Steinbrenner monument ceremony tonight at Yankee Stadium
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Sep 20, 2010 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Just a reminder, the Yankees will hold a special ceremony to dedicate and unveil a monument in honor of George Steinbrenner in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park prior to tonight’s game against the Rays.
The Yankees are asking fans to arrive early and be in their seats by 6:45 p.m. Monument Park will be closed to fans prior to the game. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at approximately 7 p.m. with a special introduction behind home plate, followed by the unveiling of Mr. Steinbrenner’s monument in Monument Park.
Mr. Steinbrenner’s granddaughter Haley Swindal, who is currently performing in the musical Cabaret at the Surflight Theater in Beach Haven, N.J., will sing God Bless America during the seventh-inning stretch in tribute to her grandfather. Frank Sinatra, Jr., will sing the national anthem prior to the game, while the colors will be presented by the West Point Color Guard.
Mr. Steinbrenner’s wife, Joan, and all four of the couple’s children – Hal, Hank, Jennifer and Jessica – are scheduled to be in attendance.
Frank Jr., huh?? Pulling out all the big stops for the Boss. Gotta love it.
Francesa isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions and get real, huh?
Cashman on the FAN stating the obvious “if Damon got his head on straight he would be here right now”
Maybe people will FINALLY stop screaming about this when the Yankees offered him a way better deal than Detroit and he said no
Listening to Cashman’s interview, it seems very clear that the decision to prioritize health over winning the division and in turn resting players – like Alex yesterday – was a strategic decision made by the organization as a whole.
It was not some independent decision made only by Girardi. It’s a consensus strategy. That strategy is most likely left to the manager to implement tactically, but it’s a shared high level decision that is driving those game to game decisions.
The organization as a whole is not only on board with resting guys – it’s a course of action that is being driven as a consensus strategy.
“Listening to Cashman’s interview, it seems very clear that the decision to prioritize health over winning the division and in turn resting players – like Alex yesterday – was a strategic decision made by the organization as a whole. ”
Yeah, I got that same impression hearing that as well.
I saw many shows at the old Surflight Theater in Beach Haven as a kid. Very good quality for its size.
“It was not some independent decision made only by Girardi. It’s a consensus strategy.”
Did anyone really think otherwise?
Great interview with Cash. A lot of honesty it seems and Cash thinks this team is ready to take off. Hope he is right.
“Did anyone really think otherwise?”
The people who hammered Girardi all week for “conceding” the division with his moves, resting guys, etc. as if it was his call solely to not go all out to win every game.
Apparently a lot of folks that kill the manager after every lineup is posted thinks its all Girardi making these decisions.
Bill D – just read through some of the blog posts to get your answer to that..
Bill – There were plenty of people who have killed Joe all week for not “playing to win”. Even making judgments about his managing ability (i.e. can’t handle pressure of a pennant race) based off this past week.
Obviously they were erroneous judgments if it was an organizational decision, not his.
“Did anyone really think otherwise?”
Have you been reading this board?
“Obviously they were erroneous judgments if it was an organizational decision, not his.”
What I believe Bill D meant is that it ought to have been obvious that such judgments were erroneous.
Tank:
I think Girardi’s made a few strange in game decisions over the course of the past couple weeks, but never thought for a second that resting certain players wasn’t done without Cashman’s blessing. In fact, I’d guess it has been done at Cashman’s instruction. Girardi doesn’t have the power to do that unilaterally.
Bil D,
Absolutely – look at all the incoherent rambling the past week about the manager. Saying things like he is “choking down the stretch” and managing “tense” and basically trashing him for every move, when clearly his managing is contrived with the eye on resting people.
I have had no problem with the rest prioritization.
The way Girardi implemented it for that 10 or 11 day stretch is a different story.
Thanks Erica for answering my question before!
Like CB said, Cash is in agreement with keeping the players fresh and healthy. But in the end it’s up to Girardi to make the daily lineup. GM’s have no say in the day to day running of the team.
BTW, I’m not one that kills him about the lineup. Just pointing out that while it’s an organizational philosophy to rest the players, it’s still girardi that makes the final decisions.
Bill – it should have been obvious, but clearly it wasn’t to some people.
The Yankees probably devised a schedule of rest for Arod while he was on the DL and have stuck with it because it worked so well last year…
Thanks Wave. You have it right.
I saw Miggy’s error the other day that cost the Tigers the game, he leads AL 1B with 13 errors. As great a year as he’s having with the bat that has to play into the MVP voting because Cano’s playing GG defense with 3 errors which is the least in the AL for 2B.
Looking forward to these 4 games, should be a battle.
I just hope that this decision to get healthy outweights HFA, is in fact the right decision. The way things are presently HFA is right there for the taking even after this last road trip. I think HFA is a very close must to get to the Fall Classic, but that is just my opinion.
Resting is fine. Management of the game however is a completely different story. Just terrible. Feels like he’s managing by his book of stats and that’s it. No experience, no instinct, no nothing. Matchup vs matchup vs matchup. It’s ridiculous. I am just feeling all kinds of unnerved about the last two weeks as well as the playoffs.
Jeters Edge In Blazin Copper September 20th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Thanks Erica for answering my question before!
***********
You’re welcome
“The way Girardi implemented it for that 10 or 11 day stretch is a different story.”
And I think this is where it’s completely legitimate to raise questions – over implementation and tactics. Girardi is not formulating the strategy alone. He’s working within a framework of priorities that are set by the organization as a whole.
Mike,
Cano is the MVP in my book. Hamilton is probably the leader but he hasn’t played in awhile and may have very little September impact on his team and the Tigers aren’t making the playoffs. When you consider all around performance and contribution to his team I think Robbie should be right there….
sunny615 September 20th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Resting is fine. Management of the game however is a completely different story. Just terrible. Feels like he’s managing by his book of stats and that’s it. No experience, no instinct, no nothing. Matchup vs matchup vs matchup. It’s ridiculous. I am just feeling all kinds of unnerved about the last two weeks as well as the playoffs
—————-
That’s how he manages. He’s strictly a percentages manager…and this style is becoming more and more common through baseball.
“The way things are presently HFA is right there for the taking even after this last road trip. I think HFA is a very close must to get to the Fall Classic, but that is just my opinion.”
HFA is one game per series. The WS HFA always belonged to the NL, so we are only talking about the ALDS and ALCS.
And, Minnesota could easily finish with the best record given their schedule and the fact that Tampa and NY have to play each other 4 times, so we could in fact only be talking about 1 series.
That’s just too marginal an advantage for HFA to be anything like a “must” advantage for the Yanks to have in order to win the WS.
Having a healthy offense is vastly more important than HFA as a factor in the Yanks winning another world championship.
Erica -
I saw your answer to my DVR statement. I know you are the Queen of the DVR and I admire you!! I still don’t even remember I have that capability and it’s been months now!!!!!
Do you set aside time each week and figure out what you’re going to DVR? How do you do it?????
(You don’t have to answer me here.)
CB,
Speaking of the organization as a whole and Cashman just mentioning how close him and Torre were, I wonder how close Cash and Girardi are.
Wave Your Hat -
That’s what I’ve been trying to say about HFA. You said it much more directly and succinctly than I have.
LGY – Why does the one preclude the other?
Wave Your Hat, basically what I am saying and more importantly is I think the Yankees chances to get out of the ALDS and onto the ALCS vastly improves if they start out with the Rangers at home then in Minnesota against the Twins. So I should say what I think is more important is winning the East than necessarily overall HFA.
“Resting is fine. Management of the game however is a completely different story.”
Agreed. Carrying out the organizational strategy/Cashman’s instructions, and game management are two very different things. Girardi can’t be blamed for the former, but he can be for the latter.
LGY
I know this isnt my convo, but I would bet Cash and Girardi are pretty close. Cash was backing Girardi to be manager from the beginning and they seem to be on the same page when it comes to the players.
Joe,
I don’t think it does.
Shame,
It’s everyone’s convo!
Just happened to be responding to what CB said.
That’s how he manages. He’s strictly a percentages manager…and this style is becoming more and more common through baseball.
——————
But he’s using at times, some ridiculously small sample sizes. It’s almost ludicrous – as in the TX series, he swapped in Thames because he at 3 at bats against the pitcher. Not 20, not 10… 3.
I like Girardi a lot as a manager but I would like to see him dial back the “book” aspect of his decision making and incorporate a little more common sense at times. Doreen and I had the conversation the other day and discussed the fact that he’s still relatively inexperienced as a manager and that perhaps as time passes he will draw more on that experience that he’s gained instead of relying so heavily on past matchups etc…
LGY – That’s ok. Problem with this format is that it’s hard to determine tone and nuance in a reply. I think that may also play into some of the misunderstandings and controversies between people on this board.
Cashman and Girardi are very close.
They speak everyday…..even in the off-season.
Cashman keeps him in the loop about everything.
There is no question, the systematic resting of players was/is an organizational decision.
As CB said though, it’s implementation has left a lot to be desired.
Cash heaps praise on Girardi every chance he gets… back in 08, he told the media to blame him for not making the playoffs, not Girardi. He has stuck his neck out for Joe a few times.
I think Cash takes pride in the fact that Joe was his handpicked manager.
How is the fact that Torre is going to be at the game tonight not getting more attention! With all the garbage stories that ESPN wastes our live reporting, how is this little story not getting some play? For Yankee fans this should be a big deal!
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....ment_.html
Very interesting interview by Cashman. Noteworthy as well because I don’t think he used the word “process” even once – though I feel like I must be wrong on that or misheard as that’s like stating a fundamental law of the universe was broken.
Much of what he talked about was players on the team who have made a dedication to get better – Cano, Gardner and Swisher in particular. He spent quite a bit of time talking about those players. More than he did about say Alex.
Cash’s story about Cano was very insightful. He said that Joe benching Robbi at the end of 2008 was a turning point in Cano’s career. He and the organization went to Robbi and said that the difference in you being a only a “good” player and a great one was plate discipline. Cashman also talked to Cano about plate discipline and his “future earnings potential.” That in a round about way was perhaps a way of getting across to Cano the importance of improving his plate discipline if he wanted to be a long term part of the organization. Yankees = earning potential. Since those conversations Cano’s been a very different player and worked hard to focus his game.
Cash also brought up an interesting comparison that you’d otherwise rarely hear. He compared Cano’s work ethic and Brett Gardner’s work ethic. He said both players share a similar drive to get better. For a many fans those two player have represented opposite polls of effort – the “gritty” Gardner vs. the “lazy” Cano. But from Cashman’s point of view they’re similar guys who are very driven to make the most of the talent they have.
Gardner sounds like a guy the organization really, really likes. A guy that possess a skill set the organization feels is very valuable as power hitting outfielders have become more scarce. He described Gardner as a guy who will continue working to get better and make the most of the talent he has.
Also got the sense that they are counting on Swisher as a long term foundational piece for the organization. Cashman talked about him losing weight this off season and fine tuning his approach at the plate.
He talked some about Granderson working on his swing as well. You can tell that he valued power hitting from CF.
Not a lot of room for Carl Crawford next year given what Cashman said. Perhaps it’s smoke but he spoke very highly of all three outfielders.
If the Yankees don’t get HFA, they will NOT reach the WS unless the team starts hitting and pitching WAY beyond what they have showed the past 3 weeks, period.
Doreen September 20th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Erica -
I saw your answer to my DVR statement. I know you are the Queen of the DVR and I admire you!! I still don?t even remember I have that capability and it?s been months now!!!!!
Do you set aside time each week and figure out what you?re going to DVR? How do you do it?????
*******************
(I’ll forget by the time I get home tonight otherwise)
Basically, I spend 15 minutes every Saturday and go through the channel guide for the upcoming week and set for record everything for the week in that one shot.
Because the new TV season is starting and a lot of new shows are airing, I took my fall preview TV guide and Entertainment weekly and read all of the reviews to see which shows I am interested in. Then I made a schedule for each night to make sure I don’t have more than 2 shows in each time slot so I can record everything.
Entertainment weekly also had a calendar of all the fall premiere dates so I am sure not to miss anything.
And yes, I realize this is a disease
My criticism was not of Girardi resting players, but of his inconsistency. Like resting Alex 2 days after an off day, and not resting Swisher in Texas when it was painfully obvious he should not have been playing, for example.
“How is the fact that Torre is going to be at the game tonight not getting more attention! ”
Because as much as some people want to make it about Torre, tonight is not about Torre.
“If the Yankees don’t get HFA, they will NOT reach the WS unless the team starts hitting and pitching WAY beyond what they have showed the past 3 weeks, period.”
Well they better start hitting and pitching better than they have the past 3 weeks regardless because they’ve been playing .500 which isn’t going to cut it.
And the goal of this franchise is not to reach the world series. It is to win the world series and they aren’t going to have “HFA” when it matters the most.
If they need the HFA crutch that badly then they simply aren’t going to win what matters and aren’t going to reach their goal.
So they may as well focus on playing better and getting healthy because home field advantage isn’t something they can rely on in the world series.
I wonder if Pinella will be there tonight. He was an integral part of the Yankees in the early years, and I understand a good friend of the Steinbrenner family.
My only problem with the “resting” strategy is this: when you finally have a hitter on a hot streak, such as Alex, does the rest actually hinder them more than help them. I have no statisitcs to quote on either side of the argument. It just seems to me that there are times that hitters struggle after a day off following a previous hot streak. It seems this also happened to Granderson a few weeks ago.
Put another way, if Alex puts up an ofer tonight, is it because the rest took him out of his rhythm or because the opposing pitcher did?
CB
Cashman’s comments reinforced the thought that your prime age players need to be shouldering a load with the team- not just your 30-somethings.
A-Rod had a day off on Thursday (the whole team did) and he drove in all four of their runs.
There is no downside to giving a player a day off. These guys aren’t 20 yr old anymore and there’s a ban on amphetamines – something the old timers never had to experience.
“Cashman’s comments reinforced the thought that your prime age players need to be shouldering a load with the team- not just your 30-somethings.”
Baseball has clearly become a young man’s game, especially with testing in place.
HFA is only 1 game. I want the yankees to focus on getting healthy so they can win games 1 and 2 road or home with their 2 best pitchers throwing, and then take 2 out of the next 3 (ALDS/ALCS/WS who cares)
Oops.
A-Rod had a day off on Thursday (the whole team did) and he drove in all four of their runs on Friday.
“I have no statisitcs to quote on either side of the argument. It just seems to me that there are times that hitters struggle after a day off following a previous hot streak. ”
Scientists have looked at this and have been have not found any correlation between the outcomes of at bats a hitter has. All sequences or clusters of performance from hitters are no different than what one would expect to find based on expected probability distributions.
The data is consistent with each at bat being independent from all others.
This was very interesting work done by evolutionary biologists – they used baseball as an example of how humans interpret trends.
The only event in baseball history up to the late 1980′s when the studies were done that was not in accordance with rules of probability was Joe Dimaggio’s 56 game hitting streak. It is the most singular statistical event in the history of the game.
“The data is consistent with each at bat being independent from all others.”
I believe it…….yet I also believe Troy Tulowitski hopes the September never ends.
GF – I’ve long felt that way, about the amphetamines. I think that’s what’s driving the change in baseball away from power hitters to more of a speed, D, and athleticism game (along the lines of what CB mentioned above). Also why players in their mid-30s tend to decline more than they did maybe 5-10 years ago.
Fair enough. I’ll trust Joe and Cash. As I’ve stated before, the only trends that really matter are the ones after October 4th.
SAS,
Michael Kay said that Pinella will not be there tonight because his mother is quite ill.
Boras talking about Werth as a CFer with corner oufielder offensive skills.
He’s talking Matt Holliday money for him.
pat – this is just my own, gut feeling, but I don’t think the Yanks will pursue Jayson Werth.
Taking speed out of the game makes speed in the game more important?
That actually makes sense.
Everyone is in the lineup except for Jorge.
Joe- I don’t think so either. The price tag could scare away a few who I would have thought would be in the market for him though.
NYPost_Kernan #Yankees Cano is out for early hitting with K-Long and has positioned screen on outer half of plate to keep hands inside ball, great drill
NYPost_Kernan And what’s really interesting is that the struggling Lance Berkman is now doing the drill, in Tampa it was only Cano and Nunez #Yanees
Joe from Long Island September 20th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
pat – this is just my own, gut feeling, but I don’t think the Yanks will pursue Jayson Werth.
————-
I don’t think they were going to anyway, but definitely not at that price.
Nick –
clever….
Listening to both Cashman’s and Torre’s interview with Francesa, it appears that nobody has time for long-term grudges and that it’s time to move on from the book and remember what they accomplished as a team.
The reason I say GET to the WS, is that I know we don’t have HFA there, and I truly believe IF we get there, that our advantage in skill over whichever NL team is served up, has a much better chance of overcoming NOT having HFA, than it does against any of the AL teams we are going to have to get past.
“I believe it…….yet I also believe Troy Tulowitski hopes the September never ends.”
This is a little complicated to explain. But the two things aren’t mutually contradictory. From a probability stand point it’s an important finding for at bats to be independent trials. But all that means is that the outcome of one at bat doesn’t influence the outcome of the next..
And that’s not that surprising. Say Tulo squares one up but it’s lined right at a hitter. Would we expect that result to alter his ability to get a hit in his next at bat? No!
If this wasn’t the case we’d have to think about baseball in a very different way mathematically.
So what we can say about a player on a run like Tulo is that this type of concentrated performance isn’t unexpected due to sheer probability alone. It means that it’s very possible that a player can “lock in” a level of skill for a period of time that produces huge production over short periods of time. Will the player sustain this indefinitely? No. That’s just probability.
The probability corresponds with our intuition – baseball is a game of “streaks” but those streaks are probabilistic in nature and not unexpected.
It would actually be stranger from a probability stand point for a player to never go on the kind of run that Tulo is on right now.
“Listening to both Cashman’s and Torre’s interview with Francesa, it appears that nobody has time for long-term grudges and that it’s time to move on from the book and remember what they accomplished as a team.”
Agreed. Move on and enjoy the ceremony tonight
Berkman is hitting 173 with 523 OPS this season. Historically, he is a far better LH hitter. Which leads to the thinking, will he simply abandon hitting RH next season?
Berkman and Manny has share some similarities this season. Both are former great hitters, both has experienced precipitous power dip. They both still get on a base in a good clip with via walks and singles