The LoHud Yankees Blog

Fans were not allowed in today. The Yankees worked on pop-ups and now are taking BP. No live pitching.

Edwar Ramirez has what is being called “mild bursitis” and will be out at least three days. He’ll spend the time eating cheeseburgers and milkshakes to try and get to 145 pounds or so.

This would be the entry where I normally tell you what pitchers are throwing today. But I got involved with a long interview while in the clubhouse and never got a chance to take a look at the schedule.

Sorry about that. But the Yankees are about to get started here in Tampa, where it’s a pleasant 61 and headed up to 71.

Back in a bit with some reports from the field.

The Yankees skipped practice and shot some stick yesterday. For Joe Girardi, it was a Tom Coughlin moment.

The Journal News’ Behind The Scene series focuses today on the pro scouting department of the Yankees.

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The Yankees have their final workout today before the games start tomorrow. The final WBC rosters will be announced today as well.

It appears the Yankees will lose Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Damaso Marte and Alex Rodriguez to the tournament. They will report to their respective camps on Saturday or Sunday.

I can’t take credit for this headline. Noted Springsteen fan Connie Schwab of the Yankees media relations department suggested it.

You should be able to identify everybody in the photos. That’s Phil Coke with Mariano Rivera in the next-to-last shot and Jose Molina leaning over the shoulder of A.J. Burnett. You can also see Andrew Brackman behind Chien-Ming Wang.

Brackman was paired with Kei Igawa in the first tournament. Now there’s an unlikely duo.

All photos courtesy of the Yankees.

One of our readers asked me to pass this along:

We are looking to set up a LoHud Blog Readers Fantasy Baseball Rotisserie League. There is no fee to join — it is just for fun. Ten people are needed so that we can have a private league. If you are interested, email Fran at Fran0322@aol.com for details and sign-up information.

UPDATE, 7:00 p.m.: Fran is all set with entries. So please, no moe e-mails. Thanks.

The Yankees had two Eight-Ball tournaments. Mariano Rivera won both of them, once paired with Phil Coke and the second time with Andy Pettitte.

There will be some quotes and some photos shortly.

UPDATE, 3:00 p.m.: Via a pool reporter, some comments were obtained. Here is what Johnny Damon had to say:

“It was a great day. We’ve been at spring training for a week and Joe came up with a great idea to get us together as a team. It was great to break up spring training a bit, get the team together, get some camaraderie there.

“I think everybody had a great time. We got to see who’s been spending too much time at the pool hall and we know the ones that don’t spend enough time in there.

“For Joe to let us take a day off from practice like that, it makes you want to work even harder for him.”

“Camp has been going great so far. We all have been rallying around each other, having a good time in the clubhouse. Today is one of those days that, as a ballplayer, you’ll never forget. I don’t think any team has ever really done this. It’s a day I’ll never forget. It says a lot about Joe. He knows we’ve been working hard and he rewarded us with a day off.”

Mark Teixeira:

“It was great. That was probably the most fun I’ve ever had in spring training in my whole career.”

“I thought it was a great idea. We’ve been working really hard – the pitchers a little bit longer than the position players. We had a good week of practice and we’re going to start games here soon, so I think Joe just wanted to give us some time off.”

“I’ve never have (heard of a team doing something like this), but I think more teams should. This was a great time, great for all of us to get together.”

“There were probably 16-18 pool tables, there were some card tables, we had darts, we had guys playing dominos and we had lunch also. Everyone was just having a good time.”

“It makes you relax and realize that we can have fun off the field. Once we get on the field, it’s business, but we can build some relationships as well.”

“Usually during the season, you get to hang out with guys because we’re always on the same bus or the same plane. Our schedules are identical. In spring training, you don’t go on trips together, the pitchers have different schedules than the hitters and the hitters are in different groups, so there might be a couple guys you don’t get to know at all.”

Darren Rovell, who writes the Sports Biz blog for CNBC.com, has an interesting item on a ball signed by Mickey Mantle that is now for sale.

You might want to boot the kids into the other room.

Heard something today well worth passing along. Jorge Posada will receive the community service award at the Ted Williams Museum dinner on March 20 at Tropicana Field.

Posada is being honored for the work his foundation does raising funds and awareness about craniosynostosis, a birth defect that his son has. Little Jorge has undergone a number of operations and is doing well. But Posada and his wife Laura have been tireless supporters of this cause and families who are going through the same thing they did.

“I’m excited because it’s for the foundation,” he sad. “Anything that helps out here, it’s great.”

You can learn more about the foundation at their website.

I stopped Joe Girardi in the clubhouse today as I wanted to get some clarification on how they plan to use Phil Coke.

The verdict is … reliever.

“He’s a guy we see being able to pitch multiple innings out of the bullpen. That’s how we’re going to try and develop him,” Girardi said. “Right now, he’s not a starter.”

If Coke gets stretched out enough, he would fit into that long reliever role. But being left-handed, he also could be used situationally.

“I feel like I could go four innings if they want or pitch to one batter,” Coke said yesterday. “I started a lot in the minors but I liked pitching in relief last year. Whatever they want.”

Coke is an interesting player to keep an eye on as he was sort of muddling along before emerging last season. Keep in mind that he is going to be 27 in July. This is not some kid. But as impressive as he looked in the majors last season, September innings for a third-place team can’t be trusted. He still needs to prove himself.

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Meanwhile it was reported last night that A-Rod has — you guessed it — hired another advisor!

Congratulations to attorney Jay Reisinger, he is now part of the team. Reisinger represented Sammy Sosa and Andy Pettitte during their PED problems. It’s probably too late to tell Alex to pretend he can’t speak English, however.

The current list of advisors (as of 11:25 a.m.):

· Scott Boras, sports agent

· Guy Oseary, Hollywood agent

· William Morris Agency

· Richard Rubenstein, PR guru

· Ben Porritt, crisis-management consultant

· James Sharp, attorney

· Jay Reisinger, attorney

· Jason Zillo, Yankees media relations director

Joe Girardi just called off the workout. The entire team and coaching staff will instead head to a local pool hall for a tournament and lunch.

With games starting Wednesday, Girardi decided to give his team a break and build some chemistry at the same time. This is part of what I wrote about in yesterday’s paper, Girardi improving his relationship with the players.

Back with some more later. To me, this is a great idea. Right out of the Tom Coughlin playbook.

UPDATE, 10:36 a.m.: The Yankees are out of here, off to play pool. They’re going to be partnered up with a teammate and play some 8 Ball.

“It’s a team day away from the field. We’re going to have a little tournament and try to enjoy the day,” Girardi said.

Coughlin, as you may remember, took the Giants bowling during training camp in 2007. Next thing you know, they won the Super Bowl. Was there a connection? Maybe not a direct one; but building relationships is an important aspect of success.

The players were laughing as they walked to the bus. Jorge Posada stopped to speak to the writers and he said he thought it was a good idea.

“It’s good to get together,” he said. “It’s something you don’t see often. Being together away from the field, hopefully we start some relationships here. … It’s a day to forget about baseball a little but and think about the family we have. I think its good. It’s good for everybody.”

So there you have it. No baseball today, just billiards. No press coverage, either. But we’ll get a report later on and I’ll let you know what happened. Word is that Brian Bruney is a serious player.