Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Mar 12, 2010 
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My first day back in Tampa, and it’s an early morning getting ready for a road game across the state. Sam is taking off this morning, and on his last day in town, he took a look at the way pitchers learn from one another. No surprise that veterans Mariano Rivera and Mike Mussina have been popular targets for pitchers looking to pick up a thing or two.
His notebook focused on Francisco Cervelli’s new helmet, and also has items on the flu bug that forced Derek Jeter out of the lineup, Mariano Rivera’s adjusted schedule and A.J. Burnett’s simulated game.
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Marc Carig and I are heading out in a half an hour for the Nationals spring training home in Viera. The weather might not work out, but we’re hoping to know soon whether the game will be played. I’ll update the blog if it’s cancelled.
Hopefully you wont have to make that loooong trip Chad.
I always wondered why the team didnt stay on the East coast overnight,and play some of the other teams???(Cards,Marlins)
I have tickets to the game along with my Dad and 31 other “geriatrics” who live around the corner to the stadium.
Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
Welcome back Chad, safe travels to Viera.
Buster was just on Mike and Mike and sounded so excited that Mauer has yet to sign with Boston and that there’s still a chance he could end up in Boston to “play pepper with the green Monster”.
Has yet to sign with the Twins I mean.
welcome back chad!
utility, are you rooting for the yankees to get rained out for the 2nd day in a row just so that chad doesnt have to drive to viera?
I would be very very surprised, and disappointed, if Mauer doesn’t re-sign w/ the Twins, he is the face of their franchise.
kate, mauer will resign with the Twins but the Sox and their media mouthpieces will hold on to that pipe dream as long as they can.
Chad, I think Sam is enjoying his sleeping in this morning. Did he set the schedule? Gotta watch him.:)
so now olney is a mouthpiece for the sox? some people on here are delusional…
If Mauer doesn’t sign with the Twins does anyone really believe he won’t be a Yankee?
Anyway, if he does sign with the Sox then so what? The Red Sox will always be midgets trying to stand on the shoulders of a giant.
Y’s guy,
Stop being a wise guy. I’m not delusional. Olney isn’t as bad as some but he like almost everyone at ESPN makes every story involve the Red Sox in some way. Sorry if you can’t see what’s right in front of your face. Doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy, I like Buster.
Chad, welcome back!
Can you find out if AJ threw any change-ups last night and, if so, was he pleased? Thanks!
“If Mauer doesn’t sign with the Twins does anyone really believe he won’t be a Yankee?”
I don’t think he will. Why would he? Yankees appear to be somewhat set at that particular position, no? In the face of having to re-sign some of their own free agents and the 50/50 chance they may have to address left field all while sticking to a Hal S-imposed budget, I don’t see the Yankees dropping $23M-$25M on Mauer. They don’t need to.
Ray,
In the hypothetical situation that Mauer does become a free agent then yea I think the Yankees would be strong players. Even though they are loaded with catching talent in their system he’s the special kind of talent that they seem to be saving their money for these days. They wouldn’t just let the sox sign him uncontested.
blake, let me make a suggestion to you, stop watching and listining to espn then if all you can see are red sox shills.
Sam’s story was very interesting. I think it’s great that even the vets on this team want to learn and as great or greater than we have such vets to teach the kids. LOL Jorge always jokes about being mad at Mo for teaching the cutter to Doc, but I just think that shows how generous Mo is.
I mean THAT we have such vets….
“blake, let me make a suggestion to you, stop watching and listining to espn then if all you can see are red sox shills.”
Good point.
Some people her get pretty emotional when the media isn’t constantly sucking the Yankees toes.
By the time Mauer would be a free agent the yanks would hopefully have a better handle in what they have with Montero and Romine so that would probably factor into how aggressive they were pursueing Mauer.
Blake:
That could be. If he becomes a free agent, it’ll be this November and I’m not sure that we’ll know then whether the Yankees are going to be content that Montero’s defense is passable enough to give him half the starts at C in 2011, with Posada getting the other half, and name him the team’s primary catcher in 2012. If we do, then I see no way they drop $23M+ on Mauer. Contrary to popular belief, they will not sign a guy just so Boston doesn’t get them. They’s do it to fill a need. Question is whether the need will exist in their eyes.
That said, I think he’s signing with the Twins.
They’s = They’d
does anybody know anything about mauer’s back condition? i know he’s had problems with it other than last season. does he have a chronic condition, is it likely to deteriorate, is it similar to mattingly’s?
Frank, wise guy,
I haven’t watched Espn for baseball info since the Mlb network was created. I like Mike and Mike and some of their other shows. I don’t get emotional if its not contant Yankee coverage, I like to hear about all of baseball but at the same time I don’t care for the Boston “toe sucking” either.
I watch a fair amount of espn (less now w/ the mlb network) and they definitely have an anti-Yankee, pro-Red Sox bias. Look at the opening highlight reel. In 2007, every morning there was Youk. I used to tune in late to avoid seeing him. This year, they would either show Cliff Lee or manny, and for the last month, no baseball highlight at all.
Welcome back, Chad!
Frank,
I agree they wouldn’t sign Mauer just to keep him away from Boston, they just don’t do business like that anymore. I also would have some concerns with giving him an Arod or pujols type contact because 1) I’m not sure how long a guy that size can catch no .atter how great an athlete he is and 2) I’m not 100% sure the power from 09 will be an every year thing. If he can’t do both of those things for a significant number of years then he becomes a high average DH/1B which isn’t worth that kind of money.
this whining about espn is so….well so red sox like. policing who’s face they show in the opening is just plain sad. all i know is the first mug i see when baseball tonight comes on is jeter’s.
it reflects so poorly on yankees fan that they whine about the coverage on espn.
It’s only a matter of a short while and the Twins will open the vault to sign Mauer long term. The Twins will do the right public relations move and announce the signing before they move into the new Target Field.
They now have more operating revenue to sign the St. Paul, Minnesota native.
Buston Olney can only dream.
it is pouring on the east coast of florida and has been for some time. any news on if they yankees started the drive over or if the game will even be played?
Wise guy,
Chill, if you like ESPNs coverage and don’t See any bias there then that’s fine.
blake, stop whining about it.
chill
Paranoia, the destroyer!!!
Stating facts isn’t whining. I just think its funny. This is a Yankee blog so if you don’t want to read discussion from a Yankee fan POV then I’m sure ESPN has a comments section.
I’m in Orlando, which is 45 minutes NW of the Nationals stadium and it is still raining (constant & light) and completely overcast with no signs of it getting better (at least according to the news the past few days).
I’m leaving my house by 10:30am, so hopefully we’ll know by then and I don’t waste a drive over.
Who is supposed to pitch today?
i am in palm beach kevin. i dont want to drive 2.5 hours to have the game rained out. my friend near the stadium says that it is pouring and not letting up. it is not looking good.
“…then I’m sure ESPN has a comments section.”
Given your issues with ESPN, perhaps you should avail yourself of it, Blake.
pettite and marquis supposed to start. not sure about the rest.
to me, people who whine about espn are missing the basic fundamentals of what it means to be a yankees fan. people everywhere hate the yankees. i mean passionatly hate them. everywhere they go they face hostile treatment, booing and worse. this hatred is a mixture of fear, jelousy and the knowlege that the yankees are just on a different plane then every other team.
to be a yankees fan is to face hostility and hatred everywhere outside of the nyc area. its part of the deal.
the people who become the great yankees thrive on the hostility. jeter loves it, reggie loved it. the babe loved it.
all the hatred out there just means we are better.
its part of the routine for yankees fans to put up with the peter gammons of the world. whining about it just makes it seem like you’re not tough enough, frankly, like you are not a new yorker.
in my book, yankees fans dont whine, red sox fans do that.
blake
March 12th, 2010 at 8:54 am
Who is supposed to pitch today?
*********************
Pretty sure it’s Andy
Y’s Guy-
i might have missed it, but
did anyone welcome you back to the blog?
you might want to think about it.
Frank,
I don’t dislike ESPN all together, I just think their baseball coverage has gone downhill in recent years.
I even said I like Buster, just think its funny how he always wiggled something about the sox into much of his reporting (just like Gammons did). Y’s was being well a wise guy and started this nonsense. I’m dropping it as of now.
VIN,
If it was a beautiful day I would be excited to go to the game. But seeing the weather as putrid at it’s been the past few days and the “weak” lineup the Yankees are bringing over (I know every game can’t have Jeter, Alex, Jorge & Tex) I’m content to sit in my sweatpants and play some Bioshock 2, since I took the day off work.
Plus it will drive the wife nuts if I’m around all day. LOL
randy i never left the blog. i was Y’s guy for over a year then because my fantasy teams pulled off a sweep of all 4 of my leagues 2 years ago i switched to using my fantasy team’s name ham fighters for all of last year. although i did quite well in my leagues last year (2 first places, 2 2nds) i decided not to do fantasy this year and reverted back to my old name Y’s Guy. i did have ‘formerly ham fighters’ on my name for a couple of weeks there.
Blake:
Not casting aspersions here. Just sayin’ that if you have a complaint about Macy’s it does you no good to make it at Bloomingdale’s.
Real or imagined, some folks believe there exists a bias against the Yankees at that network. That’s where the complaints should be directed. Might even have some impact.
For better or worse, I agree with Y’s Guy. The ESPN stuff comes off as a little whiny.
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports.....ocyfvoxqwO
blake-
maybe we should tell y’s guy that people are just getting going , waking up starting work, school etc.
free for all hours start at 10:00pm.
if he thinks he’s a tough guy who wants to explain what it means to be a yankee to the rest of us , that’s the time.
if he can hack it , that is
I guess I’m ignorant or don’t pay enough attention, but Gammons and Olney always seem to be fairly straight & professional when it comes to reporting things or giving their opinion. I don’t sense any bias in them for the most part.
Watching Baseball Tonight, I find it hard to stomach Carl Ravech and his sly attitude. It’s almost like he has to rein it in too keep from going all Chris Russo on the viewer. To me he is the biggest tool on ESPN.
So if people have complaints about something, it’s whining? I don’t think people on message boards want to be lectured by strangers; most of us don’t want to be lectured by people we know. ESPN sucks, there – if it makes me a whiner, so be it. I don’t spend my time thinking about it as I have better things to do, but they and the rest of the mediots are Sox-loving stooges.
Frank,
I didn’t intend for the comment I made earlier to start a debate about ESPN so let’s just move on.
Frank, Blake has every right to comment on whatever he wants to here. We really don’t need blog police…
randy im right here you dont have to speak to the board about me. i’ve been on this blog for over 3 years and you’re not telling me anything i dont know about late nights or frankly about yourself.
wow, where is all this hostility coming from?
anyone who watches espn on a regular basis knows they have a red sox bias, some of them even admit it on the air. that is why they are often referred to as nespn.
that isn’t whining, that is the way it is.
whining is a red sox fan saying “my favorite teams are the red sox and whoever beats the Yankees” or wearing a hat w/ an interlocking YH for Yankee Hater, instead of supporting your own team.
this rain sucks!
took the day off to go see the game and it does not look good.
Kate, exactly. Whining is also people complaining about the complaining…
i watch espn religiously and have been a yankee fan my whole life, yet do no see the red sox bias that others are seeing.
the yankees and red sox are the two most popular teams at this point and i see constant conversation about both teams on espn.
The whole state of Florida is in a massive downpour. It’s pouring in Sanibel (where I am) and all over Florida, according to the news. Not looking good today.
frank-
blake isn’t a whiner on the blog.
he was just commenting light heartedly on mauer and olney.
then he made the stream of consciousness leap to talking about espn red sox bias on general.
so what? it’s what 99% of us on the blog do. we make casual comments. big deal.
i think exactly the same thing about espn and hardly ever watch it simply for lack of interest. i find mlb network much better for objective baseball news.
i’m just saying y’s guy should dial it back a bit .
if he wants to get some aggression out, go outside and kick a mets fan
Ledger_Yankees RT @AdamKilgoreWP: No game today. about 1 minute ago reply
Ledger_Yankees Yanks buses have turned around, according to Mr. Text-While-Driving @LoHudYankees 26 seconds ago
ok since its making everybody so uncomfortable ill stop talking about the espn complaining. but im on this board every day, whether i comment or just read through and the espn comments go on and on and on. and i practically never say anything about it. so today i got ticked off about it and said my piece. did this violate the terms of service or did i break some unwritten rule by stating my opinion about something that goes on here every single day? i think not.
if you find what i said offensive, im sorry but you might wnat to just tone down the constancy of your complaints about espn a little. it doesnt have to be said on every single post. it gets really annoying after a while.
I’m not surprised – boy, this stinks. If it’s not raining in Tampa, maybe they can play each other just to keep sharp? The players must be going stir crazy…Vin, just because ESPN covers both teams equally doesn’t mean they don’t have a horse in the race. They worship at the feet of the Sox, but then again all mediots do.
I pretty much see it your way, Vin.
But in the end, it’s all about the eye of the beholder.
your ok with me y’s guy. everyone is entitled to their opinion. they do not need to comment back. they can move on, its their choice.
i love espn and will continue to watch it.
i think they have great baseball coverage.
GO YANKEES! GET #28!
“Whining is also people complaining about the complaining…”
betsy-
you really need to stop complaining about the whiners who whine about whiners.
you’re getting into whiner to the third power stuff
I wonder how many games will be cancelled today……..nasty, nasty weather system.
Randy, and you’re lecturing me. I don’t like to be lectured. You can’t see it, but I’m stamping my feet and pouting, lol.
Y’s Guy, you have the right to state your opinions, but this one comes off as lecturing, so you should expect a negative reaction.
Randy:
Didn’t call him one. As I said, I’m casting no aspersions. Blake’s one of the good ones. Never thought otherwise.
As I read it, Blake and I were discussing Mauer and his potential, albeit unlikely, free agency. Somehow it turned into an ESPN thing. Like Blake, I’m done with it.
Hey, I’m a whiner. I like my alchohol. It’s therapeutic. Beer ain’t bad either.
New Post: Rained out
Thanks Randy, Betsy, Kate etc.. I wasn’t trying to start a war on ESPN. It was intended to be a light hearted comment as Randy said and if it came across as whining it wasn’t the intent.
y’s guy-
i just had problem with you trying to throw someone under the bus that i thought was totally uncalled for.
now as far as mauer possible having back problems that will affect his career.
that’s gotta make a team like the twins think twice if mauer does indeed have back problems .
i didn’t know that his recent problems might be chronic.
frank-
sounds good to me.
so what’s up with mauer ?
i thought he was going to sign with the twins.
Just a general comment. I think one of the reasons there are so many arguments on blogs and message boards is that you really can’t tell the tone in which something is said. Same thing happens with texts and emails and can lead to misinterpretations and miscommunication.
Or the reason there are so many arguments is because the majority of these people you will never see, so it would be much easier to disagree with someone on a message board because you would never say it to their face.
blake,
Some of the conflict arises when a certain type lies in wait and jumps on something, distorts it, and ignores qualifiers the original poster introduced in the first place to define context.
The original comment is essentially ignored and becomes a stage for an arrogant display that deliberately missed the point.