[7] Cheers, Cliff.

“Regarding that game I did find Verducci’s recollection of Jeter’s physical condition to be revelatory. Another instance of Jeter believing that playing hurt is a benefit to his team, when it’s actually quite the opposite.”

Come on Cliff, you can do better than that. Verducci’s memory–for all we know, after-the-fact and self-serving “I noticed that but never said anything at the time–doesn’t *prove* that this was “another instance” of Jeter hurting the team by playing hurt. Let’s not condemn the man with hearsay, indeed worse: speculative hearsay.

Of course, reading the book may be pointless if you’ve already made up your mind based on the excerpts. No doubt there will be some strong prejudice at play.

I’d like to be pointed in the direction of someone critical of the book who’s read it, btw. I haven’t seen those and am curious what they say.

Anyway – great interview.

I dunno, the Sox have always had prospects, even when Duq was there. They have been competitive, ever since Pedro showed up on the scene in 1997

How many MLBers did we develop from 1996-2005?

Quite a few, most of them were traded away.

One question for Alex: Why not a question about “The Lonely Yankee” and Torre as a source? To me, that was much more of a betrayal coming in the middle of the season then released just as Arod got hot before the playoffs. Following that up by jerking him around the lineup was clearly an effort to run the guy out of town. Somehow, I don’t think that story is told in the book.

The more I hear about Joe’s book, the more all this outrage seems contrived and ridiculous. Of course, it is just an excuse for the Joe-obsessors to obsess about him some more. I can’t wait to read the book.

[13] It is great to see Alex’s writing talent being recognized and that he is doing bigger and better things.

Congrats, Alex! Don’t forget us little blog people after you conquer the sports’ world.

The names on the book say Joe Torre and Tom Verducci. Nobody goes around asking Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein who wrote what in ‘All the President’s Men’. It’s like Joe Torre is his own Deep Throat in this book and somehow expects people not to figure it out. Thanks for treating the world like we are all C students in remedial English. I never knew there were different narrative devices! If Verducci’s third-person narrative was so special he should have put Joe Torre OR Tom Verducci on the cover instead of treating the world of readers like a bunch of rubes.

I’m sure the book is a good read and I wish both Verducci AND Torre all the success they can stand but come on. You can’t simultaneously knock Torre’s ability to speak on complex issues like biomechanics and then defend Torre’s inability to see the value of Mariano in a tie ballgame. That’s having it both ways…like hiding behind the third person narrative whenever anything sensitive could rebound to hurt Torre’s reputation. It’s just very weak from an accountability standpoint, however brilliant it may be as a literary device.

I think MLB is more competative/balanced then 5 years ago. These changes don’t come overnight and are a slow process, but it is a bit different then in the dynasty days.

Sure, like all teams, the Sox have had aquisitions that didn’t work out, but they have gotten a good bang for the buck many times. Meanwhile we paid big dollars for Giambi, Brown, Clemens and RJ, and did not get a full return on our dollar. Are you saying the Sox franchise hasn’t vastly improved under J.Henry/Theo?

And while the Yankees still had excellent teams in 2002-2007, they did ignor the farm. A team needs to develop 2-3 kids a year to replace themselves. How many MLBers did we develop from 1996-2005? Yes, I know, you can buy some players, ya don’t have to develop them all… but you get my drift. The Sox were not great at this either, but righted their ship a few years before Cashman made the farm a priority.

And while I might be the biggest Giambi fan here, he did not really give us as much as well had hoped. You said 4 of 5 years he was healthy. What about the other 2? Do they count? Look, a .925 OPS (albeit with poor D) is nothing to sneeze at, but it might have been better. But I’ll never forget him hitting 2 HRs off of Pedro from the 7 hole.

People, or Yankee fans, are overreacting to this book. It’s FOR SALE. Even ‘historical’ books want good sales. There’s gotta be some dirt when talking about 12 years of Steinbrenner/Yankee baseball. All-in-all, the personal stuff is not only relatively tame, but most of it was well known.

I know we get defensive when someone trashes our boys, but really… Torre could have dished out LOTS more dirt if that was really his intent.

Would it have been nice if Torre didn’t write this book… or at least wait 3 years? Yes. Am I somewhat disappointed in Joe? Yes.. a bit. Is it a hanging offense? No.It will blow over quickly.

Another theme from the Larry King interview involved Torre insisting that he didn’t say anything bad about anyone. Even passages calling Arod selfish and Steinbrenner a tyrant were brushed off as a kind of endearing commentary on both men. Heck, Torre even stated that his goal wasn’t to criticize, but to provide a human touch. Give me a break…that’s about as believable as Torre suggesting he was only listed above Verducci on the cover because “T comes before V”.

As for the Verducci interview, following are a few comments.

It’s an historical account. I dare say the first-person voice of Joe Torre would have no authenticity with the reader if the former manager of the Yankees is reporting in detail on how enhanced revenue sharing helped competitive balance or how the Red Sox closed the competitive gap on his team with state-of-the art statistical analysis.

I just don’t get this…Verducci keeps making it sound like they are cracking some kind of codes with the book, but most of these themes have been widely discussed. I just don’t see why the context of the Yankee years would bring them more to light. Besides, where is the evidence that the Sox have benefited from a state of the art statistical analysis. If anything, the Red Sox have been particularly good at drafting, but otherwise, there model is very similar to the Yankees.

I sensed the frustration of the Yankees and, in some cases, the media that cover them, about why the Yankees were no longer winning world titles, but they weren’t willing or able to see how much baseball changed in that time.

I found this to be rather ridiculous. After 2001, the Yankees did make the World Series, come within a hair of another in 2004 and win a bunch of divisions. Once could cite a litany of events that constitute either bad luck or poor game management in figuring out why the team didn’t win another World title. Placing the blame at the Yankees unwillingness to adapt to the changing landscape of baseball is baseless…unless that blame lands at the feet of Torre, who laments in the book that Cashman had changed, even going so far as thinking lineups should be constructed based on stats. If anyone was rigid, it was Torre. Talk about disingenuous.

I would guess when the Yankees won world championships probably only five or six other clubs had true shots at winning the title. In recent years I would guess that number of legitimate world championship contenders has doubled or tripled. The path is much more rigorous, and I wanted to explore the reasons why that changed.

This is also a silly statement. When 8 teams make the playoffs, it makes no sense to suggest only 5-6 clubs had a chance to win the title. Also, Verducci disparages the Texas teams the Yankees beat, but those teams were good hitting clubs. You can’t convince me that the recent vintage playoff teams (like the 2006 champion Cardinals for instance) are that much better.

the Red Sox, on almost every level, improved on the Yankee model when the John Henry group took over. Can you talk about how the Yankees seemed to lose their way in terms of making trades and signings while the Red Sox got smarter, bolder and more efficient?

Again, was signing Julio Lugo smarter, bolder and more efficient? How about Clement and Renteria? Or, trades for the likes of Coco Crisp? Also, was spending $100mn on Dice-K smarter? When the Yankees spend that kind of money, is it considered smarts? Also, was getting guys like Lowell and Schilling in salary dumps really genius? When the Yankees make those moves it’s evidence of their fiscal dominance, not efficient smart boldness. Give me a break.

In some ways, 2001 Game 7 presaged the Jeff Weaver game in the 2003 World Series, in which Zimmer’s worst fear came true: The Yankees lost without using Rivera. But Torre has no second-guesses whatsoever about using Weaver.

He really doesn’t second guess using Weaver in that spot? I think that speaks for itself.

Giambi is a different story. He had to subvert his frat-boy personality a little bit in the Jeter clubhouse (though they got along well), but the biggest thing was that he never remained healthy enough long enough to become the fixture that he could have been in that time.

This is simply inaccurate. In four of his first five years, Giambi played in 155, 156, 139 and 139 games. How is that not healthy enough to become a fixture?

damn woe-mack. damn gracey. damn non-double play. damn dave roberts and 3 feeble pickoff attempts. oh wait. damn bob brenly’s mustache. damn gonzo’s steroid-aided bloop single. damn my downstairs neighbor who complained his house was shaking ‘coz i was beating on a drumpad on my coffee table uncontrollably. man, was i nervous. after everything that happened around that time in ’01, i was a mess about us not winning that game. oh, and damn that 15-2 loss and pettitte stinker in Game 6!

i’ll be in touch soon to solidify next weekend!

Regarding that game I did find Verducci’s recollection of Jeter’s physical condition to be revelatory. Another instance of Jeter believing that playing hurt is a benefit to his team, when it’s actually quite the opposite.

bet you’re glad Andy’s back, huh weeping?! : )

Mo was put in in the bottom of the inning, having acquired a lead after Sori teed off, no?

enjoy the sunshine! i’m a-gonna read Alex’s SI article and enjoy the darkness at the pub! : )

out of here into the sunshine, finally. thelarmis, let me know if/when you make it cross the ocean! you still got my email somewhere?