The LoHud Yankees Blog

Here are a couple of pretty good first baseman, Mark Teixeira and Tino Martinez. Great shot by AP.

My Dominican cousin tried to convince me otherwise. But the all-natural baseball blog is proving to be a success. As of 3 p.m., we had close to 1,000 comments and the page views were about the same as any other day.

I received — seriously — 25 e-mails in favor of the idea and one opposed.

It may not stay that forever because my duty is to report the news even if it involves steroids. But it’s nice to know we can live in peace and harmony for at least one day and talk about baseball.

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Speaking of baseball the right way, it’s cool that Mattingly Baseball is back as one of our sponsors. Check them out to find out more about their bats and other equipment.

First a little news:

· Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras won’t be going to the WBC. They didn’t even know they were on the provisional roster.

· Damaso Marte (hamstrings) won’t be running for at least the rest of the week. You have to think this could exclude him from the WBC.

· Derek Jeter and Joe Girardi met with George Steinbrenner as did Bernie Williams, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. All said they had pleasant conversations with him. He was taken from his car to the stadium in a golf cart and then moved to a wheelchair to get up to his office.

· Alex Rodriguez commented briefly about how the first two days have been for him, saying the fans have been welcoming and that he is enjoying his time on the field. He seemed a little subdued.

· Bernie will be here until he leaves for the Puerto Rican camp on March 2. He went through the drills with all the other players and took batting practice. His immediate goal is to “not embarrass myself.” But Bernie also talked wistfully about returning to baseball if the WBC goes well for him.

· We spoke to CC Sabathia after he threw and he was pleased with how it went. He also revealed that his first start this spring would be March 6. That lines up for Opening Day on April 6 in Baltimore.

· Nick Swisher’s music choice after the workout was Let It Rock by Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne.

George Steinbrenner, who was taken to his office in a wheelchair, is meeting small groups of players.

Here’s Bernie getting ready for BP.

In the last few days, I have received several e-mails from partial-plan season-ticket holders who are furious with the Yankees.

Because of the demand for tickets, some people with weekend plans were offered only weekday plans or had their seats moved from behind the plate to the outfield.

Two forces are at play here: the new Stadium has fewer seats than the old Stadium and the team was surprised, shocked really, at how many people wanted full 81-game plans despite the rise in prices. This has squeezed out some partial-plan folks. It’s the law of supply-and-demand. I’m not here to defend the Yankees, but what else can they do?

Here is the letter the Yankees sent out:

Good Morning,

New York Yankees Ticket Operations
Yankee Stadium
161st Street & River Avenue
Bronx, NY 10451

Might we suggest the team stronly and definetely proofread these letters before sending them out?

From left: A-Rod, Posada, Damon and Teixeira.

CC Sabathia just threw live batting practice to some minor leaguers.

He threw 30 pitches – four were put in play. Sabathia missed low when he missed and commanded his fastball exceptionally well given it’s Feb. 19.

The photo is of him and Jorge Posada afterward.

Joe Girardi and Kevin Long watch batting practice.

George Steinbrenner himself is at Steinbrenner Field. He may want to visit with some players.