Almost everyone wants to be an underdog.

Hooray for David Wright:

"Not everyone was wowed by the additions to the clubhouse.

'I don’t really like using the whole underdog thing,' David Wright said. 'I don’t like really playing that card. I think it’s just a way to remind everyone in here that the outside expectations aren’t the expectations we have for ourselves.' "

Peter Gammons has nothing to say.

"They hadn't made the postseason in two years or won a playoff game since 2008, they'd blown the biggest September lead in history, been ridiculed as being characters from a lite beer commercial and while they'd offered up their best defense, they knew this was, in Bruce Hornsby's words, the end of the innocence."

Bruce Hornsby co-wrote that song with Don Henley. Peter Gammons casually references that factoid to let you know he's smarter than you.


"The agony of Aaron Boone in 2003 and the ecstasy of ending the 86-year itch in 2004 was the fantasy of Red Sox history, and when they won again in '07 and became the first team to win twice in the 21st century, there was an expectancy the Red Sox had never encountered -- an entitlement, players believed -- but by the moment Evan Longoria went yard against the Yankees on the final day of the regular season last year, there was no urgency to have one's picture taken with the trophy. 'We've been poisoned by these lies/the lawyers clean up the details/since Daddy had to lie,' and Terry Francona had to leave because of all he had to say for his players."

Get ready for the trashing of Francona and praising of Valentine:

" 'It's been an interesting Spring Training, because Bobby has been everywhere,' says Kevin Youkilis. 'His energy is unbelievable. He's always talking about some detail of the game. It's great. It's his team, no doubt.'

Asked about Valentine's ban on alcohol, Josh Beckett said, 'Whatever the manager thinks is right is fine. The only thing that matters is being focused on doing what we need to do to win. We want it; the fans deserve it. Fine.'

'"The clubhouse ain't no bar,' said David Ortiz. 'It's about baseball. That's what Bobby Valentine is all about.'

...

'This thing is no big deal,' said Dustin Pedroia. 'The only big deal is winning, and I think a lot of us are still angry about what happened last September and want to focus all our attention on getting back to winning.' Which is all Valentine talks about."



So it's not an article. It's a press release.

Put down your gun and listen to Bob Marley.

Consider the credibility of a man who likes "Dancing With The Stars" and doesn't like "Ali G."

Hidden deep with in Lupica's latest long-winded attempt to explain why he was wrong about baseball, and wrong about performance-enhancing drugs, and wrong about baseball players accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs, is this particular deal-breaker:
"Catch me up on something:

Who thinks Sacha Baron Cohen is funny?

Better question: Who ever thought this guy was funny?"

Look, sir, I know you were busy examining Theo Epstein's butt at the time, but this stuff is easy to find on youtube.


As for Lupica's authoritative take on the Braun situation:

"But if Laurenzi is a suspect, why wasn’t he identified as such in Braun’s hearing? If anyone believed the sample was really tampered with, why wasn’t the FBI called in? Maybe what we need, when this is all over, is to throw back the curtain, have Braun’s brief in his appeal, and Major League Baseball’s brief, made public, so we can make up our own minds about the facts as they were presented to the arbitrator, Shyam Das, who eventually made the ruling that overturned Braun’s suspension.

Maybe the biggest question of all for Braun is this: When did what was a chain-of-custody defense in private become a tampering defense in public?"

Was Braun's hearing made public? I'm not aware of this. If it was not made public, how does Lupica know if Laurenzi was identified or not? How does Lupica know if the FBI was called in or not?

False positives happen. Maybe this case was a false positive.


Lupica, you were wrong, and it's not the first time.

Your typical childish reaction is to write a lot of words in a column that doesn't provide equal time or proper feedback.

Lupica isn't seeking the truth or trying to save baseball. He's just Keeping Score on Everything and unwilling to admit he was wrong.

Braun exonerated, just like you thought.

Bonds not in jail, Clemens not in jail, Lupica still allowed to opine publicly.

Understand: Just because Lupica has a job, doesn't mean he's good at it. There's a difference:

"Understand something: The overturning of Braun’s 50-game suspension doesn’t mean Braun is clean, no matter what he says or how many times he says it or what he expects reasonable people to believe.

He wasn’t exonerated. He was acquitted. There’s a difference."

I do not know everything.

I know, with certainty, that Mike Lupica is the wrong person to ask about the US jurisprudence system, especially as it applies to US professional sports.

El hombre.

" 'Like I say, I haven't talked to them, but I prefer not to use (El Hombre),' Pujols said Wednesday.

It's an emotional issue for Pujols because he became acquainted with 90-year-old Musial in his 11 seasons playing in St. Louis. In 2010, Pujols asked St. Louis media and fans not to call him "El Hombre."

'I still have the same respect for him as I had, not just for what he's done in baseball but for what he did for his country,' Pujols said. 'That's something you have to appreciate.' "

Classy.

"Burnett the Pirate took some blame for his failures with the Yankees yesterday at Pirate City, but also said he may have let too many people in pinstripes mess with his mechanics.

'Without getting too far into it,' Burnett explained, 'I would just say I let a few too many people tinker with me and when you let that happen, you get out there, you start doubting yourself sometimes, like, "Am I doing it right? Is this the way it is supposed to feel?"

'In ’09 nobody messed with me,' Burnett said of the Yankees’ World Series championship season. 'I was able to do what I wanted to do on the mound, whether it was turn all the way around, close my eyes; pitch upside down, whatever it was. Then you have a few bad games and you start changing and listening.' "

Paying A.J. Burnett to pitch for another team.

"According to sources, the Pirates will pay about $14 million of the money left on Burnett’s contract. The Yankees have been paying Burnett throughout the year, rather than just during the six months of the baseball season, so they’ve already paid him $2.625 million in 2012, meaning there is $30.375 million remaining on Burnett’s deal.

Burnett signed the five-year, $82.5 million deal after a 2008 season in which he was terrific for the Blue Jays, including multiple dominant outings against the Yankees. He was so good that some Yankees lobbied GM Brian Cashman to sign him and Burnett paid off in ’09, going 13-9 with a 4.04 ERA in the regular season and 1-1 in the World Series victory over Philadelphia.

But Burnett, 35, struggled the last two seasons, rarely approaching his previous success. With a glut of pitchers for the rotation after signing Hiroki Kuroda and trading for Michael Pineda, the Yanks cleared space by dealing Burnett for hard-throwing reliever Diego Moreno and outfielder Exicardo Cayones. Now Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia will vie for the No. 5 spot."

The numbers don't really add up and Cashman simply made a mistake by signing Burnett in the first place.

In my opinion, the Yankees simply got sick and tired of the psychological and emotional toll that Burnett took on the coaching staff and the team.

Burnett balks at trade.

Burnett also probably hit a batter and threw a wild pitch:

"The Yankees were hoping they could bring back Bobby Abreu to be their designated hitter by swapping A.J. Burnett to the Angels, but the righthander would not waive his no-trade rights, according to two baseball executives with knowledge of the talks.

So rather than having their winter business concluded and a DH in place, the Yankees Wednesday were still working on sending Burnett to the Pirates for two marginal prospects, one of the executives said. The executive said the trade could be consummated by the weekend — Burnett is slated to report to Yankees spring camp Sunday."

I don't want Burnett and I also don't want Abreu.

In certain circumstances, Teixeira should bunt. But he will not.

"Three years after signing Mark Teixeira, the Yankees have reason to be moderately disappointed with their $180 million first baseman.

There were no complaints following his first season in pinstripes, when his combined on-base and slugging percentages were third in the American League and the Yankees won the World Series.

But since then, his value has headed south. According to Fangraphs.com, his play in 2010-11 was worth $32 million to the Yankees, well short of the $44 million he was paid."

"Moderately disappointed" sound about right.


"Frustrated with the frequency with which balls off his bat have found the gloves of opposing fielders of late, Teixeira recently wondered if defensive shifts might be getting the best of him.

He even suggested that he 'might lay some bunts down this year' against the shift to increase his batting average."

I don't think he will, simply because it looks silly.

Not even Brett Gardner bunts too often.

Players hate it when they make out on a bunt. They feel like they gave away an at-bat without even trying.

Teixeira has Giambi Disease and tries to hit a HR every time up. HRs and RBIs = money. Bunt singles don't = money.

Mike Lupica doesn't like the Yankees?

Were you thinking about the Yankees when the Giants won the Super Bowl? Because I wasn't thinking about the Yankees when the Giants won the Super Bowl:

" ...the Giants can still feel like the biggest team we have, and that includes the Yankees. The Yankees are there in the playoffs every year, of course, and have won an epic number of World Series.

The Giants win better."

Ummm ...


"Now, second time in four years, they win better than any New York team ever has.

Say it again: You can put all the other great seasons up against them, Namath and Seaver and Willis Reed and whatever you think is the best Yankee victory of them all. Nothing beats what the Giants have done to the Patriots in these two Super Bowls."

What about Terry Collins and the 2011 Mets?

You forgot about Terry Collins and the 2011 Mets who almost played .500 because they were gritty.

Mound Started Throwing Off Half-Mound.

I'll say what everyone else is thinking.

"If Montero does bloom in Seattle, the M’s may have a former star to thank, in part, anyway. Montero noted the learned a lot from Alex Rodriguez last year. 'He was mad at me because I wasn’t going to the cage a lot and he said if you don’t, you’re going to be fined $100 a day,' Montero said. 'Then I was going a lot and I learned all the routines he taught me.' "


The routine goes like this: First, you get a mule to provide the steroids. Second, you find an injection place on the body that is hidden from view. Third, you cycle different drugs, so a helpful tip is to keep a calendar ...

Catching up with Choo Choo Coleman.

"Craig Anderson, who has a 19-game losing streak still working since 1964, and Bill Wakefield, who was a Mets closer in 1964, remember Coleman as an agile, willing catcher who had the disconcerting habit of glancing at his own fingers as he flashed the signals"

The Yankees have an elite starting rotation, according to this guy.

I hope the Yankees have an elite starting rotation.

However, I must say, I'm not too confident in the source:

"Even though last October provided its contradictions, 2011 was the second consecutive 'Year of the Pitcher' for Major League Baseball.

It gave fans the game’s first 'super rotation,' a group of arms compiled through trades and free agency with an expectation of dominance."

If I am understanding correctly, he is claiming that the 2010 Phillies were the first "super rotation" in baseball history.

"This offseason, other teams have followed Philadelphia’s pattern, or at least attempted to. That has led to a number of rotations with at least one legitimate ace (and sometimes more)."

Baseball teams have tried to acquire dominant pitching during the offseason?

That's like every team during every offseason since baseball began.

Good luck.

Pretty much:

" 'Around the game, Burnett has become the symbol for wasted money,' said an AL East scout who also believes the Yankees will have to eat at least $20 million. 'When you’ve got a guy who has managed to pitch below .500 (34-35) for a team with the Yankees offense, yeah, it’ll make you apprehensive. This is the question now being asked, even about guys like Oswalt and Jackson. How much do you pay for mediocrity?' "

I'm lovin' it.

"Former relief ace" signs a contract:

"The team also avoided arbitration with former relief ace Joba Chamberlain, agreeing to pay him $1.675 million."

That's 1.675 million dollar menu cheeseburgers.

"It is weird."

Can you believe Wright is about to play his ninth year? He's a good player, but it just seems he has not quite realized his transcendent expectations, and a lot of people still expect him to suddenly turn into an MVP-caliber player ... as if the first eight years of his career are not a large enough sample size:

" 'It is weird where it seems like yesterday we were winning the division by a crazy number of games and that I never heard myself in a trade rumor,' Wright said Friday before hosting his second-annual Vegas Night here to benefit the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. 'And now, all of a sudden, it’s every day.' "

Wrong.

I thought the Yankees would keep Montero for sure, now that he is finally ready for the big leagues.

In fact, I blogged five weeks ago that "The Yankees will not trade Jesus Montero."

That is an odd thing to say.

"To ever be Chicago's Derek Jeter, it requires the smarts and savvy the Yankees superstar has exercised to avoid the type of messy predicament Castro faced Friday.

One day after Chairman Tom Ricketts took a $15 million stand for character by paying Zambrano to go away, representatives for the Cubs' biggest star defended him against a sexual-assault allegation. The denials were strong and swift."

Of course, I am unsure about the validity of sexual assault allegations.

I'm just saying, I'm not so sure if The Edge is the correct role model vis a vis the aforementioned allegations.

Trifecta.

"When you think of Joe Torre, you think of a guy who has already scripted perhaps the greatest second act in baseball history."

When I think of Joe Torre, I think of the power of anti-oxidants in Bigelow Green Tea.

"Now, it appears, he's looking for Act III."

Or, as we say in America, "Act 3."

"Should his group succeed in the purchase, the 71-year old Torre would have completed an incredible Baseball Trifecta, going player to manager to owner. That doesn't even get into other hats Torre has worn in baseball, including broadcaster and MLB executive."

Joe Torre was a broadcaster? I wonder if he ever brought up Bob Gibson.

You forgot author!

Pitchman!

"When he left the Yankees following the 2007 season it was due to what Torre perceived as a lack of respect from the late George Steinbrenner, who offered him an incentive-laden contract with base salary below what he had been earning. While it clearly did not sit well with Torre, he thanked Steinbrenner for his time in pinstripes and was quickly hired to manage the Dodgers."

Well, that's not quite right. Torre trashed Steinbrenner and many other Yankees in a book you seem to have conveniently forgot.

But that doesn't even matter.

Good for him. He'll be a fine owner, I'm sure, as long as he lets someone else manage the bullpen.