It’s been a while ladies and gents! I know – too long. But I’ve been very busy. I attended the final game at Yankee Stadium on September 21, 2008. It was probably one of the best nights of my life. Very historic. Very emotional. Very amazing. I wish every Yankee fan would have been able to go!
I’ll be attending Spring Training in Tampa, Florida on March 9th and 10th against the Blue Jays and Reds, respectively. I’m very excited about it. And for those that care, there is only a little over 6 days until pitchers and catchers report and 70 days until the Yankees take the field in thier new – and improved – home!
Since Spring Training is just around the corner, we all know what that means – talk about Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez’s relationship – on the field only, of course. Like his typical broken record response, Jeter assures us that they all “support” Alex. Like I said; a broken record.
And because spring training is all about clearing the air, Mike Mussina – who chose to retire after the 2008 season – opted to open up about Torre’s tell all book. He cleared the air about Jeter and A-Rod, stating that “sat in the same clubhouse, rode the same bus, the same planes — all those things. They sat one row from each other on the airplane. I never saw an issue with those two guys. I don’t know if people were hoping it was there, or people were looking for something to talk about, I have no idea. But I never experienced any of it.” Also according to Torre’s book, Moose spoke about his feelings towards Carl Pavano during the 2007 season, “Our problem right now is we have too many pitchers on the 15-day Pavano. That’s what it’s officially called now. Did you know that? The Pavano.” To top it all off, he went on to talk about Mariano Rivera – THE Mariano Rivera, “He blew the World Series in ‘01. He lost the Boston series. He didn’t lose it himself, but we had a chance to win in the ninth and sweep them and he doesn’t do it there. I know you look at everything he’s done and it’s been awesome, I’ll admit that. But it hadn’t been the same in those couple of years. That’s what I remember about the ‘04 series.”
I used to like Mike Mussina. Hell, I used to like Joe Torre. But first things first. Moose, you are a good pitcher – I’ll give you that. And the Pavano comments? OK – I can give you those. I was just as pissed off at him as you were in 2007 but the difference is you were his teammate and I was just a fan. Didn’t you go to the same therapy session A-Rod did just before he first opened up about his relationship with Jeter on the field? Apparently not. And since I mentioned Torre, let’s discuss the Boston series Mo apparently blew. Last time I checked, the Yankees were a team, not a one-man reliever. The team played bad – don’t get me started on the Tony Clark (don’t you all remmeber the ground rule double that went into the stands in Boston or am I the only one?). But more importantly, their manager who at the time was Joe Torre, managed bad. It wasn’t his first game to mess up and it most definitely wasn’t his last – everyone is entitled a bad day; except when its against the rival Boston Red Sox. Did I mention that Torre came to the Yankees with a losing managerial record. But hey – everyone makes mistakes, right?
Cashman opened up about how the Yankees are done spending for the year. He commented on how they would not go after Manny Ramierez, but noted that “we respect his abilities, there’s no doubt about it, but we’re now in the non-roster-invite mode. … We’ve secured the areas of need and hopefully put ourselves in a better position. We’re not playing on any Major League free agents, other than non-roster invites.” The reason? According to CashMONEY, he ran out of the green stuff which is kind of easy to do when you only have to lower the 2008 payroll of – wait for it – $209 million dollars! Easy, right? I don’t know about you, but I’m still counting on Manny to be in pinstripes by at least…May. 
For those interested, some players did defend Torre’s book. You sure you were a Red Sox Johnny boy?
And although this is only slightly related to baseball, I thought I’d add it. After a drug photo surfaced of Michael Phelps “inhaling from a marijuana pipe”, USA Swimming decided to suspend him from 3 months. Personally, I think its a little harsh. A month I could agree with plus several hours of community service – which might I add, he does on his own; how many of us could say that? Honestly? Thought so. The kid is 23 years old. He isn’t perfect. He’s not God. I’m tired of reading about how much of a role model he is. Yes, competing and winning 8 gold medals in the Olympics makes people look up to you. But it doesnt mean you have to be perfect. He screwed up. He apologized. If kids are seeing these pictures, then maybe those kids need to have a parent monitor what thier children looks at online. This isn’t the kind of news you shove in a kids face. I don’t know what this world is coming to, but its kind of sad that its reached this point. Suspending a gold medalist from competing for 3 months over something he did 2+ months ago? Don’t we have more important things to worry about in this country like – oh, I don’t know – the economic crisis? Job loss? The war we still have going on over seas? I could keep going but I’ll spare you.
