Due to a spike in workload (sorry, folks), here’s some random thoughts for a Tuesday:

• I still wish Hank would just shut up.
• I am proud, and not sure if that’s the right word, that Cashman stood up and openly disagreed with Hank.
• I am happy to hear that Hank relenting to Cashman’s plan.
• I hope he means it.
• I would love to see Joba starting, too, in time.
• I’m not worried, but concerned, about Hughes and Kennedy.
• Giambi looks really bad, folks. Enjoy your $5M parting gift.
• Anyone else wondering what’s going on with Sabathia?
• Did Canseco meet with Novitsky in a bathroom?
• I am happy a change has been made in my hometown hoops team (that’s all I can say about that)
• I think ARod’s quad will be fine.
• Chase Utley is incredible.
• Clay Buchholz’s curveball is a thing of beauty.
• I have a headache.
• Tejada’s fake-out about his birthdate is no surprise and if you are shocked, shame on you. I don’t put much stock in any of the birthdates of anyone coming out of the Dominican (or other Caribbean nation). Too much is at stake to be honest. Sounds like steroids, eh?

I’ll try to break free later but I have GOTTA get started. Busy day ahead.

I hate Kyle Farnsworth. Farnsworthless. There, I said it. I feel better.

If you want to deliver a little payback for ARod getting drilled in the shoulder, fine. Just don’t be such a crappy pitcher that you throw it behind Manny’s head. Not only do you miss him, you like rekindle a fire that’s likely going get Jeter nailed on the wrist with a pitch soon.

Why can’t you stick one in his ribs or off his thigh like other well-meaning pitchers do? Why do you suck so much? Why do I hate having you on this team? Such a hothead with the typical million dollar arm and $0.50 head.

A plea to Cashman: Please dump this no-talent ass-clown on anyone, for anything. Pay full freight if you have to. He’s going to get someone hurt and if it’s one of ours as retaliation for his stupidity, I’m reserving the right to go freakin’ bonkers.

Are MLB team values and their profits positively related? Any correlation between the two? You might think that the Yanks, currently valued at $1.3 billion, would also be the most profitable, given their likewise ranking of #1 in revenue ($327 million). And since the lowly Marlins are only worth $256 million (last), one would think they suffer the greatest operating losses.

It’s a rare article or story that absolutely crushes any momentum or productivity at work. Usually I will print it and get to it later, or bookmark it, or simply forget it. During lunch, I meandered over to Rob Neyer’s blog on ESPN and after seeing a nice link to friend Shysterball (on an issue I feel strongly about and noted so in his comments sections; I do wish Neyer would swing by my blog one day), I came across this article, a must read per Rob. UNREAL doesn’t do it justice. Rob, many, many thanks for sending us to this one.

Select View Full Post to continue reading.

I love Paul O’Neill. Loved his game. Loved his passion. Loved his roll over the pile in 1996. Loved how the fans chanted his name as he came off the field after his last game. Loved how he would practice swinging while in right field. Loved how he bashed watercoolers (most of the time, at least).

However, the hue and cry about anyone wearing #21 in pinstripes is overblown. Morgan Ensberg was randomly assigned the number in Spring Training and people howled. Ensberg took a different number once the team moved North.

So new Yank LaTroy Hawkins took #21, as a way to honor his boyhood hero, Roberto Clemente. This was not just being assigned a number and nothing more. Clemente is a legitimate icon within baseball and hero of many for his humanitarian efforts which ultimately lead to his death.

That Hawkins was hearing “numerous vulgar comments from Yankees fans during the Grapefruit League campaign” is so lame and disappointing, I don’t even know where to begin.

Hawkins eagerly accepted No. 21 as a tribute to Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente but quickly learned that a pinstriped No. 21 has other meanings for Yankees fans. Unaware he was donning a number that had not been worn since O’Neill retired following the 2001 World Series, Hawkins was booed when introduced on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium. Fans chanted “Paul O’Neill” during one of his appearances in the Bronx.

People, fellow Yanks fans…let’s get a grip on reality again. Paulie is an all-time favorite for all of us, but he’s not The Mick, Joltin’ Joe, Cap’n Jetes, Thurman, etc. But it’s ONLY A FREAKIN’ NUMBER! We need Hawkins to have a good year if we want to go far. Heckling this guy for a number choice, and with good reason behind the choice, is just DUMB. Paulie is not in the Hall of Fame. He might be in OUR Hall of Fame, but c’mon people, let’s regain some perspective.

We all want to relive and remember the “good old days” (hence the Yanks being forced to overpay for our own stars) so badly that we’re willing to haze the current players? How crazy is that?

So where does this end? With a great punchline, of course. What number will Hawkins don going forward? #22, last worn by…. Roger Clemens. Who, I am guessing, will also not be in the Hall of Fame, by the way.

Fans, I beg you: Cheer the hell outta LaTroy Hawkins next time he takes the hill, no matter how good or bad he performs.

I think the leadership of MLB, NFL and NBA should all take note at what the NHL did yesterday when confronted with a situation that demanded an immediate response: They dealt with it immediately. No off-season Rules Committee boondoggles. No seeking consensus amongst the owners. Find it, fix it, now.

Here’s the setup: Steve Avery, recognized as one the best/worst (depending on your affiliations) cheap shot artist in the NHL, was waving his stick blade in front of Devils’ goalie Martin Brodeur. This was not against the rules, though it clearly violated the spirit of the interference rule.

Here’s the evidence:

Here’s the result: Within hours of Avery’s shenanigans, the NHL amended the rule to specifically include language that makes this sort of stuff a penalty:

“An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender’s face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play,” Colin Campbell, the NHL director of hockey operations, said in a statement.

That is how you operate a league. Act quickly and assertively. Right a wrong before others do it. The NFL should have done something with the new “call a timeout as the ball is snapped before a FG attempt” rage. The NHL has it’s own set of issues to deal with, but when you see swift leadership, you have to be at least a little confident that they can help re-emerge as a major sport in the USA.

The (non-)Vegas odds have Avery taking a stick to the ribs, or worse, in the next game.

More on Avery: “The players do not *love* Sean Avery, and voted him to be dirtiest SOB. One player even suggested banning him for life. That’s a little extreme, but shows you how annoying the little pucker really is.”

I think it’s great that they took a request from Junior Griffey last year and have allowed it to blossom into allowing every player who wants to to wear #42 today as all of MLB pauses to honor Jackie Robinson.

Jeter was interviewed on the subject and two of his responses are here:

MLB.com: The percentage of African-Americans in baseball has been declining in recent years. What do you think are the contributing factors and what can baseball do to generate more African-American players and fans?

Jeter: It’s unfortunate. In some ways, I think other sports have done a great job marketing their games and I think baseball has taken steps forward in doing that the last couple of years. Then again, I also think that kids nowadays look at football players and basketball players in college, and then the next day you turn on your TV and they’re in the NFL or the NBA. In baseball, there’s the Minor Leagues and you’ve got to do all that. I think there’s more attention paid to the other sports. Even the [MLB] Draft was only televised for the first time last year, so maybe that will help. But I think kids nowadays look at guys going from high school to the NFL or NBA and it looks like an easier route. Baseball can continue to market. They’re doing some great things in the inner cities and RBI and those kinds of things. I think they just have to bring awareness to the sport, that’s the biggest thing. They’ve got to get kids excited about playing baseball.

MLB.com: What would you say to Jackie if you could speak to him today?

Jeter: I probably wouldn’t talk too much. I’d probably ask him about how he was able to deal with those things, how he was able to block things out. I think it’d be more off-the-field questions than on-the-field questions. Everybody could learn a lot from him if they listened.

Leave it to Jeter to say it the right way “everybody could learn a lot…if they listened.” So true.

Hope he’s able to make as good a recovery as possible, given his already poor health condition. Get well, Harlan.

Do I think Randy Levine, Lonn Trost and the Steinbrenner progeny really believe that the buried jersey in the cement would bring about a “Sox pox” (my creation, feel free to send me the residuals)? Of course not. But I thought it was good fun that they played along with it. Calling the press to make it an event was a bit much, but I thought it was fun that they actually went and dug this sucker up.