I guess we can call it one of the benefits of living in Cooperstown. The great Henry Aaron visited the Hall of Fame last weekend to commemorate a new exhibit detailing his life and career in baseball. Aaron becomes just the second man to have an entire room dedicated to him at the Hall, joining Babe Ruth in that exclusive club. When a Milwaukee reporter asked Aaron how he felt about being put on the same level as Ruth, he did not opt for a modest answer based on political correctness. “It means I’m supposed to be on the same platform [as Ruth],” Aaron told the reporter. “I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished.”

I can’t disagree with Aaron, who overcame a childhood filled with poverty to become one of the game’s legends. While “Hammerin’ Hank” was not the equal of The Babe—no one is—he is unquestionably one of the all-time greats. Still the major league career leader in RBIs and total bases, Aaron was a phenomenal five-tool talent who excelled in every important area. He also deserves extra credit for breaking Ruth’s home run record under the extraordinary duress of racial hatred. Aaron and his family received horrific threats, both in the form of venomous phone calls and vicious hate mail. His sustained excellence in 1973 and 1974, when he was chasing the record and ultimately breaking it, is impressive enough on the surface; it becomes even more pronounced in view of the emotional distress and genuine concerns for his safety.

Unfortunately, Aaron was subjected to racial torment at various times in his career, especially at the beginning and the end. As a minor leaguer developing in the Milwaukee Braves’ farm system, Aaron received an assignment to report to Jacksonville of the South Atlantic League. He and two of his teammates made history, integrating the previously all-white league while dodging the race baiters. “We had three black players on that team,” Aaron told a capacity crowd in the Hall of Fame’s Grandstand Theater. “I had a very good year. I led the league in everything but hotel accommodations.”

Not only did Aaron and his two black teammates have to endure the embarrassment of staying in separate hotels and eating in different restaurants; they had to endure uncivil behavior at the games. “The problem we had was with spectators. We had a rough time in the South. It got ridiculous. At some ballparks, we could not dress in the clubhouse. If you went 0-for-4, the fans would throw bananas at us.

“We used to talk about how silly people can really be when all we wanted to do was play ball. The thing that made me succeed more was how hateful they were.”

The hatred certainly did not stop Aaron. It did not prevent him from breaking a wide-ranging set of records. Some would say he is the greatest living player. Is he at the top of the list? Maybe, maybe not. Willie Mays has his supporters, as does Barry Bonds. But at the very least, Aaron deserves to be in the argument. For someone who overcame so much racism and poverty, that’s a pretty good legacy to have…

Not only did the Yankees do the right thing in reducing the prices of some of their high-end box seats, they did the smart thing. In this case, let’s refer to the “Empty Seat Syndrome.” Empty seats are the worst thing that can happen to a professional sports team. Empty seats don’t buy concession items. Empty seats don’t buy souvenirs or memorabilia. Empty seats don’t tell their friends about their wonderful experiences at the ballpark. On top of all that, empty seats just look bad, especially when they are located so close to the playing field. When a team is coming off back-to-back seasons of four million fans in paid attendance, there is no excuse for not filling the ballpark—especially a new one that has so many improvements over the old house—on a regular basis. Hopefully, the Yankees have learned their lesson…

As long as Joe Girardi keeps using Jorge Posada as a DH on days when he does not catch, the Yankees will continue to need a third catcher. (Anything would be more useful than a 13th pitcher.) Otherwise, Girardi will find himself strapped in the late innings, unable to pinch-hit or pinch-run for Jose Molina. One potential pickup is Brayan Pena, a switch-hitting catcher who was designated for assignment by the Royals last weekend. The 27-year-old Pena is a rare breed in 2009: a backup catcher who can hit and who carries enough versatility to fill in at third base or first base. As a player who has been DFAed (designated for assignment), Pena will cost almost nothing in a trade, assuming that he is not waived or given his outright release.

Bruce Markusen, who writes “Cooperstown Confidential” for MLBlogs at MLB.com, can be reached via email at bmarkusen@stny.rr.com.

Welcome to Saturday at the Banter!

• Nick Swisher got nailed on the elbow with a pitch Friday night:

X-rays were negative and Swisher is listed as day-to-day, though Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he would be surprised if Swisher took the field Saturday.

“He got hit right behind the elbow, and that can be an extremely tender spot,” Girardi said. “He’s day-to-day. I’d probably be surprised if he can play [Saturday], but we’ll see.”

• As Mark Teixeira faces his ex-Angels teammates for the first time, he reflects on the off-season negotiations:

Teixeira called his Angels tenure “the best 2 1/2 months of my career,” though the ending wasn’t storybook. A team that led the major leagues with 100 wins and was favored to reach the World Series lost to the Red Sox in the first round.

“I sat and cried at my locker after that last game in Boston because I knew that was a special group, I knew how good a chance we had, and we let it slip away,” Teixeira said.

“After the season, my wife and I stayed in L.A. for 10 days. I thought there was a really good chance I’d be back. It would be different if my family or my wife’s family was from the West Coast.”

But Teixeira’s parents live in Baltimore, and his wife’s parents live in Atlanta. Their proximity to New York, combined with the Yankees’ top-dollar offer, persuaded Teixeira.

“I’m a businessman, too, and in the end, the Yankees made the best offer, and it was the best situation for my family,” Teixeira said. ” . . . I get to see my parents every week I’m home, and they get to see their grandkids. That’s pretty special.”

• Johnny Damon would like to be back with the Bombers next year, but sees the writing on the wall:

Damon said the numbers game in the Yankees outfield does not bode well for him. Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner are in center, Nick Swisher and Xavier Nady — who will also be a free agent and is currently on the DL — in right and the team’s top prospect, Austin Jackson, lighting up Triple-A.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman has spoken about making the Yankees younger.

“I know where I want to be next year,” Damon told 1050 ESPN New York. “I want to be here in New York. I also know New York has a lot of young outfielders coming back. Austin Jackson is in the wings. At least, in this situation, I know my chances of coming back could be slim because of the young talent the Yankees do have.”

• Prices for Yankee tickets on the secondary market are falling fast:

The price of New York Yankees tickets on the resale market plummeted this week following the team’s decision to give free extra seats to people who bought the team’s priciest season plans.

Legends Suite seats for Friday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels that originally sold for $500 could be had for $144 shortly before 5 p.m. on StubHub.com. Legends seats in section 16, row 9, behind the first-base dugout were available for $199, down from their $850 original price.

All the sharp discounting wasn’t just among the Legends seats, which include access to three restaurants and lounges with free food and soft drinks. Field level seats to the plate side of the first-base dugout could be had for $50, down from their $325 price as part of season tickets.

“We’re seeing an unprecedented number of season-ticket holders selling. The market has been flooded. It is a buyer’s market for baseball fans,” said Mike Janes, chief executive officer of FanSnap.com, an Internet search engine that finds tickets on resale sites.

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Today’s news is powered by a little clip from one of the best “Simpsons” episodes ever:

• Things are going well for Nick Swisher:

The Yankees can’t help but be happy with what they’ve squeezed out of Swisher, who left the spring as a bench player but has stepped up in a big way.

“You wonder where our record would be without him,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He’s been extremely productive. He played some great defense [Wednesday], diving all over the place. We talked about wanting to have depth and that’s what he’s provided.”

Swisher heads into Thursday’s game against the Angels leading the Yankees in home runs (seven), RBIs (19) and runs scored (19), playing gritty outfield defense and even winning the fans over earlier in the month by volunteering to pitch an inning.

• PeteAbe has the recap of Alex Rodriguez’s appearance in an extended spring training intrasquad game.
• Speaking of Alex, the News has more juicy/gory details from Selena Roberts’ upcoming book on him.
• And speaking of books (I’m riding a “Segue” here . . . ), author Peter Golenbock Peter Golenbock spoke with Baseball Prospectus Radio about his biography of Boss George.
• And speaking of Baseball Prospectus (I’m still riding that “Segue”), Kevin Goldstein has some good news on uber-prospect Jesus Montero (originally published Wednesday):

Tuesday’s stats: 2-for-4, 2 HR (4), 2 R, 2 RBI
It’s rare for a 19-year-old to be able to dominate a High-A league (and a pitcher’s circuit at that), but Montero is doing just that, as last night’s onslaught brought his averages up to .371/.421/.614, which puts him in the league’s top ten in all three categories. The other good news is that reports on his defense are better, which unfortunately upgrades him from complete unacceptable to well below average, and as a 6-foot-4, 230 pound teenager, he’s not going to get any small (sic). First base is his likely destination in the end, but it’s not going to matter, because his bat is downright special.

[My take: Unless they plan on teaching him a corner OF position, it sounds like he’s trade bait in a couple of years.]

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I was a little nervous about heading to the new Stadium for the first time, especially after checking out Citi Field recently and finding it, while very nice, just unsettlingly different and odd and un-Mets-like. But I’ve got to say that while my bitterness at the new Stadium’s prices and medieval caste system (the good seats actually have a moat around them) and Hard Rock-ness and, really, its very existence remains undiminished… well, I liked it  better than I thought I would. Much more on that below.

Of course tonight’s taut, well-paced game helped a lot, as the Yankees beat the Angels 7-4 . The Angels struck first, the Yankees answered, the Angels took the lead again, the Yankees took it back, the Angels tied it up… A.J. Burnett looks like he’s been reading his How to Have an Off Night Without F*#^ing Imploding textbook. It took him a long time to find any kind of groove, but he “grinded it out” (to use Joe Girardi’s favorite vague post-game term), kept the game under control, and made it through seven innings.

The Yankees broke through in the eighth, off of Justin Speier, starting with a single that brought Robinson Cano’s hitting streak up to 17 games. Posada moved him over to third, and newly minted fan favorite Nick Swisher was intentionally walked – an understandable strategy that backfired when Melky Cabrera singled in the go-ahead run. Then Ramiro Pena of all people doubled, and it was 7-4 Yankees. Phil Coke and Mariano Rivera tied up the lose ends.

Many people have noticed that the crowds at the new place were too quiet, and I’ve sensed that from watching on TV too – but it got properly loud tonight, much to my relief. Not Red Sox loud, or playoff loud, but pretty damn loud, and when Jeter got a two-out single in the 4th to give the Yankees a lead, it was the same kind of thick, tangible wave of decibels I remember from so many games across the street. There were still plenty of empty $2500 $1250 seats, and it still hurts to see views like that going to waste, but it didn’t seem to make much of a dent in the cumulative enthusiasm.

(Side note: we’re now entering the stage of Derek Jeter’s career where he passes someone on one all-time franchise list or another basically every time he scratches his balls. Tonight he moved into #9 on the Yankee’s all-time RBI lists, and a few days ago, his 8,103rd at-bat moved him past Micky Mantle for a Yankee record. From now on, I think we can expect milestones of varying degrees of obscurity roughly once a week.)

Getting back to the Stadium: there are certainly flaws, and if you’re reading this you probably don’t need me to tell you what they are; I can’t put it much better than Alex did, when he compared it to being inside a pinball machine. Lots of random noises and flashing lights. The Mohegan Sun restaurant between the bleachers reminds me of the obelisk in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Great Hall is too much, Vegas overkill, and that name sounds like something from Tolkein (one of the scenes you skipped because it was like 12 solid pages of someone singing in Elvish). The whole place is so big, and so heavily branded, that it feels a bit like a theme park – welcome to YankeeWorld™!

As others have noted, the screen in center field is a little overwhelming – talk about larger than life:

Something I loved from my childhood. Something that could never ever possibly destroy us... Mr. Stay Puft!

The player’s faces loom like those Easter Island heads.

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

2008 Record: 100-62
2008 Pythagorean Record: 88-74

Manager: Mike Scioscia
General Manager: Tony Reagins

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Angel Stadium (103/102)

Who’s Replaced Whom:

• Kendry Morales replaces Casey Kotchman and Mark Teixeira
• Bobby Abreu replaces Garret Anderson
• Brian Fuentes replaces Francisco Rodriguez
• Shane Loux, Anthony Ortega, and Matt Palmer are filling in for John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Dustin Mosely (all on DL)
• Rafael Rodriguez and Fernando Rodriguez are filling in for Darren Oliver and Kevin Jepsen (both on DL)

25-man Roster:

1B – Kendry Morales (S)
2B – Howie Kendrick (R)
SS – Erick Aybar (S)
3B – Chone Figgins (S)
C – Mike Napoli (R)
RF – Gary Matthews Jr. (S)
CF – Torii Hunter (R)
LF – Bobby Abreu (L)
DH – Juan Rivera (R)

Bench:

R – Jeff Mathis (C)
S – Maicer Izturis (IF)
R – Robb Quinlan (3B/1B)
R – Brandon Wood (IF)

Rotation:

L – Joe Saunders
R – Shane Loux
R – Anthony Ortega
R – Jered Weaver
R – Matt Palmer

Bullpen:

L – Brian Fuentes
R – Jose Arredondo
R – Scot Shields
R – Justin Speier
R – Jason Bulger
R – Rafael Rodriguez
R – Fernando Rodriguez

15-day DL:

RF – Vladimir Guerrero (torn pectoral)
RHP – John Lackey (forearm tightness)
RHP – Ervin Santana (elbow strain)
RHP – Dustin Moseley (elbow tightness)
LHP – Darren Oliver (shoulder stiffness)
RHP – Kevin Jepsen (back spasms)

60-day DL:

RHP – Kelvim Escobar (shoulder inflammation)

Typical Lineup:

S – Chone Figgins (3B)
S – Gary Matthews Jr. (RF)
L – Bobby Abreu (LF)
R – Torii Hunter (CF)
S – Kendry Morales (1B)
R – Mike Napoli (C)
R – Juan Rivera (DH)
R – Howie Kendrick (2B)
S – Erick Aybar (SS)

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Let’s get to it:

• If the Blue Jays’ hot start has you worried, consider this point from Joe Sheehan:

Finally, there’s the schedule. You can’t hold this against the Jays, who are playing the hand they’ve been dealt, but they have benefited from a schedule that has thus far included none of their three AL East rivals, teams that may be the three best in the league. The Jays have played every team in the AL Central, as well as the A’s and Rangers in the West. They have illustrated a point I think every analyst would agree with: if you put the Jays in any other division, they would be at worst a contender, and often a favorite. The pessimism about their chances this year stems in no small part from their having to play perhaps the toughest schedule in baseball. They haven’t gotten into that yet, and in fact, they won’t see the Red Sox, Yankees, or Rays for another two weeks. They play every AL team other than the Mariners before seeing any of those three, and in fact, the Jays don’t play the Rays at all until June 29. (In a whack-job of a schedule, the Jays play just nine of their first 78 games against the big three, then get them 42 times in their next 71 contests.)

• PeteAbe does his usual wonderful job, this time playing out the “what ifs” of the starting rotation:

. . . let’s say that Wang comes back in early June and Hughes is 4-1, 2.85. What then?

You shake Phil’s hand, thank him for a job well done and send him back to Scranton until he is needed again.

Get this much straight: CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte are pitching every five days if they are healthy. That’s a given. There is not going to be a six-man rotation. Those guys are conditioned to pitch every five days and they’re getting a pile of money to do so.

Joba Chamberlain also needs to pitch. One good start by Hughes in April should not start the “We need Joba in the bullpen” nonsense.  . . .

Here is what some people can’t seem to understand: Joba threw 100 innings last season. He needs to throw 150-plus this season so that in 2010 he can throw 180-plus. Then he can throw 200-plus in 2011 and so on. This is a young man with a great arm, four pitches and the makeup to be an ace. The Yankees would be foolish not to give him every chance to be a starter.

If you send him back to the bullpen, you’re starting the process all over again and increasing the risk of injury by suddenly changing his role. Joba has a 2.43 ERA in 15 starts over the last two seasons. That is really, really, very, very good.

• Pete also has some details on an apparent injury to Ian Kennedy.  And an update:

Ian Kennedy was examined by a specialist in NYC today because of his numb middle finger.

He has a vasospasm that can be treated with medication. He will be evaluated again Monday and will not throw until after that follow-up.

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Much has been written about the need for the Yanks to get off to a strong start in the highly-competitive AL East.

With last night’s win over the Tigers, the Bombers have a 10-10 record after their first 20 games.  Some would call that disappointing.  Some would call for Joe Girardi’s head on a platter.  Some would step back and say “given all they’ve been through, 10-10 is pretty decent.”  But perhaps a larger question is . . . do the first 20 games of a season make or break your chances for the playoffs?

To attempt to answer this, I’ve analyzed the performances of all 104 playoff teams in the wild card era from 1996-2008 (I excluded 1995 due to the shortened schedule).  I first looked at how those teams did in their first 20 games:

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Today’s news is powered by …. Post-its!:

EepyBird’s Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

• Christina Kahrl has some thoughts on the construction of the Yankees roster:

The Yankees are supposed to be a good team, but it might be a little hard to see that when, to replace the immortal Cody Ransom at third base, they’ve stopped to… Angel Berroa. Apparently innumerable other bipeds weren’t available, or had already sought other engagements to make themselves unavailable . . .

The alternative would be that this organization, the same proud organization that struggled to come up with a first baseman better than Miguel Cairo in 2007, learned nothing about the value of adequate replacements from that particular lineup atrocity, and was blowing another week of their season on some new A-Rod substitute at third base that almost no other team in the league might consider. Sure, when Alex Rodriguez returns next week, this might prove a minor matter, but blowing the last few roster spots—let alone lineup cards, not to mention forgoing a decision to simply try to stock their minor league affiliates with useful journeymen—has cost this team in the past, and costs them to this day. It’s as if Clay Bellinger wasn’t a happy accident, but a choice informed by what we hope must be an appallingly parochial and ideally uninfectious local sense of taste.

[My take: OUCH! (but she’s right) . . . for a $200+ million team, the Yankee teams of the last few years have been increasingly “bipolar” in terms of their roster construction.  “Stars and Scrubs” might work in Roto . . . but it doesn’t work in real life.]

• Hurricane Alex is now scheduled to hit NY a bit earlier:

Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees have moved up A-Rod’s target date and are now shooting for a return to the team sometime in the first week of May, sources say.

Rodriguez and the Yankees were originally calling May 15 the target date for his return, and that is still the publicly stated goal. However, Rodriguez’s progress has been so good, both he and the team are hopeful he can return more than a week earlier than first expected.

• Ken Rosenthal allays any “Joba (back) to the ‘pen” fears.
• The Bombers have sort of seen the error of their economic ways, and are reducing prices on some of their top tier seats.  Here are some of the reductions:

• Tickets in the first row of sections 15A, 15B, 24B and 25 will be reduced, from $2,500 to $1,250, per regular-season game.

• The first row of sections 11, 12, 13, 27B, 28 and 29 will drop, from $1,000 to $650, per regular-season game.

• All fans who purchased full-season, $2,500 Legends Suite seats in the first row of sections 16-24A will receive an equal number of complimentary Legends Suite seats in the first row of the same sections for each of the remaining regular-season games this season.

• Fans who purchased full-season, $1,250 Legends Suite seats will receive an equal number of complimentary Legends Suite seats in the same price category for 24 games during the season, as selected by the Yankees. . . .

In addition, the Yankees are adopting a program affecting a few hundred seats in Field Level sections 115-125.

From now on, fans purchasing on a full-season basis three full regular-season ticket plans priced at $325 in those sections will receive a fourth ticket free.

[My take: Wonder if the Mets will follow suit . . .]

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“Maybe I’ll get some sleep tonight. I haven’t been doing that much lately.” —Dave Eiland

Welcome back, Phil Hughes.

You wouldn’t know it by the 11-0 final, but last night’s game between the Yankees and Tigers was a pitchers’ duel. Phil Hughes and Edwin Jackson locked horns for six scoreless innings before the Yankees dropped a ten-spot on the Detroit bullpen in the seventh.

Credit the Yankee offense, particularly Robinson Cano, for running deep counts on Jackson all game. Jackson finished the sixth inning having thrown 117 pitches despite having allowed just five men to reach base. With Jackson spent and the game still scoreless entering the seventh, Jim Leyland called on rookie Ryan Perry, a second-year professional who topped out in High-A last year. Perry faced five batters and retired just one, that being Jose Molina, who bunted Nick Swisher (single) and Melky Cabrera (walk) up to set up another key pinch-hitting appearance for Jorge Posada. Posada, who didn’t start for the second straight day due to a sore hamstring, lifted a low fly to left field that Josh Anderson appeared to lose in the Comerica Park lights. The ball skipped past Anderson allowing the gimpy Posada to reach second and both runners to score. After another walk by Perry, Nate Robertson and Brandon Lyon combined to allow seven more Yankees to score. The final blow was a grand slam by Molina that made him the rare player to have a sac bunt and a grand slam in the same inning (it was last done by Sal Bando in 1975, coincidentally also in the seventh inning). The inning went on so long that Angel Berroa, who pinch-ran for Posada, came to bat and singled off Lyon after Molina’s salami. Nick Swisher, who scored twice in that inning and broke out of his slump with two hits and two walks, added the eleventh run with a solo homer off Juan Rincon in the top of the ninth.

The real story of the night, however, was Hughes, who worked six scoreless innings allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out six. Spotting his fastball, which was coming in around 93 miles per hour, and mixing in a deadly, low-70s curve, and his new high-80s cutter, Hughes picked up right where he left off from the eight strong innings he threw against A.J. Burnett and the Blue Jays late last September. With his hair a bit bushier, faint sideburns, and what appeared to be a generally fuller build, Hughes looked and pitched like a more mature pitcher than the one we saw last year despite his still-tender age of 22.

Hughes received no favors from home plate umpire Derryl Cousins, who called several curves that dropped into the strike zone and a couple of fastballs right on the lower right-hand corner balls (included in the latter was ball four of one of Hughes’ two walks), yet he didn’t lose his cool or his confidence. He got into one jam, that coming in the fourth inning. With one out, he hit Miguel Cabrera in the hand. Carlos Guillen then singled and both runners moved up on a groundout. Hughes pitched around the hot-hitting Brandon Inge and got the light-hitting Josh Anderson to ground out to end the threat. He then set the side down in order in the fifth and sixth before his 99-pitch count (inflated by Cousins’ strike zone) and the Yankees’ long top of the seventh ended his night.

Hughes best pitch of the night came on a 0-1 count to Placido Polanco with two out in the bottom of the fifth. It was a curveball that Polanco was convinced was coming right at his head. A look of total fear came over Polanco’s face as he began to bail. The pitch then dropped over the plate for a called strike on the inside corner, knee-high. Sick.

Hughes was followed by Mark Melancon, whom Joe Girardi had warming up before the game became a laugher. Melancon worked a 1-2-3 seventh, striking out Inge in the process. I can’t wait to see Hughes and Melancon team up again.

This week’s “Card Corner” has no connection to the Yankees. In fact, this man may be the most obscure player ever profiled in this feature. But he was important to us as kids in 1974, if only because he had such a weird name. And he has become a record-breaker among major league players.

As young fans growing up in Westchester County, we found it both foolishly fun and humorously cruel to repeat the quirky names of certain ballplayers over and over. One of those players was Paul Schaal (pronounced PAWL SHAWL), one of the few big leaguers whose last name rhymed with his first. Along with Lu Blue, Mark Clark, Don Hahn and Greg Legg, Schaal must have taken his share of verbal abuse about that as a child.

A couple of other intriguing facts come to mind when thinking about Paul Schaal. He was the Kansas City Royals’ last regular third baseman before a fellow named George Brett burst onto the major league scene. A certified Hall of Famer and the owner of the most attractive batting swing of the late 20th century—I’ll put him just ahead of Ken Griffey, Jr. in that regard—Brett made most Royals fans forget all about Schaal. Still, Schaal was not a bad ballplayer. Schaal was certainly a better player than most of the third sackers the Yankees were trotting out at the time, an illustrious group that included Bobby Cox and Jerry Kenney. While with the LA and California Angels in the mid-1960s, Schaal established a reputation as one of the game’s finest fielding third baseman. One member of the Angels even called Schaal the equal of Brooks Robinson, generally regarded as baseball’s most divine defensive third baseman of all-time.

Offensively, Schaal showed promise as a youngster, until he was hit in the head by a pitched ball during the 1968 season. The injury left the Angels understandably worried about his future, so they left him exposed in the expansion draft that winter. As one of four new teams entering the major leagues, the Royals snapped up Schaal, hoping that he would recover fully from the beanball incident.

After initially clashing with Royals skipper Charlie Metro, Schaal settled in nicely as KC’s cornerman. In 1971, he used remarkable patience at the plate, walking 103 times to formulate a .387 on-base percentage, while playing in every Royals game that season. He slumped to a .228 average in 1972 before rebounding to hit .288 with eight home runs the following season. Unfortunately, Schaal’s game fall off badly in 1974, prompting a trade back to California, where he finished out his career with the Halos. In the meantime, Mr. Brett staked permanent claim to Kansas City’s “hot corner.”

While Schaal never achieved much more than temporary stardom with the Royals, he has managed to become one of the most successful of ex-ballplayers in his post-playing days. After owning a chain of pizza shops, Schaal went into the unrelated field of chiropractics. (From pizza to ‘practics.) Schaal became Dr. Schaal, which sounds an awful lot like Dr. Scholl, the foot doctor. But it’s Dr. Schaal, practicing back specialist. The good doctor now runs the Schaal Health & Wellness Center in Overland Park, Kansas, and is considered an expert in network spinal analysis. As the doctor’s website points out, “At Schaal Health Center, we use Young Living Essential Oils daily to diffuse the air with their therapeutic aromas.” As a child of the seventies, that sounds pretty good to me.

Here’s something else that you might find interesting about Paul Schaal. He has been married nine times. (That’s got to be a record for a major leaguer. Nine times!) It would be most appropriate for Paul Schaal to be interviewed on CNN by Larry King. How great would that be?

Today’s news is powered by some REALLY bad cartoon featuring the Tampa Bay Rays:

• Here are the rehab updates on Alex Rodriguez and Chien-Ming Wang:

Rodriguez, who had surgery on his right hip March 9, could take live batting practice for the first time Tuesday. He might start playing in minor league games later this week and the Yankees expect him to rejoin the team by May 15. . . .

The three-time AL MVP ran the bases for the third time in five days, and added situational drills when taking grounders at third. He hit 13 homers on 89 swings in regular batting practice. . . .

“We need to see him slide,” Girardi said. “He hasn’t done that yet unless he went out on a Slip And Slide in his yard.”

Wang threw in the outfield for 10 minutes and did sprints as part of a rehab program. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with weakness in his hips. . . .

“He’s doing great,” Yankees vice president Billy Connors said. “There is no discomfort. We did some drills that will help bring his velocity back to where it’s got to be.”

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Detroit Tigers

2008 Record: 74-88 (.457)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 78-84 (.481)

Manager: Jim Leyland
General Manager: Dave Dombrowski

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Comerica Park (102/102)

Who’s Replaced Whom:

• Gerald Laird replaces Ivan Rodriguez
• Adam Everett replaces Edgar Renteria
• Josh Anderson replaces Gary Sheffield
• Jeff Larish inherits Matthew Joyce’s playing time
• Edwin Jackson replaces Kenny Rogers
• Rick Porcello replaces Nate Robertson in the rotation
• Nate Robertson replaces Freddy Dolsi in the bullpen
• Fernando Rodney inherits Todd Jones’ innings
• Brandon Lyon replaces Aquilino Lopez
• Joel Zumaya inherits Eddie Bonine’s innings
• Ryan Perry replaces Casey Fossum
• Juan Rincon replaces Clay Rapada, Gary Glover, Denny Bautista, and Kyle Farnsworth

25-man Roster:

1B – Miguel Cabrera (R)
2B – Placido Polanco (R)
SS – Adam Everett (R)
3B – Brandon Inge (R)
C – Gerald Laird (R)
RF – Magglio Ordoñez (R)
CF – Curtis Granderson (L)
LF – Josh Anderson (L)
DH – Carlos Guillen (S)

Bench:

R – Ramon Santiago (IF)
R – Ryan Raburn (OF)
L – Jeff Larish (3B/1B)
R – Dane Sardinha (C)

Rotation:

R – Justin Verlander
R – Edwin Jackson
R – Rick Porcello
R – Armando Galarraga
R – Zach Miner

Bullpen:

R – Fernando Rodney
R – Joel Zumaya
R – Brandon Lyon
L – Bobby Seay
R – Ryan Perry
R – Juan Rincon
L – Nate Robertson

15-day DL: RHP – Jeremy Bonderman (sore shoulder), LHP – Dontrelle Willis (anxiety disorder), OF/1B – Marcus Thames (strained oblique), C – Matt Treanor (torn hip labrum)

Typical Lineup:

L – Curtis Granderson (CF)
R – Placido Polanco (2B)
R – Magglio Ordoñez (RF)
R – Miguel Cabrera (1B)
S – Carlos Guillen (DH)
R – Gerald Laird (C)
R – Brandon Inge (3B)
L – Josh Anderson (LF)
R – Adam Everett (SS)

(more…)

One of the hottest stories this year has been the continuing decline of the newspaper industry. I’ve written about it in this space, and with the shuttering of the Rocky Mountain News, the Seattle P-I going to a completely online format, and more papers reducing coverage of their hometown teams, the current trend is not likely to change any time soon.

What does this mean for baseball coverage? Russell Adams and Tim Marchman presented a telling look at the industry in an April 7 Wall Street Journal article. Being a baseball reporter for a newspaper used to be a job people would kill for. Now it’s likely a job that will be killed.

With that in mind, I’ve begun asking numerous questions of veteran baseball writers and columnists to get their respective takes on the industry. This series of Q&As will run periodically throughout the season and beyond, as trends develop. The first is with Newsday’s Kat O’Brien, a Yankees beat writer since 2007. Prior to moving to New York, O’Brien covered the Texas Rangers for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram from 2003-06.

In her short time on the beat, O’Brien has witnessed the sweeping changes and cutbacks in the industry firsthand, and has decided to leave the beat to go to graduate school. The following exchange was conducted over a series of e-mails last week.

Will Weiss: What made you want to be a sportswriter? Even more specifically, what made you want to be on a beat?

Kat O’Brien: I never really set out to be a sportswriter. I was interested in writing and journalism, and sort of wound up in sports. I went to Notre Dame, and initially worked on both sports and news on the daily (Mon-Fri) student newspaper. That was too time-consuming, so I focused on sports, as it was a lot more fun and more-read among the students. For a long time, I thought I would switch back to newswriting, but I kept having great opportunities on the sports side and I enjoyed it. Doing a beat was kind of the natural progression. Baseball made sense as it was one of my favorite sports, and I also speak Spanish, which is useful in covering baseball.

WW: When and how did you use your Spanish? I’m curious, because I speak the language also and have written several anecdotes through the years about my adventures in the Dominican Republic, and with various Latino players in the Yankee clubhouse.

KOB: I double majored in Spanish in college after studying abroad. I’ve gone to the Dominican Republic a few times to do some baseball stories. I use it more on a day-to-day basis, both in interviewing players whose English skills are minimal (i.e. Melky Cabrera) and in talking to players who are comfortable in both languages (i.e. Mariano Rivera and Bobby Abreu). Even with the latter, I often find it helps build a rapport with players when they know you speak their language. It was huge with Alfonso Soriano when he got traded over to the Rangers, who I was covering at the time.

WW: Did anything specific happen to make you thinking about changing your career path?

KOB: It wasn’t any one thing but a combination of things. The writing jobs I had aspired to long-term, like writing takeout features and so on, barely exist anymore. I feel that there are other jobs I would enjoy doing and would be good at, and that this would be a good time to move in that direction. I’ll miss a lot about writing and covering baseball, particularly the relationships you form on the job. But this is the best move for me long-term.

WW: What changes in the industry have you witnessed in your time on the beat?

KOB: Wow, so many, and that is in just a few years. The Internet was not even a shadow of what it is now when I began. Now the Internet is priority No. 1, and it should be. The blogs have become extremely important, and most of those did not even exist when I started.

I also think there is a tendency towards more negativity and sensationalism, not necessarily on the beat, but in the media in general. This may be at least in part due to trying to compete with Internet sites, some of which are more gossip than news, but it’s not a good change in my opinion.

WW: Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said recently that newspapers should give up trying to compete (with Internet sites). In your opinion, are newspapers dead? If not, what would you do to try to revive them?

KOB: I really hope that newspapers are not dead or on life support. That said, things don’t look good for most papers at the moment. One thing that is crucial is finding a way to get revenue from the internet. One idea I like is that of getting as many papers as possible to join a consortium. Then a person could pay a subscription fee — say $10-20 per month — and get access to all those papers. Because it’s not realistic to think people are going to pay to read every paper they ever look at online, but papers need revenue.

But papers have to stop cutting costs so much that their best and brightest are either forced out or leave because they don’t think the quality of the product is worth sticking around and being a part of.

WW: You told me offline that given the current state of affairs, leaving the beat is the best decision for you and your future. Why?

KOB: Unfortunately, I am not at all confident about the future of newspapers. I’m sure there will always be some sort of journalism by which people get their news and information. But it’s been devastating to watch newspapers get torn apart in the last couple years, due partly to the failure of the industry to get on-board with the internet early and adapt, and partly to economic conditions.

I see so many colleagues who have been forced from their jobs, or who want to try something else but are constricted due to family considerations, children and mortgages. I am young enough that I can go back to school, so I am doing that while I can.

WW: While it may not be the case with the major New York papers, numerous papers around the country have cut costs by not sending writers to road games, etc., and in some cases local teams receive no hometown coverage at all. Is this a disservice?

KOB: It is a disservice, but unfortunately an unavoidable one right now. Many papers are barely surviving — slashing jobs and costs wherever they can. Local team coverage is one of those costs being cut.

WW: Is the philosophical divide between print and online generational?

KOB: I think there is somewhat of a generational divide between print and online. I see a bigger generational divide over blogging, though. That seems by and large to be more accepted among younger people.

WW: I remember that some of the beat writers who are staunch traditionalists resisted to the blog movement; not only that they were being required to post to blogs, but to the group of writers that has made a name through the blogosphere. What was your reaction to this, and what’s your opinion of baseball writing on the web? Who do you read now and how do you see baseball reporting growing?

KOB: I think there is a place for all sorts of baseball coverage, both traditional and of the blog variety. I think the web permits a much broader amount of coverage. There’s a long list of blogs that I follow. But an example of the different types of writing would be in three of the Yankees blogs I read most often: RiverAveBlues, BronxBanter and WasWatching. All three do a great job of keeping up with Yankees stuff, but each has a different slant/angle. Each site has its favorites and its least favorites on the team, and each provides a different writing style.

Still, there can be a danger in losing sight of the fact that the blogs don’t necessarily provide the same information as the traditional newspapers/sites since many are giving opinion or compiling information instead of doing reporting themselves. I am not saying this in any “anti-blog” fashion, just that I think both are necessary.

WW: Thanks for the compliments and for following us here at BB. What, if anything, could both the blog sites and the newspapers do better to coexist?

KOB: Probably give each other a little more credit where credit is due. Not in all cases, but there are definitely some snarky comments from one side to the other, and vice versa.

WW: What will you miss most about the beat? The least?

KOB: Most: A number of things. Being there to get the story firsthand, the story that people are talking about and reading about and you are giving it to them. Writing for a large and passionate audience. And I’ll especially miss the people — the other writers and the people I am writing about such as players, coaches, managers, GMs, and behind-the-scenes folks.

Least: Witnessing and worrying about the constant decline in the newspaper industry. And it might be nice to have a somewhat more normal schedule, with less travel and more nights and weekends off.

WW: What’s next for you? Do you see yourself eventually getting back into sport media, or editorial?

KOB: I’m going back to school. I start a dual degree program at the University of Pennsylvania next month, getting a Wharton MBA and a Masters of Arts in International Studies from the Lauder Institute. I don’t envision myself getting back into sports media or editorial on a full-time basis. I would love to keep my hand in by doing free-lance writing. After I graduate I might get involved in the business side of sports, but that’s yet to be determined. I’ll miss sportswriting and all my friends in the biz, though.

Today’s new is powered by a cute baseball-related bit from “Whose Line (Drive?) is it Anyway?”

• Brian Bruney blames himself for ending up on the DL:

Brian Bruney blamed himself for straining the flexor muscle in his right elbow, an injury that forced him into a stint on the disabled list.

“I have thrown quite a bit,” Bruney said in reference to tossing on his own. “It’s my fault and I have to make corrections.”

[My take: Pitchers determine their own throwing schedule?  Besides starters, don’t relievers have specific schedules for throwing (assuming they haven’t been used in a few days?)  Also, how much throwing on his own would he have to do? Undoubtedly, he’s been warmed up in the pen on days he hasn’t actually appeared in a game.]

(more…)

Never mind last night’s game. Painful as it was, it was just one loss. Far more damaging is the fact that three Yankees were placed on the disabled list after the game.

We knew Chien-Ming Wang was unlikely to make his next schedule start in Detroit on Tuesday and had already been skipped this time through the rotation thanks in part to Monday’s rain-out and Thursday’s off-day. Still, it smarts to hear Brian Cashman say that Wang’s problem is in his hips, a cascade injury of sorts stemming from the broken foot he suffered last June, and that he will need roughly two weeks of physical therapy. It’s not the bit about his hips that hurts—that may be bogus, after all—it’s the bit about the two weeks of physical therapy. Yes, a minimum DL stay is roughly two weeks, but Wang hasn’t pitched in a week, and his DL appearance could have been made retroactive, giving him a week to fix his clearly flawed mechanics and bringing him back after missing just three starts. Instead he’ll miss at least five starts. Add those to the three awful starts he already made, and suddenly Wang’s season is in the 20- to 25-start range at best.

The good news is that the Yankees have Phil Hughes looking very read to take Wang’s place. Hughes is 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA and 19 Ks against three walks in 19 1/3 innings for Scranton.  If Hughes pitches well in Wang’s stead, the Yankees will have an interesting choice to make once Wang’s ready to return. (Note that the Yankees haven’t officially named Hughes Tuesday’s starter and are currently filling Wang’s roster spot with an extra reliever.)

In addition to Wang, Brian Bruney has landed on the DL with a strained flexor mass in his right elbow. You’ll be excused if you think you’re having deja vu. Last year, Bruney had a tremendous April (1.59 ERA, 11 1/3 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 6 BB, 12 K, opponents hitting .175/.292/.350) but broke his foot covering first on April 22 and was out until August. This year he was again dominating in April (3.38 ERA, 8 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 12 K, opponents hitting .111/.172/.148), but woke up with elbow pain on the morning of April 22 and is now back on the DL. The good news is that this year’s injury is muscular and the Yankees hope that a couple weeks off will allow it to heal completely.

David Robertson has been recalled from Scranton to help replace Bruney. Robertson struck out three in a pair of scoreless innings against the Indians in the Yankee Stadium opener, but was optioned back to Scranton the next day as the Yankees though they might need an extra bad with Hideki Matsui’s knees and Mark Teixeira’s wrist acting up. The injury to Wang allows Robertson to return to the team just before his minimum ten days in Triple-A had elapsed. Robertson has not allowed an earned run in eight Triple-A innings, but has struck out 14 against just two walks in those frames.

Joining Robertson in the Yankee pen (as of 5:30 this evening, per Pete Abe) is Mark Melancon (pronounced mel-LAN-son), who hasn’t allowed a run, earned or otherwise, in 10 1/3 innings for Scranton this year while striking out 17 against just three walks. In a perfect world, both will be here to stay, and Steven Jackson, who has been on the 25-man roster since Sunday without seeing action despite the Yankees playing a total of 25 innings over their last two games, will be the man farmed out to make room for Hughes on Tuesday.

The perpetually rehabbing Humberto Sanchez was released to make room for Melancon. It was the obvious move, though a disappointing one as Sanchez went to high school in the Bronx and remained active in the community. He would have made a good story had he made an impact with the Yankees, but he just couldn’t get healthy and the Yankees have too many other quality arms to worry about retaining Sanchez, who turns 26 in about a month.

Finally, Cody Ransom tore his right quadricep on a steal of second base in the eighth inning of last night’s game. With Alex Rodriguez about two weeks from returning, Ransom has been sent straight to the 60-day DL to make roster space for Angel Berroa as the only other infielder on the Yankees 40-man roster had been first baseman Juan Miranda. The 31-year-old Berroa carried his hot spring over to the Triple-A season and was hitting .316/.365/.491 for Scranton. He will start at third base tonight, reigiting the spring-training battle between himself and Ramiro Peña, as one of them is likely to be farmed out when Alex Rodriguez returns in a couple of weeks. Worth noting: Berroa has played just one game at third base in the major leagues prior to today and played just 14 games there in the minors before this season.

Here’s the full Yankee lineup (the Red Sox’s remains the same as last night):

R – Derek Jeter (SS)
L – Johnny Damon (LF)
S – Mark Teixeira (1B)
S – Nick Swisher (RF)
L – Robinson Cano (2B)
S – Jorge Posada (C)
L – Hideki Matsui (DH)
R – Angel Berroa (3B)
L – Brett Gardner (CF)

This is the first time Posada will catch A.J. Burnett this season. Pitching behind Chien-Ming Wang in the rotation, Burnett started after a loss in each of his three previous starts and each time helped lead the Yankees to victory. In his last start, however, he got a no-decision after walking seven men against just two strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings (he compensated by allowing just three hits, but two of them were home runs).

Today he’ll be taking on his former Marlins teammate, Josh Beckett. Beckett should have started last night had he not been serving a five-game suspension for throwing at Bobby Abreu after Abreu had called time during Burnett’s windup. Beckett was dominant in his first start of the season, but has been less impressive in his last two starts, putting up this line: 12 IP, 14 H, 8 R (7 ER), 6 BB, 10 K, 5.25 ERA.

Today’s news is powered by “how a baseball bat is made”:

• Brian Cashman references a peripheral, Sabermetric stat!:

For instance, in the decision to acquire Nick Swisher despite a .219 average for the White Sox last year, stats like line-drive percentage and pitches taken were used. “The only stat that was different was batting average when he put the ball in play,” Cashman said, “so we concluded it must have been an unlucky year.”

[My take: Pass the smelling salts . . . a GM quoting BABIP, and interpreting it correctly!  Don’t let Joe Morgan know about this!]

• Chien-Ming Wang goes on the DL:

The Yankees placed Chien-Ming Wang on the 15-day disabled list on Friday after the struggling right-hander was diagnosed with weakness in the adductor muscles of both hips. . . .

The weakness is a kinetic effect of Wang’s right foot injury — a Lisfranc fracture suffered last June 15 — and may be directly responsible for the 34.50 ERA Wang posted in three big league starts this year.

Cashman said that Wang will remain in Tampa to undergo a week to 10 days of physical therapy on his hips to help build the lacking power. Asked when the Yankees might see Wang at the big league level again, Cashman responded, “I don’t know.”

“I know it’s a minimum of 10 days to two weeks of physical therapy on the hips, and the fact that he’s a pitcher, after that, who knows?” Cashman said. “He’ll be able to throw to some degree, I believe, while that’s going on. The main issue is to get those hips taken care of and get him back on line, because they’ve gotten off line.”

• Yahoo!Sports’ Gordon Edes plays out what might have happened had Alex Rodriguez been able to join the Red Sox back in ’04:

And then came the 24 hours that shocked the baseball world: Epstein secretly slipping away from the winter meetings in New Orleans for a hush-hush meeting at the Four Seasons in New York with Rodriguez, who at 1:30 a.m. answered the door of his suite impeccably dressed in a suit, his hair freshly moussed. Before dawn Rodriguez agreed, in exchange for a couple of player options inserted in his contract, to give up millions to escape the purgatory of the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez even pledged to send some under-the-table money back to Rangers owner Tom Hicks to make the deal work.

That morning, after some hard bargaining, players’ union lawyer Gene Orza signed off on the deal, and a day later at a hastily called press conference in the .406 club at Fenway Park, Epstein announced that the club had acquired Rodriguez for outfielder Manny Ramirez, who had worn out the club with his trade demands, and a left-handed pitching prospect named Jon Lester.

Then Epstein leaned into the microphone to announce the second part of his bombshell: Nomar Garciaparra, the incumbent shortstop who had interrupted his honeymoon to call a Boston sports-talk show and complain about the A-Rod rumors, had been traded to the White Sox for outfielder Magglio Ordonez and a pitching prospect Brandon McCarthy.

A-Rod was fretting about how Nomar would handle him being on the same team until Epstein told him about the trade for Ordonez. A-Rod’s eyes got as big as silver dollars. Ordonez was one of his best friends. “You don’t understand,” he’d told Epstein. “Magglio and I are tight. We work out all winter together. I taught him how to hit.”

(more…)

“It’s my fault. That’s all it is.” —Mariano Rivera

The Yankees lost more than a ballgame last night. They also lost their replacement starting third baseman to a quad injury and may have lost their primary set-up man to an ailing elbow. It wasn’t a good night.

Until the bottom of the ninth, it looked as though the Yankees were going to steal a win. Joba Chamberlain wasn’t sharp. Jon Lester was. Nonetheless, Joba managed to keep his team in the game.

The Red Sox got the leadoff man on in each of the first five innings and got a man to third in all but one inning against Chamberlain, yet they scored just two runs off the Yankee starter. Chamberlain worked out of trouble with the help of double plays, most of them coming off two-seam fastballs, in the first, second, fourth, and fifth innings. In the third he had runners on the corners and one out, but struck out David Ortiz, pitched around Kevin Youkilis (ultimately throwing him an intentional ball four to load the bases), and got J.D. Drew to fly out to the warning track in left to end the threat.

The Red Sox scored in the first when Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single, moved to second on a balk when Chamberlain failed to come to a discernible stop in his delivery, and scored when Jose Molina came out of his crouch too fast on Ellsbury’s attempted steal of third and let Chamberlain’s pitch sail between his legs.

Surprisingly it was the bottom third of the Yankee order that did the damage against Lester. Melky Cabrera delivered a one-out single in the fourth, Jose Molina followed with a walk, and Cody Ransom shot a game-tying double down the third base line scoring Melky and pushing Molina to third. Molina then scored on a groundout by Derek Jeter to put the Yankees up 2-1.

The Red Sox tied it up against Chamberlain in the sixth, ironically the only inning in which Joba didn’t allow the leadoff man to reach base. With one out, Mike Lowell doubled off the Green Monster, Jason Varitek singled him to third, and Nick Green singled him home, driving Chamberlain from the game.

Phil Coke and Jonathan Albaladejo locked things down from there while the Yankees scored a pair of runs off Hideki Okajima and Manny Delcarmen in the seventh. Okajima entered the seventh with a 5.40 career ERA against the Yankees and failed to get an out. Derek Jeter led off with a double just past the Pesky Pole and off the tip of J.D. Drew’s glove near the right-field wall. Johnny Damon then moved Jeter to third on a drag bunt base hit, and Mark Teixeira scored the captain with a single. After Jorge Posada singled to load the bases, Terry Francona called on Delcarmen, who got Nick Swisher to fly out to shallow left, holding the runners, but then gave up a sac fly to Robinson Cano that pushed the Yankee lead to 4-2.

(more…)

Boston Red Sox

2008 Record: 95-67 (.586)
2008 Pythagorean Record: 95-67 (.586)

Manager: Terry Francona
General Manager: Theo Epstein

Home Ballpark (multi-year Park Factors): Fenway Park (108/106)

Who’s Replaced Whom:

• Jason Bay replaces Manny Ramirez
• Jonathan Van Every is filling in for Rocco Baldelli (DL), who replaces Coco Crisp
• Jeff Bailey is filling in for Mark Kotsay (DL), who replaces Sean Casey
• George Kottaras replaces Kevin Cash
• Nick Green is filling in for Jed Lowrie (DL) and Julio Lugo (DL), thus Gil Velazquez is replacing Alex Cora
• Brad Penny replaces Clay Buchholz (minors), Paul Byrd, and Bartolo Colon
• Ramon Ramirez replaces Mike Timlin
• Takashi Saito replaces David Aardsma
• Justin Masterson is filling in for Daisuke Matsuzaka (DL)
• Hunter Jones is filling in for Masterson in the bullpen

25-man Roster:

1B – Kevin Youkilis (R)
2B – Dustin Pedroia (R)
SS – Nick Green (R)
3B – Mike Lowell (R)
C – Jason Varitek (C)
RF – J.D. Drew (L)
CF – Jacoby Ellsbury (L)
LF – Jason Bay (R)
DH – David Ortiz (L)

Bench:

R – Jeff Bailey (OF/1B)
L – Jonathan Van Every (OF)
R – Gil Velazquez (IF)
L – George Kottaras (C)

Rotation:

L – Jon Lester
R – Josh Beckett
R – Justin Masterson
R – Tim Wakefield
R – Brad Penny

Bullpen:

R – Jonathan Papelbon
L – Hideki Okajima
R – Manny Delcarmen
L – Javier Lopez
R – Ramon Ramirez
R – Takashi Saito
L – Hunter Jones

15-day DL:

RHP – Daisuke Matsuzaka (shoulder strain)
SS – Jed Lowrie (wrist surgery)
SS – Julio Lugo (meniscus surgery)
OF – Rocco Baldelli (hamstring)
RHP – John Smoltz (shoulder surgery)
OF/1B – Mark Kotsay (back)

60-day DL:

RHP – Miguel Gonzalez (TJ)

Typical Lineup:

L – Jacoby Ellsbury (CF)
R – Dustin Pedroia (2B)
L – David Ortiz (DH)
R – Kevin Youkilis (1B)
L – J.D. Drew (RF)
R – Jason Bay (LF)
R – Mike Lowell (3B)
S – Jason Varitek (C)
R – Nick Green (SS)

(more…)

Today’s news is powered by a video tribute to Bob Sheppard:

• Tyler Kepner previews this weekend’s match-up with the BoSox:

They will meet on Friday at Fenway Park the way they always seem to be: dead even in the standings. The Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, never far from each other’s consciousness, have identical 9-6 records. The Yankees have won six of their last eight. The Red Sox are on a seven-game winning streak.

It is almost immaterial that the Toronto Blue Jays, of all teams, are atop the American League East, and that the Tampa Bay Rays are the reigning division champions. In the insular world of 4 Yawkey Way, nobody else will matter.

• What does Bud Selig think about the pricing of those premium seats?:

Bud Selig has noticed those empty seats at the new ballparks in New York, too. Should the Yankees and Mets lower their tickets prices? The commissioner said that’s up to them. . . .

Speaking to the Associated Press Sports Editors, Selig said it was not an issue for Major League Baseball to decide, and added he wouldn’t make any recommendation.

“They’re going to discuss it, and whatever adjustments they want to make, they should make,” Selig said. “I wouldn’t be presumptuous talking about what they should or shouldn’t do.”. . .

Yankees spokeswoman Alice McGillion wouldn’t discuss Selig’s remarks, saying: “We’re still not talking about ticket prices.”

Selig said too much is being made in the media of the top-priced seats. “They’re off to a very good attendance start. One team is averaging 44,000 — the Yankees are at 44 — and the Metsies are averaging 37,000,” he said. “So it would be hard if I went to Pittsburgh or somewhere today and tell them, gee, you know, those two New York clubs are really struggling.”

• PeteAbe has the rundown on Chien-Ming Wang’s day down in Tampa:

“He doesn’t have the arm strength he had last year,” (minor league pitching instructor Nardi) Contreras said. “But he hasn’t pitched in eight months prior to this spring training. What I saw today, he had the best slider I’ve seen since I’ve known Chien-Ming. The slider has improved and the changeup is very good. His offspeed pitches are coming in really well.”

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For too long now, we in the media have referred to the Yankees of 1965 to 1974 as representatives of the “Horace Clarke Era.” The team’s starting second baseman for much of that period, Clarke has come to symbolize the mediocrity of those Yankee clubs. Seen here in his final Topps card (vintage 1974), Clarke was viewed as an inadequate player, symptomatic of a team that was inadequately built to win any pennants or division titles during that ten-year span.

The criticism of Clarke has run on several different levels. Too much of a free swinger, he didn’t draw enough walks. He didn’t have great range at second base, especially toward his backhand side. He also didn’t turn the double play well.

To some extent, the criticisms are all true. He never coaxed more than 64 walks in a season and usually finished below the 50-mark. Defensively, he paled in comparison to two other Yankees, predecessor Bobby Richardson and successor Willie Randolph. On double plays, Clarke bailed out early and often. Instead of pivoting at the bag, he sometimes jumped out of the way of runners while holding onto the baseball.

Those critiques provide only a partial view. The switch-hitting Clarke stole bases, bunted adeptly, and usually hit for a respectable average (at least for that era), which would have played acceptably as the eight-hole or ninth-place hitter. The Yankees made the mistake of using Clarke as a leadoff man because he looked and ran like a tablesetter. That was their mistake, not his. In the field, Clarke had his shortcomings, but for a guy who supposedly lacked range, he did lead the American League in assists six times. Part of that might have been attributable to having a sinkerballer like Mel Stottlemyre on the staff, but it’s also an indication that Clarke had pretty good range to his left.

Was Clarke a top-notch player? Of course not. But I would say that he was better than mediocre. (The Yankees of that era, like Clarke, were also better than advertised. Just look at the records of the 1970 and 1974 teams.) I think the Yankees could have won a division with a second baseman like Clarke, if only they had been better at other positions, like third base (prior to Graig Nettles’ arrival) or right field. If you want to find the real reasons why the Yankees so often struggled during those years, you need to look no further than the revolving doors at those slots. The Yankees had substantially weaker players at third base (Cox, Kenney, Sanchez) and right field (Kosco, Swoboda, Callison). It’s just that none of the third basemen or right fielders lasted long enough to become targets of the critics.

Putting aside the issue of talent evaluation for a moment, Clarke was an intriguing player to follow, especially for a young fan like me. Clarke came attached with a cool nickname. He was called “Hoss,” raising memories of Dan Blocker’s iconic character from Bonanza. (Bill White, in particular, loved that nickname. “Hosssss Clarke,” he liked to say with flourish.) Clarke also had an intriguing background. He was one of the few players I can remember who hailed from the Virgin Islands. So that made him a little bit different from your run-of-the-mill player. Then there was Clarke’s appearance. He wore very large glasses, the kind that became so horribly fashionable in the early 1970s, really round and overly noticeable. On the field, Clarke not only wore a helmet at the plate; he sported one while patrolling second base. I haven’t been able to figure out exactly why he did that. It may have had something to do with his fear of being upended on double-play takeout slides. Several years ago, Darren “Repoz” Viola of Baseball Think Factory asked former Yankee broadcaster Bob Gamere why Clarke wore the helmet at second base; Gamere explained that it may have stemmed from a 1969 incident in which Clarke was hit in the head with a ball, but he wasn’t completely certain. Whatever the reason, the helmet made Clarke a distinctive landmark on the middle infield.

For all of those reasons, and for being a quiet guy who rarely complained, Hoss Clarke was a likeable guy. He was also a decent ballplayer. So let’s stop vilifying the man who was once booed during pre-game introductions on Opening Day at the old Yankee Stadium. Let’s stop raking the man that one New York writer repeatedly referred to as “Horrible Horace.” I’d prefer to call him “Helpful Horace.” Let’s go with that instead.

Bruce Markusen writes “Cooperstown Confidential” for MLBlogs at MLB.com.