Pregame notes: The eighth Yankees all-star
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Notes, Podcast on Jul 08, 2010 
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How’s that for a convenient picture? Nick Swisher is in the all-star game, and he’ll be there with Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter. When Swisher got the news, his first call was to his father, who was himself a major league all-star back in 1976.
“He was just proud of me,” Swisher said. “I think that’s one of the greatest things your dad can ever tell you is that he’s proud of you. I’m all smiles today.”
That’s certainly true. If you thought Swisher was excited to be on the final ballot, you can only imagine his excitement at being chosen. While he sat in one of the clubhouse offices this afternoon, talking on the phone live to MLB Network, Swisher’s teammates kept walking into the room to yell their congratulations, not realizing he was on TV at the time.
“People tell me everywhere I go, ‘Swish I voted for you,’” Swisher said. “I went down to the market today. ‘Hey Swish, I voted for you today.’ Thanks man! I’m just excited and so happy for all the support. I couldn’t be more grateful.”
To use Swisher’s word, the past year and a half have been “bananas” since he came to New York. First a World Series. Now his first all-star appearance. And you have to give the guy credit, he’s made noticeable changes to make himself a better, more complete player this season.
“I’m actually going to talk to these guys who have been there for a while,” he said. “Tell me how it works. I just think it’s going to be great to be there. I’m juiced man. Obviously you can tell.”
Yes, we could tell. Here’s Swisher.
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• Stunning news out of Tampa: Nick Johnson suffered a setback. He was swinging a bat today when he felt pain in that surgically repaired wrist. He’s coming back to New York to see Dr. Ahmad. “What it means, how long he rests, I don’t know,” Girardi said.
• Much better news on Sergio Mitre, who could join the Yankees immediately after the all-star break. “He’s going to make another (rehab start) here soon,” Girardi said. “And then we’re going to discuss to see whether we think he needs one more or is ready to go.”
• The question seems to be how much the Yankees need to get Mitre stretched out. Is he a long man, or is he a one-or-two-inning guy like Alfredo Aceves was supposed to be? “I think you have to see the makeup of our roster at the time,” Girardi said.
• Girardi mentioned Dustin Moseley as another guy who could fill that Aceves role.
• Girardi said he might DH Alex Rodriguez one more game this series. He talked to Rodriguez in Oakland and told him he planned to DH him today.
• Girardi won’t announce a starting pitcher for the All-Star Game until Sunday, but David Price is a name to keep in mind. “He’s a strong candidate to start,” Girardi said “He pitched yesterday. Those are announcements that we’ll make on Sunday.”
• Girardi said he has started to map out his pitching plans for the All-Star Game, and all of those decisions are done in consultation with the individual pitching coaches. “Dave (Eiland) has called every pitching coach except the pitching coach here because he knows he’s going to see him in 15 minutes,” Girardi said.
• While Girardi was doing his pregame interview in the dugout, Colin Curtis was a few feet away doing an interview of his own. He grew up just outside Seattle, and some folks from his local newspaper are at the stadium to write about him coming home. Pretty cool that his call-up came in time to play here and in Phoenix, where he went to college.
• CC Sabathia said he honestly has no idea where LeBron is going. “Everybody thinks he’s going to Miami from all the reports,” Girardi said. “But we’ve seen how that can change.”
Associated Press photos. The second one is of Dave Robertson. Why Robertson? I don’t know, just kind of a cool picture and the AP obviously has no fresh art of Nick Johnson.
repost:
# m July 8th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
LeBron is wearing pinstripes. They’re pink, but they’re definitely stripes.
pat,
He obviously hasn’t found the store.
Chad,
No LeBron thread?
good luck to lebron wherever he plays
But first a word from our sponsor.
If he wants to be known as the greatest “The King”…it’s not as the third wheel of a tricycle….
m
I thought I saw red/white checks.
well, stunning indeed that NJ suffered a setback, never would have seen that coming.
Nick – you’ve got that right
This Lebron stuff is absolutely INSANE!!!!!!!!
Cashman is not impressed with LeBron. He says Cody Ransom plays better defense.
Twitter
ESPNLandOLakers:
RT @ArashMarkazi: Vin Scully saw us gathered around TV: “What is this, the World Series?” Told it was for Lebron, he laughed.”Who?” [via Twitter]
pat,
Really? I need to adjust my eyes.
I saw the shot that was panned out.
Jim Gray?!?!??!!
Chad Curtis just threw up in his mouth.
Nick Johnson? lol
There are too many good one-liners from the writers to post:
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydi.....-dime-live
m
Same shirt. Different color!
Nick…too funny!
Lebron James=Uneducated, shameless self-promoter
A perfect fit for the contemporary NBA.
LGY:
NBDL?
Johnson suffered a set back anyway
pat,
lol!
Best team for him is the Bulls.
SAS,
NBA Development League
I hope the game goes extra innings and Swisher hits the walkoff game winning hit.
Hey, this is better than complaining about Cashman or the Yankee bench! lol
We’re past 10 minutes so they’ve lied about one thing already.
Okay, here’s a baseball post:
Jim Salk is sitting in for Brian Kenney. He had Cliff Lee on and asked him if he wanted to do a one hour announcement about his (inevitable) trade. Lee could be LeBron and Salk would be Jim Gray. Cliff Lee, “Um. No.”
Salk said that Lee would rather die than shine this bright of a spotlight (like LeBron is doing) on himself.
pat,
Was said today that the announcement within first 10 min was not true.
Pat,
CNBC corrected that false report about the 10 minute mark.
I think it’s fascinating that the Wall Street Network would be in-the-know in the first place.
There’s big money behind this decision.
LGY,
Even I will say NJ is far too smart for that. Physically who cares!!!!
I thought about a LeBron post, but I figured the conversation could simply move into the notes post. The timing is too close to first pitch to dedicate a thread to the LeBron news.
Had to be about 10 – 12 commercials crowded into that break
Funny when Arod brought attention to himself he’s called a diva.
When Lebron does he’s called King.
Thanks Chad,
I don’t like Basketball in this day and age anyway.
SAS,
lol. I was referring to Stephen A Smith as SAS. Sorry for the confusion!
espn is really dragging this out
LoHud commenter SAS is Stephen A Smith?
Chad,
LOL. I was joking. You’re a good sport, tho.
Was that a NY chapter of the B&G Club commercial?
A shirt from the store and a Yankee Clipper commercial?
The Decision, lol
They should have got Ryan Seacrest to host this thing.
Here’s another baseball post.
The Rockies have a total of 47 wins.
And U-Jim has 15 of them.
Wowza.
This seems like something A-Rod would do.
in re ESPN’s Lebron coverage/contract signing:
I really hope this doesn’t become a trend.
Chad
You don’t need to do a post on Lebron.
No one here has any interest.
m
If the store had a Miami location, Alex would know about it. No?
only Lebron can make Kobe and Arod look good . i didn’t think it was possible
MTU
http://www.baseball-reference......1972.shtml
Look at Steve Carlton
Wonder which will get a bigger rating…this fiasco or the Tiger Woods press conference.
I have to admit, this is awesome.
Much cooler than same lame beat reporter breaking the news or a twitter announcement.
LeBron is a genius.
Are they here to chat or what….good grief.
Bron knew exactly what he was doing, he loves being the center of attention.
Carl-
Yikes !
The only thing missing from this charade is Lebron holding a puppy.
Wake up Greg Oden, it’s almost time.
I like it too LGY. Reality TV at it’s finest.
It’s all just show biz in the end.
LeBron expected from the process to be able to go through the process.
Riveting.
Jeez. Jim Gray looks more nervous than LeBron.
pat,
We only need to worry if it’s Dash, and LeBron marries Kourtney. They’re good luck championship charms.
good thing they aren’t still in Oakland tonight….there’s going to be riots in the streets over the Mehserle verdict.
Says he decided THIS MORNING
Chad, no LeBron post???
Conversation with his mom.
Awwwwww.
All is forgiven.
LeBron’s mom is the key!
Did the Knicks send Isiah to talk to her???
I’m watching the Murcer Yankeeography. What a class act. Talk about the antithesis of LBJ.
he looks nervous.
Memo do the other five teams: if you don’t already know, now you know.
Biggest thing is winning NOW and winning into the future.
I’m not going to say Lebron is a bad guy because of this, but this is pretty ridiculous. We’re all waiting on pins and needles to see what a free agent plans on doing with the next few years of his career? Sad……………
scrap my last post…. didnt read the thread yet
The Knicks didn’t send Isiah, they sent Amber Sabathia.
Has no doubts.
Boooooooooooooo.
Bad decision.
Miami Heat.
Oh well. the sources didn’t lie.
Oh LeBron
We hardly knew ye
Groan heard in the crowd. Ouch!
Wow, the Heat………….whatever.
sucks to be a knick fan .. oh well . .LETS GO YANKS
YES!!! Now I can renew my season tickets!
sucks to be a knick fan .. oh well . .LETS GO YANKS
The anciet Maya used to have a game that was kind of a cross between Basketball and Soccer.
The object of the game was to get a rubber ball thru a narrow stone opening high up on a wall without using your hands.
It wasn’t about the money.
The problem was winning.
The winners were often beheaded.
That was one time it really paid to be a loser.
Congrats to 2010-2011 NBA Champ Miami Heats.
Add Miami to the Boston Celtics on my hated teams list.
Does nothing for the NBA.
So now what Knicks, stuck with Amare on a $100M contract?
He didn’t want to come to NY, that was clear………….I didn’t watch this at all, so this is me just speculating. He couldn’t wait the year or so it would take for the Knicks to become true contenders and I’m not sure he wanted the responsibility of taking the franchise on his shoulders.
Moving on………….
Nick,
Come down this winter. We will hit a game.
Nick
They should have sent Michelle Damon.
What a joke this guy is. This is why I don’t watch the NBA and never will.
Lebron to South Beach. SJ 44 those season tix will have value
if only the Knicks could have dumped Curry and had room for 3 max players….
The NBA Champs of 2010 will be the Heat.
SJ,
Congrats!
Spot on throughout the whole process.
He probably liked the shopping on South Beach.
Look . .No offense . .but as Yankee fans . . we have NO room to talk about free agency.
“ancient Maya”. sorry.
But hey, we have TRAVIS OUTLAW! Watch out for the Nets!!!!
/s
They’re not stuck with anything; they wanted Amare. As Cash has said, if you want a player, you don’t diddly around with them…………and the guy honestly seems to want to be here. I have faith in Donnie Walsh – the Knicks will be fine without Lebron. It will stink having to deal with the Heat on a constant basis, though.
Bret,
I tried tellin’ you yesterday, sometimes the tide goes in a certain direction, you gotta follow the tide.
Too much was moving in Miami’s direction to be ignored.
# vblade July 8th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
So now what Knicks, stuck with Amare on a $100M contract?
LOL, Knicks = suckers
Thanks, SJ, I’ll do my best.
My brother just texted “I can’t wait for the lakers to mop these chumps up in next years finals”
And if I were Stephen A. Smith, would you treat me better or worse????
“Spot on throughout the whole process.”
You are crazy if you think SJ44 had any sources ‘throughout the process.’ His only sources were Chris Broussard and the rest of the ESPN crew. ESPN did a diligent job as usual, and SJ44 tries to reap the credit.
LBJ is a joke
Notice he said 3 years, BTW.
LeBron’s Mom tells Cleveland to STICK IT!
The rest of the teams now have egg on their faces. Oh well, time to move on to Melo.
The Heat are rumored to be chasing Chris Paul in a S&T for Beasley, Chalmer and 1st rounders.
wonder what would have happened if Riley hadn’t quit on the Knicks.
Talk about anti-climatic.
I’m sorry, but this move makes him look like a tool. What a joke. He didn’t just make up his mind this morning, this was all show and no substance.
LeBron comes off as a phony.
Well, congrats on colluding your way to a title, LeBron.
LGY,
On this one, my sources were too good to ignore.
Pulling the ads made me think he had a change of heart and was going back to Cleveland.
However, I know how tight he is with Wade and I know Riley hit a MAJOR HR in his presentation to LeBron.
It all came together the way Riley envisioned.
An amazing haul for Riles.
ESPN knew all along, they were doing this dog and pony show and weren’t going to have their talking heads look like complete fools.
and bringing it back to baseball……
Joelsherman1 The technical advisor on this show was Steve Trachsel because nothing could move this slowly without an expert #LeBron
SJ44 July 8th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Nick,
Come down this winter. We will hit a game.
—-
SJ, I’m there anytime
The Knicks could have signed Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Ervin Johnson, Larry Bird and Bob Cousy in their prime and they couldn’t win.
LBJ is going be in for a rude awakening when he steps foot at MSG. Welcome to the world of being hated Lebron lol.
LeGone James. Wow, this is narcissism to a degree I’ve never witnessed. Now everyone will pontificate on this for the next 72 hours.
Gimme a break. Whoever made this media event happen needs to have his/her computer taken away, no twitter, no iPhone and sent to an iceberg slowly melting in the Arctic. I swear, this is such a disgusting indicator on the devolution of grace and humility.
David Lee,
Got a homework project for you.
Go back and read my posts on this subject and see if any of it was riffed from ESPN.
You will find none of it was on ESPN.
Well, I suppose a David Lee sign and trade should be forthcoming; Walsh won’t be standing pat. The Knicks seemed disappointed this P.M. that Lebron didn’t want to come to NY and basically try to lift the franchise back to it’s former glory days, but I think in a couple of years they will be very good. I hope the Heat fail miserably.
Thank God we have the New York Yankees.
I’m reading the Seattle Times blog. Cliff Lee was on ESPN’s 710 Brock and Salt show.
Cliff said, he and his agent approached Gm Zduriencik about an contract exention.
Zduriencik was quoted as saying “we aren’t going down that road.” The Mariner fans are angry if that’s true. Their blog is full of anger towa rd the mgmt.
Can’t wait to watch the Heat fail.
Something to look forward to.
GB – I go back to Red Holzman teams in the late 60s – early 70s.
The Knicks are screwed for as long as Cablevision and the Dolan family run them. They function as a clown college. Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni can only do so much.
Sad, for a franchise with a long history, that plays in Madison Square Garden. Just sad.
I gotta say, banking for two years for LeBron to come to Brooklyn/NJ got me (and probably a lot of other Nets fans) through the better part of two crap seasons, anticipating this moment.
Now with this and the Outlaw crap signing, I think I’ve reached a bit of a tipping point with this franchise. Break time.
Still gonna root against the colluders though.
Carmello Anthony, come on down!
# LMAO July 8th, 2010 at 9:36 pm
ESPN knew all along, they were doing this dog and pony show and weren’t going to have their talking heads look like complete fools.
agree
Actually, per Chad Ford, the sign and trade is done:
One of the best decisions George ever made was to break off talks with Charles Dolan. Every single Yankee fan should toast George for that call.
props to lebron,wade,bosh taking discounts, just assuming though
GRRRRRR, if only we weren’t still paying Larry Johnson!!
That’s surprising – Lee wanted to extend his contract before he even knew if he liked Seattle?
Is Aceves out for the season?
I cant believe the hoopla surrounding all this lebron crap.
SJ44,
You are full of baloney. Everything you said or predicted had been on ESPN minutes earlier. One thing you predicted has scrolled across the Baseball Tonight bottom line 10 minutes prior. Then after Ric Bucher confirmed it was a mistake, ESPN pulled it off its bottom line.
The Dolans owning the Yankees would be a nightmare.
Thank God that won’t happen.
Not sure why so many people are ticked at LeBron. No one was forced to follow this every minute of the day like some did. I don’t blame him for leaving Cleveland and I don’t feel bad for them. Its not like he only played there for a year and then left. Had more than their share of opportunities.
LGY, we can only hope he’s not scared of the potential lock out and that he doesn’t sign an extension.
Lee to Golden State in a sign and trade per Chad Ford.
Time to move on to Carmelo and root hard against the colluders. Basically undermined the whole FA process.
Lebron didn’t reject the Knicks because of the Dolans – and I still say they are in great shape with Walsh. I don’t know much about these players they’re getting from Golden State, but most Knick fans seem to be pretty high on them. Lebron didn’t have a vision – he couldn’t see that the Knicks are in good position to be real contenders in a year or two. Plus, I don’t think he wanted the responsibility of being THE guy in NY…………..
Wrong David but, keep trying.
Last week, when Rich in NJ, LGY and I were discussing this I said all three guys, if they came to Miami, were taking less than max money.
NOBODY on ESPN had that.
Nick in SF July 8th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Thank God we have the New York Yankees.
—————————–
Haha post of the day.
“I cant believe the hoopla surrounding all this lebron crap”
Yup. It certainly is about “hoopla” alright.
I hope Carmelo does not sign that extension…………..he definitely wants to play here and so does Parker. The Knicks can be really good in a year or two………
They did sort of collude, though they have every right to do so as FA. I don’t think Lebron owed it to Cleveland to stay – it was his right as a FA to choose the course of his career. It’s just that this was ridiculous – he’s just a basketball player, not the President.
“That’s surprising – Lee wanted to extend his contract before he even knew if he liked Seattle?”
Something to be marginally concerned about if he’s traded to Texas. He’s an Arkansas guy. Texas is close enough. If they get their ownership sh*t together, you never know.
I’m pretty sure Bron just said the deal is going to be for 5 years.
Looks like he is in Miami for the long haul.
They are going to brand this thing to the younger generation like the Dream Team.
A year or 2 from now, outside of hardcore fans, no one will remember how all these guys ended up together.
SJ44,
You are a joke. Plenty of the great people at ESPN made note that if all 3 ended up in Miami, that it would take less than max money for them to join the great organization in Miami.
Who cares about these millionaires and spectacles? Capitalism will collapse very soon, and for us anarchists a new day is dawning. Wake up! Look around you! The criminals and gangsters that are the G20 have seen our numbers and our resolve in Toronto. We brought hope to our brethren in Detroit at the US Social Forum.
Fun stuff…except for Jim Gray. How is this clown still employed? I almost turned the channel when I saw that he was giving the interview.
Betsy,
Jim Dolan is a nightmare.
Not a good owner.
The childish imposter tonight, the 9:46 post isn’t mine, ain’t changin’ tonight’s facts so, keep acting like a clown if that makes you feel good.
SJ has been talking about this Miami trio for weeks.
Outside of Stephen A Smith, the media broke the story last night.
Wow, fans are apparently burning Lebron’s jersey – that’s ridiculous.
SJ44 = Baloney. Oh, we’ve saying that for a long, long time.
SJ, he’s not good – I know that. However, I still feel the Knicks are in very good shape going forward……….I trust Walsh.
No they didn’t David but, keep trying.
Enjoy Golden State! Say hi to Nick in SF.
Joe from Long Island July 8th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
GB – I go back to Red Holzman teams in the late 60s – early 70s.
The Knicks are screwed for as long as Cablevision and the Dolan family run them. They function as a clown college. Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni can only do so much.
Sad, for a franchise with a long history, that plays in Madison Square Garden. Just sad.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Correct. Dolan was too cheap to let Walsh fire Isiah’s scouts who then dropped the ball and the Knicks missed out on Brandon Jennings. Walsh pretty much has said as much.
SJ44,
Where were the entitled NY media that thought it was Lebron’s birthright to come to NY?
Not a single NY media member wanted LBJ to come to NY.
You are so full of it.
The worst thing that probably ever happened to LeBron was getting drafted by his home state.
SJ,
are you such a lonely old man that you have blog 24 hrs a day?
don’t you have anyone to talk to at the senior’s center?
Lebron James was blessed with a wonderful opportunity to embrace a challenge and carry on Michael Jordan’s legacy in Chicago and be a savior of the NBA – he shrunk from the potential glory of it all to bolt to Miami for small reasons – foreign babes and all night clubs. He took the easy road and latched onto superstar talent to a manufactured team that he will never be able to call his own.
And let’s not hand him the title just yet.
The Heat have vacancies at the two most crucial positions in the sport – point guard and center. The team concept is lost to these 3 children. There will be no bench, no support.
When it’s all said and done, Lebron’s more likely to walk away from this with HIV like Magic Johnson than 6 titles and global fame.
You blew it Lebron and your frontcourt of Bosh and scrub center will get eaten alive by Gasol and Bynum.
You ran away.
Now you’re lost.
back to the Yanks (my last post on Lebron)
For the record, SJ said a long time ago (like more than a month) that he thought this was something that could possibly happen.
Go Yankees!
Did he say 5? I swear I heard him say 3 earlier.
Anyway, the die is cast.
The Yankees beckon. Time for me to throw on a sweater and a jacket and go out into the cold San Francisco night to get a burrito. See ya in the game thread!
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-.....id=5364903
Knicks aren’t exactly standing still.
Trevor July 8th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
SJ,
are you such a lonely old man that you have blog 24 hrs a day?
don’t you have anyone to talk to at the senior’s center?
- – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – -
You can only watch so many episodes of the Golden Girls in one day.
The stuff with Isiah in recent days in not a very comfortable feeling.
Why is he going to talk to LeBron’s people?
Isiah crippled this franchise and Dolan panics and sends him to Akron?
Walsh is a great basketball guy, but I fear Dolan is going to run him out of NY.
For all those who live on this blog 24/7, you might want to consider reading the following:
http://tinyurl.com/24pbdcp
why can’t the knicks keep Lee?
vblade – good one.
LGY, he sent him because, per Stephen A. Smith, Lebron respects Thomas -so did the other FA. They don’t think of Thomas as the failure everyone else does………I appreciate that the Knicks tried up until the last minue. Dude didn’t want to come here…….,didn’t want to wait a year or two for the team to get serious.
Should be good Knicks stuff on MSG coming up
“why can’t the knicks keep Lee?”
He plays the same position as Stoudemire…………..and he’s been traded.
Billy D July 8th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
“why can’t the knicks keep Lee?”
He plays the same position as Stoudemire…………..and he’s been traded.
——————————————
but didn’t they trade him for someone who plays the same position?
It’s a shame about Lee. He played his heart out for the Knicks. It’s been hard to root for them since Red Holtzman stopped coaching them and that’s a long time ago.
Amare and Lee on defense together would be a disaster.
There’s nothing like watching Brad Lidge blow another save, oh well Contreas in for the 10th!
# teddy July 8th, 2010 at 9:44 pm
props to lebron,wade,bosh taking discounts, just assuming though
______
They also are in a state that doesn’t have income tax, so it isn’t this great big cut they are taking. It will be played up that way, but it isn’t as big a cut as it would seem. Add to that one endorsement will more than make up for it, so there wasn’t really money left on the table.
LeBron was going to make some fans turn against him no matter where he went, but I think this move has turned far more against him than any other he could have made.
Screw James, this is a baseball blog…Out of Swish’s 9.8 million votes, I pitched in 30 from Minnesota. So congratulations Swish!!!! Who cares about basketball? (I’m from Minnesota. You know, the home of the “Timberwolves”…or so I hear.)
you were supposed to vote 33 times Nate
My sources tell me that Kurt Thomas will be added to the Heat roster for the 2010-11 season.