I was just looking at Yankees batters from 1901 to 2009, younger than age 26, where they were playing in their first season, and where they played in at least 100 games and had an OPS+ of 100 or more…and here’s that list:

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Check out Clyde Engle and Ray Demmitt there back in 1909. Two young Yankees…well…Highlanders, actually – more than holding their own in the first big league seasons.

After the 1909 season, Ray Demmitt was traded with Joe Lake to the St. Louis Browns for Lou Criger – who was a 37-year old catcher best known as being Cy Young’s favorite battery-mate when he played in Boston.

Soon after that, Demmitt was back in the minor leagues – and the Tigers franchise later picked him up in a Rule 5 Draft. He didn’t get back to the big leagues until 1914 when the White Sox bought him from Detroit for $2,500.

During the very near start of the 1910 season, Clyde “Hack” Engle was sold by New York to the Boston Red Sox. Engle would go on to hit a key pinch-hit double in the sixth game of the 1912 World Series. Later in that game, he came back to bat in the 10th inning and hit a fly ball that led to the “Snodgrass muff“.

But, hey, for one season back in 1909, Clyde Engle and Ray Demmitt were rookies who didn’t melt under the glare of playing in New York…if there was such a thing as a glare back then…

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The Yankees have released their 2010 promotional calendar. H/T to Ross on this one.

Ice cream bowls on Big Stein’s B-Day? Hey, why not…?

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Bill Conlin thinks the Phillies have best infield of baseball’s modern era.

Better than the 2009 Yankees or Rays? Better than the 1983 Brewers? The 1976 Reds? Heck, even better than the Indians or Tigers in 1986? I’m not so sure…

How about you?

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Via FOX News –

[Bruce] Bukiet [an associate professor of mathematical sciences and associate dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts at the New Jersey Institute of Technology] bases his predictions on a mathematical model he developed in 2000, one that computes the probability of a team winning a game against another team with given hitters, bench, starting pitcher, relievers and home field advantage. For this season, Bukiet has refined his algorithm slightly, incorporating a more realistic runner advancement model. Whatever that is.

The professor claims to have beaten the odds in six of the eight years he’s been using the model. According to his predictions, the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers should all repeat as winners in the National League, with the Atlanta Braves taking the wild-card slot.

In the American League, the New York Yankees should blow away the competition, winning in the East, and the Minnesota Twins will repeat as winners in the Central. But the AL West is too close to call, with all four teams within 5 wins and the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim expected to win 82, 81 and 80 games respectively. As for the wildcard, Bukiet says it’s a tossup between the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox from the East.

Bukiet also applies his mathematical modeling to gambling, in particular for understanding baseball and cricket. He posts his analysis online at www.egrandslam.com.

“I publish these numbers to promote the power and relevance of math,” he says. “We’ve long had a problem convincing U.S. youngsters to embrace mathematics in school. Studying how math applies to baseball demonstrates not only that math can be fun, but how it is really a part of things people care about.”

So, Bukiet predicts that the Yankees will win 103 games this season?

Well, in 2007 he predicted the Yankees would win 110 games that season – and they won 94 games. And, in 2008, he predicted that the Yankees would win 98 games – and they won 89 games that year. Lastly, in 2009, he predicted that the Yankees would win 99 games – and they won 103 games.

That’s a difference of four, nine and sixteen. On the bright side, he is getting closer to the real number in each passing year.

If you ask me, everything would have to go right for the Yankees to win 103 games this season. And, if you want to have a better expectation on their win total for 2010, think along the lines of 95 wins. If everyone on the team just does what they’re supposed to do, there’s no reason why the Yankees cannot win 95 games this year.

Then again, if everything goes wrong for the Yankees this year, then they’re probably close to a 83-win team. But, that’s an absolute worst case scenario. Really, the entire bottom would have to drop out for that to happen.

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Via the AP –

Four Dominican Summer League players, including a pair of New York Yankees prospects, have been suspended for the first 50 games of the season following positive tests for steroids under baseball’s minor league drug program.

Yankees pitcher Israel Tolentino and catcher Josue Rodriguez were penalized along with New York Mets pitcher Melvin Colon and Cleveland Indians outfielder Steven Lebron.

Tolentino and Lebron each tested positive for boldenone metabolite, the commissioner’s office said Wednesday. Rodriguez tested positive for metabolites of stanozolol, and Colon for nandrolone.

Eleven players have been suspended this year under the minor league program, including six from DSL rosters.

Most of the Yankees Dominican Summer League players are as close to playing in the major leagues with New York as Betty White, Scooby Doo and Lester “Beetlejuice” Green. Don’t lose any sleep over this news.

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Via mlb.com –

George Steinbrenner issued a public statement on Wednesday in reaction to the loss of an old friend and colleague. Steinbrenner, the principal owner of the Yankees who has receded from the spotlight in recent years, issued a statement regarding the passing of Dick Kraft, a friend since their shared tenure at Williams College and a former Yankees executive who spent a decade with the team.

Kraft, who started his Yankees tenure as an administrative assistant, progressed all the way up to vice president of community relations. Kraft left that position in 1994, but Steinbrenner remained close with him all the way up to his passing.

“I am deeply saddened by the loss of Dick Kraft, who was my great friend for 60 years,” Steinbrenner said. “We were roommates at Williams College and played together on the football team. He was a strong, tough lineman, who we called ‘Pusher’ for his driving abilities on the line of scrimmage.”

Kraft, a seasonal resident of Tampa , Fla., passed away Monday at the age of 79.

“Dick worked for the Yankees beginning in 1984 as an administrative assistant,” said Steinbrenner. “He retired in 1994, and ever since had worked with me closely during spring practice in Tampa. Dick was — and always will be — a champion to me, and my loyal friend, who I will miss dearly. I extend my deepest sympathies to his wife, Emily, and their daughters, Debbie and Pam, and his entire family.”

For those too young to know about Mr. Kraft’s time with the Yankees, here’s a feature on his dismissal from the Times on July 24, 1994:

Embroiled in controversy for a week during which he insisted that he never called black youths “monkeys,” a Yankees executive has resigned, the team announced yesterday.

“I’ve made up my mind to resign,” the executive, Richard Kraft, said in a statement released by the Yankees. “It’s my personal decision. It’s the right thing to do for my health and for the Yankees.”

Kraft, who had been the team’s vice president for community relations, did not refer to the controversial comments in his statement. But last week, even as the team apologized for the remarks, Kraft denied that he had used the terms “monkeys” and “colored boy,” in reference to youngsters in the South Bronx neighborhood around Yankee Stadium.

The disputed statements were part of a New York magazine article by Matt Bai, published last week and based on an interview with Kraft last January. Kraft is quoted as saying he did not believe the Yankees could have “a fan base here in the Bronx.”

“I don’t know what happens to the little colored boy who goes through school here, and goes to Kennedy High School, and goes to a Catholic college. I don’t know if he loses his roots here,” he is quoted as saying.

Referring to young people who play basketball on the adjacent courts of Macombs Dam Park, the magazine quoted Kraft as saying: “It’s like monkeys. Those guys can all go up and hang on the rim and crack the rim and bend the hoops. It’s a continuous maintenance problem.”

The statements angered Bronx officials, who suggested that racism was the real reason for the club’s interest in moving to Manhattan or New Jersey. “Mr. Kraft’s remarks reveal to me the reason: bigotry,” said Fernando Ferrer, the Bronx Borough President. “He’s demonstrated his contempt for the city’s fans and especially its fans of color.”

And the team, in a statement through its spokesman, Howard J. Rubenstein, said: “The New York Yankees offer an unequivocal apology for the statements attributed to Mr. Kraft. His comments in no way reflect the opinion of the Yankees. He was not authorized to make statements on behalf of the team.”

But Kraft, a college classmate of the club’s owner, George Steinbrenner, said: “I categorically deny ever having said what was attributed to me. Anyone who knows me knows I would never say that.”

But, leave it to Big Stein to be true to his buddy. Note this from the Daily News on March 1, 1995:

Dick Kraft, who was forced to resign as vice president of community relations last year after making racially insensitive comments in a New York magazine article, was in Yankees’ camp yesterday and is said to be working for George Steinbrenner.

Kraft, who was Steinbrenner’s roommate at Williams College, was quoted as saying the kids who play basketball in the park adjacent to Yankee Stadium “are like monkeys” the way they hang on the rims. He soon resigned under fire, citing health problems. The Yankees maintain Kraft is not on the team’s payroll but is only working for Steinbrenner. Kraft would not comment on the matter.

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Shelley Duncan became an instant fan-favorite during the middle of the 2007 season, smacking seven homers in 34 games and earning praise for his energetic and exuberant style of play. He never really stuck in the majors and spent the majority of the next two seasons amassing a .262 AVG and 42 home runs in 183 Triple-A games, earning International MVP honors in 2009. After getting sent outright to Scranton, Duncan elected to become a free agent. He eventually signed a minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians, where he is currently battling for a backup first baseman and outfield job:

“I don’t really think about (the competition). If I start thinking about that, I’ll take focus off the work I need to get done. As long as I take care of myself, focus on myself and what I need to do to get ready for the season, I’ll put myself in position that I need to be in.”

Duncan went on to talk about his 2009 season with the Scranton Yanks:

“It was my third year in the league, a lot of experience. I didn’t really change much. As you get older you get wiser and get better. It’s a case of being in a place that I’m comfortable. I was really trying to work my way out of that league and unfortunately just didn’t really have a spot open up.”

Always a classy guy. Duncan will compete with Andy Marte, Beau Mills, Chris Gimenez and Wes Hodges for a bench spot. He currently has two hits in three games this spring.

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I’ve always been a believer that you should never look at any Spring Training stats from games prior to March 15th. In fact, I’m not even sure why baseball tracks them – because they really are garbage, for the most part. Now, that said, here are Joba Chamberlain’s numbers from his first two games this Spring:

	IP   H	R   ER	HR  BB	SO
Game 1	1.1  3	5    5	0    3	 1
Game 2	2.1  5	6    6	1    3	 1
Total	3.2  8	11   11	1    6	 2

Again, it’s early. And, Chamberlain is coming off the flu. But, if he keeps pitching like this over the next three weeks, he’s going to be rooming this April with Kei Igawa down in Scranton.

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Via Tom Verducci today –

When baseball commissioner Bud Selig named a 14-person “special committee for on-field matters” four months ago, he promised that all topics would be in play and “there are no sacred cows.” The committee already has made good on Selig’s promise by discussing a radical form of “floating” realignment in which teams would not be fixed to a division, but free to change divisions from year-to-year based on geography, payroll and their plans to contend or not.

The concept gained strong support among committee members, many of whom believe there are non-economic avenues that should be explored to improve competitive balance, similar to the NFL’s former use of scheduling to help parity (in which weaker teams were awarded a weaker schedule the next season).

As with most issues of competitive balance, floating realignment involves finding a work-around to the Boston-New York axis of power in the AL East. In the 15 seasons during which the wild-card system has been in use, the Red Sox and Yankees have accounted for 38 percent of all AL postseason berths. The league has never conducted playoffs without the Red Sox or Yankees since that format began — and in eight of those 15 years both teams made the playoffs. Since 2003 the Sox and Yankees have won at least 95 games 11 times in 14 combined seasons.

One example of floating realignment, according to one insider, would work this way: Cleveland, which is rebuilding with a reduced payroll, could opt to leave the AL Central to play in the AL East. The Indians would benefit from an unbalanced schedule that would give them a total of 18 lucrative home dates against the Yankees and Red Sox instead of their current eight. A small or mid-market contender, such as Tampa Bay or Baltimore, could move to the AL Central to get a better crack at postseason play instead of continually fighting against the mega-payrolls of New York and Boston.

Interesting.

Me? I would just go with this revised set-up, if you want to try something totally new and radical:

N.L. East: Atlanta, Baltimore, Florida, Tampa Bay, Washington.
N.L. Central: Cubs, White Sox, Houston, Kansas City, St. Louis, Texas.
N.L. West: Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, San Diego.

A.L. East: Boston, Philadelphia, Mets, Yankees, Toronto.
A.L. Central: Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh.
A.L. West: Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle, Minnesota.

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I’ve recently seen two baseball stats that have stuck with me.

The first one is that 80% of the time, the team with more hits in a game wins that contest. And, the second one is that, in retrospect, 60% of the time, the team that wins a game is the team whose starting pitcher is having a better season than the starting pitcher he opposed in the match.

Yeah, I know, this is not really an earth shattering revelation – it’s been preached, forever, in baseball that pitching (especially starting pitching) and defense win baseball games.

So, how did the Yankees do in these departments last season? First, let’s look at some starting pitching numbers:

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It’s pretty interesting – by many measures, the Yankees starting staff, as a unit, was sort of league average last season. Now, some of that is Wang/Mitre and some of that is pitching in the new Yankee Stadium. But, in 2010, the Yankees will still be pitching in their new home – and the Yankees 5th starting pitcher for this year is still TBD.

How about fielding last season? Check these stats:

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Now, here’s a story – the Yankees did a great job at turning batted balls into outs last season. And, that helped their starting pitchers – for sure.

So, maybe the big question for this year, in Yankeeland, is: How strong will the Yankees starting pitching be in 2010 and how much will their fielding help towards making that happen?

Last season, things worked out very well in these two departments for the Yankees. Will it repeat in 2010? Or, will it be better? Or worse? I’m not sure. What do you think?

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Via Mike Puma’s Mets Blog -

Goose who? Francisco Rodriguez is just fine with Goose Gossage’s assessment of him.

Gossage referred to K-Rod as a “clown” in a recent interview, citing Rodriguez’s penchant for theatrics on the mound, but Rodriguez shrugged off Gossage’s comment Tuesday.

“I have no idea who he is,” Rodriguez said.

Told about Gossage, a Hall of Fame reliever who had his best years pitching for the Yankees in the 1970s and ’80s, Rodriguez took the high road.

“We all have an opinion,” Rodriguez said. “That’s his opinion and you’ve got to respect it. I don’t care. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

That’s a different stance than Rodriguez took last season, when Brian Bruney made a similar comment. Rodriguez sought out Bruney the following day during batting practice at Yankee Stadium and had to be restrained from the Yankees reliever.

In fairness to Francisco Rodriguez, he was something like 11 years old and living in Venezuela when Gossage pitched in his big league season. But, then again, it was pretty big news when Goose made the Hall of Fame in 2008. In fact, K-Rod and Gossage where in The House That Ruth Built, together, for the 2008 All-Star Game. So, when Francisco says “I have no idea who he is,” he’s probably full of it.

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Via the AP -

A top New York Yankees executive was charged with driving under the influence in Tampa.

Hillsborough County Jail reports show that Mark Newman, the Yankees’ senior vice president of baseball operations, was arrested Monday night. He reportedly refused to take a blood-alcohol test. He was released several hours later on $500 bail.

Team spokesman Jason Zillo says the Yankees can’t comment at this time.

Newman did not respond to a message left on his cell phone by The Associated Press.

Jail records did not list an attorney.

As I have mentioned before, DUI is a terrible, terrible, crime – in my opinion. It’s inexcusable.

Keith Law said it best three years ago: Baseball needs a backbone regarding DUIs.

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Not Yankees-related, but, I found this little study interesting…and thought I would share it here too.

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Via Kevin Kernan -

The bond of winning a championship together has created a tighter bond between Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.

They drove here together yesterday from Tampa for the Yankees’ split-squad 6-0 win over the Pirates. And they left together. Before the game they played catch and long toss together, ran together in the outfield and even walked into the clubhouse together along the right-field line at 12:01 after they were done with their early work while a group of Yankees were still taking batting practice.

“They’ve definitely grown closer,” one Yankee official told me.

They are laughing and joking together more, and during Sunday’s workout in Tampa they spent a lot of time talking in short leftfield on a back field. They are enjoying being teammates.

That is a good thing for the Yankees. Neither player wants to make a big deal of their friendship, but it’s obvious Rodriguez and Jeter are two superstars who have finally aligned.

But this isn’t just about Jeter and A-Rod showing the world they are together in their pursuit of Yankees World Championship No. 28, it’s also important for other Yankees to see it to show that the team is together.

As one Yankee told me, “It’s important for teammates to realize that Derek and Alex are in this together.”

Hey, if Angelina Jolie and Jon Voight can work it out, why not Derek and Alex?

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YES’ Jack Curry tweets that the Yankees have traded changeup artist and gopher-ball specialist Edwar Ramirez to the Texas Rangers for “cash considerations.”

Erstwhile beat writer Peter Abraham quips that the Yankees saved money by faxing him to Arlington.

I quip that the Rangers promotions department will soon be sponsoring a “Body Armor Night” for purchases of certain seats in the outfield grandstand.

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So, Alex Rodriguez now finds him if the media crosshairs again. And, if not for Ben Roethlisberger and the Ladies of UConn Hoops, this latest story on A-Rod might be bigger news today.

And, what do Yankees fans think about the latest Rodriguez issue in Yankeeland? Well, there’s a large portion of them who are not bothered over it…offering something along the lines of:

“Thirty-five homers and a hundred ribbies. That’s all I care about. What and who he does off the field, and what’s in his body, and when, doesn’t matter. I just want him playing third, batting clean-up, and hitting the ball out of the park.”

We’ve seen something like this before…haven’t we? For seven years, Red Sox Nation stuck their heads in the sand when it came to the antics of Manny Ramirez – offering the “Manny being Manny” defense – turning a blind eye towards the slugger’s baggage…since he was mashing the baseball and driving the Red Sox offensive attack.

But, then came 2008. And, by that point, Red Sox Nation had seen enough of “Manny being Manny,” and Ramirez was cast out of the scene in Boston.

Could the same happen with A-Rod in Yankeeland? If so, when will it happen and what will it take to make it happen?

Personally, I think we’re getting close to seeing it happen. And, there will be an HGH related-trigger to it. What about you?

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Via the New York Times –

A Toronto-based doctor under investigation for possibly smuggling drugs into the United States told The Associated Press on Monday that he treated Alex Rodriguez for an inflamed hip last year.

If true, Rodriguez could be in violation of his contract with the Yankees because the team said in a statement last week that it never authorized Rodriguez to be treated by the doctor, Anthony Galea.

In an interview Monday with the New York Times, Dr. Marc Philippon, the team-authorized doctor who performed hip surgery on Rodriguez last March, said he never gave approval for Galea to treat the third baseman following the surgery.

Philippon said that if Galea gave Rodriguez oral anti-inflammatory medicine than he has no problem. If Galea gave Rodriguez any injections, however, Philippon said he would be upset because he believes he should be consulted for all such procedures.

“He doesn’t work at my clinic,” Philippon said of Galea. “Here is the way it works — I am the surgeon. I oversee the rehab.”

The revelations come one week after Rodriguez told reporters that he had been contacted by federal authorities, who wanted to talk to him about his connection to Galea, who has been charged by Canadian authorities with conspiring to smuggle human growth hormone and other drugs into the United States.

Rodriguez has yet to meet with federal investigators, although that meeting could come this week. He was informed of Galea’s statement on Monday afternoon as he was talking amiably with several reporters in the Yankees’ clubhouse in Bradenton, Fla., where the team was in the midst of playing the Pittsburgh Pirates in an exhibition game.

However, when one reporter brought up Galea’s statements to The Associated Press, Rodriguez said, “I can’t talk about that,” and walked away.

In the interview with The Associated Press, Galea said he prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs to Rodriguez last year, after the hip surgery, but did not give him H.G.H. The article did not indicate whether he administered the drugs in oral or injectable form. “He had a damaged hip. Inflamed. It was damaged,” he told The Associated Press. “He needed anti-inflammatories for his hip. I was basically helping in the rehab.”

Galea also said that when authorities stopped his assistant at the United States-Canadian border last year, she was carrying only a small amount of human growth hormone, exclusively for his personal use. Authorities found 20 vials and 76 ampules of drugs, including H.G.H., in a car driven by his assistant, Mary Anne Catalano, according to federal court documents.Last week, The New York Times reported that in December, the Yankees asked representatives of Rodriguez whether he had had any dealings with Galea, and were told he did not. Their suspicions had been raised, they said, because after Rodriguez’s hip surgery, he was monitored by a chiropractor, Mark Lindsay, who has worked closely with Galea in the past.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there’s no joy in Yankeeland — as A-Rod’s credibility is again in doubt.

And, last, but not least, this would incomplete;
If I forgot to add this one mo’ closing beat,
About how ol’ Selena Roberts in all her glory,
Is probably smuggling peanuts while reading this story.

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Via Joe Lapointe -

Despite having two seasons left on a five-year, $20 million contract and despite retiring all five hitters in his spring debut Friday, [Kei] Igawa is mostly out of sight and pretty much out of mind. He is rarely mentioned in conversations about the fifth slot in the starting rotation, a competition that involves as many as five candidates.

“That’s as it should be,” General Manager Brian Cashman said of Igawa’s diminished status. “He’s got to try to reinvent himself. He hasn’t lived up to what our scouting assessments were. Maybe that’s not his fault.”

In addition to his $20 million salary, the Yankees paid a $26 million posting fee to get the left-handed Igawa from the Hanshin Tigers in 2007. This happened right after the Red Sox outbid the Yankees for Daisuke Matsuzaka.

“Different ball, different mound size, different pitching rotation, a lot of differences,” Cashman said. “Sometimes, you miss. Right now, Igawa is in that ‘miss’ category.”

Cashman said he had had a few trade inquiries about Igawa over the years. Might he be better suited to pitching in the National League, where hitters have less power?

“Certainly the National League is a lot easier than the American League, especially the American League East,” Cashman said.

Cashman said that he had not detected any negative feelings from Igawa and that he was still fighting to live out his dream to be a successful big-leaguer in the United States.

“Whether that’s possible or not — obviously, that’s what our goal has been and what our hopes have been,” Cashman said.

There have been some terrible big money pitching contracts in baseball history:

• Darren Dreifort, Dodgers, $55 million/5 years, 2001-05
• Mike Hampton, Rockies, $121 million/8 years, 2001-08
• Denny Neagle, Rockies, $51 million/5 years, 2001-05
• Chan Ho Park, Rangers, $65 million/5 years, 2002-06

But, at least those guys did pitch some full seasons for their teams.

Has there ever been a bigger waste of money than the $46 million that Cashman spent on Igawa in the history of the game? That’s $46 million, including the posting fee, for 71 innings of major league work, to date.

Yikes.

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I think it has something to do with Johnson’s space in the clubhouse being known as the “Hurt Locker“?

And, yes, I’m kidding.

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Ah, the visiting beat reporter’s life in Yankeeland during the spring…

…it’s a good one…as long as you don’t get stuck sitting in an obstructed view spot of the press box.

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Saw this by Bob Nightengale (h/t to CC) in USA Today -

Eight baseball men, representing virtually every facet of the game, gathered in the twilight for a roundtable discussion on ways to improve the national pastime.

The commissioner’s office has been trying to reduce the amount of time needed to play a game, but with the average game time going up last season, new measures are needed:

Major League Baseball officials have been trying to quicken the game, umpire supervisor Steve Palermo says, but the average game time went from 2 hours, 50 minutes in 2008 to 2:52 last year.

“When you got a 15-13 game, it’s going to take 3½ hours,” Palermo says. “But I don’t think it should take 3 hours, 5 minutes to play a 2-1 game. You’re putting everybody in a deep freeze by doing that. You might as well have (former North Carolina basketball coach) Dean Smith come out and do Four Corners.”

The trouble, Palermo says, is there are certain teams and individuals who continually ignore baseball’s directives.

“This is a hot button with the commissioner,” Palermo says. “We’ve got a couple teams — I’m not going to name names, but I think everybody knows who they are — and they’re arrogant. They don’t think this pertains to them. I had a president of one of those ballclubs tell me the system is flawed. I told him, ‘Then how did the 28 other teams conform to what we’re asking except for you and your next-door neighbor that you have a rivalry with?’ ”

Says Los Angeles Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, realizing along with the other panelists that Palermo is alluding to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, “Everybody else gets screwed but those two teams.”

Palermo was particularly annoyed with Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon, who was fined last season for throwing excessive pitches in the bullpen after being summoned, then tore up the letter of discipline in front of sports reporters.

“You know what?” Palermo says. “If somebody acts up, whack them. I’m talking about $50,000. And then $100,000. And then $200,000. You usually get the attention after the $100,000 mark.”

There also was talk about constant trips to the pitcher’s mound by catchers and infielders. So why not limit how many times players can visit the mound?

“That would be the greatest way to shorten the game,” agent Scott Boras says. “The extra eight to 10 minutes is because of the young pitchers. They’re still going through the drill, and the catcher is coming out every couple of pitches.”

You really want to speed up the games? Take out that extra commerical time that teams/baseball has added between the half-innings.

Go to a minor league game, where it’s not on TV, and you’ll be amazed at how quick a 9 inning baseball game can be played…even with the on-field between innings stuff, personal PA intro music and deep pitch counts, frequent pitching changes….

This is the great MLB lie – that games are slower/lower because of stuff on the field. That’s a load….

They’re longer because of all the darn long commerical breaks!

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Dave Shenin, the national baseball writer for the Washington Post catches up with Yankee legend Josh Towers.

Josh Who?

“You start out the year with the Washington Nationals and end up getting a World Series ring,” mused Towers, now a non-roster invitee in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ camp in Glendale, Ariz. “It’s amazing how things happen in this game.”

Shenin asks if Towers, who made one start for the Nats Triple-A affiliate before being cut, signed by the Yanks and dispatched to Scranton and subsequently called up big club in September, is the least deserving ring recipient in history – which is harsh, but Towers himself doesn’t exactly dispute that notion.

“I don’t feel like I deserve that ring,” said Towers, 33, a career 45-55 pitcher in parts of eight big-league seasons. “But I’m not going to tell them, ‘No, thanks.’ That’s something I’ll have forever, something to show my grandkids someday.”

Towers threw 5.1 innings for the Yankees – which is more than Michael Dunn (4.0), Anthony Claggett (2.2) and Ian Kennedy (1.) threw.

On the position side, there were a few guys who didn’t exactly rack up the appearances: Xavier Nady (29 at bats), Kevin Cash (28), Angel Berroa (21), Shelley Duncan (15), Juan Miranda (nine) and Freddy Guzman (seven).

I’m all these guys, along with a number of other anonymous Yankee employees got rings but for just a handful of appearances in the pinstripes it’s not bad work if you can get it.

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Via Jeff Figler today -

An ad on Craigslist by a sports collector says that he will trade his sports collection which he claims is valued at $500,000, based on current book prices. Alright. Trade for what?

This collector will consider any home, as long as it has a scenic view. Even a house that is a fixer-upper or one that has equity and an assumable mortgage. His collection consists of about 5000 baseball cards, including 28 Mickey Mantle cards from 1962. In addition, he has tons of Yankees collectibles.

Doing a little checking, this gentleman is serious. But a 1962 Mantle card is not a 1952 Topps Mantle rookie card. A 1962 card in mint condition has a book value of, oh, $600.

“Scenic view” is a relative term, no? There’s a “scenic view” of the Atlantic Ocean and then there’s a “scenic view” of Newark Airport.

In any event, here’s more on this story via Mike Smeth -

San Diego resident Clyde Bone has gathered an impressive and valuable collection of baseball cards and sports memorabilia over the years. So much so, that he has posted an advertisement on Craigslist in which he offers to trade his collection for a house.

According to him he will accept most any type of home, including a fixer-upper or one that has some degree of equity and a mortgage he can take over. His only requirement is that the house have a nice scenic view.

Bone says the book value of his sports card collection is somewhere in the neighborhood of $500,000 and represents over half a century of collecting. Among the many rare treasures in the collection are 5,000 New York Yankee vintage baseball cards which include twenty-eight 1962 Mickey Mantle cards, one of which he says is in mint condition. Unorthodox

Bone is a retired San Diego firefighter that once helped coach baseball for a local college. His baseball background also includes a stint as a scout for the Toronto Blue Jays as well as brief tenior as the equipment manager for the San Diego Padres in 1989. He also ran a sports card shop from 1990-93.

A divorced father of three, Bone’s sudden interest in selling his cherished collection of sports cards was prompted by the rekindling of an old Flame. The 57 year old Californian recently got back in touch with a girl he knew in junior high school and they hit it off so well that they are now engaged to be married. “I want to convert my collection into happiness rather than just pass it on to someone,” said Bone.

Choosing the girl over the cards…well…that’s love, right?

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It’s interesting to compare the Yankees overall BA/OBP/SLG team marks, over the last three seasons, compared to how they did head-to-head against their A.L. East rivals. See the stats below via Baseball-Reference.com:

2009 BA/OBP/SLG: .283/.362/.478
2009 vs. A.L. East:

Split               GS  PA   BA  OBP  SLG
Baltimore Orioles   18 715 .293 .374 .522
Boston Red Sox      18 756 .301 .379 .497
Tampa Bay Rays      18 694 .269 .341 .468
Toronto Blue Jays   18 726 .284 .357 .488

___________

2008 BA/OBP/SLG: .271/.342/.427
2008 vs. A.L. East:

Split               GS  PA   BA  OBP  SLG
Baltimore Orioles   18 709 .276 .347 .457
Boston Red Sox      18 706 .275 .348 .413
Tampa Bay Rays      18 677 .258 .315 .419
Toronto Blue Jays   18 644 .253 .309 .387

___________

2007 BA/OBP/SLG: .290/.366/.463
2007 vs. A.L. East:

Split                GS  PA   BA  OBP  SLG
Baltimore Orioles    18 733 .274 .367 .423
Boston Red Sox       18 695 .273 .357 .467
Tampa Bay Rays       18 745 .313 .388 .520
Toronto Blue Jays    18 714 .256 .334 .373

The Yankees feasted on the Rays back in 2007. The last two seasons? Not so much. Sorta makes it very important for the Yankees pitchers to do well when they face Tampa these days. And, if the Blue Jays ever get their pitching back to where it was in 2007-08, that’s not going to help the Yankees offense in 2010. Then again, without Halladay…that’s a tall order for Toronto.

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This is funny stuff. (H/T to Chad Jennings.)

But, I have to confess…as much as I heart General Joe…there’s a part of me that cringes when Girardi breaks into his Arnold Horshack laugh.

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If there is, I think we’re about to find out. Via the Times with a h/t to BBTF –

Ronan Tynan became a walk-on Yankee star in 2000, when he stepped onto the field with his artificial legs and clarion voice and belted out “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch of important games.

But that stopped on Oct. 16 of last year, when a woman accused Mr. Tynan of making an anti-Semitic remark. Since then, the charmed existence he enjoyed since emigrating from Ireland in 1998 has soured — from famous to infamous, as he puts it.

Now Mr. Tynan is headed to the anti-New York, as far as baseball is concerned. He has sold his apartment on the East Side of Manhattan and bought one in Boston.

“The Yankees never reached out, and they never wanted to hear the real story,” said Mr. Tynan, who wore his diamond-studded 2000 World Series ring during the interview. Asked for comment this week, a Yankees spokeswoman, Alice McGillion, said simply, “We wish him all the best.”

His decision to move to Boston was reported online this week by The Irish Echo in an article that envisioned Mr. Tynan singing for the Red Sox.

Asked if this might ever come to pass, Mr. Tynan would say only that he had had no contact with Red Sox officials. As for the possibility of developing feelings for the Red Sox, he said, “We’ll see how it goes.”

Click here if you feel like tossing your cookies.

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This is not Yankees-related, but, I thought this story was…well…interesting. Via the Courier News -

A state appellate court is upholding the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by a 340-pound man who sued the Somerset Patriots because he was injured in a three-legged race between innings.

Daniel Duncan alleged in the suit, dismissed in the civil division of state Superior Court in Somerville, that he fell because the grass was wet in the TD Bank Ballpark where the Patriots play and that the team did not warn him of risks associated with the race.

The appellate court agreed with the dismissal, saying that Duncan’s allegation about the wet grass was not proven and that he knew of the risks in a three-legged race because he had recently been in a similar race at his son’s Boy Scout camp.

On Aug. 6, 2006, Duncan, his wife and son went to a Patriots game. Duncan, who had attended previous Patriots games, signed up for several of the promotional events between innings, including a pie-eating contest, the “Domino’s Attendance Guess,” the “Applebee’s Shell Game” and the “Monmouth Park Horse Race.”

According to the lawsuit, when Duncan signed up for the race, he believed no physical activity was involved, thinking that he would just carry a flag on the field and move forward based on a random number generator. That was how the Patriots had conducted the race until 2003.

When Duncan’s name was called in the first inning to participate in the race, he went to the stadium’s customer service area where Patriots employees explained the event would be a three-legged race. The employees gave each pair of racers a bandana to tie together their legs and a horse head to carry, according to the lawsuit.

As the race neared, Duncan and his partner, whom he described as a “taller lanky-type person” weighing about 160 pounds, discussed strategy, deciding to take the first step with their free legs. When the signal for the race to begin was given, Duncan stepped forward, but his foot slipped and he fell, injuring his knee, according to the lawsuit.

Though Duncan alleged in the suit that the grass was wet, all other race participants testified the grass was dry, court papers said. In addition, Duncan testified that he could not tell if the grass was wet.

In his suit, Duncan said he had not been given enough time to decide not to participate in the race. He also argued that his weight should have been a reason for the Patriots not to allow him to participate in the race and that he should not have been paired with someone half his weight. Duncan also contended that he should have been given suitable footwear or warned that without cleats or turf shoes, there was a greater danger of falling.

But the appellate court ruled that Duncan already knew the risks in a three-legged race because he had recently participated in one with his son, “probably smaller than (Duncan’s) partner” in the ballpark race. The appellate court also ruled that Duncan had an opportunity not to participate in the race once he learned about its details.

“It is true that (the Somerset Patriots) could have provided the warnings and taken the measurers (Duncan) suggests, but it is equally true that (Duncan) could have chosen to withdraw from his voluntary participation,” the court ruled.

I suppose that, here, the moral of this story is…while America Runs on Dunkin’, if you can be mistaken, in silhouette, for John Goodman, then you shouldn’t run three-legged in the bush leagues – even if your name is Duncan.

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First, by way of quick introduction, I’ll endeavor to have most of my posts relate more directly to the Yankees.

With that out of the way, you may or may not have seen this elsewhere – notably ESPN’s Page2 or Deadspin but it is an interesting look at how the other half lives.

Most of you, I assume, are from outside the Washington, D.C. metro area so you probably don’t know that the venerable Washington Times sports section was unceremoniously killed just before the new year began.

Politics aside, and mine certainly don’t match up with the rest of the paper, the sports section was fabulous and in many respects, far superior to the more famous Washington Post.

In fact, the longest tenured beat writer for the woe begotten Washington Nationals is Mark Zuckerman. When Zuckerman lost his ride, he started blogging, and a little bit into the experiment, he decided he needed to go to Spring Training.

Long story short, he essentially put out a can and started a fund drive raising the $5,000 he needed for the trip in about 24 hours.

All this build up is to get to a point and a question.

First, New York sports fans – particularly Yankee fans -are incredibly spoiled when it comes to media. We have three tabloids, three daily papers, the team’s Web site and a cable network to feed our insatiable need for information, for feature pieces, for puff, for grist for the blogging mill.

I don’t know how long this situation is sustainable. Newsday has already begun putting things for out-of-towners. The Journal News only covers the Yankees with a full-time traveling beat writer, cutting back on coverage for New York’s other professional teams. Newspapers all over continue to struggle to balance the costs of good coverage and the seeming unwillingness of the public to pay for something they’ve always gotten for “free,” that is to say, solid beat coverage on the Internet.

In fact, with blogs, Twitter and other mediums, the paper is becoming less and less centric to a beat writer’s job. In the Washington area, the previous beat writer for the Post referred the paper as the “dead tree edition,” which is fairly symbolic when you think about it.

So with that as a backdrop, here’s the question: Who would you pay to read, and how much?

Zuckerman got anywhere from $20 to $60 and provides personal service – asks questions his benefactors want, provides them with raw audio from interviews and other perks. ESPN’s piece I think accurately refers to him as the first sportswriter by IPO.

So, is there anyone working the beat at the moment that you’d pay to have as your own personal beat writer?

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Via Peter Botte -

Getting right to it, Joe Girardi expressed concern after the Yanks’ 9-1 loss over Francisco Cervelli, who suffered a concussion after taking one off the helmet from Blue Jays righty Zech Zinicola in the third inning.

It certainly wasn’t the best 24th birthday gift for Cervelli, who at least returned from a local hospital before the game was over. Other than the corresponding dizziness and a headache, he said his CT scans came back negative and that he expects to return in “a couple of days.”

Girardi countered by saying the backup backstop will be examined by a team doctor Sunday and then a neurologist the next day before any timeframe is given. Cervelli also suffered a concussion when dinged in the head by an opposing player’s backswing during a winter-league game in Venezuela in November.

“I’m not going to rush it,” Girardi said. “It’s a concern. Anytime you start to talk about injuries to the head like that, you’re concerned about it. He’s feeling OK now, but you worry about it. It’s scary.”

Concussions are bad news – for all the obvious reasons. And, for a catcher, they could be career ending. Go ask Mike Matheny. Cervelli seems like a good kid who has the potential to be a Rick Dempsey-like catcher someday. I hope this all works out well for him, in the end. But, having two concussions in the last four months or so is not good. Stay tuned on this one.

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I’ve been reading The Bill James Gold Mine 2010. And, by the way, it’s a great book, as always.

There’s one essay in there this year from James where he explains defensive win shares that I found extremely interesting.

In this feature, James is basically saying that defensive responsibility is both created and assigned. It’s assigned to the player – but, defensive innings are first created by the team. When a team makes outs on offense, it creates a need to play defense. Related, James says that “if a player makes more outs, that gives him a larger responsibility to play defense, because it means that more defense must be played.” And, in a somewhat summary, James says that “…while we are in the habit of thinking of offense and defense in baseball as un-connected, they are in fact not un-connected.”

If you’re having a hard time understanding this notion, think of it this way: Pretend that Graig Nettles and Wade Boggs, by every defensive measure available anywhere were equal in terms of the fielding ability and results. Bill James is proposing that Boggs is the better defensive player because he creates less outs, while batting, than Nettles.

Now, in football, we’ve seen this type of logic applied in the past – where a strong offense, that controls the ball, kills the clock and therefore prevents the other team from having more of a chance to score themselves. And, in essence, in this football application, a strong offense is a good defense.

But, football has a clock – and baseball doesn’t. You still have to collect 27 of your opponents outs to finalize a game in baseball. And, if you need to collect those 27 outs, then you need to provide the other team a chance to make those 27 outs. In baseball, just because you delay your opponent’s inning/turn at bat by not making your own outs on offense, you cannot stop your opponent from having the right to play 9 innings and exhaust their 27 outs. Well, that’s what I’m thinking now, at first blush.

Maybe I’m wrong? It wouldn’t be the first time. Perhaps…by not making as many outs at bat, you’re creating more runs, and that makes good defensive play less critical and therefore easier to get through your innings in the field? That’s an easy concept to agree with, no? So, by being a good offensive player, you make it easier to play defense, and therefore you’re a better defensive player than an out-maker of equal fielding skills? But, then are we saying that Pat Burrell is more valuable, defensively, than Joe Rudi was as a left fielder?

In any event, I still find what James is saying here to be extremely interesting and worth more thought. What do you think about it?

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