Just a quick note that I’m officially in the heart of one of my quarterly busy seasons. End of month + end of quarter makes for a very busy time. As such, the postings will generally be fewer than otherwise. I’ll try to keep it up as much as possible.
Thanks,
Jason
Some things you just can’t make up. Frankly, it’s too funny that it’s true. (emphasis mine)
In New York for a signing for his new book “Vindicated,” Canseco was ushered into a bathroom for an impromptu meeting with baseball officials.
Canseco contends in his book, “Juiced,” that he injected McGwire with steroids in the bathroom stalls of the A’s clubhouse.
- Never, ever turn your head: Look forward, eyes straight. Ideally there will be a newspaper or TV placed above the urinals to keep eyes from wandering. If somebody taps you on the back, don’t fall for it.
- Always leave a gap when possible: Never, ever stand next to a man at a urinal if you don’t have to.
- Don’t touch the bathroom wall: Yes, I know, some people like to take one hand and slap it on the bathroom wall while taking a piss. It’s not cool, and it’s not “urinal acceptable.”
- Only talk to people you know at a urinal: There is no point in making useless conversation with a random dude at the urinal. Exception: if you’re drunk.
- If a situation looks too much to handle, it’s OK to abort: Pretend you came into the bathroom to wash your hands or blow your nose. Anything, just get out!
- Don’t use the midget urinal unless rule number 2 applies: There’s nothing wrong with the midget urinal, it just implies something.
- Angle: Choose the urinal near the wall and angle towards it. You’ll thank me for this later.
- Use extreme caution when standing next to a man in a pair of urinals: Really, I think the only thing worse than being in the middle of a 3 urinal set is being part of a urinal pair. No explanation needed.
Jeter’s a first ballot HOF’er, the Captain, owner of at least four Championship Rings, the face of the Organization and among the most well-respected players in a generation or three.
Fact is, he is the one who will carry the torch on behalf of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson. And that brings us back to the question of where Jeter eventually will wind up in the relocated Monument Park.They will give him an even bigger ovation that day, as the club retires his No. 2 – and rewards him with either a plaque, like the ones Berra, Whitey Ford, Jackson, Phil Rizzuto and others have; or a monument, like Ruth, Gehrig, Miller Huggins, DiMaggio and Mantle have.
Where do you stand?
For my son Jake, who is a full fledged Legomaniac, courtesy of Home Run Derby:
I got yer appostrophe right hea-ah
But what seemed to be lost in all the pomp and circumstance during Banks’ presser was somewhat of a glaring typo: the south side of the statue is missing an apostrophe on “let’s,” as you can see in the above photo I snapped last night.
UPDATE: They fixed the grammar goof
Rather than trying to summarize every game every day (I don’t have that kinda time and can’t imagine there’s a need for another summary), I think I’ll keep a view of the game from a more macro level.
As such, this jumped out at me from the NY Post (with a big ole hat tip to my boys at NJ.com’s “Pride Of The Yankees” blog):
“They have to be brought along a certain way,” Steinbrenner said. “The trash is littered with 20-(something) pitchers all throughout baseball history. Their arms fell off. It’s something we’re not going to allow to happen.“When it comes to the postseason hopefully they’ll really be ready. Joba will be, of course, a starter by then and hopefully he can be our 22-year-old [Josh] Beckett when he was with the Marlins.”
In what can only happen in baseball, Alex Rodriquez will make more in 2008 than the entire Marlins team.
Boosted by his new deal with the New York Yankees, A-Rod tops the major league baseball salary list at $28 million, according to a study of contract terms by The Associated Press. The 33 players on the Marlins’
opening-day roster and disabled list total $21.8 million.
……
The Yankees, not surprisingly, topped the payroll list at $209.1 million, and A-Rod was No. 1 in the majors for the eighth straight year. Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi was second at $23.4 million, followed by Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter ($21.6 million) and Boston Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez ($18.9 million).Boosted by the acquisition of Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, the Detroit Tigers shot up to second in the major leagues at $138.7 million. The Tigers’ payroll at the end of last season was 12th at $98.5 million.
The New York Mets were third at $138.3 million, up from $121 million at the end of 2007, and the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox were fourth at $133.4 million.
As if I don’t spend enough pre-/post-work hours with my head in all things baseball, I was selected to do some “behind the scenes” writing for a great site: Fantasybaseball.com. You won’t see me on the site, but I’m doing some of the player updates and other stuff early in the AM, late in the PM, whenever possible. I guess I’m not happy unless I am booked to the gills with stuff to do.
If you into this sorta thing, check it out. If not, well, I’ll refund your last 30 seconds in your next billing cycle.
You’re just going to have to read this one yourself if you have any interest in satisfying your inner geek and baseball fetish. Suffice it to say, these math guys are a wacky bunch.
The mathematician, Steve C. Wang, applied a method called Chernoff faces, in which data points in many dimensions are presented in a form that people react to more intuitively: the human face.While reams of categorical data can be imposing and hard to parse, translating the differences among them into facial characteristics can communicate distinctions with striking clarity. By turning rates of bunting, stealing and pinch-hitting into hair sizes, nose shapes and smile widths, Dr. Wang used a kind of statistical Mr. Potato Head to portray the spectrum of managerial characteristics in a way that intrigued even the skippers themselves.
The Yanks embrace their history as well as anyone. Seems that some of the other ancient clubs are also reaching back to their glory days. The Sox did it when they won in 2004 and had that incredible ring ceremony with seemingly every player to don a Sox cap. I love that stuff. I love seeing the old guard honored and cheered. I could only imagine what it must feel like for guys, decades past their last home town cheer, to hear that again. Beyond cool.
He appeared from behind a blue outfield wall, walked carefully across the deep green grass, startled huge cheers from a stunned Dodger Stadium crowd.Then, halfway to second base, he stopped, and so did our hearts.
Duke Snider had returned to center field.
…..
From left field marched Don Newcombe, the Dodgers’ last remaining living link to Jackie Robinson.
…..
From left field walked Maury Wills, the Dodgers’ inventor of the stolen base.
…..
Then, finally, it was the closing stretch of royalty, beginning with Fernando Valenzuela stepping from the dugout, one of the only two players who did not wear a uniform, of course not, he would never wear anything old, right?His cheers rattled the building, echoing into the entrance of another man from the left-field bullpen, Tom Lasorda, and you knew he was wearing a uniform because he never takes it off.
By now, everyone was standing, folks hooting and stomping and struggling to keep their composure.
“And here came Sandy,” said Manager Joe Torre.
Indeed, here came the cleanup pitcher, the final memory, Sandy Koufax, the only other player not wearing a uniform, as if anyone cared.
Koufax has been on this field maybe once in the last 25 years, he’s so private, yet he came today because the owners asked, and he understood.
Keith Law is a popular baseball writer on ESPN and frankly, if you’re here, you know of Keith. KLaw “sat” for an interview with The Big Lead. Keith’s a different breed than most, it seems, with far-reaching passions outside baseball, include food and non-fiction books. Quite the intereseting guy. Some things that I found most interesting (from my rooting interests; emphasis mine of course):
Q: We want a few sleepers from you: A team that will reach the postseason that won fewer than 80 games last year, a Cy Young candidate in each league who won fewer than 10 games last year, and a budding star who nobody’s really paying attention to right now, but could be a household name come September.
A: Cy Young candidates from [less than] 10 wins: The Cy is all about win totals, so I’ll take two guys on teams that will provide plenty of run support: Yovani Gallardo (expected back by mid-April) and Philip Hughes. If you let me cheat, though, here are two 12-win guys who’ll contend for the award: Chad Billingsley and Dustin McGowan.
Of course, I protected Hughes and drafted Gallardo in my baseball league, but you don’t want to hear about that…even though I am pretty happy with his thoughts.
Now, a bit in my sweetspot:
Q: Let’s say the Yankees miss the playoffs this season What would the fallout be? Chalk it up to a new coach and Hank taking over? Or would there be genuine panic?
A: Cashman’s doing a great job of messaging through the media that this is a new strategy of building from within, and that there might be some small bumps in the road. Messaging is a huge part of the GM’s job, and it’s why I think strong communications skills are critical for a successful GM. Look at Billy Beane – he is the king of messaging among GMs in baseball, perhaps in all of US sport. Cashman has gotten enough of the local and national media on board with his message, and I think many, many Yankee fans are on board as well. Maybe enough of them remember Steve Trout and Ed Whitson and Bob Sykes and, by extension, Doug Drabek and Willie McGee, and are happy to see the Yankees throwing their money around to acquire young talent and not blowing it in dumb trades.
For more from Keith and his non-ESPN blog, check here.
I really love this idea: Derek Jeter will be announced by Bob Sheppard (“The Voice of God”) even if Mr. Sheppard is not ready to be at Yankee Stadium in person.
Sheppard, the Yankees’ public address announcer since 1951, will not be able to attend the game as he recovers from health issues that have limited his workload. But shortstop Derek Jeter plans to have Sheppard introduce him for his at-bats, the first of which will come in the bottom of the first inning against the Blue Jays’ Roy Halladay. Jeter has had Sheppard’s introduction recorded on tape.“It’s unfortunate, because one of the first things I looked forward to when I was called up was coming to Yankee Stadium and hearing him say my name,” Jeter said on Monday. “I had Bob Sheppard record introducing me. I’ll always come to the plate with Bob Sheppard.”
