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Congrats to Red Sox Nation this morning, as their boys clinched the wild card last night at Fenway Park. There was a wild celebration after the game, which featured Manny Ramirez talking to the press! Funny what winning can do, huh? While part of me is happy for the Sox faithful, another part of me scoffs at such premature celebrations. Pardon me if I’m a spoiled snob, but the Sox haven’t won anything yet. You’d think that a good portion of the Nation would be leary of such antics as well.

Listen, I’m happy for the fans and the team—or as happy as a Yankee fan can ever be with such a thing. Theo Epstein assembled a fine squad, and they play with a lot of character and moxie: they are an entirely admirable group of players. If the 1996-2001 Yankees were hard to hate, so are these Red Sox. But calm down, now. Wait until you’ve won something meaningful before you go throwing a ticker tape parade.

Last night’s Love-In will seem hollow if they can’t make it out of the first round. Then again, it is just the begining if they can make it all the way to the Championship.

Oh, and a special congrats go out to Scott Adams, Ed Cossette, David Pinto, Ben Jacobs, and my man, Johnny fuggin’ Red Sox—all Red Sox fans of the first order.

My blogging pal, and fellow New Yorker, Steve Keane, sole owner and proprietor of The Eddie Kranepool Society, recently took exception with an article written by Daily News columnist Filip Bondy. The article in question was a puff piece about one of Bondy’s beloved “Bleacher Creatures.” It is a trivial little column, and I’m certain that this isn’t the first time the Yankee-friendly Bondy has chapped Keane’s—or any other self-respecting Met fan’s—behind:

I have never hide [sic] my hatred for Filip Bondy of the NY Daily News. I’ve always felt that Bondy has had a vendetta against the Mets. Back in the late 80’s he wrote a column calling Mets management racist for not having any African-American players on the team. This is the same guy who writes about his love for the NY Yankees. The same NY Yankees who would have been the last team in baseball to become interrogated [sic] if it were not for the Boston Red Sox.

While I can’t disagree with Keane’s assessment of Bondy, I do want to offer some clarification regarding the Yankees race record. They were one of the last teams to integrate, but when they finally promoted Ellie Howard to the majors in 1955, there were still three teams that remained all-white: the Phillies, Tigers and of course, the Red Sox.

The Yankees’ racist management, and the casual bigotry of Casey Stengel and some of the players is indeed a shameful mark on the teamís history. Interestingly, they initially had been one of the first clubs to sign black players. In 1949, GM George Weiss recruited Artie Wilson, Frank Austin, and Luis Angel Martinez; next, they bought the contracts of Bob Thurman and Taborn from the Kansas City Monarchs. But none of these players came close to making the big club, who by then, were in the process of reeling off five consecutive championships.

According to Jules Tygielís scholarly history of integration, “Baseballís Great Experiment:”

The Yankees had

Mike Mussina was denied his 200th career victory yesterday because the White Sox scored eight runs off of him in the sixth inning. Esteban Loaiza picked up his 20th win of the season as the White Sox rolled over the Bombers, 9-4. Bernie Williams hit a homer and so did Jason Giambi.

I think that Bernie will catch fire next week against the Twins. And I’m mostly saying that because he’s had a terrible season and he’s my favorite Yankee.

Jack Curry has an article in The Times today about why Jose Contreras should be considered as a viable option for a start in the post season:

When Torre was asked about putting Contreras in the rotation, he said, “I don’t know how that would happen,” but, of course, he knows. Torre could gamble a little, use Contreras instead of the sagging Wells and explain it by saying that Contreras has been more reliable.

“You might see that,” catcher Jorge Posada said. “You never know. Anything can happen. I think you could see him in Game 4. But I think they’ll want him in the bullpen because Skip wants to use him more than once.”

Still, when Posada was asked if Contreras would be in the top four if the Yankees ignored reputations and chose the pitchers who are performing the best, he said: “Absolutely. He would be one of them.”

Meanwhile, Christian Ruzich and Will Carroll must have been happy after the Cubs shut out the Reds last night to remain a game ahead of the Astros. I did manage to catch the Barry Bonds at bat vs. Billy Wagner replayed on ESPN last night. Bonds was pinch-hitting in a one-run game and Wagner was throwing nothing but cheese. He whiffed the best hitter on earth with his 100 mph fastball, and somewhere in Ft. Lauderdale, Pat Jordan was smiling.

There is no joy involved with the Yankees. The reporters covering them have mentioned this time and again during the course of the 2003 season. There is only victory, and nothing else in Boss George’s universe. Win or look out. That may or not be true.

Fortunately, I only have to root for the Bombers and I get a tremendous amount of joy following the team. I also appreciate the joy that Derek Jeter derives from the heat of a pennent race. He shows it in little ways in practically each game. I think that between the lines, there is joy to be found on the Yankee team, regardless of the pressure they face from their owner, the press, and the demanding fans.

Heck, some fans may only be happy if the Yankees win the Serious, but as I mentioned earlier today, you are setting yourself up for a long, cold winter if that’s the only thing that will make you happy.

Bob Klapisch, a longtime New York reporter, delineates the possible outcomes for the Yanks should they lose in the playoffs or Serious this year. One thing is for sure—and I’m sorry to say this—but unless they win it all, Cashman and Torre’s coaches won’t be back.

Allen Barra is back with a characteristically charged article on the way the New York press covers the Yankees. This one appears in The Village Voice, so Barra doesn’t hold back even a little bit. He is right on the money when he criticizes Mike Lupica’s typically shrill sensibilities (which in this case involved the Aaron Boone trade):

The Yankees, he wrote, “were simply out to win at any cost. It is the real business of the Yankees, and it sucks the joy out of the season.” Out of whose season, exactly? And why, we’re entitled to ask, shouldn’t Steinbrenner and Cashman be out to “win at any cost”? If the fans are willing to pay the price for the tickets and beer, what exactly is Steinbrenner supposed to do with that money? Pocket it as pure profit, as so many of those teams getting that fat luxury tax from the Yankees do? Or try to improve his team the best way he and his front office see fit?

If teams such as the Cincinnati Reds leave players like Aaron Boone and Gabe White (the real steal in the deal) out on the doorstep, is it less of a case of the Yankees “sucking the joy” out of the game or of the Reds spitting it out?

I’d pay to see a steel cage match between Barra and Lupica any day—or even a head-to-head trash-talking contest, like the one Norman Mailer had with Gore Vidal on the old Dick Cavett show.

Even though Jason Giambi has posted back-to-back 40 home run seasons, I’m sure there are still Yankee fans who long for the days of Tino Martinez. I don’t know why, but old habits die hard I suppose. I’m sure Tino wishes he were still in New York too. Anywhere but St. Louis. Redbird Nation has a revealing post today, detailing why Martinez is miserable playing for the Cardinals.

As some of the older Yankee players said during the postgame celebration last night, this just doesn’t get old. The Yankees blanked the White Sox, 7-0 and clinched the AL east for the sixth consecutive year. This was a volatile campaign for the Yankees, who will play the Twins starting next Tuesday in the first round of the playoffs, with shades of the ol’ Bronx Zoo strudel threatening to disrupt the harmony of the Joe Torre era.

For many Yankee fans this is only the begining. “Now, the real season starts,” is what some of the more thoughtless fans will bark today as if they were following basketball. As if the regular season was an afterthought. But regardless of what happens over the next couple of weeks, we should take a moment to appreciate another fine season.

I still pinch myself regularly to remind myself of how fortunate I am that a team I root for has been this succesful for so long (I root for the Jets and Knicks, after all). I don’t expect it to last. Why should we be so fortunate? I figure that one year, fate, or injuries or Boss George or the Red Sox will put an end to the current run. Maybe it will happen next year or the year after. But for now, the Yankees have made us proud once again.

One of the great pleasures of watching the Yanks win is getting to see Joe Torre get blubbery. I’m sure it must make Yankee-haters ill, but it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It has to do with the fact that Torre is a native New Yorker, and an Italian man of a certain temperment and disposition. Go to Gravesend, or Carroll Gardens or Bensonhurst in Brooklyn and you can find men like Joe.

Torre is grave and paternal, firm but fair, and he manages the circus around the Yankees better than anyone before him. It is fitting that he gives it up for us in the end, the ol’ softy. He lets his guard down, his voice starts to tremble, and then come the water works. I’ve always had the sense that he appreciates how meaningful the Yankees’ success has been. It’s not just cliches with Torre, he’s not distant and removed, he’s like one of the family; that’s why he’s known as Saint Joe around these parts.

Jose Contreras was brilliant last night and will allow us to go into the off season thinking that he wasn’t a $32 bust after all. The Red Sox came from behind to beat the O’s in dramatic fashion at Fenway last night; later on, the Mariners lost, and now the wildcard race is all but done. The YES cameras caught Jeter checking out the scoreboard in the 8th inning last night. The O’s had taken a 5-2 lead in the top of the 9th, only to tie the game on a Todd Walker homer in the bottom of the frame. Jeter peeked at the scoreboard in center field, and then did a double take. He smirked, ala Robert DeNiro, as if to say, “Whaaat? Don’t those guys ever die?” Never a dull moment for the Yankee captain.

Jason Giambi hit a grand slam in the 9th inning for his 40th homer of the year. He also hit a double to left center field which is a positive sign indeed. Giambi is the first Yankee to record back-to-back 40 dinger seasons since Mickey Mantle. Not bad for a guy who has played with injuries all year. According to John Harper in The Daily News:

Giambi, meanwhile, admitted before the game there was reason he wasn’t using the whole field anymore.

“My back side’s collapsing,” was the way he put it before last night’s game. “Because of my knee.”

It’s a wear-and-tear injury of sorts that he has downplayed for most of the season, even as it has deteriorated over the last couple of months and caused him to limp noticeably at times.

But in trying to explain why he hadn’t been driving the ball to left-center anymore, Giambi said the state of his left knee is such that he can’t keep his weight on his back leg at the plate, wait on the pitch and drive the ball to all fields as he had done with such great success throughout his career.

In other words, the injury has wreaked havoc with the sweet swing responsible for batting averages of .314, .342, and .333 the last three seasons.

“It’s not an easy thing to swallow,” said Giambi, batting .251 after his 2-for-4 night, “when you’re a career .300 hitter, and you’ve never hit below .290, and you look up there and see your average at two-forty-something.

“It’s tough. But that’s the risk you take when you play hurt.”

Giambi doesn’t need to apologize to anyone. With Jeter, Nick Johnson, and Bernie Williams all missing significant time, Giambi couldn’t afford to get healthy. As a result, his numbers dropped, but he still put together a fine season. His effort has not gone unappreciated.

Newsday columnist John Heyman has a piece today about why the Yankees should be licking their chops at the prospect of facing the Twins in the first round of the playoffs. Sure, they might appear to be a better match for New York than Boston, Seattle, Oakland or even Chicago, but I wouldn’t discount the Twins either. And the fact that the Yanks have won 13 straight over Minnie doesn’t fill me with confidence, it gets all of my superstions working overtime.

I used to hate Chipper Jones when he was a young player for the Braves. I simply didn’t like his looks, and I didn’t like the fact that his country ass didn’t like New York (why the nerve). But then he got too good for me to hate. Plus, I don’t root for the Mets, so I didn’t really need to hate him anyway. Now, not only do I appreciate him, but I actually root for him as well.

This summer, I’ve been thinking about how steady he’s been for the Braves, and yet despite his classical jock handsomeness, and the fact that he plays for America’s Team, Jones doesn’t receive a lot of national attention. Not as much as A. Jones or Gary Sheff, or Maddux or Smoltzie. I may be wrong about this, but that’s the impression I get.

Fortunately, Rich Lederer has a pointed analysis of Jones’ career accomplishments over at Rich’s Weekend Baseball Beat. Just in time to scratch my itch. And yeah, Chipper Jones has been one of the best in the game ever since he started playing.

Will Carroll, the injury professor over at Baseball Prospectus, has joined the all-baseball.com family. Make it a daily read, as Will has energy to burn, and lots to say. I’m honored to be on the same team—big ups to Ruz for giving Will another forum to speak his mind.

Alfonso Soriano led off last night’s game with a home run off big, bad Bartolo Colon. It was ‘lil Sori’s 13th lead off dinger of the year, a new record. He followed that with another solo shot in his next at bat. But Colon and the Chicago bullpen was able to work out of several jams, and the Sox eventually defeated the Bombers in extra innings, 6-3. Magglio Ordonez smacked a 3-run shot off Jeff Weaver to put the Yankees celebration on hold.

The Sox were streaking a few weeks ago, while the Yanks struggled. Now, Chicago must settle for moral victories and sour grapes. Wha’ happened? Jack Curry posed the same question in The Times:

What made one first-place team fly and the other fizzle?

“Money, money and money,” Frank Thomas, the White Sox designated hitter, said. “The bottom line is there’s a lot of pride in that organization. They will win at all costs. That’s what pro sports is all about. Steinbrenner wants a winning team year in and year out. He’s got the ability to go out and get those players.”

…While the gluttony enables the Yankees to absorb huge mistakes, the money does not automatically make them winners. The endless payroll gives the Yankees more flexibility if they stumble, but then they still have to get up and produce.

“If we were able to spend $150 million or $130 million, we’d win every year, too,” Thomas said.

…”Money doesn’t guarantee you’ll have big performances down the stretch when it counts,” [Derek] Jeter said. “You can have all the money in the world and it doesn’t matter if you don’t have people who are going to play well. That’s an easy out. Money, money, money. Go ask him why Minnesota is where they are.”

Take Two tonight. Jose Contreras will start, and it looks like Mike Mussina will be getting a Game 1 start in the playoffs.

Congrats to Greg Maddux, who won his 15th of the year yesterday (on the third try). With the victory Maddux breaks Cy Young’s record for consecutive seasons with 15 or more wins.

What does it mean? It means that Greg Maddux has been very fortunate, and very good for a very long time.

Or as Rob Neyer noted a few weeks back:

Is Maddux’s streak of 16 15-win seasons really more impressive than Cy Young’s streak of 19 13-win seasons or Warren Spahn’s streak of 17 14-win seasons?

No, not really. If we draw the line at 15, we’re doing it simply to glorify Greg Maddux, (whose streak includes two 16-win seasons and three 15-win seasons), and he doesn’t need us to glorify him. It’s enough, I think, to say this:

In baseball’s first half-century, Cy Young was the game’s most durable and consistent pitcher.

In baseball’s second half-century, Warren Spahn was the game’s most durable and consistent pitcher.

And in baseball’s third half-century, Greg Maddux has been the game’s most durable and consistent pitcher.

Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada are two Yankees that I’ve had short fuses with over the years. I don’t mean to suggest I haven’t appreciated their contributions, or that I don’t like them, or think that they are losing players, but you know how it is: some guys burn you up faster than others. It’s as much about me as it is about them.

But both longtime Yanks have had terrific seasons. Pettitte won his 20th game of the year on Saturday, the second time he’s won 20 in his career. Whatever uncertainty existed about Pettitte’s health will most likely be overlooked now, and I would be surprised if he didn’t return to New York next year. (Of course as good as Pettitte’s been, Mike Mussina has been the best pitcher on the staff—just ask my man, Cliff.)

Posada is being considered as an MVP candidate. I heard Joe Morgan mention it on ESPN last night. Wow. He’s been great offensively, but I’m really impressed with his his poise behind the plate. There have been times in the past when Posada let his emotions get the better of him. This year, he has delivered a mature, all-star performance. I guess he can get away with calling his teammates out after losing in the first round last year, after all.

The Yankees swept the Devil Rays in Tampa this weekend and are on the brink on clinching the American League East. But things got nasty before it was all said and done. On Saturday night, the Yanks and Rays exchanged hitting opposing batters, and yesterday, emotions boiled over.

D-Rays starting pitcher Jeremi Gonzalez—a high-strung, square-jawed kid with a yellow mop of hair who looked like he just stepped out of a David Lynch casting session—threw high and tight repeatedly to the Yanks during the early going yesterday. He moved Bernie, Godzilla, Boone, and Enrique Wilson off the plate, before finally plunking Nick Johnson in the 5th. He brushed Jorge Posada back later in the inning too.

Posada took exception, stepped out of the box and glared into the D Rays dugout. Well, that was all it took to get Lou Pinella going. Sweet Lou yelled something at Posada who promptly grounded out. But on his way down the first base line, Jorge had some cherce words for Gonzalez. The pitcher charged Posada at first, but both players were restrained. The benches cleared and who do you think was in the middle of things, yelling the loudest?

That’s right, Sweet Lou himself. According to the morning papers, he called the Yankees “a bunch of crybabies.” Then, there was a Yankee yelling back. Wanna guess who? None other than Sweet Pea himself, Bernie Williams. Now that was worth the price of admission.

No punches were thrown, and nobody was ejected. Roger Clemens had a 3-0 lead at the time, and he got through the 5th and 6th inning before he retaliated. With two out in the 7th, the Rocket airmailed one over catcher Javier Valentin’s noggin (he nipped him with the next pitch). The Yankees won 6-0.

“I said that the Yankees are a bunch of crybabies,” Piniella said. “Not all of them. I said they’ve got a bunch of them.”

…”The amazing part about it is, when the Yankees buzz people in, or when they hit people, it’s O.K.,” Piniella said. “When it’s done against them, they don’t like it. They’ve got a bunch of talent on that team; they’ve got a great team. I respect them as individuals. But at the same time, let’s play baseball. The rules aren’t supposed to be circumvented in their favor.”

Who is the cry baby here? Joe Torre remained calm.

“I’m not saying we don’t all yell at the opposition once in a while, but I think Lou is frustrated,” Torre said. “He’s had a long year. He’s not used to losing a lot of games. But I think this ball club has won more games than maybe they would have with someone else there.”

Meanwhile, after losing a crusher on Saturday, the Red Sox came back with their ace and a win yesterday, and Boston continues to lead Seattle by 2 1/2 games for the wildcard. (It would take a monumental collapse on Boston’s part to miss the postseason now.) The Twins and A’s–thank you Mr. Lily—all but have their divisions locked up.

Mike Mussina, Joe Torre, George Steinbrenner and Gene Orza all had cherce words for MLB after yesterday’s game. The game officially ended in a 1-1 tie and will be made up if needed.

Meanwhile the Sox beat the D-Rays and the Mariners lost to the Rangers. Boston trails the Yanks by five games, but leads Seattle by two and a half; the Yankees magic number for clinching the division remains at six.

With the M’s starting a weekend series against the A’s it may be time to say goodnight. Incidentally, there is an article out of Seattle today which pits Pat Gillick vs. Billy Beane.

Dig this:

“You have to give them credit, but the test is going to be how they maintain it,” Gillick said. “It’s difficult, with that payroll, to maintain. We’ll have to wait and see. Initially, they’ve gotten it done, but once Tejada and Chavez are eligible (for free agency), if they can’t pay them, you’ll probably see a decline in their won-loss record.”

Said Beane: “Time will tell. Listen, at some point, yeah, there will be a dip in the performance level. You don’t have to be Nostradamus to predict that. But you know what? That’s the case with every sports franchise. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”

Gillick further took shots at Oakland’s “Moneyball” approach:

“I think from the Double-A level up, statistical information is more pertinent than from Single-A down,” he said. “At least when you get to Double-A, Triple-A and the major leagues, you have something to compare the statistics against. I’m not sure what the level of competition is at Class A, rookie or amateur level.

“I don’t want to limit myself in one area. If we think the best player is from college, we’ll take him; if we think the best player is a high-school player, we’ll select that player. If we think we want to get a player from China, Japan or the Dominican Republic, those are all areas you have to investigate.”

“Why limit yourself to one area? Why say you have to draft college guys and you have to fit this criteria? I think you’re limiting yourself and not looking at the big picture. Baseball is full of exceptions and opinions. Last year, anyone could have had Esteban Loaiza for nothing, and now he has a chance for the Cy Young.

“They have a theory what they do, but I think what they’re doing is limiting themselves, maybe because of economics. They think high-school kids are too much of a longshot, too much uncertainty. But the old saying is, if you want to hit it big, you’d better take a risk.”

Said Beane, “When you have an unlimited payroll, you can take that approach. When you have a limited payroll, there’s certain things you can and can’t do. We’re in that situation in Oakland, unlike some other people.”

Added Beane, “We’ll continue to try to compete in our situation. We’re not asking anyone to either validate us or mimic us. Our responsibility is to our fans and ownership, and to the players in this organization.”

Gillick has taken much heat for not improving his team when he’s had the chance. It appears as if the Mariners will win 90+ games again this year and miss the playoffs. Still, he’s got an impressive track record, and has been one of the best GM’s of the past 25 years. But he comes across as petty and spiteful here. Think chasing the A’s once again has anything to do with it?

The Yankee game has been suspended, proving once again, when it comes to running things in MLB, it ain’t the heat, it’s the stupidity. Man, don’t you think they could see this coming? Wonder how peeved the Yankees are having to sit around and wait for a flight to take them into the eye of the storm?

The Yankee-O’s game is tied after five innings in Baltimore. They are now sitting on their hands as the game as been delayed by rain. Hey, no fuggin kidding. Was it supposed to rain today?

Bunch of greedy sombitches…

I know I’m a couple of days late on this, but Pat Jordan had a piece on flamethrowers in The New York Times magazine last Sunday. I don’t think the article was one of his best—it felt slight—but it is still worth reading. I was, however, taken with Jordan’s portrait of Houton’s Billy Wagner. While interviewing the diminutive southpaw in the Astros locker room, Wagner’s two young boys sat in a nearby chair watching TV:

Wagner is obviously a caring father — as he talked to me his eyes kept flitting toward his sons — in the way of men who experienced difficult, disruptive childhoods. His parents married young in a small Virginia town. They fought a lot and shuffled off their son to live with various relatives. Wagner lived with his grandfather, who used to whip him with a switch, and then his aunt and uncle. No matter where he lived, however, he lived in poverty (food stamps were not unknown) and anger. He remembers as a boy standing outside the home of his aunt and uncle, picking up a baseball and firing it at the house in anger.

”It was the only way I could express myself,” he said. ”I used to rage and explode; now I channel it to aggressiveness on the mound.”

Despite his success, he said, he’s still insecure about it. ”There’s no way I should throw a baseball 100 m.p.h.,” he said. ”I’m small. I see guys 6-foot-8 throwing 88. There’s nothing I did to get it. Maybe throw a football a lot. I have the short, quick arm motion of a quarterback. Some say it’s in my legs, or my wrist. But I don’t know why.”

Jordan has always been able to find the tremendous vunerability in the athletes he writes so well about. That’s probably due to his own experience as a bonus baby prospect, who never made the major leagues. It’s certainly why I find him to be one of the best baseball writers going.

Hall of Fame historian Bruce Markusen details the baseball men we’ve lost in 2003 in his latest Cooperstown Confidentail column over at Baseball Primer. The year isn’t over yet, but some great baseball men have passed on—guys like Larry Doby, Sam Lacy, Leonard Koppett, and most recently, Bobby Bonds. Worth taking a look.

Several years ago my old friend Russell started doing a lounge singer routine in the downtown scene here in New York. I had limited patience with the scene, but I did manage to see him perform as Johnny Fayva once. It involved Russ dressed up in a wild leisure suit, with a blond wig and blond mustache. He sang old rock tunes like Dean Martin, karate-chopped like Elvis, and by the end of the act, he had stripped down to a thong—something neither Dino nor the King ever attempted.

Russ moved out to LA a few years ago, but Johnny Fayva is alive and well. If you want a cheap laugh—and what better kind of laugh is there—stop by his webpage. Be sure and check out the “Iraqi Freedom” video.