Bronx Banter: Markusen: Roy White: The Forgotten Yankee

Or as Alex Belth (see you at 6, Al!) sez in the comments..."I will never take a program like Yankeeography seriously until they do shows on Yankees like Roy White.”

As overlooked as White was for most of his career, the view of his worth as a player has undergone a stark revision. Historians and analysts now recognize him as one of the finer multi-talented players of the 1970s. Durable and dependable, he featured speed (stealing an average of over 15 bases a season over a 15-year career), a modicum of power (160 home runs, including a high of 22 in 1970), and an excellent glove in left field, skilled enough to handle the challenging dimensions of Death Valley of Yankee Stadium. White also fared well in the postseason, particularly in League Championship Series play. No less an authority than Bill James (who is ironically now a Boston Red Sox employee) has become one of White’s biggest champions, going so far as to claim that White was a better ballplayer than his Red Sox’ left field counterpart, Jim Rice. That’s especially noteworthy given that Rice undergoes an annual dalliance with the BBWAA, which has come within a whisker of electing him to the Hall of Fame. Rice is expected to win election next January, while White fell off the writers’ ballot after one inglorious campaign in 1985. White received no votes (while far lesser players like Don Kessinger and Jesus Alou garnered two and one, respectively), thereby dropping off the ballot immediately.

N.Y. Observer: Megdal: Where Have You Gone, Morgan Ensberg?

Hopefully not to enjoy Helen Morgan’s Bellevue view…

“As for the down year, I think I just played poorly,” Ensberg said. “It felt like balls weren’t dropping—I mean, clearly, balls weren’t dropping—but I hit a bad streak, and Mike Lamb played great.”

Ensberg is right, incidentally, about the balls not dropping. His 2005 was far from a fluke—his batting average on balls in play, which hitters have relatively little control over, stood at .301, roughly league average. But in 2006, his BABIP was a freakishly low .251, including marks of .211, .189 and .211 in May-June-July, when he lost his job to Lamb.

Odder still, even though his at-bats fell from 526 to 387, his walks actually increased from 2005, from 85 to 101. But Ensberg thinks that may have been the problem.

“I was thinking about this last night,” Ensberg said. “And I think that I am at my best when I am aggressive. I need to be prepared to hit anything at any pitch in the count.”

N.Y. Sun: Barra: In Rare Case, Jim Bouton Finds Life After Sports

From Bulldog Bouton to Bulldog Drummond…

On the subject of the building of the new Yankee Stadium and the fate of the old — don’t get him started. “The whole thing is just outrageous,” he told the audience at Film Forum. “It’s a total disgrace, and a perfect example of the failure of democracy. Why did we need a new Yankee Stadium if, with the old one, the Yankees were leading the league in attendance?

“Who wanted Yankee Stadium torn down? Not the fans who buy the tickets, and not the taxpayers, who are going to foot much of the bill just so they can pay higher ticket prices for the fewer seats that are available. I think it was said best by one of the main culprits in all of it, Rudolph Giuliani. When someone asked him ‘Why aren’t the fans allowed to vote for this new stadium?’ he said, ‘Because they’d vote against it.’”

Aren’t you afraid, an audience member wanted to know, that mouthing off about the new Yankee Stadium will get you banished all over again? “Oh, heck,” he said with a wave of his hand, “let the chips fall.”

Dellucci unhappy with Joba’s antics during Yankees’ victory over Indians

Nice poll on the side also…

How do you feel about Joba Chamberlain’s fist-pumping antics?

--I like them - he’s a fiery competitor

--I don’t like them - he needs to grow up

--I hate them - hot-dogging at its worst

--I love them - just added Doctor Tushy to my favorites!

Dellucci was not amused by Chamberlain’s antics.

“That’s what gets him going and that’s what everybody likes to see, but if a hitter was to do something like that they’d probably say it was ‘bush (league)’ and you shouldn’t do it,” Dellucci said. “It’s kind of funny how a pitcher can get away with it.”

..."It’s no disrespect to the hitter,” Chamberlain said. “It’s no disrespect to the game. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve done it. That’s just who I am and that’s the way it’s gonna be.”

Dellucci, a 13-year veteran who played with the Yankees in 2003, has a more old-school approach.

“If he wants to yell and scream after a strikeout and dance around, I guess that gets him going,” Dellucci said. “My home run was in a much bigger situation, more a key part of the game and I didn’t dance around and scream.”

N.Y. Post: DAVID WELLS WOULD LOVE YANKEE RETURN (RR)

This is shocking, shocking I tell you! No, not that David Wells wants to come back to the Yankees...its that Hank Steinbrenner (or anybody) watches “Best Damn Sports Show Period”!

The free-agent left-hander told The Post yesterday he has been working out near his home in San Diego and believes he could bolster a Yankees’ rotation suddenly besieged by question marks.

Could Boomer III be in the cards? Consider that Wells has a huge fan monitoring the situation from Tampa. Hank Steinbrenner admitted yesterday that Wells, who recently made appearances on “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” has crossed his mind as a possibility for the Yankees’ rotation. “I’ve thought about it,” Steinbrenner told The Post. “I saw him on TV, and I did think about it when I was watching.”

...The Baby Boss then dropped a subtle hint he’s growing disillusioned with the Yankees’ youth movement and could open the door to Wells.

“What sticks out in my mind, that team in the late ‘90s, the starting pitching,” he said. “You had [David] Cone, El Duque [Orlando Hernandez], Wells . . . they were all big-game pitchers. They all came from elsewhere - not in the system.

“Everybody talks about the great players from the farm system that we had in the ‘90s, but it was the starting rotation. That was a huge part of the success. Huge.”

and Huge = David Wells.

N.Y. Sun: Goldman: Joba Can’t Help Save Leads That Aren’t There

Early season games? They were expendable.

Imagine an old-style, politically incorrect Western flick: Banditos are about to attack the wagon train. A courier with arrows sticking out of his back gets word to John Wayne and the cavalry with moments to spare. Wayne and company run for their horses, spurring the frothing creatures to get them to the battle before it’s too late. They finally arrive, panting, dirt-covered, but instead of seeing circled wagons bristling with rifles, they find disorganized, naked hippies wandering disoriented about the cacti as the attackers pick them off one by one. Seeing nothing to protect, Duke and the cavalry ride to the nearest pub and proceed to get loaded.

In this example, the Yankees are the naked hippies and Joba Chamberlain the heroic rescuer with not enough to do. As recently as this week, Brian Cashman has reiterated that while the Yankees still plan for Chamberlain to make the transition to the starting rotation at some point this season, it won’t be in May. Simultaneously, the punditocracy frets that the consequences of such a move will leave the Yankees unprotected — naked, if you will — in the eighth inning. How will the Yankees protect those all-important eighth-inning leads without Chamberlain there to get the ball to Mariano Rivera?

This question is spectacularly wrong-headed and demands a very simple response: What leads?

Newsday: Davidoff: Derek Jeter has a terrible VORP

“This is why I think all these newfangled stats are nothing but a bunch of garbage, invented by people who have too much time on their hands and a desperate need to prop up certain players while tearing down others."* (*from the engaging Davidoff the cuffers in the comments)

M-Crash asked me this morning to check Derek Jeter’s VORP, so I did. Here is his ranking among shortstops (13th overall). Here is his overall ranking (tied for 124th with J.D. Drew).

Of course, of course, it’s still early, and Jeter historically hits better in the second half. He also missed a week with a quad injury. But still, are any of you alarmed by Jeter’s lack of power? Wally Matthews discussed that with Jeter in his column today.

Here is the best explanation I’ve seen for how VORP is calculated. It’s a particularly relevant stat given the Yankees’ injuries. We’re seeing how much their lineup is hurt by the absence of Alex Rodriguez (who led all of baseball last year with a 96.6 VORP) and Jorge Posada (who was eighth overall, and first among catchers, with a 73.4). VORP doesn’t factor in defense _ for that, you need WARP, or Wins Above Replacement Player _ but right now, offense is the Yankees’ problem.

The Baseball Analysts: Lederer: To THE Stadium and Back

Travel along with Rich Lederer and his son on their whirlwind tour of NY ballparks...until they run into their very own “The Incident” moment!

In the meantime, Joe and I did some Cliff Hangin’ last night on our way to the game. We caught the 4 Train from Grand Central (or the Iron Horse as Alex Belth told me insiders call it) to Yankee Stadium. After getting a bite to eat in the food concourse, we hopped onto the subway at about 3:45 p.m. (Eastern Time). Our car was crowded so we found ourselves standing in the middle, holding onto the rails for safety. After we got situated, Joe whispers to me, “I’m 95% certain that’s Cliff Lee standing next to you” (notice the arm of my brown jacket in the foreground). I look up and, sure enough, it looks just like the Cleveland lefthander. I turned back to Joe and remarked, “I think you’re right.” He then says, “I’m 99.9% certain.” While I’m not into star gazing per se, you have to admit that it’s an incredible coincidence that a player from the opposing team – much less the starting pitcher THAT night – would be riding the subway to the park *and* at the same time as Joe and me *and* standing next to us for the entire trip.

In any event, while making eye contact with Lee, I make a pitching motion with my left hand as if I were throwing a breaking ball. He gives me a quizzical look so I mouth “Cliff?” He nods his head. Conscientious that I’m wearing a NY hat for the first time in my life, I point to it and tell him that I’m from Long Beach, California and not really a Yankees fan. Lee smiled and shook his head. I explained that Joe and I were on a father-son baseball trip and had already been to Fenway Park the previous weekend and were going to our first Yankees game that night, and to Shea Stadium on Friday night.

Olbermann Blown Away By New Yankee Stadium (Video)

And look for a special Dukakis-he-for-real?! moment with Olbermann wearing a Yankee construction helmet!

Ignore his politics for one minute and watch this video of Keith Olbermann touring the new Yankee Stadium. He has nothing but nice things to say about it.

WaPo: George Will: Yankee Fan Go Home (RR)

Ahh...baseball and politics. Back when I was in Little League...the photo-oping mayor of our town borrowed my glove to throw out the first pitch for Opening Day...and I was thrilled. A few years later our out-of-photo-options mayor was indicted...and, again, I was thrilled.

Hillary Clinton, 60, Illinois native and Arkansas lawyer, became, retroactively, a lifelong Yankee fan at age 52 when, shopping for a U.S. Senate seat, she adopted New York state as home sweet home. She may think, or at least would argue, that when she was 12 her Yankees really won the 1960 World Series, by standards of “fairness,” because they trounced the Pirates in runs scored, 55-27, over seven games, so there.

Unfortunately, baseball’s rules—pesky nuisances, rules—say it matters how runs are distributed during a World Series. The Pirates won four games, which is the point of the exercise, by a total margin of seven runs, while the Yankees were winning three by a total of 35 runs. You can look it up

After Tuesday’s split decisions in Indiana and North Carolina, Clinton, the Yankee Clipperette, can, and hence eventually will, creatively argue that she is really ahead of Barack Obama, or at any rate she is sort of tied, mathematically or morally or something, in popular votes, or delegates, or some combination of the two, as determined by Fermat’s Last Theorem, or something, in states whose names begin with vowels, or maybe consonants, or perhaps some mixture of the two as determined by listening to a recording of the Beach Boys’ “Help Me, Rhonda” played backward, or whatever other formula is most helpful to her, and counting the votes she received in Michigan, where hers was the only contending name on the ballot (her chief rivals, quaintly obeying their party’s rules, boycotted the state, which had violated the party’s rules for scheduling primaries), and counting the votes she received in Florida, which, like Michigan, was a scofflaw and where no one campaigned, and dividing Obama’s delegate advantage in caucus states by pi multiplied by the square root of Yankee Stadium’s Zip code.

Celizic: Red Sox become dynasty right under our eyes

Or as that outrageous Boston punk coverband, The Shell Dannon Yogurgitators, sing..."Hats Off to Larry Lucchino!”

As good as the 2004 team was, the 2007 team was better and the 2008 team is better still. And that’s how you establish a dynasty — you start with a winner and keep making it better.

The Yankees can’t do it that way. When they start every season declaring that anything less than a championship is a failure, they’re stuck grabbing every available aging all-star they can find, desperately trying to win right now. The Red Sox want to win every year, too, but Epstein also keeps an eye on the big picture. Unlike the Steinbrenners, he’s willing to finish second now and then — or even to miss the playoffs altogether as he did two years ago — if it means the team will be better in the long term.

It’s not as if Boston has infinite patience. It just has perspective — and a plan. The Yankees believe in all-stars at every position and so are built out of headlines. The Red Sox believe in value, and so are built on the mathematics of the game.

N.Y. Sun: Marchman: Unlike Most at 28, Wang Is Evolving as a Pitcher

Chill out...Wang’s “nasty sinking fastball” is the pitch to see and be seen!

For most of his time in the majors, Wang’s biggest weakness has been against left-handed hitters. Last year, for instance, he struck out 7.9% of those he faced, as against 17.8% of right-handers. There’s no mystery as to why. His nasty sinking fastball, which he routinely throws at 94 mph and can throw much harder, breaks down but also tilts — out and away from right-handers but right into the sweet spot where most left-handers like the ball. The same is true of his slider, his second-best pitch. Wang has usually tried to neutralize left-handers with a changeup that he rarely throws to right-handers, but it isn’t an especially effective pitch.

This year, he has slightly but noticeably changed his approach, throwing the fastball more often against left-handers and the changeup and slider less often, while mixing in the odd split-finger or cutter. So far, his strikeout rate against them is up to 12.2%, which isn’t fantastic, but represents an improvement of half over what he did last year. If he can keep doing as well while continuing to suppress left-handed power (he’s given up just one home run to left-handers in 82 plate appearances), he’ll have gone a long way toward plugging the biggest hole in his game. Against right-handers, Wang has been throwing a cut fastball a bit more often. It isn’t a great pitch, but it does give hitters something else to look for, and further shows his evolving style.

Tonight’s game, though, will especially bear watching because it will give some insight into how Wang will deal with his second main weakness — his susceptibility to lineups that have his fastball well scouted.

YESNetwork: Pepe: Yanks missing Posada

Why Take Less When Pepesi’s Best!

No doubt the Yankees are weakened by the absence of Alex Rodriguez. They miss his potent bat, his run production, and his presence in the middle of the lineup.

But they might miss Jorge Posada even more.

With Posada, the Yankees have won five pennants and three World Series.

With A-Rod, they have won no pennants and no World Series.

The undeniable fact is that the Yankees have won 39 pennants and 26 World Series with power (Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson) and pitching (Bob Shawkey, Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing, Whitey Ford, Ron Guidry, Goose Gossage, Mariano Rivera). But, the case can be made that the real reason behind the Yankees’ unprecedented success has been the man behind the plate.

Simply put, you don’t win championships without a superior catcher, and the Yankees have had their fair share of dominant, superior catchers. Six backstops (including two Hall of Famers), have held down the vital position and have accounted for 33 pennants and 22 World Series championships in an 83-year span, from 1921 to 2003.

A-Rod passed out at daughter’s birth

Yeah, he’s a choker all right.

SNY: Will the Yankees offense improve or fall way short of expectations?

Suzyn, for my money, Alberto Gonzalez could start for any team in the maj...(oops, naughty Sterlgasm moment...sorry) Tom Boorstein and Michael Salfino take a look.

Mike:This is not the Yankees team we expected.

They’re about league average in runs per game, mostly because of poor performance with runners in scoring position. The loss of Jorge Posada hurts and returning as a catcher will extend his shoulder rehab. Should he be converted to full-time first baseman?

Alex Rodriguez will be back bopping soon. But is this Punch and Judy Derek Jeter that we’ve been seeing the second half of 2007 and thus far in 2008 fact or fluke? I’m more concerned about him than Robinson Cano…

Tom: I too am a little concerned about Jeter. His walk rate is downright alarming. Three in 119 plate appearances? He’s not even working the count as much as he has in years past. If this turns into a full-fledged decline, his value will disappear quickly given his below-average—being kind—play in the field. I do think that he will eventually be more patient this season, but the days of pushing a .390 on-base percentage may be over. Bobby Abreu’s patience has also declined since his heroic 2006 performance. I wonder what his story is…

MikeMike: My bet is that Jeter’s walks are down because pitchers are increasingly unconcerned about challenging him in the zone. I expect better batting average with an isolated slugging closer to .100 than .200…

First Blood Drawn in Sox-Yanks War

This totally negates the kid A-rod saved from an oncoming car the other year.

According to the victim’s sister, Hernandez got into a fist fight early Friday morning in the parking lot with a woman in the group, and then stalked off to her car. Some in the group saw a Yankees sticker on her car and began taunting her with a familiar chant in Red Sox Nation: “Yankees suck! Yankees suck!” prosecutors said.

Hernandez then pulled out of the parking space aggressively and nearly hit one of the men in the group, said the victim’s sister, who spoke to other members of the group about what happened. Hernandez exited the parking lot as members of the group continued to taunt her, prosecutors said, and then turned around.

“She thought they would get out of the way,” Susan Morrell, a senior assistant attorney general, said yesterday in Nashua District Court, where Hernandez was arraigned on charges of reckless conduct, aggravated drunken driving, and second-degree murder. “She never braked, and she accelerated at a high speed for about 200 feet. She went directly at this group of people.

I guess we know for sure which group of fans is the bigger group of murderous dinguses now, huh?

Newsday: Best: Suzyn Waldman on Roger Clemens, one year later

You mean it was a year ago already...that Waldman read for the lead in The Hazel Court Story?

Twelve months later, is Waldman shocked by what has unfolded in the life of Roger Clemens?

“Nothing shocks me anymore,” she said on a rare day off yesterday. “The only thing that has surprised me and disappointed me is the glee with which people are going after Roger.

“I think the more people accomplish, the bigger people are, the more excited people are to bring them down, and there’s a real feeding frenzy on this man.”

...Of course, Waldman is not as visible as Clemens, but last year, she absorbed criticism and ridicule both for her reaction to Clemens’ return and for shedding tears after Joe Torre’s final game.

“The only thing that surprises me about anything that happens is the glee with which people are dealing with this venom,” she said. “It surprised me last year when it happened to me.”

N.Y. Times: His Average Down, Canó Tries to Keep His Chin Up (RR)

Meh, no biggie...Carew once went 0-fer a doubleheader.

“The thing we’re trying to stress to him is: fight, don’t pout, keep pressing forward, keep a good perspective about the whole thing,” the hitting coach Kevin Long said. “Do you really think you’re going to hit .150 on the year? Do you really think you’re going to hit .220? It’s just not going to happen. He’s got enough of a track record that you know it’s going to turn around.”

Canó came into the season with a .314 career average, enough for the Yankees to reward him with a four-year, $30 million contract extension. It is the kind of deal the team almost never gives to players before they become free agents.

But through Sunday, Canó ranked in the bottom four in the majors in batting average (.154), slugging percentage (.256) and on-base percentage (.214). The Yankees expected his game-winning homer at Tampa Bay on April 14 to change things. Since then, Canó has hit only .127.

“I’ve been through this last year, and I got out of it,” Canó said Sunday. “We’ve got a long way to go — five months. I don’t want to get frustrated. I want to keep my head up and work hard.”

ESPN: Yankees fans can learn from history book

And according to Jason..."Bill Byast is back!‏”

I’m beginning to wonder something out loud: What the hell is wrong with everybody’s memory around here? Do you forget what happens almost every year at this time? To make it easy for you, I’ll do that period-after-every-word thing people do nowadays to show they’re talking deliberately: Yankees. Start. Slowly. Always.

It’s the pitching. It’s the first-base situation. It’s Derek Jeter. Every year, it’s one thing or another. The press and the fans get all rashy. You know, as if they’ve got bugs crawling under their skin. It’s like a rite of spring, almost. It ain’t nothing, but you wouldn’t know that ‘cause every year it’s like the last night on the Titanic—total panic. (Yeah, I used a 96-year-old reference. Deal with it.)

...As for guys not playing up to their potential, know this: Being a Yankee means you hate losing. When you encase your athletic body in those pinstripes, something happens to your mind. You can take losing for so long before you snap out of it and start playing Yankee baseball. How else can you explain the events described above? When you play for another team, you don’t have that extra level to go to the way a Yankee does. Find me another team that has started like New York 10 of the past 13 years and made the playoffs every time. I haven’t even checked because I don’t have to. There ain’t one.

This is what I want you to do, Joe Yankee Fan: I want you to walk like the batter with four balls in that joke about the Irishman at his first baseball game: with pride. Be proud of your team kicking adversity in the groin every year. Look to the recent past for inspiration and leave the worrying for fans of other teams. They’ve got something you don’t: no hope.

The Biz of Baseball: Brown: 2008 All-Star Game to Be Highest Revenue Maker Ever

Or as Maury sez...(Dr. Evil) “We will make $1 million dollars!!! (/Dr. Evil)

What happens when you put the MLB All-Star Game in the largest market in the U.S. as well as Yankee Stadium’s final year? Look for the All-Star festivities to go down in history as the largest revenue making ASG in history.

As it currently stands, the entire six-week schedule encapsulating the All-Star Game is running at levels never seen before. When you throw in Jon Bon Jovi playing in Central Park as part of the All-Star Game (a prime sponsorship opportunity), and that fact that MLB is working to have every living member of the Hall of Fame attend as part of the pre-game ceremony, MLB may not see an opportunity like this for decades to come. As reported by the Sports Business Journal (subscription required):

The heavy hype is driving virtually all of baseball’s businesses to record-high revenue for the game in ad sales, merchandise, licensing and ticket sales.

For example, Fox’s ad sales inventory for the game is 85 percent sold and pacing 25 percent ahead of last year.

The highest price point for 30-second spots — the ones non-MLB sponsors pick up as one-off ad buys — has hit $550,000. Some of the remaining inventory could bring in as much as $600,000.

NBC Sports:  Yanks fan allegedly runs over, kills Red Sox fan

A 43-year-old Nashua, N.H. woman faces murder charges after a man she’s accused of running down during the weekend died.

Police say the incident followed an argument. They haven’t released details, but witness are saying an argument broke out in Slade’s Food & Spirits after Hernandez said she was a Yankees fan. They said Beaudoin was among a group of people who began chanting at Hernandez.

Houston Chronicle: Clemens apologizes for ‘mistakes,’ still denies drug use

Well...that wraps that up. Now, who’s he gonna pitch for!?

In his first comments since a tabloid linked him to extramarital affairs last week, Roger Clemens on Sunday acknowledged making ‘’mistakes’’ in his personal life. For those mistakes, he apologized to his family and the public, but the seven-time Cy Young Award winner remained steadfast in his denials that he has used steroids or human growth hormone.

‘’I know that many people want to know what I have to say about the recent articles in the media,’’ Clemens, who has raised his four children with his wife, Debbie, in the Katy and Memorial areas, said in a statement to the Chronicle. ‘’Even though these articles contain many false accusations and mistakes, I need to say that I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry. I have apologized to my family and apologize to my fans. Like everyone, I have flaws. I have sometimes made choices which have not been right.’’

While not admitting to any specific mistakes he has made, Clemens did remain adamant that he never used steroids or HGH. He has been fighting to clear his name since Dec. 13, when he was implicated in the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the report former Sen. George Mitchell prepared for Major League Baseball.

‘’I believe my personal life has nothing to do with the accusations of steroid and HGH use,’’ he said in the statement. ‘’I have already made clear that I did not use them.’’

Yankees send Ian Kennedy down to Triple-A Scranton

Generation Meh.

The roster move to get Darrell Rasner active for Sunday’s start was … Ian Kennedy. Yep, the Yanks are asking Kennedy to get himself straightened out at Triple-A Scranton. As Joe Girardi said, it’s up to Kennedy how fast he returns to the majors.

Apparently, he told Kennedy, it could be a couple of starts or 15 starts, depending on how he does. As Kennedy put it, “If you want to pout or moan, that’s what will happen. A couple starts, I’d rather have that happen.”

The Yankees are concerned with Kennedy’s confidence, though he said he had plenty. At the same time, he admitted that he doesn’t have as much confidence as he did last September or during his meteoric rise through the minors. He also seemed to be uncomfortable with the idea that each of his starts here are magnified and “under a microscope.”

Kei Igawa, according to both GM Brian Cashman and Girardi, is the likely starter on either Friday or Saturday. The Yankees were thinking of giving Mike Mussina an extra day off between starts, but have scrapped that plan. Rasner, regardless how he fares Sunday, will get at least one more start Friday or Saturday and Igawa probably will pitch the other game.

MLB: Report: Clemens could drop lawsuit

Pulls dustclump off needle...sets up Roky’s “Don’t Slander Me”.

The lead lawyer for Roger Clemens’ defense said on Friday that he may recommend that the seven-time Cy Young Award-winner drop his defamation law suit against Brian McNamee, his former trainer.

“He’s getting pummeled,” attorney Rusty Hardin told the Associated Press about his client.

“That’s always a decision the client has to make. That’s not the lawyer’s decision,” Hardin said. “I’ve never seen somebody get beat up like this. In some ways, I think we’re on uncharted ground.”

Richard Emery, one of McNamee’s lawyers, was quoted as saying that he would be surprised if the law suit is dropped.

“It’s much too rational a move for them to make,” he said. “Everything about the way they’ve handled this case is irrational, so I wouldn’t expect them to act rationally now.”

Thunder’s Jose Tabata regrets leaving team

Or as, the completely in the dark chocolate, Francesspool said the other day..."We got this Tobotto kid in the minors doing special things!”

Jose Tabata batted sixth and played right field against Portland last night, one day after the Thunder prospect finished serving a three-game suspension for storming out of the clubhouse and going home moments after striking out in the seventh inning of Saturday’s 7-4 loss to New Britain. Despondent over a horrendous slump that has dropped his batting average to a season-low .188, the 19-year-old Tabata was reinstated by the Yankees prior to going 0-for-3 in Thursday’s 5-4 setback to Connecticut at Dodd Stadium.

“The expectations of who I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to do finally got to me,” Tabata said through assistant coach and translator, Julius Matos. “I made an irrational decision. Maybe it was immaturity, inexperience or just that I didn’t know how to handle what was happening. I just kept thinking I am not producing the way I should be and maybe I didn’t belong here.”

“I just felt like I had to go,” Tabata said in an exclusive interview with The Times yesterday. “It was a rash decision, but after talking to my wife, she asked me if this was really what I wanted to do and if leaving (the team) was the right decision to make. I thought about it a little and realized I am not a quitter. I was either going to face the consequences, learn from this and grow, or I was going to run away. So, here I am.”

Tabata admitted he contemplated going so far as to ask the Yankees for his release, a request that most assuredly would have been denied.

Raissman: Joe Girardi struggles with media management

Another scribe asked if that meant Hughes would make his next start. Girardi answered by saying, “I just said” Hughes was in the rotation. The same scribe then said, “That’s not what I asked you, I asked if he’s going to make his next start.”

Girardi repeated his “internal discussions line” and said: “That’s just the way it is....I don’t mean to get irritated, but I’ve been asked the same question five times.”

The scribe again asked if Hughes was going to make his next start. Getting an earful of the same inquiry ignited Girardi’s Wigometer. “I just got done telling you he’s in the rotation,” Girardi said. “Am I supposed to now tell you when I’m going to hit and run?”

The reporter said he wasn’t “asking that” and - again - wanted to know if Hughes was going to make his next start. At that point a Yankees PR executive scolded the reporter and cut the session off, prompting the scribe - in full lecture mode - to remind the suit it wasn’t his job to tell him how to “ask my questions.”

“The ending (of Girardi’s interview) may have seemed somewhat comical, but the whole session was tense,” one participant said.

This sounds like a job for Super-Zillo!...Media Relations director with penetra-vision which allows him to see through thick-headed lead!

BBD: Nyman: Phil Hughes and Mystery Meat Mechanics: Part I

Paul Nyman starts his series on breaking down Phil Hughes (as if he needed any help).

I fail to see the connection between full extension and consistent release point. Any well rehearsed/practiced movement pattern eventually becomes automatic (Fitts-Posner how movements are acquired).

Release point is one of the biggest fallacies in baseball instruction in that release point is the result of all body movements/actions (i.e. the effect of the whole body system). And yes, it is possible for one particular aspect of the mechanical sequence to upset the release point.

As far as I can tell, Hughes’ arm action has not changed since the day he was drafted. Therefore, I doubt his arm action (not extending) is responsible for his “release point problems”.

“Reduced velocity on his fastball, because he isn’t able to fully leverage his lower half”.

What the heck does this mean? These all-encompassing statements have no value.

Newsday: Davidoff - Depleted Yankees are hardly in crisis mode

Brian Cashman’s job security is tenuous. But it’s apparent that neither he nor his players will lose any sleep over that. Cashman might walk by his own accord at the end of this season, anyway, if Hank Steinbrenner maintains his verbosity.

So whose crisis is this, anyway?

The Steinbrenner boys? Of course they want to win it all. But Hal Steinbrenner understands Cashman’s big-picture idea. And Hank, for all his tough talk, has yet to show that he’ll actually blow up that plan.

The YES Network? If there are actually meaningless September games—and I’d bet against that—then perhaps they’ll print a few less millions in the YES basement. Boohoo!

The fans? Oh, please. With all due respect, if any of you cancel your tickets for the new ballpark next season, there will be a line from Yankee Stadium to Albany to pick them up.

As you know, when Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner convinced Hank Steinbrenner to pass on the deal that would have sent Hughes to Minnesota in a Johan Santana trade, the Yankees made it clear that they were thinking about a longer-term project than 2008.
...
“I say no on crisis mode,” Cashman said Thursday afternoon. “I say this is what every team that wants to get to the Promised Land has to deal with at one point or another, and you deal with it. And if you can’t, you’re not championship-worthy.”

NY Times: Lessons From Big Leagues Guide a Bassmaster Rookie (RR)

“I’m lost, just lost,” the angler, Billy Brewer, a rookie on the Bassmasters Tour, said Wednesday, a day before the start of the three-day competition on the 71,535-acre lake about 130 miles east of Atlanta. He did not have much more luck Thursday, standing in 78th place.

“This sport is unforgiving, sometimes unfair, but you keep throwing, you compete.”

Brewer had the same philosophy about his previous athletic career, as a major league baseball player. He pitched in 203 games in relief over seven seasons (1993-1999) and toiled in the minors for another 201 games. An unforgiving situation on the lake can be matched with some of his experiences as a member of the bullpen for the Royals, Yankees, Athletics and Phillies and 12 minor league teams.
...
There was the time in 1996, after being traded to the Dodgers from the Royals, that he threw 30 scoreless innings in a row at Class AAA but was left in the minors.

“We were on a conference call with L.A.’s general manager, me and my agent, trying to find out why I couldn’t join the big league team,” Brewer said. “And the G.M. said: ‘We’re being told Billy isn’t throwing that well. We’re not arguing about it — he’s staying where he is.’
...
After 4 of 11 events, he is 33rd among 108 anglers and second in the rookie of the year standings among 11 anglers.

SNY: Salfino: Yanks handling of Hughes questionable

A team must decide whether they will invest in guys like Hughes, who have decent prospects for greatness. This necessarily means that there will be pain along the way. It seems obvious, but it’s easy to forget as the bad outings pile up. You pay now so you can profit later.

Learning how to overcome failure and, more precisely, the fear of failure is the biggest hurdle for the professional athlete. Hughes, for example, knows how to pitch. He’s been doing that his whole life. He now needs to learn how to pitch against the best hitters in the world. That can’t happen in the minors, where he’s already dominated.

Only bad things can happen there. If he pitches well, big deal. He’s proved nothing that will aid him when he again steps on the big-league mound. And if he gets hit in the minors, then you really have a crisis.

This isn’t conjecture. There’s 100 years of science supporting it. It’s called the Yerkes-Dodson Law and it was first postulated in 1908.

The law says that what we understand as “the zone” in sports is really an arousal curve. Performance for all of us, not just athletes (but especially athletes), improves as we are mentally excited, even fearful. The pulse quickens and our focus narrows; time seems to slow down. This is our body’s way of sharpening us for battles that were once literally life or death.

Yerkes-Dodson...which became Yerkes-Oscar Gamble, I believe. Good deal!