Killeverything's (New)NeverEndingBaseballThread

[Machado]

Well, I'm more than halfway through the book - I'm getting into the 2004 season now.

I really haven't read anything that seems like Torre violated any clubhouse insider privilege. I'm in NO way a Torre apologist (read my earlier comments) but I will say having read the book thusfar that a lot of shit WAS blown out of proportion by the media, and as of yet, there's really nothing Torre should have had to apologize for.

He tongues Jeter's nuts like crazy, no surprise. I wasn't aware that Brian Cashman was so pro-ARod though.

Saw Torre on Letterman last night. Was a good interview.
I enjoyed the story from '98. The team started 1-3, were in seattle and Torre had a team meeting.
Cone took over the meeting and from that point on, the team went on to
win 125 games and sweep the padres

[JakeYonkel]

Other good tidbits:

Kenny Lofton's a bitch who, before even playing a game for the Yankees, threw a fit about not being listed as their representative CF on the All-Star ballot.

Roger Clemens had Ben-Gay applied to his testicles by the Yankees' trainer before every start. Read that again. Yup.

Torre still defends being upset about David Wells' book in 2003, which is ironic because he's writing all this supposed 'insider info' in the book in which he's talking about Wells' book.

Torre defended Clemens big-time on the bat-throwing incident in the '00 World Series against the Mets' Mike Piazza. Said he was just pumped up and didn't realize what he was doing, and after the half-inning went and literally broke down crying about it in the clubhouse.

In the same vein, during the comeback against Pedro Martinez in game 7 of the '03 ALCS, Mariano Rivera left the bullpen to go cry in the bathroom because he was so overwhelmed.

Torre wanted Johnny Damon in 2002; Steinbrenner pushed for and signed Rondell White.

Steinbrenner wanted Gary Sheffield in 2004. Torre wanted Vladimir Guerrerro, but since the deal with Sheffield was short-term (3 years) he was OK with it. Sheffield got off to a slow start and stormed into Torre's office wanting to know who wanted him tehre and who didn't. Torre told Sheff that he would have preferred the 27-year old Vlad long-term, but preferred Sheffield in the short-term. Sheffield went out and had 4 hits that night including a home run and batted .406 for the next few months.

[killeverything]

Torre defended Clemens big-time on the bat-throwing incident in the '00 World Series against the Mets' Mike Piazza. Said he was just pumped up and didn't realize what he was doing, and after the half-inning went and literally broke down crying about it in the clubhouse.

Roid rage. Your highs are high, your lows are low.


Oh yeah, then there's this.

The New York Yankees today acquired outfielder/catcher Eric Fryer from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for left-handed pitcher Chase Wright.

Fryer, 23, batted .335 (129-for-385) with 26 doubles, five triples, 10 home runs and 63 RBI in 104 games with Single-A West Virginia in 2008, seeing time at left field, catcher, first base and designated hitter. He led the South Atlantic League in batting average and on-base percentage (.407) and ranked third in slugging percentage (.506). Fryer was originally selected by the Brewers in the 10th round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of Ohio State University. He will be assigned to Single-A Tampa.

Wright, 25, posted a 10-3 record with one save and a 2.85 ERA in 24 combined appearances (22 starts) with Double-A Trenton, the GCL Yankees and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2008, ranking fifth in wins among Yankees minor leaguers. The left-hander’s lone Major League action came in 2007 with the Yankees, going 2-0 with a 7.20 ERA in three appearances (two starts). He was designated for assignment on January 27, when LHP Andy Pettitte was re-signed and added to the 40-man roster.


They are also saying now that Ben Sheets might need elbow surgery. He signed a two year deal with the Rangers depending on a physical....which he obviously didn't pass. It's a bummer. According to many in the game, Sheets is the most talented pitcher playing right now.

[WhiteHouseSubsAC]

Roger Clemens had Ben-Gay applied to his testicles by the Yankees' trainer before every start. Read that again. Yup.

I realize that being a part of the Yankee organization is a pride thing, but is THAT worth it? I bet Machado would have done it, though.

[killeverything]

Roger Clemens had Ben-Gay applied to his testicles by the Yankees' trainer before every start. Read that again. Yup.

I realize that being a part of the Yankee organization is a pride thing, but is THAT worth it? I bet Machado would have done it, though.

What's funny is that he had his trainer do it ( which to me is gay ), I thought he only liked under-aged country singers.

Roger reportably has always done that. His 1983 College WS deciding game win with the Longhorns, his 2 20 strike out games in May of 1986 and September of 1986 against the Mariners and Tigers. I wonder if he always had someone else apply it to his nuts.

There is a such a thing as surgical gloves.

[JakeYonkel]

I've got about 75 pages left so I should kill this fucker by tonight.

The only thing that has made me a little uncomfortable is the detail in which he seems to have went into George Steinbrenner's deterioration. The Steinbrenner family has went to great odds to keep him out of the spotlight, and Torre is writing how the last few times he saw him his hands were shaking like Michael J. Fox and how he was just crying before Opening Day 2007 for no good reason behind his dark glasses.

Apparently Torre took a lot of pity on Kevin Brown and basically said that the guy was a fucking headcase. After getting lit up in the first inning against Tampa a few years ago Brown ran into the clubhouse, and Torre found him in the fetal position crying about wanting to quit.

And then of course the book has shit all over Carl Pavano. I HAVE to transcribe this part because it literally made me LOL, talking about when he actually was the opening day starter in 2007, made 2 starts, and had to have surgery:

"Our problem right now is we have too many pitchers on the 15-day Pavano," Mussina said one day in April. "That's what it's officially called now. Did you know that? The Pavano. His body just shut down from actually pitching for six weeks. It's like when you get an organ transplant and your body rejects it. His body rejected pitching. It's not used to it."

[Machado]

The Yankees invited andrew jones to spring training as a non-roster invite. jones declined.
"Anything that looks like it could help," Cashman said. "If people are willing to come in and audition for the next seven or eight weeks, we're having those types of discussions."

The Yankees are prepared to head into Spring Training with Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner competing to be the Opening Day center fielder

[killeverything]

The Yankees invited andrew jones to spring training as a non-roster invite. jones declined.
"Anything that looks like it could help," Cashman said. "If people are willing to come in and audition for the next seven or eight weeks, we're having those types of discussions."

The Yankees are prepared to head into Spring Training with Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner competing to be the Opening Day center fielder

I heard that last nite. Regardless of him being Varitek at the plate, he can still field. According to defensive rankings the guy is only behind Roberto Clemente.

[Machado]

The Yankees invited andrew jones to spring training as a non-roster invite. jones declined.
"Anything that looks like it could help," Cashman said. "If people are willing to come in and audition for the next seven or eight weeks, we're having those types of discussions."

The Yankees are prepared to head into Spring Training with Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner competing to be the Opening Day center fielder

I heard that last nite. Regardless of him being Varitek at the plate, he can still field. According to defensive rankings the guy is only behind Roberto Clemente.

are his best days behind him or can he somehow regain his all-star status somewhere in '09?
i did not watch the dodgers last year and even if i did, i guess the guy was riding the bench with his .158 average.

[JakeYonkel]

He didn't hit in winter ball either, and his defense is starting to slip. If he can't play the hell out of CF he's not a baseball player anymore.

[killeverything]

The Yankees invited andrew jones to spring training as a non-roster invite. jones declined.
"Anything that looks like it could help," Cashman said. "If people are willing to come in and audition for the next seven or eight weeks, we're having those types of discussions."

The Yankees are prepared to head into Spring Training with Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner competing to be the Opening Day center fielder

I heard that last nite. Regardless of him being Varitek at the plate, he can still field. According to defensive rankings the guy is only behind Roberto Clemente.

are his best days behind him or can he somehow regain his all-star status somewhere in '09?
i did not watch the dodgers last year and even if i did, i guess the guy was riding the bench with his .158 average.

Offensively he's done. I'm pretty sure he can still field on the elite level though.

[Machado]

andrew jones will find a team sooner or later.
then again, guys like adam dunn and bobby abreu don't have a team
as of today either.

and those 2 can still hit the ball and hit the ball well.

[Facedown]

SI reports:
Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.

[killeverything]

SI reports:
Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.

Yeah, I just turned on MLB channel and this was what's on.

Goddamnit.

I'm sick of these fucks. Arod faster to 200 than Tony Conigliaro. Nope. As if people need anymore reasons to hate the guy. Hopefully Congress comes down hard on the MLBPA, and sets the mandate for Olympic-esque testing.

Oh look there's more:

Because more than 5% of big leaguers had tested positive in 2003, baseball instituted a mandatory random-testing program, with penalties, in '04. According to the 2007 Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball, in September 2004, Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the players' union, violated an agreement with MLB by tipping off a player (not named in the report) about an upcoming, supposedly unannounced drug test. Three major league players who spoke to SI said that Rodriguez was also tipped by Orza in early September 2004 that he would be tested later that month. Rodriguez declined to respond on Thursday when asked about the warning Orza provided him.
When Orza was asked on Friday in the union's New York City office about the tipping allegations, he told a reporter, "I'm not interested in discussing this information with you."

So the head of the Players Union was tipping players off? Hopefully this will be enough to make Selig resign......or better yet. Let's kill him......by fire.

[JakeYonkel]

This sucks on so many levels. Even if you hated him, everybody wanted him to break Bonds' record. Now if this is true he's no better.

[killeverything]

This sucks on so many levels. Even if you hated him, everybody wanted him to break Bonds' record. Now if this is true he's no better.

Yeah, I was pulling for him too. Hopefully Pujols ( another player with God-like in-human abilities ) name never comes up.

There is still 100 players on the 2003 list that will be broken at some point in time. We all need to brace ourselves for the releasing. Basically every fucking team is in a glass-house right now.

If Jeter or Papi's name pops up. I loose all faith in everything.

[JakeYonkel]

Not that I'm clairvoyant, but I really thought Ortiz would be in the Mitchell Report - he wasn't a big dude in Minnesota, came over to Boston, got humongous, transformed as a player.

It'll be interesting. I don't think Jeter did only because he's never been a power guy, but at this point who the fuck knows.

[Facedown]

Yeah, if it's true, A-Rod was gonna make Barry and his all time HR asterisk go away. Now, there's a chance the top 2 could have one.

[killeverything]

Not that I'm clairvoyant, but I really thought Ortiz would be in the Mitchell Report - he wasn't a big dude in Minnesota, came over to Boston, got humongous, transformed as a player.

It'll be interesting. I don't think Jeter did only because he's never been a power guy, but at this point who the fuck knows.

I was worried about Ortiz. The deal is is he keeps getting bigger, and it's not muscle-mass. He keeps getting fatter ( like Mo Vaughn ). With Minnesota he was younger, so his increase in size could be attributed to age.

As for Jetes, there is nothing to even arise suspicion. I just wanted those two over anyone else clean. Oritz for leading us to the promised land, and Jeter for being what IMO should be the definition of who ball-player should strive to be.

[nycyankee]

Whatever chance the Yankees had at a championship is now gone. I wish there was a way for the Yankees to get rid of this piece of shit.

The man is a headcase and there is no way he is going to be able to handle the ridicule. I wish the fucker would just go away.

Acquiring this guy is the biggest mistake the Yankees ever made. I never wanted the fucker here.



P.S Congrats on the AL EAST title Killeverything.

[nycyankee]

I am going to be attending to a few Yankees games this year. I am going to make sure I boo the son of a bitch. I know I won't be alone.

[killeverything]

Whatever chance the Yankees had at a championship is now gone. I wish there was a way for the Yankees to get rid of this piece of shit.

The man is a headcase and there is no way he is going to be able to handle the ridicule. I wish the fucker would just go away.

Acquiring this guy is the biggest mistake the Yankees ever made. I never wanted the fucker here.



P.S Congrats on the AL EAST title Killeverything.

Nah. Not yet. Remember the last time NY was counted out in the begining, and stormed right on back? I'm from Boston. I hate to think of how many times in my life I've counted those bastards out, and was wrong, wrong, wrong.

He'll be a distraction that's for sure, and we say "Curse Of The Arod" for a reason. How it's constructed on paper though. No one will stop NY this season. On paper they're unstoppable. Good for everyone else there's not a lot of depth. There is also no way that Bruney maintains his '08 levels. You have to expect a regression, especially with that level of "playing out of your head." The bridge to Rivera ( assuming Joba stays as a starter ) is one of the only weaknesses on that team. It fucking looks like the '98 team, minus the defense.

Also that little team in Tampa Bay ain't going anywhere. There biggest question will be the Bullpen maintaining the dominance. That ain't going to happen, especially with Price heading to the rotation. That is another instance of "lighting in a bottle." With a natural regression to the mean. Like JP Howells had 83% of his runners left stranded. That alone is almost impossible to repeat. Same with Balfour and Wheeler. Shit, Shandler had all their ERAs ( not the best measure for a reliever I know ) at least a full run higher .

Percival pulled a miracle, and they're not likely to repeat their Pythagorean record with a declining BP. Although they have a ton of ML ready pitchers in AAA, and failing parts could be easy to replace for them ( not unlike Price in '08 ). Plus both Crawford ( .718 OPS ) and Upton ( .784 OPS ) had down years, and are both conciveably prone for a bounce back. If Pena doesn't slip to pre-2007 levels, they could possibly get 130+ HRs from Pena, Burrell, Longoria, and Upton.

Maybe it's just our fanbases arrogance. I just think it's insane to count the Rays out yet.

[JakeYonkel]

You know this shit is gonna crack him. Yelling at him about a stripper in Toronto or Madonna is one thing. This is a whole different ballgame.

And it sucks, too. You know, as a baseball fan, I wanted him to break the HR record. I agree he seems like a dickweed but by all accounts was clean. He never blew up. He never had a spike in his stats.

Lost in all of this is the role of the players' union. Why didn't they have the shit destroyed after the tests? And who leaked? Somebody's gotta be held accountable here.

If I was a conspiracy theorist I'd be asking why only A-Rod's name was released - because he's a Yankee? Because he's a superstar?

You know somewhere Derek Jeter is doing the snoopy dance right about now.

[Facedown]

As a Boston fan, I'm a little giddy that maybe it will put a little damper on the Yanks season. A little karma.
As a baseball fan, it sucks. Never really paid attention to his antics but really thought he would be the one to wipe the asterisk slate clean (probably not for single season HR's) as it seemed that HE was clean.
They said that these roids are taken orally so I guess there's a chance he didn't know he was taking them (if he was).

[Facedown]

Report:
Andruw Jones to sign with Rangers.

[Facedown]

Rangers reach preliminary agreement with Brendan Donnelly.

Phillies sign Ryan Howard 3yr/54mil.

[nycyankee]

I despise Alex Rodriguez and never wanted him in NY. I was extremely angry when the Yankees gave him that long term humongous contract in 2008. If this revelation results in Alex not being able to finish his contract with the Yankees, then the leaker will forever be a hero in my eyes.

[killeverything]

Right now I don't give a fuck about uniforms. This shit is deeper.

I was hoping that Aroid would break Barry Balco's record. Doing it clean, with a lot of talent. Who cares if he's an ass, at least he's clean.

Now it's apparent he's not. I'm not all "fucking Yankee, blah, blah, blah."

As a baseball fan I'm pissed. It's one more guy breaking hallowed records with "help." I'm trying to stay positive, that maybe this will finally end this shit. Maybe finally.

All of us that just fucking love this game, regardless of the laundry. Should be pissed. Not for their teams, but for baseball. Also ( I'm speaking to myself ) once Cogress gets more involved. All of our teams are going to have some guilty players. I'm cringing about 2004. because unfortunatley that's the reality now.

[JakeYonkel]

Heard a great line today...

"A-Rod wishes he could opt out of this one"

[Machado]

People-
What a boring weekend for baseball. I guess the week before pitchers and catchers report is very dull and not much to speak of.



I'm kidding.
Fucking A-Rod news kills me. I still can not believe it. I woke up Saturday morning and saw the scroll on ESPN NEWS.
I thought I was dreaming.

So now what? Now official statement from A-Rod, other than what was reported on Saturday yes?

I have to believe that since only his name was released this week, not the other 103 names, is it accurate to believe that A-Rod is the "biggest name" on that list? I would think so based on his accomplishments and yearly salary.