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At Yankee Stadium, it doesn’t much matter that Bernie Williams is no longer a star player. Williams is cheered for just about everything he does well and is forgiven for his short-comings. He’s earned it, so it has been a pleasure to watch Yankee fans show their appreciation for Williams this year. Not everyone is so lucky. According to Peter Botte in the Daily News:

“Bernie will make an error and they’ll cheer him when he comes up (to bat). For the guys who get booed off the face of the earth, I’m sure they feel it’s unfair, but that’s the way it goes,” [manager] Joe Torre said Sunday. “Bernie’s just never changed. From the first day I met him 11 years ago, to now, and he’s made a ton of money . . . but this man has never changed one bit.”

…”He’s just never felt he was entitled to something. I told him one time that he was a leader here and I think I stunned him,” Torre said. “He’s always been very honest and an elegant individual to me. He’s been a regular player and a great player in postseason and it’s always the ‘aw-shucks’ stuff all the time. But I think he’s enjoying this a lot.”

Williams tells Tyler Kepner how influencial Don Mattingly was for him during the early ’90s:

“He taught me a piece of advice that I take even to this day,” Williams said Sunday. “He said to me: ‘I don’t really care what you do the night before or the week before — when you come to the field, you come ready to play. Mentally ready to play. You’ve got to be all there. You can’t worry about maybe I don’t feel too good today, or I don’t feel 100 percent. You’ve got to go like: dude, get it done.'”

Almost 2,000 times now, Williams has taken the field, with aches most fans never hear about. He estimates that players are in top shape only 25 percent of the time. The other days are a grind, Williams said, but it is important for young players to see veterans playing hurt.

“It has more of a positive influence than you would ever know,” he said.

The Kepner article is worth checking out just to see the photograph of Williams when he was a young major leaguer. He’s rocking the Dorkasaurous Rex glasses and everything.

Here is another reason why I admire and appreciate Godzilla Matsui.

No soup for Moose, and none for Shawn Chacon, Melky Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez or Kyle Farnsworth either as the Yankees dropped two more over the weekend to Oakland. Joe Torre held a player’s only meeting before Sunday’s game. Johnny Damon, who was critical of the team’s play after Saturday’s game, felt the effort was better yesterday, though the Yankees couldn’t come away with the win.

Randy Johnson got served by the A’s on a windy, and ultimately wet, Friday in the Bronx. He not only got hit by the A’s good hitters but by their scrubs as well. It was another frustrating outing for Johnson, whose famous temper got the better of him. Johnson sulked during the game and then again later on to reporters. According to Tyler Kepner in the New York Times:

In a crowded ballpark, long before the rain came, the ranting of one angry pitcher pierced the air. Randy Johnson’s fury could be heard in the second deck of Yankee Stadium last night, and his distraction was obvious to everyone.

Johnson was trapped in an endless fourth inning, and he was screaming at the plate umpire, Chad Fairchild, after throwing a ball to Oakland’s Jason Kendall. When Jorge Posada tossed it back, Johnson swatted at the ball with his glove and watched it dribble onto the grass.

Johnson had lost control of himself and the game. After the outburst, he simply turned away from Fairchild on calls he did not like.

…”I’m not going to sit out there when I think a strike’s a strike,” Johnson said. “A lot of times I’ll ask a little more low-key, like a lot of other pitchers, but when I’m out there walking guys and I think some borderline pitches are strikes … “

Johnson did not finish the thought, suggesting that reporters talk to Posada for his opinion. “Maybe I was wrong,” Johnson said. “I don’t know.”

By the middle innings, hot dog wrappers and debris were swirling all around the park. Down 6-1, the Bombers climbed back in the game, on the strength of Jason Giambi’s three-run home run. Giambi’s dinger came against Brad Halsey after an hour-and-a-half rain delay. They closed the score to 6-5 but Oakland’s pen shut the door in the eighth and ninth. The Bombers made it fun for those who stayed but they came up just short. These feel like games they are going to win even if that isn’t always the case. Final score: A’s 6, Yanks 5.

The two teams go right back at it this afternoon on the Fox Game of the Week. Joe Buck and Tim McCarver, no soup for you. Mike Mussina is on the hill for the New Yorkers, which is very definitely a good thing. Mussina has been terrific all year and is coming off his worst game of the season. Let’s hope he’s sharp again today.

Later this evening I’m going to be talking about Curt Flood and my book “Stepping Up” at the Coliseum book store in midtown Manhattan (42nd street between 5th and 6th, right across the street from Bryant Park). Actually, I’m the opening act for Rob Neyer, who’ll be there promoting his new book, Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Blunders.” Talk about a good dude to open for, right? I know Neyer a little bit, he helped do some research for my book, and he’s always been a good guy with me. It starts at 6:00 and should be fun. If you are in and around the city and don’t have anything going tonight, roll through, it’d be great to see you.

It dawned on me last night that Gary Sheffield may never play another game for the Yankees. Now, I hope this isn’t the case, I hope he can come back by the end of the season, but who knows? Will the Yanks try and sign him again this fall? It’s certainly not a lock. Man, it would be a shame if this is how Sheffield’s Yankee career ends. He’s had two memorable seasons in the Bronx, adding to his Hall of Fame resume. I’m not ready to see Sheff and his inimitable bat wiggle go just yet, are you?

In his column “OBP is Life,” which appeared over at BP yesterday, Joe Sheehan points out just how well the Yankees have been getting on base this season:

The Yankees have achieved their success by leading the majors in runs scored with 344, and they’ve done that by leading the planet in OBP with a whopping .375 mark. You can’t understate how impressive that figure is. The post-1900 record for OBP is .385, set by the 1950 Red Sox. (Six teams, including three John McGraw/Hughie Jennings Orioles squads, topped that figure between 1894 and 1897.) Just 19 teams have ever had a .375 OBP, and none have done so since those ’50 Sox. Since then, a mere two teams have cracked .370: the 1994 Yankees and the 1999 Indians. The latter is the only team in the last 56 years to score 1000 runs, while the former went into the season-ending strike second in the AL in runs scored.

…In the divisional era, having a .360 team OBP gives you a better than 70% chance of being a playoff team. The Yankees have more going for them than just a high OBP, but it’s that high OBP–in fact, a historic one–that drives their offense and their chance of winning a ninth consecutive AL East crown.

The Bombers can thank Jason Giambi for boosting their team OBP. Giambi is the subject of my lastest column for SI.com. Check, check it out.

In his latest mailbag column, SI’s Tom Verducci writes:

The injuries will catch up to the Yankees. Teams often get a short-term boost from these situations because everyone senses a feeling of urgency. But losing front-line players eventually catches up to you. The Cubs and Derrek Lee come to mind. But I will say that the Yankees needed an infusion of youth on their roster. Look at the past four or five teams to win the World Series: They were not loaded with players in their mid-30s and older. Teams like the Yankees and the Giants were breakdowns waiting to happen. Don’t forget, the Yankees’ money also gives them an edge in the international market, where they have signed such “homegrown” players as Orlando Hernandez, Alfonso Soriano, Chien-Ming Wang, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, etc. Their draft picks have not worked out nearly as well.

I keep thinking that Soriano will wind up back in the Bronx before the summer is over.

It is gray and rainy again this morning in New York, but it’s not nearly as wet as it was yesterday. The sun was actually peeking through the clouds when I left my apartment in the Bronx this morning. Curt Schilling and Jaret Wright will give it another try tonight, weather permitting. I believe they’ll get this one in. A day of rest isn’t the worst thing in the world right now, for either team.

Ben Kabak has an interview with Yankee beat writer Peter Abraham over at Off the Facade. Check it out.

Melky Cabrera has done a nice job of late, but if the Yankees are going to be without Gary Sheffield for a long period of time, I have little doubt that they’ll be in the market for another outfielder before the trading deadline. Several days ago, Will Carroll had the following to say about Sheff over at Baseball Prospectus:

The injury to Gary Sheffield is devastating. I dug and dug to get the information on what was actually going on with Sheffield, knowing that while the Yankees were not lying about the injury, they weren’t giving anyone the whole story. Just as I was putting the pieces together, having two of my best advisors pointing me in what was the correct direction, Sheffield’s wrist made my work moot. Sheffield’s injury was not a bruise or a fracture, but a soft tissue injury. The torn ligament and translocated tendon have only an outside chance of repairing themselves without surgical intervention, but the chance that they could–along with the timetable of surgery–means it makes sense to wait. If Sheffield had surgery now, he wouldn’t be back in time for the playoffs and waiting a month just pushes it a bit further into the off-season. Yes, you’ll note that if he waits that will possibly affect him next season, but that’s not really the Yankees’ concern given his contract situation–or is there some handshake agreement that helped Sheffield stay patient on the chance he gets better? We don’t know. Sheffield has a small chance of avoiding surgery, so adjust your expectations accordingly.

It’ll be interesting to see what the Yankees do, huh?

Rich Lederer watched Ian Kennedy, the Yankees’ top pick in the 2006 draft, pitch in a college game earlier this season (check out Rich’s pitch-by-pitch post of the game). Lederer’s scouting report on Kennedy goes something like this:

Following in the footsteps of fellow Trojans Tom Seaver, Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, and Mark Prior…Consensus All-American…Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year…Two-time pitcher for Team USA…Although stuff is no better than average for a major league hurler, the right-hander exhibits outstanding command of four pitches…Fastball ranged from 89-91 all night…Throws strikes and changes speed…His stretch position is similar to Mike Mussina…Top ten draft pick unless his advisor and soon-to-be agent Scott Boras scares off potential suitors.

No, I’m not talking about George Gervin or even Lee Marvin. I mean the Yankee captain, Derek Jeter. Dig this from Mike Lupica’s column today:

“Listen,” Jeter says, “I’m not just saying this to say this. But if you don’t win it’s a waste. It’s not enough to win your division, it’s not enough to say you made it to the League Championship Series and you battled. Or that you lost the World Series, but boy, did you battle. That’s not why I play. It shouldn’t be why anybody plays. Here’s the deal: You start working out in November, and you keep working, through spring training and into the season, and the whole time, there’s only one goal, and that’s to win the World Series. Not win the division. Win the Series. And if that’s not the way you look at things, then you shouldn’t even be here.”

Watching Jeter on the bench two nights ago, I was struck with just how blue the guy looked. I know I have a hard time taking good care of myself when I’m sick, but looking at Jeter I thought, “Man, dude looks so bummed. Just what is he going to do with himself when he can’t play ball anymore?” Jeter’s got the Michael Jordan red ass. You know, the whole Pat Riley thing–you either win it all or you are miserable. It may not make for great mental health on his part, but as a Yankee fan it’s comforting to know that the captain of the team has that kind of competitive attitude.

I’ve never felt as good about a big Yankee loss as I did back Cleveland, 1997. When they lost that series, I remember several members of the team stading around, red-faced in the dugout as the Indians celebrated. David Cone stands out. I recall thinking, “Wow, these guys are as upset than I am, maybe even more so…cool.” Jeter is still one of those guys.

R.I.P. Billy Preston.

Will Weiss wrote a nice piece on Melky Cabrera last week over at YESNetwork.com. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to put up a link to it, but in light of last night’s Bad News Bears play, there’s no better time than the present, right?

A few weeks ago Alex Rodriguez was taking a beating for his slow start. Dag, I guess even when he “sucks” he’s pretty good. Rodriguez won the AL Player of the Month award for May. [Insert Dave Winfield joke here.]

Mike Mussina had his worst outing of the year on Monday night and yet he still came away with a “w.” A nice turn of fortune for “the unlucky one,” as Mussina improves to 8-1. Josh Beckett, however, didn’t make it out of the second inning. The Yankees collected at least 10 hits for the 12th straight game, a team record. The Baby Bombers pulled a Gashouse Gorillas Conga-Line on Beckett, capped by two three-run home runs–one by Andy Phillips, the other by Jason Giambi.

But the most exciting play for the Yankees occured in the first inning. With one out, Melky Cabrera was on first and Giambi was at the plate. Beckett, who could not locate his curve ball, threw a breaking pitch in the dirt. It skipped away from Jason Varitek and Cabrera took off for second. Varitek’s throw was wild and went into the outfield. Melky ducked as he reached second and then took off for third. But since Boston had the shift on for Giambi, there was nobody covering third. Instead, Varitek had travelled half-way up the third base line. At Larry Bowa’s prompting, and without skipping a beat, Melky suddenly broke for home. So did Varitek. Cabrera won the race, beating the catcher and the throw to the plate for the Yankees’ first run. Boston’s sloppy fielding and Cabrera’s alert base-running made for perhaps the most joyous Yankee run of the season:

“The way we got that first run today, that may never happen again,” Mussina said. “That was just pure youth and speed and recklessness. That’s why we play these games: to see something new every day.”
(Kepner, N.Y. Times)

It is the kind of play that Jose Reyes has been making across town for a couple of seasons now, but one we haven’t seen from a Yankee player in some time. The game was a laugher through and through for the Yanks last night and a snoozer for Sox fans. Boston throws a rookie tonight against Chien-Ming Wang, who was far from stellar last week in Detroit. There is a long way to go in this series but the Bombers sure managed to get off on the good foot.

Pair of aces on the menu tonight as the Yankees and the Red Sox sqaure off in the Bronx. If the glass is half-empty for you Yankee fans, you are probably convinced that Mussina will suffer his first bad outing of the year tonight. If you are a Sox fan, you can only hope that Beckett feeds off of his first performance against the Yanks, and not how he pitched against Toronto recently. Course the Sox also hope that Mussina finally slips. Mikey Moose has been brilliant so far, every bit the ace of the staff. With the Yankees at less than full snuff he’s more important that ever. It’s a cool spring evening in New York. It should be a fun one.

Let’s Go Yan-Kees.

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Aaron Small didn’t have much on Sunday afternoon and was thoroughly beat-up by the Orioles who sailed to a tension-free 11-4 against the Yankees. David Ortiz, move over–Miguel Tejada has simply murdered the Yanks this year (16-26 this year).

Jason Giambi sat for a second straight game with a stomach virus. Alex Rodriguez returned from his bout with the bug and looked far from crisp. Worse still, Derek Jeter had to leave the game after being hit by a pitch in the right thumb. The initial x-rays were negative and Jeter is listed as day-to-day. With a whopping four-game series with the Red Sox kicking off tomorrow, the Replacement Level Yankees can ill-afford to lose their captain.

With the meat of the Lumber Company–Matsui, Sheffield, Rodriguez and Giambi—unavailable yesterday, it looked like it’d be an uphill battle all afternoon for the Bronx Bombers. When Randy Johnson allowed three runs in the first I wondered if Miguel Cairo might get some mound time before the game was through. But Johnson settled down nicely and pitched into the eighth inning. Scott Proctor blew a two-run lead but Johnny Damon hit a line drive, solo home run against Chris Ray in the top of the 10th, and Chien-Ming Wang survived some tension in the bottom of the frame as the Yankees beat the Orioles, 6-5.

Damon had three hits, Jeter had two, while Bernie drove in three and Andy Phillips popped another dinger. But the big story was that Johnson gave his team the length they were looking for. Though he did not figure in the decision, it was an encouraging performance. And another “W” for the Relacement Level Yankees? Yo Snoops, we’ll take it.

The Yankees won a back-and-forth contest against the Orioles on a damp Friday night in Baltimore, 6-5. The Bombers’ bullpen could not hold a two-run lead late in the game but a bit of good base running fortune involving Johnny Damon and then a key single by Derek Jeter in the ninth was enough to put the Yanks on top to stay. Kyle Farnsworth redeemed himself after Thursday’s outing in Detroit, pitched effectively and earned the win.

Offensively, Damon and Jeter had nice games, and so did Andy Phillips and Jason Giambi (who both hit home runs). Giambi’s dinger was a rainmaker to right and he’s swinging the bat considerably better than he was just a week ago. Phillips has caught fire at the right time too. Jaret Wright pitched relatively well and Melky Cabrera made a good throw home to nail Javey Lopez in the second inning.

With the score tied at 5 in the ninth, Johnny Damon reached base with a two-out single off of Baltimore’s closer, the gangly hard-thrower, Chris Ray. He then tried to steal second. Ramon Hernandez’s throw beat him to the bag but second baseman Brian Roberts could not hold onto the throw. Damon slid into Roberts’ glove. As the Orioles ran off the field and the TV prepared to go to commerical, the umpire changed his initial call of “out” to “safe.” The ball fell to the ground as Roberts still tried to sell the call to no avail.

The play kept the inning alive. Jeter then sliced a low fastball into right for a single–his signature base hit and his third hit of the game. In all, it was a satisfying win for the Yanks. With all of the injuries the team is facing, and with the likes of T. Long (who didn’t play tonight) and Scott Erickson (who did pitch, and pitched poorly) playing vital roles for the Bombers at the moment, every win feels that much sweeter (while every loss feels that much worse). Alex Rodriguez missed the game due to a stomach virus but Jeter, Giambi and company held it down.

The team will look to the Big Unit tomorrow to live up to his moniker and give them some length, just as Mike Mussina did the other night against the Tigers. Camden Yards is a far cry from Comerica so it should be interesting to see how he performs.