Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
Alex Rodriguez couldnât help but gush about cross-towner shortstop Jose Reyes, according to ESPN NY.
"They have the world’s greatest player playing shortstop over there, and the most exciting. I turn on the TV every time I get a chance to watch him."
Well, I guess he can get away with saying that now that Jeterâs on the DL.
USA Today- Derek Jeter may not return to Yankees on time
"I do what they tell me to do," Jeter said.
âŚ
General manager Brian Cashman said Jeter is still feeling pain in his calf.
then Jeter said, âOwâ.
The Yankees have had a bit of a security problem it seems. Not the kind with unruly fans (well, maybe they do but thatâs not what Iâm talking about) but with their email. Seems the team accidently emailed an internal spreadsheet to âseveral hundredâ season ticket holders. The spreadsheet which was attached to the email included personal information about each ticket holder.
From the letter posted on the Yankees site:
Monday evening, April 25, 2011, an employee of the Yankees sent an e-mail to several hundred Yankees Season Ticket Licensees. The e-mail mistakenly attached an internal Yankees spreadsheet that listed the following information associated with your New York Yankees account:
⢠Your name, and the address, phone number(s), fax number, and e-mail address that you previously provided to the Yankees
⢠Your seat numbers, Yankees account number, Yankees account representative name, and the ticket package code associated with your account
The letter went on to say no other personal info such as credit card or banking info was included in the spreadsheet.
Needless to say, any time lists like this get out which tie names to email addresses and street addresses, itâs not a good thing. These kind of lists are prime material for those who wish to engage in what is called spear-phishing or targeted phishing schemes.
Plus, now everyone knows where everybody sits. That canât be a good thing.
Thereâs got to be a statute of limitations for this kind of thing.
After some 70 years of existence, a woman claims that it was her uncle who created the cap logo for the New York Yankees. She is, of course, seeking damages for copyright infringement, breach of contract and âunjust enrichmentâ.
The logo has long been credited to Lon Keller. Spokespeople at the Yankees simply say there is âno proofâ for the allegations.
Pirate fans, Yankee-haters and baseball history buffs rejoice! Game Seven of the 1960 World Series will be shown on television this off-season.
All thanks to Bing Crosby who reportedly had the last copy of the game:
The copy had been in a vault Crosby built in his home and was discovered last year by an executive of Bing Crosby Enterprises. No other copy is known to have existed for nearly 40 years.
The game will be broadcast on MLB Network sometime this off-season.
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In light of the recent deaths of Yankee legends Bob Sheppard and George Steinbrenner, the New York ballclubâs graphic designers have been busy coming up with a patch that will adorn the uniforms of the Yankee players.
Both are stark black and white to match the Yankee uniforms. The Steinbrenner patch includes his full name plus his initials âGMSâ. At the bottom, it says The Bossâ. Nice touch.
Sheppardâs patch is a nicely done graphic of an old time PA mike within a baseball diamond and simply says, âBob Sheppard The Voice of Yankee Stadiumâ.
The GMS patch will be worn above the NY on the left breast on the home jerseys and above the YORK on away jerseys.
Youâll find the Sheppard patch on the Yankeesâ left sleeves.
Truly a rough week for the Yankee faithful. In the last three days, two iconic figures who represented the Bronx Bombers in two very different ways, passed away
On Sunday, PA announcer Bob Sheppard passed on at the ripe age of 99. His time with the Yankees goes back to the days of DiMaggio and Mantle. His voice was long lived. It could be heard as late as 2007.
Then today the Boss was finally dragged kicking and screaming from this dimension into the next life. George Steinbrenner, the shipbuilder turned baseball team owner who swore he would not get involved in his teamâs business died at the age of 80.
Steinbrenner was controversial, aggressive, intrusive and yes, sometimes mean. But he won, too. Under his ownership, the Yankees won eleven championships and seven World Series.
A friend posed this question to a few of us over email: âWhich had more effect on player salaries, George Steinbrenner or Curt Floodâs free agency case?â
Truly an academic question which has no real answer. But it does give one pause to think. Other owners were skeptical of free agency, not wanting to shell out the big bucks for players. Meanwhile, Steinbrenner, who inherited a sub-par Yankee team in the early 70s, wasnât afraid to adapt his business model to include the concept of Floodâs idea of free agency. With the acquisition of Catfish Hunter and so many others, Steinbrenner changed the way, for better or for worse, how baseball owners approach acquiring on-the-field personnel.
The results,in Steinbrennerâs case, speak for themselves.
The New York Times just sold some of its stake of the Boston Red Sox.
The deal with Henry McCance for 50 of the media company’s 750 units in New England Sports Ventures (NESV), which owns the Major League Baseball team, reduces the Times’s stake to 16.6 percent from 17.75 percent.
Before we get all sentimental thinking it was a move to be more loyal to the Yankees, my bet is that it was a purely economic move based on the Times financial situation.
The Yankees made another move, now I believe, it’s the Red Sox turn. Righthanded starting pitcher Javier Vazquez & lefty reliever Boone Logan (both with the White Sox a couple of years ago) were dealt to Atlanta in exchange for centerfielder Melky Cabrera, a 19 year old out of the Dominican Republic by the name of Arodys Vizcaino, and lefthanded relief pitcher Michael Dunn. Vazquez crashed & burned in the Bronx, he did well with the Braves (but that’s the National League), it’ll be interesting to see how he makes out in the Big Apple (with big pressure), one of my happiest days as a White Sox fan was when Javier Vazquez & Boone Logan were put on a train out of town. Melky Cabrera, a fan favorite, will move into the lineup as the Braves everyday centerfielder, Dunn has a shot as a lefty in Atlanta’s pen, and the young righthander, Vizcaino, has a huge upside, only time will tell.
Atlanta also added their firstbaseman in the person of Troy Glaus. Troy was injured last season with the Cardinals. The hot corner has always been this big power hitter’s position, but he shouldn’t have any problems shifting across the diamond, his real position is BAT.
Darren Oliver went back to where he started, returning to Texas. This will be Darren’s third go around with the Rangers. Oliver spent the last three years in the Angels bullpen, the Halos are pursuing Fernando Rodney.
In a move that was kind of under the radar, Jason Marquis was signed by the Washington Nationals. Marquis showed guts in winning 15 games last season with the Rockies. This veteran righthander will provide the Nats with just what the doctor ordered, 200 innings & 30+ starts. Next up Washington needs to secure Mike Capps as their team’s closer.
The Baltimore Orioles answered the question, who’s on 3rd, by signing free agent Garrett Atkins. Garrett became a free agent when he lost his job to Ian Stewart, and the Rockies decided not to offer him a contract. It seems like only yesterday the 30 year old looked to be a bright young star hitting his way onto the scene in Colorado. In 2006 Atkins batted .329, with 29 homers, & 120 RBIs, following that with a .301 average, 25 long balls, and 111 knocked in, and in ’08 he drove in 99, with 21 big flies, and a .286 batting average. But when he tailed off to .226, 9 HRs, & 48 ribbies, it was time for him to move on, and Baltimore is hoping he’ll regain his stroke in an Orioles uniform.
The O’s also locked up lefty reliever Mike Gonzalez. Gonzalez appeared in nearly half of Atlanta’s game in 2009, 80 (which was 3rd in the majors), and with his funky delivery & nasty stuff Mike was able to strikeout 90 batters in 74′ innings pitched, he recorded a career high in saves, 24, with the Pirates in 2006. His contract is loaded with bonuses if he does well as the closer in Baltimore.
Mr. OBP, Nick Johnson will take his act back to the Bronx, where it all started. New York drafted Johnson in the third round of the 1996 amateur draft, he was a highly touted youngster in their organization, even batting over 700 times with the Yankees in 2002 & 2003 combined. But Nick’s career has been filled with its share of injuries, still he has an outstanding career OBP of .402 in 770 big league games. With Hideki Matsui signing with the Halos, it looks like the 31 year old lefthanded hitter will take over as the club’s designated hitter.
Across town Japanese reliever Ryota Igarashi will pitch this upcoming season out of the Metropolitans bullpen. Ryota missed all of 2007 with an arm injury, but appears fully recovered as he posted a 2.42 ERA this past year for the Swallows, which was his career best. The 30 year old, Igarashi, a righthander, is said to have the best fastball in Japanese baseball.