Brian Cashman... stop making public statements

It's not been a good off season for Brian Cashman, but I already covered that.

But while it is humiliating to see plan A, B and C go up in smoke, there is only so much control he has over other people's decisions.

He can throw lots and lots of money at players. If they want to take less money, he has no control over that.

But do you know what he DOES have control over? Making public statements.

You know when you talk about having Jeter test the open market to see if their offer was fair?

Jeter didn't test the market... and the Yankees upped the ante anyway.

Or maybe remember Cashman talking about NOT surrendering his first round picks?

He was quoted as saying:
“I will not lose our No. 1 draft pick,” Cashman said. “I would have for Cliff Lee. I won’t lose our No. 1 draft pick for anyone else.”

That was all the way back on January 7th.
Less than one week later, the Yankees gave a 3 year deal to Rafael Soriano making him the richest set up man in the world... giving up their pick to Tampa in the process.

Look, I get this move. He's a good reliever and having a very deep bullpen could help the Yankees... especially since Andy Pettitte could be sitting on his porch whittling all summer and A. J. Burnett is the Yankees #3 starter!

(The fact that he is letting up flyballs in a hitter's ballpark isn't good, but I digress.)

Just don't make pronouncements like that, Brian. You are already experiencing an off season where people think you are a little bit rudderless. Don't put fuel on the fire of contradicting yourself and making your moves look desperate.

I know you WANT to patiently build a team from the ground up... but you didn't take a patient organization.

Learn the art of not making promises.
You break a lot fewer when they don't exist.

Say what you want about New York fans... they don't burn stuff

I know it is chic to trash New Yorkers and their fans... and Lord knows as a Red Sox fan, I get trash from them and I throw it right back.

But let's tip our caps to them for a minute.
They don't burn stuff when their teams win.

I've lived in Los Angeles County for three years and the Lakers have won 2 NBA titles since then. Both times, people turn over cars and burn stuff.

When the Red Sox won the AL Pennant in 2004, some poor girl got killed.

And in San Francisco, where I thought the only fires were going to be in bongs, it turns out the celebration got out of hand in Market Street.

I lived in New York from 1990 to 2005. I was there for four Yankee World Series titles, a Giants Super Bowl and the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup at long last. I also saw the Knicks in 2 Finals and an all New York World Series.

Fans cheered. They honked horns. They yelled at the opposing fans.
But cars were burned.
It wasn't a riot.

Yes, there are a lot of bonehead New York fans and yes of course we all know Yankee fans can be insufferable.

But give them ALL credit.
They win better than most of us.

Hey Yankee fans... the Rangers MASCOT is mocking you

Are you going to TAKE THAT?

(Savor this feeling, Rangers fans. If it is 1/3 as awesome as 2004, then it is sweet indeed.)

Yankee haters... give them 24 hours. Yankee fans... expect to get it BADLY

I urge my fellow Yankee haters to not taunt Yankee fans tonight. In fact give them 24 hours to grieve.

Out of courtesy.
Out of dignity.

Unless of course if you are a Texas Rangers fan.
Then by all means let loose. But you must also supply a photograph of you wearing a Texas Rangers hat PRIOR to 2010.

Preferably a picture of you with some classic Rangers player. Maybe with Ruben Sierra or Rusty Greer.

But all other fans... hold back for 24 hours. And that means YOU TOO, Red Sox fans! And Mets fans!

The Red Sox and Mets were playing golf when the playoffs started. Our fan bases have little to crow about.

So seriously... do something that a lot of Yankee fans don't do that often:
Show a little respect to another fan base and put yourselves in their shoes.

Their season went up in smoke... and they didn't even have the moment of facing the big Kahuna, Cliff Lee, in a showdown.

Let them have their 24 hours.

But Yankee fans... know what is coming and know it is going to be bad.

As I said in my Vlog the other day, you MUST understand that your role in baseball is to be the bad guy.

It isn't a Red Sox fan thing... or a Mets fan thing... it is general in baseball.

The check out girl at Trader Joe's in my town in California was hearing me talk about Baseball with someone else. She said "I don't care who wins, as long as someone beats the Yankees."

I was in a bar in Walla Walla Washington in 2002 when the Angels eliminated the Yankees. You would have thought everyone in the bar was born and raised as Angels fans.

It is part of the fabric of America.
You either love or hate the Yankees. And guess what? A lot of people LIKE TO SEE THEM LOSE!

And a lot of people think the Yankee fans are a smidge arrogant. I don't know why. Maybe because they remind you of how many times they have won constantly... the greatest of their team constantly... how they will win and how it is a given constantly... and are entitled to have every single superstar in the game.

If you walk around beating people up, driving an awesome car and saying "Hey... your girlfriend is hot... pretty soon, she'll be with ME!"

You root for Billy Zabka.

And sometimes Billy Zabka wins... like last year.

And sometimes Billy Zabka loses.

And when Billy Zabka falls down, EVERYONE cheers.
Billy Zabka can't look up and say "Hey! Only Ralph Macchio can be happy now. The rest of you punks I beat up have to be quiet."

No.
It doesn't work that way.

When the bully gets knocked down a peg, everyone else that person bullies wants to cheer.

And they will.

So brace yourselves, Yankee fans. If you want to chant "27 titles" and remind everyone how awesome your team is... don't be surprised when some people revel in your misery.

It's the price you pay.

But you should get 24 hours to grieve.

I am a petty little person

My team is out of the playoffs but I am getting great joy in rooting for the Giants, my dad's team.

But I am getting another perverse pleasure that I am not proud of... but I admit is there. It is always fun to not only see the Yankees lose, but to read the abject panic that happens in Yankee land by way of the New York press.

It's truly difficult to understand what the New York media or any Northeastern media is regarding baseball unless you experience it first hand.

There is no middle ground... only chest thumping arrogance, or Chicken Little hysteria.

Before the series started? The columns were about how the Yankees experience was going to overwhelm the Rangers... and how the showdown with Philadelphia was inevitable.

Now the Yankees have been out played for all but 2 innings and are handing the fate of the season over to A. J. Burnett... the Yankee press is now pushing Kate Winslet out of the way to get into a lifeboat before the boat sinks.

Lamenting the Burnett signing...
Grinding their teeth over Lee's dominance...
Doubting the Yankees ability to come back...

It's good old fashioned Schadenfreude! Rooting AGAINST the Yankees goes beyond the days of Joe Hardy... And yeah, it's fun to admit that watching Yankee land squirm is fun.

Classy?
No.

Honorable?
No.

But neither is laughing at someone passing gas... but we still do it.

Wins and Losses can be unfair

Well there is no doubting who WON the game tonight. Heck, when the announcers start bringing up Sandy Koufax in their comparisons with Cliff Lee, you know you are in good company.

But Andy Pettitte pitched a GREAT game tonight. He deserved better.
I mean he threw 7 solid innings, let up 2 runs, all in the first inning.

Technically he lost the game... but let's get down to brass tacks. The Yankees BULLPEN lost the game! The Yankees had the top of their order coming up and Ron Washington had to make a tough decision... leave Cliff Lee in with a high pitch count or bring in Feliz?

One 6 run rally later and the only decision left to make in Yankee Stadium was "Should we leave now or walk around and see if anyone left a souvenir cup?"

Seriously... don't hang this loss on Petttitte. Give it to the group effort of Boone Logan and David Robertson.

It's a shame that Javier Vazquez wasn't on the roster. The 8-0 game would have been the ideal time to stick him in there.

What if Thurman had lived?

On August 2, 1979, I was in the front yard of our home doing what I did on most summer days... playing whiffle ball with my brother Ted. My dad came out and told me that Thurman Munson had died in a plane crash.

The 7 year old version of me took a moment to process this information. I remember the first question I asked was "Will he be buried in Cooperstown?"

I don't know why that seemed important to me.
I was very sad that day... and I was, as I am now, a Red Sox fan. But this was still a gut punch. Baseball players weren't supposed to die. Especially players who meant everything to a team.

Jim Rice, Yaz, Fisk, Lynn... they were RED SOX.
Munson? He was a YANKEE.

Using my "you start following baseball when you are 7 years old" formula, I guess people my age are the cut off for people getting emotional over Thurman Munson.

For people in their early 30s and younger, I guess Munson is a shadowy figure from the past... always a martyr.

For Yankee fans my age and older, he is the irreplaceable captain.
I remember my friend Michelle Ciulla, a big Yankee fan, lamenting in the early 1990s when the Yankees were bad (remember those days?) "The Yankees haven't won since they lost Munson. They may never win again."

Diana Munson still gets standing ovations at Yankee Stadium. You still see men in their 40s wearing #15 jerseys.

And you'll still hear Yankee fans say things like "I wasn't a Reggie guy... I was a Munson guy."

Meaning of course they loved the grit and substance of the home grown captain to the flash and style of the imported superstar.

Imagine the Jeter vs. A-Rod debate... but in a clubhouse where the guys were brawling.

His funeral and the following Monday Night game (won by Munson's best friend Bobby Murcer) is one of the most emotional highlights in Yankee history.

And as a Red Sox fan, you MUST know that Munson is off limits for any taunts.
Just out of respect... you can say bad things about ANY Yankee ever... just not Munson.

I often wondered what would have happened if Thurman had lived.

He probably would have left the Yankees eventually.
He only had a year left on his contract and made it very clear that he wanted to play for an Ohio team.

The reason he was taking the flying lessons was to be able to fly to Ohio on off days to be with his family.

And, at least in 1977, was sick of what was happening in the Bronx. During the World Series celebration, he ducked the question "Do you want to be traded to Cleveland?"

He wasn't happy when Reggie Jackson became a higher paid player than he was. And with free agency looming, and an MVP and two World Series titles in the Bronx, he probably would have skedaddled.

And by 1979, the Yankees were quickly transforming. Sparky Lyle, Mickey Rivers, Chris Chambliss, Ed Figueroa, Catfish Hunter, Dick Tidrow and Paul Blair were all gone before the 1980 season was halfway through.

And Reggie had enough, leaving for Anaheim in 1982. Nettles and Gossage weren't far behind.

Munson wouldn't have stayed around for that.
Remember how insane the Bronx was in the 1980?. Steinbrenner would dump beloved players on an impulse. (Remember letting Willie Randolph go for Steve Sax?)

He would alienate his best players (Howie Spira following Dave Winfield anyone?)
And even anger Yogi Berra to the point where he wouldn't come back to the stadium for 14 years.

He probably would have gone to Cleveland and helped young pitchers like Len Barker find their stuff.

The 1980 Indians weren't contenders, but they came damn close to .500. Maybe a tough competitor like Munson in the clubhouse would have sparked the Tribe better than young Ron Hassey.

(Ironically, Hassey became one of the merry go round of Yankee catchers brought in to replace Munson.)

Maybe the more relaxed environment would have rejuvenated Munson.

Getting out of the Bronx certainly seemed to agree with Nettles, Gossage, Randolph and Jackson who continued to produce.

Maybe bringing him closer to his family could have made him more content.


Maybe Munson would have gone to Cincinnati.

With Sparky Anderson (who had slighted Munson after the 1976 World Series) gone and Pete Rose off to Philadelphia, the Reds were changing identity and needed a new spark.

And the oft injured Johnny Bench was playing fewer and fewer games behind the plate.

Maybe he would have gone to a still strong Reds team with a chance to win another ring and be only 200 miles from home.

(Probably not... the competitiveness with Bench would be too strong.)

Maybe in 1980, Munson would have joined his old manager Billy Martin in Oakland.

The team was brimming with young talent in the pitching staff including Rick Langford, Steve McCatty and Mike Norris.

Munson could have handled the staff instead of Mike Heath and who knows? Maybe faces the Yankees in the 1981 ALCS.

That's a long shot... his heart would have been in Cleveland.


Munson could have become the manager in Cleveland... Maybe he could have squeezed some wins out of the Joe Carter/Julio Franco years.

The Billy Martin Yankees produced future managers like Lou Piniella, Willie Randolph and Bucky Dent (for some reason Chris Chambliss never got his shot... but that's another post.)

I am sure Willie, Lou, Bucky and Chambliss would all tell you to a man that Munson was the best managerial prospect.

Eventually he would have come back to the Bronx. In the end, they always do.
If Winfield and Yogi could mend their fences with Steinbrenner, then no doubt Munson could have as well.

Even if it was just as a fixture at Old Timer's Day where he would get a rousing ovation each year, he would have been welcomed home.

No doubt there would be many Yankee fans insisting that he manage the team, just like there were people who wanted Don Mattingly to manage the team in 2008 and no doubt people will call for Jeter to helm the club if Girardi leaves.

No matter what would have happened, there would have been happiness and closure.

Munson would have found peace and time with his family as a player... and eventually Yankee fans would have had their captain back, even if it were only ceremonial.

Would he have been a Hall of Famer?
It would have been close... but he would have been a beloved Yankee and maybe even have his number retired. And it would have been a joyous celebration of a man who played the game the right way and honored the uniform in an era of great turmoil.

If only he had lived.

Sully Baseball Honors Freddy Sez

This has been a rough year for Yankee mainstays.

Bob Sheppard passed away.
The Boss, George Steinbrenner is gone.

And now the Freddie Sez guy is no longer with us.
For those of you who don't know who he was, Freddy Schuman was a die hard Yankee fan who was at just about every Yankee game there was.

(He was at all of them that I went to, and I went to a lot.)

And for those of you too young to remember, he was there for the lousy years as well. Yes the Yankees had crap seasons, and he was there.

He always was dressed in his Yankee gear... always cheerful despite advanced age and having use of only one eye (evidently he lost an eye playing stickball as a kid. I am not sure if that was true or legend... but I like to believe it.)

And of course he had his pan that he would bang with a spoon... and had a new sign written for every damn game.

He encouraged people to bang the pan and I did as well, even though I am a Red Sox fan.

He was legendary... appearing in the World Series parades, a Master Card commercial and even the video for "Jump Around" by House of Pain.

But I remember him personally because he was always in my neighborhood.

He would stop by that bagel place on Broadway and 71st street that I don't think exists anymore and pick up a newspaper on the way to the subway.

I'd see him a few times a week and we'd talk baseball. He knew I was a Red Sox fan but he also knew I was a good baseball fan. We'd chat about the game the night before and he'd be very specific.

"I thought Torre let Mendoza in too long. Take him out. That's why we have Nelson!" Or "I love that Brosius. Hit behind the runner let him go 1st to 3rd. Great hit."

It was always a treat to talk baseball with Freddy.
I'd ask him his memories of World Series past and some of his favorite players.
And he'd light up wanting to talk about Mantle and Berra and Elston Howard and other great Yankees... and I loved hearing him get excited about it.

He was a great baseball fanatic.
And a hell of a nice guy.

I hope the Yankees pay tribute to him tomorrow.
I'm sure he had a great sign made for Game 3 of the ALCS.

"The Yankees can Certain-Lee beat Texas."

Rest in Peace, Freddy.
If there is a Heaven, bang the pan there as well.

Girardi is not so dumb now, is he?

When the Yankees and Rays were going down the stretch, there were a lot of Yankee fans killing Joe Girardi for not playing all of his veterans in every game. "They HAVE to win the Division!" was the rallying cry.

I heard one person KILLING Girardi for not using Mariano Rivera in both games of a double header in the last meaningless weekend of the series.

The Rays won the Division... the Yankees are the Wild Card... and it doesn't matter.

Who is looking good now?

The Yankees need one win at home and they are off to the ALCS.
The Rays can't afford to lose on the road or they are playing golf.

It is like when the Twins caught the Tigers for the Division Title on the last day of the 2006 season... but the Twins got swept out of the Division Series and the Tigers won the pennant.

Which team would you rather have followed? The Division winner who couldn't win a post season game or the team that went to the World Series?

Joe has been there and done that... that 28 on his back isn't for Division Titles.

Joe thinks it is more important to have Mariano ready for THESE games rather than the tail end of a "who cares?" double header in Boston.

I have a feeling most Yankee fans agree.
(So would Tampa fans.)