Daily Archives: February 20, 2003

NEVER ENDING STORY

Brace yourself, Jack Curry had a startling scoop in today’s Times: George gets the final word. The Boss always has last licks when it comes to newspaper controversy, and he threw the press a couple of bones in regards to the tiresome Jeter flap. As he ducked into an elevator yesterday, the Boss opined:

“I am the way I am,” Steinbrenner said soon after the doors to the elevator closed. “I got my message through. If I’m paying a guy $16 million, I want him to listen.”

Classic George. Give ’em a tidbit, and leave ’em wanting more.

Steinbrenner reiterated himself this afternoon:

“I was trying to get him completely focused,” the New York Yankees’ principal owner said Thursday. “I said I need that for this year. For us to prevail, we need him completely focused. He’s that important to the team.”

…”I think (manager) Joe Torre will get that across to him. I think (Jeter’s) going to be fine. He always gives 100 percent. But I need 110 percent.”

As far as Jeter is concerned, the story is dead.

“It’s done from my point of view,” Jeter said Thursday. “When something is over in my mind, it’s done.

Of course, we all know: It ain’t over ’til the Fatman says it’s over.

The Boss wouldn’t have it any other way.

(Oy fuggin Vey.)

BOO WHO?

Here’s a laugh. God Squad, Gold Member Brett Butler, who was brought to Met camp specifically to help Roger Cedeno become a competent center fielder, appealed to New Yorkers’ kinder side, asking that we not boo ol’ Roger when he stinks up the place:

“Roger is one of the sweetest kids you’ll ever meet, and he’s got one of the greatest hearts in the world,” Butler said. “And if somebody boos him, he’s going to be hurt.

“If the fans will understand that’s how Roger is and support and embrace him, then Roger will be successful. If not – and they bury him, which can happen – it’s a double-edged sword that makes it kind of tough.”

This is New York Butler is talking about, of course. Hell, booing is simply a New Yorker’s misguided attempt at encouragement.

Tell you what. If Butler is willing to stand on the top step of the dugout, whenever Cedeno makes an error, I’ll be happy to boo him instead of Roger.

SAY IT AIN’T SO

Both Mike Lupica and Bob Klapisch have columns on Joe Torre’s tenuous job security.

According to Klap:

Torre isn’t afraid to oppose Steinbrenner in public, but he’s smart enough to keep the rhetoric polite and carefully muted. There’s virtually no chance he and The Boss will engage in the type of war that cost Martin his job so many times. If Torre and Steinbrenner ever quarrel, it’ll be in private.

…Those who are close to Torre say he has a healthy and realistic approach to his tenure in the Bronx: He knows that, sooner or later, everyone gets fired by The Boss. Everyone. Certainly, Steinbrenner isn’t taking direct aim at Torre, but the manager is already armed with the knowledge that, no matter what happens to him, history will regard him kindly.

…The Boss believes it’s his money that propelled the Yankees to the top. He can’t understand why Torre instead gets so much of the credit. Steinbrenner has had to remain silent on this issue for the better part of seven years, but now that the Yankees have gone two seasons without a championship, he seized the opportunity to travel in his personal time tunnel, all the way back to the ’70s and ’80s

A more pressing issue for the Yankees could be their lousy team defense. John Perricone, who just surpassed the 40,000-hit mark at Only Baseball Matters, thinks that the Bombers’ lack of defense will be lead to their demise in 2003, just as it hurt them against Anahiem in the playoffs last fall.

The New York Times has an article this morning about the Yankees’ defensive concerns. Joe Torre, for one, isn’t sweating yet:

“I don’t think it’s a terminal problem,” he said

…”Soriano has been learning the position, and Jeter has had little nagging injuries the past couple of springs; they didn’t have a chance to get used to each other,” [third base coach, Willie] Randolph said. “I look at this spring training as a chance for them to work hard, work together and get accustomed to each other.

“It has to be like clockwork, be automatic. It’s like dancing. It’s a groove. Like Bucky Dent and I, we knew what each other wanted to do. They haven’t arrived at that yet.”

…”He can do all the things at second base that you need done,” Torre said. “He’s not afraid of guys sliding in, he’s got real good range to his right, behind the bag, and he’s an accurate thrower. He struggled somewhat going to his left because he’s getting used to it, but he has the wherewithal to be an outstanding second baseman.”

When spring training started, General Manager Brian Cashman called Soriano the one player whose defense could significantly improve. The others, he said, are who they are.

THE SAD STORY OF STEVE BECHLER

I haven’t been able to bring myself to write about the sudden death of Steve Bechler, the 23-year old Orioles pitcher who died of heatstroke on Monday. I don’t know why it’s had this effect on me. Perhaps it’s because this story brings home just how far atheletes will go to gain a competitive edge. The photograph of Bechler being carted off the field on Sunday is heart-breaking (it’s been reprinted adnauseam, once again today on ESPN’s website). According to a front-page report in the Times today, it may not ever been known whether the dietrary supplement ephedra was the main cause of Belcher’s death:

“But what is clear, experts said yesterday, is that ephedra can be dangerous. They said that no other dietrary supplement on the market had stirred as many warnings and frightening medical histories as ephedra. It has been linked to deaths, to strokes, to heart arrythmias and even psychotic episodes.”

IT DON’T MEAN A THING

Here are some first impressions of Godzilla Matsui’s swing:

“He’s very compact for a power hitter,” Torre said. “Normally, a lefthander has an uppercut. He’s level. When you’re compact, it’s less likely that a pitcher can punch holes in your swing. There’s less a pitcher can exploit, less moving parts.

“His approach seems sound. Like Tino (Martinez), he seems to have the ability to hit the ball with authority the other way.”

“His swing is built for all the forkballs they throw over there,” [Jason] Giambi said. “He’s a great low-ball hitter.”

“I told him that standing ovation when he strikes out, that [bleep] is gone,” Giambi said. “I told him I got booed for the first month, but it was fun, the ultimate place to play.”

Booing a baseball player in Japan isn’t common. Yet Matsui understands when he fails to deliver a hit in a key situation he is going to hear it.

“I guess I can’t help it if I strike out,” Matsui said. “I will look at it as an awakening.”

This is how Joel Sherman saw it:

Matsui keeps his feet at about shoulders width and strides very little into the ball. The knob of his bat is held out about a foot from his heart, and his hands drift back a few inches as a pitch is delivered. Between pitches, he begins by staring into the opposite batter’s box before shrugging his shoulders and slowing swiveling his head to face the pitcher.
…Hitting coach Rick Down, after eyeballing his new pupil for the first time, said, “There are not very many moving parts. Maintenance will be easy.”

Down mentioned the thickness of Matsui’s legs and the power he derives from them, and even within the confines of a meaningless batting practice session, Matsui pulled enough balls with authority to hint at his power potential. In fact, Ventura, who played as a Met against Matsui in a 2000 exhibition in Tokyo, said, “People don’t realize just how strong he is. This is not a small, thin guy.”

IT’S OKAY WITH ME

Don’t count on Jason Giambi to stir shit up with The Boss. The Yankees best hitter played choir boy yesterday when asked about the restrictions placed on his personal trainer:

“I don’t think it’s a punishment,” Giambi said. “I know Mr. Steinbrenner loves to win, and when things don’t all fall into place, he starts looking for things to make it better. This is just one of those things where we could be more focused. I don’t know, but I don’t think he’s trying to punish me. I just think he wants to win the World Series.”

MOVE OVER DJ, YOU’VE GOT COMPANY

Looks like Derek Jeter isn’t the only superstar shortstop with an axe to grind this spring. After recieving the first real dose of bad press from the Boston media late last season, Nomar Garciaparra arrived at training camp with a chip square on his shoulder. Dan Shaughnessy broke the story in yesterday’s Boston Globe:

”I don’t know how to act this year,” Nomar said yesterday, while sitting in front of his locker after a workout. ”Somebody will write some [expletive] or whatever. Some [expletive] that I was unhappy or I’m this. I don’t get it.

”I was unhappy last year when we weren’t in the playoffs. I’m happy with my situation, but I can’t win, and I don’t know how I’m going to act. If I was happy all year and we were losing, then it would be, `Well, he’s a little too happy. Obviously he doesn’t care.’ You know what I mean? If I’m walking around chipper all the time and we’re not winning, then it will be like — `what’s Nomar so happy about? He has nothing to be happy about. We’re not in the playoffs.’

”So I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t. I’ll just ask somebody every day how I’m supposed to be acting. You tell me. You ask my teammates and my coaches. Nobody says I’m unhappy.

”I wish you guys could tell me the best strategy, because I’m in a no-win situation. And then people make [expletive] up to try to make me look bad.”

Asked to specify what was made up, Garciaparra referred to a column by Steve Buckley in the Herald last summer that recommended he leave town if he’s so unhappy. The column erroneously stated that he had called the press box to change a scoring decision. Garciaparra is still steamed about the allegation.

”One thing that came out on me was if I don’t like it here, get the [expletive] out. Go home. That I’m calling up people [official scorer] and changing errors.
”I don’t need to talk to the guy. He asked me if I wanted to talk about it, hey, the damage was done. What was he gonna do, go write that he lied and that he [made a mistake]? Go ahead. Do that. Show me some [expletive]. But I’ve got more class than that. I never talked to him and never said anything.”

Reached in Boston last night, Buckley said, ”There’s a difference between making stuff up and messing up. I messed up, and I told Nomar.”

Buckley was a bit more pointed in his column this morning.

Garciaparra, like Derek Jeter before him, directed most of his anger toward the media:

“I definitely expect myself to be a certain way, but at the same time you’re in an environment where you walk on eggshells and can ruin you,” Garciaparra said yesterday at the Red Sox spring training complex. “Let’s face it, there are things that still get brought up about some guys from six, seven or eight years ago so you have to watch everything. You’re constantly stressed. And so if you’re not careful, everything gets destroyed that you’ve worked so hard for.”