Daily Archives: April 4, 2003

THE GOOD BOOK

Here is another fine edition of Steve Goldman’s Pinstriped Bible column. Goldman joins Lee Sinns in questioning Joe Torre’s choice in back-up catchers (this means you John Flaherty):

One of Torre’s stated managerial goals for this season is to rest Jorge Posada more often. In the past he has had to push Posada to the limits of his endurance because, it has been said, he did not have a backup catcher he trusted enough. Mr. Torre must have a very specific picture of what he’s looking for in his head, because he’s passed on some very useful reserves over the years.
John Flaherty replaces Chris Widger in the latest in a long line of Yankees backup catchers. The Blue Jays have found Tom Wilson to be a useful part-time player. The Rangers got a .580 slugging percentage out of Todd Greene last year. As my quill pen scratches these words onto the parchment, Bobby Estalella is enjoying a two-homer game for the Colorado Rockies. Chris Widger was a serviceable backup with the Yankees last year, and a passable starter with the Expos and Mariners before that. In place of these players the Yankees have had Alberto Castillo, Joe Oliver, and Chris Turner.

There are several goodies relating to Jeter’s injury as well, but why spoil it? Best to get your ass over to what is undoubtedly the best weekly Yankee column available.

PATIENCE…

The Yankees won’t know the results of Derek Jeter’s MRI until later this afternoon, and even then, they will likely consult another opinion before they decide how to proceed. There are rumblings this morning that Jete will not need surgery, but that could just be wishful thinking. All we can do is sit tight and wait.

At least three former teammates who have dislocated their shoulders have called or plan to call Jeter: Gerald Williams of the Marlins, Rondell White of the Padres and the Mets’ David Cone. On a conference call with reporters yesterday, Cone said he planned to call Jeter to wish him well.

Cone dislocated his left shoulder while pitching for the Yankees in Kansas City on Sept. 5, 2000. He writhed on the field in excruciating pain but returned before the season ended. Cone said Jeter has more use for his left arm than he did, but he seemed optimistic about a quick recovery.

“If there’s one arm you’d like to dislocate, it’d be the left arm,” Cone said. “He’s going to need it more than I needed mine in terms of pitching or hitting. One of the things you’re going to have to guard against is re-injuring it if he comes back too soon, or moving his left arm for any live drives that might come his way. That may present a problem down the road.

“As long as it’s safe to play and it doesn’t pop out again, I think he’s going to be fine, probably a lot quicker than people think.”

THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE

Lee Sinns is the man behind the sabermetric baseball encyclopedia. Sinns also distributes a daily news e-mail that is remarkable on two counts: 1) for it’s wealth of information, and 2) for it’s price—it’s free! Any serious baseball fan should not waste another moment before signing up for Sinns’ ATM report here.

Two nights ago, Bernie Williams collected the 1000th RBI of his career. Sinns paid tribute to my most favorite Yankee in yesterday’s ATM Report:

Yankees CF Bernie Williams reached 1000 career RBI.

Williams became the 10th player to reach 1000 with the Yankees–

RBI
1 Lou Gehrig 1995
2 Babe Ruth 1968
3 Joe DiMaggio 1537
4 Mickey Mantle 1509
5 Yogi Berra 1430
6 Bill Dickey 1209
7 Tony Lazzeri 1154
8 Don Mattingly 1099
9 Bob Meusel 1005
10 Bernie Williams 1000

Despite the disinformation campaign being waged by the NY media to declare
Derek Jeter to be the most important offensive player during the Yankees
run of success, Williams has dominated the comparison between the 2, during
the time they’ve been teammates–

SLG OBA OPS RCAA OWP RC/G
Williams .538 .409 .947 315 .698 8.16
Jeter .464 .390 .854 217 .634 6.97

The only significant area where Jeter wins the comparison is outs, where he
holds a 364 out edge, in 461 extra PA. Jeter’s OBA is the equivalent of
having the same .409 OBA as Williams in Williams’s number of PA and then
having a .182 OBA (which would even make Neifi Perez look like a star by
comparison) in an amount of playing time that many starting players don’t
get over the course of a season.

If Bernie can manage to stay healthy, he has a shot to beat out Yogi, and break into the top 5. Pretty good company, wouldn’t you say?