Here’s the soggy stories:
- Alex Rodriguez could be back as early as Friday:
“So much of it just depends on how he feels and when he believes he’s ready to go,” Girardi said. “I have not really put a date on it, because I want to see how he bounces back. It’s up to him. When he feels that he’s ready, we’re probably going to take him back.”
Rodriguez is scheduled to play another extended spring game on Tuesday, serving seven innings in the field as he makes his way back from March 9 right hip surgery to repair a torn labrum.
Rodriguez ran the bases on Monday but did not slide on dirt, and Girardi said that Rodriguez would not necessarily need to do so before being activated, since he has slid on a pad.
- There’s been a long reliever sighted in Yankee Stadium:
With inclement weather in the forecast for this week’s series against the Red Sox, the Yankees moved to recall right-hander Alfredo Aceves from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday, optioning right-hander Anthony Claggett in a corresponding move.
The Yankees spent most of Spring Training considering whether to select a long reliever from the group of Aceves, Dan Giese and Brett Tomko. In the end, New York took none of the three, choosing Jonathan Albaladejo instead.
Girardi said that Aceves, who was 2-0 with a 3.80 ERA at Triple-A, could stick with the Yankees, who could have used a long reliever in April on several occasions when they were forced to dip into their bullpen early in games.
“So much of it depends on who’s throwing the ball well,” Girardi said. “Ace was very successful when we called him up last year. We threw him a little bit out of the bullpen, and then he made some pretty good starts for us.
- Joba Chamberlain’s mother was arrested:
The mother of New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain has been arrested on charges of selling methamphetamine to an undercover police officer in February.
Jacqueline Standley was arrested at her apartment Saturday night, Lincoln Police Capt. David Beggs said Monday. . . .
Last month, Chamberlain pleaded guilty to drunken driving and was given nine months probation and a $400 fine for his October arrest.
- Xavier Nady’s recovery is being aided by some cutting edge medical procedures:
Nady told The Journal News today that he is having platelet-rich plasma injected directly into the area around the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The procedure was successfully used by right-handed reliever Takashi Saito last season. Saito, who is now with the Red Sox, was able to avoid Tommy John Surgery. Like Nady, he had a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament.
Blood drawn from Nady’s body is spun to isolate the platelets, which clot and promote healing of the ligament. The platelets are 10 times more concentrated than normal blood. It is believed Saito and Nady are the only baseball players to have had this procedure done. Hines Ward of the Steelers is another athlete who has had success with the procedure. . . .
“If Saito was able to come back as a pitcher, that is a good sign for me,” Nady said. “It hurts at the spot of the injection. But I think overall the elbow is feeling better.”
- Will Carroll has some more fascinating info on Nady’s recovery:
There’s a factor with Nady that hadn’t been taken into account. Having had Tommy John surgery previously, Nady’s ligament is in fact a tendon. Platelet-rich plasma therapy has been used far more frequently with tendons, so that would make this more likely to succeed right? Maybe. Tendons used to replace ligaments undergo something called ligamentization. The tendon turns into a ligament over a period of years. That likely means that Nady’s tendon graft is now anatomically a ligament, returning this to the same kind of procedure that Takashi Saito had. Then again, it’s never been done on a grafted ligament … or tendon … or whatever it is now.
- ESPN’s Howard Bryant talks about Alex Rodriguez’s legacy in the wake of exposes’:
So much of the Rodriguez affair is mere sensation, an infatuation more with a nickname than a person. In both “A-Rod” and “The Yankee Years,” a certain phenomenon is taking place beyond Rodriguez’s fascination with himself and numerous strippers and madams: The players with whom he has shared clubhouses have little respect for him as a man. They laugh at his desire to be loved, at his flimsy attempts to seem distant, intellectual, mysterious, unaffected, when the truth is that Rodriguez’s greatest crime is caring more about what the people around him think than caring about himself, about who he is as a person. His teammates ridicule him for his affair with Madonna, which apparently appealed to him mostly so he could tell the world a star of her caliber was interested in him. And within all this narcissism is weakness. They laugh at him because of it, and because his emotional frailty seems so pitifully obvious.
He is, in short, a cartoonish figure easily lampooned because he comes off as so absolutely unaware of how much his superficiality undermines his accomplishments. That is the most damning revelation of both books.
- On this date in 1925, Everett Scott of the Yankees was benched, ending his streak of 1,307 consecutive games played that started in 1918 while playing for the Boston Red Sox. Scott, who gave way to Pee Wee Wanninger at shortstop, had the longest playing streak before Lou Gehrig.
I heard on the radio this morning that Yankee Stadium staff told a bunch of fans that the game was rained out. They left...only to find out the game was being played after all. They tried to go back, but security wouldn't allow them in. Even with their ticket stubs. Picture hundreds of pissed off fans.
Here's the Daily News story:
Yankees fans told Red Sox game cancelled, not let back into Stadium
They claim their reporter was told to quit taking photos of the scene, or his credentials would be revoked.
Rhetorical flourishes may have a superficial appeal, particularly to the person who wrote them, but this is absolute and provably false nonsense.
The most damning revelation that undermines Alex's accomplishments is his positive steroid test and subsequent acknowledgment of it (which should have been a sufficient pound of flesh for any reasonable person).
Everything else is poorly sourced, mere speculation, or lame psycholgizing.
I heard on the radio this morning that Yankee Stadium staff told a bunch of fans that the game was rained out. They left…only to find out the game was being played after all. They tried to go back, but security wouldn’t allow them in. Even with their ticket stubs. Picture hundreds of pissed off fans.
Given what we know about the Yankees and stadium security, is anyone surprised?
While I can understand the Organization's pov, I think they could give people a pass for waiting 3 hours in the rain.
Interesting to hear Orel's take on "pitch tipping" last night, merely that A-Rod was poor at signaling to teammates about which pitch was coming, and that he was trying to help a bad pitching staff. If anyone had reason to bury Alex, it'd probably be Orel.
Just to get it out of the way, Girardi:
"Posada will miss a few days."
Ugh. The bottom of the line up is not going to be pretty.
Posada running on a muddy track was probably not the best of ideas .... in hindsight.
[5] Where is that quote from?
[3] "While I can understand the Organization’s pov"
What is the Organization's POV? I don't get it. Letting in fans who have tickets to the game is the default behavior. What's the difference between a fan who is trying to reenter the game and one who is late by 2 hours? Both have legit tickets to the game. Both should be allowed entry.
I have never understood the no re-entry policy.
[5] Given how early in the season it is, and the alternative, a "few days" is the best I hoped for. If it turns into a few more days, and then a few weeks, they are screwed.
Let's face it .... that game just should not have been played in those conditions.
Jeter slipped a couple of time on the wet grass. Damon slid into the wall diving for a ball. Posada tweaked his hammy ....
Why risk injury to the players .... oh right .... cha-ching!
[10] I think also, that having back to back rainouts would get tricky from a scheduling standpoint. I assumed that if they could physically play the game they would.
Also, minus that homerun to Bay, I was thoroughly heartened by what I saw from Aceves.
Hughes....I don't know, I definitely thought he was getting squeezed in the first couple of innings...and his pitches had tons of movement on them, but he just didn't seem to be very good at missing bats, or trusting his stuff.
[11] He was wild. So wild that Molina could hardly catch his pitches. He was missing the glove big time. Yeah - he didn't get a few calls - but geez when you're all over the plate can you really expect the benefit of the doubt calls? I don't think so. He just wasn't sharp with his command last night and paid for it. It could have been much worse. I was actually kind of impressed that he held the Sox to one run per inning as long as he did, given the fact that he walked half the team and couldn't find the plate. Not a good night for young Mr. Hughes, but we'll chalk this one up to unusual circumstances and hope there is improvement in the near future. (Gotta ask - what happened to the eye glasses he got himself last year? Did he have surgery? Contacts? Wasn't that one of the pet excuses last year - that he couldn't see for beans?)
[2] Steve Goldman said everything I could ever hope to say about the A-Rod situation in his pinstriped blog. There's nothing else I can think to add. Well done, Steve.
[10]
also, as of last night, the forecast was for rain both this morning and tonite, possibly endangering tonite's game and certainly making a double header today improbable.
you want perfect conditions for baseball 100% of the time, build a retractable roof, otherwise ...
[2] Rich, I agree with you on the point that the most damning revelation (please bear in mind I've yet to read either the Verducci or Roberts book) is the positive steroid test. ... However, Bryant is dead-on in his assessment of A-Rod's egomania, insecurity and narcissism. I saw it first-hand over his first three years with the team. There appeared to be little regard for anyone but himself, and in his continued efforts to try to be liked, he continuously portrayed himself as a phony.
[11] I dunno... given the circumstances (an arbitrarily squashed strike zone), trusting your stuff and such becomes sort of a moot issue because you have to adjust to the umpire's unique vision, therefore impinging on your strategy. For a seasoned pitcher, this may not be an issue, but for a young gun like Hughes, it messes up your flow. Whether he had good stuff was put aside (it may have been good despite the umpire), and trusting what he had became a quandary (doubt he'd admit it though.)
[5] not sure when that was from, this is the last thing i saw from Petey:
The bad news for the Yankees is that Jorge Posada appears to have a serious hamstring injury. This strain is located above the last one that kept him out of the lineup for two days last week. He told the Yankees he felt something grab.
Which sounds worse than a couple of days ...
[16]
I'm gonna blow a gasket if Posada says he hurt it (more) last night ...
We all remember him running like molasses on that DP grounder in Detroit last week.
[15] and yeah, if he was wild, all the same. I think we're expecting too much from the young guys. They all can't be super the first few years. That said, even with Jeter, Jorge, Rodriguez, CC, Teix and Mo, this is no longer a superteam and hasn't been for a long time.
I think the Yanks should have shelled out for a retractable roof. IMO, it would have been a better investment than the sports bar in CF. Being able to play, rain or shine, would be a significant advantage over Boston. No sloppy field for aging veterans to slip on. Fewer makeup games, and the scheduling headaches that go with them. The division rival Jays and Rays already have this advantage. We should, too, as long as we were building a new stadium and all.
[8] Don't underestimate people who try to get over. While I'm not their biggest fan, there's a reason why Stadium security is so firm. Wasn't always that way.
To be fair, the Yankees aren't the only organization with a "no-reentry" policy.
If you really want to eliminate scheduling headaches, get rid of interleague play.
[8] "I have never understood the no re-entry policy."
That's because you are obviously an actual human being News, and not some corporate slug, whose primary purposes creating and enforcing such policies are to "control the masses," and "squeeze as much money out of them as possible" in the process.
This policy is in place for a few reasons, all with ownership and profits in mind. I believe it began at Augusta National Golf Club, during Masters Week, decades ago.
1) Re-entry is not allowed because patrons may go for half of the game, leave, and resell the ticket to someone else desiring entry, without a ticket, sometimes for more than was originally paid. This policy falls under most scalping laws, forbidding "double sales" of tickets, which vary from state to state and from city to city. During Practice Rounds of Masters Week, tickets are cheap ($50 per day or there abouts), but highly unavailable, and can be resold for literally $1K, if you leave around 10:00 A.M. in the morning of the same day. They have those bar codes on them, such that they know if someone resold their tickets or not, when the "scalpee" tried to enter. So many complaints have arisen, because they spent $1K on a used ticket, and were forbidden entry, that's the policy today. They can actually track you from that barcode, and either prosecute you by virtue of the complaint filed by your "customer," and/or you are "black listed," to pervent you from future ticket purchases indefinitely.
2) Re-entry is not allowed because patrons could retreat to their vehicles throughout the event often, to eat food and drink from their coolers they brought to the game, avoiding the ridiculous prices of concessions within the facility, and return full, drunk, high, or all of the above. Tailgating as we know it, is the last thing such entities want from their patrons. There simply isn’t any profits for them in that...
3) They are going to ensure they err on the side of ownership, in every single instance, rather than patrons, who can be easily replaced because ticket demands are usually so high.
4) It's all about controlling the masses, not pleasing them, because there are tens of thousands of them in one place at one time. If they can weed out several hundred during an event, and still receive the gate money from them, then it's all the less likely there will be problems with respect to conduct and their ability to handle same.
Very sad indeed, but true nonetheless...
: /
http://tinyurl.com/df6d6q
Yankees catcher Jorge Posada has been scheduled for an MRI examination on his right hamstring after injuring it while sliding in Monday's 6-4 loss to the Red Sox.
Posada -- serving as the designated hitter -- singled in the sixth inning and moved to second base on a Melky Cabrera groundout. The inning ended a batter later, and Posada was replaced by Hideki Matsui when his spot came up again in the eighth inning.
[24] You knew that was "just a matter of time," playing both of their catchers in games together, right?
I don't know what's worse Diane, hurting a hamstring on a slide because you are old and relatively feeble, or because you are playing on a wet field, or because you were hurt to begin with, yet insisted on playing, "for the benefit of the team"...
All three suck, IMHO.
: /
Why is it that, whenever Cano goes hitless for 2 consecutive games, I get the feeling that he his beginning a 6-week slump?
On the re-entry ban
7 guys go to a game with four tickets, four guys go in, one comes out with four tickets, gets the other three and then four re-enter. Not that I'd know from countless personal experiences or anything.
You'd think they could figure out a stamp or id based system...but what's the incentive for the stadium?
[8] [23] A no re-entry policy simply prevents multiple people from gaining admission with the same ticket. If re-entry were allowed, you and a friend could each purchase a ticket and enter the stadium. Then your friend stays at the seats while you put their ticket in your pocket, exit the stadium, meet up with another friend, give them the second ticket, and now both of you "re-enter" the stadium.
Knock yourself out with that feeling ...
Here's are Cano's longest streaks without a hit (in games)
http://www.bb-ref.com/play-index/shareit/kUSd
[23] That's a little over the top. Without the re-entry policy, it would be very easy to use the ticket and then pass it on to someone outside without leaving. You could do easily do that by passing it them once you enter the turnstile (Gate 4 would be the best place to do that), or even simply drop it out onto Jerome Avenue via the new wide windows they have.
Also, if you allow rentry, you would need to maintain a full security force on hand to re-check everyone.
[27] That's an even better way to abuse it. In fact, a friend of mine used that same method to "smuggle" people into the Field Level.
The problem with the stamp or ID system is it would be expensive to make it reliable. Also, I can see that further delaying the entry process.
For what it's worth, I think the ushers are much more flexible with one-off cases (I know from personal experience). However, when you have an angry mob of hundreds (as the Post called it), I don't think you can simply let everyone back in.
My Girardi quote was from River Av Blues, but early this morning before the DL news came out.
From Pete Abe: Sweeny Murti of WFAN is reporting that Jorge Posada will be placed on the disabled list with a hamstring strain.
A depressing Yankee season just got more dour.
The Posada thing hurts a lot, no question. But it is what it is, a 37 year old catcher in bad weather tweaks his hammy...we can't be at all shocked by this. Not that I think anyone is, just saying.
Clearly Molina can't even come close to matching his productivity, last year proved that.
To me though, as long as the pitching stays intact then this team has as good a chance as any. A-Rod and Tex (not to mention Cano) rolling at the same time have the capability to carry this team offensively for a nice chunk of time. This is bad news, no doubt...I just don't think it's a crippling blow.
The Rays appear to be the healthiest of the AL East contenders .... if they can get their pitchers back on track, watch out.
[31] et al
the question isn't whether a no reentry policy makes sense, it's whether it should be waived when ticket-holders are misled by yankees officials into thinking there won't be a game. hence the "angry mob." despite whatever valid reasons there are for disallowing reentry, in a special circumstance such as this, the ticket-holders had every right to get back in, and the yankees are clearly in the wrong.
[36]
guess "Yankee Pitchfork Night" (sponsored by Kingsford charcoal) is out? :-)
[36] I guess the question is were they mislead? I have a hard time believing hundreds of people were misinformed. When you consider the size of the crowd and the volatility of behaviour, I think it probably was a good idea to disperse them. After all, apparently a more orderly re-entry into Gate 4 was allowed.
I am not defended the Yankees entirely...I am sure a few fans were misinformed, but it sounds like other factors were involved in the situation escalating (i.e., a group of fans who perhaps had too much to drink).
[34] Shocked? No. But the drop off to Molina isn't far off from Arod to Pena. If Arod take any length of time to get re-acclimated, the offense will suffer.
I agree that offense isn’t the team’s biggest problem…it’s very poor defense, which certainly wont help the pitching turn things around.
hey this will cheer everyone up!
The A-Rod book has opened at a sterling #74 on the Amazon bestseller list.
RIP Dom DeLuise
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/05/dom-deluise-dies/?hp
[40]
16 Amazon "reviews" so far ..... 7 gave it 5 stars, 9 gave it 1 star .... nothing in between!
[42] Was Verducci one of the reviewers?
[40] With any luck at all ("Little Bit 'o Luck"), that's as high as it will get on that or any such list. With Red Sox type luck ("Lady Luck?"), A-Rod will sue for defamation and slander, pulling the book from off the shelves, getting his attourney's fees paid, and receive $100M plus in damages, both ruining Robert's career and significantly damaging that publishing company's reputation. Reality however dictates, that's nothing more than a "Fat Chance"...
;)
[41] Bleh! Now that's hurtful!
Terrible loss him, terrible...
:*(
Just did a bit of research.
When Teixiera homered from both sides of the plate, it was the 133rd time the feat was accomplished in the American League, and 38 of those those have been by Yankees:
Mantle - 10
Williams - 8
Posada - 6
White - 5
Tresh - 3
Smalley - 1
Sierra - 1
Clark (Tony) - 1
Cabrera - 1
Swisher - 1
Teixeira - 1
Mantle's 10 pairs of switch-hit homers are an AL record. The NL record is also 10 (Caminiti), but the Major League record is 11 by Eddie Murray (9 in AL, 2 in NL).
Swisher appears to be likely challenger for the record, as he has already performed the feat 8 times in his young career, including 3 times in 2007 (tying Tony Clark for the AL record, which he set in 1998 with Detroit -- Caminiti did it 4 times with the 1996 Padres for the NL record). Teixeira's switch-homers yesterday were the 5th pair of his career (4 in AL, 1 in NL).
[39] I think the BB are more of a problem and the LOB. And Angel Berroa getting AB's. Then maybe the defense.
A bit more:
On April 6 of this year, Tony Clark and Felipe Lopez each pulled the switch-homer feat for the Diamondbacks. It was Clark's 9th time (7 in AL, 2 in NL), and it was the just the second time (as per my cursory scan) that two teammates had pulled off the trick in the same game. The first? Bernie and Jorgie on April 23, 2000 in Toronto.
The defense has got to be better than last year. Swisher is a huge upgrade over a Abreu, as is Tex over Giambi, and Cano has got his head screwed back on. Pena is at least as good as A-Rod with the glove. Of course, when Berroa is playing, ....
I agree that that the team's biggest problem is giving up walks. I am confident that the starters will sort themselves out in this regard. Not so sure regarding Veras and Edwar.
[14] Will, it's classic overcompensation that Alex uses as a defense mechanism to avoid dealing with his weak ego strength.
As such, your point is well-taken, I just think Bryant overstated its importance.
UPDATE, 4:06 p.m.: The Yankees are saying officially that Posada will be out 2-3 weeks. But within the clubhouse, the fear us that it could be more like 3-5 weeks.
just keeps gettin' better and better ...
[52] Cult,
If they only bring up Cervelli, which they have done so far, and continue to carry two catchers, well that's simply crazy, right?
I'm just seeing if I'm on the same page as the rest of you with respect to this...
*shrug*
[53] problem is, the 40 man is buggered up right now.
Cervelli's the only one that one require a DFA.
Maybe they make a move on Friday when Rodriguez returns with Berroa.
In any case, they don't need just 1 more catcher up, they also need to bring up something resembling a bat to use when they pinch hit for one of the Three Stooges and we're back to the same spot.
I'd say Hacker is the best target on the list.
[54] should read
Cervelli's the only one that won't require a DFA.
[54] Thanks!
Wow man, wow...
: /
Why why why ..... was a tender-hamstring Posada in the lineup on a wet field?
Not that this couldn't have happened on a dry field, but ....