Blog Archives

Alex Rodriguez was in New York last night to pick up his American League MVP award, but is making headlines this morning as the Rangers announced that he’s been made team captain. Does this mean the A Rod-to-Boston deal is finally dead? Gordon Edes in The Globe thinks so. So how did the latest twist in A Rod’s off-season come about? The Rangers’ owner provided some answers:

“This was the first time we’ve all been in the same location since the trade fell apart,” said Hicks, noting that Rodriguez and his wife had just returned from a European vacation.

“We spent five hours together and worked through the inevitable issues that build up when you go through something like this. As is often the case, two or three issues are amplified in the process to 10 or 12 issues, but we worked through those issues very quickly and put them behind us.”

One of those issues was the contentious relationship that had developed between Rodriguez and Showalter, who reportedly had made futile attempts to contact Rodriguez since the end of last season.

“It’s taken on a life of its own,” Hicks said of the reported friction between the men. “You see it in business all the time, a lack of communication. But they had a chance yesterday to look each other in the eye, they had a chance to talk, and they both realize they want to win a championship.”

Brooklyn Blogger Adam Dlugacz was on the scene and filed a report over at Zimmer’s Way:

A-Rod told a story about how after the trade failed to go through he had gone to Europe to get away from things. At first he liked that no one knew he was, he didn’t say where he went, but he admitted that after a few days he missed being recognized. (It’s amazing, Babe Ruth had the same experience when he first went to Europe, and complained about his lack of attention bitterly. The players almost need to be reminded of who they are.) Finally, on his last day there were three kids who appeared to recognize A-Rod. He admitted that he was craved the attention and was excited as the kids approached him. However, instead of asking for an autograph all three kids, in broken english, began chanting “Let’s Go Yankees!”

I should note that Cashman and A-Rod were sitting next to each other. And, A-Rod talked about how much he loved New York City. I honestly think that Boston, as a state would commit suicide if he came to the Bronx.

For now, it appears as if Rodriguez isn’t going anywhere soon. But then again, stranger things have happened.

Oh, and just to wrap up my thoughts on “In America,” there is something that I forgot to mention about the rendition of “Desperado.” Fortunately, Larry Abraham sent me an e-mail and hit the nail on the head when he observed:

I thought that the “Desperado” moment was one of the best in the movie. What I picked up on–I missed the knowing quality of her voice–was her pronunciation of the word “desperado”–with that British “a” from “flat” instead of the “ah” that we Americans expect. For me it captured how she was both quintessentially Irish and–as a cowboy–quintessentially American.

I caught that too. Thank you for noting it Larry.

There is a sequence about two-thirds of the way through Jim (“My Left Foot”) Sheridan’s fine new movie, “In America” that will likely remain in my memory for a long time. The film is about a young Irish couple who move to Hell’s Kitchen in New York with their two young daughters (ages ten, and six, I’d guess). They have very little money, and they live in a dilapidated building on Manhattan’s West Side populated with junkies and derilicts. Essentially, the story is about their struggle to get over the accidental death of their young son.

Samantha Morton, who was brilliant as Sean Penn’s silent foil in “Sweet and Lowdown” stars, but all of the actors are terrific. Anyhow, the sequence that stood out for me was when the ten-year old sings the Eagles’ tune “Desperado” on stage at her school’s recital. The choice of the song came as a surprise, especially coming from a young Irish girl. The director shows a montage of images as she sings, and her voice is soft and light, but not exactly innocent (the character has seen too much for that). The sequence is a reminder of just how emotionally powerful pop music can be when used with sensitivity and care.

Some filmmakers, like Stanley Kubrick and recently Q. Tarrantino, are famous for their selection of source music. But these two are overtly clever and ironic in their approach; the songs may stick with you, but often they have a look-at-me-Ma quality to them as well. Martin Scorsese too is revered for his attention to music, and in his early films, like “Mean Streets” and even “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” the songs don’t simply serve as a commentary on the character’s lives, they feel like independent characters themselves.

Perhaps nobody built a reputation for their use of pop music more than the British playwright Dennis Potter did. His two masterworks–both six-part mini-series made for TV–“Pennies From Heaven,” and “The Singing Detective” were fantastic examples of this. When asked, “Why do popular songs have so much power in your work?” Potter replied:

Because I don’t make the mistake that high-culture mongers do of assuming that because people like cheap art, their feelings are cheap, too. When people say, “Oh listen, they’re playing our song,” they don’t mean “Our song, this little cheap, tinkling, syncopated piece of rubbish, is what we felt when we met.” What they’re saying is, “That song reminds us of that tremendous feeling we had when we met.”

Jim Sheridan understand this, and allows the deep emotions that can be associated with a trivial pop song to pour over the audience. I’ve never cared much for The Eagles, but I sure won’t be able to hear “Desperado” without thinking of that little girl again. (I feel the same way about Leonard Cohen’s self-titled record and Robert Altman’s “McCabe and Mrs. Miller” too.)

I think “In America” is well worth your ten bucks, and if you want a real treat, I would also strongly suggest that you rent Potter’s “The Singing Detective”–which was recently released on DVD–as well. With a couple of months of winter left, it’s an ideal way to pass the time.

Here is the second excerpt I promised from Geoffrey Stokes’ “Pinstripe Pandemonium.” This one involves hitting, and there was nobody on those old Yankee teams who thought, taught, talked, and lived hitting like Lou Pinella. (One of the greatest images I have of Pinella–and I don’t remember where I first read this–is of him standing up in his wife’s bed in the middle of the night, looking in the mirror, practicing his stance. I wonder if a cigarette was ever dangling from his lips as he inspected his form.) So without further ado, here is Sweet Lou:

In this league at least, the really successful hitters guess a lot. I know that once I’ve seen a pitcher three or four times–certainly once I’ve seen him for three or four games–I have a pretty good idea what he’s going to do in certain situations. That’s why a batter loves to see the count at two-and-oh or three-and-one. You know the guy out there’s gotta throw it over the plate, so you zone the ball. You decide ahead of time where he’s gonna put it–low, high, inside, outside–and what kind of pitch he’s going to throw, and you narrow your strike zone to that pitch. If it’s somewhere else, let it go by; he’s still gotta give you one or two more chances to hit the ball. But if it’s there, you’re ready for it. That’s when you get your extra-base hits, and that’s when you get pitchers in trouble, because once you’re on base, he’s got to pitch a little differently. He doesn’t want the big inning, so he’s going to pitch a little more cautiously. What you’ve done is you’ve taken some options away, made him a little more predictable, and if he gets behind the next batter, then he’s really in trouble.

There are a lot of good pitchers in the league–there aren’t any bad ones, that’s for sure–but there’s only a handful of great ones. Those are the guys who can either challenge you and get away with it–put it right in your zone and dare you to hit it–or the ones who consisntenly outguess you, who always have you lookin’ at the three-and-one strike. But even with them, you’ve gotta make your own guess and get ready for a ball in your zone, because once or twice a game, even those guys are gonna lose their rhythm or try to do too much with a ball, and if you’re not ready, that’s a real lost opportunity. The only real difference between the good pitchers and the great ones is that the great ones don’t yield to the situation around them. They’re kind of self-contained, and they’re gonna make you hit their pitch, not yours.

End of lesson. Thank you Mr. Stokes and Mr. Lou. Pitchers and catchers in three weeks.

Two years ago I roped my cousin Gabe into an idea I had for a book. He’s a Mets fan and of course, I root for the Yanks. We started to exchange e-mails during the 2001 season and I thought it would be great to compile a book of e-mails exchanged between a Met and Yankee fan over the course of a season. Well, I don’t know how good the book would have been, but by the middle of the summer in 2002, we realized it wasn’t going to fly.

The best thing that came out of the experience–other than being treated to Gabe’s almost daily e-mails–was that I got in the habit of writing about baseball every day. And that set me up to eventually start the blog you are now reading (incidentally, Gabe is editing the Curt Flood book I’m writing for Young Adults).

I really like the idea of a correspondence between a Met and Yankee fan, and now, there is a blog devoted to such an endeavor, called “Yankees, Mets and the Rest.” Head on over and see what Scott and Vinny have in store for us.

I don’t know if you’ve been over to Jay Jaffe’s site, The Futility Infielder this week, but if you haven’t, and are interested in the pending sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers, not to mention other Bud Selig-related items, make some time this weekend and check out the great work Jay has been doing.

Speaking of his Budness, Rob Neyer has an entertaining article that briefly touches on the legacy of all the baseball commisioners, from Landis to Selig.

And to finish off the subject of yesterday’s tryouts by El Duque and Maels Rodriguez, peep this article from The Miami Herald, as well as reports by Will Carroll and Bryan Smith. For what it’s worth, El Duque was one of my favorite Yankees ever. Even if he is broken-down and ornery, I sure would be happy to see him back, for the entertainment value alone. I don’t know if it makes good baseball sense, but since when do I have good baseball sense? I just want to see Posada and Duque drive each other nuts again.

As the sporting world awaits the Super Bowl, baseball news is squarely fixed on the back-burner. That will start to change in a few weeks, but for now, good baseball stories are hard to come by. (I know you are feelin’ my pain.) So I thought I’d share a couple of excerpts with you from a slept-on little gem called “Pinstripe Pandemonium.” Written by Geoffrey Stokes, a reporter from The Villiage Voice, the book follows the Bronx Bombers throughout the 1983 season. It is a slim, but shrewdly observed, and well-written book.

The Hall of Fame voters recently passed Goose Gossage over once again, but many Baseballists—a nifty phrase coined by Jay Jaffe—feel that if any reliever is qualified for induction, it is Gossage. Described by Stokes as “curiously shy,” the Colorado native talked about the stress that accompanies being a closer:

“Sometimes, after a bad loss, I’m amazed that I can go out there the next day and do anything at all. But fortunately,” he grinened, “there’s this gorilla in me that just takes over.

“Of course,” he added, returning to the subject of rhythm, “when it does, somebody’s gotta keep it on a leash. I don’t care how fast you throw; if you throw nothing but fastballs, there are hitters in this league that are gonna catch up to you. Somone’s gotta slow me down.

“But that’s hard for a cather to do. If I’m gonna get beat, I want to get beat on my best pitch, not on some off-speed thing that’s just supposed to set the fastball up. But what happens is, I get out there, and I throw a ball at ninety-five miles an hour easy, so I just gather up my strength and try humming the sombitch at a hundred. I’m out there, and I feel that with just a little more effort, I could throw the sucker right through the catcher–and maybe halfway through the umpire, too.

“The thing is, it doesn’t go as fast, ’cause my asshole’s tight. It’s pretty hard to throw a ball with one hand around your throat. And when that happens, even before everybody’s turning around to watch the fuckin’ home run, it affects the team. It’s like your kids; when they see fear in your face, they get afraid too, even if they don’t know why. In the clubhouse of at the hotel, everbody’s got his own personality. But when I’m out there with runners on second and third, one out, and a one-run lead, I’m responsible for the whole team.”

Gossage has become an arch-type for a certain kind of closer: snarling, physically imposing, flame-throwing. Dennis Eckersley, a control expert, who specialized in taunting and humiliating his opponent, is another. And now, so is Mariano Rivera, master of the single pitch, who is so cool that it barely looks like he’s awake out there sometimes. But no matter the personality, all succesful closers thrive off the responsibility of having the game in their hands. Gossage concludes:

“The only thing about [closing] is you can’t take it home with you. It’s not like I’m a starter and I have to think about it for five days, have to spend my time saying ‘Damn, that was a stupid pitch.’ Except for the playoffs or the Series, there’s always tomorrow. You know, it’s like hunting. ‘Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you.'”

What’s that some sort of Eastern Philosophy? Far from it.

Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez threw 35 pitches in front of a group of scouts yesterday at the University of Miami. The headline in The Times today reads, “Hernandez’s Workout Hard to Rate,” which seems appropriate because so much about El Duque has always been hard to figure. The scouts were divided on what they saw. According to Charlie Nobles in The Times:

[El Duque’s] less-than-inspiring velocity left some teams wondering how to rate him.

“It’s tough to evaluate that performance,” said Mark Wiedemaier, a special assistant to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ general manager. “It looked like he was playing catch.”

Al Goldis, the recently hired talent assessor serving as a high-level assistant to Mets General Manager Jim Duquette, chose his words carefully in describing his reaction to Hern

David Pinto, whose Baseball Musings is one of the most prolific and popular baseball blogs going, is going to work for Baseball Information Solutions–the company behind “The Bill James Handbook”—as a programmer. Pinto has previously worked inside the industry for Stats Inc. as well as ESPN’s Baseball Tonight. Check out David’s post today for the skinny on his new gig. The good news for us is that Baseball Musings isn’t going anywhere.

A well-deserved and hearty Mazel goes out to David. I wish him all the luck in the world with this exciting opportunity.

“Those who come from Brooklyn know just what I’m talking…” MC Lyte

Developer Bruce Ratner has reached a tentative agreement to buy the New Jersey Nets for $300 million. As you have probably heard already, he would like nothing more than to move the team—originaly from Long Island—to Brooklyn. The Nets’ lease in New Jersey doesn’t run out until 2008, and Ratner faces a myriad of obstacles in getting a state-of-the-art facility built in Brooklyn. Still, the news has a lot of New Yorkers excited. The proposed arena would be built near the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which is at the heart of the borough’s recent gentrification, just a stones throw away from Fort Greene, and Park Slope. Mark McClusky links several good articles regarding the pro’s and con’s of the prospective site for Brooklynites. While I think the notion of Brooklyn having its own franchise again is romantic and fitting, the reality is too far off for me to get too amped up yet.

Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci has a column this week about closers and the Hall of Fame. Essentially, Verducci believes that closers are similar to kickers in football, and that it is fitting that is has been difficult for them to reach the Hall:

There is one kicker in the NFL Hall of Fame: Jan Stenerud. There are three closers in the baseball Hall of Fame: Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley. That sounds about right to me. These guys are specialists and as such deserve a more critical eye when weighing their careers.

Verducci is skeptical about whether Bruce Sutter should make it, and he compares Mariano Rivera’s career to Troy Percival’s. The two have awfully similar regular season numbers, though Rivera still comes out on top:

Of course, Rivera has something else in his favor. He has been knighted as The Greatest Postseason Reliever in History. Rivera has thrown 96 postseason innings (15 percent of his career regular-season total) and allowed only eight earned runs, a 0.75 ERA. Those numbers alone, like Eckersley’s solid years as a starter, could put Rivera over the top when voters consider his career.

Rivera is the specialist’s specialist. Someday he might break through the bias writers have against relievers, a bias that deserves to be in place.

Speaking of specialists, Jesse Orosco, who will turn 47 in April, is finally calling it quits. Mama, pray your babies grown up to be southpaws…

Seth Stohs is running a preview of major league hitters and pitchers for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. But his preview will be of interest to the casual baseball fan as well. Stop by, and check out what Seth makes of your favorites (Stohs is addressing offense first: yesterday was the AL Central, today gives the AL East).

While the Red Sox brass dismissed the latest Alex Rodriguez trade rumor yesterday, they came to terms with Trot Nixon and Byung-Hyun Kim. Nixon, who has been with Boston longer than any other player on their roster, signed a one-year deal ($6.6 million) while Kim inked a two-year contract ($10 million). Nixon has been a fine player for Boston. Not only that but he’s always looked like a Red Sox to me. Even if he hasn’t been their greatest player, when I think of the Red Sox, I think: Trot Nixon. I would hope that Boston will try to sign him after the 2004 season, but Tony Massarotti thinks the Red Sox could disgard Nixon’s current contract in favor of a three-year deal during spring training.

The Mets launched the 2004 season with the start of their annual caravan yesterday in Grand Central Station. Forgetting their insipid new slogan, “Catch the Energy,” there is reason to look forward to the coming year at Shea. After all, the Mets have no where to go but up. While the Metropolitans didn’t make a big splash their fans were hoping for by signing Vlad Guerrero, who knows, they still may consider trading for Magglio Ordonez (One can always hope). Regardless, it will be exciting to watch Jose Reyes develop alongside his new partner, Kaz Matsui. Mike Cameron too, should give Mets fans—not to mention Mets pitchers—plenty to ooh and ahh about with the glove in centerfield (along with Cliff Floyd, Cameron is one of the more likable outfielders in the league).

But the biggest story in Queens remains Mike Piazza’s transition from full-time catcher, to part-time catcher, part-time first baseman. According to John Harper in The Daily News:

Mike Piazza pledged his allegiance to the ballclub, be it behind the plate or at first base. And if he still wasn’t exactly bubbling with enthusiasm over the idea of his much-debated move to first, at least he seemed committed to making the effort.

“I’ll be ready to play both positions,” Piazza said. “The thing that’s always worked for me is to keep it simple. I’ll work at it and we’ll see how it works out.”

I hope that Piazza is healthy this year and has a terrific season. With the exception of Hubie Brooks and Mookie Wilson, he is my favorite Met player ever. The next ground ball that he doesn’t run out will be his first, he calls a good game, is a solid receiver, and oh yeah, he just happens to be the greatest hitting catcher of all-time.

For more on the Mets, be sure and stop by Steve Keane’s The Eddie Kranepool Society and Avkash Patel’s the raindrops (they both have a full listing of Mets blogs and other Mets-related sources.)

The Yankees avoided arbitration with Alfonso Soriano, who earned $800,000 in 2003. The two sides have agreed on a one-year deal for $5.4 million.

In other news, the A Rod Rumor Mill is starting to churn once again (or is that my stomach?).

Kaz Sasaki has informed the Seattle Mariners that he will not return to the team in 2004, choosing to remain in Japan. Bryan Smith believes that the Mariners will be able to survive Sasaki’s departure, but he also stresses that Mariner GM Bill Bavasi’s other moves will doom Seattle to a third-place finish in 2004.

Fans of baseball literature should be in for a treat this spring, as two highly-anticipated books about pitching will be released. One is a collaboration between Rob Neyer and his former employer, Bill James, “The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers.” The second title is the debut effort by Baseball Prospectus’ injury-guru, Will Carroll. Carroll recently handed in the manuscript for “Saving the Pitcher.” While he’s experiencing some trepidation over how the book will be received, if it is anything like his “Under the Knife” column, it should be insightful, engaging, and above all, educational.

When Orlando ‘El Duque’ Hernandez came to the States to pitch for the Yanks in 1998, it wasn’t long before a fairy-tale story accompanied his adventures. Before long, political strings were pulled, and his ex-wife and two children were allowed to join him in the U.S. Jose Contreras, the latest Cuban exile to pitch for New York, is not enjoying the same kind of luck. Contreras recently told the Spanish newspaper, La Prensa that Cuban officials have denied permission for his wife to leave Cuba. They have informed him that she will have to wait four more years before she can apply again.

The Yankees are looking at John Burkett as the insurance arm they need to fill out their rotation. Oy veh. Burkett has spent the last few years with the Red Sox. Whenever he has started against New York, Yankee fans have felt confident that the Bombers could send the old man to the showers by the fifth inning. You think Red Sox Nation will share the sentiment should Burkett pitch against them in 2004? Count on it.

Nomar Garciaparra isn’t the one. He isn’t going to stir the pot. According to an article by Gordon Edes in The Boston Globe, Garciaparra is taking the high road:

“I focus on the things I can control,” he said, “and the things I can control are focusing on getting ready for the season. I’m not going to feel unsettled. I’m under contract with the Boston Red Sox. I know that. My focus is on getting ready. I look forward to this year.”

And what about the potential drama with teammate Kevin Millar?

…And yes, he insisted, he’s square with Kevin Millar, who has been backtracking ever since he came out in favor of trades that would have brought Rodriguez and Magglio Ordonez to Boston, at the expense of Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez.

“Kevin and I are friends,” he said. “We’re friends. We’ve always been friends. Always. There are two sides to every story.”

The story yesterday was this: Whatever bitterness Garciaparra may harbor toward the Sox is tucked away, far from prying eyes. He insists it doesn’t exist. There were no Pedro-like demands that if an extension isn’t agreed upon by the start of the season, he is definitely walking come October.

The Sox and Garciaparra may have gone beyond the point of no return in terms of Nomar’s long-term future in Boston, but I hope that he remains in New England. Call it the traditionalist in me. As much as I love to root against the Sox, I was sad when they let Mo Vaughn get away and would feel the same way if Nomar bolted. I think Garciaparra should be a Red Sox for life.

My man Cliff C profiles the Yankees’ new back-up first baseman, Tony Clark over at Cliff’s Big Red Blog. I didn’t realize how young Clark is, or how decent he has been during his career. If used correctly, he should turn out OK for the Bombers:

A Tony Clark/Kenny Lofton platoon (with Bernie shifting to center against lefties) would give the Yankees a tremendous boost. Take a look at those two lines again:

Tony Clark vs. lefty pitching: 2003 – .279/.355/.500 (.285 GPA); 2001 –
.321/.376/.557 (.308 GPA)

Kenny Lofton vs. righties: 2003 – .313/.373/.478 (.287 GPA); ’01-’03 – .281/.354/.442 (.270 GPA)

By way of comparison here are the GPAs for Derek Jeter and Alfonso Soriano over the past two seasons. Jeter: .289 & .273; Soriano: .283 & .286.

Basically, a Lofton/Clark platoon would give the Yankees another full-time offensive player on the level of a Jeter or Soriano. I just hope Joe Torre’s smart enough to make it happen.