Thanks to Baseball Primer’s “Clutch Hits,” I found a short interview with Michael Lewis, author of “Moneyball,” as well as an especially good longer one with author Bill James. They are both worth checking out.

Alex Rodriguez had to leave last night’s Yankee-Red Sox game earlier after getting smacked in the kisser by the ball. A throw from Hideki Matsui bounced off of Brian Daubach’s foot and proceeded to bite Rodriguez right in the face. Ouch. The ball landed just under Rodriguez’s eye. He left the game, but x-rays were negative and he should be OK. The Yankees won the game, 8-6.

Speaking of the Sox, I’ve got a two-part interview with Howard Bryant, columnist at the Boston Herald, and author of “Shut Out: A Story of Race and Baseball in Boston,” over at The Hardball Times (Part One and Part Two). If you get the chance, let me know what you think of ’em.

The Mariano extension became official yesterday, and all was well in Yankeeland. Chicken soup for the soul. According to the Daily News:

“I think I was born to be a Yankee,” Rivera said. “I could’ve gone and tried to test the market after the season, but I wanted to remain a Yankee. It’s priceless, the pinstripes. Putting on that uniform every day in and out is priceless. If I have a chance to go in the Hall of Fame in the pinstripes, that’s big for me.”

Next up: Joe Torre.

Part two of T.J. Quinn’s profile of Alex Rodriguez is up today. It is worth taking a peek at because Quinn concentrates on Rodriguez’s skills on the field.

The Yankees host the Red Sox tonight in Tampa, but trainer Gene Monahan is more concerned with preparing his players for their long trip to Japan.

And You Can Quote This

I remember on one of my first days working for the Coen brothers, DVD copies of “Fargo” arrived at their office. This was in the fall of 1996, and the movie

The Daily News has the first of a three-part series profiling the career of Alex Rodriguez today, if you like that sort of thing. Rodriguez turned a nifty double play against the Tigers yesterday. John Haper called it Rodriguez’s first Graig Nettles play:

“I guess you’d say it was like the birth of me being a third baseman,” A-Rod said afterward. “That was the first one where I got a pretty good rush out of it, I’ll tell you that.”

It was a beauty, all right, A-Rod’s first truly sensational play with the glove as a Yankee. He robbed Ivan Rodriguez of a double with a backhand dive, and with runners at first and second, turned the stab into a double play by scrambling to third and making an off-the-wrong-foot throw across the diamond.

Meanwhile, Bubba Crosby could make the big club coming out of spring training. With all of the high-priced studs on this team, Crosby, the Dodgers number one draft pick in 1998, is a welcome breath of air. He is often compared with Lenny Dykstra, as a hustling, scrappy kind of player. Hey, if Clay Bellinger made the team, so can Bubber.

Mariano Rivera will be in New York for at least another three seasons. A two-year extension, with an option for a third, could be announced later today. According to the New York Times:

The Yankees and Rivera agreed to terms on a two-year, $21 million contract extension that will keep Rivera with the team through 2006, several club officials said Monday. The deal includes an option year for 2007 that will be triggered by games finished. Rivera will earn $10.5 million each season, making the total value of the deal $31.5 million if the third year vests.

A lot of money for a closer? Yup. Is Rivera worth the risk? I’d say so. I know I’ll sleep well at night knowing that the Sandman is around to close games out for the Yankees. If he holds up for the next few years, I think it’s safe to say: Next stop, Cooperstown.

I watched most of the Yankee game against Tampa Bay yesterday and all I can say is that the middle of the Bomber line up is rough, man. Each time 3-4-5 came up again, the only word that came to mind was, rough. Rodriguez is terrific of course, but he is prone to striking out. Giambi has an even better eye, though he too, whiffs a good deal. But then you come to Sheffield, who doesn’t strike out much, and who hits the ball extremely hard virtually every time he’s up. The dude is vicious. Oh yeah, Godziller went 3-3 yesterday. Matsui is part of the second-tier Yankee hitters along with Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada. There is no doubt that the Bronx Bombers are back.

Jorge DePaula pitched well, and is battling Scott Proctor for the last spot in the bullpen. Big Tony Clark is likely to stick around a bit longer as well, as Travis Lee will start the season on the DL with an inflammed left shoulder. Enrique Wilson and Miguel Cairo are also banged up. Could our man Homer actually make the squad? We shall see.

Meanwhile, Brian Cashman made Mariano Rivera an offer on Sunday night: two years, $21 million, with an option for a third season. Acccording to reports, Rivera could accept the contract extension as early as today.

Here’s a couple of cherce cuts for you before I break for the weekend…

Congrats go out to fans of the Oakland A’s, after Eric Chavez signed a six-year extension the other day. Christian Ruzich and Aaron Gleeman cover the story well.

Tyler Kepner has a puff piece on Joe Girardi this morning that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The Yankees are meeting with Mariano Rivera’s agent today. Rivera would like to sign an extension before the season starts.

Gordon Edes reports on MLB’s reaction to critical comments made about their drug-testing policy by Curt Schilling and Johnny Damon. (Meanwhile, Nomie and Trot are hurt and both could miss the season opener.)

Finally, Scott Miller has a good piece on one of my favorite pitchers, Greg Maddux, who has always been an interesting quote:

“I still believe if you do everything mechanically correct, it’s impossible for the ball to not go where you want it to,” Maddux says. “Like in golf. If your swing is mechanically correct, the ball is going to go where it should — or, at least, where you’re aiming.

“Things will change, and your mind will do things funky that you don’t want it to do.”

…”Coaches, if they tell you 10 things, one or two maybe will work,” Maddux says. “Very rarely will all 10 things work for everybody. I see it. I’ve worked with kids before. You tell one kid the same thing you told another kid yesterday, and the kid yesterday didn’t get it but the kid today does.

“I do it with my own kids with their math homework. I tell them one way, and they have no clue. I tell them another way, and they get it. Pitching is no different.”

I’m headed to the Transit Museum in Brooklyn with Emily tomorrow. We both love the New York Subway system and its history, plus Em’s never been to the Museum, which recently reopened after a long over haul. The two of us will be sitting on our fat asses watching the Yankees exhibition game on Sunday. I’ll be talking trash at the TV, she’ll be knitting. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

I love quoting movies. Doesn’t everyone to some extent or another? OK, I shouldn’t speak for everyone, but even my girlfriend, who doesn’t get off on that kind of thing, loves to quote lines from her favorite movie, “What About Bob?” (Believe it.) I’ve formed relationships based around a mutual love of movie-quoting. It’s an addicting, compulsive activity, and one that I thoroughly enjoy. I don’t think I’ve sent Mike Carminati an e-mail yet that didn’t contain a reference to “Stripes.”

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that loving to quote movies is what got me a job working for Joel and Ethan Coen, but it didn’t hurt. (I had previously worked for Woody Allen, and did my impression of the Wood man talking about the Knicks went over well with the guys.) The Coen brothers make extremely quotable movies themselves, and I think that is because they love to quote movies. When I first went to work for them I would pepper every day conversation with lines from “Raising Arizona”-which may be their most quotable movie. (Since I worked on “The Big Lebowski” I’m partial to that one, which is chock full of good lines too.) They would laugh, repeat the line, and quote another one. Or they would correct how I misquoted a line. (Don’t some people just hate when you get the words/lyrics wrong?)

During the production of “The Big Lebowski,” I recall driving Ethan to the bowling alley set in East Hollywood one day, and we went back-and-forth quoting from “Raging Bull.” It was a great treat to work in the editing room with them. As they put the movie together, we inevitably would quote our favorite lines. Ethan and I especially were fond of the Dude groaning, “Mmíaaww, man,” when he wakes up from getting cracked on the jaw by Julianne Mooreís goons. On some days, thatís all Ethan and I would say to each other. (Our other favorite was when the Dude is riding in the back of Maudeís limo and he tells the driver, “Yeah, I got a rash, man.”)

I mention the Coen brothers because they were brought up in the All-Baseball American League East Roundtable earlier this week. Jon Weisman wondered what kind of movie they would make about the Yankees-Red Sox feud. I responded in an e-mail:

I don’t think the Coen brothers would have much to say about the Yankees and Sox at all. Both teams are way too stuck up for the likes of the Coens. Coppola, Scorsese, DePalma, Speilberg: These are the kind of directors who have enough inherent hype in their styles to do the Yanks-Sox justice. The Coen brothers could do the Pirates vs. the Padres, though MLB is probably way too sophisticated and boring for Joel and Eth. Those guys love losers. Not self-satisfied, pompous losers like the Sox. The Cubs come close. But if they ever made a baseball movie–which I doubt would ever happen–it would be set in some minor league some time in the past. Don’t you think?
 

So what are some of your favorite Coen brother quotables? (Actually, a better question is: What are some of your favorite quotable movies of all-time?) Here are some that jump to mind:

“The important thing is we wall want it to have that Barton Fink feeling. I guess we all have that Barton Fink feeling, but since you’re Barton Fink I’m assuming you have it spades.” 

“‘Lo Tom, what’s the rumpus?”

“Well, we could start for instance with the Schmatte, like where’s the Schmatte? You could maybe tell us that.”

“Repeat offender.”

“You ate sand?”

“We’re set to pop here honey.”

“Mind you don’t cut yourself, Mordicai.”

Jon added two good ones:

“Her insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase.” 

“You know – for kids!”

Here are two more than are not from the Coen brothers, but very well could be:

“Nice boy, but about as sharp as a sack of wet mice.” Foghorn Leghorn 

“It’s as hot as two rats fucking in a sock in August in Kansas City.” Ichiro’s favorite American expression, as told to Bob Costas.

And Will Carroll noted that:

“The Ladykillers” looks to be one of those eminently quotable movies, along the lines of “The Big Lebowski.” I find myself saying “We need waffles, forthwith” already and that’s just the trailer.
 

I’m looking forward to seeing how Tom Hanks fares with Joel and Eth. I suspect it will be a lot of fun. Do yourself a favor though and see the original “Ladykillers.” The 1955 Eailing comedy stared Alec Guinness and featured Peter Sellers– a big radio star in England at the time on “The Goon Show”–in a supporting role.

I experienced some technical difficulties over the past 24 hours, hence the lack of new material. My label-mate Will Carroll was kind enough to post an article I wrote this morning; head on over and give it gander when you get a chance. On that note, I’m pleased to report that the snow has ceased and the sun is shinning in New York. Are you ready for spring or what?

For the second straight day it is snowing in New York. The city is mobbed today with packs of drunken suburbanites stumbling around in the name of Saint Patrick. Fortunately, the YES network is televising a Yankee exhibition game tonight, so the last-ditch efforts of old man winter aren’t bothering too tough.

I got an e-mail from my friend Mindy who was in Tampa last week with a couple of her pals, checking out the Yankees camp. She said it was such a mob scene this year that she doesn’t have any intentions of going back next season. Here are a few of her observations:

There were a couple of light-hearted moments we saw before the games. One day, Jeter and Kenny Loften were making fun of the way a-Rod was running up and down the field, so Kenny started prancing around on his tippy toes, leaving Jeter doubled over. Giambi ran over to get in on the joke and Jeter looked like he was gladly re-telling the story. Very cute.

…One thing I feel is worth mentioning…I realized that many of these people come down to spring training not just to see games, but to see players up close, get pictures and most importantly, get autographs. The autograph seekers are everyone from wide-eyed little kids to ruthless baseball memorabilia freaks who are looking to make an easy buck on e-bay. Either way, the entire time I was there the only person I saw signing any autographs was Jason Giambi (which he did last year as well). After, the guys left batting practice, A-Rod, Jeter, Kenny Lofton, even Enrique Wilson, ran by tons of fans waiting for autographs. Giambi was the only one to take the time to sign them. Even when people were throwing the balls over the fence at him (all at once), he stopped and ran around picking them up off the ground to give a signature to everyone. Last year, Joe Torre was the only other guy next to Giambi that I saw giving an autograph. I was very proud of Bam Bam Giambi and according to everyone that I met who knows or has met these guys

Last Saturday I watched parts of two Yankee spring training games. First, I caught most of the Friday night game on Yankee Rewind, and then I popped in-and-out of the day game against the Braves. One thing is for sure: as much as I like to worry about how good the Red Sox, Blue Jays and every other good AL team will be, I don’t envy any of those teams when they face a healthy Yankee line up. Watching Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield follow Jeter felt like playing a video game, almost too good to be true. I allowed myself to get caught up in the excitement. Man, this is going to be fun.

It is reasonable to assume that this team will pound out plenty of 12-4 wins. I’m interested in how many games they win 7-5 after trailing 4-1 going into the seventh or eighth innings.

One player who caught my attention was Scott Proctor, the young flame thrower aquired with Bubba Crosby from the Dodgers in the Robin Ventura trade. Last summer, John Sickels opined:

Like Crosby, Proctor is a product of Los Angeles’ 1998 draft class. Drafted out of Florida State in the fifth round, Proctor has pitched adequately as a starting pitcher, but never obtained true prospect status and was often left off Dodger prospect lists. Converted to relief this year, Proctor has posted a 2.58 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 66 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. His fastball has been timed anywhere between 89 and 95 mph, and he has a reasonably effective slider. He is 26, and could be a middle-relief sleeper.

Proctor is thin, almost like a young Tim Hudson. His motion is compact, and he kept the ball down, mixing in a slider with his fastball. I’m curious to see how he develops this season. Perhaps he’ll make it up to the Bronx at some point during the summer. For his part, Crosby has caught the attention of Joe Torre and the Yankee coaches. Bill Madden reports:

“The first thing I noticed about him were his quick hands,” said batting coach Don Mattingly when I asked him if Crosby, who is hitting .363 while playing a flawless center and right field, might be the real deal. “He can run, throw and hit. That’s all I can say, other than the fact that he’s a major league player in my opinion, and could be one for a long time.”

Meanwhile, Donovan Osborne, an old favorite of Joe Torre’s from their days in St. Louis, will make like Sterling Hitchcock and fill-in as the number five starter…for now.

The Yankees bombed the Phillies yesterday. Gary Sheffield homered, as did Kevin Brown. Brown, who allowed four hits and no runs in four innings of work, hit the first pitch thrown to him by Billy Wagner over the fence. I didn’t know Brownie’s birthday was in March.

Riffin

Pedro Martinez intentionally threw at Karim Garcia’s head in Game Three of the ALCS last year. Apparently, the diminutive right-hander is still sore at Garcia, as he went off on the erstwhile Yankee in a recent ESPN interview. According to the Boston Herald, Martinez will talk to the Red Sox about a contract extension this week.

Murray Chass defends Don Fehr and criticizes politicians in an op ed piece in the Times, while Tim Marchman applauded John McCain’s efforts to expose baseball’s steroid problem. Both articles are worth checking out.

Et tu?

Aaron Gleeman and Mathew Namee have launced a new baseball website, The Hardball Times. It features a talented crop of writers like Ben Jacobs, Larry Mahnken, Bryan Smith, and Joe Dimino to name just four. I’ve signed up to do some work for them too. Although my name is listed on the front page with the regulars, I will only be an occasional contributor to the site (between my work for all-baseball.com and the book I’m writing, there is only so much additional writing time left). However, Gleeman and Namee have assembled a terrific group, and I’m happy to be associated with them. Quite frankly, I’m as eager as the next guy to follow what they’ve got to say throughout the coming season. Head on over see what they are all about.

Strain

Jon Lieber has strained his groin and will miss his first couple of starts of the season. A setback to Lieber doesn’t come as a surprise. For now, the Yankees are content to give a few of his starts to either Donovan Osborne or Jorge DePaula. The team got better news from their ace Mike Mussina, who pitched well yesterday and then offered some typically sardonic words to reporters as to why he chose to come to the Bronx several years back. According to the Post:

“Two World Series, yeah I’m pretty pleased with the choice,” said Mussina after throwing four hitless innings yesterday. “What were my other options?

“I could have gone to the Mets. That’s been smooth across town so far hasn’t it? I could have stayed in Baltimore, that would have been fun. Or, I could have gone to Boston and watched the other side of it for three years.”

Or he could have tipped the balance in favor of the Red Sox.

Hey, in case you missed it, check out Tyler Kepner’s profile of Joe Torre that appeared in the Sunday New York Times. It’s excellent.

By Bruce Markusen

Spring Training Edition

March 11, 2004

Rapping With Mudcat And Scoop

On February 14, former major league standouts Jim “Mudcat” Grant and Al Oliver visited the Hall of Fame to participate in a Legends Series event celebrating Black History Month. In one of the most enjoyable assignments Iíve received at the Hall, I had the pleasure of interviewing these two well-spoken former stars. One of a dozen African-American pitchers to win 20 games in a major league season, Grant won two games and hit a key home run for the Minnesota Twins in the 1965 World Series. Oliver, a lifetime .303 hitter and the 1982 winner of the National Leagueís batting crown, helped the Pittsburgh Pirates to the World Championship in 1971. Grant was also a member of that 1971 Pirates team, but was traded in mid-season to the Oakland Aís, thus denying him the opportunity to play in that fallís World Series.

The educational program with Grant and Oliver, which featured a number of youngsters in the audience, highlighted the Hall of Fameís celebration of Black History Month. Grant and Oliver talked at length about the racism that they battled in becoming big league stars, while also expressing hope that baseball will eventually overcome its current struggles in recruiting young African-American players and fans. The following is a partial transcript of that interview, which occurred in front of a capacity crowd in the Hall of Fame Libraryís Bullpen Theater.

Markusen: Why is baseball struggling in drawing more young African Americans to play the game?

Oliver: The bottom line is, I really donít think that they have had the proper Afro Americans to market the game of baseball. Basketball has Michael Jordan. Football has so many guys, like Walter Payton. Baseball, for whatever reason, did not have that proper player. It seems like they were lacking something

I attended a Baseball Prospectus/Pinstriped Bible Pizza feed in the heart of Times Square last night and had the chance to talk with some engaging and very bright baseball writers and fans. The only drawback was that I didn’t get to talk to even more people than I did. As it was, I hung out with Chaim Bloom, Alex Ciepley, Jim Gerard, Murray Markowitz, Jay Jaffe, Cliff Corcoran, Steven Goldman, David Pinto, Nick Stone, Steve Keane, John Kay, Derek Jacques, Repoz, and a kid named Justin. Joe Sheehan will be in town to do a Prospectus book signing in Brooklyn in two weeks and I hope to keep the conversations flowing then.

Interestingly, two topics that a group of us touched on are examined in the local papers this morning. The first is the case of Willie Randolph–one of my favorite players as a kid–and how he has had a difficult time making the leap from coach to manager. As much as the guys at my table agreed that Randolph seems like a decent, if taciturn guy, none of us had much sympathy for him. Murray Chass explains why:

Perhaps, too, he would have served himself better had he managed in the minor or winter leagues to gain experience. An ardent family man with four children, Randolph nobly didn’t want to leave them for long periods and burden Gretchen, his wife, with their sole care, but others, like Tony Pe

White Noise

The political grandstanding continued in Washington yesterday as senator John McCain took center stage in the steroid story. Gentlemen, start your soapboxes (Reggie Jax goes to Washington). What, is this an election year or something? Selena Roberts files a report in the New York Times today. Over at Baseball Musings, David Pinto notes:

I have a feeling this is all theater. The Senate has better things to do than worry about steroids in baseball.

In a second post, Pinto continues:

I don’t think it’s clear that the union has no desire to fix this issue. The union is run by very smart men, who I suspect understand the steroid issue much better than the Senators questioning them. They understand that tests consist of false positives and false negatives, as well as real results. That’s why players are only being reprimanded after long term failures, and why the players privacy is protected. The program they put in place may not be intrusive enough for a lot of people, but I think that the fact that 5 to 7% came up positive instead of the 70% that some people speculated about means that testing may be working.

Hey, don’t y’all know that players just want to make like Eddie Murphy and party all the time?

At the same time, the New York papers are filled with the kind of non-story that drives Lee Sinins and Joe Sheehan bananas. Gary Sheffield was upset with the way the Yankees handled his recent thumb injury. He then told reporters just how bothered he was by it. Yankee general manager Brian Cashman then met with Sheffield for twenty minutes and they smoothed everything over. End of report, good night.

John Harper is one of my favorite local writers because he often seems more interested in what is happening on the field than what goes down behind the scenes. Today, he accurately describes Alex Rodriguez’s swing:

He makes it look easy. The swing is too smooth for a home run, especially when A-Rod hits it to right-center, his true power slot, as he did yesterday. There is none of the violence that Sheffield or Jason Giambi bring to a home-run swing. Often it doesn’t look like it’s gone as it leaves the bat.

“A lot of times,” A-Rod was saying yesterday, “it looks like a fly ball. But it just keeps going.”

…A-Rod says it is as much a learned skill as it is a natural gift that goes back to his days in Seattle, when he hit with Edgar Martinez for hours at a time, absorbing everything the long-time Mariners’ DH had to offer.

Rodriguez does have an easy swing. It is so smooth that sometimes it isn’t exciting to watch. He’s like a cyborg. But how can you argue with the results?

Speaking of great hitters–but one with a distinct cut–the Yankees received good news regarding Gary Sheffield’s right thumb: he won’t need surgery…yet. Apparently, Sheffield played just fine after he tore ligaments in the thumb last summer (the numbers back this up), and he’s ready to get back in the line up. According to the New York Times:

Braves Manager Bobby Cox said he did not remember Sheffield’s injury and was not surprised to hear that Sheffield would keep playing.

“He’ll be in there, believe me,” Cox said. “He’s as tough as they come. Gary never complains about anything. He’ll play. If the bone ain’t showing, you’re playing, right?”

…Sheffield’s final numbers last season

When Gary Sheffield jammed his thumb last week in an exhibition game against the Blue Jays, he didn’t think much of it. But yesterday, there was cause for concern, and Sheffield will be in New York today visting a hand specialist to determine whether or not he’ll need surgery. Brian Cashman and George Steinbrenner are worried, though Sheffield still thinks he’ll be OK. However, if he does go under the knife, he could miss between two and three months.

What does this mean? Will Kenny Lofton be the Yankees new right fielder? I’m going to wait and see what today gives before I get too excited one way or another. (Hey Will, the new meds must be working.) Aaron Gleeman, for one, doesn’t think that Yankee fans need to panic:

New York signed Travis Lee and Kenny Lofton this off-season and went into spring training with a ton of depth among outfielders and first basemen. Luckily for them, the two players who have gone down with injuries are both outfielders, meaning they can simply plug in their depth and keep on chugging along toward 100 wins.

As long as Sheffield is back for October, the Yankees will be just fine. That’s the beauty of a Mo Vaughn-sized payroll. They have the ability to not only pay Sheffield $13 million a year, they can also pay Lee and Lofton about $5.5 million to be role players and insurance policies.

Pumped Up

Murray Chass has a good column today about how the steroid scandal doesn’t seem to have bothered ticket sales–at least in Boston and New York. Christian Ruzich, Twins Fan Dan, and Jay Jaffe have weighed in on the affair, but nobody has been as devoted to in-depth and thorough coverage of steroids in baseball as John Perricone has been. Take the pillow from your head, and put a link in it.

Finally, check out Seth Stoh’s nifty bit of Twins history today over at Seth Speaks.

After watching the Yankees play the Red Sox yesterday I wrote that you could feel the intensity of the rivalry through the television set. The players felt it too. You could see that on the field. Who takes a meaningless spring training game this seriously? According to the Daily News:

“I know I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Curt Schilling, the newly acquired Red Sox pitching ace. “It’s Boston and New York and it’s different from anything else. I’ve only been here three weeks and I know it.”

…Alex Rodriguez, destined to become a flashpoint of sorts for fans on both sides, considering his pedigree before he even stepped into pinstripes, perhaps said it best: “It was as intense a spring training game a I’ve ever been in.”

Sportswriters noted–helped generate?–the heat too. Tomas Boswell opines:

Yet, in its bizarre way, this game epitomized the best that baseball offers. How can you over-hype a game, even in spring training, if it took a century to create the passions that envelope generations of fans on both sides?

And John Harper explains:

The electricity is sparked mostly by the Sox fans’ obsession with beating the Yankees. It has always been as much a part of the culture as their Boston accent, but not like this.

The focus of that obsession now, of course, is Alex Rodriguez. People who cover the Red Sox say the home folks seemed to take losing A-Rod harder than they did Aaron Boone’s climactic home run last October, if you can imagine that.

“Sox fans have come to expect losing to the Yankees on the ballfield,” one Boston writer said yesterday. “The A-Rod thing cut deeper because in December they were all so sure he was coming. The outcry when the Yankees got him was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

The rivalry is also very real for the front offices of both teams. Witness the incident in the parking lot yesterday. Gordon Edes reports:

Emotions came to a boiling point in a stadium parking area, where Yankees publicist Rick Cerrone and a longtime Sox security guard, Dave McHugh, a retired postman from Portland, Maine, had a run-in.

“Do you know who I am?” shouted Cerrone, contending that McHugh had pushed him. “I’m with the American League champion New York Yankees, and you’re a typical Boston Red Sox employee.”

McHugh said he was merely trying to pass through a crowd of reporters in order to allow some Yankee players who had driven down from Tampa to leave, and that he’d put his hand out, said “excuse me,” and gave Cerrone a small push when Cerrone inadvertently backed into him. Part of the problem was that Reggie Jackson’s older brother, Ja Mz, had a car that was blocking that of Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. A call was placed to the Hall of Famer in the clubhouse, and he quickly got in touch with his bro. “You better get out there,” he said. “You’re starting a war out there.”

On the field, things were far more civil. George Vecsey writes:

Fraternization in vivid daylight: Nomar Garciaparra, wearing a bright-red warm-up shirt, meandered over to the batting cage and began hugging Yankees

That’s the Joint

A few years ago I used to spin records at my friend Steven’s bistro “Plate 347,” which was down on 2nd avenue between 21rst and 22nd street. I was never serious about being a DJ, but I had made a professional quality mix cd with a friend of mine in 2000, and I found that playing records once a week gave me some spending money and a chance to meet people. It was fun learning what records you could play when, and what particular records were sure-shots every week