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DEFENSIVE CONCERNS

John Perricone, whose Only Baseball Matters, is an essential daily read, had an article yesterday about defensive efficiency. Though it is still early, we know the Yankees are not a good defensive team. And while their D hasn’t hurt the Yanks yet, according to John, it will sooner or later.

..Even though their defense is looking a bit suspect, their pitchers have been stingy, so stingy that they are carrying the defensive load, although with a EQA of .310, (best in baseball, by a good margin) they can win giving up 6 runs per game or more right now. That’s not likely to continue, nor are they likely to go through the season allowing just 40 home runs either…The Yankees will come back to the pack over the next month or so, and they may even slip more than that.

With shoddy defense and a suspect bullpen, the Yankee bats are going to have to keep booming, and the starting pitching is going to have to stay sharp, for the Bombers to fend off the Red Sox over the next six weeks.

PLAYER HATING

There is a Mariners-based baseball blog, called the U.S.S. Mariner, written by Jason Michael Barker, David Cameron, and Derek Milhous Zumsteg that is worth checking out. Here is what Derek Zumsteg recently wrote about Alex Rodriguez:

Can we get over this booing thing with Alex Rodriguez? Alex gave us the best five shortstop-seasons this club ever saw, he was a consumate gentleman, he gave generously to Seattle of his pre-free-agency salary and his time…I would ask everyone who boos Alex what decision they would make in his position — except that it doesn’t matter. He’s a symbol now, a symbol of the greed people see in baseball players, and booing him allows fans to feel self-righteous and bonded against that greed.

Never mind the kid hasn’t missed a game since Christ was a Cowboy, and has done nothing but put up two of the best seasons ever by a shortstop in the process.

BLUE JAY WAY

The Yankees rallied, down 5-0, to tied the score against the Blue Jays last night, but Sterling Hitchcock and the bullpen could not hold the lead and Toronto beat the Bombers for the first time this season, 7-6. The temperature dropped over 25 degrees from the opening pitch to the 9th inning, and the winds were swirling wildly. David Wells started and was not sharp. The fatal blow came when he hung a breaking ball to Carlos Delgado, who smacked a 3-run dinger with practically one arm. (Yikes, that man is stong.)

Just how bad is the Yankees bullpen, and how much should Yankee fans be worried about it? It’s piss poor, and with a tough schedule ahead, I would say it’s time to start getting a bit nervous. After today’s game, the Yanks go out west, and play four against the Twins, followed by 3 against the World Champs, and then 3 in Texas. They return home to host Seattle and Oakland, before going back out west to play the same two teams again. After that, Anahiem comes to the Bronx, followed by Texas. Then the Bombers travel to Beantown for 3, and finally, return home for 4 games against the Jays and then 3 vs. the Sox. All in all, it is the roughest stretch of the year for them. Mariano Rivera will likely be ready by the time the Yanks face Seattle, and believe me, they are going to need him:

Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus, opined:

Osuna, Hitchcock, Acevedo, Anderson, Contreras and Hammond; there may not be a bullpen of less accomplishment than that anywhere in baseball. Yes, some of those guys had random good years in 2002, but the ones who did are old–the caliber of reliever that regularly floats from good run to bad run, 70 innings at a time. The absolute talent level in the Yankee bullpen is about as low as there is in the game, and if you took these guys out of pinstripes and put them in Brewer blue or D-Ray green, they’d be just another punchline.

The pressure is going to be on the starting pitching and the offense to break even or better during this stretch. It will be interesting to see how the Yankees fair against the league’s elite teams with their patch-work bullpen. But I fear it could get ugly.

On a lighter note, Jason Giambi put together an impressive at-bat against his boyhood pal, Corey Lidle, smacking a 2-RBI double on a full-count pitch, as the Yankees rallied to tie the game. Giambi, who has more walks (14) than hits (11), has clearly struggled at the plate; he looked uptight and irritated with himself on the bench last night:

“The interesting thing is, I’ve never seen a hitter like him walk like he does,” Manager Joe Torre said. “A lot of power hitters, when they get to two strikes, end up striking out a lot. He gets to two strikes and walks a lot. That’s a credit to him; he’s not changing his approach.”

…”I’m not punching out,” Giambi said, referring to his strikeout total. “I’m taking my walks. That’s what you’ve got to do until everything comes into place. The most important thing is we’re winning ballgames. I’m hitting the ball, I’m just not getting a lot of hits.”

Just like last year, perhaps Giambi will get into a groove once the Yanks hit the road.

Raul Mondesi continues to impress offensively, taking pitches, and driving the ball with authority. Erick Almonte deftly bunted for a base-hit during the big Yankee rally, but struck out wildly in his next two at-bats. With men on 2nd and 3rd and no out in the 6th, Almonte K’d on a full count pitch. He pulled his head out, and looked as if he was trying to hit a 12-run home run. If he had simply tried to hit the ball where it was pitched, a ground-out to second base would have scored a run. Instead, Alfonso Soriano and Nick Johnson followed with strikeouts themselves, and the Yankees didn’t score.

Sori slugged a solo shot off to lead off the 9th, and the Yanks put runners on the corners with 2 outs, but Jorge Posada whiffed to end the game.

LATIN LINGO

I’m sorry that I missed out on the Mets-Expos series in Puerto Rico last weekend, so here are a few related, if belated articles. As cool as it seems for MLB to host games in P.R., baseball is not the sport there it once was:

And here’s a myth that could get exposed during the 22 games the Expos will be playing in San Juan this season: Baseball is not revered with unbridled passion any longer on this island. Contrary to popular opinion, Puerto Rico is not a baseball-crazed nation.

…Listen to the explanation that winter league president Enrique Cruz gave the Puerto Rican Herald this winter about the lack of interest in the game in Puerto Rico, compared to the passion for the game in the rival Dominican Republic.
“Baseball is part of their culture there,” Cruz said. “They have more big leaguers than we do, they have all these baseball schools and the people live baseball in a way that we don’t. In Puerto Rico there is so much entertainment competing for the baseball fan’s attention. You have the movies, [amusement parks], the Internet.”

In an effort to energize the country’s lagging baseball interest, former major league pitcher Edwin Correa, has started a baseball academy, which has recieved partial funding from MLB:

Here, in a one-story building 30 minutes south of San Juan, Correa is trying to salvage Puerto Rican baseball, which has sent fewer players to the major leagues in recent years.

This season, 38 major league players on opening-day rosters came from Puerto Rico, compared with 79 from the Dominican Republic. The amateur draft’s numbers are even more remarkable. Fifty-five Puerto Ricans were taken in 1989, the first year they were subject to the draft; 37 were drafted the next year and 23 last June.

…”I think the kids in Puerto Rico have a lot of comforts,” said Vazquez, one of the handful of Puerto Rican stars to come out of the draft. “They have computers, PlayStations, all types of things like that. A kid has a life outside of sports.”

…”There’s probably always a little skepticism when it comes to this type of program, whether it’s Puerto Rico or anywhere else,” [MLB executive, Sandy] Alderson said by telephone. “Besides the logistics, what are the motivations of the individual involved? Are they as honest and altruistic as they say? I think in Edwin’s case, it’s been borne out.”
Correa recognized that children in the Dominican Republic “have that hunger to play, that desire to leave their country or to have a better future.”

“One thing we want to instill in our players is desire,” Correa said. “To want to wake up at 4:30 in the morning and be at school, that takes discipline.”

The academy’s $5,500 tuition sounds steep, but players have help. Vazquez, Delgado, Gonzalez and other Puerto Rican major leaguers have lectured and donated scholarships. Sixty-six students receive some form of financial aid, the administrator Lucy Batista said.

Finally, here a terrific article by Nick Peters on Felipe Alou , which appeared in the Sac Bee earlier this week. Peters covers Alou’s early days in baseball:

“We had it worse than the blacks,” he recalled. “At Lake Charles, the blacks would buy food for me at the bus stop, at a line for ‘colored only.’ I couldn’t go in a white restaurant, although I was light-skinned — my mother is Spanish.

“Two blacks on the team and I were put up with a nice white family. They cooked breakfast and lunch for us, but dinner was not part of the agreement. And the blacks had a social life. They didn’t want me with them when they were with girlfriends.

…”There was no other communication with anyone.”

It was more comfortable when he reached the Giants to stay in 1958, their first year in San Francisco. Spanish-speaking teammates included Ruben GZmez, Ramon Monzant, Valmy Thomas and Cepeda. Jose Pagan came in 1959, Marichal in 1960.

Although there was strength in numbers, the Latino players often were treated like second-class citizens — by frugal management that didn’t pay them commensurate with their worth, and by the pervasive climate of discrimination.

…”I was more diplomatic than others. I was older and a little wiser, and I had gone to college. Most of the other Latins signed when they were very young. I tried to be a buffer between management and the Latin players.”

BEAT STREET, KING OF THE BEAT, COLD ROCKIN’ THAT BEAT FROM ACROSS THE STREET

My lady, Emily and I spent some time in the town of Burlington, Vermont last Saturday. It was the first sunny day they had seen up there in a quite a while, and Emily was thankful to get out of the house, and move around a bit. We met Em’s sister, and her boyfriend for lunch, and popped into a couple of used bookstores as well.

I came away with a hardcover copy of Roger Angell’s “Late Innings” (doubles), “Great Time Coming,” David Falkner’s book about Jackie Robinson, “Our Game,” a single-volume history of the game by Charles Alexander, “Oddballs,” a dopey book about great baseball personalities, by former Rolling Stone journalist, Bruce Shlain, and “The Worst Team Money Can Buy,” a book about the 1992 Mets by veteran New York beat writers Bob Klapisch and John Harper. (Don’t joke, I know this year’s edition of the Mets could be in the running for the worst team money can buy, but at least they are a heck of a lot nicer than the ’92 squad.)

I had started reading Jim Brosnan’s classic “The Long Season,” on the train ride up north, but when I poked my nose through the new books before I returned home on Sunday, “The Worst Team Money Can Buy,” jumped out at me, so I put tales of Solly Hemus and Frank Robinson aside for the moment, in favor of the antics of David Cone, Greg Jefferies and Doc K.

I read two-thirds of it on the way home, and finished the last 50 pages before I got out of bed the next morning.

So you want to be a sportswriter? You may want to reconsider after reading this book.

Fans always seem to think reporters are the luckiest people on earth because they get to wander around the locker room, but in truth it’s uncomfortable under the best of circumstances. You’re on opposition turf—there’s no avoiding the antagonistic nature of the job—and the majority of players don’t want you there—it’s as simple as that.

Truth is, baseball writers know the sport is lent to agony: In no other pastime does failure become such an integral and public element. The best hitters in the game fail at least twice as often as they succeed, and that ensures a more adversarial relationship between players and writers-much more so than in basketball or football. Always, it seems, there are crucial at-bats that become pop-ups, ones that demand interrogation in day-to-day coverage. Is it any wonder that writers are chummier with pitchers than with hitters? Sooner or later, though, players of every position have to absorb in-print or on-air criticism, and in the case of the hypersensitive, under-achieving Mets, that led to tense postgame questioning.

Harper and Klapisch are blunt, but entertaining in describing the life of the tabloid beat writer. Klapisch worked for the Daily News at the time [he’s now with the Bergan Record and ESPN], while Harper was at the Post [he’s now at the Daily News]. I remember how cut-throat those papers were in the late 80s and early 90s. There was always talk of one, or both of them coming dangerously to folding, and closing shop; the pressure to get the big scoop was amplified.

Many beat writers are former jocks themselves: Klapisch pitched for Columbia (his claim to fame being that he once fanned Ron Darling, when he played forYale), and Harper was an infielder, who once played on a championship fast-pitch team.

Why are we doing this book? It’s not for the joy of working together, put it that way Friends, sometimes, but neither of us would turn his back on the other. It’s the nature of the job, the paranoia that comes with the territory, always wondering if the guy two seats down in the press box is working on a story that is going to blow the lid off the beat. On the road you travel together, eat together, play pickup basketball together, then put up the professional wall while working the clubhouse. More and more, however, the [1992] Mets have become the common opponent, a great clubhouse turned cold and miserable.

Klapisch and Harper may have written the book out of spite, or at least a great deal of frustration, but the tone doesn’t come across as mean-spirited. They are self-effacing and sincere, and the pace of the book is quick and lively. I love the vulgarity, the pulpy details of jock writing like this, but I have to admit: the story they had to tell left me feeling completely depressed. It was like seeing a car-wreck; I couldn’t look away (I grew up with the Bronx Zoo Yanks after all), but it wasn’t much fun. The 1992 Mets were just a sour bunch, and the story of how the Mets failed to take full advantage of a great team in the 80s, left me enervated, though fully engaged. Actually, it made me appreciate the current Yankees run even more.

When Klapisch and Harper were writing about the decline of the 80s Mets, there was no sign of what would transpire in the Bronx over the next 10 years. The 92 Mets, run by Al Harazin, attempted to clean up the bad boy image of the 80s teams, by acquiring safe, proven, professionals like Eddie Murray, and Willie Randolph, while paying a King’s ransom for Bobby Bonilla. Jeff Torborg replaced the hapless Buddy Harrelson and tried to run a straight-laced ship. The results were disastrous, and it seemed like no team could win in New York in the free agency era without being a group of red-ass bastards:

More than ever, teams need some sass in the clubhouse—players who aren’t consumed with their public personas. Is it coincidence that the only teams that have won in New York since free agency came along is the hard-ass Yankees of Munson and Nettles and Reggie and Billy, and the fuck-you Mets of Backman and Dykstra and Hernandez and Carter? In some ways that’s all chemistry is, having enough players with the balls to say, Fuck you, I don’t care what they think or you think, I don’t care what’s in the papers, I don’t care if this guy throws at my head, I’m going to kick their ass and yours too if you’re not right there with me. That’s why the Mets missed about Knight and Mitchell and Backman and the others who were dismissed too quickly. It’s an attitude no amount of earnestness can buy, a toughness you can feel around certain teams and certain players that isn’t defined in numbers or character references .The Mets had it, and management didn’t appreciate it–that was the sad part.

The Yankee teams of 1996-2001 weren’t sons of bitches, but they were tough, and had tons of resolve. The Mets of the 80s were assholes, just like the old Yankee teams. Of course, the bit that made me laugh the most in the book involved the old Yanks (who at least were funnier than the Mets):

Little by little, the Mets were becoming the old Yankees, the original press haters. Billy Martin had been the leader, a virtual dictator, even after he’d been humbled so many times by George Steinbrenner. Norman MacLean, then of the United Press International, once walked into Matin’s office and asked him for a few minutes’ time.

“Get lost, Norman,” Billy said pleasantly.

“Just a quick couple of sentences,” MacLean persisted.

“Norman, get the fuck out of here,” Billy said, his face darkening.

“Look, all I need is three sentences,” MacLean said, panicking.

Softening, Martin smiled and said, “Okay. You want three sentences? Turn on your tape recorder.” When MacLean obliged, Martin leaned into the microphone and said, “Fuck you. You’re an asshole. Get out of here.” Billy leaned back in his chair and said, “How’s that Norman?”

Yup, you have to have pretty thick skin to be a reporter, or a jock for that matter. “The Worst Team Money Can Buy,” paints a vivid portrait of the uneasy relationship professional writers share with the athletes they write about. It should be required reading for any young writer who has aspirations to be a baseball beat writer.

When I was through with the book, I gained a new appreciation for how difficult it would be for Robbie Alomar, or any other gay ballplayer to come out. The players and writers may seem like grown men, but they operate in a world of heightened adolescence. Although Klap and Harper don’t talk much about women reporters in the locker room, their book reminded me of the terrific 1979 Roger Angell piece about female sports journalists, “Sharing the Beat.” Angell interviewed several young women reporters, as well as veteran old school dudes like Jerome Holtzman, and Maury Allen.

The most illuminating and poignant observations came from Jane Gross, and I think they are still relevant today:

I think women reporters have a lot of advantages, starting with the advantage of the player’s natural chivalry. We women are interested in different things from the men writers, so we ask different questions. When Bob McAdoo gets traded from the Knicks, my first thought is, How is his wife, Brenda, going to finish law school this year? And that may be what’s most on his mind.

The other advantage of being a woman is that you’re perpetually forced to be an outsider. As a rule, you’re not invited to come along to dinner with a half-dozen of the players, or to go drinking with them, when maybe they’re going to chase girls. This means a lot, because I believe that all reporters should keep a great distance between themselves and the players. It always ought to be an adversary relationship, basically. That’s a difficult space to maintain when you’re on the road through a long season.

My presence doesn’t change the way the players act or talk. I’ve begun to see that the pleasure men take in being with each other—playing cards together, being in a bar together-isn’t actively anti-female. It isn’t against women; it just has nothing to do with them. It seems to come from some point in their lives before they were aware there were women. They have so much fun together. I really have become much more sympathetic to men because of my job.

I’m sure the black players treat me differently from the way they treat male writers. They don’t think I’m a honky-I’m another oppressed minority. They may not have thought this all the way through, but it’s there. Male sportswriters all seem to think that the athletes are going to take a shot at us on the road, but it hardly ever happens. In fact, that comes much more from the sportswriters than from the players, and you can tell them I said so.

MIGHTY MOOSE: YANKS SHUT OUT TORONTO

Mike Mussina pitched a gem at the Stadium last night, as the Yankees blanked the Jays, 5-0. The Bombers are 11-2, which is the best start in team history. Mussina allowed 3 hits over 8 innings, and was nothing short of dominating, as he out-pitched Tornto ace, Roy Halladay in front of 33,833 in the Bronx. The game was just the tonic the Yanks needed after Monday’s turgid affair (the game last two and a half hours intsead over four plus hours). According to the Daily News:

“When we left the park (Monday) night, I think we both knew, (Toronto starter Roy) Halladay and myself, getting deep in the game was a big thing,” Mussina said. “This was a fun one to play in after that one.”

Mussina had an extra day of rest because of the Yanks’ rainout on Friday and he said it was “probably the entire reason I was able to pitch like that. I’ve been relatively successful with an extra day.”

Jason Giambi continues to struggle with the bat, but my man Bernie Williams has been quietly consistent.

“In a lot of ways,” Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi said, “he’s among the most underrated guys in the sport.”

“Bernie bores you with his consistency,” manager Joe Torre said. “He can carry you for a week or 10 days because he can light it up. Otherwise, he goes out there and plays every day and he can stay under the radar.

“Just because he’s a constant more so than the guys who spike a lot, he doesn’t attract a lot of attention.”

“We know how he can light it up when he does get hot,” Torre said. “Right now he isn’t hitting the long ball, but he’s getting a lot of big base hits. That’s where the .400 average comes in. He uses the whole field.

“He gets that blood rushing. We still haven’t discovered what causes that, but he can carry you.”

As usual, Williams is balanced and even-keeled about his sucess:

“I look at what happened to Derek after he prepared so well for the season, and I recognize you can’t predict health,” Williams said. “But, yes, I am very encouraged by this start. It is something I dream about, putting it all together one season.”

…”I always take it in perspective,” he said. “I’ve been playing this game a long time, knowing we can go down as quick as we can go up. I am just trying to stay consistent and enjoy this good time.”

…”My goals are simple, to have fun and play here every day,” he said. “I’ve been so blessed to play center field for this great team at this great time. I don’t know a lot of jobs that top that. As I get older, I feel even more fortunate.”

AROUND THE HORN

Jay Jaffe, the Futility Infielder, celebrated the two-year anniversary of his site last week. A generous congradulations to you, Jay. You have paved the way for the rest of us, and I’d like to extend a Laurel and Hardy high five to you, brother.

Ed Cossette, the best nemesis a Yankee fan could wish for, has a good post on my favorite Red Sox, Tim Wakefield, over at his stellar site, Bambino’s Curse.

Mike C, from Mike’s Baseball Rants, has a nice post today on Alfonso Soriano that is worth checking out as well.

Don’t miss out on the heavyweights of the baseball blog universe either: John Perricone, Aaron Gleeman, Christian Ruzich, and David Pinto.

These men are the cream of the crop as far as I can tell.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

I don’t know how many readers are familiar with the late rock’n’roller, Jeff Buckley, but my frined Nyla has been busy making a documentary on him for the past 3 years, and now has a website, promoting the film. I had never heard of Buckley before I heard his “Grace” album over Easter weekend in 1994. I wasn’t checking for Rock records at the time, but my uncle Herve had a copy of the album and was a big fan. My grandfather had died the week before Easter, and my mother flew my brother, sister and me to Brussels to attend his funeral (oh, my mom is a Frenchie—Belgain, that is). It was a sad affair, but I was happy to be there with my family. I stayed at Herve’s house and Jeff Buckley’s record served as theme music for the weekend. We must have heard it twenty times.

It is an incredibly emotional record, and since I experienced it during a heightened emotional time, the record has particular resonance for me. But though my circumstance was extraordinary, Buckley’s music seems to have had a potent impact on a lot of people (I know the album was far more succesful abroad than here in the States). Hence, Nyla’s documentary.

Check out the site at: www.amazinggracejeffbuckley.com.

WALK ON BY, AND WAKE ME UP WHEN IT’S OVER

The Yankees outlasted the Blue Jays 9-8 last night, in an agonizingly drawn-out game at the Stadium, which last four hours and eight minutes. Combined, the two teams featured 12 pitchers, who issued 20 base-on-balls. Looking for a cure for ansomnia? Here was the game for you.

Jose Contreras was credited with his first Major League win, but was far from impressive. Contreras looked swollen, instead of muscular. Maybe he’s taken to the Livan Hernandez diet. He pitched deliberately, and without much confidence, nibbling around the corners, throwing more breaking pitches than fastballs. I feel badly for the guy. He’s in an uncomfortable position. Joel Sherman suggests that perhaps he would be better suited pitching regularly in the minors. It could bolster his confidence, instead of settling for being a right-handed version of Sterling Hitchcock: Mop Up Man.

“Physically, I’m in perfect condition,” Contreras said after coming from the weightroom following the Yankees’ 10-9 triumph. “My arm feels great. I need my control. My control has always been my strength.”

Fortunately, the Yankees other international man of mystery, Hideki Matsui, continued his solid play, contributing a long, 3-run home run which put the Yankees ahead for good.

While the Blue Jays bullpen leaves much to be desired, they have an attractive young offensive team. (Incidentally, their pitching coach bears, Gil Patterson, bears an uncanny likeness to former Yankee pitcher, Jim Bouton, as Ken Singleton noted during the YES broadcast last night.) Carlos Tosca was profiled by Gordon Edes in Sunday’s Boston Globe, and there is much to like about the way is he running things in Toronto.

”It was about more than just wins and losses. We talked about preparation and playing the game the right way. We wanted other clubs to know we meant business for nine innings, whether we won or lost. And to their credit, this team basically reinvented itself.”

…”We have a mantra around here: Approach, results, response,” said Tosca. ”You can control your approach. You can’t control the results, but you can control your response. What we are looking for is mental toughness which knows how to react to results. We’re about getting it right. Instead of excuses being made, we are trying to hold ourselves accountable.”

…”Anything’s possible,” he said. ”The experience, you can’t rush, and we still have guys who are inexperienced. Depth-wise, we are stronger here and in Triple A, but we’re not in the same situation as other clubs. If we have a major injury, we can’t just go out and purchase a player.

The Blue Jays ace, Roy Halladay faces off against Mike Mussina tonight. Let’s hope they can pitch well enough to spare us from another evening of Base-on-Balls Bonanza.

IT’S GETTING DARK EARLY FOR THE METS

Armando Benitez blew his third save in a week, and Mike Stanton gave up a home run in extra innings as the Mets lost to the Expos for the third consectutive day in San Juan. The Mets have played 12 games (4-8), and have dropped 5 straight. Art Howe called the second team meeting in a week. Cause for alarm? Just ask the Mets. According to Adam Rubin in The Daily News:

Roberto Alomar: “It can’t got on any longer. If this goes longer, then we’re going to go nowhere.”

Al Leiter: “I think we’re being tested right now. Certainly we’re a lot better than what we’ve shown.”

Mike Stanton: “This is gut-check time.”

Art Howe: “These are the guys that are going to to take us to where we want to go. It’s not like you have a ton of alternatives. This is our ballclub.”

When it’s “gut-check time” after two weeks, you can’t help but smell smoke. Think it’s going to be another long, hot summer out at Shea? I wouldn’t bet against it, man.

Here is a message my friend Joey La P left on my answering machine over the weekend. Joey is a die-hard Mets fan, with a hardcore Long Island accent:

“You know, I don’t care what you say about the stats on Benitez, he’s got to go. He already need a lot of therapy. Come on man, and fucking Cedeno? I don’t care how much money we’re paying that fat bastid, sit him on the goddamn bench and fucking platoon Shinjio and Timo; they are so much better than him. Man, I’m just a ball of frustration. It ain’t easy being a Met fan. I tell you, it ain’t easy.”

Meanwhile in the Bronx, the Yankees lost 2-1 to the D-Rays. Clemens wasn’t sharp, but he was efficient. According to Harold Reynolds of Baseball Tonight, J. Giambi started to swing the bat better over the weekend, though it didn’t result in a lot of hits. The Red Sox beat the O’s 2-0, the Giants beat the Dodgers in extra innings last night to improve to 11-1, and the Royals finally lost a game.

ROUGH HOME OPENER FOR PEDRO, SOX; METS CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE

Since I’m up here in Vermont this weekend, I haven’t been able to watch the Mets play the Expos in P.R. I did catch the highlights on ESPN last night and saw Vlad Guerrero uncork a couple of hilarious throws from right field, but the Mets looked awful, and it doesn’t look like I’ve missed much. Mike Piazza doesn’t have a homer or an RBI to his name yet this season, and Cliff Floyd left the game with an ankle injury.

In a game where Timo Perez and Rey Sanchez were also hurt, about the only good news for the Mets is that Roberto Alomar scored run No. 1,417 of his career, passing Roberto Clemente for the most by a Puerto Rican-born player in the majors.

I called my cousin Gabe in New York this morning and he told me that he’s going to have to take some time away from the Mets. That seems to be happening earlier and earlier each year. Yeeesh.

I was able to watch the Red Sox home opener against the Orioles. Pedro Martinez didn’t have command of either his fastball or his change-up, and he sufffered the worst outing of his career. In a bizzare turn of events, Mike Cubbage, Boston’s third base coach collapsed on the field in a diabetic seizure. While the new seating above the Green Monster looked great, there was not much to cheer about in Red Sox Nation last night.

According to Bob Hohler in The Boston Globe:

The stunned crowd hardly had processed the unfathomable – Martinez leaving to a cascade of boos after surrendering a career-high 10 runs over 4 1/3 innings – before third base coach Mike Cubbage collapsed in a diabetic seizure near the coach’s box. Cubbage, who had absorbed too much insulin, was taken from the field on a stretcher and treated intravenously with sugar before he was transported to the emergency room at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, awake and alert. He was held overnight for observation.

Not long before Cubbage was wheeled off the field, plate umpire Jerry Layne left the park on a stretcher after he took a pitch off his mask in the fourth inning.

Hard to imagine that Pedro getting jeered at home, but Boston, like New York, operates on the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately principal of sportsmanship.

Dan Shaughnessy, always ready to stir shit up, reports that Martinez wasn’t fazed by his reception:

”No, it doesn’t surprise me,” [Martinez] said calmly. ”I’m in Boston now and I know how people are. The first thing I heard when I got to the dugout was how much I got extended to [$17.5 million for 2004]. That’s not anything new. I heard that in ’98 when I was here for the first time . . . I just wanted to take a really close look at the person who said that and keep that in my mind.”

…”I deserved boos,” he said. ”I have to take it as a bad game. I didn’t do my job. I never felt in a groove the whole game . . . Physically, everything felt good . . . All the things that happened. It was just a weird day. Only here at Fenway.”

Pedro gettin rocked in the home opener is about as likely as Greg Maddux getting torched in his first three starts, or Randy Johnson and Curt Shilling being held without a win after their first three starts as well, the Royals jumping out to a 9-0 start (somewhere in Kansas City, Buck O’Neil is smiling).

Mike Piazza hit the nail on the head when he said:

“You’ve just got to suck it up,” a despondent Piazza said. “It’s just an unforgiving game.”

YANKS BEAT RAYS ON GODZILLA’S RBI SINGLE

The Yankees are off to their best start since 1988 (oh, what a year that was). After grounding into a double play with the bases loaded in the 7th inning, Hideki Matsui smacked a 1-out single through the left side with the bases juiced in the bottom of the 9th to win the game for the Bombers.

“I put the team in a bad spot,” said Matsui, who hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded in the seventh. “I was relieved to get that hit at the very end.”

…”I’m happy to come up in situations where there’s a lot of pressure to make something happen,” Matsui said through an interpreter. “Maybe if I didn’t get that hit I wouldn’t have come back alive. I might have been bombarded by the fans.”

…”We’re certainly giving him a lot of opportunities to be dramatic,” New York’s Todd Zeile said. “The true sign of a professional is that after the first time with the bases loaded when he tried to do too much and hit into a double play, he didn’t let the same mistake happen.”

I didn’t get to see the game, but how impressive is D-Rays rookie Rocco Baldelli? Rocco went 3-4 this afternoon, and extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

Here is what Rob Neyer wrote about Baldelli in his “Quick Hits” column:

It’s not hard to see what people see in Rocco Baldelli.

He can run. Baldelli gets out of the box as quickly as any right-handed hitter I’ve seen since Bo Jackson.

He can throw. In the 15th inning last night, Baldelli prevented what looked like a sure go-ahead run with a perfect throw to nail Trot Nixon at the plate.

And he looks like a ballplayer. He’s big and he’s strong and he’s got “the good face” (as old scouts like to say).

But can he field? Monday, he turned a line-drive single into something worse.

And can he hit? Tuesday, he collected three base hits … none of which left the infield.

As you might have heard, Baldelli played 23 games at the Triple-A level last summer and drew the grand total of zero walks, which suggests that he’s still got a few things to learn. And that’s OK, because he’s still just a baby of only 21 years.

So no, Rocco Baldelli isn’t Joe DiMaggio yet. But it should be fun watching him try to get there.

Peter Gammons added:

Red Sox coach Mike Cubbage got Devil Rays rookie Rocco Baldelli at 3.8 (seconds) from home plate to first base, the best mark in the league. There have been few right-handed batters over the years who could top that. In the last 30 years, Alex Johnson, Ron LeFlore and Bobby Valentine come to mind going down the line under 3.8. Scouts got Cincinnati’s Wily Mo Pena at 3.9 in spring training.

FRUITY NUM-NUM

I don’t want to make a federal case out of this, but it’s always seemed apparent to me that Roberto Alomar is gay—even before he came to the Mets. It’s an observation that is based completely on my own gut instinct, nothing more. I’m not bringing it up because I want to seem sensationalistic or because I have a moral judgement about it one way or the other. But when I read Rafael Hermoso’s article on Alomar’s mother in Friday’s New York Times, the amatuer psychologist in me just couldn’t resist bringing this up once again.

Robbie, the baby of the Alomar family, and is uncommonly close to his mother. Does that make him Gay? I suppose not, but it’s a good place to start. Witness:

“I had a bad season because you didn’t cook for me,” [Alomar’s mother,] Velasquez recalled him saying. She laughed and then stopped. “I know it hurt him last year that I wasn’t there for him,” she said. “He relaxes me, and I relax him. He’s single. Sandy is married and has someone to talk to.”

…Velasquez says she thinks her son was a bit lonely last season, living in a Long Island City apartment. His girlfriend then, the tennis player Mary Pierce, was traveling and treating a sports injury. He has since been linked romantically with the Puerto Rican singer Gisselle, and Velasquez said they were good friends.

…Alomar, the youngest of the three children, is private and guarded and discusses little of his personal life, but he spoke unabashedly of his mother in an interview at Shea on Sunday. Roberto and his mother call each other best friends and speak nearly every day.

“She’s the one reason I’m doing what I’m doing,” Alomar said. “People ask me about Mother’s Day. Mother’s Day is every day for me.”

…Velasquez has grown to love baseball, although it has kept her family separated. Sandy Jr. pursued motocross, surfing and tae kwon do. Roberto cared only about baseball. He stubbornly told his mother he could go to college after his playing career and shrugged off his parents’ warnings about the hard life of a player.

“I know when he’s sad,” Velasquez said. “I know when he’s happy, when something’s bothering him inside and we talk. I never tell him what to do, because he knows what to do. He asked for help. ‘Mami, I need your support.’ He’s always been like that since he was a child.”

I dont’ think Alomar has the kind of personality to be the first star ballplayer to come out of the closet. That’s fine. I sure don’t think any less of him cause I think he’s Queer either (actually it kind of makes me like him more, especially since I hear Rickey Riccardo’s voice every time I see him play). That kind of thing doesn’t matter much to me, and certainly not how I regard a specific player. The question of sexuality does however remain a huge bug-a-boo in professional sports. But I’m still surprised that Michael Piazza was the only member of the Amazins clubhouse last year who was targeted as “The Gay Met.” I felt like saying, “Am I crazy, or does Robbie have something on the entire New York media which is preventing them from breaking this story?”

Maybe it’s a story that isn’t ready to be broken yet. Perhaps the taboo of one’s sexual orientation is the last place sports writers care to venture. Still, part of me can’t help but wonder if there are just too many boys in a place like New York to keep Robbie’s focus completely on the field.

Maybe we should ask him mother.

HEY NOW

Joel Sherman had a column in Friday’s Post comparing the current Yankee team with the ’98 squad. Sherman is the most reliable voice at the Post, though I find him to be an unspectacular writer. He tends to conform to the shrill sensibilities of his paper (fair enough), and brings the Shakespeare line, “Me thinks thou dost protest too much,” to mind often, whether he’s writing a positive or negative piece. Curiously, Sherman comes across as an aimiable and more even-handed on his stints on television (he is a guest analyst on MSG from time to time).

It’s a bit premature to compare the 8-1 Yanks to the ’98 version, but that’s what Sherman gets paid for. Still, without getting ahead of ourselves, he does make some decent points:

Like a great horse in the starter’s gate, the Yanks seemed to sense the beginning of the race. You could feel it building in that last week of spring training. Their focus. Their effort. Their seriousness. They came out for the season hitting and pitching and defending, and they haven’t stopped yet.

There had always been a sense that Jeter and Rivera were the indispensable Yankees during the Torre era, too valuable to lose for an extended period. But the Yankees are more than surviving without them. It makes you start thinking 1998 thoughts about what this team could be if Jeter, Rivera and Karsay return over the next several weeks at full production.

“It would be too premature to compare to our 1998 team,” Cashman said. “That team went through a lot to become one of the elite teams of all time. This team is still in its infancy. It is not fair to compare any team to the 1998 team.”

…What those ’98 Yankees had was a ceaseless sense of purpose this version still must demonstrate.

…”I watch from the bench,” Todd Zeile said, “and I wonder what the scouting reports must look like for other teams.”

ALL’S WELLS THAT ENDS WELLS

David Wells pitched a 3-hit, complete game shutout on Thursday afternoon to give the Bombers their ninth consecutive victory over the Twins. Johan Santana pitched 4 innings of middle relief for Minnie and struck out 8 of the 12 batters he faced, living up to the advanced billing he recieved during the winter.

Wells, who loves pitching in cold, crappy weather was terrific, and displayed yet again why the Yankees have kept him around in spite of all his mishegoss: dude can pitch. However, Wells told Michael Kay on ESPN radio yesterday that he was close to quitting the team and leaving baseball this spring after his book controversy set Yankee camp on its ear.

According to Jack Curry in the Times:

“He offered to quit,” [GM Brian] Cashman said. “That was in the first discussion in Clearwater. It was his first reaction when we confronted him with him what might be in the book. He said, ‘Listen, I’ll just shut it down and quit.’ We told him he was being emotional and to relax and calm down.”

Torre said “wow” when told that Wells had disclosed his desire to quit and added: “He was emotional. He felt hurt that he was hurting people. I think that’s where he wanted to walk away because he felt he let people down and stuff like that. Again, it was an emotional thing and we told him it’s not time to make that decision.”

LONG GONE

The Hall of Fame canceled a screening of what many people consider the most satisfying baseball movie to date, “Bull Durham,” on the count of the leftist politics two of the films stars, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. I think Robbins is a talented actor on the screen, and an arrogant putz in real life, however, whether I agree with his opinons or not, I certainly agree with his right to express them. I’m not sure what the Hall was trying to accomplish here, but boy, have they generated reams of bad press over the incident, which is a wet dream for liberal editorialists.

For full and comprehensive coverage, look no further than Jay Jaffe’s Futility Infielder. I had the pleasure of spending some time with Jaffe last weekend, and I’m pleased to report he is as good a guy as he is a writer (plus, he bears an uncommon resemblance to Robin Ventura, which can’t be bad now can it?).

For some reason I wasn’t able to link the specific articles, but they are the last two he’s posted. So get going, Meat, and get yourself schooled.

YES, WE HAVE NO BRONX BANTER

I’m taking a few days off to be up north in Vermont with my girl Emily, who is recovering from her surgery slowly but surely at her folks place (it’s hard to believe the operation took place a month ago). Sorry that I didn’t mention that before I took off. My bad. Fortunately, they’ve got a computer up here, so let me take this time to catch up a bit…

YANKS WIN ON COOL NIGHT IN THE BRONX

The announced crowd at Yankee Stadium last night was 31,898, but it felt more like 1257. It reminded me of the Bombers recent past–93-97, before the throngs started jamming the Stadium, and attendence was thin. You had to be a brave soul to sit through last night’s game, though at 2 hours and 25 minutes, it was mercifully quick affair. I like it when the crowd is small enough to hear individual chants and hecklers. You could hear the bleacher creatures roll call in the top of the first, like they were sitting just under the broadcast booth.

In a brisk, well-played game, the Yankees beat the Twins 2-1, on the strength of two solo home runs (Jorge Posada and Raul Mondesi) and 8 strong innings from Mike Mussina. Kyle Lohse, Minnesota’s young right-hander, was efficient and effective for 7 innings, pitching quickly and staying ahead of the Yankee batters. He made a mistake to Posada—the first batter he had fallen behind all night, and got burned, as Jorgito popped a line drive into the right field seats. Two batters later, Mondesi yanked a pretty good slider into the left field stands for the go-ahead run. Mondesi, who looked foolish in his first at-bat, is holding his hands further away from his body, and lower than usual. He holds the bat straight-up in the air, and looks like a right-handed Reggie Jackson.

The most exciting play of the game came in the 4th inning. Soriano led off with an infield single to short, the Yankees first hit of the game. Torre put on the hit-and-run and Nick Johnson smacked a ball to the left side, which was snared by the Twins third baseman Corey Koskie. Koskie dove to his left to make the play. He threw to first to get Johnson, and then had to scramble back to third as Soriano charged passed second and into third. The throw from first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz was low and wide, and Koskie made another nice play, blocking the throw and saving a run. It is interesting to note that Sori slid into third feet first. Looks like someone’s paying attention.

Mike Mussina was almost as nasty as Lohse, he lasted longer, and pitched out of trouble when he needed to:

“A hundred and twenty pitches is a lot for me in July, let alone bad weather, but I had good stuff,” Mussina said. “It was cold, it’s not fun, but I grew up in this weather, have been playing in the Northeast as long as I’ve been playing.

“I think I’m throwing the ball pretty well. The stuff I went through at the beginning and the middle of last year, hopefully I got rid of and the way I threw at the end hopefully will carry over. To this point I think it has.”

For Twins coverage, be sure and stop by Aaron Gleeman’s blog, as well as John Bonnes’ Twins Geek.

SCRIPTED

Have the Yankees hired Robert Towne or William Goldman as Hideki Matsui’s interpreter? It sure sounded like that in Jack Curry’s column yesterday in the Times:

“When I hit the ball, I kind of figured it was going to be a homer,” Matsui said. “But, when I hit it, it didn’t feel like I had actually hit it on my own. It felt like there were other energies, other powers, that helped me.”

Matsui hasn’t been flashy, or spectacular, he’s been sound, and grounded instead. Both Robin Ventura and Don Zimmer had nothing but raves for Matsui in today’s Daily News. According to Ventura:

“The other night at the ‘Welcome Home Dinner,’ we’re standing there on the stage, and I look over at Matsui and he’s practicing his footwork. I learned when I was with (Tsuyoshi) Shinjo with the Mets that’s the way it is with the Japanese players. We were coming home late one night in spring training and there was Shinjo out in the parking lot practicing his swing! Same thing with Matsui, you’ll see him making practice throws or taking swings without a bat in hotel lobbies or whatever.”

…”I’ll be honest,” said the Yankees’ resident baseball lifer, Don Zimmer, “I didn’t know what to expect from this guy, other than he’d hit a lot of home runs in Japan. What’s most impressed me is that he seems to do everything right. He doesn’t have great speed, but he’s quick at getting out of the (batter’s) box and he knows how to run the bases. His arm is average or a little below, but he throws the ball accurately. If you ask me, the (cutoff) play he made in left field on Opening Day was more impressive than the grand slam.”

MEETING OF THE MINDS

David Pinto has a good interview with Red Sox consultant Bill James over at Baseball Musings. Needless to say, this is a sure shot. Don’t sleep.

Baseball Musings: How do you like working on the inside of baseball? What was the most unexpected thing for you?

Bill James: It’s been fun so far. The most unexpected thing is the Red Sox organization, the internal view of it. The guys I work with are mostly young, extremely sharp, very focused. But you walk around the offices. . .the office is very diverse, extremely competent. It is unusual to see an organization with so many quality people.

How am I supposed to hate the Sox when they become more competent and likable with each passing day? Oh, I’m sure I’ll find a way…

SLAM-SUI: GODZILLA’S BLAST LEADS BOMBERS TO WIN IN HOME OPENER

A six-game hitting streak to start the season was sure to make Godzilla Matsui’s debut in the Bronx a welcome one, but he exceeded expectations by hitting a grand-slam in the 5th inning of the Yankees 7-3 win over the Twins yesterday at a frigid Yankee Stadium (considering how ugly the weather was on Monday, it’s remarkable that the grounds crew had the field in playing condition). Nick Johnson, and Jason Giambi hit 1-out singles, and then Bernie Williams was intentionally walked to load the bases for Matsui, who hit a 3-2 pitch from Twins starter Joe Mays, into the right field bleachers.

According to Bill Madden in today’s Daily News:

“I only had two pitches out there,” Mays said, “a sinker and a changeup. I really wasn’t able to throw my breaking ball. I give Matsui credit. He laid off a couple of changeups down, and then when I had to come in with a pitch on 3-2, it was a changeup that was flat and he got it.”

…”With first base open and Bernie coming up, there’s no question I’m gonna walk him,” the Twins manager said. “JoeMays is a sinkerballer and we’re trying to get a double play there to get out of the inning.”

…”He’s a good hitter, and any time you face a team with a lineup that has (Raul) Mondesi batting eighth it’s a formidable task,” Gardenhire said. “But as long as we compete with ’em like we did today, I’m satisfied. We got a lot of good swings today, a lot of balls hit right at people, and even after the (Matsui slam) I never felt we were out of the game.”

Matsui looked perfectly at home sitting on the bench between veterans Todd Zeile and Robin Ventura. The humble Japanese star tipped his cap and gave a small wave to the crowd as he walked off the field at the end of the game. Godzilla, who looks like Shemp from “The 3 Stooges,” has a body like an ape. He could be a bouncer or a goon. He’s bigger than Yogi Berra, but has the same kind of goofy build. Matsui’s parents were at the Stadium yesterday, in what turned out to be a happy day for the Yankee fans who braved the 35 degree weather.

Andy Pettitte pitched well enough to earn the win, and Robin Ventura added a home run of his own. Alfonso Soriano was limited to just one hit, after collecting 2 or more in his first 6 games. Send him down, already.