Burnett Bueno As Bronx Bomber
Barbara Barker of Newsday has a nice feature out on A.J. Burnett. Some clips:
In fact, with the possible exception of Nick Swisher, [A.J.] Burnett may be the most enthusiastic Yankee when it comes to doing anything.
Having introduced a team award system that includes everything from a pie in the face to the bestowing of a wrestling championship belt to the hero of each game, Burnett has worked hard on the mound and played hard off it. He has interjected a much-needed level of goofy fun to a clubhouse that had been notoriously uptight and corporate.
“A.J. is a leader. He is a major reason the club is the way it is this year,” said Ray Negron, whose duties as a special assistant to George Steinbrenner include getting players to participate in community events. “Forget about the tattoos and all that. He’s someone who cares. If you ask him to help, he helps. To me, that’s the greatest kind of Yankee. His heart and soul are into being a Yankee on and off the field.”
Burnett has made a seamless transition to being a Yankee. That comes as a big surprise to some observers who feared that the Yankees were getting themselves into another Carl Pavano situation when they signed Burnett to a five-year, $82.5-million contract last offseason.
“This is the funnest thing I’ve ever been involved with,” Burnett said. “I came here because I wanted to win. I wanted to be a part of something like this.”
Burnett’s agent, Darek Braunecker, said he’s not sure his client would have been ready for something like this earlier in this career. Braunecker is a family friend from Little Rock, Ark., and has known Burnett since he was 15 years old.
“I think A.J. had kind of grown into his own skin over the last few years and started being comfortable with who he is,” Braunecker said. “I think he had to get over this notion of having to prove himself in baseball. He proved himself in Toronto. Now he wanted to be a Yankee and be on this stage, and I thought he was ready to do it.”
“I think A.J. realizes you’re going to have a legacy whether you like it or not. Carl Pavano has a legacy,” Braunecker said. “I think he realizes if he performs his best every day and is accountable for his actions, that’s all people in New York really want. This is a perfect place for him.”
It’s so perfect that Braunecker’s client admits he can’t believe how much fun he is having. Said Burnett: “It’s just really good here. I knew it would be good here. But I didn’t know it would be like this.”
Burnett has been a very pleasant surprise, a leader, and an extremely valuable member of the Yankees – this season, in the first year of his contract. Then again, we in Yankeeland were saying the same exact things…a very pleasant surprise, a leader, and an extremely valuable member of the Yankees…about Gary Sheffield towards the end of 2004 – when he was in the first year of his contract with the Yankees. And, a couple of years later, Yankees fans’ opinion of Mr. Sheffield were somewhat different.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving what A.J. Burnett is doing for the Yankees right now. I’m just saying that we have four more seasons left on his contract, and we should see how those go, before we start to paint him as the second coming of Catfish Hunter, David Cone or Jimmy Key…and what they meant to the team when they came to New York.
that’s not fair to make the sheff comp, speaking of that slimeball…did you see what he did to the mets? He asked for an extension and when they balked, he threatened to just go home. what a loser, i hope he doesn’t make it into the hall.
Corey wrote:
Why? We we all not in love with Sheffield, at the close of 2004, for playing the season on one arm, and also saying that he should have been the league MVP? (I know I was…)
He came in, in 2004, with all kinds of warning labels, etc. – just like Burnett this season – and Sheffield was a model citizen and great player that first year.
How is he any different and the comp unfair?
I agree with Steve on this one and I actually think it’s quite an apt comparison. There were definite warning labels on Sheffield in ’04 and on Burnett this past winter. In addition to his injury history, Burnett was seen as a prickly pear with the Toronto media and some folks questioned his ability to survive (and thrive) under more scrutiny in New York.
Separately, yes, what Sheffield is doing to the Mets right now is par for the course. He’s a complete jackass.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
sheffield, in 2004, already had a history of threatening to walk out on organizations and threatening not to play hard…burnett, while maybe had warning labels on him, was nowhere in the same category as sheff. Heck, sheff has been a douche since the brewers. I don’t see being prickly toward the media and other peoples doubts of his ability to survive under more scrunity the same as threatening to leave an organization if he doesn’t get 100% of his way.
@ Corey:
Actually that’s a good point too. I see both sides here.
@ Corey:
On September 27, 2005, Burnett was asked by the Marlins to leave the team. The request came a day after he made comments criticizing the organization:
“We played scared. We managed scared. We coached scared,” he told reporters following the Marlins’ 5-3 loss at Turner Field. “I’m sick of it, man. It’s depressing around here. A 3-0 ballgame, I give up one run and leave guys on base, it’s like they expect us to mess up. And when we do, they chew us out. There is no positive, nothing around here for anybody.”
Marlins manager Jack McKeon called Burnett into his office and broke the news. Burnett shook his hand, gathered up his belongings, and left.
@ Steve Lombardi:
I gotta say, that doesn’t sound like something from the Sheffield playbook. It’s just a player being honest with his feelings and probably in response to a question from the press. I don’t think anything of what he said is so bad or so wrong or worth remembering or criticizing. Frankly, the fact that he “shook hands” with the manager and left quietly is NOTHING like what Sheffield would do. Sheffield would threaten someone with violence and then spend the next month trashing people in the paper…
@ Corey: And, here’s more from the respected Richard Griffin
http://www.thestar.com/article/251008
A.J. Burnett has little respect for media, fans, or anyone not in uniform. It’s hard to offer any back. The lack of respect is clear by the way he interrupts the TV networks in their attempt to provide insight to their viewers in post-game interviews with his shaving cream pie-to-the-face of guests. It’s also clear by the way that whenever he’s injured and on the DL, he brushes off media requests for an update on his situation, saying “Later”, then rushing out to shag fly balls in the outfield.
And, by the way, he’s not performing to his contract. At the end of this season, he will have earned $22 million of Ted Rogers’ money. Thus far, with six starts left this season, he has chipped in with 17 total wins.
The statement “in reality he pitched six solid innings” in fact says it all for those who would like to excuse the fact that he has not lived up to expectations.
Richard Griffin wrote:
And yet, they love it down here… Just goes to show, it depends on the time, place and audience…
Steve Lombardi wrote:
pies in the face are definitly worse then calling everyone racist or faking injuries
Raf wrote:
Richard Griffin needs to lighten up a little bit…
To paraphrase Ross Perot… Sheff is a world class ass. Nasty right stick for sure, but a self-absorbed red ass of wide proportions for a couple of decades. That’s pretty hard to do.
Silly to compare him to AJ. AJ’s grown up some, and he’s the first to admit he figured it out personally and professionally over the past couple of years. Look how he handled the Yanks playing flat last week in Oakland when he was on the bump. 6 hits, 2 BB’s, 8.0 innings of solid work and no support. Shrugged it off and said we’ll get ‘em next time. He’s been the 4th or 5th best pitcher in the AL East excluding CC. AJ’s been everything we could have hoped for and I hope he keeps trying to pull his buddy Doc into the fold. I know it pains many of you to say it, but he’s been a great addition.