Yankee Banter

A lot to catch up on, so let’s get right to it…

I don’t want to waste time by examining each comment Mark McGwire has made in the past week. The one thing that has irked me, though, was his apology to the Maris family. McGwire claims he only used steroids to help heal from injuries and that they did not assist him in hitting home runs. If that was really the case (.0001 percent chance it was), why would he feel the need to apologize to the Maris family? I wonder if McGwire even realizes that everyone outside of Tony LaRussa thinks he is full of you-know-what.

******

The fact the Yankees would actually consider starting Brett Gardner everyday in the outfield because they won’t pay Johnny Damon $8-10 million dollars in 2010 is laughable. Why all the sudden are they penny-pinching? Not enough $1,500.00 seats sold? Based on their production, Damon at $10 million a season is still a better deal than Gardner at the minimum. I do believe all the egos involved (Damon, Scott Boras and Brian Cashman) will eventually work something out, but this process has been excruciatingly annoying.

******

For a franchise that has endured a lot of bad luck over the years, the Jets have had a lifetime’s worth of good fortune in the last month. From the Colts pulling their starters in Week 15, the gag job by the Bengals in Week 17 and Wild Card weekend, opposing kickers going 0-for-5 in the first two weeks of the playoffs to Norv Turner’s boneheaded decision to go for an onside kick Sunday, everything has gone the Jets way. I wouldn’t bet on Peyton Manning being as sloppy as Carson Palmer and Phillip Rivers were, but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Jets find themselves in Miami in two weeks.

******

Sadly, Jack Bauer swung that ax better on Sunday night than Nick Swisher swung the bat in the postseason.

******

If I’m a Met and I suffer any type of injury, I’m avoiding their medical staff and heading right to the area walk-in clinic.

******

Have you ever seen a story that exemplifies good and bad all wrapped up into one like the UConn women? Yes, their winning streak of 57 games is an incredible feat, but at the same time, the competition from the country’s best teams (Stanford, Notre Dame, Duke) has been, to be kind, atrocious. I don’t know about you, but games that regularly end with 80-40 scores don’t interest me. Sorry.

******

Usually a fan base whose team acquires a pitcher who was fourth in the CY Young voting to be their fourth starter would be thrilled to death. However, I’m not sensing too much excitement from Yankee fans over the Javier Vazquez trade. Personally, I still have visions of the grand slam he gave up to Johnny Damon in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS, but considering what they gave up in Melky Cabrera, in other words nothing, it was a move that had to be made.

******

As a regular viewer of Conan O’Brien since 1996, it’s very disappointing, albeit no surprise, to see how poorly NBC has handled this foolish controversy between him and Jay Leno. Think back to 1996. NBC had the monster Friends/Seinfeld/ER combination on Thursday nights, late night ratings through the roof, the NBA with Michael Jordan and the Bulls in their heyday and the NFL. Now, I can’t remember the last time I watched this network in prime time and trust me, I watch a disturbing amount of television. It’s been a sad, and somewhat shocking, demise for this once great network.

******

If you’re a fan of the New York Football Giants, the Cowboys’ win over the Eagles in round one turned out to be great news. Because of that victory, Jerry Jones has decided to retain Wade Phillips instead of pursing a new coach, most notably Bill Cowher. Dallas has arguably the most talent of any team in the NFC, but as long as this current group of leadership is in place, they are not making the Super Bowl any time soon.

******

A few cheap plugs for the road:

I will be attending Spring Training in Tampa during the first weekend in March for games between the Yankees, Tampa Bay and Toronto. I’ll have blogs and photos up from those games.

Follow the great Joe Palladino on Twitter. As far as the rumors swirling around that Mark Jaffee is about to start a Twitter account, all I can say is I’m working on it.

Finally, if you’re in the Torrington area, be sure to listen to the Litchfield County Sports Show starring the great Tim Gaffney and myself on Monday nights from 5:30-6 p.m on WAPJ (88.9 and 105.1 FM). For those unable to pick up that signal or if you missed a show, past airings can be listened to here. Last night’s show will be up shortly.

Thanks for checking in, we’ll talk along the way.

I will be on the Litchfield County Sports Show on tonight from 5:30-6 p.m. (WAPJ in Torrington, 88.9 and 105.1 FM) with Tim Gaffney of The Register Citizen and Rick Wilson of the Republican-American. If you’re not in the area, you can check out past shows here.

What a week for Tiger Woods, huh?

Almost as hilarious as the voicemail released (which ranks an 11 on a scale from 1 to 10) has been the fan reactions.

“I will never look at him the same!”

“I can’t believe Tiger could have done this.”

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve been this surprised.”

Personally? I still look at Tiger the same today as I did 12 days ago. He’s a great golfer and nothing more.

Whether it’s A-Rod, Kobe, Michael Jordan, Mickey Mantle, Bill Clinton, Charlie Sheen, Dwyane Wade and thousands of others, entertainers such as athletes, actors and politicians live a fast, rich lifestyle that you or I can never imagine. Their sense of reality is a lot different than ours. Many of these celebrities are treated like Gods by fans, giving them the impression they can do no wrong.

The moral of the story is that you can’t look up to these entertainers as good people. Unless you know them on a personal level, you just don’t know them, no matter how hard their endorsement companies try to paint them as superior human beings.

I am not surprised in the least at this Tiger debacle. Nor do I care. All Tiger has ever been to me is a great golfer and guess what? He still is.

Good luck in the Masters.

In other news…

If I were the Yankees, I would continue to pursue Roy Halladay in a trade. However, I wouldn’t give up Phil Hughes or minor league catching sensation Jesus Montero. We finally saw Hughes display his potential on the Major League level in 2009 and with Jorge Posada’s contract up in two years, Montero can slide in as the everyday catcher and the Yankees wouldn’t miss a beat. He’s the real deal.

I would part, though, with Joba Chamberlain, who to me is nothing more than a future closer. The “Joba in the rotation guys” will scream that it’s rare to find someone with four strong pitches and to bury him in the bullpen is a mistake. That is true for most pitchers. What you do need to have to succeed as a starter is concentration and mental toughness and Joba lacks both. I can’t count how many times Joba took laps around the mound and stared at the sky in bewilderment once a couple of runners reached base. It’s just reckless to think Joba has it in him mentally to compete in 200 innings. I just don’t see it. The 157 innings he threw last year were excruciating and as the season went along, his performance got worse, not better.

If the Yankees can get Halladay for a Joba and Austin Jackson type of package with a couple of other prospects, they should jump at that opportunity. It’s too good to pass up.

******

I really hope Johnny Damon makes his own decision when it comes to free agency and doesn’t sign somewhere just because Scott Boras told him to. Boras’ four-year contract demand for Damon is outrageous and the Yankees, rightfully so, will not agree to that. Will Damon really be more happy in a monster stadium like the one in San Francisco for four years compared to two more years in the new Yankee Stadium, which was built for him? The longer this goes on, the smaller the chance Damon returns. Hopefully, a deal can be reached in the next week or two.

******

For those partial-plan ticket holders in the bleachers, the ticket increase from $12 to $14 was a computer error. Not that the $2.00 increase was that big of deal since the bleachers are the best value in all of New York, but any savings is good savings.

******

You really can’t make up the fact that Joe Girardi was brought in by the Jets to teach Mark Sanchez how to slide and three days later Sanchez ends up getting hurt because he couldn’t execute one. Only the Jets. And only Girardi.

******

Speaking of football, what a mess the Giants are these days. If they lose to Dallas this week, the season is obviously over and while I wish I could say they will win, I’m expecting the worst. It’s time to start focusing on the draft, specifically at the linebacker position. Also, here is a look at their spaceship-like new stadium. I took this picture at their last home game against Atlanta. Needless to say, the new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field have this place beat when it comes to the exterior view.

******

A quick programming note as I wrap things up: I will be appearing with Tim Gaffney on the Litchfield County Sports Show on Monday from 5:30-6 p.m. (WAPJ in Torrington, 88.9 and 105.1 FM) If you’re not in the area, you can check out past shows here.

Thanks for checking in and sorry for the delay between posts. Stop back throughout the baseball offseason as the Yankees are sure to make some moves.

On Tuesday, the blog will be back in full swing with offseason thoughts plus random observations on the rest of the sports world. I’ll be on Tim Gaffney’s Litchfield County Football Show this Monday (5:30-6 p.m.) and next Monday as well on WAPJ in Torrington (89.9 FM and 105.1 FM). Next week’s show will be a one-hour Thanksgiving special. I’ll post a reminder before then. Also, my appearance from Oct. 27 is online now if you want to take a listen. Here is the link.

On Saturday, Garrett Christian, a longtime member of the sports department at the Waterbury Republican-American, died unexpectedly at his home.

I met Garrett when I jumped on board at the Rep-Am back in 2002 and he could not have been nicer to me. He was always fun to work with.

My main job was taking phone calls from coaches reporting local high school scores. Trust me, it’s not as easy as you think.

First of all, you rarely get full participation from the coaches. Some forget to call, some call with minimal and sometimes useless info, others just flat out refuse to call. It was our job to get the scores and highlights from each of the games listed on the scoreboard page you read everyday. When deadline is looming and you’re still waiting for a coach to get back to you, it can be very stressful.

Despite that, Garrett always kept a positive attitude. If you read this blog regularly and are familiar with my stances on the Yankees, you know patience is not a strength of mine. Garrett, though, never let tough situations get to him and kept his cool every night. I always admired that.

Last Friday, I covered the Watertown-Crosby football game for the Rep-Am and arrived at the office around 9:45 p.m. With a lighter schedule thanks to the on-going state tournaments, Garrett left a little early and I missed seeing him by a few minutes.

A few hours later, he tragically passed away. Just a terrible, terrible loss.

Roger Cleaveland wrote a great piece on Garrett yesterday on rep-am.com. Please take a few minutes and give it a read. Thanks.

For those located in the Torrington area, I will be appearing on Tim Gaffney’s High School Football radio show tonight on WAPJ 89.9 FM and 105.1 FM. The show is on from 5:15-5:45 p.m.

 (Note the earlier start time for this show.)

Many baseball “experts” point to the Yankees’ collapse against the Red Sox in the 2004 ALCS as the most devastating loss in team history. I can’t imagine any loss hurting worse than the Yankees’ defeat to the Pirates in the 1960 World Series, but I was still 21 years away from being born so I didn’t have to suffer over that.

Personally, the worst defeat I’ve endured as a fan was the Yankees’ loss in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series. Three outs away from a four-peat (I doubt we will ever see one of those again in our lifetime), Mariano Rivera blew the save and ultimately the game in the ninth inning.

It was more than just a loss, though. Paul O’Neill’s career came to an end that night. As did the career of Scott Brosius. Tino Martinez played his last game as a Yankee (until he came back in 2005 for one final season). Plus, the Yankees were playing for more than just their fans that season, they were playing for everyone in New York following the horrific tragedy on Sept. 11.

I remember feeling numb after that game and didn’t move for at least an hour after it was over. The loss wasn’t just the end of a series or season. It was the end of an era and that was hard to take.

In 2004, I wasn’t devastated after the Red Sox series. I was angry. The Yankees had a very unlikeable team that season, led by A-Rod, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Kevin Brown and Kenny Lofton, and for them to choke the way they did, it “ticked” me off. I felt bad for the Yankees after 2001. The last thing I felt for the 2004 team was any sympathy.

The reason I bring this all up today is that the eight-year anniversary of Game 7 in 2001 was yesterday.

Amazingly, last night Mariano Rivera was on the mound eight years to the day to with a chance to wrap up a World Series. This time he came through, sealing the Yankees’ 7-3 victory over the Phillies and a 4-2 World Series triumph.

Sitting in the stands last night, I couldn’t help but to think back to that night. The Yankees had reached the World Series once since then (they lost to the Marlins in 2003), choked against the Red Sox in 2004, lost three consecutive first round series from 2005-2007 and embarrassingly did not reach the playoffs last season despite an obscene payroll. Fittingly, with that bumpy road about to end, the ball was in Mariano’s right hand. Rivera didn’t miss a beat after 2001 and never let that loss affect him on the field.

I always hoped, though, he would get one last chance to win a World Series. He has never let on that the loss in 2001 still bothers him, but I’d bet, deep down inside, it was a game he wanted to get out of his system.

Sure the Yankees have several good people on the team (CC, Teixeira, Swisher, Coke to name a few) that had never won a championship before last night. However, for me, the person I was happiest for after the game was Mariano – the ultimate player, competitor, teammate and person.

It’s finally time to close the door on 2001.

******

If Andy Pettitte never steps foot on a mound again, he certainly went out in style. The Yankees needed him to match Pedro Martinez last night and turn the game into a matchup of the bullpens, but he did more than that. Despite pitching on three days rest and not having his best stuff, Pettitte recorded key outs when he needed to and most importantly, he knows how to pitch with a lead better than most pitchers. I still don’t think throwing Pettitte on short rest was the smartest idea, but you have to give Joe Girardi credit. It worked.

******

If Hideki Matsui never plays another game for the Yankees, he certainly went out in style. From his first game in the Bronx when he hit a grand slam against the Twins to last night’s 6-RBI performance, Matsui has had a great run with the Yankees. Because of his health questions, I’m not sure resigning him is the right move, but nonetheless, Matsui’s time in New York will always be remembered positively.

******

While Matsui (World Series MVP) and Sabathia (ALCS MVP) go home this winter with trophies, A-Rod was the Yankees’ postseason MVP. Finally, we can just watch him play in the regular season and not have to wonder about him melting down in the postseason. The discussion will eventually turn to if he belongs in the Hall of Fame despite the fact he abused steroids while in Texas. That’s another story for another day. For now, we can finally just focus on him becoming a world champion and the greatness he displayed in October.

******

It’s a minor storyline that won’t get mentioned in most places, so I’ll say it: The Jerry Hairston Jr. acquisition was worth every penny in the fifth inning when he executed a sacrifice bunt that helped lead to three runs. The Yankees have had some bad role players over recent years, but this season they improved the bench with the likes of Hairston and Eric Hinske. You can’t underestimate how important the reserves can be.

******

I don’t know about you, but it bothers me like crazy that Freddy Guzman now has a championship ring and Don Mattingly doesn’t.

******

The crowd, to put it kindly, was less than stellar last night. In this age of Facebook and camera phones, the attention span of people is a lot less than it used to be. I sat in left field and the people in front of me spent $460.00 each on their tickets and flew in from out-of-town to come to the game. If they watched 50 percent of the pitches, I’d be surprised. One guy was more focused on taking pictures and immediately posting them on Facebook, desperately seeking attention and comments from his friends. The other was involved in some instant-messaging type of chat for close to an hour. Whatever happened to just watching the game? The people behind me speculated that Johnny Damon left the game because he got hurt after getting hit by a pitch (it was Teixeira you idiots) and someone thought it was Posada who hit the home run and broke into the played-out “Hip-Hip Jorge!” chant. Just an embarrassing display all night long.

The way the new stadium is built, the sound doesn’t hover over the field like it did at the old stadium. However, most the real fans, thanks to Stubhub, are on the outside looking in. In the end, you get a quieter stadium when you add those factors together.

On the streets, though, that’s another story. The energy outside the stadium was insane and the party lasted well into the morning. A good portion of those people I doubt had tickets, but that didn’t stop them from coming to the stadium.

You can only imagine the size of the party in Japan today.

******

I would like to thank everyone who has read the blog throughout the postseason. We’ll have more posts throughout the offseason as the Yankees are always up for making moves. We’ll wait a couple of days to start speculating, though. Enjoy the championship and if you have the chance, attend the parade. I’m sure it will be quite a scene.

Here’s some pictures from last night to wrap things up:

I was at the game last night and took a lot of photos that I still need to upload and go through. I’ll have a Game 6 wrap-up post up tonight. Stay tuned.