This is a follow up on my “Love of Glove” story from three years ago.

This season and last year, I’ve pulled an oldie out of my collection for when I’ve been working with my kids and their Little League teams.  Here it is below:

Model: Rawlings 8526 – “Robin Yount” signature
Estimated Date of Purchase: 1986
Marking on outside thumb: “Edge-U-cated Heel”
Marking on inside pinky: “The Finest In The Field!”
Markings inside pocket: “Deep Well Pocket” and “Hinged Pad”

Comments: Yes, I “modifed” this one with a sharpie – back in the day – making it two-toned. Hey, it’s what the big leaguers were doing back then – before you could buy them in black and brown.

My son, who is now seven, is starting to catch up to me in the glove collection game. He’s had three of them so far. Here they are below:

As always, click on the thumbnails to enlarge the image.

xxxx

His first one was a Wilson AD425 EX 95 “T-Ball” Model. I think we found it in Marshalls. After that, he used the Rawlings JD10B “Alex Rodriguez” model. In terms of style, it’s a real mini-me version of my Rawlings 8526 model. The diffence, of course, is that his came in all black whereas mine was modified. We got that one in Modells last year. And, this season, he started using a Wilson A450 model. It is not a signature model – but, it came with a tag saying that it was endorsed by David Wright. (I suspect they don’t name these so that they can tag them in different areas with different players.) He saw it in Target and insisted on getting it. Maybe he wanted one like the model I’ve been using the last two years – meaning a two-tone look?

Of course, he’s killing me with an A-Rod model and now a somewhat David Wright model. Then again, it could be worse. At least it’s not a Jose Reyes model or a Kevin Youkilis glove.

I still can’t believe the one that I’ve been rocking these last two years is like a quarter-century old. Granted, it wasn’t used all that much for close to 18 of those years. But, it’s still serving me well. I do have some others in the collection that I could dig out one day. And, I have a feeling that I’m going to need a sturdy catcher’s mitt in my near future. My son’s starting to get his pitching mechanics down and I may need that soon.

Yadier Molina is a Rawlings guy, I think? Maybe I’ll check out one of his models. I’ve always been partial to Rawlings.

For the last two weeks or so, depending on your browser settings, etc., you may have seen a bunch of garbage on this site referencing Viagra Dosage, Viagra Price, Buy Viagra, etc.

Please accept our apologies for any inconveniences and/or disturbances which this situation may have caused you. Someone first brought it to my attention on April 8th. But, I didn’t see it, myself, with my own eyes, until today.

It’s fixed now.

To me, you can’t have baseball without wood, leather, grass and the weather. Well, maybe you could – but, it wouldn’t be the same as it is now…and has been for so long. So, as thanks to the Earth for giving us these elements of baseball, be nice to the planet. And, just don’t do it for “us.” Remember the Native American proverb: We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

I recently had a chance to check out The Cambridge Companion to Baseball.  In its own billing, this book states that it “examines baseball in culture, baseball as culture, and the game’s global identity.” And, that’s exactly what it does, in my opinion.

Further, in the introduction of the book, there’s a great summary on what this one is all about when it says:

The Cambridge Companion to Baseball is a book for fans and aficionados, but it’s also for readers interested in viewing American culture through one of its most storied pursuits. Each chapter of this book reflects on a different social, historical, economic, or artistic aspect of baseball. Some chapters overlap chronologically as they focus on their particular histories…

Together, the book traces a lose chronological arc that takes the game from its antebellum liftoff to its twenty-first century on- and off-the-field turbulence.

Lastly, in his recommendation of this book, former Yankees pitcher and author of Ball Four, Jim Bouton says “It seems like the entire history of baseball is packed into this one book – and without a wasted word. It’s tremendously enjoyable – the perfect companion.”

I concur with Bouton. In fact, if I were teaching a course in baseball history, I would include the Cambridge Companion to Baseball as one of my pedagogical tools. It’s a fine collection of academic papers, intelligently written, that covers all the bases with respect to baseball the game and its impact outside the lines – both domestically and globally.

Here’s the details via Newswire -

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig expects the playoffs to expand from eight teams to 10 for the 2012 season.

Selig went public last fall with his support for expanded playoffs, and the matter is subject to collective bargaining with the players’ association.

“I would say we’re moving to expanding the playoffs, but there’s a myriad of details to work out,” Selig said Thursday in New York at his annual meeting with the Associated Press Sports Editors. “Ten is a fair number.”

Selig said scheduling is the major issue of discussion, including how many games the new wild-card round would be. The two wild-card teams in each league would meet, and the winners would advance to the following round against division winners.

“The more we’ve talked about it, I think we’re moving inexorably to that,” he said.

At first blush, I’m not a fan of this move. I am all in favor of making the road to advancement in the post-season for the wildcard team tougher. I’ve been saying that for years. But, adding another team to the mix is not the answer. Any time you provide the potential of a third-place team with 83 wins a chance to named “World Champions” you’re taking away from the integrity of the title and making the post-season more like a situation where you’re crowning the winner of an invitational tournament.

So, looking, forward, to this one.

Please consider taking the following poll:

Thanks in advance. And, please feel free to add comments on your opinion in the comments section.

Yes, these are small sample sizes….but…

In their last 9 games, the Tampa Bay Rays are 8-1 and have a team ERA of 1.98 over those 9 games.
And, in their last 9 games, the Yankees are 6-3 and have a team ERA of 3.97 over those 9 games.

Do the Yankees have the pitching to hold off these surging Rays?

So nice of CC to make a commerical in a Yankees uniform before he opts out of his contract…

Who’s the cat that won’t cop out
When there’s danger all about?
JETE!
Right On!

He’s a complicated man
But no one understands him but his woman
DEE JEET!

Luminaries deliver their Derek Jeter testimonials: What makes Derek Jeter great?

Via Courthouse News Service -

A man demands punitive damages from the New York Yankees, claiming his late uncle created the ball team’s famous Top Hat logo in 1936 – at the Yankees’ request – revised it in 1952, and never got a dime for it. Tanit Buday claims Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert acquired the logo through a manicurist, who was Buday’s aunt.

In his complaint in Manhattan Federal Court, Tanit Buday says his uncle, the late Kenneth Timur, of Brooklyn, created the Top Hat logo for Yankees owners Jacob Ruppert and Del Webb in 1936.

Timur was a graphic illustrator, calligrapher, cartoonist and an expert in heraldry, Buday says. Timur’s sister, Stella, was a manicurist, whose customers included Ruppert and Webb.

“In 1936, Mr. Ruppert told Stella that the Yankees needed someone with fresh ideas to create a new logo for the Yankees,” Buday says in his 17-page federal complaint, which includes 28 pages of attachments.

“Stella told Mr. Ruppert about her brother’s expertise. As a result, Timur was commissioned by Mr. Ruppert on behalf of the Yankees to create a logo.

As requested by the Yankees, Timur created a logo which incorporated the well known and recognized Top Hat and Bat …”

Buday says Stella gave Ruppert her brother’s logo, “and he accepted it on behalf of the Yankees. However, Timur receive no remuneration or recognition for his creation of this Yankees Top Hat Logo.”

Buday claims his uncle didn’t even know the Yankees were using his logo until he emigrated to New York City in 1947. He claims that in that year, “Mr. Webb, on behalf of the Yankees, commissioned Timur to revise the Yankees Top Hat Logo in anticipation of the fact that in 1952 the Yankees would celebrate 50 years based in New York City. Again Timur complied.”

Buday claims his aunt and uncle “had trust and confidence in the Yankees” and believed that this time, at least, “Timur would receive remuneration for his Yankees Top Hat Logo artwork.”

But it didn’t happen. Buday says that Timur, a man of “modest income,” could not afford to take on the Yankees to claim remuneration or credit for his designs. Timur did ask twice, in the 1950s, “for recognition and remuneration,” but the Yankees blew him off, Buday says. So, “With his limited resources, Timur was unable to pursue his claims against the rich and powerful Yankees.”

Buday says he has researched this issue since 1995. His documentation – included in the 28 pages of attachments – includes an analysis of the logo by an art expert.

Buday demands punitive damages for common-law copyright infringement, conversion, unjust enrichment, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and an accounting.

He is represented by Kevin Mulhearn of Orangeburg, N.Y.

More on this from the Post -

A Yonkers woman is accusing the Yankees of pulling off a major-league rip-off.

In a suit filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court, Tanit Buday claims the Bronx Bombers copied their famed top-hat logo from a design dreamed up by her late uncle in 1936 at the request of then-Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert.

Buday, 63, is seeking unspecified damages for copyright infringement, unjust enrichment and breach of contract with her uncle, Kenneth Timur.

She’s also attempting to rewrite the history of the Yankees’ signature emblem, long credited to the late sports artist Henry Alonzo “Lon” Keller.

Allegedly stolen in 1930s.Yankee spokeswoman Alice McGillion said “there’s no proof” of Buday’s claim.

“This is a wonderful country,” said McGillion, “where anybody can sue for anything, even when the allegations are over 70 years old.”

Hey, maybe Howie Spira has some dirt on Tanit Buday and her family? Oh, never mind….

Well, you don’t see that everyday.

(more…)

Six years ago today, WasWatching.com was born.

Six years of blogging on the Yankees?  Yup, it’s true.

Wow. Thanks to all for their interest in WasWatching.com over these past 2,191 days and 10,841 entries. Man, the time has gone by fast…

Via Wayne Coffey Monday:

The Yankees signed Martin last December, days after Cliff Lee left the pinstriped world wobbling by having the audacity to take somebody else’s money. The move was treated as little more than a consolation prize, a kewpie doll the Yankees came home with after the grand prize had gotten away.

The consolation prize may turn out to be the Yankee’s most important acquisition of the offseason. Martin could wind up being much more than someone keeping Jorge Posada‘s position warm for Jesus Montero.

To be honest, I and several others here were doing some head scratching when the Yankees signed Martin. And many of us were underwhelmed by the various reclamation projects that made the opening day roster, including Jones, Garcia, Chavez, and Colon. Granted, it’s only been a dozen or so games, but Chavez has already contributed, and Garcia’s first start was more than adequate, Bartolo has shown at least the ability to miss bats, and I have to agree with the assessment that Russell Martin’s signing helps the team this year, on offense and defense.  The Yanks might very well not be in first place right now without their contributions. Overall, midway through April, there have been some pleasant surprises from this group.

On July 26, 2008, Brian Cashman traded Tabata, Jeff Karstens, Dan McCutchen and Ross Ohlendorf to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady. At the time, because of his injury history and attitude issues, I wasn’t sweating the Yankees giving up on Tabata. But, now, it looks like I was wrong – and that Jose may turn out to be a very nice player.

Three years later, given how Marte and Nady went bust for the Yankees, this deal is not looking so good, is it?

Via Anthony McCarron -

To the Yankees, over-the-wall ball has always trumped small ball, dating back to Babe Ruth and Five O’Clock Lightning. But in a young season in which they are scoring an eye-popping 62.3% of their runs via home runs, the Yanks intend to prove they are more than a limited lineup that simply swings for the fences.

“There’s no question we have other weapons,” Brian Cashman says. “It’s just the guys who aren’t the big home-run hitters – the (Derek) Jeters, the (Brett) Gardners – they are not firing on all cylinders right now, so it feels like the only way we score is home runs.

“Jeter is not hitting up to his ability, (Curtis) Granderson is not hitting for average and Gardner is struggling mightily. Those guys are our foot soldiers and since they are not firing, it makes us look one-dimensional. No biggie. We’re capable of running you down, hitting, hitting the ball over the fence.

“We have full capabilities. We just haven’t shown it yet.”

And, what if they don’t show it? What happens then?

So, the last two times the Yankees played on Sunday, it was an ESPN Night Game.  And, on both those occasions, Alex Rodriguez missed the game due to illness or injury.  Could it be that A-Rod is hitting his Saturday nights too hard when there’s no day game scheduled the following day?

John Nalbone wrote this today:

The contributions of homegrown players Derek Jeter, catcher Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Bernie Williams helped the Yankees win five World Series championships from 1996 to 2009.

This season, with Brett Gardner off to a dreadful (.150) start and Eduardo Nunez on the bench as a utility infielder, All-Star second baseman Robinson Cano is the only everyday position player developed by the Yankees’ farm system.

Years of neglect in the draft and far too many resources directed toward high-priced free agents in the waning years of George Steinbrenner’s stewardship of the franchise were to blame for the dearth of major league-ready talent in the minor-league system.

From 1997 to 2005 the Yankees drafting and player development was among the worst in baseball, with only 10 position players produced and those players combining for less than 900 major league at-bats.

Cano became a full-time player in 2005, but he was an undrafted amateur free agent from San Pedro de Marcoris in the Dominican Republic.

In 2006, general manager Brian Cashman began overseeing the player development system and things began to change, albeit slowly.

“It is an area that has lagged somewhat,’’ senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman said of the lack of top-tier position players at the higher levels of Yankees system. “But Nunez is there now and Gardner is one of the better young outfielders in the game. The young catchers we have are some of the best in the business, and we’ve got some quality young guys lower in our system right now.’’

I totally agree about the Yankees bad drafting from 1997 through 2005. But, the line about “In 2006, general manager Brian Cashman began overseeing the player development system and things began to change, albeit slowly” is a farce. It makes it sound as if Cashman is calling the shots for the Yankees player development system. Meanwhile, just last summer, Yankees Senior VP of Baseball Operations Mark Newman said that:

The nature of amateur scouting in the US is such that our guys do this all year. All in, it’s probably close to a twelve-month a year operation. They’ve got showcases in the fall, home visits in the winter — high school and college games in the spring leading up the draft. And then post-draft, there are summer leagues like the Cape, high school showcases, national team tryouts — there’s all kinds of things that our guys are involved in. Damon [Oppenheimer] runs that department very well, and he has the authority to draft the players the Yankees need. Neither [Brian Cashman] or I tell him who to pick and who not to pick. We’re there to support, and evaluate his production, just like everyone else in the organization is evaluated.

That sure sounds like Damon Oppenheimer is the point man for amateur scouting – which the pipeline for your player development system.

However, on the other hand, Cashman did get rid of Lin Garrett – and that had to help with the Yankees amateur scouting efforts. He gets a gold star for that one. But, then again, one could also say, here, “Brian, what took you so long to make that call?”

Also, the book on the Yankees farm system since “Brian Cashman began overseeing the player development system” five years ago still needs to be written. As, so far, what have we seen from that?

…the Mets, at 4-11.

Think of all the things that Mets fans had to put up with since losing Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS. Talk about a franchise falling into the crapper. Wow.

By the way, for the record, since 1919, the Yankees have started a season 4-11 only twice:

.

They just missed tying the post-1918 high mark by one this evening.

But, still, it was a Yankees record for most GIDP in a game of 9 innings of less, since 1919.

Is it just me, or, are Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova this month looking like Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy did back at the start of 2008?

Kevin Millwood and Carlos Silva, come on down…ugh.

Via ESPN -

Phil Hughes and his floundering fastball have been placed on the disabled list.

“We just feel like he’s going through a dead arm period,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “We don’t feel that he’s hurt.”

Hughes is 0-1 with a 13.94 ERA through three starts this season. He was pulled with one out in the fifth inning on Thursday against the Orioles after allowing five runs on seven hits in the Yankees’ 6-5 win in 10 innings.

Hughes’ fastball has lacked velocity this season. He is normally in the low-to-mid-90s. He has been clocked consistently in the high-80s this season.

“Same old story,” Hughes said after Thursday’s start. “I don’t even know what to say at this point. It is what it is. I’m hoping it will turn around. I’m fairly confident it will turn around.”

Hughes has allowed at least five runs and pitched fewer than five innings in each of his first three starts this season, the third Yankee starter in the live ball era to do so. The others are Chien-Ming Wang in 2009 and Brian Boehringer in 1995.

The announcement on Friday was a stunning and sudden setback for the 24-year-old right-hander, who earned an All-Star bid in 2010, finishing the season 18-8 with a 4.18 ERA.

Skipping Hughes’ next start was an option because the Yankees have two off days in the next week.

Com’on, no one has a dead arm for six weeks of Spring Training and then three weeks of the season – unless it’s really, really, dead…

Here’s how the A.L. looked when I woke up this morning:

                                    
Rk    Tm W L W-L%  GB   R  RA pythWL
1    TEX 9 3 .750 --- 5.5 2.8   10-2
2    CLE 8 4 .667 --- 4.9 3.6    8-4
3    KCR 8 4 .667 --- 5.6 4.6    8-4
4    NYY 7 4 .636 0.5 5.7 5.1    7-4
5    LAA 7 5 .583 1.0 3.8 3.4    7-5
6    CHW 7 5 .583 1.0 6.1 5.1    7-5
7    BAL 6 5 .545 1.5 4.0 4.1    6-5
8    TOR 6 6 .500 2.0 5.1 3.7    8-4
9    OAK 6 7 .462 2.5 3.3 3.4    7-6
10   DET 6 7 .462 2.5 4.2 4.8    6-7
11   TBR 4 8 .333 4.0 3.6 4.5    5-7
12   MIN 4 8 .333 4.0 3.0 4.8    4-8
13   SEA 4 9 .308 4.5 3.4 5.3    4-9
14   BOS 2 9 .182 5.5 3.6 6.5    3-8

When I look at the Yankees sitting on top of the A.L. East today, I can’t help but think it’s a house of cards. Yes, they’re 7-4. But, that comes with them hitting 21 homeruns this season so far and A.J. Burnett winning every one of his starts, to date.

And, I know the Yankees are not going to hit 309 homeruns this season and Burnett is not going to win 30 games. They might hit 240 homers and Burnett, maybe, could win 15 games. But, that’s not 309 and 30.

I guess the DVD from last summer was not a big seller?   Now, Kevin Long has a book coming out this year.  I wonder if Cameron Diaz wrote the forward?

I was just reading about Pat Gillick’s background, via the Baseball Hall of Fame site -

Born Aug. 22, 1937, in Chico, Calif., [Pat] Gillick – the son of minor league pitcher Larry Gillick and actress Thelma Daniels – began his baseball career as a left-handed pitcher. He was a member of the University of Southern California team that won the College World Series in 1958, and he pitched for five seasons in the Orioles’ minor league system.

“He had a major league curveball and was a fierce competitor,” said former USC coach Rod Dedeaux. “But also he was a student of the game… Very astute in many fields besides baseball.”

Gillick retired as a player in 1963 when he became the assistant farm director for the Houston Colt 45′s. After scouting for the Astros for several years, Gillick was hired as the Yankees’ scouting director in 1974, then became the Blue Jays assistant general manager just prior to their inaugural season of 1977. In Toronto, Gillick quickly ascended to the general manager’s role in 1978 – building the Jays into a powerhouse over the course of the next seven seasons. In 1985, Toronto won its first American League East title, followed up with two more division crowns in 1989 and 1991 and won back-to-back World Series championships in 1993 and 1993.

From 1983-93, the Blue Jays won at least 86 games every season.

“Baseball players take a long time to develop,” said Gillick, who once went almost two years without making a trade. “People believe they cannot afford to be patient, (but) I think it pays off.”

After leaving the Blue Jays following the 1994 season, Gillick took over as the Orioles’ general manager in 1996 and led Baltimore to two straight American League Championship Series appearances. He left Baltimore following the 1998 season before landing with the Mariners in 2000, orchestrating four winning seasons and ALCS appearances in both 2000 and 2001 as general manager.

“Pat has an exceptional memory – able to memorize flight numbers, phone books,” said former Astros executive Tal Smith of Gillick, who acquired the nickname “Wolley Segap” – Yellow Pages spelled backwards – for his ability to memorize the phone book. “But intelligence can only take you so far. Pat has succeeded because of two other factors: His perseverance and people skills.”

After a three-year break from the top spot, Gillick returned as the Phillies’ general manager in 2006. Two years later, the Phillies gave Gillick his third World Series title as a general manager.

To me, this is the perfect career route that I want my G.M. to have: Former professional player, former scout, and then former assistant G.M.

If the Yankees and Brian Cashman part ways, I would hope that they look for someone with this background.

Who would that be?  How about someone who I suggested over two years ago: Jerry DiPoto.

After his pro-pitching career, in 2003, DiPoto was a scout for the Boston Red Sox. In 2005, he became the head of scouting for the Colorado Rockies. When Josh Byrnes, who Jerry had known since his days as a Rockies player, became the General Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, he took DiPoto with him and Jerry was Arizona’s Director of Scouting and Player Personnel. After Byrnes was fired, DiPoto was named interim General Manager.

When Kevin Towers was named the new Diamondbacks GM, Jerry Dipoto was offered the opportunity to remain with the Diamondbacks – and he presently oversees the club’s scouting and player development departments.

I would bet, if the Yankees asked, DiPoto would be given permission to speak to them about becoming their GM.  Of course, this all assumes that the Yankees and Brian Cashman part ways before someone else grabs DiPoto.

Via Mark Feinsand, dig these comments from Yankees GM Brian Cashman yesterday on abusing pitchers -

“I guess this will give me a little bit of a forum because a lot of people took shots a little bit, and rightfully so, because they weren’t willing to call me and ask me the questions about how some people refer to me as a hypocrite because of Scott Proctor and stuff like that. If you want to get Joe Torre on the phone, you’ll know I’m not a hypocrite. I dealt with our pitching coach, I dealt with our manager, we have new people here that utilize people a certain way now.

“These guys aren’t finite assets out there. There’s a very limited group of people capable on a consistentbasis of performing at the major league level at a high level of success so you can’t put your assets in jeopardy and you can’t overuse them or you lose them. Form my perspective, from the front office or if you’re a player development director or a scouting director, trying to find replacements for those, we work 12 months a year to do that on a yearly basis and it’s not easy. It’s definitely not easy. When you have someone of quality that make it all the way and you have hopes to have them for an extended period of time, you have to use them properly. That’s all. I’m talking on a general basis.

“I think the game has evolved and grown and people have learned over time, including us and ourselves.People ask, did we have players here as me as GM who were overused. Yes. But if you ask those players, if you ask the manager, if you want to go ask Joe Torre, did I meet with Joe? Yes. Did I meet with our pitching coach? Yes. When they said the same answer which obviously you heard when this became public, ‘Well, I asked the player every day, if he was okay.’

“You have to understand these players are competitors. They’re never going to say no. It’s just the way they’re wired. So you pay people to know the answer; I’m not paying a pitcher to be the pitching coach, for instance. Or the manager. I’m paying the pitching coach to be the pitching coach. So, I met with Proctor and said, ‘You better stop telling the manager this because the way he manages’ – I’m not criticizing Joe, that’s just the way he is – ‘he wants an honest answer. Just tell him no.’

“There were a number of guys when I could not convince the manager and the pitching coach that this was the wrong approach, these guys are competitors, they’re going to be John Wayne for you. They’re notgoing to disappoint their teammates, they’re not going to disappoint you, they’re not going to disappoint the fans. You have to have the knowledge enough to know that you’ve got to back off this guy, because hewon’t be honest with you, he’ll lie to you even if he’s dragging knuckles. So I met with those individual players and said, ‘You are hurting your career.’ I covered all the bases on my end.

“There’s no hypocrisy here. If the player is unwilling to say what it is, the GM covered it with him, had conversations with pitching coaches or managers, that’s stuff I don’t have to worry about now going forward. The crew we have, they’re understanding. I’m not saying – I’m just saying that’s the way it is. The game, with expansion and stuff, these assets are not finite. They’re just – we have to – that’s my philosophy. That’s how I’ve evolved. That’s how I’ve grown. That’s how I’ve handled those prior players.

“If you want to confirm to see I’m full of it, you can check with our former manager, you can check withour former pitching coach, you can check with those players, I don’t really care. That’s what happened.

“And I did answer the question honestly on the Mets stuff, but I’m not throwing hand grenades their way, not on purpose, anyway. If there was anything inappropriate, it was my honesty. It certainly wasn’t meant to be bad.

“But I feel bad for Pedro. This guy is a guy who is not afraid of pitching in New York, he’s not afraid of pitching in this environment and he’s not afraid of taking the ball and he is a warrior and a competitor and right now he can’t compete because of an injury he sustained with the New York Yankees in spring training. And he was never hurt with the Mets, but you know, it is what it is.”

I hope someone does get Joe Torre on the phone. Or, better yet, someone call Don Zimmer and ask him for a quote or two on this one. Let the feathers fly!

Via Andrew Marchand:

Hughes is the third Yankee starter in the Live Ball era to have allowed at least five runs and pitch fewer than five innings in each of his first three starts of the season. The others are Chien-Ming Wang in 2009 and Brian Boehringer in 1995.

So, does that make Wang, Boehringer and Hughes the new “Big Three”?

Seriously, it’s time to send Hughes for a full physical. And, if it comes back clean, then a trip to Scranton is in order.

Damaged goods
Send them back
I can’t work
I can’t achieve
Send me back
Open the till
Give me the change
You said would do me good
Refund the cost
You said you’re cheap but you’re too much

Via Mark Feinsand -

Joe Girardi was intentionally vague when delivering the latest news on Pedro Feliciano after Wednesday’s game, but it wasn’t hard to read between the lines.

“He’s got a damaged shoulder,” Girardi said. “The MRI did not come back good. He has a damaged shoulder, he has a shoulder injury, and in fairness to the player, he needs to talk about it with our doctors and the agents and decide what the next course of action will be. That’s all I’m going to give you.”

That doesn’t sound very good, does it?

It certainly sounds like Feliciano is headed for surgery, likely knocking him out for the rest of this year. If it’s rotator cuff surgery, there’s a chance he won’t be effective next year, either, leaving his two-year, $8 million deal essentially useless.

I guess this makes a gang of forty for Cashman…

Alan Embree
Allen Watson
Antonio Osuna
Billy Traber
Brett Tomko
Brian Bruney
Buddy Groom
C.J. Nitkowski
Chad Gaudin
Chan Ho Park
Chris Britton
Chris Hammond
Damaso Marte
Dan Giese
Dan Naulty
Darren Holmes
Edwar Ramirez
Felix Heredia
Felix Rodriguez
Gabe White
Jay Witasick
Jesse Orosco
Jonathan Albaladejo
Jose Veras
Juan Acevedo
Kyle Farnsworth
LaTroy Hawkins
Luis Vizcaino
Mark Wohlers
Mike Myers
Mike Thurman
Octavio Dotel
Paul Quantrill
Ron Villone
Scott Proctor
Sergio Mitre
Steve Karsay
Tanyon Sturtze
Todd Williams
and, Pedro Feliciano
__________________

Update:

New York Yankees left-handed reliever Pedro Feliciano’s season is likely over. A dye MRI taken Wednesday afternoon revealed that Felciano has a torn capsule in his left shoulder, and he is leaning toward arthroscopic surgery, he told reporters before Thursday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles. Before that he will get a second opinion from renowned physician Dr. James Andrews on Monday.

General manager Brian Cashman characterized the injury as “significant.”

“It is a Chien-Ming Wang-like issue,” Cashman said. “And he is still trying to come back with Washington. Some people can come back, but the odds are a lot more difficult.”

While with the Yankees, Wang had shoulder surgery in July 2009, and the former 19-game winner still hasn’t pitched in the majors.

If Feliciano does have to undergo surgery, which would take place some time next week, he would have to undergo a year of rehab. He said he would likely be ready for the start of spring training in mid-February.

“It’s really disappointing,” said Feliciano, who suffered the injury during his fourth appearance in spring training. “I love to pitch and I want to be a guy that pitches every day like I’ve been doing for the past three or four years. And now to be shut down for maybe a year, I don’t know how I’m gonna handle it. It’s gonna be hard.”

Feliciano said that if Andrews tells him he won’t need surgery, he could get a platelet rich plasma injection in his shoulder, wait a month or two and try to throw again. However, that seems unlikely.

“He’s a warrior and a competitor and now he can’t compete because of this injury he sustained when he was a member of the New York Yankees in spring training,” Cashman said.

That last line sounds like Cashman wants to collect on an insurance policy…assuming he had one on this signing.

All of a sudden, the shock of having to pay $10 for a Hot Chocolate at Yankee Stadium on April 3rd doesn’t seem so bad.  Via the Post -

A Brooklyn woman says she got the shock of her life at Yankee Stadium when she stepped on a metal plate and was jolted by so much electricity, she had to be hospitalized.

Portia Walton, 54, says that she got juiced as he was heading to the ballpark on April 4 to watch the team face the Minnesota Twins.

“I felt tingling on my ankles,” she told The Post. “I was saying, ‘Oh my God! Oh my God!’ ”

Walton said she was in an outdoor dining area outside the Stadium’s Hard Rock Cafe when she put her foot on a metal hatch that had a power cord sticking out of it. The cord was being used to power some lights in a nearby tent. Walton, who describes herself as a multimedia artist, said she first started feeling electricity and then heard crackling like an electric transformer. Next thing she knew, stadium guards had rushed to her aid.

“I started getting a headache,” she said. “I couldn’t get myself together. I was shocked that I was shocked.”

The Flatbush woman said she was first taken to an aid station in the Stadium. She was then treated at the emergency room at Lincoln Hospital, according to hospital records.

Yesterday, she said, she was still suffering from headaches, memory loss, tingling and post- traumatic stress disorder.

Walton has hired attorneys Matthew Blit and Les Levine, who plan to file a $2 million suit against the Yankees and the Hard Rock.

“It was a jury-rigged system that was not safe for the public. They obviously didn’t care much about the risk — they care more about selling their expensive skyboxes,” Levine said.

Yesterday, a metal plate had apparently been put over the spot where Walton was shocked, Levine said.

Yankees spokeswoman Alice McGillion said, “A woman on the 4th alleged that she got a shock. We had EMTs check her out. We insisted that she go to the hospital, and as far as we know she was treated and released.”

Charity-minded Yankees stars of past and present, including the likes of Mariano Rivera, Goose Gossage, Yogi Berra and Reggie Jackson are among the New York athletes scheduled help raise funds for the Evelyn Sachs Steiner Home for Girls at a benefit at The Clubhouse Grill (formerly Mo’s New York Grill) on Monday night, May 9, at 7 p.m. in New Rochelle, N.Y.

In addition to the stars above, Steiner Sports founder Brandon Steiner has recruited many other New York sports greats for the lineup. Other baseball players expected to attend are Brett Gardner, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, Bobby Richardson and Paul Blair.

Hockey Hall of Fame Rangers Brian Leetch and Mike Richter, former New York Knicks Allan Houston, John Starks, and Anthony Mason and ex-Rangers winger Adam Graves also plan to be in attendance.

Tickets for the cause cost $500 and include dinner, open bar, and a special auction with unusual items. All proceeds from the tickets will be donated to the Evelyn Sachs Steiner Home for Girls. Fans wishing to donate can send a check to the address below or call 914-307-1030 and give a credit card. The check should be made out to Family Services of Westchester.

Steiner Sports Memorabilia, Inc.
Attn: Brandon Steiner
145 Huguenot Street
New Rochelle, NY 10801