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News of the Day – 3/13/09

Today’s news is powered by a “What’s My Line” appearance by Bobby Murcer (from 1971) …..

  • MLB.com has an article on Hughes and Kennedy looking to redeem themselves in 2009.
  • Fan favorite Jim Kaat now has his own website, kittykaat.com.  Also, Kaat will also return to the broadcast booth this season, calling a few games for the MLB Network.
  • The Yanks have now reached contract agreements with all their non-arbitration players.  Joba Chamberlain will earn $432,575 if, as expected, he spends the entire season with the big club.
  • PeteAbe gives us the salary list for those non-arbitration players.
  • Mariano Duncan turns 46 today.  Duncan was a godsend at 2B for the Yankees in 1996, hitting .340 in 400 ABs.  He never learned how to take a walk, earning a mere nine free passes in 417 PAs that season (.352 OBP).  For his career, he walked a little more than once every 25 PAs.
  • Happy 50th birthday to Luis Aguayo (spot starter at 3B for ’88 squad).
  • On this date in 1937, Lou Gehrig signs for $38,000 with a $750 signing bonus.
  • On this date last year, 59-year-old Billy Crystal makes an appearance in a Yankees spring training game. He strikes out on a full count from Paul Maholm after hitting one ball just foul.

Categories:  Diane Firstman  News of the Day

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10 comments

1 Cliff Corcoran   ~  Mar 13, 2009 8:13 am

Kaat's been doing WBC games (Pool D, Netherlands). It's great to hear him again.

2 williamnyy23   ~  Mar 13, 2009 8:22 am

I checked Kitty's website and saw this item: "Jim Kaat will play in the Hall of Fame baseball game in Cooperstown, NY".

I know they got rid of the MLB Hall of Fame game, so I guess they replaced it with an old-timer's game. That strikes me as a very interesting idea. It's one thing to trot out a bunch of marginal guys, but a game with all super stars would be compelling.

3 PJ   ~  Mar 13, 2009 8:30 am

Haha! I remember Billy Crystal in the lineup! He was the DH, which stood for "Designated Hebrew". Making contact was a plus...

;)

4 Horace Clarke Era   ~  Mar 13, 2009 9:01 am

Need an umpire's ruling on protocol. I notice that when a new thread, or threads come up in the morning, the ones 2-3 back in line tend not to get checked. Is it smarter to port a reply to someone to the newer thread? We don't actually stay all that topic specific here, especially as Diane's (wonderful) roundups cover so many topics.

I wanted to briefly reply to OK Jazz about 'where were the editors' on the McCarthy book. It has been pretty conclusively shown, by Frey and others, that book editing and vetting is a non-event these days. They 'rely on the author' and leave it at that. Time, budget, the nature of the culture. Interestingly, I just read a New Yorker piece two weeks ago about how obsessive and detailed magazine editing can be, with fact-checkers making the writer's life miserable but also saving him or her from error.

I have a sense the non-editing at the book level amounts to a kind of legal out or disclaimer. Establishing an industry norm that it is 'on' the author can save a lot in employee labor and possible lawsuits.

By the way, it is funny how relieved I felt to hear Joba was at 95+ his latest start. Speed is never the whole thing with pitching but if you can get to mid-90s and have a breaking pitch, that 2nd pitch gets such a boost... difference between a major league career and AAAA for a lot of guys (Ian Kennedy?).

5 Diane Firstman   ~  Mar 13, 2009 9:29 am

OK .... raise your hand if you watched all 6 overtimes in last night's Syracuse/Conn. "instant classic"

(Diane the bleary-eyed)

6 Raf   ~  Mar 13, 2009 10:09 am

I know they got rid of the MLB Hall of Fame game, so I guess they replaced it with an old-timer’s game.

Bruce Markusen wrote an entry about it a few months ago

7 RagingTartabull   ~  Mar 13, 2009 10:21 am
8 Diane Firstman   ~  Mar 13, 2009 10:34 am

[7]

I saw that .... thought about including it in today's news .... thought I should wait until a few more details came to light.

9 Shaun P.   ~  Mar 13, 2009 10:53 am

[5] No, but if I did, the outcome would have had me running on adrenaline still this morning!

10 Raf   ~  Mar 13, 2009 11:12 am
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