Steinbrenner to be honored tonight, E:60 tomorrow

The Yankees are dedicating a monument in honor of George M. Steinbrenner tonight. Notables to be in attendance include Joe Torre, Don Mattingly, Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson.

ESPN’s E:60 will air a documentary for Steinbrenner Tuesday night.

Steinbrenner was more than just one of the greatest owners in sports history. If you’ve seen the Yankeeography for him, I bet you’ve already learned a ton about him you didn’t expect.

If you have some time, check out my archive on The Boss here.

Mattingly to take over for Torre next year

This is the news we all knew would come one day. Joe Torre and Don Mattingly have confirmed the report. Mattingly’s managing days will begin April 1, 2010 against the Giants. But I’m sure he already knows that.

Torre is 70 years old and a sure Hall of Famer. Mattingly is still young and finally has an opportunity to head a club. I hope one day Mattingly can manage the team that drafted him when he was 18 years old and the team he will always be known for, Hall of Fame or not.

I don’t think Torre will manage again and I look forward to watching Mattingly at the helm next season.

Quoteworthy: Torre on Steinbrenner

“It’s only fitting that he went out as a world champ”

Just a fantastic quote from Joe Torre on the the guy who almost fired him so many times. Why the Yankees ever let Torre leave, I have no idea.

RIP, Mr. Steinbrenner.

CC, A-Rod steal spotlight from Torre reunion in 2-1 win

Joe Torre met up with the core four before the game as planned, but Alex Rodriguez “didn’t see him,” supposedly. But I’m sure Torre saw him when A-Rod cranked the game-winning homer in the sixth to give the Yankees a 2-1 win — all while I was out bowling with my EIC team.

Best of All: CC Sabathia: W, 8 IP, 4 H, ER, 3 BB, 7 K. He’s now 5-0 with a 2.19 ERA in June. Can you say, AL Pitcher of the Month?

A-Rod also had a double and scored on Jorge Posada’s single in the second.

Worst of All: The bottom four combined to go 0-for-12, which includes Brett Gardner, who is red hot in June, and CC, who is one of the top hitting pitchers.

Coming Up: The Yankees can clinch another series win when they play tonight (a little earlier for us east coasters).

Yankees-Dodgers series preview

The Yankees are back in the spotlight this weekend, as two storied franchises square off for the first time in six years. First, a bit of history:

- The Yankees and Dodgers met in the World Series six times between 1947 and 1963. The Yankees won the first five meetings, but the ‘63 Dodgers, from L.A., swept New York.

- The Yankees got their revenge in 1977 and 1978 with World Series victories over the Dodgers, but the Dodgers had the last laugh with a 4-2 World Series win over the Yanks in 1981.

As much history as there is between the two teams, the focus is on one man. The man who the media tabbed as “Clueless Joe” when the Yankees hired him in November, 1995. That same “clueless” man went on to bring the Yankees four rings in five years and 12 straight postseason berths.

That man is Joe Torre, the new head of the Dodgers. He said:

“The odd thing for me is that I’m going to be over there in that dugout pulling against people I’ve never pulled against before.”

The Yankees core four showed very strong appreciation for their ex-manager.

“He’s been like a father figure to me,” Derek Jeter said. “It’s just out of respect.”

Jorge Posada reiterated Jeter’s statement, Mariano Rivera called him a “mentor” and Andy Pettitte raved how he supported him through the good times and the bad.

But you won’t see the players show those emotions on the field this weekend. And Torre won’t either, like always.

Also, don’t forget about Don Mattingly! He left the Yankees with Torre to be the Dodgers hitting coach.

Head to Head: 
These two old rivals haven’t faced each other since 2004 when the Dodgers took two of three at Dodger Stadium.

Pitching Matchups:

Date:	Yankees starters	Dodgers starters
Fri., 10:10 p.m.	CC Sabathia (8-3, 3.68)	V. Padilla (1-1, 6.67)
Sat., 7:10 p.m.	A.J. Burnett (6-6, 4.83)	Hiroki Kuroda (6-5, 3.06)
Sun., 8:00 p.m.	Andy Pettitte (9-2, 2.48)	C. Kerhsaw (7-4, 3.24)

Players to Watch:
Yankees: Brett Gardner. He’s hitting .396/.476/.566 in June. That’s bad news for opposing pitchers catchers.

Dodgers: Andre Ethier. He isn’t as hot as he was in April, but he may be back on track after a good series against the Angels earlier this week.

Prediction:
This should be a good series, culminating with the ESPN Sunday Night game. But the Dodgers are slumping lately, and the Yankees aren’t. I’ll give a 2-1 edge to the Yanks.

Poll Results: Girardi not a good manager for Yankees

In my latest poll, I asked fans if they think Joe Girardi is a good manager for the Yankees. The consensus said he is not, but it was not a one-sided vote by any means. Here are the full results:

He is good: 27%
He is bad: 43%
He is not the problem: 29%

I feel that Girardi is not really hurting or helping the team much, so I voted he’s not the problem. I think he’s become more respected by his players as he gains experience, but he’s so young compared to guys like Joe Torre, Jim Leyland and Tony LaRussa.

I think Torre should never him been let go, and should still be managing this team. Everyone respects him, and he offers class and experience. Guys like Lou Piniella or Ozzie Guillen are too distracting for the Yankees, so that’s why I’d rather have Girardi. I just feel I have the most trust with Torre than any major I know.

Vote in next week’s poll on the left pane: Besides Mo, who is the most trusted bullpen arm?

"The Yankee Years" - Excerpt 2

I just finished reading the section of the book about the 1998 world series, and I found a couple of interesting comments.  Here is George Steinbrenner's take on the 1998 Yankees team:

"This," he said, "is as good as any team I've ever had, and as good as any team I've ever seen.  There's never been anyone better." - Page 66

The debate continues to this day of the best baseball team of all time.  I know the 1927, 1939 and 1998 Yankee teams are all in the mix.  Baseball-Almanac has the 1927 Yankees as the best team of all time using an explicit formula.  Do you agree?

Tom Verducci followed Steinbrenner's quote with a very clear summary of the 1998 team:

"It was never as good as it was in 1998, not with the near-perfect composition of the roster, the peak-age talent and the singular mindset of 25 grinders rolled into 125 victories.  A desperation to win.  That is what made them so historic." - Page 66

My immediate reaction to this description was recognizing just how far the Yanks have veered off track of compiling a team of winners.  The book talks a lot about the unselfishness of all 25 players on the team.  Even when a player would have a great game, it wouldn't mean anything if they lost.  Winning was all that mattered.  

I guarantee you that nobody can say with a straight face that Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira or CC Sabathia only have winning on their minds.  These are players that would fight between a $160 million contract and a $161 million contract.  

These players went to the team with the highest bid.  If the Nationals had bid an extra million per year on any of these guys, the player(s) would have signed with the Nats.  Winning was the furthest thing from their minds.

Photo from Newsday

"The Yankee Years" - Excerpt 1

I just got Joe Torre's book this past weekend, unfortunately I haven't had a lot of time to get very far in it. This will be one of many excerpts chosen by me that I will display for your viewing pleasure. You will also get my take on it, of course.

My first quote is about the 1996 season. Torre is talking about what George Steinbrenner's mentality was like on an everyday basis.

"I was so excited to be managing a club that had a chance to win that whatever he dealt out to me, I was in a great frame of mind with it," Torre said. "We'd be winning games and he'd be semi-embarrassed because we'd win on a squeeze bunt or a base hit. He wanted to mutilate people." - Page 14

This book shares a lot of inside information like this that really fascinates me. I love hearing about the specifics of what really went on in the clubhouse.

Just before this quote, the book enlightened me of how good the Yankees bullpen was in '96. "They were 70-3 when they led after six innings." 70-3..........? That's absurd. Mariano Rivera six, John Wetteland three - every time.

A-Rod admits all - I don't buy it

If you have not watched the near-36-minute interview of A-Rod by Peter Gammons, I highly recommend you watch it so you can see for yourself if he is being honest or not.

Before watching the interview, I was glad that A-Rod admitted taking steroids. Like I said in my previous post about A-Rod, I wish we could figure out the time span of his use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).

Still without seeing the interview, I heard that A-Rod admitted to taking steroids just from 2001-2003. My reaction: OK, at least his Yankee years are clean. But still, his season high in home runs came in 2002 when he hit 57 and he won his first MVP in 2003.

Finally after watching the entire interview, I have changed my opinion on A-Rod completely. I believe I have caught him a few times lying about important specific information.

Throughout the interview, he reiterated that during his time in Texas, there was a different "culture" than there is today (referring to the higher prevalence of PEDs). He also used the cliche, "the truth will always set you free" numerous times (hoping to gain some credibility from his fans). You might be right A-Rod, but in order for the truth to set you free, you have to actually tell the truth.

I was still feeling bad for him about the whole situation and happy he admitted to his steroid use until i heard this Q&A. When Gammons asked about how he got the PEDs in the first place, A-Rod responded with this:

"You have nutritionists, doctors, and trainers," A-Rod said. "I'm not sure exactly which substance I used, but whatever it is, I feel terribly about it." Later he said, "to be honest I don't know exactly what substance I was guilty of using."

WHAT! You just lost all of your credibility right there A-Rod. If you are going to admit to all of the PEDs you have ever taken in a formal interview, how in the world do you not know exactly what you took? Notice in the last part of the quote, he says "substance I was guilty of using." What other substances are there A-Rod? When you are admitting that you took PEDs, you have to mention everything that you have taken. If you don't, you are lying because you have not told us everything there is to know.

Now, this is not the only dirt I believe I have on him. He mentioned toward the end of the interview that he has not read Joe Torre's book yet. Gammons followed up by asking "Did you hear people call you A-Fraud?" If you listen closely to his response, the very first word that slips out of A-Rod's mouth is, "never." - 29th minute

If you listen to his entire answer, he wraps up by saying, "did I hear jokes about A-Rod? Yea, we joked about a lot of things - 25 guys had 25 different nicknames."

A contradiction to say the least. I don't know if I'm making something out of nothing here, but this affects his credibility a great deal for me. I'm talking about his very first instinct, to say the word "never."

After reading an article about Joe Torre's book signing, I came across this:

Torre said coach Larry Bowa used to invoke A-Fraud when hitting grounders after the ex-Mariner had a bad night in the field.

"He says, 'Come on, let's see who we see today? Is it going to be A-Rod or A-Fraud? Let's go,' " Torre recalled. "I mean, it was in front of him. You never did any of that stuff behind his back."

I'm sorry A-Rod, but Joe Torre represents the pinnacle of honesty. What Torre has said here is no different from the norm.

On a second look through on A-Rod's interview with Gammons, I noticed when asked if "the time period was 2001,'02 and '03," A-Rod replied with, "that's pretty accurate, yes." ...What kind of an answer is that?! Are other reporters missing this? According to A-Rod, the time period for his steroid use (2001-2003) is pretty accurate. It's a yes or no question!

My tip for A-Rod: don't lie about other things when you are in the middle of admitting for the first time that you did in fact use PEDs.

Is there anyone out there who still believes A-Rod?

Photo from A-Rod's interview on ESPN

Joe Torre's book

Joe Torre's book "The Yankee Years" is now on sale. It's hard to get around as a college freshman like myself, but I am looking to read this book one way or another as soon as I can.

I found this review online if you are interested:

The following content was provided by the publisher.
Twelve straight playoff appearances. Six American League pennants. Four World Series titles. This is the definitive story of a dynasty: the Yankee years When Joe Torre took over as manager of the New York Yankees in 1996, the most storied franchise in sports had not won a World Series title in eighteen years. The famously tough and mercurial owner, George Steinbrenner, had fired seventeen managers during that span. Torre's appointment was greeted with Bronx cheers from the notoriously brutal New York media, who cited his record as the player and manager who had been in the most Major League games without appearing in a World Series Twelve tumultuous and triumphant years later, Torre left the team as the most beloved and successful manager in the game...continue reading here