Chien-Ming Wang again…
Dude, it’s got to start somewhere for our man. Baby steps, Money, baby steps. We’re behind you.
Diane and I will be sitting in Todd Drew’s seats tonight. We’ll raise a cup in his honor.
Damn, is that man ever missed around here or what?
Nearly 30 retired major leaguers will congregate at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown on Sunday for the first Hall of Fame Classic. The list of ex-Yankees who will participate includes Mike Pagliarulo, Kevin Maas, Phil Niekro, Jim Kaat, and Lee Smith. In the latest installment of “Card Corner,” we take a closer look at the man known as “Knucksie.”
Like fellow Hall of Famers Harmon Killebrew, Brooks Robinson and Billy Williams, Phil Niekro exudes gentlemanly class. Frankly, Leo “The Lip” Durocher was wrong when he said, “Nice guys finish last.” Some guys, like Niekro, might have played for a lot of last-place teams, but 318 career wins and a permanent residence in Cooperstown hardly qualify as “finishing last.”
During my tenure as a full-time employee at the Hall of Fame, I had the privilege of engaging Phil Niekro in several casual conversations and a few formal interviews. Whether Phil was in front of a microphone or not, he always behaved the same way. He didn’t like talking about himself—I never heard him brag about anything—but preferred steering credit in other directions.
On a Saturday night in Cooperstown in 2006, I watched Niekro behave in his typically dignified fashion. Along with several other retired ballplayers, Niekro was taking part in a roundtable discussion about the game in the Hall of Fame’s Grandstand Theater. As he sat next to his beloved brother Joe, who would pass away unexpectedly only three weeks later, Phil expressed only words of fond praise for his two-time teammate with the Braves and Yankees. “To get to play with your best friend, that’s an experience,” Phil said that evening. “I wish all brothers would get a chance to have that experience.”
It’s still early, I know, but I have to share this with you…
A friend took me to a place called Five Napkin Burger last night for dinner. I prepared by eating a lowfat yogurt for breakfast and a light salad for lunch. Still, by the end of our meal, I practically rolled my ass back up to the Bronx.
The layout of Five Napkin Burger, which is located on 9th avenue and 46th street, is very much like the open dinning room space at The Odeon downtown. The service was indifferent but not rude, the vibe hip but not edgy. The place was filled with yuppies, buppies and well-dressed gay men.
Smart pop music is piped into the three neat, individual bathrooms. It’s hard not to feel like you are in a music-video as you pee. It has that kind of self-conscious, provocative feel. I thought I was in a movie, and also wished my wife was with me so I could have my way with her right then and there.
Instead I had my way with this, the original five napkin burger (photo courtesy of Time Out New York):
Dude, believe it. Hellacious. And it tastes even better than it looks. Cruel and unusual to post this picture, I know, but I could not resist. Oh, and if you like cheesecake, the light, fluffy kind, uh, well yeah, that’s slammin’ too.
Away we go . . .
Brian Bruney rejoined the Yankees’ bullpen mix after being activated from the disabled list on Tuesday, and the right-hander isn’t looking for any adjustment period in working his way back in. . . .
“I feel really good; ready to go,” Bruney said. “I don’t envision him taking it easy on me. I think if there’s a situation where we need to get some outs, I expect him to call on me.”
In a corresponding roster move, the Yankees designated right-hander Jose Veras for assignment. Veras was 3-1 with a 5.96 ERA in 25 appearances, allowing 23 hits and 17 earned runs in 25 2/3 innings. He walked 14 and struck out 18.
A.J. Burnett was supposed to avoid being a victim of Yankee Stadium v2.0, but that was before he stopped inducing significantly more grounders than fly balls. This year has seen Burnett’s G/F drop to its lowest point since 2002, and to go along with that he has also stopped getting hitters to pop up on fly balls. Sure, it doesn’t help that he’s faced the stiffest competition in the league according to this stat report (composite of batters he has faced have the highest OPS in the majors), but at the same time, Burnett’s not doing himself any favors by handing out free passes to 4.6 hitters per nine. Combine that with the homer rate, and it’s easy to see why Burnett hasn’t had an easy time of it for his new team. I’m not so sure Burnett is going to have a serious rebound during this season, as he’s fooling fewer hitters—his strikeouts have dropped by over one full K per nine, and opponents are swinging at fewer pitches out of the zone while making more contact. Getting his walk rates back under control would be a good first step, but as it is he has actually been a little lucky, as his FIP is over a half-run higher than his ERA; improvement would move him from the level of a 5.00 ERA pitcher down to his current level.
Comments made by an unnamed member of the Hanshin Tigers front office about the possibility of Hanshin going after Hideki Matsui this offseason are making the rounds in the Japanese media. Here’s what was said in Sponichi:
“There’s a feeling that if he comes back to Japan, it will be with Hanshin. He’s had knee issues, and if he’s going to play in Japan the natural grass at Koshien would be good.”
Aw, Joe Girardi seemed so cheerful and carefree after tonight’s game. Playing the Washington Nationals: better than Swedish massage.*
C.C. Sabathia pitched very well over 7.2 innings; the only blip was a what-the-hell moment in the fifth when Anderson Hernandez doubled his lifetime home run total with a three-run shot. That gave the Nats a 3-2 lead, but it was short-lived once manger Manny “Dead Man Walking… Out to the Mound” Acta turned to his bullpen (hi Ron Villone!). Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano had the big RBIs, helped out a bit there by Elijah Dukes’ fielding choices. Final score: Yanks 5, Nats 3.
Meanwhile, I can’t decide if I want the Nats to break the 1962 Mets’ loss record or not. On the one hand, I’ve often felt that if your team’s going to be bad, they might as well be epically, historically bad. That way you get that mesmerizing car-crash factor. (For example, I actually watched the Knicks more often a few years ago, because they were such an unbelievable mess that you never knew what was going to go mind-bogglingly wrong next; now that they’re merely pretty bad, they’re not that interesting).
On the other hand, though, I don’t really see D.C. embracing the Nats as a bunch of lovable losers, like New Yorkers (or at least the New York media) did with the Mets in ’62. And those Mets had an excuse – brand new team and lousy expansion draft players – that the Nationals don’t; there’s nothing particularly charming about chronic front office mismanagement. Plus I like Manny Acta.
So basically, I’m rooting for them to lose 120 if it’d be fun and zany, but not if it’s going to be all soul-crushing. What do you guys think? Want to see the Nats go for history, or should we pull for the record to stay in New York, where it belongs?
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*Just in case they go on to take the next two games from the Yankees, I’d like to apologize in advance for the hubris.
