Monthly Archives: March 2005

In the Times, Tyler Kepner captures one of the most interesting off-the-field realities that the Bronx Bombers will encounter this year:

The Yankees were on the field, but Jason Giambi was not. He was the designated hitter in the team’s exhibition opener Thursday, and as the Pittsburgh Pirates hit in the middle innings, Giambi was back in the Yankees’ clubhouse, taking shadow swings in full uniform.

The clubhouse TV showed the game, and some players milled around watching it. Then the commentators started talking about Giambi and steroids. Giambi stopped what he was doing and stared at the screen.

His expression never changed, and he never said a word. None of the other players did, either. Welcome to the awkward new world of Giambi, recovering ballplayer and reported former steroid user.

Yesterday, David Pinto linked an article that Ed Price wrote in the Newark Star- Ledger about the Yankee line-up. Today, there is more good news regarding the prospects of Tony Womack leading off. It just may not happen. Looks as if Joe Torre is comfortable with Derek Jeter leading off and Womack hitting ninth:

Derek Jeter batted leadoff Thursday, with the new second baseman, Tony Womack, batting ninth. Manager Joe Torre said he expected to stick with that arrangement, mainly because he could not think of another everyday player who could bat ninth. (N.Y.Times)

Phil Allard has a good interview with the author Peter Golenbock over at NYYFans.com. It’s part one of two, and worth checking out if you are into Yankee history. Speaking of which, peace to Repoz for linking this article on Jim Bouton early in the week. Here’s a good one from the Bulldog:

“Baseball has become a gross game presented in a gross manner with loud noises and advertising,”Bouton said. “There’s nothing beautiful about it. Nothing contemplative. Baseball’s beauty is its timelessness. There’s no clock.

“But now when you walk into a ballpark you are blasted with advertising messages and a big TV set in centerfield. You don’t listen for the crack of the bat. Now it’s all about home runs. It’s not about bunting or moving the runner over and all the little things. It’s just a different game.

“A home run is now as boring as the dunk is in basketball.”

I remember that the Pirates had one night last summer where they shut down the electronic scoreboard and just had an organist play during the game. Man, I wish I could have been there for that. Not to be a snob, but it sounded so, well, civilized.

The Veteran’s Committe did not elect anyone to the Hall of Fame yesterday. (Say what you want about Maury Wills, but I don’t get how he gets twice as many votes as Minnie Minoso…okay, I understand how, I just don’t think it’s fair.) In the Times, columnist Dave Anderson questions the committe’s methods:

After two veterans committee shutouts, it’s fair to wonder how responsibly do the Hall of Famers, especially the 58 ex-players among them, take their duty as voters?

Do they really study the two pages of statistics, rankings and highlights supplied to them for each of the 25 candidates on the ballot – particularly those of players from other eras whom they never competed against and probably know nothing about?

Do they just glance at the list and make a snap judgment?

…Particularly annoying is that three committee members did not cast a ballot. (A fourth committee member, Murray Chass, the baseball columnist of The New York Times, does not vote, in accordance with the newspaper’s policies.) If they were ill, that’s understandable. But if they simply did not care enough about the process to fill out the ballot, they should be removed from the committee. No vote this time, no ballot in two years when the committee will be polled again.

For more excellent Hall of Fame coverage, check out what my label-mate Mike Carminati has to say. (Oh, and while you are there, Yankee and Red Sox fans should definately read the first part of Mike’s history of trades between the two teams.)

The Yankees play their first exhibition game of the spring today, and all is quiet in the clubhouse, much to the chagrin of some. Man, oh man, how I wish I was at home watching. Just cause, you know?

Former Met Al Leiter thinks that syndicated radio personalities Mike and the Mad Dog done him wrong. In today’s Daily News, he tells John Harper:

“They influence not only fans but organizations,” said Leiter, who is paid to do a weekly spot on Michael Kay’s ESPN radio show. “Teams in New York listen to those guys. Why I don’t know. One guy’s a know-it-all, and his opinions are better than anybody else’s, and the other guy is a clown who throws a ball 47 miles-an-hour and plays tennis.

“They called me every name in the book, and questioned my integrity. Chris said I was done in 2003, and then when I had a strong second half, he said, ‘I guess I was wrong.’ Like a 10-second retraction was enough after he ripped me up and down in every way as if I’d done something to his wife and kids.”

Anyone listening to Fatso and Fruit Loops this afternoon? If so, let me know how they respond. I love bullcrap like this.

So, will anyone be elected to the Hall of Fame later this afternoon? My vote would go to Ron Santo, Minnie Minoso, Joe Gordon and Dick Allen.

Randy Johnson has a sore left calf and will miss his first spring training start. Johnson insists that this is not a big issue. Meanwhile, Kevin Brown pitched two innings yesterday in a intra-squad game and felt good when all was said and done. It would be curious if Brown ended up being a valuable contributor in 2005, particularly after how he finished 2004.

Part three of Rich Lederer’s chat with Bill James is up:

BJ: Rickey [Henderson] is one of a kind. Someone should write a really good book about Rickey. There is an essential connection between ego and greatness and no one better illustrated that than Rickey. When Rickey is 52, he will still believe that he could play in the majors. You can say that his ego is out of scale to his real world, but his ego is what made him so special. Somebody should document mannerisms and Rickey was a walking catalog of annoying mannerisms. He was a show. Every at-bat was a show. It’s not like a Reggie Jackson show where it’s done for television. It’s a live show. It’s done for the guys in the ballpark and the guys on the field. The show made him totally unique.

Tim Raines was almost as great of a leadoff man and almost as great of a player. Tim is a good guy, just a nice, reasonable person that everybody likes. Rickey is a show. [laughs] The show was essential to his greatness.

I really enjoyed this conversation. I can’t wait for lunch.

Part Two of Rich Lederer’s “Breakfast with Bill” interview is up. I like this exchange regarding a trio of James’ former assistants:

RL:…I was wondering if you could talk about some of the different people that worked for you. The fact that your disciples have become notable in their own right reminds me of the success of Bill Walsh and his assistant coaches.

BJ: Jim Baker is a very talented person. I conducted perhaps an over-organized search for an assistant at that time and hired him. He was the most talented person I could find. He is an extremely funny writer. He’s hilarious. I think everybody who knows Jim and knows how good his stuff is has been waiting for him to explode as a popular pop icon for 20 years. It hasn’t happened yet and maybe it won’t, but he’s a very talented guy.

RL: Rob Neyer was your second assistant.

BJ: Rob is the easiest person to work with that I’ve had. I hired him just because I liked him. I knew he was a big baseball fan. It was sort of a trial thing and I didn’t really know how long it would last. He is a natural assistant to me because I’m not organized enough to spend any time directing anybody’s work. You give Neyer a stack full of baseball books and he’s busy. He was naturally doing it by his own intellectual curiosity and interests so I never really had to worry about what he was doing, which was a good thing for me.

RL: How about John Sickels?

BJ: I hired John because I was looking for an assistant. We went to lunch and one of the things I did was draw up a list of young players. I thought I’d ask John to see if he knew anything about them as sort of an intern test. He knew far more about these players than I did! Just off the top of his head, he could rattle off where they were last year and what they were doing. I was quite amazed at that. John always had — and it doesn’t have anything to do with me — an area of expertise. He always knew more about that stuff than anybody did. Through working with me, he was able to let people know all of the expertise he had in that area.

Chris Smith has a good profile of Mets general manager Omar Minaya in the latest issue of New York magazine. I don’t know whether or not Minaya is a good GM, but I like him:

In private conversation, the six-foot-tall Minaya leans forward, establishing an intimacy. Heís resolutely upbeat, flashing a broad smile, and instead of launching into monologues, he frequently stops and asks questions, appearing genuinely curious instead of slick.

…”When you grow up in New York, you go to it,” Minaya says. “You donít expect it to come to you. Maybe some of the tools we learn as New Yorkers