Let’s get this out of the way …

[poll id="4"]

And let’s have a little competition … over at ESPN:

“Super Pick’em” challenges you to answer a series of questions directly related to the Big Game. The questions range from which team will come out on top to how many touchdowns will the home team quarterback throw. The more you get right, the closer you are to the grand prize. It’s FREE to play.

Get in the action now:
http://games.espn.go.com/super/group?groupID=3380 ^[1]

Group: Bronx Banterers
Password: arod

OK … back to the really important stuff … ladies and gentlemen … “Author” Joe Torre!

• Our fearless leader/book reader Alex Belth has a Q&A with Torre book “co-author” Tom Verducci over at SI.com ^[2].  It’s (of course) a must-read.  Well done sir!

• Tyler Kepner of the Times ^[3] recaps Torre’s appearance:

… (But) Torre, in his first televised interview about the book, said he was proud of it and did not think he violated the sanctity of the clubhouse.

“I did not burn any bridges,” he said. “When I talk about what went on in the clubhouse, I don’t think there was any sensitive material that was in there that I felt shouldn’t have been in there.”

Torre, who will be in New York to promote the book on Tuesday, when it is officially released, said he had no regrets. He predicted the book would become a “piece of history” for chronicling an era, not for its references to Alex Rodriguez and others.

[My take: Wow ... talk about an odd sense of confidentiality and double-standards.    So who is ESPN going to get to portray him in their inevitable movie?]

• PeteAbe ^[4] tries to avoid talking about Torre’s appearance on King’s show … but:

According to the info button on my cable, Larry King’s guest on CNN tonight is “Author Joe Torre.”

Author? The late, great John Updike was an author. Torre is a guy who told a few stories to somebody else and cashed a check.

• PeteAbe ^[5] also hits it out of the park with his Torre-tinged take on Jeter swiping the DiMaggio quote sign from the old Stadium:

If you’re looking for this, Derek Jeter took it home.

A-Rod got the “You’re a huge fraud and we all hate you” sign that Joe Torre hung over his locker.

[My take: ROFL ... well done Pete ... well done!  I hear Abreu tried to take a large framed photo of Reggie out of the Stadium, but he sensed he was going to scrape into a corridor wall ... and dropped the frame. ]

• And finally in the PeteAbe portion of this update, he points out that the Yanks have not reached their free agent signing quota ^[6] (correcting an earlier article on MLB.com).
• Reliever Brian Bruney is now signed for 2009 ^[7] … $1.25 million.
• Last week I posted an item about a very rare signed team photo of the 1927 Yankees ^[8] that was up for auction.  Well …. it finally sold … for $94 Gs!
• BP.com ^[9] has released their first 2009 iteration of PECOTA “Weighted Means” projections for your perusal.  Note that many of the players have not had their associated team updated (i.e. Teixeira isn’t listed with the Yanks, yet …)
• Another projection system, Tom Tango’s “MARCEL”, is usually quite good.  However, the first iteration for 2009 has a small updating issue …. there is a projection for (the late) Cory Lidle ^[10].
• Wanna see the Shea Stadium scoreboard ^[11]get demolished?
• Rafael Santana, another one of the guys to play for both NY teams, turns 51 today.  The Mets dealt him along with Victor Garcia (minors)  for Darren Reed, Phil Lombardi, and Steve Frey before the 1988 season.
• Happy 40th Birthday to my Scrabble buddy and a damn fine fantasy sports writer, Scott Pianowski ^[12].  Scott shares his birthday with Ernie Banks (78), Nolan Ryan (62) and the late Jackie Robinson.  Not a bad way to start a fantasy team!

Til Monday ….. enjoy the weekend … go Steelers!