Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 14, 2009 
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Andy Pettitte knows what Alex Rodriguez is going through and he has some advice.
CC Sabathia’s first day as a Yankee went well. This notebook also has some news on Andy Pettitte, David Robertson, Hideki Matsui and Mariano Rivera.
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Jim Leyritz was jailed again for violating the terms of his bail by drinking. He is awaiting trial on DUI manslaughter.
The Yankees allowed Leyritz to come to spring training and yuck it up with some old buddies last spring, only a few months after the incident. It’ll be interesting to see whether they extend that courtesy again if he makes bail for a second time.
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Today is the first workout, which is not usually eventful. But it’s fun to watch because there are actual baseball players playing actual baseball. It will be strange not to see Moose out there with the first group of starters.
Meanwhile in Arizona, Carl Pavano is plotting what his first injury with the Indians will be. I’m going with a bad back. Those are hard to prove.
Yes, you can come watch the workouts at Big Stein Field. They generally start at 9:45 or so. It’s not especially exciting but you can wander around and watch guys throw, run and hit.
Meanwhile, Humberto Sanchez is a few days behind because of some arm stiffness. He says it’s nothing serious. Sanchez has pitched a grand total of 16.2 innings since he came from Detroit in the Gary Sheffield trade.
im not clear on how leyritz is going to visit ST when he’s in jail.
What about a mysterious foot injury for the Rajah of Rehab?
i can’t wait for the first workout this morning!
mr. abraham, what time does the workout start?
For Pavano, I’m going with ‘Goider’.
Nobody in the bigs has had it since David Wells, and I just like saying ‘Goider’ for some reason.
Thanks for the yankee news!
Sad that Moose isn’t there
I might be in the minority, but I don’t like baseball player confessions. That Tejada episode the other day almost made me want to stop being a baseball fan. I prefer the McGuire way. (I guess that’s why I’m not on A-Rod’s crisis management team).
Yeah, I’m pretty sure Pavano is going with bad back! However, you never know what’s going to “break” on him next.
what time does the first workout start this morning?
mark it down..pavano will pitch all year healthy because he is pitching for $$$
i hope a rod hits one off his forehead
Just to follow up on Jonathan’s theme, I’d like to see a pack of wolverines tear Carl to shreds, swallow him whole, digest him and then crap him out into a swamp.
. . . . or not.
How Leyritz could drink and drive again is simply mind boggling. There is no excuse given what happened
Maybe he has a cold and took some Nyquil.
Still think there’s ‘no excuse’?
Some thoughts…..
Alex was real good last night. He gave a very nice speech that struck the right balance of humor and message. He’s not a great public speaker. Yet, he had the attention of everybody when he spoke and did very well.
Judging from the early returns from some of the media moralists, clearly it wasn’t enough for them.
Allow me to make two suggestions to them to help them through this.
One, if you are going with the “what do I tell my kids” angle, tell them even famous people make mistakes and have to handle the consequences of such mistakes. If anything, Alex screwing up is a better teaching lesson than if he hits 50 home runs. Its why the “what do we tell the children” angle is one of the most sanctimonious pieces of garbage anybody can say/write.
Two, Alex is not going to burn himself at the stake over this. Nor is he going jump off the Empire State Building or commit Hari-Kari. Its not going to happen. If that’s what these folks are looking for, they will be sadly disappointed.
He screwed up bigtime. Nobody is denying that. However, he now has the pen in his hand to write the script for the rest of his life.
If last night was any indication, he has a shot of getting through this. Time will tell.
Hank Aaron shows once again why he is all class. He said yesterday that the home run record belongs to Barry Bonds.
Maybe now, Bud will shut up, crawl back into his hole, and not be heard from for the rest of the season.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced yesterday he is freezing his salary and taking a 25% cut in his benefits for the next two years. He makes over 60% less in salary and benefits than Selig, despite running a more successful league.
Might we see the same giveback from ‘Ol Buddy Boy? Don’t hold your breath.
Kirk Radomski said yesterday he “knows” who the 4 players were who leaked the results of Alex’s drug test. If he is to be believed, he knows the names of 4 people who committed a crime.
He isn’t a reporter and his immunity deal does not include anything of not reporting crimes he has knowledge of to the authorities.
I wonder if he will be hauled before a judge, put under oath, and be told to give up the names or go to jail. It will be interesting to see if that takes place.
GB, The Oliver Case is a landmark case. A great win for players rights.
Its just limited to baseball but, it allows these kids the ability to work up front with their advisors without the fear of losing their eligibility. The way it should be, IMO.
“the “what do we tell the children” angle is one of the most sanctimonious pieces of garbage anybody can say/write.”
falls right behind “i want to teach the kids the error of my ways” on the list of sanctimony.
5 years in new york has he ever even visited his ‘boyhood home?’
arod’s biggest appologist is asking SELIG to take a pay cut?
SJ, thanks for your input. I just hope this doesn’t do a lot of damage to the school progams. They provide a lot of preparation for a lot of kids. Makes you wonder if it would have made any difference in how some of these kids would mature (socially, physically). Learning how to handle life instead of being dumped into society with a pocket full of money. Alex Rodriguez and Josh Hamilton comes to mind, but, they’re certainly not the only one.
“The Steve” – No I don’t. He’s had 4 postive tests for alcohol and he was prohibited from drinking.
Read the article. Then buy Jim some Cold Eze
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/ne.....;type=lgns
GB,
I think it will keep more kids in school than out because they will be able to get real information from real sources rather than doing everything in secret.
A lot of kids just aren’t ready to play pro baseball coming out of high school. College is the best place for them.
However, when its time for them to investigate their pro opportunities, they should be able to do so without fear of losing their eligibility.
If a regular student had a job offer from Microsoft, and hired a lawyer to negotiate it, he would be hailed as being “smart”.
College athletes do it, they lose their eligibility.
In the long run, this will put everybody above board. Where it should be.
it is an interesting question about whether arod is going to take the money for the home run records. i was kind of expecting him to say he would donate it or something, i cant imagine the union would let him just give it back. but keeping it at this point would really make him look bad, imo.
I think making a public statement regarding those HR incentives would be a BOLD, and correct, move on Alex’s part.
“Each $6M mark will be donated to a different charity. The first of which is Joe Torre’s Safe At Home Foundation”
Or something to that matter
Hey anyone know why the Yankees didn’t invite Humberto Sanchez to camp? I don’t see his name among those Pete lists on his spring roster post.
SJ, thanks. I have to agree with that. It’s really to bad that these kids don’t have access to information that lets them know if they are actually ready for pro ball. Something that benefits them and not pro teams. I know scouting reports give some info, but, every publication I see says different things. I realize that different scouts see things differently, but, damned, that’s confusing.
Anything to help these kids get a grip on reality has got to help. Of course, having parents that have the kid’s best interests at heart is a start, but, so many parents oee the money. It’s a pity when you see college athletes come out no better than when they went in….street thugs with athletic skills.
im really glad to hear that arod’s donating money but…the university of miami?
as of last year UM had a $1.4 B (thats right, BILLION) endowment. the annual tuition is $35,000. not exactly helping out those in need is it?
but it gives arod better facilities to use.
SJ,
“Kirk Radomski said yesterday he “knows” who the 4 players were who leaked the results of Alex’s drug test. If he is to be believed, he knows the names of 4 people who committed a crime.
He isn’t a reporter and his immunity deal does not include anything of not reporting crimes he has knowledge of to the authorities.
I wonder if he will be hauled before a judge, put under oath, and be told to give up the names or go to jail. It will be interesting to see if that takes place.”
Just goes to show you what happens when you let someone who thinks they are smart talk…compared to someone who is smart.
What irony it would be if spends time in jail, not for dealing drugs, but for speaking like Sonny Corleone.
You should actually do some homework if you are going to rip Arod for his donation.
First off, the endowment fund has nothing to do with athletics. President Shalala wants the athletic department to be self-sustaining.
Second, a 1.4 billion dollar endowment fund isn’t that much for a major American university.
Yale for instance, has an 8 billion dollar endowment. Princeton? 10 billion. University of Florida? 4.5 billion.
President Shalala demands the athletic department raise their own money to run the department. The endowment fund will never be touched for athletics.
Miami’s overall athletic budget is 60 million dollars. To contrast, Ohio St. has a 111 million dollar athletic department budget. The University of Florida has a 90 million dollar athletic budget.
As athletic budgets go in Division 1-A programs, Miami is in the middle of the pack.
Their fundraising has taken a major hit the past 3 years. To that end, the athletic department has run into deficits serious enough to produce layoffs equally 10% of their workforce since 2007.
I was told last night more layoffs are coming.
The football team is actually busing to three of their road games next year. That’s unheard of for a Division 1-A program in a major conference. Just about all of them take charters to their road destination.
Alex originally agreed to donate the money in 2002. Everything was finalized in 2003.
The University, mainly because they couldn’t raise the rest of the money to complete the project, didn’t end up completing it until 2009. Two years and 4 million dollars over budget.
I know everybody wants to take shots at Alex right now. However, what he did was give a school he loves a great gift. Why not leave it at that?
if any player learned who the other players on the list were from thier agent or the union or anybody else who had lawful possission of that information, then that player has committed no crime in releasing that information.
im sure all the folks over at miami dade college are weeping for old um.
busses?
Maybe he gave a gift to a school he loves instead of having to give it to cynthia.
He gave the gifts years before he got married.
Comparing a major Division 1-A athletic program to a Community College? You think that’s an apt comparison?
You gotta do better than that.
o thats right, he doesnt work out at miami dade does he?
He works out at the weight room at the Hecht Center. That’s seperate from the baseball complex.
He has been working out there since he was a kid. He didn’t have to donate money to re-do the baseball stadium to continue working out at UM. The baseball stadium is at the other end of the street.
But, hey keep tryin’. You doin’ great so far.
How pathetic can two lives be that they need to get up early on a Saturday morning to troll a sports board. Go and donate some of your crack money to homeless shelters.
SJ, although I wasn’t at last night’s event, I read Alex’ speech in the papers and I was impressed. As you said, he’s not about to commit Hari Kari because the media won’t let this go. I honestly think the very best thing he could do would be to ignore the media – just don’t read the papers or listen to sports talk radio. Why shou d he (or any player) care what these clowns think? These mediots are taking this all too personally, as if Alex killed their pets. I don’t like Keith Law, but he nailed it when he compared the behavior of A-Rod and Ray Lewis and the reactions to both by fans and media. It’s a joke. One more piece of advice for Alex – nothing he does (even before this story broke, this was the case) will ever be good enough, so at the press conference, he should just be himself – be human, be genuine. If that doesn’t satisfy the media’s need for a pound of flesh, so be it. It’s a one and done deal…….. Still, every time he hits a HR this season or has a big game, the mediots will question the legitimacy – we’d better be prepared.
i just hope arod has a garmin so he can find his boyhood home and help out all those kids.
On Hank Aaron – I was too young to see him play, but he’s always been one of my favorite players ever. His comments about Bonds still being the HR king don’t surprise me a bit. He’s remains as classy and gracious as ever – a real gentleman who honors the sport by his presence.
SJ – I didn’t realize that Goodell froze his salary. The day that Selig does that is the day that you-know-what freezes over.
Humberto Sanchez is beginning to frustrate me – the guy can not stay healthy. I would not count on him to play any role whatsoever this year for the Yankees…..
I will be checking this blog constantly for updates on the workouts today. Ah, the sound of AJ and CC fastballs popping in the glove……the true sounds of spring.
Thanks SJ for all the info
Just an FYI
The Steinbrenner family is also very generous. Jennifer Swindell is UNC alum. The family donated 1 million to help renovate UNC’s Boshamer stadium. The courtyard in front of the stadium will be named the Steinbrenner Family Courtyard.
UNC has the pre-season #1 baseball team in the country. My kids and I enjoy games there and are looking forward to the new stadium.
Betsy, the hypocrites and tongue clicking media will be easy to spot. They’re the first ones in line asking what pitch he hit for the game winner and wanting interview.
The Mets signed Livan Hernandez
I forgot who the Livan lovah was..but there ya go.
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....ition.html
S.A., the timing of Hernadez’ signing is ironic. Last night, they were showng him during the ’97 WS on MLB-TV. Makes you wonder if Minya was having flashbacks or was under the impression that the films were from last year. Randy I will be unbearable, now. God help this board if Hernandez has a game when he gives up ony 6 runs in 7 innings and wins 7-6. Another innings eating game for Livan.
j/k, Randy.
GB7
Hopefully he will pitch against the Yankees and they will light him up. Thats what it will take to make Randy get off the bandwagon.
Steve,
It’s “Goiter”.
Pavano’s first injury-ingrown toenail.
Through this whole mess, Hank Aaron shows the most class. Always the gentlemen.
I like Leyritz as much as anyone but at this point the Yankees don’t need his foolishness. Hope they are smart enough to keep him away.
It’s the troll of many names that uses “o” for “oh”.
Typical.
Leyritz clearly has changed, or he was never the person I thought he was to begin with. I loved him as a player but wow, what a POS. You murder someone by being drunk and then you still can’t stop drinking. The Yankees should seriously distance themselves from this guy and there really isn’t a need for them to associate with him ever again. But he’ll probably be in jail for a while anyhow so it won’t matter.