Hamels mildly imploded after 3.1 Hitless.
Archive for the ‘NEW YORK YANKEES’ Category
Joe Buck can’t hold tongue. Hamels doesn’t have it.
Posted by athomeatfenway on November 1, 2009
Posted in NEW YORK YANKEES, Phillies, World Series, yankees | Tagged: Cole Hamels, Fox Sports, Joe Buck, Phillies, World Series, yankees | 1 Comment »
Joe Falls: 50 Years of DiMaggio, Kaline & Jordan
Posted by athomeatfenway on September 9, 2009
There is much to like about Joe Falls book, “50 YEARS OF SPORTS WRITING, And I still can’t tell the difference between a slider and a curve.” (Sports Publishing, 1997.)
This 187 page tome navigates Falls’ personal experiences with DiMaggio, Williams, Mantle, Jordan, Nicklaus, Schembechler, Hayes, and on and on and so forth.
Joseph Falls, son of a New York City cop, at the age of 17 in 1945 took a job as a copyboy for the Associated Press. After an apprenticeship of eight years, Falls moved to the Detroit bureau of the AP, where he flourished. He was hired by the Detroit Times in 1956 to cover the Detroit Tigers, and continued that beat with the Detroit Free Press from 1960 to 1978. Later, he moved to the Detroit News, where he was a columnist and Sports Editor.
Those of us living outside of Greater Detroit in the 60’s and 70’s knew of Falls because he wrote a weekly column in The Sporting News.
What a writing cast the TSN had !
Furman Bisher. CC Spink. Jerome Holtzman. Dick Young. Jim Hawkins. Joe Falls. That stable of Sporting News columnists doled out exotic, intoxicating Baseball intelligence, covering the turf from the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum to Shea Stadium. The Baseball Universe in 48 tabloid pages, a 4-color photo of Reggie Jackson on the cover.
In 2001, Falls won the J. G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Falls may have started as a humble copyboy, but he ascended to a prominence that unlocked doors that other writers could only dream about opening.
In 1965, not long after making the transition from reporter to columnist, a colleague suggested that Joe interview Walter Hagen, who was 73 and lived within a day’s drive of Detroit. Hagen, who won 11 Majors, picked up the phone but was silent as Falls said hello. After an uncomfortable silence, Hagen’s housekeeper came on the line and explained that the Golf HOFer was unable to speak because he had throat cancer. But Hagen knew how respected Falls was, and granted him a meeting.
When Falls arrived for the interview, Hagen was smoking a cigarette and wearing a white bib. Hagen is a prime example of why Falls says that Golfers are the nicest athletes to interview. He was welcomed into the lakeside Hagen home. He spent two delightful hours “chatting like mad”, Falls talking, Hagen signing to the housekeeper, and the housekeeper speaking for Hagen. After Falls knew it was time to leave, Hagen offered a demonstration of his golf swing. He took his stance, drew back his club, and swung through an invisible ball. Hagen then let out a loud whoop. “Oh”, said the housekeeper, Mr. Hagen made a perfect shot, right into the middle of the lake.”
Falls was transfixed. He had met a sporting legend, sick and failing, and felt his robust love of life.
Falls was, above all, a fan of Sport.
As a reporter, he set aside his childhood allegiances, like the one he had with the Yankees.
He found joy watching athletes push themselves to excellence.
He felt their pain as well.
As in the case of Mickey Mantle…….immediately after the conclusion of the 1960 World Series…
“Mazeroski’s home run against the Yankees in 1960…I can still see Yogi Berra going back for the (homerun) ball…”
“It was a difficult moment for me. I was old enough to know better, but I was still a Yankee fan. I felt suffocated. But I knew I had my work to do. My feelings for the Yankees had fallen away when I became a baseball writer and saw them up close. They were very arrogant, even nasty. Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford, Billy Martin and Clete Boyer always seemed to be laughing at those around them, mostly the newspaper men, making them look stupid whenever they could. These players had been my heroes; now they were distasteful people.”
“Mantle was a little different from the others. When he was around Martin, Ford and Boyer, he could be a smart aleck, very cutting, trying to get laughs from them. When you got him alone, he was much different. He was pleasant and cooperative, and this is the Mickey Mantle I chose to remember when he died.”
“Anyway, when I walked into the Yankee dressing room that day, Mantle was sitting in front of his locker with his head down. He was crying, and the tears were spotting the floor. I knew, in that moment, the measure of a man. He was a big star – a celebrated figure – but he was also an athlete – and now he was crushed.”
“At that moment, Elroy Face, Pittsburgh’s great relief pitcher, appeared in the doorway. I thought he had come over to offer his congratulations or condolences to the Yankees.”
“He had an awful expression on his face. He looked around the room and said, “F— you guys.”
“Some memory.”
This poignant, hardcover collection of memories was gathered by a man that few players hated, most respected.
Falls takes you places you cannot go on your own. His decency and fairness gained him entry into insulated clubhouses and homes.
It is a great read.
Posted in BASEBALL BOOKS, NEW YORK YANKEES | Tagged: Joe Falls, Mickey Mantle, Walter Hagen | Leave a Comment »
A-Rod Outing Good for Baseball
Posted by athomeatfenway on February 10, 2009
Reporter Roberts outed A-Rod
“Sunlight is the best disinfectant” (Brandeis)
The biggest apple on the tree is a rotten.
Hardly anyone is surprised. Look at the bulging neck, bustin’ biceps, and pants- poppin thighs that coincided with increased power numbers.
Young A-Rod had the potential to be a .350 hitter with 27 to 30 HR’s per year.
Now he is among the top 5 all-time producers of 50-HR seasons.
Never was believable.
Without Sports Illustrated’s Selena Roberts and David Epstein, we’d never be sure. Hats off to them.
There are over 100 other lesser stars that are also steroid cheats.
Let’s hear who they are.
While TV’s talking heads rant about A-Rod’s stats and how unfair it would be to out the other cheaters, let’s give thanks that expediency has been served.
Turning in the big guy could be a productive step toward getting steroids out of the game permanently – if responsible people take action.
We have got to know the rest of those names.
The Commissioner & Union (on an opium jag) together could….
…call on S.I. & the Feds to expose the rest of the names
…amend the record book.
…receive $1 Million per team to develop an effective HGH test
…receive $ 1Million more per team to creative an ongoing PED test development fund
…let the BBWAA worry about who gets into the HOF. Trust in them to keep out any tarnished qualifier including A-Rod, Clemens, McGwire, Sosa and Bonds.
Bob Hohler wrote the story in the Boston Globe about SI’s outing of A-Rod.
When I asked Bob what he thought of the MLB and the MLBPA potentially clearing the air, Bob replied that the Union is “more interested in protecting their stars than outing them.”
Bob Hohler is right. Odds are that great efforts will be made to suppress the rest of the info.
The players would sue the Union for damages if they revealed the names.
And in truth, the Commissioner won’t lead the way either. He won’t disrupt the money machine.
That leaves it to the Selena Roberts and David Epstein’s of this world.
Independent Journalism with significant readership can drive change.
We cannot count on guys like John Heyman to do the politically difficult work.
Nor can we rely on Sean Casey, Al Leiter – and all the rest sitting in front of the brand new cameras of MLB TV.
Peter Gammons at ESPN – can we count on you to drive the process?
Tom Verducci – reporting stalwart, craftsman – can you turn on your new employer and speed the process ?
I hope someone will.
How about it, Selena & David ?
Posted in A-Rod, NEW YORK YANKEES, steroids | Tagged: A-Rod, NEW YORK YANKEES, steroids | Leave a Comment »
Brian Cashman: I didn’t want the job.
Posted by athomeatfenway on February 4, 2009
Brian Cashman was persuaded by Yankee uber-fan Albert Hamrah to speak at a breakfast of the Middlesex (CT.) Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 3.
Hamrah is a Yankee fan of some 70 years. He persuaded dozens of Baseball players to speak at Charity Baseball Dinners for decades.
There’s something different about being a Red Sox or Yankee fan in central or northern CT.. Fans near Boston or New York will never understand the local electricity.
Every day Sox and Yankee logos are worn by neighbors shoveling snow, strangers standing in the grocery check out, friendly or not-so-friendly partiers standing side-by-side at the local bar.
New Yorkers and Massachusetts dwellers do not live with the same innate potential for judgment, disparagement and conflict that exists in Connecticut.
You cannot hide from the rivalry. It makes the world turn here.
30 years ago there was bitter hatred. Today, there is mild resentment between the tribes. Given the talent on each team, there is opportunity to touch the heart of the other side by acknowledging the excellence of a Pedroia or a Rivera – between digs about how Posada has donkey-like ears, or Big Papi is fat and actually 39.
The crowd at the Chamber breakfast was overwhelmingly a Yankee-one in spirit. The Sox fans present were polite and reserved.
The entire crowd was courteuous and supportive of Cashman.
And why not – he’s intelligent, down-to-earth, and long winded. Perfect.
Cashman first acknowledged the UConn victory over Louisville the night before, citing a childhood opposition to the Cardinals that stemmed from his Kentucky upbringing, which also spawned a love for the Dodgers, dislike for the Yankees, and hatred for the Reds.
Young Cashman was a Yankee hater.
Cash bonded with the audience. He said he recognized many faces in the crowd, including the guy who looks like Veritek and freaks him out. He acknowledged Connecticut’s divided heart; the tension gives him a body tick the further north he drives up I-91. He says he has moved around quite a bit, but Connecticut is the greatest place that he has ever lived.
Cash said that even though we have a great rivalry, it doesn’t mean the Yankees do not have the utmost respect for other people. Two weeks ago, the Yankee GM presented Dustin Pedroia with the A.L. MVP Award in New York. “It’s important to show respect for others and the great things they do and what they accomplish.”
Cashman’s path to the GM job was not unlike that of Theo Epstein’s rise in Boston.
They paid their dues, baby.
The big difference was that Epstein wanted the power. Cashman is too smart to want to be George’s whipping boy.
The Boss is legendary for tough love. Cashman believes Donald Trump stole “You’re Fired” from George.
While an undergrad at Catholic U., Brian got an internship at the Yankees. He worked in player scouting during the day, and security at night.
GM Woody Woodward offered Cash a full time position after graduation. Brian followed the contrarian strategy of taking the work that others avoided. He became an expert in player immigration issues, scheduling, and the Instructional League.
He became well rounded.
In 1992, Boss George took a sabbatical from his hands-on style of team management. In George’s absence, GM Gene Michael gave Cash an Assistant GM’s position, which he worked for 6 years.
In 1998, GM Bob Watson pulled Cash aside on Ground Hog Day and told him he had submitted his resignation and recommended Cashman to be his replacement.
Cash told the audience, “…..and my first reaction was – Bob, is there anyway we can work this out ? I kid you not. I tried every which way to talk him out of it because at this point in my life I never wanted to be the GM of the New York Yankees……And…there are times….to this day….I still don’t want to be the Yankees GM….I say that not half-joking because it is such a difficult position. At times it is a no-win position….because when you win it’s (due to) George’s money…..When you lose – it’s your fault. The truth is always somewhere in between.”
Cash saw things that had prejudiced him against the job. Like when Woodward – known as The Pharmacist for the bounty of vitamin supplements that helped him deal – got his beatings from George. For one, there was the time that Woodward traded Joe Niekro for catcher Mark Salas. George had heavily pushed Woodward to make the trade. But Niekro, now a Twin, came into the Stadium and shut out the Yankees for 7 innings. After the 7th, George had Woodward on a conference call in a place easily overheard, and a passing Cashman heard George tell Woody that “This is an embarrassing situation. You are going to go down and take full responsibility.” George was typically loud about it. Cash remembers walking by and thinking, “I would NEVER, EVER want to be the Yankee General Manager.”
But George did accept Bob Watson’s endorsement of Cashman and invited him to the Regency Hotel in Feb. 1998 to have a life changing meeting.
Cashman was not excited about the job as he drove in to meet George.
He told his wife that he would accept the job. And that “this would be the first day…of the last days….of his Yankee career.”
He mustered a squeaky, “I’m your man.”, when George offered.
Cash says he believed the GM job – and the franchise – is bigger than himself or any one person, and thus was unsure if the job would work out. He didn’t want a multi-year contract. He asked George for a handshake on one year deal. A 1 year try out.
George jumped.
Cash explained further, “As an Assistant GM, I was out of the spot light, behind the scenes. The GM position is a public job.” One way of explaining the good with the bad is that “the higher a monkey climbs a tree, the more you can see of his ass.”
Cashman did damn well when he climbed the tree. Soon after accepting, he traded for Chuck Knoblauch, the Yankees won 120 games in a season plus a World Series, and Cash signed a 3-year deal.
Cash had learned plenty from his associations with Yankee Managers Dallas Green, Bucky Dent, Lou Pinella, Stump Merrill, Bucky Showalter, Joe Torre and Billy Martin.
He learned plenty from former GM’s, including Bob Quinn, Syd Thrift, Gene Michael, Arnie Peterson, Clyde King, Woody Woodward, and Pinella.
On What is Needed:
Cash heads into his 12th season as GM with XX World Championships in his pocket and a new turn-back-the-clock Stadium that fans will love.
He recognizes that it is the team performance, not the Stadium that counts.
The constant effort to always be the best carries on. They aim to erase the memory of a 3rd-place finish in 2008.
Here is what Cashman is looking for:
- For Sabathia, Burnett & Teixeira to blend in
- For a healthy Posada and Rivera; both are coming off shoulder surgery.
- For a healthy Wang, who suffered a bad foot injury last year
- For a healthy Matsui, coming off his second knee surgery in two years
- For A-Rod and Jeter to be A-Rod and Jeter
- For Cano and Melky to have bounce back years
- For a Right Fielder to emerge from a group including Nady & Swisher
Cash said the competition is difficult – to say the least. He told Hartford Courant writer, Dom Amore that yes, the Yankees won the Winter. But the Yankees usually do win the winter. It’s the Summer that counts. And the competition is waiting to have their say.
On Joe Girardi:
“He did a fantastic job on the field managing through injuries and player performances that needed improvement….his area of improvement is dealing with the media……Joe will have more tools to go to battle with this year…”
On Melky Cabrera:
“He had a tremendous winter ball…2008 was an off year, he’s better than that…he has to come in now and compete with Brett Gardner for the Center Field spot….Brett is hungry, he wants it, Brett is a lot like Pedroia, undersized but done it at every level, A, AA, AAA, showing people……Melky is working on being more selective at the plate, he’s a heck of a defender, a switch hitter, can run a little, and can throw…..I think the fan base questions Melky (talent-wise) more than we do….Melky has a challenge he’s got to face….(either way) we expect the offensive output at Centerfield to be better than what fan’s expect, (it will be) at or above league average…”
The Good Ones Find A Way
“We need more guys like Mike Mussina….he had to figure out what went wrong in 2007….he went back….he figured out a way…he came back to win 20 games after not knowing if he could ever pitch again and win….We need more of what Mike Mussina did.
“I believe if you are a competitor and you care about what you do, and you take pride in what you do…and if you stumble and fall you get back up.
“The good ones always find a way.”
“The bad ones always find excuses.”
As a Sox fan, I can’t wish Brian too much luck. But he’s a worthy opponent. An intelligent man doing an impossible job for an impossible family.
Posted in NEW YORK YANKEES | Tagged: Brian Cashman, George Steinbrenner, NEW YORK YANKEES | Leave a Comment »
REVIEW: PRIDE AND PINSTRIPES MEL STOTTLEMYRE
Posted by athomeatfenway on January 11, 2009
PRIDE AND PINSTRIPES, The Yankees, Mets, and surviving life’s challenges. By Mel Stottlemyre with John Harper. Harper, 2007. 269 pages.
Mel’s baseball journey broaches three baseball dynasties: one that was ending (’64 Yankees), one that should have happened but did not (the 1980’s Mets), and one that did come to full fruition (the Jeter era Yankees.).
The portrait he paints of what the Mets could have been and should have been alone makes the book worth reading.
*************
Stottlemyre doesn’t waste anytime painting George Steinbrenner as a meddling, former Assistant Football Coach (Northwestern 1955, Purdue 1956) who secretly believes the Yankees “….should win all 162 games in a season, or at least come close, the way a powerhouse football team might go 11-1 in college, or say 14-2 in the NFL.”
Stot dances right up to the cutting edge of brutal, fire-breathing honesty about George. Then, so as not to totally offend, he backs off, softens his stance, and points out that George has a good side.
Then he points out that the good side only comes out when things are generally going George’s way.
The hatred burns quietly.
Mel joins the late Bobby Murcer in having written a recent memoir that reveals Steinbrenner as a Baseball amateur who attracts talent with his millions, and drives talent away with his personality.
It appears that George has no loyalty to his team. His true loyalty is to burnishing his legacy as the Yankee owner who bought all the booze and then stirred the drink, too.
The only thing new about any of this is to hear it directly from a classy guy like Stottlemyre.
*************
Mel Stottlemyre’s playing career is well known to 50-something fans. Hailing from little old Mabton, Washington, he excelled in High School Baseball while avoiding Football, which his disciplinarian Dad simply forbid.
Mel threw in the mid-80’s while at Mabton High where his Class of 1959 numbered 24 Seniors. Yankee Scout Eddie Taylor signed Mel out of Yakima Junior College, signed him right in a Mabton mint field in the midst of crop workers and farm equipment, for no bonus, $400 a month, and a roster spot on the 1961 Harlan (KY) entry in the Appalachian League.
God granted Mel a naturally occurring sinker. He put it together with a little slider and minor league hitters were flummoxed from Day 1. He went 9-4 in Harlan and Auburn in 1961. Them he notched a 17-9 record with 8 shutouts in Greensboro (1962). He spent the 1963 season in AAA Richmond adjusting to the demands of pitching to adults, producing a 7-7 mark. Then in 1964, emerging from the Richmond Bullpen to which he had been demoted, Mel notched 10 consecutive wins as a starter. He had learned to set up hitters, getting them to think slider and then throwing sinker.
By July, 1964, the Yankees were in a pennant race with the Orioles and White Sox and were in need of pitching. On Aug. 12, 1964, Stottlemyre walked form the Concourse Plaza Hotel to Yankee Stadium, where he made his MLB debut. He induced 19 ground ball outs, winning a complete game 7-3 victory over the White Sox. Mantle, who hit two home runs that day, one a 500 footer, graciously stood with Mel for photos.
An untouted rookie in a pennant race, Mel became a sensation. He finished 9-3. He made 3 World Series starts, all against Bob Gibson
1964 was the last good year for the Yankees until 1970. Aging stars, the first MLB draft, and a lack of young talent all took their toll on Yankee fortunes.
Mel was instantly the ace on a bad team. How do these number sound to you ? 20-9, 2.63 in ’65. 12-20, 3.80 in ’66. 15-15, 2.96 in ’67. 21-12, 2.45 in ’68. 20-14, 2.82 in ’69. 15-13, 3.09 in ’70. 16-12, 2.87 in ’71. 14-18, 3.22 in ’72. 16-16, 3.07 in ’73.
Stottlemyre would make $13 million a year today. Regardless of the W’s and L’s, his ERA and 272 IP average per year would make him a #1 starter almost anywhere.
*************
A torn rotator cuff ended his career 16 games into the 1974 season.
The Yankee Doctor caring for Mel’s shoulder was woefully inadequate. First, they rested him, then they ordered him to pitch through the injury. Later, in Spring of ’75, the Yankees sent Mel for dangerous X-Ray therapy.
Perhaps fostering what would become a full blown grudge against George later in life, the reckless X-Ray therapy became in Mel’s mind the potential cause of his son Jason’s death in 1981 from Leukemia, and his own Multiple Myloema in 2000.
*************
Stotlemyre’s story also includes 10-years stints with the Mets and Yankees as their pitching coach.
He reminds us of what a cocky and powerful team played at Shea in 1986……..
“….Davey set the tone….the players took it from there, playing with a swagger that rubbed some people the wrong way, making us a hated club as the wins began to pile up, but we weren’t interested in making friends that year. In fact, our guys were more than happy to brawl…”
Mel brings us back to young Doc Gooden, before the drugs, when he threw a 97 mph heater and a 12-to-6 curveball that froze batters. At age 21, he simply made men look like boys. He looked to be a sure fire HOF’er, no doubt.
Stot also recalls the improbable Mets comeback in game 6 of the 1986 World Series – a little too clearly for this Red Sox fan.
*************
The Yankee Years were glorious. He was tight with Zim, had a great relationship with Torre, was close to the Pettitte’s and Jeter’s while getting along with the David Wells types.
On David Wells: “Sometimes perfect, sometimes perfectly exasperating.”
On Andy Pettitte: Anti-Pettitte ramblings reverberated constantly within the Yankee organization, dating back to the very start of his career and emanating from Tampa. His soft body must mean that he is lazy. No matter Andy’s real world results, the whisper campaign persisted: He could not be counted on to be a consistent winner. The whisper continued right up until he left in 2003.
When Pettitte was at a low point in his Yankee career circa June 1999, meddling George wanted to trade the lefty. Stottlemyre went to Cashman. “Brian…look at Andy Pettitte as if he was on another team, not the Yankees. Look at what he has done during the season and in the post-season, and let’s say you had the opportunity to make a deal for him and have him pitch in Yankee Stadium, where you love having left handers. You’d give up almost anything to get a guy like him. Yet, we already have him and there’s this talk about trading him. I can’t understand it.”
Cashman: “I can’t argue your point.”
After lobbying by Mel and Torre, Pettitte survived the trading deadline. And George’s comment to the press was none too supportive:
“He should be very relieved…Certain people put a lot of faith in him. Now we’ll see what kind of man he is. This is a very defining moment for him.”
That was classic George, trying to motivate people by challenging their manhood.
*************
Stottlemyre crosses an entire era of baseball history in this memoir. There is much more on his sons Todd and Mel, Jr., the Mets, Zimmer, Jeter and Joe.
He also shares his personal ordeal of losing his son, Jason to leukemia. Stottlemyre is a man of character. He explains how he made it through the loss and then continued on to more challenges and conquests.
When facing his own cancer challenge in 2000, he received letters from others with multiple myloema. They said they watched the Yankee games hoping to catch a glimpse of him in the dugout. They wanted to see the man who had the disease that they had, who did his cell therapy and chemo, and now was back at work trying to win a championship.
At first, Mel wrote letters back to these people. Then, it occurred to him that a telephone call would have a greater effect. His call startled them. Who would think that the Yankee Coach would take the time to reflect on their letter, never mind respond to it ?
He chatted with them, exchanging info on how their cancer treatment was going and how they were feeling.
He set a great example. He used his special status as a baseball hero to bring hope.
The inclusion of his cancer battle in this book was intentionall. He wanted to help others with multiple myloema resist giving in to the fear of imminent death.
Mel is a character guy. That come through loud and clear.
Always focused. Always professional. Loyalty. Family. Perseverance.
*********.
I give the book 4 stars out of five. Regardless of your team loyalty, you’ll find this book worth reading if you remember watching Joe Pepitone or Thurman Munson play.
Younger Yankee devotees will enjoy the insights from the 90’s.
Current Mets fans, having suffered unspeakably for the last two years, should wait until the Mets win another Division before reading this book. The memories of what should have been are only salt in the wound, at present.
Posted in BASEBALL BOOKS, NEW YORK YANKEES, yankees | Tagged: George Steinbrenner, Mel Stottlemyre | Leave a Comment »
Review: Yankee For Life by Bobby Murcer
Posted by athomeatfenway on January 4, 2009
YANKEE FOR LIFE. My 40 year journey in pinstripes. By Bobby Murcer with Glen Waggoner. Harper, 2008. 304 pages.
One begins this book knowing that Murcer passed away, but full of hope that his story will be a treasure box of 60’s and 70’s baseball and a testament to human character.
Within an hour, the reader’s heart breaks. It becomes clear that Murcer was a terrific guy. He loved Baseball, rocking chairs, his kids, and Kay, his wife of 41 years. His death at age 62 is a tragedy.
*****
Opening Day, April 2, 2007
“…I knew I couldn’t handle any on-field introduction; I’d have broken down for sure…After I’d done my inning, the scoreboard in right-center flashed out the news that Bobby Murcer was in the house, and I received the loudest, most thrilling ovation I have ever heard from 55,031 Yankee fans in attendance. The giant scoreboard video screen flashed an image of me waving from the booth, and they cheered even louder. I waved again, and they cheered even more. Then Joe Torre and all the guys came out of the dugout, and all the guys in the bullpen came onto the outfield grass, and they all waved and clapped and took off their caps.
That’s when I cried.”
*****
Born a Boomer Sooner. Heavily recruited by 8 Universities for Football, Murcer signed with Tom Greenwade, the scout who signed Mantle.
Murcer signed for $10,000 with the Yankees, turning away $20,000 from the Dodgers —because he was a Yankee fan.
On beginning in the minors in Johnson City, Tenn: “Rookie ball back then was a lot like it is in (the movie) Bull Durham – only without Susan Sarandon.”
Bobby spent two years in the minors proving that he had the tools and the makeup to be a pro.
Murcer alludes to a succinct formula for major league success.
TOOLS + MAKEUP = Success
(No wonder Dustin Pedroia’s success startles everyone. He lacks the size and speed to play on the elite level. But his makeup is unrivaled.)
In 17 MLB seasons, Murcer had only 1 DL stint (1965).
His first MLB hit was a game winning 2-run HR on 9-14-65.
He spent two years in the military after two in the minors, was nipped by Lou Pinella for A.L. Rookie of the Year in 1969, was an All Star every year from 1971 to 1975, and garnered MVP votes every year from 1971 to 1974.
His playing career included a cup of joe with Mickey and Whitey during his MLB debut in 1965 and the arrival of Don Mattingly in 1983.
The Yankees declined, rose, and declined again over Murcer’s career.
Murcer’s description of the Yankees Great Depression of the 60’s and 70’s is cold and honest. It is a set of phenomena that aptly tells how Baseball changed by leaps and bounds.
Causes of Yankee Depression 1965 – 1975
Murcer’s contributing factors to what Red Sox fans may call a glorious Yankee drought:
*Charley Finley buys A’s (1960) & soon stops supplying talent to Yankees
*Mickey, Whitey & mates are injured and grow old
*Talent dries up in the Yankee minor league system
*CBS buys Yankees (late 1964)
*The First Year Player Draft debuts in 1965
Has anyone ever written a more concise summary of what killed the Yankees ?
**********
The Yankee teams of 1969-75 were populated by weak hitters. They never finished first. But for Murcer, those years that included a Gold Glove, 5 All Star Games and joining Mantle & DiMaggio as the only Yanks to earn $100,000.
These years were also marked by the only sale of an MLB team in which the seller, CBS, received less (by 20%) than the amount they originally paid for the team.
It was 1973.
Exit CBS.
Enter George.
**********
In 1974, Bobby was still the biggest Yankee star. Tight with his mates, especially Munson and Pinella, Murcer was ripped away, betrayed by George and Gabe Paul. They traded him for Bobby Bonds, condemning him to the chilly winds of Candlestick. Once there, he immediately & quietly begged Horace Stoneham to trade him. He spent three years in Yankee exile, one in San Fran, two in Cub land.
While his Bronx cronies were reaching three World Series from 1976 through 1978, Murcer’s teams never won more than they lost.
1976 – San Francisco finished 74-88 and in 4th place
1977 – The Cubs finished 81-81 and in 4th place
1978 – The Cubs finished 79-83 and in 3rd place
Meanwhile, Gabe, George and the boys collected rings for 1 AL Pennant and two World Championships.
**********
Bobby returned to the Yankees in 1979 and spent much of his last 5 seasons as a part time outfielder and platoon D.H.
He finished with a .277 B.A., 252 HR’s, 285 doubles, 1,862 hits in just 6,730 for his career.
A phone call from Steinbrenner in 1983 brought the end of Murcer’s playing career. It also started a 25 year broadcasting career.
The obsessive, controlling owner gave Murcer 30 minutes to agree to leave the active roster to make room for rookie Don Mattingly and accept a job as a Yankee TV broadcaster, effective with that night’s broadcast.
He took it. He was too experienced to not accept the Will of George.
He joined Scooter, White and Messer that night.
17 years as a player. 25 as a broadcaster. 42 years at the top level of Baseball.
**********
Murcer covers many topics aside from his playing days and cancer battle, including:
- A compelling Munson tribute
- The Bobby Murcer Professional Baseball School
- The 1981 Strike Season
- 12 pages of Scooter stories
- 8 pages of Mantle reflections
- His all time Yankee All Star team
- personal recommendations for NYC tourists
- the Peterson kekich swap
- the exact places that Gaylord hid dabs of K-Y Jelly on his uniform and cap
- The consequences of tobacco use and his personal guilt about promoting Skoal
He also helps us understand the battle that took his life. Bobby explains that the worst kind of brain tumor is Glioblastoma Multiforme 4. It’s a death sentence with a 14-month window. This memoir lets us understand how Bobby, wife Kay, kids Tori, Todd and family, battled against it. They found hope. They clung to hope.
An emotional return to Yankee Stadium
Murcer felt a special loyalty to The Yankees and closeness with Yankee fans.
4 months after his diagnosis and surgery to remove the malignant tumor, he returned to Yankee Stadium for a brief stint in the booth.
Here is how he describes it:
Opening Day, April 2, 2007…I knew I couldn’t handle any on-field introduction; I’d have broken down for sure. So I came in under the radar, went up to the booth, and worked the third inning with my YES Network colleagues (Michael Kay, Ken Singleton, Joe Girardi.).
After I’d done my inning, the scoreboard in right-center flashed out the news that Bobby Murcer was in the house, and I received the loudest, most thrilling ovation I have ever heard from 55,031 Yankee fans in attendance. The giant scoreboard video screen flashed an image of me waving from the booth, and they cheered even louder. I waved again, and they cheered even more. Then Joe Torre and all the guys came out of the dugout, and all the guys in the bullpen came onto the outfield grass, and they all waved and clapped and took off their caps.
That’s when I cried.
It was a great game. We fell behind 5-3 after five, but came back to win 9-5. A-Rod and Jorge hit homers, Derek drove in two runs, and Mariano – of course – pitched a scoreless ninth.
Exactly the way you want to begin a new season.
MORE MURCER MEMORIES
Ralph Houk’s boat is named, “Thanks Yanks”.
**********
Gene Michael uses special lingo:
“Remember the time that M & M & M went B to B to B ?
“Huh ?”
“You know, the time Murcer and Munson and Michael went back-to-back-to-back ?”
Michael hit 15 career dingers in 10 seasons and remembers every one of them with perfect recall.
**********
Sometimes the trades you don’t make… Toronto agreed to send veteran starter Bill Singer to the Yankees for a little used lefty reliever in the Spring of 1977. The deal was done until the Blue Jays realized they had already put Singer on the cover of their 1977 Media Guide. They nixed the deal. Thus, Ron Guidry, little used lefty reliever, stayed with the Yankees and fulfilled a spectacular destiny.
**********
THAT’S A RING TAILED TOOTER OF A WRIGLEY GAME. Never heard that one. Put it in your esoteric baseball lexicon, file under “The charming Mid-West”.
**********
On Roger Clemens’ steroid denials and Andy Pettitte’s incrimination of The Rocket, Bobby Murcer wrote, “If I believe Andy, and I do, then I cannot also believe Roger.”
********.
How to describe Bobby Murcer after reading his book ? Perhaps 3 words.
Generous.
Unpretentious.
Down-to-Earth.
That happens to be how Murcer describes Phil Rizzuto in Yankee For Life, but in fact, Murcer could have been holding up a mirror.
********.
Rating: 3.5 stars. A great and fast read. Beneficial for all fans, even Red Sox Nationals like me.
Posted in BASEBALL BOOKS, NEW YORK YANKEES | Tagged: Bobby Murcer | Leave a Comment »
2 PEAS IN A POD ? BOBBY MURCER & CARL YASTRZEMSKI
Posted by athomeatfenway on January 4, 2009
Both 5 ft 11" tall & 180 lbs.
A QUICK ANALYSIS: MURCER & YAZ
Bobby Murcer’s physical attributes are uncannily like those of Carl Yastrzemski.
Baseball-reference.com has Murcer at 5’11”, 180 lbs. and Yastrzemski at 5’11”, 182 lbs. Both are left handed hitters.
Though not identical in their statistical totals, they were VERY similar in stats-per-at-bat.
Yaz homered every 26.5 AB’s. Murcer tatered every 26.7 AB’s.
Yaz got a hit every 3.5 AB’s. Murcer did so every 3.6 AB’s.
Yaz scored a run every 6.6 AB’s. Murcer — every 6.9 AB’s.
Yaz drove in a run every 6.5 AB’s. Murcer got an RBI every 6.45 AB’s.
Yaz struck out every 8.6 AB’s — Murcer K’d every 8.0.
Look at the comparison of some offensive totals –
HR’s: Yaz 452 Murcer 252
2B’s: Yaz 646 Murcer 285
Hits: Yaz 3,419 Murcer 1,862
At Bats: Yaz 11,988 Murcer 6,730
Yaz had 78% more at bats than Murcer.
Had Murcer had as many at bats as Yaz, this is what his totals could have been:
HR’s: Murcer 448
2B’s: Murcer 507
Hits: Murcer 3,314
At Bats: Murcer 11,988
Could be that Murcer had the make up and tools to achieve Hall of Fame numbers. He would be right with Yaz, given the missing at bats.
The objective is not to simplify Yaz’s career. Yaz received MVP votes in 14 seasons, was an 18x All Star, won 7 gold gloves, 3 batting titles, one MVP. He substantively helped, or drove, the Red Sox to two AL Pennants.
Murcer had one Gold Glove, no batting titles, was a 5x All Star and received MVP votes in 4 seasons.
Still, Murcer may very well have put up Yaz-like plate numbers had he played in Boston, with the Pesky Pole 302 feet away, where coddling ownership & fans cling to star players. (I speak with self-admittance, as a Red Sox National.)
Bobby Murcer’s career numbers suffered from a lack of playing time before age 23 and after age 33. He was short changed by two years of military service. He was cheated by new ownership that cut his playing time and looked for new answers after the Yanks’ temporary move to Shea cut Bobby’s power totals. He became a platoon DH at an age when Yaz still had 5,000 at bats to come.
Given that Murcer was never on the D.L. from 1969 to 1983, the argument is plausible.
He certainly believed he had more to give.
The passing of Bobby Murcer in June, 2008 at age 62 was a tragedy. He certainly had more to give to family and fans, too.
Rest in Peace, Bobby.
Posted in Boston Red Sox, Carl Yastrzemski, NEW YORK YANKEES | Leave a Comment »
LIVING ON THE BLACK feinstein, mussina glavine
Posted by athomeatfenway on November 25, 2008
Little, Brown & Co. May, 2008.
Bob Shepard has been the Yankee Stadium announcer since 1951. Alex Anthony has been the Mets’ announcer for two or three years. 97-year-old Bob announces position, player name and uniform number in deep sonorous tones. Alex merely says, “Batting ninth, the pitcher…”and the giant Diamond Vision in Centerfield rolls tape of the player announcing his own name with a smile.
There’s a hi-tech/old school style schism. No surprise there. Shepard was already in his 11th season with the Yankees when the Mets played their first game ever.
As with the other Feinstein books, this one is filled with inside tidbits that sports readers crave. It also meanders.
A Feinstein book is an up and down show. The author is always honest and in focus, but perhaps a bit slow.
Knowing that Tom Glavine’s 2007 season ended in dramatic disaster helps one push through the slow parts.
The best Feinstein reader is the reader who loves the subject.
Mets and Yankee fans take note.
LIVING ON THE BLACK Two pitchers, two teams, one season to remember. John Feinstein. Little Brown, 2008. 508 pages.
It could be titled, Lurching toward Cooperstown. The ups and downs of a long season with Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine.
Or, How lousy middle relief caused The Mets to usurp ultimate baseball horror & death from the previous title holders, the Red Sox & Cubs.
Or, Avoid mistaking Free Agent Lemons for Lamborghinis, as when putting Pavano and Igawa in pinstripes. Or else you might have to run your Hall of Fame Manager out of town.
Feinstein’s book is about the two aging pitchers, both pitching in NYC for different teams, both seeking to achieve milestones in 2007. Tom Glavine, a blue chip HS athlete from Billerica (pronounced Bill Uh Rica), Mass. with an Atlanta Braves pedigree of success, sought his 300th career win with the Mets in the 2007 season.
Mike Mussina, a Williamsport, PA intellectual who came to the Yankees by way of Stanford and the Baltimore Orioles, was trying to add a 20-win season and a World Championship to an otherwise HOF worthy career.
Both were getting old for baseball. Mussina would turn 39 and Glavine would turn 41 in 2007.
Big contracts and abandoned fans are the background in Tom and Mike’s careers. Thankfully, Feinstein traces the free agency paths these two took.
Mussina’s signing with the Yankees in 2000 is of no small import to Oriole’s fans. Some Baltimoreans feel that Mike never was truly interested in staying in the Charm City. Feinstein clarifies: Mussina gave the O’s opportunities to keep the future HOF’er in Baltimore for his entire career but the Birds cheaped out. First, having become arbitration-eligible in the winter of ’96, Mussina signed a 1-year, $6.88 million contract that would allow both parties to continue to talk long-term. In May of ‘97, Moose agreed to Peter Angelos’ personal offer of 3-years, $21 million. He could have told Angelos ‘No”. He could have gone free agent in Nov. 1997. He was fairly sure to receive 4 or 5 years at $45 or $55 million. But Mussina gave the O’s a hometown discount. And Moose was subsequently criticized by his Union, notably by Atlanta Union rep Tom Glavine, for taking less than what the market would yield.
Three years later that contract was ending. Mussina’s agent, Arn Tellum, started negotiations by asking for 5 years and $60 million. Angelos said “No” to all 5-year deals. Mussina went Free Agent and got $88.5 million dollars in a 6-year deal from the Yankees.
Thus did 32-year-old Mike Mussina take his 147-71 WL record and 3.53 career ERA 200 miles up Rt. 95 to the Bronx, but only after seeking reasonable contract length and compensation.
Glavine’s signing with the Mets was an emotional brushfire. After a series of miscommunications with the Braves front office, Glavine signed with the Mets. Soon after the contract announcement, he was struck by guilt and loyalty to the Braves. He was concerned about how a move to NYC would impact wife and family. He publicly called off the deal. Within a day or two, he realized he had permanently damage his rep by discarding the Mets. He reversed himself again. Off to New York he went.
These guys are only human. Even small market fans may feel some empathy after reading this book.
SNAPSHOTS:
A sampler of cool insight bytes embedded in Living On The Black……….
The story of Jamie Moyer. In his 10th year of MLB experience he finally developed an
effective changeup and began 10 straight years of double digit wins. He was 46 years old on Nov. 18 when he pitched in the World Series for the Phillies. He has 246 career wins. His fastball rarely tops 80 mph. A soft tossin’ lefty who keeps a tape of vintage Glavine.
Feinstein on Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays: Sparky Anderson said Seattle’s Kingdome is the only place I’ve ever been where it’s always overcast indoors. Tropicana Field is worse. A bad place to watch a baseball game.
Jason Giambi, steroid user speaking to the media, “Major League Baseball owes the fans an apology over what happened in the steroid era.”, a statement made to the puzzlement of his player peers.
As the steroid discussion swirled, Glavine offered this on the subject of Barry Bonds: “If he’s guilty, he’s not the only one. Just the most talented.”
The Making of Paul LoDuca: Drafted in the 25th round in 1993 after hitting .446 with 88
RBI in 75 games, the Dodgers took a guy who could only hit. He couldn’t field a position. The Dodgers trained him as a catcher. He bounced up and down from minors to majors for 6 years. Then, he broke through in 2001, hitting 25 HR and .320. Today he is a 4x All Star and a self-made catcher.
On the Red Sox 5th starter: Paul Byrd is a poor man’s Tom Glavine.
On getting an edge: Older pitchers, like Glavine and Mussina are constantly amazed when they see a young pitcher get a ball back after a grounder to an infielder and throw it in to the Umpire asking for a new ball because it has been scuffed by the infield dirt.
“Boggles my mind when I see that.”, Mussina said. “You treat a scuffed ball like gold and hang onto it as long as you can.”
On Stan Kasten, current Washington GM, former Atlanta GM: With equal parts love and anger for Glavine in his past life in Atlanta, Kasten felt compelled to make this offer to Glavine when he became a free agent again in Nov., 2007: “Look, I’d really like to see you sign with the Braves or the Mets so we can spend next year kicking your ass, but if that doesn’t work out, give me a call.”.
Kasten is a character.
On David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez……arguably the most dangerous twosome in Baseball…Ramirez is the no-doubt future Hall of Famer on the team, but Ortiz is the more feared clutch hitter…..Ramirez is difficult to pitch to under any circumstances because he hits for average as well as for power, and even though left field in Yankee Stadium is more difficult to reach than right field, his power is such that if he gets a pitch to hit, it really doesn’t matter what direction the ball goes, it’s going out.”
This book also tells the story of one season for two teams.
The 2007 Yankees were vying for their 13th straight year in the post-season.
The 2007 Mets were looking to repeat as NL East Champs and get back to the World Series.
THE YANKEES
When Mussina returned from a hammy injury on May 1, great carnage had left the Yankees with a rotation of Wang, Mussina, Pettitte, Rasner & DeSalvo. The perpetually injured Carl Pavano, the gopher balls of Kei Igawa, and Phil Hughes’ hamstring had forced the Yankees to insert no-name never-were’s into the 4 and 5 spot.
Things weren’t rock solid at the top of the rotation either. Moose admits that at this age and stage of your career you have days when you are pitching and you ask, “Have I ever done this before ?”.
The Yankees were not good out of the gate. After 39 games, The Yankees’ record stood at 18 – 21 W-L and 8 games behind the first place Red Sox.
At the “half” — they were 42-43, 10 games behind Boston and 8.5 games behind Cleveland for the wildcard. This is the first year that Yankees Manager Joe Torre was under .500 at the All Star break. This situation prompted broadcaster John Sterling to remark, “It’s time for the players on this team to start playing like the numbers on the back of their bubblegum cards.”
On Aug. 7, Joba Chamberlain was called up. He pitched 2 clean innings and quickly starts to acquire folk status in N.Y.C.
Later in August, Mussina’s star dimmed as Joba’s shined. In a 6-7 loss to the Angels, Moose walked two batters to start the game. In 497 career starts, that is something he had never done before. He would leave down 7-1, yielding 7 ER in just 1.2 IP. “I simply couldn’t keep the ball off the barrel of the bat. It was embarrassing. They hit everything hard.”
Mussina, pitching poorly and on the verge of being reassigned to the bullpen, found a flaw in his motion wherein by not standing straight up at the outset, he had been throwing his balance off slightly. He made a correction. In one outing he went from retiring just 13 of 27 batters — to pitching like Cy Young.
But it was too late to avoid a demotion.
Moose had been hampered all season long by a hurt hammy, injured foot, stretched arch, aching right knee and left hip. The injuries contributed to an overall poor performance. The demotion was unavoidable.
With the Yankees pulling hard for a wildcard berth that they would ultimately secure, Torre dropped Mussina from the rotation. Moose, who retired just this past week on Nov. 17, 2008, finished his career with 537 appearances. That includes 536 starts…and just one relief appearance.
The solitary relief stint came on Sept. 3, 2007 at Yankee Stadium when Roger Clemens’ hamstring forced him from the game, and Moose held down the fort for 3.2 innings in a 7 – 1 loss to Seattle.
Mussina finished 2007 with a won-loss record of 11-10 with a 5.15 ERA
Unlike the Yankees, he would bounce back the following year. His 2008 record was 20-9 with a 3.37 ERA.
Baltimoreans may hold a grudge. Fans may debate his HOF worthiness. It is undeniable that he went out on top by winning 20 games for the first time and posting a 3.37 ERA – 6th best in the A.L.
He walked just 31 batters in 200.1 IP. Damn good.
THE METS
After the first 40 games of the 2007 season, the Mets were in a completely different spot than the Bombers, who at the time were actually bombing. The Mets were 26 – 14 W-L, and in first place.
The Mets were jelling. They were storming and norming. Glavine was going with the youthful flow. After receiving a team buzz cut, Glavine’s wife Christine asked, “…..do you realize you look like a dork ?”
At the half, the Mets were 48-39, with a 2 game lead in the NL East. Glavine at that point was 7 – 6 with a 4.36 ERA including 2 non-representative bashings. He could have easily been at 300 wins by this time with a better bullpen.
Then, on one beautiful day, August 4, 2007, Tom Glavine was at 299 wins. The same day, Barry Bonds had 754 HR (one shy of Aaron), and A Rod was at 499 HR, like Glavine, just one short of an exclusive club.
Glavine sat perched at 299.
Ahead of him sat Wynn, Grove, Welch, Radbourn, Seaver, Perry, Niekro, Sutton, Ryan, Plank, Clarkson, Carlton, Keefe, Clemens, Maddux, Nichols, Galvin, Spahn, Mathewson, Alexander, Johnson and one Denton True (Cy) Young.
Behind him sat 44-year-old Randy Johnson, who may have then been thinking about his 284 career victories as he recovered from back surgery.
Behind Johnson sat Mussina, who had racked up 245 wins through 6+ years with the Yankees and 10 years with a bad Oriole club.
And behind them is no one with a shot at 300. John Smoltz, Andy Pettitte and Pedro Martinez are next. They are each a notch above 200 wins at this writing, but with far too few years left to play. They’ll never make it.
The very next day Glavine got win #500 as the Mets defeat the Cubs 5-3 at Wrigley. The win brought the Mets record to 63 – 48, with a 4.5 game lead in the division and 8 weeks left in the season.
Glavine, like Mussina, was destined to ride the ups and downs of 2007, some days in the groove, other days wondering if they would ever get anyone out again.
Winning #300 was the biggest high of Glavine’s year.
He was awash in congratulatory emails, letters and phone calls. Ironically, the one that really hit home was from a HOF pitcher who only won 165 games: Koufax.
Yes, win #300 was sweet.
But all too soon, Mets reliever Guillermo Mota, the steroid user, would foreshadow Met heartbreak as he blew Glavine’s win # 301.
Mota unraveled in disastrous relief, the kind that would repeat many times in 2007 & 2008, breaking hearts and losing the division.
With 7 weeks to go in 2007, the roles of the New York teams were reversed.
The Yankees stood at 66 – 51, percentage points better than the Mets, who were at 65 – 52.
THE METS COLLAPSE
Good teams gone bad are a sad cliché.
I’m a 52-year old Red Sox fan. I know.
So let’s say it quickly about the 2007 Mets: Their bullpens repeatedly coughed up losses and blew wins that should have been earned by a team with great hitting, good fielding, good closing relief and good starting pitching.
They even lost once to the Phillies on a game ending interference call, helping to drop a 6 game lead to just 2 games. In September. Ouch.
Ahead by 7 games on Sept. 12, the Mets bullpen frittered the lead down to 2 games on Sept. 18.
Team meetings didn’t work. Good starts were squandered in high scoring 9-8 affairs and the like.
The slide was punctuated by one especially devastating implosion by Joge Sosa and Guillermo Mota. What made this loss burn was that the Mets had scored 4 runs in the top of the 9th against the Marlins in Miami, thus seeming to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But Sosa and Mota gave it all back. The Mets lost on a Marlins’ walk off.
The lead was now down to 1.5 games with 10 left to play.
Still, there were a few wins left in the Mets — and the Phillies contributed a few losses.
The Mets headed home with 7 games left and a 2.5 game lead. The last 7 games would all be at Shea and would include 3 against the last place Nationals, a make up game vs. the Cardinals, and 3 against the Marlins. Combined, these three losing teams would post a 222 – 264 W-L record. Teams with a combine .457 W-L pct. Overall.
Teams with a .424 record on the road
All the Mets had to do was win 5 of 7 at home.
The blow by blow:
4 – 13 Nats. Mets drop game 1.
9 – 10 Nats. Glavine loses despite furious rally from 3 – 10 on the day the Yankees clinch the wild card.
6 – 9 Nats. Mets rook Humbert starts & blows a 5 – 0 Mets lead.
0 — 3 St. Louis. Red Sox bullpen cast off Joel Pineiro shuts down the Mets.
With 3 games left, the Mets and Phillies are tied at 87 – 72.
4 – 7 Florida. Oliver Perez is wild, hits 3 batters, and loses to the not-so-immortal Byung-Hyun Kim, who sported a 6.08 season ERA.
With 2 games left, the Mets were 1 game BEHIND the Phillies !
13 – 0 METS FINALLY WIN ONE !. The Amazins shell Marlin rookies Chris Sheldon and the Phils also drop one.
The Mets and Phils are tied with one game left…
Making his 669th career start is Mr. Reliable – Tom Glavine.
Surely Tom would shut down the last place Marlins, who clearly would mail it in on the last day and dash home or to the golf course.
But wait. The Mets had brawled with the Marlins in the 13-0 win the day before, with shortstop Reyes in the middle of the fracas. Testosterone was flowing through the Marlins again. As Glavine took his warm ups before the final game, the Marlins stood on the top step of the dug out. They were prepared to kick some ass.
1 – 8 Marlins. Glavine yields 7 runs in the top of the first and never gets out of the 2nd.
He later says he never pitched so good with such a bad outcome in a game that meant so much. Only 1 ball was whacked.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia defeats the Nationals 6 – 1 and wins the NL East.
Final records:
Phila 89 – 73.
Mets 88 – 74
+++++++++++++
The Yankee season would last only 8 days longer than the Mets. Cleveland rocked Wang, and then nipped Pettitte in the Midge (Gnat) Game. Down 0 -2 in games, George announces that Torre is gone if Cleveland eliminates the Yankees. The Bombers take Game 3, but end their season with a 4 – 6 loss in the last game of the series.
George offers Torre a 1 year contract with humiliating terms. Torre leads the Dodgers to the 2008 playoffs. George, Hank & Cashman admire Joe’s postseason managing skills from afar.
.
+++++++++++++
All in all, I enjoyed Feinstein’s book. Although I must say, I immediately dove into a book by Red Smith and felt like I’d been slapped out of a somnambular state.
I give the book a solid B.
Nothing left for Tom Glavine to prove. (NY Post)
Mussina & Posada celebrate 20th win (NY Post)
Posted in BASEBALL, BASEBALL BOOKS, NEW YORK YANKEES | Tagged: New York Mets | 1 Comment »
FOR THE RECORD
Posted by athomeatfenway on August 4, 2008
Fri., July 25 Joba outduels Beckett 1-0
Sat. July 26 Wake’s first bad outing since May 18, Yanks win 10-3
Sun. July 27 Lester cruises over Ponson, 9-2.
Posted in BASEBALL, Boston Red Sox, Carl Yastrzemski, Clay Buchholz, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Fred Lynn, JOBA CHAMBERLAIN, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jim Rice, Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, Manny Ramirez, Mike Lowell, NEW YORK YANKEES, RED SOX, Ted Williams, Terry Francona, Tim Wakefield | Leave a Comment »
JOBA CHAMBERLAIN SHOULD BE OH K
Posted by athomeatfenway on July 26, 2008
As we head into this late-July Red Sox – Yankee confrontation at Fenway,anticipation over pitching is high.
Beckett v. Chamberlain on Friday. Wakefield v. Petitte on Saturday. Lester v. Ponson on Sunday. No contest this weekend ? As El Tiante would say, Bullsheet.
Friday’s game will be very tough, featuring two pitchers who are their team’s present and future. Joba Chamberlain is 23 and could have anchor the Yankee starters for the next decade. Beckett, the star of the 2003 & 2007 World Series Championship teams is but 28 years old. This sensational match up is between one established star hurler and a newcomer upon whose shoulders rests the Yankee’s ability to compete with the Sox and Rays. We could see 5 or 6 years of this match up. I’d like to see the Sox smack Joba around to teach the newbie some humility. But it ain’t gonna happen. (Last year, I kept shaking my head with his every appearance and asked, “when is someone going to kick this guy’s ass ? And it didn’t happen. ) Joba can bring it, and he has an aggressive, winning attitude. If he has the composure, expect a 0 – 2 loss to the Yankees. If Beckett matches him, expect a scoreless tie when he leaves in the 7th, and a 1 – 0 bullpen victory for the Sox.
Saturday ? Wakefield is the Sox statistical ACE this year with 14 Quality Starts. He will defeat the Yankees 7 – 4.
On Sunday, The Sox are highly likely to win with Lester. Not just because the lefty is focused and imperturbable. The 5th spot in the Yankees rotation is still TBD, with the portly Ponson the best spare part available. I expect a 4 – 0 Sox win on Sunday. Easy pickings.
Hitting won’t be in the spot light this weekend. Which is counterintuitive given that the Large Father is Back. Given that Pedroia and Youk are hot. Given that The Yankee hitters have propelled their team from last to 3rd in 10 weeks.
But this weekend will be about the letter K.
286 batters have been K’d by Boston’s 3 starters. 220 by the Yankee trio. 506 K’s to date.
We may see 40 more this weekend.
-Karl Cicitto
Posted in BASEBALL, Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, JOBA CHAMBERLAIN, Josh Beckett, NEW YORK YANKEES, RED SOX, Terry Francona | 1 Comment »
