Blog Archives

I experienced some technical difficulties over the past 24 hours, hence the lack of new material. My label-mate Will Carroll was kind enough to post an article I wrote this morning; head on over and give it gander when you get a chance. On that note, I’m pleased to report that the snow has ceased and the sun is shinning in New York. Are you ready for spring or what?

For the second straight day it is snowing in New York. The city is mobbed today with packs of drunken suburbanites stumbling around in the name of Saint Patrick. Fortunately, the YES network is televising a Yankee exhibition game tonight, so the last-ditch efforts of old man winter aren’t bothering too tough.

I got an e-mail from my friend Mindy who was in Tampa last week with a couple of her pals, checking out the Yankees camp. She said it was such a mob scene this year that she doesn’t have any intentions of going back next season. Here are a few of her observations:

There were a couple of light-hearted moments we saw before the games. One day, Jeter and Kenny Loften were making fun of the way a-Rod was running up and down the field, so Kenny started prancing around on his tippy toes, leaving Jeter doubled over. Giambi ran over to get in on the joke and Jeter looked like he was gladly re-telling the story. Very cute.

…One thing I feel is worth mentioning…I realized that many of these people come down to spring training not just to see games, but to see players up close, get pictures and most importantly, get autographs. The autograph seekers are everyone from wide-eyed little kids to ruthless baseball memorabilia freaks who are looking to make an easy buck on e-bay. Either way, the entire time I was there the only person I saw signing any autographs was Jason Giambi (which he did last year as well). After, the guys left batting practice, A-Rod, Jeter, Kenny Lofton, even Enrique Wilson, ran by tons of fans waiting for autographs. Giambi was the only one to take the time to sign them. Even when people were throwing the balls over the fence at him (all at once), he stopped and ran around picking them up off the ground to give a signature to everyone. Last year, Joe Torre was the only other guy next to Giambi that I saw giving an autograph. I was very proud of Bam Bam Giambi and according to everyone that I met who knows or has met these guys

Last Saturday I watched parts of two Yankee spring training games. First, I caught most of the Friday night game on Yankee Rewind, and then I popped in-and-out of the day game against the Braves. One thing is for sure: as much as I like to worry about how good the Red Sox, Blue Jays and every other good AL team will be, I don’t envy any of those teams when they face a healthy Yankee line up. Watching Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield follow Jeter felt like playing a video game, almost too good to be true. I allowed myself to get caught up in the excitement. Man, this is going to be fun.

It is reasonable to assume that this team will pound out plenty of 12-4 wins. I’m interested in how many games they win 7-5 after trailing 4-1 going into the seventh or eighth innings.

One player who caught my attention was Scott Proctor, the young flame thrower aquired with Bubba Crosby from the Dodgers in the Robin Ventura trade. Last summer, John Sickels opined:

Like Crosby, Proctor is a product of Los Angeles’ 1998 draft class. Drafted out of Florida State in the fifth round, Proctor has pitched adequately as a starting pitcher, but never obtained true prospect status and was often left off Dodger prospect lists. Converted to relief this year, Proctor has posted a 2.58 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 66 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. His fastball has been timed anywhere between 89 and 95 mph, and he has a reasonably effective slider. He is 26, and could be a middle-relief sleeper.

Proctor is thin, almost like a young Tim Hudson. His motion is compact, and he kept the ball down, mixing in a slider with his fastball. I’m curious to see how he develops this season. Perhaps he’ll make it up to the Bronx at some point during the summer. For his part, Crosby has caught the attention of Joe Torre and the Yankee coaches. Bill Madden reports:

“The first thing I noticed about him were his quick hands,” said batting coach Don Mattingly when I asked him if Crosby, who is hitting .363 while playing a flawless center and right field, might be the real deal. “He can run, throw and hit. That’s all I can say, other than the fact that he’s a major league player in my opinion, and could be one for a long time.”

Meanwhile, Donovan Osborne, an old favorite of Joe Torre’s from their days in St. Louis, will make like Sterling Hitchcock and fill-in as the number five starter…for now.

The Yankees bombed the Phillies yesterday. Gary Sheffield homered, as did Kevin Brown. Brown, who allowed four hits and no runs in four innings of work, hit the first pitch thrown to him by Billy Wagner over the fence. I didn’t know Brownie’s birthday was in March.

Riffin

Pedro Martinez intentionally threw at Karim Garcia’s head in Game Three of the ALCS last year. Apparently, the diminutive right-hander is still sore at Garcia, as he went off on the erstwhile Yankee in a recent ESPN interview. According to the Boston Herald, Martinez will talk to the Red Sox about a contract extension this week.

Murray Chass defends Don Fehr and criticizes politicians in an op ed piece in the Times, while Tim Marchman applauded John McCain’s efforts to expose baseball’s steroid problem. Both articles are worth checking out.

Et tu?

Aaron Gleeman and Mathew Namee have launced a new baseball website, The Hardball Times. It features a talented crop of writers like Ben Jacobs, Larry Mahnken, Bryan Smith, and Joe Dimino to name just four. I’ve signed up to do some work for them too. Although my name is listed on the front page with the regulars, I will only be an occasional contributor to the site (between my work for all-baseball.com and the book I’m writing, there is only so much additional writing time left). However, Gleeman and Namee have assembled a terrific group, and I’m happy to be associated with them. Quite frankly, I’m as eager as the next guy to follow what they’ve got to say throughout the coming season. Head on over see what they are all about.

Strain

Jon Lieber has strained his groin and will miss his first couple of starts of the season. A setback to Lieber doesn’t come as a surprise. For now, the Yankees are content to give a few of his starts to either Donovan Osborne or Jorge DePaula. The team got better news from their ace Mike Mussina, who pitched well yesterday and then offered some typically sardonic words to reporters as to why he chose to come to the Bronx several years back. According to the Post:

“Two World Series, yeah I’m pretty pleased with the choice,” said Mussina after throwing four hitless innings yesterday. “What were my other options?

“I could have gone to the Mets. That’s been smooth across town so far hasn’t it? I could have stayed in Baltimore, that would have been fun. Or, I could have gone to Boston and watched the other side of it for three years.”

Or he could have tipped the balance in favor of the Red Sox.

Hey, in case you missed it, check out Tyler Kepner’s profile of Joe Torre that appeared in the Sunday New York Times. It’s excellent.

By Bruce Markusen

Spring Training Edition

March 11, 2004

Rapping With Mudcat And Scoop

On February 14, former major league standouts Jim “Mudcat” Grant and Al Oliver visited the Hall of Fame to participate in a Legends Series event celebrating Black History Month. In one of the most enjoyable assignments Iíve received at the Hall, I had the pleasure of interviewing these two well-spoken former stars. One of a dozen African-American pitchers to win 20 games in a major league season, Grant won two games and hit a key home run for the Minnesota Twins in the 1965 World Series. Oliver, a lifetime .303 hitter and the 1982 winner of the National Leagueís batting crown, helped the Pittsburgh Pirates to the World Championship in 1971. Grant was also a member of that 1971 Pirates team, but was traded in mid-season to the Oakland Aís, thus denying him the opportunity to play in that fallís World Series.

The educational program with Grant and Oliver, which featured a number of youngsters in the audience, highlighted the Hall of Fameís celebration of Black History Month. Grant and Oliver talked at length about the racism that they battled in becoming big league stars, while also expressing hope that baseball will eventually overcome its current struggles in recruiting young African-American players and fans. The following is a partial transcript of that interview, which occurred in front of a capacity crowd in the Hall of Fame Libraryís Bullpen Theater.

Markusen: Why is baseball struggling in drawing more young African Americans to play the game?

Oliver: The bottom line is, I really donít think that they have had the proper Afro Americans to market the game of baseball. Basketball has Michael Jordan. Football has so many guys, like Walter Payton. Baseball, for whatever reason, did not have that proper player. It seems like they were lacking something

I attended a Baseball Prospectus/Pinstriped Bible Pizza feed in the heart of Times Square last night and had the chance to talk with some engaging and very bright baseball writers and fans. The only drawback was that I didn’t get to talk to even more people than I did. As it was, I hung out with Chaim Bloom, Alex Ciepley, Jim Gerard, Murray Markowitz, Jay Jaffe, Cliff Corcoran, Steven Goldman, David Pinto, Nick Stone, Steve Keane, John Kay, Derek Jacques, Repoz, and a kid named Justin. Joe Sheehan will be in town to do a Prospectus book signing in Brooklyn in two weeks and I hope to keep the conversations flowing then.

Interestingly, two topics that a group of us touched on are examined in the local papers this morning. The first is the case of Willie Randolph–one of my favorite players as a kid–and how he has had a difficult time making the leap from coach to manager. As much as the guys at my table agreed that Randolph seems like a decent, if taciturn guy, none of us had much sympathy for him. Murray Chass explains why:

Perhaps, too, he would have served himself better had he managed in the minor or winter leagues to gain experience. An ardent family man with four children, Randolph nobly didn’t want to leave them for long periods and burden Gretchen, his wife, with their sole care, but others, like Tony Pe

White Noise

The political grandstanding continued in Washington yesterday as senator John McCain took center stage in the steroid story. Gentlemen, start your soapboxes (Reggie Jax goes to Washington). What, is this an election year or something? Selena Roberts files a report in the New York Times today. Over at Baseball Musings, David Pinto notes:

I have a feeling this is all theater. The Senate has better things to do than worry about steroids in baseball.

In a second post, Pinto continues:

I don’t think it’s clear that the union has no desire to fix this issue. The union is run by very smart men, who I suspect understand the steroid issue much better than the Senators questioning them. They understand that tests consist of false positives and false negatives, as well as real results. That’s why players are only being reprimanded after long term failures, and why the players privacy is protected. The program they put in place may not be intrusive enough for a lot of people, but I think that the fact that 5 to 7% came up positive instead of the 70% that some people speculated about means that testing may be working.

Hey, don’t y’all know that players just want to make like Eddie Murphy and party all the time?

At the same time, the New York papers are filled with the kind of non-story that drives Lee Sinins and Joe Sheehan bananas. Gary Sheffield was upset with the way the Yankees handled his recent thumb injury. He then told reporters just how bothered he was by it. Yankee general manager Brian Cashman then met with Sheffield for twenty minutes and they smoothed everything over. End of report, good night.

John Harper is one of my favorite local writers because he often seems more interested in what is happening on the field than what goes down behind the scenes. Today, he accurately describes Alex Rodriguez’s swing:

He makes it look easy. The swing is too smooth for a home run, especially when A-Rod hits it to right-center, his true power slot, as he did yesterday. There is none of the violence that Sheffield or Jason Giambi bring to a home-run swing. Often it doesn’t look like it’s gone as it leaves the bat.

“A lot of times,” A-Rod was saying yesterday, “it looks like a fly ball. But it just keeps going.”

…A-Rod says it is as much a learned skill as it is a natural gift that goes back to his days in Seattle, when he hit with Edgar Martinez for hours at a time, absorbing everything the long-time Mariners’ DH had to offer.

Rodriguez does have an easy swing. It is so smooth that sometimes it isn’t exciting to watch. He’s like a cyborg. But how can you argue with the results?

Speaking of great hitters–but one with a distinct cut–the Yankees received good news regarding Gary Sheffield’s right thumb: he won’t need surgery…yet. Apparently, Sheffield played just fine after he tore ligaments in the thumb last summer (the numbers back this up), and he’s ready to get back in the line up. According to the New York Times:

Braves Manager Bobby Cox said he did not remember Sheffield’s injury and was not surprised to hear that Sheffield would keep playing.

“He’ll be in there, believe me,” Cox said. “He’s as tough as they come. Gary never complains about anything. He’ll play. If the bone ain’t showing, you’re playing, right?”

…Sheffield’s final numbers last season

When Gary Sheffield jammed his thumb last week in an exhibition game against the Blue Jays, he didn’t think much of it. But yesterday, there was cause for concern, and Sheffield will be in New York today visting a hand specialist to determine whether or not he’ll need surgery. Brian Cashman and George Steinbrenner are worried, though Sheffield still thinks he’ll be OK. However, if he does go under the knife, he could miss between two and three months.

What does this mean? Will Kenny Lofton be the Yankees new right fielder? I’m going to wait and see what today gives before I get too excited one way or another. (Hey Will, the new meds must be working.) Aaron Gleeman, for one, doesn’t think that Yankee fans need to panic:

New York signed Travis Lee and Kenny Lofton this off-season and went into spring training with a ton of depth among outfielders and first basemen. Luckily for them, the two players who have gone down with injuries are both outfielders, meaning they can simply plug in their depth and keep on chugging along toward 100 wins.

As long as Sheffield is back for October, the Yankees will be just fine. That’s the beauty of a Mo Vaughn-sized payroll. They have the ability to not only pay Sheffield $13 million a year, they can also pay Lee and Lofton about $5.5 million to be role players and insurance policies.

Pumped Up

Murray Chass has a good column today about how the steroid scandal doesn’t seem to have bothered ticket sales–at least in Boston and New York. Christian Ruzich, Twins Fan Dan, and Jay Jaffe have weighed in on the affair, but nobody has been as devoted to in-depth and thorough coverage of steroids in baseball as John Perricone has been. Take the pillow from your head, and put a link in it.

Finally, check out Seth Stoh’s nifty bit of Twins history today over at Seth Speaks.

After watching the Yankees play the Red Sox yesterday I wrote that you could feel the intensity of the rivalry through the television set. The players felt it too. You could see that on the field. Who takes a meaningless spring training game this seriously? According to the Daily News:

“I know I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Curt Schilling, the newly acquired Red Sox pitching ace. “It’s Boston and New York and it’s different from anything else. I’ve only been here three weeks and I know it.”

…Alex Rodriguez, destined to become a flashpoint of sorts for fans on both sides, considering his pedigree before he even stepped into pinstripes, perhaps said it best: “It was as intense a spring training game a I’ve ever been in.”

Sportswriters noted–helped generate?–the heat too. Tomas Boswell opines:

Yet, in its bizarre way, this game epitomized the best that baseball offers. How can you over-hype a game, even in spring training, if it took a century to create the passions that envelope generations of fans on both sides?

And John Harper explains:

The electricity is sparked mostly by the Sox fans’ obsession with beating the Yankees. It has always been as much a part of the culture as their Boston accent, but not like this.

The focus of that obsession now, of course, is Alex Rodriguez. People who cover the Red Sox say the home folks seemed to take losing A-Rod harder than they did Aaron Boone’s climactic home run last October, if you can imagine that.

“Sox fans have come to expect losing to the Yankees on the ballfield,” one Boston writer said yesterday. “The A-Rod thing cut deeper because in December they were all so sure he was coming. The outcry when the Yankees got him was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

The rivalry is also very real for the front offices of both teams. Witness the incident in the parking lot yesterday. Gordon Edes reports:

Emotions came to a boiling point in a stadium parking area, where Yankees publicist Rick Cerrone and a longtime Sox security guard, Dave McHugh, a retired postman from Portland, Maine, had a run-in.

“Do you know who I am?” shouted Cerrone, contending that McHugh had pushed him. “I’m with the American League champion New York Yankees, and you’re a typical Boston Red Sox employee.”

McHugh said he was merely trying to pass through a crowd of reporters in order to allow some Yankee players who had driven down from Tampa to leave, and that he’d put his hand out, said “excuse me,” and gave Cerrone a small push when Cerrone inadvertently backed into him. Part of the problem was that Reggie Jackson’s older brother, Ja Mz, had a car that was blocking that of Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. A call was placed to the Hall of Famer in the clubhouse, and he quickly got in touch with his bro. “You better get out there,” he said. “You’re starting a war out there.”

On the field, things were far more civil. George Vecsey writes:

Fraternization in vivid daylight: Nomar Garciaparra, wearing a bright-red warm-up shirt, meandered over to the batting cage and began hugging Yankees

That’s the Joint

A few years ago I used to spin records at my friend Steven’s bistro “Plate 347,” which was down on 2nd avenue between 21rst and 22nd street. I was never serious about being a DJ, but I had made a professional quality mix cd with a friend of mine in 2000, and I found that playing records once a week gave me some spending money and a chance to meet people. It was fun learning what records you could play when, and what particular records were sure-shots every week

Christian Ruzich thinks that there is plenty of reason to be excited about the Cubbies in 2004. Optimism from a Cubs fan? I know it sounds like Ripley’s. The question is: Do you believe?

Nomar Garciaparra has some reservations about the accuracy of the random drug tests that major league ballplayers will undergo this season. Garciaparra is unusually outspoken about the steroid scandal:

“People don’t realize that testing isn’t infallible,” he said. “What are you going to do when you get a false positive? What are they going to do when a guy is getting accused and then realize, `Oh, well, oops, we messed up’? Are they going to go back and try to restore the guy’s name and reputation or are they just going to accept the fact that the guy’s reputation and name are ruined?”

…”Now, all of a sudden, we have names,” Garciaparra said. “I don’t know where the anonymity is. When you see that, how are we supposed to trust anybody with anything like that? How am I supposed to go in there now and agree to a drug test when you tell me one thing and it’s not true?”

Also, be sure and stop by Dodger Thoughts to get Jon Weisman’s thoughtful take on the steroid story.

My cousin Jonah didn’t play or watch baseball as a kid, but he’s become a devoted fan over the past seven or eight years, and I like talking baseball with him a lot. As a Mets fan he doesn’t pay much attention to the Yankees, but I liked what he had to say about Derek Jeter in an e-mail yesterday:

Recently I’ve been feeling bad for Jeter. He’s gone from being overrated to being dissed by everybody. Maybe he should let Rodriguez play ss but I get the feeling that the first time he makes an error this season everyone’s going to say “see? he’s no good.” Maybe Rodriguez is better equipped to learn and excel at a new position than Jeter is. There is definitely something smirky about Jeter that I dislike but all of a sudden he’s an underdog. Probably he’ll be his regular self and I can go back to not liking him but this off-season I get the feeling that he’s being under-appreciated.

On that note, let me turn to Joel Sherman’s column about Jeter in today’s Post. Sherman reports that Jeter isn’t at all pleased about being slighted since the arrival of Alex Rodriguez:

“Derek has had to defend himself on things other than winning and baseball,” [bench coach] Willie Randolph said. “And he doesn’t like that.”

…”Of all the guys in our clubhouse, I feel best about having him on the team,” Randolph said. “He’s the biggest winner on the team. Other guys still have to show what they can do. Derek has done it.”

This is the clubhouse feel about Jeter. It also makes him symbolic of the intensifying war within the game between quantative [sic] analysts and scouts. Statistically Jeter pales to A-Rod and, using newly devised defensive metrics, he pales to just about every shortstop. But among teammates, Jeter always has been the guy other Yanks want batting with a game on the line, the guy other Yanks want the ball hit to in October. Either you believe that stuff is worth wins or you don’t. It is part of the ongoing debate.

Considering that Sherman writes for the Post, he has been remarkably aware of sabermetric analysis. He concludes that an angry Jeter could be a very dangerous Jeter for the rest of the league. As local talk show host Chris “Mad Dog” Russo would say, “Excellent point Shermie, that’s an excellent point.”

Good Guh-News

According to reports in the Daily News and the New York Post, Joe Torre and the Yankees are talking extension. Yesterday, Torre told reporters:

“I think I’m leaning toward wanting to do it again,” Torre said.

John Harper notes that this is great news for the Yankees and Yankee fans:

There are no Lawrence Franks [rookie head coach of the New Jersey Nets] in baseball, because the job isn’t about film study and long hours and halftime adjustments. It’s about presence and personality and, particularly in the case of a team like the Yankees, knowing how to lead star players across the desert of a 162-game season.

Cashman said Torre has a feel for it that you can’t teach.

“It’s a gift he has,” Cashman said yesterday. “He was a great player himself who can relate to today’s players. He just has that Midas touch of knowing when to be forceful and knowing when to pull back. The combination of his touch and the talent here has been lethal.”

It’s the reason that Steinbrenner, with more to lose now than ever, has gone sweet on Torre again. He’s romanced him this spring and probably will pay him something like $15 million for two more years.

Joel Sherman continues:

“I just love the players and the game itself,” Torre said in explaining why he now wants to extend his deal. “I am looking forward to the job every day. I am not ready to pack it in. I’m just happy I feel the way I do.”

Yankees president Randy Levine handled the previous negotiations with Torre. Swindall, Steinbrenner’s son-in-law, has been in charge this time and developed a rapport with Torre that helped ease the manager’s mind. Torre also conceded that sidekick Don Zimmer’s departure could have fostered a better bond with Steinbrenner, who detests Zimmer.

“That [Zimmer’s presence] was part of the stress,” Torre said.

So it appears as if Torre will be around for a little while longer (by the end of spring training, the Yankees could also reach an agreement with closer Mariano Rivera to keep him in pinstripes for at least another two seasons too). Naturally, Torre will have his hands full, but that is nothing new. Yesterday, the Yankee manager took some time to talk with Jason Giambi, whose personal trainer Bobby Alejo will not rehired by New York. It has been a tough camp for Giambi, and there is a lot of pressure on the slugger this season. In Bob Ryan’s column yesterday, Johnny Damon all but called Giambi out as a steroid-user:

Damon played with one of the players named (do your homework, people). Says Damon, “I know he’s done stuff in the past. He’s made a lot of money. Hopefully, he’s aware, he’ll stop, and he’ll continue to play well.”

Ouch. If Giambi starts off slowly this year, expect Yankee fans to be all over him. He’s in a tough spot. I wonder how much this pleases the good people of Oakland.

Speaking of the Sox, according to the Dirt Dog, Bob Hohler’s story about Curt Schilling brushing back teammate Kevin Millar is largely fictitious.

Questions and Answers

Travis Nelson has an impressive and thorough article about the possibilites of baseball coming to New Jersey, while my neighbor Dr. Manhattan asks himself the same set of questions I asked my Roundtable Group over the weekend. Dr. M even adds a few questions of his own. Here is my favorite:

Dr. M: Who will be the starting pitcher acquired by the Yankees in midseason?

A: Al Leiter, assuming he doesn’t suddenly collapse. He’s a lefty and still throws reasonably hard with good breaking pitches, which will be an asset against David Ortiz and Trot Nixon (the only real problem with the Yankees not having a lefty starter). As an old pitcher on a bad contract (and a no-trade, I believe), he can probably be had cheaply (and he will almost certainly waive his no-trade for a chance at the World Series without leaving home). And Jim Duquette has (properly) not been afraid to trade with the Yankees.

I was talking with my cousin Gabe–a Mets fan–the other day about how Leiter would likley end up in Boston by the end of the year. He corrected me and said that it is more likely that he’ll go to the Bronx. What do you think?

The Mets and the Dodgers are playing a baseball game this afternoon. Awwww, bacon. In the spirit of G. Mota and Michael J Piazza, do you think the Yankees and Red Sox will engage in a benches-clearing brawl this year? If Curt Schilling’s intrasquad outing yesterday is any indication, I’d say the odds are likely. Wonder what Kevin Brown will do when he faces his teammates in a scrimage?

Thanks to David Pinto, I found some great information on steroids over at Nick Schulz’s site. In particular, Schulz has links to two informative articles: one by Baseball Prospectus writer Dayn Perry, and another by Patrick Cox. They should both be required reading.

I appeared in a story about New York-based baseball bloggers that was written by Mets beat writer Pete Abraham for Weschester County’s largest paper, The Journal, last Sunday. Doug Pappas, Jay Jaffe, Larry Mahnken, Steve Keane, Cliff Corcoran, and Vinny Milillo and Scott Milholm were also featured. It was great to see the blogging community receive some attention, and I am honored to be mentioned in the same company with all the bloggers Abraham interviewed (many of whom didn’t make the final cut).

Yesterday, a story in The San Francisco Chronicle claimed that six baseball players–Marvin Bernard, Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Benito Santiago, Gary Sheffield and Randy Velarde–received steriods from Barry Bonds’ trainer, Greg Anderson. The source was not named, and none of the men have been accused of using steroids. Regardless, the ramifications of the story were felt around baseball on Tuesday, notably in Yankeeland. John Harper has a measured take on how both Jason Giambi–shook–and Gary Sheffield–defiant–handled the latest allegations. Murray Chass has an even-handed column in the Times.

In all, it’s not a cheery morning in baseball. (Oh, by the way, the Yankees had their first intrasquad game yesterday too.) Somehow it is fitting that ol’ Marge Schott–one of the game’s great comic villains–passed away yesterday just to put the icing on the gravy on a black day for the sport. But as Will Carroll cautions, we should resist the urge to be shrill here:

Letís not jump to uneducated conclusions. Letís take our time and cover this correctly.

Amen to that.