the Player’s Union stood in the way of testing. Again, pretty interesting.
I personally think there is enough blame to go around. But I think if the owners respected the union to begin with (which I don’t think they did for a long time), the union wouldn’t have felt it needed to dig in its heels time after time. On this issue, though, everyone dropped the ball.
On to happier things – so glad CC and AJ are there and talking to the press and everything. Makes you feel really good, and better able to start turning the page.
Can someone give me the run down on what AJ said if it was at all informative? I dont want to be left in the dark if he said something important and I have ZERO time to listen to the whole thing,
the ‘most culpable’ are the guys who shot themselves up withe steroids.
At some point it has to just stop with Alex. Many people do many things wrong, and he seems to always take the brunt of it. It’s tiring to us as fans, and him im sure.
If he wants to boink Madonna, whatever!
If he wants to wear gay looking scarfs, whatever!!!
Yes the steroid thing was bad, no doubt….
But there are still over 100 players hiding, and any idea of suspending him is just preposterous.
Some people would say the ‘most culpable’ are those who allowed this to continue for 10 years.
And for Tex’s Baseball note of the afternoon…
I think AJ Burnett is going to be a huge star for us over the next few years.
Any word what Joe’s pc was about?
“Can someone give me the run down on what AJ said if it was at all informative? I dont want to be left in the dark if he said something important and I have ZERO time to listen to the whole thing,”
Is it even online yet? I’m sure Pete will put it up but I don’t see it yet. When he does I will definitely listen and let ya know.
What channel are these press conferences on?
dave
never mind. AJ is too laid back and he better pitch 200 innings or it was a bad signing. Whatever
Re Torre press conference I am sure it was just like Girardi’s. But because he is Joe Torre they show it on ESPN. I dont think there is anything more than that.
dave,
I saw highlights on another site.
1. He thanked some fan named ‘mel’ for having his back.
2. He heard that Yankee fans were the greatest, but what’s up with that guy named ‘dave’? “He keeps trashing me”
3. He also said that he’s not going to say much because he wants to show it on the field. Something about “actions speak sooo much louder than words these days!”
It can’t be fathomed all the scampering that would be seen if the Blue Jays held a fire sale at mid season and Roy Halliday were made available.
gayle- probably so. I’d bet that Joe T will have 20 minutes of questions about ALex.
Dorreen,
I cant speak for everyone else obviously but I can tell you why I feel that if anyone should be to blame for a good chunk of it, it is selig. Now, I would never say it was all his fault but he is more guilty than anyone else involved.
its mainly because it is impossible to blame the players union. Like you said, they had been kicked around and treated like nothing for so long that when they finally gained some momentum they refused to give in on a thing and argued every little minute detail until they were blue in the face. But its hard to blame the union because the union was doing its job – the players didnt want testing to be made mandatory or even baseball to make the rule so the union fought tooth and nail for it. Id say that is what any good, strong union would do. if the wide majority of their members did not want a rule to happen, the union would do anything it could to stop it.
But I dont blame selig for never winning against the union. That was not where he fell short IMO. What he did that was so despicable is that he decided to ignore the problem and become rich off of it. They say if you cant beat em join em and that is exactly what it sounds like selig did. The sport was revitalized because of this era and selig was probably the biggest proponent of anything that would help the league prosper like it did including something illegal. And frankly, if selig wasnt so greedy and actually wanted to do his job – there were plenty of other routes to go with this. I MEAN it was a crime to use PEDs in the US.
So he certainly could have gotten the courts involved or he could have even just threatened to get the courts involved. He could have tried to determine the extent of it all years before they actually did. But after Selig decided to play dumb and get rich, the story became popular and he was forced to do something. So again, instead of actually doing his job once again he avoided it by handing this off to congress. And then, on top of all this – ignoring it, not doing a single thing about it, getting rich off of it and pawning the problem off, he decides to publicly grandstand every chance he gets about how horrible these players are and how he is doing everything within his power to eliminate it from the game.
Its just amazing that he could take that stance to me. he is a complete and utter fool and a waste of space who is making 18 million next year. And if he really wanted roids out of baseball, he would raise that 50 game suspension which is still not all that bad to a lifelong banned. Instead of these idiots deciding to dig up the past and do nothing about it, how about just focusing on the future? I mean it took mitchell years of work and god knows how much tax payers money to realize that digging up names gets us no where. We just end up depressed and wallowing in the mess with nothing solved. Mitchell’s final point in the report was that digging up names should be stopped and every effort should be made to prevent use in the future. And what do we do? Continue to dig up names. So glad that money was so well spent.
“He thanked some fan named ‘mel’ for having his back.”
I knew a girl named mel once.
dave you should start your own blog or maybe write a novel. You have way too much on your mind, my man.
WEEI was just discussing the Roberts book move up date this past hour – some interesting points were brought up.
Roberts has said two things (via interviews and her publicist) –
1) other groups were working on this story. (confirmed by the NY Times – they were close to breaking the same story)
2) she had more drug revelations to tell.
If she has more steroid bombs to drop – and she is waiting for the book – SI won’t be happy. They are paying her salary. They want the pub too.
If she waits for the book – who is to say the NY Times or other agencies working on the story won’t beat her scoop?
Their theory is – Roberts will be having another press release this weekend or soon after – spilling more info.
Intersting stuff. – my theory is she will wait until after Arod arrives at camp and tells his story.
If she has more dirt – it will just make him look worse if his press conference contradicts what she has.
Patrick,
What can I tell ya? Im a deep thinker i GUESS. I just dont have time to make my own blog right now – some day I will definitely do it though.
Pete:
With AJ everything is bi-polar. When things are good, they are VERY GOOD. When things are bad. they are VERY BAD. That includes perfomance and when dealing with the media. He is very sensitive, and gets very defensive and loses it when he is booed. On the other hand, he gets a rush and performs better when he is cheered (so you guys should keep that in mind).
He did learn a lot from Doc about pitching, so the Yankees owe the Blue Jays a beer or two for that. Doc Halladay is the official Ace of the Blue Jays and the unofficial pitching coach. He is going to make a great one.
“dave you should start your own blog or maybe write a novel. You have way too much on your mind, my man.”
Or help some college kids on this blog do their essays and reports. Dave, ever thought of writing a book? Iv heard a lot of people getting rich from it these days. It would take you no time to do and hell i could be your agent if need be.
Dave -
Billy Ripken said the problem won’t go away unless the penalties are stiffened. He put it this way – the cookie jar (temptation) is still there because the risk to reward ratio isn’t all that much of a deterent. He said baseball has to, his words, “tighten the lid on the cookie jar,” so that no one (or most no one) would be willing to take the risk of getting caught.
I do question the players in the union for not wanting to get rid of steroids sooner – it’s a health risk if nothing else – and the leaders of the union for not being pro-active on this with the players. I know steroids was rampant, but I don’t believe it was a majority who were using – it may have been close, but not a majority.
I think what happens in these kinds of situations is you’re talking about guys who are your teammates and who, other than the “steroid thing” are good guys, good teammates, and maybe you end up personalizing the issue. That’s why the anonymous survey testing ended up being a good way to do this, to get the manadatory testing in place. No one had to point fingers, no one had to tattle. Baseball is a brotherhood. Frat mentality reigns, I think.
A better commissioner finds a way to work it out without anyone have to lose face.
But I agree that Bud Selig’s #1 priority was to make more money for the owners. To that end, everyone was able to look the other way – teams and players got richer. Fans may not have liked it, but many fans, if not most, were also willing to look the other way as long as their team, or their guy, was doing well. Fans may not have liked it, but really, what can fans do?
For Selig to name out Alex Rodriguez in his statement the other day was pure hypocrisy.
Doreen – Mike Schmidt has a point, the Players’ Assoc. has culpability here, also. They definitely turned a blind eye, and ignored pleas from their own members to act. There’s plenty of blame to go around, though it does not make me, a longtime baseball fan, happy to point that out.
MLB (ownership) has screwed this up so many ways. The biggest way is their longrunning lack of respect for the players, who, BTW, just happen to be what this game is all about. I don’t think anybody watches a game to see the Steinbrenners go up against the Henrys.
If the leadership of both sides (both of which have a role in providing fans what they want, and each of whom cannot survive without the other; talk about a dysfunctional marriage) were to sit down, treat the other as an equal and with respect, all the problems could be worked out pretty quickly, I bet. Unfortunately, hardliners on each side clearly don’t trust/respect the other.
Unfortunately, I don’t see this changing, and the poor souls, who still wish to delight in childlike naivete that being a fan entails, are stuck with it.
Let’s start playing some games and move on. The only thing that can save us all is a baseball game.
Burnett will make Kenny Rodgers’ time in NY look good. He’s going to be a disaster.
So, musicians have been goofed up on stuff stronger than greenies for years. Do we stop buying, listening to their music, or paying outrageous money to see them perform live in concert ? Have they ever been regulated ?
Dorreen,
I have no idea if you are still checking this thread but we pretty much agree on most everything. I just think that the union and the players had VERY little incentive to agree to mandatory testing at any point. And especially, if anything close to half the league was using. How would the union be able to do anything that goes against half of their members wishes at the time? I mean you can say it was for a greater cause and they could have been more pro-active but it really is not realistic for a union to go against the wishes of half its members for the sake of the general health of the people who dont agree to it and are largely the biggest proponents. That is a good way for the MLBPA to cause a huge mess and that could lead up to terrible things for them. They did not want that at all. The just wanted to do whatever the members wanted to do – i THINK the people that did roids would be very strongly against it while those who didnt would for the most part be indifferent about it.
The worst part of this whole mess is that a guy like arod is now basically getting the entire blame for the transgressions of thousands of people. I dont know how in this day and age and in this country, it could ever come to that. It sounds more like something out of the mccarthy era. People always want one person to blame and they always want that one person to be someone everyone knows. Arod was guilty but he was also the perfect target and the perfect scapegoat.
There is no leadership here and selig never stopped up to take a single second of blame so of course, being the sneaky scumbag he is, jumps all over arod saying how he should suspend him and how he disgraced the game. It is like a case in which someone is being framed for murder after only being guilty of a parking ticket and then, the person who framed you doesnt think it is enough that your life is destroyed so they come to jail to rub it in your face. Its really nothing more than one of the most despicable things I have ever seen in my life. And the face that the media is ignoring all the sidebars like selig’s guilt and hippocracy and selena’s very suspect investigation and focusing all of their wrath on arod like he is to blame for everything that has happened over the years just makes me sick to my stomach.