Daily Archives: November 12, 2003

If you are interested in keeping up with the latest Hot Stove Rumors you should be subscribing to Lee Sinins’ daily Around the Majors e-mail. Why? Because Lee compiles information from papers around the country and because the e-mail is absolutely free.

Here are a few Yankee-related tidbits from today’s edition:

1. According to the Newark Star Ledger, Curt Schilling has told the Diamondbacks he’s changed his mind and would approve a trade to the Yankees.

There is a 3 team rumor that would send Schilling to the Yankees, Nick
Johnson to the Brewers.

2. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, if the Yankees decide they are
interested in Jim Edmonds, there is already a 3 team rumor that would send
Edmonds and Schilling to the Yankees, Nick Johnson and Danny Bautista to
the Cardinals and Alfonso Soriano and Jeff Weaver to the Diamondbacks.

How do you think Yankee fans would like to lose Sori and Nick Johnson and receive Curt Schilling and Jim Edmonds in return?

The gossip is fast and furious right now. Edward Cossette has a good piece today about how instability of the the free agency era reflects modern life.

My father used to work in Televison Production for years, and I know he was a big fan of Art Carney’s. I wanted to share an e-mail I received from Pop this morning:

Iíll try to give you some more in a day or two, but I put the death of Art Carney in the same category as the death of Zero Mostel; an important person has left my life.

Although thereís no arguing that for an extended period, Jackie Gleason was akin to a force of nature, he was never, in my mind, the kind of talent or funny man or actor that was Art Carney. Carney wasnít just schtick although his schtick was about as godd as it gets; Carney was a commentator, and a damned funny one at that. My first memory of him (I knew his work in radio but didnít know who he was) was playing a waiter in the nightclub that was Jackie Gleasonís stage in Cavalcade of Stars for DuMont Televisionís Channel 5 in New York. He was intrusive, clumsy and hysterically funny. Itís to Gleasonís credit that he saw in Carney a second banana of remarkable skill. And he was a second banana; for reasons of his shyness, I guess, he was clearly not at home in the starring role, certainly not as a working comic, and why he didnít get more leading roles considering his successes in The Odd Couple and Harry & Tonto is beyond me. Why he did a couple of films with Gleason when the latter was well past his heyday, again playing the second role when it was no longer fittiní and proper, is also beyond me.

One quick story.

Before Channel 13 became a PBS channel, it was owned by a fella named Ely Landau, a genuine entrepreneurial type who will always have a place in my heart because he kept trying things with Henry Morgan. Now Morgan was a radio man and like Fred Allen, never really figured out how to sell his successful brand of cerebral radio humor on television except as a game show panelist. But, for a brief while, he did some things on Channel 13 and on one show in particular, he had Carney visit. At one point, while they were both sitting behind a desk, they played a three or four minute recording from an old radio broadcast with Art in the role of “Sailor Carney”, a not-so-hot prize fighter. If Iíd ever heard the routine, I didnít remember it. They obviously had. Nevertheless, all three of us were is stitches

Art Carney, one of America’s greatest—and most under-appreciated—actors, passed away on Sunday. Carney is most famous for playing second banana to Jackie Gleason on “The Honeymooners,” but he was an accomplished actor on the stage and radio as well as the silver screen.

Young actors should all watch Carney’s work on “The Honeymooners” (which has just been boxed in a nifty DVD set). Carney brought a sense of naturalism, or everyday authenticity to his role as Ed Norton. He never chewed the scenery like his famous co-star, but his understated professionalism was always fascinating to watch. He was also a graceful and talented physical comedian. Has any actor ever done more with the simple act of eating food than Carney did? If so, let me know, because I’ve never seen it.

One of my all-time fantasies is that I wish Art Carney had been allowed to recreate his stage performance as Felix Unger in the filmed version of “The Odd Couple.” Whenever I watch Jack Lemmon in the movie, I close my eyes and imagine what Carney would have done with the role. Especially playing against Walter Matheau. Ahhh…

Carney did win an Oscar for his role in Paul Mazursky’s tender comedy “Harry and Tonto.” If you have not seen that movie, I would highly suggest that you do. If not, make sure to check out “The Honeymooners” next time they are on late-night TV, and watch for the subtle genius in the background.

The Curt Schilling-to-New York rumors are all over the papers this morning. Yankee GM Brian Cashman arrived at the GM meetings in Arizona yesterday and was engaged in talks with several teams. Any deal for Schilling, or any other stud pitcher would most likely involve Nick Johnson or Alfonso Soriano. Aw, nertz. Excuse me while I moan, but I don’t want to see Nick Johnson go.

Congrats go out to Roy “Doc” Halladay who ran away with the Cy Young award in the American League yesterday. He was deserving of the award and was a fun pitcher to watch—even when he was killing the Yankees.

George Steinbrenner issued a statement yesterday expressing his displeasure over two writers’ decision to leave Hideki Matsui off their Rookie of the Year ballots (two writers also inexplicably left winner Angel Berroa off their list as well). According to the Times:

The writers, Steinbrenner said, “clearly made up their own rules to determine who was and was not eligible for the award and disqualified an eligible candidate who could have won.” Steinbrenner continued: “One of the writers in question, Mr. Ballou, actually said, `while he is technically a rookie by the rules of Major League Baseball, he is not a rookie in the spirit of the award.’ Spirit of the award? The award was renamed by the Baseball Writers’ Association to honor Jackie Robinson, its first recipient.

“Jackie Robinson came to the major leagues after playing in the Negro Leagues, a league whose high level of play is unquestioned. This year’s voting farce, where the appropriate qualifications for the award were blatantly ignored…

John Harper puts it well in the Daily News this morning:

Before I swallow hard and at least sort of agree with George Steinbrenner, a notion that has all the appeal of a colonoscopy, let’s get to the bottom line: The right guy won the AL Rookie of the Year award.

The two writers in question—Bill Ballou from the Worcester (Massachusetts) Telegram & Gazette and Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune–defended themselves, but ESPN’s Mike Greenberg thinks that their arrogance is inexcusable.

Roy White came to the Yankees during their CBS days, when the great dynasty in the Bronx had finally crumbled. In the mid 1960s, the Yankees farm system was all but depleted, but White was one of the few bright spots, along with Thurman Munson, Bobby Murcer and Stan Bahnsen to come up through the system. White lasted into the Bronx Zoo days of George, Billy and Reggie before he finished his career in Japan.

Here is White talking about how Billy Martin’s aggresive managerial style shook up the Yankees in the mid-’70s (from Dick Lally’s book, “Bombers”:)

When Billy came on board, everything was put on the table. There was nothing laid-back about him. He was on the attack all the time. You could just feel it. He was always probing, trying to find the other team’s weakness, and he wanted us to do the same. And he was so unorthodox, you never knew what to expect. He wanted everyone to run, not just steal bases but challenge the other team’s outfielders by taking the extra base. He put the opposing team on edge and kept them there.

One game, I was on second and Pinella was hitting. Billy gave Lou the bunt sign, and Lou fouled the ball off as I broke for third. I went back to second and somehow missed the next sign. Now, in that siutation, you would expect Lou to bunt again. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred that is the logical play, and I assumed Lou would put down another bunt. But this is Billy in the dugout, so forget what the book says. Billy calls for the hit-and-run. Nobody does that! Lou singled, but because I had missed the sign, I didn’t score.

After the inning, Billy asked if I had missed the sign and I admitted that I had. He told me to stay awake out there or it would cost me money the next time. I knew from that day on that we had to keep on our toes because we had a manager who was capable of the unexpected. Having a manager like that drives a team. You don’t want to miss a sign and embarass yourself by messing up an inning. You also don’t want to get fined. Billy was fiery and samrt. He made us fiery and smart.

White coached for Billy Martin in 1983, and served as hitting coach for Yogi Berra in 1984 and Lou Pinella in ’86. White, has been the hitting coach for the A’s triple A team for the past five seasons. Originally an infielder who made the transition to the outfield, White may help young Soriano learn the ropes in the outfield too:

“The kind of athlete he is, I don’t think he’d have too much of a problem, with his speed, his natural instincts,” White said. “It’s just a matter of going out there, getting the experience, seeing balls off the bat.

“It wouldn’t be any tough feat to turn him into an outfielder.”

That is if Soriano is still around come spring…