I don't believe him.

I think Pedro took steroids because of the transformation of his head. He just looks like he took steroids. In the court of public opinion, freed from the annoying burden of proof, I can think whatever I want.

He said "taint."

"When the Yankees won their third successive World Series and fourth in five years in 2000, Torre, their manager, was hailed as an automatic entrant to the Hall of Fame. Now, however, it develops that the Yankees’ 2000 team was loaded with players who used performance-enhancing drugs before, during or after that season.
...

According to the Mitchell report, Clemens used steroids in the latter half of the 2000 season. Neagle played for the Yankees in the latter half of that season and, according to Mitchell, used human growth hormone.

Neagle won four successive starts from Aug. 27 through Sept. 12. Clemens, following Neagle in the rotation, won three of four starts. Three times they won consecutive games. Their efforts helped the Yankees increase their division lead from three games to nine."

Yeah, but everybody was using steroids. The teams that beat the Yankees had steroids users.

Every World Series Champion of the past, say, twenty years likely had players on their roster who used steroids.

Some are just more obvious than others.

Some people just want to get lots of angry responses on their message board.

When your name is Justice, your opinions carry more weight.

"Andy Pettitte did the honorable thing. He didn't do it willingly, but he did do it. Good for him."

Great for him.

No: Great for the Youth of America.

In fact, Andy Pettitte is so unbelievably honest and honorable that, if Selig decides to enact stricter drug testing, I think Andy Pettitte should oversee the entire operation.


"If Pettitte had denied using performance-enhancing substances, it would have been virtually impossible not to believe him."

Did I read this correctly? "It would have been virtually impossible not to believe him"? I think you mistakenly put a "not" in your sentence, Mr. Justice.


"Players were put in a quandary during the steroids era. They saw teammates getting bigger and performing better by cheating. Inside the industry, rumors circulated that some general managers and agents encouraged players to try performance-enhancing drugs."

I love it.

I love, love, love, love, love it.

It's more than love. I lerve it.

Can't get enough of it.

It's like that bad karaoke video that you have to watch 1,000 times.

I love it when the steroid era is referred to in the past tense.

If you really wanted to help the team, you should have taken steroids.

I was being sarcastic when I said that Pettitte would take the "team" angle:

"I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow. I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone."


I hereby nominate Pettitte to the Jay Gibbons Hall of Fame:

"Earl Ward, the attorney for Brian McNamee, the trainer who gave the Mitchell investigators the information on Pettitte and Clemens, was not shocked that Pettitte would confess to his actions.

'One of the things Brian has always said to me is that Andy is a decent and honest guy, and it is not a surprise that he has stepped up,' Ward said."

Or maybe just the Greatest Human Ever Hall of Fame:

"According to the Yankees media guide, Pettitte and his wife 'teach youth classes and sing in the choir' at the same Baptist church her father has been pastor for 40 years. Pettitte has participated in tee-ball games in the White Hose lawn, been honored as 'good guy' by the New York Sports Photographers, nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award for community service and won a Thurman Munson Award in 2006, presented by the Association for the Help of Retarded Children."

"The TV Guys."

"If a player wanted to deny (the charges made against him)," Mitchell says, "why didn't he come in and deny them to me?"

Come on, now. You're a lawyer.

If I say Mike Lupica is a computer-generated avatar, the burden of proof is on me. Lupica is not compelled to deny charges which have not been proven.

This is precisely why this report is widely criticized and widely dismissed. Without the legal power of subpoena, and the accompanying legal defense, it's just a bunch of people saying stuff.

Pettitte's defense is, "I did not do it. Your sources are liars. I didn't deny it then, but I am denying it now." That's it.

If you want the players to defend themselves, then charge them with something.


"The TV guys were saying that Mitchell was sloppy before they'd even read his report. He's sloppy, they say, his reporting is sloppy. Mostly because they don't like it. They treat George Mitchell like some fan who fell out of the stands and onto the field trying to grab a foul ball, as if he could broker peace in Northern Ireland and be undone by drug cheats in baseball. Like Mitchell was some kind of rank amateur, not getting his facts straight, not even knowing what questions to ask."

I don't think this is accurate. A lot of people think this report is a waste of time and a lot of people question his relationship with MLB ownership in general and the Red Sox specifically. But I haven't seen any personal attacks on Mitchell himself.

I found it somewhat distasteful and self-serving to continually bring up Northern Ireland during the press conference, but it's a minor complaint.

I was also ironing at the time, so my attention was divided.


More interestingly, who the heck are "the TV guys"?

As opposed to the "radio guys" or "the newspaper guys"? As opposed to the "TV gals"?

Tomorrow morning, on ESPN, won't Lupica be a "TV guy"?


If Lupica was watching commentary on television, then the commentator had a name.

Be a man, Lupica, and name the commentator with whom you have beef.

"TV guys" is a bit vague, don't you think?

F.P. Santangelo shocked me, actually ...

... I didn't know F.P Santangelo was a real-life person. I thought he was made up on the 2002 version of EA Sports baseball. The name even sounds like one of those old-time made-up names from Japanese video games. I think Mattingly was "D. Matts," or something like that:

"Without any sanctions against the juicers or any stark revelations, this was, for the most part, a waste of time. This was done to titillate and get us talking baseball in the winter. This did not and will not clean up baseball."

I pretty much agree with the entire analysis by Shaun Powell. The report was only shocking in its lack of breadth.

Merely two key informants (both linked to New York baseball teams) and very few players mentioned with any degree of certainty.

At the same time, Mitchell is claiming that steroid abuse was widespread and pervasive. Well, maybe so, but this report -- two years in the making -- certainly didn't demonstrate its pervasiveness.

We're back where we started. "Widespread" means 2%, 10%, 20%, or 50%?


I don't think this was done to get us talking about baseball in the winter. I think it was mostly a PR move. Mitchell seems like an earnest enough guy, but he also has to know that the findings will influence the Court of Public Opinion, as opposed to the Court of ... well ... the Courts of Laws and Stuff.

"US sportswriters" urge something.

I mean, look, who in their right mind is going to be pro-steroids? When Mitchell said that hundreds of thousands of teenagers are taking steroids, it's probably true that they are inspired by pro athletes.

But will the "US sportswriters" boycott the NFL for one week? For one day?


The Mitchell report listed 77 current and former players. As Tim Marchman points out, this is less that 2% of the players during the time period in question.

We know that at least 2% of current United States governors have taken steroids.

Would Schwarzenegger have achieved fame and fortune without steroids? I doubt it. Perhaps Lou Ferrigno would be the Governor of California and Schwarznegger would be applying green body makeup and making appearances at comic book stores.

California is home to five major league baseball teams and ... ummm ... a whole bunch of minor league baseball teams.

The State Government probably won't be involved in the creation or enforcement of anti-steroid steroid rules.

But can you imagine the irony if such a bill appears on Schwarzenegger's desk?

You want to inspect every package that is delivered to a baseball clubhouse?

How about every package that is delivered to the Governor's mansion?


I also have a suspicion that the $25 million (?) spent on the Mitchell report -- which accomplished very little legally or tangibly -- could have been more wisely spent on youth prevention.

If youth prevention had been the true goal.

I thought they meant Homer Bush.

About that mortgage crisis thingy:

"My hope is that this report is a part of putting the steroid era of baseball behind us," he said, surrounded by Cabinet members in the Rose Garden.

That's the point of this entire exercise. Seventy-seven players took steroids. It says so in the report. Now the steroid era is behind us.

In baseball, at least.

It's different.

Clemens and Bonds did it for their own glory. Pettitte did it because he wanted to get healthy so he could help his team.

I'm not taking delight in Pettitte's (dubiously) tarnished reputation. I became President of the Pettitte Hater's Club when he bolted for Houston and tried to blame it on Steinbrenner. But I don't give the Mitchell report much credence in the first place and it simply doesn't bother me too much if baseball players take performance-enhancing substances.

I'm just as fascinated by John Harper's reaction.

This is a beat writer who acts like he just learned there's no Santa Claus. I mean, this is downright embarrassing, pal:

"For one thing, he was a homegrown Yankee who delivered time and again in October. For another, he has that unassuming, down-home quality that always made him so easy for fans to embrace.

And for anyone covering baseball, Pettitte has always been one of the good guys, admirable for his toughness on the mound and his accountability in the clubhouse.

...

It seems clear that Pettitte wasn't on the same drug-cheat level as Clemens. Unless they can prove that their trainer, Brian McNamee, was lying for some reason, Clemens comes off as a hardcore steroid user, going all the way back to 1998, while Pettitte used human growth hormone primarily to help recover from an elbow injury during the 2002 season.

You can even make the case that Pettitte never would have taken such a route if not for his association with Clemens, who introduced him to McNamee and made Pettitte a partner in his famous workout routine after coming over to the Yankees in 1999.

...

None of this means Pettitte is any less tough or likeable. Just last spring he was telling me about that first year in Houston, when he tore a ligament in his elbow in his very first start with the Astros, and pitched in pain all the way into August, refusing suggestions by the club to shut it down months earlier.

He was giggling as he told the story, still in disbelief that he survived for four months with an 82-mph fastball. Later the same day, he came looking for me after the spring training workout, concerned that he had revealed too much in the way of details, and asking not to portray him as some kind of hero in the story for putting off surgery.

'I just couldn't let the guys down, that's all,' he said.

That's Pettitte. His teammates will tell you he's as genuinely caring as they come. Upon returning to the Yankees last season he befriended Carl Pavano, hoping to improve Pavano's outcast status in the Yankee clubhouse.

...

Actually, Pettitte has built up the type of goodwill to be forgiven by Yankee fans if he makes a contrite apology, and embraced as long as his cutter still has its bite."

What can I possibly add to that?

The ridiculousness speaks for itself.

This all really boils down to the "unassuming, down-home quality," doesn't it? That's what I suspected all along.

Pettitte's got it. Ankiel's got it. Bonds does not.

Be nice to reporters and you'll get into the Hall of Fame.

How do you pronounce his name?

Carefully.

Revisiting a theory.

Do the players prefer the AL because the DH leads to more offense, which leads to more money?

Of course, this makes no sense for pitchers.

Or maybe it's just because the AL teams have more money to spend and the players don't prefer the AL.

The games take longer in the AL and the players like quick games.

I don't know. It's just a theory.

That didn't take long.

The Baltimore Sun reports on what Jay Gibbons said:

"I am deeply sorry for the mistakes that I have made. I have no excuses and bear sole responsibility for my decisions."

I just looked up that solely to verify that Lupica / New York Daily News are stupid. This seems to verify that they transcribed Gibbons's words and simply don't know the difference between "bare" and "bear."


Happily, the search led me to this guy, who may be even stupider than Lupica.

How's this for a defense of Good Guy Jay Gibbons?:

"In the meantime, he did what most of us would have done. He waited, he sweated it out and he stepped up when the news broke. Honestly, how many of you would have held a news conference and fessed up a year or two ago?"

Wow. That is what I call "stepping up."

Speaking for myself, I am a better person just by sitting here, surfing the Net, watching Monday Night Football, and eating mushy raisin bran.

It's not much of a Monday night, granted.

But maybe Roch Kobatko ought to praise my clean livin' instead of Gibbons's post-capture contrition.

Because what I "would have done" is not cheated in the first place.

Oy.

Some people are offended by the size of Alex Rodriguez's contract.

The Yankees just signed LaTroy Hawkins to a one-year, $3.75 million contract.

In his career, Latroy Hawkins has compied is 56-76 record with a 4.68 ERA, 1,211 hits, 359 walks, and 132 homeruns in 1,072 innings.

You can't be a little pregnant.

World's Greatest Human Caught Cheating:

"In the same week that Barry Bonds stood in a courtroom and issued not-guilty pleas to felony charges that are primarily about him being a stone liar on the subject of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, Jay Gibbons of the Orioles did something rather amazing in baseball:

He told the truth.

'I am deeply sorry for the mistakes I have made,' Gibbons said. 'I have no excuses and bare [sic] sole responsibility for my decisions.' "

It's "bear" sole responsibility, not "bare" sole responsibility, you pathetic, stupid so-called professional "writers" and "editors."

This is New York, for crying out loud. A newspaper for New York City. This is not the Sunshine Street Elementary School newsletter.

Before acting like the arbiter the nation's morality, start with the basics: Pick up a pocket copy of Strunk and White.

In all seriousness, proper use of the English language just makes you seem smart, even if you're not. Your argument will naturally karry more wait. If you don't believe me, axe Curt Schilling.


I've said it before and I'll say it again. In Lupica's mind, Gibbons is seemingly less guilty than Bonds because:

1) Gibbons is not a good baseball player.

2) Gibbons is contrite.

3) Gibbons is white.

If I was Barry Bonds, I'd have no reason to think otherwise.

Everybody's got an opinion.

First headline on the Star-Ledger's Yankees page.

The next headline on the Star-Ledger's Yankees page.

Season over.

Ignoring the fact that Johan Santana has exactly zero Championship rings:

"The Red Sox remain the American League's best team, and if they land Santana in the next day or two, will tighten their grip on a dynasty the Yankees have been fearing since 2004."

Sure, the Red Sox are the AL's best team, though the Tigers might give them a run for the money.

But it should be obvious to everybody by now that the best team doesn't always win the World Series. In fact, the best team does not usually win the World Series.

Which is why the Yankees might win the World Series in 2008.

Like Pedro Martinez.

"The Yankees have already spent $400 million the past few weeks and you know what that means, right?

They're ready to spend more!

They're ready to break the bank for Johan Santana and thereby go against all the data on signing starting pitchers to longterm deals."

Just to be clear, that $400 million pays for a combined 16 seasons of baseball by three different players, two of whom are going to the HOF and one of whom makes a pretty decent case for the HOF.

Use the mathematical concept of "average" and the economic concept of "future value of money," and I think you'll find the Yankees paid the 2007 equivalent of 25 Roger Clemens strikeouts.


Over the past three seasons, the Mets have paid Pedro Martinez an average of $13 million for an average of 9 wins.

Ask Mike Lupica, and he'll tell you that Pedro is the baseball equivalent of Moses leading the Mets to their current status as (ahem) the Kings of New York City.

(Speaking of the George Mitchell report, hasn't Lupica noticed the peculiar swelling of Pedro's head over the past ten years?)

Pedro was worth every penny, and if you don't understand why, then you've never been at the pink-and-grime colored walls near Gate D, waiting for the #7 Train, cannoli in one hand and warm Bud Light in the other.

It's about Hope and Pride and dem straphangers.

Yankee fans are eating caviar and hiring people to shovel their driveways.


I don't really think the Twins will trade Santana until July. See if they're out of the race and wait to drive up the price.

The Yankees may part with one of their young pitchers, but they'll be getting a young pitcher in return. Yes, Santana will likely get injured at some point, just like Hughes will likely get injured at some point. They all get injured at some point.

The high rate of injury amongst MLB pitchers also explains why Cashman will likely take a different approach, stockpiling his starting staff with young, cheap, effective arms.

But the reason you trade Hughes for Santana is because Santana has already accomplished what Hughes can only hope to accomplish.

It's the difference between potential and realized potential.

Write something bad about Eli Manning.

I just find it fascinating when a writer invents a reality and sticks with it.

Case in point is Mike Lupica's love affair with Eli Manning. Four interceptions in a game won't invite as much criticism as one GIDP by Gary Sheffield.

Similarly, Lupica is one of many writers who are still insisting that baseball fans care about steroids:

"The real star of the baseball offseason won't be Alex Rodriguez, or Johan Santana. It will be a former United States Senator from the state of Maine, a cancer survivor, slightly hard of hearing, named George Mitchell."

I didn't know that George Mitchell was a former Senator from Maine. That's mildly interesting. I couldn't name the current Senators from Maine if you put a gun to my head.

Like most baseball fans, I will now fast forward to the end of the article without reading the part about steroid use in baseball. At the end of the article, I find an amazing occurrence. Mike Lupica sort of indirectly criticizes Eli Manning:

"You know why the Giants have to be right about Eli Manning?

Because if they're wrong, they've burned nearly a whole decade, that's why."

"If" they're wrong.

He's not really going to retire, is he?

"He's got a tough decision to make," Posada said. "He said if he doesn't play with the Yankees, he's not going to play at all. Right now, he's leaning toward retirement."

Here's what you do.

You accept the offer, pitch one game, feign injury, and give the money to orphans and puppies.

It's time.

"What does matter is performance on the field, and whether Rodriguez's elephantine payday will prevent the Yankees from spending the additional monies necessary to surround him with a winning cast as no one player, no matter how good, can drive a weak team to the playoffs."

I disagree with Mitch Getz.

You don't say ...

"Joe Torre was often the only manager in the majors to skip the winter meetings. Girardi, meanwhile, is everywhere. The Yankees are not used to such off-season activity from their manager, but they like it."

The Yankees are also not used to much during-season activity from their manager.

Overpaid disloyal mercenary makes team better.

When did the Yankees get their soul back?

I thought the Yankees sold their soul when they signed Wade Boggs.

For sure when they signed Roger Clemens the first time.

Undoubtedly, when they signed Roger Clemens the second time. Remember that hub bub? It was the end of the Universe and cats were going to start getting along with dogs.

That was just a few months ago.

So, the Yankees must have quickly gotten their soul back sometime this summer. Must have been Joba Chamberlain. But he doesn't have the soul of, say, Soul Brother Number One, Charlie Hayes. Which means the Yankees really sold their soul when they signed Scott Brosius.

Not to mention when they signed Jose Canseco. Did you know Jose Canseco has more Championship rings than Don Mattingly? More Championship rings as a member of the Yankees even.

Not to mention when they signed Jason Giambi instead of Tino Martinez. Not to mention when they signed Tino Martinez instead of Don Mattingly. Not to mention when they signed Joe Girardi instead of Mike Stanley.

Or when they kick-started free agency with the Cafish Hunter signing.

Or when Reggie Jackson insulted Thurman Munson.

Maybe when they stole Babe Ruth from the Red Sox.

Did the Yankees ever have a soul to sell?

Maybe they're just a professional sports team and Anthony Rieber is being silly.

Carlos Marmol? Never heard of him.

Them..................		Felz & His Friends
Jimmy Rollins	353	Jimmy Rollins	22
Matt Holliday	336	Matt Holliday	21
Prince Fielder	284	Prince Fielder	20
David Wright	182	Ryan Howard	19
Ryan Howard	112	David Wright	9
Chipper Jones	107	Rickey Henderson	4
Jake Peavy	97	Willie Randolph	4
Chase Utley	89	Alfonso Soriano	4
Albert Pujols	50	Chase Utley	3
Hanley Ramirez	49	Carlos Beltran	2
Eric Byrnes	43	Albert Pujols	2
Alfonso Soriano	39	Hanley Ramirez	2
Aramis Ramirez	36	Jose Reyes	2
Jose Valverde	19	Paul Lo Duca	1
Miguel Cabrera	18
Jose Reyes	16
Brandon Webb	15
Troy Tulowitzki	13
Carlos Lee	7
Adrian Gonzalez	6
Carlos Beltran	6
Brandon Phillips	3
Aaron Rowand	3
Brad Hawpe	2
Ryan Braun	2
Carlos Marmol	1

Potentially more pitching.

Making the playoffs is a "horror show":

"The New York Yankees have lost 13 of their last 17 playoff games and basically dismissed their iconic manager because of it, and they just spent nearly $400 million to put the same product back on the field, only with potentially less pitching."

Potentially more pitching is what I think you meant to say.


"Indeed, assurance and vigor have gone the way of Mystique and Aura, capricious mistresses last seen on Curt Schilling's arm."

In all seriousness, I saw them on craigslist last night. I even sent the links to my friend Jason, who probably couldn't even afford them.

2007 AL MVP.

My apologies to Mike Lowell. In my analysis of D. Wright's MVP chances, I wrongfully predicted that Lowell would not crack the top 10. Perhaps my apologies should be to the voters and not to Lowell.

Actually, why am I apologizing to people who don't even care?


I don't understand how J.J. Putz could receive more MVP points than any other pitcher while receiving zero Cy Young votes. Just a statistical oddity.


I also like the person who somehow thought Abreu was the sixth-best player in the AL. I'm not sure he's the sixth-best outfielder on the Yankees.

Them..................		Felz & His Friends
Alex Rodriguez	382	Alex Rodriguez	72
Magglio Ordonez	258	Magglio Ordonez	26
Vladimir Guerrero	203	Vladimir Guerrero	10
David Ortiz	177	David Ortiz	9
Mike Lowell	126	Jorge Posada	8
Jorge Posada	112	Mike Lowell	5
Victor Martinez	103	Curtis Granderson	2
Ichiro Suzuki	89	Grady Sizemore	1
Carlos Pena	64	Ichiro Suzuki	1
Curtis Granderson	51
Derek Jeter	17
Grady Sizemore	15
J.J. Putz	12
C.C. Sabathia	11
Torii Hunter	5
Orlando Cabrera	5
Bobby Abreu	4
John Lackey	4
Placido Polanco	4
Justin Morneau	3
Chone Figgins	3
Josh Beckett	2
Fausto Carmona	1
Frank Thomas	1

Balderdash!

"You have to ask yourself where the Yankees would have finished without A-Rod and where the Tigers would have finished without Ordonez," Hawkins said. "A-Rod had a better supporting cast than Magglio did. I know for a fact the Tigers would not have been anywhere close and certainly not in Wild Card contention without Magglio."

Let me the first to point out (ahem) that the Tigers would have probably missed the playoffs without Ordonez.


The Tigers arguably gave Magglio Ordonez a better supporting cast than the Yankees gave Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees had a better catcher than the Tigers and that's about it.

Just look at the stats and judge for yourself.

Who is the most underrated player in the AL? Granderson, Guillen, or Polanco?

2007 NL Cy Young.

Them..................		Felz & His Friends
Jake Peavy	160	Jake Peavy	40
Brandon Webb	94	Brandon Webb	23
Brad Penny	14	Brad Penny	13
Aaron Harang	10	Carlos Zambrano	7
Carlos Zambrano	3	Tom Glavine	4
Cole Hamels	2	Pedro Martinez	3
John Smoltz	2	Billy Wagner	3
Jose Valverde	2	Cole Hamels	2
Jeff Francis	1	Aaron Harang	2
		Chan Ho Park	2
		Jose Feliciano	1
		Jeff Francis	1
		Tim Hudson	1
		John Smoltz	1

Crazy Eddie unavailable for comment.

Hey, if ARod can demand approximately $280M and this action can somehow be construed as "crawling back to the Yankees," then maybe the following tidbit isn't weird:

"It's believed Mitch Modell of Yankees sponsor Modell Sporting Goods was the third party. Rodriguez and Modell were at an Orlando charity event Tuesday night with Johnny Damon, a friend of Modell's."

Clearly.

"He is an enigmatic figure in their clubhouse, clearly not a player who improves his team."

Clearly, Alex Rodriguez is not a player who improves his team.


I don't think ARod is an enigma. He's a self-centered, arrogant, alpha dog who is trying unsuccessfully to act like he's one of the fellas.

He tries unsuccessfully to act like he respects Joe Torre and Derek Jeter when he's really thinking, "Hit fitty homeruns and then you may speak with me. From now on, it's Mr. Rodriguez when you want to speak to the baddest somethin' somethin' you ever met."


Why does George Vescey even care if ARod offended the Yankees? Offended the sensibilities of Scott Boras and Hank Steinbrenner?

How is that even possible?

These are people who'd eat their children to make an extra dollar.


You know, Andrew Eugene Pettitte talked a lot about his love for the Yankees before he played for the Astros, while he played for the Astros, and after he played for the Astros.

ARod said all along he wanted to stay in NY and, though I didn't believe him for a second, it doesn't even matter. It doesn't matter how it gets done, as long as it gets done.

Sign the dotted line and then play some ball.

The rest is noise.

Why are so many people concerned with the negotiating tactics, anyway?

The Yankees should not opt out on Alex Rodriguez. Because he's a very good baseball player whose presence on their team will greatly increase their chances of winning baseball games and, ultimately, winning the World Series.

The Yankees should play Wilson Betemit at third base because ARod isn't contrite enough? Can you imagine?

These are grown men making decisions that affect a $billion corporation. These aren't middle school boys in the playground deciding who gets invited to a birthday party.

Pretty much.

"And don't give me that crap about how A-Rod would upset your club's precious chemistry. I keep reading all these comments praising the great 'chemistry' and 'teamwork' of the Boston Red Sox. Please. As if the Rockies and Indians somehow had flaws in their character, or were bad teammates simply because they didn't beat the Sox. So the Rockies won 21 of 22 games, and then got swept in the World Series because their bottle of 'chemistry' ran out? Nonsense. The Red Sox didn't win it all because their character was somehow superior to every other team's. They won because they had more talent. They won because they had better players, better pitching, and they played the best in October.

It's wonderful if every teammate is like Mike Lowell or Jason Varitek, but it's hardly necessary as long as a player produces. For crying out loud, Curt Schilling's ego is so monstrous it's an official stop on the Boston duck boat tour, while Manny has repeatedly asked to be traded. Talent matters, not personality. Chuck Knoblauch was as moody a player as there ever was, yet the Twins won a World Series and the Yankees won three straight with him in the lineup. Jack Morris was as self-involved a player as I've ever covered, and he was a cornerstone for three different World Series champs.

...

And it's not like Rodriguez is a troublemaker or a bad guy. Granted, taking his shirt off in Central Park on a sunny summer day was pretty scandalous (the nerve of that guy!). But seriously, c'mon! At worst A-Rod is like the office know-it-all who wants you to know how cool his 72-inch plasma screen looks, and how well his fantasy team is doing, and where all the cool restaurants are. But he also happens to really know his stuff, and he's able to hack into any system and write code that really, really works. You may not want to sit next to him, but you definitely want him in your office.

...

Have teams gotten better after A-Rod left? Well, that depends on how you look at it. We all took great delight trumpeting that 'fact' when the Mariners sported the best regular-season record in American League history the year after A-Rod signed with Texas [Felz note: After adding AL MVP Ichiro]. But the Mariners haven't been to the postseason since that 2001 season, finishing in last place three times. So who would Mariners fans honestly rather have at third base now? A-Rod or Adrian Beltre? Or at shortstop: A-Rod or Yuniesky Betancourt?

...

And while the Rangers did improve to 89-73 the season after they traded A-Rod, they haven't had a winning record since and landed right back in last place this year."

2007 AL Cy Young

Them..................		Felz & His Friends
C.C. Sabathia	119	Josh Beckett	49
Josh Beckett	86	C.C. Sabathia	32
John Lackey	36	John Lackey	20
Fausto Carmona	7	Chien-Ming Wang	14
Eric Bedard	1	Fausto Carmona	9
Roy Halladay	1	Johan Santana	9
Johan Santana	1	Alex Rodriguez	8
Justin Verlander	1	J.J. Putz	2
		Eric Bedard	1
		Dan Haren	1

Yes, ARod got a few Cy Young votes.

Deal with it.

Anybody remember the homerun by Leyritz? When Wohlers hung a slider and McCarver kept saying Wohlers shouldn't have thrown a slider?

Leyritz was a catcher, by the way.

Leyritz was also awaiting the throw from left field in 1995 when Griffey slid in safely with the winning run.

Just sayin'.

Posada existed later on.


In the entire 1996 season, Jorge Posada had 14 at-bats.

In the 1996 postseason, Jorge Posada had 0 at-bats.

I'm not really sure if Posada received a Championship ring for 1996. After the series is over, the players vote on it. I know for a fact that Posada was not on the Yankees roster for the 1996 World Series:

"He gets paid now by the Yankees for all of it, what he used to be and what the Yankees used to be, for being one of the last members of the Class of '96 - class in all ways - who is still here. He gets paid for the four World Series, for the tag he put on Jeremy Giambi that night in Oakland, for the thrower and the game-caller he became. He gets paid for hitting .338 at the age of 36, which is only 51 points higher than he ever hit in his life.

If Andy Pettitte decides to retire, as hard as it is to see him retiring with $16 million on the table, then it is just Posada and Mo Rivera and Derek Jeter from the World Series team of 1996."

I don't know which is more odd: The absurd notion put forth by Lupica that Posada is being paid for the memory of a 1996 World Series in which he didn't play; or the fact that Lupica may be right.

I am not really sure anymore.

The Yankees have such a strong tendency to live in the past, and the history is revised so often, that maybe Posada is actually being paid extra money because he is associated with the 1996 World Series.

In which he didn't play.

Statistical analysis has made baseball dynasties virtually impossible.

Great, great material right here:

"Baseball has changed dramatically since I began my tenure with the Yankees ... I look forward to sharing my thoughts and perspective on how the game has evolved ... In addition to sharing Torre's knowledge of the game, the authors will examine the rapidly changing baseball landscape, explaining how developments such as revenue sharing and the rise of statistical analysis have made the future existence of dynasties virtually impossible."

Torre will also manage the Los Angeles Whatchacallits in his spare time.

Nineteen Freakin' Fifty Eight.

That is when the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles.

Name five current pitchers from the NL West.

Is Jake Peavy left-handed or right-handed?

The San Diego baseball team is called the ___________. (Hint: When you were manager of the Yankees, you beat this team in the 1998 World Series.)

Veteran of the psychic wars.

Can you imagine the psychic break in Lupica's brain if ARod played for the Mets?

I think the Love for the Mets would win out and ARod would need to be re-imagined as a scrappy underdog.

He's no Pavano.

Never in a million years would I have thought Pettitte would turn down his option.

Unless he thinks he can get a better contract.

Maybe he can.

Heck, he could have exercised the option, collected $16M, and gone on the DL.

Obviously.

"I don't know my team, obviously," Torre said.

Name three players.

Scott Proctor doesn't count.

I am trying to think of an analogy.

Maybe Joe Gibbs?

I mean, how much better do people think Torre is compared to Grady Little?

How much different do people think Torre is compared to Grady Little?:

"What for days appeared to be another episode of reckless decisions and bungled stewardship by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt turned into the franchise's greatest coup since drafting Mike Piazza in the 62nd round 20 years ago.

The Dodgers exchanged Forrest Gump for Joe Cool."

Belichick for Yankee Manager.

Parahprahsing Bill Belichick while discussing this Sunday's game: "Nobody care about what you did three weeks ago or last year."

Meanwhile, Joe Torre is still bringing up 1996.

It's called negotiating.

You start off $100 million apart, then $70 million apart, then $10 million apart, then you act all insulted by the demand for first-class airplane tickets and box seats for his wife.

Then you sign a contract.

I doubt very much if ARod will sign a contract anywhere near $350 million. Why would another team bid against itself like Texas did seven years ago?

Overpaid underachievers ...

... like Paul O'Neill and Don Mattingly.

The USA Today salary database is probably not definitive, but it tells a story of the playoff team that Torre inherited.

Did you know the Washington Nationals had a payroll of $12 million in 1995?

Neither did they.

(I know they mean the Expos, but, c'mon.)

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

"Joe Torre, beloved in New York for converting an underachieving, high-payroll team into World Series champion, is being hired to duplicate his magic on the West Coast."

I truly don't understand why Buck Showalter, Gene Michael, Bob Watson, etc. need to be disrespected in order to praise Joe Torre.

Torre presided over several underachieving, high-payroll teams.

But the team of underachievers he supposedly "converted" was already a very good team. A playoff team, in fact.

1993: 88-74 (.543)
1994: 70-43 (.619)
1995: 79-65 (.549)

Total: 237-182 (.566)

Not 114 wins, but not a bunch of underachievers.

Also, just for the record, the 1995 Yankees were not really overpaid. Not like Abreu / Clemens / Damon / Pavano / Giambi overpaid. The team won the wild card and did not have the highest payroll in their division, at least I don't think they did. I think the Orioles had the highest payroll in the division in 1995.


"The hiring of Torre, who probably will bring along Yankees bench coach Don Mattingly, might have as big an impact on the organization as the 1998 blockbuster trade of Mike Piazza to the Florida Marlins."

Bigger impact than Mike Piazza.

Sure.

Sure, they will.

I'm shocked.

Scott Boras says something obnoxious:

"The brilliant Mariano Rivera, probably the only flaw he's made in a historic career over the postseason, if he got those three outs (in the ninth inning of Game 4), Alex would have been in the World Series and he would have been held to have a great postseason."

It's a free country.

Perhaps you were driven away.

Best of luck in Los Angeles.

But this is not loyalty. This is the opposite of loyalty.

I actually enjoy Curt Schilling's blog.

I found this more interesting and oddly insightful than 100 Lupica columns where he compares baseball to boxing:

"Filing for free agency is weird. I never knew or thought about how it happened. Representing myself I rounded up the legal details and figured out exactly how it works. For the next 15 days I can speak with other teams, and they can contact me, but no details can be discussed. They can only express interest. For the next 15 days the team that remains my first choice, the Sox, have exclusive rights. I guess I’ll find out how closely teams follow rules…..

So this huge thing, free agency, was accomplished by doing the following.

Place a phone call to the MLBPA, tell them you want to become a free agent, hang up.

Weird. Something that can be so life altering was pretty much a 48 second phone call. They file a letter with the commissioners office 'A letter of intent' that lists all the players filing that day, and it’s official."

Clueless Joe.

My first thought is that it would be utterly hilarious if ARod ended up playing for the Dodgers with Torre as his manager.

My second thought is that Torre doesn't know what he's in for.

First time he tries to get a table and a restaurant and gets snubbed because Tyra Banks showed up. Not Tyra Banks, but the guy from the Trya show who does the makeup.

"Sorry, Mr. Lasorda baseball player thingy person."

The Bottom Line.

Read this article and pretend it was written about you.

It isn't nice.

I wouldn't like to be called a phony.

There's actually a lot of mean-spirited stuff in there.

Really think about it. Absorb it. Let it sink in. Doesn't feel too good, does it?

This is the kind of sentiment that ARod knew he'd foster when he opted out of his contract.

This is the exact article that Lupica (and others) have been waiting to write.

Now, balance the sting of this article against the extra $200 million you're going to make.

Suddenly, the article doesn't seem so bad, does it?

I may be a phony ... but there ain't nothing phony about dollar bills, y'all.

Is that the best you've got? Tell you what. Here's $15 million I left in a coat pocket. Go get a new haircut and maybe a small Caribbean island while you're at it.

I hope the Yankees win the next ten in a row ...

... but why would ARod necessarily choose to stay in New York if he wanted to win a Chamopionship?

I know ARod wants money above all. Just like almost everybody else. I also know that the state of flux within the Yankee organization had very little to do with ARod's decfision to opt out. I would think ARod would be happier with Girardi as manager than with Torre as manager.

But this observation simply makes no sense:

"We know only this: Rodriguez will go where the money is best. He obviously doesn’t care what people think about him. His legacy will always be more about his contract than championships."

If a major league baseball player wanted to win a championship above all other things, for which team would he choose to play?

For the Yankees or for the Angels?

For the Yankees or for the Red Sox?

For the Yankees or for the Cubs?

For the Yankees or for the Rockies?

For the Yankees or for the Tigers?

For the Yankees or for the Mets?

For the Yankees or for the Cardinals?

I don't absolutely know the answer. I know that Jeter's range is slipping, Posada is getting old, Rivera is getting old, and Pujols/ARod would make a good 1-2 punch.

I also know that some of the team mentioned above probably couldn't even afford ARod, so the question is moot.

But you put ARod at ss for the Dodgers and you don't think they can win the World Series? In the weak-ass National League?

Maybe he's getting out of the A.L. East simply because he wants to win a World Series.

Yes, he's selfish. Get over it.

These are the same reporters who lick Reggie Jackson's taint and work every day in the House that Ruth Built.

That would be Babe Ruth.

The guy who saved baseball but went and played for the Boston Braves because he selfishly wanted to be offered the job as Yankees manager.

The guy who spit in his hand before shaking Gehrig's hand for the b&w photos.

The guy who never saw an advertisement he didn't like.


It's not even worth discussing, y'all.

Mike Vaccaro says "good riddance" and Peter Abraham says (ahem) "Perhaps the Yankees are better off without such a player."

Abraham, by the way, implicitly seems to believe that Curt Schlling and Manny Ramirez are gritty, selfless role players.


I have little doubt that ARod is an arrogant prick. I'm consistently amused that so-called reporters can't tell the difference between a Good Player and a Good Interview.

So, then, everything is "stunning."

Sun stuns New York Daily News by rising in the East and setting in the West.

Tuesday stuns New York Daily News by following Monday.

Halloween sneaks up on New York Daily News. Who knew it was October 31 this year?


I mean, maybe I'm a tiny bit surprised that Boras didn't even wait for an offer from the Yankees, and maybe I'm a tiny bit surprised that ARod acted so quickly, but I'm hardly stunned by an event that has been 99.9% certain to occur and has been discussed as such for over a year.

Rockies are money while Mets are spent.

Ask a stupid question ...

After four years of unqualified support, Mike Lupica's opinion of Alex Rodriguez changes suddenly.

Mike Lupica thinks Alex Rodriguez should not come back to the Yankees:

"Because here is the question, not just for Yankee fans, but for any good sports fan of the city of New York: How much do YOU think A-Rod is worth?"

I think it's difficult to quantify this answer.

Take Joe Torre. He is worth something to a baseball team.

Now, multiple that value by a hundred million, and that is what ARod is worth.

I would take the cumulative value of Mike Lupica and his entire family, throw in the bullpen, both catchers, and Long Island. That is what ARod is worth for one year.


"Pay A-Rod this way and they are officially making him the centerpiece of their franchise and the face of their franchise for the next decade."

Good.

Or maybe Wilson Betemit can be the centerpiece of a third-place team.


"It won't be Derek Jeter, won't be the new manager and won't be Joba Chamberlain. It will be A-Rod, who puts up huge numbers except at the time of year when the greatness of the New York Yankees has been grandly defined. Bucky Dent has a more impressive October résumé with one swing."

That's wrong and you're a fool.

ARod will get his World Series "moments."

The question is, will he do it in pinstripes.

Smoke Signals.

Just to prove I wasn't making it up or deriving my information from an aspartame-induced trip into an alternative reality:

"Later, when asked in a radio interview if he had heard that Levine wanted him out, Torre said: 'It's only secondhand. You hear a lot of people talk. ... I don't like to send smoke signals secondhand.' "

You just sent smoke signals secondhand, didn't you?

Then, the press eats this stuff up.

"Mike, did you send secondhand smoke signals? I know I didn't.

Malucis, did you send secondhand smoke signals? Anybody?

Joe, I gotta tell you. Somebody sent secondhand smoke signals and it wasn't anybody in this room besides you.

Bad job outta Joe."

Am I hallucinating?

I must be wrong.

I could have sworn Millar played for the Orioles.

I also could have sworn the Orioles were an AL East enemy of the Red Sox.

Let me check ... phew ... I thought so.

Post number 1,001.

Once again, I'm puzzled by the notion that double-talking passive-aggression is classy and dignified:

"That sets the stage for Torre's revenge. When someone asked how he envisions his future role – as ambassador to the new Stadium, perhaps, or the star of a future Old-Timers' Day event – Torre's expression went dead-cold. He said, 'I'm not ready to comment on that.' It was the equivalent of Joe Cool telling George, Hank and Hal Steinbrenner: This isn't over. Not by a long shot."

Classy.


I heard a portion of yesterday's interview with Mike and the Mad Dog.

When asked about Randy Levine, Torre responded in typical Torre fashion.

Torre said that he hadn't heard any negativity firsthand from Randy Levine, only secondhand. But since it was secondhand, he wasn't going to mention it.

So, if you're not going to mention it, who just mentioned it?

"He was told of the stripped-down offer by Hal Steinbrenner, at which point Torre reminded the brain trust that he'd taken the Bombers to the postseason for 12 years -- a feat unmatched by any other manager in the big leagues. He stressed that the postseason is a merciless crapshoot, and to cement that point, he reminded them that of the eight qualifiers in the 2006 postseason, only one team, the Yankees, made it back in 2007.

What was ownership's response?

Silence."

I'm glad Torre finally realized that the postseason is a merciless crapshoot. I absolutely agree. Which is why I firmly believe Showalter could have rolled three straight elevens, too. As long as Rivera was his closer.

Torre expects all the credit and none of the blame.

Do words mean anything anymore?

Not to get all Derrida in my baseball blog, but I keep reading and hearing the adjective "shocked" and the adverb "shockingly" used to describe Torre's decision to reject the Yankees' offer.

1. Steinbrenner said Torre wasn't going to come back (probably) if the Yankees lost in the playoffs.
2. Torre's contract had run out.
3. This is at least the third postseason in a row where Torre's job status was shaky.
4. I could find twenty articles that predicted the Yankees would make Torre a lowball offer and then Torre would forced to reject it.
5. If you couldn't figure out 4. yourself, then you're not paying attention.

While I think the entire faux offer was a waste of time and a waste of an airplane ticket, I also think the Yankees would have been crucified if they'd announced their search for a new manager ten minutes after Game Four.

I am seriously wondering if the word "shocking" has any meaning anymore.

"Awesome" used to mean, like, the size of the ocean or the force created by a supernova. Today, Taco Bell burritos are regularly described as "awesome."

Are these people really shocked? Or do these people just have a limited vocabulary? Or has the word just lost all meaning?

I mean, the Torre retrospectives seemed pre-written and ready to go.

Couldn't have been too much of a shock: "Shockingly, Joe Torre rejected the Yankee contract offer. Even more shockingly, I had already written this before it even happened."

Nice guy, bad manager.

In 2001, Clemens won the Cy Young Award.

Tino and Brosius hit those homeruns off Kim.

Soriano hit that homerun off Schilling.

The Yankees wore NYPD and NYFD hats.

The Yankees did not win the World Series in 2001.

Doesn't anybody remember?:

"I always will believe that during the 1996-2001 dynasty, Mariano Rivera was the only uniformed member of the organization more important to the Yankees' success than Torre."

Crazy, and crazy.


"Joe Torre never spent hours poring over statistics or videotape like a lot of young managers do these days."

That, I believe.

Joe Torre doesn't even know who C.C. Sabathia is.


"He wasn't a workaholic type who obsessed about getting to work earlier than his peers."

That, I also believe.


"He would have a nice lunch, and then he would shave cleanly after games -- wins or losses -- as he prepared for a late dinner at a restaurant."

That's good to know.

Expert on green tea.

Not so much on Wang's home/road splits.


"He was not above playing favorites, of course, and some players felt the dark glower of his stare."

Of course he wasn't above playing favorites.

Who do you think he is?

A manager of a baseball team trying to optimize his team's chances to win? He can't do that when David Cone's feelings are at stake.


"Other managers will work harder than Torre, put in more time. His successor might handle the Yankees' pitching staff better than Torre, and moving forward, the team could benefit from statistical analysis in a way that it hasn't over the last 12 years. The lineups and lineup choices might be more informed."

That, I also believe.

So why should the Yankees have kept Torre?

Because Torre was nice to Buster Olney's wife one time.

Intellectual Virus.

Before he lost his mind with "Finnegan's Wake," James Joyce wrote his stream of consciousness masterpiece, "Ulysses."

It's more intersting to read about Joyce's works than to actually read Joyce's works.

In any case, there's a point here that I'm getting to.

Around the same time, William Faulkner was creating his own stream of consciousness masterpiece, "The Sound and the Fury."

When Faulkner was asked about the similarities to Joyce's works, Faulkner disavowed the influence. Faulkner claimed that stream of consciousness was sort of an "intellectual pollen."

In truth, the idea of an "intellectual pollen" seems valid, considering how often disconnected people around the world seem to reach the same breakthrough at the same time.

That's sort of what happened when Bob Klapisch and Joel Sherman both came up with the brilliant idea of giving Torre a new two-year contract.

Double Take.

When I first pondered this passage from Bob Klapisch, I was offended by the notion that the Yankee baseball seasons should be regarded as a Joe Torre farewell tour:

"By getting a final, two-year deal, Torre would enjoy what amounts to a multi-summer farewell tour, and he'd be rewarded for keeping alive the longest golden era in Yankee history. He'd also have the opportunity to close out the old Stadium after 2008 and have a chance to manage in the new ballpark when it opens in April 2009."

Upon closer inspection, Klapisch just referreed to the years 1996 - 2007 as the "longest golden era in Yankee history."

Stuff I know off the top of my head, which I am not even paid to know, which disputes Klapisch's contention:

-- Yogi Berra has ten rings.

-- The Yankees won five straight Championships between 1949 and 1953.

-- Between 1949 and 1962, the Yankees won twelve AL pennants and nine Championships

-- Babe Ruth.

Rerun.

Bob Klapisch offers some excellent baseball-related rationale for rehiring Joe Torre as Yankee manager:

"By getting a final, two-year deal, Torre would enjoy what amounts to a multi-summer farewell tour, and he'd be rewarded for keeping alive the longest golden era in Yankee history. He'd also have the opportunity to close out the old Stadium after 2008 and have a chance to manage in the new ballpark when it opens in April 2009."

Think of the little people.

This is not such a bad idea.

But the guy whose job it is to fetch green tea?

He's going to get fired.

Oh. My. God.

Up yours, you hypocritical keyboard coward.

Of all the people to climb up this particular high horse ...

I can't even comment on this in detail. I don't have the stomach to actually read it.

You can have him, you traitor.

"I like it when he calls me 'Big Papi.' "

Fourth-best.

"Jose Reyes went from being called the most exciting player in baseball, and even a possible MVP candidate, to being the third-best shortstop in his own DIVISION."

Did Lupica forget about Renteria?

If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.

Suzyn Waldman is no Walter Cronkite:

"What's the big damn deal? That I cried for four seconds of a 10-minute postgame?

The idea that I can't choke up because a man I went through cancer with 11 years ago is going to lose his job and I was describing his coaches crying? It's absolutely ludicrous'

I'm not Walter Cronkite."

Walter Cronkite cried on the air when President Kennedy died. Not when Joe Torre gave a postgame press conference.


I'll explain the problem with crying on the air when the Yankees lose or Torre gets fired.

Though you're not expected to be Walter Cronkite, you're expected to tell the fans what's going on with the Yankees.

Your emotional involvment with the players clearly inhibits your ability to do so.

We all know Miguel Cairo and Wil Nieves are bad baseball players.

You act like their protective mom.

If I relied on Suzyn Waldman for baseball analysis, I'd think that every Yankee is the best player ever, and the strongest, and the best-looking, and well-mannered, too.

Even when Lupica is right, he's not right.

I don't feel like looking up the links to all the articles that have been written recently -- by fans and sportswriters alike -- that have trashed Jeter's performance in the ALDS.

I just find it amusing that Lupica seemingly takes the pulse of the New York sports scene without reading any newspaper articles or typing "Derek Jeter" into a search engine.

So, in Lupica's mind, Jeter is the Teflon Captain.

Lupica thinks he is the first writer brave enough to call out the Captain:

"This time the shortstop, the captain of the team, hurt the Yankees every bit as much as the third baseman did. It goes on his record with all the winning.

This one goes on him, really for the first time."

Okay, you're on the right track, except:

1. Jeter hurt the team more than ARod.

2. It's not the first time Jeter has hurt the team in the playoffs.

That's just how baseball works.

I suppose it's better than the Mets, who didn't care at all.

You know the stereotype of a female reporter getting all emotional?:

"No I was okay actually until I went into the clubhouse and the coaches are sitting in Torre’s office and they are watching this. And the tears you hear in my voice are coming down the faces of the coaches in that coach's room."

Betcha didn't know Paul O'Neill was a role player.

"The Yankees have stars. Lots of stars. They have Alex Rodriguez, who has 518 more home runs than your local auto mechanic, but just as many championships."

They have Chien-Ming Wang with a playoff ERA so high, it can get into Barely Legal magazine.

"What they do not have enough of are the productive role players who lend invaluable depth and breadth to a team's clubhouse and effort. They have not had a Paul O'Neill or Scott Brosius or Tino Martinez."

O'Neill -- Great player. Zero World Series homeruns.

Brosius -- Awesome World Series MVP in 1998. If Brosius was the Yankee third baseman this year, the Yankees would have been in fourth place.

Tino -- Not only have the Yankees had players like Tino Martinez, they had Tino Martinez. In 2005. Not surprisingly, he hit .000 in the playoffs that year.

Not too shocking given his .231 career playoff batting average.

Funny.

I asked a buddy of mine if he'd ever heard of Ross Ohlendorf or Bronson Sardinha. He had not.

I don't care if I spelled the names incorrectly. They're not worth looking up.


Wang deserved the game #1 start. I know he can't pitch on the road, but he'd better learn.

Wang was making his third career postseason start.

When MLB.com hyped up the Yankees-Indians series, they showed grainy photographs of dead players wearing wool uniforms. Not Indians players, of course, but, you know, the Yankee "ghosts" with the mystique and the aura and the whatnot.

The Yankees are therefore experienced.


The Indians won more games than the Yankees this season.

The Indians sent the best 1-2 pitching combination in the American League against a team that has not gotten out of the first round since 2004.

The Indians aren't intimidated by Luis Vizcaino, as an example -- why should they be? Because Vizcaino wears the same uniform as players who won World Series title a bunch of times?


Maybe the Yankee failures in the playoffs is just the odds evening out or maybe it's just the better team winning year after year.

I just can not quite comprehend the continuing intellectual laziness: "The Yankees know how to win and they're the Yankees."

Stop acting all surprised when they lose.

Misleading stat of the night.

Batting average with runners in scoring position:

Yankees .333 (1-for-3).

Indians .125 (2-for-16).

Take the "lovable" out of "lovable losers."

I'm actually quite amazed by the willingness of the Mets players to openly admit their apathy.

Seventh Heaven.

While Mike Lupica examines the Mets' 2007 season with some pointless and bizarre numerology, Tim Marchman offers some thoughtful observations.


Randolph is apparently a well-liked person.

I even heard Peter Gammons inexplicably defend Randolph by describing him as "dignified," which struck me as faintly racist, to be honest. Gammons probably doesn't have a racist bone in his body. But it just sounded like one of those statements where the addendum "for a black man" is left unspoken.

Point is, Randolph is simply not a good manager.

Best case, even if Randolph is generally a good manager, or if Randolph has the potential to be a good manager, Randolph was an abysmal manager in 2007:

"This is the second time in three years he's presided over a late-season catastrophe — in 2005 the Mets were 1.5 games out of a playoff spot on August 26 and then lost 16 of 20 against weak competition — and his reasonableness no longer seems a virtue. Every day, his reticence seems a bit more like the silence of someone who's figured out the best way to keep people from realizing he doesn't quite know what he's doing.

...

The mathematical fact that the odds against this collapse were 1-in-500 is astonishing, but it's so abstract a figure that it tends to exculpate the guilty. ('499 times out of 500, Willie Randolph gets his men to the playoffs!') For a team, or some large important part of it, to visibly lose their will to win right there on the field is something else, that isn't easily forgiven."

In response, Mike Lupica said, "Seven, seven, seven, seven. I like turtles."

The letter I almost wrote to Michael Kay.

Then I decided the last thing I needed was a conversation with Michael Kay.

Or an FBI trail of my emails to Michael Kay.

Besides, I've got a blog!:

"Hi Michael Kay,

Why did you stop describing uniforms? That was cool. You should start doing that again.

This is more of a correction than a question.

Earlier this week, you were defending Willie Randolph's 'winning pedigree' by pointing out his collection of six Championship rings.

Was Randolph third base coach for the Torre-era rings? I don't actually remember. Maybe bench coach. Maybe first base coach. Basically, not playing and not making any important decisions. Meh.

As a player, Randolph hit .222 in the playoffs, .181 in the World Series, and even worse in 1977.

Randolph didn't even play in the 1978 playoffs -- I'm sure you remember Brian Doyle filling in. Brian Doyle hit over .400 and is so famous as a result, Mets broadcaster Ron Darling recently referred to him as Denny Doyle. Which is pretty close. Darling got one name right and, for Darling to remember one of your names, you must have done something quite astonishing.

Yesterday, Keith Hernandez forgot the name of the closer on the Phillies. That was funny. You'd probably never forget the name of the closer on the Phillies.

Regards,
Felz"

Tom Glavine probably gave a dignified postgame interview.

"This time, it was a photograph of the fifth-inning brawl from yesterday. At the top of the page, this quote from Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who left yesterday’s game with a sore hand, was typed out: 'I don’t care if it’s broke. I’m gonna play tomorrow.' The quote then continued with two sentences, accompanied by expletives, saying how the Marlins would be [sic] the Mets. At the bottom of the page, it was written, 'It’s Never a Good Idea to Wake the Sleeping Mets' and 'Someone Pays Today.'"

Randolph is the Manager of the Year.

"In the context of the article":

"The source of Wagner's anger was a quotation that, in the context of the article, made him sound as if he didn't believe Randolph or Peterson were any help to his success.

'We've been throwing four innings a night -- for months!' Wagner told the magazine. 'Our pitching coach has no experience talking to a bullpen. He can help you mechanically, but he can't tell you emotions. He has no idea what it feels like. And neither does Willie. They're not a lot of help, put it that way.'"

Where exactly were you getting ice?

Lo Duca's tough guy act suddenly makes sense. He's overcompensating:

"I was in the training room getting ice and was trying to zip up my pants as quick as I could to get out there."

The Mets have dug their own beds.

That's exactly what a flustered Gary Cohen said during the introduction to today's game.

This quote was easy to find.

All I had to do was check the game log and find one of the times the Phillies swept the Mets this season.

This gem from August 31:

"We'll get our chance to come back and take care of these guys," Lo Duca said. "They're dancing around the field now, but we'll see what happens when the time comes."

The glue and also the man.

I don't even know why I'm doing this, but I stumbled across a random Wright-for-MVP argument:

"Overall dominance. 30 105 .322/.414/.550. 41 doubles. 34 steals in 39 attempts."

That is not dominant in any of those categories. He's top ten in a lot of offensive categories. The opposite of dominant. Rather, he's sort of an offensive jack-of-all-trades, master of none.


"Hitting with RISP. Wright is hitting .313/.439/.560. He’s actually a better hitter with RISP."

Well, the batting average is lower, but, whatever.


"Overcame a very slow start."

April counts when determining the 2007 MVP. As long as we're talking about April 2007.


"Carlos Delgado has been awful. Beltran has decreased his OPS this year by over 100 points. Jose Reyes down almost 50. Moises Alou has only played in 82 games. Which makes Wright’s performance all the more impressive."

Delgado has been awful, that much is true.

The other points are not points at all.

Beltran is "down?" What does that mean? Compared to what? Beltran's 2006? That's why D. Wright is the NL MVP in 2007?

Beltran has more homeruns and rbis than Wright in 20 fewer games. Plus, Beltran is a better defender at a more important position. Beltran's OPS is down and he's still better than Wright.

Is that a convincing Wright-for-MVP argument?

Alou has only played in 82 games but has hit .340 in those games.

Rollins scored 100 million runs for the third year in a row even though Utley and Howard spent time on the DL.

Every team has players who are on the DL and other players who are disappointing.


"Wright’s OPS? Up over 50 points from last year."

I'm baffled by this tack.

Are we discussing Most Improved Player or Most Valuable Player?

Is Carlos Pena the MVP of the American League?


"He’s been the glue, the man and any other superlative you can add to him."

Okay, but Prince Fielder has been the glue, the man, and the Thing from the Fantastic Four.

Also, Prince Fielder has been "any other superlative you can add to him."

What I'm saying is, go ahead and add any superlative you want to Prince Fielder and Prince Fielder has been that superlative.


Also, I don't know if this counts for anything, but, down the stretch, the Mets are coming apart at the seams in an embarrassing manner. If Wright is the glue, maybe he's the same glue they used in the Ted Williams tunnel.


"He’s hit 9 of his homers against Atlanta and Philly. You’d think he would be pounding the lesser teams but he has hit only 3 against Washington and Florida."

A whole nine, huh?


"In New York they are marveling at his improvement on defense."

I guess one guy, David Lennon, is marveling at Wright's improvement on defense, but 21 errors is a heck of a lot.

David Lennon is "in New York." I will concede that point.

But, again, what difference does it really make if Wright improved?

This is a discussion of the 2007 season and the relative value of the NL baseball players in 2007. While Wright is a legit superstar -- 30 and 100 is nothing to sneeze at -- there is no way he is the best player in the NL in 2007.

He was the glue that held the team together, or something like that.

Carlos Beltran has more homeruns and runs batted in than David Wright.

Jose Reyes has more runs scored and stolen bases.

Moises Alou has a higher batting average.

Forget about leading the league. I tried to find an important statistical category where D. Wright led his own team.

I finally found it.

Apathy means never having to say you're sorry.

Predictions are stupid in the first place. I was right about the Astros, wrong about the Blue Jays. Who cares? So I was wrong about the Blue Jays.

Dan Graziano predicted the Yankees would not come back and make the playoffs.

Now it's time to eat humble pie, eat crow, and various other cliches.

When you think about it, though, these apologies are arrogant and self-serving gestures:

"Actually, I expected it to be worse. Maybe you've all just been waiting for the Yankees to officially clinch their playoff spot, and the next few days will bring a barrage of angry, sarcastic, corrective e-mails about that June 29 column that pronounced their season dead. If they do, fair enough."

Dan, there's no outrage because nobody cares about what you have to say in the first place.

Moises Alou, Motivational Speaker.

"Win one for the Gipper." -- Knute Rockne.

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going." -- Billy Ocean.

"Damn, it would have been nice if we got that win today." -- Moises Alou.

Felzball's first poll.

Alex Rodriguez is:
	Best Yankee ever.
	Best human being ever.
pollcode.com free polls

I am inclined to disagree.

Just so we're all clear on the award in question, it's called "Manager of the Year" and not "Manager of the Second Half":

"SECOND RUNNERUP:

Joe Torre, New York Yankees. Managers with absurd payrolls and rich in All-Stars don't generally gather many post-season plaques, but Torre has survived a crazy baseball summer in the city that defines crazy."

It's been one wild, wacky, crazy baseball summer ... all in the city that defines crazy!


"The tabloids had him fired last fall, then again in the spring."

I wish the tabloids had the authority.


"In his first five games, Torre started Carl Pavano, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Kei Igawa and Darrel Rasner. Among seven or eight starting pitchers, there were about 10 healthy hamstrings. Remember Tyler Clippard? Matt DeSalvo? Chase Wright? All Yankees starters."

Alex Rodriguez? Derek Jeter? Jorge Posada? Hideki Matsui? Bob Abreu? Mariano Rivera?

Which reminds me: Why is Abreu still batting third? Can anybody anywhere justify this?


"They were 6½ games out in April, 14½ in May, 13½ out in June, and still as many as 7 out in September."

Manager of the year!

Television Prison.

While sitting with the Con Ed Kids in the alcohol-free adjunct of Yankee Stadium known as the Left Field Bleachers, I was pondering why Torre didn't pinch-hit for Giambi in the fifth inning.

Across the street, Stan's Sports Bar provided a clear view of the game from the vantage point of a cameraman instead of the cloudy vantage point of a bunch of old men who forgot their glasses and were sitting 650 feet away from home plate.

Stan's Sports Bar also provided the opportunity to abandon the masculine $5 garbage bag / poncho and embrace a cold alcoholic beverage.

Baseball and Beer: Perfect Together.

Two of the Party of Five headed to Stan's after four innings.

The remaining Con Ed Three got to see ARod hit a go-ahead, two-out, bases-loaded double in the sixth inning. I saw the pitcher throw and I saw the batter swing. I heard the crack of the bat about the same time that Jeter was crossing home plate. It's kind of like when you see lightning and try to count to five before you hear the thunder.

Though not aligned with the audio input, the visual input indicated that the ball was in fair territory and, based on the delayed Doppler Effect of the crowd reaction, I was able to realize that something good was happening.

Anyway, Giambi's fifth-inning strikeout led to an overall Giambi discussion.

In answer to the first question, Giambi has 235 at-bats and Ball Thief has 144 at-bats. That is to say, Giambi has more at-bats. Good trivia question for the next time you're at a sports bar.

Next time you're at a sports bar, you might also want to tell Pam ... was that your name? Pam? ... that you actually attend the University of Michigan and it's not just a tee shirt that says "University of Michigan."

Pam is inebriated. You could tell Pam you go to University of Michigan, got a 4.0 in aeronautical engineering, and now you're the mayor. Of Michigan, honey. Yes, the mayor of Michigan. Do you want a jello shot?

But I digress.

I understand Torre's choices at first base, I really do:

Good field, no hit: 144 at-bats, .257, 5 hrs, 22 rbis, .329 ob%, .417 slugging%.

No field, no hit: 235 at-bats, .238, 16 hrs, 36 rbis, .355 ob%, .447 slugging%.

Which is why Ball Thief is the first choice.

Not because Ball Thief is really, really good.

Because Giambi is really, really bad.

The psychology of disappointment.

As far as I'm concerned, ARod and Magglio are sure shots for 1-2 in the AL MVP voting. The discussion then moves on to the top five or the top ten. Perhaps not an interesting discussion for some, but it's interesting to me.


There is a player who plays on a team with the best record in the league (more or less). His scoreboards stats are .319, 31, 107. His respective ranks for these categories are 7, 3, and 7.

He also has 107 runs scored (7), a .434 ob% (1), and a .593 slugging percentage (3).

On top of this, his vaunted 1-2 punch counterpart has either been injured or been eh.


Of course, I am talking about David Ortiz.

I may be misreading the General Consensus, but Ortiz doesn't seem to be generating much MVP buzz whatsoever.


I know Ortiz set the bar exceedingly high the previous three years.

But, when it comes to MVP consideration, players should be judged against other players in the same league in the same year. They shouldn't be judged harshly against unrealistic expectations.

It's the pressure of hitting homerun number 517.

Ba dum bum.

"A man on crutches wearing a Jose Reyes T-shirt was ejected - but not arrested - for throwing a ball from the third-base stands onto the field in the eighth inning last night. The ball struck Aaron Heilman on the left forearm as the Mets reliever was taking the mound."

The guy on crutches seems to have good aim. Maybe the Mets should try him in the ninth inning.

ARod may be an attention whore ...

... but at least ARod can hit.

Yay!

If a prominent role is playing first base and batting ninth, then I agree.

I also can't argue with Joe Torre's riveting assessment of baseball players and their relationship with baseball games:

"He's had an effect on our games."

Found one writer.

I don't necessarily agree that Peavy is the NL MVP. It just seems like he deserves to be mentioned more prominently.

I also happen to like this guy's comments about D. Wright:

"The New York lobby, as provincial as it is influential, has lately been leaning toward Mets third baseman David Wright. Wright is a fine player by any standard, a core component on the league's best team. Yet as of the start of yesterday's games, he ranked no higher than fourth in any significant statistical category.

Not only that, any objective appraisal would place Wright a distant second among the third basemen in his own town, where Alex Rodriguez also works.

Thus if David Wright really stands out above the competition, somebody else must be stooping."

NL MVP?

A player who is winning the Triple Crown for a playoff team, yet seldom mentioned as an MVP candidate.

I definitely have a new favorite player.

Couple of things, you gutter punk:

1) Don't get autographs of Yankee players. In fact, don't get autographs of Red Sox players. Read a book or learn how to talk to girls.

2) Your parents named you "Griffin." No Yankee player can ever play a bigger prank on you than that.

Bad Player Makes a Good Play.

"UPDATE, 8:33 p.m.: All the Doug Mientkiewicz haters say you’re sorry. It would be 3-0 if not for that play."

Mark Teixeira couldn't make that play?


Even if Ball Thief was Torre's best choice amongst a lot of bad choices ... and Ball Thief isn't Torre's best choice ... I think the anti-Ball Thief sentiment is always framed in its proper context.

The observation from the "haters" is that the Yankees are embarrassingly awful at 1b/dh, and have been all year

Worse, these positions should be easy to fill because they are not challenging defensively.

Everybody knows that Giambi's defense is abhorrent and his offensive contributions no longer justify his presence on the field. Giambi has degenerated into a dh who bats sixth or seventh, for Cripe's sake.

The other first basemen on Torre's bench simply can not hit. Ball Thief may be the best fielder of the bunch, but when your competition is Andy Phillips and Wilson Betemit, it's a competition that should be taking place in Scranton-Wilkes Barre.

Arguing about which Yankee 1b is better is like arguing if you'd prefer a punch in the nose or a kick in the groin.


I'm not quite sure why Ball Thief attracts such a following with the beat writers.

The rest of us wonder why the Yankees released Josh Phelps in the first place.

Let's Go Yankees.

I know that most of the world only pays attention to the Yankees when they play Red Sox or the Mets, and I know that winning the division has its advantages.

But while I've heard a lot about a six-man rotation and getting the rotation set up properly for the playoffs, I'd like to remind my reading audience (Hi, Mom!) that, if the Yankees lose tonight, their wild-card lead over the Tigers will be a slim 1.5 games.

Gee, do you think race has something to do with it?

This country doesn't hate steroids, cheating, or even dog fighting.

We hate people who are uppity.

Does he think he's a good baseball player, or something?

"The game continued on its downhill spiral for the Mets when Lo Duca fumed at a called third strike to end the ninth. After arguing for a few seconds, he started to walk away. But he continued to talk, and that earned him an ejection from plate umpire Paul Emmel.

'If you're going to throw me out, throw me out with your face to me,' Lo Duca said. 'Don't throw me out when I'm walking away.' "

If I understand the description of events correctly, you were thrown about because you were walking away. Like, Lo Duca was unwilling to speak to the umpire's face and this was perceived as disrespectful.

Lo Duca fascinates me.

I can't recall a player with such a difference between the size of their bat and the size of their mouth.

I wish I could take him literally.

The Yankees are not going to win the AL East and this weekend's series with Boston has no juice. I'm not sure why Lupica is leading the hype. It's so unlike him.

Are the Yankees posing as underdogs? I'm unaware of this narrative:

"For the last time, this Yankee team isn't a 'Rocky' movie."

I suspect that will not the be the last time Lupica uses that line. I can anticipate this Sunday's "Shootin' From The Lip.":

" 'The Little Engines That Could' were supposed to sweep Boston this weekend. Instead, their AL East comeback hopes were swept away. Like General (Betray Us) Petraeus sweeping the truth about Iraq under a Congressional rug of lies.

The Great ARod was supposed to hit eleven homeruns onto Lansdowne Street, piercing blows into the heart of New England: Rocky-like.

Balboa, that is.

I know Theo is unhappy with the signing of J.D. Drew. In fact, J.D.'s numbers this season are not how anybody Drew them up. But that hit J.D. got off Joba on Saturday may have changed the course of major league baseball forever.

Not since Kevin (Game Seven) Brown has a Yankee had a more boring name than Philip Hughes.

For my money, Zac Efron is the hottest teenage boy since the short one in Kriss Kross.

By the way, was that Kriss? Or was that Kross?

Brian Cashman has lots of Cash, Man.

Again: A man with cash.

For the last time: He is a real Cash Man.

Stop saying negative things about Eli Manning, please.

September 11, 2001 changed the course of our nation. For the first time in recorded history, politicians were able to exploit a humanist tragedy.

It all started with two Jets.

Two Jets in New York.

Jets.

New York.

Six years later, we refer to that anniversary as Patriot's Day.

Six years later, two more Twin Towers are under attack, this time by the Patriots.

As Belichick's cronies roamed the sideline with their James Bond gadgetry, the twin towers of Integrity and Fairness imploded.

Ground Zero for Fair Play.

Against the Jets from New York.

Jets.

New York.

On Patriot's Day.

The next time Jose (Don't Call Me Al) Reyes does something on the baseball field that I don't like, it will be the first time."

You know who drives me crazy sometimes? Joe Torre.

"Nurturing this particular link has been a challenge for Torre, who so deftly has managed many other superstars. But where he grew along with the likes of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera, where he quickly clicked with big-ticket additions such as Roger Clemens, Jason Giambi and Mike Mussina, the A-Rod phenomenon was just different.

'I think he has been the hardest, only because I've never had somebody who was just a lightning rod like he is and at the center of everything, good, bad or indifferent,' Torre said. 'I try to speak in a positive way about everybody and maybe a lot of times I didn't take the right road with him because I wasn't sure. I was trying to find a way to make him comfortable. But his eyes right now are just without strain for me.' "

This is the "challenge" of managing Alex Rodriguez:

1. Bat him fourth every game.
2. Sit back and watch.

What consequences, exactly?

Ken Rosenthal writes a bunch of blah blah blah.

But what will really happen to MLB if it does not get tougher on steroids?

"Enough already. The Steroid Era continues to be marked by lying, finger-pointing and cover-your-rear actions and policies."

And record-setting attendance all around.

"The only solution — an all-out, multi-million dollar effort to clean up the sport — rarely is even discussed, much less given serious consideration.

If the players and owners lack the will for such a fight, they do not deserve the benefit of the doubt.

Lead or face the consequences."

Such as?

Another derisive article from a sportswriter?

Come on, you guys. Please?

Just one game up in the wild card race.

Make that three games up in the wild card race:

"In one of the most dramatic performances by a New York athlete since Reggie hit three homers on three pitches, A-Rod melded elements of Willis Reed, Kirk Gibson and Mr. October to create a September night to remember at Yankee Stadium.

...

And before his night was over, the guy who could barely walk was able to bound up the dugout steps twice to acknowledge the chants of 'MVP!' from the crowd.

...

To think there was a time when it was believed the Yankees could never win a championship with A-Rod. Now, it is obvious they aren't winning anything without him."

Mutually exclusive.

Tom Shearn beats the Mets in his third major league start.

Someone named "bch78" makes the following observation at the nj.com Mets discussion board:

"They couldn't hit a 30-year-old journeyman making his third major league start."

Since you put it that way ...

Jayson Stark joins the debate:

"David Wright

Leads the league in: No major categories."

Try playing in a real league.

"For the first time in 52 years and only the third time in baseball history, both league MVPs may play the same position in the very same city."

For the past 52 years, the only teams that play in the very same city are the Yankees/Mets and Cubs/White Sox. The Mets didn't exist for 7 of those 52 years.


"It's often seen as uncouth and imprudent to call an MVP race in early September, but while the Tigers' Magglio Ordonez and the Mariners' Ichiro are having superb seasons in the AL, there's no realistic reason to think someone other than A-Rod could or should win the award."

By whom are MVP predictions seen as uncouth? Lots of people have been making MVP predictions since before the season even started.


In case you'd forgotten, Jon Heyman does not like VORP:

"While a few VORP devotees and other statistical mavens may pitch for Hanley Ramirez (not me), in my estimation Wright's main competition should come from the Brewers' Fielder and Ryan Braun, the Phillies' Rollins and Chase Utley, the Rockies' Matt Holliday, the Dodgers' Russell Martin and Wright's teammate Jose Reyes. But as of today, of all those players, only Wright and Reyes would be in the playoffs, something else that could put Wright over the top."

Did I miss the mention of Miguel Cabrera, Chipper Jones, Carlos Lee, Albert Pujols, and Ryan Howard?

Wright deserves to be in the discussion. I don't think he's the MVP. I think he's the third-best 3b in his own division. But he's putting up good numbers and it's not an easy call in the NL.

If Wright wins the NL MVP, don't blame Mike Lowell and ARod if they laugh at him. Mike Lowell will finish, like, 15th in the AL voting.

Of all the dramatic things I've ever seen.

Playoff race. Early September. Wild Card opponent. Yankee Stadium. 55,000 fans.

4 innings, 8 hits, 5 earned runs.

This, ladies and gentleman, is what it's all about.

Did he say J.J. Putz is the MVP?

No, he did not.

Becuase J.J. Putz is not Jonathan Papelbon.

Because J.J. Putz plays for Seattle instead of Boston.

While 100% of the non-Mike-Lupica World believes that the ball slipped out of Chamberlain's hand, this is the Unique Red-Sox-Lovin' World of Mike Lupica:

"The Yankees can act as if Joba Chamberlain is the most wrongly accused guy since Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, but guess what?

Throwing over Kevin Youkilis' head in a blowout game the other day, at the end of a three-game sweep, was bush league.

If it was some sort of accident, let's see the next time he puts two over a guy's head on successive pitches."

It may never happen again. Just like a Red Sox rookie may never throw another no-hitter. Just like the Indians may never turn another 5-4-3 triple play (Was that the Indians? It was somebody). Just like Robinson Cano may never cover second base on a relay throw from the outfield. Just like Pat Burrell may never hit 41 homeruns against any other team.

This is the craziest thing Lupica has ever seen in a baseball game?

The most statistically unlikely thing?

I saw Brian Roberts get picked off first base last night when the pitcher on the opposing team was throwing a no-hitter. Let's see the next time it happens. He must have been picked off on purpose.

You know what baseball is? A bunch of colliding accidents. Swinging bunts and check-swing doubles and swinging at pitches in the dirt. Guys saying to themselves, "Don't hit into a double play. Don't hit into a double play. I CAN'T BELIEVE I HIT INTO A DOUBLE PLAY."

The ball slips out of a rookie's hand and Mike Lupica wets his pants because it almost hit one of his beloved Red Sox players.

Duck, pal.


A five run-lead is a blowout game?

I love this stuff, I really do.

As if the Yankees were comfortable losing Chamberlain because they have so much faith in Edwar Ramirez. A walk, a bloop, and a blast. Now it's 5-4 and Mariano isn't warmed up.

This is the Red Sox with a six-game lead in late August.


You want to talk about bush league?

I don't recall a player getting suspended without a warning and without even hitting the batter.