Today’s news is powered by  “ANSKY”:

• CC Sabathia made a simulated start on Monday.  28 pitches … only one of which were put into play in fair territory.
• C-MW looked good and, more importantly felt fine, in his start against the Astros Monday.
• Joba Chamberlain made a kid’s life a little happier, as he spent part of Sunday at Disney World with a hard-working student from his hometown:

Chamberlain said that his efforts to give back have been well-received at home.

“I pick a student that represents what I stand for and where I come from,” Chamberlain said. “Jazmine had worked really hard, and she deserved it. Talking to her parents, I guess a lot of kids started working harder in school because of the rewards that come along with it.”

While in Orlando, Chamberlain appeared on the Baseball Tonight studio set and introduced Jazmine and her family to CC Sabathia, who was also present for the ESPN events.

“It’s cool to be able to cherish that with your teammate and someone that cherishes their time with their family as much as I do,” Chamberlain said.

• BP.com’s Joe Sheehan examines how the Yankees have (re)built their bullpen over the last few seasons:

Other than re-signing 2008 trade acquisition Damaso Marte to a three-year, $12 million deal, the Yankees made the statement, however implicit, that they are committed to their homegrown relievers in 2009. One of the bright spots in the team’s first October-free season since 1994 was the emergence of hurlers such as Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras, who combined to strike out 126 men in 113 innings with a 3.74 ERA. By the end of the season, Phil Coke and David Robertson were making contributions in low-leverage situations. Add in free-talent pickups like Brian Bruney and Alfredo Aceves, and the Yankees have more than enough effective relievers to go around, whether you’ve heard of them or not.

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Today’s news is powered by a pitch from The Mick:

• Two of the Baby Bombers got nicked in the Yanks Grapefruit League game on Sunday:

Yankees catching prospect Jesus Montero left Sunday’s Grapefruit League exhibition against the Reds after suffering a strained right groin. …

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that Montero had been examined by trainer Gene Monahan and that the 19-year-old backstop would miss at least a few games.

Earlier in the contest, Yankees right-hander Jonathan Albaladejo was also forced to exit after being struck in the left calf by a batted ball.

Albaladejo was working in the bottom of the third inning, when Cincinnati’s Jeff Keppinger hit a hard shot up the middle and off the pitcher into center field. …

• Mike Vaccaro of the Post profiles Mariano Rivera:

“People come and people go,” Derek Jeter said the other day, smiling, shaking his head, “and then you have Mo, who isn’t going anywhere.”

The smile thinned a bit.

“Who’d better not be going anywhere,” he said. …

It is Mariano Rivera. It is the ninth inning. It is, as his arm can attest, as often as not a few outs in the eighth inning, too. It is 482 saves in 542 lifetime opportunities, an 88.9-percent success rate that the record books insist is just fourth, all-time, among all relievers with at least 200 save opportunities. …

Especially because last year may have been Rivera’s finest, 39 saves in 40 chances, a 1.40 ERA, all of that at age 38, with more than 800 appearances and close to a thousand innings already on his right arm, elbow, shoulder and rotator cuff.

“I like the idea of being consistent, of being slow and steady and reliable,” Rivera says. “I like that I’m an element of the team the other guys can count on being ready to do my job. That’s what I do. That’s why I’m here.”

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Joba Chamberlain and the Yankee starters (save the rehabbing Hideki Matsui) take on Francisco Liriano and the Twins B-squad at Boss Field this afternoon at 1:15. The game is on YES and marks the spring debut of the WCBS radio team. I love baseball on the radio, but I’ve had a hard time stomaching John Sterling ever since Michael Kay jumped to TV. Still, let’s hope he gets to do this some 95 to 100 times during the regular season and 11 more times in October:

By the way, what ever happened to “no cheering in the press box?”

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Alex Rodriguez’s performance at last week’s press conference was all anyone could talk about on the airwaves here in New York for days. Driving around as I did for much of the weekend, it didn’t matter if I turned on 1050 or WFAN, it was “Let’s skewer A-Rod,” followed by “What the hell is Jerry Manuel doing with the lineups,” “Fire Renney,” and “The Knicks play in New York, too, so we have to talk about them.”

On the written side of things, there was more diversity in the Yankee coverage, ranging from the requisite holier-than-thou columns on A-Rod to the investigative journalism unearthing the details of A-Rod’s PED story. The muckraking that ensued was to be expected, but with all this information being brought to light now, shouldn’t investigative reporting at this level been done proactively in the beginning of the decade, instead of reactively now? Of course, there has been a great amount of what we’ve all been waiting for: actual baseball stories from camp: roster projections, players to watch, the ongoing discussion regarding what to do with Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher, Joe Girardi’s personality, and the questions regarding ticket prices as Opening Day approaches.

Of all those articles, I was particularly drawn to one that added even more perspective to the steroid investigation. It was a blog entry posted Wednesday on the Daily News Web site by investigative reporter Michael O’Keeffe (not the Michael O’Keefe who played Danny Noonan in “Caddyshack” and was married to Bonnie Raitt), and it profiled a sports activist, Charles S. Farrell, who moved to the Dominican Republic to help open a sports and education academy. Farrell, a former director of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Sports, commented on the prevalence of steroids, the legality of them and the ease by which they can be obtained in a recent newsletter.

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Today’s news is powered by the brainpower of Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman of “Mythbusters” (with special guest Roger Clemens):

• Cliff has the recap of the Yanks 5-1 win over the Rays yesterday.
• Here’s a link to something to make Banterites less nervous …. Georgie juices one.  (sorry … couldn’t resist)
• Tyler Kepner writes of Posada’s progress to date.
• The Bombers will be wearing a new cap to commemorate their inaugural season in their new stadium.
• George Vecsey notes the number of major leaguers that have lost a bit of weight in the off-season, including Brian Bruney.
• Those obstructed-view bleacher seats will now go for $5, rather than the original $12.
• The Bombers and Bank of America have ended their long, drawn out negotiations for a major sponsorship deal.
• Lonn Trost, however, states that the economy has not affected the Yankees’ sponsorship deals “one iota”.  Furthermore, with regard to those obstructed-view bleacher seats:

“Those seats are being sold at $5, not $12,” he said. “I think some seats may have gone out improperly invoiced. Those are going to be corrected, but those 600 seats are going to be $5.” …

“When we built the sports bar we knew architecturally there is an architectural shadow,” he said. “And that means there are a group of seats that are in the bleachers that if you are sitting very close to either the rightfield or leftfield side of the sports bar, you may not see the opposite side.

“We knew that going in, and to that extent we pre-prepared to put televisions in the wall, as well as that big screen so you don’t miss anything.”

[My take: You put televisions in the food courts so people don’t miss the action.  You shouldn’t have to put them in the actual seating area.  Whatever.]

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Since the games have finally begun (OK … only exhibition, but still) … today’s news is brought to you by someone who decided to videotape a Strat game:

• ESPN recaps A-Rod’s day as part of the Yanks 6-1 Spring Training opener, and offers these tidbits:

The slugger had dinner Tuesday night with former Yankees star Reggie Jackson, now a special adviser with the team.

“I told him to hit the baseball. It’s really an old story. It never really changes,” Jackson said. “Hit the baseball, and hit it like heck. That’s really about all that really matters.”

The Hall of Famer also passed along some words from Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner.

“He said, ‘You deliver this message: Just tell him hit the damn ball and hit it when it counts. That’s really the most important thing that he can do. All the other conversations, they don’t matter. The more you talk, the more you have an opportunity to make a mistake.’ “

[My take: What an interesting contrast and comparison to be had … A-Rod and Mr. October.  Who wouldn’t want to be a fly on the wall for their conversations?]

• Tyler Kepner points out the contributions of Swisher and Gardner in the win.
• MLB.com offers a capsule recap of the game.
• PeteAbe ponders why Igawa is not playing in the WBC, and gets a blunt assessment:

One of the Japanese reporters in Tampa covering Hideki Matsui was asked why Igawa was not considered for the WBC roster. He searched for the right words.

“They think … he is not so good,” the man said.

• PeteAbe also gets some interesting quotes from Reggie regarding A-Rod’s revelations:

“The best answer I can give you is that I was disappointed. I was very lucky to have been a good player. When I started playing I was a fan. When I played I was a fan and when I left the game I am a fan of Derek Jeter, of Alex Rodriguez, of CC Sabathia. I like to be at games, I like to watch the games. … I get affected as a fan. You get saddened.

“I get angry sometimes. I’ve been reprimanded by the commissioner and the president of our team. I’ve pleaded with them to understand that I’m personally affected; I’m personally involved. I’m hurt; I’m bewildered. I don’t know that we ever get past it.”

• The Babe Ruth monument has landed at the new Stadium.

[My take: No truth to the rumor that the Babe’s view of the field is blocked by the center field restaurant.]

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The Yankees start their spring schedule this afternoon in Dunedin, where they’ll face the Blue Jays starting at 1:05. The game won’t be televised, on the radio, or even available via on-line gamecast, but you can follow it via Peter Abraham’s liveblog over at LoHud. Joe Girardi is running out his B-team, save for the three WBC participants (Jeter, Cano, and Alex Rodriguez). Brett Gardner and Nick Swisher get the starts in center and right. Brett Tomko will take the mound to start.

Check back this afternoon for my recap of the game.

Meanwhile, here’s a recap of some of the things we’ve learned since camp opened:

Injuries: There’s been nothing but good news on the four recovering Yankees. Chien-Ming Wang has experienced no pain in his foot. Jorge Posada has been stretching out his arm without discomfort. Hideki Matsui and Mariano Rivera are coming along more slowly, but without cause for concern. In Rivera’s case, the slow progression is typical of how he gets ready in the spring, as he tends to throw most of his spring innings in the second half of March.

Aches and Pains: Edwar Ramirez has been shut down for a few days with shoulder bursitis. Otherwise, there have just been a few sore hamstrings (Jeter, Marte) and a couple of stomach flues (Sabathia, Cervelli), but nothing thus far that has effected a player’s availability for more than a day or two.

Lineup: Mark Teixeira will bat third ahead of Alex Rodriguez. Hideki Matsui will be the DH making only “emergency” appearances in the field. Neither of these things were unexpected.

Rotation: Joe Girardi just announced today that the opening rotation, barring injury, will be Sabathia, Wang, Burnett, Pettitte, Chamberlain. That order properly staggers the lefties and pitching styles the five starters and puts Chamberlain in the five spot where he can be skipped occasionally to keep his innings down. That said, Girardi also said the plan is for Chamberlain to make about 30 starts. At an average of six innings a start, that would be 180 innings–too many coming off a seasons of 112 1/3 in 2007 and 100 1/3 last year.

Bullpen: Really, the only thing we’ve learned about the ‘pen is that Phil Coke will not be starting, but will indeed be in the mix as a reliever. That doesn’t mean he’s made the team (though he has an excellent chance of doing so), only that the Yankees have recognized where he’s most valuable to them. We’ve also been told the Yankees intend to take a long reliever north, but I think that would be a mistake and will believe it when I see it.

Finally, there was one piece of news that was bigger than baseball, that being Jason Johnson’s optical cancer. After experiencing blury vision, Johnson got himself checked and caught the tumor early enough that his doctors were able to quickly get the disease under control, delaying his arrival to camp only briefly. Johnson’s disease doesn’t change the fact that he has no business being in camp with the Yankees, but while I won’t be rooting for him on the field, I’ll be rooting hard for him off of it. You can read more on Johnson from my good friend, optical cancer survivor Steven Goldman.

Today’s post is powered by a classic personality pitching a (for its time) classic baseball video game:

• Edwar Ramirez has been diagnosed with mild bursitis in his right shoulder, and won’t pitch again until this weekend.
• Mariano Rivera notes that his shoulder is well on its way to full recovery:

“It’s feeling strong and now I am building muscle,” Rivera said of the shoulder, which was operated on after last season. “I have been throwing, playing long toss and it’s getting better every day.”

The next step for Rivera is to get on a bullpen mound, but he isn’t sure when that will occur.

“I don’t want to push it,” said Rivera, who vowed on the first day of spring training he would be ready by Opening Day, April 6.

• Tyler Kepner has a nice piece on Hideki Matsui’s efforts to get all the way back:

Matsui will be 35 in June, and his knees have made him a full-time designated hitter. He had surgery on his right knee after the 2007 season, then on his left knee on Sept. 22. Matsui delayed that operation so he could play in the final game at Yankee Stadium.

He stayed in the United States until December, working to strengthen the knee. In Japan, he practiced jogging on grass. He did not jog here until Monday, and he ran the bases gingerly after a round of batting practice Tuesday. He will not be ready to play when the Yankees visit the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday in Dunedin. …

Matsui spent 10 seasons playing his home games on artificial turf at the Tokyo Dome. At 6 feet 2 inches and 220 pounds, Matsui said he was among the bigger players in Japan and worried about damage to his knee cartilage.

“I knew there was a certain level of stress that was being put on my knees and my lower body in general,” he said. “I did have that fear that at some point, something was going to happen.” …

“I still feel I have a lot of baseball in me,” Matsui said. “Yes, I did get injured the last few years, but in terms of how I feel physically and my baseball skills, I don’t feel like I have any issues.”

• Kepner also details the positional battles to be address over the next five weeks:

With Edwar Ramirez dealing with bursitis in his right shoulder, there could be another opening in the bullpen. Mariano Rivera, Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte are locks. The Yankees will probably take a long reliever, too, which leaves three more spots from a group including Jose Veras, Phil Coke, Dave Robertson, Jonathan Albaladejo, Mark Melancon and Ramirez. …

Others who will try to squeeze onto the roster include the versatile infielder Cody Ransom (who is on the 40-man roster), and non-roster players like shortstop Angel Berroa and catcher Kevin Cash. Among the other non-roster players with major league experience include Shelley Duncan, Todd Linden and John Rodriguez.

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Today’s news is powered by a baseball-themed clip from Conan O’Brien’s final show:

• The infirmary report on Jorge Posada keeps improving by the day:

Reporting to camp well ahead of pitchers and catchers, Posada has had plenty of time to work out the kinks. He is incrementally moving closer to getting behind the plate in a big league game, and he is still eyeing Opening Day on April 6 at Baltimore as the moment he will stick a few fingers down for CC Sabathia.

The 37-year-old made 15 throws from distances as far as 220 feet Sunday, drawing praise from Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who called it “substantially different than what I saw just four or five days ago.”

• Ken Davidoff writes about Joe Girardi philosophy when it comes to making out line-ups:

Torre’s early Yankees teams, particularly those from 1996-99, carried amazing depth on the 25-man roster.

Joe Girardi, part of that depth on those clubs, knows he won’t be able to match that. But in crafting the lineup cards this season, an admittedly crucial one for him, he hopes to strike that magical balance among stability, variety and versatility.

“I prefer to have a set lineup. I think it works best,” Girardi said yesterday after a second straight relatively tranquil practice that was light on the A-Rod. “But sometimes, similar to some of the teams that I was on, you’re better if there’s some platoon situations, or your bench is extremely strong, or everyone’s in the mix, or everyone’s healthy. We just have to see how it shakes out.” …

… Girardi struggled to get a feel for when to start his players and when to rest them, a failing that came to life Aug. 11 in Minnesota, when he benched Johnny Damon (10-for-24 in the previous five games) against Twins starter Glen Perkins. Justin Christian led off and went 0-for-4, and the Yankees fell meekly, 4-0.

The Yankees used 130 lineups last year, and they used their Opening Day lineup – Damon in leftfield, Derek Jeter at shortstop, Bobby Abreu in rightfield, Alex Rodriguez at third base, Jason Giambi at first base, Robinson Cano at second base, Posada at catcher, Hideki Matsui at designated hitter and Melky Cabrera in centerfield – only on April 1.

• Joe Girardi decided to cancel workouts Monday and instead organize a team “field trip” to a local pool hall.  Mariano Rivera turned out to be the best pool player of the bunch:

The idea hit Girardi in the early days of Spring Training, realizing that camp runs longer this year because of the World Baseball Classic and a day of respite might be welcome before exhibition games begin.

It would also be a good way for Girardi to better familiarize himself with the team.

“I think every year you’re here as a manager, you want to have more knowledge about your players and their personalities,” Girardi said. “You want to feel closer to your players. You want to bring a group together. It’s important that a group is united when they leave Spring Training.”

Looking for an event that could not be impacted by weather, Girardi originally considered renting out a bowling alley, but the idea of having his pitchers whipping 12-pound balls down the lanes dissuaded him.

The Yankees found a billiard hall that could accommodate a large group, and Girardi told the Yankees to book it for a few hours. The tournament was expected to last about 2 1/2 hours — until lunch — but Girardi acknowledged it might take longer, with no real pool sharks known to be on the roster.

[My take: The mental image I have of Sabathia leaning over the table to make a tough shot scares me a bit.]

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Let’s get right to it …

• PeteAbe has a longer-length column on Joe Girardi “more personal approach” this season:

Girardi approached the Yankees last season like one of the industrial engineering assignments he undertook as a student at Northwestern. If he applied enough of his own hard work and logic to whatever issue came up, he would find the solution. But those pesky variables, other people, kept getting in the way. …

Eight days into his second spring training with the Yankees is not enough time to determine whether Girardi truly has changed the methods that led to the reconfiguration of his coaching staff, tension in the clubhouse, and a fractured relationship with the reporters who cover the team. But his reaction to the Rodriguez scandal reveals a man willing to change.

Relentlessly positive a year ago, Girardi has been measured in his support of Rodriguez – a position that reflects the mood of the team – while at the same time using the situation as a way to better connect to his players. The bridges that he vowed to build last fall are falling into place, plank by plank.

• Steve Serby has a fluffy but fun Q&A with CC Sabathia, including this instant classic exchange:

Q: Why do you wear your hat cocked?

A: It feels straight to me when I have it on.

• John Harper details the financial risks Andy Pettitte took in the off-season:

When all the haggling was finally done this winter, Andy Pettitte turned down $10 million and wound up signing for $5.5 million with incentives, which is the kind of deal you think would get an agent fired in most cases.

Pettitte says no, he has no problem with Randy Hendricks and no problem with his deal. He was determined to get the $12 million he thought he was worth, and in the end maybe he paid a price for playing his hand too boldly, but he insists it was worth it for the chance to prove the ugly finish to last season doesn’t mean he’s one step from being washed up.

“Hey, around July last year I thought I was going to win 20 games,” Pettitte was saying Saturday. “I felt that good. So don’t tell me that based on my last 11 or 12 starts I’m done. I had a shoulder problem.”

As it turns out, he’s essentially betting $4.5 million that he can stay healthy and reach the incentives that could get him to $12 million, and for a 36-year-old pitcher with a history of elbow injuries to go with last year’s shoulder problem, that’s a risky bet.

• Wallace Matthews profiles the always energetic Nick Swisher:

Wedged in among the dramatics of A-Rod, the stoic professionalism of Jeter and the quiet dignity of Mariano Rivera, Swisher sticks out like a lunatic in a library.

“Swish is very energetic, I’ll tell you that,” said a bemused Posada, who sits four lockers away, still close enough to feel the bass vibrations in his sternum. “He looks like he’s really enjoying being here.”

Think Jack Black with a first baseman’s mitt or Ozzy Osbourne with the ability to draw a walk, and you’ve got Swisher pegged.

And his high-energy pre-workout routine – a little air guitar, a little wrestling with the kids running around the clubhouse, some mosh pit writhing – was just a warm-up for his post-workout session. That’s when he spent an hour in the batting cage with hitting coach Kevin Long, honing his swing from both sides of the plate while shouting “Nobody else is working like this!” between hacks.

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Its Saturday morning … you wanna sleep late … but your cat has other ideas …

Important note!
I would rather not (further) play into the MSM’s fixation with the A-Rod PED story. I don’t want to help feed the “let’s hunt down every possible angle til we tear down Rodriguez” monster, so from here on, I will only post a PED-related A-Rod story if it has a direct result on his playing status (ex. he needs to miss a game to speak to Congress). Otherwise, I’m gonna let it slide.  This has Alex Belth’s blessing.  I hope you understand.

Now, back to the news:

• David Ortiz admires Mark Teixeira, and his fortunate timing contract-wise:

“Everybody needed a player like him at the time and the market was wide open. He walked into a situation that was perfect for him, and on top of it he was a very good player. Everybody who performs at that level wants to be put in that situation.” …

Under his previous deal, (Ortiz) could have potentially hit the free agent market at the age of 31.

But in the first month of the 2006 season Ortiz chose to sign a four-year, $52 million extension with a team option for 2011. …

“Teixeira was 28 years-old. In a few years I’ll be 35. It’s a totally different situation,” Ortiz said. “They know what you deserve and you go from there. But I’ll tell you what, if I was 28 I would be thinking like that.

“The market (when he signed his deal) wasn’t like it is now. It wasn’t close to what it is now. The year after I signed my deal the market exploded with the big television deal. I know it will be hard to get that kind of money a few years from now. I haven’t really sat down and thought about it. All my focus is about doing my thing. You work, try to get better every day for a reason. I’m not planning to go anywhere.”

• Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady are experiencing some financial liquidity issues:

Damon, 35, and Nady, 30, told FOXSports.com on Friday morning that their finances are frozen because of money they have with a Stanford company.

On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission froze all assets of three entities — Stanford International Bank, Stanford Group Co., and Stanford Capital Management — all managed by Robert Allen Stanford. Those were the only three entities whose assets were frozen, according to the SEC filing.

“I can’t pay bills right now,” Damon said at the Yankees’ spring training facility in Tampa. “That started on Tuesday. I had to pay a trainer for working out during the offseason. I told him, ‘Just hold on for a little bit and hopefully all this stuff gets resolved.'”

Nady faces similar concerns.

“I’m affected in some ways. I have the same (advisor) as Johnny,” Nady said. “He said I didn’t have money with Stanford (investments). But all my credit card accounts are frozen right now because of that situation. I’m trying to get an apartment in New York. I can’t put a credit card down to hold it.”

[My take: Maybe Nady should see if A-Rod’s apartment is still up for sale (vacant)?]

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Powered by it just being Friday, here’s the news:

• BP.com’s Christina Kahrl runs down the worst free-agent contracts of the off-season, and bestows the “worst” upon A.J. Burnett’s deal:

… why spend $16.5 million per year for the next five on a pitcher with Burnett’s spotty track record? Well, because you can, I suppose, and because somebody else you’re competing with might, but is investing this kind of money in a pitcher coming off of just his second full season in a big-league rotation in ten in The Show really where you want to wind up? Between Burnett’s repeated problems with durability and consistency over the course of his career, the money alone for this kind of length was nuts. Add in that young pitching is the organization’s great strength—Phil Hughes representing just the front end of the wave—and short-term deals like Pettitte’s incentive-driven one-year contract look entirely sensible as an adaptation to the market and the team’s immediate win-now needs; Burnett’s deal, by comparison, does not.

• BP.com also trots out their first 2009 iteration of their Playoff Odds report, and pegs the Yanks as having a 32.1% chance of winning the East and a 24.5% chance of nabbing the wild card.  Their resulting 56.5% chance of making the post-season ranks a comfortable 2nd behind the BoSox in the AL.
• If you care ….they’ve tracked down A-Rod’s cousin.

[My take: This song seems appropriate.]

• Buster Olney reports that the Yanks and Padres are each interested in the services of a 32-year-old Mexican League pitcher named Walter Silva.
• MLB.com explores the Yankees interest in players from China.
• It appears that the Yankee lineup will run Tex/A-Rod in the 3/4 slots.
• ESPN.com reports that Boss George and Bernie Williams each showed up at camp Thursday.  Here’s what was said about Steinbrenner:

Steinbrenner arrived at about 10 a.m., was brought from the parking lot to Steinbrenner Field in a golf cart, then was transferred to a wheelchair near a bank of elevators before going up to his office. The 78-year-old has been increasingly frail in recent years.

[My take: I was almost taken aback when I read about the wheelchair.  I mean … we all know he’s on the decline … but I still think of George as bluster and braggadocio.]

• No surprise here … Hank Steinbrenner doesn’t think much of John Henry’s call for a salary cap:

“Along with a few other teams, we’re basically baseball’s stimulus package,” Steinbrenner told The Associated Press. …

The Yankees, according to AP, paid about $110 million in revenue sharing and luxury tax last season — the latter a penalty for having a payroll beyond an agreed-upon dollar figure between owners and the players union.

“As long as we’re doing that and giving all this money to other teams in revenue sharing, a staggering amount, we should be able to spend on salaries what we want to,” Steinbrenner said. “Because of revenue sharing and because of the popularity nationwide, the Yankees are critical to baseball.”

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It’s that time of year again, time for the new crop of baseball books to hit the shelves.  The Joe Torre/Tom Verducci book made a splash several weeks ago, and Selena Robert’s forthcoming biography of Alex Rodriguez is sure to make the best-seller list when it comes out in mid-April.  But there are a bunch of other interesting titles set to drop this spring as well, including “As I See ‘Em,” Bruce Weber’s book about professional umpires; “Heart of the Game,” S.L. Price’s account of Mike Coolbaugh, the minor league coach who was killed by a foul ball in 2007, and “Odd Man Out,” Matt McCarthy’s evocative and entertaining look back on his brief minor league career with the Angels.

McCarthy pitched at Yale, played for a year with the Angels, and then moved on to a career in medicine.  He’s now an intern at Columbia Pres uptown, just a stones throw from where the New York Highlanders once played.

Last week, Sports Illustrated ran a long excerpt from “Odd Man Out”, and on March 3rd at 6:00 p.m., Matt will  be at The Corner Bookstore (1313 Madison Avenue at 93rd street) to talk about the book.  I was fortunate enough to get together with Matt recently and talk about his life in professional baseball.

Enjoy.

BB: John Ed Bradley wrote a terrific memoir about playing football at LSU called “It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium.” His experience might have been unique, but he describes the bond between his teammates almost like something soldiers feel. But I don’t get that same sense of being a team in baseball, even in college. Did you?

MM: Minor league baseball is a unique environment. It’s hard to be a good teammate when your primary goal is to leave the team- to be promoted to a higher level. And I was as guilty as anyone. If I pitched two scoreless innings and our team lost, I was relatively happy. No one makes the big leagues solely because they were on a winning minor league team. College baseball couldn’t be more different. We rooted for each other and still do. I still get a dozen texts every time Craig Breslow (my teammate at Yale who now pitches for the Twins) gets a big strikeout.

BB: Can you talk about the arrested development of the clubhouse culture. How do boys become men in that world?

MM: See: Kotchman, Tom. The Angels are very fortunate to have Kotchman. He could easily be a big league manager but instead he’s chosen to coach a rookie ball team. He’s able to influence players who’ve just signed very large (and very small) contracts and instill in them a culture of winning and for that the franchise owes him a large debt of gratitude. I don’t know if there are many guys like him still around, but I hope there are. That lucky charm of his- a large black dildo with two baseballs glued to the base- is something I’ll never forget. And the same is true of his Andrew Dice Clay impression. I’ve been out of baseball for six years and I still think about the Dice Man. He’s mentioned in recent interviews that he’s planning to retire from coaching sometime soon to become a full time scout. As I say in the book, I hope he reconsiders.

BB: Some of your teammates busted your chops about coming from Yale and assumed that you had a privileged life set up for yourself as a fallback in case baseball didn’t work. While they were wrong about you being on any kind of gravy train, you did have another career to turn to. How aware were you of that while you played?

MM: When you’re on the bottom rung of the minor league ladder, you can’t help but be aware of how expendable you are. That life after baseball is not just a possibility, but a reality. I was surrounded by guys who were coming to that realization and it was interesting to see how they responded. The realization came to me rather quickly- the first pitch I threw as a professional resulted in a bases-clearing double. I’m not sure if I ever recovered.

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Today’s news is powered by a classic baseball cartoon (goodness knows we could all use a laugh right about now) …

• BP.com’s Joe Sheehan points out the media frenzy and the unfairness towards A-Rod’s actions:

The reaction to Rodriguez’s press conference has been at best apathetic, and at worst, critical. His demeanor, his word choice, his expressions, his inflections have all been picked apart, and he’s been given no credit for the details he provided. There’s an assumption that he’s being deceptive, duplicitous, and insincere. Whether this stems from the dislike so many people have for this very insecure man, the dislike of his agent, or the general disdain for the successful and wealthy—let’s face it, sports coverage has devolved into thinly disguised class warfare—this most open moment has been dismissed, and Rodriguez has been given no credit for providing it.

Contrast that with the reaction to the press conference at which the Chargers’ Shawne Merriman openly discussed his… oh, wait, that didn’t happen. It didn’t happen because the NFL doesn’t have a vested interest in making its players look bad to gain the upper hand in an unending war against its own product. The NFL would never sustain a story like that through multiple news cycles, never allow PED use to overwhelm the story of training camps opening, never contribute to speculation that its game and its stars were somehow less than because of their behavior.

The other day, Bud Selig whined that he shouldn’t be held responsible for the so-called “steroid era,” claiming that he wanted to talk about the problem as far back as 1995. As I’ve mentioned, Selig has flipped on this issue a few times, sometimes claiming to have been fighting it for a while, sometimes claiming he didn’t know there was a problem. …

• Steven Goldman of Pinstriped Bible finished up with this thought after viewing the news conference:

Of course, none of these concerns go to the bottom line, which, as A-Rod correctly pointed out, is that he had his best season in 2007, and there has been a testing regimen in place for a few years now, one that seems to have been successful in nailing quite a few players. There remains little evidence that steroids do much more for ballplayers than build muscle, or that Rodriguez’s numbers were affected in any significant way. He remains one of the best ballplayers in the business and also one of the hardest to like. From the point of view of winning pennants, one out of two ain’t bad.

• Jayson Stark gets some interesting comments about the whole A-Rod deal from the one and only Mike Schmidt:

… when Schmidt was asked directly if he thought he’d have gotten caught up in trying performance-enhancing drugs had they been part of his era, he answered: “Most likely. Why not?”

“A term that I think has been overused a lot, especially by Alex, is ‘culture’ — culture of the era he played in,” Schmidt said. “We had a culture when I played. There was a culture in the era when Babe Ruth played. And in the ’60s, there was a culture. It’s just that way in life. And apparently — I wasn’t involved, but from hearing everybody — that was the culture of the ’90s and the early 2000s. The temptation had to be tremendous to the young men playing major league baseball back then.”

But when he was asked if he thought that being “young and stupid” was an acceptable explanation for what A-Rod did, Schmidt said: “Young and stupid may be better [when you’re] 12, 13, 14, as opposed to 23, 4, 5 and 6.”

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A couple of items to attend to before getting into the article:
1) Thank you for the well-wishes in the BB community following my last post. My daughter was born Thursday, February 5, at 8:32 a.m. EST. She has a tremendous set of lungs and long fingers. I think she’s going to be a singer-songwriter, maybe a prodigy like Alicia Keys.
2) Cliff, Alex and Diane have done a kickass job here following the A-Rod story and keeping everything strong.
3) I’m back on schedule now. Welcome to Spring Training!

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I’ve been watching Tim Roth’s new show on FOX, “Lie To Me.” The premise: Roth, as Dr. Lightman, heads a private company that assists in federal criminal cases, using scientific studies in body language and facial expressions to determine whether a suspect is lying. At various points in an episode, still photos of Sarah Palin, O.J. Simpson, etc., are shown to demonstrate how in real life, facial expressions can communicate emotion and in turn, veracity or falsehood of statements.
Far-fetched? Depends on your point of view. Provocative? Certainly.
In the three weeks since the show premiered, the A-Rod situation has blown up, and I’ve begun thinking about the show more and more, and yesterday’s press conference gave a perfect opportunity to role play and try to apply some of the science to breaking down what was a brilliantly staged spectacle.
“Hard to Believe” was the headline on ESPN.com. It’s a great headline because of the many ways it can be interpreted. Hard to believe A-Rod was being honest? Jayson Stark thinks so, as illustrated below in Diane Firstman’s excerpt. Hard to believe A-Rod read his statements so stiffly, as if he’d never rehearsed them? Hard to believe that he never mentioned the word “steroids” at all? Hard to believe that when asked if he considered what he did to be cheating, he dodged the answer and didn’t say anything definitive? (More on this later.) Hard to believe that he’s still trying to pull the “young and naïve” argument on us, and that he’s blaming his curiosity on not receiving higher education? Hard to believe he sold out his cousin? Hard to believe that he’s the scapegoat of the 104 players who tested positive in 2003? Hard to believe that Gene Orza of the MLBPA sold him out? Hard to believe that Bud Selig doesn’t want to take accountability for the state of the game breaking down, resurrecting itself, and breaking down again on his watch? Hard to believe A-Rod had no clue what Jamie Moyer said earlier this week? Hard to believe that this wasn’t a classic case of the media putting an athlete on a pedestal only to tear him down after learning of his transgressions? Hard to believe that a few callers dialed into Mike Francesa’s show and Michael Kay’s show yesterday afternoon buying into the Bill Madden theory that the Yankees should eat the remaining $270 million of his contract?

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Today’s news is brought to you by someone who knows how to properly admit the truth about his taking PEDs:

(I’m not gonna inundate you with A-Rod news conference links, because Alex and Cliff have done and will continue to provide related content.  But here are a couple to tide you over …)

• PeteAbe provides the text of Rodriguez’s opening statement (via the AP).
• Jayson Stark points out the inconsistencies in A-Rod’s answers to Gammons’ questions, and what he said at the news conference.  For example:

Nine days ago, A-Rod didn’t know what kind of drug (or drugs) he was taking — even though he says he took it for three years.

Now, nine days later, he knows it was something called “Boli.” Which, best we can tell, is another name for Primobolan, the exact drug he was asked point-blank by Gammons whether he had taken.

Nine days ago, there wasn’t one word uttered about any mysterious cousins who were procuring this stuff and helping him inject it. …

Nine days ago, A-Rod was implying that whatever he was taking, he was buying it down at the mall …

Now, he’s admitting his cousin was the one doing the purchasing. And although he continued to say this drug was bought “over the counter,” we now know that counter was located in the Dominican Republic …

Nine days ago, there was no mention of any other “substances.” But on Tuesday, Rodriguez admitted to ESPN’s Hannah Storm that he also used to take Ripped Fuel, which was later banned — at least in its original ephedra-based form — by both baseball and the FDA.

And nine days ago, Rodriguez was angrily accusing universally respected Sports Illustrated reporter Selena Roberts of “stalking” him. Now, it turns out, he just had a “misunderstanding of the facts.” So never mind.

Now let me ask you: Would a man whose mission was simply to tell the truth do that much zigzagging in a nine-day span? Sorry. That’s tough to accept.

[My take: Alex should have taken one more injection … truth serum.]

• Alan Schwarz of the Times blogged the A-Rod news conference, and had this to say at the end of it:

Rodriguez has said, in many different ways, “I’m ready to get this behind me.”….

I have my own personal Pete Rose Rule, named after the Hit King who denied he bet on baseball for (something like) 14 years before finally admitting it and saying, in effect, “It’s good to get this off my chest, and it’s time to move on.” Seems to me that if you admit to something after lying about it for 14 years, you get 14 years before others let you “move on.”

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Today’s news is powered by a younger, more innocent Alex Rodriguez, as seen in this video:

• Jayson Stark takes us behind the scenes of the soon-to-be circus atmosphere of A-Rod’s news conference:

Have I mentioned that Mark Teixeira pulled into this clubhouse for the first time Monday? If you’re wondering, he was 8½ minutes into his first chat with the media before he got a single question fired at him that WASN’T A-Rod-related.

Later on, the manager plopped into a chair in his office for his daily dose of press banter. The conversation with Joe Girardi lasted 14 minutes. I timed it.

He took one question about his overpopulated outfield, and another about whether he expected all of his players to report on time. EVERY other question was about his third baseman.

So think about how much Girardi and that talented little $200 million baseball team of his can’t wait for this melodrama to be over. Hey, good luck on that.

But at least the manager has that part figured out. Asked Monday if there was a “danger” that this story might linger after A-Rod leaves the witness stand — er, news conference — Girardi never blinked.

“Obviously, I think it’s going to linger,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to have a press conference [Tuesday] and then it’s just going to disappear.”

• ESPN ombusman LeAnne Schrieber takes a hard look at her network’s Gammons/A-Rod coverage.

My own assessment is that Gammons asked the hard questions — Did you take steroids? For how long? Where did you get them? Did you lie to Katie Couric? — but that after getting Rodriguez’s opening admission of guilt, he did not press hard enough when Rodriguez gave evasive or self-serving answers to the what/where/when/why questions. I also think Gammons’ lack of follow-up was attributable, in large part, to his genuine sympathetic engagement in the human drama of what the viewer somewhat cynically called “Rodriguez’s first step toward personal redemption.”

• SI’s Jerry Crasnick rates the Yankees OF situation as one of the top 9 position battles to be settled this Spring:

Johnny Damon, whose 118 OPS+ a year ago tied the best single-season mark of his career, will get the bulk of the left field at-bats, which leaves Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher in the mix in right and Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner competing for time in center.

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Since today is President’s Day, the news is powered by this video:

• PeteAbe has an article detailing that Rivera pitched with some discomfort during ’08:

During his annual state-of-the-closer address, Rivera revealed that he pitched much of last season in pain because of a bone spur on top of his collarbone. The lump, which was visible through his skin, caused discomfort even when he slept.

“I felt it all day,” Rivera said. “I don’t want to go through that again.”

Dr. David Altchek shaved down the bone on Oct. 7, but only after Rivera had appeared in 64 games and recorded 39 saves. Rivera had a 1.40 ERA and allowed only 41 hits over 70 2/3 innings. He struck out 77 and walked six.

In a superlative career, it was one of Rivera’s best seasons.

“It was painful but I did it,” said Rivera, who said the worst days were the ones when he pitched more than an inning or for the third game in a row.

[My take: Carl Pavano strained his ego reading that article.]

• Ken Davidoff reflects on the void in Yankeeland left by the departure of Boss George from day-to-day operations:

He sure made life difficult for everyone. Yet in virtual absentia, Steinbrenner’s stature has only grown. It has become painfully apparent that for all of his flaws, he has left an immense void. One that is even more noticeable when the organization is under siege, like right now.

“Those are some big shoes to fill,” said Rich Gossage, here as a guest instructor. “There is only one George Steinbrenner, I can tell you that. The current regime, it’s going to take a while for the transition to happen.”

• PeteAbe also blogs about Day 2 of camp, including this tidbit:

Joe Girardi mentioned that he wants to carry a long reliever. But it would hurt the development of Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy to use them in such a fashion. “Those guys need innings,” the manager said. Hughes and I had a little talk about it. “The paychecks would be great but that’s not what I need,” he said. “I’m good with pitching in AAA if that is what happens and being ready for when they need me.”

You watch, he’ll get 10-15 starts in the majors this season.

• At least Hughes is saying the right things:

“As long as I pitch well, I think I’ll have an opportunity,” Hughes said Sunday after his first bullpen session of the year at Steinbrenner Field. “And if all five of our starters go through the year and make every one of their starts, great. That’s obviously what they’re looking forward to. I’m just trying to work hard and find a place to fit it somewhere.”

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In honor of Valentine’s Day, today’s news is powered by this video (don’t worry, there’s no sex :-)):

• Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports on the Yanks’ first day or camp down in Florida, including this chuckle:

Noted extrovert Joba Chamberlain was already in midseason form, heading for the locker of the big man on campus and trying on CC Sabathia’s size 56 pinstriped jersey.

[My take: Brett Garder could use it for a tent.]

• Here’s a photo to make you happy … C-MW on the mound.
• Over at ESPN.com, Jayson Stark offers the results of a survey regarding best and worst off-season moves.  The Yankees figure prominently in the “best” categories.
• At BP.com, Kevin Goldstein is out with his annual listing of the “Top 100 Prospects”.   Jesus Montero is one of only two Yankees to make the list, at #38.  Austin Jackson (#46) is the other.
• Also at BP.com, Marc Normandin lists the top fantasy second basemen for ’09.  Robby Cano comes in at #14.
• The Yanks signed Brett Tomko to a minor league deal, writes Tyler Kepner.

[My take: Fun fact … his name anagrams to BOTTOM TREK, which sort of describes this signing.]

• In PeteAbe’s reporting of the Tomko signing, he includes this A-Rod news:

Meanwhile, in an incredible case of bad timing, the University of Miami named its baseball field after Alex Rodriguez this evening. A-Rod donated $3.9 million to refurbish the facility. He had planned to attend Miami before signing with Seattle out of high school.

The stadium is now called Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. How a park can be at a field, I’m not quite sure. But for $3.9 million, it doesn’t really matter.

[My take: Any truth to the rumor that Alex is now claiming he didn’t know exactly what he was putting his money towards (a park or a field), and that he’s sorry and remorseful and ready to move on?]

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In recognition of it being Friday the 13th, and all the news regarding a certain similarly-numbered Yankee, today’s news is powered by this clip … ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Stevie Wonder

Here’s the news

• Would the Commish really suspend A-Rod after his admission of steroid use?

[My take: That’s the LAST thing the Yanks need.  A fidgety A-Rod sitting on the pine for what … 50 games?]

• If you care to read Selig’s statement on the admission.
• TampaBay.com has some interesting Cashman quotes on the mess:

“From (2004) on, we’ve had the testing procedures in place — that’s the best I can go off of,” Cashman said. “I’m not here to represent that I’m confident about anything of anybody. I think we’ve lived through a tough stretch that shattered that confidence level. If you asked me that question five years ago, I’d be giving you a different answer. But I’ve been educated quite a bit, unfortunately, over this course of time. So I’m not gonna maybe make the same mistakes I’ve made in the past … so I’ll give you a blanket, ‘I’m not confident about anything in the past anymore.’ ”

Asked if he knew then what he now knows about Rodriguez, would he have re-signed the All-Star third baseman, Cashman said, “you can’t take us back that way.”

• Would Alex be willing to speak to youth about the dangers of performance-enhancing substances?  A congressmen wants to know:

A congressman has extended an invitation to baseball star Alex Rodriguez to discuss steroids — at an anti-drug event in Maryland.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) wrote a letter to the New York Yankees slugger this week, asking him to attend the “Powered by ME!” conference in Timonium, Md., this April. Cummings is a senior member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which heard pitcher Roger Clemens last year deny he used steroids or human growth hormone. The FBI is investigating whether Clemens lied when he made those denials. …

“In light of your recent acknowledgment that you used steroids in the past,” Cummings wrote, “I believe you are in a unique position to send a strong message out to our young people that they should refrain from using performance-enhancing substance.” The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter Thursday.

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